Category: Marketing Automation

Last Updated on December 1, 2020 by Rakesh GuptaBig Idea or Enduring Question: How can you automatically send password expiration reminders to users?  Objectives: This blog post will help us to understand the following Schedule a Flow that runs every … Continue reading →

What are some favorite tools / software for creating tiered payment plans for ad buying? Do you have a system that you made in-house?
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A few releases ago Salesforce introduced a new screen input component File Upload that allows users to upload files. For example, you can build a Flow that allows your sales rep to create an Opportunity and then attach a Pre-sales Evaluation … Continue reading →

Every year, we see new elements and styles in website design begin to emerge.
Some elements — when incorporated thoughtfully — help tell stories and explain your company. Other elements work to improve how content looks on a specific device. While it’s not necessary to include every trend that comes about on your website, many of them have the potential to improve your visitor’s experience.
But with so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to determine which ones are really worth considering. To help you narrow your focus, we’ve detailed eight important elements of modern website design that you can include to improve your site’s performance.
8 Modern Website Design Elements and Trends
1. Unique & Large Typography
Most companies have a particular font or typography that they use to help their customers immediately identify them versus their competitors. In recent years, designers have received a larger selection of fonts to choose from, making it easier for brands to more accurately express themselves through typography. 
For example, The New Yorker is recognized instantly through their use of unique font, Adobe Caslon Pro. While more unique fonts, such as Blokletters-Balpen, have begun to be used by startups and technology companies like Zero.
Why is it useful?
Typography uses one design trend across the website to lead readers to different parts of the page. For instance, The New Yorker website leads visitors from one section to another based on the typography and font sizes.
When creating your company’s brand, your choice in typography can indicate subtle hints about who you are. Are you fun or serious? Functional or informational? Regardless of what font you choose, be sure that your designer considers its applicability across browsers and computers. Choosing a font that is not supported by common browsers and computers could mean that your website displays awkwardly on different devices. 
2. Large & Responsive Hero Images
You don’t have to go far beyond the popular publishing website Medium.com to see an example of a large hero image:
Large images such as this one do away with the concept of above and below the fold. By focusing on just the image with text rather than a CTA or social buttons, Medium creates a strong visual experience that encourages you to scroll down to read more. 
Large hero images are also often placed in the background with text and other content overlaid on top, like on Uber’s website. Regardless of the approach you utilize, large images can help visually tell your story without having to rely on just text. 
Why is it useful?
Your customers are coming from all over the place and have high expectations. You may not be sure if they are finding your website from their phone, tablet, or desktop computer. The image that Medium uses above is extremely powerful, but if it was only visible from desktop computers, many people may miss it. 
That said, ensuring your images are responsive makes for a good user experience. Website visitors can look at different images — whether they are the background or product images — and be able to get the same experience no matter what device they are coming from. 
3. Background Videos
Videos that automatically play in the background can add a lot to a page. They can be used to tell a story and significantly reduce the amount of other content that is needed to explain your business.
Let’s take Wistia’s website, for example. When you land on their homepage a large video automatically starts playing in the background, and by clicking on the play button, you get a deeper look at Wistia:
This background video serves as a brilliant way to get the visitor engaged to click-through to the main video. 
Why is it useful?
Background videos focus on enticing the visitor from the moment they land on your page. The video allows your visitor to understand the key points about your company without ever having to read a single line of text. 
In addition, video is processed 60,000 times faster by our brains compared to text. While people are often hesitant to read heavy blocks of text, videos appear effortless and can be consumed very quickly. It also helps that connection speeds are increasing and mobile device sizes are growing, making for better video experiences.
4. Semi-Flat Design
In 2013, Apple fundamentally shifted to flat design. Simply put, flat design is any element that does not include or give the perception of three dimensions, such as shadows. Not only is flat design is easier for users to comprehend, but it can also load more quickly on websites without complicated or overly-technical elements.
Following in Apple’s footsteps, many other organizations — both large and small — have shifted to flat design. However, companies like Uber have put their own spin on the style by adding subtle shadows and dimensions. As you can see in the image below, the boxes have an element of depth with shadows around them, without overdoing it:
When you scroll over any of the boxes on the Uber homepage the shadow disappears and relieves the image behind it.
Why is it useful?
Flat design helps the visitor understand your content more quickly, and adding some elements of depth can bring it to life. Regardless of whether you fully design your website using flat design or utilize shadows and other elements, it’s important to be consistent throughout your website. Ensure that your homepage, product pages, and any other key sections of your website all utilize the same design cues so that visitors can instantly understand what they’re viewing.
5. Hamburger Menus
It’s likely that most websites you come in contact with have a long menu of options to choose from. The advantage of this is that the menu can take the visitor directly to where they want to go. However, the disadvantage is that they generally take up a ton of valuable screen space. 
The hidden, or hamburger, menu changes this. This menu was common in web applications before making its way to web design — even in Google Chrome you can find a hamburger menu on the right-hand side.
Source: UX movement
Wondering why it’s called a hamburger menu?
If you use your imagination, the three lines that are stacked on top of one another look like hamburger patties. Get it?
Why is it useful?
The pages of your website should have a clear path for the user to take. Removing a busy navigation makes the experience cleaner and distraction free. This improved experiences help to improve the likelihood that the user will find the information they need to complete a desired action. 
6. Giant Product Images
You may have noticed that many B2B websites are starting to display large product images on their sites to highlight different features or parts of their product. This is no coincidence. 
To give you a better idea of what we’re talking about, let’s take a look at the product page for the HubSpot Website Platform:

There is a large featured image at the top of this page, and as you scroll down the page there are additional in-depth product images. The images are also responsive which aims to ensure an optimized experience for viewers coming from different devices, as we mentioned earlier. 
Why is it useful?
Larger product images help designers highlight different features of a product in a more efficient and effective way.
This approach reinforces the benefits of a feature by providing the opportunity to highlight the most valuable pieces. For instance, in the second image, you will notice that there are numbers on the image corresponding with benefits of certain features.
These large images are also scan-friendly. They help visitors generate a solid understanding of what the different product features do by convey them through images instead of words.
7. Card Design
With the rise of Pinterest, designers and marketers alike have become fascinated with cards. Individual cards help distribute information in a visual way so the visitors can easily consume bite-sized pieces of content without being overwhelmed. 
Brit + Co’s homepage serves as a great example of card design in action:

By breaking up different pieces of content into cards, users can pick and choose which articles they want to expand. This helps to keep the homepage feeling clean and organized, without relying on a ton of text. 
Why is it useful?
Card design is becoming more and more popular across B2B and B2C websites because it helps to deliver easily digestible chunks of information for users. Using this design on your site can help highlight multiple products or solutions side-by-side. 
Keep in mind that your cards should be responsive. This means that as the screen size gets smaller or larger, the number and size of cards shown should adapt accordingly.
8. Short Product or Feature Videos
In addition to background videos, companies are also beginning to use short product or feature videos to highlight a specific use case. These short videos are great at bringing your solution to life, while not overwhelming the visitor with a long experience that they must sit through.
A strong example of this comes from the folks at InVision. They display this short illustrator of how easy it is to use their product by dragging-and-dropping a design directly on their homepage:

