16 of the Best Landing Page Design Examples You Need to See

Putting together an A+ landing page can be tricky.

There are so many elements that a top-notch landing page needs, and making those elements the "best" they can be often depends on what your landing page goals are. 

Take form length, for example. It's just one of the many components you need to optimize, but best practices will tell you that both short and long forms perform well -- it all depends on whether you want to generate a lot of (potentially) lower quality form submissions, or a smaller number of higher quality submissions.

So if you're looking to up your landing page game, it's helpful to know what goes into a great landing page and see a few examples of these nuanced elements in action. Surprisingly, when I started doing research into the latter, I realized there are hardly any sites out there with examples of modern, impressive landing pages that are more than just a sign-up form on a homepage. So we decided to compile a list of landing pages we love ourselves.

Big, big caveat here: I don't have access to any of the stats for these pages, so I can't tell you how well they convert visitors, leads, and customers. Still, these examples have some of the best combinations of those nuanced landing page elements I've ever seen. Obviously, if you feel inspired to try any of these tactics on your own site, the only way to know whether they'll work for you for sure is by testing them out for yourself.

16 Examples of Great Landing Page Design 

1) Wistia

First up is Wistia's landing page for their Free Wistia Account. Right off the bat, you notice the one-field form to create your account -- the blue, minimally patterned background contrasts nicely with the bright white form field.

The length of the form field combined with the prominent placement eliminates nearly all friction to create an account ... but if you're having doubts, you can always scroll below to read answers to top FAQs. By separating these two sections with stark color contrast, Wistia makes it much easier for you focus on converting.

2) Unbounce

It's no surprise Unbounce is near the top of this list -- they've actually written the book on creating high-converting landing pages. Although there are lots of amazing things about this landing page, the two that I absolutely love are: 1) The directional cue from the supporting images to the CTA button, and 2) the detailed -- but well packaged -- information below the form. 

The first helps direct attention to the goal of the page -- for you to fill out the form -- in a way that's unobtrusive. The second gives this page an SEO boost (search engines will have more content to crawl) and assuages any worry from folks who need to know more about a piece of content before handing over their information, all while not distracting people from the form. 

3) IMPACT Branding & Design

Full disclosure: IMPACT is a HubSpot partner -- but that's not why they're included here. IMPACT's landing pages have long been a source of design inspiration. I love the simple layout of the page, from the large headline copy and detailed featured image, to the outline that surrounds the form, to the colors and fonts that are very pleasing to the eye.

Notice that they've included a check box to subscribe to their blog, which is automatically checked. Note that while adding a check box field to your landing page forms is a great way to increase subscribers, it's better to leave it unchecked and let users opt in. Otherwise, you'll risk adding a lot of low quality subscribers to your contact base. (Read this blog post to learn why having low quality subscribers can hurt your business.)

4) WebDAM

While WebDAM's landing page has many neat features, my favorite (by far) is the form. The little icons in front of the text are all indicative of the information you need to put in -- just look at the ones next to "First Name" and "Last Name." The form also has a blue background that stands out from the hero image behind it. And the "Submit" button? It features an orange background (a complementary color to blue), customized and compelling copy, and an arrow to signify that you'll progress to the downloadable guide.

All this, and I haven't even touched on the detailed but concise information below the form, including well-known customers and customer testimonials. Top-notch work, WebDAM!

5) Bills.com

Often, people think landing pages are static pages on your website. But with the right tools, you can make them interactive and personalized.

Take the example below from Bills.com. To see if you'd benefit from their consultation, you answer three questions before you are shown a form. It starts with this one:

Then, you answer two more questions, like the one below:

And here's the final landing page form where you fill out your information:

I'm not sure how the algorithm works (or if there's one at all), but while I was filling it out, I had some anxiety about not qualifying. Once I found out I did, I was excited to fill out the form, which I'm sure most people who are in debt and using this tool are. By making this offer seem more exclusive before the form appeared on the landing page, I'd bet that Bills.com increased conversions pretty significantly.

