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With 2.4 billion monthly active users on Facebook, it’s important that your posts show up correctly in the newsfeed.

But we’ve all been there. You’re drafting a post and the wrong image shows up in the preview. Or worse, no image is showing up at all.

How can you fix this?

It’s actually an easy process. Using the Facebook debugger tool, you can ensure your social media posts are formatted properly.

Below, let’s review HubSpot’s step-by-step process for fixing images with the Facebook debugger tool.

What Is the Facebook Link Debugger?

The debugger tool allows you to see what information Facebook pulls for a specific URL. For instance, if you want to share a blog post, you can use the debugger tool to see what image, preview text, and title will show up in the newsfeed.

As a marketer, you write and promote blog posts often. However, understanding the code or how your blog page is built is a different matter.

Have you ever posted a blog on Facebook and the incorrect image or no image at all shows up in the preview? That’s because your blog page doesn’t have open graph tags (the meta title, description, and image) set up correctly.

The Facebook debugger tool simplifies this process, so all you need to do is communicate the issues found on the debugger tool with the developer and let them know that the errors. For example, it could be something like this, “the og:image tag is pointing to the wrong URL.” The tool facilitates the conversation between you as a marketer and your web engineers.

Now that we’ve explained the purpose of this tool, let’s dive into how you use it.

How to Use Facebook’s Link Debugger

Using the debugger tool is simple. Below is HubSpot’s five-step process:

1. Paste the URL in the debugger tool.

To begin, copy the URL of the blog post and enter it into the debugger tool. Then, click “Debug.”

Once you click “Debug,” you will see the information Facebook will use when posted on its platform.

For example, below I’ve pasted in a link to a HubSpot blog post.

2. Review the information and any error codes.

After you hit “Debug”, the tool will give you the information that it will use when posted to its platform. Plus, it also gives a preview so you can see if your image will post correctly.

If everything is as expected, then you’re good to go.

If not, you might experience a few errors on this page. Facebook will put errors in a “Warnings That Should Be Fixed” section at the top of the page.

You could encounter errors like:

• Missing images: Facebook can’t find an image and guesses which one to use.
• Old images: Facebook is showing an old image.
• Image resolution: The image is missing due to image size and resolution.
• Incorrect images: Facebook is pulling the wrong image.

There are also other errors you could get surrounding open graph tags, but for the focus of this blog, we’ll only touch on images. As an aside, to fix these issues, you’ll want to include open graph tags in your coding for the post. Communicate any issues with the open graph tags to your web developer.

In the example below, you can see that there’s a warning, but since it doesn’t have to do with the image, we’ll ignore it. Below the warning, you can see the link preview. In this case, Facebook is pulling the correct image. After the preview, you’ll find the open graph data including title, meta description, and image link.

3. Fix the issues.

If your images aren’t displaying correctly, you should be able to easily fix the issue. Below we’ll break down the common issues and how to fix them.

Missing Images

If Facebook can’t find your image, it might be because you didn’t make it your “Featured Image” in your CSM.

To correct this, check that your image is uploaded to your CSM.

Old Images

Sometimes Facebook will pull up old images because it can’t see the new one. This happens due to caching issues in your browser or content management system.

To fix this, clear your cache in your CSM, Facebook, and browser.

Image Size & Resolution

Your image could be missing due to image size and resolution. If you see an error regarding the “og:image” property, it typically means your image is too small. The minimum Facebook size is 200×200 pixels and the minimum resolution is 600×315.

Wrong Image on Page

If you have multiple images on your blog post, Facebook might pull the wrong image as the featured image.

When this happens, you need to edit the meta tag in the backend of your blog post (the HTML coding).

To do this, go to the HTML code, find the open graph tags, and edit the “og:image” tag to ensure it’s pointing to the URL of the correct featured image.

4. Scrape the URL again.

When you’ve gone through and fixed the issue, go back to the debugger tool and click, “Scrape Again.”

This will force Facebook to update your page in its cache.

Once it scrapes again, check the preview link and ensure your image is showing up how you want.

The debugger tool will list the time of the latest scrape and any errors that occurred during that process. The image below shows what that will look like.

5. Share your post.

If there are no more errors, you’re ready to share your post! Go back into Facebook, input your URL, and check out the link preview.

Ensuring your social media posts look right is an important aspect of planning a social media campaign. If you’re having trouble getting the right information to display, you can guarantee the right title, description, and image with open graph tags.

Learn more about open graph tags here.

How many times have you seen a killer marketing campaign and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I would’ve thought of that!”

(Glossier, I’m looking at you.)

We’ve all been there.

The truth is, when you’re just starting out, it can be tough to know whether your strategy is as comprehensive and powerful as it could be.

To help ease some of that uncertainty, we’ve created this guide that’ll show you step-by-step how to create a marketing strategy that leaves no stone unturned.

Let’s dive into the five critical components of a complete marketing strategy in 2019, followed by some examples for further inspiration.

1. Create buyer personas.

If you can’t define who your audience is in one sentence, now’s the chance to do it. A buyer persona is an example of your ideal customer.

For example, a store like Macy’s could define a buyer persona as Budgeting Belinda, a stylish working-class woman in her 30’s living in a suburb, looking to fill her closet with designer deals at low prices.

With this description, Macy’s Marketing department can picture Budgeting Belinda and work with a clear definition in-mind.

Buyer personas have critical demographic and psychographic information — including age, job title, income, location, interests, and challenges. Notice how Belinda has all of those attributes in her description.

You don’t have to create your buyer persona with a pen and paper. In fact, HubSpot offers a free template you can use to make your own (and it’s really fun). Buyer personas should be at the core of building your strategy.

2. Identify goals and tools.

Your marketing strategy goals should coincide with your business goals. For example, if one of your business goals is to have 300 people attend your annual conference in three months, your goal as a marketer should be along the lines of boosting online RSVPs by 10% at the end of the month.

Once you have your goals identified, make sure you have the right tools to measure the success of those goals. Online software like social media schedulers gives you analytics to help you keep track of what your audience likes and doesn’t. Alternatively, you might consider Google Analytics to measure blog and web page performance.

Additionally, it will be helpful if you make your goals SMART — to do so, take a look at How to Write a SMART Goal [+ Free SMART Goal Template].

3. Account for existing resources.

Decide what you already have in your arsenal that can help you create your strategy. To streamline this process, think of your assets in three categories — paid, owned, and earned media.

Recall that paid media means any channel you spend money on to attract your target audience. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn offer paid media options that boost your exposure.

Owned media is any of the media you create — blog posts, ebooks, images, and infographics that your marketing team has created are examples of owned media.

Earned media is another way to say user-generated content. Shares on social media, tweets about your business, and photos posted on Instagram mentioning your company are all examples of earned media.

Gather your materials in these areas and consolidate them all in a single vehicle so you’ll have a clear vision of what you have and how you can integrate the three channels together to maximize your strategy.

For example, if you already have a blog that’s rolling out weekly content in your niche (owned media), you might consider promoting your blog posts on Twitter (paid media), which customers’ might then re-tweet (earned media). Ultimately, that will help you create a better, more well-rounded strategy.

The free option? Tweet it from your company’s Twitter or post it on Instagram and use relevant hashtags to spread it.

If you have resources that don’t fit into your goals, nix it. This is a great time to clean house or identify gaps in your materials.

4. Audit and plan media campaigns.

Cleaning house segues straight into this step. Now, you must decide which content is going to help you. Focus on your owned media and marketing goals. For instance, will updating the CTAs at the end of your blog posts help you increase RSVPs to your event?

Next, look at your buyer personas. Let’s say you work for a video editing software company. If one of your persona’s challenges is adding clean sound effects to their videos but you don’t have any content that reflects that, make a 15-second demo video for Instagram to show how great your product is at solving that challenge.

Finally, create a content creation plan. The plan should include the title, goals, format, and channel for each piece of content. Be sure to include which challenge it’s solving for your buyer persona.

For ideas on content creation or a more in-depth look at how to create a content plan, check out our post, The Ultimate Guide to Content Creation.

5. Bring it to fruition

Finally, we’re at the last step. First, let’s go over what you should have by this point:

1. Buyer persona(s).

2. Specific marketing goals that coincide with your business goals.

3. Existing paid, owned, and earned media inventory.

4. An audit of a media campaign.

At this point, your market research and planning should help you visualize how your strategy will be executed (and by which teams).

The final step is to bring that all together — to put actions into your planning. Create a document that maps out the steps you need to take to execute your campaign. In other words, define your strategy.

Think long-term when creating this document. A standard strategy document is 12 months. This structured timeline should be the home base for your strategic marketing efforts.

To paint an example, let’s go back to the video software company.

Maybe in January, you will launch a software update that improves the exportation process for users. In April, you want to publish an ebook that explains editing terms to your buyer personas, and in September, you plan to launch an integration with other software.

Remember, your digital strategy is unique to your business, so the document should be, as well. As long as the strategy includes all of the necessary information, you’ll be all set to take your company’s brand from okay to outstanding.

Now that we’ve explored five critical steps of a complete marketing strategy, let’s look at some “Why didn’t I think of that?” strategies to inspire your own.

Examples of Successful Marketing Strategies

1. Regal Movies

Digital strategy: Owned media

Regal Movies took the Halloween spirit to a new level, even re-naming their Twitter to reflect the spirit of the season. This “Monster Madness” poll is a fun, interactive way to get followers invested in Regal’s content:

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Regal’s tweet is an example of owned media because the company was in full control of the answers followers gave (and, apparently, American Werewolf didn’t stand a chance). Regal effectively kept true to their brand by using only classic movies in their poll,, while still putting a modern spin on it.

This is also a good example of how retweets don’t necessarily equal success. While four retweets isn’t that big of a deal, check out the votes: 461. That means there were over 400 interactions with a single tweet.

2. Taco Bell

Digital strategy: User-generated content, earned media

Real love is taking your engagement photos at your favorite fast food Mexican restaurant — right? User-generated content is one of the best ways to gain traction in your strategy — it demonstrates your appreciation for loyal customers, and also incentivizes other users’ to promote your products for the chance at a similar shout-out. Plus, sometimes the content your brand-lovers create is really, really good:

Oh, you sure did. 👏❤️ https://t.co/TXflZvxVxR

— Taco Bell (@tacobell)
September 26, 2019

It’s not every day someone takes engagement photos at a fast-food restaurant, and Taco Bell jumped at this earned media opportunity. Earned media is at work here because this couple is saying they love baja blasts and crunchwraps as much as they love each other — so it must be delicious.

3. Small Girls PR

Digital strategy: Event marketing

Wait, is that Keke Palmer?

Small Girls PR is a boutique PR company based in New York, and one of the company’s talents is throwing amazing events for their clients, like Olay. This event recap carousel on Instagram is an effective event marketing example.

Event marketing is a fantastic opportunity to boost awareness for your brand. Not every business needs to throw lavish events, either. Event marketing can be as simple as the last company outing you had at your team’s favorite brewery.

Posting a quick recap on Instagram sheds light on your business’s culture, and demonstrates your appreciation for your employees’, ideally incentivizing others to apply.

4. Diesel Cafe

Digital strategy: Word of mouth

Boston-local cafe Diesel Cafe is more than just a great location to get vegan bagels. It also rocks at word-of-mouth marketing. In fact, Diesel even has a website dedicated to it — a place where fans can submit letters about the fun times they’ve had at the cafe:

Check your company’s Yelp climate. Are people giving you nice reviews? Showcasing some of them on your social channels is an effective opportunity to provide social proof that your products or services are a worthwhile investment, since people typically trust peers more than ads.

5. Target

Digital strategy: Paid media, Twitter cards

If you’ve got the budget for paid media, take full advantage of it. Paid media is when you pay social channels, like Twitter, to promote your content on their site. By doing this, your content reaches new audiences you might not be able to reach organically:

Get wrapped up in soft sweaters and fleece-lined jean jackets.

— Target (@Target)
October 11, 2019

An inclusive ad from Target about fall shopping uses Twitter cards to promote their brand and offer easier ways to shop — simply click on the photo, and you’re redirected to a purchase page. More social channels are offering ways for shoppers to purchase in-app or close to it, driving sales and boosting exposure for brands.

Ultimately, creating a complete marketing strategy isn’t something that can happen overnight. It takes time, hard work, and dedication to ensure you’re reaching your ideal audience, whenever and wherever they want to be reached. Stick with it (and use some of the resources we’ve included in this post), and over time, research and customer feedback will help you refine your strategy to ensure you’re spending most of your time on the marketing channels your audience cares most about.

As a marketer, you’re undoubtedly aware of some of the major social media sites you can use for lead generation.

I’m willing to bet you’ve already heard about the importance of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter — and if you use all three as part of your lead generation strategy, you might think you’re all set.

But if you’re not using LinkedIn as a lead generation tool, you could be missing out on a major opportunity to grow both brand recognition and revenue.

In fact, studies have shown that 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn, and 94% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content.

This makes sense. Consider the average Instagram user — scrolling through her feed, liking photos of her friend’s beach vacation and her sister’s bridal shower, and occasionally using the platform to find and purchase products.

Alternatively, the average LinkedIn user is on the site specifically for professionally-geared content. They’re already seeking out information to help grow their businesses. If you can provide them with high-quality content, it becomes much easier to convert.

Of course, it’s easier said than done, particularly when trending content on LinkedIn ranges from SEO to customer acquisition to goal-setting. Without a clear strategy in mind, the task of lead generation on LinkedIn can feel challenging.

