Search results

Chasing clients? Forget about it. The modern freelancer has so many options to find work online (see our guide on what is freelancing). On these following job boards, the digital creative can access leads to dozens of open positions. These boards are especially designed to fit the needs of the self-employed. Some display listings for all kinds of different professions, while others focus on a specific field (such as Wix Designers). If you’re looking to expand your clients’ base and to increase monthly revenues, browsing through these boards is a great way to land more gigs regardless of whether you're just working from home or as a digital nomad. If you know more sites that can help the freelance community, feel free to share in the comments! And of course, another great way to turn your freelance ideas into gigs is to learn how to create a freelance website (or how to start a service business). Read Also: How to start a business General Job Boards Authentic Jobs Web Pro Jobs Krop Upwork Freelancer.com Freelancers Union Simply Hired Your Web Job Go Freelance Design, Animation, Art The Wix Marketplace Coroflot Smashing Magazine Abduzeedo Design Crowd Blogging & Content Pro Blogger Online Writing jobs Freelance Writing Freelance Writing Gigs Blogging Pro

Starting a new business requires money. From manufacturing products, marketing your services to creating a business website, you’ll soon learn that nearly every step of the way, you’ll need capital to back up your growth plans. That said, most entrepreneurs cannot finance their businesses themselves. Instead, many small business owners learn how to get a startup business loan to secure additional funding. Even if you've managed to raise money for your business from other sources, such as crowdfunding, you'll generally need a loan to supplement this. While there is an array of business loans out there, finding the right option for you doesn’t have to be hard. If you want to get a loan, you must determine which one suits you and if you will qualify for this type business funding before you search for lenders and apply. Understanding the expectations can simplify the process, helping increase your chances of approval. This complete guide will go over how to get a business loan, help you evaluate which loan you qualify for and delve deeper into the different types of loans being offered today. How to get a business loan: Understand what type of business loan you need Check that you qualify for a business loan Research potential lenders Gather financial and business documents Apply for a business loan 01. Understand what type of business loan you need Taking out a loan is one of the most popular ways to raise money for a business, but the process can daunt first-timers. The market offers many different business loans, and not every loan suits every type of business. Term loans Term loans refer to the most classic loan type. This business loan can come in almost any amount. You borrow a lump sum for a specific purpose and then you pay back the loan, with interest, in equal installments, over a predetermined time period. Your financial situation will determine the terms of this loan, including interest rates and payment periods. Existing businesses may rely on their financial history when applying for a loan, while newer business owners may have to offer up their personal financial standing. Term loans often require collateral, such as real estate or other assets, which the lender can claim if you fail to make payments. Repayment on term loans usually starts immediately, as well. Banks and private lenders both offer term loans. Banks will require a high credit score and offer varying interest rates and loan terms. Private lenders will typically accept lower credit scores in exchange for high interest rates and short repayment periods. Government-backed SBA loans U.S.-based small businesses can apply Small Business Administration, or SBA loans. Private lenders provide these loans, but the federal government backs them, meaning they will repay the lender if the loan recipient fails to do so. Lenders usually provide better rates and more lenient loan terms. The SBA loans, however, require a lengthy and rigorous application and approval process. These loans also require collateral. While the government ensures repayment to the lender, they require you to risk your personal assets in return. Some common SBA loans include: 7(a) loans of up to $5 million. 504 loans of up to $5 million. Microloans of up to $50,000. The SBA offer additional loan options for purposes such as exporting, international trade or disaster relief. SBA loans offer relatively long terms, with up to 10 years on loans for working capital or equipment and 25 years for real estate. Similar to term loans, SBA loans also require some financial history, so not all loan options are available to new businesses. See the SBA requirements to check your eligibility. Business line of credit or credit cards Credit differs from traditional loans as it acts more like a personal credit card. Rather than receive a lump sum upfront that you’ll pay interest on, you’ll gain access to a line of credit and only pay interest on money you’ve used. Many view credit as a simpler, safer and more flexible option than a fixed-term loan. Many can easily acquire them from a wide range of lenders and they often don’t require collateral. Businesses usually use credit lines for short-term financing, rather than long-term projects. Although credit varies in size and terms, many lenders cap financing around $250,000. Some creditors may still require some business financial history. So new businesses may come across difficulties getting credit from a bank. Businesses can secure a line of credit or, if they don’t qualify, they can opt for a credit card to cover ongoing expenses, which are easier to get but incur higher rates and fees. Personal loans New businesses often face difficulties when securing a loan. Many new business owners take out a personal loan to work around this. These are similar to term loans in that the owner pays the lender back in fixed installments. Most personal loans are unsecured, so you won’t have to put up collateral. They’re typically unrestricted as well, so you can do whatever you like with the money you receive. Personal loans attract many types of entrepreneurs for their quick, flexible and relatively easy qualifications. However, personal loans may be a riskier option than a business term loan which offer a legal buffer. You’ll need to put your credit score on the line and assume a personal loan’s risk. Microloans New eligible businesses that need less than $50,000 can take out microloans from the SBA or other lenders. Many NGOs offer microloans to businesses that focus on issues like education, equality, or the environment. 02. Check that you qualify for a business loan All businesses need operational funds, but not every business can secure this funding with a loan. To get a business loan, you’ll need to consider your financial history, credit store, collateral options, and line of business. Make sure you understand your desired loan’s terms and conditions before applying. How new is your business? Every lender will want to know your business’ financial and operational history. New entrepreneurs may find it more difficult to get a loan. If those starting a new business can rely heavily on their own financial history, they will have a better chance of getting a personal loan. New businesses may also have luck applying for a business credit line or credit cards for short-term financing, as they pose less of a risk for lenders. How high is your credit score? No matter the type of business loan, all lenders will want to take on as little risk as possible and recoup the costs. They’ll want to see your financial situation before lending. Generally, the better your credit score, the better terms you’ll receive on your loan. On the flip side, if lenders see you as a higher risk, they’ll require a larger collateral, shorter return periods, and higher interest rates. To get a traditional business loan, you’ll need a good credit score. Generally, a bank or SBA loan requires a minimal credit score of 680. If you have a lower credit score, you may still secure a loan, but you will have more limited options and stricter terms. If your credit score falls within the 600-680 range, you may want to consider alternative lending options, such as a term loan from an online lender, or a line of credit. Credit scores below 600 make it more difficult to get a loan, especially if you’re a new business without a proven track record. However, you may still receive credit or other short-term loans. What is your line of business? While your line of business may seem irrelevant when getting a loan, lenders view some fields as more precarious or profitable and will consider this when determining risk. That said, even if your history or personal finances lock you out of certain traditional lending options, you can work with lenders who operate solely in your field. Additionally, some NGOs or private entities also provide financial assistance to businesses working on certain causes, like sustainability, human rights or environmental concerns. Do you have a detailed business plan? While lenders dig into financial histories, they’ll also want to consider your business’s future when determining risk. To secure a business loan, you’ll need a thorough business plan that calms lenders’ nerves and ensures that you’ll pay them back. A proper business plan includes expense and revenue projection, preferably broken down monthly or quarterly. It should also include a detailed description of your operation, marketing strategy and even a market analysis. Can you provide collateral? Some lenders will require you to provide an asset as collateral to ensure they receive their money back. If you fail to pay back the loan, the lender will assume ownership of this provided asset. Collateral can include assets such as real estate, equipment, inventory or cash. Collateral may also decrease the lender’s risk, and potentially provide you with better loan terms. While you can receive a loan without collateral, your lender may require you to sign a personal guarantee that offers your personal assets as collateral. To lessen your personal risk, you should ensure you can pay back a business loan before taking one out. 03. Research potential lenders These days, many lenders approach businesses offering different loan types, amounts, terms and requirements. Many consider commercial banks like Citibank and J.P. Morgan as the most traditional business lenders. If you qualify, they can provide decent terms for business or personal loans of all sizes. However, the approval process often tends to be longer and more rigorous than other lenders.Small businesses can also approach local banks for smaller loans. Many local community banks will give out loans with favorable terms to local businesses. Online lenders have also become one of the most popular ways to get a business loan, especially for new businesses. Many sites let you compare options and connect with different lenders offering different terms. Generally, the easiest application process comes from direct online lenders. Businesses may also want to check out peer-to-peer lending for smaller loans. Platforms such as SMBX connect small businesses with private lenders and investors offering lending options. 04. Gather financial and business documents Regardless of your chosen loan type, amount and lender, you’ll need to organize your paperwork before you apply. Your lender will ask you for common documents like bank statements and tax returns for your business or personal accounts. You’ll also need to provide credit reports, though most lenders can access your credit report on their end. If you already run an established business, you’ll need to provide financial statements, including a balance sheet and cash flow statements. New businesses can’t provide these, and instead may need to provide a detailed business plan with financial projections. Lenders will also want to see legal documents like your federal tax ID, state filings, etc. Some lenders may ask you to include additional information, like potential collateral, or require a certified public accountant (CPA) to review or audit your statements. 05. Apply for a business loan Before you approach your chosen lender, ensure you know your desired loan type and size, as well as the intended purpose. Once you’ve organized all your information, you can confidently apply for a loan. If your lender approves you, you’ll need to understand the terms and agreements before you commit. You’ll also need to know what reports you must file, any imposed restrictions (e.g. like a minimum cash threshold your business needs to hold), and the circumstances the lender considers as defaulting on the loan. Note the interest rate and any additional feed, the payment duration and installments as well as any penalties, like those for early payment. Finally, before entering an agreement with any lender, you should complete your due diligence and confirm their reputation within the industry and with clients. By Emily Shwake Wix Blog Writer

