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  • 50+ creative YouTube video ideas for beginners

    Thinking about creating videos for YouTube? Smart move. Billions of YouTube users devour the platform’s video content every day. But where exactly should you start? And what YouTube content will engage subscribers and loyal fans? It depends on what you have to share. Perhaps you’d like to help business owners create a website or promote their brand. Or, maybe you want to share your hobby with other enthusiasts. You can even monetize your videos by reviewing products and unboxing sponsored products. Don’t worry if you’re not 100% sure what you want to create your YouTube channel around yet. The following 50+ YouTube video ideas will move you in the right direction. YouTube video ideas for your company Meet the team Behind the scenes Explainer videos Customer testimonials New product announcements Marketing videos 01. Meet the team In one of the first videos you upload to YouTube , introduce yourself (if you’re a solopreneur) or your team. Consumers strongly connect to businesses when they see the faces and hear the voices of the people running things. 02. Behind the scenes Want to show people your freelance setup? Or your agency’s snack fridge? How about a glance into a brainstorming session? Or a walk through your hotel during a business trip? Give viewers an up-close look at your company’s day-to-day. You can also use this opportunity to walk through decision-making processes - like the meeting where you came up with your YouTube channel name , for example. 03. Explainer videos Software companies often use these videos to simplify high-tech solutions for prospective users. Often animated, explainer videos bring personality and clarity to otherwise challenging or boring topics. Cisco’s video on secure remote work shows how to make technical information interesting. 04. Customer testimonials Video reviews and testimonials effectively draw new customers to a business. Whether you embed them on your site or share on social media, upload your videos to YouTube to organize them in one place. 05. New product announcements If you own a business or make your own products, use YouTube to announce your latest creations to the world. A short YouTube video will give customers and prospects a good look at your new releases and drum up excitement. Check out Wix’s YouTube announcement for the branded app builder . 06. Marketing videos Don’t be afraid to mix up the content you share on your business’s YouTube channel. To start a YouTube channel that provides value to your viewers, post educational videos that share key information and insights while subtly promoting your brand. Educational YouTube video ideas for professionals 7. Webinars 8. Whiteboard presentations 9. Productivity hacks 10. Coding or design tutorials 11. Business startup tips 07. Webinars Webinars—a seminar conducted over the web—are a popular virtual lead generation tool for businesses. In addition to posting on your website, live stream your webinars on YouTube. 08. Whiteboard presentations In a whiteboard video, someone teaches a specific subject classroom-style. Easily created using either a physical or virtual whiteboard, use these instructional videos to boost your YouTube SEO . This “Whiteboard Friday” video from Moz , for instance, ranks within the top five Google search results for “featured snippets.” 09. Productivity hacks Many writers use blog posts to teach people productivity or time management tips. Supplement your blog posts with an explanatory YouTube video. 10. Coding or design tutorials YouTube users like learning design and development skills through video tutorials. Create useful hand-on and screen share videos for this audience to become a successful YouTuber . Look at this Wix tutorial as an example. 11. Business startup tips Many new business owners turn to YouTube to learn how to start a business, like how to create an invoice , what a profit and loss statement is, and what’s needed to hire the first employee. YouTube videos can provide general business insights, tips, and tools to those needing quick and straight-forward answers. YouTube video ideas for events 12. Event promotions 13. Highlight reels 14. Individual presentations 12. Event promotions Many companies promote their events with a social media post or email campaign, but did you know you can promote them on YouTube as well? Create a YouTube video to show what the experience will actually be like—an effective way to convince people to buy tickets. For example, look at this quick teaser video promoting the 2021 TED Countdown Global Livestream . 13. Highlight reels Some people want to relive events while others want to see what they missed out on. Creating a highlight video from an event or conference can promote your brand and lead to sales. 14. Individual presentations Your event likely contained individual presentations or sessions that fired people up. Rather than publish your entire event on YouTube, share a few select presentations to get people thinking about the next one. What about Vimeo? That's an option too if you prefer a platform with more privacy settings for work-related videos. Video ideas for influencers and vloggers 15. Introduction video 16. A day in the life 17. Facts about me 18. What's in my bag? 19. What's on my phone? 20. My favorite.... 21. Shopping haul and unboxing 22. My personal story 15. Introduction video Rather than jumping right into vlogging or influencer marketing, earn viewer trust and give them a reason to subscribe with an introduction video. 16. A day in the life No need for a camera to follow you around 24/7. Anyone can create day-in-the-life videos using selfie mode or a tripod. Give subscribers a look inside your world—perhaps a funny part of your day or or maybe your rock-solid routine to guarantee every day is better than the last. 17. Facts about me Influencers and vloggers don’t casually use YouTube—they post to strategically grow large and dedicated fan bases. If you want a large following, then open up and help viewers know you personally. 18. What’s in my bag? “What’s in my bag?” videos are a fun way for people to discover more about you (like how you always have dog treats on hand). Promote companies’ products and make money on YouTube with them, like this example with Alexa Chung for Harper's Bazaar UK . Just remember to call out any sponsorships ahead of time. 19. What’s on my phone? This YouTube video reveals more about you as a vlogger or influencer. You can provide helpful tips on which apps to use and how to organize them as well. 20. My favorite… Place to winter holiday? Lipstick brand? Halloween movie? If people avidly follow you on YouTube and other platforms, they’ll love these personalized preferences and recommendations. 21. Shopping haul and unboxing videos Young influencers typically document their luxury shopping hauls, but this growing trend has room for more practical takes, too, like budget back-to-school shopping for parents. Look at Unbox Therapy , an entire channel dedicated to showcasing products, for inspiration. 22. My personal story Do you have a relatable story? Share it with your YouTube subscribers to build a new connection. Tech video ideas 23. Product tutorials 24. Best of 25. Product comparison 23. Product tutorials Written tutorials and setup guides can be as unintelligible as IKEA instructions. Visually breaking down the process can help people troubleshoot common issues. Here’s one with a design hack— one IKEA cart, three ways . 24. Best of Mobile games. Business software. DSLR cameras. Pick your tech expertise and then film “best of” round-ups to help subscribers find the right one. 25. Product comparison If two or three popular solutions are on the market, your subscribers want to know your take. A product comparison video shows off the pros and cons of each product, while also demonstrating your preferred option. Video ideas for news outlets and journalists 26. Top news 27. Political commentary 28. Social commentary 29. Interviews 26. Top news This YouTube channel idea has staying power, thanks to the never-ending news cycle. Just make sure you pick an in-demand niche like sports or science. 27. Political commentary It doesn’t need to be an election year for a political news channel to be relevant. Come prepared with tough skin on this highly divisive topic, as you’ll get people from all perspectives chiming in on your content. 28. Social commentary If topics like celebrity news and upcoming entertainment releases are your cup of tea, then a social commentary channel might be up your alley. 29. Interviews If you can connect and conduct Q&As with people your subscribers want to hear from, then get into interview segments. First We Feast , for instance, dedicates an entire segment of its channel to its interview show “Hot Ones”. Intellectual YouTube video ideas 30. Concepts and theories 31 Opinion and response videos 32. Mythbusting 33. Science and nature 34. History videos 30. Concepts and theories Do you often muse about topics that others find entertaining or mind-blowing? If that’s the case, YouTube might be the perfect platform to share your theories or break down complicated concepts. That’s exactly what the highly successful The Try Guys channel does. 31. Opinion and response videos This coin has two sides: The people who create opinion videos and those who directly respond to them. Either option makes for an excellent YouTube video. 32. Mythbusting Do you enjoy deconstructing flawed arguments, beliefs, or even myths? Perhaps you’d like the challenge of being a YouTube mythbuster. 33. Science and nature Science and nature captivate people. Use your videography skills to find an avid fan base craving your awe-inspiring content. While you may not be on National Geographic ’s level, you can check out their content for inspiration. 34. History videos You don’t need to be a history professor to share interesting stories or facts from the past—especially if you can have fun with it. Consumer explainer video ideas 35. Beauty how-tos 36. Life hacks 37. Home improvement 38. Cooking videos 39. Do's and Don'ts 35. Beauty how-tos These beauty videos teach people how to look good and feel confident in their skin. If you’re a makeup, fashion, or hairstyling expert, this could be a great option. For example, this ‘Best Moisturizers’ round-up from K-beauty channel Beauty Within . 36. Life hacks DIY videos help people fix everyday problems or once-in-a-lifetime issues. If you know easy-to-implement or creative solutions, you could devote an entire YouTube channel to them. 37. Home improvement Consumers don’t just want help improving their lives or bodies. From masterful gardening to interior decorating, an audience wants to learn what you know about your home. Take Marie Kondo for example—600K+ subscribers tune-in to her channel to learn her tidying secrets. 38. Cooking videos As gourmet at-home cooking grows increasingly popular, cooking channels have become some of the most-watched on YouTube. Contribute your unique cooking specialty. 39. Dos and don’ts While explainer videos include actionable steps to complete a task, dos and don’ts focus on education. These videos fill-in consumers with everything they need to know before making a decision or action. Health and wellness video ideas 40. Workout guidance 41. Mental wellness tips 42. Nutrition 43. 30-day challenges 40. Workout guidance Workout tips not only help people get the most from their workouts, but they also keep people from hurting themselves. Personal trainers, gyms, and other physical wellness experts can use these videos as organic YouTube advertising . 41. Mental wellness tips Many wellness-focused YouTube videos offer physical training tips, but you can offer mental health advice as well. In a stressful world, platforms like Headspace pave the way in mindfulness content, offering guided meditation and other high-demand reflective practices. 42. Nutrition Although some cooking and nutrition videos may crossover, the latter prioritizes educating viewers about health. 43. 30-day challenges Many people participate in 30-day fitness and wellness challenges. Film your challenge and share your progress to inspire others on YouTube. Entertainment review ideas 44. Movie reviews 45. Season recaps 46. Travel reviews 47. Restaurant reviews 48. Gaming videos 44. Movie reviews You don’t have to work as a professional movie critic to make reviews worth watching—especially if your interest lies in an under-appreciated genre. Devote your channel to a specific niche and watch the YouTube subscribers roll-in. 45. Season recaps Are you a fan of a hugely popular show? Better yet, one that’s aired for over a decade with no signs of stopping? YouTube channels dedicated to episode and season recaps perform especially well with subscribers looking to devour as much information on the show as possible. 46. Travel reviews Just as consumers want help investing in a product, they also need help deciding on travel. Travel YouTube channels cover a variety of topics — top travel destinations, how to find good deals, the best hotels, airlines, car rental services, and so on. Here’s an example from Condé Nast Traveler YouTube channel showcasing “3 Of The Coolest New Hotels To Visit In 2021.” 47. Restaurant reviews Video reviews of restaurants, bars, or cafés show prospective diners what the food looks like and what the experience feels like. 48. Gaming videos Typically, you see two gaming channels types on YouTube: ones that round up and review games by topic (e.g. scariest, best characters, most surprising plot twists, etc) and those that dive into walk-throughs, speed-runs, and cheats for specific games. If you game, you can highly engage your audience on YouTube this way. Fun YouTube video ideas 49. Music videos 50. Dancing videos 51. Singing videos 52. Comedy 53. Cute (fill in the blank) videos 54. Taste testing videos 55. Draw my life videos 49. Music videos While anyone can create their own music videos for YouTube, brands can use them to creatively attract new customers and turn existing ones into loyal fans. 50. Dancing videos Dance videos and trends don’t only go viral on TikTok. If you’re a skilled, passionate dancer, show off your moves or teach others your skills on a YouTube channel. You can always explore the TikTok YouTube channel for inspo. 51. Singing videos The world discovered now-legendary musicians like Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen thanks to the videos they published on YouTube. Whether you aspire to pop stardom or you just like singing as a hobby, share your work on YouTube. 52. Comedy Everyone has their own sense of humor. Make someone laugh through stand up routines, comedy skits, hidden camera pranks, parody videos—the list goes on and on. Draw inspiration from the Funny or Die YouTube channel and its 3M+ subscribers. 53. Cute [fill in the blank] videos Who doesn’t love a video that warms their heart or makes them chuckle? Just determine which cute videos you want to aggregate and publish. Cute animals? Cute couples? This popular type of content tends to generate many views. 54. Taste testing videos You could go a couple routes with taste testing videos: You could film yourself tasting another country or region’s food, or if you’re a professional chef, you could film your responses to others’ food. For example, Buzzfeed’s Italian Grandmas Try Frozen Pasta humorously highlights the differences between authentic Italian food and frozen meals. 55. Draw my life videos These storytelling videos combine a narrator sharing a personal anecdote while an artist illustrates the story on a sheet of paper or white board. Sharing YouTube videos on your website Find that sweet spot of content that you enjoy creating and that people clamor to get a hold of, and you could end up with a very successful YouTube channel. To spread the word about your videos, embed them on your Wix website and on social media to introduce more people to your content, enhance your brand, and improve your SEO. Learn more: How to make a YouTube banner How to make a YouTube thumbnail YouTube video ideas FAQ What are the best topics for a YouTube video? Here are a few timeless and consistently popular YouTube categories to help spark ideas and inspire your content creation. Educational content:  Tutorials, how-tos or explainer videos work well if you enjoy teaching others. For instance, a video on "Web design basics" or "Top 5 DIY home projects" could cater to curious learners. Entertainment:  Humor, skits or even reaction videos are always in demand. Creators like comedians or performers can leverage this category. Product reviews and comparisons:  Tech enthusiasts or beauty experts often attract a large following by reviewing products like laptops, smartphones or cosmetics. Personal vlogs:  Share your daily life, travel adventures or personal insights. Viewers enjoy connecting with creators through relatable or inspiring storytelling. Niche topics:  Solving specific problems or sharing unique hobbies like gourmet cooking or collecting rare items can create a loyal and engaged audience. Gaming:  Gameplay walkthroughs, live streams or reviews of the latest games continue to attract massive audiences, especially among younger viewers. Fitness and wellness:  Create workout routines, yoga sessions or share mental health tips to inspire a healthier lifestyle. Food and recipes:  Share cooking tutorials, unique recipes or even food challenges to appeal to food lovers. Tech tips and hacks:  Offer advice on using software, apps or gadgets more effectively to assist tech-savvy audiences. DIY and crafts:  Teach viewers how to create handmade items, organize their spaces or tackle creative projects at home. News and commentary:  Provide insights, opinions or breakdowns on current events, pop culture or trending topics. Music and performing arts:  Share original music, cover songs or performance videos for those who enjoy the arts. How to go viral on YouTube? Going viral on YouTube takes creativity, strategy and timing. While there’s no guaranteed formula, these tips can boost your chances: Know your audience : Use YouTube Analytics to understand their preferences and create content that excites or educates them.  Create shareable content : Capture attention quickly, use humor or storytelling and make videos fun or valuable to encourage sharing.  Follow trends : Add your unique twist to popular trends or challenges for more visibility.  Optimize titles & thumbnails : Use eye-catching thumbnails and titles that spark curiosity and reflect your video’s content.  Promote on social media : Share videos on Instagram, TikTok or Twitter and collaborate with other creators to grow your reach.  Be consistent : Regular uploads increase opportunities for viral success and help build a loyal audience.  Stay authentic : Show your personality and values to connect with viewers and keep them coming back.  Experiment & learn : Test different formats, analyze performance and use feedback to refine your content. Which content is best for YouTube beginners? Here are some beginner-friendly content ideas to help you kick-start your journey and create engaging videos that will attract viewers and grow your channel.  Passion projects:  Create videos about topics you love—cooking, fitness, travel or hobbies. Authentic enthusiasm attracts viewers.  Personal introductions:  Share who you are and your channel’s purpose.  Tutorials:  Teach a skill like a simple recipe or craft.  Reaction videos:  React to music, trailers or viral challenges.  Vlogs:  Document daily routines, trips or DIY projects.  “How I started” stories:  Share personal experiences or lessons learned.  Experiment with topics, focus on simplicity (a smartphone is enough!) and stay consistent. Over time, you’ll refine your content and grow your audience!

