Even when you put great amounts of effort, time, money, and resources into developing a new product or service, a poorly-planned go-to-market strategy could cause your project to flop.

Some of the biggest brands have even experienced go-to-market failures. Take Apple, for example. In the 1980s, decades before Steve Jobs launched the game-changing iPhone, he led one of Apple’s biggest flops: the Apple Lisa computer.

Although Lisa had some of the best graphic technology of its time, only 10,000 units sold. Critics attribute the failure to Lisa’s misleading ads and high price, despite its low processing power.

Overall, many say the computer itself and the messaging around it was not valuable to Apple’s prospective customers. The release was such a disaster that it reportedly resulted in Jobs’s temporary exit from Apple.

While Apple and Steve Jobs recovered, smaller companies could have a lot more to lose when bringing a product to market with a poor plan. As you develop something new, it’s vital to also start drawing out a go-to-market strategy that’s customized to fit your budget and your buyer persona.

We’ve seen two major methods for developing a go-to-market strategy: the funnel and the flywheel. While the traditional, one-off funnel method focuses on attracting leads and nurturing them into sales, the flywheel approach uses inbound marketing and other strategies to build long-lasting customer relationships.

While the funnel is centered around the awareness, consideration, and decision stages of the customer’s journey, the circular flywheel focuses on attracting, engaging, and delighting prospects, leads, and customers.

When a lead becomes a customer, the flywheel continues as the company is tasked with attracting them, engaging them, and delighting them all over again with solid customer experiences, new content, and potentially new offerings.

Regardless of whether you’ve adopted the flywheel, or prefer to stick with the funnel, your planning process should include these steps.

1. Distinguish your buyer persona(s).
2. Fill out your persona’s value matrix.
3. Define your content and lead-gen strategy.
4. Adjust and iterate as you go.
5. Retain and delight your customers.

To get more detail on the first three steps, you can find an in-depth explanation of them here.

We’ve created a basic fill-in-the-blank template to help you get started on a killer go-to-market strategy. It specifically touches on building a persona, mapping out a customer matrix, and brainstorming a go-to-market content strategy.

Feel free to copy the below template into a document and customize it to fit your product or service.

Go-To-Market Plan Template

Go-To-Market Strategy for ______________

Step 1: Distinguish your buyer persona(s).

Before you start planning your strategy, its key to do a bit of research and identify your buyer persona. You can have more than one, but make sure each is concise, clear, and different from the others.

Here is a free tool to help you develop your persona(s) and a list of questions to ask yourself while you’re creating them.

Step 2: Fill out your persona’s value matrix.

The table below includes each piece of the value matrix, as well as an example persona. Use the first example as your guide as you fill out the lower rows.

Step 3: Define your content and lead-gen strategy.

Create a content and lead-generation plan based on your customer’s journey. Since some prefer flywheel and others prefer funnel, the template is split into Phase One, Two, and Three with notes on where you should be in the flywheel and funnel’s cycles.

Phase One:

Funnel Stage: Awareness

Flywheel Goal: Attract Prospects

What type of content will you create to catch the eye of potential customers in similar industries? Make a table like this one below.

Phase Two:

Funnel Stage: Consideration

Flywheel Goals: Attract and Engage Leads

In this phase, your audience might know of your service, or they might be researching products related to yours. What types of content do you create to move your service to the front of their minds? 

Phase Three:

Funnel Stage: Decision

Flywheel Goals: Engage and Nurture Leads / Gain and Delight Customers

Your audience is really interested in your service. How will you use content to sell them?

Step 4: Adjust and iterate as you go.

Return to areas of your plan that aren’t working and tweak them. Make note of the things that are working, and brainstorm ways to expand upon them.

Step 5: Retain and delight your customers.

In this phase, you will focus on maintaining your customer relationships and spreading good word-of-mouth. This is where a flywheel strategy can be much more helpful than the funnel, which ends at sales. For a detailed rundown of the delight phase and beyond, check out this ultimate guide.

Although different products might require different launch strategies, the above template and steps should help you create a solid starter plan which can be customized along the way. 

Twitter is an undeniably powerful platform to increase your business's online reach. The average Twitter user follows five businesses, and 80% of all Twitter users have mentioned a brand in a Tweet.