6) Trulia

Trulia did something very similar to Bills.com with their landing page. It starts with a simple form asking for "an address" (which sounds less creepy than "your address," although that's what they mean). Below this simple form field is a bright orange button that contrasts well with the hero image behind the form, and emphasizes that the estimate will be personalized to your home.

Of course, the address itself won't be enough to estimate the value of a home. It just denotes the home's neighborhood. That's why the next page follows with more questions about the property itself, like number of beds and baths. Below, you see the copy "Tell us where to send the report" -- with a disclaimer that, by entering this information, you're agreeing to connect with a real estate agent. This is a great example of a company giving value to their visitors from the get-go, while setting visitors' expectations about what will happen as a result. 

7) Basecamp

Like Unbounce, Basecamp also has a really long, in-depth landing page with lots of information below the fold. But what won me over was that cartoon at the top informing visitors that this version is "all new for 2016," which spruces up a somewhat minimal page. I also love that the arrow pointing to the form, which directs visitors' attention to it straight away. Can't get much better than that.

If you go to the landing page itself and scroll down, you'll see that the form moves along with the content on the right. That's a clever way of keeping the form "above the fold" at all times, thereby reducing friction if the visitor should decide to fill in their information while they're reading further down on the page.

[Click here to see the whole landing page.]

8) Zendesk

I like Zendesk's Free Trial landing page because it's simple in both copy and design. The only thing that really stands out on the page are the two CTA buttons -- and the egg drawing at the top, which wiggles as though it's about to crack open. The form itself is simple and only requires a work email address and a password to create an account. Or, you can just use your Google Apps login, shortening the conversion path even further.

9) Webprofits

For a little contrast ... what about long landing pages? With just a few tricks, you can make even the longest landing page feel short. Webprofits' landing page below shows us how.

Right at the top, there's a prominent form field for an email address -- with a nice contrast against the background so it stands out. If you want to convert right then and there, you can put in your email and, magically, the rest of the form field appears. By not putting that whole form field up front, they help reduce friction.

They also make it easy for you to figure out what Webprofits actually does. The rest of the page offers detailed information about what you'll get when you give over your information. Plus, it includes strategic CTAs throughout to take you back to the top to fill out the form, like "Get a Free Analysis Now."

10) Inbound Emotion

Even though this HubSpot Partner site is in Spanish, you can still appreciate its conversion capabilities. My two favorite features of the page? As with Basecamp, the form stays in a fixed, prominent position as you scroll through the site. I also love the hands that serve as directional cues toward filling out the form and sharing the page with others.

 

11) H.BLOOM

Sometimes, you've just got to stop and admire a landing page for being beautiful. Using high-resolution photography and lots of white space, H.BLOOM's landing page is a pleasure to look at. 

Aside from its beauty, the page has some great conversions elements: an above-the-fold form, clear and concise description of what'll happen when you fill out the form, and even the bright orange "Submit" button. The only thing we'd change up? The copy on the "Submit" button -- that could be more specific to the offer at hand. 

12) Velaro Live Chat

Sometimes the smallest details make the biggest difference. They're what make Velaro Live Chat's landing page awesome, for example.

That small PDF symbol over the feature image helps set expectations for what format the download will be in. The arrow in front of the subheadline helps further direct your attention to important copy they want visitors to read. Like IMPACT, they also have an auto-checked box to subscribe to their newsletter on their form -- which, if turned into an opt-in check box, is a great way to increase subscribers. All of these small, seemingly insignificant details help bring together a solid, admirable landing page design.

13) University of California, Davis

There are a lot of colleges and universities out there creating beautiful websites. In UC Davis' case, that extends to their landing pages, like the one below for their free sample lesson on the art of making sparkling wine.

I love how the opaque blue background of the form is an extension of the hero image at the top, which draws the eye downward toward the form. I haven't seen this on many landing pages -- it's a great directional cue that's not as obvious as an arrow. (Although they have an arrow, too, on the "Watch the Sample Lesson" CTA at the bottom of the form.)

