Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Facebook is an undeniably powerful platform for advertisers.
In fact, HubSpot Blog Research found Facebook is the most popular social media network for advertising in 2022, with 62% of companies currently leveraging it.
Additionally, Facebook has proven to be the social media platform that generates the biggest ROI. 
But getting started on Facebook advertising can be intimidating — particularly with a limited budget. You don’t want to waste all your ad spend before you’ve identified a strong, effective long-term advertising strategy.
Here, I sat down with Tarcisio Ribeiro, Meta’s Director of Ads, to discuss his three tips for getting the most out of your Facebook ad strategy. Let’s dive in.

Tips for Creating Powerful Facebook Ads, According to Meta’s Director of Ads
1. Keep it simple.
When you’re first getting started with Facebook ads, you might feel overwhelmed by the amount of options available. For instance, you can create a boosted ad, a video ad, a poll ad, or a carousel ad (to name a few).
Ribeiro advises against getting too complex when you’re first starting out. As he puts it, “One challenge I’ve seen with new Facebook Ads users is that they see the numerous capabilities we have in our Ads Manager, and without fulling understanding how everything works, they try to play with everything. As a result, they end up wasting money because they’re either not being targeted enough, or they’re using the wrong capabilities.”
In other words: Don’t try to do too much, too quickly.

Start by identifying your objective — awareness, traffic, engagement, leads, app promotion, or sales. And, rather than creating a more complex video or carousel, start with a boosted post, which is an easy opportunity to start discovering your target audience. (More on that, next.)
From there, consider taking the time to explore the resources that can help you create an optimized ad. Ribeiro suggests that new Facebook Ads users take the time to take the Meta Blueprint trainings.
2. Know your audience — including the details.
Ribeiro told me it’s imperative you understand the audience you’re going to target — in other words, who is most likely to become a consumer.
And, equally importantly, you need to be willing to iterate over time to ensure your target audience becomes more refined.
“For instance,” Ribeiro says, “Perhaps you sell baby strollers. But beyond that, you have certain characteristics that pertain to your target audience — maybe it’s a higher-income market, or parents who are very mobile and need a lightweight stroller to take on trips. In the beginning, you may have a cohort of ten different kinds of profiles who might buy your stroller. But, over time, you’re going to see that 20% of those audiences are the ones who are most likely to purchase your product.”
Facebook ads can help you identify a more specific and niche audience to target. If we use the example mentioned above, perhaps you’d expected parents in the suburban areas surrounding Boston to purchase your strollers, but you find in your Ads analytics that most of your consumers are metro-based. As you begin to discover who your true consumer is, you can refine your ads strategy accordingly.  
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can also leverage Facebook’s Lookalike feature to ensure your ads are capturing the attention of people who match the same characteristics as your current buyers.
Already a Meta customer? Click here to get 20% off HubSpot products. 
3. Pay attention to the creative.
“One of the first things users notice and react on is going to be your creative,” Ribeiro told me, “so it’s important you pay attention to how you’re designing your ad.”
For context, an ad creative is the visual attributes of the advertisement, whether it be an image, video, or another format.
Consider, for instance, the fun, lighthearted, and bright designs in the Blue Bunny Ice Cream creative, shown below:

The ad itself needs to grab the attention of your users. If you’re unsure what type of creative will resonate best with your audience, try A/B testing different styles to identify what works best.
Additionally, the type of ad you create is equally important to consider. Ribeiro says, “Video always performs best because it’s the most engaging. But you don’t need a big budget or sophisticated equipment for video. If you’re a small business and you only have pictures, you can actually convert those pictures into a video in our Ads Manager through our partnership with Vimeo.”
Whether you’re ready to get started with Facebook Ads or take your ads strategy to the next level, hopefully these three tips have enabled you to focus in on what matters most.
The power of Facebook Ads is in the large variety of tools and features it offers businesses — but it’s imperative, for your own purposes, that you start simple; take the time to identify your correct target audience; and design a creative that will compel your audience to take action.

Video content accounts for over 82% of all online traffic — and YouTube is the most popular video platform with more than two billion active users.
Because video is an essential channel for marketers, it’s important to know how to leverage YouTube for your own business.

This article will cover everything you need to know about creating a YouTube channel so you can start uploading your own videos and growing your audience today.

Can’t create a new channel?
If you’re seeing a “This action isn’t allowed” message when you try to create your channel, you may be using an outdated version of the YouTube app.
Here are your options to move forward:

Update the YouTube app on your device.
Create your YouTube channel using a browser on your computer (following the steps outlined in more detail below).