Why is it useful?
According to Inc. Magazine, 92% of B2B customers watch online video, and 43% of B2B customers watch online video when researching products and services for their business. Therefore, B2B companies need to create videos that explain their products because it is influential in the buyer’s decision-making process.
These short videos allow for your prospect to quickly understand value without watching a really long, in-depth experience. Sure, both have value, but the shorter videos allows for quick understanding that is best for top of the funnel.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  

According to a recent survey, blogs have ranked as the third most trustworthy source of information, following only friends and family. That’s right — bloggers are trusted more than celebrities, journalists, brands, and politicians.
But how do you get people to fall in love with your blog in the first place? (Aside from remarkable content, of course.)
Well, just as your website homepage is like the front door to your business, your blog’s design — much like a welcome mat — is the front door to your business blog.
If you’re not attracting people visually, how will you get them to take the next steps to actually read (and, hopefully, subscribe to) your content?Once you’re done creating the quality content, you still have the challenge of presenting it in a way that clearly dictates what your blog is about. Images, text, and links need to be shown off just right — otherwise, readers might abandon your content, if it’s not showcased in a way that’s appealing, easy to follow, and generates more interest.
That’s why we’ve compiled some examples of blog homepages to get you on the right track to designing the perfect blog for your readers. Check ’em out, below.

17 Inspiring Examples of Beautiful Blog Homepage Design

1. Help Scout

Sometimes, the best blog designs are also the simplest. Help Scout, makers of customer service software, uses a unique but minimalist design on its blog that we love — it limits the use of copy and visuals and embraces negative space.
What we particularly like about this blog is its use of featured images for all posts, including a banner one at the top that highlights a recent or particularly popular entry. These icons are set in front of bright, block colors that catch the readers’ eye and signal what the post is about. And it works — everything about this blog’s design says “clean” and “readable.”

2. Microsoft Stories

Full disclosure: We’ve totally gushed over Microsoft’s “Stories” microsite before. We can’t help it — what better way to revitalize an old-school brand than with a blog that boasts beautiful, interactive, and inspiring branded content? Plus, the square layout of these stories is reminiscent of the Microsoft logo, which achieves a valuable brand consistency.
Microsoft Stories is also a prime example of how a business blog can be a major asset for an overall rebrand. In recent years, Microsoft has worked to humanize its brand, largely in response to a rivalry with Apple. The “Stories” microsite has a simple tagline — “Get an inside look at the people, places and ideas that move us.” It’s the softer side of Microsoft, so to speak.
When you’re trying to convey a certain brand message, your blog can be used to communicate it — both aesthetically, and content-wise.

3. Pando

An important aspect of a well-designed blog is a consistent color scheme and style — after all, 80% of consumers say that color boosts their recognition of a brand.
It’s interesting to see how color consistency can unify the more diversified elements of design. Pando, a blog that explores the startup cycle, incorporates bluetones in several sections of its site — the background, highlight bars, and certain areas of text. But it also uses several different fonts — all of which manage to look seamless together,when tied together by a cohesive color scheme.

4. Design Milk

Design Milk, an online contemporary design outlet, uses a very simple layout to highlight its posts. The sidebar to the right — which remains visiblewhen a blog post is opened to read — is perfect for showcasing thumbnail images for new articles. That’s an internal link strategy, which helps to encourage readers to remain on the site longer.
The social icons at the top are a pleasant addition to the overall look and feel of the site — they’re easy to spot, and make it easy to share Design Milk’s content. (And to learn more about adding social buttons to your blog, check out this post.)

5. Fubiz

Fubiz, an art and design blog, is an example of a really sleek design that also includes some cool personalization.
Near the top of the blog’s homepage, readers can side-scroll through “highlighted” posts. Below that is the Creativity Finder, where visitors can select their chosen personas — from “Art Lover” to “Freelance” — location, and the type of content they’re looking for. From there, readers can browse content specifically catered to them.
We can’t help but love the header image, too. It uses something called “blue mind” psychology, which has found that the sight of open water can naturally draw us in. By using it in a design scheme, Fubiz is able to visually attract visitors to its content.

6. Webdesigner Depot

With a name like “Webdesigner Depot,” it’s no wonder that this design news site is visually appealing.
One thing that we particularly like is the way Webdesigner Depot has incorporated social sharing icons on each individual post. While we of course suggest actually reading each piece, having those links readily available helps visitors immediately share a headline they find interesting. And check out those navigation arrows on the right — never before has it been so easy to scroll to the top or bottom of a page.
What’s more, the color scheme, background, and fonts are all consistent — which keeps this blog looking professional, but still distinct from the basic blog templates we might be used to seeing.

7. Mashable

I mean, just look at that header image. The bold colors, the wiring overlay, the gripping pupil and the contrasting text. It absolutely catches the reader’s eye — no pun intended.
Mashable breaks its content into three noticeable sections on the homepage: New posts are listed on the left in the smallest sized thumbnails.”What’s Rising” posts are displayed in the center column as large thumbnails, and the “What’s Hot” posts are shown to the right, also as large thumbnails. This three-pronged approach to displaying content can help readers decide which kind of news matters to them the most — the attention-grabbing top story, or other posts that are currently trending.
Plus, we like that the number of shares is displayed in each post preview — that’s a great form of social proof.

8. Brit + Co

Everything about the Brit + Co homepage says “clean,” “warm,” and “welcoming.” It’s free of clutter, making the content more digestible, and the layout is extremely organized.
We dig the seasonality of the site, too. I mean, avocado jack-o’-lanterns on the dawn of October? Adorable, and replete with a colorful, fun photo to illustrate the story’s content.
The subtle “trending” header also serves as a nice way to promote popular content, without being too in-you-face about it. Plus, with such great visuals, we took note of the nod to Pinterest — that icon is important to include when your blog incorporates attractive imagery.

9. Tesco Living

We love the colorful, consistent design of Tesco Living, the blog site of British grocery chain Tesco.
Remember how we keep harping away at brand consistency? Check out the rhombus-like designs in the top banner — that reflects the same ones that appear in Tesco’s logo.
What Tesco Living has achieved is a great balance of simplicity and boldness. The layout is extremely minimal, but it isn’t dull. Warm and welcoming shades underscore each content category, and the photos add dashes of colors throughout the site. It’s a great example of how the right imagery can achieve an appealing “less-is-more” appearance, especially if that fits in with your overall brand concept.

10. Crew

Crew Backstage, the blog of the Crew platform for designers and developers, has a fabulously minimalist blog design, but quiet a unique one.
Notice that, above the fold, it features one blog post with a large title, subtitle, and call-to-action to read more.
To the left, there’s an equally minimalist call-to-action that makes it easy for readers to connect with Crew, or learn more. Plus, there’s that consistency again — everything above the fold is the same shade of blue, which has been shown to invoke brand trust.

