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Advertising on Facebook requires decision making with precision. Whichever image, caption or price you use for a Facebook ad campaign can determine whether it hits or misses the target. To start, you’ll need to answer the following questions so that you can take appropriate measures toward your next Facebook ad: Who is your audience? How much to budget for running a monthly campaign? Are your image dimensions to scale? And will your ad be mobile optimized? For Wix site owners, you can reach new customers, boost sales and get results with Facebook Ads by Wix . This built-in Facebook marketing solution lets you create a Facebook ad campaign with powerful AI. That means your ads are continuously optimized to make the greatest impact on your audience. Without skipping any steps, this beginner’s guide to advertising on Facebook will help you keep all your campaign details in line with your goals. From creating an account with Facebook Ads Manager to setting a budget and monitoring your ad’s performance post-production, we’ve got you covered. Types of Facebook ads Before we delve into the multi-faceted Facebook advertising process, a big part of your success depends on the kind of Facebook ad you use. These ads can help you create brand awareness, increase engagement and drive sales. Decide which one is the right option for you and your business. Dynamic Collection The collection ad format directs customers to your products based on their interests and previous purchases. When customers click on your ad, they'll be taken to your store's product page. This option is ideal for making sales and bringing your goods to a wider audience. Image Image ads draw people to your business by using an enticing, professional shot image. This can be great for promoting an event, sale or special offer. Use it to keep your brand on your customers’ minds. Video Videos are the best way to attract attention when advertising on Facebook. You can use a video maker to produce a video that explains who you are, what you offer and how your offerings can help customers. You can also check out video polling, a feature that lets you include a survey in your video to boost customer engagement. Slideshow If you don’t have the budget or time to make a video, create a slideshow of photos to achieve a similar effect. Slideshow ads load quicker than videos, can be made in minutes and are another great way to showcase your products. Carousel Display up to 10 products or services in a single Facebook ad. You can also use this to show different details about a single product. How to advertise on Facebook Get on Facebook Ads Manager Set clear goals Check out the competition Know your audience Plan a budget Create your ad Perfect your content Integrate Instagram Boost conversion Optimize your ads 01. Get on Facebook Ads Manager One third of the global population actively uses Facebook , which is why 7 million businesses use the social media platform to market their goods. With this in mind, setting up Facebook Ads Manager is the starting point for advertising on Facebook and across all its apps and services. First, head to your Facebook homepage and on the left side of the page, click ‘See More’ to expand the menu and then select ‘Ad Manager’ to get to your ad account settings. At this point, you’re in the section of your Facebook account where you’ll choose an ad type and select which photos or videos you want to advertise. The Ad Manager is a place to monitor your ad’s performance and modify your campaign based on the analytics Facebook provides. If you started your blog , created your business or online store with Wix, you can set up your Facebook ad campaign from your Wix dashboard in just a few clicks. 02. Set clear goals When advertising on Facebook and managing your social media marketing strategies, you’ll want to make sure your long and short-term business goals are clear. In fact, Facebook offers 11 marketing objectives based on what you want to achieve in your ad campaign, such as brand awareness, website traffic, engagement, lead generation and conversions. When you select any of these options, Facebook will display an ad format that could work best for reaching your goals. If you haven’t already defined what those are, here are some questions to help you determine your ad objectives: What are your overarching business goals? What do you hope to accomplish with this specific campaign? Do you want to drive traffic to your business? Do you want to promote your product or service locally? Are you notifying your customers about a sale or promotion? How does this campaign fit with your overall marketing strategy? 03. Check out the competition To advertise on Facebook, you’ll also want to take a look at your competitors. Learn which type of ads worked for them, and which didn’t. Look out for content that catches your eye and makes you click. Get a feel for the tone of voice that businesses use. Take note of which ones inspire engagement by looking at their likes and comments. Finally, create a list of ads that generate high levels of engagement by writing down what makes these ads stand out—and use these ideas to build your own campaign. 04. Know your audience A major factor in launching a successful Facebook ad campaign is making sure the right people see it. Facebook charges you per impression and per click, so you have to be strategic. Understanding your target audience and their intent will help you make better decisions and ensure that your ads resonate with the right people—the ones most likely to purchase your products. If you create your ad on Facebook Ads Manager, start by imagining your ideal customer. Are they male or female? How old are they? Where do they live? What do they do? What are their interests? If you can, try to define them as much as possible. This will narrow down the group you target, and in turn make your ads more successful. You can learn more about your target audience by looking at your current customers. Review previous sales to find things your customers have in common. With Facebook Ads by Wix, you just need to define your audience by gender, age, interests and location. Wix’s AI can figure out the rest by reviewing users’ online footprint. Wix will even use this data to automatically create lookalikes and retargeting audiences for your ad campaign. 05. Plan a budget Determine how much money you’ll invest in your advertisements. Then, plan your campaign run time. If you’re creating your ad through Facebook Ad Manager, you can decide how much to spend per day. Depending on the amount, Facebook will show your ad to a different number of people. Start small until you are able to better optimize your ads and ensure they reach your target audience. Once you see clicks turning into sales, lean in and increase your budget. When you create a Facebook Ad campaign with Wix, you can choose your monthly budget, starting at $79/month. Once you set it up, your work is done. Wix’s AI will learn, test and optimize your ads automatically to reach your target audience. While it can take time to create an effective campaign, thousands of businesses built on Wix have already seen success with Facebook Ads by Wix . For example, Eat to live, not to die uses the tool as one of its biggest sales drivers. This health and wellness website already had a very substantial Instagram following, and tapped into that sales potential by advertising on social media. As a result, it saw a 332% increase in sales coming from Instagram. 06. Create your ad As mentioned earlier, depending on your original objective, Facebook suggests an ad format that could potentially fulfill that goal. For example, if you’re hoping to increase web traffic, you might be presented with an image ad or carousel, allowing people to scroll through more than one image. Facebook provides the following image recommendations for each type of ad format. Whichever ad you choose, you’ll need to check that your photos fit those design requirements for advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and any other Facebook app. Additionally, you can learn how to take perfect product photos and use them to your advantage with our own expert guidelines: Use good lighting: Quality lighting ensures the item and its details are clearly visible. Try to avoid harsh shadows. Wait for a cloudy day to achieve a softer look or use a reflector or diffuser. Stand out from your background: The item you want your viewer to focus on should clearly contrast with its background. Consider using solid color backdrops. Try not to get too creative. Let the product be the main subject of the photo. Make it match your brand: Use photographs that are aligned with your brand identity. Add a logo watermark to your photos, but keep it subtle. Don’t let it distract from your product. Avoid common photography mistakes: Take professional photos. Make sure they aren’t grainy, blurry or cropped awkwardly. Make it pop: Don’t be scared to use bright or bold colors. Your images need to grab the attention of shoppers and make them want to buy. Avoid using too much text: Facebook doesn’t allow photos that include text covering more than 20% of the image. Edit down your text. Put any extra information in your ad description. Facebook Ads by Wix lets you create an ad campaign in a matter of minutes. Matan Holi, a Wix user and owner of Plant It , explains “It took 4 minutes to set up my ad campaign and, in a few days, sales increased 10x what I invested.” Plant It grew their business over the course of a few months, earning over 1,000% ROI. Here’s how you can create a paid ad campaign for your business with Wix: Log into your Wix account . Head to your site dashboard, select Marketing Tools, then Facebook Ads to get started. Your site dashboard will promptly connect your site to Facebook. Choose whatever you want to feature on your ad campaign and describe your target audience. Wix will automatically optimize your ad to target potential customers. Select your campaign budget, keeping in mind it will run for a minimum of 2 months. Preview your Facebook ad to make sure the images look great on all platforms before you publish. Track and measure your Facebook ad campaign performance. Wix’s algorithm will show you how to get the best results. 07. Perfect your content Similar to your images, the quality of your text can make or break your ad campaign. The best Facebook ad examples use carefully crafted captions that ensure their business looks professional, and while convincing people to pay attention to their offerings. When writing your ad description, here are a few things to keep in mind: Write a clear call-to-action. Your customers need to know exactly what you want them to do next. Use a call to action that creates urgency. Encourage people to make that purchase now, not later. Reassure them that buying from you is the best option and that you can offer something your competitors can’t. Clearly explain what you offer. Text is there to provide your customer with more information. If your text isn’t complimenting your image, revise it. Look at your ad from the perspective of someone who has never heard of your business. Do they understand what you sell? Can they tell what makes you unique? Is your product’s value clear? Avoid typos. A misspelled word or even an ill-placed comma can distract from your message and make your business seem unprofessional. Before publishing, have someone else look over your text. Attract attention. Your text needs to entice casual shoppers. So think about your customers' state of mind and how they feel. Then, tap into this emotion with simple and clear language that drives them to take action. Convince them that it will be worth their while to take a look at what you’re selling. Speak your customers’ language. Try to use a language that is unique to your target shoppers. Emojis can make your ad feel friendlier, but make sure they work with your brand. When advertising on Facebook, strong messaging can create quick results. Bonsie 's text offers a clear, urgent call-to-action. It encourages customers to click on their products and visit their eCommerce website . Their ad campaign brought in nearly 400% ROAS. Pro-tip: The Wix's AI needs time to learn about your audience to optimize ad performance. In other words, give your ad time to perform before making adjustments to it. 08. Use Instagram Have beautiful product images? Don't forget about Instagram marketing . Instagram users are 58 times more likely to engage with branded content than Facebook users, according to research . Instagram ads are also ideal for targeting millennial audiences. In fact, more than half of Instagram users are under 34. So if you’re targeting this age group, this could be the platform for you. To start, make sure to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts. You can do this by tapping the settings icon on Instagram. Then choose Accounts and tap Linked Accounts. Select Facebook and log in. If you're using Facebook Ads by Wix, your ad will automatically be shared on your Instagram account. 09. Boost conversion Even if your ad is a hit on Facebook, your campaign's success is measured by sales. Use these tips to turn your casual shoppers into buyers: Simplify the process: Make your shopping experience as smooth as possible—from ad click to checkout—the fewer clicks the better. Create a clear call-to-action: When customers reach your store’s product page, it should be immediately clear what they need to do next. Create a direct call to action, like Buy Now or Add to Cart. Use a familiar design: Make your customers feel comfortable completing a purchase by matching the tone and look of your ad to your brand identity. This way customers will recognize your business and feel comfortable purchasing from a site they know and trust. Write quality product descriptions: Write product descriptions that are both informative and engaging. Tell customers specifics about your product, like dimensions and materials. Include relevant SEO keywords to increase your chances of being found on Google. Highlight how the product will be of value to your customers. Display your policies: People feel more confident purchasing products when they know the store’s policies. Let them know your shipping and return policies from the outset, so you can set clear expectations. Add payment options: Simplify the process for customers to complete their purchase. Offer secure and flexible payment options to streamline purchasing. Recover abandoned carts: Get shoppers who abandoned their carts to complete their purchase. Create an abandoned cart automation and send emails reminding customers to check out. Take a look at Sim Racing Studio’s purchase funnel. When you arrive on their product page, you see a clear call-to-action directing you to Add to Cart. The product page features multiple images. You can zoom in to view different parts of the product. The description breaks down exactly what you’ll receive when you make the purchase. It explains how to use the product and even includes a video link to experience it. Their cart page is also customer focused. It offers buyers multiple payment options and shows the exact shipping cost before checkout. A smooth checkout flow like this helped Sim Racing Studio generate 16,000% ROI from their Facebook Ad campaign. 10. Optimize your ads The longer your ads run, the more you will learn about your target audience. Enhance your campaign using this information to ensure your ads reach their highest potential. If you created your campaign on Facebook, embed Facebook pixel on your site. You can use your data to retarget site visitors and encourage them to make a purchase or target existing customers to build loyalty. Create a Lookalike Audience to target people with a similar online footprint as your customers. Use split testing to try out different images, copy and audiences and see what brings in more sales. If you created your ad campaign with Wix, all this optimization is done for you. You can simply sit back and track your ad's impact on revenue. From your dashboard, you'll get detailed analytics on ad views, conversion rates and the effect on your sales. If over time you're not seeing the conversion rates you were hoping for, tweak your ad text or be more specific with the way you define your target audience. If your ads are getting clicks but not sales, try to figure out why. Ask yourself the following questions, based on your answers you’ll be able to get a clearer picture of how your ads are performing and make necessary changes. Are potential customers thrown off by your shipping rates? Is your return policy unclear? Are your ads overpromising or misleading? Are customers unable to reach out to you with questions? Does your site look professional? Does your checkout flow need to be simplified? Most importantly, don’t give up. It takes time to build a successful campaign. How to advertise on Facebook FAQ How do I advertise on Facebook as a beginner? First we recommend learning as much as you can about the different ways to advertise on Facebook, and their expected outcomes. How do these align with the KPIs you hope to achieve with your Facebook advertising? As a beginner there are ways to make the process easier, by using a third party, such as Facebook Ads by Wix, to help you run your campaigns. We also recommend starting small, and scaling your ads as you understand the process and data better. How do I advertise on Facebook for free? It's not possible to run Facebook ads without paying for them. However there are other ways to promote your business on the social media platform organically. You can do this by generating traffic to your Facebook page by joining Facebook groups and sharing your business or product in those when relevant. You can also generate traffic from your email marketing to your Facebook page.