How to Create a YouTube Channel
Creating a well-managed YouTube channel with consistent content can help businesses grow better, but doing it right is just as important. Here’s how to do it step-by-step.
1. Sign in to your Google account.
You’ll need a Google account to watch, share, create, and comment on YouTube content. Go to youtube.com and click “Sign In” in the upper right-hand corner. From there, you’ll be taken to a Google sign-in page.

If you have a Google account, you’ll be prompted to sign in.
If you have multiple Google accounts, be sure to select the one you want to be associated with the YouTube channel.
If you do not have a Google account, click “Create Account” and follow the prompts to register for one.

2. Create a new YouTube channel using your Google account.
Once you’re set up with and signed into your Google account, it’s time to create a channel. Click your user icon in the upper right-hand corner. This represents both your Google account and your YouTube account (as YouTube is owned by Google). You’ll see a drop-down menu, where you’ll want to click “Settings.”
From there, you’ll be taken to your account overview. Click “Create a new channel” under “Your channel.”

The first step is to create your new channel name. It can be whatever you want, and doesn’t have to be the same name that you used to create your Google account — but we do recommend that it reflects the brand the YouTube Channel will represent.
After you enter the channel name, you might be asked to verify the account via text message or voice call. If that happens, enter the code you receive from the option you choose.
Once you’ve verified your account, you’ll be taken to the dashboard for your channel. Now, it’s time to start customizing it.
3. Navigate to the Customize Channel page.
We’ll start with the fundamental details about your channel. From your channel dashboard, click “Customize channel.”
From there, you’ll be taken to the channel customization page.
You’ll notice three tabs: “Layout,” “Branding,” and “Basic info.” These three tabs will help you optimize your channel for viewers.
4. Add Basic Info to your channel for discoverability.
Start by clicking “Basic info.”
Here’s where you’ll enter some basic information about your channel, like the language your videos are in, as well as a description that helps people discover your channel when they enter search terms that describe what videos they’re looking for. These keywords can include what your channel is about, the problems it helps solve, the people and products featured, your industry, and more.
You’ll also be able to add links to sites you want to share with your viewers. These links will be displayed over your banner image (more on this later) like so:
5. Upload branding elements to your channel.
In addition to the descriptive details you’ve added, there’s another element of customization for a new YouTube channel: The visuals.
Under the “Branding” tab, you’ll be able to add your profile picture, banner image, and video watermark.
Profile Picture
Profile pictures help YouTube users identify the creator of a video when browsing video content. You’ll see this image appear beneath YouTube videos on the play page, as shown below. YouTube recommends using a picture with dimensions of at least 98 x 98 pixels.
Banner Image
The banner image is a large banner displayed at the top of your channel page, and it’s a big opportunity to convey your brand to your viewers. YouTube recommends using an image that’s at least 2048 x 1152 px and 6MB or less.
Video Watermark
The video watermark is displayed at the bottom right of every video you post (see below). You’ll want to choose a logo that best represents you sized at 150 x 150 px.
6. Customize your more advanced layout options.
Click the “Layout” tab.

From here, you’ll be able to specify certain details about how you want your content presented on your channel’s page. You’ll have the option to designate a video spotlight and organize your channel page with featured sections.
7. Add videos and optimize them for search.
To upload your first video to YouTube, click the “Create” button in the top-right corner and follow the prompts.

Optimizing your channel for discoverability is just the beginning. Once you start adding videos, you’ll want to optimize them for search, which in turn helps users discover your video.
But this goes beyond giving your videos accurate, clear, and concise titles — though that is important. Below, we describe some of the most important things to optimize on YouTube.
Title
When we search for videos, one of the first things that our eyes are drawn to is the title. That’s often what determines whether or not the viewer will click to watch your video, so the title should not only be compelling but also clear and concise.
Description
This should be limited to 1,000 characters — and remember that your viewer came here to watch a video, not to read a lot of text. Plus, YouTube only displays the first two or three lines of text, which comes to about 100 characters, so front-load the description with the most important information.
Tags
Using tags doesn’t just let viewers know what your video is about — they also help YouTube understand your video’s content and context. That way, YouTube can associate your video with similar videos, broadening your content’s reach. But approach with caution: just as with your title, don’t use misleading tags because they might get you more views. In fact, Google might penalize you for that.
Category
Choosing a category is another way to group your video with similar content on YouTube — but that might not be as simple as it sounds. YouTube’s Creator Academy suggests that marketers “think about what is working well for each category” you’re considering by answering questions like:

Who are the top creators within the category? What are they known for, and what do they do well?
Are there any patterns between the audiences of similar channels within a given category?
Do the videos within a similar category share qualities like production value, length, or format?