  • Does Wix have email marketing?

    Yes, Wix does have email marketing and once you've created a website , launching an email marketing campaign is easy to do (and free.) Learn more about how to use Wix  as a website builder and to manage your business. Wix email marketing features Intuitive email editor Wix's easy-to-use editor, make it easy to create mobile-friendly emails in just a few minutes with no design degree required. You can create from scratch or choose from one of the editor's professionally designed templates to give yourself a head start. Then make it your own, tweak the fonts, play with colors, switch up the background even add a video. Whether you’re promoting a product, sending out a newsletter, or just saying hello, you’ve got everything you need, in the email editor, to make it look polished and on-brand. Email automation With Wix's automated email campaigns, you can schedule perfectly timed messages to keep your customers in the loop, whether you’re announcing an upcoming event, running a flash sale or sending a friendly nudge to revisit your store. Want to boost open rates? Add a personal touch with dynamic values that drop in your contacts’ names automatically. It’s a simple move that makes your emails feel less like mass mail and more like a conversation and that should mean more clicks, more engagement and more results. Learn more: What is email automation? Advanced data analytics Wix's in-built analytics allow you to track everything in real time, from delivery and open rates to the exact links people are clicking. Want to take it a step further? Run a split test (A/B testing) to see which version of your content resonates best. It's the easiest way to learn what’s working, what’s not and how to make every future campaign more effective. Email templates Choose from a range of professional designed templates that make it easy to create an email marketing campaign without needing to be a designer. Learn more: What is email marketing? How to create an email marketing campaign with Wix Whether you're promoting a sale, sending out updates, or sharing your latest blog, this guide is designed to help make email marketing simple but impactful. 01. Choose a template or start from scratch First head to the email marketing section in your Wix dashboard. You’ll be asked to choose how you want to start: Use a template : Wix has a range of professionally designed layouts for everything from product launches to templates for events. Create from scratch: Feeling creative? Start with a blank canvas and build your email exactly how you want. Be inspired by these email marketing examples. 02. Customize your email Now the fun part, customizing your email. With Wix's drag and drop editor you can: Add elements (images, buttons, dividers, you name it) Edit your text directly in the layout Choose a theme for fonts and colors Change the background Even switch text direction if needed Pro tip : Keep your message short and sweet, think one to three short paragraphs. Too much text, the more chance of it landing in spam folders. Also, you know your audience, so think carefully about what will resonate with them. Whether its text, images or video make sure to consider all of your options. When designing email layouts, prioritize mobile responsiveness, accessibility standards and a clean, visually appealing format that drives engagement. Balance text and visuals effectively, use proper headings and white space for easy scanning and ensure your calls-to-action are aligned with your messaging. Dor Cohen, distribution specialist at Wix.com 03. Preview and test Before hitting send, remember to review your campaign. You can do this by clicking on Preview and Test (top right of the editor). Click the mobile icon to see how it’ll look on phones Click the desktop icon for the computer version Pro tip: Send yourself a test email so you know exactly what your subscribers will see This doesn’t count against your email quota, so feel free to test away. You can also send it to friends and family to get their opinion. 04. Choose your audience Now it’s time to decide who to send your email to. You can: Pick individual contacts Use labels or segments to group people (like past buyers or newsletter subscribers) Import a list from Gmail or a CSV file if you’ve got new subscribers not in Wix yet Pro tip: Don’t send to inactive contacts, it can mess with your delivery rates and increase the chances of your email going to spam. Wix lets you filter them out easily. 05. Press send (or schedule) The last step is to give your email its final details and send it off. Here’s how to do it. Write your subject line, you can personalize it with your contact’s name or your site UR Set your "From Name" and reply-to email address Choose when to send: either now or schedule it for later Once you click send, Wix will review it to make sure everything’s compliant, and then—boom—off it goes to your audience. And you can share the email link on social too. Your email campaign is live, now what? Once your campaign is live, keep an eye on your data. You’ll be able to see metrics and data that will allow you to evaluate the success of your campaign and identify where you need to make changes to improve your: Open rates Click-throughs Engagement trends Learn more: Why use Wix? Wix Email Marketing FAQ Is Wix email marketing free? Yes and with Wix's free email marketing you get access to a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, designer-made templates, automated emails, audience segmentations and custom reports. Upgrade your plan if you want to add to your monthly email allowance, remove Wix branding from emails, schedule emails in advance, send emails from multiple email addresses or share emails in web view with a custom domain URL. How many emails can I send a month? With a free plan you can send up to 200 emails a month with Wix.

