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Consumers are inundated with banners and popups on a daily basis, making it evermore important for brands to find more strategic ways to reach their audience. Native advertising is a dynamic and effective way for brands to do this, providing meaningful sponsored content that does more than just sell. From sponsored blog posts and branded Instagram filters, to search engine advertising—native ads help drive traffic when you create a website , increase sales and most importantly—build trusting relationships with new and existing audiences. And with an expected increase of 372% on native ad spend between 2020 to 2025, this is one marketing strategy you don’t want to miss. In this article, we’re diving deep into what native advertising is, what the benefits are as well as the different types to be aware of. What is native advertising? Native advertising is a type of online advertising in which sponsored content blends in with the content surrounding it. The main benefit of this form of advertising is that it’s less intrusive than other types of advertising , such as pop-ups or banner ads . Visitors are more likely to view native ads as trustworthy because they’re not explicitly promotional and/or match the look and feel of the page around it. Native ads ultimately aim to create a mutually beneficial experience that pleases all parties involved: your business gets to promote its products to a relevant audience, while users get to enjoy the content they’re consuming with minimal disruption. It’s a win-win. Why use native advertising? When done right, native ads can be a highly effective form of online advertising. Because they appear like a natural part of the content, they convey value rather than distracting users from the primary reason they decided to visit a website or open an app. In fact, audiences find native ads 62% easier to understand than display ads, and 31% easier to understand than social ads. This can result in 20% to 60% higher engagement and three times the retention compared to banner ads. However, there are some risks worth mentioning. Some claim that these types of ads can be deceptive to consumers if they’re not properly labeled. For this reason, you’ll need to be careful when integrating native ads into your content to ensure that you remain transparent, plus compliant with Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines . 7 types of native advertising There are several types native ads your brand can utilize as part of your overall marketing strategy . Here are the primary forms you should be aware of: 01. Paid search ads Paid search ads are a form of search engine marketing that seamlessly match the platform they’re placed on. For example, when you search for something on Google, the first few results you’re shown are ads that have been paid for by the advertiser. However, they appear identical to the rest of the search results, with the addition of the word “Ad” placed next to each header. 02. Display ads with native elements This type of advertising combines elements of both native and display ads. While display ads are unrelated graphic advertisements on a page consisting of banners, video, text, images or audio, display ads with native elements contain content that ties them to the rest of the page. They’re usually placed in strategic positions, such as on a webpage’s header or sidebar. 03. In-feed units (aka “sponsored social media posts”) The simplest way to understand what in-feed units are is to look at your Facebook or Instagram feed. You’ve probably seen hundreds of ads that appear in your feed, but they don’t look like typical ads. Instead, they appear as the posts you’re used to seeing from the friends and brands you follow on the platform. Like search ads, these native ads will also likely mention that they’re paid. On Facebook, for example, you’ll see the word “Sponsored” under the title, indicating the company has paid the social media platform to show it to you. On other platforms, you might see similar ads in the middle of organic content, such as an article that links to a third-party website. These will also be noted as sponsored content to avoid misleading a publisher’s audience. However, the ad will be relevant to the rest of the content on the page, making it appear more natural. 04. Sponsored product listings Similar to paid search ads, sponsored listings are the ads you see on an eCommerce marketplace when you search for an item and see a list of matching products. Amazon is one of the online retailers that does this best. Sponsored listings look the same as other results on the list—the only difference is that they’re usually displayed at the top of the page and are accompanied by the word “sponsored.” Because sponsored listings are still relevant to a user’s search query, they usually have good results in terms of conversions and clicks. 05. Branded content Branded content is when a business and a publisher agree to create content to promote a specific brand or product. This can take on many forms, but it’s most often seen in publications like blogs or news sites when an article showcases one brand exclusively. The benefits here are twofold: First, readers are exposed to the brand’s message while scrolling through the publication’s regular content. Secondly, you'll get to capitalize on a new audience of readers who trust the publication you collaborate with, and the articles they publish. 06. Content recommendations Usually found at the end of an article or blog post, content recommendations show other articles that relate to a user’s interests or browsing history. This section may be titled “You Might Also Like…” or “What We Recommend Reading Next.” To a reader, any ads within this section may seem like simple recommendations for similar articles, but for advertisers, it’s a powerful tool to redirect traffic from heavily-visited publishers back to their own pages. Content recommendations usually have enticing images and headlines, encouraging readers to click through. This method of native advertising has been shown to result in up to 53% more page views than clicks coming from search engines. Moreover, providing recommendations is also a cost-effective way to market content on a website, with each click from a publisher’s platform usually costing only a few cents. 07. Custom in-app ads Custom ads can take on almost any form and are reflective of many of the innovative methods of personalization we see used today in digital marketing. A custom native ad can be anything from an Instagram filter created by a brand or even an ad that runs in music playlists. For example, if you create a running playlist on Spotify and then get ads for running shoes while listening to it, this would be considered a custom native ad since it matches the content you’re interested in. You can find more advertisement examples in our guide .

