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If you are an influencer in the digital design field, you likely already know that you can make money through affiliate marketing. Several of the leading brands in this field have affiliate marketing programs. Canva did not have an affiliate marketing program for years, but they implemented one relatively recently. This program is relatively easy to join if you have a large audience, and it can be quite lucrative. Canva also offers a wide variety of resources and methods of support for affiliates. Read on to learn more about the Canva affiliate program and to learn how you can join it. Table of Contents Canva does have an affiliate program How to join Canva's affiliate program How Canva supports affiliates Canva has a wide variety of resources for affiliates Why affiliate marketers should work with Canva What Canva looks for in affiliates Final thoughts on becoming a Canva affiliate Canva does have an affiliate program Canva does now have an affiliate program. This program is centered around Canva Pro, the platform's paid plan. Like almost all affiliate marketing programs, Canva affiliates get special links. When a user clicks one of these affiliate links and signs up for Canva Pro, the affiliate gets paid. It is up to you to promote this link. You may want to incorporate it in a blog post or a tweet. Alternatively, you may want to mention Canva Pro in a YouTube video and put your affiliate link in the description. If you have experience with affiliate marketing, you'll know exactly what to do as a member of the Canva program. It works in the same way as most other affiliate programs. How to join Canva's affiliate program You must apply to join Canva's affiliate program. This is more of a hassle than some of the other affiliate programs in the design space that only require you to sign up. However, having to complete an application and get approved is par for the course for a large brand like Canva. The application asks for standard information like your personal contact information and payment info. You also have to submit info about your business and how you plan to promote Canva Pro. The affiliate system is run by a company called Impact Radius. They are a well-known affiliate marketing company, and they run affiliate programs for other large brands. You will need to sign up for an Impact Radius account to apply for Canva's program (unless you already have an account). How Canva supports affiliates Canva has gone to great lengths to provide their affiliates with the best experience possible. They offer easy payments, priority support, and helpful analytics. Canva offers multiple payment options. Affiliates can either get paid via PayPal or via e-transfer. It is easy to change your payment preferences through the affiliate dashboard. Canva sends out payments regularly, so affiliates will not need to wait a long time before getting paid. Affiliates have access to support around the clock. They can get help with any issue via email or live chat. One of the most crucial aspects of an affiliate marketing program is its analytics. Canva offers detailed and easy to understand analytics so that you can understand how to earn more as part of the Canva Pro affiliate program. Canva has a wide variety of resources for affiliates Canva's support for affiliates goes far beyond the chat and email help. The platform also offers a how-to guide, specialized ad templates, and even news and tips from the Canva affiliate community. Canva's guide may be the most important resource it offers its affiliates. This guide walks you step-by-step through everything you will need to do as a member of the affiliate program. The guide's sections include: Creating an account Terms and conditions Payouts Analytics Creative tools Affiliate links Affiliates will also find Canva's ad templates very useful. These ads are great for when you want to post something that looks better than a naked link. All of these ads are professionally designed, and they are as fashionable as you would expect for Canva content. It is very easy to add your affiliate link to the ads. When someone clicks on one of these ads and signs up for a Canva Pro account, you will get paid just as you will if someone clicks on a naked link. Canva posts regular blogs with tips for affiliates. These blogs often feature interviews with successful members of the Canva affiliate program. If you have the basics down and you want to learn how to maximize your revenue from the Canva affiliate program, these blog posts are a valuable resource. Why affiliate marketers should work with Canva The resources and technology that Canva offers the members of its affiliate program are important, but the biggest reason that you should become a member of the Canva affiliate program is the product itself. If you are an influencer with a large audience, you know how careful you need to be with recommending products and services to your audience. If you recommend low-quality products or services, your audience will start to lose faith in you. You don't have to worry about this with Canva. Canva has become one of the most popular graphic design programs because it offers a great user experience. This is why the site has over 18 million users. Canva offers users a wide variety of image and template options. While the program is best-known for website design, it allows users to design videos and more. Perhaps most importantly, the platform is available in over 100 languages. This means that your audience can use Canva, no matter where they're from. Also, your audience will be able to use the platform from a variety of devices. Canva supports PCs, Macs, smartphones, and even the iPad. What Canva looks for in affiliates The Canva affiliate program offers a fun and lucrative experience to its members. However, becoming a member is far from easy. First, Canva is looking for design influencers and design educators. If you aren't in one of these fields, you might not be able to get into the program. The highest bar to entry, however, is the size of audience required to become a Canva affiliate. If you want to be a Canva Pro affiliate, you must have at least a million monthly visits to your website. If you are a YouTuber, you may be considered if your videos get at least one million views per month. This means that your design content has to be extremely popular for you to be considered. Canva has set this requirement to ensure that you can greatly increase their new Canva pro subscriber count. Final thoughts on becoming a Canva affiliate In conclusion, Canva offers an excellent affiliate program. Possibly the only downside to this program is the high barrier to entry. Your site must get at least 1 million visits per month for consideration. If you do have a popular design-focused site, however, Canva's affiliate program is worth joining. They make things easy for their affiliates and provide support every step of the way. Also, Canva's product is excellent so you won't feel bad about recommending it to your audience. Sources: Canva 1, 2 | Impact Radius

Shopify is now one of the most popular platforms for eCommerce available today. One particular tip that quite a few people want is how to set up an Afterpay account on their Shopify site. Thankfully, it is fairly straightforward to set up an Afterpay account on your site's online store. However, it is important to discuss Afterpay in more detail before talking about how you can integrate Afterpay into your website's online store. Table of Contents Afterpay 101 Benefits of Afterpay How to Integrate an Afterpay Account With Your Online Store How to Add Afterpay's Logo to Your Store FAQs about Afterpay Conclusion What Should You Know About the Afterpay App? The first thing to note about Afterpay and the Afterpay app is that it is an online platform that has grown in popularity in recent years. Customers can use Afterpay in order to buy goods and pay for them in installments. This is the primary payment method of the platform. The general policy that goes along with this payment method is to buy now, pay later. If you are the owner of a Shopify store, you can integrate Afterpay and add Afterpay to Shopify as part of the store's checkout process. Afterpay's payment method allows customers to buy products right away and pay for them in a total of four installments over a period of eight weeks. Something else that you should know about before you add Afterpay to your Shopify store is that Afterpay was founded in Sydney, Australia, in 2015. Afterpay is now a popular payment method in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom more recently. More than 8.5 million users are active on Afterpay globally, emphasizing its status as a popular payment method. How Does Adding Afterpay to Your Shopify Store Benefit You and Your Customers? Afterpay Makes Transactions More Convenient One benefit of adding Afterpay to your Shopify store is that it makes transactions more convenient for your customers. Afterpay does this by allowing customers to avoid making full upfront payments when buying from your online business. Instead, customers make their Shopify payments in installments. Afterpay Can Help Your Store Enjoy Increased Sales As the owner of a Shopify app store, you benefit in that you receive increased sales. The reason for this is that your customers are more willing to spend a larger amount of money on your Shopify store when they use the Afterpay payment method. The minimum purchase when a customer uses Afterpay when going through your Shopify checkout process is $35. As a result of this, sales will certainly increase when you add Afterpay to your Shopify store. Of course, store owners still get the full amount of all purchases from Afterpay. Afterpay Is A More Affordable Payment Option Your customers benefit because they have a payment option that is more affordable for them. Many customers prefer a payment option that allows them to pay for a product in installments. Afterpay offers that payment option to them. Afterpay Decreases The Risk of Fraudulent Transactions However, there is another benefit aside from offering a more affordable payment option. Store owners also benefit in that Afterpay decreases the risk of fraudulent transactions that are associated with credit cards taking place in their Shopify store. In addition to being more convenient and affordable for your customers, Afterpay benefits your Shopify store by making the transactions that happen on it more secure and more trustworthy. How Do You Integrate An Afterpay Account with Your Online Store? Go to Alternative Payments and Add Afterpay 1. As previously stated, setting up Afterpay as one of your store's payment options is relatively simple. First, you have to go into Afterpay and create an Afterpay account as a retailer. 2. You have to log in to your Shopify store and go to Settings, then Payments. After this, you have to click on 'choose alternative payment' under the heading labeled Alternative Payments. This will add Afterpay to your store as a new payment method. 3. You have to enter Afterpay in the search bar in the following window. 4. Input your merchant key and merchant ID number. You receive both when you create an Afterpay merchant account. 5. Click on the button labeled Activate. Ensure that the checkbox for 'enable test mode' is not checked before you do so. Configure Afterpay Properly The next step is to configure Afterpay and you start off by finding Shopify's liquid code. You do this by editing your Shopify theme code and entering the script as Afterpay documents it. You can edit this code by going to the Online Store, then clicking on Themes before clicking on Edit Code. Once you have finished editing the code, you should then navigate to the product details page. After that, click on the product template's add to cart button. The next step in this part of the process is to insert the Shopify script. After you have inserted the Shopify script, you have to save your changes and then refresh the page. Ensure that the Afterpay logo Is Displayed on Your Product Pages If you have followed the above steps correctly, you should see the Afterpay logo displayed under your products' prices. If you do not see the Afterpay logo there, you made a mistake at some point in the process. You will have to go back and correct that mistake to make sure you are adding Afterpay to your Shopify store correctly. Perform a Test Buy It is important to test to ensure that you did add Afterpay properly. You should check to ensure that the Afterpay logo shows up on your product pages in addition to your Shopify checkout page. You can check on this by visiting your site's checkout page and clicking on the Afterpay option. After you click on this option, you should be redirected to the appropriate payment gateway. How Do You Add Afterpay's Logo to Your Shopify Store? Thankfully, it is fairly simple to add Afterpay to your Shopify page. You first have to log onto the Shopify dashboard of your Shopify store. After that, you have to click on navigate and then select the edit code button. The next step is to select Theme.Liquid. Scroll down to the Html/ section and hit the enter key twice. After this, you have to open up a new tab. Then, you have to copy the following link into your web browser: Afterpay. Copy and paste the link that the code gives you into Theme.Liquid. Hit the save button and then refresh the product page on your Shopify store. This is one example of a product page. Frequently Asked Questions About Afterpay Q: What Is The Afterpay Cost for Shopify Merchants? A: If you want to add Afterpay to your store, you will have to pay a monthly flat fee. Thankfully, this fee is only 30 cents for Shopify merchants. However, you do also have to pay a commission percentage to add Afterpay to Shopify for your store. This percentage depends on the value of the product in your store. It is worth noting that the percentage also varies based on how many transactions your customers make via Afterpay. Afterpay Charges a Percentage of your Product's Value In other words, the more customers use Afterpay to pay for products in your store, the greater the percentage will be. The percentage is anywhere from four to six percent of the cost of the product. Typically, Afterpay pays the merchant, in this case, you, in 48 hours at most. A typical credit card might not cost as much as Afterpay. Despite this, you should still add Afterpay to your store due to the benefits it provides. Q: What Are Shopify Payments? A: Shopify Payments is the payment solution that Shopify itself provides. This is good to include in your store's Shopify payment settings since it is already integrated into your Shopify store. Customers pay via credit cards. This works well if you want to be paid upfront for your products. Afterpay Is An Excellent Addition to Your Shopify Store There are many reasons to add Afterpay to Shopify. If you add Afterpay to Shopify, you give your customers the ability to pay for products in installments. A greater variety of payment options is good for everyone. It is also easy to install Afterpay, so you won't have to pay for technical assistance when doing so. Afterpay is a great addition to your Shopify store. (Sources: Avada, Shopify 1, Shopify 2, HowCommerce.)