According to a recent Goldman Sachs survey, while 2021 was more difficult for business than 2020, 73% of owners expressed optimism about their small business’s financial trajectory in 2022. An overwhelming majority supported emergency federal assistance to small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting a business or running one has never been cheap. Figuring out secured funding is essential to succeeding especially during a global slowdown. Whether you want to bootstrap a business or find investors, this guide will compare the available small business funding options. Tip: Make a business website and gain all the tools you need to grow your business. Best business funding sources 01. Bootstrapping Bootstrapping uses existing resources such as personal capital, equipment and real estate to fund a business. If you choose to bootstrap your business, you may start with dipping into savings accounts and adjusting the line on your personal credit card to come up with cash. But once your venture takes off, you can reinvest your profits to continue funding your business growth. Bootstrapping allows you to maintain full equity in your business and decide on impactful issues without investor interference. It also helps you learn better spending habits as you manage big business goals on a tight budget. Mailchimp’s $12 billion exit to Intuit makes it one of the most successful bootstrapping startups in tech history. As a side project to a web design business, co-founders Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius launched Mailchimp in 2001 and slowly and steadily nurtured their clients towards their email marketing business. Mailchimp’s success was ultimately tied to “a proximity to its customers,” Chestnut told the New York Times back in 2016. His advice was: “If you want to run a successful tech company, you don’t have to follow the path of ‘Silicon Valley.’ You can simply start a business, run it to serve your customers, and forget about outside investors and growth at any cost.” 02. Crowdfunding Aspiring entrepreneurs have long used crowdfunding to raise money for business online. As the cost of starting a business keeps rising, some small business owners use crowdfunding websites, such as Kickstarter, GoFundMe and Indiegogo, to help close the gap. When funding your business via crowdfunding, know your target audience. Create a transparent budget and set a reasonable goal. Communicate with your backers frequently and once you hit your fundraising goal, don’t forget to thank all your donors. 03. Loans from family and friends Currently the richest person alive, Jeff Bezos owes his early success to the $250,000 loan he received from his parents for Amazon in 1995. Borrowing from family and friends comes with its own set of pros and cons: Not only will people within your personal network give you a more gentler and flexible lending experience, they won’t charge you to apply and may even eliminate interest rates altogether. On the other hand, taking a loan from family and friends often comes with a lot of emotional ties that can worsen relationships . When the time comes to create your elevator pitch to family and friends, keep it professional but friendly. Show them why they should invest in your business. Write a speech like you would for a bank or private lender using these guidelines: Present your case and outline reasons why they would want to fund your business. Share a completed business plan template to show you are worthy of credit and prepared. Help them understand how the money will help Give them a repayment timeline with applicable interest. Turn this agreement into a document with signatures from both sides. 04. Bank business loans The U.S. Census Bureau reports that bank loans comprise 99.9% of external financing for small businesses (see our guide on how to get a startup loan). However, we need to learn more about lending practices in relation to how they contribute to an ever changing economy. (Note: The FDIC and the Census are conducting a survey of 2,000 banks of all sizes across the U.S and expect to publish their findings in 2024.) In the meantime, if you run an established business with strong credit and collateral, you might want to figure out how to get a business loan from a bank. See what financing options you qualify for, whether for equipment, commercial rental loans, business lines of credit or business credit cards. 05. Angel investors From dentists to influencers and retirees, angel investors represent a more diverse investing crowd than ever before. And the New York Times reports that the research firm Pitchbook stated that some 3,000 new angel investors made their first deal in 2022, up from 2,725 investors in 2011. The Securities and Exchange Commission amended the investor accreditation process last year, removing certain “roadblocks” that deterred aspiring small time investors, reported the Times. Companies like AngelList Venture now help all types of businesses raise capital by connecting them to new investors. 06. Venture capital Many start-ups prefer funding their business with venture capital, as firms can invest large sums quickly. With venture capital, you don’t put your personal assets at risk. Also, unlike bank loans, you won’t need to worry about structured repayment plans with harsh penalties. 2021 also saw venture funding break records. Global venture investment brought in $643 billion last year, up from $355 billion in 2020, according to Crunchbase. That said, some venture capital firms are “sounding alarm bells” due to the familiar small business challenges of rising interest rates. For example, VC firm Sequoia Capital published a 52-page presentation for companies to navigate investments during economic uncertainty. 07. SBA loans and grants The U.S. Small Business Administration backs loans to help fund business owners. These U.S.-bank administered loans, generally include low interest rates and fees, counseling and resources, and require little or no collateral. Four million small businesses received nearly $390 billion in COVID relief funds under the SBA’s COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loan. SBA head Isabella Casillas Guzman said in June 2022, “Nearly 90 percent of loans went to small businesses with 10 employees or less, which tend to include the hardest-hit and most underserved population.” Aside from special programs, the SBA website has a Lender Match tool that helps you match your needs with traditional loan options (including 7(a) loans, 504 loans and microloans.) When talking to SBA approved lenders, keep your business plan, credit history, financial projections and amount of funds by your side. The SBA also provides limited small business grants to promote entrepreneurship in scientific research and development. However, you cannot use these grants for starting or expanding your business—only to maintain or run an existing business. 08. Credit union financing Many Americans have turned to non-for-profit credit unions for community and personal relationships with their lenders. In fact, 3.37 million more people joined credit unions between 2019 and 2020, bringing total membership to 125.11 million, according to CNBC. According to the Credit Union National Association, these institutions' lending grew more than bank lending did during the pandemic. Credit unions also offer low-interest programs and special member services, including financial education and outreach. Find your local credit union on mycreditunion.gov.

Dear Matt, We were all very surprised by your post, as you have so many claims against us. Wow, dude I did not even know we were fighting. First, you say we have been taking from the open source community without giving back, well, of course, that isn’t true. Here is a list of 224 projects on our public GitHub page, and as you can see they are all dated before your post. We have not checked if WordPress is using them, but you are more than welcome to do so, some of them are pretty good. We always shared and admired your commitment to give back, which is exactly why we have those 224 open source projects, and thousands more bugs/improvements available to the open source community and we will release the app you saw as well. Next, you talk about the Wix App being stolen from WordPress. There are more than 3 million lines of code in the Wix application, notably the hotels/blogs/chat/eCommerce/scheduling/booking is all our code. Yes, we did use the WordPress open source library for a minor part of the application (that is the concept of open source right?), and everything we improved there or modified, we submitted back as open source, see here in this link – you should check it out, pretty cool way of using it on mobile native. I really think you guys can use it with your app (and it is open source, so you are welcome to use it for free). And, by the way, the part that we used was in fact developed by another and modified by you. If you want to read the account from Tal Kol, one of the leading engineers on this project, here it is. He was really happy to share his side of the story. Now, what is this thing about us stealing your branding? Our product was always called Wix and our website Wix.com, we never borrowed from your marketing or brand. In fact, if I remember correctly, until recently the Automattic home page was all about blogs and only recently it has become “websites.” Also, your business model changed to almost exactly the one we had for years. Can it be that you guys are borrowing from us? If so, again, you are welcome to it. If you believe that we need to give you credit, that you deserve credit, I must say, absolutely yes. You guys deserve a lot of credit, but not because of a few lines of source code, you deserve credit because you guys have been making the internet dramatically better, and for that we at Wix are big fans. We love what you have been trying to do, and are working very hard to add our own contribution to make the internet better. If you need source code that we have, and we have not yet released, then, most likely we will be happy to share, you only need to ask. We share your belief that making the internet better, is best for everyone. Finally, during the last couple of years, I reached out a couple of times trying to meet with you. Could I do that again here? I believe in friendly competition, and as much fun as it is to chat over the blogosphere, maybe we can also do it over a cup of coffee? Yours, Avishai

Modern society has shown us the value of living in the present. Meditation and mindfulness practices have become so common that they’re touted by celebrities such as Jerry Seinfeld and Goldie Hawn. And we are all for it. But when it comes to business, it’s a whole other ball game. Living in the moment certainly has its advantages, but business is about planning for the future. From creating your business website to building your product, you need to strategically project costs, revenue, and your vision for the future. That’s where vision statements come in. Not to be confused with a mission statement, or an executive summary, an effective vision statement clearly outlines the aspirations of your business and what you hope to achieve long-term. You’ll need to consider questions such as, What is your company’s overall vision for the future? and How are you going to help consumers long-term? After you’ve answered these questions, you can follow our five steps for writing the perfect vision statement. How to write a vision statement Most companies, especially large corporations, have a vision statement consisting of one or two sentences as well as a multipage document describing its future plans. As the business owner, it’s really up to you to decide if you want to extend your vision statement beyond a few sentences or not. But no matter how long or short you make it, what’s important is that you have one. Without a vision statement, your business has the potential to veer off course. You and your employees can lose sight of what you are working for and what you are trying to achieve. While there are no hard and fast rules for writing vision statements, these five steps can help you with the process: Define the purpose of your business Determine long-term goals Don't be too specific with your statement Come up with a list of values Make your statement actionable 01. Define the purpose of your business By purpose, we don’t simply mean the product you make. Think about the bigger picture: what does your business bring to the world that no other business does? Consider how you intend your product or service to change people’s lives for the better. How will the future be different with your business thriving in it? For example, an insurance company doesn’t just provide insurance. It also provides customers with financial security and peace of mind knowing that they are taken care of if things go wrong. Using that idea, an insurance company could create a vision statement such as, “Our vision is to not only provide insurance, but to be a friend to our customers by providing a sense of long-term security in their lives.” 02. Determine long-term goals Consider what goals you hope to achieve 5-10 years down the line that can set you apart from the competition and list them as part of your business proposal. Why should someone buy from you instead of the person down the street? Consider our example of the insurance company. There are hundreds, if not thousands of insurance companies in the US, each one needing to set itself apart from the competition. Perhaps an insurance company wants to offer significantly lower rates or provide better customer service than their competitors. Or perhaps, it has a unique business model, like Lemonade, that donates leftover funds to charities of their customers’ choice. These are the kinds of aspects that you could highlight in your vision statement. With that in mind, let’s take the statement above and expand on it: “Our vision is to not only provide insurance, but to be a friend to our customers. We will provide a sense of long-term security in their lives by providing 24/7 customer support.” 03. Don’t be too specific with your statement A vision statement should address broad and ambitious future goals. There’s no need to elaborate on these in detail. Your statement should outline an overview of what you plan to achieve and provide inspiration. This is typically not the place to write specific objectives, such as, “We want to hit $5,000,000 in sales by 2025.” You can, however, include these details in your expanded vision statement document, if you choose to create one. 04. Come up with a list of values Next, come up with a list of values that your business adheres to and incorporate the most important one(s) into your statement. By referencing your company’s core values, your vision statement will better encompass what your company stands for. This will also help make your vision statement a part of your company culture. Continuing with the example of the insurance company, let’s say it wants to highlight the fact that it is: Reliable Dependable Understanding Sympathetic Comforting In this case, the vision statement could read: “Our vision is to not only provide insurance, but to be a friend to our customers. We will provide a sense of long-term comfort and security in their lives by providing 24/7 customer support.” 