11. Innocent Drinks

Not only are the folks at Innocent Drinks great copywriters, but the design of its blog is also a great reminder that blog designs don’t have to get super fancy.
Notice how the logo — displayed in the upper left — is simple, cartoonish, and almost delightfully child-like. It works for Innocent Drinks (hint: childhood innocence), and that brand presence is maintained throughout the company’s blog.
The colorful fonts, for example, match the logo and stay in line with the brand’s casual, playful voice. We also like the easily-navigable archive links on the left, which are complemented by the geometric social sharing buttons on the right.

12. 500px

Much like Crew, the photography blog, 500px, leads with one featured article and a big, bold, high-definition photo to draw the reader in. That makes is pretty clear what the blog is about — it boasts valuable content on photography with gripping photography.
Plus, how cool is it that the social links are right there, obviously displayed above the fold? They keep readers engaged with the content, and make it easy to share the photography — and, content with images is up to three times as likely to be shared on social media.

13. Pixelgrade
Pixelgrade is a design studio that creates stunning WordPress themes for all sorts of creative people and small businesses. Their blog page does a great job of highlighting one of their most recent or popular blog posts, alongside a clear call to action and a short excerpt. What I like best is that the design of the page is 100% in line with their brand and how they communicate on other channels as well, like
Instagram,
Facebook, or
Twitter. You will have no problem in identifying their blog posts, among other content you might come across while scrolling on social media.

14. BarkPost

It’s no secret that we kind of like dogs here at HubSpot. So when a blog dedicated to life as a dog owner came across our radar, it got our attention.
BarkPost, the blog of canine subscription box company BarkBox, is a great example of design for a number of reasons. First, look how easy it is to subscribe — the call to action is right there, above the featured content. The social share icons are easily noticeable, too — and, of course, all in the brand-matching, trustworthy blue.
We also like that BarkPost draws attention to its sister companies, all of which are owned under the Bark & Co portfolio of brands. But at the same time,the blog doesn’t hock its own products — rather, it serves as an informational resource to dog parents and lovers alike.

15. Goodwill Industries International

Who says nonprofit organizations can’t blog? Nay, they should — and Goodwill’s clean, colorful navigation (again — the trustworthy blue) draw the reader to the important elements of this blog.
The posts are also neatly positioned and easily accessible to readers. And, visitors can pick the type of information that matters to them the most by choosing a topic from the drop-down menu on the top right.
Finally, we love that there’s a collaborative call to action in the introductory text that invites readers to contribute content to the Goodwill blog. After all, the organization’s services have reached 37 million people — here’s a way for them to share their stories, or invite donors to write about why they chose to support Goodwill.

16. charity: water

Keeping the nonprofit blogging train going is charity: water, which makes excellent use of high-quality photography.
Recently, the organization redesigned its blog with a lengthy post dedicated to its 10-year anniversary. Using that opportunity to share its impact over the past decade, charity: water maintained a simplistic design with concise text and bright images from the anniversary event.
Plus, there’s a clear CTA to donate at the top of the page. Placing that above a story about charity: water’s impact is a double-edged sword, by both inspiring people to contribute to the cause while making it easy to do so.

17. Johnny Cupcakes

To clear up any confusion, Johnny Cupcakes doesn’t actually make cupcakes. It makes clothing. But the company has done a great job of playing up its brand association with baked goods — its blog uses the subdomain “kitchen.”
Plus, the folks at Johnny Cupcakes know a thing or two about brand consistency across channels. Its blog’s simple color scheme and matching fonts help to create a unified user experience from the shop togeneral content, all the while throwing in bold, colorful images to catch readers’ attention.
Also, visit the website and have a scroll — we think it’s pretty cool how the background images vary, but stay positionallystatic for each entry.

Looking for more beautiful blog designs? Here are 15 more award-winning website design examples.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated for comprehensiveness. 

The infographic is one of the most effective mediums content marketers have at their disposal. It’s a format that allows you to create content that’s compelling and compulsively shareable without sacrificing utility and thoughtfulness.
But there are some cases where normal infographics just don’t cut it. So what can you do to elevate them? Is there a way to make them that much more gripping and intriguing? If you’re asking yourself those questions, you might want to consider making your infographics interactive.
Here, we’ll go over what an interactive infographic is, learn what it takes to make one, see some examples, and review some of the programs you can use to make one of your own.

In many respects, interactive infographics are a big part of the future of informational content. According to research by DemandGen, 85% of B2B marketers are already using or plan to use interactive infographics as part of their strategy.
But why is that the case? Why are companies so interested in incorporating these kinds of infographics into their content marketing strategies? Well, simply put, interactive infographics are more compelling than static ones.
They add a more immersive element to the medium and, in turn, drive greater engagement. Interactive content can also help express and promote a brand voice and identity. A study by the Content Marketing Institute found that 75% of marketers agree that non-gated interactive content can provide a “sample” of the brand, resulting in a higher degree of lead nurturing.
Ultimately, you can rope readers in by letting them directly interact with your data, they’ll be more inclined to learn and retain the information you’re sharing. That often translates to sincere interest in your business as a whole.
How to Make an Interactive Infographic
1. Gather and compellingly convey your data.
The first step to creating an interactive infographic — along with virtually any kind of informative content — is gathering data. An interactive infographic without interesting data is more or less a pretty picture with some information.
Once you have your data on hand, try to find a way to convey it with some oomph. A dry infographic isn’t going to drum up the kind of enthusiasm or engagement you’re looking for. See if you can tell a story with your information. Be intentional and interesting with the language you use.
Take a look at this example:

Image Source: VisMe
Whoever made this graphic managed to incorporate hooks, powerful language, and a cohesive theme to articulate their data and what it entails — making it more compelling, engaging, and readable than it would’ve been if they just threw out a laundry list of hard statistics.
2. Organize your data with compelling visual elements.
The operative term in the phrase “infographic” is “graphic”. Visual elements separate this kind of content from bland lists of facts or statistics. When making an interactive infographic, you need to incorporate interesting visuals to spur and sustain the interest that will keep people engaged with your content.
Find relevant, eye-catching images to supplement the data you’re trying to relay to readers — whether they be actual photos, illustrated graphics, or any other kind of engaging visual. The key here is to abide by a consistent theme.
That means maintaining consistency in the color, tone, and visual medium you decide to go with. Breaking up that kind of cohesion can be jarring and turn some readers off.
3. Determine and apply the interactive elements you’d like to include.
Finally, once you’ve pinned down the written and visual themes you want to use to convey your data, you need to identify and apply the interactive elements that can best complement and enhance them.
If you want readers to test their knowledge of the subject you’re covering, consider using a quiz. If you’d like to show them how your data might impact them personally, try including a survey. If your data covers physical landmarks or geographic data, think about including a heat map.
There are tons of interactive elements you can choose to make your infographic pop. Just make sure the ones you decide to include are engaging and appropriate without being too jarring. They need to be relevant to the information the infographic covers and tailored to keep readers hooked.
Interactive Infographic Examples

BBC’s “Will a Robot Take Your Job?”

This interactive infographic from BBC addresses the future of work and automation. It allows you to enter your line of work into a survey field and uses compelling, fun graphics to detail the degree to which your field will be automated in the future.