  • What is parallax scrolling, explained with examples

    Back around its online debut in 2011, the parallax scrolling effect made waves as a new and exciting web design trend. Many internet fads have come and gone in the years since, but parallax scrolling has established itself as a fundamental design asset that’s here to stay. When you're deciding how to create a website , parallax scrolling is a great way to add depth and movement to the browsing experience. Below you’ll find a full explanation of what parallax scrolling is, complete with a selection inspiring examples of parallax scrolling websites to learn from and a few website templates to get you started. What is parallax scrolling? Parallax scrolling is a web design technique in which the website background moves at a slower pace than the foreground. This results in a 3D effect as visitors scroll down the site, adding a sense of depth and creating a more immersive browsing experience. Parallax is based on optical illusion. Since the human eye perceives objects that are close to us as larger than things farther away, we perceive distant objects as if they were moving more slowly. The illusion has been long adopted into parallax across different mediums, fostering a realistic effect. Its first use was in traditional animation, dating back to as early as Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , and in video games such as Super Mario . With advancements in CSS and HTML , parallax effects later evolved into the world of web design as we know it today. Here are nine outstanding parallax scrolling examples built with Wix, handpicked for your web design and making a website inspiration: Parallax scrolling examples 01. Mild Design Emilie De Grosbois, a Montreal-based visual artist and the founder of Mild Design, can show us a thing or two about how to make a portfolio . Her own portfolio website strikes visitors with an impressive welcome: a series of intricate fullscreen images displayed in a long scroll. These are some of the best website images we've seen. By use of parallax, the transition from one image to the next becomes not only smoother, but it also adds a sense of depth, as if the images gently glide on top of each other. 02. Nolan Omura Nolan Omura is a Hawaii-based photographer and videographer specializing in underwater photography. His ingenious take on the parallax scrolling effect adds depth and motion to his already captivating homepage design. By dividing the page into full-width strips, site visitors are met with exhilarating shots of aquatic life each time they scroll down further. The strips float gently above one another, using a mix of both parallax and reveal scrolling effects. Giving the photographs even more movement are minute animations. While these are barely discernible, the website animations - combined with the use of parallax and video - make this page fully come to life. 03. Chris Covert Aerospace engineer Chris Covert’s bold resume website is just as professional as it is innovative. The site’s design and interactivity manage to inject much of Chris’ personality into what could have otherwise been a dry list of skills, experience, and education history. Chris places shots of his printed CV and business card in the center of the screen. Using the reveal scroll effect, the website background images swiftly changes behind them as the visuals stay put, achieving a surprising result. Paying much attention down to the smallest of details, the website provides a remarkable answer to the question of how to write a resume . It also includes a downloadable PDF document of the CV for potential employers to print out. 04. Ivy Chen Designer and illustrator Ivy Chen’s use of parallax makes for a unique portfolio website, in which her works gradually reveal themselves as if by scrolling magic. Ivy’s use of the parallax scrolling effect is not only mesmerizing, but also amplifies and explains the page’s content. As a multidisciplinary designer, she operates at the intersection of illustration and graphic design. The two fields are integrated seamlessly, with her fashion illustrations slowly transforming into real life garments as we scroll. 05. Industrial Jewellery Jewelry designer Hila Rawet Karni’s website employs parallax scrolling to create an interesting, multifaceted browsing experience. By layering images and text on top of one another and having them move at different speeds, the page seems to be constantly changing and forming new compositions as we scroll. The layered look also helps this small business website keep up with the latest web design trends. Notice, for example, how the middle photo of a sitting woman stays in place as other elements drift alongside it. That photo eventually rolls out of the screen too, making room for other sections of this website and achieving a dynamic feel. 06. Barco Sorriso Digital illustrations and a vivid color palette lend a cheerful, welcoming tone to this nonprofit website . The top fold depicts a boat in the ocean, fitting for an organization whose name means ‘The Boat Called Smile’ in Portugese. As we scroll down this multilingual website, however, the ocean view of the first fold is gradually obscured behind the greenery of the second. This sleek transition, achieved by use of parallax scrolling, brings to mind the layers and depth of animated films or video games. 07. Karlie Kloss This elegant and clean website is the perfect modeling portfolio for supermodel Karlie Kloss. The website color scheme aims for simplicity in its choices of white, gray and black, and so do the generous amounts of white space. At the same time, this classy look is combined with small touches that keep the website far from ordinary: the subtle use of pink, the heavy black font, and the sense of motion imparted by parallax scrolling and the use of video. 08. Hana Knizova London-based Hana Knizova’s photography website features a long scroll of images revealed and obscured using parallax scrolling. The photos on the homepage are an introduction to Hana’s varied projects and many specialities as a photographer, from editorial to portrait to maternity photoshoots. Simultaneously, the images also double as the website menu , creating a unique navigation system where each image leads to a different inner page. 09. Frankie Ratford The personal website of graphic designer, digital nomad and entrepreneur Frankie Ratford is colorful, vibrant and bubbly. The sunny colored top fold features several layers of parallax. While Frankie herself remains static in a candid and relatable portrait, her name slides upwards from behind the photo, followed by a bio section that glides on top of the same image. The rest of this graphic design website makes more subtle uses of parallax scrolling in its display of various informative details. Enabling parallax scrolling on your Wix website To enable parallax scrolling on your Wix website, use strips that have a color, image, or video background. Combining multiple strips together can enrich the effect. How to enable parallax scrolling on a strip : 1. In the Editor, click ‘Add’ on the left menu, then choose ‘Strip.’ 2. Click ‘Change Strip Background.’ Here you can change the background to a color, image or video of your choice. 3. Click ‘Settings’ on the Strip Background, and under ‘Scroll Effects’ choose the desired effect (Parallax, Reveal, Zoom-In or Fade-In). 4. Check out the effect in action in Preview mode, and revise if needed. How to set your background image to parallax scrolling : 1. In the Editor, click ‘Change Page Background.’ 2. Click ‘Settings’ on the background image. 3. Under ‘Scroll Effects,’ select ‘Parallax.’ Website templates with parallax scrolling To get started easily, choose one of our many website templates that’s designed with built-in parallax scrolling, then customize it to your needs. We’ve selected three such templates to help you in creating a website: Online Personal Care Store : This template for an eCommerce website features its products on clean, solid backgrounds. At the same time, parallax scrolling is applied to photos of people interacting with the products, setting them apart and making for a more interactive experience. Bread Shop : This mouthwatering template is made up of several full-screen strips with parallax scrolling. A cinemagraph on the third strip adds an extra sense of motion. Let’s Play : This multi-layered parallax template achieves a sophisticated look with a color-changing gradient fullscreen background and a static layer of typography. For additional information, check out this detailed template tutorial . Learn more: What is mouse parallax? Parallax scrolling FAQ What is the best use of parallax scrolling? Parallax scrolling is best used sparingly and strategically. It's most effective when used to create a specific mood or atmosphere, or to highlight a particular element on a page. Parallax scrolling should not be used on every page of a website, and it should not be used in a way that makes it difficult for users to navigate the site. Why is parallax scrolling avoided? Parallax scrolling can be avoided for a number of reasons. For example, it can be difficult to implement on mobile devices, and it can also make websites feel less accessible to users with certain disabilities. Additionally, parallax scrolling can be overused, which can make it feel gimmicky and unprofessional. What does parallax mean in video games? In video games, parallax is a technique that is used to create a sense of depth. This is done by making the background images move at a different speed than the foreground images, which creates an illusion of movement. Parallax is often used in platform games and racing games to create a more immersive experience.  What size image should be used for parallax scrolling? The size of the image you use for parallax scrolling will depend on the size of your website and the effect you want to create. In general, you will want to use a large image that is at least the same size as your website's viewport. However, you can also use smaller images and scale them up using CSS. What is an example of a parallax effect? An example of a parallax effect is on a website where the background image scrolls more slowly than the text or graphics in the foreground. This creates a sense of depth and movement, making the design feel more dynamic and engaging. What is a parallax in layman's terms? Parallax is when things closer to you seem to move faster than things farther away. Imagine looking out a car window—nearby trees zoom by, but distant mountains barely seem to move. Websites use this idea to make scrolling feel more interactive by moving different layers on the page at different speeds.