If you have your Inbound Marketing hat on, you should know that Twitter is not just a place to grow customers through word-of-mouth marketing -- it's also a place to meet your customers where they are.

However, succeed as a business on Twitter in 2019, it's critical you're able to stand out. But that can mean many different things for the millions of businesses across every industry on Twitter.

So what steps can you take to add to your audience's experience online, instead of simply being a disruption? How can you promote your product or service in a way that encourages people to purchase? How can you make your brand more human on a platform made for connection?

To help you create a successful strategy and leverage Twitter's power for your business, we've created this helpful guide. Keep reading to learn how you can use Twitter for your business in 2019.

How to Market Effectively on Twitter

First, you need to build your Twitter marketing strategy. Your strategy is your foundation for success and is worth all the time you spend researching and creating it.

A Twitter marketing strategy is just like any other social media strategy -- it is centered around the content you create, publish, and distribute to engage your followers. The content you publish should attract new followers, encourage new leads, boost conversions, and grow brand recognition.

Your business likely already has high-level business objectives, and Twitter is a channel that can help you reach those goals. If your business is looking to generate leads and sales long-term, you'll need brand awareness on your side to get your flywheel moving.

The following four tactics will help you develop a strong Twitter marketing strategy to build your presence upon.

1. Research your competition.

Twitter is a tool you can use to search for competitors and see what types of marketing content and tactics they're using. Gathering information on what your competitors are doing will help inform your own strategy. Is there anything they're doing that you should be? What does their customer service look like on the platform? By asking questions about your competitors, you can launch your own highly-developed strategy.

2. Audit your account.

The importance of auditing is not lost when dealing with strategy. In order for Twitter to be a great marketing tool, you have to be organized. Need to audit your account quickly? Here's how to do it in under 20 minutes.

3. Research best practices.

Like auditing, this is a step that needs to be done continuously. Keeping up on best practices as Twitter is updated and goes through changes is key to keeping your impressions and engagements high.

4. Identify your audience.

Your business personas should be considered in every aspect of marketing, including social media. When crafting your strategy, and even when creating individual pieces of content, you should have a description of your personas in mind. Who are you trying to reach? What are they interested in? Will this get their attention?

How to Use Twitter for Business

Now that we've discussed tactics for building a Twitter marketing strategy, let's explore some critical steps you need to take to further leverage Twitter's power for your own company.

1. Build a profile that stands out.

First and foremost, you need to set yourself up for success by customizing your profile. The last thing you want is someone turning away from your Twitter account -- and potentially turning away from your business -- because you have a Twitter egg as your profile image.

Be sure to upload compelling images for both your banner and profile picture. While lots of brands have their logo as their profile image, the Banner is where you can get a little creative with your colors and imagery.

If you're just starting out with Twitter or have a new business, you want to make your Twitter handle is extremely relevant to your company. Using your brand name as your Twitter handle may seem obvious, but there are a lot of Twitter accounts. What happens when your name is taken?

If your brand name is already being used as someone else's handle, you can add a CTA at the beginning of your company name. For instance, let's say your company's name is "HubSpot", but that handle is taken. Perhaps "@GetHubSpot", or "@ChooseHubSpot" would be other good options. You could also take inspiration from Slack's Twitter account, and add "HQ" to the end of your handle.

Another thing that may seem like a small detail is to update your pinned tweet regularly. Your Pinned tweet could be about a sale event coming up, or a new marketing campaign you just launched. Either way, it's the first thing your audience will engage with because it stays at the top of your feed.

It's also important you refine your description, website link, and location. All of these things belong on your Twitter profile so your followers know more about your business, and they should be updated and checked regularly.

2. Add value with your content.

Adding value to your Twitter content is very similar to adding value to other marketing content. You should always keep your buyer personas in mind, because the key to creating successful inbound content is to make your readers feel like you're speaking directly to them.

When thinking about adding value on social, try asking yourself if your tweets advance an idea, entertain, or educate the audience. Without any of those three things, your content is likely to fall flat. Additionally, remind yourself that the purpose of Twitter is to connect and spark conversations.

If your content doesn't inspire conversation, it's not worth publishing.

For Twitter specifically, you should try to get the most out of your 280 character limit.

