Category: Marketing Automation

All about Marketing Automation that you ever wanted to know

  • [New Feature] SALESmanago Releases Integration Center: All Your Integrations in One Place

     

     

    Your favorite marketing tools are now more accessible than ever with SALESmanago. Enjoy them all in one place. Just click.

    Empower your marketing with customer data using all your favorite tools. Use ready-made integrations or add the Monitoring Code to your website to integrate it with SALESmanago in no time. 

    Integration fuels marketing with more granular customer data that boosts ROI, with campaigns that leverage data-driven personalization reporting up to an 800% ROI increase. (invesp)

     

    Integration Center – the what

     

    The name says it all. From now on you can use our ready-made integrations with all major eCommerce platforms and popular eCommerce tools. 

    All the integrations are now in one place, which makes setting up your toolset extremely convenient. You can do it in three ways.

     

    How does it work?

     

    Seamless installation and configuration allow you to integrate all your favorite tools in minutes. Just browse our library to find your essential tools. You can fuel SALESmanago with customer data to display tailored recommendations in emails, Web Push notifications, Recommendation Frames, and more.

    Integration is then conducted in one of the three ways, depending on your preference. Integration via eCommerce Plugin is the simplest, you don’t need a website administrator to do this. 

    However, if you plan to integrate a data source that is not on our list of plugins, you can use the API method. 

     

    Integration via eCommerce Plugin

    Use our ready-made integrations with all major eCommerce platforms and popular eCommerce tools. Select your eCommerce tool and follow the instructions to perform the integration and implement the Monitoring Code into your website automatically.

     

    Integration via Monitoring Code

    If you use one of our eCommerce plugins, the Monitoring Code will be implemented automatically, so you don’t need to add it separately. However, if you don’t use this method, you can add the Monitoring Code separately. There are three ways you can perform this task:

    Do it yourself. Add the code to your website template before the </body> closing tag.Send it to your developers. Send the Monitoring Code and instructions via email to your website’s administrator so that they can manage the implementation.Use Google Tag Manager (GTM). If you have a Google Tag Manager account connected to your website, you can use it to add the Monitoring Code. Simply click the button and follow the instructions. 

     

    Integration via API

    API methods can be used to integrate data sources other than those integrated via plugins. You can use those methods to transfer Contacts, Events, and other information from your website or third-party service to SALESmanago. Our open API allows you to build a unified digital ecosystem that includes all your eCommerce data sources.

    When the integration is complete, you can seamlessly transfer all customer data that you have gathered in your store to SALESmanago. Track the activity of visitors through the Monitoring Code. Automatically transfer Contacts, Events, and other information from your website or third-party service to SALESmanago . . . 

     

    Benefits!

     

     . . . and benefit fully from all eCommerce-specific features, like the Recommendation Frames, Personal Shopping Inbox, Customer Preference Center, Live Chat, Lead Generation widgets, and much more! 

    You can get access to the other automation processes with only a few clicks, and manage all website personalization.

    All your integrated tools will work in perfect synergy with SALESmanago’s most important features. Here are some examples:

    You can use no-code data processing to turn customer information from tools integrated via plugins into 360º profiles, and group these profiles into meaningful segments. Data from multiple inputs will enable Hyper Segmentation, and, in turn, will support Hyper Personalization of your communication with customers.

    Multisource data also empowers you to leverage AI-driven recommendations to show customers only the most relevant products. 

    Hyper Personalization and Customized Recommendations make it easier to maximize each transaction value through omnichannel campaigns. After all, your recommendations are now based on deep behavioral profiling in all your channels. This will greatly support your cross-selling and upselling efforts. 

    And if a customer, despite your best attempts, abandons a transaction during the last step, you can send automated messages that are based on customer behavior and designed to encourage the completion of interrupted transactions.

    Last, but not least, budget optimization is now easier, simply by tracking,  how marketing efforts in different channels translate into sales with detailed revenue attribution.

     

  • The 14 Best Graphic Design Portfolios We’ve Ever Seen, & How to Start Your Own

    A great graphic design portfolio can’t move mountains, but it can change your life with a new job or opportunity. AI and other factors are impacting graphic design hiring, making your portfolio more important than ever before.

    And while some designers still carry a physical book of printed design examples, most portfolios are graphic designer websites. These sites show audiences much more than design skills like logo design or typography.
    Whether you’re a full-time graphic designer or dabbling in design as a side project in your free time, it’s critical you create a sleek graphic design portfolio to showcase your work to potential clients.
    Fortunately, we’ve created a list of 14 impressive graphic design portfolios, followed by instructions on how you can create your own. Keep reading to get all the tips you need to curate the perfect space to showcase your work.
    A graphic design portfolio is one of the most important elements a client needs to see when choosing a graphic designer — which means a portfolio is vital for proving your skill as a designer.
    Additionally, a graphic design portfolio, much like a resume, provides necessary contact information, and any case studies you care to include from past employers.
    Most portfolios today are graphic designer websites. This means that they’re not only a way to connect with clients. They also help graphic designers build communities and share their work with potential fans around the world.
    So what does a graphic design portfolio need to look like to stand out? Some of the best graphic design portfolios today include these elements:

    Motion graphics
    Video
    Original illustrations
    Animation
    Product design
    UX design
    Ad campaigns
    Storyboards
    Brand identity

    Let’s look at some graphic design portfolio website examples to inspire and motivate your portfolio development. You could be a traditional graphic designer or experimenting with new media. There’s something here for everyone.
    1. Morag Myerscough

    Bright graphics, animations, and clean design make this an exceptional graphic design portfolio. This approach is great for designers who lean into the art of design. It also works for designers who take on more experimental or site-specific projects.

    Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Myerscough’s aesthetic is unique and this image-focused site quickly communicates her style.
    Short sections of copy connect her visual brand to her background, professional experience, and personal philosophy. The combination makes the site feel like it shows the whole designer, not just a visualization of the work she does for clients.
    2. Heather Shaw

    This graphic design portfolio website includes samples of book and website designs, branding, and more. It’s good for designers who work in many different media but want to present a cohesive portfolio.
    Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Heather Shaw’s portfolio is super clear and easy to navigate. It shows a wide range of skills and approaches to solving client problems, but it’s also visually consistent.
    The designer also uses text effectively to explain each project and to encourage further engagement with the work.
    3. Mohamed Samir

    Samir’s work includes branding, typography, posters, and print design. So, this graphic design portfolio zeros in on a tight collection of award-winning designs.
    This graphic design portfolio is on Behance. This makes it a good fit for graphic designers who want an online presence without designing their own website.
    Why we love this graphic designer’s website: Besides the high quality of the design work, this portfolio shows a diverse range of approaches to typography and style. At the same time, it shows a consistent vision and passion for visual communication.
    The printed design work is also well-photographed. While the designer could have added a digital file instead, the photographs give you a better sense of the final polished design.
    4. Gleb Kuznetsov

    Kuznetsov’s portfolio combines product design, user experience, and graphic design to create something entirely new. This Dribble-hosted portfolio has over 50 images, which could be overwhelming. But they’re split into seven easy-to-understand projects.
    This makes it a great graphic design portfolio example for designers who want to show long-term or complex projects.
    Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: From the images to his brief “About” statement, this designer makes his unique vision and personality part of the work and its presentation.
    5. Chris Tammar

    Great designers often let the work do the talking. It’s a streamlined graphic design portfolio that calls attention to client deliverables. When text is present, it adds to the value of the work, like mentioning other websites that featured their infographics. This is a great portfolio format for designers doing graphic design work like:

    Logo design
    Packaging
    Brochures for business clients

    Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: This group of work is simple and to the point. It also shows off a wide range of skills and tactics with a consistent vision.
    6. Sophia Yeshi

    A clear header and tile design emphasize work samples from this powerful graphic designer.
    While the tiles emphasize the designer’s unique style, you can click on each tile to get the full details about each project. This is a great approach for designers who want to share the deeper story behind each project while still making the site easy to navigate.