Justin Shriber, Vice President of Marketing at LinkedIn, was interviewed as part of HubSpot’s new campaign, “Advertising, a Look Behind the Screens“. Take a look at the full interview series here, or keep reading to learn some of his key insights regarding lead generation and building a brand across the platform.

Shriber’s Steps for Growing a Brand and Generating Leads on LinkedIn

1. Make sure your executives have a strong LinkedIn presence.

When you’re first getting started on LinkedIn, it can be tricky to know where to dedicate your initial efforts. Should you create a compelling LinkedIn Page, and immediately start posting content to your business’s feed?

Maybe, instead, you should start by posting all your job openings to attract new talent?

Shriber suggests another strategy: “We definitely want to fuel the growth of small businesses that have aspirations to grow to become larger, and we put together a playbook that allows them to do that. The playbook always starts with the individual LinkedIn profiles of the employees at the company, and in particular, the executives at the company.”

“[Executives are] trendsetters. They can make statements about what they stand for, and in many cases, develop a strong following in relatively short order.”

Consider the leaders at your company and their current LinkedIn presence. Could they contribute more thoughtfully to LinkedIn groups within your industry, or post more often to their feeds? More likely than not, your executives could be doing more to grow their LinkedIn following.

For instance, let’s take a look at Sallie Krawcheck’s LinkedIn activity:

Krawcheck is CEO and co-founder of Ellevest, and a powerful leader in the financial industry.

Krawcheck uses LinkedIn wisely, leveraging the platform to promote content from her own investment company, while also liking or sharing other relevant financial content geared towards women.

Ultimately, Krawcheck uses LinkedIn to build a personal brand and help her followers find useful content related to investing and women in finance. Ideally, your own executives should be doing the same.

2. Create a powerful LinkedIn Page for your business.

Once you’ve ensured your own executives have a strong LinkedIn presence, it’s time to cultivate an impressive page.

You’ll want to ensure your page is active, with thought-provoking content and contributions to conversations already happening on LinkedIn.

Shriber notes — “Once you’ve got a strategy related to your executives and their presence on LinkedIn, step two is to think about the presence of your company on LinkedIn. We have a product called LinkedIn Pages, which has been incredibly powerful for businesses that want to establish their place in the world’s professional community.”

“[LinkedIn Pages is] a free product,” Shriber adds, “and really, at the end of the day, it’s a place for you to stage the content that you have to offer, and really promote all of the benefits that you have for people that want to follow you.”

He continues, “So, when you come to a good LinkedIn Page, you’ll find information about what the company does, but beyond that, some of the thought leadership that’s happening. There will be video content as well as the written word, commentary from executives, but also in many cases, information that’s curated from other sources. It doesn’t just need to be from the marketing group or from an internal source.”

To ensure your page is strong, consider posting a variety of content, including video. Additionally, follow the page analytics closely to figure out what content resonates with your audience.

It’s equally critical you use LinkedIn to join communities and have conversations with other professionals in your industry. LinkedIn, at its core, is a social platform like any other. If you don’t engage with your followers and follow trending articles related to your business, you’ll lose out on making meaningful connections.

If you post an article once a week and then log out, you haven’t leveraged LinkedIn for all it has to offer. Instead, you should be learning from others in your industry to further inspire better content and connect more closely with the prospects you’re hoping to attract.

3. Use paid products to ensure your content reaches your intended audience.

Businesses with small marketing budgets may be wary to put money behind paid campaigns on LinkedIn. They often ask– we have a small marketing budget and we want to use it wisely. Where should we spend it?

Remember, 80% of B2B leads come from LinkedIn. And, ultimately, using LinkedIn’s paid products will help your brand and content appear in prospects feeds.

Shriber told me, “Once you’ve built that strong LinkedIn Page, companies tend to realize that that audience that’s consuming information is incredibly valuable, and it’s different than what they’re finding on other platforms.”

He adds, “We have a series of paid products that you can then move into that allow you to insert content into the LinkedIn feed. Now you’ve got a series of followers or you’ve got a set of targeted members that you care about. Suddenly, they’re seeing your content appear in the feed itself and there are some really rich ways to turn that engagement into actual activity.”

LinkedIn can help you convert prospects faster, with limited friction. For instance, on one of your paid ads, your prospects might have the option to immediately fill out a form or respond to an event. Since their information is already saved on LinkedIn, it’s a one-touch process for them. Best of all, it provides your sales team with invaluable data related to their industry and how you might best serve their professional needs.

4. Ensure you have strong sales and marketing alignment.

You’re likely all too familiar with the recent shift in consumer buying behavior. Nowadays, customers are researching online ahead of time and typically use marketing content to help inform their purchasing decision before even reaching out to a sales rep.

Shriber describes the shift like this: “What you’re seeing now, is consumers are becoming more savvy about learning about products and services that they need and progressing deep into the sales process before they reach out, raise their hand, and say that they need help.”

He adds, “It’s becoming incumbent upon marketing to really meet the needs of customers that are investigating and exploring, and then seamlessly handing that off to salespeople so sales has context on the journey customers have already traveled.”

Additionally, he notes: “Salespeople, in many respects, are [also] becoming brand experts.”

“I’ve got a number of customers that have come to me and said, my salespeople know my target customers better than my marketing group. They’ve been in the business for 20 years, and they know all the key people, so I’m going to use them to create awareness, build a brand in a way that historically has been reserved for marketing.”

On the flip side, of course, marketers are playing a more heavy role in closing a deal. Shriber told me, “Imagine, for example, that you’re procurement and you’re trying to negotiate a contract. Historically, that’s been the domain of a sales professional, but today, savvy marketers know that that’s where you are in the sales process.”

Shriber adds, “They’re able to target that procurement person, send in some relevant content related to validation of the solution, why it’s valuable, what other customers are saying about it, and all of a sudden, that marketer has played a key role in getting the deal closed.”

All of which is to say — it’s absolutely critical you align your sales and marketing teams, since they play equally valuable parts in finding prospects and closing deals, and they overlap more heavily now than ever before.

To figure out strategies for better aligning your sales and marketing departments, take a look at this Ultimate Guide to Sales and Marketing.

Ultimately, if you aren’t using LinkedIn or aren’t using it often, you’re likely missing out on major opportunities to grow your business. As Shriber told me, “We’ve really tried to think through the full spectrum of what you might care about, from building a brand to generating leads, whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise — and we built playbooks that address you where you are, and help you to get where you’re going.”

Learn more from Justin Shriber and other advertising leaders by accessing an exclusive interview series with LinkedIn, Google, and Facebook.

Twitter is an undeniably popular social network — in fact, the social site is ranked as the 7th most visited website in the world.

Additionally, 88% of medium-sized businesses use Twitter for marketing purposes.

You likely already know about the power of Twitter for marketing. However, there are a number of unique features on the platform you might not know about that can strengthen your Twitter strategy.

For instance — you might know about Trending Topics, but did you know you can figure out which topics are trending in your own personalized social networks, rather than across the web as a whole? Alternatively, how often have you used Twitter polls to engage and connect with your audience?

To ensure you’re using Twitter in the most meaningful way possible, we’ve created this list filled with examples of how 10 companies use Twitter to reach and engage with both new and existing audiences. Let’s dive in, now.

This blog content is a taste of what you’ll find in the HubSpot Academy Twitter Marketing Strategy course. If you like what you read, you can take the full, free course here.

1. Create content that aligns with trending topics.

First, let’s consider the trending topics feature on Twitter. These trending topics are configured based on your personal preferences.

There are a couple of choices you can make — you can choose to see everything from your country, everything from a certain city, or you can even choose tailored preferences (also called “Trends for You”) which relies on the Twitter algorithm to show what’s trending from the people you follow and their Twitter communities.

If you choose to follow “Trends for You”, you’re more likely to see tweets based upon subjects you prefer, since presumably you follow people who like similar topics.

There are two ways to take advantage of trending topics. One great way is to plan ahead. It may seem funny to plan ahead for something that’s trending, but on Twitter there are a number of things that trend at certain times. That could include holidays, certain TV shows or movies, or even hashtags like #MondayMotivation.

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Here are a couple of examples of how Skittles takes advantage of trending topics. They have clearly planned ahead for these particular days to create content that is more likely to trend:

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As another example, the team at G Fuel uses trending topics to create conversation.

Patrick Curran, the director of social media at G Fuel, explains — “I love to hop on other conversations and threads from other companies, and trending topics that don’t mention us or our name whatsoever.”

Curran says, “It gives us the ability to become a name in a thread that, again, doesn’t have anything to do with us, but that gives us great exposure. If it’s a comment that someone likes, we just gained a fan. So it has everything to do with interacting with other threads, interacting with other companies. That’s how you get your name out there.”

Two sites that can help you find what’s trending beyond what you’re seeing on the Twitter platform itself include Trendsmap and Trends24.

2. Live-tweet during major events.

Another popular Twitter action that goes hand-in-hand with trending topics is the idea that you can live-tweet during a certain event. This could be something like tweeting during a sports event or TV show.

Live-tweeting can also be extremely beneficial if you’re attending an event with your company or if you’re hosting an event. It allows you to bring people who aren’t there into the conversation.

Here’s a great example of how SEMRush combined live-tweeting at INBOUND with some prepared material to share with the audience who couldn’t attend the conference:

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One tip is to make sure that you are being thoughtful of your audience and don’t go too overboard with live-tweeting at a conference or an event, because you may turn a few people off if you’re bombarding them. Leave some intervals in-between your tweets.

3. Use gifs available in the Twitter platform, or create your own.

Companies should really be jumping on the animated gif bandwagon. You can use the Giphy gifs that are available in the Twitter platform.

Alternatively, you can create your own, which is what many brands choose to do so they’re not diluting their brand with other people’s content. Here’s an example of how HubSpot creates its own gif to draw attention to HubSpot’s Support team:

In need of a helping hand? Tweet your questions to our support handle @HubSpotSupport or check out some solutions in our Help Center 👉 https://t.co/OuwcricjjG pic.twitter.com/5X6dlyIBaW

— HubSpot (@HubSpot)
April 19, 2018

However, I would challenge brands to consider using popular gifs or gifs that align with pop culture, because it creates a connection with your audience in a way that you may not be able to do with your own branded gif.

SmallBizLady, Melinda Emerson tells us — “On Twitter, animated gifs rule. So, I think any time you can respond to someone with an animated gif, or put an animated gif on a blog post that you got, people love that. People love to laugh. People love to be entertained, so you can’t go wrong.”

For instance, check out this branded gif from Kate Spade:

Why, hello there perfect spring handbag. We fell in love with this @katespadeny while shooting a story about embracing colour. https://t.co/75XE6RotAV pic.twitter.com/P6ZMdwJwJR

— Primer (@Primer_au)
March 27, 2019

Alternatively, some brands don’t use gifs in the tweets in their main feed, but they’ll use animated gifs in their responses, such as this example from G Fuel:

G FUEL runs through my veins….literally 😳.

New Type-🅾️ Flavor AVAILABLE NOW .

Code KARNAGE at checkout 🤪! pic.twitter.com/2iAcw5TJMl

— KRNG Apollo 🚀 – CODE “KARNAGE” FOR 30% OFF GFUEL! (@ApollosMission)
June 20, 2019

4. Use Twitter polls to engage with your audience.

Twitter polls is another effective feature that can get the conversation flowing.

For instance, HubSpot uses Twitter polls to both educate and engage its audience:

Additionally, T-Mobile uses polls to have fun with their fans:

Take a look at How to Use Twitter Polls to Engage Your Audience: 13 Examples From Real Brands to learn more about Twitter’s poll feature.

5. Use Twitter Moments to compile multiple tweets.

Next are Twitter Moments, which is a feature that is often underutilized.

Social media strategist Dhariana Lozano tells us — “Companies can really take advantage of Twitter Moments. Twitter Moments allows you to take up to 10 tweets and compile them into one continuous story. It’s when you go on Twitter and you see the trending topics, and you can click on them, and there’s multiple tweets attached to them. That’s what a Twitter Moment is, and you can create one for your brand.”

Lozano adds, “There are lots of ways to use them. Think about event recaps, Twitter chat recaps. Even if you have 10 tips that you can put together as a resource for your brand, that is a great way to put Twitter Moments to use.”

Here’s a wonderful example from General Electric, which put together a Twitter Moment to demonstrate how technology and fashion coincide for the Met Gala:

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If you’re interested in creating your own Twitter moment, take a look at How to Create a Twitter Moment: A Step-by-Step Guide.

6. Consider implementing video and live broadcasts on Twitter.

While putting together our Twitter course, all of our influencers talked about the power of video. It can be used to inform, educate, and entertain — additionally, it’s often a preferred method of consuming content.

You might not realize this, but you can use video content on Twitter to engage with an audience. Check out this example from Intel, which uses video to provide information about one of their newest products:

A 2-in-1 PC that recognizes when you’re nearby and powers up without a touch. The new @Dell Latitude 7400 puts our context proximity sensors to work. https://t.co/7TEN3ffMFk pic.twitter.com/Vmoy4s0Qtg

— Intel (@intel)
June 20, 2019

Additionally, let’s talk about how you can create live broadcasts on Twitter. We asked Twitter expert Madalyn Sklar about going live on the platform:

“Twitter Live is a great feature, but it’s highly underutilized. I think people forget that there is a live button when you’re composing a tweet, and some people say, ‘’Well, why would I do a live video? What’s the purpose?’ Video is a great way to connect with your community, and so doing this live allows you to talk to them in real time.”