05. Make your statement actionable The point of a vision statement is to identify a long-term goal for your business to work towards. Make sure to include actionable terminology to show that your business is moving forward and continuously striving. Examples might include: Become Transform Supply Cater Improve In our insurance company example, we use the word “provide” to show action. This helps all stakeholders understand that your vision statement isn't just a vague assertion, but that your company is actively moving toward achieving these goals. When crafting your own vision statement, consider which action words best align with your goals. That way, you’ll be on the path to solidifying the perfect vision statement for your brand. What is the purpose of a vision statement? A vision statement is a living declaration that is part of a company’s overall strategic plan. It is typically written in the early stages of starting a business and helps steer the company in the intended direction. All types of businesses can benefit from vision statements, from small mom-and-pop shops to large corporations. It should be a reference tool to help ensure that your business is moving in the right direction and that every business decision is aligned with your long-term goals. A well-written vision statement should motivate, excite and inspire. It should outline the future of your organization for all stakeholders, from investors to employees, and should be a core part of your corporate culture. It should also provide your employees (and potential future employees) a reason to wake up every day and continue working hard for the company. In fact, according to a study of over 50,000 employees, those who found the vision of their organization meaningful had engagement levels of 18% above average. This means that employees aligned with the vision of their companies aren’t just working for a paycheck; they’re working because they believe in the company and find meaning in their work. This can help improve employee retention and even your overall bottom line. Is a vision statement the same as a mission statement? This is an excellent question, and the answer is no. While the two work together to mold the future of a business and shape company culture, there are distinct differences. Unlike a vision statement, a mission statement focuses on the present. A mission statement focuses on the immediate goals of a business and what it’s doing to achieve them. It should consider questions like, What do we do? and How do we do it? while vision statements consider questions such as, What are we striving to achieve overall? and What is our long-term goal? To give you a better idea of the differences between the two, here are five excellent mission statement examples and their vision statement counterparts from top US brands: You can see that each company’s vision statement contains goals for the future. The idea is to always have a greater purpose to strive for, providing the company with direction and motivation. What makes a good vision statement? While you may think that writing a vision statement is simple, it actually takes quite a bit of finesse to create one. Your vision statement should be: 01. Simple Your vision statement should be one to three sentences long. While you can choose to elaborate on it in a more detailed vision statement document, your vision statement itself should be punchy and to the point. It’s also best not to include buzzwords that only add fluff, such as “amazing,” or “premiere.” Also, avoid industry jargon so your statement is clear and understandable to those both in and outside the company. 02. Personal Your vision statement should relate directly to what your company sells or does. A vague statement such as, “We aim to increase our number of shareholders by increasing revenue,” is a substantial goal, but doesn’t belong in your vision statement. It should project how your business is going to improve the lives of your customers. 03. Achievable While we would never knock ambition, you don’t want your vision statement to be unattainable. A statement like, “Our vision is that every person in the world will use our product,” isn’t realistic (but what an amazing triumph that would be). Dream big, the best companies do. But don’t create exaggerated goals that your business can’t possibly achieve. 04. Inspiring Your vision statement should align with your company standards and values and be integrated into your company culture. You’ll want it to motivate your employees and be something they look to for inspiration. To do this, you’ll need to make sure that your employees are aware of the company vision in the first place. Make sure to review the vision statement during orientation or even hold employee workshops. You can have employees brainstorm ways they can incorporate the company vision throughout their work days.

Neuromarketing is one of the most fascinating types of marketing. The term itself may make someone label it as cheap manipulation ploys for marketers and advertisers. While it may be impossible for a marketer to map the human brain, there are indeed several tactics that can be performed to entice potential customers that are very effective. Once you know how to utilize them, you’ll be able to apply these strategies to your small business or even when you create a website. Below, we are going to show you a few methods to hook customers in, and other ways to draw and keep their attention: Avoid “decision paralysis” by limiting options Customers want choices. No wait, customers say they want choices. Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence, details a study out of Columbia University which concluded that offering too many choices to customers can overwhelm them and lead to a loss of a potential sale. Let’s say there’s a store that sells t-shirts; everything from polo, sport and casual. Across the road, there’s an up and coming designer selling a variety of clothing; pants, dresses and you guessed it, t-shirts. With so many choices available at the t-shirt megastore, a customer could spend hours going through all of the inventory! But at the store across the road where the selection of t-shirts is less daunting, a buyer is likely to have more success. By offering a smaller selection to your customers, they will be able to weigh the pros and cons easier in their minds. Make scarcity work for you We deem that what is rare is valuable and this very notion can affect the choices made by consumers. Say you walk into an ice cream shop, craving an adventurous flavor. Each flavor is full and ripe for scooping, except for the vanilla, which is almost gone. Somehow, it now seems to be the most appetizing of them all, totally throwing your desire for a more unique taste on your palate out the window. Scarcity also conjures up a common fear of missing a chance that you may not get to seize again. Far too often do you see “Only 2 left in stock!” or “For a limited time only!” when shopping online; this has been a very successful neuromarketing tactic in the eCommerce market. Creating some kind of urgency can give a push for a customer to buy. Humanize your brand We are naturally drawn to faces, and even more so to eyes. This is why it’s wise to use photos of actual people in your ads or website. Not only can such photos liven up a scene, but the expressions on their faces can evoke the same feeling your product or service can bring to your customers. So it’s best to make use of them! Add a baby face Speaking of faces, if you really want to turn it up a notch, add a photo of a baby! Even if a product isn’t targeted at infants, that hasn’t stopped marketers from adding a plump, young face to ads. Why? They work! Using eye-tracking technology, studies have shown that people viewing an ad with a baby tend to focus on its face more than they would an average adult and this adorable bundle is known to their attention much longer. The same eye-tracking study also found that if the baby within the ad itself is looking straightforward, viewers would primarily focus on its face and nothing else. However, if the baby was looking elsewhere, say, off to the left, the viewer too would look there. For this use case, placing information or call to actions that you want viewers to read should be placed in the direction of the baby’s gaze. Use simple fonts to promote action In the report If It’s Hard to Read, It’s Hard to Do, Hyunjin Song & Norbert Schwarz state that people more likely to engage if the effort level is minimal. This also translates to the simplicity or complexity of fonts that are used when specific actions are requested. Taking this into account, if you are seeking a specific action from your viewer, be sure that you display it in a simple, clean font. A font that’s easy to read can make the requested action appear as if it’s easy to complete. This may be why you don’t see many CTAs in a script-style font. Have a look at our article about the best ways to use fonts – you might find it useful. Use fancy fonts to add a complex and sophisticated feel If you offer a complex or expensive product, a harder-to-read font may be needed to justify it. Using a fancier font and bigger wording in your product descriptions can increase the belief that it is, in fact, a unique product that won’t be found elsewhere. Using a harder to read font and an air of complexity to your wording will also allow the viewer to take their time when reading what you have to say. This can allow them to absorb and remember your message, moreso than a simply-worded one. It’s important to strike a balance, as over-complicating your copy could result in an adverse response. Show and tell (that you’re trustworthy) Establishing and retaining the trust of your customers is vital for any small business, and sometimes the most obvious marketing strategy is the right approach. Tell them you’re trustworthy! You can do so in a number of ways; from offering free returns to giving a free gift with purchase, there is no better way to prove you’re trustworthy than to show it. Utilize progressive engagement Basically, progressive engagement is like building a relationship. You need to move gradually and adapt your requests according to the stage that you’re in. Similarly, your approach with your potential customers should be done tactfully, starting off small. For example, you stumble upon a Facebook post on your newsfeed that catches your eye. You read the full post and decide to give it a like. From there, maybe you’ll head over to publisher’s page and begin to follow along. In time, you may share the page’s content and engage it with more. Slowly, a relationship is built with the Facebook page. The same can and should be done for your business – you can first give a free gift, then a coupon, then a small discount and so on, until the customer falls in love with your business. Think about all the Freemium platforms, this concept is at the core of their business model ;)

Just like when you create a website, starting a YouTube channel means you've got to get a promotional plan in place early on. How else will you get the views you hoped for? Even with a handful of Youtube videos under your belt, you may not have dove into one of the most important aspects of the process as you should have: YouTube SEO. Getting high rankings on YouTube is a result of two things. First, you’ll need to appeal to the platform, but you’ll also need to appeal to your audience so you actually get higher view counts and subscribers. Start with a great YouTube channel name and you'll be almost ready to get started. Up to the task? Awesome, as we’ve got some great SEO tips to help you with your YouTube marketing and a few engagement strategies to reel in your viewers. How to go about Youtube SEO Keyword research Youtube optimization Appeal to viewers Viewer retention Don't forget your CTA 01. Keyword research After starting your YouTube channel, you’ve got to upload that first video to make it official. First you’ll be asked to fill out the title, description, and tags for it. Sounds easy enough, but this is one of the most important parts of the process and it’s not something you want to do haphazardly. However, you have some homework to do first. Before you even begin filling out your title or description, you’ll want to know what your focus keywords or keyphrases will be. Your first stop will be to see the competition surrounding the keywords you’re looking to use. Whether it’s in the form of Google’s own Adwords Keyword Planner or the many other free options it’s up to you, but this will allow you to see popularity and the competition you’ll be faced with. Short tail vs long tail keywords Had your heart set on “DIY crafts” for your keyword, only to find out that it’s incredibly popular already? Shorter keyphrases are referred to as short tail, and you’ll find this is where the greatest competition lies. If you think your fledgling YouTube channel can’t compete with short tail keywords, don’t worry, you have options… Long tail keywords allow you to get a little more specific, while still using the initial keyphrase you wanted to. So instead of “DIY crafts,” you could make it “DIY Crafts for beginners” or “DIY crafts for Valentine’s Day.” While it may be searched less-often, it also offers less competition, better targeting and if you’re looking into advertising, it’ll cost much less than short tail keywords. Are your keywords video-friendly? Think you’ve nailed it on your keywords for your video? While this may be true for YouTube itself, it may not be the case for search engines. The best way to find out is to actually search for your desired keywords in Google. Basically, you’re looking to see if videos appear on the first page when searching your keyword. If they do, you’ll have a better chance at ranking well in both YouTube and Google. Terms like “how to,” “review,” “hands-on” and “unboxing” all have great potential to show videos on the first page of Google, so you’re pretty safe if you’re using one of them. Still, it’s best to try it yourself with multiple keyword options before you settle on one. 02. Youtube optimization Now that you’ve researched your keywords, it’s time to apply all you’ve learned by putting your best foot forward. Title The content of your video will determine how your title is structured, but it’s important to have your keywords in the first portion of the title. If your video is about how to make doughnut ice cream cones, “How to” or “Do it yourself” would naturally fall in the beginning of the title, but that may not always be the case, depending on your keywords. It’s best to keep your title short and concise. Anything other than the essential words for the title can be put in the description section below. As along as the title showcases your keywords prominently and the point gets across, you’re good to go. Speaking of titles, a good practice when uploading to YouTube is to use your keywords in the filename of your video. Something like “YouTube_DIY_Crafts_Valentines_Day.mp4” should suffice. Description Much like Google bots don’t actually see your photos when indexing websites, YouTube doesn’t know exactly what your video is about when you