14) Conversion Lab

While I wouldn't typically include an example of a homepage with a form on it in a post about landing pages (click here to learn why), this website is special. The homepage is the entire website -- the navigation links just take you to the information below.

When you click "Get Help With Landing Pages," the entire site moves over to make room for the form. Here's what it looks like before you click:

And, when you click that CTA, check out how the form appears: 

I love how you don't have to leave the page to fill out the form, yet the form won't feel intrusive to casual website visitors. 

15) Industrial Strength Marketing

Right off the bat, this landing page pulls me in with a compelling, punchy header: "Don't Make Me Zoom." It directly speaks to a common experience most of us have had when we're browsing on our phones or tablets -- and it's a little sassy, too. 

But that's not the only thing keeping me interested in this landing page. Notice how the color red is strategically placed: It's right at the top and bottom of the form, drawing you even closer to the conversion event.

Plus, this design is meta to boot: It looks and works great on mobile, too. Keep in mind that a lot of visitors will be accessing your landing pages on their smartphones or tablets, and if the design of your website doesn't work well for them, they might give up and leave your page.

The folks at Industrial Strength Marketing made the fonts and form field big enough so that visitors don't have to pinch-to-zoom to read and interact with the content, for example. (Read this blog post to learn how to make your webpages work great for mobile visitors.)

16) Shopify

Like many of the other landing pages in this post, Shopify's trial landing page keeps it simple. The user-oriented headline is just a few words, for example, and the page relies on simple bullets, not paragraphs, to communicate the trial's details and benefits. There are only a few fields you need to fill out before you get started. All of this makes it easier for you to get to the point: selling online with their tool. 

The icing on the cake? This landing page looks gorgeous (and functional) on any device you're using. Responsive design for the win!

Want more landing page inspiration? Check out some of our favorite HubSpot landing page examples.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in March 2014 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness. 

 

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5 Elements Of A Compelling Nonprofit Story

No matter the industry, marketing professionals know that appealing to the “buyer” (donor, client, member) takes a whole lot more than a snazzy logo and nice website. Especially for nonprofits, one of the best ways to attract and engage audiences is with compelling stories.

Data-driven statistics and reports are great tools to use when discussing the results of a project, but if you want to mobilize an army of donors, members, and volunteers, then you need something that forms a deeper connection—your story.

A good story puts a face behind your mission by describing not just what your organization does, but why you do it. This creates the emotional responses that trigger your audience to take action.

By including the five story elements listed below, you can bring like-minded individuals together to rally around the change you’re making in the world.

What to Consider When Developing Your Nonprofit's Narrative

1) A Relatable Character

Start your story by introducing the main character so that your audience can anchor the rest of your narrative to someone or something. This character (protagonist) isn’t necessarily an individual, and can be a family, organization, association, community, school, or even an animal that serves as the “face behind your organization.”  

You want your protagonist to be someone or something your audience can connect with, so it stands to reason you should start by understanding your audience. Who do you hope to reach with your story? 

When defining your audience, address these two questions:

• What characteristics does your target audience have? Are they donors, volunteers, members, or advocates? Also, consider demographics such as age, income level, and occupation.
• What does your intended audience care about and what motivates them to take action? Pinpoint their hopes and dreams, interests, and values. What might keep them up at night with worry, or inspire them to get involved?

Once you know who you are writing for, find a real or fictitious character that speaks to your audience through similar demographics, hopes and dreams, or pain points and problems. 

For a great example of a relatable character, check out this story by charity: water. Hadjara, the protagonist, is a young, educated girl struggling with a basic necessity—clean water.   

The audience can relate to her as a character because she, like many people, just wants her family to live a healthier life. 