  • What is email marketing? A beginner’s guide

    In 1978, Gary Thuerk of Digital Equipment Corporation sent out the first ever mass email to approximately 400 clients. He claimed to have generated $13 million worth of sales as a result, revealing the high potential of email as an effective marketing tool. Today, email marketing remains one of the most efficient methods for promoting brands and engaging with prospects and customers. Since Thuerk's first email, campaigns have evolved over the years from mass email blasts to strategic, highly targeted messages. In this article, we’ll dive into what email marketing is, as well as how your brand can use it to build engagement and growth. Does Wix have email marketing?  We explain what features you get with Wix's email marketing and how to build your own campaign. What is email marketing? Email marketing is an effective type of marketing that involves sending emails to prospects and customers. This valuable tactic can be used for a variety of purposes, including driving conversions, promoting products, or generating interest and loyalty in your brand. Learn more: Small business marketing While far from being novel, email is a key strategic channel for nearly every industry and is one of the most effective ways to convert people into customers. In fact, research has shown that organizations receive an average ROI of $42 for every dollar spent . Benefits of email marketing Marketing emails can fulfill several purposes for your company or organization, depending on their content. Their main benefits include: Promoting your products or services Building engagement with your brand Driving traffic to your website Turning prospects into customers Turning one-time buyers into loyal fans Because email is a direct line of conversation with your customers, it has advantages over other forms of marketing communication. First, people are more likely to see an email than a social media post, which may not appear in the feeds of prospective customers and followers. Second, emails let you send different messages based on your subscribers’ individual desires and needs. Compared to one-size-fits-all marketing campaigns, this targeted form of communication is far more effective in generating conversions. Types of marketing emails From automated emails to weekly newsletters (we've got some email marketing examples and newsletter examples here ), different types of messages achieve different goals for your brand. You can use a combination of them to put together a comprehensive email marketing strategy: Email campaigns are sent with a specific purpose in mind, whether it’s to promote a special offer, encourage users to download a whitepaper or e-book, or sign up for a free trial. Email newsletters are sent on a consistent basis to provide regular updates to subscribers. A newsletter might share new blog posts or case studies, discuss a product update or recent milestone, or highlight upcoming events. For more information, take a look at this article on how to make a newsletter that stands out. Automated marketing emails are automatically sent based on predefined triggers. For example, you might send a welcome email to new subscribers, a celebratory email to subscribers celebrating their birthdays, and a reminder email to customers with abandoned shopping carts. Or, you might send a drip campaign that nurtures leads and convinces them to buy. Whichever email automation you choose, you can set up strategic automated responses using free email marketing tools . Automated transactional emails are another effective form of marketing automation that are automatically sent following a transaction. They include order confirmations, shipping updates and reminders about appointments or events. While these emails are quite simple, they’re important for building customer trust, particularly for eCommerce websites . How to do email marketing Now that you have some background on email marketing, it’s time to learn how to create effective marketing emails in 5 simple steps: Build your mailing list Choose an email marketing service Segment your audience Create great content Optimize your campaigns 01. Build your mailing list The first step in beginning your email marketing strategy is to get subscribers. Keep in mind that you’ll need to obtain people’s permission in order to use their addresses. It’s poor practice to purchase a mailing list, and most email marketing companies have a strict permission-based policy. In addition, you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant with any applicable laws, including the CAN-SPAM Act in the US, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU, and the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) . With that in mind, the best way to build an email list is to use tactics that encourage people to voluntarily sign up. One way to do this is by using lead magnets - something valuable that you give away for free in exchange for an email address. Most lead magnets aren’t products but, instead, digital goods that you can create cheaply and easily using your industry expertise. These include: E-books Webinars Whitepapers and case studies Business toolkits and guides Consultations Coupons Once you define your lead magnets, add opt-in forms to your website to encourage people to sign up. Be sure to use enticing headlines and compelling CTAs asking users to subscribe. For instance, you might offer a downloadable guide to email marketing using the title “The Complete Email Marketing Checklist” and the CTA “Download Now.” Next to the CTA button, you’d have one field for the subscriber’s name and another for their email address. You can place these forms in a variety of strategic places on your site, including a pop-up, sidebar, or a blog post. 02. Choose an email marketing service Because email marketing involves handling a large number of subscribers, sending targeted messages and analyzing your email metrics, you’re going to need a robust email marketing service to help you manage and organize your work. There are several different platforms available, including: Wix Email Marketing MailChimp Moosend GetResponse ConstantContact SendInBlue Wix Email Marketing is a particularly effective tool that you can conveniently integrate into your website. It includes inbuilt analytics features, such as statistics on email opens, views and clicks, so that you can analyze the performance of your campaigns. In addition, you can customize the design of your emails so that they look professional, reflect your brand identity and resonate with your audience. On top of that, Wix Email Marketing lets you connect your email to your website . That way, you can send emails through a special business email address, and view data about their performance directly through your site's dashboard. 03. Segment your audience Another key email marketing tip is to divide your audience based on their unique interests, characteristics and behaviors. This process, called segmentation, allows you to send more targeted communication so that your emails directly appeal to the wants and needs of your target market. There are a few different categories by which to divide your subscribers. These include: Demographics: Factors as age, gender and income level can tell you about a person’s needs and interests. Geographic area: Information about your audience’s country or region can help you tailor your content based on different interests, languages and cultures in different parts of the world. Website behavior: Data about users’ interactions with your website - such as which pages they visit and which products they view - can point to their interests and help inform your targeting strategy. Purchase history: Details of your customers’ purchases can help you differently target one-time versus repeat buyers, as well as send distinct messages to people with different interests. Amount spent: The amount of money customers have already spent on your site can give you an idea of how much they’re willing or able to spend in general, and what kinds of products they’re likely to buy. Position in the marketing funnel: Whether a user is a brand new subscriber or has an abandoned shopping cart, you can use this information to create emails that guide them toward making a purchase. Personal interests: Information about people’s personal interests - which you can gather by allowing users to create profiles on your website or save their favorite items - gives you a better understanding of your customers’ individual preferences. Overall, keep your communication as targeted as possible, even if you choose to send email blasts to mass audiences. By sending different email campaigns between these categories, you can create content that is more relevant, relatable and convincing. 04. Create great content At this point, you have everything set up to start creating your email marketing campaigns. The next step is to generate the content itself. Whichever kind of content you’re creating - an automated message, a newsletter or an update about a new product - you’ll need to keep a few key principles in mind. First, remember that your goal is to become a welcome guest in your subscribers’ inboxes. Rather than come across as spammy or annoying, craft thoughtful emails that provide your audience with real value. You can do this by providing perks or insights your subscribers will appreciate, whether it’s actionable tips, exclusive content or a seasonal coupon code. The writing itself should be engaging, too. Build rapport with your audience by speaking to them individually (e.g., addressing them by name and writing in the second person). Infuse your content with personality, and add humor when appropriate. Your goal is to sound like a helpful friend, rather than a corporation. Finally, conclude with a professional email signature , as this creates an immediate association between your brand and the campaign. 05. Optimize and improve Once you’ve written and sent your emails, you’ll need to analyze your email marketing KPIs so that you can continually optimize your campaigns. These metrics should already be built into your email marketing service. The most important analytics to track include: Delivery rate: This tracks the number of emails delivered. If some emails aren’t getting delivered, you may be sending to addresses that don’t exist. 95% or higher is considered to be a strong delivery rate; if your number is any lower, clean up your subscriber list and delete any invalid addresses. Bounce rate: Opposite from the delivery rate, this metric shows how many of your emails were not delivered. If your bounce rate is high, you risk destroying your sender reputation, which can trigger filtering and blocking on your IP. Be sure to regularly purge your email list to keep your bounce rate low, boost your engagement rates and avoid the spam folder. Open rate: This shows the percentage of subscribers who opened your email, giving you an understanding of whether people are actually interested in your messages. If your open rate is low, consider how you can improve your email content, better target your audience and create more compelling subject lines . Click rate: This reveals how many people click on the links within your emails. It’s also a helpful way to understand which links generate the most clicks. If your click rate is low, chances are you need a more strategic targeting strategy and better CTAs. Spam complaints: This shows whether your emails are getting marked as spam. To avoid this, make sure you have a valid list of subscribers who have opted in to receive your content. You should also maintain high open rates and low bounce rates to maintain a strong sender reputation and avoid the spam filter. Based on these numbers, you can find out what is working and what needs to be improved in your email campaigns. You can then use this analysis to refine your marketing strategy , engage subscribers and boost your conversion rate. Email marketing best practices As you optimize and improve your email campaigns, there are a few key strategies you’ll need to implement in order to avoid common email mistakes and, instead, boost engagement and drive conversions: Follow proper email etiquette: Always make it your goal for people to actively appreciate and enjoy your emails. This means treating your subscribers with kindness and respect. Only message people who have demonstrated interest in your company by subscribing to your emails. Also make sure to keep your promises to your users: use a subject line that isn’t misleading, don’t send emails more often than you say you will, and make it easy for people to unsubscribe. Perfect your timing: Think carefully about the time of day you send your emails. There is no black-and-white answer for which times are more strategic than others; in fact, your audience’s age, location, and occupation will affect their email open times. However, you can get a sense of which times work best for your business by performing A/B tests and using the results to inform your future campaigns. Stay mobile-friendly: Recent research has shown that mobile accounts for nearly 50% of all email opens in the US. For that reason, it’s critical your emails are optimized for mobile as well as desktop viewing. Consider ways to adapt to the small size of the mobile screen, including making your subject lines shorter, simplifying your formatting, reducing your image sizes, and using large CTA buttons that users can easily tap with the thumb. Add value: You may have enticed your customers to subscribe in the first place by offering them some sort of value, whether it’s a free downloadable guide or coupon code. After that initial offer, keep the value coming. Continue to delight your customers with actionable tips, special content, and the occasional holiday or birthday message. You’ll generate engagement - and build brand loyalty - as a result. Pro tip: Check out these email marketing statistics to help strategize your email marketing efforts.