What is a Key Value Proposition? A value proposition is, essentially, a statement showcasing why someone should choose your products/services over those of a competitor. It can appeal to a person on one or more levels. A business owner can brand his or her company as the cheapest, most luxurious, most eco-friendly, most efficient, fastest, or friendliest. A value proposition can also be based on a company's geographic location, ability to offer a specialized, niche service, or loyalty to a particular cause (i.e. Made in America) A key value proposition in Google is a bit different from a value proposition. A Google display ads value proposition is the criteria set to ensure your ads are worded right and displayed to the right people at the right time. It is your value proposition tailored to appeal to whoever may be seeing your Google ad at any given time. Table of Contents: The Benefits of a Key Value Proposition How to Set the Criteria for a Key Value Proposition How to Enter Your Key Value Proposition Information in the Google Ad Interface How to Monitor Your Google Ads Campaign The Benefits of a Key Value Proposition in a Google Display Ad Campaign It will take extensive research to determine the criteria to set for Google search campaigns. You may even want to hire a firm that conducts market research to help you collect data, especially if you are starting a new company and don't have existing customer data to rely on. Even so, the results are more than worth the effort. Selecting the right keywords for your campaign will ensure your Google search ads are shown to consumers who are most likely to visit your site or make a purchase. Choosing timing helps you catch potential customers at just the right time, when they're actively searching for what you have to offer. How to Set the Criteria for a Key Value Proposition Audience Targeting The first step in setting the criteria for your key value propositions to select the right target audience. Consider the nature of your products and/or services and your location to see which types of people would be most likley to be do business with you. Are your products primarily for men, women, parents, the wealthy, middle-class indidividuals, young people, the elderly, or individuals from a particular ethnic background? You'll also want to look over your organic traffic stats to see what type of people come to your site and who makes purchases. Take into account the net value of purchases made, which types of people turn into repeat customers, and who is happiest with their purchases. Keyword Identification Once you have identified your target audience, it's time to choose the right keywords for your online marketing campaign. If you are familiar with search engine optimization and its role in generating organic traffic to your site, you likely have some keywords that help you rank well or at least somewhat well on Google. Some or all of these keywords can be ideal for use in Google ad campaigns; however, you'll also need to consider the cost and competitive nature of these keywords. If a lot of companies are using these same keywords in their own Google ads campaigns, you could face stiff competition and high prices. Use a keyword tool to find keywords that get ample traffic but have minimal competition. These keywords will be inexpensive to use in your search engine market campaign but still viable enough to generate a high return on investment. Time Targetting If you don't set a specific time to display advertising, your ads will run all day. This is a huge waste of money as the consumers you want to target won't be on the internet all day. What's more, even when they are online, there are times when they are more likely to pay attention to your ads than others. Many brick and mortar companies run ads only during regular business hours. This is wise, as the business can only serve consumers when it's open and many people doing a search for a local business are doing so because they need immediate service and assistance. Internet-based companies don't have to worry about local business hours but they should be in tune with important happenings and their audience's habits. For instance, it's pointless running Google advertisements during the Super Bowl if most of the company's target demographic is watching TV. On the other hand, running ads related to a popular TV show right after an episode airs, as people are thinking and talking about the show, can boost website traffic and sales. Holidays can also affect the efficacy or Google search result ads. If the consumers you want to reach are celebrating with family and friends, you'll want to pull ads to save money. However, the days leading up to certain holidays may call for extended advertising time. On the days before Christmas, for instance, many people are doing last-minute shopping at night so you may want to extend your Google Adwords time slots to appeal to late-night shoppers. How to Enter Your Key Value Proposition Information in the Google Ad Interface Choose Your Objective What is the end result of your digital marketing strategy on Google Ads? Google itself offers over half a dozen options. In many cases, the end goal is to sell more products/services. However, a company can create a search campaign to generate leads, bring in website traffic, get people to browse through company products/services, build awareness of the company and what it offers, promote a company's app, or bring people into the local store or office. Google also allows marketing professionals to create a campaign without a specific goal's guidance. It's not advisable but it can be a good idea if you have multiple goals for your search marketing campaign or would like to see how your ads impact a particular audience. Choose a Campaign Type Once you've chosen your objective, it's time to choose your campaign type. Google offers advertising for Google search, display ads, Google shopping ads, video ads, smart ads for small and medium businesses, app ads and Discovery ads. There is also a Performance Max category designed to reach audiences across Google with one campaign. Bear in mind that no campaign type is inherently better than another. The type of campaign you use will depend on your company's core goals, audience, location, budget, and other factors. Bidding Now it's time to decide what you want to focus on. In most cases, you want clicks. Clicks will take people to the website content you linked to in your advertisement. Once you've decided on your focus, it's time to decide if you want to set a maximum cost per click bid. It's a good idea to do so, or your advertising campaign could way over budget. Campaign Settings Now it's time to set some valuations in campaign settings. You'll be asked to decide if you want your ads shown on Google's search network and/or Display Network. You'll need to set a location for your ads. Bear in mind that the broader the location, the more your campaign will cost. The choice is pretty simple for small business owners who run a store or shop in a particular locality, as such individuals would likely only select their city or county. If you run an online store that ships products throughout the United States or even internationally, avoid the temptation to set broad parameters. You can run more than one Google Adwords campaign and it's wise to tailor your search ads campaign to meet the needs of clients in different states. Once you've chosen a time, it's time to choose a language. This is pretty straightforward. Audience Segments Now it's time to choose your audience segments. You can pick literally any category you like. It can be users of a particular age or gender. It could be people from a particular geographic location or individuals from a particular ethnic background. Alternatively, you may want to select audience segments based on which individuals have searched for your keyword in the recent past. People who have needed products and/or services similar to those you're offering are far more likely to do business with you than those who may not need or be interested in what you're offering. As you can see at the top of the page, there is a line for creating new segments in Audience Manager. At the bottom, you are given the option of targeting your ad campaign to reach your chosen audience or using Observation mode. The latter is recommended as it allows Google to show your ads to potential customers who may not fit your narrowly-defined parameters. More Settings The "More Settings" section has some important features you won't want to skip. You can select Ad Rotation so people see different ads from your company. This feature also enables you to automatically program Google to give priority to your best-performing ads. You can also schedule start and end dates for your ad campaign, set time targeting, and set URL options for your campaign. The link to your URL should directly relate to your ad. Never link to your homepage and expect prospective clients to wade through your menu to find the products and/or services you promoted in your ad. Keyword Suggestion Tool As was touched on above, you'll need to select the right keywords in order to effectively reach your target demographic. If you've done this beforehand, you don't necessarily need to use Google's Keyword Selection Tool. It's an option and you can skip it. On the other hand, there are some good reasons to take advantage of this tool and all that it offers. When you put your website at the top, the tool will suggest keywords based on your site content, thus giving you insight into Google's perception of your site. You may discover some keywords you hadn't thought of beforehand. The Keyword Suggestion Tool is also great for learning about your competitors, as you can put literally any website address in the top box. Seeing which keywords your competitors rank well for in Google can help you identify niche audiences that others in your field aren't reaching. On the right-hand side, you'll see weekly estimates based on your keywords and daily budget, along with a weekly cost estimate and average per-click rate. This feature can help you ensure your Google ads campaign isn't blowing a hole in your marketing budget. It can also help you accurately assess the ROI for your Google search marketing campaign. Headline Selection Scroll down and you'll see the headline selection section. It allows you to pick headlines for your ads and select the website URL each headline will be linked to. On the top, it shows how Google ranks the strength of your ad campaign. When you're done on this page, click next. You'll be taken to a page confirming your daily budget for your ad campaign. When you're done on this page, Google will look over your information to make sure it's complete and there are no mistakes. Then you're done. You've successfully set Google display ads value propositions. How to Monitor your Google Ads Campaign Setting your key value proposition in Google isn't a one-time task. You'll need to continually monitor your search campaigns to ensure they are getting the right results. Visits and Sales When monitoring your search campaigns, consider not only the number of visits to your site but also the number of sales. See who is most likley to purchase items/services from your site and what keywords brought in the most customers. It's also important to consider net profits when going over your ad data. For instance, perhaps one keyword only generated a few sales but it boosted sales of products with the highest profit margin. Other keywords may have brought in more sales while they actually have a lower ROI than may initially be apparent. Target Demographic Make sure your campaign is still reaching the people who are most likely to purchase goods/services from you. If this isn't the case, consider who is coming to your site as a result of your campaign. Are there new niche audiences showing interest in your business? If so, you may need to tailor your marketing campaign to meet their needs. Is your campaign bringing in visits but not sales? If this is the case, check your website statistics to analyze visitor behavior. If people almost immediately leave your site, you'll likely need to change your location, time, and/or keyword settings. If people look through your site before leaving, consider their activity to make sure your site is user-friendly and has the right content to answer potential customer questions. Cost Google shows an initial cost per click for your search campaigns but that doesn't mean the cost will stay the same indefinitely. If your keywords become increasingly competitive, your ads cost may rise. If you find your costs rising, you have several choices. You can limit the mediums on which your ads are displayed, using only the ones that bring in the best results. You can adjust the time settings so your ads aren't displayed as often as they were previously. Alternatively, you can find new keywords that aren't as competitive as the ones you initially chose. Seasonal Changes Don't forget to make seasonal changes to your ad campaign when warranted. People shopping for holiday presents, for instance, may expect to see special offerings, discounts, and holiday-themed ads. If you are targeting consumers from a particular ethnic background, be aware of their culture, customs, and holidays. A/B Testing A/B testing is always in order, even if your Google search campaigns are doing well. There are multiple variables you can test, including keywords, timing, and location. Testing variables helps you see which propositions are most effective in bringing in site visits and generating sales. It also enables you to get a better idea of what your target demographic wants and needs from your business. In Summary Learning how Google search ads work is a life-long process. Google regularly changes it algorithms, which affects not only search engine optimization but also search campaigns. What's more, your audience will likely change over time as technological developments, world conditions, and other factors affect what people needs and want from your business. However, this information should not stop you from developing a successful Google marketing campaign by choosing the right parameters to set when you start your campaign. Recent statistics show that people who click on ads are 50% more likely to buy something from you than those who click on organic search results. What's more, ads can boost awareness of your business by a whopping 80%, thus bringing in long-term traffic and sales. To see the best results, follow the steps outlined above. Don't skip anything or leave information blank. The more research your put into your ad campaign, the more effective it is likely to be. What's more, as you monitor your campaign, you'll learn more about how search campaigns work and what parameters need to be set to bring in the best results at any given time. You'll also learn more about your target audience while collecting valuable data that enables you to meet customer needs now and in the future. Everyone wins when you learn how to set key value propositions on your campaign. Your business grows and your customers see improved product/service offerings based on their past interactions with your site. Sources: LI Creative Technologies | Seo Primelis | PPC Expo 1, 2, 3 | Whole Whale | Web FX

