We’re living in a mobile-first world. For most of us, that means from the moment you wake up in the morning, your phone becomes a part of your daily routine — from silencing your alarm, to reviewing the daily news, to checking email, and so on.

And search engines are seeing the result of this trend: search queries on mobile have now surpassed desktop-based queries.

Now you may be thinking, my website is already mobile-friendly … so I’m set, right?

Sure, you are ready for mobile visitors, but your content may not be optimized for the new realities of search. What exactly do we mean by that?

Well, Google recently announced that its search results index is essentially being flipped and will prioritize mobile results first:

This is big, so send us your questions so we know what’s not clear & what we need to communicate more about

https://t.co/i4krA3cgqN

— Gary Illyes (@methode)
November 5, 2016

With Google currently experimenting with this change, there’s a lot you need to know to ensure you’re prepared. But don’t panic, we’ll walk through it all below.

What Is Mobile-First Indexing?

As Google’s Gary Illyes said, this is a big change, so let’s start by discussing some of the details first. Keep in mind this update is currently in testing so you may not notice any differences at the moment.

1. Mobile-friendly websites matter, regardless of technology. Google has previously stated their preferred method of a mobile-friendly website was responsive design. For this change to mobile-first indexing, Illyes stated that specific mobile site versions and responsive design will work.
2. SERPs will now be primarily based on mobile content. Today, if you have a page that shows some specific content to desktop-based visitors, but excludes content for mobile visitors, you may notice a change in results because of the mobile-specific content. Because results will start to primarily use mobile content first, you should consider what, and how much content, to add to your mobile version.
3. AMP-enabled pages are treated as mobile content. If you have Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) for your website, or blog, these pages will be treated as other mobile pages and will be indexed first.

Again, this update is still being tested and is likely still “months away” so many details are still emerging and being worked out. In the meantime, it’s worth starting to prepare for mobile-first indexing.

What About #Mobilegeddon?

One of the primary premises behind the mobile algorithm update, affectionately referred to as Mobilegeddon, was that Google was beginning to establish a separate mobile-index for results.

While it seems that Google may continue to build a separate mobile index, the key part here is that they will flip the indexing from desktop-first to mobile-first.

See the below conversation with Illyes for more:

How You Can Prepare For the Mobile-First World

1) Ensure you have a mobile-friendly website.

Google’s preferred technology utilizes responsive design so your website adapts to the screen-size of the visitor, but if you have a dedicated mobile website (m.example.com) that is fine, too.

HubSpot Customers: Any of your content created using the HubSpot software will utilize responsive design and, as a result, you should be prepared for mobile-first content indexing.

2) Consider if content should be adjusted for mobile.

Most content created specifically for mobile is naturally shorter. You should ensure that your page is still seen as the authoritative source on the content topic you’re writing about, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be long-form content.

Don’t be afraid to consider other types of content — like video and audio — that you can integrate into your strategy. These additional content types can be better for the user experience, and a transcript can be included on the page to ensure the maximum impact for SEO.

Any content you have on pages that is incompatible with mobile devices — i.e., Flash videos — should be replaced as soon as possible.

If you do not have a mobile-friendly website, Google will still index your website but the mobile crawler may appear in your Search Console. Not sure if your website is mobile-friendly? Get your website graded to find out.

3) Prioritize the factors that are important in this new mobile-first index.

What are those factors? Here are two you’ll want to keep a close eye on:

• Site speed has always been important, but now with a mobile-first index, it’s become even more crucial. This also means you need to be aware of the weight of content on a page, which can drastically affect page speed and has a cascading effect on user experience. More on that here.
• User experience and engagement have become increasingly important signals for search engines. If a visitor comes to your page and leaves within a few seconds, it’s an indication they didn’t quite find what they were looking for. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if the visitor stays on your page and engages with various links and resources, they are likely highly engaged. In a mobile-first world, consider the experience of that one page, but also how users travel between pages and their experience between each step.

Again, these updates are still actively being discussed, but in the meantime, get involved in the discussion and ensure your website is mobile-friendly.

What questions do you have about the mobile-first shift? Share them in the comments below.

Social advertising is a big business.

Over the past two years, social media advertising budgets have doubled worldwide, from $16 billion U.S. in 2014 to $31 billion in 2016.

While Facebook currently claims nearly 70% of the social advertising market, it’s starting to get some serious competition from younger networks. Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Snapchat are all vying for their piece of the social ads pie, and advertisers today have more options than ever before to promote their brands on social.

From mobile to live video and everything in between, we’ve documented some of the most significant milestones for both these top networks as well as social advertising in general.

Check out the below infographic on the history of social advertising and consider: What opportunities and challenges will brands face in the next 10 years?

They see you when you’re slacking. They know when you come in late. They know if you’ve been bad or good so be good for your work’s Secret Santa exchange.

But that’s not how the song — or the Secret Santa exchange — really goes …

You spend all day with your coworkers, but come time for your annual gift exchange, you’re stuck trying to figure out exactly what Suzie will want that’s also in your price range.

We want to help. We’ve compiled a list of awesome Secret Santa gift ideas that are bound to meet all different budgets and personality types. From hot sauce kits to leather mouse pads, this roundup should take some of the stress out of your shopping experience.

30 Secret Santa Gift Ideas for Your Coworkers

$10 and Under

1) Engraved Pencil Set

Price: $8.00

Whether you type your notes or take them by hand, these hand stamped pencils are just plain cool. The sets come in a variety of different themes — from motivational words to Harry Potter references — and they’re guaranteed to make putting together a to-do list a lot more fun.

Willing to chip in a few extra bucks? Pair a set of these pencils with a journal for a thoughtful and practical gift.

2) Toaster Grilled Cheese Bags

Price: $9.99

While almost every office has a toaster, few have a stovetop. This rules fresh, delicious grilled cheese off the list of lunch options … or does it? When you give the gift of toaster grilled cheese bags, your recipient can toast up the perfect sandwich in minutes. The reusable, Teflon-coated bags can also be used for heating up other foods like pastries and leftover pizza.

Got a gluten-free coworker? They can even protect their food from cross contamination using these handy bags.

3) Printed Socks

Price: $8.00

Nothing beats a great pair of socks, am I right? Not only does everyone need them, but there’s also such a wide variety of options available online that you’re bound to find a pair for any and every personality.

Know of a few pizza lovers in the office? This pepperoni-clad pair would make the perfect gift.

4) Sushi Pushpins

Price: $9.00

Shopping for the office sushi addict? Look no further than this trendy desk trinket.

Stuck in a maki cushion, each pearl-shaped fish egg is a pushpin in disguise. Pin up your favorite notes, photos, and menus using these handy tacks — or just admire the holder on your desk.

5) Waterproof Notepad

Price: $7.00

You never know when your next great idea is going to strike. In fact, it might even be the shower.

With a waterproof notepad from AquaNotes, you can jot down important shower notes before they slip your mind — perfect for whipping up impromptu grocery or to-do lists.

6) Tech Cloth

Price: $9.99

Between oil, dust, spills, and smudges, our devices take a beating. But with a Smart Cloth on hand, you can polish up the screen on your smartphone, tablet, camera, or computer without having to worry about scratching the surface. No liquids or sprays needed.