Sklar adds, “When you’re broadcasting live, you’ll see all the comments, you’ll see the conversation happening, and you can actually talk to people and it makes for a really fun way to converse with your community.”

There are two ways you can go live on Twitter. The first is through your smartphone. You can start a broadcast from Twitter’s Periscope app or the Twitter app. Once you’re live, anyone on Twitter and in Periscope can join the live video and see your experience. Best of all, the video will show up at the top of your news feed if people go to your profile.

Alternatively, you can use Twitter’s Periscope Producer Platform, which enables you to create higher-quality video with professional-grade cameras or multiple cameras. There are a lot of brands and media organizations that use Periscope producer for their content.

7. Don’t forget about text.

In the midst of all of the different kinds of content that you can create on Twitter, it’s vital you don’t forget about text. There is a ton of power in the text posts that you share on Twitter. In fact, you can have a successful Twitter strategy that relies primarily on text.

Ana Filipovic from Motley Fool explains — “If you look at our Twitter account right now, we’re using a lot of post text, a lot of polls, a lot of questions to engage with our followers because we really want to have that conversation with them and we really want to be positioned as a thought leader in the industry. In order to grow to that point, we’ve employed different tactics that did include linking to our articles, CTAs, and videos and images — all those things you use when you want to grow your business.”

“If you check out our account maybe in six months, we might be using a different strategy and that’s the beauty of social media. It really gives you the opportunity to try out different things and see what works best with your audience.”

Ultimately, you’ll want to test these unique features to see what resonates best with your audience. As you can see, there are a lot of options for the kinds of content you can share on Twitter. You are only limited by your own imagination, so start brainstorming and get creating!

Take our full Twitter Strategy course here.

Halloween is a fun holiday, and it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It doesn’t have recognizable songs or vacation days associated with it, and it falls on a busy time of year for most people in the workforce.

But that doesn’t mean you should skip the festivities at your office Halloween celebration.

How many days of the year are you encouraged to dress up and goof around at work? Probably just one — Halloween — and even then, it can be hard to know what’s office-appropriate.

We want you to have fun this Halloween, so we’re taking the work out if it for you. We’ve compiled a list of DIY Halloween costume ideas that are easy to put together, inexpensive, and perfect for the digital marketer or tech professional.

If your family and friends don’t get your costume, your colleagues definitely will.

29 Office Costume Ideas for Marketing Nerds & Tech Geeks

Computer or App-Related Costumes

1. Alt Text

Alt text isn’t just the metadata of an image published on the web — you could also say it’s an “alternative” fashion statement with the text to describe the era. This was HubSpot Director of Content Corey Wainwright’s office Halloween costume a few years ago. It’s great because you don’t even look dressed up if you have a casual office dress code, so you can just blend in.

To dress as alt text this halloween, break out your best 90s alternative garb — our coworker Corey went with black jeans, combat boots, and a flannel. Then, tape hyphenated text that best describes what you’re wearing, much like an image of your outfit would do online to help search engines read the file.

We edited a sash of alt text on to the alternatively dressed girl below, just to help you picture your awesome costume.

Source: That’s Life

2. SEO Ninja

Speaking of dorking out on SEO, you could be everyone’s favorite LinkedIn title — the SEO ninja. Dress in all black, buy a black ski mask, and tape keywords all over yourself. Voila … you’re an actual ninja — just one much more concerned with search engine optimization than lurking in the darkness.

Source: Pinterest

3. Mobile App

Wander around holding an appetizer — candy, cheese and crackers, chips and dip … whatever you have on hand. Boom. You’re a mobile “app.”

This costume also doubles as a great way to introduce yourself and make friends at a party.

Source: Opportunity Max

4. Instagrammer

Want another way to turn handing out food into a costume? Dress up like a hipster and hand out graham crackers. You’re an “instant” “gram” cracker server — or, for short, an Instagrammer. Pun absolutely intended.

5. Ghostwriter

Have you ever written something for somebody else’s byline? Such is the life of a “ghostwriter.” Turn your author-less accomplishment into this year’s office Halloween costume.

To dress up as a ghostwriter, grab a white sheet and cut a hole for your head and arms. Dob some black ink spots on the sheet, get a book and one of those feather quills (or just get a feather, I suppose), and boo — you’re a ghostwriter.

6. Whitespace

Whitespace on the internet might just denote all the blank space you use to help your design stand out, but on Halloween, “whitespace” isn’t just the absence of space.

Dress in all white — add white face paint and a white wig if you’re ultra-committed. Then add a hint of color somewhere on the outfit, like a colored tie or scarf, or even a paint splotch. That color splotch will make the white space more prominent, transforming you into “whitespace.”

7. Error 404 Code

You’ve most likely encountered a funny error 404 page before, and you can make it a funny costume, too. Grab a sheet of paper, write “Error 404: Costume Not Found,” and tape it to your outfit.

 

A photo posted by RachAel Klopfenstein (@theklopf) on Sep 5, 2015 at 12:33pm PDT

8. (Monty) Python

If you’re into programming code, British comedy, and low-effort costumes, being (Monty) Python is perfect. Dress up in anything remotely snakelike in your closet: olive green clothing, snakeskin accessories, and fake vampire teeth that can serve as your fangs.

Then, to amp up the dork factor on this costume, add two coconuts or a gold chalice to embody Monty Python on his quest for the Holy Grail.

9. Facebook

Grab face paint or eyeliner and write “book” across your cheeks. Just like that, you’re the world’s biggest social network for Halloween.

And for your sake, we hope your colleagues actually get it:

Source: AndPop

10. Unicorn

Here’s another tech-friendly, double-entendre costume: Be your own version of a tech unicorn. Here at HubSpot, we love this tech icon, and you can easily make your own version of a unicorn horn with help from this article.

Source: WikiHow

11. Phishing Emails

Phishing emails are nothing to joke about — they can seriously threaten your technology and data security. But on Halloween, you can dress up as a play on phishing emails for an easy DIY costume. All you need are a stick, a piece of string, and an envelope. Bonus points if you own a bucket hat and vest to complete the ensemble. Check out an amusing version of this costume below.

Source: Car and Driver

12. Copycat

“CNTRL + C” is the popular keyboard macro allowing you to copy items from one place to another on your computer. Well, here’s a technology spin on a classic Halloween costume. All you’ll need are cat ears, eyeliner-drawn whiskers, and a sheet of paper. Write “CNTRL + C” on the paper, tape it to your outfit, and you’re a “copycat.”

Source: BuzzFeed

13. The Blue Screen of Death

You know the screen, even if you don’t know the morbid nickname the tech world has given it. This classic error screen is known for signaling the end of a computer’s useful life, and you know it when you see it. It causes so much stress on site, in fact, that the color alone is scary enough for October 31.

Believe it or not, there are official T-shirts you can get with the blue screen of death copy printed on them. Want to make your own? All you need is a royal blue t-shirt and a printed version of this horrifying error message to pin to it.

Source: Spreadshirt

14. GPS Costume

This will work best with two people. You can cut a Point A and Point B pin shape out of cardboard, paint both red, and simply write A and B on it. From there, you can personalize the costume whichever way you’d like. You can even get more intricate by finding a T-Shirt with a map on it. 

Source: Pinterest

15. Dead Battery and Low Wi-Fi 

Nothing is more terrifying than a dead battery or no Wi-Fi. This costume brings all of techy’s fears to life. It’s also pretty simple to create. Just tape or glue images of dead Wi-Fi and low battery signals on to a black shirt. To emphasize the low-connectivity fears, put on some zombie or skeleton makeup. 

Although this can work as a couples costume, this could also be a fun option for office colleagues. Since both costumes within the set don’t rely on each other to be understandable, an individual could also wear either the Dead Battery outfir or the No-Wi-Fi suit and still be easily recognized.

Source: Pinterest

Emoji Costumes

16. Information Desk Girl

This genius professional found a golden (or, rather, purple) opportunity to be the “information desk emoji, the many gestures of whom we’ve all come to know, love, and use at some point in a text conversation.

The best part about this awesome tech reference is that you don’t need to alter your regular attire to make it work. As Naomi shows us below, it’s all in the hand gestures.

 

 

 

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No one recognized my Halloween costume for work until I started texting and striking poses #emojicostume #lazycostume

A post shared by Naomi (@naomi_yyz) on Oct 30, 2015 at 3:26pm PDT

17. Dancing Girls Emoji

If you’re the owner of one of the nearly more than 1 billion Apple iPhones sold worldwide, you’re probably familiar with the dancing girls emoji, shown below.

The easiest version of this costume is to find a buddy and dress all in black together. If you’re committed to emoji authenticity, buy black bunny ears to complete the look.

Source: Brit + Co

18. Heart Eyes

Are you just in love with Halloween? Prove it with this passionate emoji face. You don’t have to paint your entire face, chin to hairline, to get the Heart Eyes Emoji just right, but it certainly helps. It’ll also disguise your stress when you’re at your most focused during the day.

“This employee just seems to love her job, I can’t put my finger on why,” your manager will think … See how to paint this emoji onto your face below (you’ll need some help for this one).

Topical Office Costumes

19. Fully Vested

At work, “fully vested” usually refers to one’s ability to earn all matching funds of a 401(k) retirement plan. But for some, you just can’t help but picture someone wearing lots of sleeveless jackets at the same time. Now’s the time to personify that image.

If you work in a company where people would get the joke, put on a bunch of vests (at least three, but even more is encouraged), and that’s about it. You’re fully vested.

20. Nerd

What I love about the nerd costume is that it’s effortless and always unique — there are many ways to be a nerd in this day and age. Are you a tech nerd, a video game nerd, or a book nerd? The sky is the limit with this costume. Show up wearing glasses with your favorite accessories, such as a magic wand, book, or lightsaber, to complete the effect.

Source: Pinterest

21. A Solar Eclipse

Last year, the solar eclipse took over the internet — and the country. As millions of people flocked to the path of totality to (hopefully) catch a glimpse of this rare event without burning their corneas, millions more made jokes about it on social media.

To dress up as a solar eclipse for Halloween, you’ll need a work pal to dress up as the sun and the moon with you. One of you wears black, the other wears yellow, and you both wear dark sunglasses. Then, at the Halloween party, the one dressed in black spends the whole time standing in front of the one in yellow.

Source: Pinterest

22. The ‘Evil Kermit’ Meme

If you haven’t heard of this mega-popular meme this year, you’ve probably seen it somewhere: It features Kermit the Frog, face-to-face with his evil twin, Evil Kermit. Evil Kermit looks identical, except for the black cloak.

For this costume, you and a coworker can keep it simple: You both wear green shirts, and one of you wears a black hoodie or jacket on top. If you really want to commit to the costume, you’ll spring for some green face paint to complete the ensemble. Walk around the party together, facing one another, for maximum effect.

23. Fifty Shades of Grey: PG Paint Swatch Costume

Want to do something cheeky, but still office friendly? This is PG pun costume shares the name of a popular romantic novel and film, “50 Shades of Grey.”

Go to your local paint or hardware store and buy 50 grey paint swatches. Then, tape them to a black shirt and tell your colleagues you’re, “50 Shades of Grey.” 

Source: Fox 24 of Kansas City

24. The “But That’s None of My Business” Meme

If you love Kermit the Frog, but don’t have a colleague to team up with for the “Evil Kermit” costume, consider going solo with a costume based off of the “But That’s None of My Business” meme, where Kermit is seen judgmentally drinking coffee.

All you have to do is stick a pair of eyes on a green hoodie and start sipping your tea or coffee. For an added effect, you can cut a white photo frame to hold in front of you so you can look like an image posted on social media. 

Source: Pinterest

25. Eleven from Stranger Things

Eleven from Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things is universally beloved, and it’s a bonus that her signature look is a comfortable and easy-to-assemble costume. Rock your best Eleven with a dress, a denim jacket, and a box of Eggo Waffles.

Source: Business Insider

26. Scoops Ahoy Employee from Stranger Things

While Eleven, noted above, is an absolute classic Stranger Things character, 2019’s season inspired another great costume opportunity. During the newest installment of episodes, Stave, a main character played by Joe Keery, worked at an icecream shop called Scoops Ahoy. As a server, he had to wear a goofy sailor uniform alongside his coworker Robin. 

Since the season aired, the uniform has been regularly worn by cosplayers and at Comic Con as people mimic Steve and Robin.

Since it’s a pretty generic sailor uniform, you might be able to easily find one that’s similar in a variety of Halloween shops. This costume could work for both individuals or two colleagues. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ahoy Ladies! 😏⚓️ I LOVED Robin in Stranger Things Season 3 ♥️ what about you? Did you like the new season? #strangerthings #strangerthings2 #strangerthings3 #scoopsahoy #scoopsahoycosplay #scoopstroop #robincosplay #robinbuckley #robinbuckleycosplay #robinbuckleyedit #steveharrington #strangerthingscosplayer #strangerthingscosplay #strangerthingsnetflix

A post shared by Inken (@quialastaris) on Oct 15, 2019 at 9:13am PDT

27. Pokémon GO Trainer

Pokémon GO had roughly 45 million people walking around in cities glued to their phones last summer (I, among them). To pay homage to the explosion of this tech trend, you’ll need a t-shirt that’s red, yellow, or blue. Using fabric paint or permanent marker, write Valor (for red), Instinct (for yellow), or Mystic (for blue) on your shirt.