first upload it. For websites, photos need to contain alt-text in order for search engines to understand what they’re about. For YouTube, the description plays this role, acting as the translator. It’s important to note that long tail keywords do well in your description, especially if long tail is the primary route you’re going in. Remember, the detailed approach may be less popular, but it’s more efficient (at least in the beginning). Why? Because writing a long description is beneficial for your video, as it gives more information to both YouTube and the viewer, and this can positively affect your ranking. In addition, the description section is also a great place to add links to your social networks and your website. Feel free to over-share here. Tags While there’s a debate on whether tags are still important or not, it’s another location to describe your video that YouTube offers, so use it! A mix of specific and general tags is suggested, allowing your video to span multiple avenues. You can use both your short and long tail keywords here as well. An older tactic for tags was that you should always put 20 tags per video, but this practice isn’t as popular as it used to be. While it likely won’t hurt your ranking if you opt to do this, it could also do nothing for you. The best practice is to add as many tags to properly describe your video as needed. If you feel that your clip needs 20 tags, no one’s stopping you. 03. Appeal to viewers Now that you have your bases covered for your video to entice YouTube, it’s time to put your effort on the viewers out there that will actually bring you the success you’re looking for. The more viewers you get, the more fans you'll have - and the more you'll be able to make money on YouTube. Here are a few tips you can do that may not dramatically change your ranking for YouTube SEO but will catch the eye of viewers. A stand-out thumbnail If you have your key phrase for your video already, go to YouTube and search for it to see your competition. Now look at the thumbnails of each similar video. Do you see a common style or theme between them that you could pin point? Good, now do the opposite. YouTube viewers will naturally gravitate to videos that catch their eye, so having a video thumbnail that stands out from the sea of other offerings is important. If you see a common color theme between your competition, make your thumbnail contrast so it’s prominent. That said, no need to use every single color possible. Hit them with your best shot (grab interest quickly) While this is something you’ll need to accomplish while you’re actually filming your video, it’s essential for keeping the attention of the viewer. Far too many YouTube videos suffer from the ‘long-intro syndrome’, which can make people lose interest and go elsewhere. To avoid this, you want to try to grab the attention of the viewer within the first 15 seconds. Keep your intro short and punchy. Tell the viewer exactly what they are about to see and get it to it. You can tell your “super interesting and only semi-related story” later. People usually come to YouTube to either learn something or be entertained, and if you’re not doing either of these in the first few seconds of your video, you’re doing it wrong. 04. Give them a reason to wait (viewer retention) Even if you’re able to grab the attention of a viewer quickly, it unfortunately doesn’t mean they’ll stay for the full video. Viewer retention weighs heavily on your video’s YouTube ranking, so you want people to watch as much of the video as possible. A tactic you’ve likely seen, quite a few times, on YouTube is the presenter giving a quick intro and then mentioning something interesting that they’ll show or tell you at the end of the video. There’s a good chance that if you mention that you’ll reveal something interesting at the end of the video that viewers will want to stick around for it. This tactic carries with it potential intrigue and allure, and could become indispensable in your YouTube toolkit. Engage engage engage! If YouTube sees a large volume of interaction on your video, its ranking will go up. Of course, you’ll need people actually watching your video to achieve this, but you can help get the ball rolling. This is where engagement is key. One thing you can do is ask your viewers to ‘like’, subscribe and comment on your video. It may sound simple, but this can really make a difference. To start a conversation, ask questions for viewers to answer in the comments. It’s your video, so don’t be afraid to ask away. Once you start getting comments on your video, be sure that you reply. Keep the conversation going by asking and answering questions. 05. Call to action Need to point something out to the viewer when they’re watching your video? Annotations, cards and end screens can make it easy for you! Cards are less intrusive than annotations, which provides a better experience for the viewer. They’re also more limited on customization options. Like annotations, you can set the type of card and the time it appears on the screen, but you can’t place it anywhere you want. Card types include video or playlist, channel, donation, poll, and link. Rounding out the helpful back-end features for your video is end screens. As the name suggests, end screens appear at the end of your video. You can add a call to action for viewers to subscribe to your channel and promote your website. Make sure this aligns with your marketing strategy. End screens are another great place to promote your other clips. Add a ‘suggested videos’ to your End screen to keep them watching content, even if it’s not yours. You just might be thanked by YouTube by getting a bump in your ranking. YouTube SEO may seem a bit tricky at first, but with the above tips at your disposal, you’re equipped to climb the ranks and to making it an integral part of your social media marketing.

Whether you’re looking to start a business or already went as far as creating your website and other promotional assets, marketing is a priority for you. That is, if you want to gain new and keep existing customers. You may need to create a fresh marketing plan or adapt yours to meet the needs of today’s shoppers, since these are constantly changing. In order to do this, your first step will be to conduct market research. In this article, we’ll explain what this term means, the difference between primary and secondary research, and how to do market research of your own in five simple steps. What is market research? Market research is the process of gathering information about your target market to determine the key to your business’s success amongst this crowd. It involves understanding the behavior of consumers, such as knowing where and how they are shopping, what factors influence their choices, and why they do or don’t buy your products and services. This data will allow you to best serve your specific audience. Through market research you’ll also be able to learn about your industry, such as spotting top trends, examining the market size, and getting to know your competition. By the end of this research process, you’ll be able to draw conclusions about your market and get super clear on your business’s value. Primary vs. secondary market research There are two main types of research that all of the different methods fall into. Understanding a bit about them will allow you to decide which one, if not parts of both, best suits your market research needs. Primary research In simple terms, primary research is the direct study of customers. It’s the firsthand information on your market. Methods of research include things like focus groups, interviews, and surveys. This strategy is mostly useful for establishing your buyer personas and defining your target market, which we’ll dive into more below. When conducting this kind of market research, you can do either exploratory open-ended conversations, or come prepared with specific questions you want to discuss. You can decide which approach best suits you based on your needs. Secondary research Secondary research is mainly comprised of information that outside sources have gathered, but it’s not limited to just this. It includes all the data and records available, such as trend reports, market stats, and industry-related content. To access this outside information, you can turn to public sources and commercial research agencies, including places like the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor & Statistics, trade and professional magazines, and even libraries. Internal sources are also reliable and useful. Look into sales reports to spot trends from the past. Also turn to digital marketing statistics, such as your website and social media account’s stats. How to do market research Following these five steps on how to do market research will allow your business to grow to new heights by being able to reach your customers more strategically: Define your buyer personas and target market Engage with your audience Determine the best methods to meet their needs Research your primary competitors Draw conclusions from your findings 01. Define your buyer personas and target market The very first thing you should ask yourself is ‘who are my customers?’ If you can’t answer this question, you can’t even begin to interpret their behaviors. This is where buyer personas come into play. Defining your own starts with creating a fictional representation of your ideal customers. Answer questions such as, ‘how old are they? ‘ ‘where are they located?’ ‘What kinds of jobs and hobbies do they have?’ You get the point, the more specific, the better the results will be. Likewise, it’s okay to have multiple buyer personas too - just make sure to specifically define each of them. Through your buyer personas, you’ll be able to discover your target audience. Your target audience is the real market you’re reaching. There is a specific audience size and available data you can find through both primary and secondary research on these people. As we’ll discuss more below, you can directly reach out to these people to engage with them and understand their buying preferences. 02. Engage with your audience Now that you’ve defined your target market, it’s time to pull a sample and pick their brain. Through primary research methods like focus groups, online surveys, user interviews and personal interviews, you’ll be able to get common opinions about your products and services. If you’re still in the process of starting your business, reach out to people that fit the common buyer personas you want to have as future customers. In order to find your sample, there are many different paths you can take. Ideally you’ll want to choose customers who purchased from you recently, as they’ll have a good memory of their experience. Also, people that almost purchased from you but didn’t in the end, such as abandoned cart shoppers. Other methods include turning to your social media accounts and asking coworkers and their friends. In all, you want to get a large variety of people. The more, the merrier. While conducting your research, have your goals in mind. Getting to that goal involves having planned questions or conversation topics. For example, you can ask your participants ‘how much are you willing to pay for our products/services?’ ‘do you prefer to purchase online or in person?’ and ‘how will you respond to the new product or service we are launching?’ At the end of your survey, make sure to reward your participants for giving you their valuable time. Offer compensation in the form of money, gifts, food, or something else. 03. Determine the best methods to meet their needs This step is pretty straightforward. Now that you have an understanding of your audience and have asked their opinions on your offerings, turn inward to yourself or your marketing geniuses at your company to determine the best methods to meet their needs. The practice of shaping your marketing efforts to fit your audience's needs is powerful for drawing customers toward your brand, and it lies at the core of an important practice called inbound marketing. An important thing to consider is your product branding, as the look and personality surrounding your brand will certainly determine your success. Likewise, promotional efforts including social media marketing and email campaigns have big impacts on your selling rate. Although there are tons of advertisement spaces online and offline, you’ll learn based off of your audience, as well as trial and error, which ones work best for your business. 04. Research your primary competitors This begins by classifying your business into one or multiple identifiable industries. Having your industry(s) in mind will allow you to determine who your competitors are. This is because you can download marketing reports for specific industries that list out this key information. Besides market reports, you can also turn to search engines like Google and social media channels like LinkedIn to search for industries and related companies. Note that the more specific you are about your niche market in the industry (step number one above), the more fluid it will be for you to spot your competition. Once you have your competitors in mind, the next step is to perform a SWOT analysis on them. A SWOT analysis is where you’ll write out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each of these businesses. Make sure to address the prices of their offerings, the display of their products and services, and other specific information about their marketing efforts. After reviewing your customers in depth, you will be able to address how your business can compete with other companies in the field, what advantages you have in the industry, and what trends you should hop onboard with. 05. Draw conclusions from your findings So you have tons of data at this point regarding your target market, their buying and decision-making processes, how you plan to reach them, and who your top competitors in your relevant industry are. The last thing you need to do is pull all of these findings together into a formal report. Most of the time, this marketing report is part of a company’s business plan. That’s the case if you’re just starting out though. If you’ve been established for awhile or are using this information for one particular experiment, you can create an individual marketing research report. For both cases, you should lay out your background information, the purpose behind creating the report, and a summary of your findings for the four previous parts. Finally, end your report with strategic action items to meet your goals.