  • What is a drip campaign and how to create your own

    If you want to make a splash in your industry, you’ll need a marketing strategy that nurtures your audience over time. That’s where drip marketing comes in. With a name that brings to mind the tranquility of falling raindrops, a drip campaign is a series of emails scheduled over the course of several days. This strategy tends to generate more engagement - and drive more conversions - than standard email marketing. You can get started with drip marketing using this helpful email marketing service . Here’s a comprehensive overview of the process - including examples of different types of drip campaigns and step-by-step instructions for crafting your own. What is a drip campaign? A drip campaign is a form of email automation that is most commonly used for email marketing . By this method, a series of pre-written, pre-scheduled emails is sent to your contacts over an extended period. The timing of each email in the campaign is based on predefined triggers. For example, you might schedule a particular email to be sent to users after they subscribe, and a second one 3 days after that. This way, you deliver your message in gradual “drips,” adapting your communication strategy to your audience’s behavior. There are several benefits to sending drip campaigns. First, they help you gently nurture your contacts over time, building interest progressively rather than overwhelming them with an aggressive campaign. Since drip emails are targeted and personalized, they tend to be more compelling to users than a single email blast . Ultimately, this technique can lead to fewer unsubscribes and an increased conversion rate. Second, drip emails boosts engagement by keeping your business at the forefront of your audience’s minds. They serve as an ongoing conversation about your brand, establishing trust over time and gently guiding them through the sales funnel. What drip marketing platform should you use? The most convenient way to create drip emails is to do so when you create your own website . That way, you’ll be able to keep all the information about your business - from site data to email marketing campaigns - organized on a single platform. To get started, navigate to Business Tools in the sidebar menu of your Wix dashboard. From there, hover over Customer Management, and then click Automations. Using the Multistep Automations feature, you’ll be able to create a sequence of up to 10 highly targeted email drips based on a single trigger. What are the different types of email drip campaigns? You’ll find that automated email sequences are useful in a variety of scenarios, whether you’re following up with a customer after a subscription or getting them to purchase the items in their shopping cart. Here are examples of the types of drip campaigns you can create: Welcome emails: Create automated welcome emails when a new person signs up, subscribes, or requests a free trial. Let them know you’re glad to meet them, and introduce your company’s products and insights to build a strong first impression of your brand. Lead nurturing campaigns: Write a series of lead nurturing emails that, over time, convinces prospective customers to buy. This can include educating users about your industry, or offering them free trials and consultations. As you move people further down the marketing funnel, consider ways to onboard them to your product, such as getting them to sign up for a webinar or download your app. User engagement campaigns: Craft messages that invite users to return to your site. For example, you might want to send a “We miss you” email to subscribers that haven’t interacted with your brand in awhile, or a “You might also like” email that entices them to browse more of your offerings. Abandoned shopping cart emails: Build email campaigns that re-engage customers, particularly those with full shopping carts who still haven’t checked out. Cart abandonment is a huge problem - in fact, the average rate is approaching 80% - and drip emails can reignite the purchasing process. To close sales, target those shoppers with a series of powerful automated prompts that pulls them back in. Renewal emails: Send renewal reminders to customers if your product operates on a subscription basis. If the renewal is automatic, notify users that their account will be charged with a pre-written automated email. Otherwise, alert them that their subscription is about to run out, and create a drip campaign that prompts users to sign up again for your service. Confirmation emails: Create a confirmation drip that not only thanks customers for their purchases, but that also generates continued engagement. After sending the thank you email, for example, consider re-engaging them with drip emails that promote new product features or accessories. Step-by-step tutorials: Create a series of bite-sized educational courses to share your expertise and generate traffic to your site. By offering subscribers a comprehensive set of drips - rather than a sequence of unrelated emails - you can build interest and engagement in your brand. Try repackaging blog content into a multi-part email crash course, whether it’s a quick SEO tutorial or a series of social media marketing tips. How to set up a drip campaign Ready to create an email drip campaign of your own? Here’s how to get started: Identify your main goal Determine your target audience Plan the campaign Create compelling content Start the campaign Refine your strategy 01. Identify your main goal Perhaps you’re eager to obtain new leads, or maybe you’d like to generate buzz around your brand. Whatever you’re aiming for, it’s important that you have a clear goal in mind as you craft your drip campaigns. To define your goal, think about what you’d like your audience to do by the end of the drip campaign. Do you want them to buy a product? Sign up for a free trial? Re-engage with your site? If you’re having trouble deciding on a specific goal, try seeing whether any of the following resonate with you: Promote a product Make sales Build brand awareness Boost engagement Drive sign-ups or registrations Once you’ve selected your goal, write it down. This will serve as the roadmap for your entire drip campaign. 02. Determine your target audience Email marketing isn’t one-size-fits-all; instead, you’ll find yourself more consistently achieving your goals if your messages feel personal and relevant to your readers. With that in mind, you’ll need to craft different emails for specific subsets of your target market. The process - called market segmentation - involves dividing your audience into different customer types based on their shared features. These characteristics can range from anything from their demographic data to their behavior on your site to their purchasing history. Based on this information, you’ll want to create triggers that determine which campaigns you’ll send to which people. For example, you might create a trigger for abandoned shopping carts. In that case, your segment could be people who haven’t returned to their shopping carts in 24 hours or more. You’d then create a drip email campaign specifically for this segment, with the goal of closing the sale. Another trigger might be a new subscription to your company newsletter . Here, you’d create a segment for new subscribers. You’d then send a drip of welcome emails to people who fall under that category. 03. Plan the campaign At this point, you should know what your goal is in sending your drip emails, and which groups of people you’ll be sending them to. But how many drips should you create? And how often should you send them? On the one hand, you want to keep your audience interested and engaged. On the other hand, you don’t want to annoy them with too much content. Effective email drip campaigns vary from 4 to 10 emails, with a space of 3 days to 2 weeks between messages. You may want to leave a gap of just 3-4 days between your first few emails so that you can engage with users immediately after the trigger. After that, space out your emails further to avoid overwhelming your contacts. Keep in mind that while there are a few best practices, there are no magic numbers. After you send out your first few drip campaigns, analyze your data and adapt the quantity and timing of your emails until you hit the sweet spot. 04. Create compelling content So you’ve defined your goals, determined the segments and triggers, and planned the timing and spacing of your drip emails. Now, you’ll need to dive into the content itself. As you write the emails, aim for a message that’s helpful, interesting, and drives readers toward your desired action. Here are some email marketing tips for creating powerful content: Use strong subject lines: The first step toward a successful drip marketing campaign is getting people to open the message. If you’re feeling stuck, take a look at these tips on how to write an engaging subject line . Make it personal: People are more interested and engaged when they feel that your emails are meant for them . Use your audience segments to determine which messages and promotions will attract different groups. Then, tailor your drip campaigns accordingly. Use a consistent brand voice: Brands, like people, have personalities. Help your contacts get to know - and love - your business by building a memorable brand identity. You can do this by adopting a particular way of speaking or tone of voice in your emails, whether it’s humorous and fun, professional and authoritative, or something in between. Keep it concise: Don’t overwhelm your subscribers with a deluge of new information or big blocks of text. Keep your message short and sweet - with plenty of white space - to make them easily digestible and increase the likelihood of people reading them. Focus on value: Don’t simply use your emails to explain the details of your business or the features of your offering. Instead, focus on how your product or service benefits users. Create a sense of urgency: Make users feel that their next action can’t wait. You can do this by offering exclusive deals with deadlines, such as a coupon code that expires in one week. Include a CTA: Each of your emails should include a call-to-action that guides readers toward your ultimate goal. This should be presented as a prominent button with direct, action-oriented language such as “Start now,” “Download,” or “Sign up.” Build anticipation: Conclude your emails by getting readers excited for more. Include a “P.S.” to drop hints about an upcoming holiday sale, user contest, brand new e-book and more. 05. Start the campaign Once you’ve created your emails and finalized your strategy, it’s time to send them to your audience. Because the process is automated, all you need to do is set the initial trigger (e.g., a subscription to your newsletter) and specify the number of days between the emails that follow. You can do this directly through the Automations Dashboard of your Wix website. 06. Refine your strategy Just like every good marketing campaign, you should continually adapt your strategy to optimize the results. If you’re not meeting your goal, you may find you need to edit the audience segments, readjust the messages, or alter the timing of your emails. Using your email marketing tool , take a close look at your email marketing KPIs . If the open rates are low, for example, try cleaning up your email list or rewriting your subject lines. If conversions are low, try creating more compelling CTAs that entice your audience to click. The bottom line is to analyze the results of your campaign so that you can continually improve with each new iteration. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What are the main benefits of a drip campaign? Automation, personalization, the nurturing of leads over the long term, potentially increased conversions and higher customer engagement are just some of the key benefits. How do I track and improve my drip campaign? Start by tracking and analyzing key metrics of drip campaigns such as: open and click through rates, conversion rates and ROI. Also consider using techniques such as A/B testing and segmentation to test different versions of your campaigns. What are some important best practices for running a drip campaign? Segment, segment, and segment your email list. It's the only way to make sure you're reaching the right audience with the right content for them. Personalize emails, it works. Don't be afraid to keep testing and optimizing the emails that you send, combine what works from multiple tests and keep trying. Always track your campaign data and use it to make the next one better. Don't overwhelm your email list with content, stay true to your brand and your messaging.

  • Should your business try trendjacking?

    The Minions campaign marketing strategies were so successful that the yellow creatures and their fans seemed to spread across social media channels like—well, hordes of minions. One of the strategies the campaign used was trendjacking. By making memes, creating GIFs that commented on trending events and pairing movie clips with viral TikTok sounds, the marketers helped Despicable Me become one of the best-performing movies of 2022 . In this article, we’ll define trendjacking, discuss its benefits and offer some tips for how to use the strategy. Create a website with Wix to give your social media accounts a central hub. What is trendjacking? Trendjacking is a social media marketing strategy in which a brand uses trending topics, events or memes to connect with their audience. “The number one goal of marketing is attention,” explained Daniel Murray , creator of The Marketing Millennials, a podcast and newsletter that caters to marketing professionals. “Trendjacking is a way to get attention by inserting your brand into everyday conversations.” What are the benefits of trendjacking? While trendjacking holds so much opportunity for businesses, a few of the main benefits include: Attracts followers To gain success on social media, you must attract your target audience and make them want to follow you. Trendjacking shows people that they’ll get engaging content from your brand beyond ads and promotions. Murray says that increasing your follower count can lead to increased business. “Do the math: Only 2% of my audience converts,” said Murray. “If I have 10,000 followers, 2% is 200 conversions. If I have 20,000 followers, 2% is 400 conversions.” Encourages engagement Trendjacking encourages social media engagement because it requires your brand to participate in an already active conversation. Plus, people like to share things that make them laugh. “If you go look at the most shared things on Instagram, it’s memes,” said Murray. “People share them all the time.” Appeals to Gen Z Market research shows that 85% of Generation Z learns about new products on social media. Trendjacking can be an effective Gen Z branding tool because it taps into the generation’s interest in humor, authenticity and creativity. Saves money Trendjacking can be one of the most affordable types of marketing because you just have to capitalize on concentrated attention—you don’t have to build it yourself. It doesn’t require any additional promotion costs and you can develop a post in less than a day. So, if you’re strapped for cash, you can use trendjacking to drum up interest without blowing your budget. Tip : Use Wix’s social media design tool to execute your vision. What are the drawbacks of trendjacking? Although trendjacking can be a cost-effective way to boost your following and amplify your brand, it comes with risks. You could turn off segments of your audience or ultimately miss the mark, impacting your brand reputation. Trendjacking isn’t right for every business, either. The strategy might not fit a business with an older clientele, has a more buttoned-up brand or deals with sensitive subject matter. How to decide if and when trendjacking works for your brand Whether your business can gain from trendjacking depends on if it fits your social media branding . Your company’s social media skills and bandwidth also factors in. “If you think that this is one way to get attention for cheap because you have a low budget, you could put this as one of the things you focus on,” said Murray. “But if trendjacking is just a side thing you’re trying out, then it might not be super successful.” How to make trendjacking work for your business Like most social media trends, trendjacking can be simple if you know how to do it right. Use these trendjacking tips to grow your strategy: Use audience research tools to stay in the know Research the trend Set brand guidelines Dedicate some time to scrolling Get to know your audience Comment Be human 01. Use audience research tools to stay in the know Murray recommends using trend-tracking tools such as Google Trends and social-listening tools such as SparkToro to keep up with the conversation. Set up Google Alerts on relevant topics and notifications on relevant accounts so that you can pounce on trendjacking opportunities as soon as they arise. 02. Research the trend If your post doesn’t hit the mark because you either didn’t fully understand the trend or didn’t have anything new to add to the conversation, you’ll come off as inauthentic. Even worse, you might accidentally participate in a meme that has political or harmful undertones. To avoid this, research the trend before you participate on sites like Know Your Meme. 03. Set brand guidelines Because trends move quickly, speed is essential to trendjacking. You don’t have the same amount of time to plan, design and deliberate on a post. Setting brand guidelines allows your business to move quickly on trends and introduce content that aligns with your marketing objectives and identity. “You have to commit to having guardrails and not micromanaging,” said Murray. “That’s where brands won’t be successful with trendjacking. If you try to make it too buttoned-up, it won’t fit.” 04. Dedicate some time to scrolling The best way to get good at trendjacking is simply to spend time on social media. Murray says that trends usually start on Twitter and Reddit, so spend time on those platforms to stay ahead of the curve. Follow meme accounts as well to keep your finger on the pulse. 05. Get to know your audience Know your target market beyond demographics—you need to know what your customers care about, what interests them and how they communicate. “If you do a Friends meme, but none of your audience knows what Friends is, you’re not going to hit with the audience,” Murray explained. Build a customer profile that identifies what they watch, what they read, who they follow and how they spend their time. This profile can act as a blueprint to help you figure out what posts will appeal to them. 06. Comment If you’re new to trendjacking and don’t know if it’ll fit your brand, start by commenting on viral posts. “People forget that commenting is a way of creating content,” said Murray. “Commenting is a great way of testing content because if your comments get a lot of likes, then you can go and create [similar] content.” 07. Be human The most effective brands approach social media with the same energy that an influencer would. The content managers behind Netflix , The Museum of English Rural Life , RyanAir and Duolingo know that they need to speak the language of social media to tap into the Internet’s power. “We’re in the age of people wanting to follow people,” said Murray. “People want to see behind the scenes. People want to know who works for your company. People want to know that you're human.”