Spend Halloween walking around pointing your phone at objects, and you’re the spitting image of a Pokémon GO trainer. Gotta catch ’em all, right?

 

A photo posted by Odinia (@marshmallowsie) on Aug 9, 2016 at 4:44pm PDT

Group Office Costumes

28. The Sales Lifecycle

At HubSpot, we love embracing team costumes. In 2018, a handful of HubSpot employees grabbed some T-Shirts and wrote the stages of the sales lifecycle on them. Then they lined up accordingly and passed a fake prospect listing around to symbolize the process of making a sale. This was such an easy costume to coordinate that the team could even include an out-of-office employee over a video call. 

Source: Maggie Bomze, Principal Customer Success Manager of Strategic Accounts at HubSpot

29. Social Media Channels

While this Pinterest image shows classmates posting as the major social media networks, this could easily be modified to fit the office setting. 

Simply pick out a solid list of the hottest social networks, then by blank T-Shirts that match the colors of each platform. From there, you can either draw, tape or glue the logos on to each shirt. If you’re not interested in the tutus worn below, you could also find matching pants, or just wear jeans and keep things simple.

Source: Pinterest

30. Google Algorithm Update

Find a couple of office buddies for this one — one panda, one penguin, and one pigeon. You might be thinking, “what the heck is the pigeon algorithm update?” 1) It’s a thing, and 2) we checked Amazon for hummingbird costumes and there aren’t any cheap ones available.

Source: Opportunity Max

31. Black Hat and White Hat SEO

This is another SEO-related costume, and I think you can figure this one out on your own. I recommend wearing a black hat for one, and a white hat for the other, and having “SEO” embroidered on each one — which you can easily custom order.

Source: SEO-Hacker

32. Snapchat Filters

Here’s another group costume idea that pays tribute to Snapchat’s filters feature.

There are numerous options that you and your team can choose from to embody this costume. You could dress up as vomiting rainbows, cat and dog ears, a flower crown, or a face swap, and this could be as DIY or store-bought as you’re interested in pursuing. For example, here’s some inspiration for a couple of the dog filters:

Source: PopSugar

33. Snapchat Ghosts

Put a marketing spin on a classic Halloween costume by arriving as a Snapchat ghost. You’ll all need a white sheet and to pick which ghost you like the most.

Source: YouTube

34. PAC-MAN and Company

Here’s yet another awesome ghostly costume idea your whole team at work can get in on. Have your team lead wear the yellow pie-shaped garb of PAC-MAN, with each team member dressed as the multi-colored ghosts that roam the screen in this vintage arcade game.

Just make sure the team lead doesn’t actually try to eat the ghosts — you’re in an office, and you’re all technically on the same team.

Source: Meningrey

35. Instagram Filters

For this group costume, you’ll need white t-shirts and fabric markers. Draw an Instagram photo frame on the front of your shirts, and each team member can write a different Instagram filter‘s name inside the photo frame. Or, create frame props with different filters on them like the group did below:

Source: Nails Magazine

The clothes don’t make the marketer, but the costume can certainly make the culture at your company. Find out what it takes to hire and train the best fits for your open roles in the free ebook, available below.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published October 21, 2018 but was updated in October of 2019 for comprehensiveness.

How many times have you seen a killer marketing campaign and thought to yourself, “Wow, I wish I would’ve thought of that!”

(Glossier, I’m looking at you.)

We’ve all been there.

The truth is, when you’re just starting out, it can be tough to know whether your strategy is comprehensive and as powerful as it could be.

To help ease some of that uncertainty, we’ve created this guide that’ll show you step-by-step how to create a marketing strategy that leaves no stone unturned.

Let’s dive into the five critical components of a complete marketing strategy in 2019, followed by some examples for further inspiration.

1. Create buyer personas.

If you can’t define who your audience is in one sentence, now’s the chance to do it. A buyer persona is an example of your ideal customer.

For example, a store like Macy’s could define a buyer persona as Budgeting Belinda, a stylish working-class woman in her 30’s living in a suburb, looking to fill her closet with designer deals at low prices.

With this description, Macys’ marketing department can picture Budgeting Belinda and work with a clear definition in-mind.

Buyer personas have critical demographic and psychographic information — including age, job title, income, location, interests, and challenges. Notice how Belinda has all of those attributes in her description.

You don’t have to create your buyer persona with a pen and paper. In fact, HubSpot offers a free template you can use to make your own (and it’s really fun). Buyer personas should be at the core of building your strategy.

2. Identify goals and tools.

Your marketing strategy goals should coincide with your business goals. For example, if one of your business goals is to have 300 people attend your annual conference in three months, your goal as a marketer should be along the lines of boosting online RSVPs by 10% at the end of the month.

Once you have your goals identified, make sure you have the right tools to measure the success of those goals. Online software like social media schedulers gives you the analytics you can refer to in order to keep track of what your audience likes and doesn’t. To keep track of blog page performance and page views, Google Analytics is great at it.

Additionally, it will be helpful if you make your goals SMART — to do so, take a look at How to Write a SMART Goal [+ Free SMART Goal Template].

3. Account for existing resources.

Decide what you already have in your arsenal that can help you create your strategy. To streamline this process, think of your assets in three categories — paid, owned, and earned media.

Recall that paid media means any channel you spend money on to attract your target audience. Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn offer paid media options that boost your exposure.

Owned media is any of the media you create — blog posts, ebooks, images, and infographics that your marketing team has created are examples of owned media.

Earned media is another way to say user-generated content. Shares on social media, tweets about your business, and photos posted on Instagram mentioning your company are all examples of earned media.

Gather your materials in these areas and consolidate them all in a single vehicle so you’ll have a clear vision of what you have and how you can integrate the three channels together to maximize your strategy.

For example, if you already have a blog that’s rolling out weekly content in your niche (owned media), you might consider promoting your blog posts on Twitter (paid media), which customers’ might then re-tweet (earned media). Ultimately, that will help you create a better, more well-rounded strategy.

The free option? Tweet it from your company’s Twitter or post it on Instagram and use relevant hashtags to spread it.

If you have resources that don’t fit into your goals, nix it or don’t use it. This is a great time to clean house or identify gaps in your materials.

4. Audit and plan media campaigns.

Cleaning house segues straight into this step. Now, you must decide which content is going to help you. Focus on your owned media and marketing goals. For instance, will updating the CTAs at the end of your blog posts help you increase RSVPs to your event?

Next, look at your buyer personas. Let’s say you work for a video editing software company. If one of your persona’s challenges is adding clean sound effects to their videos but you don’t have any content that reflects that, make a 15-second demo video for Instagram to show how great your business is at solving that challenge.

Finally, create a content creation plan. The plan should include the title, goals, format, and channel for each piece of content. Be sure to include which challenge it’s solving for your buyer persona.

For ideas on content creation or a more in-depth look at how to create a content plan, check out our post, The Ultimate Guide to Content Creation.

5. Bring it to fruition

Finally, we’re at the final step. First, let’s go over what you should have by this point:

1. Buyer persona(s).
2. Specific marketing goals that coincide with your business goals.
3. Existing paid, owned, and earned media inventory.
4. An audit of a media campaign.

At this point, your market research and planning should help you visualize how your strategy will be executed (and by which teams).

The final step is to bring that all together — to put actions into your planning. Create a document that maps out the steps you need to take to execute your campaign. In other words, define your strategy.

Think long-term when creating this document. A standard strategy document is 12 months. This structured timeline should be the home base for your strategic marketing efforts.

To paint an example, let’s go back to the video software company.

Maybe in January, you will launch a software update that improves the exportation process for users. In April, you want to publish an ebook that explains editing terms to your buyer personas, and in September, you plan to launch an integration with other software.

Remember, your digital strategy is unique to your business, so the document should be, as well. As long as the strategy includes all of the necessary information, you’ll be all set to take your company’s brand from okay to outstanding.

Now that we’ve explored five critical steps of a complete marketing strategy, let’s look at some “Why didn’t I think of that?” strategies to inspire your own.

Examples of Successful Digital Marketing Strategies 

1. Regal Movies

Digital strategy: Owned media

Regal Movies took the Halloween spirit to a new level, even re-naming their Twitter to reflect the spirit of the season. This “Monster Madness” poll is a fun, interactive way to get followers invested in Regal’s content:

Image Source

Regal’s tweet is an example of owned media because the company was in full control of the answers followers gave (and, apparently, American Werewolf didn’t stand a chance). Regal effectively kept true to their brand by using only classic movies in their poll, while still putting a modern spin on it.

This is also a good example of how retweets don’t necessarily equal success. While four retweets isn’t that big of a deal, check out the votes: 461. That means there were over 400 interactions with a single tweet.

2. Taco Bell

Digital strategy: User-generated content, earned media

Real love is taking your engagement photos at your favorite fast food Mexican restaurant — right?. User-generated content is one of the best ways to gain traction in your strategy, by demonstrating your appreciation for loyal customers who promote your product, while incentivizing other users’ to promote your products for the chance at a similar shout-out. Plus, sometimes the content your brand-lovers create is really, really good:

Oh, you sure did. 👏❤️ https://t.co/TXflZvxVxR

Taco Bell (@tacobell)
September 26, 2019

It’s not every day someone takes engagement photos at a fast-food restaurant, and Taco Bell jumped at this earned media opportunity. Earned media is at work here because this couple is saying they love baja blasts and crunchwraps as much as they love each other — so it must be delicious.

3. Small Girls PR

Digital strategy: Event marketing

Wait, is that Keke Palmer?

Small Girls PR is a boutique PR company based in New York, and one of the company’s talents is throwing amazing events for their clients, like Olay. This event recap carousel on Instagram is an effective event marketing example.

Event marketing is a fantastic opportunity to boost awareness for your brand. Not every business needs to throw lavish events, either. Event marketing can be as simple as the last company outing you had at your team’s favorite brewery.

Posting a quick recap on Instagram gives your brand culture definition, depth, and demonstrates your appreciation for your employees’ and work-life balance, ideally incentivizing others to apply.

4. Diesel Cafe

Digital strategy: Word of mouth

Boston-local cafe Diesel Cafe is more than just a great location to get vegan bagels. It also rocks at word-of-mouth marketing. In fact, Diesel even has a website dedicated to it — a place where fans can submit letters about the fun times they’ve had at the cafe:

Check your company’s Yelp climate. Are people giving you nice reviews? Showcasing some of them on your social channels is an effective opportunity to provide social proof that your products or services are a worthwhile investment, since people typically trust peers more than ads.

5. Target

Digital strategy: Paid media, Twitter cards

If you’ve got the budget for paid media, take full advantage of it. Paid media is when you pay social channels, like Twitter, to promote your content on their site. By doing this, your content reaches new audiences you might not be able to reach organically.

Get wrapped up in soft sweaters and fleece-lined jean jackets.

— Target (@Target)
October 11, 2019

An inclusive ad from Target about fall shopping uses Twitter cards to promote their brand and offer easier ways to shop — simply click on the photo, and you’re redirected to a purchase page.. More social channels are offering ways for shoppers to purchase in-app or close to it, driving sales and boosting exposure for brands.

Ultimately, creating a complete marketing strategy isn’t something that can happen overnight. It takes time, hard work, and dedication to ensure you’re reaching your ideal audience, whenever and wherever they want to be reached. Stick with it (and use some of the resources we’ve included in this post), and over time, research and customer feedback will help you refine your strategy to ensure you’re spending optimal time and resources on the marketing channels your audience cares most about.

In the 1970s, you couldn’t watch an episode of Monday Night Football without seeing the Big Mac commercial and trying to sing that catchy jingle.

For those who don’t know, the Big Mac jingle was a fun way to market McDonald’s newest sandwich while getting a song full of ingredients stuck in your head.

Don’t believe me? Check it out, here:

With this commercial, McDonald’s used informational marketing to their advantage. Even if you didn’t know what the Big Mac was, if you had a TV in the 70s, you knew what was in it — two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onion on a sesame seed bun.

If you’re not sure what informational marketing is, or are wondering how you can use it for your own marketing purposes, keep reading.

What is Informational Marketing?

Informational marketing displays details about a product or service. Simply put, it educates your audience about the basics — including how you stand out from competitors, where your product is sold, and your product’s core features.

Think of informational marketing as showing the specs of a product. It provides factual details, right there in the campaign — like the Big Mac song.

You’ve most likely interacted with informational marketing before, even if you’ve never heard the term. Ebooks, “How-to” videos, blogs, and brochures are all types of informational marketing because they present you with an exact explanation of a service or product, and what sets it apart from other products or services in the industry.

This method of marketing shows your audience the nitty-gritty so they won’t have to leave your website to find out what your product or service is. It can be especially useful for products with a lot of specs, like phones or cars.

Image Source

For instance, consider the advertisement above, from Keurig. Keurig’s website takes advantage of informational marketing by providing specs and comparison details for their brewers, as well as information about their products, like the now infamous K-Cup.

By telling you how it works and why you’ll love it, Keurig leaves a memorable impact on someone looking for an alternative to coffee machines. Additionally, since they provide this information directly on their website, Keurig ensures potential customers don’t have to search on Google to learn about K-Cups or compare K-Cups to competitors’ products.

Next, let’s look at some other examples of informational marketing.

Informational Marketing Examples

1. HubSpot’s infographic.

Let’s look at this infographic from HubSpot. It provides details of how customers want to receive marketing, and the caption gives advice on how to put the customer first. In other words, it gives information on how HubSpot’s CRM is useful.

