11 of the Best Meeting Scheduler Tools to Organize Your Day

We complain about spending countless hours in unproductive and mismanaged meetings.

But the greater crime is all the wasted time we spend scheduling the meeting.

The endless back-and-forth communication and steps -- reviewing calendars, finding out the best place to meet, setting up a call-in number, adding the meeting to the calendar, and inviting all the necessary attendees. The process makes your meeting a hassle before it even starts. 

Effortlessly scheduling meetings without the annoying back-and-forth emails. Get free access to HubSpot Meetings here.

Whether you're trying to find the perfect window of time to catch up with your busy team, or looking for the best way to coordinate with your clients, these meeting scheduler tools have you covered. 

1. HubSpot

A lot of meeting scheduler tools connect to your inbox, but what if you need your meeting schedule available in your CRM as well? HubSpot's meeting scheduling tool integrates with both your calendar and your HubSpot CRM, so setting up meetings with customers, prospects, or leads is a painless process.

The Meetings tool provides users with a personalized booking link they can share via email to invite people to view their availability and book time. When someone schedules a meeting, it will automatically be added to your calendar, and pushed to the CRM.

2. Rally

Finding a time for a group of people to meet can be a nightmare, especially if your team is large or includes remote employees. Rally lets you create a simple, straightforward poll where attendees can vote on a day for an event that works best for them. It also includes an open comment section on the meeting page, so attendees can plan the meeting agenda or discuss details before the event.

3. Assistant.to

Assistant.to lets you work directly from Gmail and Google Calendar to select available meeting times and share those open slots with the person you're trying to schedule a meeting with.

From within the message compose screen in Gmail, you can select the meeting duration and location. This information is included in an email, allowing the recipient to click on the time that works best for them. Once you've agreed on a time, the app adds the meeting with all the relevant details to your calendar. Currently, group scheduling is not an option.

4. Calendar

Calendar, which recently acquired Timebridge, is a free service that integrates Google and Apple calendars. The app offers two ways to schedule meetings.

With the "outbound" method, hosts indicate their own availability, list the attendees they'd like to come to a meeting, and use the Calendar software to send out an email to collect everyone's preferred times. After Calendar determines the ideal time for everyone to meet, the app will schedule the meeting for you. With the "inbound" method, Calendar gives you a personal URL where users can check your availability and request times to meet with you.

5. NeedToMeet

NeedToMeet doesn't require you to sign up for an account to use their service. You simply enter a brief description of your meeting's purpose, block off your availability on a calendar, and send the link to attendees. The free version doesn't sync with your calendar, but they do offer a premium subscription which integrates with Outlook.

This tool differs from services like Rally and Doodle because it allows attendees to indicate their preferred date and times, rather than only choosing from a list of dates and times set by the meeting host.

6. YouCanBook.me

If you find yourself struggling to make your availability known to clients, try out YouCanBook.me. This freemium service offers users a custom URL where users can view free spots on your Google Calendar or iCloud Calendar and book time with you. 

The service allows you to customize your booking page with different layouts, colors, and your company's logo.

7. Pick

Pick automatically scans everyone's Gmail calendars to find open slots, and then delivers a list of mutually available times. You can then send a calendar invite to all attendees directly from the app.

All members of your team need to be on Pick in order to share their availability. The app also provides users with an individual URL so you can share your availability with people requesting a meeting.

8. Doodle

With Doodle, you can pick date and time options, and poll a group to see what works best for them. You don't have to sign up for a Doodle account to participate in a poll. You can also create a public Doodle URL, where individuals can request a meeting with you based on your listed availability. 

9. Calendly

Calendly integrates directly with your Google or Office 365 calendar, and gives you a personalized URL where people can view your availability and schedule times to meet you. They offer a basic free plan, and a paid premium plan that allows for group scheduling and other additional features.

To help you stay organized, the app lets you set up custom meeting types and durations, e.g., "30 Minute Check-In" or "60 Minute Project Review." You can add also add custom questions to the form people use to sign up to meet with you, include a link to a document or web page people should review prior to your meeting, or even make events private. 

10. Clara

Meet Clara, a virtual assistant fueled by machine learning who can schedule all your meetings and get acquainted with your scheduling patterns. Once you sign up, you indicate your preferences as to which days and times you are available for meetings and your favorite locations for coffee, lunch, or drinks.

If someone requests a meeting, you can CC Clara's email address (which can be customized to your company's domain), and the virtual assistant will determine a time, date, duration, participants, and location for the meeting. She also understands human commands like, "I'm sick, can you reschedule my meetings on Tuesday?"

It currently only works with Gmail, and it does have a hefty price tag, but it could be worth the cost if scheduling is a major pain point for your company. Especially considering it's still significantly cheaper than hiring a human personal assistant. 

11. Google Calendar

If your team uses the GSuite and would like to streamline scheduling processes, you can schedule meetings with others through Google Calendar.

If your work email is already part of a GSuite membership, you can go to your calendar, search another team member under the "Meet with" tab on your left, and then click their name to view their calendar up against your own. If you click on a time slot on that calendar, you can schedule a meeting with both yourself and that teammate. 

If your teammates aren't part of your GSuite, you can press the share button and share your calendar with their email address. From there, they can enter the calendar and schedule a meeting time with you.

Summary

The options are endless for meeting scheduler tools. The choice is ultimately up to you which one fits your personal workflow. 

If you're looking for a quick and easy way to book meetings faster without the back-and-forth emails ... check out HubSpot's meeting scheduling tool. 

 

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2015 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

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How to Create and Use Twitter Cards to Maximize Your Social Media Traffic

If you’ve ever opened Twitter and watched a commercial, laughed at a YouTube video, or read an article, you’ve already interacted with Twitter Cards. Cards are a handy and essential function of using Twitter for business and driving traffic to your website.

It’s spooky season, witches.

🖤 this tweet to get a reminder to watch #31NightsOfHalloween on Tuesday, October 1 on @FreeformTV. pic.twitter.com/iDdlyWaDUE

31 Nights (@31Nights) September 18, 2019

In the example above, ABC Freeform, uses a Player Card to get their audience into the Halloween spirit.

Twitter Cards are easy to implement and can revitalize a social strategy with an app almost half its users open every day (that’s roughly 150 million people). Learn how to use them to your benefit, below.

Twitter Cards are media-enriched tweets that stand out to Twitter users, encourage engagement, and ultimately drive traffic back to your landing pages. There are four different types of Cards: Summary, Summary Card With Large Image, App, and Player.

Go into peak hiring season with the tips you need to stand out and find the #job meant for you: https://t.co/EC0OlEJ8ek #InItTogether

LinkedIn (@LinkedIn) September 23, 2019

The different types of Cards note the structure of the tweet. A Summary Card, for example, will include a small photo, a title, and brief summary of the content it’s teasing. Summary Card with Large Image has the same setup, just with a larger image.

App Cards pull the featured image and link of your app from the Play Store or App Store for the tweet. Player Card tweets will automatically play video and link to your website at the bottom of the tweet.