Email marketing is fundamental to any growing online business. It works because it’s one of the easiest ways to communicate with customers and has one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) of any marketing channel. It’s so easy, anyone can send beautiful newsletters, invitations and promotions. In fact, over 1.5 million businesses already use Wix's email marketing service to motivate, engage and retain clients (learn how to connect your email to Wix website ). Of course, a great email marketing service does more than just know when to schedule your next product update email (Saturday and Sunday have the best open and click rates on average). There are easy methods to measure and optimize specific metrics to help you better engage with your audience and get more value for your spend. Our own experts gave us their 5 most essential email statistics you should be tracking. With these helpful tips and our collection of email marketing examples you’ll be able to promote your site with a more precise marketing strategy. List growth Conversion rate Unique opens Click-through rate Bounce rate 01. List growth What : The rate at which your subscriber list is growing. How : (New Subscribers – Unsubscribed / Total Subscribers) x 100 If you don’t have a list strategy as part of your email marketing effort, you may as well be wandering in the dark. The more subscribers you have, the more traffic and conversions you’ll get. Get started with a list by grouping all of your contacts together, then segment them based on location, interest, demographic , device and whatever other variable that may make for a more targeted email blast. Goal number one is to make more people sign up as quickly as possible every day. List growth usually starts with your website or blog as new visitors opt in to receive your latest updates. There are various email marketing tools to help you build your email list. Most users prefer to fill out contact forms , which you should consider using in various points on your site to make it easy to access. When new visitors land on your blog and read through an entire article, try using a pop-up to offer them an update on a relevant feature or something related to your post. Despite their reputation, well-used pop-ups are known for driving subscriptions up. A must-know: An important email marketing tip is to never use third party lists. Email service providers can easily detect them and shut you down. If you notice unengaged subscribers, try to provide them with more incentive to interact. If after numerous attempts they remain inactive, best practice dictates removing them completely. Keeping your lists healthy improves your overall email metrics and sender reputation. If you see your lists dropping, ask yourself what’s causing people to unsubscribe. Are your emails meeting the recipients needs? Do they provide enough value? Perhaps you may want to reduce your volume or segment your list again. Focus on what you can do to get more engagement from those that have the potential to be engaged and leave the rest behind. 02. Conversion rate What : Percentage of subscribers who clicked within the email and completed a desired action. How : (Subscribers Who Completed Action / Total Emails Delivered) x 100 Every email should be sent with a single purpose in mind. That purpose is to drive the recipient to take a specific action that will result in a conversion. The conversion rate essentially measures the effectiveness of an email campaign. This rate will often depend on the difficulty of the action you’re requesting from your audience and how many steps they have to go through to complete it. Simple requests such as ‘Get This Song’ will convert much better than more complex and time-consuming requests such as ‘Fill Out This Questionnaire’. The goal is for your audience to take the action that your email has asked them to take. This will generally require highly engaging content or incentives like coupons and other giveaways that will draw a click. The process should be simple and highly relevant to what your recipient signed up for.  When your audience isn’t moving to the landing page or store as you expected, assess what possible variables could cause them to drop off. Perhaps you made the email mistake of offering them too many alternative choices that distract them from the conversion. Are there links in your email that take readers away from your main goal? Is your text clear? If this is the case, you need to simplify your users’ choices or provide a more compelling reason to act.  03. Unique opens What : Percentage of recipients who open your emails. How : (Total Opens / Total Delivered) x 100 Unique Opens is the percent of distinct recipients who’ve opened your email. The difference from Total Opens being that no matter how many times a person has reopened an email, it only counts as one. Unique Opens is essentially a measure of your recipient’s interest in the "from" category and the subject lines of your email, since these are the only two fields affecting their decision. While there is no one winning formula for writing strong subject lines , there are many methods to help you succeed. Try to think about what kind of subject line would make you personally click to open an email. In order to be effective, you must target your audience with content they desire. Another good rule of thumb is to keep your subject lines short and include a question or call-to-action.  The more you test different subject lines, the faster you’ll improve the performance of future campaigns. Testing a subject line can be as simple as creating two separate emails with the same body of information but using different subject lines for each half of your recipient list. Measure the open rate for both and see which one performs better. This is the basis of A/B testing. Every audience is different, and with enough effort, you’ll find out what works best for yours.  04. Click-through rate What : The percentage of recipients who clicked on a link within the email. How : (Total Unique Clicks / Total Delivered Emails) x 100 Click-Through Rate (CTR) describes the email recipients who not only opened your email but also interacted with it by clicking on one or more links you placed inside. This is the most popular metric email marketers like to track because it lets you easily calculate performance for every individual email you send, and is used for determining the results of A/B tests. The CTR provides insight into how many people on your list were interested in your content and how well you converted that interest into click-throughs. The more targeted your content, the better your CTR will be. Certain blasts will always do better than others. For example, advocacy appeals perform better than fundraising, but you should still always try to match your content and audience carefully. Your descriptions and visuals should be clear and compelling. Changing your email format may have dramatic effects on user experience, particularly with eNewsletters. About 35% of people still prefer plain text emails, so a hyperlinked text-based call to action above the header can ensure your audience is seeing your message even when images are disabled. Try and test different methods to improve your email click-through rate to determine what really works with your list. 05. Bounce rate What : Percent of unsuccessful delivery. How : (Total Bounced / Total Sent) x 100 When an Email doesn’t reach its intended recipient it is called a ‘bounce’. Bounces are inevitable but with some work can be reduced considerably. They come in two forms: Hard bounces can be a result of invalid emails or simple misspellings. They should be removed immediately because internet service providers may mark your business as spam and even place your account under review if you breach terms of use. You want to maintain a quality list, not a long one. Soft bounces tend to occur when an email server encounters an issue like reaching capacity. These should be removed after a few attempts as well. You don’t want to jeopardise your business’s reputation or your delivery rate, so these are important to keep a look out for. The best way to fight bounce rates is using an email marketing solution that has a bounce management system in place to detect and process all bounced emails by flagging or removing anything invalid. Employing verified opt-in lists will make certain that the email addresses you are marketing to are healthy. Also, when your lists include additional contact info of your subscribers, you can follow up and request a valid email address for future email blasts . Wix Email Marketing helps you do just that. Not only will you be able to create and share beautiful emails in minutes, you can easily track and optimize your campaigns to grow your business.

Get started by:  Creating a website →  |  Getting a domain → Many online sellers have a love-hate relationship with flash sales. When done well, a flash sale can serve as a powerful eCommerce marketing  tool, with the ability to attract new customers, strengthen existing relationships and bring a surge of revenue in a short period of time. On the flip side, a poorly executed flash sale can be costly. It can erode brand loyalty, attract the wrong kind of customers, and cheapen your brand. This step-by-step guide will help you develop a flash sale strategy that works for your business. Learn how to run a flash sale, avoid common pitfalls and view a real-life example of a successful flash sale. Read Also: How to start a business What are flash sales? By definition, a flash sale runs for a limited amount of time—usually between two to three hours, all the way up to 72 hours. A flash sale offers specific products at a can’t-miss price and taps into your buyers’ sense of FOMO to prompt impulse buying. Some of the most famous flash sale events include Amazon Prime Day(s) and Cyber Monday. These events rake in billions of sales annually, with Amazon Prime topping $12 billion  in July 2022 and Cyber Monday expected to reach a record-breaking $11.2 billion . Buyers eagerly await these events, some hoping to nab items that they’ve been eyeing for months prior. The pros and cons of running a flash sale Before you jump right into running your first flash sale, here are the benefits and potential risks that you need to be aware of. Pros Boost revenue quickly: The greatest appeal of a flash sale is that it can drive tons of purchases. We’ve found that, on average, online stores increase monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) by 64,000% when they run a flash sale. Attract new customers : Drive traffic to your online store , plus nudge new shoppers to try your products for the first time. Win them over and you could have a customer for life. Earn repeat customers: A solid discount is a great way to show some love to your best customers. When customers love your brand and feel appreciated, they’re more likely to buy from you in the future. Get customers who are on the fence to take action : The average abandoned cart rate in eCommerce is inching towards 70%, according to the latest data by Baymard Institute . A flash sale is one way to bring people back to their carts and retain shoppers. Clear excess inventory : Unload out-of-season or excess products via a flash sale. This ultimately helps to reduce operating and inventory costs, plus make room for newer, in-demand products. Cons Erode your profits: Poorly calculated flash sales can end up killing your profit margin, or worse—cost you money. This could hurt your business in both the short-term and long-term. Attract the wrong customers: If you bring in too many one-and-done shoppers, you won’t see much of an increase in brand loyalty. Fatigue your shoppers : If you’re pushing flash sales too hard or too often, you risk “flash sale fatigue.” Customers can become numb to your marketing tactics and promotions, making it very hard to re-engage them. Damage your reputation: Customers could be deeply disappointed if you’re not set up to deliver on fast shipping or an outstanding customer experience. This could then prompt a series of poor online reviews. In addition to this, relying too much on deep discounts may wrongly position your brand as a discount merchant. 3 mistakes to avoid with your flash sale strategy The eCommerce space (see our guide on what is eCommerce ) is littered with flash sales, and many businesses have paid the price for failed flash sales. The most common reasons for this include: 01. Website crashes A website crash can bring your sale to a dead stop. Crashes often happen due to server overloads and not having the right amount of capacity to handle the surge in traffic. To avoid this, find an eCommerce platform that can handle the extra load. For example, Wix’s autoscale infrastructure allows for limitless scalability and is built to prevent an eCommerce site crash. Alternatively, if you use apps or tools that rely on API calls to your website, make sure they have the right amount of bandwidth on their servers to handle traffic surges. 02. Overselling If you lack the tools for proper inventory management , you run the risk of selling more products than you have on hand. As a result, you could wind up having to cancel customer orders or keeping your buyers waiting for much longer than expected to receive their products. Therefore, it’s imperative to have a system that updates your listed quantities in real time across all of our sales channels. With Wix, you can rest assured knowing that your inventory levels are synced with your integrated fulfillment solutions. 03. Shipping delays The joy a shopper feels from your flash sale may quickly fade if it takes weeks for your item to ship. When this happens, the customers you worked so hard to win over may start to feel negatively about your brand. To avoid this, make sure to provide clear and accurate shipping information, and to smooth out any inefficiencies in your operations. Use an eCommerce platform that automatically routes orders to the right fulfillment partner, plus simplifies other backend operations. Flash sales example: How The Spice Suite uses flash sales and sells out in minutes every time When she moved her brick-and-mortar spice shop online, Angel Gregorio used a flash sale model to grow The Spice Suite’s  web presence. Today, she has sold more than $2 million worth of products from both her online and offline stores—and more than 25% of those sales are specifically from online flash sales. Here’s why a flash sale approach has worked so well for her: She builds on her success : Gregorio’s first online sale showed her that she could easily manage online orders with Wix, and could tap into an even wider audience with a buzz-worthy online sale. “To see that first online sale was just affirming,” she says. “It made me think, you know what—if there’s one, there’s more.” She prepares for flash sales in advance: Gregorio has prebuilt spice boxes at the ready before  each sale, in addition to up-to-date product details and inventory information. “The day of the spice drop, no matter what I'm doing, I literally just have to go into Wix and make [my settings] visible…and folks are ready to purchase,” she says. She invests in promotion : Gregorio relies on social media to announce dates and build the buzz about her flash sales. Her most valuable platform: Instagram , where she has amassed more than 133,000 followers. She builds a sense of FOMO with her customers : Gregorio runs flash sales every time new inventory arrives, and her followers have grown to anticipate these sales. The best part? Her products sell out in five minutes—every single time. “It’s like a sport to get a spice box now because they sell out so quickly,” she says. She delivers outstanding customer service - As soon as a flash sale ends, Gregorio and her team are able to efficiently pick, pack, and ship orders to their customers. This is all thanks to their ability to plan ahead, and somewhat ':' their approach to flash sales. How to run your own flash sale: A step-by-step guide Set a goal and choose the right products Define your target audience Choose the right timing Set the right price Get your payment solutions in order Get your inventory in order Optimize your shipping and fulfillment workflows Create a strong promo plan Create a sense of urgency   01. Set a goal and choose the right products The best flash sales start with a specific goal. Do you want to acquire new customers, improve customer retention, or drive deeper customer engagement? Once you know your goals, you can build an effective sale strategy to help you reach that goal. As a few examples of how it could play out: If you’re looking to attract new customers,  you could boost brand awareness by selling your signature products at a discount. Or, you could put your best sellers up for sale, as well as trending products. If you’re looking to retain existing customers,  your flash sale may involve products that get lots of views but are low-converting. Switching up their price could be all it takes to trigger orders, and can simultaneously help to inform your pricing strategies from here on out. Alternatively, you could put newly released products up for sale in order to build up momentum and initial interest in unfamiliar items. Tip:  Regardless of which type of customers you’re looking to attract, it helps to choose one particular category, product line, or theme so that it’s easier for your customers to understand what you’re offering at a discount and why. 02. Define your target audience Narrow down your target audience so that you know exactly how to tailor your messages and can confirm that they’ll get value out of your sale. Too broad of an audience can cause confusion or result in messaging that’s too broad to resonate with any single customer segment. Meanwhile, a well-defined target audience can give you a clear path forward. It can help to boost your conversion rate, lower your ad spend, and increase your overall ROI. 03. Choose the right timing Many sellers have found that running a flash sale either before or after the holiday season can yield great results. A flash sale timed right before the holiday season (e.g., September) can help to build brand awareness prior to the biggest shopping season of the year. Meanwhile, a flash sale held right after the holiday season (e.g., January) can help you to reclaim revenue you may have lost due to post-holiday returns. However, every business is different. Review your historical sales data and customer behaviors, and see what sells best when. It additionally helps to check when email open rates are highest to guide your marketing efforts. Use this data to your advantage, and monitor the impact that your flash sale has on baseline performance. 04. Set the right price It goes without saying that deciding on the right price is crucial. Price your item too low and you could lose money. Price it too high and you might repel shoppers. If your brand has unique products and seldom holds sales, then 10% might be an enticing enough sale. But if you sell more common products and already run regular promotions, your shoppers may expect a heftier discount. A good rule of thumb is to set a price that’s equivalent to or just a tick higher than the discounts you offer on Black Friday or Cyber Monday (i.e., slightly higher than your lowest possible price). 05. Get your payment solutions in order Your flash sale is worthless if your customers can’t pay you, or if your payment provider won’t approve your sales or payouts. Make sure you’re ready to accept payments online and get paid out by taking the following steps. Connect a payment provider and verify your account before you start selling.  If you’re adding or switching payment providers, make sure your account is verified and approved before the sale begins. The verification process can take time, so you’ll need to set up your account in advance. Remember that if you don’t do this, all payments from your site will be refunded. Be responsive to customer requests and understand that some customer refunds will happen.  Make sure you respond quickly and refund clients before they turn their refund request into a chargeback. This will negatively affect your chargeback ratio and bank history as a merchant. Clearly communicate your refund and return policy on your site. Make sure your policy is clearly visible on each product page. This can help to prevent false expectations and complaints. Keep records of emails and calls with dissatisfied customers who happen to contact you.  