When you create a website for your brand, remember to include a contact or subscriber form so you can reconnect with your visitors. That said, many distractions and competing priorities often lure people away from websites before they take action. So how can we solve this? Facebook retargeting. In this article, we’ll look at how you can incorporate Facebook retargeting into your social media marketing strategy to get your ads in front of previous website visitors. Then, we will show you how to set up your first retargeting campaign. You can launch and manage your campaign using Facebook Ads by Wix. The tool uses advanced machine learning to automatically retarget people who have visited your site. What is Facebook retargeting? Retargeting is an online advertising method used to show ads to people who once visited your website. These ads appear to your audience on Facebook’s platforms, including Instagram and their Audience Network and are an excellent way to tailor your Facebook marketing efforts. What will your audience see? Ideally you will serve personalized content meant to quickly catch the person’s attention —like displaying a product they recently viewed. Remarketing versus retargeting You may have heard of the term “remarketing” before. While it sounds similar to retargeting, these are two different ways to advertise on Facebook: Remarketing is the process of emailing former customers with relevant offers or information to bring them back to your site. Retargeting is the process of displaying eye-catching, relevant ads to previous visitors to encourage them to pick up where they left off in the buyer's journey or make another purchase. Why are Facebook retargeting ads so effective? You can use a Facebook business page to promote your website for free. Facebook’s users spend, on average, 38 minutes on the platform every day—offering a big window of opportunity for you to reach former visitors and customers. It is easy to control spending on this beginner-friendly platform, too. They target people who’ve already been to your site Most importantly, retargeting ads differ from standard Facebook ads. Running ads online can be tricky. You need to know your audience and, more importantly, how to use the advertising platform’s parameters to reach them. With retargeting, your ads get targeted to people who’ve been on your site, know your brand, and have already shown interest in your offerings. The ads are personalized and, thus, more engaging You’ve likely seen a retargeting ad on Facebook or other platforms: A familiar product image or description you viewed just a few days ago pops up as an ad, and you stop to take notice. You remember that you didn’t complete the checkout process because you left your credit card in the other room. Now, with your wallet sitting atop your desk, you go back and complete the purchase. For many of your former visitors, a personalized ad may entice them back to your site, too. Tip: Check out our roundup of the best Facebook ad examples for inspiration. Retargeting ads can be used to boost new item sales You can also use retargeting ads to promote related items, attractive offers and new product releases to previous customers. Simply segment your audience based on their purchase history to show them an ad that matches their interests. Retargeting ads improve brand awareness Your company may need to interact upwards of eight times with a potential customer before they finally purchase. Help keep your brand top-of-mind with retargeted ads that pop up from time to time. Even if one ad doesn’t trigger a purchase, the stream of brand exposure may influence their decision later. Retargeting can bring back visitors, customers and your competitors' customers While Facebook retargeting ads can remind one-time visitors about your site, you can also use them to reconnect with previous customers. Just target people who’ve performed a specific action, like purchasing a product or buying a subscription. You can also target people from similar demographic or behavior profiles, or even those who visited your competitors’ websites. How does retargeting work? Because your ads will target previous website visitors or customers, Facebook needs to know who they are. Retargeting uses these technical methods: With pixels (cookies) When someone visits your website, your site places a cookie in their browser, or a tiny data pixel that allows website owners to track visitors and learn more about them. For retargeting, the pixel provides valuable information about a visitors’ site behavior, including which pages or products they visited. Facebook Advertising syncs this information with your account to choose who to target. Here, you have two options: Behavioral retargeting, which reaches people who visited and engaged with your site before. Contextual retargeting, which reaches people with similar habits and preferences to your audience, but on other sites. Keep in mind that with behavioral retargeting, Facebook can only reach people who have visited your site. So, if your traffic numbers are low, start with standard ads focused on acquiring new visitors. With contact info (lists) If you use forms, checkouts or landing pages to collect visitor’s contact information, you can import those custom lists into Facebook. The platform will then identify which email addresses or phone numbers match existing users and will serve them relevant ads. The best practice with this option is to upload segmented contact lists rather than your master list and then create relevant ads based on their demographics and previous brand engagement. How to create a Facebook retargeting campaign in 7 steps Ready to harness the power of the largest social media network? You can start by using machine learning technology to run campaigns with Facebook Ads by Wix. Alternatively, you follow these steps to set up a campaign manually: 01. Set up your accounts To retarget on Facebook, make sure to set up the following accounts: A personal account A Facebook business page A Business Manager account 02. Customize account settings Go to your Facebook business page. Click on the section called Ad Center in the left sidebar and open the All Ads tab beneath it. 3. Click on Ads Manager. The campaign dashboard looks like this: You will use this dashboard to create, manage, and track any ads you run on Facebook, retargeting or otherwise. Before you do anything else, go to the Settings (gear) widget in the bottom-left area of the sidebar. Take a moment to fill in your business’s information as well as your Payment Settings: Add a payment method that Facebook can withdraw funds from to cover the costs of your ads. Also make sure to set a withdrawal limit on your account to ensure you never overspend on any given campaign. 03. Create your audience To create retargeting audiences, click on the Business Tools (waffle) widget in the top-left corner of your Ads Manager. Select the Audience option and the following screen will appear: You’ll want to use Custom Audience. Click “Create a Custom Audience” and select the correct source from the next screen: Since we want to retarget website visitors, you’d choose Website. However, you can just as easily use your other sources: App activity if you also have a mobile app Customer list if you have a CRM, email marketing, or eCommerce spreadsheet with customer email addresses or phone numbers Offline activity if you have data to upload from your brick-and-mortar business Click “Next” and fill in the following info: Give your pixel a unique, descriptive name and enter your website URL. Click “Continue” to let Facebook know which data to track from this source: You can get as specific as you’d like here: Decide if your audience meets ANY or ALL of the following rules. Track All website visitors, People who visited specific pages, or Visitors by time spent. To include more than one group, use the “Include More People” option. When finished, name your audience and click “Create Audience.” 04. Install the Facebook pixel Open your Facebook Business Tools menu and go to the Events Manager. You’ll be taken to a list of your Data Sources (i.e. the pixel and site you set up in the previous step): You’ll now need to install the pixel so Facebook can pull in data from your site. Click “Continue Pixel Setup.” There are two ways to do this: Manual or third-party integration. If you built your site with Wix, you can use the built-in integration for Facebook pixels. Select Use a Partner Integration, then click “Use a partner” and choose Wix from the next screen. Facebook will take you through the rest of the Wix setup process: Toggle on the Turn On Automatic Advanced Matching button and click “Continue” to get your instructions for installing the Facebook pixel. Make sure you test that the pixel works when you get to the “Verify Connection” step. Also, follow the steps outlined under “Set Up Events.” This will take you back to the events manager, where you should now see your data source as active. 05. Set up your campaign Go to your Ads Manager and click the green “+ Create” button to set up a campaign. Choose a goal for your campaign: Your goal depends on your audience and what action you want them to take on your site. Should they: Sign up as a subscriber? Message you about services? Buy a product? Pick the objective that most fits your campaign goals. Once you’ve set up and named your campaign, create an ad set with your preferred rules. You need fill in the following information for your ad set: Name The conversion event on your website Budget Start and end date Your custom audience Placement type (automatic is best) When you’re done, click the “Next” button. 06. Set up your retargeting ad First, Facebook wants to know your destination URL; in other words, when someone sees your retargeting ad, where do you want to send them to? Then, give your ad a name—something memorable and distinctive from the other ads you’ll create. Next, you’ll see the option to segment your audience. Rather than use Facebook’s parameters, select your custom audience from the dropdown provided. Next, set a budget for your ad that aligns with your cost-per-lead and return on investment goals. After that, follow our best practices for creating successful Facebook Ads. When satisfied with your ad, click “Place Order” and let Facebook do the rest. 07. Measure your results Keep a close eye on your Facebook retargeting campaign to ensure success. Your Ads Manager dashboard will provide you with rich information about your ongoing and previous ad runs. This metric will tell you if you’ve optimized your ads to reach your visitors and bring them back to your site. If you do not see many views or clicks, this could mean: Your website traffic numbers are too small. Try to drive more traffic to your site. Your ad creative or offer doesn’t convince your target audience to return to your site. Change your targeting settings and test different copy and images. You can also use your most successful retargeting campaign data as a framework for future campaigns, helping you drive even more traffic back to your site.