To the Tailgate Titans. The Champions of Cheering. The Halftime Heroes. Welcome back. #ShareaCoke

Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) September 4, 2019

Cards are extremely versatile, like Twitter itself. There are a plethora of ways to use them to optimize your content. If you’re rolling out a new podcast or product update, Cards are a best friend for promoting them on Twitter.

How to Use Twitter Cards

The different types of Cards make it easy to decide how you want to use and promote them. Each Card type has specific requirements that optimize the content you intend to post. For instance, if you wanted to promote a video using Cards, Player Cards are specifically set up for the video to run at its most pristine level.

Summary Cards, for example, are a great way to highlight new blog posts or share articles, introduce a new sale on your products, and promote testimonials on your website.

TC’s Greg Epstein and Kate Clark talk mental health startups and the ‘Cult of the Founder’ https://t.co/b8N7udLLxX

TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) September 27, 2019

This Summary Card by TechCrunch is promoting a recent blog article, using all of the attributions of a Summary Card: thumbnail image, description, and title. And the most important part: a link to TechCrunch’s website, ready to increase that lovely website traffic.

Summary With Large Image Cards are for content with a strong visual element.

On Oct. 4th, @PioneerWorks_, in Brooklyn, opens “You’re at Home,” an exhibition of digital projections, performances, sculptures, and music by Jacolby Satterwhite. https://t.co/PuIYEYWzHI

The New Yorker (@NewYorker) September 27, 2019

These Cards use compelling photos to make a statement on audience timelines. Think of a colorful statistic or that new infographic you want to promote. Here, The New Yorker used their Card to display a large photo of the artist they’re highlighting.

Releasing a new app? There’s a Twitter Card for that too. Let’s see how Google uses the aptly named “App Card” to their advantage:

Buckle up, there’s more ahead. Pre-register for #MarioKartTour on the Play Store: https://t.co/EcKpztcMrT

Google Play (@GooglePlay) September 5, 2019

Think of the traffic you can generate from a potential audience of 330 million. App Cards grab their information directly from the App Store or Google Play, so make sure the app you’re promoting is public before creating the Card.

Player Cards automatically play videos on a loop on timelines and feeds, so users don’t even have to leave the app to interact with rich multimedia, and your content gets views. Player Cards give your brand image a boost of promotion to a vast audience.

2.4 million jobs requiring #STEM education skills are predicted to go unfilled. Verizon Innovative Learning and @Pharrell have teamed up to bring technology, education and opportunity to schools to help make sure today's students are ready to fill those jobs tomorrow.

Verizon (@verizon) September 26, 2019

Verizon used this Player Card — and a partnership with Pharrell — to show their Twitter following how they’re introducing STEM job opportunities in schools. In 30 seconds, Verizon gets their message across in the video, using a celebrity endorsement to grab attention.

First, tell Twitter what type of Card you’re using with meta tag markup to the <head> section of your webpage. The one below is for Summary Cards:

meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/meta

You can only have one Card per page.

To test your tags, test run the URL through Twitter’s validator tool. Note that if you’re using a Player Card, after this step, you’ll need to request approval for whitelisting. To complete this, a “Request Approval” button will appear on the validator tool.

Image Source: Twitter Developer

Once you’ve tested in the validator or had your Player Card approved, tweet the URL and you’ll see the Card appear below your Tweet.

Twitter Card Meta Tags

Meta tags appear in a web page’s source code; they are little snippets of text used to describe what’s on a webpage. These meta tags are used to tell search engines what’s on the Cards, which can optimize website traffic for you. Adding the correct tags is important for SEO. These meta tags are used to describe the card type and username of the website. The third is for the Twitter User’s ID and can be interchanged with the second:

twitter:card, twitter:site, twitter:site:id

From there, meta tags are a sort of “mix-and-match” deal depending on what you’re using them for. For instance, if you were to implement a Summary Card With Large Image, your code would look like this:

Image Source: Buffer

In this image:

• twitter:creator was used for the @username of the content creator
• twitter:title was used for the title of the content (which has a max of 70 characters)
• twitter:description has a max of 200 characters and describes the content
• content= needs to be in front of the description, and twitter:image is used to tell Twitter the URL of the image

Supported formats are JPG, PNG, WEBP, and GIF. Only the first frame of the GIF will be imported.

With all this talk of maximum optimization, you’re probably wondering what types of photos are best for Twitter Cards. Do they have a specification? I’m glad you asked.

Twitter Card Image Size: For Summary Cards, the image has to be at least 120 x 120 pixels, but cannot exceed 1MB. This is the same for a Summary Card With Large Image, but the smallest photo size is 280 x 150 pixels. App Cards require images to be 800 x 320 pixels, and Player Cards must have level 3.0, dimensions in 640 x 480 pixels, and 30 frames per second.

Social media channels are a reflection of brands. To some of 330 million users on Twitter, your tweets may be the first interaction they have with your company, so a properly optimized image is key to putting your brand’s best foot forward.

Because these dimensions are slightly different for each type of Card, think about the type of content you’re promoting and which Card will be best for that. If your blog post about eCommerce won’t have the best featured image but has a rich description, go with a Summary Card instead of a Summary Card With Large Image.

Twitter will let you preview your Card before you post it in the validator tool, so you can adjust your image to your desired effect. You can also preview Player content in the tool to make sure it runs smoothly, so be sure to check multimedia content before you post.

Twitter Card Examples

1. Summary Twitter Card example

If you scroll down your timeline for about five seconds, you’ll run into a Promoted Twitter Card, which are very handy if you’re looking for fresh ways to use your Twitter Cards. For instance, let’s look at Merriam-Webster (an account worthy of your follow — and yes, they are the “Dictionary People”).

Folks, this was your (quite crowded) week in words.https://t.co/N0oSLlAwPe

Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 27, 2019

This is beautiful use of a Summary Card. The title is less than 70 characters, the description is enticing, and the image is larger than 120 x 120. This Summary Card jumps out at you on a timeline and makes you want to read a recap of popular words used in the past seven days.

2. Summary Cards with Large Image example

In honor of #NationalCoffeeDay, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated American cities in terms of coffee-lover friendliness. https://t.co/3D5lVvfAex

HuffPost (@HuffPost) September 29, 2019

The Huffington Post used their Summary Card to give potential readers the featured image of their blog post for National Coffee Day. Because the image is high quality, it pulls audience members in, especially those with a thing for latte art, like myself.

3. App Card example

Did you know World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) knows their way around an App Card?

.@WWE Champion @TrueKofi selects 5 matches to start with - @Apple @AppStore https://t.co/mI7njYyQcu

WWE Public Relations (@WWEPR) September 25, 2019

To promote their app, WWE used this amazing App Card to highlight champion Kofi’s five must-watch matches, curated by Kofi himself. The stunning graphic is an amazing image to use on Twitter because it stands out on timelines, especially on timelines with darker modes turned on.

4. Player Card example

Cartier is embracing the Player Card with this commercial promoting their new digital series.

#LOdysséedeCartier, the new digital series : dive into the heart of the Maison’s influences and the founders of the Cartier style. Discover more.

Cartier (@Cartier) September 24, 2019

In the fast paced commercial, the team at Cartier uses video clips old and new, but all are optimized with a clear video format. Even the black and white snippets hold up very well.