  • Customer service tech saved hotels this summer—it can help you, too

    It’s no secret: travel is back. Global travel and tourism is projected to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022, contributing $2 trillion to the US economy. But the rush to visit friends and family or go on that much needed vacation has resulted in travel nightmares for many. While demand is high, travel-related businesses are still reeling from the pandemic’s layoffs, staff health issues and closures. In fact, 7 out of 10 hospitality operators report that they still can’t find enough employees. As the industry that makes up 10% of the global GDP struggles to adapt to a post-pandemic landscape, many hospitality businesses, airports and airlines have turned to technology to help boost productivity and optimize their efforts. These technologies can be applied across types of businesses. Here are three tools to incorporate into your business website that can help sustain your business growth amid increased demand and less-than-ideal resources: Chatbots According to a Drift survey , chatbots were the fastest growing communication channel among businesses between 2019 and 2020—and these 24/7 helpers really came in handy as short-staffed hospitality businesses looked to support guests through their booking journeys (check out AI customer service to see just how this works). An NYU School of Professional Studies and StaynTouch report found that 10.1% of hoteliers said they planned to use chatbots in their operation in 2022—the biggest industry-wide technology implementation. While your business may not have a chatbot for the same reasons as a hotel, you can use this technology to supplement your exceptional customer experience just the same. Chatbots provide always-on customer support, whether that’s helpful links, account statuses, and supply product or service-related information. “Thinking about the bot as a frontend representative of your product or service can make a lot of sense, and having a delightful bot that provides a useful service can generate strong attachment to your brand,” writes Amir Shevat, Head of Product at Twitter, in his book Designing Bots: Creating Conversational Experiences . Tip: Connect a chatbot to your site to take advantage of these capabilities. Voice assistants and voice search Voice assistants like Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa are one of the most widely adopted tech trends in recent years, particularly in hospitality. And this investment has paid off during summer 2022, as voice assistants stepped in to assist with verbal requests that normally would be funneled to the front desk or concierge. For example, Amazon’s Alexa For Hospitality has been adopted by major hotel chains, including Marriott. The device connects to smart speakers in hotel rooms and enhances the guest experience by allowing guests to adjust their room temperature, book spa and restaurant reservations, order room service and even check out. “I think it’s safe to say it’s already been a game-changer within the industry,” says Melanie Smith, digital marketing manager at Run2, in an interview with Click. Magazine. “Aside from drastically changing the way people search for and consume information while planning their trip, hotels are now starting to utilize voice search to enhance a customer’s experience during their stay.” Thirty-one percent of smartphone users across the globe now use voice search to conduct online searches at least once a week, a demand that hotels have met by incorporating voice search SEO best practices. In that same Click . interview, Justine McNamara , senior SEO specialist at New York-based hospitality technology company Next Guest, says that it’s important to look at what consumers are asking around hotel bookings and having content on the site set specifically to answer popular questions. That way, travelers get their questions answered without having to speak to a live person. Tip: Learn more about how to incorporate these practices into your own website by checking out this article on voice search SEO. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) VR and AR have become popular technological advances in the tourism industry, and the market is expected to reach close to $300 billion by 2024 . Particularly during the height of the pandemic, virtual reality allowed consumers to see new places without leaving their living rooms. Although travel is back, people are still using these technologies to decide where to jet off to by checking them out virtually first, helping to ease the load of concierge and customer support teams. For example, a British resort called The Hub Hotel from Premier Inn, places AR compatible wall maps in each hotel room. When viewed through a smartphone or tablet, the wall maps include additional information about local places of interest, educating tourists on places to check out. Learn more: How to start a hotel business As a small business owner , incorporating this technology onto your website can help you free up sales or customer support staff by allowing customers to try a product or experience on their own before they make a purchase. For example, if you're starting a business that sells kitchen cabinets, you can implement an AR feature that allows customers to superimpose what new cabinets would look like in their own homes through their smartphone screens. Tip: Connect a 3D/AR viewer to your website to implement this technology.

  • Shot of inspiration: Websites with stunning backgrounds

    Website backgrounds often do not get enough attention. This is a shame, because a website background has the potential to make or break the entire design. An ideal website background sets the mood and atmosphere you wish to convey, whether you use parallax scrolling or a still image. It catches the visitor’s eye but never distracts from the actual site content. It raises curiosity and demonstrates originality and sophistication. It can be a photograph used as a fullscreen background, a color gradient , or maybe some cute illustrations that decorate the frame. When you decide how to make a website , take some time to think about which background is right for you. Whether you choose to use your own photos or Wix images , your background should make a powerful statement. Here we have a list of websites – all created by Wix users – that boast a really great background. These will give you a good idea of the different types of backgrounds you can choose from. Get inspired! Charlotte Campbell Daza Cultural Jarow Joram Letwory Ken Riley Jr. Ah Yo Open Up Festival Sitzmuster Des Todes Oceanu HH Photo Graphix Melanie Bellemare Steven Weathers Pro tip:  Use background elements like images, patterns, colors, videos, or even interactive features such as custom cursors  and hover effects  to bring your brand’s story and purpose to life.

  • Must-know online tools for managing your social media channels

    Are you one of the 65 million people with a Facebook page for your business? The perfect counterpart to your business website , it’s clearly no secret that a strong social media presence is an essential part of your online marketing efforts. Unfortunately, for many small businesses, managing a social media page can feel like a daunting task. What do you post? When’s the best time to publish content? And worse of all, what if nobody “likes” you? Well, put those worries to rest – because we have a not-so-secret for you. Social media marketers everywhere use a handful of resources that help with everything from page monitoring, to staying on top of the latest internet trends. And the best part? Most of them are totally free and easy to use. Read on to find out which social media tools seasoned community managers can’t live without, and which can help build engagement and make it easier for you to monetize your platform - from making money on TikTok to others. Tools to find trending topics: You know what we love about social media? The fact that it’s like one big water cooler for everyone to share their thoughts on the most popular conversations of the day. In marketing terms, a subject that many people are talking about at the same time is called a “trending topic.” Trending topics can range from anything such as political banter, pop culture, to national holidays and even fun made-up internet holidays . Finding trending hashtags on Twitter and Instagram is as easy as taking advantage of the tools already built-in within the platform. For example, on Twitter, you can clearly see trending topics (often shown as Hashtags) listed on the left side of your screen, and Instagram displays much of its trending content in the search page. But there are also a ton of external programs to help you find fresh new content to cover. Here are just some of our favorites: Twitter Map An interactive map that shows you what topics are trending in any given location in real time. Google Trends See what people are looking up on the world’s most popular search engine in real time. If something is being searched on Google, odds are it’s reached the social-sphere too. Muzli A favorite for finding design inspiration, this website serves fresh content about the latest in technology and design daily. Reddit The self-proclaimed front page of the Internet, every social media manager knows that the best memes and online content are posted here before anywhere else. Tools to schedule your content: Having a well-kept social media account doesn’t mean that you need to spend all day posting content. In fact, much of the content for your social media page can be set and scheduled ahead of time using a social media calendar ! Facebook, for example, has a built-in scheduler within your business page account. If you have a business profile on Twitter , you can schedule any tweet that includes an image, video or GIF in your Media Studio. Naturally, not every social media site is so savvy when it comes to scheduling. For social media pages that don’t have a scheduling function, or if you’re looking to organize all of your content in one convenient spot, a tool called Buffer is a big help! Buffer is a social media scheduling app that can connect to all major social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn and G+) to set and publish your content while you’re off doing other things. One of our favorite features on Buffer is that it analyzes your page audience and suggests the best time of day to post your content based on when your fans will likely see it. Tools to analyze your success: As a small business owner, you have a number of ways to track your success. Whether it’s the amount of stock sold or the number of people that stepped through your store’s front door – every business has their own metrics. When it comes to your social media marketing, there’s no shortage of metrics that you can use to analyze your content’s performance. Every major social platform has an integrated social media analytics tool. Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest are equipped with built-in insights right within the business account. In each case, you’ll find metrics on everything from the reach of your posts, to how many people viewed and engaged with your page. Of course, the Internet is filled with external programs that allow you to truly dig deep into your social media insights, here are just a few of our favorites: Buzzsumo Buzzsumo is a powerhouse tool that’s used to analyze the success of the content you share. One of our favorite features of this website is that it looks into key components of your publications, like headlines or source and suggests new content topics that your audience might be interested in. Commun.it Communit.it is an expert tool to help grow your Twitter page. One of our favorite things about this platform? It analyzes the quality of your Twitter followers to highlight your brand’s newest online evangelists. Google Analytics The holy grail for looking into your website’s traffic, Google Analytics is most commonly used to analyze traffic from your websites and blog. While not a typical social analytics tool, using Google Analytics to assess the traffic to your website from social media sites is one of its most crucial functions. Don’t know a thing about the platform? Here’s a full guide for beginners on Google Analytics. Tools to monitor your pages: Social media is anything but static. A successful social media manager relishes in the back and forth on any content that they publish, however, replying to users can be a bit confusing and overwhelming on some platforms. Thankfully, there are a ton of social media monitoring tools to help simplify the process. Hootsuite (free and paid plans) and Sprout social (free for the first 30 days only) amalgamate any chatter directed at your social media pages into a much more manageable set-up. Take advantage of these sites to ensure that you don’t miss a beat when communicating with your audience online. With Hopp , creating breathtaking and lightning-fast bio pages has never been easier. Its unparalleled customization options allow you to personalize your page to your heart's content, and its innovative search feature makes it simple for your followers to quickly and effortlessly find your links like never before. Tools to design beautiful social images: Most people know that social media channels come with their own rule book when it comes to posting images. With specific size requirements set in place, social media managers need to be sure that they post the correct image on each platform. There they go saving our social lives once again, these tools are totally devoted to creating beautiful images in the exact pixel-perfect size needed, depending on the channel. Here are some of our favorites: Relay This design asset for dummies gives social media managers the ability to create professional looking images without the Photoshop skills you thought you needed. With social sizes in mind, this platform will auto-resize any of your creations for the specific channel you’ll be posting on. Animoto A recent survey suggests that this year, video content will make up 74% of all internet traffic. For those of us who skipped out on film school, Animoto is an easy tool to create video content with photo and images that we already have at our disposal. However, unlike many of the other platforms we mention above, Animoto comes with a small price tag after the free trial. Of course, there are a ton of other social media tools out there depending on your needs. Did we miss your favorite? Tell us about it in the comments! NB: https://www.medianama.com/2017/02/223-facebook-earnings-december-2016/ https://vivipins.com/internet-trends/