2. Yelp’s infographic.

When people need professional help with their homes, they turn to Yelp to search for the types of services that are distinctively indicative of their local region & climate. Do you have a popular home service in your city? Tell us your Yelp story! https://t.co/QW6C6tmWcB #Yelp15 pic.twitter.com/K4b2GKn1Nz

— Yelp For Business (@yelpforbusiness)
October 7, 2019

Yelp took market research and user-generated specs to create this brilliant infographic. The illustration gives audiences in the U.S. a state with which to identify, and shows them Yelp categories they might not have known existed based on “most popular categories” per state.

Ultimately, it’s a hidden tutorial on how to use Yelp to maximize your shopping trips.

You can use an infographic to take a large portion of data and make it easier to swallow for visual-oriented audiences. If you’re looking for a new way to present data other than an Instagram gif, why not try an infographic?

3. Cars.com website specs.

Like the Keurig example, above, website specs give consumers details on the business’s website so consumers don’t need to conduct any additional research. Popular car shopping website Cars.com does just that, providing tons of information about cars on one website so you don’t have to have a million tabs open when researching cars.

Image Source

Because cars are such a big purchase, car websites benefit greatly from having all the specs car buyers are looking for in one place. If you’re marketing products that are considered big purchases, having specs on your website might be a good idea.

3. Tasty videos.

This commercial features Tasty’s most popular content creators, Alix and Rie, who both develop and film recipes for Tasty and vlog about their daily activities in the Tasty office. When fans of Alix and Rie see the two content creators on the YouTube thumbnail, they’ll likely immediately click. (As a big fan of Rie, I absolutely did).

Additionally, Tasty presented the products’ specs in a relatable way. Rather than having Alix say, “This is a nonstick pot,” she said, “I made a sticky sauce in this pot and it slid right out,” demonstrating the product’s quality. This is an example of informational marketing that’s casual, and more personable.

Remember, the point of informational marketing is to help your audience find what they’re looking for through the content you create. If someone wanted to know how K-Cups worked but Keurig didn’t provide that information, prospects might be hesitant to purchase the product, especially if they’d never heard of it. 

4. Colourpop’s eyeshadow video.

What better way to market a visually-aided product than to provide a video tutorial? This video by cosmetics brand Colourpop takes full advantage of informational marketing by creating a look using most of the colors in their new eyeshadow palette.

By doing this, prospective buyers are educated about how the colors look and how pigmented they are. Additionally, prospects can learn about other Colourpop products that work well with this palette. 

5. Adobe’s logo video.

Create your own animated logo in #AfterEffects with this simple 2-minute tutorial. pic.twitter.com/HN2FLcKUib

— Adobe After Effects (@AdobeAE)
October 9, 2019

Adobe’s take on informational marketing comes in the form of a logo tutorial. With this video, Adobe customers and potential customers can learn how to use Adobe’s software to create a logo.

This short, impactful video goes in-depth regarding Adobe’s capabilities. Video length is important here, because it suggests that making a logo can be easy and time-effective.

The next time you are drafting your upcoming campaign, think about how you can educate your target audience about your product.

Additionally, pertaining to the interest of your audience is a critical component of any informational marketing strategy. If your marketing doesn’t relate to your product, it probably won’t interest your audience, either. Keeping this in mind will help your next informational marketing tactics shine.

Vanessa Carlton said it best: Your company is making its way downtown, faces pass, and you’re “success” bound. See what I did there? Anywho, your company is on its way. But how do you communicate that with your stakeholders and the public?

Between blog writing, drafting ad copy, and setting up an email workflow, it’s hard to make time for brand awareness and media management. That’s where a public relations (PR) agency can help.

According to the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” In today’s world, PR and marketing overlap and intertwine, making it necessary to work together.

You might have questions about how your marketing team and a PR agency can work together like, “What will a PR firm do?” or “What services does a PR agency provide?”

Below, you’ll learn everything you need to know about hiring a PR agency.

While the duties of public relations and marketing can overlap, the two serve different functions. Allie Decker, a writer on HubSpot’s pillar page team, wrote about public relations and marketing in this blog. She says, “The main goal of PR is to boost the reputation of your brand. On the other hand, the main goal of marketing is to drive sales.”

PR and marketing can work together by aligning their goals. For instance, people may become aware of your brand through PR tactics such as organic social media presence, and then convert into sales from your marketing tactics such as Facebook ads. With PR and marketing collaborating on strategic messaging, you’ll build your reputation and drive more sales.

1. Reputation management

Reputation management is one of the main services that public relations firms offer. Tactics might include email newsletters, messaging on website copy or blog content, social media management, responding to reviews, and engaging with followers.

For instance, Taco Bell uses social media to build its reputation. In the example below, Taco Bell responds to a customer on Twitter with an authentic, engaging tweet making the brand relatable and boosting its reputation.

Image source: Twitter

2. Crisis management

According to data from PwC, 69% leaders have experienced at least one corporate crisis in the last five years — with the average number of crises experienced being three. Your company will most likely face at least one crisis during your tenure. That’s why you might have a PR firm come up with a crisis communication plan so you’re prepared when the time comes.

For example, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a leading breast cancer charity, faced the consequences of lacking a crisis communication plan in 2012. They stopped funding Planned Parenthood’s breast cancer screenings after 7 years of funding. When the announcement was made by Planned Parenthood, the story went viral on social media with attacks coming from all sides. Komen waited a while to respond, put up a video failing to take responsibility, and then reversed the decision.

According to PRSA, there are many lessons to learn from Komen’s mistakes, including “Don’t position yourself as a victim. It won’t work.”

3. Media relations

One way to build your reputation and get your name out there is through the media. PR firms can handle the relationship between the media and your company. Tactics include writing pitches to journalists and influencers to attain mentions in industry news and get more media coverage.

For example, if you own a sustainable beauty company, a PR firm might pitch you to the Organic Bunny blog for an interview about sustainable beauty products.

4. Social media

Social media is a large factor in reputation management and one of the main ways to communicate with your audience, so maintaining your social media accounts can become a public relations tactic. Since you own your social media accounts they’re an easy way to build your brand. Plus, your social media strategy might involve engaging with influencers in your niche.

In the example below, Poo-Pourri uses its own social media account to boost its reputation and spread the word about an earned media opportunity. Also, note how the founder is active in the community, attains media coverage, and builds her company’s brand.

Image source: Twitter

5. Speech writing

Speech writing is a useful public relations tactic that you might use if your company holds press conferences and events or your employees speak at industry events. Any speeches given on behalf of your company should represent your brand as a whole. If anyone in your company has to give a speech, you might consider hiring a PR agency to handle the strategic messaging.

In the example below, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, and other members of his team, give several speeches about new products and updates during Apple’s annual innovation event. Apple may or may not have worked with a public relations firm, but this is a great example of an event where you might talk to a PR firm about the strategic and brand messaging.

6. Press releases

Your company might have to write a press release to announce new products, launches, campaigns, or movements. This tactic goes hand-in-hand with media relations. For example, if you work at a shoe company and want to start a movement on Twitter to #walkmore, a PR firm can write a press release to announce the campaign and hopefully attain media coverage.

7. Event planning

Event planning can be a marketing and public relations tactic to promote your brand, product, or service. If your company puts on an event for the purpose of boosting your brand reputation, you might consider working with a PR agency. A PR agency can help communicate with your stakeholders and publics, attain media coverage, and plan your event.

For example, INBOUND, an annual experience event for those in the marketing industry, is an event that is used to elevate the INBOUND brand. At this type of event, INBOUND provides value to the public, while also boosting its brand reputation. While this event is planned internally by INBOUND, it’s a good example of the type of event that a PR agency could help plan.

8. Outreach

Do you want to ensure your company is active in your niche’s community, including trade shows and events? A PR agency can help with that. Public relations firms use outreach as a tactic to boost brand reputation and increase brand awareness. For example, if you work at a fish store, your public relations firm might reach out to the Global Pet Expo to attain a booth at the event. Then, they might promote your involvement through social media, a press release, and media interviews.

9. Market research

The most important element to communicating and building relationships with your publics is to understand them. That’s why a PR firm would likely use market research as a tactic. They might use surveys, feedback forms, or focus groups to learn about your target audience. For example, if you own a protein company, a PR firm might send out surveys to see who buys your protein, what kind of flavors they want, and what they value in a protein company.

10. Media training

Many companies and brands in the public eye undergo media training. Media training is a tactic public relations firms use in order to produce consistent, strategic messaging for the brands they work with. If your company or brand will have several employees speaking in public, everyone should be on the same page in regards to messaging. If there is only one person who will be the face of your brand, it’s important to anticipate common reporter questions and have canned answers prepared.

In the example below, the Kardashians attend media training to practice answers to the most controversial questions reporters ask them. As a brand, the Kardashians have a lot of moving parts, and the family had never discussed or practiced the messaging they’d use when talking to the media.

11. Internal copywriting

Writing internal copy is a public relations tactic PR agencies use to communicate with employees. Your employees are a stakeholder and public of your company, so a PR firm could manage that relationship. You might need to communicate with your employees to discuss major changes, build morale, or celebrate successes.

Our tip from HubSpot is to have a main communication channel where communication is stored and disseminated. For example, HubSpot has an internal Wiki (see screenshot below), where our employees, who span seven countries, can communicate.

Image source: HubSpot

The different types of PR firms vary depending on the services they offer and the publics they serve. There are general and specialized PR agencies.

1. General strategic communication

A general public relations firm will handle all aspects of your PR strategy. They will be responsible for building your reputation and brand awareness through many of the tactics described above, including social media, media relations, internal communication, and more. A general communication PR firm is a good fit for you if you need help with several public relations tactics.

2. Press communication

A PR agency that specializes in press communication will focus on media outreach, pitch writing, attaining media coverage, and getting interviews with journalists or influencers. If you only need to work with a PR agency in order to improve your media coverage, a specialized firm might be an option to consider.

3. Crisis management

A crisis management PR agency can strategize and implement a crisis communication plan. Typically these firms are used on a temporary basis, to either draft or implement a plan when your company experiences a crisis.

4. Internal communication

Internal communication PR firms specialize in disseminating information to your employees. Whether it be through a monthly newsletter or an internal hub, they will facilitate employee communication.

5. Community management

A community management PR firm focuses on managing customer relations. They will handle the communication between you and your community in places like Facebook Groups and social media.

6. Nonprofit public relations

A nonprofit PR firm specializes in working with specific organizations rather than focusing on certain tactics. Nonprofits will typically have different rules and regulations when it comes to communicating with its publics, which is why many firms specialize in nonprofit. A nonprofit PR firm will work with organizations in industries such as health, medical, or charity.

7. Public affairs public relations

Similar to a nonprofit firm, a public affairs PR firm specializes in working specifically with government officials as a communication tool. For example, if your company wants to endorse a political candidate or a government official wants to be a spokesperson for your company, a public affairs PR firm can manage that relationship.

1. Set your objectives

Now that you’ve decided to hire a PR agency, your next question might be something like, “How do I even start?”

To begin, start thinking about your goals. Answer questions like “What do I want to accomplish by working with a PR agency?” and “How can a PR agency help my company?” When you begin working with a PR firm, you’ll most likely draft SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.

Once you have an idea of your goals, our next tip is to think about what type of PR firm can help you meet those objectives (see types of PR firms above). For example, if your company has experienced a social media crisis like Komen (described above) you might want to work with a crisis management firm. On the other hand, if you work at a nonprofit charity foundation like the Red Cross, you might work with a nonprofit public relations agency.

2. Create a budget

Before you begin researching which PR agency you want to work with, create a budget. Consider how much you’re willing to spend on public relations efforts. You should be able to answer questions like “Will this come out of our marketing budget?” or “What percent of our budget can we contribute to PR?”

Megan Conley, a video editor/animator at HubSpot, writes about creating a budget in this blog. To create a budget, she says:

• Align your goals with your budget
• Consider hidden costs
• Remember your priorities (think of those SMART goals)

To get better at prioritizing your PR line items, download the PR Budget Template (included in the 8 Budget Templates to Manage Your Marketing Spend).

You can also check out the average 2019 rates for a PR agency below.

3. Research PR firms

With your goals and budget in hand, begin researching the right kind of PR agency you’ve decided to work with. Gather information on their reputation, reviews, cost, social media presence, testimonials, clients, etc.

Aja Frost, a senior SEO strategist and former writer for the Sales blog at HubSpot, writes about creative prospect research strategies in this blog. These same strategies can be applied to researching a PR agency.

Frost suggests:

• Look at their company’s job page: This will give you an idea of their current objectives and what tactics they’re focusing on. For example, are they developing a social media team or looking to hire an expert in crisis management?
• Look for strategic announcements: By researching for announcements, you can learn about initiatives, successes, new strategies, and their own brand reputation. It’s important to consider how they handle their own PR.
• Read the shareholder letter: This gives you an idea of their financial strength, unique value proposition, and accomplishments. You want to find a reputable PR agency to work with.
• Go on Glassdoor: Glassdoor is a great place to learn about employee reviews, company culture, and goals. This will give a good idea of their reputation.

4. Write a list of questions to ask

After thoroughly researching different PR agencies, create a shortlist to contact. Before you contact an agency, write down a list of questions to ask.