Adioma’s “What the Internet Thinks About”

This infographic from Adioma links out to a variety of popular articles that capture the essence of what kind of content most people on the internet are thinking about.

National Geographic’s “New York City Skyline”

This infographic from National Geographic provides a seamless, interactive view of the New York City skyline, along with some information about the individual buildings that compose it.

QZ’s “Dude Map”

This infographic is a fun heat map that details the names men use to greet each other by region in the United States.

1. Infogram

Price: Free Plans Available

Infogram is one of the preeminent resources for creating interactive infographics. The program’s suite of interactive features is robust and eclectic — including elements like interactive chart legends, timers, and interactive maps.
The software is particularly user-friendly. It has an accessible interface and a host of straightforward, seamless integrations — users can smoothly translate data from spreadsheets into well-crafted, engaging interactive infographics.
Infogram’s pricing structure includes free plans for smaller operations and reasonably priced tiers available as your organization’s graphic needs expand.

Image Source: Infogram
2. VisMe

Price: Free Plans Available

Visme is one of the foremost online design software for non-designers. The program includes resources for first-rate presentations and infographics. And while its static infographic creation features are cutting edge in their own right, Visme sets itself apart from similar software with its interactive infographic capabilities.
The software lets you easily incorporate interactive elements like links, quizzes, videos, and surveys into your infographics. And as I mentioned, Visme is tailored to suit the needs and skillsets of non-designers, so if you’re looking to put together compelling interactive infographics with limited design experience, consider giving VisMe a shot.
VisMe offers a free plan to let users get acquainted with the software and appropriately priced plans for everyone from individuals to enterprises.

Image Source: VisMe
3. CopyPress

Price: Contact for Pricing Information

Creating interactive infographics isn’t always intuitive. It can be a complex process to nail. In some cases, you might want to outsource that work to an esteemed, effective creative agency. If your needs fit that bill, you might want to get in touch with CopyPress.
CopyPress can apply your research, work with you to pin down a tone that fits your specifications, and translate both into engaging, thoughtful interactive infographics. The firm even has an interactive infographic about how it makes interactive infographics.
As you can assume, this is one of the pricier roads to take, but if you want your interactive infographics to be thorough and professional, it might be the right way to go.

Image Source: CopyPress
The interactive infographic is a format that can capture and retain consumer interest when done right — an emerging medium that’s worth some time and consideration when you’re wondering where to go with your content marketing. Creating one often takes a lot of effort, but if you’re looking for an effective way to compellingly convey hard data and quickly hook consumers, it might just be worth it.

How do you win brand visibility in a crowded market without overspending on resources?
For SaaS companies, content marketing is, in many ways, the most powerful opportunity to achieve growth and outshine competitors.
It’s no secret the SaaS market is highly saturated – some would even say polluted. In fact, nearly 60,000 software companies are listed on the G2 Crowd across over 700 verticals as of 2020.
Additionally, startups don’t have the luxury of being unique anymore. They must be better – not just different – from competitors if they want attention and sales.
Whenever brands come to me with this issue, I give them the same answer: Focus on customer-centric content, and you’ll achieve outstanding customer-centric growth.
The concept is really that simple. Putting it into practice, however, is another story.
Gaining thought leadership in a market filled with intelligent experts is not easy. Ranking for major keywords isn’t enough. You must commit to the craft with authority, relevance, and warmth.

Your customer should always be the hero of any story you tell.

That’s the secret recipe I’ve used for years to help SaaS companies thrive. Today, I’ll explain my rank-and-win process I used to help a leading content collaboration company (which I’ll call “Brand X” for our purposes). While I can’t disclose the brand name, I can promise you the tactics I used to help the company achieve growth are very, very real.
Let’s dive into four methods you should consider implementing for customer-centric growth.

1. Establish a voice.
Voice is everything. Any successful brand voice must:

Immediately resonate with your target audience.
Maintain consistency across all content and platforms.

Brand X developed an ideal voice to suit their content: funky, conversational, and banter-heavy.
Using this quirky voice, we managed to create content engaging enough to spark interest without pushing leads away with a sales-y tone.
Consider how you might find your own brand voice to ensure your readers are consistently delighted with the valuable content your company — and your company alone — can offer.
2. Map the repeating method for customer-centric growth.
Next, I had the team map out a flywheel diagram – an idea I got from Jim Collin’s book, The Flywheel Effect. The flywheel diagram dictates a repeatable process that achieves growth every time it’s implemented.
Like Jon Dick writes in this post, funnels lose momentum as they close in. Flywheels, however, leverage the momentum to continue spinning.
At the top of the diagram, we placed the goal of increasing Brand X’s website traffic. The wheel would spin like this:
Increase traffic to the website → Traffic generates demos and trials → Demos and trials turn into sales → Sales earn brand recognition → Recognition triggers more website traffic and the cycle repeats
At the end, we reinvested in research/development, sales, and marketing.
The flywheel diagram works for customer-centric growth every time because it’s focused on buyer needs and pain points, and can prevent lost ROI from bland marketing or sales strategies.
Our analysis found that 438 articles produced more than one lead in the last three years. That’s just the average, so that’s significant.
3. Create a rank-and-win thought leadership strategy.
You can’t complete the flywheel growth process without content. Content marketing – specifically thought leadership – fits perfectly with the flywheel strategy because it delivers ongoing ROI.
Every SaaS company wants to position itself as a thought leader and inspire its audience. I’ve noticed, however, that most people approach thought leadership the wrong way.
Instead of striving for nuance in every blog post, focus on filling a gap with authority and dedication.
Here’s where the rank-and-win idea comes into play: first, Brand X filled an information gap with consistent quality content.
That content then earned Google’s approval and ranked in the top-five for high-volume keywords.
Next, other websites found that content and linked back to Brand X. And, finally, people shared the original content widely on social media.
These keyword rankings drove substantial traffic to Brand X’s blog, with 80% being new traffic.
But how can you fill gaps and rank in saturated markets? Brand X focused on six key themes in their content cluster. They then built a structure and workflow for each theme for ideation and planning.
Brand X wasn’t trying to be annoyingly unique with their thought leadership. They were focusing on authority, and customer-centric content.
4. Develop a content strategy for organic blog traffic.
When content marketing starts delivering conversions, it’s not by luck – it’s by persistence to quality.
Since our initial flywheel goal for Brand X was to increase blog traffic, we focused on producing quality and consistency. They currently publish four blogs per week on average.
We set Brand X’s KPIs to reflect what we hoped to achieve from increasing blog traffic:

Page views
Assisted conversions (when a user clicks from a blog page to a conversion page like a content download or a free demo sign up)
Subscribers

For Brand X, volume was instrumental – both in the number of blogs published, and traffic.
They first saw steady returns on traffic from content marketing. As they added more posts per week, the views spiked dramatically.
This dedication to customer-centric content earned them a 50% to 615% increase year-over-year in organic search traffic.
Content is the Secret to Unlocking Customer-Centric Growth in Saturated Markets
For SaaS companies, quality and consistent content wins every time. Today, Brand X has a defined content strategy complete with a mission statement, frequency, resources, and budget.
Best of all, they continue ranking in the top-five for high-volume keywords and producing customer-centric growth from their content.
Ultimately, it’s critical you focus on buyer needs and make prospects and customers the hero of all your stories. With a commitment to this mindset and action, you can develop content that reaches, engages, and converts.
To learn more about creating customer-centric content, take a look at 8 Tips for Becoming a Customer-Centric Organization.

