Category: Marketing Automation

This time each year, nature – as well as marketing – slows down as we head into colder seasons.
As we enter Q4, marketing departments are preparing for a slowdown in business that comes as people tune out towards the end of the year.
But, while seasonal change is expected and inevitable, this year’s economic shifts might cause some marketers to worry that this year could bring a flurry of poor numbers.
As you see dips or bumps in early Q4, you might wonder, “Is my marketing department experiencing seasonality or an impact of outside events, or are our numbers solely based on the work we’ve been doing?”
To help you gather evidence that proves or disproves the possibility of outside impacts in Q4, here’s a look at how businesses across industries entered the first month of it in October.
About this Data: These insights are based on data aggregated from 158,000+ HubSpot customers globally between July 2021 and October 2022. Because the data is aggregated from HubSpot customers’ businesses, please keep in mind that the performance of individual businesses, including HubSpot’s, might differ based on their markets, customer base, industry, geography, stage, and/or other factors.

How Marketing Metrics Are Shifting (or Staying the Same) in Early Q4
To learn how metrics were shifting, we looked at data from sample sizes of 120,000+ businesses.
Overall, we’re seeing that most inbound marketing metrics are down year-over-year. Luckily, the good news is that one major, hard-to-win metric, website conversion rate, is trending upward.

 

When looking month-over-month, numbers seem to be flatter with a mixed bag of small increases and decreases, which could hint that we’re heading into a seasonal time of slow growth, or starting to see some sluggishness due to the economic climate.

 

Below, I’ll break down each key marketing metric and walk through what we’ve seen across industries in Q4 so far.
Q4 Web Traffic So Far
Month-over-month, we see that fall and winter seasonality hasn’t harmed websites quite yet with most industries seeing flat, low-change in traffic. Only Technology, Information and Media (up 2% MoM) as well as Trade, Transportation and Utilities (up nearly 3%) saw any real change.
While seasonality might not be impacting the industries below, year-over-year data shows significant dips in traffic across industries (a theme we’ve seen throughout the last few months). Professional and Business Services (down 10%) saw the most significant annual loss, while Leisure and Hospitality saw the reverse with a nearly 7% YoY increase.

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
1.30%
-10.80%
145,150

Construction
-1.21%
-5.39%
1,405

Education and Health Services
-0.42%
-3.74%
3,659

Financial Activities
1.32%
-11.12%
4,084

Leisure and Hospitality
-1.31%
6.99%
1,114

Manufacturing
-0.19%
-6.43%
4,463

Professional and Business Services
-0.55%
-9.65%
12,999

Technology, Information and Media
2.32%
-4.62%
14,934

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
2.92%
-5.58%
3,480

Why is this happening? Are we continuing to see solid annual traffic drops? We can’t be certain, but a few things that could be causing impacts are:

More and more, audiences spend time discovering and even shopping for products on social media directly – no longer relying on standalone company sites.
In 2021, many regions were still at least partially quarantined due to COVID-19. While the pandemic continues, most of the world’s lightened precautions, enabling economies to re-open and allowing more people to go out and spend less time surfing the web.
Search engines get more and more competitive daily as hundreds of sites aim to rank for the same keywords as their competitors. More competition directly impacts search traffic and, today, search result pages are more saturated than ever..

Website Conversions Grow Despite Traffic Dips
While traffic seems to be a tad sluggish in October, we’re seeing significant YoY gains (+10.95%) overall with Technology, Information and Media leading the pack (+22.1%) and only Trade, Transportation and Utilities, and Construction seeing decreases.
Across the board, we’re seeing a very slight MoM decrease overall, except for Technology, Information and Media which saw a large increase and Trade which saw the greatest decrease (aligning with slow tech business growth reports we’ve seen all over the news.)

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
-1.76%
10.95%
124,836

Construction
-5.36%
-5.36%
1,166

Education and Health Services
2.26%
19.35%
3,316

Financial Activities
-4.59%
7.47%
3,542

Leisure and Hospitality
5.00%
9.70%
939

Manufacturing
-6.27%
12.95%
3,905

Professional and Business Services
0.31%
15.41%
11,451

Technology, Information and Media
17.27%
22.10%
13,504

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
-8.41%
-4.39%
2,984

Inbound Leads Stay Fairly Flat… Except in a Few Key Industries
In October, Inbound Leads were a mixed bag. However, the evidence of both positive and negative seasonality patterns become more obvious when looking at this metric.
Month-over-month, inbound leads remained flat with an overall 0.65% decrease. Manufacturing (-6.48%), as well as Transportation and Utilities (-5.6%), saw the biggest dips. Meanwhile, Construction (-8.75%) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (9.82%) saw significant YoY losses.
Where did inbound leads grow? Technology, Information and Media saw a sizable MoM and YoY increase of 5.22% each. Additionally, inbound leads overall saw a small annual increase with Education and Health Services (16.76%) and Leisure and Hospitality (17.15%) seeing the greatest gains. These boosts contributed to year-over-year growth of 1.63% for overall industries.

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
-0.65%
1.63%
132,820

Construction
-4.48%
-8.75%
1,345

Education and Health Services
1.70%
16.76%
3,636

Financial Activities
-2.80%
-1.97%
3,876

Leisure and Hospitality
2.74%
17.15%
1,031

Manufacturing
-6.48%
4.31%
4,287

Professional and Business Services
0.15%
8.02%
12,648

Technology, Information and Media
5.22%
5.22%
14,592

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
-5.61%
-9.82%
3,251

What can we make of this data?
While we can expect year-over-year conversion rate growth with web traffic going down annually, some of the substantial losses and gains are due to more than just web traffic. A few potential impacts could be:

Products or services sold within manufacturing, trade, transportation, and utilities can be quite expensive or impacted by inflation. As people tighten their budgets with conflicting economic news, high-priced industries could be seeing some sluggish lead generation as people might only be focusing on just the products or services they need.
Seasonality is likely beginning to take effect as people begin to focus more on experiences driven by education, media, and holiday travel, while putting other industries on the back burner.
As we keep seeing news of career changes, recession-based company shifts, and the continuing pandemic, people might be more fixated on Education and Health Services industries than in previous quarters, leading to nearly-17% annual lead growth.

Are Marketing Emails Struggling to Be Seen?
In our previous reports, we noted that while marketers have been sending fewer emails – likely to meet the needs of today’s subscribers with heavily cluttered inboxes – they’re still seeing opens and open rates dip.
It’s tricky to guess what the problem could be, but as the HubSpot Blog’s former email manager, one suspicion I have is that email inboxes are far too saturated and competitive these days.

Metric
MoM
YoY
Sample size

Email sends
1.42%
-1.97%
141,791

Email opens
-1.14%
-15.85%
141,791

Email open rate
-2.19%
-13.71%
141,769

Ultimately, if your email isn’t seen in an inbox no one will open it. And, if you’re sending emails with great content, but non-competitive, non-eye-catching subject lines, your readers might not click into them.
Odds are, your subscriber subscribes to many other emails related to your industry. And, because of this, they compare you to competitors sending similar content with similar goals each day. This is why it’s so important for your brand’s emails to seem as interesting, unique, and eye-catching as possible – without looking too desperate.
To learn more about how to boost your open rate and opens, check out this helpful post.
Further Reading
When it comes to key marketing metrics, keeping a pulse on how the business world and your industry are doing can help you determine when and how to get ahead of competition.
For even more helpful data, check out our previous reports, plus a few additional research studies, as you plan your strategies for Q4 and beyond.