You can even toss The Smart Cloth in the wash, making it easy to keep germ-free.

7) Reusable To Go Box

Price: $9.99

There’s no shame in brown bagging your lunch at work, but why opt for a brown bag when you can reheat last night’s homemade Pad Thai in style?

This eco-friendly container is reusable, microwavable, and dishwasher safe. What more could you want?

8) Portable Hot Sauce

Price: $9.99

Coming from a hot sauce addict, there’s nothing worse than suffering through a bland meal without access to your favorite spicy condiment.

Thanks to this convenient set of Sriracha2Go key chains, you can carry a personal stash of the good stuff around with you at all times. Simply toss it in your purse or attach it to your keys to ensure you’ve got access to heat when you need it most.

9) Dry Erase Sheets

Price: $6.16

Use these sheets as an impromptu discussion tool, a place to post motivational quotes, or a home for your to-do list. Each sheet has a full-adhesive backing that leaves behind no residue, making them easy and convenient to tack up in the office or at home.

10) Cord Keeper

Price: $9.99

While the world of technology continues to push us in the direction of a more wireless world, we’ve all got a pair of standard headphones we keep holding on to — no matter how tangled the cord gets.

Lucky for all of us, these handmade cord “wontons” exist to help keep our headphones, USB cords, and other accessory wires nice and neat. They come in a pack of three, so you can throw one in your car, keep one on your desk, and toss one in your bag.

$25 and Under

11) Salsa Grow Kit

Price: $12.00

Got a coworker with a green thumb? Gift them this awesome salsa growing kit, complete with six seed packets for Roma tomatoes, jalapeños, verde tomatillos, cilantro, scallions, and beefsteak tomatoes.

Once the seeds sprout in the recycled egg carton planter, transfer them into larger pots until they’re ready for picking.

12) Wine Infused Coffee

Price: $19.95

Gift hunting for a coffee drinker who also loves wines? Why not pick up a bag of Merlot-infused coffee beans.

This brew is made with 100% Arabica beans that are aged in oak wine barrels. Serving as the perfect post-meal treat, this unique gift will be a hit with any adventurous coffee enthusiast.

13) Plant Nanny

Price: $16.95

Don’t let the burden of watering plants keep your coworker from taking time off to relax and recharge. With the help of these terracotta watering stakes, they can throw on their OOO message and hit the road without having to hire a plant sitter.

How does it work? It’s simple: The stakes house a recycled bottle that’s designed to release just enough water to keep plants alive and well.  

14) Smartphone Card Game

Price: $19.99

The name of the game is “Game of Phones.” And the rules are pretty straightforward: Grab your smartphone and have one player (the judge for the round) draw a card. Everyone else gets 60 seconds to dig up a funny response to the prompt on the card using their phone. It’s like a digital scavenger hunt — and it’s bound to be hilarious.

This one’s perfect for anyone that loves to host friends or family for game night.

15) Travel Cup

Price: $14.99–$19.99 (+$3.99 for travel lid)

There are a ton of travel mugs out there to choose from, but Tervis tumblers seem to offer it all: customization, portable cooling, self-warming system, dishwasher armor, and a lifetime guarantee.

Whether you’re buying a gift for an avid golfer, shopper, foodie, or Patriots super fan, there’s bound to be a Tervis that lines up with their interests and personality.

16) Adult Coloring Book

Price: $12.18 (Paperback)

Coloring isn’t just for kids anymore. Believe it or not, this trendy hobby offers more than a dose of nostalgia — adult coloring books are actually believed to relieve stress, too. In fact, while The American Art Association doesn’t think these books are enough to replace therapy for those who need it, it does support the use of coloring books for “pleasure and self care.”

There are a wide variety of books to choose from, but we recommend “Color Me Calm” by Lacy Mucklow: a Zen coloring book that supports meditation and relaxation. Trust us, your stressed out deskmate will thank you.

17) Fruit Infuser Water Bottle

Price: $18.65

Stay hydrated and enjoy the sweet taste of your favorite fruits with this handy water bottle from Fruitzola.

Fill the inside tube with fruit or a combination of your choice — strawberries, lemons, kiwis, watermelon, and mint all work well — and enjoy the taste of fresh, flavored H₂0 all day.

18) Musical Pillow

Price: $19.19

For many, listening to music, a meditation app, or a podcast before bed can make it easier to drift off to sleep. Trouble is, it’s tough to get comfortable with a pair of headphones in.

Enter: The Sound Asleep Pillow.

Deep inside this unique pillow lies a built-in speaker that connects to your phone or music player via a headphone jack. The coolest part? The sound from the speaker is only audible to the person resting their head on it, which is great if you don’t want to disturb your spouse or significant other.

19) Espresso Sampler

Price: $23.00

Treat your coworker to this four-part specialty espresso sampler from Seattle’s world-renowned roasters. Each sampler comes with tasting notes, roaster profiles, and brewing tips. (If you’re lucky, maybe they’ll share.)

$50 and Under

20) Smartphone Projector

Price: $31.95

Transform your smartphone into a big screen projector with this retro-inspired cardboard structure. Simply slide your device into the compartment for an instant cinema-like feel.

You can make this gift even better by throwing in a box of popcorn to complete the viewing experience.

21) Make Your Own Hot Sauce Kit

Price: $34.95

Whether you’re making chili for a rainy day, wings for the big game, or tacos for Tuesday’s dinner, a little homemade hot sauce can make all the difference.

With this awesome kit, recipients can whip up six signature sauces that are seasoned to their exact liking. The kit even includes customizable labels for a fun, personalized touch.

22) Bottle Loft

Price: $38.00

Seriously, how cool is this? These handy storage strips adhere to the ceiling of your refrigerator and can hold up to a six pack of bottles of your choice. Plus, the magnets are super strong: they can hold over 3X the weight of an average 12 oz. bottle.

With all the space you’ll save, you’ll have plenty of room for snacks. It’s the perfect gift for your office beer enthusiast.

23) Leather Mouse Pad

Price: $36.00

Looking for a sophisticated, practical gift option? Grab a leather mouse pad from Ugmonk’s shop.

Not only does this sleek pad provide a smooth surface for your mouse, but the leather is also known to weather and darken slowly over time to take on a one-of-a-kind look. How cool.

24) Gourmet Marshmallows

Price: $30.00

Step your hot chocolate game up with a box of gourmet marshmallows. From boozy flavors like bourbon to sweet flavors like eggnog, these handcrafted marshmallows are good enough to eat straight from the box.

25) Streaming Stick

Price: $49.99

The Roku Streaming Stick works with any television that has an HDMI port, and offers over 1,200 apps, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Pandora, and many more. It’s a perfect gift for nearly any coworker.

26) Tea Drops

Price: $34.00

Enjoy hot and fresh tea on the go thanks to these dissolvable, pressed tea drops. Made from just a few simple ingredients — finely-sourced tea, sugar, and spices — these tiny morsels are perfect for a busy coworker looking for an easy, healthy beverage to sip on.

This particular sampler set includes five drops of each of the following flavors: citrus ginger, vanilla white, rose earl grey, sweet peppermint, and matcha green tea.

27) Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle

Price: $35.00 (17 oz.) / $45.00 (25 oz.)

We’ll admit it, we actually have a crush on this water bottle from S’well. Yes, a water bottle crush. Not only is it sleek and stylish — it comes in tons of colors and prints — but it’s non-toxic, non-leaching, vacuum sealed, and BPA free.

What’s more, it keeps your drinks cold for 24 hours, and hot for 12.

28) Wireless Speaker

Price: $39.99

Wireless speakers are the perfect gift for anyone in your office. Whether they use it to listen to podcasts while they cook, bring tunes to the beach, or create a custom surround sound movie experience, this little Jam Plus speaker packs a big punch. (Full disclosure: I love this speaker so much I bought another one … and one for my brother.)

29) Cacti Coasters

Price: $31.00

Help your coworkers keep their desk nice and neat with this buildable set of cacti coasters.

The set comes complete with six green leaf coasters that you can mix and match to create different landscapes within the pot. Build them up or stack them close, they’re there when you need a place to put your drink — and still look really cool when you don’t.

30) Mobile Lens Kit

Price: $26.00

If you pulled your social media manager’s name out of the Secret Santa hat, we’ve got just the thing: Help them up their Instagram game with this handy mobile lens kit. The kit includes fisheye, wide angle, and macro lenses, complete with a universal clip that’s compatible with most smartphones and tablets.

What are your go-to gift ideas? Share them with us in the comments section below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Sometimes, the movie adaptation of a book is better than the book itself. Maybe it’s the acting, maybe it’s the special effects or the soundtrack, or maybe the story is simply better told on the big screen than in our imaginations.

The reason? Different stories are better told in different formats depending on the message they’re trying to convey.

The folks at Main Path Marketing created an infographic to break down common types of content marketing formats and how they communicate information to your audience. And some of their insights may surprise you. For example, did you know that the human brain processes videos 60,000X faster than text? That’s part of what makes how-to videos so popular in online search habits.

Check out the full infographic below for helpful takeaways about how to tailor your content strategy according to how your audience interprets information.

They command international attention, have amassed millions of followers on social media, and collaborate with the world’s biggest brands.

But you still have to pick up their poop.

Animal influencers are undeniably on the rise. These pampered pets (and their owners/handlers/entourages) enjoy a level of social media fame usually reserved for well, human celebrities, and bring in real revenue through their high-profile partnerships with brands like Zappos, Mercedes-Benz, Purina, and even Google. 

In other words, these adorable fluff balls make more money on a single Instagram post than you, a human, will probably ever make on a single Instagram post. Let that sink in for a minute.

According to Create&Cultivate, social media influencers (animal or otherwise) can expect to earn around $3,000 per sponsorship deal when they hit between 150,000 and 250,000 followers. Many of the pets on this list have over one million followers.

So why the sudden demand for four-legged brand ambassadors?

“People have this innate perception that pets generate warm, happy, fuzzy feelings,” said Loni Edwards — owner of Chloe (as in Instagram-famous @chloetheminifrenchie) — to Digiday. “Brands are starting to reach out because they make people genuinely happy, and they want their ads to make people happy.”

It turns out people really like cute animals — even if those animals are promoting things. “You don’t notice that you are getting advertised to, or you don’t care, because you’re seeing a super cute dog,” Katie Sturino (owner of another famous pooch, @toastmeetsworld) explained to Fortune. 

In addition to sponsorship deals, many of these pets generate income from their own branded products, such as books, calendars, apps, clothing, mugs … you name it, and somebody has plopped a cute animal on it and sold it on the internet.

Is this whole thing a little weird? Maybe. Did I follow all of these animals on Instagram? Absolutely I did.

Read on to see how 11 of these furry social celebrities are building their brands and growing their empires.

11 Famous Animal Influencers

1) Harlow, Indiana and Reese: @harlowandsage

Number of Instagram followers: 1.4m

This adorably photogenic trio consists of one very tolerant Weimaraner (Harlow) and two rambunctious Miniature Dachshunds (Indiana and Reese). In what is possibly the cutest rise-to-fame story ever, the three pups became an international internet sensation by snuggling.

Their owner, Brittni Vega, has made sure the cuddly canines use their fame for good. They recently partnered with dog food brand Purina to benefit the Canine Health Foundation, and have worked with Love Your Mellon, a cancer charity.

Harlow, Indiana, and Reese have also worked with Clorox to raise awareness about Parvovirus, a potentially fatal virus for dogs, and Petfinder, to help shelter dogs find homes. Other promotional clients include Petco, Figo Pet Insurance, and the Subaru Puppy Bowl.

Vega even spun the dogs’ popularity into a second Instagram account, @harlowandfriends, which exclusively features photos of dogs available for adoption.

  
 

2) Loki: @loki_the_wolfdog

Number of Instagram followers: 1.3m

When Mercedes-Benz needed a rugged, handsome new spokesmodel for the 2017 GLS SUV, they didn’t reach out to any old movie star — they got Loki, a Husky/Arctic Wolf/Malamute mix, to be the face of their latest campaign (Move over, John Hamm).

“Loki and his story aligned particularly well with our SUV portfolio,” said Mark Aikman, general manager of marketing services for Mercedes-Benz USA, to Digiday. “Our research has shown that a large number of SUV owners have pets.”

Known on Instagram as “Loki the Wolfdog”, this gentle giant spends his days traversing the great outdoors with owner Kelly Lund, who donates the revenue generated from Loki’s merchandise and sponsorships to two animal charities: Canine Support Teams and Eagle Trail Mountain Wolf Sanctuary.

Loki has become a magnet for brands looking to promote an outdoorsy lifestyle, including REI (he’s a social media sponsor for their annual #OptOutside campaign), GoPro, Rigid Industries LED Lighting, and Google Photos.

  
 

3) Nala: @nala_cat

Number of Instagram followers: 3.1m

This cross-eyed feline is closer to matching Kim Kardashian’s 88.3m Instagram follower count than you, probably.

Meet Nala, a six year old Siamese and Tabby mix with baby blue eyes and short, chubby legs. Since she first popped up on Instagram back in 2012, this remarkably photogenic cat has been racking up followers and brand sponsorships left and right.

She’s been featured on media outlets like BuzzFeed and Daily Mail, and has sponsorships with major brands like Friskies, Persil ProClean, and Zappos. She even recently ran a giveaway for Google’s new Pixel smartphone, which the brand gave her as a gift. 

It doesn’t hurt that Nala’s owner, Los Angeles resident Varisiri Methachittiphan (known by her nickname “Pookie”) has an MBA and strong business acumen. She’s even started an empire for her other cat, Mr. White, who has a respectable 1.3m Instagram followers of his own under the handle @white_coffee_cat_.

  
 

4) Pumpkin: @pumpkintheraccoon

Number of Instagram followers: 1m

How does it feel to be less popular than a raccoon? Because unless you have one million Instagram followers, you’re losing the social media rat race to a plump raccoon named Pumpkin. 

Pumpkin is a domesticated raccoon living a charmed life in the Bahamas with her owner, Laura Young, and canine siblings Toffee and Oreo. Her favorite activities include lounging on the couch, eating avocados, and petting dogs.