Multimedia tweets help differentiate your business from others, and tweets with images get 150% more retweets, so start mixing up your content with images and videos. However, it's vital you ensure you're mixing it up, too. Nobody wants to see the same "text, CTA, link" tweet with an image preview on their feed 24/7. Try mixing in emojis and GIPHs with your pictures and videos.

There are also ways to add value to your Twitter account that are specific to Twitter. Many brands have their own monthly Twitter chats. Twitter chats are a great way to interact with your audience and ask them questions about your brand or industry. You can start your own Twitter chat by establishing a date, time, and original hashtag for everyone to use.

3. Optimize your content.

Now that you've added value to your content, you want to make sure people see it. You can optimize your content on Twitter using a few different strategies.

Hashtags are an easy and common way to spread your content, but you want to be careful about how many you use. Too many hashtags and your business may come across as spammy -- or like you're trying to steal attention. To put it simply: don't overuse hashtags. Stick with one or two relevant hashtags per tweet.

You should also be doing hashtag research if you want to get more eyes on your content. See which hashtags your audience is already using when talking about your brand, and then adopt them yourself.

Lastly, you'll want to consider how often you tweet. 92% of companies Tweet more than once a day, 42% Tweet one-to-five times a day, and 19% Tweet six-to-10 times a day. However, it's important to note -- your audience likely isn't on Twitter just to listen to your brand, so try to avoid clogging their feeds with unnecessary content.

Experimenting with the time you send Tweets out is also great for reaching more people. A lot of businesses Tweet in the morning, at lunch break, and early evening, because that's when their target audience is most likely to be online.

4. Engage with your audience.

It's critical you regularly engage with your audience on Twitter by tagging them in posts, responding to their comments, or even hosting fun giveaways to get your audience involved.

To learn more about how to build a community or how to implement community management tactics across the board, read The Ultimate Guide to Community Management.

5. Monitor your brand.

Social listening can allow you to create the type of content your followers actually want, come up with new ideas based on industry trends, improve your customer experience by interacting directly with customers, and shift your strategy to fit your audience's needs.

6. Measure results.

When you have objectives and goals in place, you can easily measure the results of your performance on any social media site. Having goals also helps determine when your strategy isn't working, and can help you get to the right place.

To measure your results on Twitter, you can head to Twitter analytics, located in the drop-down menu when you click on your profile at the top right corner of your Twitter dashboard. If you're unsure what analytics can help you accomplish, check out this guide to Twitter analytics.

A general tip for measuring your performance on Twitter is to focus less on vanity metrics. Vanity metrics, like impressions or follower count, are often high numbers that look good on paper but don't help you meet your business goals.

It's more important you know how many people clicked on the link you Tweeted, or how many people are interacting and engaging with you out of your total audience number, so you have a firmer understanding for which content is most popular with your audience, and what translates to the highest amount of leads.

7. Use a Twitter tool.

When using Twitter for business, logging into the platform every time you post can get annoying, and is frankly a waste of time. There are plenty of tools that allow you to schedule your posts ahead of time, so you don’t have to click "Tweet" 30 times per week.

HubSpot's Social Media tool allows you to publish to social networks in the same place you build campaigns, and schedule content for later. Alternatively, you might consider Sprout Social or Buffer.

8. Venture into paid.

There are two ways to venture into paid media on Twitter:

• Promoted tweets
• Twitter ads

Promoted tweets will appear in a user's feed or search results. Your business pays for the tweet to display to a user who is not already following your account. A promoted tweet looks exactly like a regular tweet and functions in the same way -- meaning it can be retweeted, liked, and quoted. Twitter will put your promoted tweets in a daily campaign targeting the type of audience you want to reach, as previously indicated in your settings.

Twitter ads are a good option if you're looking to promote many types of tweets to achieve one goal or advance a campaign.

Here's what you need to know about Twitter ads and campaigns.

Why You Should Stay on Twitter

Maybe your business has been on Twitter for a while and you're feeling frustrated or uninspired. After all, it takes time to build a loyal and interactive Twitter audience, and it's hard to see content go out with little or no response. But giving up on the platform eliminates a huge source of brand awareness for your business, and makes it harder for customers to find you.

Here are a few reasons you'll want to stay on Twitter, even if you're currently feeling unimpressed.