You’ll want to learn about:

• Price
• Experience/expertise
• Previous clients
• Prior successes
• Reviews/testimonials

See examples of questions to ask a PR agency below.

5. Have meetings

Armed with your questions, your next step is to have meetings with different PR agencies. Go through your list of questions and gather the information you need to make a decision. For these meetings, our tip is to pay attention to who you have chemistry with. It’s always easier to work with people who are adaptable and can have an intelligent conversation about your strategies. After your meetings, compare the proposals you receive, from price to strategy.

6. Set expectations

Once you’ve decided which PR firm you want to work with, ensure you’ve made your objectives and goals clear. Set up a clear line of communication, while also defining your expectations. Talk with your PR agency about your SMART goals and identify how you’ll measure success.

7. Onboard your PR firm

The final step to hiring a PR agency is to go through the onboarding process with them. Figure out who your main point of contact is and discuss your communication goals. Ask questions like, “How often will we touch base?” or “How will we track the results of our work together?”

Questions to Ask a PR Firm, Agency, or Rep

1. “Do you specialize in a certain industry?“

There are different types of PR firms (see examples above) that you might work with. Before you hire a PR agency, find out if they specialize in a certain industry or have only worked with certain kinds of businesses. This will give you an idea of how and if they can help your company.

2. “How will you get us media coverage?“

It’s important to find out what tactics the agency uses to gain media coverage. In addition, see if they mention their media list when they answer this question. Most PR agencies have a media list and have built relationships with people in the industry. Also, see if they have any new strategies or tactics that you haven’t heard of before, such as influencer marketing or guerilla marketing.

3. “How do you measure success?“

An important quality of any marketing or public relations agency is to be able to track ROI. Every agency should have a system in place for tracking results and analytics for their campaigns. Also, see what success looks like for them. Ask questions like “How have you tracked success for previous clients?”

4. “How do you plan to work with our marketing team?“

When you hire a PR agency, you should consider how they will work with your marketing team. The two go hand-in-hand, especially because some tactics might overlap. Ask questions like “How do you account for our marketing team when you plan a campaign?” or “How do you communicate what your agency is responsible for versus our marketing team?

5. “What do the first few months look like?“

Figure out how they plan to get started. Do they focus on market research in the first few months? How long would that take? It’s important to figure out how they get started with their clients and what their strategy would look like for your company.

6. “What’s your pricing structure?“

Of course, budget is one of the main points you want to inquire about. Learn about their pricing structure. Ask questions like “Do you price per project, per hour, or a retainer fee?” and “How often do you charge?” Affording your PR agency is the main priority.

7. “Can I see work you’ve done for businesses in my industry?“

Again, you want to see that they’ve had success with other businesses or brands in your industry. This tells you that they might have a media list they can contact right away. It also lets you know they can be successful for you, because they’ve done it before.

8. “Can I contact past clients?“

Once you know that a PR agency has seen success with other brands, ask for references. Ask previous clients questions like “Was [PR agency] enjoyable to work with?” and “How did they measure success for you?”

9. “Do your employees have experience working in marketing and sales as well?“

This is an important question to ask because your PR agency should understand how marketing, sales, and PR all work together to drive sales. If its employees have experience in marketing and sales, they will understand the context of how PR fits in your strategy.

10. Who would I be working with?

Ask about their systems. The PR agency you work with should have a communication plan in place. Figure out what their team structure is like. Will you have one point of contact, like an account manager? Or will you work with several people on the team depending on the project?

11. How can your company grow with us?

As your company grows, you want to have a PR agency that can understand your needs from startup to scale up. Ask if they’ve worked with brands of all sizes and see if they’ve worked with anyone from the startup to enterprise.

How much does PR cost? Average 2019 Rates

According to the 2019 Holmes Report, PR budgets and agency spend has been increasing. This year, the number of CMOs and CCOs who were managing budgets of more than $100 million reported PR has accounted for 31% of the budget. On the other hand, for companies with a budget between $75 million and $100 million, budgets dropped to 6%. For those handling a budget between $50 million and $75 million, PR has accounted for 17% of their budget.

Overall, the amount you pay for PR will vary depending on the services you need as well as by location. It’s also important to take into consideration that PR agencies offer many different pricing structures. Agencies can charge on an hourly, retainer, or project basis.

Ellie Flanagan, a senior corporate communications manager at HubSpot, says “The cost of hiring a PR agency can vary depending on the size of the firm and the types of services you”re looking for. Most agencies bill hourly against a retainer, which guarantees a certain amount of work each month. Those costs can be between $100-500 per hour per each person on the team, depending on the seniority of each team member. You can work with the agency to determine how much work is required and how experienced the team needs to be.”

During my research for this piece, I found the current average cost of public relations is about $3,000-5,000/month. Project-based costs tend to be lower, running at about $1,000.

For example, Paranoid PR charges anywhere from $1,450-5,000/month for a retainer fee, depending on the intensity of the ongoing support. They also offer per-project pricing, charging around $250-500 for individual projects or $750-1,250 for mini-campaigns, depending on the complexity of the projects.

On the other hand, PRA Public Relations offers pricing based on different level programs offering different levels of service. Their programs range from $2,500/month to $7,000/month.

Pitch PR offers a standard PR program costing $3,000. No other options were listed on their website.

Bridgeview Marketing offers several PR programs ranging from $2,500/month to $8,000/month.

A PR agency could be a great complement to your marketing efforts, drive more traffic to your site, and facilitate reputation management and brand awareness.

Want to learn more about public relations? Check out our ultimate guide.

I first heard the term “Finsta” from my 16-year-old cousin. She had just taken a ridiculous selfie of herself, and had declared it “Finsta-worthy”.

When I asked what she meant, she explained a “Finsta” is a fake Instagram, or a “Finstagram” (shortened for cool factor, probably).

“But … Why do you need a fake Instagram account? Isn’t one enough?” I asked her. 

She showed me her real Instagram account — a perfect, edited collage of great moments with high school friends, her prom date, and vacation shots with family.

“My real Instagram account is kind of fake — like, only pictures of my ‘best’ life,” My cousin explained. “I use my Finsta to share funny, inside jokes with my closest friends. My real Instagram has like, 400 followers. My fake one only has like, eight.”

As you probably already know, Instagram is often used as an opportunity to present an “ideal” life to your followers — even if that life is, in fact, a poor representation of reality. It’s not the place to post embarrassing photos, or unedited “I just woke up” selfies.

However, Instagram’s mirage of perfect, well-filtered lives doesn’t always lend itself to happiness. For instance, one recent study found a correlation between the amount of strangers you follow, and depressive symptoms including fearfulness, loneliness, or fatigue. Unfortunately, Instagram can lead users to feel their lives aren’t good enough, compared to everyone else’s (edited) ones.

Which is why Finsta’s might not be such a bad idea. Ultimately, a Finsta is a chance to share a goofier, less-edited version of yourself with a trustworthy group of friends — and for those friends to see less ‘perfect’ posts, and more real ones.

Ironically, a “Fake Instagram” just might be a solution to feelings of inadequacy on the platform, as friends learn to share more honest stories about their lives — the good, and the bad. If you want to learn how to make a Finsta for yourself, keep reading.

Oftentimes, an Instagram account is used to curate a public collage of edited images for upwards of hundreds or thousands of followers. By contrast, a Finsta is a private account only followed by 10-20 people. A Finsta allows users to post more funny, unedited snapshots of their daily lives, or share inside-joke moments with friends. 

How to Make a Finsta

Creating a Finsta is a simple process. However, before you begin adding an additional account, you’ll want to brainstorm a unique username that doesn’t use your real first or last name — additionally, you’ll want to make sure you don’t use a real photo of yourself as your profile picture. Remember, your Finsta should be impossible to find unless you share the username with friends. 

To create a Finsta, follow these easy steps:

1. Open your Instagram account, and click the three-line icon in the top right.

2. At the bottom of “Settings”, click “Add Account”.

3. At the bottom of the next page, click “Sign Up” to create your new account.

4. Next, input your phone number.

5. Click Create New Account.

Once you input your phone number, a box will pop-up to ask whether you’d like to log into the account you already have. Click “Create New Account” to continue creating your Finsta.

6. Next, add your username.

Remember, you don’t want to use your real first and last name here. Instead, consider coming up with a clever username only good friends will understand. 

7. Don’t link to outside accounts.

Skip the option to link your Finsta to your Facebook account (which could make it easier to link the Finsta to you). Add a profile picture, then click “Next”. 

8. Start posting.

Voila! Your Finsta is ready. You can now post pictures and videos, and invite your closest friends to follow you. 

Finsta Examples

@RebekkaHarajuku

Did you know that celebrities make Finstas too? Last year, Bella Hadid created a Finsta account for her blonde alter ego named Rebekka Harajuku. The Instagram was similar to a normal influencer account, however, it featured Bella in disguise as the character she created. 

@Camera_Duels

This Finsta, managed by Riverdale star Cole Sprouse is where he posts pictures of people who take pictures of him. While he’s not chronicling his life as he does on his more traditional Instagram, this account still shows off his humorous side. 

@Pammburglar

Pammburglar is the Finsta identity of Pam Bump, a fellow HubSpot blogger. Because she loves fast-food, her Finsta name is a quirky combination of Pam and Hamburglar. On her Finsta, she posts photos and videos of events she attends, food, and travel. Along with posting about daily happenings, she also shares plenty of selfies and funny memes.

While her profile is private, you can scroll down to see a few Finsta picture examples that she’s permitted for this post. 

Finsta Post Ideas

Because Finsta’s don’t necessarily need to follow rules — or social norms, you can express yourself with a variety of different posts. Here are two styles that are fairly common on Finstas. 

Food Posts

While you might use your professional Instagram to show photos or videos of yourself networking, in the office, or talking about your company, you might want to share a lighter side of day, like lunchtime, on your Finsta.

In the post below, @Pammburglar, noted in the example above, enjoys a ginormous turkey leg.

Throwback Posts

In this post, @Pammburglar reminisces on the time she was “rejected” as a Starbucks model back in 2014. In reality, she was actually starring in a student produced film that took place at the coffee chain while in college.

Nostalgic throwback posts like these are both funny and interesting to people who have or haven’t known you in the past. 

Finsta Names

To ensure random followers can’t find your Finsta, and to keep it private amongst close friends, you’ll want to create a fake name for your Finsta account.

A website called SpinXO offers a free tool that helps generate potential Finsta names based on your name or nickname, hobbies, interests, or other random words or numbers.

For instance, without inputting any of my own information, SpinXO initially offered these random Finsta names:

• JavaPerfect
• ChellFalls
• KinGambit
• RadiantEnjoy
• VividGiggly
• SimpleEye
• Airbiosav

Alternatively, you might brainstorm a unique Finsta account name by considering inside jokes you share with your friends, or TV shows or movies only your good friends know you like. You’ll want to avoid using any abbreviation of your first or last name, and try to be as obscure as possible.

For instance, if I were making a Finsta (which, trust me, I’m not), I might call it “Buttercup”, the name of my cat (on second thought … a lot of people have heard me talk about Buttercup. So, scratch that).

Editor’s note: This post was published in November 2018, but was updated in October 2019 for comprehensiveness.

There are millions upon millions of blog posts published every single day. That’s been true for a few years now.

And these numbers continue to grow exponentially with the increase in new online sites all competing for the same precious site visits especially when the benefits of organic traffic has become more and more of common knowledge for online marketing.

In turn, content marketing in the form of blogging has become the norm for driving organic, inbound traffic.

Want better search engine optimization? More organic traffic?

Blogging is what most people will recommend. But it’s steadily become one of the most saturated marketing tactics you can use.

How can you expect to compete with thousands of other sites who have already been blogging for years?

It’s a real challenge. Especially when they’re writing longer, higher-quality posts with more backlinks and higher rankings.

Thankfully, there’s an alternative emerging.

Right now, content creation is moving towards video-based mediums. Even for landing pages, videos have shown to convert better than text. So why isn’t every single business abandoning their blog in favor of a video first strategy?

The biggest barrier? Videos have a reputation as an inaccessible marketing tactic, especially for businesses on the smaller side. And while it is partly true that videos are usually more time-consuming and more expensive to create than text-based content, smaller businesses can still have success investing in the tactic.

You Need Video

Video is dominating online traffic. In fact, it’s predicted to take over the internet in the next few years. Cisco estimates that video traffic will account for 82% of all global internet traffic by 2021.

The majority of internet traffic is already video based. And that number is only going to increase. Why? People haven’t stopped reading text-based content, but it’s getting harder to capture and keep their attention.

55% of all pageviews online get less than 15 seconds of attention. Even in an old 2008 study from Nielsen Norman Group, we were seeing the beginning of this trend. That study found that visitors on average only read 20% of a given page online. Meaning 80% of the text and content on your page isn’t even being seen or read by real people.

In a recent study, CoSchedule analyzed their blog pages with heat and scroll maps to detect how people interacted with their page. They found that most readers only read the top 20-30% of their content.

The scariest finding? Only 10% of users who landed on a given post read to the bottom.

People want information immediately.

They don’t always want to read a 5,000-word blog post to get their information. They don’t want to read a long-form sales page to know how the product will improve their lives.

This trend is becoming more apparent in digital marketing as more and more companies are focused on implementing video-based content distribution:

YouTube and Facebook Video are slowly taking over the content scene online.

As blogging becomes more saturated and user behavior shifts towards video-based traffic, it’s no wonder why these platforms are gaining traction.