The Top Traffic, Conversion & Lead Trends in Q3: Data & Takeaways from 120,000 Businesses
Your Guide to Summer Web Traffic, Conversion & Lead Performance Across Industries
A Crisis of Disconnection: 3 Business Trends Stifling Business Growth in 2022

Lastly, be sure to check out our free, downloadable 2022 State of Marketing Report below – with data and tips from experts across the global marketing industry.

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🖊️Small Business, Big Lessons is a podcast from Buffer that goes behind the scenes with inspirational small businesses to explore how they are questioning the best ways to build a business and uncover the big lessons we can learn from their journeys (so far). Check out episode eight here.Running a small business requires grit and perseverance, but these entrepreneurs found in order to really succeed they needed to relinquish certain beliefs that they once held close. In our final episode of season 2 of our podcast Small Business, Big Lessons, we spoke to several entrepreneurs about former thought processes they had to leave behind in order to grow their small business and why that was the right decision for them.Why letting go is important for these longtime entrepreneursLetting go of previous viewpoints is never easy, especially when it comes to beliefs or ideas we’ve held for a long time, but according to business consultant Holly Howard sometimes entrepreneurs can get too attached to certain beliefs and need that push to let go. She finds author Katie Byron’s concept of asking oneself “Is it true?” is a great way to think about whether some of our ideologies are still relevant today. Holly shared, “’Is it true,’ is a helpful way to sort of play with this idea of letting go with entrenched beliefs. Because sometimes, when we are challenged around our beliefs, we can get really triggered, right? And we can double down and we can hold tight to things, because those beliefs have been our safety.”Checking in with yourself and evaluating whether your beliefs are relevant and whether they still resonate can help from becoming stuck in a certain mindset. Seasoned entrepreneurs Rand Fishkin and Ari Weinzweig have learned the power of letting go early on in their careers and say it’s helped them immensely in all aspects of their lives.How one entrepreneur practices detachmentRand Fishkin, co-founder of audience research tool SparkToro, finds letting go a bit easier than most people do. The entrepreneur says he’s developed an unusual detachment from previously held beliefs and prior ideas, and even has learned to not get too attached to the sentimental things in his life. He credits this to his maturity and that fact that he’s able to rationally reason about things – even when emotions are involved. When it comes to his past experiences as a small business owner, Rand does have some regrets. Specifically from his time as CEO of his first business Moz, a SEO software company. Looking back now, Rand believes he valued the wrong things when running Moz, like having a big staff, a huge IPO, and raising lots of money. Now, he thinks the opposite is true, and is running SparkToro with different values, including smaller team sizes. “I have so many things I regret from my time at Moz. And also, I’m deeply grateful for the experience. And I think those two things can be tough to reconcile, but they can simultaneously exist and you can still be at peace,” he said.While it’s not always easy for Rand to reflect on his former business, he has chosen to forgive himself from his past mistakes and has let go of any deep feelings he has about the time. This has allowed him to start anew with SparkToro. Still, he understands that forgiving oneself and detaching from past experiences isn’t always an easy journey. But he believes that, eventually, anyone can get there. “I think people who have gotten to that place [of letting go], have gotten there through active work on it,” he said. “Through emotional processing, and the ability to reflect on their actions and reflect on the life they want to lead. How they want to be in the world and the impact they want to have on people around them.”Viewing letting go is an essential part of life and businessAri Weinzweig, co-founder of Zingerman’s community of businesses, believes that once we become conscious of our beliefs, we are free to unlearn them or choose beliefs that are more compatible with our lives. This philosophy around letting go has allowed him to succeed as an entrepreneur but in his personal life, too.Thinking back to his childhood, he can pinpoint certain beliefs that have benefited his life and others that he’s had to confront. “I love to read. So this is something I grew up with. And that belief that I got when I was two has served me really well,” Ari said. “Other beliefs, like that asking for help was weak, were very unhelpful. And so I’ve needed to relearn how to do that.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zingerman’s Community (@zingermanscommunity) Similar to Rand, Ari also learned to detach himself from Zingerman’s. He tries not to let past failures with the business define him. He takes insights from author Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” and believes that everyone is a good person who is trying their best. By operating with that mindset, Ari views failure as a necessary component of life. “When we embrace imperfection, then of course, I make mistakes. Of course, not everything’s going to work out. And then I need processes, techniques to help myself reground because there’s failure happening constantly in the ecosystem,” Ari said. How these entrepreneurs had to let go in order to start their small businessesHere’s what these entrepreneurs had to let go of in order to go all in with their small businesses.Leaving full time jobs to pursue a passionWhen Becky and Huw founded Paynter Jacket, an ethical clothing store that drops four jacket releases a year, they were both still working full time jobs while running their small business on the side. They did this to be cautious and not put all of their eggs in one basket, but eventually, as they started gaining social media followers and released their first batch, Becky decided to quit her job. She left on her birthday as a gift to herself. Letting go of the stability that a job provides was nerve-wracking, though she was also excited for the future of Paynter. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paynter (@paynterjacket) “I think it was lucky that I waited until after batch number one [to quit my job], because we had customers and we really did have a lot to do. It was everything I’d wanted,” Becky said. “And it was also really intimidating at the same time because you don’t have a boss or a mentor that you have in a bigger company that you can say I’m struggling with this, or can I just check this with you?”Soon after, Huw took the plunge and quit his job, but letting go was a bit more difficult for him, especially because he really appreciated his work environment and colleagues. “It was actually really hard for me to leave my job because I was in a company that I absolutely loved,” he said. “I loved the people there. I loved the purpose of the business. I loved doing my job every day,” Huw said. “It was hard to even think about leaving because like, this whole team around me, I absolutely loved them.” It was Huw’s boss and mentor who finally gave him the push he needed. He sat Hu down and told him he believed in Paynter’s success. And also reminded Huw that he was at the perfect stage in his life where he could take the risk and go out on a limb.While letting go of jobs that provided stability and comfort weren’t easy for Becky and Huw, doing so was the only way they were able to put their all into Paynter Jacket.An evolution of a career pathBefore Kelly Phillips founded Destination Unknown Restaurants, she was working full time as a journalist and food writer. It was through her day job at the Philadelphia City Paper where she was able to learn the ins and outs of the restaurant industry that made her interested in opening up one herself. While switching careers to owning restaurants instead of simply writing about them may seem like a big jump, Kelly sees it as a natural evolution of her career path. “I think this is my story. I think I was meant to open restaurants and I was meant to be this person, I still get to tell a story in a different way.”This career change has helped Kelly let go of limiting beliefs she once had about herself. As a writer, she never felt confident about her public speaking abilities, and felt more comfortable putting pen to paper. But after founding Destination Unknown Restaurants, she’s been invited on podcasts and has participated in multiple speaking engagements. “Writing brought me a lot of happiness, seeing an article published in the newspaper, I would be really proud of that. But I think what I’m doing now is more of a challenge for me, it’s harder for me and it’s less comfortable for me. And because of that I’ve grown and become a better person,” Kelly said.Letting go of comparisonsFounding a start-up is never easy, especially when you’re living in Silicon Valley and are surrounded by hundreds of other start-ups. Andrea, co-founder of Harlow, a small business with the mission to help freelancers get organized, has learned to not hold herself to the standards of what everyone else is doing in the industry. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Harlow (@meetharlow) “I live in San Francisco, I’m in the heart of startup tech culture here. And a lot of times success is measured by funding by how much money you’ve raised, by how many employees you have. And it’s definitely a work in progress to remind myself that that’s not our measure of success and come back to our core beliefs and our values and that we’re building something different than a lot of people in Silicon Valley. And that’s okay.”By choosing to not compare their business to other tech companies, Andrea is letting go of traditional startup values and instead embracing what makes Harlow unique. This has allowed her to dive into her small business and run it without being constricted by other people’s input and ideas.How letting go has allowed these small businesses to reach their highest potentialFor many entrepreneurs, letting go of certain mindsets was an essential part of starting their brands. But, the learning never stops. Throughout the course of their small business journeys, these leaders have had to let go of old habits and ways in order to successfully grow their companies.Realizing the power of teamworkWhen Joel first founded Buffer, he held the belief that, as a founder and CEO, he alone would have the answers to all of Buffer’s problems. But eventually, as the company grew (we now have over 80 team members), Joel realized that he needed to let go of this notion that he himself could do it all on his own.“I think I’ve had moments where I might dip back into that and be like, ‘okay, this isn’t working. I’m gonna dig in and solve this,’” he said. “I think I’ve had to let go of that being the way to solve things and lean much more into communication and getting everyone aligned and onboard and understanding the vision.”As an introspective person, Joel still often takes time to reflect on situations by himself, but has learned to share his thoughts and reflections with the rest of the team. This creates an environment at Buffer where everyone is on the same page and has a chance to speak up on key issues.Letting go of the need for praise and accoladesInitially, Kelly was focused on the reviews, accolades and stars she could receive for her food when she first opened her restaurants. But once she took a step back and focused inwards, she noticed that her business was improving internally. “And I think when I let go of that, when I stopped putting that pressure on myself, and I focused on just being a great restaurant in our community, and a great place to work for our team, I think that’s when the restaurant actually clicked. That’s when things started to work,” she said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Destination Unknown Restaurants (@destinationunknownrestaurants) Instead of thinking about the press and other external factors, Kelly honed in on the important things: that the business was profitable, her employees were happy, the food was good, and customers were having a great time. Looking at things from this perspective ultimately allowed her restaurants to succeed.Being flexible and open to shifting one’s perspectiveSamantha and Andrea had a specific vision of their community’s needs when they first opened up Harlow. But once they started getting more and more clients, they realized they’d have to let go of the idea that they understood all of the obstacles their users faced.“One of the most humbling things about building Harlow is recognizing that Andrea and I’s pain points as freelancers are not the same pain points that all freelancers are experiencing,” Samantha said.  “So just recognizing that this audience is very diverse, and they have a lot of needs, and that there are a lot of different ways that they do things.”If the duo were set in their beliefs and unable to pivot in their thinking, they wouldn’t be able to support the various freelancers who use Harlow today. Ultimately, letting go of certain beliefs can allow for a healthier and more sustainable business. While some beliefs may stand the test of time, more often than not, entrepreneurs have to be flexible and open to switching things up in order to grow their business to its highest potential.Want more on letting go? Check out the full episodeThe businesses we interviewed in this episode have further insights to share about taking a stand and its value for brands. Listen to the full episode here.