1. Your competition is on there.

Odds are, your competition is working toward similar, if not the same, goals on Twitter. So even if you feel like you're shouting into the void sometimes, it's important to have quality content for potential customers to find.

You can also get information on your competitors' social strategy by monitoring their Twitter presence. A great way to revamp your own Twitter strategy is to take a look at what's working -- and what isn't -- for your competitors.

2. It's a great source for free marketing.

Who can say no to free marketing? Twitter is a great place to interact with your customers and start a cycle of word-of-mouth. If your customers are tweeting about you, it goes a long way to respond -- especially if they're having a negative experience.

3. You can use Twitter to increase sales.

If you're the type to say no to free marketing, maybe the offer of increased sales will keep you around. Twitter isn't just a platform that allows you to get your brand out into the world -- it's also a place where customers come to you. 60% of a brand's followers are more likely to purchase or recommend products after following the brand on Twitter.

To learn more about why Twitter matters for your business, take a look at 23 Remarkable Twitter Statistics to Be Aware of in 2019.

When Instagram was first released, it was thought of only as a fun, visual social media network. Nowadays, it's also used as a major content promotion tool for brands and influencers.

In fact, according to Sprout Social, 80% of Instagram users follow a brand, and one of the three most-viewed Stories of all time was posted by a business account.

Along with business accounts, influencer marketing is also on the rise. For instance, 93% of influencer marketing campaigns took place on Instagram in 2018.

By introducing key product updates like video, stories, and IGTV, Instagram now boasts over 1 billion monthly active users who spend close to an hour scrolling through the app each day they log in.

Instagram's popularity lets most brands forge an emotional connection with a massive audience. Some brands are so good at visually engaging and resonating with Instagram users that they've attracted tens of millions of followers.

To help you learn from the platform's best of the best, we've compiled a list of 19 accounts with the highest number of users -- as well as a few key takeaways from each.

Because the accounts with the most followers belong to influencers and celebrities, we've split this rundown into two sublists that are brand and influencer specific. 

1. Instagram

Followers: 303 Million

Instagram sets a great example for brands who truly want to engage an audience on their app. By curating and reposting their users' most captivating content on their own profile, Instagram shows their followers that everyday people can meet their creative and artistic potential on the platform.

This inspires brands and normal Instagram users to spend the time and effort required to craft visually gripping content that will instantly hold an audience's attention.

Instagram also does a good job of promoting their stories and IGTV show about celebrities, wildlife, and other culturally relevant topics. They post original content that highlights upcoming episodes, but the posts read more like a feature story than an advertisement, which sparks more interest in the show.

2. National Geographic

Followers: 111 Million

National Geographic hires the most talented photographers in the world, so their Instagram posts of landscapes, cityscapes, and the surrounding life always seem to be awe-inspiring. But their stunning visuals aren't the only reason why they've attracted over 100 million followers.

National Geographic is a historic magazine that's famous for their credible journalism and compelling storytelling. In each post's caption, they are able to craft fascinating narratives about the photo or video, usually in a way that spreads awareness for a relevant environmental issue.

National Geographic also uses Instagram Stories, Stories Archive, and IGTV to drive traffic to featured articles and videos on their website. But they also know their followers prefer not to leave the app.

Instead of using gimmicky visuals and clickbait copy to coax people into visiting their website, they actually summarize the feature article or video in their stories and IGTV shows.

For marketers, National Geographic's Instagram strategy clarifies that it's crucial to meet your audience where they are, and not force them to go somewhere just because you want them to go there.

If people end up clicking through to your website, that's great. But you should be more than willing to educate your audience where they want to be educated, even if it results in a lower amount of traffic.

3. Nike

Followers: 88.5 Million

In the advertising industry, Nike is known for their motivational ads that inspire athletes to believe in themselves when aiming to reach their full potential.

On Instagram, the iconic brand's content follows this theme, with posts in the form of short films, documentaries, and inspirational videos and photos. Nike also uses Instagram to update their followers with quick news about the sports world, proving that they deeply understand their audience's interests and desires.

4. Real Madrid

Followers: 72.6 Million

Real Madrid is arguably the most popular soccer team in the world, so most of the team's Instagram posts update their massive fan base on scores, highlights, and transactions.