Currently, Facebook has over two billion monthly active users, and YouTube is just behind it at 1.5 billion monthly users.

Currently, YouTube boasts nearly two billion monthly users who watch more than an hour of video content daily, on average. Facebook video posts aren’t far behind, either. The total amount of videos on Facebook has increased by 94% annually from 2014 to 2015. In November of 2015, Facebook hit over 8 billion daily video views, doubling the video traffic in less than a year.

The savvy brands who have jumped on this trend are already seeing the benefits of early adoption.

For example, 3D printer ecommerce brand Robo took advantage of this trend and generated $4.7 million in revenue running video ads on Youtube and Facebook.

Video-based content is the present and the future (as we know it). It’s gaining steam, and it’s only poised to gain even more traction as the years progress.

Video content is going to be necessary when it comes to driving more traffic and sales.

The Key Elements of a High-Converting Video

Not all video content converts. You can’t just throw up a random video on your landing page and expect it to increase conversions.

Here we’re going to look at a few of the most important elements of a converting video and companies have used them to drive more sales.

Keep it short and sweet.

This is perhaps the most important element in driving conversions with video-based content. As we went over earlier, studies are showing that people are growing more impatient when it comes to online content.

Very few people want to read a 20-minute blog post anymore.

We are reading less than ever before because it’s too time-consuming. We all want answers now. ASAP. Yesterday.

And to keep up with that, we can’t simply replace a blog post or a long-form landing page with a 10-minute video. Nobody will stick around to watch the whole thing.

According to a 2016 study by Wistia, as video length increases, you see big drops in engagement levels.

One to two minutes is shown to be the golden rule of online video content according to this Wistia study. They analyzed 564,710 videos and more than 1.3 billion video views to compile this data.

When you look closely at the graph, you can see that there is a sharp drop-off after two minutes in length:

The longer you take to get to the point, the fewer people will stick around. But, if your video strategy needs to be long-form, don’t sweat it.

The second sweet spot that Wistia identified was 6-12 minutes:

According to their research, if someone stays past six minutes, they more than likely will continue that engagement for a few more minutes.

Anything more than that and you aren’t going to see optimal results.

The best bet is to keep your video content within the 1-2 minute mark if you want to maximize your impact. An example of effective short landing page video is BuildFire’s home page explainer video:

“Our current homepage conversion rate for signups is around 22%. It wouldn’t be that high without the explainer video.” – Ian Blain, Co-founder and CMO of BuildFire

They use a promo-style video explainer that lasts for 1:15 and sums up the business and value proposition. And they get straight to the point. They keep it short and sweet by explaining how users can benefit from their product.

Want to create a video that converts at a high rate? Follow the data. Keep your videos between the 1-2 minute mark for better conversion rates.

Optimize your video size and placement.

Everything makes a difference when it comes to video content. You can’t slap together a video and assume that conversions will roll in.

Even the video size, placement, and dimensions can have a big role in conversion rates.

And when it comes to your landing pages, you need to do anything you can to increase conversions. Your business depends on it.

Wistia conducted a study where they crawled 95,000 different pages to understand how size impacts conversion rates on landing pages. To start, they divided the typical landing page into seven distinct zones:

As you can expect, video content got more plays when it was higher in zones, or above the fold:

If you want more conversions, make sure to keep your video content in zones 1-3. That means above the fold or just before your page starts to get too long. For example, check out where BuildFire places their video content, in zone 3:

This helps to warm up visitors with basic introductory content on your landing page without overwhelming them. If you jump straight into a video without context, you might risk lower conversions.

Warm up your visits with a snappy headline and then get into the video content.

But that’s not all. Video height and width are big factors in play rates and conversions. According to Wistia, videos with a width of 401 to 600 pixels are going to be best for driving more plays:

On top of that, the optimal video height is 301 to 450 pixels:

These are common dimensions that are great for producing video that doesn’t dominate your screen or appear too small to click.

Optimization is key to getting more plays. If you can get more plays, you have a great shot at getting higher conversion rates. To sum it all up, focus on these elements:

• Play your video in zones 1-3 on your landing page, ideally above the fold after you’ve provided context
• Use a video width of 401-600 pixels
• Use a video height of 301-450 pixels

How to produce a promo video with a limited budget.

Now that you know the key elements in a converting video, it’s time to create one on your own with a limited budget.

Keeping conversions in mind, you’ve got to create a short and sweet video. Here’s how to produce a promo video with a limited budget that is sure to convert.

1) Develop a compelling script.

The first step in producing any great promo video for cheap is coming up with your own script. Most marketers will hire a company right out of the gate to develop a video script, but to save money, you can complete this step within your own team.

You need a video script that resonates with your audience. Thankfully, you can often come up with a script based on your existing landing page.

For example, look at how BuildFire structures their landing page.

First, they use a compelling headline to generate some initial interest.

Next, they use social proof to back up their claims:

Now they show you exactly how any user can use their service for success:

Then they tease it even further with specific features and benefits:

The entire landing page flows like a pre-written script, because it is. The keys to your first video are already hiding within your landing page.

To break it down, here are some of the key factors to include in your script:

1. Use an intriguing opening line to capture attention.
2. Use social proof to back up those claims.
3. Show how easy it is to use your product.
4. Show what your product does and what benefits it provides.
5. Explain how the user derives value from it (more conversions, better sales, etc.).

2) Find the right style for your target market.

Next up, you need to figure out what style of video is best for your target market. For example, a video on a landing page for a GoPro is going to be vastly different from a SaaS product, right?

The GoPro video will show the product in use in real time, showing actual footage, rather than animated clips. The SaaS product video will likely show the application in use and animated shorts to add style and appeal to the video.

The key here is to understand your market and what they want to see. To get started, conduct some basic competitor research, or search for the top companies in your niche. For example, if you have a mobile app, you can search for the top applications of 2017:

Locate a few of them on the list and head to their site to scout the landing page for video-based content. You should easily be able to locate their product promo videos to see what content they feature:

You can even copy their script style and video type.

The goal here is to get familiar with the most popular companies in your niche to create video that performs just as good if not better than theirs. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to get the video produced.

3) Produce it for cheap to minimize risk.

Creating compelling video content isn’t cheap. Agencies can cost thousands of dollars to produce a single video for your business. And when it comes to getting conversions, you need specificity.

But not when it comes at the risk of bankrupting your budget on a failing video. Minimizing risk is key when introducing a new medium to your landing pages or content marketing plan.

You can’t afford to invest thousands of dollars in something that doesn’t work. The goal here is to identify ways to produce it for cheap, allowing you to test the waters before diving in head first.

A great place to start is by heading to a freelance service like Fiverr, depending on your needs. If you need an animated-style video short for your landing page, Fiverr is your best bet for getting it done on a budget.

You can quickly find great video animators and production specialists for minimal amounts of money. Even five dollars can get you a well-done promo video.

If you can’t find a good production specialist on Fiverr, try locating one on UpWork. You can also post a job listing to have qualified freelancers apply to your job. If you prefer to make your own animated video, you can easily do that using Biteable.

It’s a free software online that allows you to create amazing animated promo videos and product explainers. They have tons of pre-crafted animation slides that you can drag and drop to create a fantastic promo video for your business.

If you have an animation-focused product that is online based, Biteable is a great starting place.

Video content doesn’t have to be expensive.

As blogging becomes more saturated and the market gets crowded, marketers will find new ways to reach customers. It’s not always easy moving your budget into new mediums. Especially costly ones like video marketing.

But in this case, it’s necessary.

 

Ten years ago, I couldn’t have cared less if the new burger place downtown had a website. Now, I don’t trust one that doesn’t. Consumer buying behavior has drastically changed — today, the majority of consumers are purchasing products online, including almost 70% of millennials.

In 2019, almost two-thirds of businesses (64%) have a website. If you don’t have one, you could be falling behind your online competition. 

If your business is online, you’re a part of the digital transformation. But it’s not enough these days to just “be online”. Businesses in 2019 that thrive are operating online — with the aid of different apps, sites, and CRMs to help them out.

So, while it’s a great step to have a website and a Facebook page, there’s more to the transformation than just that.

Here, we’ll explore what the digital transformation is, and how you can get on board to ensure your operations run smoother than ever.

What is the digital transformation?

Digital transformation is simply a term for the shift we’re experiencing as a society. As the world becomes increasingly digital, so is the way businesses work. It’s not changing what businesses do — rather, it’s just changing which platforms businesses use.

For example, instead of reading a map to find directions to that new burger place, you can simply type the business’s name into Google or a Maps app, and retrieve the same information. The only difference is that the information is online.

Finding information online transfers to businesses’ recruitment processes, as well. Instead of a prospective employee filling out a paper application in-person, now most companies post applications on LinkedIn or Indeed.

Additionally, customer experiences have become increasingly digital with social media marketing.

Tech-savvy companies nowadays have interactive, beautiful websites. Plus, in 2019, a company’s tracking process transfers to online analytics.

The transformation is everywhere, and becoming more commonplace each day.

What does digital transformation mean for you? Well, it’s a reminder that any paper materials your company is using in the day-to-day might need a new medium — the internet.

Next, let’s take a look at why the digital transformation is happening, and go over a strategy to make sure your company isn’t falling behind when it comes to being online.

Why are businesses experiencing a digital transformation?

Simply put, things are often easier when they’re online. Additionally, new technology is making website building more accessible, and creating more opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences.

In fact, 70% of businesses today are finding that the digital shift is worth it, and these businesses either have a digital strategy in place, or are earnestly working towards one.

A digital shift not only saves you trees, but time.

You may be using some methods of digital strategy already. SOPs, social media campaigns, and instant messaging apps like Slack are all examples of small digital transformations that replace paper instructions, outbound marketing, and an extra trip to your manager’s desk.

Other methods of shifting digitally aren’t as easy to implement, like social media. However, with 63% of businesses going the social media route with their marketing, the increasing importance of the medium is rapidly becoming prevalent.

Next, let’s explore some examples of digital transformation more in-depth, so you can consider implementing some of these processes for your own business.

Digital transformation examples

1. Instant messaging

Instead of having a meeting or a long email thread for a quick message, send it to your company’s workspace channel. Some instant messaging services are made for corporate settings, like Slack or Flock.

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With these services, you can file share, direct message, and create channels where teams can collaborate and discuss projects. Think of it as the office water cooler — just online.

2. Application tools

Are you looking for new talent? The best candidates (especially ones who prefer to work digitally) are online.

For instance, LinkedIn, a site for professional networking, is a great source for recruiting candidates:

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Using LinkedIn’s template will help you post an incredible listing, and you can use LinkedIn’s industries function to help the right candidates find it. LinkedIn will alert you of new applicants and send you their applications, making the selection process an online breeze.

3. Sales management

As aforementioned, software is available to help manage many facets of your business, including sales. This software helps you manage calls, pipelines, reporting, and follow-up resources to help your process migrate smoothly online.

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For instance, HubSpot offers a free Sales hub to organize all of your sales materials online. In the tool, you can manage deals, filter contacts, and create different tasks via dashboard to help you keep track of your sales processes.

4. Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

If you have certain aspects of your day-to-day that require multiple steps written down somewhere, dig it out and post it online. This will reduce the paper trail and make the processes shareable among employees.

For instance, this is an example of a standard operating procedure and yes, you can find them online, too:

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Online SOP software makes listing the procedures of job functions easy to do and comprehend. To help make the transition smooth, talk to your employees and ask them to collaborate with you in the process.

5. Customer relationship management (CRM) software

A CRM is going to be your best friend when shifting to an all-digital business. Our research checklist consolidates the process because it’s extensive, but necessary. Ultimately, CRMs help you maintain relationships with customers.

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HubSpot’s free CRM offers three hubs that give you an all-in-one business platform experience. From customer service reps to sales leaders and business owners, this free CRM helps you fully transfer your business online and drive growth.

6. Video chat software

Is your team out of town but you need to schedule a meeting? Use video chat software to meet virtually. Software like Skype for Business and Zoom offer free web-chatting services for professional use.

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Skype has automatic subtitle settings and 1:1 capabilities as well as the option to host multiple people on calls at once. Most software also has a phone version, to make sure you’re accessible anytime, anywhere (during the work day).

Though these tools are designed to make your life easier, every process won’t be as seamless as it could be, and digital transformations are no exception. Let’s explore some major challenges of shifting to a digital process, next.

Digital Transformation Challenges

Even though the advantages of shifting digitally are abundant, there are challenges in making that transfer happen. Like previously mentioned, two-thirds of small businesses are online. However, that still leaves one-third that are likely hesitant to make the push.

Common challenges to beginning a digital transformation are employee pushback, limited budget, technical difficulties with integration, and poor business models. Each of these challenges come with their own set of solutions.

With a proper strategy, these challenges can be alleviated. For instance, you can work with managers to ensure your employees are informed about the changes that matter to them.

Alternatively, you might start your digital transformation with cheaper components, like social media or a free CRM, rather than more expensive foundational switches like creating high-quality advertising campaigns.

HubSpot offers a free template that will help you schedule and work through a digital transformation process, broken down into seven weeks. Week one is all about gathering existing sales and marketing materials on paper, while week two dives into transferring your business online, and so on. These small steps are designed to fit into your busy schedule and help you remain organized as you transition.

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Week two is also the data migration step. A free CRM, like HubSpot, can help you input business data like contacts in one place that’s easy to access.

By weeks three and four, you’ll have a functioning website and marketing resources to help you learn more about integrating processes online.