Video testimonials are a great way to show off your business’s personality, and there is no better medium than video for this purpose. If you’re looking at making changes in order to establish yourself as an expert or professional organization then it might be worth considering adding some friendly faces that can speak from experience. We’ve found 17 sites that have incorporated this into their design. Here’s the list organized by category: 1. Chili Piper (SaaS) 2. Testimonial.to (SaaS) 3. Taplio (SaaS) 4. VeryGoodCopy (Newsletter) 5. Alcove Rooms (Consumer App) 6. Scrimba (Consumer App) 7. Yotta Bank (Consumer App) 8. Dream Studio Course (Course Creators) 9. Justin Welsh (Course Creator) 10. Levels.fyi (Service) 11. Chris Lema (Service) 12. Dating by Blaine (Service) 13. Popbrush (eCommerce) 14. Pip Decks (eCommerce) 15. Illuminate (eCommerce) 16. Wyndly (eCommerce) 17. Instrumentl (Non-profit) Wrapping up… And there you have it: 17 Examples of websites using Video Testimonials Video testimonials are a powerful way to show off your product or service in a unique and engaging way. Not only do they help you build trust with potential customers, but they can also be used to drive conversions and sales. If you’re not using video testimonials on your website yet, now is the time to start! submitted by /u/GuillaumeBrdet [link] [comments]

Please recommend Instagram growth tools for real followers and mass DM. An option for filtering inactive accounts would be great also. submitted by /u/FluffSunflower [link] [comments]

Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
LGBTQ+ people often face higher rates of isolation and discrimination, meaning that this community can especially benefit from gatherings that foster support and connection.
This is especially true for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and professionals, as finding opportunities to learn from people who share similar life experiences can be challenging.
In this post, we’ve curated a list of annual events and conferences for LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and professionals. Whether you’re seeking mentorship, training from experts, or just some old-fashioned socializing with like-minded business owners, these events are made for you. While most have already taken place for 2022, keep your eyes peeled for the 2023 dates.
Events and Conferences for LGBTQ+ Professionals
1. Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit
Despite the name, the annual Lesbians Who Tech & Allies Summit is inclusive of all techies, centering LGBTQ women, women of color, and non-binary leaders. The ninth summit was in October in San Francisco, with in-person and virtual options.
Their summits feature networking and mentorship opportunities, career fairs, leaders and celebrity speeches, parties, and educational sessions. While much of the content is geared toward the tech world, many sessions focus on broader topics like leadership, diversity, politics, and advocacy, which may appeal to any LGBTQ entrepreneur.
2. Out & Equal Summit
The Out & Equal Summit has been held for over 20 years, creating a place for LGBTQ+ professionals and allies to learn how to create more inclusive workspaces. The latest was in October 2022 in Las Vegas, with a digital livestream option.
This conference is intended for any professional interested in LGBTQ+ workplace equality — especially executives, HR and DEI experts, Employee Resource Group leaders and members, and more. In addition to hosting learning sessions and keynote speeches, this event provides attendees with networking opportunities, workshops, and social events.
3. NLGCC International Business & Leadership Conference
The NLGCC, or the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, is the only organization that offers a certification for LGBTQ-owned businesses (Certified LGBT Business Enterprise®).
It also provides business owners with networking and business opportunities year-round — and at their annual conference. Despite being U.S.-based, their International Business & Leadership Conference claims to be “the largest LGBT business event on the planet.”
In addition to networking and keynote speeches, attendees get access to leadership programming, speeches, B2B bootcamps, expos, matchmaker meetings between suppliers and companies, and more. The 2022 event was in Las Vegas in August.
4. Out Leadership Summit
This organization aims to drive equality and advocate for inclusion in business. They have several talent development programs for emerging leaders, women, and board-level executives.
Out Leadership also hosts yearly summits worldwide to unite leaders and business owners. The 2023 US summit will be on May 15 in New York in partnership with Lambda Legal.
5. StartOut Chapter Events or National Awards
StartOut exists to support LGBTQ entrepreneurs and accelerate their businesses. The organization has chapters in several major cities, such as Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, where local LGBTQ+ business owners can connect and attend frequent educational and social events.
StartOut also puts on a national gala, the StartOut Awards, which celebrates LGBTQ entrepreneurs and is an ideal opportunity to socialize and network with peers. The 2022 event took place in October in New York City.
6. The ROMBA Conference
Reaching Out MBA’s annual ROMBA Conference is a massive event for LGBTQ+ business students and post-MBA professionals.
The conference features social receptions, career fairs, panels, workshops, and competitions. LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs with business backgrounds can utilize this event for professional development, networking, and recruiting talent. The 2022 conference was in October in Washington, D.C.
7. Out Professionals Events
This organization for LGBTQ+ professionals hosts virtual events, but if you’re fortunate enough to live in a city with a chapter, you can attend local events and connect with other entrepreneurs.
Cities such as Houston, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. have Out Professionals chapters and host monthly in-person events to help LGBTQ+ people build their careers and network. The organization is expanding and seeking more cities where people want to start chapters.  
Industry-Specific LGBTQ+ Conferences
We included Lesbians Who Tech & Allies in this general list since technology touches nearly everything these days, and its sessions appeal to a broad range of professionals.
However, there are also many smaller, industry-specific LGBTQ+ events and conferences. If you want to network, socialize, and learn with your peers in your field, see if your industry has something specifically for LGBTQ people. Here are just a few of the ones out there:

The NLGJA (The Association of LGBTQ Journalists) annual convention for those in journalism
The Midwest LGBTQ+ Health Symposium for those in medicine and healthcare
NAGLREP’s yearly convention for LGBTQ real estate professionals

Local LGBTQ Events
Chamber of Commerce
Some cities, regions, and states have their own LGBTQ chambers of commerce, where LGBTQ-owned businesses and allies can become members.
This not only links LGBTQ entrepreneurs with an affirming local business community, but it makes them visible to those seeking to patronize LGBTQ-friendly businesses. These local chambers frequently host community events, from social and networking opportunities to business training sessions. The NLGCC has a list of local affiliated chambers nationwide; check to see if there’s one in your area, and scope out their website for upcoming events.  
Local Pride Festivals
Every year, more cities, counties, and regions host annual Pride celebrations. While you’ll typically find parades and marches, many Pride events also feature festivals with booths for rent. Entrepreneurs often use this opportunity to sell goods, create a local presence, or promote their business with freebies or giveaways. If your area has a Pride celebration, consider renting a booth.
Get Ready to Mingle
LGBTQ+ professionals have many opportunities available to connect with and learn from other entrepreneurs at events. All of the summits on this list are valuable opportunities to learn and grow — select one that speaks most to your needs and get ready to mingle.

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74% of CMOs have already – or expect to – face cuts to marketing budget or team due to recession 42% of marketers think customer loyalty will drop in the next 12 months 40% of marketing teams struggle to prove ROI in the face of cuts, with majority feeling only partly aligned to their CEO

 

Seventy four percent of CMOs have either seen – or are facing – cuts to their marketing budgets. That’s according to new data from Customer Engagement Platform SALESmanago, which surveyed 250 CMOs in the UK to discover whether marketing needs to take a leaner approach as we head into recession. 

The findings revealed that despite what we have learned in previous recessions, 40% of respondents said they still struggle to prove the ROI of marketing to the CEO and moreover, 63% think marketing could be leaner (more optimised). A worrying prospect when – at the same time – 42% of marketers think customer loyalty will drop in the next 12 months. 

The relationship internally could also be improved, with the majority of marketers only feeling partly aligned with their CEO (46%), with one in ten not feeling aligned at all. Additionally, 75% of respondents  feel that less than half of marketing output is directly aligned to a stated business goal.

The research showed that half of marketers say they have some visibility on customer data and trends, but feel it could be better. Additionally, nearly half (49%) either don’t – or don’t know – if they get significant and tangible ROI from their Martech investment.

 

Greg Blazewicz, CEO and Founder at SALESmanago commented: “Marketing faces a perfect storm as business heads into recession. But instead of accepting its demise and being side-lined, teams need to prove they can get even closer to customers and encourage loyalty that will help their brand get well positioned for better times. A marketing revolution needs to happen, and quickly. Therefore adopting ‘Lean Marketing’ to be more efficient, more effective and more sustainable will be a smart move as we tackle these turbulent times head on. With this approach, marketers can prove ROI,  gather insight into what the consumer really cares about and cut costs in the meantime.”

When asked which areas would be most impacted if budgets are cut in 2023, 68% of marketers say advertising/campaigns will be most impacted. This was followed by customer engagement (30%) and headcount (26%).  

“Martech doesn’t need to be costly but it must be results-focused and transparent when it comes to ROI,” added Blazewicz. “Customer data is the new gold, and using insights to do more with less should now be the aim of all marketers. A customer data platform which brings all of this knowledge together is imperative at this time.” 

 

Some of us marketers have an unhealthy obsession with YouTube analytics — we track too many of them. Maybe we think we can prove any video marketing campaign is producing results if there’s an eye-catching percentage by its name. But, deep down, we all know that some metrics are more revealing than others.
There are a ton of KPIs we can look at that provide minimal insights. Fortunately, though, we created this guide to help you navigate YouTube Analytics and measure the metrics that actually matter. It’ll save you from drowning in the sea of analytics that most marketers only have a lifebuoy in, helping you not only stay afloat but swim safely to land.

Read on to learn about the YouTube metrics that actually matter, and how they’ll enhance your video strategy.
YouTube Analytics: The 15 Metrics That Actually Matter
1. Watch Time

Watch time is the total amount of minutes viewers have spent watching your videos. It’s a key metric because YouTube elevates videos and channels with higher watch times in their search results and recommendations section. YouTube does this because the more watch time a video has, the more engaging their algorithm presumes it is.
In the Watch time report, you can see the amount of watch time your videos have accumulated. You can also rank each of your videos by watch time and group your videos by themes, styles, and lengths to determine your most engaging types of videos.
How to find Watch time in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Overview > Watch Time
2. Average Percentage Viewed

Average percentage viewed is the percent of each video the average viewer watched. It measures your video’s ability to hold viewers’ attention for its entirety. And when YouTube realizes your videos can hold people’s attention, they’ll reward it with higher search and recommendation rankings. You can find this metric in your watch time report.
How to find Average Percentage Viewed in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Overview > Watch time > See More > Content > Watch time > More Metrics > Overview > Average percentage viewed
3. Average View Duration

Average view duration is the total watch time of your video divided by the total number of video plays, including replays. This metric measures your video’s ability to engage viewers. If your video can’t engage viewers, they’ll bounce from your video quickly, leaving you with an unimpressive average view duration. But if your video can engage viewers, your average view duration and total watch time will increase at the same time, boosting your search and recommendations rankings. You can also find this metric in your watch time report.
How to find Average View Duration in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > See More > Watch time > More Metrics > Overview > Average view duration
4. Audience Retention

Audience retention shows you the percentage of viewers who watch and leave your video at every single moment of the video. YouTube elevates videos with high audience retention in their search rankings and suggestions because these videos can effectively capture viewers’ attention.
Audience retention can also inform your future video strategy. The most engaging parts of your video could be your next best video topics. And watching your video during steep dips of engagement will tell you what might be boring your viewers, allowing you to scrap those elements from current and future videos.
When you have enough data to generate YouTube’s audience retention report, there will be two graphs: the absolute retention curve and the relative retention curve. The absolute retention curve shows you how well your videos retain viewers. And the relative retention shows you how well one of your videos retains viewers compared to all other YouTube videos of similar length.