But the way they attract and engage twice as many Instagram followers as teams with similar fan bases isn't through standard updates. They've built their enormous following by giving their fans an inside look of the team's everyday activities through player takeovers and practice highlights on IGTV.

Breaking down these barriers between fan and player makes Real Madrid's fan base feel like they actually know their favorite players on a personal level, which develops a more intimate and loyal relationship between the two.

5. FC Barcelona

Followers: 71.1 Million

Like Real Madrid, FC Barcelona updates Barcelona fans with sports photography, season-related stats, information about Barcelona players, and other fun tidbits related to the team and season.

They use a mix of content styles with videos, action shots, and posed photos, but they always use many tags, hashtags, and eye-popping emojis in their captions.

During games and other events, you can find FC Barcelona launching one or multiple Stories with their own video content as well as curated content sourced from fans.

With curated Stories by fans, they're able to post more fresh, interesting content. FC Barcelona's curated Stories also enable fans to contribute to the Instagram channel. While we aren't able to post stories directly, you can find some on the account's page.

6. 9GAG

Followers: 50.2 Million

With plenty of dog, cat, and baby videos, meme references, and jokes that are almost too relatable, 9GAG has one of the funniest accounts on Instagram.

The account's Instagram stories and Stories Archives engage their audience well too -- they post a ton of polls about topics that everyone has an answer for like, “Is soup a food or a beverage?” and “Would you travel to the past or future?”

They also use Instagram stories to drive traffic to their website by asking their followers to swipe up and see if they correctly guessed the name of a TV show or movie with only emojis as clues. On IGTV, they generate even more brand engagement by letting their followers ask questions during live Q&As with celebrities.

7. NASA

Followers: 43.7 Million

Scrolling through NASA's Instagram feed makes you feel a little like an astronaut floating through the depths of space. You'll experience intimate views of different planets, constellations, and supernovas in the Milky Way galaxy, all of which are taken by NASA's spacecrafts and Hubble Space Telescope.

 NASA's Instagram Stories and IGTV channel also educate their followers about interesting space insights, like the views of the sun and Earth, the search for life in space, and NASA's new technology launches

NASA's popularity on Instagram proves that you can actually create educational content that doesn't sacrifice any entertainment value.

8. UEFA Champions League

Followers: 41.3 Million

In the last year, the Champions League surpassed the NBA's account in Instagram followers. Like the other soccer brand accounts we've noted, the Champions League regularly posts action and team shots, as well as updates related to upcoming and past games. 

Along with regular updates and action shots, some of the account's regular posts include stats like "Top Scorers," behind-the-scenes videos, and team roster images. 

9. Marvel

Followers: 37.5 Million

Marvel posts regularly about its movies, TV shows, and Marvel.com content. It also mixes things up with the use of photo and video posts. Additionally, the account occasionally uses fun videos to cross-promote with other Marvel-affiliated accounts and influencers. 

While many other accounts, like HBO, promote their content by posting trailers as Instagram Stories, Marvel uses Stories to cover red carpet premiere events. These stories include photos and clips of the stars, as well as other interesting things that happen at the events. Most recently, Marvel featured the premieres of Dark Phoenix and Avengers: Endgame. 

10. Chanel

Followers: 34.9 Million

Throwback Thursday will always be a huge deal on social media -- who doesn't love a heavy dose of nostalgia every week? Recently, though, Chanel decided to take #tbt to the next level. They've been evoking nostalgia in fashionistas all over the world by posting old ads that spotlight previous fashion trends for their Chanel Holidays campaign every day.

The legendary fashion brand also posts a lot of content about Coco Chanel's early fashion influences to promote Inside Chanel, a web series that recounts Coco's life and how she built her fashion empire.

Harnessing the power of the past is one of the most effective ways to evoke an emotional response from your audience and forge a connection with them. With that in mind, nostalgia should always be in your marketing arsenal.

1. Cristiano Rinaldo 

Followers: 170 Million

So, who has the most followers on Instagram? That would be Cristiano Ronaldo, who's been called the world's best soccer player (or fútbol player).

Along with the expected soccer action shots, his Instagram strategy largely involves paid partnerships and cross promotions. Here's just one example: 

The account's content is a mix of sports-related updates, photos capturing his life outside of the arena, and occasional motivational posts about topics like fitness and clearing your mind.