Twitter Cards jump out at your audience and, lucky for us, they’re easy to use.. Take 15 minutes out of your busy day, and find your next content marketing obsession.

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How to Choose a Blog Name That'll Grow With Your Brand

Clothes, food, habits — outgrowing things is a natural part of life. That's true for brands as well. When brands decide they’ve outgrown their current way of doing things, this might call for a rebrand.

Outgrowing a brand, or at least a brand name, is common. Marketing platform Mailchimp used their rebranding to help the company transition to a more "grownup" brand that would allow them to serve more small businesses. Many blogs I read, like “Liv’s Healthy Life,” (Now known as just “Liv B,”) quickly rebrand when they realize their old blog name just doesn’t make sense anymore.

While rebranding a business can be a smart and necessary step to growing a long-lasting business, renaming your blog or business doesn't have to be. To combat outgrowing a blog name too quickly, let’s go over some strategies to use when naming a blog.

How to Choose a Blog Name

1. Identify your niche

What are you doing? What will your blog be about? Will it be an extension of your business or its own project? Identifying what your blog will be about is key to defining a name that’ll expand with you.

The blog name will represent your unique point of view in your industry or niche. It should vibe with the aesthetic of your blog and define the mood you want to give your readers when they visit your blog’s homepage. It should also be descriptive of the type of content you’ll publish.

Image source: Hot for Food

I love the blog name “Hot for Food” so much. The blog is a companion to creator Lauren Toyota’s YouTube channel of the same name. It’s a great example of a name that goes well with its cooking niche.

The name is also broad enough that Toyota can grow her brand outward. If she wanted to release a cookware line down the road, “Hot for Food” would still make sense, and have about a million available puns at the ready. How fun would a saucepan labeled “Hot with Sauce” be?

2. Do your research

Look at what prominent blogs in your industry are doing. Take note of what you like and don’t like, and use their blogs as a springboard for what readers in your industry like to see. Look for how these blogs are branding, the names of their blogs, and the responses their content receives.

For example, if you’re starting a blog about technology, look at TechCrunch, a massive blog about startups and technology. Their name is short, memorable, and professes their content strategy all in one: to dissect and disseminate the latest tech news for their readers.

It’s also a good idea to think about how your blog will stand out from others. This is also a good time to find out if any of the blog names you were thinking of are already being used.

Start with a simple Google search and then get a bit more technical by checking LLCs in your state. Once you've found a name that's free, make sure that the domain is also available, and consider registering your chosen name to protect it. That way, you can refine how you want your brand to be perceived, and how you want it to grow within the market you choose.

3. Think about your message

What do you want to communicate? Consider your message now and in the future. When looking over your five-year plan, does your message expand as your company does, and will your blog name still reflect that?

For example, to say media giant Buzzfeed has grown exponentially over the past decade would be an understatement. Buzzfeed’s YouTube channels alone each have billions of views and millions of subscribers. As the company has grown, it diversified and expanded its YouTube content.

Buzzfeed YouTube channels were originally named after colors, for example, Buzzfeed Blue, Buzzfeed Ultraviolet, and Buzzfeed Yellow. Recently, those names have been stripped.

Buzzfeed rebranded their content to grow with their company. Yellow rebranded into Boldly, and later, when Boldly outgrew their name, rebranded into As/Is.

According to founder Jonah Peretti, the rebrand of channel names was to reflect “design and product features that reinforce their unique identities and better serve their many fans.”

Blogs with Growth in Mind

1. LADbible

LADbible, an entertainment company, originally had a blog of the same name. Over time, their messages expanded and required different funnels for them. LADbible now has multiple blogs in tandem with the original: SPORTbible and Pretty52.

Image source: Pretty52

2. Contently

Similarly, Contently’s blog has a named separate from the company: The Content Strategist. This name suggests that the blog is named after their target audience, a clever way reach the readers they serve.

Image source: The Content Strategist

3. Whole Foods

Rather than name their blog “Whole Foods Blog,” the organic food company went with Whole Story. The name connects to its company but also has its own option for diverse content, telling stories of where their products come from and the customers it satisfies. Whole Foods also kept the keyword in the title, so SEO would be a breeze.

Image source: Whole Story

4. Target

‘A Bullseye View’ is Target’s all-encompassing blog name. Twisting in the logo was Target’s route, which reflects their branding. With a name like that, the opportunities are endless as to what Target can put on their blog as it grows, something the company keeps in mind with categories such as “Lifestyle,” “Team,” and “Company.”

Image source: A Bullseye View

5. Pottery Barn

Pottery Barn wants you to know their company, ‘Inside and Out’ with this fun, immersive blog name. The name gives interior decorating buffs a nod, hinting that content will provide deeper information about the people behind the design, as well as the homes Pottery Barn caters to.

Image source: Inside and Out

When choosing a blog name that’s concurrent with the growth of your brand, think about how to be memorable. What’ll stick out to readers and search engines. And make sure the name will resonate with your target audience not only now, but five years from now.

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How to Run Facebook Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide to Advertising on Facebook

When setting up a paid Facebook ad, there are a lot of boxes to be checked.

Are you targeting the right people? Are your image dimensions to scale? Are you running the right type of ad? If we're being honest, it can get a little confusing.

With more than 2.3 billion people using Facebook every month, and nearly 1.6 billion users every day, Facebook offers up a unique opportunity for marketers to augment their organic efforts. The trouble is, with both an investment of time and money on the line, there's not much room for oversight.

To help, we've put together a checklist to help you keep all of your campaign details straight. Or watch this short video on how to increase the effectiveness of your ads and budget. These will help ensure that you're tapping into the right audience with the right ad at the right time.

How to Run Facebook Ads

Facebook offers a variety of paid ad options and placements, but all ads can be broken down into three elements:

1. Campaigns. The campaign houses all of your assets.
2. Ad sets. If you're targeting separate audiences with different characteristics, you'll need an individual ad set for each.
3. Ads. Your actual ads live within your ad sets. Each ad set can hold a variety of ads that vary in color, copy, images, etc.

With that terminology out of the way, let's dive in to creating an ad.

Start creating an ad through Facebook's Ads Manager.

You can create a paid ad on Facebook using Facebook's Ads Manager.

Once you log into this page, you'll see a performance dashboard where all of your campaigns, ad sets, and ads will be listed including the results they've driven for your Facebook page. Unless you've already created an ad for your Facebook page, this dashboard will be empty.

To create a new campaign, ad set, or ad through the Facebook Ad Manager, tab over to the type of ad you want to create and click the green "Create" button to far left of these ad types, as shown below. You can see from this screenshot that we're currently set to create a new campaign.

Choose an objective.

Facebook's Ads Manager, like many social media advertising networks, is designed with your campaign objective in mind. Before getting started, Ads Manager will prompt you to choose an objective for your campaign:

There are 11 different objectives to choose from. The list includes everything from general brand awareness, to getting installs of your app, to increasing traffic to your online store.