You can use these to help manage disputes for potential chargebacks later on; they could be the deciding factor in your favor. 06. Get your inventory in order Poor inventory management can turn your flash sale into chaos. If you’re relying on manual inventory processes, trying to keep up with the frenetic pace of sales will be impossible. To avoid this problem, establish strong workflows that include an automated and centralized system for managing inventory across all of y our sale channels. This will allow you to: Check the accuracy of your website’s inventory numbers and add inventory quantities to your product pages so customers will know how many—or how few—on-sale products remain. Sync inventory data between all of your sales channels, warehouses, brick-in-mortar locations, and fulfillment partners. Keep enough buffer stock so you don’t accidentally oversell, especially as you receive orders from multiple channels. Retain full visibility over inventory movement, plus stay in constant contact with buyers, should a mistake occur. 07. Optimize your shipping and fulfillment workflows Prepare your operations to support timely shipping, i.e., give your third-party logistics partner (3PL) a heads up about your upcoming sale, send enough inventory in ahead of time, and specify any special requirements related to packaging. For your customers’ sake: make sure to provide accurate delivery times. If you’re not set up to offer two-day shipping, don’t offer it. Accuracy and honesty are far more important than speed. If it comes down to it, you can even make up for slower shipping times by offering free  shipping and/or express shipping at an additional cost. 08. Create a strong promo plan There are plenty of ways to spread the word about an upcoming sale, so you’ll want to take the time to plan your strategy ahead of time. Among the many options at your disposal, you could: Target your competitor’s customers with ads.  Look for competitors offering similar products and customers who left them negative reviews. Target your social ads to them, using messaging that speaks to their values and pain points. Run limited-time Google Ad campaigns using keywords  associated with your sales products. Take care to select keywords that attract users with an intent to buy. Partner with micro-influencers on social media who resonate with your target audience. Ask them for help promoting your flash sale products, though influencers should ideally be happy users of your product before being asked to promote your store. Give loyal customers exclusive or early access to your flash sale.  Send invitations via email or SMS. This will help your best customers feel special, as you reward them for their loyalty. 09. Create a sense of urgency Keep in mind that you’ll only have a short amount of time to promote your flash sale. As you use multiple channels to generate interest, create a sense of urgency by: Creating a flash sale landing page on your website, from which you can clearly list the products that are up for sale and promote relevant messaging. Sending pre-promotional emails and include the discount amount in your email subject lines. Using a countdown timer before and during your sale to amp up the race against the clock. When your sale reaches its final hour, remind your customers that time is running out. Using concise copy to emphasize that time is of the essence, and point out when this is the “last sale of the season” or “your only chance to buy our best sellers—40% off!” Manage everything from landing pages to inventory under one roof—test drive Wix for eCommerce  today. Flash sale FAQ What is the best day for flash sales? The best days for flash sales are typically during major shopping holidays, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and New Year's Eve. These days are when people are already in a shopping mood, so they're more likely to be receptive to flash sale offers. However, you can run a flash sale any day of the year, as long as you promote it effectively. Is a flash sale good or bad? Flash sales can be a great way to boost sales, clear out inventory and build customer loyalty. However, they can also be risky and damage your brand if they're not done correctly. How long should a flash sale last? The duration of a flash sale can vary based on several factors, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The optimal length for a flash sale depends on the nature of your product or service, your target audience and your marketing strategy.  Here are some considerations to help determine the duration of a flash sale: Product type and complexity Target audience Marketing goals Platform and promotion Previous success and industry norms Ultimately, the ideal duration for a flash sale is a strategic decision based on your specific circumstances. Test different durations and analyze the results to refine your approach over time. Additionally, it's important to clearly communicate the start and end times of the flash sale to create a sense of urgency among potential customers. What are daily flash sales? Daily flash sales are brief, time-limited promotional events where products or services are offered at significantly discounted prices for a single day. Designed to create urgency and drive quick purchases, these sales leverage scarcity to motivate consumers, often occurring on e-commerce platforms or through targeted marketing channels. Are flash sales effective? Yes, flash sales can be effective marketing tools. By creating a sense of urgency and offering limited-time discounts, they stimulate immediate customer action, boost sales and generate excitement around a product. However, success depends on factors like product relevance, target audience and proper promotion to maximize the impact of these time-limited promotions. Can flash sales be profitable? Flash sales can be profitable when strategically executed. They generate quick revenue, clear excess inventory and attract new customers. However, potential drawbacks include decreased profit margins, customer expectations for continuous discounts and the risk of eroding brand value. Profitability hinges on careful planning and alignment with overall business goals. Flash marketing vs flash sales Flash marketing involves creating a sudden, time-sensitive buzz around a product or service through promotional tactics like social media campaigns. Flash sales, on the other hand, are time-limited events where products are offered at discounted prices. While flash marketing builds anticipation, flash sales aim to drive immediate purchases by leveraging scarcity, both contributing to effective short-term promotional strategies.

When it comes to building effective marketing strategies , understanding the four Ps—product, price, place and promotion—is fundamental to achieving sustainable growth and success. These four pillars form the foundation of any successful marketing strategy, guiding businesses in crafting compelling propositions that resonate with their target audiences. Mastering the four Ps not only help you to reach the right customers, but also ensures your products are readily available, priced competitively and effectively communicated. Below, we dive into each of the four Ps. Whether you’re working on a social media campaign or using a website maker to create your website, the four Ps are there to help you with every aspect of your promotional efforts. Build your online presence with Wix . The 4 Ps of the marketing mix The idea of the marketing mix was first popularized by Neil Borden, a professor of advertising at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. In 1964, Borden published an article titled “ The Concept of the Marketing Mix ,” which discussed different advertising tactics that companies could use to target consumers. It was here that he highlighted the marketer as an artist—a mixer of all the ingredients needed to achieve the firm’s marketing objectives. Still, there was no real consensus about what should be included in the mix until 1960, when E. Jerome McCarthy, a marketing professor at Michigan State University, identified four basic ingredients known as the four Ps of marketing. Since then, the four Ps have been widely adopted by marketing professionals as the core pillars of an effective marketing penetration strategy. And while there have been a few changes and additions over the decades, the fundamental principles remain the same. What are the 4 Ps of marketing? Below we’ll define the four Ps of marketing and show you why each ingredient plays an important role in increasing sales, building a competitive advantage and building a smart strategy for promoting your business. 01. Product This one’s easy—products refer to the good or service that you offer to customers. Whether you’re launching a new product or seeking to improve an existing one, making sure that it meets the demands of consumers is a core pillar of marketing. For your product to be effective, it should either satisfy an existing consumer need or create demand so that people believe they need it. Familiarize yourself with product differentiation and what it means for your marketing efforts. In addition, you should be familiar with your product’s life cycle—meaning its introduction into the market, its growth, maturity and decline. From a marketing standpoint, this lets you adapt your messaging, KPIs , pricing and target audience according to each life cycle stage. To master the product element of the marketing mix, ask yourself the following questions: What is your product? Who is it for? How and where do customers use your product? What existing needs does your product satisfy? If it doesn’t satisfy an existing need, how will you create a new need in the market? What specific features does your product have that will directly address those needs? Are there any features you may have missed? What are the key elements of your product design and user experience? Do they work together to meet the needs of your consumers? What is your product called? How will you brand your product? How does your product differ from the competition? When you create a marketing plan for your business, the answers to these questions will help form a set of guidelines. 02. Price The price is what consumers pay for your product. As simple as that sounds, determining what to charge can be tricky. You’ll need to make a profit, but you also want consumers to feel that the price corresponds with the product’s value. Whether your product is a budget option, luxe option or somewhere in between, the price you charge greatly affects the language you use in your promotional messaging. It’s also deeply interconnected with the kinds of customers you’ll market to, as well as the country or region where you plan to sell your product. It might also impact your customer acquisition costs as well. To come up with the pricing, ask yourself the following questions: What is the perceived value of your good or service to the buyer? How will you align your marketing strategy with consumer perception of the price of your product? How does the price compare with that of your competitors? Is your audience price-sensitive? Will decreasing the price help you capture more customers, or will it decrease your profit margin? Conversely, will increasing the price gain you more profit margin, or will it result in a loss of customers? Can you use different pricing tiers (for instance, a basic versus premium package) for different customer segments depending on how you understand each customer journey? 03. Place The third P of marketing is place. This refers to the location of your marketing and distribution activities. Place can be a physical location, like a brick-and-mortar store that primarily targets local community members. But it can also refer to online locations, referring to the various platforms and marketing channels you use to promote and sell your product. Place is an important factor to consider as you market your product or services, since it helps you understand what kind of buyer persona has access to it. The bottom line is to promote and sell your product in view of the types of people who need it and can get it. If you market to an audience who ultimately decides that your product is too hard to find or inconvenient to purchase and use, you’ll likely hit a wall with your marketing efforts. Are you focusing on local marketing , or something broader? Similarly, this concept applies online when you determine the most effective channels for promotion. If your product is U.S.-only, there’s little reason to promote it on an Italian news site. If you’re selling a product for grandparents, you probably shouldn’t start by creating paid ads on TikTok. When factoring place into your marketing strategy, ask yourself the following marketing intelligence questions : Where is your target audience located (both in person or online)? Not sure? Time to build out your marketing analytics tracking and reporting plan Where do people look for your product? If they look in a store, what kind (e.g., a boutique versus a large chain)? If they look online, what platforms are they using? Use these to build better customer segments to target. What kinds of distribution channels and outlets can you use to sell your product? Where are your competitors selling? What physical locations and online channels are they using? 04. Promotion Promotion is the fourth P of the marketing mix. This all encompassing ingredient involves using the factors you identified in the previous three Ps—product, price and place—to craft your messaging and spread the word about your product via advertising and marketing campaigns. To incorporate this final pillar, ask yourself: Where can you get your message across to your target market ? Online channels like social media? PR? TV, radio or podcasts? Print advertisements? Email marketing? What sort of language, media and personas does your audience connect to most in these online and offline locations? When is the best time to promote? Is your product seasonal? Are there events or other external factors that might affect your messaging? How, when and where do your competitors promote their products? The answers to these questions—as well as the ones listed earlier—will help you to to create a strong small business marketing strategy that promises to meet consumer needs, offers value in relation to its price, reaches consumers using the right channels and uses the right messaging. Examples of the 4 Ps of marketing To help you better understand the four Ps of marketing and apply them to your business, let’s go over some real-world examples: 01. Apple Apple has a top-notch marketing strategy, especially when it comes to its popular iPhones. Certainly, a big reason why consumers love the iPhone is because Apple used the four Ps of marketing to put together the ideal product, price point, distribution channels and brand messaging. Product: The first iPhone directly addressed consumer needs at exactly the right time. Cell phones were already becoming more stylish (who can forget the appeal of the Blackberry?), and Apple took full advantage of that trend. But the iPhone wasn’t only sleek and well-designed. It also addressed the need for an improved user experience. The product eliminated the hassle of a keyboard or stylus, reduced the need for a separate music device and added other key features (on-the-go internet, a decent camera, fun apps and a user-friendly screen). Price: The iPhone became a pioneer in the mobile world, promising quality and extra value that prior mobile devices didn’t have. On top of that, it was produced by a reputable and well-loved company. As a result, customers were willing to pay a premium price compared to other brands. This pricing strategy worked well for Apple and continues to do so over the years, attracting middle and upper class consumers thanks to maintaining the brand’s high-end appeal. Place: Apple has cultivated an aura of exclusivity by authorizing specific stores to sell their products. While this might limit their reach, it helps establish the company as a designer brand. This also lowers the brand’s distribution costs so that it can invest in other areas instead. Promotion: Apple’s promotional strategy for the iPhone often takes the form of commercials and print ads. Their advertisements tend to be highly visual, emphasizing the high-quality screen and camera features while showcasing the brand’s sleek, stylish aesthetic. Their goal is to prove to their audience that their product stands out against the competition. The brand further promotes their products through Apple Keynote events, presentations given to the press two to four times a year. This is a great opportunity to supply them with quality PR while establishing Apple as a thought leader and visionary. 02. Spotify Spotify is another big brand that’s achieved success by strategically applying the four Ps. Here’s how: Product: Spotify’s main product is music streaming. Before this technology came along, people could only hear their favorite artists by purchasing CDs, buying digital albums or songs, listening to the radio or pirating music. Music streaming solved this problem, filling an important niche in the music industry by providing consumers affordability and convenience. Price: Spotify has a broad audience—everyone who listens to music—and it maintains a wide reach by offering various pricing tiers. Using a freemium model, they allow users to listen to content for free, but offer extra perks (such as ad-free listening) to those who pay for a premium subscription. They additionally upsell their product by offering bundle packages to couples and families, and incentivize young adults to go premium with student discounts. Place: Music streaming solved a huge accessibility problem. People no longer needed to go to the store to buy a CD, find music to download illegally, or listen to the radio in hopes of finding their favorite tunes. Spotify made its product available online so that it can be instantly accessed in nearly every country. Promotion: As an online platform, Spotify does most of its promotions on the web with the goal of driving traffic to their website . Because the product satisfies an important consumer need and is easy to use, fans of the platform also tend to spread word of the product to their friends. This makes social media marketing—and influencer marketing in particular—an organic promotional strategy for the brand. 5 quick tips for applying the 4 Ps in your own marketing Now that you’ve seen some examples of the four Ps in action, think about how to apply these principles to your own marketing strategy. This marketing mix can be used to improve existing marketing campaigns and products, or starting a fresh one from scratch. Here’s how: Identify the good or service you want to promote and then match each of the four Ps above as they relate to your chosen product. Review your answers to the four Ps and challenge them by providing alternatives: What would happen if you raised or dropped the price, changed the color or design, advertised on a different platform, or sold through a new channel? Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. As the customer, does the product meet your needs? Is it priced according to your values and perceptions? Can you learn about the product or service and purchase it in places that are relevant and accessible to you? Do marketing promotions reach and resonate with you? This might mean conducting market research and user testing your product. Iterate the process and don’t hesitate to run A/B tests with your pricing, promotions and messaging along the way. Keep asking questions and tweaking your answers until you’ve created the optimal recipe. Run marketing audits of your campaigns and approaches regularly. Remember that even once you’ve created your ideal marketing mix, the journey isn’t over. Your product will most likely evolve, new marketing trends will take hold, and your customers, competitors and the environment will change over time. Because of this, it’s important to revisit your marketing mix on a quarterly, biannual or yearly basis, depending on your product’s lifecycle. The four Ps of marketing aren’t static and should be continually strengthened to adapt to the changes around you.