“Like the other students in Sargane Village, 12-year-old Hadjara learned about the importance of handwashing when the school first received clean water. Which meant that she came to understand — perhaps before many others in the community came to understand — that although clean water was making her family healthier, clean hands and a sanitary environment were equally important. That evening, as she was proudly washing her hands in preparation for dinner, she questioned her father — who had begun eating without washing his hands first.”

You want your audience to see themselves, or someone they know, in the protagonist’s shoes.

When writing your story, spend time fine tuning your main character or characters based on who your organization stands for, and provide enough information for the audience to understand and relate to them.

2) Emotion

A main focus of your story should be to help your audience relate to what the protagonist is feeling so they take action.

Do you want them to feel angry about an injustice, or maybe hopeful about a solution? The words you use will set the stage for action later on, so choose wisely based on your audience and cause. Try incorporating one of these emotions into your compelling nonprofit story to start with:

• Awe - Invoke a sense of wonder and rarity to get your audience feeling transformed by what they’ve read.
• Joy - Whether it’s a feel good story or a sense of humor, audiences appreciate and respond when reading something that brings them joy.
• Urgency - Tap into the energy that this emotion creates and motivate your audience to take action.
• Sadness/Despair - Audiences respond less positively to a sad story, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid it. Use a character’s despair to introduce hope.

Richard’s Story, featured on the Alzheimer’s Association website, includes a great emotion-inducing statement that leaves the reader with feelings of hope and inspiration.

“After regaining equilibrium, I made a conscious decision to not put off exploring things that have been on the "to do" list for years.”

For your nonprofit's story, use words or phrases that inspire your constituents to take action. You've created a relatable character, and now you have to hook your audience with emotion. 

3) The Problem

To make a story compelling, your character’s problem should tie back to your nonprofit’s mission. This isn't to say you should just have a pity-party. Rather that your issue should be relatable and solveable. Your audience doesn’t want to feel bad for your protagonist, they want to feel connected.

Share not just the problem, but also your protagonist’s personal experience to evoke empathy in the process. Empathy can arise from a number of emotions. Take this example from Loaves and Fishes.

“She jumped to the refrigerator and opened the door, rubbing her tummy and silently saying, “More Food!” Then she leapt on the counter, opening every cabinet door, displaying cupboards full of food. She continued to rub her stomach and giggle…”

The audience learns about the struggles of this young girl through her actions. But, we don’t just feel sorry for her, we feel connected to her journey because the storyteller humanizes the problem.

Explain how the origin of the problem your protagonist is up against, and how it affects their day-to-day life.

4) Solution

Your story isn’t just about the protagonist and their problem, it’s also about the solutions your organization provides. Describe the work that your nonprofit or association does to help people like your main character, highlighting facts such as the number of people dealing with the same issue and how your organization is making a direct impact.

World Bicycle Relief uploaded this highly impactful story titled “Ethel’s Dream.”  In it, the audience learns about Ethel and her struggles to get to school every day. The bicycle in this story was literally and figuratively a vehicle for a better life, and the video shows viewers how the nonprofit helped supply it.  

Connect the protagonist to the services of your organization to educate your audience on the scope of the problem and inspire them to be part of that solution.

5) Call to Action

You have concluded your story by linking the protagonist with your organization, but you’re not done yet. Your audience is inspired, but may not know what to do with all that motivation. Give them a clear directive with a call-to-action (CTA).

Your (CTA) will depend on your organization's goal, but should always be action-oriented. Some common call to actions include:

• Donate - Giving money to your organization
• Volunteer - Giving time to your organization
• Advocate - Publicly supporting or recommending an organization, policy, or person
• Fundraise - Fundraise: Raise funds through an event or fundraising site
• Subscribe - Signing up to receive publications such as an email newsletter

Here’s an example of a call-to-action from World Help.

“We hope you’ll continue to partner with us to show others, just like Mary, the love of Christ in a tangible, transformative, and sustainable way.” GIVE NOW 

World Help encourages the reader to get involved by partnering with them to create change. They reinforce their organization’s mission and provided a way for the audience to take immediate action. The page features a donate button (“GIVE NOW”) that uses direct language and stands out with bold colors and fonts. 