“The night that Threads launched was an exciting time for social media managers…It was like the first day of school, when you’re trying to find your friends and decide where you’re going to sit at lunch.” Like many other community managers, Drew Balis sat at the ready when Threads dropped on July 5. In fact, Balis authored Wix’s first-ever thread, joining the 30 millions of others who signed up for the app in the first 24 hours—and the 150 million downloads amassed in the first week (already achieving one-fifth of X's [formerly Twitter] weekly active user base , according to TechCrunch). Its entrance into the world was unlike any app before it, and though the buzz has cooled since its launch, Threads marks a significant event in social media history. But what, exactly, is Threads? Why does the world still seem to be pinning their hopes on Threads as a potential replacement for the bird app? Looking for a website builder where you can centrally manage your activity on Instagram, X and other social channels? Create a website with Wix. What is Threads? Threads is Instagram’s new sibling. It’s a new social networking app developed by the Instagram team that mimics some of X's finest qualities—but, albeit, is much simpler in its current form. Much like X, Threads promotes sharing short text-based posts to participate in public discourse. “We are working toward making Threads compatible with the open, interoperable social networks that we believe can shape the future of the internet,” writes Meta , alluding to Threads’ unique connection with Instagram. Threads’ integration with Instagram may seem like a minor detail, or simply a logical move for two apps invented by the same parent company. In reality, this signifies a revolutionary shift in how social platforms are designed from the jump. The ‘dopamine’ effect Threads’ explosive debut was hardly an accident. For one, it was well-timed, says Balis. It entered at a time when people have become disillusioned with X. “I got the impression that when [X] ran into issues with bad press, Threads said, ‘Okay now is the time’ and jumped on the excitement, instead of waiting for a perfect product,” muses Balis. At such a volatile time for X users, Threads not only presented a more positive, controversy-free environment—but also provided a very easy way to get started. It opened the door, as Harvard Business Review reports, for unified social media identities. “Today’s top social media applications such as [X], Facebook, and LinkedIn are designed as ‘walled gardens’—self-contained ecosystems that lock users’ data inside the platform, and tightly control access,” notes HBR. “All of this helps social media platforms entrench their market dominance. Because it’s a pain to move to a competitor, users stick around even when their experience degrades.“ By contrast, signing up for Threads is as simple as a click of a button for Instagram users. Instagram followers are instantly added as Threads followers, giving early adopters a solid follower base to start out with. “It gave people a way to reconnect with old Instagram friends. In the initial hours of using Threads, it was a pleasant surprise to see names that I hadn't engaged with in years. I experienced that 'dopamine effect' that most of us have come to expect with social media.” - Drew Balis, social media manager at Wix Moreover, Threads’ association with Instagram had the power to dispel the usual doubts around safety when a new app is launched. "Being associated with Meta is a big reason that I've taken Threads seriously," shares Balis, whose typical day entails managing Wix’s X account. "When a company like Meta shows enthusiasm for a project, they tend to put their best foot forward and give it a real shot." While Threads' daily usage has dropped since its launch and questions about Threads’ user retention is circulating the web, Threads arguably remains a strong contender given its tie-in with Instagram, plus the rate at which it's being developed. Just two weeks after its launch, Instagram announced several highly requested features, including a "Following" tab and translations. Many suspect that once Threads adds more sought-after functionality, it stands to regain traction, especially amongst X users who feel alienated from the X platform. How do you sign up for Threads? If you’re also thinking of adding Threads to your marketing strategy , here’s a quick overview of how to get started. As noted earlier, getting started is simple, requiring just a few steps: Create an Instagram business account if you don’t have one already. Download the Threads app, which is available for Android and iOS. Open the Threads app and log in using your Instagram credentials. (If you have multiple Instagram accounts, you can switch between them and choose which one to use for Threads.) Once logged in, you can create your profile, which includes the standard social media account elements (profile photo, bio, links, etc.). You can import your exact bio and associated elements from Instagram or customize your profile for Threads. Note: you can’t change your username in Threads. Set your profile to public or private. Anyone on Threads can see public accounts, but private accounts are only viewable to approved followers. (Optional) Select your followers. You can select all of your followers from Instagram, or handpick a few. If you choose to follow any Instagram followers who aren’t yet on Threads, their status will appear as "pending" until they've joined. Can you delete your Threads account? It’s important to note that if you delete your Threads account, you will be required to delete your linked Instagram account, too. That said, you can always deactivate your Threads account without disturbing your Instagram activity. Alternatively, if you have second thoughts about Threads, you can make your Threads account private. Hopefully Meta will sever the dependency between the two apps at some point, the way they do with Facebook and Instagram, but we’re not there yet. Threads vs. X (formerly