The Wix SEO team has compiled the top 11 SEO trends we think will not only help your target audience find you on Google, but also help you build a solid organic growth strategy. But this important list comes with a disclaimer: we don’t really believe in SEO “trends.” SEO is not a short-term game or gimmick, but rather a part of your strategy that involves constant evolvement and growth. So whether you want to create a website, start a business, or just get your pages more visible in search—we’ve got you covered with SEO trends that will make your brand stand out. PS. Still not sure what SEO is? Start with our What is SEO guide. The SEO trends we’ll discuss: UX and performance Clustering SERP features Artificial Intelligence Brand trust Video content International SEO Site hierarchy Backlinks Conversion rate optimization Google updates and ranking volatility 01. UX and performance Key takeaway: Keep an eye on Google’s evolving user experience and performance metrics and measurement tools. Google introduced Core Web Vitals (CWV) over two years ago, and since then has gradually incorporated them into their algorithm (first mobile, then desktop). These performance metrics show us Google’s increasing focus on user experience and website performance. Not only should we aim to deliver the best content that matches a user’s search intent, but also Google also prioritizes fast-loading content that allows for immediate interaction. Since 2020, Google hasn’t introduced or updated CWV metrics. For the most part, how a site is measured against CWV is almost the same as when they were first introduced. But according to Asi Falcon, Technical SEO Expert, two recent updates show that Google is not only placing more emphasis on the user experience, but also making it easier for developers to improve page performance. First, in March 2022 Google introduced their Performance Insights panel, a tool that simplifies the CWV optimization process for developers. For example, it shows where a render blocking resource sits on a page, and makes it clear what slows it down the most. Additionally, in May 2022 Google introduced INP (Interaction to Next Paint), an experimental metric that measures all interactions in total runtime, beyond first load and responsiveness. Google states that INP is, “about making sure the website lets you interact with it within a short period of time.” Let’s say a user presses a button on a site. Originally, Google measured performance based on First Input Delay (FID). This metric indicated the time between the button being pressed and the signal sent to the “event listener” (what triggers the interactive element). Today, INP, by contrast, measures the entire time between the user pressing a button, and the interactive element actually appears. Google has not made it clear if INP will become a new metric or if it will replace FID entirely. But what is clear is that user first SEO is here to stay. 02. Clustering Key takeaway: Match your clusters with on-point internal linking. It’s no surprise that content quality matters alongside optimization for users and search engines. In the past, two specific Google updates—Hummingbird in 2013 and RankBrain in 2015—have placed topic-centered content in the spotlight. However, Ofir Buchsweiler, Content SEO Expert at Wix, predicts that the search engine is looking beyond single pages, and instead is looking for the big picture. “A satisfied user will get a whole journey around the topic on your site," she says. Judit Ruiz Ricart, Head of Growth for the Wix Blogs, agrees: "As search engine algorithms advance, our content efforts must evolve from keyword-centric to topic-wide.” Enter: clustering. Clustering means organizing your blog’s content according to relevant topics, in a way that helps signify to Google that you’re an authoritative source. Ricart says that at Wix, by covering a high percentage of entities (what Google refers to as a definable subject or concept) for a certain topic or cluster, all related content is more likely to rank in high positions. Let’s see what a marketing cluster looks like as an overarching topic: We’d create an in-depth article targeting “Marketing Strategies,” which will function as the cluster’s pillar page. We’d then expand on that cluster by breaking down its overarching topic. For example, creating a “types of marketing” subcluster, creating another pillar page that contained a complete guide to the different marketing types. But our marketing cluster doesn’t stop there. Let’s say that now, within the ”types of marketing” cluster we have an article about social media marketing. Our research shows us that this trending topic interests our readers and comes with a lot to write about. In this case, we’d build the topic of “social media marketing” into a sub-cluster and expand on “types of marketing” even further by including articles on Facebook marketing, Instagram marketing, etc. Eventually, each type of social media marketing we wrote about on the pillar page turns into their own articles and even subclusters of their own, down the line. To help connect the dots, Yael Iba Tepeleni, International SEO Expert at Wix, recommends using the most “overlooked” SEO tactic: Internal linking. “It will help Google discover your pages faster, users navigate easier, and most importantly, boost your rankings for a specific keyword/anchor. It’s a quick win,” she says. Semantic SEO is a part of the process when it comes to clustering and worth checking out. 03. SERP features Key takeaway: The SERP always evolves, and Google always experiments—keep an eye on what SERP features your target keywords rank for and adjust your content accordingly. Google knows that even if users search enter very broad terms, they are still searching for a relevant answer. That’s why featured snippets, which highlight specific excerpts from articles to provide users with quick answers, have become a favorite among SERP features. For years, SEO experts have copiously tracked and secured featured snippets, but some of the most eagle-eyed have noticed that Google is now testing the position of other SERP features like People Also Ask or Videos, to more accurately meet user intent. This example from Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, shows just how much query filtering Google offers searchers, especially when searching broad terms: With this, Kyle Place, SEO Content Expert, says that a fluctuating SERP can affect your clicks and CTR—even if your ranking remains the same. “As Google adds or removes features, the number of organic results varies from the familiar 10 blue links. So while you may not see a drop in position for a particular keyword, you could be pushed further down the page or onto another one,” he adds. Mikki Ben-Or, SEO Content Expert, elaborates on this, saying that in the past, when Wix gains a keyword’s featured snippet, the CTR for that particular page increases— even compared to ranking in the first position on the SERP without the snippet. 04. Artificial Intelligence Key takeaway: Be open to change—automation can only help you. AI is an exciting space in any industry, and where it goes in SEO remains to be seen. Ido Shazkin, SEO Content Expert, has his eye on the scope and impact of AI on SEO from three angles: search, content writing, and on- and off-page analysis. AI and search: The SEO world had Artificial Intelligence on its radar since Google introduced MUM (Multitask Unified Model) in May of 2021. MUM works with natural language processing (NLP) to process Google’s extensive global data (text, images and video in multiple languages) and accurately answer search queries. MUM highlights the following best practices for SEOs should: Focus on the specific intent of users more than ever Bring multimedia to your content when it matches users’ intent Cluster your content according to topics Organize your content by implementing internal linking and schema AI and content writing: Not every search query demands the best content in the world. Someone searching “how to start a YouTube channel,” for example, probably wants something straightforward, informative, with step-by-step instructions. They don’t want Pulitzer-winning content, so why waste time and resources creating it? It seems that AI-generated content (like those created by Natural Language Generation platforms Jasper, Copysmith and Writesonic) is stepping in to fill this void. One of the biggest concerns is if AI-generated content can meet the user’s expectations and Google’s strict content standards. Will they deem it of high enough quality or will they penalize it? Since this space is developing, there are no straight-forward answers with AI content generation. Plenty of content creators already use AI content tools for pre-publishing input, such as Grammarly and Wordtune, but Google is against AI pure AI-generated content. We predict that there’s room to experiment using AI to create a mix of article briefs and drafts, but we’re not losing the human element in the editing and publishing process. AI and on-page/off-page analysis If AI can make content creation faster, it can also help us organize, prioritize and scale our day-to-day workflows and research. AI has the potential to make SEO analysis more efficient in two areas: On-page analysis: An example is tracking and scaling tests to improve a page’s meta titles’ click-through-rate. AI tools like Rytr, Frase and Simplify can not only rewrite meta titles using SERP analysis, but they can also analyze your data and identify which keywords don’t reach your benchmark. Off-page analysis: AI tools like Similarweb can crawl the web and identify quality sites or content that advance your outreach efforts, saving you time. From niche podcasts, to sites with high topic authority and field experts—AI tools can help highlight relevant professionals to connect with. 05. Brand trust Key takeaway: First and foremost, be a great company—then focus on building up the signals that tell search engines just how great you are. Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-A-T) is not a new SEO concept, but a venerated and essential factor in creating high-quality, high-ranking content. What makes this worthy of our trends list, according to Ido Shazkin, SEO Content Expert, is that external brand and reputation reviews are now influencing the SERP and have a growing impact on a company’s online authority. Shazkin predicts that, in response, brands will signal authority to Google via expert-authored or verified content, dedicated author pages and expert-reviewed content supported by citations schema. Outside of on-page content, Adela Ance, International SEO Expert, suggests that a brand’s overall reputation can affect Google rankings as well. As consumers demand more commitment to trusted and sustainable practices, any material published that can detract from a positive and transparent brand image could also affect a brand’s E-A-T. One way your content team can establish company transparency is through webinars, which, regardless of topic, inform a large audience on essential information. As Clémence Arthur, International SEO Expert points out, webinars are not only a great way to build authority with strategic SEO content. They’re also a great way to make your online material more immersive and engaging, allowing your brand to speak directly and personally to its audience. 06. Video content Key takeaway: Start prioritizing video content by embedding videos in written content and devising a wider plan to get your videos ranking. Many companies overlook the game-changing SEO potential of video content, even when they already use videos as part of their marketing strategy. However, according to Yana Arad Raduzky, SEO Domain Expert, videos can be an easy win for SEO. “One of my greatest ROI successes was recycling paid ads promoting an RPG game into evergreen SEO content for YouTube and Google,” she says. Two key indicators show us that video could have a big future on SERPs: Video rich snippets appear as the top result for a growing number of user intents, especially on mobile search. In July 2021, Google announced automated identification of parts within a video, meaning that more videos will have the extended snippet showing ‘key moments” (or, specific chapters within the video). Video rich results take up a lot of SERP real estate. If you see a video tops the results page, Google likely has identified video as the most relevant content form for the query. This hints that another well-optimized video will have the best chance to rank, too. Following the pre-launch of YouTube Shorts in 2020, Google added a "Short Videos" carousel to mobile SERPs featuring clips from TikTok and Instagram Reels. Shorts are a new product, so it makes sense that Google makes them more visible on the mobile SERP to ensure their success. Let’s also not forget that Gen Z prefers to use video-first platforms, like TikTok, over traditional search engines like Google to identify and consume intent-driven content. 