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How to find Audience Retention in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Engagement > Audience retention
5. Re-watches
Re-watches are the amount of times viewers re-watch certain parts of your video. If a lot of people are re-watching a specific part of your video, then they’re probably interested in the topic your video is covering during that moment. These topics can be fodder for your future video strategy. You can find this data in the absolute audience retention graph. Re-watches are usually indicated by rising curves in the graph.

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How to find Rewatches in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Engagement > Audience retention > Absolute audience retention
6. Engagement

Comments, shares, likes, and dislikes provide marketers with a lot of valuable qualitative data.
Comments can paint a clear picture of your video’s emotional effect on viewers. Shares can gauge how much viewers value your content and brand — since people share content that confirms their ideal self-persona, people who share your video are publicly displaying that they trust and support your brand. Likes and dislikes can help you determine what video topics work best with your particular audience. You can find your videos’ engagement metrics in YouTube’s Interactions Report.
How to find Engagement in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Engagement > Likes (vs. dislikes) > See More
7. Impressions Click-Through Rate

Impressions click-through rate measures your video’s ability to prompt people to watch your video after seeing it on their homepage, recommendation section, or trending section. A high click-through rate means your title was compelling and your video’s topic resonates with a lot of relevant audiences on YouTube.
A common trend for impression click-through rates is that they usually spike immediately after you release your video — your subscribers will see the video at the top of their home page and probably click on it. But once your video spreads beyond your core audience, your click-through rate will decline and then stay at a stable rate.
You can also couple this metric with average percentage viewed and average view duration to see if people actually watch your video after they click on it. A high click-through rate is great, but if people are leaving right at the beginning of your video, your title or thumbnail could be misleading. Preparing viewers for what’s to come is crucial because if your title or thumbnail is inaccurate, they’ll feel deceived and lose trust in your brand.
A low click-through rate but high engagement could mean that the video has a small yet specific audience that is enamored by the content.
How to find Engagement in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Reach > Impressions click-through rate

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8. Card Clicks

Cards are slide-in panels that encourage people to take a desired action during a video like watch another video, subscribe to a channel, or click through to a different website. Each of your cards’ click-through rate tells you which action your viewers prefer to take while watching your videos. This can help you place the most engaging card in each of your videos, potentially boosting your watch time, subscriber growth, or website traffic.
Analyzing card clicks can also help you uncover the optimal timing, placement, and duration of your cards in future videos.
How to find Card Clicks in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Reach > See More > Impressions by: Content > More Metrics > Cards > Card Clicks

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9. Playlist Engagement
Playlists are a great way to organize your videos in a digestible way. It helps your viewers easily consume videos about their favorite topics and prompts them to keep watching, which racks up watch time for your channel.
You can uncover your playlist engagement by analyzing two metrics in YouTube’s Playlist Report: views per playlist start and average time in playlist. Views per playlist start is the average number of video views your playlists gather, and average time in playlist is the average amount of time that viewers viewed the videos in your playlist. If these two metrics are underperforming, try starting your playlist with videos that have the highest retention rate.
How to find Playlist Engagement in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Engagement > See More > Watch Time > More Metrics > Playlists
10. Unique Viewers

Unique viewers is the estimated number of individuals who watch your videos over a certain period of time. This metric really helps you understand the actual size of your audience.
You can also use this metric to gauge your subscriber’s engagement with your videos. If your unique viewers are lower than your subscriber count, then your subscribers aren’t watching as much of your video as they could be. To get them to be more active, ask them to set up notifications for your new videos. You can find this metric under the Reach Views and Audience tab in YouTube Studio.
How to find Playlist Unique Viewers in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Audience > Unique viewers
11. Views Per Unique Viewers
Views per unique viewers is the amount of times the average viewer watches your video. This metric tells you if people can’t get enough of your video and keep rewatching it. Video topics with a lot of views per unique viewers could also be your most popular content topics, and if you cover them more, you could generate more views, watch time, and subscribers.
How to find Playlist Unique Viewers in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Audience > Unique viewers > See More > Average views per viewer

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12. Who’s Watching Your Videos
In YouTube’s demographics report, you can see the different types of people who watch your videos, segmented by age, gender, and geography. This data tells you who your most engaged audience is and who your target audience should actually be. You can take the opposite approach with this data too. If you’re not reaching the audience you want, try pivoting your video strategy and cover topics that would attract them.
How to find Demographics in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Audience > Age and Gender

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13. Subscriber Growth

Subscribers are your most loyal fans. They’ve made a public commitment to your brand, content, and values. And they’re most likely to be your evangelists too. Subscribers are also important to your channel because YouTube will send them notifications about your new videos and feature them on their homepage. This means they’ll see your videos more frequently, which will help generate more views. Subscribers also watch twice as much video as non-subscribers, so the more subscribers you have, the more watch time your videos will collect.
YouTube’s Subscribers Report will show you which videos, locations, and time periods gain and lose subscribers. This data will tell you what video topics resonate with your subscribers and where to target new subscribers. And by prioritizing your subscribers’ needs, you’ll create videos that they crave, increase your watch time, and boost your search rankings.
How to find Subscribers in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Audience > Subscribers
14. Traffic Sources

External referrals like social media or sites that embed your videos and YouTube referrals like search, the recommended section, and the homepage are all traffic sources. The Traffic Sources report shows you how viewers found your videos and what sources rack up the most views and watch time. You can use this data to better optimize your video promotion strategy.
How to find Traffic Sources in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Audience > Subscribers > See More > Traffic Source

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15. Keywords

In YouTube’s Reach Report, which is under the Traffic Sources Report, you can see the most popular queries guiding viewers to your videos. If these queries are slightly different from your video’s topic, consider updating your video to fill these content gaps and add the keywords to your metadata. If there’s a stark difference, consider making a new video about these popular queries.
How to find Keywords in YouTube Studio:
Analytics > Reach > YouTube Search terms
 
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in July 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Companies that blog get 55% more visitors than businesses that don’t. But to get that increased traffic, you need the best blogging platform for your needs and goals.
Publishing blog content offers many benefits. Blogging can help you establish authority in an industry. It can drive brand awareness, share company news, and better convert website traffic into leads.

But the wrong platform can also limit your returns. It can restrict your ability to gather leads, improve SEO, monetize your blog, and more.
There are many great choices for blogs that come at little or no cost, with a ton of valuable features that can bring you results for your efforts. To find the best platform for your new blog, keep reading or jump to the section you’re looking for.

What is the best blogging platform for you?
How to Choose a Blogging Platform
Finding the Best Blogging Platform for SEO
Best Blogging Platforms

What is the best blogging platform for you?
Building a blog takes time and dedication. It’s a long-term investment, and that includes the platform you use to create it.
This means that no matter how great a blog platform is, it needs to be right for you. It’s challenging to move a blog to a new site after it gets going, so the better you prepare before you start blogging, the more likely you are to have lasting results.
So, before we cover the most popular choices, let’s talk about what you need in a platform for your blog.
If you’re just starting out, you’ll want a platform that’s easy to set up and use. If you don’t have coding experience, it’s important to find a platform for your blog that doesn’t need you to code. Developing a blog isn’t simple, and you’ll have more than enough to do without adding new skills to your to-do list.