In our all-digital world, launching a new product looks a little different than it used to — but there are still lots of ways to do it successfully. All it takes is the right tools and strategies and a lot of teamwork. Here are the four phases that were critical to launching Pardot Premium virtually.

Prep 
Enable 
Launch & Amplify 
Measure & Repeat 

Here’s a closer look at how we executed each phase.

PHASE 1: PREPARE THE PLAN AND BUILD A TEAM 
In a virtual environment, preparing for the launch, building a team, and over communicating the strategies with everyone involved was mission critical. 
First, we secured approval of our new product name and message from our leadership and clarified our vision for the key launch activities we wanted to execute. 
Next, we assembled a great team to ensure the launch would be successful. If you want to spread news about a new product, you have to teach the core group first, so they can incorporate the information and messaging into their own related initiatives. 
To build out the team, we recruited representatives from every line of business ranging from enablement gurus, solution engineers, product managers, and social media magicians to community leaders, partner representatives, sales leaders, analysts, campaign managers, and more.
With this Weekly Launch Quip Tracker Template as our guide, we met weekly on a virtual call to align on key deliverables and work as a unit to meet upcoming deadlines. 
PHASE 2: ENABLE SELLERS AND GO TO LAUNCH WITH THE RIGHT PROMO ASSETS
Our first set of deadlines involved our internal sellers. We hosted multiple training sessions where we enabled over 300 stakeholders, including more than 200 account executives and more than 85 solution engineers. Next, we made sure to enable key partners so that they were aware of the upcoming news and could help our customers realize the power of Pardot Premium. 
Then, it was time to go to launch. To get the word out, we held a successful press event that was attended by 10 global media outlets and 20 analysts. The event has received 10 pieces of coverage to date, including in ZDNet and MarTech Today.
After the press event, we shared the news about Pardot Premium on all of our news and social media channels — more than ten external assets in total. This included a data sheet, webpage updates, a new demo, and blog posts on both the Pardot blog and Salesforce blog. 
PHASE 3: KEEP AMPLIFYING AFTER LAUNCH
To bring our community of Pardot marketing champions into the conversation following the launch of Pardot Premium, we created a VIT Twitter campaign called #AskAdam. This gave our marketing champions the opportunity to ask Pardot founder and Salesforce executive, Adam Blitzer, questions about our products for a dedicated set of time, live on Twitter. It was also an engaging way to get the community involved and bring to light what was top of mind for customers and prospects. 
The campaign featured 15 different Trailblazers and champions, and it resulted in a total of 66,000 social impressions and 1,400 engagements. Many of our champions have an incredible social media following — and by sharing videos of our executives answering their questions, they helped spread the word about Pardot Premium.

On the sales side, after the launch of Pardot Premium, we ran broader sales training to help amplify the news across our entire sales team. This included a huge training session with hundreds of reps, for which we brought in industry leaders to discuss our customers’ most pressing needs and how Pardot Premium helps. This gave all our salespeople relevant talking points they could use to amplify our message.  
To maintain enthusiasm with our internal teams post-launch, we also started showcasing early-deal win stories. We had a net new deal close within seven days of the launch, which drummed up a lot of excitement — and now, we’re doing deal support and smaller enablements for sales teams that request it as we move to release Pardot Premium in other markets around the world. 
PHASE 4: MEASURE & REPEAT 
Of course, we have pipeline and revenue targets that we’re forecasting for this particular product. Every day we’re thinking about new and innovative ways to bring Pardot Premium to market. 
Every quarter, we build out a plan to continue with efforts that drive the most pipeline, and we’re delivering new programs, content, and support based on real-time feedback from our leadership, product, and sales teams. 
Even this post is an opportunity to amplify our launch efforts! I also hope it inspires other marketers who are launching products virtually. 

To help you in your virtual launch planning process, check out my Weekly Launch Quip Tracker Template and Weekly Launch Deck Template with examples from the Pardot Premium launch. 

To learn more about Pardot Premium, read the blog post or watch the demo.