For your story, choose the right language that works with your audience, matches your story, and that has the potential to produce results. Be clear, concise, and give your audience the means to act immediately.

In Summation

Now’s the time to get started on putting together your nonprofit's story. Brainstorm ideas with your coworkers and peers about what you want to share, and then map out your narrative using the five elements from above: 

1. What type of character will your audience relate to?
2. What is the emotion you want the audience to feel?
3. What is the problem you are trying to solve?
4. What role does your organization have in the solution?
5. What action do you want people to take after reading the story? How can the reader get involved?

The content your organization shares can be a powerful tool to rally people around your cause and spark action -- what stories do you have to tell?

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How is Mobile Commerce Growing Around the World? [Infographic]

In the summer of 2015, we saw two major developments in mobile marketing: First, Google announced a major algorithm update that rewards mobile-friendly websites, and penalizes those that aren't fully optimized for mobile in mobile search results.

A few weeks later, we saw the number of Google search queries on smartphones surpass the number of queries on desktop computers and tablets.

Since then, the number of consumers researching and buying on their mobile devices has only increased. Global mobile commerce now makes up 34% of all ecommerce transactions around the world, and it’s predicted to grow 31% in 2017.

What are the fastest growing mobile commerce markets? Which countries have the highest number of mobile shoppers? To learn the answers to these questions and more about mobile commerce (sometimes referred to as mCommerce), check out the infographic below from Coupofy.

http://bit.ly/1UU6nxW

26 Tips to Improve Your Pinterest Marketing

Could your Pinterest marketing use a jumpstart? Are you curious about what’s working for other businesses? Tweaking techniques that have been successful for others can help you drive traffic, connect with your target audience, and increase sales. In this article, you’ll discover 26 tips to improve your Pinterest marketing. #1: Share Pin It for Later Links [...]

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- Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle

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Solving For the Future of Social Media: How to Keep Your Strategy Ahead of the Curve [Free Master Class]

Instagram? Snapchat? Facebook Messenger? What's next? I was just getting started on Twitter and Facebook!

That's how most of us feel when we're rethinking our social media strategy. Social networks are changing, but not as fast as user behavior and content are, and that's leading to completely new networks that are disrupting the status quo.

There's no question that social media has changed the way buyers shop and learn about new products and services. These channels play a vital part in your inbound marketing strategy. Unlike the scheduled updates to Google's search engine algorithms we've grown accustomed to, our social media channels evolve rapidly as new networks spring up and old networks settle.

How can busy marketers separate "trends" from new must-have social channels?

This month, HubSpot Academy and Buffer are presenting a live Google Hangout featuring HubSpot's Social Media Manager, Chelsea Hunersen, and HubSpot Academy's Social Media Professor Markiesha Ollison to explore how they're thinking about social media marketing in 2017 and beyond.

Need help future-proofing your social media strategy? Click here to reserve your seat.

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How to Run an Instagram Contest: A 10-Step Guide

With 400 million monthly active users and more than 80 million posts per day, Instagram has established itself as an obvious platform for brands looking to expand their reach and engage with their audience.

Figuring out how to launch a successful Instagram contest, however, is much less obvious. Sure, it sounds like an effective strategy for stirring up conversation -- it capitalizes on user generated content (UGC) and typically requires very little commitment for participants. But where do you start? And how can you be sure that you're covering all the bases?

To help give you some direction, we put together a detailed list of steps to run through when planning an engaging Instagram contest. From setting goals to monitoring submissions, we've covered all of the basics below -- and we've included some inspirational examples along the way. Check it out ...

Disclaimer: This blog post includes some information on legal issues surrounding internet marketing, but legal information is not the same as legal advice -- applying the law to a specific circumstance. We’ve conducted research to better ensure that our information is accurate and useful, but we insist that you talk to a lawyer if you want professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is accurate. In a nutshell, you may not rely on this information as legal advice, nor as a recommendation or endorsement of any particular legal understanding, and you should instead see this post’s info as for entertainment purposes only.