  • 13 ways to build your social media presence

    Improving your social media presence comes with plenty of benefits. If you’re going to make a website for your business, you’ll want to optimize your social media channels to drive traffic to your site. Not only that, but an increased social presence helps create brand awareness and reach new clients. Instead of posting randomly on your social channels, look for specific ways to improve your social media presence. Here, we’ll introduce you to 13 different methods that any business can use to start increasing its presence. What is social media presence? Social media presence refers to how present your brand is on social media platforms. Beyond just how visible your brand is on social media channels, it also refers to how a company portrays itself through social media. This type of presence is important to the growth of your brand since it helps you establish your company’s identity and makes your brand appear more trustworthy and credible. It's an integral part of your social networking efforts . With more trust, you can better develop a lasting relationship with your audience as a social media influencer or business owner. Why is social media presence important? Social media presence is crucial for businesses, organizations, and individuals in today's digital landscape. It offers a powerful platform for connecting with audiences, building brand awareness, and achieving marketing goals. Here are some key reasons why social media presence matters: Brand awareness: Social media provides a direct channel to reach a wide audience, increasing brand visibility and recognition. Consistent engagement helps establish a strong brand identity and keeps your brand top-of-mind among potential customers. Customer engagement: Social media allows for direct interaction with customers, fostering relationships, addressing concerns and gathering valuable feedback. It creates a two-way communication channel that strengthens customer loyalty and builds a sense of community. Targeted marketing: Social media platforms offer sophisticated targeting options, enabling businesses to reach specific demographics, interests and behaviors. This allows for personalized messaging and effective ad campaigns that drive conversions. Content marketing: Social media provides a platform for sharing engaging content, including blog posts, videos, images and infographics. It's an opportunity to tell your brand's story, showcase expertise and attract a wider audience. Reputation management: Social media plays a significant role in reputation management. It allows for proactive communication, addressing issues promptly and responding to feedback. Positive interactions enhance brand reputation and build trust. Competitor analysis: Social media provides a wealth of information about competitors, industry trends and consumer preferences. Monitoring social conversations offers valuable insights for strategic decision-making and product development. Lead generation: Social media can be a powerful tool for generating leads and driving sales. Targeted campaigns, engaging content and strategic partnerships can convert followers into customers. Customer service: Social media offers an additional channel for providing customer service and support. Addressing inquiries, resolving issues and offering assistance can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty. Community building: Social media fosters a sense of community among customers and brand advocates. Building relationships with influencers can amplify brand messaging and reach new audiences. Real-time communication: Social media allows for real-time communication, responding to trends and engaging with current events. It's an opportunity to demonstrate brand relevance and connect with audiences on a timely basis. Social media presence is essential for businesses and individuals to thrive in today's connected world. By leveraging social media effectively, you can build a strong brand, engage with customers, achieve marketing goals and gain a competitive edge. 13 ways to build your social media presence Identify your social media goals Get to know your audience Learn how to engage your audience Stay on brand Be authentic Create a social media posting calendar Branch out to new platforms Stay relevant with current events Make sure not all posts are promotional Strive for relationships, not followers Highlight user-generated content Take advantage of new features Post consistently 01. Identify your social media goals Before you begin putting any of your social media marketing plans into action, it’s important that you establish your goals. A good way to do this is to set SMART goals for specific milestones you’d like to accomplish. Let’s take a look at how you might apply SMART goals to increasing your social media presence. As an example of a goal you might have, you might say you want to drive 20% more traffic to your website through your social channels. Setting your goal will look something like this: Specific: Increase traffic to our website with targeted ads on Instagram. Measurable: We’ll monitor metrics on Google Analytics to see the sources of traffic coming to our website. Achievable: Our goal of 20% is realistic based on our budget and timeline. Relevant: This goal will not only bring more traffic to our site but make our brand more visible on social media. Time-bound: We’re setting ourselves a deadline to reach this goal by the end of the next quarter. Setting your goals early on in your social media strategy will help guide you moving forward and gives purpose to each post that you upload. 02. Get to know your audience As a brand, one of your objectives should be getting to know your audience well since this will allow you to create tailored content that’s more likely to grab their attention and gain their trust. You want to know your end user’s interests, what social platforms they use most regularly and what problems they’re facing that your brand can help solve. An excellent way to start getting to know your clients is to create a buyer persona, which is a profile of your ideal target customer that encompasses all of these elements. To help you get audience insights, pay attention to the metrics provided by social media channels as well as social media analytics dashboards, such as Google Analytics. Look at demographics, age, interests, and the platforms they use to see if there are any trends you can pick up on to fine-tune your target audience. You can also deploy social listening , buzz monitoring and online reputation management , which will help you understand how users are talking about and engaging with your brand on social media. 03. Learn how to engage your audience Pay attention to your audience’s reactions, or lack thereof, anytime you post something on social media. Regardless of the platform it’s on, every post should have a goal of engaging your audience by having them take action. Whether that’s liking an image, watching a video, leaving a comment, or clicking on a link, you want your audience to be as engaged as possible. Pay attention to the type of content your audience finds most engaging and the content that elicits less of a response so that you learn where to focus your efforts. A good way to increase social media engagement is to provide your audience with an easy action to complete. That could be responding to a poll in an Instagram story or leaving their questions for a Q&A session. Here’s how home design brand, Modsy, gets its audience to comment on its Instagram posts by asking them to leave a comment on which design they like best. This engagement method is easy to recreate and it’s a great way to get your audience used to commenting on your social media posts. As a bonus, by analyzing their responses to a question like “Which do you like best,” you’re learning more about your audience’s tastes and preferences, which helps you create social media content and products they’ll love in the future. Learn more: What is Brat? 04. Stay on brand We’ve talked a lot about catering to your audience’s preferences on social media, but the key is finding a way to do this while still being true to your brand. Your brand’s voice and aesthetic are very important on social media, so you want to ensure that each piece of content you release is in line with your branding. Make sure that your social media branding , such as your writing voice, aesthetic, image, and messaging, is uniform across all of your channels. Learn more about social media image sizes to get started. 05. Be authentic Your followers want to interact with a brand that’s human and authentic. There are a lot of ways you can come across as authentic on social media. You can speak to your clients like they’re friends, you can present your employees on your social pages to give a face to your brand, talk about your brand’s beginnings and history, and admit when your company did something wrong or apologize for mistakes. A mix of these things will allow your customers to see you as human instead of just a brand, allowing them to deepen their connection with your company. Skylar Grace, a clothing brand built on Wix, exemplifies this on its Instagram profile. The opening line, “Hey bestie! So glad ur here,” is anything but dry and stuffy and makes customers feel like they’re friends with the brand. The company’s owner, Skylar, also appears in a lot of the company’s posts in the clothes, which helps customers put a face to the brand. 06. Create a social media posting calendar Create a social media calendar that encompasses posts across all the social platforms that you’re using. This will help you stay consistent with your posts, pre-plan any content in advance that’s seasonal or holiday-themed, and it will help you avoid posting repetitive or last-minute content. Having a posting schedule is also a good way to map out your strategy and create and schedule content that’s aligned with your goals. Especially if you’re posting to multiple social channels, you want to make sure your content is coordinated on each platform and that you don’t have any large posting gaps. 07. Branch out to new platforms You might start with the usual suspects like Facebook and Instagram marketing because they’re the most popular social media platforms, but once you get going, you should consider branching out to other social networks. Once you know your audience better, you might find out they prefer long-form video content over images, so it would be in your best interest to start creating content on YouTube. Or, maybe your audience is made up of more business professionals that aren’t on apps like Tik Tok or Instagram, so you want to reach them on LinkedIn. There are a number of social media networks you might consider using, like: Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn (learn more about LinkedIn marketing ) Snapchat Tik Tok YouTube Instagram Facebook Depending on your industry, the type of content you create and your audience’s preferences, try and choose a few new platforms to test out engagement. Pro tip: You can use a link in bio tool like Hopp by Wix to generate engagement towards all of your social media channels by linking to them from one designated URL. 08. Stay relevant with current events Audiences want to know that brands are aware of the world around them. In a study, 66% of respondents said that they want brands to take a public stand on social issues. Many brands are hesitant to take a stance when it comes to controversial political and social issues as they don’t want to alienate any portion of their customers. Sometimes, staying relevant with current events has nothing to do with promoting your own brand but rather showing solidarity with a movement. Nike’s “For Once, Just Don’t Do It” anti-racism video is a good example of this and shows how a brand can still stay authentic to its voice, engage its audience, and partake in a social conversation. You can also post on social media about any commitments you’ve made to external organizations or within your own company when it comes to things like becoming more sustainable, hiring more diverse employees, or donating to a cause that’s important to your company. 09. Make sure not all posts are promotional To help you come across more authentic, mix your promotional posts with other types of content. You want to intersperse more “salesy” posts with other social media ideas such as user-generated content or light-hearted videos or photos that don’t have a promotional angle. Additionally, you want to create posts or engage with customers on social media in a way that focuses on helping them, not necessarily selling to them. This can look like answering their comments on social media, showing how to use your product or service in a specific way, or encouraging your audience to reach out on social media with their questions. Learn more: How to design social media graphics . 10. Strive for relationships, not followers Having a lot of followers might get you access to extra features on platforms like clickable links on Instagram Stories, but getting more Instagram followers shouldn’t be your only goal. Instead, double down on fostering relationships with the followers you have and creating new ones. Social media is your venue to communicate with your customers. This is where you’ll convert followers into brand ambassadors, connect with your audience in a way that instills trust, and talk to them directly. It’s better to have a smaller following with highly engaged followers than to have a larger number of followers that don’t interact with you. So, by focusing on growing your relationship with your audience, you’ll be able to increase your brand’s engagement on social media. 11. Highlight user-generated content Whether it’s through influencers or just clients who were happy with their purchase and shared it online, these are the types of posts you should be highlighting to the rest of your audience. As we saw earlier, user-generated content helps you change the pace from self promotional content, but aside from that, it also makes your brand look more trustworthy and authentic. When other clients see positive experiences from your customers on social media, they’ll be more likely to trust your brand. Since this is also very engaging for your followers and helps you make connections with clients who have posted about your brand online, they’ll also become more loyal. Wix user Timber & Jack , regularly reposts photos on its Instagram feed that were posted or taken by customers or influencers. These photos are still aesthetically fitting to the brand’s page. They also showcase how real customers wear the brand’s products in a way that fits with the company’s image. 12. Take advantage of new features Social media platforms are always evolving in order to stay fresh and exciting. A best practice is to embrace new features on each platform and stay ahead of the curb. Sometimes, the new features may be tricky to get comfortable with, but you can make your brand stand out online if you find creative ways to use them. Instagram is a great example of a channel that constantly releases new features. To most, this platform is viewed as a photo-sharing app, but recently, the app has added many new tools, like Instagram Reels and Shopping, that make it more of a video-sharing app. When it comes to new features, social channels algorithms often favor accounts using them over older ones, so it’s in your best interest to get on board with the trends as early as possible. Dogs of Charm City , a community for pet owners, has embraced many of Instagram’s newer features on its profile. By using a mix of post types like images, carousels, Reels, IGTV videos, and even shoppable items, the company is staying relevant to both the platform and its audience. More than that, it also breaks up the monotony of posting the same type of content all the time. 13. Post consistently Finally, for any of these social media marketing tips to work and help you improve your social media presence, you need to be posting consistently on any platform your brand is active on. Find a posting frequency that you and your audience are both happy with and make sure you release new content according to that schedule. That might mean posting every day around the same time or even having specialized posts for different days of the week, such as posting user-generated content on Fridays or new product launches on Mondays. Reaching your goals for increasing your social media presence won’t happen overnight, but if you’re consistent with your posting and remain active on all your channels, you’ll find that you’ll steadily inch closer to your objectives. Companies with the best social media presence Numerous companies have established a remarkable social media presence, captivating audiences and achieving impressive results. Here are a few examples of brands excelling in the social media realm: Nike: Nike has mastered the art of storytelling and emotional connection through social media. Their campaigns celebrate athletes, promote inclusivity and inspire people to push their limits. Their consistent engagement and powerful messaging have earned them a massive following and brand loyalty. Spotify: Spotify has revolutionized music streaming and leveraged social media to connect with music lovers worldwide. Their personalized playlists, curated content and interactive campaigns have made them a cultural phenomenon. They effectively engage with fans, artists and influencers, fostering a vibrant community. National Geographic: National Geographic has harnessed social media to showcase breathtaking photography, captivating stories and thought-provoking content about our planet. Their stunning visuals and educational posts have captivated millions of followers, inspiring curiosity and environmental awareness. Wendy's: Wendy's has become a social media sensation with its witty humor, sassy comebacks and playful interactions with customers. Their unconventional approach has garnered them a loyal fan base and earned them a reputation for being a fun and relatable brand. Airbnb: Airbnb has embraced social media to promote unique travel experiences and foster a sense of community among hosts and travelers. Their inspiring stories, stunning visuals and user-generated content have positioned them as a leader in the travel industry. These examples demonstrate the power of social media when used strategically and creatively. By understanding their audience, producing engaging content and building meaningful connections, companies can elevate their brand and achieve remarkable success in the digital landscape.