Twitter): how the two stack up The source of hot debate right now: Is Threads truly an alternative to X? It’s too soon to say, says Balis. Threads still has a ways to go before it can unseat X—and X itself is still reeling from an advertiser exodus and other, put lightly, changes. However, billionaire mismanagement aside, both platforms have their merits. Here are some of the biggest differences and similarities to date: Core functionality : Both X and Threads allow users to share short updates that include text, images and video. They're like an online town square where you can post your thoughts and interact with others through reposts or likes. Timeline/feeds : X offers several different ways to track new content (e.g.,the algorithmic "For You" and the chronological "Following” feed). And as of July, Threads offers both an algorithmic feed (that, anecdotally, liberally shows branded content) and a "Following" feed. Character limits : X allows non-premium users to write tweets that are up to 280 characters long (meanwhile, X Blue users with paid subscriptions can post up to 25,000 characters ). Threads gives all users up to 500 characters for each post. Video limits : On X, non-premium users can post videos up to two minutes and 20 seconds long, while X Blue subscribers can post videos up to two hours long . Threads allows all users to post videos up to five minutes long. Desktop and mobile versions : X offers both desktop and mobile interfaces—a useful perk for social media managers—while Threads only offers a mobile experience. Searchability : X has a robust search feature that allows you to search tweets for specific words, phrases or hashtags. You can filter search results by various criteria like date range or language. Currently, Threads has no search function, which means that it doesn't support hashtags. Account creation : X offers a standard account creation process, whereas Threads offers a more instant experience, provided that you already have an Instagram account. Account deactivation and deletion : You can deactivate your account at any time on either platform. However, should you decide to delete your Threads account, you'll also have to delete your Instagram account. With X, you can deactivate your account, and it will be permanently deleted after 30 days if you don't reactivate it by logging in. Community : X's greatest strength is arguably its mature community, with active engagement around pop culture events (like the Grammys), news and interests (like SEO). By nature of being a new platform, Threads has yet to develop that level of community. So, is Threads worth your time? Despite its infancy, Threads is not something to be ignored. If you’ve already got an Instagram marketing strategy , then Threads could be a welcome addition. “I wouldn't recommend neglecting one platform for another,” says Balis to businesses that have an existing X account. "But if you're a young company without an established [X] account, then I'd argue it's more beneficial to focus on Threads. Strive to make an impact and establish yourself as a leader there, rather than trying to build from zero to 500 on [X] where it’s noisy." Balis additionally recommends factoring in your audience: If you're a B2B company whose appeal is discussing hot-button issues and engaging in those conversations, X might be a better fit because of its mature community and search capabilities. On the other hand, if you're a B2C company aiming to reach end customers with a physical product, Balis suggests leaning towards Threads. In these early days, it’s easier to stand out on Threads—with brands even attesting to receiving eight times more likes on Threads than they would on X. And, if this is the direction you choose to go, you can (and should) start simple. Repurpose your top-performing content from other platforms rather than creating Threads content from scratch. Combine your standout text posts and one-liners from X with your most engaging photos from Instagram. “Test, learn and have fun,” encourages Balis. “I think the best way to learn any social platform is to simply use it. Think of it like learning chess in your spare time. You can read about strategies all you want, but you won't truly understand them until you try them out in a game.” Examples of early Threads adopters It’s no surprise that celebrities and brands like Wendy's are already making their presence known on Threads. For inspiration, here are a few of our favorite Threads so far. Wendy’s Wendy's response to an ego battle between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg involving their presence on Threads received over 23,000 likes and 900 replies within three days of posting. True to its reputation, Wendy’s fills its feed with witty, humorous posts. Anthropologie American retailer Anthropologie used a popular social media marketing strategy to gain new Threads followers and engagement—a giveaway. They promised to give out gift cards to users with the best Threads-inspired puns , which yielded some delightful banter. Tom Brady One of Balis’ personal favorites—the legendary quarterback posted a video of his mic-drop chant “We’re still here” to celebrate Threads’ three-day anniversary. The post seems to express what many of us are wondering in the back of our minds: Will Threads come out victorious? Or, will the hype fade in the likes of BeReal and Google+? What’s next for Threads? By any measure of digital achievement, Threads is impressive. (Consider that the 100 million sign-ups Threads received in just five days took X two years to reach.) In Balis’ eyes, Threads has the potential to last. One month in, it’s not so much a matter of if Threads will replace X, but how the two will coexist. “It doesn’t have to be—and likely won’t be—a knockout fight. They can both be prominent players. But many people will likely gravitate towards Threads to escape things that they don’t like about [X]. Threads just needs to be ready and invest its time into building a community that rivals that of [X]'s.”