Understanding how to calculate your sales tax, can be stressful and complicated, especially for online businesses with a global reach. That’s because when calculating sales tax for your online store , there's rarely a one-size-fits-all-approach. Instead, you have to navigate city, county, state and country regulations to understand your tax obligations. Read Also: How to start a business In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about sales tax. You’ll learn what sales tax is and if you even need to charge sales tax. Then, we’ll share a variety of different formulas to help you figure out how to calculate sales tax for your business. What is sales tax? Sales tax is a type of consumption tax that makes up a small percentage of the total sale amount. You only need to charge sales tax when someone buys goods or services from you. Upon receiving it, you then pass it on to the government. Sales tax is governed at the state level, with forty-five states and Washington D.C. all collecting sales tax to pay for things like schools, roads, and public safety. However, each state creates its own rules and laws - within a legal framework - when it comes to administering the tax. For example, the amount of sales tax you need to charge and the types of products and services that are taxable vary from state to state. Most states also allow local areas like cities and counties to have their own sales tax, so the total sales tax amount may be made up of three or four smaller components (the state tax rate, the county tax rate, and the county district tax rate, for example). Learn more: Best business ideas to start with little money   Do you need to charge sales tax? For traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, it’s easy to determine whether you need to charge sales tax and how much. If you only sell from one location, you would need to find the sales tax rate and charge that rate to all customers. Selling online, however, adds extra layers of complexity. Whether or not you need to charge sales tax depends on a few factors: 01. Are the items you’re selling taxable? Many physical items, like furniture, electronics, and books, are taxable, but certain services (like consulting or home repairs) are not subject to sales tax. Some items are also considered “necessities” and may not be taxable in all states. For example, grocery items, clothing, supplements, and digital products (books, music, movies, etc.) may not be taxable. Again, these guidelines vary by state, so make sure to check with each state’s taxing authority to find out if the products you sell are taxable. 02. Where are your customers located and do you have a nexus there? Sales tax generally depends on the ship-to location of the item (if you’re shipping an item to a customer in California, you may be required to pay sales taxes in California) and whether you have a strong connection to the state (referred to as a “nexus”). You’ll always have sales tax nexus in your home state, however the following business activities may subject you to that state’s sale tax regulations: Having an office, warehouse, store, or other physical presence of business Having an employee, contractor, salesperson, or other person doing work for your business Storing inventory Working with affiliates or someone who advertises your product in exchange for a portion of sales Having a dropshipping relationship (like a third-party that ships to your customers) Some states also impose sales thresholds for sales tax nexus. For example, if you have more than $100,000 in sales, you may be required to pay sales tax in that state. To understand your business’ tax responsibility, start by researching nexus laws  in states where your business has a physical presence or meets economic nexus thresholds. Once you’ve listed these states, it’s a good idea to confirm your list with a certified accountant. How to calculate sales tax Once you understand your sales tax obligations, it’s time to figure out just how much sales tax you need to collect. Identify the sales tax rate for each state where you pay taxes   Calculate the total transaction amount for an item   Calculate the sales tax percentage from the total   01. Identify the sales tax rate for each state where you pay taxes First, identify the sales tax rate  for each state where you are required to pay taxes. Then, multiply that rate by the selling price. When doing this step, don’t forget to transform the percentage into a decimal, so that 8% becomes .08. (Cost of the Item) * (Sales Tax Rate) = Total Sales Tax For example, in Seattle, the sales tax rate is 10.1% . If you wanted to calculate the sales tax required on a $50 item, the formula would be: 50 [Cost of the Item]  * .101 [Sales Tax Rate]  = $5.05 [Total Sales Tax] 02. Calculate the total transaction amount for an item If you wanted to calculate the total transaction amount for an item, combining the selling price and total sales tax required, you would multiply the selling price by 1 + the sales tax rate. (Cost of the Item) * (1 + Sales Tax Rate) = Total Transaction Cost Taking the same $50 item, the formula would be: 50  [Cost of the Item] * 1.101  [1 + Sales Tax Rate] = $55.05  [Total Transaction Cost] 03. Calculate the sales tax percentage from the total What if you want to figure out how to calculate the sales tax percentage from total? This could be helpful if you have receipts for the total transaction amount, but aren’t sure what percentage of that amount should be allocated for sales tax. The formula to calculate the sales tax percentage from total is: Total Sales Tax / Cost of the Item * 100 = Sales Tax Percentage from Total If you knew you sold a $50 item, with $5.05 in sales tax, you would use this formula to figure out the sales tax percentage: 5.05  [Total Sales Tax] / 50  [Cost of the Item] * 100 = 10.1 [Sales Tax Percentage from Total] Simplifying sales tax for your online store Calculating sales tax on your own can quickly become a manual, burdensome process when starting a business . Not only do you have to keep track of all your sales tax nexus locations and ensure you’re charging the right amount, you also have to stay on top of ever-evolving tax regulations. An easier way to manage sales tax is to use an automated sales tax solution. With an automated system, tax calculation for your business is hassle-free—all you need to do is select the states where you do business and the software takes care of the rest. Wix Merchants can take advantage of an automated sales tax  integration with Avalara, which automatically calculates sales tax for each location you sell to, so your customers always get real-time rates as they shop and check out. There’s no longer a need to rely on ZIP codes or rate tables because your sales tax rates are updated and calculated based on the most current rules worldwide. This automated system can reduce the time you spend on tax-related activities by 50% or more. To connect your Wix online store to Avalara: Log in to your Wix account. From your Wix site dashboard, click Settings. Select Store Tax. Click Get Automated Tax on the top right. Click + Add Country to add the regions you sell and ship anywhere in the world. Avalara will automatically calculate the tax compliance rate for each geo you add. Here are some guides to setting up your sales tax automations if you sell in home rule states  or Canada . Don’t have your online store up and running yet? Create your eCommerce site  and start selling today. How state tax is determined State income tax is a tax levied by state governments on the income of individuals and businesses within their jurisdictions. The specific way that state income tax is determined varies from state to state, but there are some general principles that apply. Determining taxable income The first step in determining state income tax liability is to calculate taxable income. This is done by taking the taxpayer's gross income and subtracting any allowable deductions and exemptions. Gross income is defined as all income from whatever source derived, including wages, salaries, tips, interest, dividends, capital gains, and rental income. Deductions are expenses that are allowed to be subtracted from gross income to reduce taxable income. Common deductions include standard deductions, itemized deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and state and local taxes paid. Exemptions are amounts of money that are subtracted from taxable income before tax is calculated. Common exemptions are for personal exemptions and exemptions for dependents. Calculating state income tax Once taxable income has been determined, the next step is to calculate the state income tax liability. This is done by applying the state income tax rate to taxable income. State income tax rates can be flat, meaning that the same rate applies to all income levels, or they can be progressive, meaning that higher rates apply to higher income levels. State income tax credits In addition to deductions and exemptions, many states also offer tax credits to reduce state income tax liability. Tax credits are dollar-for-dollar reductions in the amount of tax owed. Common tax credits include credits for child care expenses, education expenses, and renewable energy. State income tax withholding Most states require employers to withhold state income tax from their employees' paychecks. Withholding is a pay-as-you-go system that helps to ensure that taxpayers pay their state income tax throughout the year, rather than owing a large sum of money at the end of the year. State income tax filing Taxpayers are required to file a state income tax return if their taxable income exceeds the state's filing threshold. The filing deadline for state income taxes is typically April 15, but some states have different deadlines. Here are some additional factors that can affect state income tax liability: State residency:  Taxpayers are generally required to pay state income tax to the state where they reside. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, many states allow non-residents to credit taxes paid to their home state against their state income tax liability. Income from multiple states:  If a taxpayer earns income from more than one state, they may be required to file tax returns in multiple states. This can be complex, and it's often advisable to seek professional tax advice. State tax changes:  State income tax laws are constantly changing, so it's important to stay informed about the latest changes. The best way to do this is to consult with a tax advisor. How to calculate sales tax FAQ What states don’t have sales tax? There are five states in the United States that don't have a statewide sales tax: Alaska Delaware Montana New Hampshire Oregon These states generate revenue through other means, such as income taxes, property taxes and excise taxes. What states have the highest and the lowest sales tax? Highest sales tax:  California (9.25%) Lowest sales tax:  Colorado (2.9%) What is nexus? Nexus is a legal term that refers to a connection between a state and a business. If a business has nexus with a state, it's required to collect and remit sales tax on sales made to customers in that state. There are two types of nexus: physical nexus and economic nexus. Physical nexus:  This means that the business has a physical presence in the state, such as a store or office. Economic nexus:  This means that the business has a significant economic presence in the state, even if it doesn't have a physical presence. For example, if a business makes a lot of sales to customers in a state, it may be considered to have economic nexus with that state. What is value-added tax (VAT)? Value-added tax (VAT) is a type of consumption tax that is imposed on the value added to a product or service at each stage of production and distribution. The tax is paid by the final consumer, but it's collected by businesses at each stage of the supply chain. VAT is a common type of tax in Europe and Asia, but it's not used in the United States.