That’s it — you’ve officially not only created a YouTube channel but now also know how to optimize its content for discoverability. For more information on how to best leverage YouTube for marketing, check our entire collection of resources.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

A business requirement document (BRD) is a starting point for any software project or business solution. This document aligns team members on what to build, why to build it, and how to get it done.

This article explores the basics of business requirement documents. That includes why you need one, how to write one effectively, and more. We’ve also included the 5 coolest BRD examples from big-name companies.
Keep reading for the complete guide.
Table of Contents
What is a Business Requirement DocumentWhy is It Important to Document Business RequirementsHow to Write a Business Requirement Document in 9 Easy StepsExamples of Business Requirement Documents

 

BRDs capture every step of product development, from an executive summary to expected outcomes. Business requirement documents often include:

Current pain points and project objectives.
What resources a company needs.
The delivery stages and milestones of a project.
The functional requirements of a new solution (technical and non-technical).
Project constraints (everything that may slow down or hinder the progress of a project).
Stakeholders.
Risks.
Expected ROI.

The structure of business requirement documents may vary depending on the project type. For instance, you’ll cut off technical functional requirements if the solution you aim to build isn’t software.
We’ll explain how to write a BRD in full. You can see a sample template below.
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Why are Business Requirement Documents Important?
BRDs paint a complete picture of a potential project. These documents bring together all the teams involved in a project launch and ensure successful project delivery.
In fact, the Project Management Institute discovered that teams without prior planning fail projects two times more frequently than prepared teams. PMI also revealed that planning helps teams meet 77% of their goals, versus 56% for those with low project management maturity.
BRDs also allow your team to:

Monitor the overall project’s health.
Bring stakeholders and team members together to create consensus and collaboration.
Hedge the risk of unexpected project changes.
Understand your budget and anticipated ROI.
Understand your project constraints and find an optimal solution to address them.
Foster accountability among your team by setting clear, transparent goals.

How to Write a Business Requirement Document
Here, you’ll learn what to write in every section of a business requirement document. To make the process easy to understand, we’ll explain every step in an example.
So to start, imagine that your company wants to create a content management system for TikTok specialists. What you have now is a mess of Google Sheets and notes on paper. Your goal is to plan, manage, and measure TikTok performance in one place.

With that in mind, let’s start outlining our business requirements.

1. Start with your executive summary.
Executive summaries describe a project concisely for your execs or other parties involved (e.g., business partners). This section offers a high-level statement of project purposes. An executive summary should capture the following:

Current pain points and how they affect the business.
What you offer as a solution.
Relevant data, like expected ROI.
A deadline for the project.

Your executive summary should be easy to understand. Your readers should learn why the project is important and worth investing in just by reading this section.
For our TikTok CMS project, the executive summary would read as follows:
Our organization is seeking a TikTok content management system to measure the TikTok team’s performance. We aim to analyze campaigns, ad spending, and ROI to scale the most beneficial campaigns.
We expect the product to be built by the end of the third quarter.
2. Communicate business objectives.
List the business objectives you hope to achieve with the project. HubSpot’s SMART system offers a simple goal-setting method. Your objectives should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-Bound.
Let’s set objectives for our TikTok CMS:

Increase the ROI of TikTok ads by 10% in November.

Speed up post creation to publish 2 posts daily.

Build an analytical report to access and analyze TikTok metrics in one place.

Define TikTok’s best-performing campaigns to scale them.

If you cannot specify the numbers or it’s hard to predict them, detail specific results that you hope to achieve from the full implementation of the project.
3. Explain the project’s background and why it’s needed.
Name a few urgent issues you aim to solve with the project. Provide data and research to support your statement. For instance, you can compare current and expected spending. Be sure to include a summary of past experiments or projects in this section.
Here’s the background for our TikTok example:
Our team has no detailed record of our TikTok ROI. A TikTok CMS will help to cut the costs of TikTok campaigns and increase ROI. We will also determine the best-performing campaigns in terms of ROI.
4. Set your scope of work.
This is the most important part of your BRD. This section should include:

A detailed overview of project objectives.
Milestones.
Project deliverables.
Acceptance criteria.