While her Instagram account is noticeably devoid of sponsored posts for now (besides a few posts promoting animal rescue charity BAARK), Pumpkin is a personal branding machine. She has a book — Pumpkin: The Raccoon Who Thought She Was a Dog — and has been featured on CBS, ABC, EW, and TV specials for BCC and Animal Planet.

And yes, Pumpkin is eating popcorn out of a Pumpkin the Raccoon branded bag in one of the below photos.

  
 

5) Chloe: @chloetheminifrenchie

Number of Instagram followers: 147k

A burgeoning fashion icon, Chloe has been featured in major publications like Martha Stewart and Vogue. She has her own line of fancy dog scarves (a collaboration with luxury human scarf brand Donni Charm) and Pawtty Bags, which her website describes as “essentially little dog purses to hold poop bags.”

For her second birthday, Chloe’s owner/manager, Loni Edwards, went all out, throwing a charity bash to raise money for the Humane Society of NY. The party was sponsored by BarkBox, Kind Bars, and Bloomingdale’s, among many others.

Edwards, a lawyer turned entrepreneur, started Chloe’s Instagram initially as a way to share photos of the ridiculously cute pup with her friends and family. In just a few short years, managing Chloe’s social media presence and endorsements has evolved into her full-time job.

“It became more than me and my friends following her — there were strangers appreciating her cuteness,” Edwards said to Racked about Chloe’s rapid rise to stardom.

  
 

6) Bodhi: @mensweardog

Number of Instagram followers: 289k

Clothing brands like Coach, American Apparel, and Brooks Brothers have a new muse: a gentlemanly Shiba Inu named Bodhi. Thanks to his affinity for perfectly tailored suits and brooding stare, this photogenic pooch has made a big splash in the fashion world, starring in major campaigns and even posing for exclusive fashion spread in the New York Times.

Bodhi’s fame was no accident. His owner and full-time handler, Yena Kim, quit her job at Ralph Lauren to focus on building her dog’s brand online. What seemed like a gamble at first has really paid off for Kim and her husband, graphic designer David Fung. 

Bodhi’s big break came in the form of a viral Tumblr post, and soon brands were reaching out to Kim and Fung as if they were like any other human fashion blogger seeking promotions. Today, Bodhi is sponsored by brands like Rockport Shoes and Gentleman’s Box on Instagram, and has his own fashion book. 

“He’s the dog version of the Dos Equis guy,” Fung said to Business Insider, “the most interesting dog in the world.”

  
 

7) Tuna: @tunameltsmyheart

Number of Instagram followers: 1.8m

Just like many human social media influencers, Tuna, a Chihuahua Dachsund mix with an undeniably endearing overbite, strives to project an authentic image across his many social platforms. And that means being very selective about the brands he chooses to work with.

“It’s enticing when you are offered big posting deals,” Tuna’s owner, Courtney Dasher, told Vice. “But if I’m not at peace with the idea or think it’s not a good fit with Tuna and the brand of Tuna, then I politely decline.”

The pint-sized pup mainly partners with animal rescue organizations and charities, but he also has an online shop that sells mugs, shirts, and other goods emblazoned with his toothy visage. If you’re really feeling that Tuna fever, you can even purchase an oxidized bronze ring shaped like his entire head. Because why not.

  
 

8) Toast: @toastmeetsworld

Number of Instagram followers: 370k

Toast, who is a dog, reportedly wore a custom Marchesa gown and $139,000 diamond necklace to her wedding, which was covered by Newsweek, People, and Town & Country. Toast (who, again, is a dog) married Finn Hearst (also a dog) after the two met at a charity gala and really hit it off, apparently.

The wedding was a charity fundraiser and promotional stunt for Zola, a wedding registry site, and it was hardly Toast’s first foray into the realm of brand promotions. Toast, who is represented by DBA (Digital Brand Architects), is an eyewear spokesmodel for Karen Walker, and has promoted big brands like Febreeze and Swiffer. She’s also currently the face of The Shelter Pet Project’s latest campaign, appearing in print ads and billboards around the country.

The toothless Cavalier King Charles Spaniel — who was rescued from a puppy mill — gained popularity on Instagram for her iconic floppy tongue and apparent tolerance of being dressed up.

Toast’s owner, Katie Sturino, told Newsweek she’s aware some people might find her profession a bit strange, but she’s managed to use her dog’s fame for good, raising awareness for the deplorable conditions at puppy mills.

  
 

8) Hamlet: @hamlet_the_piggy

Number of Instagram followers: 305k

While the vast majority of animal influencers are dogs and cats, some pigs are getting in on the action too. Hamlet, a charismatic mini pig who enjoys wearing wigs and having maple syrup poured directly into her mouth, has found unexpected fame on Instagram and Snapchat.

Hamlet’s owner, Melanie Gomez, adopted the unusual pet as a support companion after her epilepsy became hard to handle on her own (her husband is extremely allergic to dogs, so a pig was the next best option). She began posting Hamlet’s photos online as a way to make others happy, and never expected that the petite piglet would become an internet superstar.

Now a few years into her social media career, Hamlet has been spotted showing off a handful of products on Instagram, including Tostito’s snacks, Bose’s line of NFL headphones, and the Ollo Clip iPhone lens.

  
 

9) Lil Bub: @iamlilbub

Number of followers on Instagram: 1.4m

It would be an understatement to call Lil Bub a viral social media celebrity. The toothless tabby cat — born with a short lower jaw which exposes her tongue — was arguably one of the first big animal influencers on the scene, right up there with the ubiquitous Grumpy Cat.

Just a quick scan of Lil Bub’s extensive Wikipedia page reveals just how weirdly famous the quirky, stubby-legged cat has become. Here are a few highlights:

• In 2015, a group of scientists crowdfunded $8,225 to sequence Lil Bub’s genome. The project was called LilBubnome.
• Lil Bub is credited on the 2015 electronic album Science & Magic as a vocalist.
• Vice produced a feature length documentary on Lil Bub in 2013 called Lil Bub & Friendz. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and Lil Bub got to meet Robert DiNero.

Name any object, and it’s probably sold with Lil Bub’s face on it. The cat has a series downloadable ringtones, a weather app, and a line of watches. Way to go, Lil Bub — you’re more successful than most startups.

  
 

10) Doug the Pug: @itsdougthepug

Number of followers on Instagram: 2.2m

Doug the Pug, the self-declared “King of Pop Culture”, is just like us. He likes to unwind after a long day with a hot bubble bath and a glass of pinot noir.

Unlike us, Doug the Pug has millions of followers on social media, a book deal, and a close friendship with Chrissy Teigen.

Doug’s owner, Leslie Mosier, got her start in the music industry before becoming a full-time “momager” for her dog. She applied her PR background to Doug’s career, and the pug was quickly featured on Mashable and BuzzFeed. One Facebook video in particular — a 16-second clip of Doug playing with a pug balloon — went viral overnight, skyrocketing Doug to 2.2 million followers on Instagram and over five million Facebook likes.

When Doug isn’t promoting his book, calendar, or collection of stuffed animals, he can be found promoting brands like Febreeze and repping Dentastix at the Country Music Awards.