Today marks ten years since I launched the first version of Buffer. What started as a landing page to gauge interest, and then a very basic product that I worked on alone, has become so much more. Buffer is now a leading social media management platform and a team of nearly 90 people working remotely worldwide, with our own approach and culture.
Reaching this milestone means a lot for me, and I thought it would be interesting to reflect on each year of the Buffer journey. As you’ll see, things have changed enormously over time, and I could not be more proud of where we are now.
2010: After getting paying customers, I shifted the focus to marketing.
I launched Buffer on November 30th, 2010. One of the things that inspired me to launch earlier than I may have otherwise, was an initiative someone started on Hacker News called November Startup Sprint. I decided to participate and committed to launching the first version of Buffer by the end of November 2010, which I only just accomplished. Something I learned from this experience is that you’ll always have additional features or fixes you want to finish before you launch, but actually putting something out there in the world is really what starts momentum.
I employed many of The Lean Startup techniques in order to validate the problem and the existence of an audience before launching. Thankfully, these steps and a healthy dose of luck resulted in some strong initial traction for the product. I had the first paying customer within four days of launch.
After the first paying customer, I took a step back, acknowledged that as a significant milestone, and decided a slight shift in focus was required. As an engineer, it’s easy to keep building, adding more features. I knew it was time to focus on marketing and further customer development. This is what led me to bring on a co-founder. It was time to keep the balance of development, marketing, and customer development with a product that had proved it was “good enough.” It was clear that there would be more people out there who would find value even at the early stage. This has been a valuable lesson I’ve tried to maintain: when the signal is there that the product is good enough, shout about it!
Read more about how I went from an idea to paying customers in seven weeks.
2011: Transitioning to working full-time on Buffer.
2011 was a year of transition for me, from contract web development work to working full-time on Buffer. Before starting Buffer, I was doing what I called “working in waves,” a method to have enough funds to work full-time on a project for a certain period of time. The idea is that you work a full-time job or contract work for a set amount of time and then work full-time on your startup idea once you have enough funds to support yourself for a set amount of time. Having tried working in waves, I would not recommend it as a long term strategy. Read my thoughts.
With Buffer, I was completely focused on hitting ramen profitability. I sensed that if I could get there, it would change everything. Ramen profitability describes a situation where you’re making just enough to pay your living expenses. For me, that first goal was £1,200 per month.
We reached ramen profitability early in 2011, and I gradually dropped the number of days of contract development work I was doing as the revenue grew. My co-founder finished his college year and had the summer free to focus entirely on Buffer. We decided to get on a plane and travel to what we thought of as Startup Mecca, San Francisco. This was, in fact, my first ever trip to the U.S., which I now call home. Later in 2011, strong revenue growth combined with a year of working on Buffer and some great education from AngelPad allowed us to raise $450,000.
2012: Becoming a fully remote company.
Becoming a fully remote company is a decision I made in 2012. During the few months I spent focused on whether to commit to Buffer being a distributed team, I sought advice from many people. I received some of the best advice from David Cancel, whom I had the chance to sit down and chat with over coffee. His key insight was that in his experience founding several companies so far, he has found that two scenarios work well, while one doesn’t work too well. He advised that we either be fully distributed or have everyone in the same office. David said that the time he had a main office with most people there and only one or two people working remotely didn’t work so well.
With this insight and further thinking, we became a fully distributed team. Here’s a screenshot from my email to the team sharing this news:
An email to the Buffer team about becoming a fully distributed company.We immediately hired several people working remotely to quickly balance out the team from a group forming in San Francisco and ensure we were truly fully distributed. This was an immediate benefit to us, especially as a team focused on outstanding customer support since we quickly covered all time-zones. Read more about how I made the decision for Buffer to be fully remote.
Becoming fully remote didn’t mean we never met up in person, though. Over the years, we’ve found ways to incorporate annual retreats into our yearly planning and have prioritized this key time together for brainstorming, talking strategy, and setting the tone for the year ahead. See more about our past ten retreats in this post.
2013: Creating values and living by them.
In 2013, as we became a team of ten, we decided to articulate and document our company values. At the time, I knew we had already formed a strong culture, so I polled the team to ask them how they would describe it. From there, we came up with our original Buffer values.
The original ten Buffer values.One of our more unique values, default to transparency, which is the value that Buffer is known by the most, was put to the test this same year. In late 2013, Buffer was hacked. We shared transparently and quickly with our customers and the broader public what had happened and what we were doing about it. We alerted our community to the breach before knowing the source of it, and we provided updates on our progress every few hours for the first few days. Both our community and the public responded well to this openness, reinforcing my theory at the time that bugs and downtime can be a good thing, as long as they are rare and handled with great care.
We further committed to this value by making our salaries transparent at the end of 2013, which resulted in a spike of applications for open Buffer jobs, and is a step I believe contributed significantly to growing our brand.
Check out our transparency page to see a full timeline of transparency at Buffer.
2014: Our largest acquisition offer and deciding not to sell Buffer.
In the early years, we received a number of acquisition offers. The earliest offer we had for Buffer was not long after we had started, and it felt fairly easy for us to say no simply because we felt we had much more growth ahead and wanted to see where our path would lead.
However, in 2014 we received our largest acquisition offer to date. It was a nine-figure offer from a public company, and it stopped us in our tracks and made us truly step back and reflect. For myself, my co-founder, and for most of our team with early-stage stock options grants, it would have been a life-changing outcome. An offer like that drives existential questioning, making you really think about the purpose and fulfillment of what you’re doing. Ultimately, we believed there was significantly more growth from where we were, and we have since increased revenue 6x. Beyond the growth potential, however, it was the culture and the movements we had become part of (transparency and remote work, in particular), which led us to turn the offer down and continue on our path. The most memorable advice we received during this decision process was from Hiten Shah, who asked us simply, “Are you done?”.
Money will come and go, but experiences and learning is what I define as true wealth. This is why I try to frame a decision of whether to sell around the opportunities for learning and experience in each path. I reflected on how if I sold Buffer, I would sacrifice many future learnings. I asked myself if and when I would ever have the learning opportunity I did for the years ahead from that stage of Buffer. Here’s a longer post reflecting on not selling Buffer.
I made the decision to continue learning with Buffer, and this is a decision I feel great about to this day. Instead of an acquisition, we raised $3.5 million in late 2014 with a secondary liquidity component, in part to remove the pressure to sell and help us go long. Here I am six years later, still energized and happy with my gradual return, so overall, I believe that worked out. More recently, I’ve been focused on finding ways to separate exit from liquidity for myself and the whole team. This helps us take a genuinely long-term view on the business.
2015: Exploring self-management.
In 2015, after reading Reinventing Organizations, the entire team voted and agreed to become self-managed. We reorganized Buffer into a completely flat structure. At first, this felt energizing and invigorating. There was a great sense of freedom and ownership. Over the course of a few months, things started to feel off. People were easily lost, especially those that had just joined Buffer. More experienced people often didn’t quite see a place to help out and share ideas around which direction a project could take. The amount of freedom people had, with absolutely no guidance, expectations, or accountability, was pretty overwhelming.
Our self-management setup was a partial success for customers. One of the experiments we pursued during this time was to create a team specifically aimed at launching new functionality rapidly for customers. We launched Pablo, our popular image creation product, out of this team. The main challenge we found with these types of projects is resourcing, maintaining, and improving them over time. We’ve since become more deliberate about what we choose to launch rapidly while maintaining our culture of experimentation.
We eventually decided to move away from self-management. This period will always hold a special place in my heart, though I believe ultimately we are better placed with some hierarchy and structure. It reinforced to me that it’s okay to try big experiments and to go in knowing that not all of them will work. This is a mindset we’ve kept at Buffer and has helped us continue to experiment with the way we work. This type of exploration and playfulness generally becomes harder to do as you grow larger, and the boldness, optimism, and curiosity that it requires is something that I’m committed to supporting.
2016: Launching Reply, then facing cash-flow challenges and layoffs.
Early in 2016, we launched Buffer Reply, which was the result of an acquisition and a lot of great work to adapt the product to make it feel like a Buffer offering. This was a bold move to expand beyond social media marketing and into social customer service. As a company, we had always held ourselves to a very high bar for customer service, and we found the tools out there for managing customer service on social media to be lacking. We had some success with Reply, and over the next few years, grew monthly revenue from $4k at acquisition to over $70k at its peak. Ultimately, we found that the need for customer service on social media was less widespread and didn’t develop as we imagined it may, and also found that we were spreading ourselves thin with taking on very different types of products and customer segments, so we sunset Reply in 2020. The experience of Reply increased our ambitions as a company, launched us to serving more than a single customer job, and paved the way for us to build a social engagement tool, which is coming in early 2021.
After we concluded our self-management experiment, we felt a drive to grow the team more rapidly again. We ultimately grew from 34 to 94 people. With team growth, however, comes the need for new systems, and existing approaches start to show cracks and feel ineffective. Our revenue growth, while strong, didn’t keep pace with hiring, and we found ourselves in financial challenges.
With the prospect of only five months of runway before depleting our cash reserves, we made the excruciating decision to lay off ten team members. What was more disappointing than anything was that this was totally within our control. It was all caused by the fact that we grew the team too big, too fast. We thought we were being mindful about balancing the pace of our hiring with our revenue growth, but we weren’t. One of our advisors gave us an apt metaphor for what happened: We moved into a house that we couldn’t afford with our monthly paycheck.
A chart showing our bank balance projections for 2016.We made an important yet challenging decision to solve our financial challenges ourselves rather than raising a bridge round of funding to see us through. It was a painful process to go through, and I’ve now experienced first-hand the loss of morale, the negative impact on culture, and the erosion of trust that layoffs can cause. This is especially true for a small, tight-knit, and mission-driven team. With all of that said, I’m grateful for the personal and company growth that this enabled for us. We immediately leveled up our financial operations and set down a commitment to financial stability.
This experience led us to truly figure out sustainability at Buffer and understand how we could be around long term. I believe we’re better off as a company for this and have developed some strong financial principles for our company, which have led to us being around and self-sustaining four years on. I’m proud of the results we have to show for these efforts. We’ve been profitable every quarter since we made these layoffs; eighteen straight quarters of profitability.
2017: Recommitting to a single path, stabilizing the company, experiencing co-founder conflict, and the lows of burnout.
2017 was perhaps the hardest year of the Buffer journey so far. After a difficult 2016, I focused on stabilizing the company, mending the erosion of trust with the team, and charting a clear, singular, and enduring direction for the company going forward. In the midst of this, significant conflict developed between myself and my co-founder, and several investors became involved in the disputes. This contributed to some of the lowest points of my career and experiencing severe burnout.
In the earlier part of the Buffer journey, we were lucky to have it all: great growth, funding on fantastic terms, building a generous, positive, inclusive culture, and maintaining a lot of individual freedom. Over time, some of these things started to feel like trade-offs, and we started to debate our path. Rapid growth vs. freedom, focus on culture vs. product, performance vs. nurturing. I don’t fundamentally believe these things must be at odds, but in late 2016, it felt that way to all of us. My co-founder and I started to increasingly fall on different sides of these choices. What was once a beautiful balance of complementary strengths and opinions felt like constant misalignment and mixed messages to the team. After many attempts at finding common ground, we agreed we had grown apart and developed differing visions. In early 2017, my co-founder and our CTO both moved on from Buffer.
After this significant change, I focused on stabilizing the company for the team and in terms of our financials. I articulated a clear path for the company focused on sustainable growth, product quality, and an empowering company culture. We had great revenue growth, and I made a decision to pause hiring for most of 2017 in order to build our profitability. We went from burning $30-150k per month in early 2016 to consistently generating more than $300k in monthly profit in 2017.
After an initial amicable parting and starting to meet as friends rather than co-workers, we started to open up about lingering unsaid frustrations. With this, resentment started to grow between my co-founder and I, specifically around the timing and scale of liquidity he could expect. Admittedly, as the CEO of an 85+ person company just recently coming out of layoffs and significant leadership change, this wasn’t my top focus. All of this led to high stress, low energy and capacity, negativity, and stubbornness. This also drove challenges in my relationship with my partner, Jess. I’m happy to say we got through it and got married in 2019.
Throughout all of this, I can look back and see that while I was exercising and keeping myself in good shape, as well as feeling optimistic about the future of Buffer, it was adrenaline that was carrying me forward. By the spring of 2017, the company felt much more stable, and the adrenaline was no longer needed. As soon as the adrenaline subsided, my body and mind could suddenly feel what it had worked through. That’s when burnout hit me, and I felt unable to function effectively. With great support from my leadership team, I took a six-week break to recharge and came back much better equipped to take on the rest of the year.
Read my full experience with burnout here.
2018: Spending $3.3 Million buying out investors.
After recommitting to a path of long-term sustainability in 2017, I had conversations with our main venture capital investors, and it became clear that our choice of path was not a great fit for the investment. Thankfully, we had been open about this possibility when we raised the funding back in 2014, and so we were able to open up conversations about a way to move forward. These discussions were challenging and uncomfortable, but pushing ahead with them allowed us to ensure Buffer was set up to run independently in the long-term.
These discussions, and over a year and a half of profitability, resulted in our ability to spend $3.3 Million buying out our VC investors. This was one of the most important decisions I’ve made in the Buffer journey so far. This was a key inflection point for Buffer that put us truly on a path of sustainable, long-term growth, and we’ve been better off for the significant increase in alignment in our shareholder base. I’m grateful to our VC investors for being open to this solution and to our many remaining investors who are excited about this unusual path.
A timeline of funding history. At times, this move towards stability and setting ourselves up for the future has felt like a slow journey and has drawn focus away from customers, which I have found painful. With that said, this is foundational work on the core of the company — ownership — and has set us up to be able to be more customer-focused and have less distractions going forward. Additionally, it has helped us to maintain and continue to craft a company culture that puts people over profit, something I believe will pay dividends for years to come. With the benefit of hindsight, these decisions have driven long-term benefits for Buffer. For example, we figured out how to be profitable and sustainable, and as a result, we were better set up for unknown future events like the impact of COVID-19 and the global pandemic on our customers, team, and finances.