    Why we love this graphic designer’s website: A distinct style is important in graphic design. That said, it can be tough to show how many ways you can apply that distinct style in a business context. Major brands, including Google, Nike, and Comcast, use Yeshi’s unique illustrative voice to speak for their brands.
    This website portfolio makes that point clear, while still making graphic design the focus.
    7. Stefanie Brüeckler

    This portfolio includes packaging design, illustration, and web design as well as graphic design and branding work. It’s one of our favorite graphic designer websites because it’s clean and easy to navigate.
    It also shows a lot of different examples of work at a glance. This makes it a great example for designers who aren’t sure how to organize all the work they want to include in their portfolio.
    Why we love this graphic designer website example: Brückler’s graphic design portfolio focuses on the tiniest of details to create an excellent user experience. From the simple page loading animation to the thoughtful use of motion graphics, this designer hones in on the stunning details.
    8. Chip Kidd

    Book cover designer Chip Kidd’s graphic design portfolio website uses lightbox-style pop-ups. Popups make it easier to focus on each book cover. This is a smart way to narrow in on the visuals with a graphic design site while still making it easy to see all the work in one place.
    Kidd uses a range of different styles for book covers, and it’s edited in a way that makes this range look natural and exciting instead of chaotic.

    Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: The dark background makes this graphic designer’s style pop. And the simple side navigation gives users a quick path to learn more about the designer and his work.
    9. MDZ Design

    Concise and exciting images on this graphic designer website example give site visitors a peek at execution and strategy.
    MDZ Design also offers product design and strategy to clients. This makes their graphic design portfolio a useful example for strategy-focused designers.
    Why we love this graphic designer website example: The range of services this portfolio shows could be overwhelming or confusing. Instead, it’s a chance to see their approach to problem-solving. They also make it easy to see how their process leads to results for their clients.
    10. Alex Trochut

    This graphic design portfolio is also a home for Trochut’s product design, animations, music, and NFTs. It’s a great example for multimedia artists who want to present their work on a single website. It also works for creators with a big collection of work to show.

    Why we love this graphic designer website example: The four-column layout of this site shows image thumbnails of varying sizes. Each column moves at a different pace as you scroll down the page.
    This motion feels dynamic and exciting and reinforces this designer’s original takes on color, type, and layout.
    11. Tobias van Schneider

    This graphic design portfolio website uses a range of type sizes and contrasts to emphasize the ideas it communicates. This is a great approach for entrepreneurial designers. It’s also smart for anyone who does collaborations as part of their design work.
    Why we love this graphic designer’s website: A sticky header and big blocks of color and text make this graphic designer website interesting to explore. This site also uses scale well. It combines big images with both big and small text to emphasize each client project.
    12. Kate Moross

    There are many ways to play up a unique style, and this graphic design website highlights this designer’s recent work as well as a full project archive. This is a great example for designers who also do illustration.

    Why we chose this graphic design portfolio: Moross uses space effectively on this site. It’s easy to get an immediate sense of the designer’s distinct style. The simple navigation helps users refine their search to target a specific type of work, like hand-drawn type or editorial design.
    13. Ling K

    LingK’s portfolio features their latest project while also showing other industry niches. The structure of the website helps prospective clients quickly decide if they want to work with this designer.
    Why this is a great example of a graphic design portfolio website: It can be tough to convey how campaign materials for a complex event, like a wedding or conference, work together. This designer effectively shows the breadth and depth of work for each project and makes it easy to see the value of each deliverable.
    14. Nisha K. Sethi

    Sethi’s portfolio is simple and straightforward. It puts the spotlight on each design project. The “About” section also tells a clear story that encourages further questions and conversation.
    It can be tempting to tell an audience everything on your website. But a great portfolio should offer enough samples to entice clients to reach out and learn more, but not so much that it overwhelms. This website is a great example of offering just enough.
    Why we love this graphic designer website example: This graphic design portfolio combines hand-lettering, printmaking, and other media with digital design. While this designer works in a range of media, their portfolio shows a strong voice that is effective across many channels.
    1. Curate your best work, and show a wide breadth of skill.
    Lindsay Burke, a HubSpot Product Designer, emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity when it comes to curating a graphic design portfolio. She says, “I recommend selecting your strongest projects and making these the primary focus of your portfolio website.”
    Ideally, your portfolio will feature your sharpest, most impressive 10-20 designs — undoubtedly, someone pursuing your portfolio won’t have the time to look at more, and if your first couple projects are impressive enough, they shouldn’t need to.
    But it’s equally critical you show potential clients your versatility. If you’ve dabbled in logo design as well as video animation, it’s good to include both kinds of projects in your portfolio.
    2. Choose the right platform to showcase your work.
    Investing in a quality website with a custom domain URL will pay off in the long run by demonstrating your professionalism to potential clients.
    Having your own website helps you organize your portfolio to suit all your business needs — for instance, perhaps you’ll include ‘Projects’, ‘About Me’, and ‘Contact Me’ sections, so visitors can peruse your content and then contact you without ever leaving the site.
    Take a look at this list of the best website builders if you need help choosing a platform for your portfolio.
    3. Include a professional case study or client recommendations.
    Lindsay Burke told me it’s incredibly valuable to write out a case study to complement any website visuals — “Through a written case study, your site visitors can get a sense of your project’s background, the problem you were aiming to solve through design, and the process you took to arrive at a final deliverable. A lot of time, effort, and iteration goes into design solutions, and a written case study will help communicate your unique process.”
    To cultivate a strong case study, consider including the background of the project, the problem, the process, your deliverable, and any next steps.
    In the process section of your case study, Burke suggests including research, experience mapping, persona development, wire-framing, sketching, usability testing, and iteration.
    Additionally, it will impress future clients if you can include recommendations from prior employers, which allows you to demonstrate a level of professionalism.
    4. Integrate your personality.
    As you can see in the examples above, each portfolio is drastically different depending on the artist’s unique style. Someone checking out Tobias van Schneider’s portfolio will expect something vastly different from someone looking at Ling K’s site. Ensure your portfolio — including layout, background, and website title — reflects who you are as a designer.
    5. Describe the creative process.
    Each designer has a unique process when working with clients — and the sooner a potential client can learn about your process, the better. It’s important you include context, so visitors can get a sense of how you handle challenges, and how your designs solve real-world problems.
    Plus, including a description of your creative process can help a potential client figure out whether you’re capable of handling the scope of their project.
    For instance, they might be unsure of your ability to handle graphic designs for mobile until they read how you single-handedly brainstormed and created the designs for another client’s mobile site. In this case, context is critical.
    6. Show non-client work, or side projects.
    Amanda Chong, a former HubSpot Designer, says, “Side projects are a great way to demonstrate your will to take initiative and your ability to balance multiple things at once. They’re also a great way to show some of the more experimental, creative ideas that you might not be able to show through your day-to-day work.”
    If you’re just starting out, it’s acceptable to include side projects or non-client work so potential customers can get a sense of your ability and style.
    Consider incorporating school work, a logo you designed for your aunt’s company, or an internal design you created for your current company — ideally, your designs will negate any concerns potential clients have over your lack of career experience.
    1. Help a local business or start-up with its design and brand.
    One of the easiest ways to begin building your client base is by reaching out to non-profits or local businesses in your area. Think about creating mock-ups or sketches in advance, These can help you give businesses a sense of your skill and vision.
    Perhaps you think a local restaurant needs a new menu logo, or want to help a gift shop with their online marketing materials.
    Projects like these will help you better understand local marketing challenges, and give you time to develop your skills in those areas. You never know what a pro-bono project could lead to next.
    2. Create content for your own personal brand.
    As you build personal brand content, take the time to ensure your marketing materials are cohesive and sleek.
    Design a unique logo for your brand. Next, start building your website, and add that same design across various materials, including your business card and resume. This is also a great time to start a branded social media account, and to create posts that show off your design skills and interests.
    Clients are more likely to work with you if they can see the type of high-quality work you’re able to create for yourself.
    3. Redesign an existing website.
    Don’t wait for your dream client to give you a call. Instead, create a complete website redesign for a well-known brand to prove your skills to future clients.
    This is a well-known strategy already used by plenty of designers — just take a look at some of the impressive Behance mock-ups for brands like Twitch.
    Additionally, Amanda Chong told me, “If you’re creating mockups for established brands to use as part of your portfolio, it’s important to pair this with a case study or description of the process that helped you arrive at your proposed design. Talk about what you think wasn’t working with the existing design, some of the constraints that you think the designers were working with, and why you made the decisions that you did.”
    Chong added, “Mockups are great at showing your visual design skills, but don’t necessarily demonstrate your ability to work in a real-world context, so you’ll want to take the time to explain how you would have approached it in a true business setting.”
    4. Create graphic design materials for a made-up company.
    If your designs are impressive enough, potential clients won’t care that you created them for a fictitious company. In fact, you could impress them with your innovation and creativity.
    Consider demonstrating your skills by putting together a creative brief for a fake company, complete with wireframes and sketches. Other projects you can create for imaginary companies include:

    Branding
    Style guides
    Posters
    Billboards
    Social media ads
    Apparel graphics
    Wrapping paper
    Brochures and email newsletters
    Simple GIFs
    Animated infographics
    Trade show booths
    Branded wall art
    Pitch decks
    Book covers
    Packaging

    In due time, real companies will take notice.
    5. Design a logo for a brand you love.
    Stick to the type of content you enjoy designing. If you’re particularly adept at making logos, and are often inspired by the logos used by real brands, consider designing an alternative logo for a brand you like.
    Then take a look at these inspiring reimagined NFL logos. While these NFL teams probably won’t make a shift, they’re great examples of the designers’ skills and creativity.
    6. Create a stock theme for WordPress.
    WordPress, a popular content management system, allows users to develop stock themes for WP. Best of all, if your theme is approved, you can sell it as a premium theme for extra cash.
    Begin by studying WordPress’s most popular themes, and considering how you can create an impressive alternative. Take a look at WordPress’s Theme Review Requirements and this overview of how to create a child theme to learn more.
    7. Take part in a design challenge.
    To get inspired, practice your skills, or interact with other designers in a community and build your portfolio at the same time, think about participating in a design challenge.
    Design challenges can also help you uncover skills you didn’t know you had by forcing you to step outside your design comfort zone.
    There are various daily, weekly, or monthly challenges that will send you prompts on things to design — for instance, try checking out the Daily UI Design Challenge or The Daily Logo Challenge.
    You’ve done the work, and now you’re pulling together your graphic design portfolio. Try these tips to make your graphic design portfolio stand out.
    1. Show your versatility.
    A portfolio should show a range of different works, so you want to highlight what you can do. Some clients prefer a more streamlined look, while others are looking for more experimentation.
    If you have clients from different industries, include some work from each industry. Then, edit your portfolio based on the kind of client you’re showing your portfolio to.
    For example, if you’re meeting with a client in real estate, show work samples from similar industries.
    You’ll also want to show anyone who sees your portfolio what you can do. So, if you create design logos, books, and motion graphics, include a little bit of everything in your portfolio.
    2. Display your best work.
    That said, try to limit your portfolio to your best work. Don’t include a piece in your portfolio just to show that you can do it. The way that you edit your portfolio shows that you understand your strengths and know how to play them up. So, edit your portfolio to include only your best work.
    If you’re great with one skill set but not as good with another, edit your portfolio to spotlight that skill. If possible, create portfolio pieces that show many skill sets at the same time.
    For example, if you love hand lettering, a poster could emphasize your graphic design skills alongside this unique ability.
    3. Include case studies.
    Every client is unique, and each will teach you something new. As you continue to work with different clients, build up a collection of these stories.
    Try not to throw anything away without documenting it. That page of thumbnails might not be much to look at on its own, but this kind of work in progress is a great way to show prospective clients how you solve problems.
    When you present case studies in your portfolio, start with the initial problem your client approached you with. Next, show what the conversation and ideation process looked like over time. As you pull your case study together, don’t forget to include the final solution you delivered.
    4. Make it clean and easy to navigate.
    Design is about more than visual skills, it’s about communicating. So the format of your portfolio, whether it’s printed or online, should be clear and simple to scan.
    This point is especially important for graphic designer websites. It can be tempting to build a website that shows off the latest trends or to add Easter eggs that people need to hunt for. There’s a fine line between art and design, and those approaches can be super inspiring.
    But building a complex site can also mean that clients in a hurry could miss some of your best work.
    For example, a graphic designer once sent his portfolio to a creative director friend of mine. They liked the designer’s drawing but didn’t see much of the graphic design or web work that he talked about in his resume. With a little digging, they found a URL in one of the sketchbook drawings, and that URL led to his website.
    This hide-and-seek process was cool, but it wasn’t clear or easy to navigate. This scenario could have been a missed opportunity for that designer.
    5. Prominently display contact information.
    If someone wants to talk to you, there are many places they can find you online. But you want to make it easy for them, and for you. You don’t want to miss out on an important meeting because a client reached out to you with an email you don’t check anymore.
    Most graphic designer websites have a contact page that has your contact information. Once you add this to your site, be sure to check that the links and forms are working.
    6. Display your unique personality.
    There are thousands of successful graphic designers out there, and you might be competing against some of them for your next client. So, the best tip for a great portfolio is to be yourself.
    Whether you have a feel for typography or are talented with color, show off the way that you see the world in your graphic design portfolio. Think about every detail, and then execute to the best of your ability.
    Whether it’s the first version of your portfolio or the 200th, make it feel like something only you could create.
    The best graphic design portfolios aren’t ever finished.
    You’ve learned about the value of a graphic design portfolio and checked out some of the best portfolio examples. You read about how to create your portfolio, then you scanned some smart ideas to build on the graphic design work you’ve already completed.
    So what’s next?
    Even the best graphic design portfolios need constant updates. Keep in mind that while your first graphic design portfolio may be complete, portfolio building won’t ever really end.
    What do you want to tackle for your next project? Social media to promote your new portfolio? A new resume or professional bio to attract clients? The possibilities are endless.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • Our 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Report