By choosing one of these objectives, you're giving Facebook a better idea of what you'd like to do so they can present you with the best-suited ad options. As shown in the screenshot above, Facebook's ad options include:

• Brand awareness
• Reach
• Website traffic
• Engagement
• App installs
• Video views
• Lead generation
• Messages
• Conversions
• Catalog sales
• Store traffic

Let's say, for sake of this blog post, you're looking to drive more traffic to your website. When you select this option, Facebook will prompt you to enter the URL you're looking to promote. If you're using marketing automation software, be sure to create a unique tracking URL with UTM parameters for this to ensure that you'll be able to keep track of traffic and conversions from this ad. For HubSpot customers, this can be done using the Tracking URL Builder.

Once selected, Facebook will then display the ad option that makes the most sense in terms of achieving this objective.

Choose your audience.

Your next step is to configure your target audience -- you can do this for each ad set that belongs to the same campaign. If you're just starting out with paid advertising on Facebook, it's likely that you'll have to experiment with several different targeting options until you reach an audience that fits just right.

To help you narrow your focus, Facebook's targeting criteria are accompanied by an audience definition gauge. This tool -- located to the right of the audience targeting fields -- takes all of your selected properties into consideration in order to come up with a potential reach number.

If you're wavering between choosing a specific audience over a broad one, consider your objective. If you're looking to drive traffic, you'll probably want to focus on the type of people you know will be interested in your offering. However, if you're looking to build brand awareness or promote a widely appealing offer, feel free to focus on a more general audience.

Facebook's built-in targeting is vast, including options such as:

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Languages
• Relationship
• Education
• Work
• Financial
• Home
• Ethnic Affinity
• Generation
• Parents
• Politics (U.S. only)
• Life Events
• Interests
• Behaviors
• Connections

You also have the option to select a Custom Audience -- this allows you to target people on Facebook who are in your company's contact database, visited a page on your website that has a tracking pixel, or use your app or game. To learn more about how to set up a Custom Audience on Facebook, check out these instructions. (And for more on the specifics of these criteria, visit this Facebook targeting resource.)

Once you find a group that responds well to your ads, Facebook allows you to save these audiences to be used again later -- so you may not need to dive into this step once you've been running Facebook ads for a while.

Set your budget.

Facebook allows you to set either a daily budget or a lifetime budget. Here's how they differ from each other:

• Daily budget. If you want your ad set to run continuously throughout the day, this is the option you'll want to go for. Using a daily budget means that Facebook will pace your spending per day. Keep in mind that the minimum daily budget for an ad set is $1.00 USD and must be at least 2X your CPC.
• Lifetime budget. If you're looking to run your ad for a specified length of time, select lifetime budget. This means Facebook will pace your spend over the time period you set for the ad to run.

To further specify your budgeting, turn to the advanced options -- this option is linked at the bottom of the screenshot shown above. This section allows you to specify a few things:

Schedule

Choose whether or not your want your campaign to run immediately and continuously or if you want to customize the start and end dates. You can also set parameters so that your ads only run during specific hours and days of the week.

Optimization & Pricing

Choose whether or not you want to bid for your objective, clicks, or impressions. (This will alter how your ad is displayed and paid for.) By doing so, you'll pay for your ad to be shown to people within your target audience that are more likely to complete your desired action, but Facebook will control what your maximum bid is.

If you don't want Facebook to set optimal bids for you, you'll want to opt for manual bidding. This option awards you full control over how much you're willing to pay per action completed. However, Facebook will provide a suggested bid based on other advertisers' behavior to give you a sense of what you should shoot for.

Delivery

Delivery type falls under two categories: standard and accelerated. Standard delivery will show your ads throughout the day, while accelerated delivery helps you reach an audience quickly for time-sensitive ads (Note: this option requires manual bid pricing).

Create your ad.

What do you want your ad to look like? It all depends on your original objective.

If you're looking to increase the number of clicks to your website, Facebook's Ad Manager will suggest the Clicks to Website ad options. Makes sense, right?

This ad option is broken down into two formats: Links and Carousels. Essentially, this means that you can either display a single image ad (Links) or a multi-image ad (Carousel) with three to five scrolling images at no additional cost.

A Links ad will be displayed like this:

A Carousel ad will be displayed like this:

Once you decide between the two, you'll need to upload your creative assets. It's important to note that for each type of ad, Facebook requires users to adhere to certain design criteria.

For single image ads, Facebook asks that users adhere to the following design recommendations:

• Text: 125 characters
• Ad Headline: 25 characters
• Image ratio: 1.91:1
• Image resolution (including CTA): 1080 x 1080 pixels

For multi-image ads -- also known as Carousel Ads -- Facebook provides the following design recommendations:

• Recommended image size: 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Image ratio: 1:1
• Text: 125 characters
• Headline: 40 characters
• Link description: 20 characters

Your image may not include more than 20% text. See how much text is on your image.

Keep in mind that these are the ad options for the "Traffic" objective.

If you selected "boost your posts," you'd be presented with different ad options like the Page Post Engagement: Photo ad. This ad has a unique set of design recommendations. To explore all of the ad options and their design specifics, refer to this resource.

Once you select an ad type, the Ads Manager will prompt you to identify how you'd like to display your ad. The options they provide are as follows: Desktop News Feed, Mobile News Feed, and Desktop Right Column.

Here's how each ad would appear:

Desktop News Feed

Mobile News Feed

Desktop Right Column

Be aware if your ad isn't associated with a Facebook page, you'll only be able to run Desktop Right Column ads. To leverage all three display locations, you can learn how to create a Facebook Page here.

Report on your ads' performance.

Once your ads are running, you'll want to keep an eye on how they're doing. To see their results, you'll want to look in two places: the Facebook Ad Manager and your marketing software.

Facebook's Ad Manager

Facebook's Ad Manager is a sophisticated dashboard that provides users with an overview of all their campaigns.

Upfront, the dashboard highlights an estimate of how much you're spending each day. The dashboard is organized by columns, which makes it easy to filter through your ads so you can create a custom view of your results. Key numbers like reach, frequency, and cost are readily available, making reporting on performance a no brainer.

According to Facebook, here are some of the key metrics to look for (and their definitions):

• Performance. Can be customized further to include metrics like results, reach, frequency and impressions
• Engagement. Can be customized further to include metrics like Page likes, Page engagement and post engagement
• Videos. Can be customized further to include metrics like video views and avg. % of video viewed
• Website. Can be customized further to include metrics like website actions (all), checkouts, payment details, purchases and adds to cart
• Apps. Can be further customized to include metrics like app installs, app engagement, credit spends, mobile app actions and cost per app engagement
• Events. Can be further customized to include metrics like event responses and cost per event response
• Clicks. Can be further customized to include metrics like clicks, unique clicks, CTR (click-through rate) and CPC (cost per click)
• Settings. Can be further customized to include metrics like start date, end date, ad set name, ad ID, delivery, bid and objective

Your Marketing Software

While there are certainly a lot of details to keep straight when planning a paid Facebook ad, it's important that you don't lose sight of the big picture. Reporting on clicks and conversions from Facebook is important, however, if you're using URLs with specific UTM codes, you have an opportunity to measure your ads' full-funnel effectiveness using your marketing software.