Businesses of all types share a common goal: to make revenue. In order to do so, they need to reach prospective clients who might be interested in or can benefit from their product or service. As an entrepreneur, writing a proposal is one way to close the gap between you and your potential customers. At any stage of your business, from creating a business website to building a customer base, it’s crucial to effectively persuade people that what you’re offering is the best solution in your market. When starting a business , you want to stay one step ahead of the competition. We’ve created a complete guide on how to write a business proposal, as well as a list of the best practices to consider when crafting your own. What is a business proposal? A business proposal is a document written by a business that’s designed to convince a prospective client to award them a particular job contract, or to use their services. For example, a photography agency might submit a proposal to a firm that’s looking to get new company headshots. The proposal can be as short or as long as necessary to successfully communicate relevant information. Unlike a business plan (see our guide on the types of business plans ), which serves as a roadmap for how to structure, operate and manage a business, a proposal is created to help sell your offerings and reach new clients. Although there are three types of business proposals to consider, they all address the same points: what is the problem at hand, what is the proposed solution and how much does it cost. The different types of business proposals are: Formally solicited proposals are made in response to an official request - either verbal or written - by prospective clients. Most businesses prefer using RFPs (request for proposal), which is a document sent to another organization asking it to submit a business proposal. If your company is solicited a proposal, you’ll have the advantage of receiving all the vital information that the client is looking for, so you can write up a solid proposal. Informally solicited proposals are those that have been requested by prospective clients, although unofficially. They may come up in the setting of a casual conversation or meeting. If your company receives an informally solicited proposal, the preliminary research about the client will be done by you, unlike what happens during formally solicited proposals. Unsolicited proposals are sent to potential clients even though they don’t request one. Unsolicited proposals are comparable to a popular sales technique known as cold calling, in which a seller contacts a potential buyer who hasn’t previously shown interest in their offering. Implementing extensive market research , however, can help turn an unsolicited proposal into a personalized bid for your prospect client’s active attention. How to write a business proposal Start with a title page Create a table of contents Make your case with an executive summary Sketch out the problem in question Offer a solution Introduce your team Add pricing options Outline your terms and conditions Make room for signatures 01. Start with a title page Whether you’re starting a business or expanding an existing one, your business proposal's title page serves as an important anchor. Here you’ll introduce the fundamentals. List your name, business name and company logo, as well as the client’s name and contact information. Add the date the proposal was submitted and a compelling title to distinguish your business from the rest. Keep in mind good writing and grammar rules, such as capitalizing the letters in names and titles. Stay consistent with the formatting of all contact information and dates. In your layout, think about how you can help the most important elements stand out. The title should be front and center, followed by your name, company name and logo. People are drawn to aesthetically pleasing design, so make sure your title page is attractive to the eye and that it falls in line with your message. One way to do this is with typography or the visual aspect of type. When typing in your text, try to make it appealing and legible by carefully selecting the right alignment or font size. Choosing a specific typeface or font pairing can visually set the perfect tone for your proposal. For example, if you work in the publishing industry, then you may want to use American Typewriter to highlight your expertise. 02. Create a table of contents The average attention span for a person is down to eight seconds . That gives you just enough time to transmit a few words to someone else. To make your proposal easier for skim reading, consider adding a table of contents. That way, readers can easily navigate through different sections. Think of a table of contents like a cheat sheet in outline form. It lets your potential client know exactly how to find everything in your document. The table should mention all the main components of your business proposal, from the executive summary and pricing to the terms and conditions. When crafting a digital proposal, you can create a clickable table so that your reader will have the ease to revisit each section and quickly search across multiple pages. 03. Make your case with an executive summary In your proposal, the executive summary serves as a high level overview of your business. Explain why your business offers the best solution to a prospective client’s problem or issue. Use direct language that is persuasive and communicates all your key points clearly and eloquently. Take the time to talk about your business by writing a mission statement and vision statement and outlining the specific benefits clients can expect from your product or service. Articulate this by showcasing any milestones in your career, such as new customers a month or reaching a significant number of sales. 