Your scope of work identifies what needs to be done within a specific period. Be sure to clearly communicate the project requirements for every step of development. This fosters clear communication between stakeholders and team members who will be working on the project. You’ll also mitigate the risk of the project veering off course.
5. Define the project’s functionality requirements.
List all the features and necessary functionality of the product. This section includes what needs to be built and any features your new project requires. You can also describe this section under the Scope of Work.
For our TikTok CMS, we’ll need:

A calendar task view for content management.

Reporting features.

Monthly performance analytics for a stand-alone post and a group of posts.

Filtering by different campaigns.

6. Identify your key stakeholders.
This section of your BRD lists key stakeholders for your project. Take the time to outline each person’s roles and responsibilities. Make sure to include both internal and external parties.
Let’s dive into our example.

Chief Marketing Officer: Approve TikTok CMS creation.

Project managers: Responsible for decomposing the project, assigning team members, and ensuring the project is completed on schedule.

TikTok team lead: Responsible for making content and gathering performance metrics.

7. Communicate project constraints.
It’s essential to specify the existing boundaries that affect project development. Your constraints can be anything from your budget, current toolkit, technical limitations, team availability, or dependencies.
Here’s a great example of project boundaries for a technical product:
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8. Set a schedule.
Work hand in hand with your project managers to specify deadlines for each phase of your initiatives. BRDs for external clients should include final deadlines and estimated delivery dates around milestones.
For our TikTok CMS, here is our schedule.

Phase 1. Complete X by December 2022

Phase 2. Develop and conduct quality assurance of X feature by March 2023

9. Summarize your cost-benefit analysis.
A cost-benefit analysis determines whether the project’s benefits outweigh its costs. Create a spreadsheet that outlines current expenses and budget lost by inefficiencies. Forecast the amount of money and other benefits a company will gain.
Your goal is to convince executives that a new project is worth the investment. Bolster your case by presenting facts and figures.
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5 Outstanding Business Requirement Document Examples
We’ve gathered a collection of 5 business requirement document templates. Look through each and choose one that fits best with your project. Be sure to adjust each template to meet your project requirements.
PandaDoc BRD Template
This is a fantastic template if you want to prepare a BRD for product development. PandaDoc provides straightforward examples of what text you should put in each section. You’ll also find best practices for every entity mentioned in the template.
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TechWhirl BRD Template
This template is designed specifically for new technology solutions. TechWhirl includes 17 sections that detail the project summary, scope, business process overview, business requirements, and more. You can even include data in charts and graphs.
Best for: Explaining complex business processes and dependencies.
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Asana BRD Template
Asana provides a free BRD template that you can edit in real-time. This compact template includes only necessary fields, and each section has tips on what to write. This template is best for getting buy-in from internal stakeholders.
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Smartsheet BRD Template
Smartsheet offers a one-size-fits-all BRD template. You can use it for small internal projects and for complex, expensive projects for external vendors. Every section is complemented by a short description or example of what should be written.
Want to see more templates? Here are 10 free BRD templates from Smartheet (all follow the same pattern).
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ClickUp BRD Template
Looking for a simple BRD to guide your projects? Try this template from ClickUp. There are only basic sections (with sheets) that you can easily fill out online. Marketing and sales teams can use this template to get buy-in for CRM tweaks, API connectors development, etc.
Best for: Small inner projects with few requirements and deliverables.
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Writing Your Business Requirement Document
No matter the scope of your project, a business requirement document can help you keep the process tidy. With this document, you’ll have a clear plan to guide your project. Plus, you’ll have a compact summary of the business case fueling your initiative.
If you’re looking to pitch your business as a whole, explore HubSpot’s free business proposal template. We’ll walk through how to summarize your solutions, share pricing, and set timelines.

Before sales happen, your brand needs to nurture a relationship with prospects. A great way to establish relationships with your leads—and build towards successful sales—is through email marketing and landing pages. A client-first approach makes prospects feel valued, especially in a world where other businesses are solely focused on sales and conversions. With email marketing,…
The post Email Marketing and Landing Pages: How They Work Together appeared first on Benchmark Email.

submitted by /u/KKJA102 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/KKJA102 [link] [comments]

submitted by /u/KKJA102 [link] [comments]

I’m looking for a platform able to unify the content workflow from content ideation to content writing, and able to distribute the content on multiple devices (e.g. website and web app) and social channels (e.g. LinkedIn and Twitter) at the same time from the same workspace. It would be very helpful to me. What are your thoughts? submitted by /u/codeliacms [link] [comments]