Tracking URLs will help your marketing software keep track of how many leads, or better yet, how many customers you've gained from your advertising efforts. This information is useful in determining the ROI of this source, and can also be used to inform your overall Facebook marketing strategy.

If you're a HubSpot customer using our ads tool, this process is already taken care of for you. You can also create unique tracking codes for your Facebook campaign by navigating to the Tracking URL Builder on the Reports Home page. All you'll need to do is plug in the URL, attach a campaign, and choose the source you want the URL to be attributed to in your Sources Report. Once your ad launches and you start getting traffic and conversions on your website, you'll be able to easily track how many visits, contacts, and customers you're generating.

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How to Productively Lead Your Team, from Musk, Bezos, and Other Founders [Infographic]

I think we can all agree: successful founders like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs are undeniably talented, innovative, and ambitious.

But there's something else they have in common, too -- they're all productive.

Good ideas, and the willpower to follow through on them, is one aspect of creating a successful business, but without the ability to avoid distractions, these founders likely wouldn't have been able to create such thriving companies.

To gather productivity tips and tricks from successful founders, Resume.io analyzed interviews, biographies, and blogs and put together the following infographic.

If you're aiming to effectively drive results for your team in 2020 or ensure your ideas come into fruition, keep reading to learn how some of the world's most innovative leaders stayed on-track.

http://bit.ly/2mgyzat

How to Write Facebook Ads That Convert

Want your Facebook ads to move people to action? Looking for a framework to help? In this article, you’ll discover how to develop and compose Facebook ad copy that converts and sells your products. #1: Research Customer Needs and Preferences in Facebook Groups Marketers often talk about how hard it is to get accurate customer […]

The post How to Write Facebook Ads That Convert appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

September 30, 2019 at 12:00PM http://bit.ly/2nTSjkp
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New Facebook Live Tools: What Marketers Need to Know

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Social Media Marketing Talk Show, a news show for marketers who want to stay on the leading edge of social media. On this week’s Social Media Marketing Talk Show, we explore new Facebook Live tools with Luria Petrucci. Tune In to the Social Media Marketing Talk Show Listen […]

The post New Facebook Live Tools: What Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

September 28, 2019 at 12:00PM http://bit.ly/2Y1lJK1
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The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads for 2019

If you’re considering spending any amount of money on ads to reach your target audience, then you’d better spend it in the right place. That is, somewhere with over 246 million unique visitors, 3.5 billion daily interactions, and an estimated 700% return on investment.

Somewhere like... Google Ads.

Google Ads was launched just two years after what has become the most popular website in the world: Google.com. The advertising platform came on the scene in October 2000 as Google Adwords, but after some rebranding in 2018, it was renamed Google Ads. Given Google’s expansive reach, chances are you’ve seen (and probably clicked on) a Google ad … and so have your potential customers.

In this guide you'll discover what Google Ads is and what you need to know to begin advertising on Google. We’ll cover features specific to the platform and teach you how to optimize your campaigns to achieve the best results with your ads.

What is Google Ads?

It's no secret that, these days, the stronger and more focused your paid campaigns are, the more clicks you generate — leading to a greater probability of obtaining new customers. This is why Google Ads has become increasingly popular among businesses across all industries.

Google Ads is a paid advertising platform that falls under a marketing channel known as pay-per-click (PPC), where you (the advertiser) pays per click or per impression (CPM) on an ad.

Google Ads is an effective way to drive qualified traffic, or good-fit customers, to your business while they're searching for products and services like the ones you offer. With Google Ads, you can boost your website traffic, receive more phone calls, and increase your in-store visits. 

Google Ads allows you to create and share well-timed ads (via both mobile and desktop) among your target audience. This means your business will show up on the search engine results page (SERP) at the moment your ideal customers are looking for products and services like yours via Google Search or Google Maps. This way, you reach your target audience when it makes sense for them to come across your ad. 

Note: Ads from the platform can span across other channels too, including YouTube, Blogger, and Google Display Network.

Over time, Google Ads will also help you analyze and improve those ads to reach more people so your business can hit all of your paid campaign goals. 

Additionally, no matter the size of your business or your available resources, you can tailor your ads to suit your budget. The Google Ads tool gives you the opportunity to stay within your monthly cap and even pause or stop your ad spending at any point in time.

Discover how HubSpot can help you better manage your Google ads.

Now, onto another important question: Is Google Ads really effective?

Why advertise on Google?

Google is the most used search engine, receiving 3.5 billion search queries a day. Not to mention, the Google Ads platform has been around for nearly two decades, giving it some seniority in the area of paid advertising. Google is a resource used by people around the world to ask questions that are answered with a combination of paid advertisements and organic results.

And, according to Google, advertisers make $8 for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. So, there are a few reasons why you’d want to consider advertising on Google.

Need another reason? Your competitors are using Google Ads (and they might even be bidding on your branded terms). Thousands of companies use Google Ads to promote their businesses, which means that even if you’re ranking organically for a search term, your results are being pushed down the page, beneath your competitors.

If you’re using PPC to advertise your product or services, Google Ads should be a part of your paid strategy — there’s no way around it (except maybe Facebook Ads, but that’s another article).

Reasons Why Your Google Ads Aren’t Working

If you’ve tried unsuccessfully to advertise on Google, don’t give up. There are many reasons why your Google Ads could be underperforming. Let’s cover some common offenders.

1. Broad Keyword Terms. You really need to nail it when it comes to your keywords, which is why testing and tweaking should be a part of your strategy. If your keywords are too broad, Google will be placing your ad in front of the wrong audience which means fewer clicks and a higher ad spend. Review what’s working (i.e. which keywords are generating clicks) and adjust them to best match your ads with your target audience. You likely won’t get the mix right the first time but you should keep adding, removing, and tweaking keywords until you do.
   How to fix it: Review the keyword strategies that we cover below.
   
2. Irrelevant Ads. If your ad doesn’t match the searcher’s intent, you won’t get enough clicks to justify your ad spend. Your headline and ad copy need to match the keywords you’re bidding on, and the solution your ad is marketing needs to solve whatever pain point that searcher is experiencing. It’s a combination that will yield the results you’re looking for, and it may just be a few tweaks away. You have the option to create multiple ads per campaign — use this feature to split test which ads work best. Or, better yet, use Google’s Responsive Search Ads feature.
   How to fix it: Read our best practices for ad copy.
3. Low Quality Score. Your Quality Score (QS) is how Google determines how your ad should rank. The higher your rank, the better your placements. If your quality score is low, you’ll have fewer eyeballs on your ad and fewer chances to convert. Google will tell you your Quality Score, but improving it is up to you.
   How to fix it: Keep reading to learn how to improve your QS.
   
4. Poor Landing Page. Your efforts shouldn’t stop with your ad — the user experience after a click is equally important. What does your user see once they click your ad? Is your landing page optimized for conversions, meaning does it use the same keywords? Does the page solve your user’s pain point or answer their question? Your user should experience a seamless transition through to the conversion.
   How to fix it: Review landing page best practices and implement them to increase your conversion rate.