07. International SEO Key takeaway: To win international SEO, you need to go beyond translating keywords. International SEO is not a short-term strategy, Like other SEO strategies, scaling globally takes time and involves constant tracking and reporting. That’s why you should seriously consider if international SEO fits your marketing strategy and if you have the resources to do it properly. If you do want to dip your toes into localization, you’ll first need to decide if your audience needs localized content. You can get your answer by combining geo-specific competitor research with keyword research to understand how your target audience searches and behaves online. For example, if you’re targeting an Indian market, you may consider localizing your content for a Hindi-speaking population. But through your research, you may find that Indian consumers want English content, and that your translations would be in vain. According to Marieke Ehlers, International SEO Expert, the only way to win at International SEO is to localize everything along your site’s customer journey. Nothing turns off a potential customer more than arriving at your site via a blog post in the local language, only to be sent to a pricing page that isn’t. That may mean re-thinking where to start with your SEO research. While Google has a hold on search all over the world, that doesn’t mean you should disregard local search engines, too.. In Korea, for example, you might see pages behave differently in Google compared to Naver, the local equivalent. Once you gain international visitors, make sure you adapt images, videos and other multimedia to match local needs. A great example is the German Wix homepage, which includes an image of an actual person, rather than a product, since the German audience proved to respond more to this. 08. Site hierarchy Key takeaway: Make sure your internal linking strategy reflects the importance of site hierarchy—if you get that right, you’ll show your search engines your authority where it matters. Since site hierarchy is one way to show Google authority on a topic, you should identify your most important pages. According to Nitzan Papirov Eiges, Technical SEO Team Lead, the Pareto principle is a great way to understand what percentage of pages should be your authoritative ones. This ~20% (following the principle) will represent the pinnacle of your expertise—and you want Google to see these pages. The rest of your pages will support these top 20%, through internal linking. While you can show your authority in several ways, internal linking, sends a clear signal to both Google and your users about how your content fits together. To learn more about creating a strategy for your site, check out this internal linking webinar featuring SEO consultant and co-founder of Zyppy Cyrus Shepard as he delves into a recent case study on 23 million internal links. Two more ways to improve your authoritative content is to make sure: Your main menu (and its links) is consistent across your site pages. The menu, header and footer includes your most important links, as they will become the most linked to. 09. Backlinks Key takeaway: Focus on a diverse set of high-quality backlinks that support your site’s goals. Speaking of linking, the importance of backlinking and the best way to secure them is a practice that’s constantly evolving. “Backlinks are one of the more essential aspects of optimizing a site to gain the online presence and credibility it wants to achieve,” says Ophyr Hanan from the SEO Outreach Team. “The world of earning high-quality backlinks is a crucial and inseparable part of SEO.” While on-page SEO focuses on optimizing the pages themselves, off-site SEO focuses on increasing traffic to your website and improving your online reputation through backlinks. Since backlinks help search engines decipher how authoritative your site is, the more high-quality and relevant backlinks your site gains from reliable websites, the more likely a search engine will rank it high on the SERP for relevant queries and keywords. A high-quality backlink comes from a related page with original or well-reported content, from a reputable site. For example, if you published an original report about your site's SEO practices and related, reputable SEO sites (e.g. SEMrush's blog) cited the page in a round-up of the best SEO teams in enterprise marketing, there's a good chance Google would consider that a high-quality backlink. According to Sharon Greenfeld, Outreach and App Store Optimization Team Lead, the first step to gaining quality backlinks is regularly publishing and updating your site’s content. The next, more challenging part comes when you must audit your site’s backlink profile and rid it of duplicate or low-quality referral links. While Google suggests that toxic links don’t hold any weight on your site’s ranking (meaning you can just ignore them), you can still “Disavow” spammy links, or signal to Google that it should ignore them, too. While many of your backlinks may come organically, you can actively reach out to high-quality sites and seek strategic backlinks. To learn more about developing a backlinking strategy, read Wix SEO Hub’s Backlinking 101 guide, or their guide to getting started with backlinking. Check out Ophyr Hanan sharing her story as an SEO specialist with Semrush. 10. Conversion rate optimization Key takeaway: Not every page should convert, but when it can, make sure it does it well. Your conversion rate can impact how Google views your site and how well you can meet your user’s intent. “Google cares that your site is accurate and reliable,” says Amanda Weiner, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Specialist. “Of course, it [also] doesn’t hurt that if your elements are spot on, visitors will spend more time on your pages, clicking through to more inner pages. This ultimately shows Google that your site is what they were looking for.” Best practices for improving conversion rates include having clear cut buttons, text that explains exactly what you sell, plus images that support said text. 11. Google updates & rank volatility Key takeaway: Turn the focus from major algorithmic events to tracking ranking and behavior trends over time. SEO doesn’t sleep. While your rankings may have fluctuated after major Google algorithm updates, Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, thinks these updates are becoming seemingly less powerful over time. Instead, the algorithm is heading towards more consistent, if not “real-time” updates. In October 2021, Oberstein found that there was a 68% increase in the instances (i.e. number of days in the year) that presented significant levels of rank volatility (i.e. the number of positions sites tended to move up or down the SERP). However, the actual rank movement was less drastic. Much of the volatility experienced in the past represented a series of rank reversals. Meaning, Google changes the URL’s SERP position only to reverse its ranking days or weeks later (with a possible reversal after that, and so on,). At times, Google tests new positions for URLs of a given keyword, reversing the rank to its former position only to release an official core update that cements the initial ranking change Google. Oberstein adds, “Google constantly changes the SERP rankings, testing new constructs (hence the reversals) and deciding on what makes sense for the query. At the same time, Google seemingly relies less on major algorithmic landmarks (i.e., core updates) to alter SERP rankings. Meaning, we seem headed towards Google making consistent (though perhaps less dramatic) and continuous ranking changes. This may sound like an outlandish concept, but remember Google’s Penguin went from infrequent specific releases to real-time functioning.”

If you're a business who prioritizes staying "in the know," keeping up with social networks is just a part of the job in the online world. We’re not just talking about posting regularly either — even though responding to questions and concerns from customers is an important step for your online business presence. However, if you often find yourself semi-swamped with Tweets, Facebook posts, and Instagram DMs, imagine how many people out there are discussing your business or product without directly mentioning you? There are so many conversations happening on social networks that several pertaining to your business can go unnoticed if you’re not mentioned or tagged within the post itself. If you’re missing these conversations, you’re missing potential opportunities to help existing and find potential customers, as well as resolve issues that may have risen for past ones. Moreover, these conversations can allow you to see how others feel about your business. This is called social listening, and it’s a vital tactic to improve the perception of your brand. From the way you choose to create a free website to all of your social media marketing strategies, below, we’re going to tell you about what social listening is and how you can apply it to your own business. What is social listening? Social listening is actively monitoring conversations that are happening across social networks about your brand, products, your competitors, or other industry-related and relevant keywords. Then, you try to find actionable responses to these conversations. These responses could be in the form of a literal response to a social post or an adjustment to your marketing strategy due to feedback you found. Social listening allows a brand to be proactive in conversations about it, improving reliability, social relevance, and trust with your audience. Social listening also allows you to see the social media sentiment, which is how people feel about your brand by gauging whether the responses (on either a particular post or a broader range, such as account as a whole) received are positive, negative, or neutral. Knowing this can let you respond accordingly by changing your wording, advertising strategy, and more, so you can increase your positive reactions. Social listening versus social monitoring If you’re new to the world of social media management for your business, the terms “social listening” and “social monitoring” may seem interchangeable, but they aren’t. While the two share similarities, each has their own purpose and benefits. Social monitoring is the act of responding to customer comments, questions, and issues as they’re received. This reactive approach is primarily in place to get the commenter from point A to point B — whether point B is a how-to guide, support article that solves the issue, or information, such as how to contact support. This type of social interaction is not only vital for customers, but also the minimum effort you should be putting forth on your social media branding. Social listening, on the other hand, is proactive. It zooms out on social monitoring’s macro focus and looks at the bigger picture: How are people talking about your brand in conversations you’re not tagged in? For many businesses that don’t take part of social listening, these conversations are as far gone as the dark web, and this valuable data is lost to the ether. It’s not just about your brand, either. Social listening zooms out to your entire industry, so you can identify trends, keep up with competition, and let your customers know you’re there for them when they need you. Why is social listening important? Now that you know the difference between social monitoring and social listening, it’s a little easier to discern why the latter is important. In a nutshell, it provides insight that social monitoring doesn’t and wasn’t intended to do. It doesn’t mean this reactive tactic is not important, but here are some of the things you can’t find with monitoring that you can with listening. Proactive tactic: Allows you to take initiative and create opportunities instead of waiting for them. Identify happy customers: Surprise and delight happy customers by thanking them, giving special offers or perks. Find unhappy customers: Address unsatisfied customers head-on, without being prompted, to direct them to the solutions they seek. Pinpoint influencers in your industry: Find social accounts that hold clout within your industry. Define trends in your industry: Provide relevant, on-the-nose posts that respond to a trending topic in your industry. Take note of potential customers: Chime in when people are looking for suggestions within your industry. Provide customer service: Offer help to customers or remind them that you’re available to help them if they need it. Avoid PR nightmares: Address potentially brand-threatening situations before they grow into a full day of damage control. Get a sense of what people think of your brand: Without adding a mention or tagging you in a post directly, people will tend to speak more freely about your brand, allowing you to get an idea of how people perceive your brand. This kind of customer feedback is invaluable. Social listening in action Sometimes seeing is believing, even if we’re talking about listening. While we can tell you all the ways social listening can be used, seeing real examples can be just as helpful. Below, we’ve detailed a few examples of the tactic in action. Netflix Socks: Sometimes, just showing that you’re listening can be effective. Netflix proved that in a big way. It received several complaints on social media from users that were falling asleep while watching Netflix, only to wake up to spoilers or rolling credits. So, the streaming service took action in the most hilarious of ways. It made socks. Not just any socks — socks with a built-in sleep detection system that will pause Netflix if you doze off. Falling asleep to Netflix is far from Netflix’s problem. Still, the socks it created were in response to the comments it received from its users. It’s funny, fairly amazing, and more than a little bit clever. The cherry on top? The socks won a Shorty Award for Best Creative Use of Technology. Samsung responds to competition: As mentioned earlier, social listening requires you to take a look at your industry as a whole, including your competition. When Samsung noticed that one of its competitors, Huawei, released a new smartphone and focused on its camera and slow-motion video capture features, it was able to respond by adjusting its marketing strategy and focus on its own phone’s slo-mo prowess. Morton’s Steakhouse delivers to airport for one traveler This one sounds too good to be true, but there’s enough coverage on it to shirk any non-believers. In 2011, Peter Shankman jokingly tweeted out to Morton’s Steakhouse, asking if they’d deliver a porterhouse at the Newark airport when he landed. Well, the steakhouse saw the tweet and a man in a tuxedo holding a bag was waiting for Shankman when he got off the plane. You can even read Shankman’s full rundown of the story here. Social listening tools After reading about the opportunities you can find via social listening, we’re sure you’re excited to start trying it out yourself, but it wouldn’t be right to send you off without knowing the tools to make the entire process easier for you. Hootsuite Insights: Not only does Hootsuite Insights offer a rich set of social media analytics tools specifically aimed at listening, they also include an analysis of sentiment, trend-tracking, and in-depth performance reports. Brandwatch: This is a “does it all” tool that may be overkill for many small businesses. Still, Brandwatch offers a fantastic set of tools for things like competitor analysis, brand management, influencer marketing, and much more. Awario: If you’re looking for a sophisticated suite of social listening tools, Awario can help. It specializes in social media monitoring, social selling, social listening for both teams and agencies, and influencer marketing. Audiense: If deep insights into your audience is what you’re looking for, Audiense Insights should definitely be on your list. Whether you’re trying to understand your audience, or looking to further develop it, Audiense will get you there. Sprout Social: To say that Sprout Social offers an elaborate set of solutions would be an understatement, but that’s very much a good thing. Whether it’s social monitoring, customer care, or data and analysis (including social listening), it’s really hard not to recommend. Starting with Sprout Social may be a smart idea if you plan on seeking out additional social media management solutions after you’ve become a social listening master. By Blake Stimac Wix Blog Writer