    We have always been focused on building a unique and fulfilling workplace at Buffer, where we value the well-being of our customers and team, and prioritize our individual and collective growth. While diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have always been a big part of our culture, it is more important than ever for organizations to bring a business approach to DEI efforts in order to foster a culture where all team members feel welcomed and valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity for success. That’s why we completed our first DEI report, compiling data collected from an internal survey and audit to give us formal insight into setting goals, measuring success, and helping to hold us accountable for continually improving our culture. Here’s how we collected our data, used that data to identify our top three focus areas, then formulated a roadmap to support our goals, ensuring DEI is a foundational component of our company strategy.How we went about collecting DEI dataWe had not previously performed an internal audit of our DEI data, so decided to establish baseline metrics to help us set informed goals moving forward, and allow us to measure success over time. To help us, I chose to use Pluto, a diversity, equity and inclusion data platform that supports companies in their DEI efforts by providing a secure space for employees to share their identity and experiences. Pluto offers comprehensive DEI metrics, advanced intersectional analytics, proprietary privacy measures, and anonymous two-way messaging, all which help generate actionable insights to help build a stronger culture and drive continuous improvement. Pluto Stories in action We had 66 percent of our 88 person team complete Pluto’s 20-minute anonymous survey at the end of 2021, and we also audited our attrition, promotions, and applicant data in relation to DEI. This helped us get a well rounded look at where we are at currently, so we can set goals for the future.Results from Buffer’s 2022 DEI reportWe have a lot of reasons to celebrate what we have accomplished so far!Teammates feel our culture generally supports them bringing their authentic self to work.Most teammates feel that they belong and are respected.Nearly everyone feels that our benefits are inclusive, they love the flexible work, and feel the pay is fair.We have great LGBTQ representation.Our applicant pool is quite diverse overall.Of course, we also have room for improvement, and there are some areas that we need to focus on to create a more inclusive and equitable experience for all team members. Here’s more on each of those: DiversityWhile our applicant pool is diverse, our team representation numbers do not maintain similar percentages, and our Black and Latine representation is lower than where we want it to be.This chart represents diversity at BufferInclusionWe found that about a third of the team doesn’t feel comfortable voicing contrary ideas or discussing DEI related topics. This impacts our teams psychological safety, and can add to challenges around artificial harmony.Most people who hide a part of their identity at work are hiding religious beliefs, disability, mental health, or political beliefs, and do so because they fear how they might be perceived, or that it will negatively impact them.This chart represents how comfortable teammates feel voicing contrary ideasThis chart represents how receptive teammates feel we are to general issuesThis chart represents teammates who might be hiding a part of their identity at workEquitySome people are unaware of Buffer’s incident reporting policies, unsure how to report incidents, or are uncomfortable reporting. There are also team members who don’t know how to request necessary accommodations.This chart represents comfortability with requesting accommodations ➡️ You can view our survey results directly in the Pluto dashboard here.What we’re focusing on nextUsing the results of our data, we created three main focal areas to guide our DEI Roadmap and prioritize our efforts. While there are many important areas of culture and DEI that we want to continually build upon, we decided to narrow our focus so we can have the most impact. As we move along our DEI journey, we can reevaluate what we focus on to determine if any adjustments need to be made.Uplift historically underrepresented groups within Buffer and the communities we impact, focusing on increasing Black representation where possible.Increase psychological safety so the team feels comfortable voicing contrary ideas or discussing DEI related topics.Center the experience of historically underrepresented teammates.Our roadmap for 2022 and beyondTo support our goals, we have outlined initiatives and policies to help us move the needle, and expand upon our culture. Our roadmap is designed to support our three main focal areas, however we also want to remain flexible based on the needs of the team and any reactive work that might pop up throughout the year, so we intend to iterate often and be willing to pivot as needed. Since we are just getting started in our DEI journey, we want to remain open to learning along the way!1. Uplift historically underrepresented groups within Buffer and the communities we impact, focusing on increasing Black representation where possible. At Buffer, we strive to be a profitable company, and we haven’t taken Venture Capital money in eight years. Because of this, we grow our team gradually and don’t hire often, which means the hires we do make are incredibly important, and can have a large impact on the success of our company, as well as our representation goals. Therefore, we want to ensure our hiring experience is equitable and efficient for every open role.When we are not actively hiring, we want to make sure we are positively impacting our internal team, and our  external communities. This means we will prioritize team training and education opportunities on topics such as bias, anti-racism, and interviewing best practices, as well as work to nurture identity centered community groups, and highlight Black-owned customers. (Are you a Buffer customer and have a Black-owned business? Reach out on Twitter to let us know!) 2. Increase psychological safety so the team feels comfortable voicing contrary ideas or discussing DEI related topics.Psychological safety has been proven to be a vital aspect of high performing teams, and helps maximize the benefits of diversity because it makes inclusion possible. In a psychologically safe environment, team members are able to ask questions, discuss thoughts and feelings regarding work and related projects, and acknowledge limitations in what they know or understand. Psychological safety helps create an inclusive environment where historically underrepresented teammates can succeed. Without inclusion, it isn’t possible to attract and retain talent.To help increase our comfort in discussing potentially challenging topics, we plan to provide educational opportunities around engaging in uncomfortable conversations, skills for healthy debates and inclusive management. We want to support one another in sharing alternative perspectives so all voices can be heard, and we can better identify potential risks and challenges in our decisions.Additionally, we plan to examine and evolve the systems and processes that support our team to improve clarity, reduce the opportunity for bias, and increase alignment, making adjustments and iterating where needed. This includes looking at structures such as incident reporting, accommodation requests, performance review processes, career frameworks, and termination processes to help mitigate uncertainty and anxiety, creating a container for candor.3. Center the experience of historically underrepresented teammates.Centering the experience of historically underrepresented groups brings our goals full circle, providing a way for teammates to participate fully in our culture and company. To do this, we plan to foster Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and create a DEI Council, which have been shown to identify and develop internal leaders, increase retention rates, increase professional success of members, support recruitment efforts of underrepresented talent, and nurture talent pipelines. They promote team engagement and strengthen connection both internally and externally within the communities we impact. It allows us to tap into the immense benefit of diverse perspectives, supporting our overall ability to do well as a company. Systemic changes are needed to create equity – not only for teams, businesses and corporations, but for the societies and countries we live in. Every step we can take towards growing and improving where we can, is a vibration that can reverberate out into the world we interact with. – Katie Gilmure, DEI Manager at BufferWhile none of these initiatives are quick fixes, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach with DEI, we are committed to creating a better world both inside and outside of Buffer. Systemic changes are needed to create equity – not only for teams, businesses and corporations, but for the societies and countries we live in. Every step we can take towards growing and improving where we can, is a vibration that can reverberate out into the world we interact with. Since we are just getting started in our DEI journey, we’d love to learn from you! What DEI initiatives have worked well for you? What else can we share about how we’re approaching DEI at Buffer? Send us a tweet to let us know!

  • Ever Needed to Select Multiple Picklist Values in Flow? How About via a Single Condition?!

    Last Updated on June 2, 2022 by Rakesh Gupta Salesforce Flow is one of the most powerful tools provided by Salesforce to implement business requirements declaratively. Till date, I have written 200+ flows just for my blog posts! Salesforce Flow helps businesses to save time, as well as money, by
    The post Ever Needed to Select Multiple Picklist Values in Flow? How About via a Single Condition?! appeared first on Automation Champion.

  • Does Marketing Really Matter? (8 Benefits That Show It’s Critical)

    Many small businesses don’t think they “do marketing,” or need to “do marketing.” In fact, around 37% of small businesses in a survey of 500 small businesses don’t have a website to market their products and services.
    The basis for this line of argument for many of them is that they’re too busy trying to get customers through the door to be bothered about “fancy marketing.”
    However, marketing is a more effortless and surer way to bring in the business they want. This article will reveal some benefits of digital marketing for small businesses and show that marketing truly matters regardless of the business you run.

    They believe that customers would inevitably find their way to them since they have a great product or service. But unfortunately, although this strategy might bring some customers (after all, who doesn’t love great products and service?), its results pale compared to what they’ll get if they use digital marketing.
    The global pandemic and measures to curb its effects have changed the business and retail landscape. Many people have integrated online reviews and searching online into their decision to purchase a product or service. This reveals just how much digital marketing helps small businesses and why it’s in their benefit to take advantage of this new situation.
    The market out there is simply too big and important to be ignored. According to the Global Overview Report, more than 4.6 billion people worldwide use the internet, and 46.3% of them use the internet to research products and brands.