In copywriting, as with any writing-based professional, it is important to keep your skills sharp. If you have several freelance clients or a full-time job, you'll be able to keep your copywriting skills sharp through paid work. However, if you are between jobs, you should stay sharp by doing copywriting exercises. It's also a good idea to do copywriting exercises if you are a student that plans to pursue a copywriting career. Few universities offer courses specifically in advertising or marketing copywriting. This means that you will need to do exercises on your own to ensure that you have relevant experience when you graduate and enter the job market. If doing copywriting exercises seems like too much of a hassle, you should keep in mind that prospective employers will likely test your copywriting skills by having you do a copywriting exercise as part of the interview process. If your copywriting skills are rusty because you have not been practicing regularly, you are much less likely to get the job. Remember that copywriting is a very competitive field and there are many more copywriters than there are quality jobs in the field. Doing daily copywriting exercises will give you the edge you need to get a great job. Read on to learn about all the copywriting exercises you will need to keep your skills sharp. Table of Contents Why it's important to practice copywriting Types of Copywriting exercises Text ad Image ad Digital banner ad Print image ad SEO articles Email campaign Audio-visual ad script Video ad Radio ad Sales pages UX copywriting exercises Typing practice Revising practice The benefits of doing copywriting exercises Why it's important for copywriters to practice the writing process There are many different types of copy that you will be required to create throughout your copywriting career. These varying copy formats have widely different requirements and require different approaches. Unless you are a specialist who only writes one format of copy, you should practice in all the major formats. This prepares you for the widest range of jobs possible, making it easier for you to get a good position. Types of Copywriting exercises Text ad Text ads are one of the most straightforward types of copywriting. This makes text ad practice a great first task in your daily routine. If you are new to copywriting, you may even want to focus on text ad copywriting practice for a while before trying your hand at other types of copy. Google Ads, previously known as Adwords ads, are the most common type of text ad that you will have to create. These ads can either show up at the top of search results pages or on websites that serve Google Ads. Google Ads have a specific format that you can find here. Google may be best known for their text ads, but they also offer several other formats. For this exercise, focus on writing text ads that meet their Search and text-based Display ad formats. You can make up a product or service to advertise. Alternatively, you could write sample text ads about real products or services that you know very well. Image ad An image ad is any add that features text over an image. In such ads, the image is usually the focus and there is only a line or two of copy. These ads can be difficult to write because you have to communicate the ad's message very concisely. There are quite a few different kinds of image ads. These days, however, the majority of image ads that you will have to write are either digital banner ads or print image ads. Digital banner ad The three most important copy components of a banner ad are the tagline, the call-to-action (CTA), and the purchase information. Not all banner ads contain all of these components. In fact, some banner ads simply contain the company's logo over a background images. Obviously, there isn't anything for a copywriter to do with such an ad. This is why it is best to practice writing copy for image ads that include all three of the components mentioned above. The tagline is also called the slogan. You must write a single line that communicates the benefits of the product or service in the client's brand voice. It's absolutely vital for the tagline to be both snappy and memorable. The CTA is what convinces the target audience to make the purchase or contact the client. It could be as simple as "Buy ABC today," but you should try to make it more memorable. Try to communicate the product's benefits in the CTA. For example, you may want to write "Get in shape today" as the CTA in an image ad for a gym. Remember to use words that inspire strong reactions, which are known as "power words." The purchase information should tell the reader where they need to go to purchase the product or service. Print image ad Writing copy for print image ads involves similar copywriting strategies as writing for digital banner ads. In fact, banner ads are designed to look like print image ads. However, your print image ad copywriting exercise should be a bit different than your exercise for digital banner ads. This is because digital banner ads often feature text over images. However, print ads usually have text in the blank spaces for better readability. You should find an image that features a model filling up about two-thirds or three-quarters of the picture. Practice writing your tagline, CTA, and purchase info copy in the blank space. SEO articles SEO articles are quite different than ads, and many copywriters specialize in writing SEO copy instead of writing ads. An SEO article is essentially a journalistic article that is focused around a certain popular search term. The idea is to get the page to show up in the first few search results, which will bring a great deal of traffic. The only effective daily copywriting exercises for SEO content involve writing full-length articles that are focused on certain keywords. Some copywriters shy away from these exercises because they are so time-consuming. However, most copywriting positions these days involve writing SEO content. It is definitely worth it to practice your SEO writing skills. Like this blog, which is optimized for SEO. We use RankIQ and SurferSEO to optimize our copy for our target keywords. These tools make optimizing your writing far easier and faster. Here is an example score inside SurferSEO Email campaign copywriting exercise You should practice writing a full campaign when working on your email copywriting skills. This means that you should include both the initial email and a re-target email. The re-target email is aimed at people who responded to the initial email. It's also a good idea to practice writing an email targeting shoppers who left items in their carts without making a purchase. When practicing email copywriting, the most important thing is coming up with head-turning subject lines. You also need to come up with body copy that anticipates the customers needs and shows how the product can address them. Finally, you must come up with a CTA that will motivate potential customers. Email is one of the biggest levers in any business and nailing the copywriting can take time. You must understand exactly who your ideal customers are talk in their language. We recently used email copywriting to launch a new product line to sell $238,740 in 24 hours! Ideally, you have enough access as an email marketer to see the results from your campaigns. This makes it far easier to truly understand how impactful your email copywriting is or isn't for that matter. Audio-visual ad script Video ad When practicing video ad copywriting, it's vital to write copy in the proper format. Refer to the image above for the proper format. You will have to visualize the ad playing in your head while you write it, which takes regular practice. Radio/Podcast ad Some people think that audio ads are on their way out because the number of people listening to radio has decreased dramatically. However, audio ads are commonly found on podcasts and music streaming services. As with video ads, audio ads must be written in a rigidly structured format. Take a look at the image above for an example of this format. It's a good idea to read your audio ad copy out loud when you are done writing your sample. This will enable you to hear what the customer will hear. Podcast ads do not have to adhere to this formatting as strictly as other audio ads. Check out the podcast ad example below to get an idea. Sales pages UX copywriting exercises UX copywriting can be difficult, even for a world class copywriter. Most of the writers how work in this field do nothing other than write UX copy. UX copy is the copy that customer will see when interacting with a website or an app. It is intended to be clear and informative, although there is a promotional component. For example, the UX copy for a button on a sales page may read "Change your life now." Practicing UX copywriting can be difficult. The only effective way to do it is to create your own site or app and write the copy for the interactive elements. This site or app can also serve as your portfolio when you apply for UX writing jobs. Typing practice Copywriting is far more than simply typing quickly and accurately. However, typing skills are certainly an important component of copywriting. It's a good idea to warm up for the day with some typing practice. There are many free sites that test your typing speed and accuracy. Keep in mind that you will eventually find yourself in a situation where you are racing to get a piece in before the deadline. In this situation, you will be happy that you have practiced your typing skills. Revising practice When you are working a corporate copywriting job, you will likely have to revise the work of other writers. Thus, it is important that you practice this on a regular basis. You should look for examples of copy in various formats and rewrite it. Try to identify mistakes that the original copywriter made and come up with solutions. When revising copy, remember to keep the original brand voice and simply improve upon the content. Improve your copywriting skills by doing copywriting exercises Practicing your copywriting skills offers numerous benefits. You will get better at all formats of copy. Also, you will be ready for any copywriting test that a prospective employer could possibly dream up. Through the revisions exercises, you will be exposed to the copy that other professionals in the field have written. This could be both educational and inspiring for you, which will help you improve further as a copywriting. If you are a student, you may not have completed any paid copywriting work yet. You will need to put together a portfolio of copywriting samples so that you can get an entry-level position in the industry. You can create these samples as part of your copywriting practice. If you come up with any great ideas while doing these exercises, you should put them in your own swipe file. This is a file that includes all of your ideas for campaigns. Having your own swipe file can come in handy when you need to create a campaign from scratch. Sources: Filthyrichwriter.com | Google | Hubspot

No one wants to browse online eCommerce store pages with blurry or pixelated pictures that are slow to load. This almost immediately gives the impression that the store might be suspicious, or users are simply unwilling to wait for the site to finish loading. On the other hand, online stores that use eye-catching, engaging images, graphics, and animated images can obtain increased revenue, higher quality leads, and higher search engine page rankings. Successful Shopify store owners know that they need to have the best high quality images possible, but uploading images to can feel intimidating at first when you consider all the different requirements for file sizes, image format, resolution, and types. Here's an easy guide about Shopify image sizes, image optimization, editing images, and more to help you get started. Table of Contents Ideal Shopify Image Sizes Banner size Header image size Product image size Slideshow image size Collection image size Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Conclusion Ideal Shopify Image Sizes Logo Size Your Shopify logo image size is important not only because it needs to fit Shopify's image size constraints, but also because it needs to be legible and impactful. If your logo is too small, people won’t be able to read it. A large logo will make a bigger impression, while a smaller logo will appear more subtle. The biggest you can make your Shopify logo is 450 pixels by 250 pixels. This is so your logo will display properly in the sidebar, which has a width of 250 pixels. Your logo can be smaller, but it may become blurry when it's stretched to a larger size on your store pages. You won't be able to upload an image larger than that. Banner Size Your Shopify banner is an important visual element of your store since, along with your logo, it's one of the first things people will see when they come to your shop. Your hero banner image should help communicate your brand's messaging and feel as soon as customers visit your Shopify stores. How big you can make your Shopify banner images depends on the theme you are using. Most themes use banners that are 1200 pixels wide, and the height can range between 400, 600, or even 800 pixels. Check your theme to find the appropriate Shopify banner image size for the best display on all devices. If your Shopify banner size has too much space or is any other size, it will be stretched or shrunk to fit those dimensions, potentially resulting in the loss of image quality. Header Image Size You can also add an image to the Shopify header block. For example, if you have a special promotion running, you can create and post a graphic that highlights the sale. You can keep your shop's banner image the same and update the header image depending on what you want to promote. However, it's important to note that the Shopify header image size is actually quite short and wide. The image's width is about the same as the Shopify image size, but its height is only 120 pixels tall. Product Image Size Your Shopify product images are arguably the most important type of photo you will display on your Shopify store. This is because they are the only images that provide potential customers with a visual representation of your products, since they can't see, touch, hear, or smell them in person. High-resolution square images with a good aspect ratio and image file size can help sell your products to a larger audience. Product photos are similar to collection images and can be any size up to 4472 x 4472 pixels or 20 megapixels. That said, Shopify recommends square product photos that are 2048 x 2048 pixels for uniformity and consistency. Square product images can be smaller, but they shouldn't go under 800 x 800 pixels. This will cause square images to lose quality with certain functions, like pinching and zooming on mobile devices. Slideshow Image Size A Shopify stores slideshow is a mobile-friendly album of images that users can scroll through to see a brand's featured products. The ideal Shopify slideshow image size is 1200 pixels to 2000 pixels wide by 400 to 600 pixels tall, depending on the theme of your store. Just remember that like all Shopify images, Shopify slideshow images are trimmed and resized for mobile, so make sure they are middle aligned so the app doesn't crop images differently from what you want. Your Shopify slideshow image size should be neither too small or too large to avoid potential quality issues. This helps your slideshow to look and function well, which ultimately engages potential customers and drives traffic, leads, and sales. Collection Image Size A Shopify collection image is an element or widget of sorts that allows users to display pictures of their Shopify collections on both collections and non-collection pages. Shopify collection images can actually be any size or accepted image format, so long as they are below 20 megapixels or smaller than 4472 x 4472 pixels. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Shopify Image Sizes Why do I need properly sized images on my Shopify store? If your Shopify images are too small, they'll look blurry and low-quality on your store. This will give customers a bad impression of your brand and could lead to them going to a competitor's store. On the other hand, if your Shopify image sizes are over the maximum image size, they'll take too long to load, which will also frustrate customers. To avoid these issues, you need to make sure each image is the correct file size for where it will be displayed on the site. Don't try to upload images over the maximum image file size or with the incorrect image aspect ratio. This will ensure that your images look clear and high-quality, while also loading quickly. What are Shopify themes and do they affect what size my images should be? Shopify themes are templates that control the overall look and feel of your store. They affect things like the layout of your website, the colors and fonts you use, and the way your products are displayed. When it comes to images, most themes will automatically resize them to fit the space they're in. However, it's still a good idea to upload Shopify images images that are the right size for the theme you're using. That way, you can avoid having your images stretched or distorted. Be sure to check your theme's image sizes before getting started. Cropping and resizing can lower the photo's resolution, making it appear grainy or blurred when you do get it uploaded to your store. If you're not happy with the way your store looks, you can always switch to a new theme. Shopify has a wide selection of themes to choose from, so you're sure to find one that you like. Plus, switching to a new theme is a quick and easy way to give your store a fresh look. What are stock images and can I use them on Shopify? Stock photos are professional photographs of common places, items, or activities. Many online businesses use stock photos to enhance their products or for background images on their websites, but some businesses prefer to use high-quality photos of their facility, storefront, or the products themselves. If you choose to use stock photos for your Shopify images, you can do so by purchasing a license from a company. You can either buy a subscription for a certain number of images you can download each day, or you can just pay for the images you want outright. There are many different stock photo providers to choose from, so it's important compare and contrast features to find what works best for you. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of the website or company you are purchasing them from to make sure you have the right licensing and are using them in the right way to avoid potential penalties. Do I need a commercial use license for stock photos? There are several different types of image licenses for stock photos that you can choose from depending on your needs. Since your Shopify store is considered commercial use, you will need to make sure that the license you purchase allows for you to use the images to sell your products. Stock images that are used for blogs, newsletters, and non-commercial initiatives do not need a commercial use license. If you don't purchase the correct license for your stock photos, you could be opening yourself up to legal issues down the road. For example, if you use a photo that is only licensed for personal use on your commercial website, the photographer could file a lawsuit against you. A judge may order you to pay the photographer or image owner what they would have made had the correct license been purchased initially, plus court costs and administrative fees. To avoid any potential problems, make sure you're buying the most appropriate license for your needs when using stock photography for your Shopify store. What image formats or file formats does Shopify accept? Image formats or file formats are also an important consideration before uploading images to your online store. Shopify supports nearly every common image file type, including JPEG, GIF, and PNG image files, as well as TFF, HEIC, PSD, BMP, and WebP. No matter which image format you need to use, they should be high-quality and the right file size. This helps maintain a fast site loading speed for all the Shopify images you're using. Do I need high resolution images for Shopify? If you want your Shopify store to be able to compete with others in your niche, high resolution images are a must. Multiple images that are too small or of poor quality can make your store look unprofessional and could deter customers from making a purchase. While you don't need to use professional photos, using high resolution photos will give your store a much more polished look. What is image optimization and do I need it? Image optimization is the process of reducing the file size of an image while keeping the quality as high as possible. This can be done through a number of methods, like reducing the number of colors in an image, or using data compression. Optimization is important for a number of reasons, including reducing the amount of time it takes for an image to load, and saving storage space. Shopify automatically compresses images, which makes this step a little easier. However, there are still a few things you can do to further reduce the file size of your images. Most often, Shopify store owners use a plugin or application that automatically resizes photos on the site for them, making it easier to keep everything uniform across the entire store. Which image sizes work best for mobile? It's important to consider how your images will display on mobile devices when you upload them to your online store. Small images are easy to load on a mobile device and don't take up much space. Medium images are a good Shopify product image size for most mobile devices, and large image dimensions are perfect for devices with high-resolution screens, although they do take longer to load. Shopify suggests using square images for mobile for a clean layout and easy pinching and zooming. Are there any product photos that aren't allowed? Shopify has strict regulations on what product images, banner image and background image designs, and collection images can feature and what can and cannot be posted for sale on an online store. This includes but is not limited to virtual currency, illegal or regulated products, sexually explicit items, products that promote violence or hatred, and counterfeit goods. If an item does not meet the Shopify image size guidelines, the product will be removed from the store. If your items are frequently removed due to inappropriate images, you may be at risk of serious consequences. Conclusion Paying attention to your image sizes, resolution, and quality can help you improve your Shopify storefront, helping to increase traffic and sales. Make sure you're choosing good photos that are the same size and align with your brand messaging and goals, and if you're choosing stock photos, make sure you've bought the correct usage license. No matter which photos you choose or how large or small they are, remember that images create a more engaging store that people want to browse and shop from, and attractive, well-formatted pictures can take your Shopify store to the next level. (Sources: Ecom Solid)

Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool used by in house marketers, freelance marketing professionals, and others in the advertising industry. The software helps users gather information about their customers engagement with the site, determine the most valuable keywords for their industries, and even conduct a site audit to assess and repair points of weakness. The cost of Ahrefs varies depending on the package you choose and how often you pay for your subscription. Yearly subscriptions cost more up front than if you pay per month, but the cost over time is cheaper when you choose an annual pricing model. There's also a free plan available, but the features are essentially limited to keyword data and don't take advantage of the full suite of marketing tools that are available. Here's what to know about the cost of Ahrefs, how the subscription plans are divided, what the free plan includes, if there's a free trial of the full version, and how to choose the right edition to fit the needs of your business. Table of Contents Ahrefs Pricing Model Monthly Subscriptions Annual Subscriptions Ahrefs Features Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Ahrefs' Pricing Model Ahrefs subscription plans are divided into lite, standard, advanced, and agency editions to provide small businesses and other marketing professionals with low cost competitor analysis, keyword research, SEO software, rank tracking, and site audit and site explorer tools. There is no free trial for any of the specific subscription plans, but you can sign up for a free plan with limited features. Monthly Subscriptions Ahrefs has monthly subscriptions starting at $99 per month for their SEO software suite, site explorer tools, and more. This includes access to critical data you can use to develop high-quality consumer services, conduct detailed site audits, create effective social media marketing campaigns, and engage in other types of online marketing that improve your site's ranking, traffic, and lead generation metrics. For advanced or agency users, the monthly subscriptions starting price is $399. Lite -- $99 per month Standard -- $179 per month Advanced -- $399 per month Agency -- $999 per month Annual Subscriptions Ahrefs offers annual subscriptions starting at $950.40 per year for the lite edition. You can save up to 20% on full access subscription plans when you pay up front for the entire year. The yearly pricing plans offer a wide variety of features that are designed to meet the unique needs of marketers in every vertical. For large companies and agencies that want to use Ahrefs, the annual subscriptions starting price is just over $3,800. Lite -- $950.40 Standard -- $1934.40 Advanced -- $3830.40 Agency -- $9590.40 The Lite edition is best for those who need occasional help and only need the basics, while the Standard edition is perfect for those who need more support and want to use all of Ahrefs' features. The Advanced and Agency editions are better for large businesses, corporations, and international companies who will need to give access to multiple users for collaboration purposes. The free version (not a free trial) is a good tool for budget keyword data and solo marketers. Ahrefs Features The Ahrefs tool is a feature-rich marketing must-have. It provides metrics, measurements, and data points that you can't get anywhere else, even with top-of-the-market solutions like SEMRush and Google Analytics. Take a look below at what Ahrefs does that other similar programs can't offer. Check multiple search engines instead of just Google. Evaluating keyword data from multiple search engines is a good way to find the most relevant information. While Google is the most popular search engine, many others provide different or more targeted results. Most other tools only give marketers data from Google, whereas Ahrefs includes data from Amazon, Bing, Google, YouTube, Yahoo, and popular international search engines like Baidu in China or Yandex in Russia. Estimate how many clicks a search result gets. Currently, Ahrefs is the only SEO tool on the market that not only shows keyword data from multiple different search engines, it also shows how many clicks a particular keyword gets compared to others. This is extremely useful when deciding which keywords to target on your website or in your marketing campaigns. However, it's important to note that the click data from Ahrefs is an estimate, and not an exact number. Get the most up-to-date backlink data. Ahrefs updates their backlink graphs every day, which is significantly more often than its competitors. Additionally, Ahrefs has the most comprehensive backlink data of any link analysis tool. They crawl over 12 trillion links and tracks data on more than 400 million keywords, meaning their tool collects and stores information on nearly every link on the internet. This makes Ahrefs incredibly valuable for marketers looking to improve their backlinks, which Google has said is a known ranking factor. Determine the exact click-through-rate for each keyword. The click-through-rate (CTR) is the ratio of users who click on a specific link to the number of total users who view the page, email, or advertisement. On average, 30% of clicks go to the top result in a search listing, followed by 15% to the result in the second position. But these figures actually differ between keywords. To calculate the CTR of a particular keyword, log into Ahrefs, type your search term or key phrase into the Keyword Explorer tool, and run the Traffic Share By Pages report. Look for gaps in content between your website and your competitors' Ahrefs gives users the capability to run a content gap analysis, which assesses what keywords your competitors have published content on and which ones you have not. Then, you can fill those gaps with new, original content to help improve your website's ranking. Be sure to target specific keywords that your audience is searching for, and include calls to action on your pages to encourage conversions. Improve your website performance and eliminate technical errors. The Ahrefs Site Explorer Tool is a powerful application that can help users find and fix technical errors on their websites, find and fix on-page SEO issues, and and improve their website's speed and performance. The Website Checker allows users to go over their pages individually for issues that need to be adjusted, making it easier than ever for any website owner to keep their site maintained and driving quality leads. Find valuable metrics on more than 1.1 billion web pages. Use the Content Explorer tool to measure unique-to-Ahrefs metrics like domain rating, organic search traffic, publish and updated dates, word count, author, and so much more. There aren't many other places on the web where you can this information all in one place with the ability to create detailed reports. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Ahrefs Webmaster Tools How did Ahrefs change their pricing structure? The Ahrefs pricing structure changed in the beginning of 2022. In the past, there wasn't a lot of benefit to upgrading to a higher program tier -- you could get a few extras, but essentially all the plans offered users the same features. The editions were still divided into Lite, Standard, Advanced, and Agency, but what a website owner ultimately gets for the money is much different. The new pricing structure does not charge per user seat -- now, additional users can be added at no extra cost. You will only pay for the additional users that actually utilize the software. "Lite" users are charged $30 per month and "frequent" users run closer to $50 per month. Viewers don't cost extra. This is a great benefit for companies with multiple employees who will be using the software. What do I get with the new Ahrefs pricing model? The new pricing structure will allow Ahrefs to better scale their services and offer a more customized experience to their customers. Each edition of Ahrefs offers different features, allowing marketers to choose their level of support for the price they want to pay. These changes create additional stability for Ahrefs customers, as well as more features, flexibility, and actionable data. The new pricing structure also means that Ahrefs can offer a wider range of features to users without having to worry about the user base size. Customers with standard and advanced memberships also get double the amount of non-verified projects, ten times more crawl credits, and double the amount of tracked keywords. Data is now stored for a year instead of 3 to 6 months. This creates a lot more value for Ahrefs customers. Can I still sell my extra Ahrefs seats? The new pricing model makes it more difficult for large groups to buy an excess of seats to resell at a profit. This will weed out a lot of low-budget users, giving customers who do pay for Ahrefs a competitive advantage with higher-quality data and more specialized reports. While you can sell what you've already paid for to recoup your costs, the pricing structure will not allow you to turn a profit. It's also no longer worthwhile to invest in new seats to resell for the same reason. Does Ahrefs offer a free trial? No. Unfortunately, there is no free trial of the full access subscription plans, but Ahrefs does offer a free version of their link building and SEO tools that helps users get started. The free plan gives you limited access to Ahrefs webmaster tools with some functionality, but you won't get all the benefits of the tools and reports that the new pricing plans offer. Primarily, you can use the Ahrefs Keyword Research tool to find the top 100 keyword ideas for any phrase, and it also includes the top 50 questions people ask about the topic you're searching. This helps marketers make smart decisions about where to put their budget, resources, and effort to make the most impact. Even though there's no free trial, you can cancel a monthly subscription at any time. So instead of signing up for a free trial that charges you a month later when you're not expecting it, you can pay a flat rate, cancel ahead of time, and then sign back up if you like the features. Which Ahrefs edition is the best value? The pricing of Ahrefs annual subscriptions are about 20% less expensive than if you were to pay for the lite, standard, advanced, and agency plans per month. The starting price for the audit and site explorer tools and the SEO tools for a small business on the cheapest pricing plan is less than $1,000 a year, which is significantly more affordable than Ahrefs competitors. Is Ahrefs better than SEMRush? Both SEMRush and Ahrefs are popular SEO tools that marketers regularly use to inform their content creation and optimization decisions. Each program has its own pros and cons and the best choice really depends on what your company's unique needs are. That said, Ahrefs has significantly more backlink data than any other SEO tool out there, including in-depth information versus just the number of backlinks to any one keyword. However, SEMRush does offer a free trial of their entire software suite, whereas Ahrefs does not. Conclusion Ahrefs is a great tool for both beginning and advanced marketers. Whether you're using the free keyword tool or the Advanced version, this software can help you and other advertising professionals better optimize your website and marketing campaigns. (Sources: Ahrefs 1, 2)