2019: Creating balance and setting myself and Buffer up to scale sustainably.
2019 was a different year for me in many ways. On the personal side of things, I established a routine living in Boulder, I got married, and refocused on hobbies like skiing. This was the year that I really worked on integrating my work and personal lives, rather than taking the early-stage mentality of sacrificing my personal life, relationships, and hobbies in order to spend more time and energy on work. While we had become financially sustainable, I truly believe this personal change made it sustainable for me to keep operating as CEO in the long-term.
At Buffer, after two eventful and foundation-building years for the company itself, I decided to turn this thinking to my role. Something that clicked for me towards the end of 2018 was that I would significantly benefit from setting up a support system around myself. Without an active co-founder, it became that much more critical that I have other types of support to fill that gap. I decided to take a new approach this time, putting together a group of people rather than relying on a single person. In late 2018, I brought on a new Executive Assistant and tasked her with helping me to form this support network, which I decided would include a coach, a financial advisor, and regularly connecting with other founders. In addition, I was regularly meeting with a therapist since mid-2017. By the end of 2019, this support system was fully established, and I am confident this group has made me a better leader over time.
2019 also marked the beginning of starting to reflect on my role, and the initial step I took towards the end of the year was to make a decision to hire a Product leader. This was the final area of the company I chose to fully let go of, and we recently brought on a great CPO to lead us and level up our product strategy, quality, and operations.