    Image Source
    So, what does this mean? Having a great product or service is essential, but it’s ultimately futile if nobody knows about it. Digital marketing is how you get your product out there and should be part of every small business’s strategy for growth.
    Why some small businesses don’t invest in digital marketing
    Since marketing offers many benefits, it’s bewildering to see small businesses fail to invest in it.
    However, it’s important to note that these owners have their reasons. Some of the common reasons include:
    Service-based companies don’t need to do marketing.
    On the surface, this looks like a genuine reason, but it turns out to be smoke and mirrors. As long as you’re a business selling something, you can benefit from a sound digital marketing strategy.
    The business has tried marketing before and it didn’t work.
    Just because you’ve tried something before and it failed doesn’t mean it can’t ever work. Have you tried something else? Sometimes, some businesses have started on the right marketing path but fall off because of a lack of patience.
    It’s essential to measure the right metrics in any marketing campaign to judge whether it’s working or not accurately.
    There is plenty of help available to small business owners who want to improve their marketing strategy.
    The business is small and plans to stay small.
    Growth isn’t for everyone and small businesses that say this can’t really be faulted. However, just because you don’t want to grow bigger doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from marketing.
    For example, marketing can help you increase your retention rate and even improve the quality of customers or clients you attract.
    Free Guide: Digital Marketing For Small Business

    Download Now
    Why Digital Marketing is Important for Small Businesses
    Relying solely on traditional marketing methods will not achieve the desired results, so small businesses should adopt digital marketing.
    With so many people connected to the internet, online searches have increased in volume and frequency over the past year. 79% of consumers currently use the internet to find information about local businesses, and a digital marketing strategy makes it possible to be found easily by searchers.

    Image Source
    Another reason why digital marketing is excellent for small businesses is that it can turn customers into brand ambassadors. Using digital testimonials can complement the “word of mouth” way of marketing and since 89% of consumers read reviews before buying products, integrating such testimonials is a no-brainer.
    Digital marketing widens your reach. By using multichannel, you can increase conversions and reach potential customers where they are. Social media is a gem, with 4.20 billion people using it. So by tailoring your message on the different channels, you can boost your reach over time.

    1. It increases your reach
    Considering that people today are spending more time than ever before in front of their screen, digital marketing offers small businesses a great chance to reach new audiences.
    Small businesses can use either organic or paid digital efforts to reach these new audiences.
    2. You can target your audience at the right time
    Most digital marketing channels have personalization and segmentation features that allow you to reach your audience with the right message at the right time.
    For instance, you can send time-limited offers to subscribers on your email list. Or run Twitter ads during specific holidays to target your audience at the right time.
    3. It improves communication at all stages of the buying process
    People rarely go from being unaware of your brand to become customers. There’s typically a buying process they go through, and digital marketing channels help you guide your audience through this process.
    For instance, you can create valuable content that answers questions your audience might have with your blog. Also, you can use social media to drive conversations and engagement among your audience.
    4. It’s cost-effective
    Compared to traditional marketing, digital marketing offers a low-cost method to reach your audience. Sometimes, with channels like social media and email marketing, you might not even have to pay to market your products and services to potential customers.
    5. It’s easy to tack and monitor
    Most digital channels come with analytics that help you quickly identify what elements work within your marketing strategy.
    Once you identify an under-performing area of your strategy, you can quickly switch things up and monitor how well the new elements are working.
    6. Marketing allows you to know customers better
    Before starting your business, you likely had an idea of your ideal customer. However, marketing helps you even get to know this ideal customer more.
    How they interact with your campaigns and marketing messages helps you identify what’s important to them and how you can connect better with them.
    7. It lets the customer come to you
    Consistently creating valuable content for your audience helps you build authority and subject matter expertise (SME) in your industry. When people have problems concerning the topics you talk about, it’s easy for them to turn to you.
    8. Digital marketing can increase your revenue.
    Assuming your conversion rates are constant, it goes without saying that you’ll make more money if you reach more people — and that’s exactly what digital marketing helps you do.
    Using social media, a website, email marketing, and more digital channels, you’ll have more avenues to reach more people through at a marginal cost difference than you would if you used traditional or in-person marketing methods.
    Use Digital Marketing for Small Businesses
    Digital marketing can have a huge, positive effect on your business. Developing a marketing strategy might take some time, but it’s time well worth it. No business, big or small, new or old, should overlook the opportunity to generate leads and improve conversions that digital marketing offers.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in November 2006 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • LinkedIn Company Pages: The Ultimate Guide [+ 10 Best Practices]

    LinkedIn Pages allow users to discover, follow, and find new roles at their favorite businesses. But they’re not just useful for job seekers and professionals. If you own a business, organization, or other institution, you can use LinkedIn Company Pages to connect with your audience and strengthen your brand image.

    A lot happens on LinkedIn. People post updates, professionals seek new jobs, salespeople pitch prospective customers, and LinkedIn members of all kinds connect, chat, and build relationships. With more than 800 million members, this level of activity comes as no surprise.

    LinkedIn Company Pages provide a unique way for your organization to stand out from the noise — important noise, but noisy nonetheless. We developed this guide to help you master your LinkedIn Company Page.

    LinkedIn Company Pages were developed to give your company a home base and reach your audience on the network.
    If you haven’t built a LinkedIn Page for your business yet, you’re missing out on new connections, followers, employees, and customers.For an in-depth guide on why creating a LinkedIn company page is essential for your business and how to get started, check out our video.

    What to Post on a LinkedIn Company Page
    Creating a LinkedIn presence for your company expands your brand trust and awareness. Here are a few ideas for what to post on your LinkedIn page to maximize your ROI.
    1. Share company updates and news.
    LinkedIn, like any other social network, features a content stream on which people share and discuss important articles and updates. Your Page is a perfect place to post your company updates and news for customers, employees, investors, and fans to review and share.
    2. Post open jobs and connect with potential employees.
    LinkedIn is a professional social network, meaning users benefit from work and career-related updates, connections, and interactions. LinkedIn members are primed to discover and discuss job opportunities, including the ones at your company. If you have any open roles, LinkedIn is the perfect place to share them.
    In fact, LinkedIn provides Career Pages — a space separate from your Company Page that’s dedicated to open jobs, recruiting, and employer branding.
    3. Build a community.
    Every social network boasts its own ability to foster a sense of community, and LinkedIn is no exception.
    Your LinkedIn Company Page is a place to build a community of LinkedIn members who are interested in your business, updates, and jobs. Here, they can connect and collaborate on their shared interest in your company. Post interesting questions, behind-the-scenes information, and unique updates to engage your audience and build camaraderie on your Page.
    4. Grow and keep your brand’s image consistent on social media.
    If you’re active on other social networks, having a presence on LinkedIn can help you grow your audience elsewhere. Most social networks allow you to link to and from your LinkedIn page to boost recognition and increase your number of followers.
    Additionally, some of your audience may only be active on LinkedIn, so creating a Page would give you a chance to connect with new potential customers and employees.
    5. Improve your discoverability on search engines.
    LinkedIn Company Pages rank on search engine results pages (SERPs) like any other website or social network. Creating a Page gives your company another opportunity to be discovered by those searching for your products, services, or brand.
    LinkedIn Company Pages vs. LinkedIn Groups
    Another popular feature on LinkedIn is LinkedIn Groups, where like-minded people digitally gather to discuss common topics, industries, or (in some cases) companies. Many users get these two features confused.
    LinkedIn Company Pages are the equivalent to your “website” on LinkedIn; you create it on behalf of your company, and it belongs to you (as a business owner and/or marketer). You’re responsible for updating your Page and posting new content and updates. Other LinkedIn members can follow your Page and engage with your content.
    On the other hand, LinkedIn Groups are collaborative networks that can be created and engaged with by any LinkedIn member. Some groups are private while Open Groups can be read or joined by anyone.
    Now, a company can create a LinkedIn Group for certain internal teams or subgroups, but LinkedIn Groups can’t necessarily replace LinkedIn Company Pages.