When Shopify merchants temporarily run out of certain items, many of them continue to advertise and actively s the sold-out product. In fact, there are applications and certain hacks store owners use to optimize this process, making it easier to conceal and regulate to keep things in circulation. Table of Contents I. Why Would You Sell Items You Don't Have? II. Does Shopify Allow you to Sell Out of Stock Items? 1. Selling Out of Stock New Items 2. Items Already Available In Your Online Store III. Can You Conceal Sold Out Items from Public View? 1. Hiding Out of Stock Products from Collections 2. What About My Default Collections? 3. Using an Application to Hide Out of Stock Products 4. Don't Completely Remove Items from Your Online Store IV. Easy Ways to Navigate Out of Stock Products On Shopify 1. Use a Sold Out Badge 2. Leverage Automated Collections 3. Use Pre-Orders or Notify When Out of Stock Products Arrive 4. Give Customers In-Stock Products as Alternative Options 5. Double Check Your Online Store Marketing 6. Perfect Your Inventory Forecasting 7. ABC Inventory Analyzing V. Out of Stock Items Aren't the End of the World Why Would You Sell Items You Don't Have? As crazy as it sounds, there are actually numerous reasons why any Shopify store owner would choose to sell items that aren't currently in stock: Customers still pre-order, especially if the item is coming soon Fill orders - sell first, then deliver the product It could be a mistake from not properly tracking your inventory Does Shopify Allow You to Sell Out-of-Stock Items? When an item is listed as "0" in your inventory levels, customers can't make a purchase until the levels are updated to an available figure. You can alter the default inventory number and give customers access to these items again. At the present moment, overselling doesn't happen automatically without a little change in settings. Luckily, following these steps makes the process pretty simple. Selling Out-of-Stock New Items When you add a new item to your store, select the option to "Track Inventory" - although this is normally checked already. If you look beneath the "Track Inventory" box, there's another option to "Continue Selling When Out-of-Stock." After selecting this option, this specific product will remain available for sale for your customers even after inventory reaches 0. Items Already Available In Your Store Items regularly up for sale in your store have the option to change the status in quantity, allowing you to change the setting but apply it to every product in your inventory. The following steps make the process easy to understand: Click "Products," then "All Products." Choose "Edit Products" to open a spreadsheet. Select the "Add Fields" command on the spreadsheet. Choose "Continue selling when out of stock." Select the checkboxes next to the products you'd like to continue selling after they hit 0 Can You Conceal Sold Out Items from Public View? Understandably, if an item says "Sold Out" or "0 available," it doesn't look very attractive to a potential customer. Fortunately, these products and statuses can be concealed. On the Collections tab, you'll need to manually hide them using automated collections. Alternatively, you can download an application that handles inventory tasks. What if you just want to hide these products from your default collections? Hiding Out of Stock Products from Collections Inventory monitoring must be activated before you're able to conceal sold-out items or versions of these items from your collections. You're able to do an inventory count on every product you carry on an automatic basis. How it's Done Turn On Inventory Tracking Change the Conditions of Your Collections to the Following Parameters: Products Must Match = ALL CONDITIONS Inventory Stock = IS GREATER THAN 0 By adhering to these easy-to-follow steps, you'll have control over whether your collections make any sold-out products visible to shoppers. However, after you get new stock in, the numbers will update, and your collections will reflect the changes. What About My Default Collections? Any Shopify store automatically contains a collection that presents ALL of your available items together. These can be hidden as well. How It's Done Override your catalog page with your own automated collection that you design Set the automated conditions to automatically hide out-of-stock items You can also accomplish hiding these items by using an application. Using an Application to Hide Out of Stock Products Using an application that manages your inventory allows you to manage your sold-out products stress-free without manually altering any settings. These AI-powered inventory-focused apps give you simple, accurate ways to control your inventory, so you don't have to remove them from your store completely. Don't Completely Remove Items from Your Store Sometimes the quickest way might seem to simply delete or unpublish an item; this only gives your customers more of a headache when they navigate to certain products and receive error messages. However, the most damaging part of deleting items in your store is the negative impact it has on your search engine rankings and SEO scores. To avoid any penalties or negative repercussions, use the following hacks for managing sold-out items on your Shopify retail site. Easy Ways to Navigate Out of Stock Products On Shopify Use a Sold Out Badge It is as simple as editing your image in Canva and adding Sold Out or just editing product page to say SOLD OUT. Some themes automatically do this for you, but the Image Edit is an extra way of communicating that you are actually sold out. Leverage Automated Collections With auto-collections, you can choose to only make products visible that you have on hand. You can also move sold-out items from your collections - but this requires an application. Certain programs can be used to move sold-out items to the bottom of your collections list, which is more appropriate than having them near the top. Use Pre-Orders Or Notify When Out of Stock Products Arrive When inventory levels reach zero, your customers should still have some means of showing their desire to buy. You can accomplish this by using pre-orders or catching email addresses to send back in stock notifications regarding the return of the item to your inventory. You can easily utilize pre-orders by checking "Continue Selling When Out of Stock" under the "Inventory" section. This means customers can continue with business as usual even after you're out of stock on a particular item. It's worth noting if a product has multiple versions (colors, sizes, etc.), you'll need to handle each item individually. This is only possible when you select "Track Quantity." If you don't, it will act the same as when "Continue Selling When Out of Stock" is checked on default mode - but the inventory won't be counted to keep you updated. If customers are purchasing items that aren't immediately in your inventory, it's a good idea to tell them that they're on backorder. Update them regularly regarding the tracking of the item and how long until it's set to arrive. This can be done manually, or you can opt to use an app that makes the process much easier. Give Your Customers In-Stock Options Using the page containing the out-of-stock item, you can display similar products or have some type of value for your customers that you have plenty of stock of. This is a great way to keep your customers satisfied and an opportunity to move certain items out of your inventory or showcase alternative products. Most themes have an option for displaying similar or related items - all you need to do is fill in the details regarding the product. The one pitfall of this method is that it can't decipher between items you have on-hand and items sold out. The easiest way is to make a slight adjustment in the details of the product. Double Check Your Marketing Efforts This may sound ridiculous, but it's not a bad idea to double-check your marketing campaigns. You'd be shocked at how many Shopify store owners deploy live campaigns, paying for clicks going to products they don't even have on hand. You can still keep the campaigns turned on but use the idea of the alternative products to fill in for the items you don't have in your inventory. Don't forget to keep an eye on ALL sales channels, especially when you're getting close to an out of stock situation. Certain applications can monitor the inventory level of a certain item, and you can adjust accordingly when you need to order supplies. Once you know there's more stock coming, you can revert back to the item that was originally out of stock. Get More Efficient at Inventory Level Forecasting If you've noticed that you're having issues with running out of certain items regularly, it's time to start better predicting your inventory numbers. Perfecting this method allows you to order in a precise way, leading to out-of-stock items receiving new inventory shipments the day of or the day before they sell out. Email alerts that remind you when a product is low or hits a certain number are useful in these situations. You can use applications that allow you to choose the level you'd like the alert sent. Even without an application, you'll still have a decent update on what's in your inventory. The basic function allows you to view outgoing, incoming, and sold-out items and even set custom numbers and import or export goods to other stores or areas. ABC Inventory Analyzing This method helps you how to keep a tight grip on your product management system, which includes inventory levels. You'll know when to re-order certain items, how long an item can stay sold out, and which items you have back-stock of. This strategy uses three separate categories: A-Grade: These are your bread and butter products. Typically, these makeup about 80% of all your total profits. You never want to run out of these items - and even keep a backup inventory for when business picks up. B-Grade: Your inventory consists of about 15% of B-Grade items. These may fluctuate to other levels, but you should always try and keep them in stock and order new products as soon as you feel they're hitting dangerously low levels. C-Grade: These items account for about 5% of your total revenue. It's okay if they sell out sometimes because they're not integral to your daily incoming money. Leveraging the power of the ABC method is easier than you think. Go to your store's admin portion and select Analytics, Reports, then Inventory. Choose ABC analysis by product. Sold-Out Items Aren't the End of the World At the end of the day, having an item sell out isn't the end of the world; it certainly doesn't have to spell disaster. In fact, all you need is a little bit of ingenuity to navigate these situations, and your revenue shouldn't dip to any noticeable lows because of it. Assuming you use one of the methods above, you should be able to ride the wave without too much damage. However, don't make a habit of it. You don't want customers seeing certain items sold-out on a regular basis or having to select alternative items - this eventually leaves your store with an unprofessional appearance and will cause your revenue to take a downturn. Sources: Digismoothie | Shopify 1, 2, | Easy Ship

Mailchimp has long been the leading tool for creating email campaigns. You can also use Mailchimp to create beautiful landing pages. No matter what you use the app for, it is important to utilize properly optimized images. Not only will properly optimized images look the best, but they will also load the fastest. This provides the best experience for those reading your emails and landing pages. This, in turn, will increase conversion rates. Thankfully, Mailchimp makes it quite straightforward to set the proper image sizes. The company even provides tables that tell you the exact image width you should use with your Mailchimp templates. However, you may not be using one of the recommended image sizes for Mailchimp templates. This means that there's still a lot more that you must be aware of if you are going to create the most beautiful Mailchimp images. Read on to learn more about setting the correct images sizes in Mailchimp. Table of Contents Things to keep in mind when creating Mailchimp images Image dimensions for Mailchimp emails Sizing images for Mailchimp landing page templates Landing page background images Adjusting the width of landing pages Final thoughts on creating the best Mailchimp images Things to keep in mind when creating Mailchimp images While image size is certainly important when creating an image in Mailchimp, you also need to consider several other factors. These include file type, color profile, screen type, file size, and alt text. It is vital to use the right file type when creating images in Mailchimp. The app is compatible with GIF, PNG, and JPG files. However, most professionals use PNG files. This is because these files have a transparent background that looks best with many picture. You should always use the RGB color profile with Mailchimp. This is likely the default on your computer, so you probably won't need to change anything. Don't use the CYK color format, as this can cause problems. Large file sizes can cause your emails or landing pages to load slowly. This can cause readers to click away before your content even finishes loading. To keep this from happening, you should set a maximum file size of one megabyte. You should add alt text to your images. This text should describe the image thoroughly. It's also a good idea to include SEO keywords (for landing page images) as this can help the page rank higher. Many people these days have devices with Retina displays or similar technology. These high-resolution screens make all but the highest resolution images look a little fuzzy. Thus, you should use the highest resolution images that don't slow down loading times excessively. Image dimensions for Mailchimp emails When choosing image sizes for Mailchimp emails, it's important to keep in mind that the templates have a width of 600 pixels. You also need to figure out whether you are going to be using the old-fashioned columns setup or the newer content block settings. If you are using the content block settings, it's best to figure out beforehand whether you want to use image groups, images and text, image cards, or just normal image blocks. When using image groups, ensure that even small images are clearly visible. If you are using the full width image format, you should set the image width to 564 pixels. For two-column images, set an image width of 264 pixels. If you have decided to use images and text together, set the following widths when the block is left or right aligned: Three-quarter caption width: 132 pixels Two-third caption width: 176 pixels One-half caption width: 264 pixels One-third caption width: 352 pixels If you use the image card blocks, you need to decide whether to set the margins edge to edge or not. If you do, you should use an image width of 564 pixels. If you don't set the margins edge to edge, use a maximum width of 528 pixels. For standard images blocks with the margins set to the edges, use an image size of 564 pixels. Sizing images for Mailchimp landing page templates The image sizes for Mailchimp landing pages varies widely due to the variation in the Mailchimp templates. While Mailchimp does offer recommendations, experienced web designers will likely want to deviate from these guidelines dramatically based on the design of their site. This means that Mailchimp's recommendations do not need to be followed as closely as those for their email templates. Instead of following Mailchimp's numbers exactly, it's best to use them as a starting point and see what looks best for your site. However, there are some best practices that you should follow no matter what design language your site uses. First, you should make sure to figure what image size you want before you upload the image to the Mailchimp landing page builder. This enables you to scale down the image to eliminate unneeded pixels. Doing so makes tweaking the image in Mailchimp easier. Also, you should use larger images if you set the size of the landing page to 100%. This is because people using Retina displays may notice fuzziness or blurriness if you use smaller images. Of course, you should also test the larger images to ensure that they do not slow down your landing page. Landing page background images If you decide to use background images on your landing page, keep in mind that you will have to use large images. Mailchimp recommends that landing page background images be sized between 1500 pixels and 2500 pixels. As with all large images, you should be wary of slow loading times caused by huge file sizes. If your landing page has a lot of text, you may be able to reduce the image size to ensure readability. Adjusting the width of landing pages If you are set on a certain image but it does not look good on your current landing page, you may need to adjust the width of the page. Mailchimp makes this process quite easy. First, select Campaigns in the Mailchimp dashboard. Next, click all campaigns and select the relevant audience (if you have more than one audience). Find the landing page draft you need to change and select style. Click Page and set your preferred width in the Page Container Style menu. Once you have selected your preferred width, make sure to click save or you will lose this setting. Final thoughts on creating the best Mailchimp images Just because you followed all the correct technical specifications and your pictures display correctly doesn't mean that the images will actually be good. Many marketing professionals focus on setting the right image sizes but forget to source good pictures. When choosing marketing pictures, make sure to select bright and colorful images. These will catch the customer's eye and create a positive reaction. If you are including stock pictures that depict a group of people, ensure that all the people in the image are smiling brightly. If you follow the technical specifications and creative tips in this article, you will be on your way to creating high-quality Mailchimp pictures. Sources: Mailchimp