One thing this account puts great effort into is the imagery. All of its images and videos are crisp, clear, colorful, and high-production quality. We've found that editing images before uploading to Instagram can really make a difference in how professional a brand or individual account looks. Ronaldo's account is one great example of this.

2. Ariana Grande

Followers: 156 Million

Ariana Grande has recently gained an incredibly large following on the platform. Her brand is especially relevant to the younger demographic of Instagram. 

Throughout the last four years, it seems that Ariana has not needed to use partnerships or promotions to strengthen her following. Here's an example of one of the few promotional posts she has had on her account, which dates back to 2015:

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

lilac kitty puff "swagger bag" now available @coach www.coach.com/kitiswagger 💜💜💜

A post shared by Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) on Sep 28, 2015 at 10:48am PDT

Currently, it seems her strategy involves a high posting frequency, with around six or more updates per week. She mainly uses the platform to update users on her daily life and her music career. These posts often include photos of her dog, behind-the-scenes videos, and concert highlights.

Ariana has also experimented with IGTV. Recently, she used it to announce the drop of her new song "Sweetener" by including the song in the post itself, as well as a link to it in the caption.

This type of strategy might make her followers and fans feel like they're being rewarded for their loyalty on the platform. At the same time, the possibility of hearing Ariana's new music might entice new audiences to follow her. 

Many of her posts usually include short captions which may only include one or two emojis. This does not seem to be uncommon for major celebrities on the platform, as they may not have a large need to optimize captions.

While Ariana and other listed influencers may not have, or need, a caption strategy, those starting out on Instagram or aiming to grow their following should follow optimization best practices. These include crafting interesting captions that may use hashtags, and account tagging.

3. Selena Gomez

Followers: 151 Million

Selena Gomez's content is a fun mix of paid partnerships, selfies, and quotes. As the former most-followed person on Instagram, she has mastered optimized photo captions, Stories, paid partnerships and cross-promotions with other influencers. 

While her posts strategically embrace paid promotions and influencer cross promotions, she also uses Instagram to share inspirational quotes or her thoughts on certain political topics, which adds more of a human side to her page.

4. Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson

Followers: 145 Million

On any given day, Dwayne Johnson might use the platform to update fans on his family life, what he's eating on his "cheat days", his fitness products, or the movies he's working on. He's also started using IGTV to promote his projects and personal brand. He often films himself giving fitness tips, discussing his new products, or updating fans on other interesting events in his life.

5. Kim Kardashian West

Followers: 141 Million

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star has recently posted a lot more about her family and her KKW Beauty Line. She also is no stranger to cross promotions and partnerships. While most of her posts are artsy or strategic, she is not afraid to post something jaw-dropping or humorous from time to time.

Here's one funny post where she promotes The Secret Life of Pets.

She uses IGTV to promote her projects, like trailers for Keeping Up with the Kardashians. She will also occasionally team up with other influencers for tutorial-styled posts.

In this video, her hair stylist Mario Dedivanovic walks fans through how they can recreate Kim's recent Met Gala look:

6. Kylie Jenner

Followers: 137 Million

While Kylie Jenner's individual account follows her day-to-day life, she has also used it as a tool to promote her companies: Kylie Cosmetics and Kylie Skin. Although Kylie regularly tags and engages in cross promotion with her companies' accounts, her personal Instagram still has over 100 million more followers than the other two, combined.

Most recently, Kylie has used IGTV to give fans Kylie Cosmetics tutorials. This strategy allows her audiences to see how the products look and learn how to use them before they make a purchase.

This type of content may engage prospective buyers that are both experienced and less experienced in shopping for makeup.

7. Beyoncé

Followers: 128 Million

Like Ariana Grande, Beyoncé focuses more on her artistic side than in cross promotion or paid promotion. She also breaks from the usual mold by rarely posting captions and letting her high-quality imagery or video speak for itself.

On her Instagram, you can usually find slideshows of high-quality photos of her, high-fashion shots where she's seen in different styles and outfits, and occasional promotions of her own personal projects -- such as her Netflix concert documentary, Homecoming.

8. Leo Messi

Followers: 121 Million

The soccer player regularly posts photos of himself on the field, as well as his daily life. His posts are a mix of photos and well-edited videos. When videos are included, they are often part of paid promotions. Messi has also dabbled in the Stories feature, where he shows off photos of himself, images from game events, and some images of his family. 