    How to Create a Company Page on LinkedIn
    Whether you already have a LinkedIn account or are new to the platform, creating a LinkedIn Company Page is easy. Follow these steps to get started.
    1. Navigate to the LinkedIn Pages home page or to LinkedIn.com.
    LinkedIn has a public-facing site where you can start the process for creating your own Page. Click the blue button that says “Create your Page.” Alternatively, hover over the LinkedIn Pages option in the top menu and click “Create a LinkedIn Page”.

    If you’re not already signed in, you’ll be prompted to sign in. Be sure to do so with the account where you’d like to manage the page. But if you happen to sign in to the wrong account, don’t worry; you can add more admins after you set up your page. We’ll cover how you can do that later.
    Starting from LinkedIn.com
    If you’d prefer to start from your LinkedIn feed, navigate to LinkedIn.com.
    Once you reach your feed, tap the “Work” button in the navigation bar.
    Click “Create a Company Page +” at the very bottom.
    2. Select the type of Page you’d like to create.
    After clicking “Create a Company Page”, you’ll be taken to a page where you can decide what you’re creating. You have three options:

    Company: A good fit for small-to-enterprise businesses, as well as non-profits, government agencies, and other non-educational organizations.
    Showcase page: A “sub-page” that’s connected to an existing LinkedIn Page. Not recommended if you’re setting up your first Company Page.
    Educational institution: A good fit for schools and universities.

    If you’re a business owner or employee, choose “Company.”
    3. Input your business name, LinkedIn public URL, and website.
    Now comes the fun part: Actually creating the page. LinkedIn guides you through this process, and it prompts you to first fill out the basics.

    Name: Enter your entire company name to improve discoverability and searchability.
    LinkedIn public URL: As you fill out your Name, LinkedIn will automatically input your URL to match. Ideally, your URL will be your company name; this keeps your online identities consistent. For example, HubSpot’s LinkedIn Page URL is www.linkedin.com/company/hubspot. If your company name isn’t available, choose a URL that’s similar and still identifiable, such as one of your social media handles and/or a shortened version of your brand name.
    Website: Enter your company’s website. Although not required, this information is critical as it connects LinkedIn followers to your company website.

    4. Add your industry, company size, and company type.
    LinkedIn requires additional details for you to build your page. These are essential to improve searchability and helps you build your brand image in your specific industry.

    Industry: Start typing in your industry and choose one from the drop-down menu. If you can’t find it, continue searching until you find a generally good fit. This information helps LinkedIn categorize your company for Page visitors.
    Company size: Choose your company size from the ranges provided. The ranges start from 0-1 and go up to 10,000+.
    Company type: Choose your company type from the options provided: Public company, self-employed, government agency, non-profit, sole proprietorship, privately held, and partnership. If you’re not sure, reach out to your company stakeholders.

    5. Add your final profile details, such as your logo and tagline.
    While these fields are optional, they can help you save time later. You’ll have less work to do in your LinkedIn Page Admin area.

    Logo: Upload a high-quality logo that matches the logo on your other social media accounts. This is important so new followers can recognize your brand and Page. It must be 300 x 300px.
    Tagline: In 120 characters, briefly describe what your company does. Consider using the same tagline from your other social media accounts. You can change this information later.

    6. Preview the result and click “Create Page.”
    On the right-hand side, you’ll see a preview of the details you’ve provided. Take a look to ensure everything looks correct.
    When you’re finished, check the checkbox at the bottom confirming you’re an authorized representative and click “Create Page.”

    7. Complete your LinkedIn Page in the Admin dashboard.
    The final step will show you the Admin View of your LinkedIn Company Page. This is essentially the behind-the-scenes dashboard from which you can make changes to your Page.
    If you’re building your Page from scratch, you’ll see that LinkedIn provides a helpful checklist of actions to complete. These tasks will also unlock new features such as Content Suggestions and Invite to Follow that can help grow your Page.
    Let’s walk through the important tasks to complete in this step.

    Description: Add an About Us section that describes your company. It should be longer than your tagline. This is the place to include relevant keywords and phrases that can help people discover your Page on LinkedIn and through search engines. This section can be up to 2,000 words. LinkedIn also allows you to create taglines and descriptions in multiple languages.
    Location: Add at least one location for your company. You can add multiple locations and name each one. Consider at least adding your headquarters or central company location.
    Cover photo: Add a cover photo that will engage and entice visitors to check out your Page. Many brands upload another orientation of their logo or their latest marketing or advertising campaign graphics. This photo must be 1,128 x 191px.
    Hashtags: Hashtags provide a unique way to connect with followers and engage with posts. Add up to three hashtags that are related to your company, industry, and audience. They will be added as Community Hashtags to your Page.

    You can also add a company phone number, the year your company was founded, and any LinkedIn Groups you want to show on your Page.
    Voila! Your LinkedIn Company Page is now created and ready to share. Continue poking around your Page to complete all fields and features. The following section of LinkedIn Page best practices will help you use your Page to connect and grow.

    How to Manage Your Company Page on LinkedIn
    Once you create your LinkedIn Company Page, your work is done … right? Nope. Honestly, creating the Page is the easiest part. Managing and posting on the page is what takes more time, work, and creativity.
    As we’ll talk about below, the first thing to do is determine your Page admin. This person will be responsible for creating (or delegating) the content posted on your Page.
    Work with your team to plan much of your LinkedIn content upfront. Gather ideas from your other social media accounts, or chat with your leadership, product, and HR teams to get ideas for company, product, and job updates to share.
    Encourage your coworkers to create LinkedIn accounts of their own, as their engagement and participation can help drive traffic to your Page.
    Lastly, keep an eye on the LinkedIn Company Page analytics. See who’s visiting and engaging with your Page and what kind of content they prefer. Over time, this will help you determine where to best spend your creative energy.
    LinkedIn Company Page Admin
    Who is your LinkedIn Company Page admin? Answer this question before moving further in this article. You need at least one, although we’ll discuss in the section below how (and why) to add additional Page admins.
    LinkedIn offers a variety of admin roles, and your Page should have at least one of each to avoid losing access to your Page. Moreover, this admin (or team of admins) are the ultimate managers of all content posted on your Page. They should ensure all content is on brand and consistent with your other social networks and website content.
    Let’s talk about some more best practices for LinkedIn Company Pages.

    Follow these tips and techniques to maximize the impact of your LinkedIn Company Page.
    1. Complete all Page details with in-depth information about your company.
    A fully completed LinkedIn Company Page will help you engage users more effectively and earn more follows and shares. Take the time to fill out every Page detail, even those that aren’t required.
    Each LinkedIn Company Page has a series of tabs. These include:

    Home: The Home tab includes a snapshot of all the other tabs in your LinkedIn Page. It provides a short version of your “About” page, lists 2-3 of your recent posts, includes “People highlights” for each individual Page visitor, and more.
    About: The About tab gives you the opportunity to explain what you do and why you do it in more detail. You’ve likely already filled out most of this info, such as your website and industry, but consider adding your specialties and other locations as well.
    Products: Some companies will benefit from listing products on their LinkedIn page. It’s especially useful if your product can also double as a skill that people can add to their LinkedIn profile (such as Microsoft Excel, for instance). Only certain types of companies can add products to their Page.

    Posts: This is the section of your Page where your updates are published, equivalent to an Instagram or Facebook feed. It includes text posts, images, videos, articles, documents, and ads.
    Jobs: The Jobs tab only apples to you once you’ve posted jobs on LinkedIn. Posting a job is completely free and essential if you’d like to use your LinkedIn Page to attract top talent.
    Events: Like the Jobs tab, this will only appear after you’ve added an event to LinkedIn. You don’t necessarily need to add events during the Page setup process, but you can consider doing so to strengthen your company brand and reach more prospects.
    Videos: This tab includes a feed of your most recent videos.