  
 

11) Lionel: @lionelthehog

Number of Instagram followers: 95.9k

Instagram does not discriminate by species. If you are a cute animal and you like wearing little hats or holding little umbrellas, the followers will come.

Say hello to Lionel, an adventurous hedgehog with a taste for the finer things in life. Lionel’s owner, Anna Mathias, works full-time in PR, and began Lionel’s Instagram account as a side project to show off her social media chops. In a few short weeks, he was featured on BuzzFeed, and the rest is history.

On Instagram, Lionel represents brands like The Book of the Month Club, Daniel Wellington watches, and Style&co, a (human) clothing retailer. This year, he even collaborated with West Elm and the ASPCA to release a custom holiday ornament and tea towel.

  
  

Who are your favorite animal influencers? Let us know in the comments.

Imagine that you’re within 140 characters of connecting with a customer, prospect, or influencer. How can you afford not to reach out?

We’re talking Twitter, of course: the 300-million strong whirlpool of information that has emerged as a personal branding, relationship-building nirvana.

Twitter pros have found ways to use the platform to score business and media deals — they’ve even built relationships through developing successful Twitter personal brands. Yet, too many people have joined the community simply because they know they should be there, not because they’re strategic or focused.

When it comes to those that have managed to scale their following and build a reputable brand on Twitter, there’s a lot we can learn. To do this, I decided to go straight to the source, interviewing some well-known names with as many as hundreds of thousands of followers.

Thanks to their insights and generosity, I put together a eight-step road map for developing your personal brand on Twitter. Check it out below.

How to Build a Memorable Personal Brand on Twitter

Step #1: Follow the leaders.

Cheryl Burgess, author and CEO of Blue Focus Marketing, said she started off as a listener on Twitter, following people she admired like Kent Huffman, Tom Peters, and David Edelman, among others.

You see, the beauty of Twitter is that you don’t have to go far to discover a successful marketing playbook. The platform gives you free reign to observe how the pros do it.

Similarly, Neal Schaffer, CEO of Maximize Your Social and cofounder of The Social Tools Summit, says to follow people who are sharing a lot of content and who are omnipresent on Twitter. For Schaffer, that’s folks like Jeff Bullas, Mark Schaefer, Pam Moore, Lilach Bullock, Marsha Collier, and Glen Gilmore.

Over time, in addition to observing Twitter luminaries at work, start to engage them. Influencers, like anyone, appreciate praise. But don’t expect an immediate home run. If the influencer eventually follows you — or even better mentions you — you’ve scored a coup.

If you do directly reach out, see what you can offer in return – a mention in a blog post or article for instance. Burgess said she developed a relationship with Tom Peters by following him on Twitter and also recognizing him as part of a Twitter awards program she was running.

If you’re wondering what impact influencers can have, consider this: Nearly 40% of Twitter users say they made a purchase as a direct result of a tweet from an influencer.

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Create Twitter lists of your mentors whom you can then easily monitor. Think of it as having a front row seat to your favorite performers. “Grouping my audience into categories, I see what’s happening across the world quickly and seek opportunities to help and respond,” says Mark Schaefer.
2. Visualize your Twitter ecosystem using a tool like Mentionmapp. “Mentionmapp helps me decide whom to follow and the conversations I need to be part of,” says Burgess.

Step #2: Define your brand.

Clarify the type of person you want to be on Twitter. Think of this as an opportunity to showcase your capabilities, passions, and interests.

Peg Fitzpatrick, social media speaker, trainer, and author, refers to this exercise as “defining the seeds of your brand.” Fitzpatrick advises selecting two or three main topics for your brand content — for her personal brand, she zeroes in on media, her role as author (and speaker), and marketing.

Mari Smith, social media speaker, trainer, consultant, and author, has done this beautifully, explaining that she shares “quality, cherry-picked content pertaining to social media, business development, and time and life hacks with a sprinkling of spiritual uplift and a daily dose of motivational quotes.”

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Focus on three seeds, or go super-niche with one main focus. Do this and “you’ll build a solid Twitter following that will love your content,” says Fitzpatrick.

Step #3: Sharpen your profile.

Don’t leave your Twitter profile to chance or whim. It’s your face to the world on Twitter. While most people will find you through your content, they’ll then check out your Twitter profile.

Ensure that it defines your brand. Dump the default Twitter egg and use an image that highlights your brand, advises Burgess.

Burgess’ own profile leaves no doubts about her accomplishments and her focus:

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Avoid the pet photos. “Unless you’re a veterinarian or your social media goals aren’t especially business related,” says Burgess, “it’s probably better to go with something else.”

Step #4: Create and curate great content. Repeat.

Tweet negative things and you’ll be seen as a naysayer. Tweet helpful, insightful content and you’ll grow your reputation. If there’s a common thread among those with impressive Twitter brands, it’s that they all post a steady stream of valuable content.

“You can’t tweet enough,” urges Schaffer. This doesn’t mean that you should aim for 100 tweets a day, but if you’re seeing positive engagement, keep it going.

The lesson? Find your rhythm. For example, Michael Brenner, author and CEO of Marketing Insider, says he tweets every hour typically from his smart phone while reading. “I’m a big fan of email newsletters,” he says. “I scan the headlines and if I read the article, I share it.”

While it’s tempting to rely solely on curated content, if you’re serious about building your personal brand, try to post some original content. “The fuel of social media is content,” says Schaefer. “I devote an enormous amount of time to creating original content on my blog which then becomes something I can deliver on Twitter that is helpful and unique.”

Smith says she likes to spotlight up-and-coming bloggers and experts that not many people are tweeting about. “I want to give people a leg up and not just share the same super popular blog posts others were sharing,” she says.

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Don’t share content without identifying the source or the author, says Schaffer. Don’t simply say via @HubSpot or @HuffingtonPost. Take the trouble to also identify the author, who will appreciate the mention.
2. Tweet with an image whenever possible. Posts with images on social media are 40X more likely to get shared. “I tweet 100% of my tweets with images,” says Schaffer.

Step #5: Engage.

Twitter is a two-way street: If you reach out, people are likely to engage with you.

“Put aside some time to reach out and engage with the tweets of your followers as well as influencers you would like to build a relationship with,” says Melonie Dodaro, a social selling speaker and trainer and author.

Smith says she “takes a quick peek at someone’s bio and recent tweets to find something to compliment or talk about to create a connection.”

Don’t expect, however, that you can outsource your engagement and be effective. All of the experts I spoke to, despite having massive number of followers, handle responses themselves.

Keep this in mind: “The heart of the brand is you,” says Schaffer, “and your engagements are you.”

Brenner calls relating in social “Give to Get (G2G)”: “Karma works in the social world,” he says. “Share the work of people you admire and they will take a second look at your own work. Over time, you will become an authority yourself.”

“Be yourself. It’s okay to mix business and personal,” adds Gini Dietrich, author and CEO of Arment Dietrich. “People want to know the person behind the brains. And you have to just do it. So many people overanalyze it and overthink it. Just jump in and start tweeting.”