04. Sketch out the problem in question You want to show that you’ve got your customer’s best interest at heart. With that said, be sure to establish that your company truly understands the problem at hand. In order to do so, use clear and concise language to address the issue in question. You can explain in simple terms what difficulties your client is facing or what exact problem is holding them back. Readers will be able to better see themselves reflected in your proposal if you explicitly show their concerns are integral to the solution you’re offering. Additionally, you might also point out an issue that a potential customer hasn’t been made aware of, indicating a solid awareness of their needs. This can lead to forming a strong relationship with your prospective customer and gain their trust. 05. Offer a solution This section of your business proposal is about how you plan to address the client’s problem. Here, you’ll need to clarify the “how” and “when” of your proposal while avoiding industry jargon that may obscure any type of reader’s comprehension. At this stage, you’ve reviewed the challenges the client faces and showed you’ve got the best intentions to help them. Now, you’ll want to translate these approaches into a strategy. When laying out your offering, you may want to include a timeline detailing when each part of your plan will be taken. That way, the client knows when to expect what you’ve promised to deliver. For example, if you’re running a coaching business, you can walk the prospective client through each step of your proposed solution, from a pre-consultation meeting to the wrap-up session. 06. Introduce your team Now that you’ve addressed your potential client’s main priorities and your solution, the prospective customer is ready to spend some time getting to know your company in depth. Whether you’re a team of one or many, it’s important that the client identifies who the experts are. Feature your staff with their names and headshots, alongside their company titles and short bios. You should highlight details such as education levels, awards, industry-specific training and any other relevant background. Having an About Us section is not only a great space to introduce your team, but it also strengthens credibility and builds trust. For example, incorporating testimonials from satisfied customers helps boost your business’s reputation. This section is the perfect transition to telling the unique story behind your brand and talking about your business’s values, vision and goals. 07. Add pricing options You want to avoid any confusion when it comes to money. Creating a pricing table can bring clarity and accuracy to different payment options for each product or service that you're offering. This also lets potential customers quickly find what they are looking for and immediately see how much it will cost them. An organized structure like a table, where options may be viewed side-by-side, is also a great way to draw attention to your most important offerings and increase your chances to upsell. 08. Outline your terms and conditions Clarify what you and your client are agreeing to if they accept your proposal. This is where you want to specify formalities such as the duration of the business deal, payment dates and methods, the project timeline from start to finish, and the cancellation policy. Any necessary permits or licensing must be added in the section, too. It is highly recommended to consult with a member of your company’s legal team or an external lawyer to go over this section before finalizing your proposal. 09. Make room for signatures Conclude with a signature box for clients to sign and make it official that they are committing to your business proposal. Make sure to include a line for the signing date. Consider including a friendly prompt for the client to reach out to you in case they have any questions, accompanied by your contact information. For digital proposals, set up an e-signature field and make contact details clickable. Best practices for writing a business proposal Each section of a business proposal is composed of many components. To make the process easier, we’ve handpicked a few tips to get you started: Use visual content - From charts and graphs to photographs and illustrations, visual content can be used to enhance any proposal. Use images to better explain and highlight crucial information so the potential client doesn’t miss a thing. Embrace quantitative data - At the core of any decision-making process is data-driven research. Statistics such as demographics, market size, monetary figures and more can enrich our understanding and help validate your claim. Take it online - A digital proposal makes it easy for you to share it and get feedback. You can include audio clips, hyperlinks and videos to keep readers engaged, making the content more enticing. In case your proposal is meant for the eyes of individual clients only, you can password protect it to keep the content gated. Watch out for typos - Your proposal is a reflection of your business. It should look professional and polished. Proofread the final version of your proposal before it is sent off and watch out for any spelling mistakes and bad grammar. Remember your brand voice - Your brand is the way your business is perceived and what sets it apart from the competition. Stay true to your brand identity and values throughout your proposal. Maintain a cohesive tone and style of communication, whether that means being technical, playful or anything else. Implement a call-to-action - After reading your business proposal, a potential client should know what to do next. By using a persuasive call-to-action (CTA), you’ll be able to prompt your audience to perform a certain act or follow the final step to sealing the deal. ‘Join now’ or ‘contact us’ are good examples of strong CTAs.

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

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.

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