    Your LinkedIn Page also includes a “People” tab, which lists all of your current employees. If you purchase Career Pages for your LinkedIn Page, you’ll also get a “Life” tab, where you can provide more detail on the employee experience at your company and even feature content made by your employees.

    Image Source
    The more details you provide about your company, the easier it will be for people (a.k.a. potential customers) to discover and connect with you. It will also serve to educate those who are interested in working for or investing in your company.
    2. Add important Page admins.
    Maintaining a LinkedIn Company Page can be a lot of work, especially if your team is already manning multiple social networks and accounts. Once you create your Page, don’t forget to add more Page admins to give other people permissions.
    To add new Page admins, click “Admin tools” in the top right corner of your Company Page, then click “Manage admins” under Settings.

    The page will allow you to manage all your Page administrators. As you can see, there are several types of admins you can add to your Page:

    Super admins have access to all permissions.
    Content admins can edit the Page’s content and publish posts.
    Curators can see content suggestions and create recommended content.
    Analysts can access the Page’s performance analytics and export data.

    LinkedIn explains them in detail here.
    To add an admin, simply click the “+ Add admin” button in the admin management page.
    In the pop-up, type in the person’s name, choose their admin role, and click “Save.”

    3. Keep your images up-to-date.
    Your Page logo and cover photo are very important; they visually introduce and engage anyone who visits your Page. Keep these images up-to-date with your latest branding and marketing materials.
    Not only is this critical for presenting a unified social presence, but it ensures your LinkedIn Company Page also matches your website, blog, and other digital marketing materials. Doing so will boost brand awareness and help new customers, employees, and fans discover your brand on LinkedIn.
    4. Share engaging content with your followers at least once a week.
    Like any social network, you can’t expect to simply create your account and be finished. Building your LinkedIn Page is only half the battle; you must also consistently post content to successfully engage, inform, and market to your audience.
    Download this free ebook to access templates, guides, and infographics on how to use LinkedIn for business, marketing, and networking.
    Consider posting updates to your products and services, job openings, trends or news that involve your brand, and behind-the-scenes content featuring employee life, product development, or other unique content.
    5. Use Content Suggestions to share relevant content.
    LinkedIn also provides a handy Content Suggestions tool to help you discover topics and content your audience is already engaging with on the network.
    Tap “Content” in the top menu of your Page, and update the filters as they apply to your audience.

    Immediately, you’ll see a content stream based on your chosen topic and audience parameters. You can edit the filters further in the left menu, and you can add or take away content topics along the top. This tool shows you the engagement rates of popular or trending content and makes it easy to share this content with your audience.
    6. Engage with your audience.
    Don’t forget to engage with your audience, too. Like, comment on, and share things posted by your followers and connections. This will remind them there are humans behind your brand’s LinkedIn Company Page.
    7. Post interesting, eye-catching visuals.
    Text-only content is unlikely to engage all members of your LinkedIn Page. Be sure that at least 50% of your posts feature an engaging visual, whether an infographic, illustrated statistic, or quote graphic. Even a GIF or meme can be a fun addition to a text-heavy feed.
    Also, consider adding short videos. Even if these videos repeat your text-based posts, they’ll engage with your more visual audience and keep folks engaged on your Page.
    8. Customize your call-to-action.
    On your LinkedIn Company Page, under your logo and next to the Follow + button, you’ll find a call-to-action (CTA). HubSpot’s says Visit website.

    LinkedIn allows you to customize this CTA to better engage your followers and audience. To do this, click “Edit page” on your admin view.
    A pop-up box will come up. Under Header, click “Buttons.”
    Make sure the “Custom button” option is turned on.
    Choose a button name from the drop-down menu and enter a URL. Use this setting to direct followers to your website, landing pages, event registrations, and more.
    9. Involve your employees.
    Your employees are some of your best brand advocates. This is especially true on LinkedIn, where employees have an average of 10x more first-degree connections than a company has followers.
    As you develop your Company Page, encourage your employees to follow and engage with it. Also, ask each employee to list your company as an employer, as this will link their profile to your Page and vice versa.
    This is a helpful resource when growing a new Page audience of customers and potential employees.
    10. Post content from (or mention) partners and other companies.

    If you partner with other companies, such as for co-marketing campaigns, feature them on your Page often. Not only does this engage other companies and leaders, but it also promotes your content to your partner’s audiences.
    For every post that you share about your company, share one focused on another company, your employees, or even your customers.
    Create Your LinkedIn Company Page Today
    Most customers trust social media over advertising — including social media for brands and companies. Your LinkedIn Company Page contributes to this statistic, and, in turn, helps bolster your brand awareness, trust, and social activity. Use this guide to develop your LinkedIn Company Page and start engaging with new customers, employees, investors, and followers.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • The 23 Best Google Chrome Extensions for SEO

    The importance of using a great SEO Chrome extension can’t be overstated. SEO is essential if you want your site to rank on Google, and the right extension can help you automate research and analysis, leading to a more effective SEO strategy.
    With so many SEO Chrome extensions available, marketers often find themselves spending more time finding a great fit than getting actionable analytics.
    To help you navigate the crowded world of Chrome extensions, we’ve come up with a list of our favorites for SEO.

    Best SEO Extensions for Google Chrome
    1. MozBar

    Price: Free; MozBar Premium, free 30-day trial, then paid plans from $99/mo

    MozBar allows its users to check SEO within their browser using just one click. MozBar provides metrics while viewing any webpage, and allows users to export SERPs into a CRV file and access analytics. Upgrading to MozBar Premium offers functions like analyzing keyword difficulty, page optimization, and SERP metrics.
    What we like: MozBar makes checking your SEO as simple as possible with its one-click model, making it a huge time saver for stressed SEO pros.
    2. Keywords Everywhere

    Price: Free

    Keywords Everywhere is a tool that shows three different information types for keywords on Google: monthly search volume, cost per click, and Google Adwords competition. By having this extension installed, going back and forth from Google Keywords to your open browser page is a thing of the past, as it’s an in-browser extension.
    What we like: Keywords Everywhere puts keyword data where you want it: Right in front of you. The result? Less time spent tabbing back and forth and more time spent boosting your site’s SEO.
    3. GrowthBar

    Price: Free for 5 days, then $29/mo

    GrowthBar is a simple chrome extension that gives you instant access to critical SEO data points about any website and unlocks the growth channels and keywords that are working for them.
    The tool allows you to explore best-performing keywords, keyword ranking difficulty score, domain authority, backlink data, page word count, Facebook ads, and more.
    What we like: Quick and easy are the big benefits of GrowthBar. Easily discover key data and act on it to boost your SEO on-demand.
    4. SimilarWeb

    Price: Free

    Offering traffic and key metrics for any website, SimilarWeb is a popular extension that allows users to see statistics and strategies for any website while searching the internet with one click. This extension is helpful for those looking for new and effective SEO strategies, as well as those interested in analyzing different trends across the market.
    What we like: SimilarWeb lets you see what the competition is up to — and how it’s working for them. The result? You gain useful insight about improving your own SEO practices.
    5. Redirect Path

    Price: Free

    Microsoft Word’s infamous red squiggly line that alerts their user of improper grammar has an SEO doppelganger: Redirect Path. This extension flags 301, 302, 404, 500 HTTP Status Codes, Meta, and JavaScript redirects, catching potential issues immediately. It also shows other HTTP headers and server IP addresses.
    What we like: Broken and misdirected links can drive users to other sites — Redirect Path gives you a heads-up about these issues so you can correct them ASAP.
    6. SEO Meta in 1 Click

    Price: Free

    SEO Meta in 1 Click displays all meta tags and main SEO information for a web page with just a single click. This includes the lengths of titles and descriptions, URL, headers in order of appearance, and the number of images without alt text.
    What we like: Just like the name says, one click gets you the big hitters of SEO impact, including title and description lengths and no-text images, letting you make the changes that matter most.
    7. BuzzSumo

    Price: Free

    Need SEO tracking for social? BuzzSumo’s got you covered. This extension allows you to easily track shares and top-performing content on social media pages. Using BuzzSumo can help aid in future SEO decisions and check the inbound backlinks to your pages.
    What we like: Social media is now a critical part of effective SEO. BuzzSumo loops in popular social media sites to help your team develop more effective SEO strategies.
    8. Hunter

    Price: Free Basic plan, then paid plans start at $49/mo.