  • How to create a stellar social media calendar to boost your content

    Social media marketing is a key element in the workflow of every professional nowadays – whether small business owner, service provider, freelance creative or artist. No online presence is complete without it. Just as it is crucial to create a website , learn SEO skills and collect email subscribers, it is absolutely necessary to establish a dynamic social media presence and to devise a social marketing strategy. Part and parcel of a successful social marketing strategy is maintaining a powerful social media schedule. This calendar combines big holidays, interesting cultural events and internet holidays. But why do you need a social media content calendar? Because it can be challenging to create original social content on a regular basis, and special events offer a great opportunity to post excellent content and keep your social channels active. Because these time-sensitive events have a strong sharable effect on social media, and tapping into that can help extend your reach to larger interested audiences. Now that the advantages are all clear, let’s move on to the practical aspect and explore how to create a powerful social media calendar with massive viral potential. It only requires some strategizing, a solid organizational skill and following these steps. Understand what makes your target audience tick Different events matter for different audiences. You won’t find the same level of enthusiasm for the World Series finals among a community of graphic designers as you would among a community of sports fans. Make a list of people your brand wants to engage and chart their interests, passions and subcultures: They could be techies, working moms, foodies or fashionistas. Find out what they do: are they into spending their free time going to movies, clubbing, gardening or exercising? Are they college-aged youngsters, Gen Xers with nostalgia for the 90s, or did they experience the disco era in real-time? Figuring out the answers to such questions helps you define your target audience better, which will, in turn, help you choose the most appropriate and effective dates to include in your social media calendar. Determine your social media strategy goals Generally speaking, every social media action you take on behalf of your brand should be guided by a clear objective. When you know what the desired outcome is, you strategize better, and a social media calendar is no exception. Before you start building your social calendar, clarify what are the broad goals that you hope to achieve in posting this social content: Are you hoping to energize your followers in a lively discussion? Do you want them to share your content with their own communities? Are you building a brand identity by associating yourself with specific events? Are you selling products directly through social media and want to see sales go up? Once you have the larger goals in mind, you can break them down into smaller tasks, like increasing social media followers , generate more leads or creating viral posts. After you have the social calendar more or less ready, and you’re starting to create specific content for individual events, we recommend that you go through this process once again. Ask yourself: What is the goal of this Earth Day post (for example)? Do you want followers to share it, or to comment on it? Are they supposed to click on a link to continue to your online store, or subscribe to your newsletter? Are you promoting some kind of time-sensitive deal? When you know the answer to this, you’ll be able to create a much better post. Tip: Choose from one of these url shorteners to get your links just right for your viral content. Go find those dates! Now, this is the fun part: Put on your research hat and get to work on finding useful, fun and quirky dates to add to your social media calendar. To streamline this process, you can do it in phases: Start with the basics and make a list of important national and local holidays you’d like to include. Do you represent a particular community? Make sure you include meaningful dates that your audience would appreciate: Pride Week, Black History Month, Ramadan or Chinese New Year’s are all great examples. Following the strategizing you completed in steps 1 and 2, think about major cultural events, entertainment happenings or significant dates you can add: The annual Grammy Awards, the Super Bowl, the release of a new Star Wars film, or any similar event that you believe will both be the focus of public attention and is of interest to your audience. Go over lists of online holidays and choose the ones that work best for your brand identity. These things can be silly but also very charming. If you find ones that really resonate with your target audience, you’ll do great. You can also maximize the time around a holiday. For example, posting in anticipation of a holiday or doing a round up post after the holiday has passed. Sample social media pages of brands, organizations and public figures and see what sort of dates they find worthy of mention on their feed (Wix’s Twitter , Facebook and Instagram pages are always a good place to start :) ) Check out the Google Doodle archive for excellent ideas for unique dates. Stay organized! Prepare an actual calendar Unless you have supernatural memory capabilities, you’ll need an actual calendar to keep track of all the dates you gathered. Trust us, the slight effort of entering the dates into a calendar is actually saving you a lot of time and effort in the long run. Plus, working with an actual calendar has multiple advantages: It allows you to make sure that your chosen dates are not too densely centered around the same timeframe. You want your “event” posts to mixed with your regular social content, not focused all at once. It gives you the opportunity to schedule alerts and reminders and set your mind at ease. Seeing the social media calendar in conjunction with your other day-to-day tasks will give you a good idea of how long in advance you need to prepare and work on your posts’ content (we’ll get to that in a minute). In technical terms, creating the calendar should be a breeze. You can either enter the dates into whatever digital calendar you already work with, or you could use a social media calendar template. Plan ahead with copywriting and images You went through all the research and prep work – excellent job! At the end of the day, it’s the content of your social posts that will determine just how successful your social media calendar is. Planning ahead can give you the time and the creative space for generating spectacular social media ideas (another good reason to stay organized and keep track of dates in advance). Take every detail into consideration which can include researching popular hashtags ahead of time, and making sure you're aware of social media image sizes to optimize all your content. Some posts require more real-time response than others. You probably don’t want to create posts about the World Cup Finals before you know which teams advanced to that stage, but you can definitely work on your Mother’s Day post a few of weeks in advance. One of your responsibilities is to determine which posts can be prepared ahead of time, and which require more spontaneity. Match the social content to the event As you create your posts, it’s important that you find the right angle to approach specific dates. A post celebrating Thanksgiving Day should look and sound different from one that celebrates “May the Fourth.” You want to take the essence of each event and find a way to talk about it that will excite your followers and benefit your brand. A helpful step in finding the right content is considering the genre of content that would be the most appropriate. You have many options to choose from: Images, videos, live broadcasts, blog posts, polls, gifs, posts that encourage users to share their own content, games (like image captions or sentence completion posts), and more. While posting photos from your office on Wear Pajamas to Work Day is an awesome idea, for an event like Human Rights Day you may prefer a video or a blog post, explaining in greater detail what this day means to you. Use scheduling tools to never miss a date After all this hard work, the last thing you want is to forget a date and miss out on an opportunity to post terrific content. Fortunately, technology is more reliable than our human capacity to remember everything and multitask perfectly. Scheduling tools, like Buffer , are your friendly little helpers that publish your posts for you. All you need to do is insert the content in advance and pick the exact time you want your posts to go live.

  • 16 sports websites that deserve gold medals

    Unless you’ve avoided newspapers, magazines, television, radio, podcasts, and the internet for the last few weeks, chances are you know Super Bowl season is upon us. American football might not be everyone’s favorite, but you don’t have to be a huge fan to appreciate the excitement that surrounds any major sporting event. No matter whether your allegiance lies on a tennis court or a soccer field, the Wix template collection has tons of options that will help you create the perfect site for your passion. So if you’re thinking about creating a sport site for your coaching, hobby, favorite team, little league or even sporting goods store, these just might be the inspiration you’re looking for. In the spirit of all things sporty, we’ve found some really impressive websites that we felt deserved the spotlight. Ready? Set… GO! Learn more: How to make a sports website Adelaide Motorsport Festival >> Tennis for Chances >> Pr Golf Online >> Fantasy Squads >> From the Couch >> Cdc JD Maringa >> Just Premier >> Mes Q Sport >> Oxford Parkour >> Parent Soccer Coach >> Poza Rica Deportes >> Ricardinho >> Shaolin Shi Xing Mi >> Derby Darlins >> Sunshine Coast Referees >> Joern Pollex >>

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