These common terms will help you set up, manage, and optimize your Google Ads. Some of these are specific to Google Ads, while others are related to PPC in general. Either way, you’ll need to know these to run an effective ad campaign.

AdRank

Your AdRank determines your ad placement. The higher the value, the better you’ll rank, the more eyes will fall on your ad, and the higher the probability that users will click your ad. Your AdRank is determined by your maximum bid multiplied by your Quality Score.

Bidding

Google Ads is based on a bidding system, where you as the advertiser selects a maximum bid amount you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad. The higher your bid, the better your placement. You have three options for bidding: CPC, CPM, or CPE.

• CPC, or cost-per-click, is the amount you pay for each click on your ad.
• CPM, or cost per mille, is the amount you pay for one thousand ad impressions, that is when your ad is shown to a thousand people.
• CPE, or cost per engagement, is the amount you pay when someone takes a predetermined action with your ad.

And, yes, we’ll review bidding strategies below.

Campaign Type

Before you begin a paid campaign on Google Ads, you’ll select between one of three campaign types: search, display, or video.

• Search ads are text ads that are displayed among search results on a Google results page.
• Display ads are typically image-based and are shown on web pages within the Google Display Network.
• Video ads are between six and 15 seconds and appear on YouTube.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Your CTR is the number of clicks you get on your ad as a proportion of the number of views your ad gets. A higher CTR indicates a quality ad that matches search intent and targets relevant keywords.

Conversion Rate (CVR)

CVR is a measure of form submissions as a proportion of total visits to your landing page. Simplistically speaking, a high CVR means that your landing page presents a seamless user experience that matches the promise of the ad.

Display Network

Google ads can be displayed on either search results pages or a web page within Google’s Display Network (GDN). GDN is a network of websites that allow space on their webpages for Google Ads — these ads can be text-based or image ads and are displayed alongside content relevant to your target keywords. The most popular Display Ad options are Google Shopping and app campaigns.

Extensions

Ad Extensions allow you to supplement your ad with additional information at no additional cost. These extensions fall under one of five categories: Sitelink, Call, Location, Offer, or App; we’ll cover each of these ad extensions below.

Keywords

When a Google user types a query into the search field, Google returns a range of results that match the searcher’s intent. Keywords are words or phrases that align with what a searcher wants and will satisfy their query. You select keywords based on which queries you want to display your ad alongside. For example, a searcher that types “how to clean gum off shoes” will see results for advertisers that targeted keywords like “gum on shoes” and “clean shoes.”

• Negative Keywords are a list of keyword terms that you do not want to rank for. Google will pull you from the bid on these keywords. Typically, these are semi-related to your intended search terms but fall outside of the realm of what you offer or want to rank for.

PPC

Pay-per-click, or PPC, is a type of advertising where the advertiser pays per click on an ad. PPC is not specific to Google Ads, but it is the most common type of paid campaign. It’s important to understand the ins and outs of PPC before launching your first Google Ads campaign.

Quality Score (QS)

Your Quality Score measures the quality of your ad by your click-through rate (CTR), the relevance of your keywords, the quality of your landing page, and your past performance on the SERP. QS is a determining factor in your AdRank.

Click to get our free guide on how to use Google Ads.

Many factors impact your ability to create effective and high-performing Google Ads. Let’s cover them below.

AdRank and Quality Score

AdRank determines the placement of your ads, and Quality Score is one of the two factors (the other being bid amount) that determines your AdRank. Remember, your Quality Score is based on the quality and relevance of your ad, and Google measures that by how many people click on your ad when it’s displayed — i.e. your CTR. You CTR depends on the how well your ad matches searcher intent, which you can deduce from three areas:

1. The relevance of your keywords
2. If your ad copy and CTA deliver what the searcher expects based on their search
3. The user experience of your landing page

Your QS is where you should focus most of your attention when you first set up your Google Ad campaign — even before you increase your bid amount. The higher your QS, the lower your acquisition costs will be and the better placement you’ll get.

Ad Campaign Types: Search, Display, and Video

You can select from one of three campaign types on Google Ads: search, display, or video. Let’s cover the optimal uses for each and why you might choose one over the other.

Search Ads

Search ads are text ads that are displayed on Google results pages. As an example, a search for “pocket squares” returns sponsored results, or ads, like these:

The benefit of search ads is that you’re displaying your ad in the place where most searchers look for information first — on Google. And Google shows your ad in the same format as other results (except for denoting it as an “Ad”) so users are accustomed to seeing and clicking on results.

Responsive Search Ads

Responsive search ads allow you to enter multiple versions of headlines and ad copy (15 and four variations, respectively) for Google to select the best performers to display to users. With traditional ads, create one static version of your ad, using the same headline and description each time. Responsive ads allow for a dynamic ad that is auto-tested until you arrive at the version that is best suited for your target audience — for Google, that means until you get the most clicks.

Display Ads

Google has a network of websites in various industries and with an array of audiences that opt in to display Google Ads, known as the Google Display Network. The benefit to the website owner is that they’re paid per click or impression on the ads. The benefit to advertisers is that they can get their content in front of audiences that are aligned with their personas. These are typically image ads that draw users attention away from the content on the webpage.

Source

Additional options for Display Ads include shopping campaigns and app campaigns, which are displayed on search engine results pages.

Video Ads

Video ads are displayed before or after (and sometimes in the middle of) YouTube videos. Remember, YouTube is a search engine, too. The right keywords will place you in front of a video, disrupting the user’s behavior just enough to grab their attention.

Location

When you first set up your Google Ad, you’ll select a geographical area where your ad will be shown. If you have a storefront, this should be in a reasonable radius around your physical location. If you have an ecommerce store and a physical product, your location should be set in the places where you ship. If you provide a service or product that is accessible worldwide, then the sky's the limit.

Your location settings will play a role in placement. For instance, if you own a yoga studio in San Francisco, someone in New York that enters “yoga studio” will not see your result, no matter your AdRank. That’s because Google’s main objective is to display the most relevant results to searchers, even when you’re paying.

Keywords

Keyword research is just as important for paid ads as it is for organic search. Your keywords need to match searcher intent as much as possible. That’s because Google matches your ad with search queries based on the keywords you selected. Each ad group that you create within your campaign will target a small set of keywords (one to five keywords is optimal) and Google will display your ad based on those selections.

Match Types

Match Types give you a little wiggle room when it comes to your keyword selections — they tell Google whether you want to match a search query exactly or if your ad should be shown to anyone with a search query that’s semi-related. There are four match types to choose from:

• Broad Match is the default setting that uses any word within your keyword phrase in any order. For example, “goat yoga in Oakland” will match “goat yoga” or “yoga Oakland.”
• Modified Broad Match allows you to lock in certain words within a keyword phrase by denoting them with a “+” sign. Your matches will include that locked-in word at the very least. For example, “+goats yoga in Oakland” could yield “goats,” “goats like food,” or “goats and yoga.”
• Phrase Match will match with queries that include your keyword phrase in the exact order but may include additional words before or after it. For example, “goat yoga” can yield “spotted goat yoga” or “goat yoga with puppies.”
• Exact Match maintains your keyword phrase as it is written in the exact order. For example, “goat yoga” will not show up if someone types “goats yoga” or “goat yoga class.”