Maybe you sketched it on the back of a cocktail napkin or jotted it down in the middle of the night. Maybe it's been in the back of your mind for months—or even years. What is it? It’s a brand-new product idea and you have a hunch it could be a success. Transforming that inspiration into concrete reality—much less a product on a store shelf—can seem like a pipe dream. But with perseverance and plenty of research, you can design and manufacture a quality product that will resonate with customers and help you start your business . We’ll cover all the main steps in this blog. How to manufacture a product: 6 steps to get started Get clear on the concept Protect your idea Build a good-enough prototype Find a manufacturer Plan and test logistics Start manufacturing and monitoring 01. Get clear on the concept While a burst of inspiration may have gotten you started, you’ll need a much more concrete concept before moving forward with manufacturing . To get a clearer picture of what your product is, answer these questions: What is it? You might have a single object in mind or something that’s part of a larger set. Will buyers assemble it themselves, or does it come ready-made? If multiple sizes, styles, or colorways are involved, consider how many you’d like to offer, given that each variation adds to your initial production costs. Pro tip:  Research your options for raw materials, and keep sustainability in mind: 77% of consumers want to make more sustainable choices and 49% have paid a premium for products labeled eco-friendly or socially responsible in the past 12 months, a survey from IBM  found. Who will be interested in it?   Conduct research to understand the size, makeup and location of the potential market for your product. Identify other brands that serve a similar audience and study their offerings—as well as styles, features, and pricing that seem to resonate with buyers. Consider surveying your potential audience and tap experts in the industry through professional organizations and trade shows. This additional background research will not only help cement your product concept, it can help you flesh out a business plan, plus attract investors or secure a bank loan to finance development. Where can it be sold? If the ideal marketplace for your product is through a major retailer, your strategy will be different than if you plan to sell it exclusively through an online store . In general, selling directly online is a quick way to move your goods into the market while waiting to finalize dealer and retailer partnerships. What’s your unique selling point ? Your product may not be an entirely new invention but iit may offer updated technology, features that appeal to a specific audience, or new style options. Define what makes your product different from other products that are like it. 02. Protect your idea Once you have a concrete product idea to introduce to potential investors, suppliers, and manufacturers, take proactive steps to ensure you retain ownership and creative control. At this stage, it’s a good idea to consult an attorney. Create an NDA As you begin sharing your concept and seeking manufacturing bids, a well-crafted non-disclosure agreement (NDA) helps to protect against improper use, copying, or sharing of your idea or the information you’ve collected and created in the process. An NDA also requires any designers or producers who work on your product development  to return materials they’ve created or used once their work is done, ensuring that your trade secrets stay secure. File a patent with the help of an attorney If you believe your idea is inventive, you can research existing patents and publications to determine whether your product may be patentable. With a patent, you can prevent others from making, using, or selling your invention without your consent. A patent can cover both your product and any innovations in materials or processes you use, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A working prototype is not necessary before filing a patent application, so making early preparations to file can streamline the process and save on legal fees when the time is right. Protect your branding Consider obtaining a federal trademark registration for the name, logo, or other branding of your new product once they’ve been created. Where applicable, you may want to make a copyright registration for any associated artwork, creative designs or original music. Make sure you’re in the clear If you’re building on someone else’s technology or incorporating existing designs into your products, run a check on existing patents, trademarks, and copyrights. That way, you’ll avoid accidentally infringing on others’ work and can obtain any required licensing upfront, without needing to pay costly fines or legal fees. In addition to preventing others from copying or stealing your work, these safeguards may come in handy when selling via retailers and third-party marketplaces. The U.S. government has identified more than three dozen online marketplaces  as hotbeds for counterfeits and pirated products. In response, multiple marketplace sites have begun vetting sellers to ensure they own or have permission to use intellectual property associated with their wares. 03. Build a good-enough prototype With solid research, a concrete product idea, and legal protections in place, it’s time to make the physical product for the first time. Start with a prototype, which can be a single item or a limited-production run to test how your idea actually works in real life. Hire professionals to help You may need to enlist engineers, designers, artisans or other experts to build your product. This will enable you to obtain a reliable and realistic prototype that you can confidently show as an accurate representation of your idea. At the same time, don’t wait for perfection In fact, you may want to use the concept of a minimum viable product (MVP) to guide development. Rather than waiting until every detail is exactly right, you can create an MVP with the most essential product features and begin collecting feedback from testers to shape the final version. If speed to market is a factor—e.g., a competitor is planning to launch a similar product and you’d like to be the first to market—you may even decide to launch the MVP version to the public and add other features in an upgraded edition later (though tread carefully). Think about product packaging Use your prototype to start designing the product packaging . Bulky or oddly-shaped items might be costly to transport, and extra labels and materials may be necessary to pack component parts, so getting an early start on packaging can influence the product design itself and inform the initial price of your product. 04. Find a manufacturer Once your prototype is tested and refined, you’re ready to find manufacturers  and put your project out to bid. Finding the right partner to transform raw materials into your finished product is a complex process. Logistics, sourcing relationships, pricing, and other considerations may influence your decision, so weigh your options carefully and don’t rush this step. Start with very specific requirements Assemble detailed specifications, measurements, schematic drawings, and even swatches or samples of raw materials that you have in mind to help manufacturers understand the scope of the undertaking. It may also be worthwhile to connect manufacturers with the designers or engineers that helped you design the prototype and/or sharing testers’ feedback as you talk through the options for producing at scale. In addition, consider what quantity you need to launch, how often you think you’ll be replenishing your stock, and how quickly you’ll need items to ship. Are you planning to store inventory at a retail location or warehouse, or will you dropship items on demand? Ask about your manufacturers’ capabilities upfront and document details like production turnaround and order lead times. Evaluate the pros and cons of domestic and overseas options Overseas manufacturers are plentiful and tend to offer lower prices than manufacturers in the U.S. But the past two years have shown how an unstable global supply chain can impact even the smallest retailers, so consider whether the risk is worth the cost savings. Additionally, domestic manufacturers enable more control over the safety, quality, and provenance of raw materials—all important considerations, given consumers’ growing expectations around sustainability and sourcing transparency. Working conditions for employees are another potential flashpoint; domestic manufacturers will by and large adhere to U.S. labor laws. Meanwhile, you may need to request that overseas manufacturers follow a code of conduct you specify, but you may have no legal recourse to enforce that behavior. Obtain quotes and order samples Once you have a list of prospective manufacturers, request price quotes based on the detailed information you’ve provided. Select at least two top contenders for comparison and request that they make samples. Evaluate these samples for quality, durability, and safety. Compare your original specifications to the finished product. Did the manufacturer follow your instructions thoroughly? This stage is a good time to gauge how easy it is to work with manufacturers, as well. While you don’t want to invent reasons to complicate the process, don’t hesitate to request assistance, provide feedback, and even ask for multiple samples in different styles, sizes, or colorways. Is your manufacturer responsive to emails, text messages, or calls? How detail-oriented are they? How do they handle supplemental requests? Negotiate terms and finalize the agreement While manufacturers may ask for payment upfront for an initial shipment, expect and negotiate for more flexibility when it comes to subsequent orders, e.g., 50% payment when placing the order and 50% when products are received. Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure timeframes and other expectations are spelled out clearly, and consider having an attorney review the contract to ensure that it’s clear, legal, and enforceable. Learn more: Product sourcing 05. Plan and test logistics Once you have a manufacturer agreement in hand, finalize the logistics  of moving your goods from the factory to customers. More than four in five consumers say they won’t return to a brand after a poor delivery experience, according to a survey from FarEye , so it’s essential that you invest time during the pre-launch period to streamline the process. Get a holistic view of fulfillment Use a solution, such as Wix for eCommerce , to centralize your inventory management  across all of your sales channels, apps, and fulfillment partners. Having a source of truth (or a unified system) is the first step to avoiding costly errors due to inventory mismanagement. Get your multichannel operations in order If you store and fulfill orders through a program like fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), make sure that you’re fully aware of any product prep instructions, lead times and other factors that impact your logistics. Prepare for good problems and headaches When your product launches, you may experience a rush of orders that outpaces production. This is a good problem to have, but one that can lead to customer dissatisfaction if you don’t have a system in place to expedite backlogged orders. Your manufacturer agreement should include pricing and expectations for placing rush orders, and you may want to consider building up a reservoir of emergency stock. Once your product has a track record of typical monthly or seasonal demand, you’ll be able to predict inventory needs and can judiciously reduce the reserves. Don’t forget about reverse logistics Prepare in advance for returns with a robust reverse logistics operation and a plan for returned merchandise, whether resale or recycling. Double-check the agreement with the manufacturer to ensure that costs are shared in the event of returns due to product defects or recalls. 06. Start manufacturing and monitoring As you ramp up production at last, take a moment to celebrate. But remember that your work is just beginning. Monitor operations closely for quality control, and stay in close communication with your manufacturer as products begin rolling off the assembly line so that you can respond to any unforeseen glitches. Launch a marketing campaign to drive interest Let new and existing customers know about your product using a tool like Wix’s eCommerce marketing  features. Consider incentivizing orders with special thank-you gifts, extra loyalty points, and hashtag contests on social media. Don’t forget to give your manufacturer a heads up so that they’re not surprised by the influx of orders. Use early customer feedback to perfect product content If early buyers are flooding customer support with questions or complaints, re-examine your online product content to ensure that images and descriptions are accurate and set realistic expectations. (Need inspiration? Check out these standout product page examples .) Consider proactively addressing the most frequently-asked questions in how-to videos, FAQs, or in your product descriptions. Respond to reviews promptly and respectfully. Document recurring feedback so that updates or future iterations of your product can incorporate customers’ suggestions. How to manufacture a product FAQ What are the crucial main steps when it comes to manufacturing a product? Product design and conceptualization Material sourcing and procurement Prototyping and testing Tooling and setup Production and assembly Quality control and assurance Packaging and distribution What are the 5 P's of manufacturing? The 5 P's of manufacturing are: 1. People : Skilled workforce and management 2. Product: Design, quality, and features 3. Process: Production methods and efficiency 4. Plant : Facilities, equipment and location 5. Planning : Scheduling, inventory management and forecasting How do you manufacture a new product without having a complete factory? You can manufacture a new product without owning a complete factory by partnering with contract manufacturers or co-packers who handle production for you. These companies produce goods based on your specifications, allowing you to reduce startup costs and leverage their expertise. Shared facilities and maker spaces are also great for small-scale production or prototyping, as they offer access to professional-grade equipment without large investments. Before scaling up, focus on creating prototypes and testing to refine your product and ensure it meets quality standards. This approach helps you manage risks while building a solid foundation for manufacturing.