    Hunter makes it easy to find contact information instantly in your browser. This process, named “Domain Search,” is accessible by an icon in Chrome. Hunter finds all the email addresses related to a website.
    What we like: How do prospective customers get in touch? Hunter finds all email addresses attached to your website, letting you ensure users have a reliable point of contact and making sure all email addresses are up-to-date.
    9. Mangools

    Price: Free 10-day trial, then the basic plan starts at at $29/month

    Check the SEO strength of websites with Mangools, which offers you the top SEO metrics of websites using Moz and Majestic. Access premium features such as the self-described “Google SERP on steroids” function, aiding with keywords, backlinks, and profile analysis.
    What we like: The stronger your SEO game, the better. Mangools combines multiple metrics to provide a broad view of how you stack up to the competition.
    10. Google Trends

    Price: Free

    Trends is part of Google Webmaster Tools, a set of extension tools for building websites and integrating them with Google. Trends presents analytics, using graphs, on the top searches in Google (from Taylor Swift to Kim Kardashian) from across several countries. Trends can help you identify the level of interest in topics related to your niche.
    What we like: What’s in and what’s out changes rapidly. Trends keeps you on top of the evolving SEO landscape to help you stay ahead of the crowd.
    11. SEOQuake

    Price: Free

    SEOQuake presents itself as a dashboard, reporting on domain performance, as well as that of individual pages. One of its prime features is its SEO toolkit, which allows its users to analyze backlinks and watch keyword rank. It also provides on-page SEO suggestions, fitting itself into an SEO strategy nicely.
    What we like: On-page SEO suggestions from SEOQuake are a great way to optimize your content in real-time, and it’s also a great tool to have access to when you need more robust analytics.
    12. Serpstat

    Price: Free Lite data, then $69 for the basic paid plan

    By using Serpstat, you can instantly check the SEO of your website as well as competitors’. After clicking the in-browser icon, you’ll be able to receive a full SEO audit of a domain. Serpstat has three sections: On-page SEO parameters, page analysis, and domain analysis.
    What we like: Get a quick SEO comparison of your site and those of your competitors with just a few clicks using Serpstat to see how you stack up — and what you need to change.
    13. Ahrefs

    Price: $99/mo for Ahrefs Lite

    With their SEO toolbar in Chrome, Ahrefs examines website properties and produces keywords, links, and ranking profiles that offer SEO improvements on your website. To receive a detailed report on an SEO metric, just click on it.
    What we like: Dive deep into any SEO metric with Ahrefs to see where your strategies are working and where they need improvement.
    14. Check My Links

    Price: Free

    Aptly named, Check My Links does just that with one click, scanning through webpages for broken links. A huge time saver when designing link-heavy web pages, the extension makes sure the links are working properly, denoting when links are broken.
    What we like: Broken links are bad news. Check My Links saves you the time of manually finding broken links with one-click scanning.
    15. NinjaOutreach Lite

    Price: Free

    The free extension from NinjaOutreach makes browsers capable of advanced data mining. It offers various SEO functions related to webpage URLs, titles, links, meta descriptions, follower counts on social media, and monetization techniques.
    What we like: With NinjaOutreach Lite, you can begin data mining to see how well your URL, title, links, and meta descriptions are meeting SEO goals.
    16. PageSpeed Insights by Google

    Price: Free

    Part of Google Webmaster Tools, PageSpeed Insights is an SEO tool that provides information on desktop and mobile sites. After running an analysis, PageSpeed Insights gives a score on the site and provides suggestions on how to make the web pages run faster.
    What we like: Faster is better when it comes to websites. PageSpeed pinpoints areas you can improve to make your page run faster and boost your search ranking.
    17. Woorank

    Price: Free 14-day trial, $49/mo for a Wookrank Pro plan or $149/mo for a Woorank Premium

    Woorank is a site analysis tool similar to PageSpeed Insights, allowing users to see suggestions for improvement on their web pages. It provides an in-depth report on online visibility, social media, and usability, allowing you to keep track of ways to improve different metrics.
    What we like: Woorank is like PageSpeed with extended impact. It offers suggestions on how to boost the visibility and usability of your site, which are both key metrics in overall SERP rankings.
    18. NoFollow

    Price: Free

    With NoFollow, marketers can see an outline of web pages that are coded with the nofollow metatag. Because nofollow links don’t add to SEO metrics, users can identify any external web pages that are backlinking to their websites with indexed links. For pages you don’t want to be indexed — like a landing page — NoFollow checks to see if those pages are coded correctly and highlights any links that aren’t working.
    What we like: Nofollow links can impact your SEO but don’t naturally appear in data. NoFollow lets you identify these links and helps ensure they’re coded correctly.
    19. BuzzStream

    Price: Free 14-day trial; paid plans begin at $24/mo.

    BuzzStream allows marketers to organize and perform outreach that’s specialized to your business. The extension, BuzzMarker, connects with BuzzStream to assist in building links, promoting content, and pitching influencers.
    What we like: Build out customized SEO-based outreach that can help you connect with target audiences and increase your search rankings.
    20. Screaming Frog SEO Spider

    Price: Free for Screaming Frog Lite; the paid plan is $160/year

    Search marketing stressing you out? This tool is here to help. Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider enables you to crawl website URLs, add key elements to analyze SEO, and fix detected issues, making an excruciatingly long process simplified. Some elements include finding broken links, discovering duplicate pages, and creating site visualizations.
    What we like: Search engine marketing is complex. Screaming Frog makes it easy with automated URL analysis that flags potential issues and lets you add simple fixes.
    21. Lighthouse

    Price: Free

    The Lighthouse SEO Chrome extension is an open-source, automated tool designed to improve the performance of your web applications. First, Lighthouse runs a series of tests against the target webpage and then reports results across the speed, quality, and overall performance of your application. Then, it returns results that make it easy to pinpoint and correct potential problem areas.
    What we like: With page performance now impacting search results, Lighthouse offers a way to quickly identify issues that could hurt SEO efforts.
    22. vidIQ Vision for YouTube

    Price: Free Basic plan, paid plans start at $7.50/mo.

    This YouTube SEO Chrome extension is all about boosting the impact of your videos to get more views and drive more engagement. From helping you understand how videos get ranked in search, what makes them related, and what content your target audience is searching for, vidIQ is a great addition to any video-driven SEO effort.
    What we like: vidIQ boasts more than 2 million users and is regularly updated to improve performance, making it a stand-out choice to boost video SEO impact.
    23. SEO Minion

    Price: Free

    Streamline day-to-day SEO tasks with SEO Minion. From analyzing on-page SEO to checking broken links and previewing SERPs in real-time, the SEO Minion Chrome extension is a great way to save time on SEO without sacrificing your search ranking.
    What we like: Along with current SEO features, SEO Minion adds new analysis and tracking options based on user feedback, making this extension a great choice for basic tasks and specific needs.
    Solving for SEO Stress
    Finding the right Chrome extension can help lower your SEO stress and boost your site’s impact. Plus, many of the tools listed above provide useful information on how to refine skills like backlink building and keyword accuracy. You’ll be acing the SEO section of Marketing 101 in no time. As a result, your site will see an exponential improvement in its search engine rankings.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in September 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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