If you’re just starting out and don’t know exactly how your persona will be searching, move from a broad match to a more narrow approach so you can test which queries yield the best results. However, since your ad will be ranking for many queries (some unrelated) you should keep a close eye on your ads and modify them as you can gain new information.

Headline and Description

Your ad copy can be the difference between a click on your ad and a click on your competitor’s ad. It’s important that your ad copy matches the searcher’s intent, is aligned with your target keywords, and addresses the personas pain point with a clear solution.

To illustrate what we mean, let’s review an example.

A search for “baby swim lessons” yielded this result. The copy is concise and uses the limited space wisely to convey their message and connect with their target audience.

The Swim Revolution knew to put the keyword in their headline so we instantly know that this ad matches what we’re looking for. The description tells us why this is the best option for swim lessons because it addresses the concerns of their persona — a parent looking to enroll their baby in a swim class.

They use words like “skills,” “fun,” “confidence,” and “comfort in the water” to ease our nerves about putting a baby in a pool and to prove to us that we will get what we want out of this class — an infant that can swim.

This kind of ad copy will get you clicks, but conversions will result from carrying this level of intention into your landing page copy.

Ad Extensions

If you’re running Google Ads, you should be using Ad Extensions for two reasons: they’re free, and they give users additional information and another reason to interact with your ad. These extensions fall within one of these five categories:

• Sitelink Extensions extend your add — helping you stand out — and provide additional links to your site that offer users more enticing reasons to click.
  
  
• Call Extensions allow you to incorporate your phone number in your ad so users have an additional (and instant) way to reach out to you. If you have a customer service team that is ready to engage and convert your audience, then include your phone number.
  
  
• Location Extensions include your location and phone number within your ad so Google can offer searchers a map to easily find you. This option is great for businesses with a storefront and it works well for the search query “...near me.”
  
  
• Offer Extensions work if you’re running a current promotion. It can entice users to click your ad over others if they see that your options are discounted compared to your competitors.
  
  
• App Extensions provide a link to an app download for mobile users. This reduces the friction from having to perform a new search to find and download the app in an AppStore.
  
  

Google Ads Retargeting

Retargeting, a.k.a. remarketing, in Google Ads is a way to advertise to users who have previously interacted with you online but have not yet converted. Tracking cookies will follow users around the web and target these users with your ads. Remarketing is effective since prospects need to see your marketing at least seven times before they become a customer. 

How to Set Up Your Google Ads

Setting up your paid campaigns on Google is relatively easy (and quick), mostly because the platform takes you through the setup and provides helpful hints along the way. Once you visit the Google Ads site and click “Start Now,” you’ll be taken through a series of steps to get your ads up and running. If you have your ad copy and/or images created, set up should take you no more than 10 minutes.

What may be less obvious are all the additional things you need to do to make sure your ads are optimally set up and easily trackable. Let’s cover these together. These are the steps you’ll take once your ads are submitted for review.

Link Google Analytics

You likely have Google Analytics set up on your website so you can track traffic, conversions, goals, and any unique metrics. You also need to link your Analytics account to Google Ads. Linking these accounts will make tracking, analyzing, and reporting between channels and campaigns much easier because you can view these events in one place.

Add UTM Codes

Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) codes are used by Google to track any activity associated with a specific link. You’ve probably seen them before — it’s the part of a URL that follows a question mark (“?”). UTM codes will tell you which offer or ad led to a conversion so you can track the most effective parts of your campaign. UTM codes make it easier to optimize your Google Ads since you know exactly what’s working.

The trick, though, is to add your UTM codes at the campaign level when you set up your Google Ads so you don’t have to do so manually for each ad URL. Otherwise, you can add them manually with Google’s UTM builder.

Set Up Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking tells you exactly how many customers or leads you’ve acquired from your ad campaigns. It’s not mandatory to set up but, without it, you’ll be guessing the ROI of your ads. Conversion tracking allows you to track sales (or other activities) on your website, app installs, or calls from your ads.

Manage and organize your ads with our free Google Ads Kit and Templates.

Integrate Your Google Ads With Your CRM

There is something to be said about keeping all of your data in one place where you can track, analyze, and report on it. You already use your CRM to track contact data and lead flows. Integrating Google Ads with your CRM gives you the ability to track which ad campaigns are working for your audience so you can continue marketing to them with offers that are relevant.

Google Ads Bidding Strategies

Once you’ve set up your ad campaigns and have tracking in place, it’s time to start bidding. Remember, your ability to rank in Google Ads depends on how you bid. While your bid amount will depend on your budget and goals, there are a few strategies and bid settings you should be aware of when launching your paid campaign.

Automated vs. Manual Bidding

You have two options when it comes to bidding on your keywords — automated and manual. Here’s how they work:

• Automated Bidding puts Google in the driver’s seat and allows the platform to adjust your bid based on your competitors. You can still set a maximum budget, and Google will work within a range to give you the best chance at winning the bid within those constraints.
• Manual Bidding let’s you set the bid amounts for your ad groups and keywords, giving you the chance to reduce spending on low-performing ads.

Bidding on Branded Search Terms

Branded terms are those with your company or unique product name in them, like “HubSpot CRM.” There is much debate on whether to bid on your branded terms or not. On one side of the debate, bidding on terms that will likely yield organic results could be seen as a waste of money.

On the other side, bidding on these terms gives you domain over these search results pages and helps you convert prospects that are further along the flywheel. For instance, if I’ve been doing research on live chat tools and am heavily considering HubSpot’s Live Chat, then a simple search for “HubSpot live chat software” will yield exactly the result I’m looking for without the effort of scrolling.

The other argument in favor of bidding on your branded terms is that competitors may bid on them if you don’t, thereby taking up valuable real estate that should belong to you.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

If the idea of spending money to convert prospects into leads makes you uneasy, then you can set a CPA instead and only pay when a user converts into a customer. While this bidding strategy could cost more, you can take comfort in knowing that you only pay when you acquire a paying customer. This strategy makes it easy to track and justify your ad spend.

Additional Resources to Optimize Your Google Ads

Your ad copy and headline is not the only component that will make your paid campaign successful. Getting a user to click is only the beginning … they should arrive on a landing page that’s optimized for conversion and then be taken to a Thank You page that tells them what to do next.

If you want your Google Ads to produce qualified leads and customers, then check out these additional resources and use them as guidelines as you set up your Google Ads campaign.

• Landing Page Best Practices will teach you how to set up a landing page that’s prime for conversions so you don’t waste those precious clicks.
• Optimized “Thank You” Pages shows you what to do with your new lead post-conversion, how to keep them on your site, and ways to maintain their attention.
• Tips for Mobile Google Ads teaches you the key differences between desktop and mobile ads and how to optimize both.
• Optimizing Google Ads Costs will show you how we, at HubSpot, maximize our Google Ads spend to get the best ROI.
• Quality Google Ads Examples That Convert shares examples of Google advertising campaigns that got it right.