Actionable Takeaways:

1. Avoid tactics that look like spam on Twitter. “At first I thanked every single person who retweeted my content,” says Brenner. “But then I just felt like a robot, blindly sending ‘thanks for the RT’ messages. Now I focus on those people who really seem interested in connecting.”
2. Don’t automate direct messages. Dietrich’s pet peeve is the auto direct message that encourages you to buy something from the person you just followed.
3. Don’t be blatantly promotional. Don’t say something like “buy my stuff,” says Brenner. “That’s the quickest way to lose followers and anger people.”

Step #6: Test and analyze.

Twitter gives you practically instant feedback. Almost as soon as you post something, you can see how it performs.

“Twitter is my number one platform where I share the most content and also the platform where I test content,” says Schaffer. “When I see what resonates, I know what to share on my other platforms, for my newsletter, blog posts, books, and other projects.”

Schaffer says he aggressively uses hashtags on Twitter so he can be found and manage his content, and also so he can compare how tweets with a certain hashtag perform against other hashtags.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Take time to find the right tool for measuring and analyzing. “Find the one that makes sense to you and you’re comfortable with,” says Burgess, who uses Triberr for posting, RiteTag for finding the best hashtags, as well as several analytic tools.

Step #7: Outsource strategically, if at all.

According to Schaffer, you don’t need to outsource any of your Twitter efforts in the beginning. But once you start to scale your followers, consider outsourcing some of the administrative work.

“Outsourcing content curation is one of the first areas busy business owners ought to consider. It’s highly worthwhile and ensures your Twitter presence stays active and relevant,” says Smith. “I’m the only one that replies and engages, though,” she adds, “as I never actually delegate my conversations. I also live tweet events.”

At the same time, don’t outsource so much that your authenticity is lost, says Burgess. “To those that are considering outsourcing, first I’d recommend simplifying. You don’t need to tweet every five minutes and you don’t need to reply to every mention.”

Schaefer says, “I do 100% of my own tweets. I feel strongly that I don’t want to disappoint anybody. I never want to be in a position where somebody is engaging with me and then they discover that it’s not really me.” Schaefer says the only thing he outsources is some of the administration on his account, like managing followers.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Find a system to help you find, curate and share content, says Neal Schaffer, who personally uses Sprout Social. Schaeffer says you don’t need a monitoring tool unless you’re a well-established brand. “The @ mentions of your name are enough for most people.”

Step #8: Commit.

Now that you know what to do, you need to devote time each day to just doing it.

Brenner’s advice? “You have to find the time to make small investments in social every day,” he says.

“Tweet once a day. Blog once a week (if that’s all you have time to do). Do whatever works for you and be realistic. It’s amazing what happens after a year. You’ll have sent hundreds of tweets, created dozens of blog posts, connected with lots of great people and learned more than you would have ever imagined.”

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Find your focus by following one course until successful and stick to it, says Smith. “Publish daily tweets around your chosen focus. But don’t forget to engage, too.”

Building Your Brand

These Twitter brand experts have cracked the code. And so can you if you follow these seven steps. Remember the adage: Success is no accident. You have to work at it.

What are your best tips for building a memorable brand presence? Share them below.

Are you looking for new ways to experiment with your email marketing and increase engagement and conversion?

With video in general becoming a more and more important content format for marketers, we put our heads together with the folks at Wistia to see how using video thumbnails in your email marketing affects engagement. Spoiler alert: It makes a huge difference, and we want to share the results with you.

Join HubSpot Marketing Manager Chelsea Hunersen and Wistia Partner Coordinator Margot Mazur on Wednesday December 14 at 1 p.m. EST for the big reveal of brand new data. They’ll show you how to successfully incorporate video thumbnails in your brand’s email and marketing strategies.

More specifically, you can expect:

• Never before seen data on video thumbnails in email
• Wistia & HubSpot’s own experiment results
• Tips on how to include video thumbnails in your email and marketing strategy
• Bonus: Answers to questions submitted by actual audience members!

Save your seat now, and don’t forget to submit your questions.

A lot of eyes are going to be on your website in the upcoming weeks. A National Retail Foundation survey found that more than 56% of holiday shoppers will purchase gifts online. What’s more, almost 80% of shoppers are heading to the internet to research gifts, even if they end up actually purchasing the item in-store.

Those numbers are only going up. The smartest marketers will prepare for this not only by prepping their website for higher-than-normal traffic and optimizing it for mobile devices, but also by giving their website design a dose of holiday cheer.

It all starts with the homepage: The first page many people will see when they come to your website. How have other companies redesigned their homepages for the holidays? Let’s take a look.

Note: Businesses change their homepages on a regular basis. The examples below may not be current.

15 Holiday Homepage Designs to Get You in the Spirit

1) Free People

When your business has a loud personality like American bohemian retail company Free People does, making a big first impression on your homepage can be a great thing. Free People’s redesign is all-encompassing, starting with a large, high-definition image of models wearing some of its latest festive holiday apparel.

We especially love the whimsical, fun font it used in the headline, “The Gift Shop 2016.” For certain brands, decorative fonts like these can be a great seasonal touch to the style of your homepage. (Get tips for using fonts in your web design in our free do-it-yourself design guide.)

2) PayPal

Who ever said online money transfer websites can’t have fun at the holidays?

PayPal’s holiday homepage works because it still looks like PayPal — just a little more festive. It’s still easy to navigate but adds seasonal flair with a clever spin on a lyric from “Jingle Bells” as its holiday slogan. The whitespace encourages visitors to focus on the happy models in the image, putting human faces to an industry that’s businesslike and technical.

3) Sephora

Like PayPal, Sephora didn’t make many changes to the overall look and feel of its website. What it did do was feature a holiday edition of its highest-rated products and editors’ picks, specially curated for different gift recipients, price ranges, categories, and so on.

By putting editors’ picks front and center, Sephora is reminding customers how much the company values customers’ success. Plus, we love the sprinklings of gemstones throughout the page — it’s a cute, festive way to separate modules on the page.

4) Baudville

While seasonal website redesign is often dominated by B2C companies, a few B2B businesses have been known to dress up websites a bit too. Baudville, an employee recognition solution, is one.

While some web designers like to add a ton of new elements to their holiday designs, Baudville shows you don’t have to. Something as simple as adding a holiday gift shop slide to your homepage photo banner can be enough to warmly welcome users to your site during this time of year.

5) La Colombe

La Colombe’s holiday homepage design features soft, wintry hues and festive lighting. Visitors are greeted with high-definition photography of people enjoying La Colombe coffee products around a shared table. This webpage is another example of a business staying true-to-brand with an added holiday touch.

6) L.L. Bean

For a U.S. outdoor retail company like L.L. Bean, the holidays mean winter … which means cold. (For most of us, unfortunately.) It keeps the holidays out of the seasonal redesign completely: The featured photo on the homepage is a model wearing apparel in front of pine trees covered in show, which is in keeping with the brand’s outdoorsy theme.

L.L. Bean shares a list of holiday gift ideas featuring some of its most popular and beloved products. The seasonal homepage slogan — “Gifts That Last Beyond the Present” — reminds visitors of L.L. Bean’s amazing satisfaction guarantee.