How to Run an Engaging Instagram Contest

1) Plan objectives and goals.

Before you dive into a contest, it’s important to plan it out first. The key to running a successful contest is to have a purpose -- one that aligns with the interests and behaviors of your target audience.

Whether you're looking to grow your brand presence on Instagram or build out your list of followers, it's important that you set a specific goal so that you're not left wondering whether or not you were successful in the end.

To help narrow your focus, think about the audience you’re trying to reach: What kinds of posts do they like seeing on your account? What kinds of posts do they enjoy posting on their own feeds? How do they behave on the platform? If you're looking to drum up a lot of engagement, you should aim to center your goals and purpose around content that your audience actually wants to post and engage with.

Don’t forget to establish a time frame and budget for your contest, as determining these logistical details upfront will help you design a more effective contest.

2) Create an entry method.

Although the most effective and engaging Instagram contests are those that actually prompt your audience to post their own photos, there are number of different ways brands can create contests on Instagram. Because of this, it’s important to establish and emphasize what it takes for your audience to actually enter the contest.

Here are some ideas for how your audience might enter your contest:

• Have your audience post a photo or a video to Instagram with a specific hashtag and a specific theme.
• Have your audience solely follow you or do so in addition to creating a post.
• Have your audience tag your brand in their post.
• Have your audience Like or comment on one of your posts.

Make sure you establish what the guidelines are for entering the contest, and make that clear on your promotional materials. Maybe your contest is centered around a hashtag that doesn’t include your brand name. If you still want your brand to be tagged to gain recognition, you have to make that clear in your rules.

3) Find the perfect hashtag.

A good hashtag is a key to any engaging Instagram contest. Without it, there’s no link between the contest and the content being generated. In other words, hashtags help create brand and/or contest recognition by serving as a mechanism for sharing and driving participation.

Trouble is, creating the perfect hashtag can be tricky. If your contest is going to have a timeframe (and it should), you want to create a hashtag that you’re not going to want to use over and over again. Not to mention, there are tons of hashtags being created each day, making it difficult to land on something unique and catchy.

To help you come up with the best fit, consider these contest hashtag guidelines:

• Short: Create a hashtag that sticks in people’s minds. The more readable and identifiable your hashtag is, the better it is for your contest.
• Relevant: Make sure you’re creating a hashtag that is very clearly related back to your brand name, product, or services. If you settle on a generic, crowded hashtag such as #ThrowbackThursday, it's likely that you'll have a hard time figuring out who your participants actually are.
• Memorable: Users are likely to see promotions for your contest prior to actually posting the content. This means your hashtag needs to be memorable enough for users to think about it once and remember to act sometime later. Try to make your hashtag catchy, easy to search, and easy to write. Avoid weird spellings and confusing word choices.
• Universal: Think about your audience. Does everyone speak the same language or use similar words? If you have an international audience, make sure you’re careful about using slang words or region-specific terms that might confuse people.
• Rare: Do a search before you choose a hashtag. Are there lots of users using your ideal hashtag for some other purposes? If so, you may want to head back to the drawing board.

An example of an effective, engaging hashtag:

Earlier this year, Mint.com, an online personal budgeting and financial management company, hosted their #MyMintMoment contest.

The contest was well-designed for a number of reasons, one of which is its hashtag. The hashtag -- #MyMintMoment -- is simple, short, memorable, and easy to understand. It stayed on-brand and had a clear theme.

The goal of the contest was to get users to post about the things they were saving for. Participants posted pictures of tattoos, vacations, weddings, children, cars -- you name it.

This is a great example of an effective hashtag, but it’s also a great example of how UGC can be used to drive marketing decisions. Think about it: Mint asked participants to share posts about things they were saving for. Sounds like an easy way to gain insight surrounding the unique motives and interests that fuel the usage of their service, doesn't it?