2020: Building a resilient company and taking a step back to think about purpose.
We are almost at the end of 2020, and I think calling this a tough year would be an understatement for many. This year our focus was on building a resilient company.
I started the year traveling and taking some time off in Thailand and New Zealand. As part of this, I had a chance to step back and start to reflect on what we had achieved and where I may want to take the company next. A level of clarity started to emerge about the type of customer, and type of company, that I feel energized to work towards.
Of course, by the end of February, COVID-19 was taking hold and already starting to impact many countries around the world. We were lucky at Buffer, as a fully distributed team with several people in Asia, that we had an early warning, and it became clear quickly that this would be a global challenge. We canceled our upcoming company retreat to Greece and started to focus on how to get the company through this period as unscathed as possible. Our mantra for the year became resilience, with a focus on people over profit and mental well being. A key decision I made was that I wanted to get through the year accruing the least debt possible in terms of impact on the team, issues such as burnout, customer satisfaction, and our financial position. We set up a COVID-19 customer assistance program, reduced some of our performance criteria and deadline focus, and implemented a 4-day workweek pilot.
This year, we experienced the worst customer churn we’ve ever seen at Buffer as thousands of our small business customers struggled to adapt and survive. We saw a consistent decline in revenue from mid-March to mid-June, and throughout that period, we crafted countless new projections and scenarios to ensure we could emerge in a strong position. Thankfully, the decline eased off, and since mid-June, we’ve seen modest growth.
With the financial impact of the pandemic stabilizing, I was able to turn back to some of the reflections I had around Buffer’s purpose and my CEO role. I worked with my coach and arrived at clarity that what we’ve always been focused on at Buffer is helping small businesses to succeed and do good along the way by providing tools to grow and serve an audience and inspirational content to rethink how businesses are built. As for my role, I’ve realized that the next key evolution is in truly reflecting on the work that energizes me versus the work that drains me. I love to focus on the high level of bold vision and strategy and the details around customer experiences and our culture. The in-between of operations and keeping the train running on time is less fun for me. I’ve been shifting my role, and Caro, our Chief of Special projects and someone I’ve now worked with on Buffer for over eight years has been stepping into operations to give us the best long-term outcomes.
One of our all-hands meetings.It’s been powerful to take a step back and reflect on ten years of building a company. Looking back, there are a few additional observations I want to share.
In the early days, it’s easy to treat a startup as a sprint, but it’s really a marathon. It’s vital to pace yourself and take care of yourself. Regular rest is a necessity, and I’m going to continue to work towards incorporating rest and true vacations into my annual cycle. Additionally, as with life, there are seasons to a company. There have been stages of growth, market changes, and role evolutions. There are always periods with different focuses, and it is a continual journey towards ideal equilibrium.
I’ve learned that it’s hard to grow without compromising, and after doing so, you might have to work to find your purpose again. This is an example of the hard work it takes to create something enduring. If you are to be successful long-term, you have to take time to reflect and rediscover your passion, and sometimes make some bold changes to get back on track.
I’ve been fortunate and privileged and have achieved more than I could ever have dreamed of. I’m proud that Buffer has reached the 10-year mark and that with the help of many people, I’ve created a company that gives meaningful employment to over 85 people across the world. We’re far from perfect and still have much to improve and learn, but there’s a time to catch your breath and say, “we’ve created something awesome.” We have many people on the team who have been part of this wild ride for six, seven, even eight years now, and this blows my mind. It’s a significant part of any person’s life to spend working on something, and I couldn’t be more grateful to those people.
As I look ahead to 2021, while I’ve learned that it never gets easier, it’s always interesting, and there is never a dull week. My admiration for long-term companies has grown significantly. I find myself fascinated by companies that exist for decades and even more so by founders who find a way to keep evolving, increasing their ambition, and remaining energized.
I’m excited to continue on this path of long-term sustainability and thankful to have an incredible team to work with, thousands of happy customers, and a foundation of profitability. It has felt liberating to have a structure that allows us to think in terms of years rather than quarters. I’m ready to dig in for another decade and see the heights we can reach and the value we can provide.
Whether this is the first post of mine you’ve read, you’ve been following along since the beginning, or you’re somewhere in between, thank you for taking the time to read this as I reflect on this big milestone in Buffer’s history. I’m so thankful for the incredible community and customers we have around us that let us continue to do what we do every year.

Video is fast-becoming the preferred tool for most marketers to connect with and reach new audiences.
Video marketing is undeniably effective, too — in fact, including a video on a landing page is capable of increasing conversion rates by over 80%, and the mere mention of the word “video” in your email subject line increases open rates by 19%.
But, even if you already know about the importance of video, I’m willing to bet you aren’t completely aware of how other brand’s are using video … or, more importantly, why.
Each business will use video for a completely different goal — ranging from increasing brand awareness, to boosting SEO.
Here, we dove into new research from Wave.video to explore the top five reasons brands use video. Hopefully, these statistics will inspire you to use video in new, unique ways in 2021 and beyond. Let’s dive in.

1. Brands use videos to increase brand awareness.
Video can help your business reach new audiences and attract new viewers to your social media pages and website, which is likely why “increase brand awareness” is the number one reason brands use video.
Take this video from Tasty, a Buzzfeed brand:

Ultimately, Tasty’s video isn’t meant to sell any products (at least, not directly) — instead, it’s simply meant to entertain new audiences and, ultimately, increase awareness of Tasty’s brand.
2. Brands use video for new sales.
Consider how you might create entertaining or informative videos with the sole purpose of increasing brand exposure. Ultimately, brand awareness can foster trust and increase brand equity, so it plays a critical role in your company’s bottom line.
To highlight this point, let’s start with an example. Take a look at this video, highlighting Kate Hudson’s company, Fabletics, below:

While at first glance it might look like a somewhat-random video of Kate Hudson running through the Aspen wilderness, it’s actually an effective example of a video with the purpose of increasing sales — without appearing like, well, an ad.
For instance, while the video portrays Hudson in a range of workout gear from her October Fabletics collection, it also incorporates an exclusive interview with the celebrity to discuss family, nature, and growing up in the mountains. Add in a gorgeous Aspen backdrop, and viewers might be fooled by the true purpose of the video: to sell Fabletics clothing.
Consider how you might also create a unique, compelling video to attract new prospects and even close sales deals.
3. Brands use video to grow a social media community.
Did you know that four of the top six channels on which global consumers watch video are social channels?
Ultimately, many marketers use video to attract visitors to a company’s social pages.
Consider, for instance, this #ShaveItOff video by Gillette partner The McFarlands:

@the.mcfarlands
The scruff was getting rough. It was time to ##ShaveItOff and now it’s your turn ##GillettePartner
♬ Grammarg – BLVKSHP

While the video is undoubtedly entertaining to watch, it also serves a powerful purpose: to send some of The McFarlands’ 2 million followers back to Gillette’s own social channels. Best of all, the hashtag #ShaveItOff can be found on Gillette’s Instagram page as well, ensuring viewers can find the brand regardless of which social channel they prefer.
4. Brands use videos to educate customers.
Video can be an incredibly effective tool for education.
HubSpot Academy, for instance, often uses YouTube as a platform to educate its viewers. Oftentimes, HubSpot will even collaborate with thought leaders like Seth Godin to add a new perspective on a topic:

Many people learn best through visuals, which is why video can be a phenomenal tool for educating prospects and even customers.
Consider how you might incorporate educational videos into your own content strategy in unique ways – for instance, perhaps you include video demos for interested prospects, or how-to tutorials for new users of your product.
5. Brands use video to build brand authority.
Similar to the reason listed above, the fifth reason brands use video is to build brand authority on a subject, and demonstrate expertise.
Ideally, this means when people are searching for help on a certain topic, your brand will show up. After watching your videos, if viewers feel they’ve gained unique insight, they’ll trust your brand more and explore other offerings.
Consider what happens when I search “How to run a vlookup” in Google. When I click on the video section (since I prefer learning about vlookups through visuals like video), Microsoft is the first two video results:

In this example, Microsoft is demonstrating its brand expertise when it comes to its Excel product — and, more widely, anything related to technology and data. This provides Microsoft with a good opportunity to showcase its brand authority while attracting new visitors to its website.
And that’s it! The top five reasons brands make videos. Take a look at The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing to learn more about how you can create a powerful video marketing strategy for your own brand in 2021.