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The latter half of the weekly plan ramps up your online presence. Using this template can help you organize your new digital shift by area, to avoid doing one huge push all at once and confusing employees.

Creating a blog during week five will help you find your target audience online. Posts should be about your target market (if you’re a tech marketing company, for instance, posts should center around the intersection between the two) to demonstrate your expertise. This will build your reputation as a thought leader in your industry.

Setting up a sales flow by week six will transition your sales process to be completely digital. Online sales tools allow you to keep track of all your contacts, log your conversations, and keep tabs on call schedules and upcoming meetings.

Email and paid ads should be rocking-and-rollin’ by week seven. The email software you choose will help you through the process of sending automated emails to subscribers, and let you test out paid ad software.

In a month and a half, most of your business processes will be digital.

Best of all, this template gives you the wiggle room to expand as your business continues to incorporate digital components — but as a starting point, it gets you up and running. Hopefully with this template, those challenges mentioned above — like working with hesitant employees, a weak business model, or limited budget — seem a little less daunting.

Now, I bet you’re thinking of a way to start researching. The internet is a vast place, after all. Well, there’s a template for that, too. This checklist is part of the set of free templates HubSpot offers that help you filter through different tools and resources to find the one that’s right for you.

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The checklist is made with your business in mind, to think about how restructuring online will benefit you. Additionally, it gives you room to think about the pros and cons of different software out there, including what will likely work best with your operations and budget.

Additionally, you can use these resources to present the benefits of a digital transformation to involved stakeholders. Everyone can have access to this template to keep current on the transformation, so you can all stay on the same page.

Soon, the majority of businesses will conduct at least part of their business online. To make sure you’re one of them, it’s critical you take part in the digital transformation. Make sure you’re well prepared and amping up for the change, now.

At INBOUND this year, HubSpot CTO and co-founder Dharmesh Shah announced that our company now has more than 200 remote employees globally

Remote work is becoming so valuable to prospective employees that the second-most searched word on HubSpot’s career page is “remote.”

Clearly, people love the idea of working from home or a location outside the office. And this makes sense. Have you ever wanted to work for a far-away company you couldn’t move to? Or have you ever wanted to cut a tough commute out of your schedule to spend more time with family? These are just a few great reasons why people might want to work remote.

If you’re an employer concerned about how offering remote work as an option to employees could impact productivity,, a number of studies have concluded that remote work can be incredibly effective at increasing productivity

A 2016 survey found that 91% of participants said they get more work done when working from home. Many of this study’s participants also said they felt happier at their job when they worked remote as opposed to in-office.

Later, in 2019, a two-year Stanford University study found that remote employees can boost a company’s productivity.

As the remote workforce has grown, HubSpot has embraced the work style. In fact, our Marketing team recently held a remote quarterly meeting. Instead of booking a large conference room, all HubSpot marketing employees — even those who worked in-office — simply logged on to the video call from remote locations. At the end of the virtual meeting, we heard from a small group of remote HubSpot marketers about their experiences with working out of the office.

Although this all seems pretty promising way to work, you might still be thinking, “Remote work sounds great, but is it possible for managers or leaders?”

At HubSpot, the answer is yes. In fact, our blogging team alone has six fully remote members, including two people managers from across the United States.

Sounds great, right?

If and when you transition to your first semi or fully remote job, you might be excited about your role’s helpful out-of-office location. But, you might also have concerns like, “How will I get visibility in my company?” or “Will I miss important meetings or be out of the loop?”

To help answer some of your burning work-from-home questions, I spoke with a handful of remote HubSpot employees from different departments to get their eight most valuable tips.

1. Determine if remote work is right for you.

For some people, working remote on a full-time basis feels ideal and most productive. However, some people prefer having meetings in person in the office during the week with only one or two full remote days. And, lastly, others might feel like they get the best work done in an office.

Everyone is different, so if you think you’d like to work remote, testing out all three of the work styles noted above can be a helpful way to make a decision about where you’d like your role to be on a daily basis.

At HubSpot’s internal quarterly marketing meeting, which I mentioned above, those who spoke on the remote panel suggested that employees should test a few work-from-home schedules if they think this working style is right for them. These panelists also suggested that it can be helpful to start with one remote day a week and then expand to two or three days as you get used to the new environment.

2. Schedule meetings and work hours in chunks.

When you’re remote, it’s easy to get distracted by family, friends, errands, or other aspects of your day-to-day life. Working in your own house might cause distractions as you think of chores or tasks you need to do related to your home. Meanwhile, prepping for multiple scattered work calls might distract you from completing bigger projects that require heads-down attention.

To avoid distractions from life or your other duties, establish a solid schedule when you start your remote position.

According to Rebecca White, a California-based junior staff writer for the HubSpot Blog, planning and sticking to a firm schedule can be incredibly important if you’re transitioning into a remote position for the first time.

“Set up a schedule and routine for yourself as quickly as you can. This means setting boundaries for what you do during the day,” says White.

White explains that setting schedule boundaries can involve designating offline times when you aren’t working. Since you might be working during or outside of your office’s standard hours, you could also set time blocks for yourself to be online when your team is in office.

During work hours, White warns that a schedule with vague boundaries can cause you to end up working at odd hours.

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of getting things done during the day, but still feeling like you’ve wasted your time and now need to work later in the evening,” White explains. “Setting boundaries for yourself and having a routine schedule will help avoid those pitfalls.”

Scott Tousley, a California-based senior team lead on thef user acquisition team, echoed this sentiment, saying he also schedules his entire workday, as well as breaks, in large blocks.

Tousley says that his first work chunk occurs from 7 a.m. to noon. Then, he takes a break from noon to 2 p.m. followed by his last work block from 2 to 7 p.m.

Many of the other remote employees we talked to also encouraged scheduling multiple meetings within the same day or in dedicated blocks of time.

For example, you could consider dedicating the first few days of the week to meetings and smaller tasks. Then, use the meetingless days to focus on the bigger projects.

“If you can, group all your meetings so they happen over the course of two or three days. Leave a couple of days wide open to get that heads-down, max-effort work done,” says Allie Decker, a content writerbased in Chicago.

Scheduling meetings all together will not only prevent you from having to stop working on a big project for a 30-minute call, but it will also allow you to streamline the time you spend preparing for meetings.

Decker adds, “You can also use these [meetingless] days to get out of the house, change up your workspace, and not have to worry about taking video or phone calls in loud public spots.”

Scheduling a workday when you can’t be in the office can be tricky. While you might be able to schedule your own meetings on specific days, your in-office or remote coworkers in another time zone might need to meet at a time that doesn’t always work for you. While you should make exceptions for important meetings, you’ll still want to try your best to stick to a regular week-to-week schedule and communicate your working hours with your team.

If your office has a calendar system where any of your colleagues can see your schedule and book time with you, check with your manager to see if it’s okay to schedule a block of time that says something like, “Do Not Book,” “Writing time,” or “Email me to book meetings during this time.” With notes explaining why you’re unavailable for meetings on your calendar, colleagues will be able to see that this time is dedicated to bigger projects and tasks.

3. Over-communicate with everyone.

When you’re remote, your colleagues in another time zone might unknowingly invite you to video calls at a late hour that doesn’t work for you. Or, even if you are in the same time zone, you might find that there are consistent miscommunications happening because you sent an email rather than having a face-to-face conversation about what you wanted to achieve from a team project.

To avoid confusion points between you and your in-office team, err on the side of over-communicating. Be sure to regularly check in with colleagues on phone calls, during video chats, or through your office’s direct messaging system.

“Over-communicate everything,” says Christina Perricone, a manager on the blogging teambased in Atlanta.

“Since people can’t stop by your desk to clear up misunderstandings, it’s important to explain everything with thorough detail and share more information than you think is necessary,” Perricone adds.

While you should still be polite and professional, be transparent and firm about your schedule, your current list of tasks, your bandwidth, and your expectations of other team members so that your colleagues and managers know what you’re up to and what you need from them.

4. Plan virtual coffee chats with colleagues.

When you work outside of the office, it can be hard to get that valuable visibility that could move your career forward. Because your team will be bonding during informal office chats, outings, lunches, coffees, or events that you won’t be able to attend, it’s important to come up with creative ways to get to know your colleagues and improve key relationships with team managers.

“As a remote employee, it’s easy to be out of sight and out of mind,” says Henry Franco, an Illinois-based social media manager. “Setting up regular one-on-one meetings with every member of your team on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis is a great way to stay connected.”

Perricone ads, “Capitalize on any opportunity to connect with colleagues — use team meetings, one-on-one meetings, or impromptu video calls to work through problems.”

“You want to use every opportunity to make up for the lack of in-office interactions that typically build rapport,” Perricone explains.

On the Blog team, one great one-on-one strategy we use to catch up with coworkers is called “virtual coffee.” During these virtual coffee chats, you schedule a time to simply get to know your remote or in-office colleagues over coffee or lunch, without a set agenda.

You don’t necessarily have to use the virtual coffee time to talk about work. Instead, you could use that time to learn more about your coworkers or managers. Building these relationships can help you create more meaningful relationships with colleagues who are farther away. These chats will also help you learn more about how your team works together in the office.

5. Create an efficient working space.

Working in your bed or kitchen could make you want to sleep, cook, or clean when you’re on the clock. Meanwhile, a noisy space in your home might open you up to distractions. If you want to get serious about working from home, you’ll ideally want to have an effective office or quiet workspace that has a designated work surface, great lighting, internet, and limited distraction points.

“Try to designate a space in your home exclusively for work,” says Perricone. “Taking calls from your bed or writing memos in front of your TV likely won’t be very effective. You need a space that allows you to focus and be productive. That way, you can keep your work and home life as separate as possible.”

As Perricone mentions, when you’re working from your own home, the line between work life and your personal life can get blurry. To avoid bringing your work stress into your personal life, do your work in one isolated location of your house so that you can mentally and physically walk away from your job when you’re off the clock.

“Avoid working from your bedroom or living room because there are more distractions there and it’s hard to draw a firm line between work and relaxation,” Franco explains. “If you use an office, it’s much easier to close the door at the end of the workday and transition into another mindset.”

6. Work outside of your house.

Sometimes, your house can still be the most distracting place to work, even if you’ve created a solid workspace.

On top of the distracting environment, associating your home with work all the time might not be so great for your mental health. For example, a recent Buffer survey found that 22% of remote employees have trouble tuning out at the end of the workday.

Difficulty tuning out of work might mean you miss out on happenings in your personal life or feel stressed about your job or a deadline even when the workday is over.

As Franco mentions in the fifth tip, a home office offers you an opportunity to leave your work behind at the end of the day. But, if you don’t have a home office, it might be hard to escape looking at your computer or answering emails at night when you should be focused on your personal life.

If you’ve tested out a number of home workspaces and find that your house or apartment isn’t a great place for getting tasks done, consider going to another location — like a coffee shop, library, or shared working space.

“I work from home primarily, but sometimes I need a change of scenery to boost productivity or simply chat with other humans,” says Decker.

Decker notes that finding the best workspaces can be a process, so you’ll need to do a bit of trial and error testing.

“Don’t beat yourself up if the first few locations aren’t a perfect fit. Over time, you’ll find your favorites,” Decker says, adding, “Bonus points if you work regularly at a coffee shop and you’re recognized by the baristas!”

7. Prepare for video calls.

As a remote employee, regular video chats will most likely be part of your role. So, make sure your working space is properly lit and offers a professional, non-distracting background.

While it might be tempting to keep your camera off and avoid showing your surroundings to your team, Perricone says that attending a video call with the camera turned on is important for interpersonal communication and office visibility.

“Turn on the video during your calls,” Perricone advises. “Ninety-three percent of communication is non-verbal. Being remote puts you at a disadvantage when it comes to reading facial expressions and body language during meetings. Video calls mitigate the disconnect that can arise from not being in-person.”

8. Don’t forget to take breaks.

At a normal nine-to-five job in an office, you’ll usually take one or two breaks throughout the day as well as lunch. But, when you’re at home and focused on a big project, time can slip away from you and you might forget to take a much-needed breather. That’s why you might want to schedule breaks on your calendar.

“Since you miss out on the social cues to head out for lunch or end the workday that are inherent in in-office settings, you have to create them,” says Perricone. “Set calendar appointments for lunch or a walk or a midday workout. Otherwise, you might find yourself sitting in front of your computer for 10+ hours a day.”

When you do take breaks, it can be helpful to do something relaxing but still productive, like going out to lunch or taking a nice walk outside.

Tyler Littwin, HubSpot’s Art Director, echoed Perricone’s thoughts on scheduling break times and encourages remote workers to get some fresh air during the workday.

“Without coworkers there to grab lunch or coffee breaks with, it’s easy to stay in one place for far too long. In my humble opinion, walks are an essential part of keeping your sanity and improving your productivity. Even 15 to 20 minutes is enough of a recharge,” says Littwin.

Establishing a Healthy Remote Routine

As my remote colleagues noted continuously, the key to successful remote work is establishing a routine that allows you to effectively complete different tasks while allowing you to still keep work and home life separate — even when you literally have to bring work home with you.

As you begin working from home, or test out a partially remote lifestyle, be sure to nail down your work and life-related schedules and set vital boundaries for yourself and your team. These strategies will keep your workdays productive and could help your remote career thrive successfully.

Want to learn more about what it takes to be a great remote employee? We recently published a post about research reveals five more researched-based tips for a successful remote career.