While he doesn't post large captions on his personal posts, he usually optimizes paid promotional posts with tags and hashtags. He also posts thoughtful captions in both English and Spanish. This might open up his following opportunities internationally. 

9. Taylor Swift

Followers: 118 Million

The musician's Instagram is filled with photos from concerts as well as a few photos from her everyday life. Unlike Beyonce and Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift embraces captions with emojis and hashtags. She also does an excellent job of tagging other accounts. This account is a good example of how strong captions and account tagging strategies can really optimize your Instagram.

Her posts are often colorful and in slideshow format, which allows users to swipe through multiple images. 

Taylor has also used her Instagram as a tool to promote shows and albums. Like Ariana Grande, she recently posted stories to promote and give users a taste of her single, "ME!" 

As they viewed the short story, users could swipe up to a link which listed sites where you could listen to, download, or save the song. This strategy gives users a taste of content and then a quick payoff when they swipe up.

Key Takeaways From the Most Followed Accounts

By looking at the most-followed brands and influencers, we can see some key strategies that many of them have in common.

Here are a few that you can start using, even without a giant following or a large social-media budget.

• Optimize captions witty or thoughtful captions with hashtags, account tags, and eye-popping emojis.
• Use cross promotion or paid strategies to join forces with other accounts or influencers.
• Experiment with new features including Stories or IGTV to give users new ways to engage and consume your branded content.

In marketing these days, you can’t swing an enthusiastic micro-influencer without hitting someone who’s talking about video content. And it’s not without merit. A recent HubSpot study revealed 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands and businesses they support.

With video marketers earning 66% more qualified leads per year and a 54% increase in brand awareness, it’s clear video marketing is the future and product demo videos are a lucrative path forward.

In fact, 72% of people would rather use video to learn about a product or service. There are many different types of product demo videos, so I’m sharing a few of my favorites below, along with tips on how to get started on your own product demo video.

Want to skip straight to the videos? Click here.

1. Identify the goal

Purchases? Subscriptions? Education? Brand awareness? Decide what your video is trying to achieve and what you want the viewer to walk away with. What action do you hope the viewer takes after watching your video, and what business need does it fulfill? For example, “After watching our product demo video, we hope the viewer submits a demo request form.”

2. Determine your audience

Has the audience for this video purchased with you before? Are you introducing a new product or feature to them? Or is this video reaching people who have never heard of you? What will this audience be concerned with? How long will they want to watch? What buyer persona will you be gearing this video for?

All of these are important questions to answer. For example, let’s say you’re introducing software that regulates the temperature of various areas in your office. The audience for your video might be harried office managers who are constantly fielding requests to turn the temperature up or down. They’re concerned with keeping their colleagues comfortable without breaking the bank on electricity costs.

3. Set a budget (and a timeline)

Do you have $7000 or $80,000 to make this product demo video? Identify your budget so you know how to proceed. This is also the time to set expectations. If you have a $500 budget, you’re not going to come out with a video on par with Apple’s latest release -- and that’s alright.

Oh, and don’t forget to outline when you need this video to be completed. Even the biggest budgets can run up against roadblocks, if the timeline is too limited.

4. Decide between in-house or agency

This decision will likely be dependent on your budget. If you have a lot to work with, interview agencies who can give you quotes and creative pitches for your project.

If you have a small budget, don’t let that dissuade you from creating a video using your iPhone. You can also record a video of your computer screen while moving through your platform. Work with what you have and be proud of whatever you create.

5. Structure your video

Will you tell a story? Highlight pain points? Use text or visuals only? Decide how you want to communicate your goal and how you’ll bring it to life.

If you’re working with a creative agency or freelance videographer, they may help you define the structure. If you’re going it alone, use videos like the ones we’ve listed below to inspire you and define which format will work best for your product and goals.

6. Choose between animation and live-action

Animation can sometimes be a little cheaper than live-action video. Work within your budget and skill level, and be honest about which option best highlights what your product can do and the scope your project requires.

7. Write a script

The script is a crucial part of your video. It defines the tone, pace, and message. Start with a project brief, move on to an outline, and navigate your script, section by section, making sure it speaks to the goals you’ve previously outlined.