If you’re more attracted to a winter-themed seasonal redesign, consider using winter-themed stock photos for your homepage. You might also consider cooling down the color scheme of your whole site for the holiday season. This means using cooler tones like blues, purples, and greens to give it a more “wintry” feel. (You can read more about cool color schemes in this blog post about color theory.)

7) The Container Store

This homepage is a fantastic move for the holidays because it is chock-full of goodies for visitors. Every module on this homepage has something helpful to offer customers — stocking stuffers, gift ideas, luggage for holiday travel, party favors, and DIY projects.

The various CTAs on the homepage are clear and tell visitors everything they need to know about what’s on the rest of the site. The geometric shapes organize all of the content cleanly, so despite the fact that the homepage has several different offers on it, it’s not cluttered.

8) Xfinity

Between sporting events, holiday movies, and making your family binge-watch your new favorite TV series, with holidays comes lots of screen time. This homepage reminds visitors to be prepared for fun with their families.

The primary CTA isn’t just “Deals to save you money!” or “Deals to get you to buy from our website!” Instead, this homepage advertises its “Ready for the Holidays Sale” alongside images of families having fun spending time together, some with screens.

Thanks to this positioning, the message feels less like a way to make money, and more like an nod to holiday family time that includes a lot of togetherness, and probably some TV in between.

9) J. Crew

J. Crew’s holiday homepage goes above and beyond expectations for a clothing store. The whitespace on the page is simple and lets the clothing and accessories stand out on the page to prospective shoppers while keeping the website true to brand.

Its homepage advertises “Present-Topia,” a Gift Guide that breaks down J. Crew products by age, gender, and price for ease of shopping. The black callout box advertises a sale it’s running that includes seasonal clothing. J. Crew also published curated looks that visitors can browse or directly shop from to make the shopping experience easier and more visual. This homepage redesign prioritizes the user experience while still keeping the site beautiful and on-brand.

10) Microsoft

We like Microsoft’s minimalist holiday homepage because it stays true to brand and uses whitespace to showcase the new products it’s promoting this season. The simple red banner draws attention to their holiday shopping CTA and reminds people to think about products their friends and families might want. Then, there’s another CTA reading “Shop Now” that drives home the need to click around and start shopping.

11) Fitbit

The dark background of Fitbit’s homepage lets the festive gold color scheme and the products shine. The photography styling positions Fitbits as a gift similar to jewelry in beautiful boxes, rather than a piece of sporting equipment, to make Fitbit products appeal to a wider variety of shoppers and not just athletes.

The primary CTA is to “Shop The Gift Guide,” which leads visitors through all of the products with descriptions that suggest who they might purchase it for, making it easy for shoppers to imagine their family and friends using the product.

Additionally, the site has a neat feature where visitors can hint to someone that they themselves want to get a Fitbit as a gift.

12) John Lewis

British retailer John Lewis didn’t give its homepage a holiday makeover, but by tailoring each module to the season, it makes it hard for site visitors to navigate away before looking at the brand’s products and projects ideas.

The main module above the fold features festive holiday decorations with a suggestion to look into the kitchen and home goods to prepare for big family meals. Just below, John Lewis features helpful information about delivery dates for ordering holiday gifts and the bonus that it offers free shipping.

We also love the “Be Inspired” section featuring travel and style ideas that don’t advertise John Lewis products outright but instead, provide helpful content in the true inbound marketing way.

13) HP

We can’t guarantee that HP’s holiday homepage video won’t make you cry, but we can say that it’s a unique and heartfelt spin on traditional holiday marketing. HP’s homepage is another example of a site keeping the page minimally decorated with only their featured video, “Reinvent Giving,” above the fold.

The touching video features a brother using HP technology to come up with the perfect gift for his brother, who is hard of hearing — a guitar set that displays flashing lights when played so his brother can see himself playing music, even if he can’t hear it. Emotion in advertising is effective, especially around the holiday season — everyone has a friend or family member they want to find the perfect gift for.

14) Madewell

The image and header on Madewell’s homepage are very much in line with the company’s typical branding: a model wearing a gorgeous dress in front of a neutral background, accompanied by a holiday spin on their name in festive, embellished font.

This is both attractive to first-time visitors who are greeted with simple imagery and user experience, as well as returning users, who expect a design like this but still appreciate the added holiday touches. The #giftwell hashtag prompts visitors to start a conversation about their shopping experiences on social media, which fosters a sense of brand loyalty.

15) Warby Parker

Warby Parker stuck to the basics of beautifully simple design in its seasonal homepage redesign. “Winter 2016” is the simple headline, which showcases a man dressed in winter apparel, set with a whole lot of negative space to draw attention to the details of his outfit — and namely, his glasses.

While the primary CTA is still its usual “Shop Now,” you’ll notice a secondary CTA as you scroll that introduces “We Like It, We Love It: Warby Parker Editions.” This social proof compels visitors to click, leading them to a curated list of fun holiday gift ideas, such as dog toys and books, including one the brand published called “50 Ways to Lose Your Glasses.” This section is unique because Warby Parker is selling items different from what it usually sells to help valued customers fulfill their holiday shopping lists, which is a neat way to foster brand loyalty.

Finally, Warby Parker’s responsive design gives mobile users a pleasant holiday shopping experience. According to Google, 53% of people who shopped online in 2014 used smartphones or tablets, and mobile searches about products while shoppers are still in the store have increased 30%.

The numbers are expected to rise this year, especially now that more people are searching Google on their smartphones than on desktop, so be sure your website is mobile-friendly in time for the holidays.

(To see more examples of ways ecommerce businesses have redesigned their websites for the holidays, check out this library of examples on Crayon.co.)

Oh, and one more thing: As you plan your own website design strategy for the holidays, be sure to plan and prepare your site for higher-than-normal traffic. The last thing you want is for your site to go down during a time when you hope to be doing great business.

What great homepage redesigns have you see this holiday season? Share with us in the comments.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in November 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Giving Tuesday is one of the biggest donation days of the year. Once it’s over, don’t let its impact fade away. Sure, you’ve seen a boost in donations off your Giving Tuesday campaign, but you’ve also gotten so much more value you can use to advance your organization’s mission.

Once the Giving Tuesday campaign itself is over, have a follow-up plan that keeps the value growing throughout the next year. Here are four pieces to a successful post-Giving Tuesday plan.

1) Run An Engagement Campaign For People Who Donated On Giving Tuesday

Donating is a strong expression of interest. Run a targeted campaign for the Giving Tuesday donors to get them further engaged with your organization. This is not a campaign asking for more money. Too soon.

A Giving Tuesday donor campaign can start with a special thank you for making the day so special. Share some details about what was achieved that day: how much was donated, where that money is going and whom it will help.

Create some image or emoji-laden social content that announces what a rock star they are for having given to your organization on Giving Tuesday. Then encourage them to share the pre-fabbed social content via their own social media profiles. Instead of “I voted” stickers we get on election day, these are the “I donated…” or “I gave to…” social media updates.

If you have events or volunteer opportunities, you might center your campaign around getting them involved in them. Frame it as not just an opportunity for them to be involved, but for your organization to be able to meet its great donors in person and thank them personally.

2) Build Content About How The Donations Will Be Used, Showing Maximum Impact

Some of this content can be used in your Giving Tuesday donor campaign, as well as other targeted campaigns or general social media content.