Get started by:  Creating an online store →  |  Getting a domain → If you're thinking about selling on Etsy, then you’re likely left with an important question: How much does it cost? While there are plenty of things to take into consideration, one thing you must evaluate with any online marketplace is the true cost of selling through that channel. In this blog, we’ll cover the various fees associated with selling on Etsy, plus tips for adding Etsy to your multichannel sales strategy. With humble beginnings in a Brooklyn apartment, Etsy is now one of the leading eCommerce  marketplaces on the web, offering sellers the potential to reach higher revenues and new audiences. Set up your eCommerce website  with Wix and start selling today. What is Etsy? Etsy is a global eCommerce marketplace with a primary focus on handmade, vintage and artisanal items. It’s a hotspot for people looking to snag—or sell—one-of-a-kind goods you wouldn’t find in most big-box stores. Established in Brooklyn, New York in 2005, Etsy has become one of the top eCommerce marketplaces , distinguishing itself from larger players like Amazon and eBay through its specialized product offerings. According to Statista, the platform had over 95 million active buyers  in 2023 and 7.5 million active sellers, with revenue topping $2.6 billion. Selling on Etsy  is one avenue you can take toward diversifying your eCommerce income. Multichannel selling is an effective way to reach new audiences beyond those only visiting your website. Learn more: Amazon alternatives Mandatory Etsy seller fees for 2024 You may have seen Etsy claim that “All it takes is 20 cents to get started.” While that’s not totally off, there are several other required fees to take into account. Type of fee Amount Listing fee $0.20 per item Transaction fee 6.5% Payment processing fee 3%+$0.25 per transaction Offsite ads (high volume sellers) 12% Currency conversion 2.5% Regulatory fees Cost varies Listing fees: $0.20 per item This is where the “20 cents” comes from. For every item you publish on Etsy.com, you must pay a flat fee of $0.20 (USD). You’ll be charged this fee whether or not your product actually sells, and your account will be charged as soon as you hit “publish” on a listing. Keep in mind that there are other quirks regarding Etsy listing fees: Auto-renewal :   If your item hasn’t sold after four months, Etsy will automatically renew your listing (read: charge you another $0.20). You can opt out of auto-renewal from your account, which means you’ll have to manually repost a listing once it has expired. Multi-quantity listings :   If a customer buys multiple units of the same product, then you’ll be charged $0.20 per unit (unless your units are sold as a single pack). For instance, say that you list a T-shirt for sale and a customer decides to buy 10 of them in different colors. You will be charged a grand total of $2 in listing fees, or $0.20 per additional unit after the first T-shirt sold, which you already paid a listing fee for. Multipacks and pre-bundled items :   When multiple products are prepackaged together and   sold as a single product, you will only be charged one listing fee per pack. Private listing :   On Etsy, you have the option to list certain items for sale just for a particular buyer to see. These types of listings will be subject to the same $0.20 listing fee. Transaction fee: 6.5% A transaction fee is what you pay whenever you make a sale on Etsy. It’s currently 6.5% of the total sales price and includes the cost of shipping, gift wrapping and product personalization. (However, on your Etsy bill, your transaction fee will appear as two different line items: transaction fees deducted from your product price and transaction fees deducted from your shipping cost.) For sellers in the U.S. and Canada, this fee is based on the pre-tax total. Payment processing fee: 3% + $0.25 per transaction The processing fee covers the costs of handling credit card or bank transactions when using Etsy Payments . Sellers in 52 eligible countries (including the U.S. and Canada) have access to this tool, which accepts PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, credit cards and debit cards. Etsy Payments charges a flat rate ($0.25 USD) and a percentage of the final sales price (3%), including tax and shipping, for sellers in the U.S. Outside of the U.S., processing fees vary by country .   Offsite Ads (for high-volume sellers): 12% Offsite Ads are ads that Etsy places on behalf of its merchants to drive more business to its marketplace. Offsite Ads appear on search and social media destinations (think selling on Instagram ), as well as other select media sites. All sellers are automatically enrolled in Offsite Ads—and if your Etsy shop has earned more than $10,000 in the last 365 days (as calculated on the first day of the month), you are required to stay enrolled. You will be charged 12% of the total sales price whenever someone purchases your product from an Offsite Ad. This advertising fee will never exceed $100 USD. You will also remain enrolled for the lifetime of your shop, even if you fall below the $10,000 threshold on a later date. The fine print :   If a customer clicks on an Offsite Ad that features one of your listings, then buys something from your shop within 30 days of that click, this will be attributed to an Offside Ad. For example, say that an Offsite Ad features a $25 lamp you sell. If someone clicks on the ad and decides to buy a $500 table you offer, you’ll be charged the 12% fee even though the ad was for your lamp. Now, let’s say that within that same 30-day period, the customer purchases your $25 lamp—that too will incur the 12% fee. In addition to this, you will still be responsible for paying shipping transaction fees or other applicable fees. Currency conversion fee: 2.5% If your company attracts international business and uses Etsy Payments, you will be charged a 2.5% currency conversion fee on your total sales price (including the cost of shipping, gift wrapping and personalization). Put another way, this fee will be applied whenever the currency on your shop’s listing is different from the currency of your Payments account. Regulatory operating fees: cost varies Merchants located in select countries outside the U.S. are subject to regulatory operating fees  in addition to the standard Etsy fees. The regulatory operating fee is a fixed percentage of your total sales price (including the cost of shipping, gift wrapping and personalization). This fee ranges from 0.32% to 1.1%. Optional Etsy fees for 2024 On top of these base costs, Etsy offers optional services that carry their own costs. Etsy Ads: cost varies Etsy offers onsite ads to boost the visibility of your items. Fees for these ads are “pay per click” (PPC), meaning that you incur charges any time a person clicks on your Etsy Ad, whether or not they proceed to buy your product. The cost per click is determined based on an auction system. You can set a daily budget, which essentially tells Etsy how much you’re willing to pay for a single click on your ad. When you’re first starting out, you’ll be allowed a maximum daily budget of $25. Etsy will recalculate this limit on a weekly basis for Etsy Payments users, and on a monthly basis for users who aren’t enrolled in Etsy Payments. Offsite Ads (for lower volume sellers): 15% If your Etsy shop has generated less than $10,000 in sales over the last 365 days (as calculated on the first day of the month), you can opt out of the Offsite Ads program. Sellers below this threshold are charged a higher fee (15%) for Offsite Ads than those who exceed the threshold (12%). Shipping labels: cost varies If you choose to leverage Etsy Shipping, you can save up to 30% on shipping costs from USPS, FedEx and Canada Post. You can also print labels directly from your Etsy account. Doing so automatically marks items as shipped and adds a tracking number to the order—both of which can help boost your seller ranking and earn you Etsy’s Star Seller badge. In-person selling fee: $0.20 If you have a physical store and use Square as your POS system , you can sync your Etsy listings with your store inventory. The benefit of this is that if someone purchases your product in stores, your listed quantity on your Etsy page will be updated automatically. There’s no extra charge beyond the usual listing fees when your Etsy listings are synced with Square. However, if you sell an item via Square that’s not  synced with your Etsy listings, you’ll be charged a separate $0.20 fee that shows up as a “Square manual” fee on your Etsy bill. Square charges additional processing fees  for each transaction, which varies by the type of sale. Etsy Plus: $10 per month Etsy Plus is an optional subscription service that offers perks, such as: 15 listing credits each subscription cycle $5 in Etsy Ad credits each subscription cycle Etsy Shop customization Ability to accept restock requests from your shop Discounts on web domains, custom shipping boxes, business cards and more An example of an Etsy bill To put all this into perspective, let’s pretend you sell snazzy dog collars. They cost you $10 to make and you sell them on Etsy for $20. Your customer pays $5 in shipping and $1 in tax, bringing their total price to $26. You have sold less than $10,000 in the last 365 days, but you choose to pay for Offsite Ads for extra exposure. Here’s what your bill shakes out to be at the end of the transaction. Etsy takes a total of $6.61 from your sale, or 25% of the total amount that your customer paid at checkout. The bottom line: Etsy should supplement—not replace—your online store Etsy, no doubt, has its perks and can bring lots of business your way. But there’s also no denying that selling on Etsy comes with a cost (albeit, so does selling on Amazon , selling on eBay , selling on Facebook Marketplace , and selling on any other marketplace). These costs present their own challenges: Smaller margins :   As the hypothetical example above shows, the costs can add up quickly, which means you may not be able to price your items competitively if you want to maintain a decent margin. Rising fees : As on any marketplace, policies and fees can change at any time. Etsy has increased its transaction fees twice since 2018. The most recent change was in April of 2022, prompting a temporary strike  among sellers. Your brand is secondary : Customers come to Etsy for Etsy. Read: they trust Etsy, which is why Etsy is a great destination for both buyers and sellers. On the flip side, customers may not pay as much attention to the individual shop that they’re purchasing from, making it harder for you to establish brand recognition and earn repeat business. Popularity means more competition : Etsy’s rapid growth has attracted more sellers than ever, which means your products may not stand out unless you invest in paid placements.   To avoid becoming over-reliant on Etsy and having to pay fees for every sale you make, leverage Etsy as a complement to your online store. You can start an online store  with a no-hassle platform like Wix eCommerce, which includes built-in tools for inventory and price management, marketing, multichannel sales  and more. Read also: Best online selling sites It’s never too early to start creating an ecosystem that belongs 100% to your brand, which is why it's so important to know how to create a website . You can control the messaging, visuals and the overall user experience, helping customers to remember your brand name and be loyal to you—not just Etsy. 3 tips for success in selling on Etsy With that said, here are some tips for striking the right balance between Etsy and your online store: 01. Curate your Etsy selection Just because you sell on Etsy doesn’t mean you have to make all of your products available at once. Consider offering a limited selection of top sellers or product lines that you believe would perform well on Etsy. Doing so can help you to better define Etsy’s role in your overall strategy, run controlled experiments and strategically optimize your Etsy listings. As a way of introducing Etsy shoppers to your brand, you can experiment with sets or sampler packs that showcase the breadth of your brand’s offering. 02. Invest in an amazing customer experience on your site When it comes to your online store, you’ll want to make sure that it’s in tip-top shape so that when an Etsy buyer (or any  buyer, for that matter) wanders to your site, they won’t be disappointed. Make sure your product pages, images and descriptions are up to snuff. Ensure that your products are easy to find. Incorporate videos, social proof and other creative content that draws your shoppers closer to your brand. 03. Optimize your listings Whether on Etsy or your branded site—every listing you publish should be carefully crafted. Take the time to tailor your product description to your target buyer, which may differ from channel to channel. Offer a variety of high-quality product photos, and don’t skimp out on product attributes. One surprisingly easy mistake to make is misclassification when listing a product to multiple channels. Every marketplace has its own way of categorizing products; double-check that you’re using the best category and subcategory for Etsy, and that you provide all the details that customers expect when browsing items here. All in all, Etsy’s unique and enthusiastic audience could be a great fit for your brand. But it goes without saying that you’ll want to monitor your costs closely and have a plan for building up your brand both on and off Etsy. Read also: How to start a business , eCommerce vs marketplaces Sell on Etsy FAQ Is it worth it to sell on Etsy? Whether or not it's worth it to sell on Etsy depends on your individual circumstances and goals. Etsy is a great platform for selling handmade, vintage and craft items, but it's not a get-rich-quick scheme. It takes time and effort to build a successful Etsy shop. However, if you're willing to put in the work, you can make a good living selling on Etsy. What is the downside of Etsy? There are a few downsides to selling on Etsy. One is that the competition is fierce. There are millions of sellers on Etsy, so it can be difficult to get your products noticed. Another downside is that Etsy takes a cut of every sale you make. This can eat into your profits, especially if you are selling low-margin items. What sells best on Etsy? There are a wide variety of products that sell well on Etsy. Some of the most popular categories include jewelry, handmade crafts, vintage items and home décor. Is Etsy a good side hustle?

What are Infographics?   Information graphics – or infographics in short –  are used to visualize information rather than conveying in through text. Though different types of infographics have been around for ages (maps are a kind of infographic too), they’ve been enjoying a sweeping revival thanks to the internet in the last few years. Two things make a great infographic: 1. Great design 2. Interesting data The following 10 examples show just what infographics should be: funny, smart, revealing, witty and downright stunning. Take a look and let us know what’s your favorite one!

They say that in 7 years, you can become an expert in anything. Even so—who has 10,000 hours on their hands? Web creators and designers finding their feet in the industry need a far more streamlined way to learn the fundamentals of web design . But let’s be real—streamlining processes isn’t just for beginners. Advanced designers juggling multiple clients need to be familiar with the fundamentals, too, so they can build sites by muscle memory—and deliver client projects like clockwork. 5 web design fundamentals for successful creators 1. Understand website structure and styles 2. Use responsive design to create for different screen sizes 3. Populate and control content 4. Employ different layouting tools 5. Add interactions and effects 01. Understand website structure and styles What makes good website design ? Many things, to be frank, but a solid structure and brand is the baseline. First, structure. Without a visual hierarchy, website elements lack relationships between each other, and users may find it difficult to understand which information is most important on the page. When we say “hierarchy” we mean the HTML structure of elements on a page. Understanding these relationships empowers designers with the knowledge they need to control every aspect of the website and create the behaviors they want users to experience. Establishing a cohesive brand identity for the site is equally important. And when it comes to adding styles, an understanding of website color schemes and typography is key. As you probably know, these factors are critical to communicating a website’s brand, and ensure site content is accessible and legible. Learning how to apply them efficiently (often with the help of a design system) gives designers the ability to create brands’ online presences at scale. 02. Use responsive design create for different screen sizes The total number of mobile devices worldwide is due to reach 16.8 billion this year. With endless new models being released by the day, there’s no one standard screen size to design for. As such, modern designers need to create fluid websites that adjust in appearance and functionality, depending on the device they’re being viewed on. You can achieve this with responsive design. But what are the fundamentals of responsive web design? Breakpoints are the first concept to familiarize yourself with. A breakpoint represents a range of screen sizes. When designing for desktop, your layout should suit screens that are 1001px and larger in width. For tablet, you can work with 751px to 1000px and, for 750px and below, you’re into mobile territory. On Wix Studio , you can also create custom breakpoints for specific viewports. Using fluid measurement units, docking and positioning, you can cause website elements to shift and resize, even between breakpoints. You can learn more about r esponsive vs adaptive design in our complete guide. 3. Populate and control content Of all the web design principles and elements creators should verse themselves in, arguably the most important are those that give a website its character. That means you need to understand how to populate and control content. Content brings wireframes to life, and the possibilities are endless. However, there are a few concepts you can get comfortable with to move towards mastering content. We’ve spoken about the relevance of typography, but proper text sizing and scale lets your choice of fonts sing across screen sizes. As well as dictating how legible website text is, your ability to let text grow and shrink based on screen size is a key component of the responsive experience. Media and decorative elements, from PNGs to SVGs , are also crucial. They create the visual story of every site. Beyond the first step of designing, commissioning, or sourcing media, it’s integral that you understand how to add them to sites and how to control their appearance and behavior. Whether that’s tweaking their colors, opacity, sizing, or even animating them, getting versed in the different ways you can add interest to sites is a key skill. Website content isn’t just there for aesthetics, though. Menus and buttons are types of navigational content you should verse yourself in. These give website visitors the ability to take actions and interact with the site, making them just as fundamental for designers. 4. Employ different layouting tools A website can function without being usable. Behind most poor UIs are inadequate website layouts:. If a site lacks a clear way to navigate through its components and content, users will inevitably end up confused or, worse, frustrated. To combat that, an understanding of the website layouting tools at your disposal is the best weapon. 5. Add interactions and effects The industry’s come a long way since the most we could expect from a website was a cute raster image—thanks, Flash. Nowadays, you can find interactions in use across the web, and code-free versions are constantly growing in popularity. As well as adding intrigue to sites, interactions provide an avenue for website visitor engagement. Click and hover interactions are 2 powerful options. By applying them, and even combining them, the world of interactive elements is your oyster.