These days, there are many social media platforms that are essential for businesses. Also, businesses must stay very active on these platforms or they risk being forgotten by consumers with short attention spans. It can be difficult for marketing professionals, even those that specialize in social media management, to stay on top of things. This is where platforms like Hootsuite come in. Hootsuite enables social media managers to create posts and schedule them for publication with one app. Otherwise, they would have to create posts and schedule them through each social platform individually. Social media marketing professionals can save a great deal of time by using Hootsuite. Instagram is one of the biggest and most important social media platforms for businesses. It is one of the many platforms that Hootsuite supports, so many people are wondering how they can post on Instagram from Hootsuite. Thankfully, the app makes it quite simple. Read on to learn more about posting on Instagram from Hootsuite. Table of Contents Scheduling Instagram posts (for businesses) Add your business's account to Hootsuite Create the post Determine the post time to publish the post Set the time when the post will be published Scheduling Instagram posts (for personal accounts) Add your Instagram account to Hootsuite Create the post Schedule the post Publish the post Final thoughts on using Hootsuite to publish Instagram posts Scheduling Instagram posts (for businesses) If you are planning to use Hootsuite for Instagram, you are likely managing a corporate social media account. Hootsuite is designed to accommodate such accounts. The app makes it easy to add the account, create the post, choose the best time to publish, and schedule the post. Add your business's account to Hootsuite If you want to use Hootsuite to post to Instagram, you must first add your business's account. The account should be set up as an Instagram Business account for these steps to work. Otherwise, you should refer to the section on using Hootsuite to post to a personal Instagram account. The first step is navigating to the Hootsuite dashboard. Once you are in the dashboard, click the profile icon. Select Social Networks & Teams. Click +Private Network. You will see a list of social media networks. Select Instagram. After you've selected Instagram, click connect with Instagram and input the account name and password. Once you've completed adding your business's Instagram account to Hootsuite, you are ready to create your first post. Create the post After you've confirmed that you have successfully connected your Instagram Business account to Hootsuite, you can create the post directly in the app. You can even create Instagram stories. The process is very similar to creating a post on Instagram. This means that you do not have to deal with much of a learning curve when it comes to creating an Instagram post in the Hootsuite dashboard. The first step is clicking the Create icon in the dashboard and selecting Post. The app will ask you which platform you want to post to. Select your Instagram account. If you are managing multiple Instagram accounts, you should double-check to ensure that you have selected the correct account. Next, you need to add the post's content. You must select the image, write a caption, and add relevant tags. You should also make sure to add the business's location. Before you publish the post, take a look at the draft on the right side of the dashboard to ensure that everything looks right. You can edit the image in Hootsuite if necessary. Now that you have created your post, it's time to find the optimal time to publish the post. Determine the best time to publish the post Hootsuite makes it easy to determine the best time to publish your post. The Best Time to Publish feature shows the times that your previous month's worth of posts were published. You can easily see when your posts had the biggest reach and got the most interactions. This is when you will want to schedule your post. Keep in mind that the best times are often very different for weekend days than they are for business days. You can find this feature in the Analytics menu. This menu is located on the left side of the dashboard. Make sure to select the correct Instagram account when using this feature. Set the time when the post will be published The final step to schedule Instagram posts for a business account is to set the time when the post will be published. If you studied the analytics to determine when the best time to schedule Instagram posts is for your business, you likely already have a good idea of the best time. Hootsuite has you covered even if you did not study the analytics to determine the best time to schedule posts. The app will automatically suggest several times based on your account's analytics. You can select one of these times or type in a different time if you prefer. If you need to make changes to scheduled posts, you can do so in the Hootsuite Planner. The Planner allows you to edit the content or change the time that the post will be published in the Instagram app. Scheduling Instagram posts (for personal accounts) Add your Instagram account to Hootsuite The vast majority of Hootsuite users have an Instagram Business account set up. Even if you are a sole proprietor, it's a good idea to set up an Instagram Business Account because this offers numerous extra features, such as advanced analytics. You can still use a personal Instagram account to Hootsuite. The process is very similar to using a business account. To add a personal account, open the Hootsuite dashboard and select profile icon. Click on Social Networks & Teams, then select +Private Network. Choose Instagram and click on Connect with Instagram. Put in your username and password and your account will be connected. Create the post Composing the post is exactly the same as it is with a business account. Make sure to use plenty of hashtags, write a head-turning caption, tag account, and input your location. You can also edit Instagram photos when posting to a personal account, just as you can when posting to a corporate account. Schedule the post The key difference between using Hootsuite with a business account and using it with a personal Instagram account is in scheduling and publishing your posts or Instagram stories. You should use the analytics when scheduling the post to find the best time. However, schedule the post at a time when you can publish it manually. It will not publish automatically. Publish the post You will receive a push notification on your phone at the scheduled time. When you receive this push notification, you will have to open up both Hootsuite and Instagram. To publish the post, copy everything from the draft in Hootsuite into Instagram and click publish. This process takes much longer than publishing an post with an Instagram Business account. If you are using your Instagram account for your brand, even if it's an unincorporated sole proprietorship, you should strongly consider changing your personal account to a business account. The process takes only seconds and has no downside. You can keep the same account, but you gain numerous handy features. You can also switch back to a personal account in the future. Final thoughts on using Hootsuite to publish Instagram posts Both businesses and individual should use Hootsuite to publish their Instagram content. It's also a good idea to use it to publish Facebook posts and other social content. Hootsuite has far more features than the Facebook Creator Studio. In the increasingly competitive world of corporate social media, the Hootsuite app provides you with an edge that you can't afford to miss out on. You should ensure that you use all of the app's features to give you an advantage of your competitors. After all, they may be using Hootsuite but it's unlikely they are using all of its features effectively. Hootsuite is very well designed, and it is relatively easy to use. However, there is certainly a learning curve. This is especially true when you are trying to use every feature to the fullest extent. However, promoting your business on social media is so important that it is certainly worth it to invest the time in learning the app thoroughly. You should also stay current with Hootsuite's updates, which are released quite frequently. Sources: Hootsuite |

If you have great writing skills and care about helping out nonprofit organizations, becoming a freelance grant writer may be a good fit. However, it is not easy to start a freelance grant writing career. If you want to become a grant writer, you first need to get a good education. If you plan to get started as a freelance grant writer immediately after graduating, it's a good idea to get some experience as an intern or as a volunteer during college. After you have some experience and have built up your grant writing skills, you'll be on the right path to becoming a grant writer. Read on to learn more about becoming a freelance grant writing professional. Table of Contents Introduction Education Internships and volunteer experience Internships Volunteering Things to keep in mind when interning or volunteering Getting professional experience writing grants Finding a job After getting a job Finding freelance grant writing work Networking Job boards The daily routine of a freelance grant writer Finding work Searching for grant opportunities Writing grant proposals How freelance grant writers get paid Final thoughts on becoming a freelance grant writer Education One of the absolute most important aspects of becoming a grant writer is a getting a good education. Almost all grant writing positions, whether they are freelance positions or in-house jobs, require a bachelor's degree. You don't have to major in a specific field to become a grant writer. However, majoring in either English or nonprofit management (if your school has this major) could give you a leg up. No matter what your major is, it's important that you get good grades. This will you get your foot in the door as a grant writer shortly after you graduate. As with many competitive fields, its best to get some relevant experience during college so that you can get a job after college. The best way to do this during school is through internships and volunteer experience. Internships and volunteer experience Almost all professional grant writers start as interns or volunteers. This is because nearly all grant writing positions require experience. Whether you are still in school or graduated from college years ago, you will likely have to start grant writing for free. However, you may still be able to get compensation in the form of college credits. Internships Internships are undeniably the best way to get started as a freelance grant writer. This is because you will either get paid or get college credit. Most nonprofit internships offer college credit rather than an hourly wage, especially if your university has an arrangement with local nonprofits. Even this will save you a great deal of money, especially with rising college tuition costs. Internships are generally more structured and require more work than volunteering. Most internships are also for a fixed period, such as one semester or one school year. It is also important to note than an internship looks better on your resume than volunteer experience. Volunteering If you cannot get a grant writing internship with a local nonprofit, you should start grant writing by volunteering with a local nonprofit. This may still help you complete your college degree if you are a student, as many universities now require students to accumulate a certain number of volunteer hours to be eligible to graduate. Most volunteer positions offered by nonprofits are involve unskilled labor or general help around the office. It is not common for nonprofits to offer grant writing volunteer positions. However, this certainly does not mean that you cannot get volunteer grant writing experience. If you are set on becoming a grant writer and you want to get volunteer experience, you should reach out to various local nonprofits. Write an email that explains your desire to become a grant writer, and offer your time for free. Nonprofits will usually take all the help they can get, so you will eventually find one who will allow you to volunteer as an assistant to their staff grant writer. Things to keep in mind when interning or volunteering Whether you begin to accumulate experience through interning or volunteering, it's important to be professional and to treat the experience like a job. This will help you make a positive impression on the other people working at the nonprofit. In many cases, those who successfully complete an internship or a volunteer experience at a certain nonprofit will get a job offer from that organization when they graduate. This will help you get the professional experience you will need to eventually have a career as a freelance grant writer. Even if you do not get a job offer from the organization where you interned or volunteered, the management at the nonprofit could serve as a valuable reference. Getting professional experience writing grants Finding a job If you have a college degree and you have accumulated some unpaid hours as a grant writing intern or a volunteer grant writer, it's time to search for grant writing jobs. Unlike many positions in the nonprofit sector, there are actually quite a few grant writing jobs available. This is because nearly every nonprofit needs to have a grant writer or even an entire team of grant writers. Grants are an even more important source of funding than donations for many nonprofit organizations. However, the fact that there are quite a few grant writing jobs out there does not mean that such a position is easy to get. There are quite a few more people who want to be grant writers than there are grant writing jobs. You should be prepared to apply for quite a few positions before getting a job. It is also important to network, as this is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to get any job. After getting a job Once you have a grant writing job, you may find that you want to continue as a full-time employee rather than pursuing a career as a freelancer. Even if you do want to transition to freelance work, however, there are several reasons that you need to get some experience as a full-time grant writer first. Nearly all freelance grant writing opportunities require at least three years of professional experience. These opportunities receive many applications from qualified professionals, so you really do need to meet the minimum stated qualifications to be considered. Some freelance grant writing positions, especially those that pay more, require five or more years of experience. Also, you will need time to build up your grant writing skills. It takes experience to find the best grant opportunities and to write grant proposals that get accepted. Grant writing is a challenging and competitive field, so you must make sure that you have a solid skill set before striking out on your own. Finding freelance grant writing work As with any freelance position, finding work is one of the main duties of a grant writer who decides to go the freelance route. There are two main ways that grant writers can find grant writing jobs: networking and job boards. If you have experience as a freelance writer in other sectors, you are likely already familiar with the process. You may spend more time networking or more time on job boards, but nearly all grant writers utilize both methods to find grant writing jobs. Networking Networking is an effective and efficient way to find freelance grant writing jobs. Most freelancers try to find work through networking before searching job boards. For grant writers, networking often consists of reaching out to organizations that they have