4) Clearly define a theme.

Because most Instagram contests are UGC-based, it’s important to pick a theme so your users know what kinds of pictures and videos to post.

Ideally, you want to a pick a theme that aligns with your market, product, or services. But you can also take advantage of holidays, seasons, and events that align with your product or brand.

An example of an effective theme:

Last summer, D Magazine, a city and lifestyle magazine based in Dallas, used the Texas summer heat to create an effective #StayCoolDallas contest. The contest encouraged participants to submit photos of ways to stay cool in the Dallas heat. Submissions included everything from cold drinks at favorite bars and restaurants to fun summer activities.

This contest and hashtag worked particularly well because of the double meaning of the word “cool” -- which ultimately left room for participants to get creative with their interpretations. This is a great example of how to make engagement super easy.

While the hashtag wasn't totally brand-specific, the theme was very much in line with their brand and passion for all things Dallas. And as a result of the contest, they were left with a ton of new material to get ideas for their next issue.

5) Decide how winners will be chosen.

Part of a well-designed contest is informing your participants of how the winner will be chosen. Most contests are determined based on one of two ways: a vote or a jury. Let's explore how each option works ...

Voting:

A great way to boost the virality of your contest is to have participants compete for the most Likes. If the prize is valuable enough, your participants will likely share their posts with their friends across channels in order to get as many Likes as possible.

This strategy helps maximize your audience’s reach. At the same time, it can be detrimental to your contest, as you run into issues with folks using “Like bots” to gain artificial Likes. To avoid any complications here, you'll want to put forth very specific rules that address the use of these types of workarounds.

Jury:

For the sake of quality and overall fairness, the jury method is the clear winner. With the jury method, you select a group of experts to decide upon a winner, rather than relying on a voting system.

There are pros and cons to votes or juries, but no matter the way you choose, make sure to clearly state your method so your users know what they’re vying for. Many brands choose to have a mixed-method approach and use a combination of voting and jury to determine the winner.

6) Choose an appropriate award.

When determining what the award for you contest should be, you need to consider your target audience, your budgetary constraints, and how aggressive your goals are.

Remember that by asking your audience to participate in the contest, you’re asking them to take action on something. As with any effort like this, you'll need the value of the prize to outweigh the cost and energy required to enter the contest. While people might gloss over an opportunity to win a free t-shirt, it's likely that they'd be willing to jump through a few hoops for something like a free trip.

While your prize should match the entry action, it should also align with the interests of your target audience. Ask yourself: What might my target audience like to have? Your list of answers for this -- budget not considered -- might be huge. Sure, everyone wants that free trip we mentioned earlier, but that's not the point. The goal is to find a prize that's both valuable and relevant to your brand.

Gift cards, free services, coupons, giveaways, and product goodie bags are all common prizes that brands use for contests, but we’re always in favor of getting creative, too.

Example of a creative contest prize:

One of our favorite examples of contest prizes was Sperry’s Photo Real Design Contest. Sperry encouraged users to post “epic photos” that represented an “odyssey.”

Participants then submitted photos of all kinds of things -- nature shots, colorful art, real people, etc. -- to be judged based on creativity and the number of Likes it received.

The winner that was chosen received a unique pair of Sperry shoes featuring their photo. Talk about a creative prize, right? Not to mention, it served as a great example of how brands can use contests to inspire real product ideas.

7) Create terms & conditions.

Don’t forget that when you create a competition with a prize, you must follow legal guidelines. The laws that will apply to you depend on where you’re based and who you allow to enter your contest, so you should consult your lawyer for help drafting your terms and conditions. Creating a terms & conditions page is a must.

Here are some common terms people include:

• The name and contact details of the promoting brand
• The dates of the contest
• The rules of who can enter (such as age and employee restrictions)
• The guidelines for how people enter
• The guidelines for how a winner is chosen
• The date and way winners will be announced
• The date and way the winner will be informed
• The time period the winner has to respond and claim their prize
• The specific of the prize (including number of prizes, description of prizes, and any caveats)
• The details of how the prize will be delivered
• Acknowledge that the promotion isn’t sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram or any other social media used throughout the contest.