Next, you’ll want to do some big-picture thinking about the type of blog you want to make. This means drawing inspiration from the blogs you admire. It’s a good idea to create a list of layouts and features you like, and take note of blog tools you may need as your blog grows.
Below are a few questions you’ll want to ask yourself to prepare:

Do you plan to monetize your blog with a newsletter now or in the future?
Is a multimedia experience with lots of images and videos your goal?
Are you starting a blog to build SEO for your small business site?
Or are you hoping it can build your reputation as a thought leader?
What skills do you need to learn to build your blog?
How many of those skills can a blogging platform help with?

Once you have a clear plan for your blog, you’re ready to choose the best blogging platform for you.

How to Choose a Blogging Platform
For many, choosing a blog platform starts with cost. Some of the best blog software is free. So, check what plans each provider offers and how many tiers there are. Then look into their primary and unique features. Pay special attention to the value that out-of-the-box features offer in comparison to add-ons.

But what you’re willing and able to pay is just the first of many important decisions. Let’s take a look at some other features you might need for your blog. This can help you compare different blogging platforms.
Themes and Templates
Themes and templates allow you to customize a blog quickly and easily. When looking at different blogging platforms, check out their selection of themes and templates.

Ask yourself:

Do they have a lot of templates for blogging specifically?
Do they have a variety of free and premium templates and themes?
Can you edit the themes and templates to create a truly customized look for your site?
Do you want to create your blog from scratch instead of a predesigned theme?

These are just a few questions that can help you choose a platform with the design and customization options you need.
There’s also a strong chance that you’ll fall in love with a blog theme and want to start building your blog right away. But if you’re blogging for your business, it’s about more than aesthetics.
Content Editor
The content editor is the core of every blogging platform. As a blogger, you might be working with this editor every day, so make sure you pick a platform with an editor you like.
Think about ease of use. You want to be able to set up a blog and start adding content to it quickly. And you should be able to get a sense of the functionality and flexibility of the tool.
To test this, you may want to create a complex blog draft. Be sure to add internal links, videos, and different images. Anything you think you might want to include in your final blog should be ready to test on each platform.
As you start comparing platforms you’ll start to get stuck on specific details. It can help to break your list of desired features into must-haves and nice-to-haves.
For example, maybe your editor must have drag-and-drop functionality and an auto-save feature. But it’d be nice to have the option to preview how your post looks on different devices.

Finding the Best Blogging Platform for SEO
Another important factor is how a blogging platform’s capabilities align with your goals and needs. For example, if you need to boost your visibility in SERPs, you’ll need a platform with built-in SEO tools.
Optimizing your content for search is essential to driving traffic to your blog. According to a Backlinko study, sites listed on the first SERP in Google get 27% of all clicks for a keyword or phrase.
It’s well-established that blogging can improve SEO if it’s a useful resource for your customers. But SEO takes time to learn if you’re just beginning your content marketing journey.
On-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO are all important strategies that take time and effort to learn.
SEO Features and Tools
So, to get on that first page, you ideally want a platform with built-in tools to help you optimize your content.
Many blogging platforms offer plugins or add-ons to help with SEO. But the features that will be most useful to you will depend on your current know-how. For example, some platforms can help you build a site map or manage your blog URLs.
Many SEO techniques are repetitive processes full of details. So, it’s also ideal to have a platform for your blog that can remind you to optimize for search as you build each blog. For example, HubSpot SEO software offers on-page tips like reminding you to add alt text to blog images.

If a platform doesn’t have this type of advanced functionality, then check if you can install a third-party SEO tool. Otherwise, you’ll have to get up to speed on SEO best practices and make sure to add them to your blog.
Extensions and Integrations
No blogging platform can offer every single feature every single blogger wants out of the box. Besides, your blogging needs and goals will likely change over time as your audience grows or strategy shifts.
That’s why it’s important to choose a blogging platform that offers extensions or integrations with third-party tools. Platforms with an ecosystem of apps will be able to scale with you over time. This helps make sure that you don’t have to migrate to a more flexible alternative in the future.

Now that you know some features to consider in your selection process, let’s take a look at some of the best blogging platforms on the market.
1. CMS Hub
Best For: Marketers and Developers

Blog Software Cost: Free, With Premium Options
CMS Hub Ideal Users
What sets CMS Hub apart from other blogging platforms is that it’s ideal for both developers and marketers. It has the tools, technologies, and workflows that developers need to build a CRM-powered blog. At the same time, it offers a great user experience for marketers with easy access to features that drive conversions.
CMS Hub Pros
The biggest advantage of this free blog software is that it’s powerful but still easy to use. You can start by choosing a pre-designed theme or building your own custom theme with the drag-and-drop website builder. CMS Hub includes free web hosting and it’s easy to connect a custom domain.
Then, using HubSpot’s blog editor and built-in SEO tools, you can create blog posts with CTAs, forms, and other interactive elements.
You can even create multi-language variations of your blog posts and run A/B tests on them to reach a global audience. Before you publish, you can preview how your posts and pages look on different types of devices.
Once you’re ready to start promoting, you can connect your blog to your social media accounts. That way, you can automatically share new blog posts on your social networks in the same place that you wrote them.
As you publish more content, you can analyze your blog performance. This can help you understand what topics and types of content are resonating with your readers. That’s because CMS Hub is part of HubSpot’s CRM platform.
CMS Hub Cons
Since CMS Hub is an all-in-one solution for marketers and developers, it has lots of rich functionality and a ton of attractive themes. This is a good thing for most bloggers and G2 gives HubSpot a 4.5/5 rating with almost 1400 reviews.
But, if you’re an individual or small business just starting to blog, then you may not have the time or expertise to leverage the full power of the CMS Hub. In that case, you might be better off with a simpler alternative to start.
CMS Hub Website Example
Below you can take a look at this company’s feature-rich blog built on the CMS Hub.

CMS Hub Key Takeaways

Meets the needs of both developers and marketers
Fully-integrated CRM to streamline sales and marketing processes
Built-in multi-lingual support, SEO recommendations, and more

2. WordPress
Best For: Themes and Plugins

Blog Software Cost: Free, With Premium Options
WordPress Ideal Users
Creating and managing a blog on WordPress could mean more maintenance than other platforms, but it will offer the extensibility and content management features publishers and other businesses need to create a complex blog.
WordPress Pros
WordPress was originally created as a blogging platform and it has a 4.4/5 rating on G2 with over 8,000 reviews. Though it has evolved into a multi-purpose content management system, it still has many features and themes for blogging.
WordPress enables you to not only purchase a custom domain and download one of 3,500+ themes specifically designed for blogs — it also lets you add social media buttons, forms, affiliate links, and other features with plugins.
The customization options are virtually limitless with the 60,000+ free plugins available.
WordPress Cons
You will have to make sure your theme and plugins are compatible and up-to-date. Otherwise, they can disrupt the user experience or break your site. Other maintenance tasks like finding and fixing broken links, updating the core software, and optimizing your database will also be your responsibility. This can be difficult for site owners who don’t have the time or technical expertise to regularly maintain their sites.
WordPress Blog Example
Tech Crunch, one of the largest and most popular technology news blogs, is powered by WordPress. Take a look at this WordPress website example below.