Climate change and the existential threats of global carbon emissions have become a primary concern worldwide — and not just one reserved for governments and political figures. The topic has worked its way into the modern conversation, leading many consumers to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle. In fact, a third of global consumers will pay more for brands that produce environmentally-friendly products. A good marketing strategy must align with consumer values, and in response, many brands have modeled their businesses around sustainability and have shifted their strategies to provide transparency around their efforts. But before you add a sustainability page promoting your brand’s environmental initiatives while creating a website, it’s important to understand how to ethically—and impactfully—implement sustainable marketing in your strategy. A carefully designed sustainable marketing plan will help you avoid greenwashing, or misleading consumers into thinking your product, service, or organization is more environmentally-responsible than it actually is. In this article, we’ll not only define sustainable marketing, but show you how to effectively incorporate this concept into your business activities. What is sustainability? It’s important to understand the term sustainability in it’s modern conception before diving into how it affects marketing. The 1987 United Nations Brundtland Commission first defined sustainability as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Born from this definition, British management consultant John Elkington coined the term triple bottom line, or the idea that business decisions should balance people, profit and the planet. Elkington wanted to rethink capitalism and challenge business owners to consider the energy, natural resources and waste produced from sourcing, manufacturing, transporting and disposing of product material in addition to potential profit. What is sustainable marketing? While sustainability can have different meanings in terms of business, sustainable marketing refers to how a brand promotes its socially responsible products and services and commitment to environmentalism. Unlike other marketing trends, this type of marketing is not just another brand marketing strategy to promote a brand or product-–it’s the culmination of your business’ commitment to environmental and societal change. A sustainable marketing plan also needs to be just that: sustainable. This may imply an entire refresh of your marketing strategy and business operations while still considering your value proposition and customer pain points. To avoid greenwashing, sustainable marketing needs to also integrate and inform core business functions to ensure that the company practices what it preaches. If a sustainable marketing plan does not reflect actual business practices, it can lead to a huge loss of consumer trust. For example, fast fashion brands like Zara and H&M contribute a large portion of the 80% of discarded clothing worldwide. Both launched sustainable product lines but provide insufficient detail regarding their supply and production chains, inviting harsh scrutiny. Critics wonder if this lack of transparency is a false marketing ploy designed to make the companies appear environmentally cautious. Benefits of sustainable marketing Tensie Whelan and Carly Fink of the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business wrote in the Harvard Business Review that sustainable businesses, both large and small, experience greater business efficiency and better financial performance. This is important as the cost of climate change is impacting businesses indiscriminately. Since sustainability requires a holistic business approach, it often leads to more innovation since these companies, as nonprofit digital marketing firm Yodelpop puts it, “look ahead to potential societal issues as opportunities.” Sustainable marketing also contributes to long term consumer trust, giving businesses a competitive advantage. Consumers identify more closely with brands committed to the triple bottom line and transparency. Creating a sustainable marketing plan Sustainable marketing requires a multi-faceted approach. All departments must unify to achieve sustainability goals without deterring each other's business efforts. Because of its transformative nature, adopting a sustainable marketing methodology is a worthy, but complex, process. And the route you’ll take depends greatly on how long your business has operated. Many newer companies were founded with sustainability as a fundamental brand value and adopted these practices from the get-go. For example, Oatly was created to reduce the demand for milk and the impact of the dairy industry’s greenhouse gas emissions. Oatly’s vision is to create “a food system that’s better for people and the planet,” and their sustainable marketing strategy centers around making customers feel that their purchase creates a more sustainable world. According to Forbes, 70% of Millennials pay more for brands that support a cause they believe in, a statistic Oatly has taken and ran with: As part of its sustainable marketing strategy, the oat milk company uses a casual, hipster brand voice that speaks to its young, environmentally-aware target demographic. The company aligns its vernacular, graphics and font across all marketing assets to emulate the characteristics of its branding. But they also know the value of consumer trust and work to attain it: Oatly is dedicated to ensuring all aspects of its business are as sustainable and transparent as possible. They do this by minimizing its impact, creating an alternative to milk, reducing the demand for dairy as well as committing to transparency. The company publicizes its environmental targets and their plan to meet them in its 2020 Sustainability Report. In addition, this document not only outlines the steps they’ve taken to reduce their carbon footprint, but how their product positively impacts the environment. While the reality remains that no business can produce zero waste or carbon emissions, there is still tremendous opportunity for companies to reduce their impact as much as possible. Oatly is a great example of how newer companies should create a sustainable marketing strategy because it exemplifies how to gain—and keep—the trust of your target audience. On the other hand, legacy companies often need to update their product and marketing strategies to better align with sustainable values. One of the most well-known examples is Lego. When the company was established in 1932, environmental impact was not a primary concern. But with the increased consumer demand for sustainable business practices, the company announced its new sustainability plan in September 2020. Today, Lego has an entire website page dedicated to its sustainability goals. Two primary targets include a commitment to creating all Lego pieces from plant-based materials, such as sugarcane, by 2030 and producing all packaging using recycled or renewable materials by 2025. Lego markets this initiative with website images and a YouTube video of Lego men collecting trash as well as tree structures made entirely of Legos. The toy company uses recognizable visuals of its iconic colorful building blocks and of course, the classic Lego man. The connection to childhood evokes emotion and nostalgia, and also screams the importance of creating a sustainable world for future generations. Lego shows that older companies are still able to incorporate sustainability into their business strategies. Now that you have an idea of what your business needs to do, here’s how you can start creating a sustainable marketing strategy. Take advantage of existing resources Keep in mind that sustainability is not a separate sector, but should be incorporated into your entire business. However, the idea is still relatively new and companies may not know where to begin. Here are some useful resources you can use to get started: The Small Business Administration offers a free Sustainability Toolkit that includes an abundance of information. You can also check out Constellation Energy’s guide on creating a business sustainability plan. In addition, there are climate consulting firms your business can hire such as: Green Places - Helps businesses calculate their carbon footprint and set reduction goals. Carbon Trust - Works with companies worldwide to become climate neutral. Lastly, check out these free online carbon emissions calculators to get a quantitative understanding of your company's environmental impact: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Carbon Footprint Conservation International Start broad and think long term As Adanma Onuoha, the Marketing and Communications Officer for the Network for Business Sustainability says, “The public knows that sudden change is almost impossible, so you need an objective that targets high-scale change over a large timeframe.” It’s helpful to designate a point person or team to keep track of your sustainability efforts as your business works toward its goals. Depending on your company size, you may even want to hire a sustainability director. Once you’ve named an owner of the project, have them create a list of sustainability goals, in collaboration with the rest of your staff. These goals shouldn’t be new marketing campaigns–they should be actionable steps you implement over time so your company can slowly adapt. Once you have a comprehensive strategy in place, start thinking about how to market your company’s dedication to sustainability to consumers. Promote communication across your company Your strategy needs to address your product’s lifecycle. While your product development may cause minimal environmental detriment, other areas of your company may still produce unnecessary waste and carbon emissions. Ensure all departments communicate their processes as part of your sustainable business strategy. Product developers, business executives and marketers need to align business activities and ensure that sustainability goals are implemented. If you do this, you’ll not only earn the public’s trust, but you’ll safeguard the business from any unintentional greenwashing. Form partnerships with other companies Sustainability forces businesses to think on a broader scale beyond profit through collaboration and transparency for the greater good. Marketers need to consider how combined industry activities contribute to a sustainable ecosystem. According to the Guardian, doing so allows all parties to do away with the “limits of their individual power to create transformational change.” A primary example of this is B-Lab, the nonprofit organization that certifies B-Corporations. According to their website, B-Lab “creates standards, policies, tools, and programs that shift the behavior, culture, and structural underpinnings of capitalism.” This organization works with business partners to create more holistic, economically-beneficial and environmentally-friendly business models. Those who certify as B-Corps have access to the organization’s resources to help bridge the gap between individual companies. In addition, B-Lab helps unify values and goals while ensuring they still earn a profit. Another example of an industry partnership is Sephora’s Clean and Planet Positive program. This partnership expands their original Clean at Sephora program, which included 50 makeup and skincare brands dedicated to chemical-free and plant-based ingredients. Sephora announced this new alliance in July 2021 and to be considered, companies must meet four requirements: a commitment to climate, sustainable sourcing, responsible packaging and donation to an environmental cause. All packaging is labeled with a green seal so customers know which products are a part of the program. As of writing, the program includes only 18 brands.