Note: Check out Instagram’s Promotion guidelines and make sure to comply with their rules.

8) Promote like crazy.

Now that you've got a solid plan in place, it’s time to promote the heck out of your contest.

Where's the best place to start spreading the word? The possibilities are seemingly endless, but here are a few ideas to inspire your promotion efforts:

• Your blog. Write a post on your site detailing the contest, and use it as a launch point for your contest's landing page.

• Social media. What better place to launch a social media contest than on social media? Direct your existing followers to the contest by including a shortened link in your bio and referencing that link in your promotional posts.

• Email. Extend the invitation to participate to your email subscribers by sending over a quick and friendly email to announce the offer.

9) Monitor submissions.

Monitoring both your promotional efforts and the level of participation during your contest is essential for meeting your goals and creating a plan to follow up on your contest.

Make sure to determine what metrics you’d like to use and how you’ll keep track of them. Here are some metrics to consider using:

• Number of submissions - Total number of posts submitted in compliance with your terms and conditions.
• Likes per submission - Helps you keep track of potential winners if your contest is decided by vote.
• Number of participants - If users can submit more than one submission, how many unique participants contributed to your contest?
• Top participants - Who shared the most content during your campaign? Keeping track of this helps you better engage with your biggest fans.
• Total Likes - Measures the total number of Likes on all submissions in your contest.
• Total reach - Captures the number of followers of your participants at the time of submission. Meant to show you the potential reach of your campaign.
• Follower growth during contest - Measure how much your following increased during the contest’s time period.

If your current audience is relatively small, and you don’t expect more than 30 submissions to your contest, you may decide to monitor your contest manually. To do this, assign someone the task of keeping track of submissions each day. At the end of the contest, someone will have to go through each submission and measure and write down the results from each submission.

If you’re monitoring your contest manually, try using a tool like Tagboard or Google Alerts to keep track of when your hashtag is being mentioned online, making it easier to track submissions. (HubSpot customers: You can set up a custom Stream in your Social Monitoring tool to keep tabs on a specific hashtag. Learn more here.)

If you’re expecting well over 30 submissions, however, you can imagine how difficult monitoring your submissions might be. If that's the case, you may want to explore an Instagram-specific tool such as Iconosquare.

10) Follow up accordingly.

Once the contest is over, you can’t forget to follow up on the rules you set in the first place. Keep your terms and conditions in mind when reviewing the submissions to ensure that you're being 100% fair in your evaluation.

Again, this is why establishing your terms and conditions early on is so important, as it will provide you with an documented plan for selecting, contacting, and awarding the winner.

Once you've selected and notified the winner, don't forget to make the announcement publicly. Here's an example of how to do so from D Magazine's #StayCoolDallas contest:

Ready to Run a Contest?

Now that you know everything it takes to run a successful, engaging Instagram contest, go put your knowledge to work for your brand.

Not only will you end up engaging and expanding your audience, but you’ll also end up with great new content you can use to inspire future content and contests.

What tips do you have for running a successful Instagram contest? Share them in the comments below.

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31 Video Marketing Statistics to Inform Your Strategy [Infographic]

As marketers find more innovative ways to grab people's attention, video has become a meaningful part of the strategic marketing conversation.

Video is no longer an "up-and-coming" marketing tactic -- it's here, and it's a powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects. 

And the statistics show it's working quite well. Did you know, for example, that including video on a landing page can increase conversion rates by 80%? Or that 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others?

Download our free guide here to learn how to create high-quality videos for social media.

To learn more about how video marketing can help convert customers and increase interaction with your brand, check out the infographic below from Hyperfine Media. It breaks down 31 compelling video marketing statistics into five categories: conversion rates, video users, user interaction, spending, and content.

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

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