worked with before to see if they need more freelance grant writing work done. Keep in mind that nonprofit organizations, especially those in the same geographic area, often form a close-knit community. This means that any contacts you have developed with local nonprofits may know of grant writing work at other organizations, even if their organization does not need a grant writer at that time. It's certainly work asking your contacts if they know of any other organizations that need a grant writer. Job boards Job boards like Indeed are an important source of work for many grant writers. Many nonprofits will post their jobs on Indeed or on similar boards. It is important for every grant writer who looks for work on these boards to keep in mind that these job postings will likely receive dozens, if not hundreds, of applicants. If you're planning on applying for grant writing work through such job boards, it's important to get your resume in tip-top shape. You may want to have a professional resume writer who specializes in the nonprofit sector to work on it. You should also prepare a portfolio of your successful grant proposals, as most organizations will want to see samples of your work before considering you for a freelance grant writing position. The daily routine of a freelance grant writer Freelance grant writers spend much of their time working on grant proposals like the one pictured above. However, this is far from their only duty. Freelance grant writers have more freedom in how they structure their work day as compared to full-time grant writers. Nevertheless, most freelancers structure their days similarly. Finding work If a freelance grant writer does not have enough work, they will often spend a portion of their day searching for jobs on boards or networking to try and find work. Searching for and applying for jobs can be time-consuming. Freelancers must be disciplined or they will spend too much time looking for work and not enough time working. Searching for grant opportunities Searching for grant opportunities is one of the most important duty of any grant writer. Many grant opportunities are posted in online databases. Professional grant writers commonly search for government grants on grants.gov and for private sector grants on GrantForward or similar sites. These sites make it easy to search by the types of organizations eligible for the grant, the size of the grant, and more. Writing grant proposals Writing grant proposals is what most people imagine when they think about grant writers. This is the most important duty of any grant writer. This is because other employees can easily search for grant opportunities, but only professional grant writers can consistently write effective grant proposals. A grant proposal generally includes information about the organization, why they deserve the grant, and they will use the grant. However, the format changes for each individual grant. How freelance grant writers get paid There is a common misconception that grant writers are paid a percentage of whatever grants that they write successful grant applications for. However, freelance grant writing professionals are usually paid by invoicing their clients for the billable hours that they worked. This is because multiple professional grant writing organizations prohibit member grant writers from working on commission. There are some organizations (often disreputable organizations) that want grant writers to work on commission rather than paying them up front. If you want to have a career as a professional grant writer, it's best to avoid these clients. As your progress in your grant writing career, you will see that there are many grant writing opportunities with clients that follow professional standards. Final thoughts on becoming a freelance grant writer Working as a grant writer can be a satisfying and lucrative career path. However, it is not easy to have a sustainable career as a grant writer (especially if you want to work as a freelancer). If you want to have your own freelance grant writing business, you should get plenty of experience first and sharpen your skills before striking out to do grant writing on your own. This will help you join the ranks of successful grant writers. Sources: Instrumentl | Forbes | Indeed | Grants.gov | GrantForward | Professionalgrantwriter.org

There are many misconceptions about what constitutes creative copywriting. Some people think that all copywriting is creative copywriting. However, there are actually two types of copywriting: creative copywriting and technical copywriting. Creative copywriting is intended to drive action, such as purchasing a product. Technical copywriting, on the other hand, is intended to transmit information as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. While these two modes may sound similar, there are many important differences, such as the target audience and the types of content created. Creative copywriters and technical copywriters generally have very different backgrounds and career paths. Read on to learn more about creative copywriting and how it differs from technical copywriting. Table of Contents Introduction The two types of copywriting Creative copywriting Technical Copywriting Types of creative copy SEO content Sales pages Emails Social media posts Print and digital ads Broadcast ads What is not considered creative copywriting? Instructional manuals Grant writing Corporate communications Becoming a creative copywriter Final thoughts on creative copywriting The two types of copywriting Most experts agree that there are only two main types of copywriting. There are also two main career paths in the field. Those who want to be copywriters must choose one of these paths early on in their careers. Some may work as a freelance copywriter in both field to see which they prefer. Creative copywriting Creative copywriting is intended to inspire desires in those consuming it. The consumers of creative copywriting can be businesses. This type of copy is called businesses-to-business (B2B) copy. However, most people think of business-to-consumer (B2C) content when they think of creative copywriting. Whether creative copywriters are writing B2C content or B2B content, they must understand their audience so that they can figure out how to drive actions. Creative copywriters must be able to predict what their audience's pain points (problems that could be solved by the right product) are and figure out how to create copy that illustrates how their product or service can take care of these issues. This may sound fairly straightforward, but it's not that simple. People are bombarded with so much promotional copy (ads, SEO pages, social media posts, etc.) that they just tune out the majority of it without thinking. This is where the creativity is essential in creative copywriting. Not only must the copywriter figure out how to respond the the audience's pain points, they must do so in an entertaining and attention-grabbing fashion. Otherwise, their hard work will go completely unnoticed. Creative copywriters are often poets or fiction writers in their spare time. These professionals have a natural talent for writing creatively. In addition to simply having talent, creative copywriters often study the successful work of others in their profession. This enables them to get the most out of their natural talent. It should be noted that creative writing is difficult, if not impossible to teach. Copywriters who do not have a knack for writing creatively may want to pursue a career as a technical copywriter instead. Technical copywriting The purpose of technical copywriting is to impart information. Creativity is not only unnecessary in technical copy, it can actual be detrimental. This is because creative copy can be misunderstood. Good technical copy is clear, informative, and precise. Technical copy is rarely written with consumers in mind. Instead, the intended audience is often businesses, government agencies, or a company's own employees. When technical copy is written with consumers in mind, it is often intended for professionals who will use the product or service in their work. Perhaps the only exception to this would be instructional manuals for consumer products. Types of creative copy SEO content SEO content, such as this page from CNET, is intended to get traffic from search engine results pages (SERPs). Such content is focused on a specific keyword or keywords in an attempt to rank near the top of the SERP for those terms. This content is often monetized through ads and affiliate links, as is this page. SEO content is unique as a type of creative copy because it is not explicitly promotional. If there is an explicitly promotional portion of the piece, it is often a call-to-action (CTA) at the very bottom that entices the reader to purchase a product or service. However, SEO copy is intended to seem informational. Good SEO copy does indeed include a great deal of useful information. The intent is not to help out the reader by giving them the information that they need. SEO copy must include a great deal of valuable information because Google and other search engines rank informative pages more highly than promotional pages. There are some copywriters who specialize in SEO copywriting and little else. This is because the unique challenges of SEO copy are best handled by specialists. It takes practice to find the right balance between being informative and being promotional. If the copy is not promotional enough, readers will not be inspired to purchase the product or service. If it is not informative enough, it is unlikely to rank highly in the search results. Sales pages Sales pages, such as this example from Instapage, are distinct from SEO pages. Some sales pages target certain keywords to try and get traffic from SERPs. Most sales pages, however, rely on direct traffic. This means that a visitor has clinked a link that took them directly to the sales page. This link may have been from another page on the same website or from another website. Instead of SEO content, which strikes a balance between being informative and being promotional, sales pages are purely promotional. It is common for SEO pages with information relative to a company's product or service to lead visitors to a sales page. Once readers get to this page, the sales copy will explain the product's unique selling proposition or propositions, attempt to overcome any last-minute resistance to purchase, and enable the customer to take action directly on the page. Learning how to do all of these things without being too pushy or losing the customer's interest takes a good creative copywriter. Just as a creative copywriter may specialize in SEO copywriting, others will focus on sales copy exclusively. Emails Email campaigns, like this sample from Freshworks, are yet another type of creative copy that a creative copywriter can specialize in instead of being a generalist. Email campaigns are different than SEO pages or sales copy in that writers often know many details about their readers. PRO TIP: Write your email copy for one person, not many. This will make your copy resonate better with your list. Email copy is also unique in that it needs to not only convince the target audience that it includes valuable info, but also computer programs. Otherwise, the copy will go unnoticed. The worst thing that happens to an email campaign is for it to end up in the spam folder. If this happens, the copywriter's hard work will never even reach the target audience. Thankfully, the email programs that send emails to the spam folder are better understood now than they were in the past. Email copywriters now have a good idea of what they must to do to keep their work from ending up in the spam folder. For example, it is common for promotional emails to be rerouted to a spam folder if they do not include an unsubscribe link. It is now standard for email marketing programs to automatically include an unsubscribe link in all their templates. This reduces the number of email that end up in spam folders. A creative copywriter working on an email campaign must grab the reader's attention immediately. The most important aspect of this is the email's subject line. Without a head-turning subject line, it is unlikely that the reader would even open the email. The email must keep the reader's attention if they do open it. This is why promotional emails usually feature bright colors, large font sizes, and striking images. Finally, a promotional email must quickly transition to a CTA, which often implores the reader to visit the company's website. Email copywriters can have a major impact on a business by building hype for a product launch. The copywriting and framing of the offer are arguably more important than the design of the emails. Social media posts Social media posts like this example from Adobe, are often intended to go viral. This is why a creative copywriter who writes social media posts is often focused on creating the most entertaining copy possible rather than selling a product or service. The idea is that a social media post from a corporate account will enhance brand recognition if the post is shared by numerous members of their target audience. This is cost-effective, because the company does not have to spend time and money promoting their content. However, some corporate social media posts are fairly straightforward ads that explain the USPs of a service or product and attempt to incite the audience to purchase it. These posts usually include a link to either an online store or a company's website so that the audience can complete the purchase. When companies create this kind of social media post, they often pay the social media service to promote the post to many users. These posts are common on Facebook and Twitter. Print and digital ads The image above is an example of a digital banner ad from Wordstream. This one of several types of digital ads that a creative copywriting may write. Other types include text ads or pop-up ads. A good creative copywriter should be able to work in both print and digital mediums. Print ads may include ads in magazines, newspapers, and fliers. These ads are similar to digital ads in that the focus is often a single tagline intended to grab the reader's attention and motivate them to purchase the product or service. Both types of ads also commonly include an eye-catching headline. Broadcast ads These ads air primarily on radio and TV. In the past, it was the dream of many a creative copywriter to write broadcast ads. Broad cast ads were considered to be very prestigious. However, there are fewer copywriters working with broadcast ads today. This is because fewer people, especially among the coveted 18-34 age group, are watching TV. Also, fewer are listening to the radio. This trend seems likely to continue for the foreseeable future. However, broadcast ads can now be found in new media like livestreams and podcasts. What is not considered creative copywriting? Instructional manuals Instructional manuals are the quintessential example of technical copywriting. These manuals are not intended to promote a product or service, as the reader will have already made their purchase. However, it is common for instructional manuals to include creative copy on the front or back cover. This copy often encourages the reader to purchase another product or service from the company. A creative copywriter usually writes this copy. A technical copywriter creates the actual manual. Grant writing Grant writing is not considered to be copywriting. Grant writers are usually specialists who do not write creative copy or technical copy. There are some similarities, as grant writers must convince a reader to give their organization money while creative copywriting focuses on convincing the reader to make a purchase. However, it is rare for a creative copywriter to even dabble in grant writing. Corporate communications Communications writers are not considered copywriters. These writers often specialize in internal communications. For example, they may write a message about employee benefits that is sent to all of a company's employees. Becoming a creative copywriter The process to becoming a creative copywriter often starts with a college degree. Many future copywriters who work on the creative side major in English or creative writing. This ensures they have experience as a creative writer before they graduate. Many future technical copywriters major in STEM subjects. Some may minor in creative writing. Many writers start by working as a freelance copywriter. This can enable them to get the experience they need for full-time positions. Final thoughts on creative copywriting Creative copywriting encompasses a variety of different mediums, from digital to print to broadcast. It is intended to motivate action from those who consume it. Creative copywriting can be contrasted with technical copywriting, which is intended to inform the audience. Other types of writing like grant writing and corporate communications are also not considered to be creative copywriting. Sources: CNET | Instapage | Freshworks | Adobe | Wordstream | mediaplaynews.com | radiolink.com