Start Your Campaign

Given its reach and authority, Google Ads should be a part of your paid strategy. Use the tips we covered to get started, and remember to refine and iterate as you go. There’s no such thing as a Google Ads campaign that doesn’t work — there are only ones that need a bit more work. Using the strategy and information provided above, you have what you need to create a successful Google Ad campaign that drives clicks and converts leads.

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TikTok: What Marketers Need to Know

Are you curious about TikTok? Wondering how to use TikTok for your marketing? To explore what marketers need to know about TikTok, I interview Rachel Pedersen on the Social Media Marketing Podcast. Rachel is an organic social marketing pro and host of the Social Media Secrets podcast. Her new book is called, I Need Attention. […]

The post TikTok: What Marketers Need to Know appeared first on Social Media Marketing | Social Media Examiner.

September 27, 2019 at 12:00PM http://bit.ly/2mhhmNV
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Instagram Ad Specs & Sizes in 2020: an Updated Guide

Working in marketing can feel like you’re constantly playing catch up. With new trends and algorithms to keep up with, it can be hard to find consistent success with your strategies.

One area that’s always changing is social media. But between uploading a blog and composing a drip campaign to nurture new leads, getting started with your Instagram ad campaign can seem daunting.

However, Instagram ad campaigns are still a powerful way to reach your audience. According to Sprout Social, Instagram’s ad revenue will bring in nearly a quarter of Facebook’s total ad revenue by the end of 2019, and 30% of total ad revenue by the end of 2020.

However, before you can get started with your ads, we want to ensure you have professional-looking images and avoid pesky error messages like “image is too small.” With more than one billion monthly active users, you want to put your best foot forward.

Here, you’ll find Instagram ad specs and sizes to help you get started, plus examples of different types of ads.

Image source: Mailchimp

Examples of Different Types of Ads

Whether you’re using an image or video ad on Instagram Feed or Stories, a few guidelines apply at all times:

• Avoid using URLs in captions since they aren’t clickable in Instagram.
• Captions can be up to 2,200 characters.
• Do not include text or logos on 14% of the top and bottom of your ads. If you do, these will be covered by other ad elements like the CTA or profile icon.

Below, we’ll cover more detailed specifications and examples on each type of ad.

Image ads

Image ads consist of an image that promotes your business, brand, or product. These ads are an effective way to convert social media followers. According to Omnicore, 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram, and 70% of shoppers turn to Instagram for product discovery.

Below are the detailed specs from Facebook Business (reminder that Facebook owns Instagram):

Feed

• File type: jpg or png
• Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution image available that meets ratio requirements.
• Image dimension
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Image aspect ratio
  • Minimum aspect ratio: 400x500
  • Maximum aspect ratio: 191x100
  • Aspect ratio tolerance: 0.01
• Square
  • Minimum resolution: 600 x 600 pixels
  • Maximum resolution: 1936 x 1936 pixels
• Landscape
  • Minimum resolution: 600 x 315 pixels
  • Maximum resolution: 1936 x 1936 pixels
• Vertical
  • Minimum resolution: 600 x 750 pixels
  • Maximum resolution: 1936 x 1936 pixels

Stories

• Image ratios: 9:16 and 16:9 to 4:5
• Images with more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.
• Image dimension
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Image aspect ratio
  • Maximum aspect ratio: 90 x 160
  • Aspect ratio tolerance: 0.01

Below is an example of an image ad for Grubhub. Note how the “Order Now” text on their ad is not blocked by the CTA, because they made sure it was not in the bottom 14% of the image. In addition, the text on the Pick Up Stix logo on the top is pushed further down so it isn’t in the top 14% of the image. This is what an image ad will look like on the Instagram Feed.

Image source: Grubhub

Carousel ads

Carousel ads are the ads that display multiple images. Instagram users can swipe to see a series of images in these ads, both in the feed and in Stories. These ads give you more space to creatively tell a story to promote your business or product.

In Stories, there are two types of Carousel ads: native or expandable. Native stories display three cards. Expandable stories display one to three cards that give people the option to “keep watching” to see the rest of the cards (up to 10 total).

Below are the detailed specs from Facebook Business:

Feed

• Minimum number of cards: two
• Maximum number of cards: 10
• Image file type: jpg or png
• Video file type: Supported file formats
• Video maximum file size: 4GB
• Video length: up to 60 seconds
• Recommended resolution: minimum 1080 x 1080 pixels
• Carousel ratio: 1:1
• Images with more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.
• Aspect ratio tolerance: 1%
• Maximum number of hashtags in text: 30

Stories

• Aspect ratio tolerance: 1%
• Maximum number of cards in the prompted Carousel ads: 10
• Maximum video duration for carousel videos: 15 seconds
• Maximum video duration for prompted Carousel videos: 60 seconds
• Maximum video duration: 120 seconds
• Native Stories Carousel
  • Minimum number of cards: two
  • Maximum number of cards: three
  • Ratio: 9:16
  • Recommended resolution: 1080 x1920 pixels
• Expandable Stories Carousel
  • Maximum number of cards: 10
  • Ratio: same as newsfeed
  • Images with more than 20% text may experience reduced delivery.

Below is an example of what a Carousel ad would look like on the Instagram feed. This ad contains four images that users can swipe through.

Image source: Online Advertising School

Video ads

Video ads can be used to bring your product or service to life. According to Omnicore, Instagram videos get over two times more engagement than Instagram photos.

Below are the detailed specs from Facebook Business:

Feed

• Recommended resolution: Upload the highest resolution available that meets file size and ratio limits.
• Maximum video length: 120 seconds
• Video dimension
  
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Video size
  
  • Maximum video file size: 30MB
• Video aspect ratio
  
  • Minimum aspect ratio: 400 x 500
  • Maximum aspect ratio: 191 x 100
  • Aspect ratio tolerance: 0.01
• Video thumbnail image dimension
  
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels

Stories

• Video ratios: 9:16 and 16:9 to 4:5
• Video length: maximum 120 seconds
• Video dimension
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels
• Video size
  • Maximum video file size: 30MB
• Video aspect ratio
  
  • Option 1
    • Minimum aspect ratio: 400 x 500
    • Maximum aspect ratio: 191 x 100
    • Aspect ratio tolerance: 0.01
  • Option 2
    • Maximum aspect ratio: 90 x 160
    • Aspect ratio tolerance: 0.01
• Video thumbnail image dimension
  
  • Minimum width: 500 pixels

Below is an example of a video ad from Stitch Fix. Stitch Fix uses video footage of their products to showcase fun outfits, plus the benefits of their service. This ad also had better engagement than the image ad example. It had 2,761 likes compared to 32 likes from Grubhub’s image ad.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short on time? We hear you. Let our Stylists send personalized pieces that fit your life.

A post shared by Stitch Fix Men (@stitchfixmen) on Dec 23, 2018 at 5:29pm PST

Image source: Instagram

Instagram ads as a marketing strategy are here to stay. That’s why it’s important to understand the image sizes and requirements for your ad campaigns. Besides ad specs and sizes, Instagram also has other ad policies online.

Want to learn more about social media dimensions? Check out our ultimate guide.

http://bit.ly/2mfCV1k