Small as it may seem, a logo plays a very important role for your brand, communicating its values and message to potential customers in just seconds. However, it's possible that as your brand grows and changes, it will shift its messaging and outgrow its initial logo. For example, Visa slightly altered its logo in January 2022, adding a new triad of colors to resemble an equal sign, representing access, equality and inclusion. Google followed suit in February, subtly eliminating shadows and opting for a flat design to achieve more accessible logo. But while multinational corporations can more easily prioritize their budget to update their logo, it’s more likely that small business owners—even when shifting their brand messaging—will use that money for operational costs, forgoing hiring a design agency to redesign its initial logo. Take Wix-users Carmelle and Kirk Sproule of Milestone , a Calgary-based construction and renovation company that works to build safety into all their projects after losing their home to a fire in 2017. While they started their company focusing on commercial projects like doctors' offices, schools and churches, they’re ready to upgrade their branding to reach new clients like restaurants within Calgary’s saturated market. Current Milestone logo “Our current logo was created without much direction or purpose,” Carmelle says. “Since we’re trying to target new clients, we want something that feels a little more updated, modern and eye-catching. It’s especially important since many of our projects come from current projects, where people can see our signage posted outside of the site, or on trucks.” We at Wix think brand-worthy logo updates shouldn’t only be accessible to those with multinational corporation-sized budgets. That’s why we created the Wix Logo Maker —an online design tool powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) that empowers brands to create and customize a professional logo. While Carmelle and Kirk are more than capable of using the logo maker on their own, we thought it would be fun to take one thing off their hands—and inspire a healthy dose of competition here at Wix. So we gave a design brief, a quick overview of the business and *total creative freedom* to 12 Wix marketers with the challenge of designing an updated logo for the construction company. These marketers ranged from product marketing and research and development, to search engine optimization and even a professional inspirer. The idea was that folks at Milestone would pick their favorite option, and the lucky Wix employee would receive bragging rights. While the Wix marketers aren’t professional logo designers, they do know a bit about branding, so we’ll also share key insights they used while creating their logos. Use them to go and make your best version of your own logo—whether it’s your first for a brand new venture, or a refresh of your own. The Brief An important aspect of logo design is to first outline your brand identity , which extends across all of your branding collateral. This includes understanding your target audience, your competitors, your brand messaging and the spaces (online and offline) where customers interact with your brand. For the purposes of our competition, we intentionally gave our team unlimited artistic license. However, as you create your own, it’s essential to also consider the type of logo and the stylistic direction you’d like to take your design. For example, do you want a logo that is modern and fresh, or classic and retro? Questions like these should be answered upfront, and you can read our comprehensive guide on how to design a logo to help you get started. Here’s what we told the Wix marketing team during the brief stage: Business: Milestone Construction and Renovations Industry: Home and commercial construction and renovations Current branding assets: Milestone works predominantly in commercial projects like doctors' offices, schools and churches but they want to expand into restaurants and other spaces. They use their logo on their website, social channels, branded merchandise, signage, letterhead, business cards and more. Here’s what the Wix marketers came up with: 01. “Formal and approachable” Inspiration behind the design: “Since Milestone founders are looking to expand their business, I was looking to balance between a formal and approachable design. This way they can showcase that they’re an established firm, yet still show they are a small local business. I chose a simple logo color palette of red and black to pay tribute to the Calgary flag .” –Shachaf Rodberg, Professional Inspirer Feedback from Milestone: “Nice and clean, not sure it feels construction-y enough to me. Red is a nice nod to the city of Calgary.” 02. “Clean and modern” Inspiration behind the design: “Given the current client base of Milestone and the prospective clients they are looking to reach, I think a clean and modern aesthetic works best. For the logo icon, I chose this one because it shows a minimalist outline of a house with the bottom part that makes it look whole. Milestone is a family business, so this also embodies their brand values, giving potential clients a sense of their service from start to finish—like a full cycle.” – Galya Nash, SEO Manager Feedback from Milestone: “This feels too residential for us, since we also cater to the commercial side. But I really like the layout of the design and the positioning on this one.” 03. “Modern with a twist” Inspiration behind the design: “I wanted to design a logo for Milestone that used elements from their current branding assets—but with an update. Looking at today’s logo trends , I decided to create a 3D inspired logo of an abstract shape. Since Milestone works in a range of projects, this shape is meant to indicate the process of construction and renovation, but in an intentionally ambiguous form. The logo color combination includes soft gray and shale, both colors of rock and stone—which represents both the brand name, and the materials they work with. The muted teal color to brings a natural element into the mix.” – Kylie Goldstein, Branding Expert and Content Marketer Feedback from Milestone: “I like the boldness. It feels relevant to construction. I would maybe use an ampersand (&) instead of the full word "and" in the middle, to focus on the bottom line. I like the colors.” 04. “Limitless possibilities” Inspiration behind the design: “To me, it seems that, as a business, Milestone embodies sturdiness—but also endless possibilities. A milestone is just one step in a long process, and I wanted the logo to convey that idea. Since the business is looking to expand into restaurants and other spaces, I picked this cardboard-box-type icon because it was abstract and portrayed the idea of being in-progress. In terms of the color palette, I picked “Fall Garden” because the neutral beige grounded the image with a homey, calming feeling, but then the teal and navy pops of color added some liveliness. I also chose to italicize “Renovations and Construction” to create contrast against the name “Milestone,” which I think has a certain strength to it.” – Liz Steelman, Editor-in-Chief, Wix.com Blog Feedback from Milestone: “I love the backstory and thought that went into it, but for me, it’s a bit confusing without the context. A little too abstract for us and our clients.” 05. “Retro chic” Inspiration behind the design: “Given Calgary’s proximity to the Rocky Mountains, I wanted to use specific logo shapes to create a mountain motif. The triangles also serve as the letter M, creating a unique icon that can be used on its own on social channels or branded merchandise. I also wanted to channel a retro logo design because old is new again—and I feel that, in a way, the construction and renovation projects Milestone has worked on are timeless. They scale things back to the original and then start fresh, so I wanted to echo a classic feel, but in a modern way.” – Amanda Weiner, Content Optimization Specialist Feedback from Milestone: “I really like it. The M concept is cool, but we’d need to tweak it a little bit to be a clearer version of an M. It might work if we opened the bottom slightly and tightened it up.” 06. “Home is where the heart is” Inspiration behind the design: “When you design and renovate a space, it has to be connected to the heart, to the end customer and the lives who will use this space as their center. I designed this logo with the idea that Milestone can use the entire combination mark logo, as well as the house with a heart icon on its own for merchandise, social and branding assets.” - Einav Danon, Product Marketing Manager for The Wix Logo Maker Feedback from Milestone: “This doesn't cater enough to our commercial clients. We also have large scale commercial projects, and I worry the heart (although I like it) might send the wrong message.” 07. “Strength and stability” Inspiration behind the design: “This logo is based on the hard, solid sans serif font to represent the stability of the company and the sort of work they do. The symbol is based on the big M from Milestone, and is a metaphor for roofs, buildings and growth. The logo color combination is based on the Wix logo maker suggestion, named Blue Steel to represent the company's stable base.” – Effy Fisher, Wix UX Designer Feedback from Milestone: “I really like this one. It feels like a good fit for all of our projects. Again, not wild about red, but I like the concept. The size and composition is tight enough and the spacing works.” 08. “Sophisticated simplicity” Inspiration behind the design: “Since this is a construction and renovations company, I want the logo to arouse a feeling that the company is reliable, responsible, professional and has a sophisticated sense of design. In order to do so, I used a simple, formal and timeless design with clean lines and a color palette consisting of only three solid colors.” – Maayan Israelovitz, FED Developer for The Wix Logo Maker Feedback from Milestone: “It’s nice, but too simple. Our logo needs to be able to draw people in.” 09. “Community roots” Inspiration behind the design: “I thought it was important to stay true to their construction roots with the wall logo. But the updated colors add a more modern twist to show the creativity of their renovations and future work. It's dynamic without being too bold. The design is vibrant and alive—which is something a creative company should embody in their logo—but not too dramatic, due to the nature of the majority of their clients. Still, it has a homely feel to it, reflecting the community buildings they renovate.” – Rebecca Tomasis, Organic Growth Expert Feedback from Milestone: “Conceptually, she nailed it. But it feels more community oriented, and I'm not sure it’s modern enough for us. I prefer something a bit tighter, and feel like it takes up too much space.” 10. “A strong foundation” Inspiration behind the design: “My goal for this logo was to keep it simple. I first answered a few core questions: Is it playful? Modern? What message does it need to convey? I considered the brand values of Milestone, and wanted to suit the needs of the business, so I intentionally limited my options to reduce the noise and design with more intention. Next, I played around with options that the AI in the construction logo maker provided me, and used different icons and fonts from other designs, choosing specific elements that I felt created a composed look altogether. For this logo, I also took logo psychology into consideration, using an icon of a house, playing with negative space and utilizing the gestalt principles . For the text, I chose a logo font that is modern, but has substance and weight to it. I wanted to choose something that is strong, with a good structure and sturdy foundation to anchor the design and carry the brand messaging.” – Ofir Tamir, Senior Brand and Marketing Designer Feedback from Milestone: “I like this one, especially the abstract nature of it. I'm not wild about the font. It has a pop of color that would work well on a variety of merchandise.” 11. “Building blocks” Inspiration behind the design: “I used the gestalt principle of closure, with an intentionally unfinished shape so that the viewer's mind tries to finish it. It’s “building” the letter M. For the color palette, I looked at Milestone’s Instagram feed and noticed a theme of blue throughout. They also tend to use many shades of light brown, so I used the blue to contrast this. For the typography, I used a slab serif font in lowercase to balance the mark and to keep it from being too heavy. I then juxtaposed this with an all caps tagline which gives some weight at the bottom and serves as the foundation of the logo design, while mirroring the value of the brand and the very work that they do.” – Judit Ruiz Ricart, Head of Content Strategy and Growth, Wix Blog Feedback from Milestone: "I like it. I would prefer everything to be all caps in order to love it." 12. “Indoor outdoor concept” Inspiration behind the design: “For this logo, I wanted to balance natural and raw elements, since Milestone works in construction and building. I used a bright pop of green to contrast the gray, to mimic the feel of an indoor and outdoor concept. Mostly, I kept it simple. I used a subtle brick motif to represent the building and growing aspects of the business. I want it to be easy to read and remember.” - Kyle Place, SEO Specialist Feedback from Milestone: "Nice composition. Shows what industry we're in clearly. Nice and clean." The takeaways: Be specific . In the initial brief, Milestone said they wanted a modern logo design, but modern is open for interpretation—as seen by the range of logo designs included above. Whether you design your own logo or work with a designer, be as specific as possible with the aesthetic you’re after. Know your audience . Be aware of your target audience and intent. In Milestone’s case, they were less interested in an abstract design, and were more interested in a literal visualization of their business/industry. Make necessary adjustments. It’s important to note that all of Milestone’s constructive feedback is completely adjustable. For example, changing the color, tightening spacing or adjusting fonts are all possible in the logo maker. You can use AI presets, or create from scratch. You can make any minor adjustments or tweaks as needed. And the winner is…. Milestone felt that this logo was the most on brand for their current and prospective clients. Since they work on both commercial and residential projects, this logo feels the most appropriate. They said they’d still like to make small adjustments to the letter "M" icon, and possibly test out a few other colors. This was also the most versatile option to use across all their branding assets, which includes everything from car wraps to baseball caps. Thank you to Milestone for sharing their feedback with us and letting us create some logo options for their business. Want to try and create your own? Remember that even if you have limited design experience, the Logo Maker can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you. You can check out some of our logo design tips and logo ideas to help you get started. You can also explore our round up of the best real estate logos or famous logos for even more inspiration. If you want more specific niches, try our tech logos or podcast logos . Read more about brand redesign with Jackie Treitz , the mind behind Netflix’s Motel Makeover designer.