How to Choose the Best Font for Facebook Ads First impressions matter, especially on social media. In a world where users are bombarded with content from every direction, it's more important than ever to make sure that your posts stand out. One way to do that is by choosing an eye-catching font. But with so many options to choose from, how can you be sure you're picking the right one? Keep reading to find out. Table of Contents 11 Great Fonts That Will Make Your Facebook Ads Pop 1. Helvetica 2. Raleway 3. Playfair Display 4. Merriweather 5. Abril Fatface 6. Fredoka One 7. Josefin Sans 8. Oswald 9. Lobster 10. Alpha Slab One 11. Paytone One Choosing the Best Font for Facebook Ads 1. Does the Font Fit Your Brand? 2. How Readable Is the Font? 3. What Personality Does the Font Have? 4. Keep Your Audience in Mind 5. Use Multiple Fonts Sparingly 6. Test, Test, Test! Different Types of Fonts to Consider Serif Fonts San Serif Fonts Handwritten Fonts Decorative Fonts Script Fonts Conclusion 11 Great Fonts That Will Make Your Facebook Ads Pop 1. Helvetica The queen of typefaces, Helvetica has earned its place as a favorite among designers and typographers alike. Its versatility is unmatched - not only does it pair well with a variety of other fonts, but it also looks sharp in any size. But what really sets Helvetica apart is its ability to work wonders in branding and design compositions. Though it was not originally intended for logo design, its clean lines and modern aesthetic make it an excellent choice for visual branding. 2. Raleway Raleway is a versatile font with a range of applications. Its 18 styles offer options for everything from bold and attention-grabbing headlines to elegant and sophisticated body text. The font's clean lines and smooth curves add a modern touch to any design, while still maintaining readability. But if you're looking for something even more unique, Raleway Dots offers the same styling with a fun twist - each letter is dotted, making it perfect for big, statement-making headlines. As with all of Raleway's styles, Raleway Dots maintains its legibility even at larger sizes. So go ahead and experiment - use Raleway or Raleway Dots to add some style to your next Facebook ad. 3. Playfair Display When designing social media posts with Playfair Display, it's clear to see the inspiration from its historical predecessors. The high contrast and delicate hairlines offer a sophisticated yet friendly feel, making it the perfect choice for both headlines and short passages of text. While it works well on its own in larger sizes, Playfair Display also pairs beautifully with Georgia for body copy. Overall, this versatile font is an excellent choice for adding a touch of elegance to any design project. Whether you're creating a newsletter or branding for a luxury product, Playfair Display will elevate your ad design with its timeless look. 4. Merriweather Are you tired of squinting at small, hard-to-read fonts on your computer screen? Look no further than Eben Sorkin’s Merriweather. Designed with readability in mind, this font features a large x-height to boost legibility and make it suitable for both long body texts and bold headlines. Additionally, with eight different styles to choose from, Merriweather allows you to mix up the design of your Facebook ads while staying cohesively in the font family. 5. Abril Fatface The Abril family includes 18 styles that cover a range of text and display uses. At the center of this system is Abril Fatface, a modern take on the heavy titling fonts used in 19th-century advertisements. The thin serifs and clean curves give the font an elegant touch, perfect for adding sophistication to any headline. The extended Latin character set supports over 50 languages, making it a versatile choice for multilingual projects. Overall, Abril Fatface is a classic yet contemporary option for creating attention-grabbing headlines with a subtle hint of refinement. 6. Fredoka One Are you looking for a font that will add a touch of personality to your design? Look no further than Fredoka One. This bold, sans-serif font style offers round smooth strokes and sharp angles, creating a unique clean look that is sure to stand out. Whether used in a headline or large body of text, Fredoka One adds just the right amount of fun without being too distracting. 7. Josefin Sans The Josefin Sans typeface offers a unique combination of geometry and elegance. Inspired by 1920s designs, it maintains a vintage feel while also providing versatility for use at larger sizes. Its unusual x-height, halfway between the baseline and cap height, adds to its distinctive charm. Those looking for even more options can check out the sister family, Josefin Slab. And with the recent update to a Variable Font "Weight" axis, users have even more control over the font's appearance. Overall, Josefin Sans is a perfect choice for adding both style and functionality to any social media post. 8. Oswald Oswald is more than just a beautiful typeface; it offers functionality for the modern age. The redesign maintains the elements that make Alternate Gothic so striking, but with smooth curves and clean lines for a contemporary feel. Additionally, Oswald includes seven weights, ranging from light to bold, giving you the flexibility to create impactful design choices regardless of space constraints. Whether you use it for titles, stand-out statements, or pull quotes, Oswald is an essential addition to any designer's toolkit. Its versatility and uniqueness make it perfect for standing out in an increasingly crowded digital landscape. 9. Lobster The Lobster font makes a unique and innovative statement within the world of type design. Rather than compromising the design of individual letters to force connections between them, the font takes cues from traditional lettering artists by offering multiple variations of each letter and a wide range of ligatures (also known as letter pairs). This approach means that no matter the context, Lobster will always use the best possible variation for each letter. The new OpenType format also adds to the potential for creativity and customization, making Lobster a truly versatile choice for Facebook ad copy. Overall, this fresh take on typography gives users exciting new possibilities for visually compelling text. 10. Alfa Slab One When first released, the Alfa Slab One font was praised for its contemporary take on a classic typeface. Its extreme stem weight and big serifs give it a bold, modern look that sets it apart from traditional fonts. The gradual terminals and single serif add strong design elements that add a graphic feel to this font style. With its deep black color, Alfa Slab One makes a bold statement in any size or color. This attention-grabbing font is perfect for headlines or blog posts. Overall, Alfa Slab One successfully combines elements of the past with a fresh, contemporary aesthetic. It has quickly become a favorite among designers 11. Paytone One If you're looking for a modern sans-serif font with just the right amount of unique personality and boldness, Paytone One might be a great choice. The rounded bowls and slanted stroke terminals give this typeface an attractive, slightly quirky appearance, making it well-suited for use for a display ad heading. And its design is optimized for use on modern websites, ensuring readability and compatibility with contemporary browsers and devices. So if you want to add some character to your online presence without sacrificing legibility, consider giving Paytone One a try. Choosing the Best Font for Facebook Ads Picking out the best fonts for your social media posts and ads is more than simply selecting which ones you like best. For effective visual branding that converts to clicks and sales, you'll need to consider a few additional design and marketing factors. Here are some things you should keep in mind as you choose the best fonts for Facebook ads: 1. Does the Font Fit Your Brand? Fonts are only one aspect of the visual content you create for social media. In addition to choosing great fonts, you'll need to make sure that they look good with your brand colors, photos, and video ads. For example, if you have bold bright imagery and colors in your brand but choose a light and airy font, it's going to look out of place or be hard to see in the first place. On the other hand, if you have a more subdued color palette but use an overly whimsical font, that can also look jarring. The better you get at combining your fonts with the rest of your visual content, the easier it will be to create cohesive and on-brand posts that stand out. 2. How Readable Is the Font? Readability in a typeface can make the difference between a user stopping to read your ad or scrolling right past it. When choosing fonts for Facebook ads, be sure to consider how easy they are to read at a glance. Features of readable fonts include: Clean lines: Look for fonts with minimal decoration that don't impede readability. Open counters: The space inside a letterform should be easy to see. Even stroke widths: All the strokes within a letter should be of similar thickness. High contrast: Good font pairings will have high contrast between the thickest and thinnest parts of each letter. Simple shapes: The best fonts for web use have shapes that are smooth and consistent, while still having a flair in their style. These simple attractive shapes pop out and can be quickly scanned. Sans serif fonts are generally considered to be more readable than serif fonts, but that doesn't mean they're always the best choice. Experiment with different options to see what works best for your brand. 3. What Personality Does the Font Have? Every font has its own personality that can help to convey the tone of your ad. For example, a playful font might be perfect for an ad targeting parents of young children, while a more formal font would be better suited for an ad about financial services. Some fonts have a retro feel that evokes nostalgia while others are sleek and modern. Think about what personality you want your ad to convey, then choose a font that matches. Different social media ads may necessitate different fonts depending on the mood or message you want to communicate. 4. Keep Your Audience in Mind Your audience should always be at the forefront of your mind when creating social media content, and that includes choosing fonts for your Facebook ads. Consider who you're trying to reach with your ad, and select fonts that will appeal to them. You can do market research by looking at social media posts and other Facebook ads that are targeting your ideal customers. Certain industries tend to prefer certain font styles. For example, action movies often use large, bold fonts in their posters and trailers, while fashion brands might opt for a sleek, modern sans-serif font. D.I.Y. or lifestyle brands often use handwritten or decorative scripts to show of their creativity. You'll notice that certain types of fonts repeat over and over again. Try to choose fonts that are similar to this, because your customer subconsciously makes an association between your ad and others like it. This can establish trust and credibility, which can lead to engagement in your ads. 5. Use Multiple Fonts Sparingly When it comes to font selection, less is usually more. Too many different fonts can be confusing and overwhelming for users. You also have to be careful with fonts that have many different weights, which can look cluttered if you mix and match too many of them together. Pick one or two that you like and stick with them. Three fonts or font varieties max. You'll also want to pay attention to how your multiple fonts correspond with each other. Are they cohesive and easy to read? Or do they clash and make your ad difficult to digest? Consider these factors before you make your final font decision. 6. Test, Test, Test! Once you've selected a few fonts that you think would work well for your Facebook ads, it's time to put them to the test. Try using each font in a few different ads and see how they perform. Track metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost per action (CPA) to see which fonts are giving you the best results. You can do this by split-testing your social media ads by running two different versions of the same ad with different fonts. This Facebook ads test will give you definitive data on which font is more effective. Different Types of Fonts To Consider Serif Fonts A serif font is recognized by its small lines (or “feet”) at the end of each letter. These elements are what give serif fonts their unique look and feel. Some popular examples include Times New Roman, Georgia, and Garamond. Many people associate serif fonts with sophistication and luxury. This isn't surprising considering their long history and traditional design elements. In fact, some of the most well-known luxury brands, such as Rolex, Dior, and Prada all use serif fonts for their logos. Even beyond the world of high-end fashion and automobiles, serif fonts convey a sense of heritage and class. This can be seen in the logo of The New York Times, which has been around for decades. San Serif Fonts Sans serifs have clean lines and minimalistic features, making them a popular choice for modern aesthetics. These typefaces lack the small decorative strokes found in serifs, making them appear sharper and more contemporary. When used in lighter weights, sans serifs can create a sleek and airy look. In heavier weights, they bring boldness and impact to a design. Sans serifs are known for their legibility, making them an excellent choice for showcasing information in a clear and direct way. In fact, the first sans serif was designed as a lettering guide for schoolchildren in 1816. Today, these typefaces are often used by tech companies looking to convey a sense of the future. In fact, many well-known brands like Google, Netflix, and Facebook use sans serifs in their logos. So whether you're going for a modern or futuristic aesthetic, consider using a sans-serif typeface to add clarity and impact to your design. Handwritten Fonts Handwritten fonts provide a unique, personalized touch to any design. Unlike script fonts, which often have very uniform lettering, handwritten fonts are based on actual writing style and can vary greatly from one font to the next. From an elegant cursive to a doodle-like scrawl, there is a wide range of options in terms of look and feel. These fonts are often associated with creativity and playfulness, making them popular choices for independent labels and small businesses such as coffee shops or breweries. In addition to adding character and charm, using a handwritten font can also convey a sense of authenticity and personal touch that can help make your brand stand out. Decorative Fonts Decorative fonts come in a dazzling array of styles, from elegant calligraphy to edgy graffiti. Some feature intricate designs, while others are bold and eye-catching. These fonts can truly make a statement, adding personality and flair to any design project. However, it's important to use them sparingly - when using a decorative font for body text, legibility may suffer. Instead, try pairing one with a more traditional font for maximum impact. Whether used as the main focus or as an accent, decorative fonts can elevate any design project and grab attention with their unique look. Script Fonts Looking for something different for your next design project? Give script fonts a try. These fancy letters have the potential to add an elegant and unique touch, evoking the cursive handwriting style. And don't think script fonts are just for formal occasions - they can also be used to provide a strong presence in more casual designs. Just take a look at brands like Johnson & Johnson and Ford, who have incorporated script fonts into their memorable logos. Conclusion There's no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to choosing the perfect font for your social media posts. And as your brand and its design identity evolves, your fonts may also need to change over time. Make sure to experiment with different options to see what best reflects your brand's personality and messaging. Taking your time to find the right fit will pay off, so don't rush the process. Fonts have the power to influence the way people perceive your brand, so choose wisely! It can make the difference between a design that falls flat and one that elevates your brand.