WordPress Key Takeaways

Ideal for publishers and others who want to extend the platform with plugins
Over 3,500 free blogging themes
Website maintenance can be time-consuming

3. Squarespace
Best For: Design

Blog Software Cost: Paid, With Plans From $16-65 per Month
Squarespace Ideal Users
Squarespace is an ideal blogging platform for businesses and individuals creating image-rich content. It also has a 4.4 rating on G2. With Squarespace’s award-winning designer templates and integrations with Getty Images, Unsplash, and Google AMP, you can create visual content that’s engaging and shareable.
Squarespace Pros
While Squarespace only offers about 140 templates, they are all mobile-optimized and fully customizable so you can create a blog that looks the way you want it to. Once you’ve designed your pages, you can use Squarespace’s blogging and SEO tools to create and optimize your content.
Finally, after publishing your blog posts, you can connect your social media accounts to easily promote them. Then use the built-in analytics tool to learn where your traffic is coming from, what your visitors are looking for, and how they’re interacting with your content.
Squarespace Cons
Squarespace offers even more features, from audio file support to newsletter signup forms, but ultimately it’s limited in functionality. That’s because it supports around 30 extensions, so you’re mostly limited to the features Squarespace offers out-of-the-box.
Since they lack some features that bloggers need — like an auto-save feature, for example — Squarespace isn’t the ideal platform for everyone.
Squarespace Blog Example
Squarespace does allow some bloggers to create beautiful sites, like this lifestyle blog below.

Squarespace Key Takeaways

Best suited for individuals and brands who want to customize a blog to their personal style
Small but high-quality selection of templates
Limited to features and few extensions that Squarespace offers

4. Wix
Best For: Beginners

Blog Software Cost: Paid, With Plans From $16-59 per Month
Wix Ideal Users
Wix is a popular blogging platform for beginners who are looking for hosting and blogging tools in one place and who prioritize speed and design over functionality.
Wix Pros
Wix has a 4.2 G2 rating and gives you two choices for creating your blog within the Wix Editor. You can start by choosing from over 800 pre-designed templates that any blogger can use, whether you own a retail business or run a food review website. You can also use Wix ADI by filling out a quick questionnaire to have a blog created for you.
Then you can begin writing and editing posts on desktop or mobile, embed Wix’s stock photos and videos or your own media, and organize them into topics.
Once you’re done writing, you can configure your SEO settings to boost your organic reach, push your content to your subscribers with Wix’s email tool, and share them through your social media accounts. You can further foster a sense of community among your readers by letting them become members.
Wix Cons
While Wix is more versatile than other hosted website builders, it lacks customization options and content management features, particularly when comparing Wix vs. WordPress or another CMS.
For example, to add more advanced elements to the page, like music or maps, you’ll have to add HTML code. This process can be intimidating for beginners.
Wix Blog Example
Take a look at this Wix blogger’s site below for an example of a stylish but relatively simple blog.

Wix Key Takeaways

Ideal for bloggers who prioritize speed and design over functionality
Can use pre-designed templates or start from scratch
Editor lacks drag-and-drop functionality

5. Craft CMS
Best For: Customization

Blog Software Cost: Free, With Premium Options
Craft CMS Ideal Users
Craft CMS is a blogging platform designed for developers, designers, and web professionals.
Craft CMS Pros
With Craft’s personalized content modeling, powerful templating, and the option to edit your source code, you can completely control the appearance and functionality of your site — if you have the necessary experience.
Craft CMS also offers an image editor, collaboration tools, and a localization feature that can translate your content to specific languages. You can now also manage multiple blogs from within a single Craft install. To analyze your content’s performance, you can integrate Craft CMS’ dashboard with Google Analytics. This blog platform has a 4.1 G2 rating.
Craft CMS Blog Example
If you have the web development experience to fully leverage the power of Craft CMS, you’ll be able to create a complex blog with custom post types, like this travel blog below.

Craft CMS Key Takeaways

Advanced functionality including personalized content modeling and localization feature
Free version for single admin accounts
Requires some web development experience

6. Contently
Best For: Enterprises

Blog Software Cost: Paid, With Quote-Based Pricing
Contently Ideal Users
Contently is a robust blogging platform that’s ideal for enterprise companies with large budgets but few internal editorial resources. It has a 4.5/5 G2 rating with just over 80 reviews.
Contently Pros
Contently allows you to manage your entire content creation process in one place. You can create and visualize your editorial strategy with their customizable production calendar tool or organize your blog posts with their tagging tool. It can also help you effectively collaborate with your team on projects by leveraging their advanced workflow tools. You can even pay for Contently’s well-vetted freelancers to write some of this content for you.
Before publishing your content, Contently’s smart content review tools will ensure your content is aligned with your brand, optimized for search, and legally compliant. Finally, to refine your content strategy, Contently enables you to compare your content’s performance against industry benchmarks, quantify its ROI, and measure its performance by topic, format, and sources directly in your dashboard.
Contently Cons
The biggest drawback of Contently is that it’s beyond many small businesses’ and individuals’ budgets. Contently can be expensive and could be a better fit for enterprise companies.
They offer quote-based pricing that varies for each client. Their costs factor in editing, strategy, and help from their content creators, as well as visual assets.
Contently Blog Example
The Royal Bank of Canada, one of North America’s largest banks, uses Contently to streamline content creation across 14 marketing departments. Check out its blog below.

Contently Key Takeaways

Can manage the entire content creation process
Deep-dive analytics
Pricing is mainly for enterprise companies

7. Joomla
Best For: Community Building

Blog Software Cost: Paid, With Plans From $8-33 per Month
Joomla Ideal Users
Joomla is an open-source CMS with advanced content and user management features built directly into the platform. This makes it an excellent choice for creating community-centric blogs.
Joomla Pros
Joomla offers rich built-in functionality as well as thousands of extensions. For example, Joomla allows you to create custom post types, manage hundreds of users, and publish content in multiple languages right out of the box.
It also offers some great extensions for blogging. EasyBlog by StackIdeas, for example, has a much cleaner drag-and-drop editor than Joomla’s built-in editor. You can also enable star ratings on your blog and automatically publish posts to your social media platforms with this extension. Joomla’s G2 rating is 4/5.
Joomla Cons
Because of its robust built-in functionality, Joomla does have a steeper learning curve than a CMS so it’ll take more time to set up. It also offers a smaller selection of themes and extensions, which can limit your customization options.
Joomla Blog Example
Below is an example of a Joomla blog built with EasyBlog.

Joomla Key Takeaways

Advanced content management features
Steep learning curve due to robust built-in functionality
May need a blogging extension

8. Drupal
Best For: Advanced Bloggers

Blog Software Cost: Free, Open-Source Software
Drupal Ideal Users
Drupal is a highly flexible open-source CMS that’s best suited for advanced users, as well as enterprise companies, with complex blogging needs who are looking for a self-hosted solution. It has a G2 rating of 3.8.
Drupal Pros
Drupal has hundreds of out-of-the-box features and modules. If you know how to use them or have the time to learn, then Drupal will give you more power than other open-source platforms.
Specifically, Drupal supports a wide selection of content types, page templates, blocks, and more for creating and managing content. It also has advanced user permissions so you can give site admins, content editors, and other stakeholders personalized access to specific content. This — along with its multilingual capabilities, Layout Builder, and other modules — will allow you to create and manage large, complex blogs.
Drupal Cons
If you don’t know how to use Drupal’s out-of-the-box features and modules, and you don’t have the time to learn, they can be confusing and hinder your blogging efforts. In that case, you might be better off with a simpler platform.
Drupal Blog Example
Below is a Drupal blog that features add-ons and modules.