Picture this: You’re browsing the Internet – possibly looking at Pinterest quotes or inspiring Instagram images with text – and you come across a font that sparks your curiosity. Just like hearing that catchy song on the radio and not knowing it’s name, you’re not sure if you will ever be able to get your hands on such a beautiful typeface for your website . Well in today’s world, we’re quite spoiled with technological advances, meaning you can say goodbye to that nagging feeling once and for all. Here, we’ve compiled the following font detection tools for images to help you embody your inner Sherlock Holmes. Not only will we show you where to go to find these hidden font gems, but also how you can preview them on your beautiful website builder , and then later upload them to turn your design visions into a reality. How to identify fonts from images Use tools to find fonts from images Preview your font Upload your font choice to your website 01. Use tools to find fonts from images MyFonts :  MyFonts (previously known as ‘WhatTheFont’) is as easy as 1-2-3. You can identify fonts from images with this super simple website. First, upload the image that you’re curious about. Second, select a crop box around the section whose font you want to check. The website automatically identifies and sections off each area it detects font on your image. Lastly, view the font results. If you want to take this one step further, you can also purchase any of the fonts for different prices. This is great if you want to own them, which will come in handy if you plan on uploading them to your website at a later stage… More on that later. Key feature: Purchase the fonts you’ve just discovered to upload to your website. Get started here: MyFonts WhatFont: This might be the easiest font finder around. That’s because discovering the hidden fonts behind your favorite photo design inspirations is just one click away with WhatFont . It’s a Chrome extension that, once it’s been downloaded, only requires the click of a button and hovering over an image to reveal the font used. You don’t even need to download and save the image ahead of time. And there’s a bonus: It’s not just for images, but entire web pages! Key feature: Browse fonts directly from a website, not just on images. Get started here: WhatFont Font Squirrel: Most of what you can do on Font Squirrel is evidently the same as MyFonts: upload an image, crop a font, and discover your results. Yet, the main feature that is highly useful and different here is that you can rotate images to be able to crop fonts set at peculiar angles. This is certainly one neat tool that you can’t find most places. Also while you’re on the website, browse through the many font deals offered, some of which won’t even cost you a dime! Key feature: Rotate images to identify fonts embedded in an unconventional form. Get started here: Font Squirrel 02. Preview your font Essentially font detection tools from images all lead you to the same finale: a font that you just love. So, what’s next? You might admire the way that font looks on the image, but you won’t know how it will be captured on your website until you try it out. So, before you download your chosen font and swap the old one for the new in your website editor, you can preview it first. Google Font Previewer for Chrome is perfect for just this. It’s an extension that lets you test the looks of different fonts on a website without entering any back office or editing mode. With just the URL and extension, you can preview any font available within the tool. Furthermore, if there are fonts that you like to test often, you can ‘star’ them, as in mark as favorites in your app. If you’re looking for a quick fix, this is a great solution. Once you’ve seen enough different versions and you’re happy with your selected font, keep reading to find out how to welcome your font to its new home. Get started here: Google Font Previewer 03. Upload your font choice to your website If you’ve made it this far, you’ve selected a font that inspired you and you’re ready to glamorize your website design with this exquisite choice. If you’re a Wix user, the process couldn’t be any easier. Within the Editor, under ‘My Uploads,’ click the ‘fonts’ button to upload any typeface that you have legal rights to (in other words, a free font or a font that you have already purchased). From here, you’ll be able to embed any font of your choosing. And if you’re feeling fancy and decide to use multiple fonts on your website, you can explore different font pairing techniques here. Bonus reading : Find out why enchanting typography has made its way to our list of web design trends . Learn more about how to make a website with our extensive guide.

Turn your ideas into a website you love with Wix →   When it comes to running a successful painting business, implementing effective marketing strategies is key. Painting marketing is a type of marketing  that is not just about promoting your services; it's about creating a connection with your potential clients, establishing trust, and setting the foundation for long-term business growth. In this article, we’ll dive into various painting marketing strategies  you can implement whether you have an established marketing plan  or are just starting a business in the industry. From leveraging social media platforms  to showcase your work and gather testimonials, to employing SEO techniques that ensure your business ranks high on search engine results, each strategy is designed to enhance your visibility and credibility in the market.  Building a website for your business, passion project or side hustle should be easy and exciting. With Wix, you can customize and launch a professional website in minutes, no coding needed. Wix is all about simplifying the process so you can focus on what matters most–bringing your ideas to life. So why wait? Let’s get started on creating the website you’ve always wanted. 9 painting marketing ideas To grow your painting business, you need to employ a variety of small business marketing strategies that will help you attract new clients and keep your current ones engaged. Here are nine actionable marketing ideas, complete with examples and tips on how to implement them effectively. Create and optimize your painting website Use social media marketing Utilize local SEO and Google My Business Email marketing campaigns Referral programs and word-of-mouth marketing Networking and partnerships  Direct mail and traditional advertising Content marketing and blogging Community involvement and sponsorships 01. Create and optimize your painting website To jumpstart your painting marketing, begin by understanding how to make a website  that showcases your portfolio, services, and expertise. Consider using a website builder  like Wix to create a visually appealing and user-friendly site for your painting business. Your painting website will need: Homepage : Feature high-quality images of your painting projects and a gallery of your work. Include clear navigation to different sections of the website for easy browsing. Online portfolio : Display detailed galleries of your work, including images and descriptions of different projects. Adding before-and-after photos can highlight your skills and transformation capabilities. Team page : Introduce yourself and any team members with profiles that share your background, expertise, and experience in painting. Including client testimonials or reviews can boost credibility. Services information : Provide detailed information about the painting services you offer, from residential to commercial projects, and explain what clients can expect when working with you. Contact information : Make it easy for potential clients to reach out by including a contact form, your email, and phone number prominently on the site. Learn more: Wix SEO What is graphic design Background design 02. Use social media marketing Social media marketing  is a powerful tool for reaching potential clients and promoting your painting business. Create profiles on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to showcase your work, share updates and promotions, and interact with potential clients. Post images of recent jobs, share customer testimonials, and execute targeted ads that showcase your services through effective social media marketing strategies. Raise customer engagement by responding to comments, sharing before-and-after photos of projects, and offering paint maintenance tips. 03. Utilize local SEO and Google My Business For service-based businesses such as painting contractors, local searches play a crucial role. Start by claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing to boost your visibility in local search results. Encourage your happy customers to share their positive experiences on Google My Business, enhancing your reputation and drawing in more local clientele. To further increase your chances of appearing in local search results, weave local keywords into your website content and meta tags.  04. Email marketing campaigns Creating targeted email campaigns  is a potent tool to keep your audience engaged and interested in your painting services. Start by creating an email list. Encourage website visitors to subscribe to your newsletter by offering enticing incentives. Once you have a subscriber list, segment it based on customer interests, previous projects, or their interactions with your website. This strategy enables you to tailor your communication, ensuring each email resonates with its recipient.  For showcasing your latest projects, consider creating a visually appealing newsletter that includes high-quality images of the before and after states of your projects, along with brief descriptions that highlight the challenges faced and the solutions you provided. This not only demonstrates your expertise but also inspires potential customers to envision the transformation that your services can bring to their own spaces. In addition to showcasing your work, email campaigns can also be used to promote special offers or discounts. This can entice customers who may have been considering your services but were hesitant due to budget constraints. By offering limited-time promotions, you create a sense of urgency and encourage potential customers to take advantage of the opportunity before it's gone. 05. Referral programs and word-of-mouth marketing One of the most powerful ways to generate new business is through word-of-mouth recommendations. People are more likely to trust a service or product that has been recommended by someone they know and trust. To tap into this effective marketing strategy, consider implementing a referral program for your existing customers. This can be as simple as offering them discounts or rewards for referring their friends and family to your services. You can also ask satisfied customers to leave reviews or testimonials on your website or social media platforms. These positive reviews can serve as social proof and help attract new customers who are researching your services. 06. Networking and partnerships  Building relationships within the community not only helps expand your customer base but also allows for potential collaborations and growth opportunities in the future. Partner with local hardware stores or interior designers who can refer clients.You can also attend industry events, conferences, and trade shows to connect with potential collaborators or clients. Additionally, consider joining professional associations or online communities related to your industry. These platforms can provide opportunities for networking, learning from others, and sharing your expertise. 07. Direct mail and traditional advertising While digital marketing  is crucial in today's market, traditional marketing methods continue to hold value. Designing brochures and flyers allows businesses to produce visually appealing print materials that showcase their services effectively. Additionally, targeted mail campaigns enable companies to distribute these materials directly to areas where they have previously succeeded or aim to broaden their market presence. 08. Content marketing and blogging Sharing your expertise through content marketing is an effective way to build trust with potential clients. By starting a blog , you can offer valuable tips on selecting the right paint colors or explain the importance of regular home maintenance. Additionally, focusing on topics that interest your audience, such as the latest trends in paint technology or showcasing successful projects you've completed, can further engage and inform potential customers. Learn more: What is content marketing 09. Community involvement and sponsorships Participating in local events is a strategic way to boost your brand's visibility and demonstrate your commitment to the community. This approach not only helps in fostering a positive image but also in building meaningful connections with potential customers who value community engagement. By showing that your brand cares about and invests in local initiatives, you can significantly enhance your reputation and deepen your connection with the community. Launching your painting marketing strategy Once you have a grasp of the various marketing ideas available, it's time to put them into action. A well-planned painting marketing strategy can be the difference between a thriving business and one that struggles to find clients. Identify your target audience Knowing who needs your services is key to crafting messages that resonate. Each segment has unique needs and preferences. For instance, residential customers might prioritize quality and trustworthiness, while commercial clients could focus on efficiency and scalability. Tailoring your marketing approach to address these specific requirements will make your efforts more successful. Your target audience  may include: Homeowners : Often require interior or exterior painting to maintain or increase the value of their homes. Real estate agents : May need painters to help prepare properties for sale. Commercial property owners : Look for reliable contractors who can handle larger projects. Builders and developers : Seek partnerships with painters for new construction projects. Set clear objectives Once you have identified your target audience, it's crucial to set clear objectives for your marketing efforts. These objectives should align with your overall business goals and be measurable so that you can track the success of your campaigns. Some common objectives for a painting business may include: Increasing brand awareness : Making potential customers aware of your business and services. Generating leads : Getting potential customers to express interest in your services. Driving sales : Converting leads into paying customers. Building customer loyalty : Encouraging repeat business and positive word-of-mouth referrals. Identify your budget and tactics Before you start any marketing initiatives, it's important to determine how much you can afford to spend on marketing and allocate your resources wisely across different channels. Low-cost options for a painting business may include: Social media marketing : Utilizing platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to showcase your work and connect with potential customers. Email marketing : Sending newsletters or promotions directly to interested customers' inbox. Referral programs : Offering discounts or incentives for customers who refer others to your business. Local partnerships : Collaborating with other local businesses or organizations to cross-promote each other's services. Create a timeline Develop a schedule for when each aspect of your marketing plan will be implemented. Break down your goals into actionable steps and assign realistic deadlines to each task. This approach helps in prioritizing your marketing activities and allocating resources more efficiently. Additionally, a well-structured timeline allows you to monitor progress and make necessary adjustments along the way, keeping your marketing strategy agile and responsive to market dynamics or customer feedback. Remember to factor in key dates that are significant for your painting business, such as local community events or holiday seasons, to maximize the impact of your marketing efforts. Set goals to measure success of your marketing efforts It's crucial not only to set goals but also to have systems in place to measure whether those goals are being met. By regularly reviewing metrics, you can fine-tune your strategy for better results. Flexibility is key; what works today may need adjustment tomorrow as markets and technologies evolve.  Consider these metrics: Lead generation : Track how many new inquiries or potential clients each marketing channel  brings in. Conversion rates : Monitor how many leads turn into paying customers. Customer acquisition cost : Calculate how much it costs you, on average, to gain one new customer. Return on investment (ROI) : Measure the profitability of your marketing efforts by comparing the revenue generated to the cost of the campaigns. Execute your plan Launch your campaigns in alignment with the planned timeline, ensuring to make adjustments as needed based on their performance metrics. It's crucial to monitor the results closely and be flexible in your approach, allowing for timely tweaks or shifts in strategy to optimize outcomes. This dynamic process will enable you to respond to market changes or audience feedback swiftly, maximizing the effectiveness of your campaigns and achieving your desired goals. Why invest in painting marketing? Investing in marketing for your painting business is not just about spending money on advertising ; it's about strategically creating a brand  and growing your customer base.  A solid marketing strategy can yield numerous long-term benefits, including: Sustainable business growth : Consistent marketing efforts can lead to steady increases in business and revenue. Brand recognition : Developing strong brand recognition over time can serve as a significant competitive advantage , leading people to trust and choose your services over competitors. Customer loyalty : Effective marketing keeps you connected with customers, encouraging repeat business and referrals. Market adaptability : A good marketing strategy allows you to quickly adapt to market changes and customer needs. Painting marketing FAQs How do I get clients for my painting business? To attract clients to your painting business, a multi-faceted approach is key. Start by networking with local businesses, real estate agents, and contractors who can refer potential clients to you. Pair this with a strategic advertising campaign that blends both digital and traditional methods to maximize your visibility to prospective customers. Don't overlook the importance of Local SEO; ensuring your business ranks well in local search results for painting services can significantly boost your visibility. Additionally, getting involved in community events is a great way to raise brand awareness and connect with the community. What are some tips and tricks for marketing myself as a house painter? Marketing yourself as a house painter involves several key strategies. First, showcasing your work is crucial; use high-quality photos of completed projects in all your marketing materials. Next, leverage customer testimonials. Sharing reviews from satisfied customers can significantly build trust with potential clients. Additionally, attracting new customers with special offers, such as promotions or discounts for first-time services, can be very effective. Finally, providing educational content on topics like paint maintenance or color selection can help position you as an expert in the field. What are effective strategies for expanding my painting business? To expand your painting business, consider diversifying your services. By offering extra options like wallpaper removal or deck staining, you can attract a broader customer base. This strategy not only enhances your service portfolio but also opens up new revenue streams, making your business more appealing to a wide range of clients.