Start with an eye-catching infographic that shares interesting tidbits about what you raised on Giving Tuesday and how that translates to the good your nonprofit does. Does your program run a program providing after-school tutoring to students in need? How many more students and tutoring hours will the donations support? Let people see what the money will do.

Will the money be used for building improvements or at a physical location? Take a video and give a tour of where and how the money will create more or enhanced resources for the community. As the improvements get made, post update videos they can share too.

3) Plan How To Re-Engage This Year’s Donors For Other Giving Occasions

Just because you’re not asking your Giving Tuesday donors for another donation right now, doesn’t mean you won’t in the future. You’d be silly not to prep them for a future ask. 

When you think about a donation campaign for this group, it might be worthwhile to segment them further. For example, new donors and repeat donors, by amount of donation, whether they engaged with your engagement campaign, or got involved in other ways with your organization since their Giving Tuesday donation. It makes sense that these different groups would get different messaging.

What you know they all have in common is that they’re motivated by group action and social media events. You might think about building a donation campaign around another meaningful event or even otherwise ordinary social media meme (#WednesdayWisdom, anyone?). An animal rescue group might build something around National Puppy Day (it’s coming up in March). There’s day for everything. Find one that’s relevant to your group.

If you have an annual event that attracts higher dollar donors, put together a prep email campaign for the Giving Tuesday donors that were on the high end. The email campaign can start with content from previous years’ events and build up to the save the date and ask. 

4) Report On Your Giving Tuesday Results So You Know Which Marketing Efforts Worked Best

Run. Analyze. Refine. That’s the mantra for every marketing campaign and it’s no different for Giving Tuesday. Hopefully, you set some campaign goals and identified important metrics pre-campaign. Regardless of outcome, look at each piece of content and point of outreach to see how well it performed. Or who it performed well with and who it didn’t.

What devices did most of your converted traffic come from? Which social media channels were most responsive? Did videos perform better than blog posts? How did the conversion rates on different Giving Tuesday emails vary? 

What can you learn about the new donors each campaign tactic attracted? What are the common demographic or psychographic denominators you can find? 

Do a post-mortem that ends with actionable takeaways you can implement right now and to execute an even better Giving Tuesday campaign next year.

You Don’t Have To Wait ‘Til Next Year

We’re not just talking to you Cubs fans out there. Giving Tuesday might just be an annual campaign, but you can incorporate it into marketing campaigns all year long. From content you can build around its impact on your mission to leveraging the new donor data gathered – Giving Tuesday is truly a gift that keeps on giving.

If you’re anything like me, there’s been a time in your life when you’ve asked, “What the heck is https?”

What’s that extra “s” for? Well, it turns out that the “s” stands for “SSL,” which stands for Secure Sockets Layer — the technology that encrypts your connection to a website, so that hackers can’t intercept any of your data.

The whole concept of https is a pretty interesting topic on its own, and my colleague, Jeffrey Vocell, talks more about it here. But in addition to what it actually means, why is it so important? And why do you need it on your website? aforementioned colleague, we identified five of the more important ones. (Spoiler alert: A lot of them have to do with your search performance, so have a good look at what they mean for you.)

HubSpot Marketing customers: SSL is included free of charge with the Website Add-On, and the number of domains on which you can enable SSL depends on your subscription type. Learn more here.

5 Reasons Why HTTPS Should Be Enabled on Your Website

1) It’s good for search.

Every minute — no, second — Google’s algorithm requires sites to essentially battle it for top search rankings. I love that visual: two websites that could both rank for a user’s query, essentially running toward the finish line of top results. But what happens if there’s a tie? Do the sites battle it out in a “sudden death” round?

Kind of — there is a tiebreaker involved, and it’s https. The way Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes explains it, “If all quality signals are equal for two results, then the one that is on HTTPS would get … or may get … the extra boost that is needed to trump the other result.”

It all goes back to the idea that Google is constantly solving for the user, and makes frequent changes to its algorithm that create a better experience. Which is why our next point makes sense.

2) It’s better for users.

I couldn’t tell you the last time I heard about a hacking incident in which thousands of records were stolen — because they seem to happen so frequently. In fact, such data breaches jumped 29.5% between 2014 and 2015.

But SSL helps to prevent these “man-in-the-middle” attacks — “a form of eavesdropping where communication between two users is monitored and modified by an unauthorized party” — and keeps user information secure.

That makes https especially important if your website accepts credit cards or has a login functionality. With so many of these hacking incidents making headlines, users want to know that your brand is making an effort to protect them from their private information being stolen or compromised.

We could also get into a debate about the ethics of protecting your users from that kind of privacy breach, but you get the point:

• user privacy = important
• https = good for privacy

3) SSL is required for AMP.

A few pieces of vocabulary to break down here:

“AMP” stands for Accelerated Mobile Pages. It’s the technology that makes certain pages load almost instantaneously on mobile. So, when you search for something on your mobile device through Google, you might notice that some results have a lightning bolt icon next to it, that means that it’s AMP-ready.

Look at what happens when I search for Doomtree, my favorite hip hop group, on my phone. On the first page of results, one has the lightning bolt icon next to it. And when I click on that result:

… it loads instantaneously.

AMP is going to play a major role in SEO in the coming months — Google is making it a priority for 2017, which implies that AMP-ready pages will have better rankings. But in order for something to be labeled as AMP, it requires SSL.

We’ve covered the importance of optimizing for mobile quite a bit, and preparing for the special attention that will be paid to AMP is now part of that optimization. But in order for webmasters to be as web-friendly as possible, all of the requirements behind AMP must be closely examined — including its https criteria.

4) Google is indexing mobile.

So, that thing we just said about the importance of mobile? It turns out, Google is actually going to start indexing mobile, which means that its “algorithms will eventually primarily use the mobile version of a site’s content to rank pages from that site.”

But in order for a mobile site to be indexable, Google recommends several best practices, one of which is to “start by migrating to a secure site,” especially “if [you] don’t support HTTPS yet.”

And bottom line, says HubSpot SEO Senior Marketing Manager Victor Pan, “HTTPS is preferred over HTTP in the index, with all other things being equal.” So get secure — you’ll be glad you did.

5) “Not secure.”

To elaborate — In January 2017, Chrome 56 will start displaying “not secure” in the browser bar for any http (notice it’s missing the “s”) sites that ask users for login or credit card information.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m about to make an online purchase and see that the site isn’t secure — for example, that the padlock icon in the browser bar is broken — I navigate my business elsewhere. And I’m not alone. In fact, only 3% of online shoppers say they would enter their credit card information on a site without the green padlock.

Imagine if Google starts doing that work for users before they can even get to checkout. If the number is as low as 3% now, before search engines start doing the legwork to label sites as “not secure” before anyone even visits them, you can see how traffic to those sites will suffer a huge blow — as well as its digital sales revenue.

Create a Safe Space

There you have it. If you want your SEO to stay strong — on both desktop and mobile — and you don’t want to lose digital sales revenue, it’s easy to see why https should be enabled on your website.

These are just a few reasons why https is so important. What are yours? Let us know in the comments.

>