Drupal Key Takeaways

Best suited for technical users with complex blogging needs
Powerful content management features
Advanced user permissions

9. LinkedIn
Best For: Thought Leadership

Blog Software Cost: Free
LinkedIn Ideal Users
LinkedIn lets users directly share blog posts, helping users reach some of the 875M people on the platform. This gives businesses with new blogs an audience for thought leadership and to drive site traffic.
LinkedIn Pros
LinkedIn is an excellent choice for blogging to build brand awareness and drive site traffic. It’s also a valuable tool to develop thought leadership. The built-in audience on LinkedIn can help generate conversations about your content that can boost growth.
It’s also an excellent choice to supplement an on-site blog. Creating a LinkedIn blog can help you create insightful content specifically for niche users. This can build industry awareness of your brand and products. It can also help your blog generate more authority.
LinkedIn Cons
Because LinkedIn blogs live on their platform, you won’t get the SEO benefits of an on-site blog. It will also be important to optimize your blogs for search on their platform as well as search engines. Without this investment, it’s possible that only your current connections will see your content.
You also may want to look for another platform if you’re blogging for lead generation. Blogs are a great way to collect new contacts for your newsletter and sales team. But blogging on LinkedIn can mean a longer journey to your lead generation forms, which can decrease conversion.
LinkedIn Blog Example
These blog examples are from the COO of L’Oréal and the Chief Customer and Commercial Officer at Coca-Cola. They show how this platform can build awareness and engagement for brand initiatives.

LinkedIn Key Takeaways

A good pick for new thought leaders
Easy-to-use interface
Offers potential access to a large and immediate audience

10. Write.as
Best For: Privacy

Blog Software Cost: Free, With Premium Options
Write.as Ideal Users
Write.as is a lightweight blogging platform that’s ideal for individuals looking to create simple blogs with minimal design. It’s popular with its user base, with a 4.4 rating and almost 30 reviews on G2.
Write.as Pros
Offering a stripped-down editor with nothing but an auto-save feature, Write.as offers the experience of writing in a virtual journal. This makes it another of the best blogging platforms for writers. Write.as is also free to use and doesn’t support ads.
Teams can also use it like Google Docs to share updates, proposals, and works-in-progress (for a monthly subscription).
Write.as Cons
Write.as does require you to use Markdown, a syntax that uses special characters to format text. For example, you’d type in asterisks to create bullet points, hashtags to create headers, and [Link] to add a link.
The syntax isn’t difficult to learn, but it might take some practice. If you’d prefer to simply click a button to create bullet lists or add hyperlinks, then you’ll be better off with another blogging platform.
Write.as Blog Example
Check out an example of a writing blog below.

Write.as Key Takeaways

Best for individuals who want a minimalist interface and design
Requires you to learn and use Markdown syntax
Free version is ad-free

11. Blogger
Best For: Lifestyle Bloggers

Blog Software Cost: Free
Blogger Ideal Users
Blogger is a free platform designed for newbie bloggers. While it lacks many content management features, Blogger is more feature-rich than most free blogging platforms. For that reason, Blogger is perfect for individuals looking to create blogs as a hobby.
Blogger Pros
The biggest advantage of Blogger is how easy it is to create and customize a relatively basic blog.
To get started, you just need to create an account with Google, choose a template, and get publishing. You can purchase a custom domain, optimize your SEO settings, connect your blog to Google Analytics, optimize your posts with Adsense, and even edit the HTML and CSS of your site — but you won’t be able to do much beyond that.
Blogger Cons
To get a better sense of the platform’s limitations, you can compare Blogger vs. WordPress or another CMS. With Blogger, you can’t install plugins to extend the functionality of your site. You can’t create different content types, like portfolio pages. And you can’t change the default display of your content from reverse-chronological order to, say, your most popular posts.
In short, if you need the content management features and customization options of a CMS, then look into alternatives to Blogger.
Blogger Blog Example
Take a look at this personal blog below for an example.

Key Takeaways

Best for lifestyle bloggers
More feature-rich than other free blogging platforms
Can’t create custom post types or change the display of posts

12. Medium
Best For: Writers

Blog Software Cost: Free, With Premium Options
Medium Ideal Users
Medium is often called the best blogging platform for writers. It gives businesses a chance to build a blog and connect with a wide range of industry-specific users. Storytelling is popular on Medium, and many businesses use this to their advantage to build a blog audience.
Medium Pros
This blogging platform is easy to use and publish content.
Another pro is Medium’s readership. The site also features a reader recommendation engine that can generate an audience for new blogs. Since on-site blogs can often take six months or more to generate traffic, a site like Medium can be an attractive alternative.
Medium also has community publications. Each user on the platform can create up to seven publications. Users can also submit blogs to Medium publications to build a larger audience. For example, the Towards Data Science publication has over 645,000 followers.
If you’re just starting out, Medium publications can help draw attention and followers to your new blog. This blogging platform can also complement a website blog, and some businesses republish their onsite blog content here without worrying about penalties.
Medium Cons
Like LinkedIn, a Medium blog won’t help you get the SEO benefits of an on-site blog. It also has a large community that can favor trends or long-time members over newcomers. While you can use Medium to generate traffic for an on-site blog, it may present a duplicate content risk if you don’t properly set up your website.
Medium Blog Example
Both businesses and government agencies use Medium to promote their brand content.

Medium Key Takeaways

Ideal for writers and others who want to connect with an existing audience
Clean and simple interface
Less likely to offer the SEO and lead generation benefits of an on-site blog

13. Tumblr
Best For: Multimedia

Blog Software Cost: Free
Ideal Users
Tumblr appeals to personal bloggers and brands alike. While bloggers might be able to use this as their only platform, brands tend to use it as one platform among many to show their personality.
Tumblr Pros
Tumblr combines the power of blogging and social networking in one highly-visual publishing platform.
Tumblr offers everything you need to create a professional-looking site. You can select from hundreds of free and premium themes and add multiple pages, sidebars, social sharing buttons, comment sections, and more. You can also buy a custom domain name from a domain name registrar rather than use the free subdomain: yourusername.tumblr.com. If you have HTML coding skills, you can further customize your site.
When you’re satisfied with your site’s design, you can start creating and publishing multimedia post types. Featuring photos, GIFs, links, chat dialogue, audio files, and video in your content makes it more engaging, memorable, and shareable.
Since other users can easily like, reply, and reblog your posts on their Tumblr as well as their other social accounts, right from their dashboard, this is an excellent platform for engaging and fostering an online community.
Tumblr Cons
There are restrictions on the site that can frustrate users. For example, you can only schedule (or “queue”) 50 posts in a day, which might limit your ability to plan and execute a long-term content strategy. You can also only upload videos under 500MB and only track 20 tags at a time. Furthermore, your site can be suspended at any time if you’re found in violation of Tumblr’s community guidelines.
Tumblr Blog Example
Vogue has a highly visual and multimedia-rich site on Tumblr. Check it out below.

Key Takeaways

Ideal for publishing multimedia posts
Restrictions on what you post, when, and how often
Ideal for individuals and brands to engage with followers

Get Started Blogging
Once you figure out your blogging goals and needs, you can choose the right blogging platform. With a little focus, you can find a tool with the functionality and flexibility you’re looking for.
Whichever platform you decide on should combine ease of use and power to propel your business. So get choosing and start blogging to reap the SEO and traffic benefits.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.