Call out opportunities for B-roll throughout, and always conduct a verbal run-through before getting behind the camera.

For more tips and a video script template, check out this blog post and accompanying video on how to write a video script.

8. Create a marketing plan

Once you’ve shot, edited, and finalized your video, it’s time to decide how you’ll share it with your audience. YouTube, your website or campaign landing pages, and special email campaigns are all great channels for distribution.

But don’t overlook less obvious opportunities, like including your video in your email signature, sharing it in partner blog posts, and incorporating it into your sales team’s pitches.

Product Demo Video Examples

1. Airtable

This classic product demo video uses animation and the Airtable product to show users exactly who can use their product and how they can benefit from it. The video demonstrates several different use cases, taking a broad, top-of-the-funnel approach that will attract the masses.

They also do something else incredibly smart. As seconds tick by and viewers hypothetically click out of the video, the information shared gets more into the weeds sharing specific tactics and features. Airtable knows if someone has stuck around over one minute into their demo video, this is likely a qualified lead who wants to learn more.

2. Zendesk Sunshine

Zendesk leads with pain points in their product demo video. “Customer relationships are complicated … made up of fragmented pieces of what you know about your customers … it’s kind of all over the place,” a narrator explains. But Zendesk gets it. “What seems like chaos is actually everything you want.”

The viewer immediately feels like Zendesk understands them. It’s a full 50 seconds into the video before Zendesk even introduces a solution. We never actually see the platform at work, but that’s not really the goal of this video.

3. SurveyMonkey

At nearly two-minutes long, this is a lengthy product demo video. But it packs a powerful punch with text-based benefits and features, and a walk-through of the product interface.

Viewers see just how easy it is to send a survey using SurveyMonkey. They even see how it integrates with other platforms like Slack. This is a workhorse of a demo video, but the viewer witnesses how SurveyMonkey can integrate into their daily workflow -- and how easy the product is to use, from sign-in to send.

4. Headspace

Is there anything harder to sell on the internet than meditation? Headspace makes it seem easy with their modern, relatable animated product demo video.

They offer a “healthier, happier life” and show you how the app works for a variety of users with differing goals and time. It’s an inclusive video that communicates a lot without overwhelming the viewer.

5. Mailchimp

Testimonials work. And they work really well. So, why not use them to bring your product demo video to life? Mailchimp does just that in a video demoing their iOS and Android mobile apps.

The video is benefits-heavy, with a real user sharing how sending emails from wherever she is -- even a workout class -- helps her manage her business. The viewer gets brief glimpses of the app in action, but the goal of this video is to demonstrate a concept more than a product.

6. Apple’s iPhone XR

This glossy product video introduces the new iPhone XR by showing what it can do. Simple text alerts the viewer to the features this new phone possesses (e.g., “liquid retina,” “face ID,” and “water resistant”), and the benefits are communicated through the vivid visuals.

The goal of this product demo is to wow rather than educate, and that’s exactly what it does.

7. Slack

Slack uses this brightly hued video to break down a common misconception about their platform: that it’s only for sending private messages. They walk viewers through how teams can communicate using their interface.

“It’s way more than just a place to talk,” explains the actor, “We keep all of our files here too.” The video is feature-heavy, but the actor chimes in with how those features translate into benefits as he walks viewers through a demonstration of Slack. A simple “Get started with Slack, today” closes out this informative video.

8. The Origins of Nike Free

This product demo tells the origin story of the Nike Free running shoes. The shoe creators share a bit about how the shoe was designed and call out benefits like, “More natural movement” and “Nice, modern evolution.” A simple tagline at the end reads, “Engineered for modern motion.”

9. Duolingo

Duolingo kicks things off with social proof. “Far and away the best free language-learning app,” says The Wall Street Journal. What follows is a description of how the platform works, backed with more data on how effective it really is.

If you want to prove that your product works, sometimes facts are more alluring than a demo of the product itself.

10. IKEA Place

There’s nothing wrong with stating your purpose up front. “Hey, IKEA would like everyone to know about Place, our new augmented reality app,” explains this demo video. What follows is a demonstration of the app, and a video montage of people struggling to design and furnish new spaces. “We want to make it easier for people everywhere to imagine a better place,” the narrator explains. That’s exactly what this video demo does.

11. NoseFrida

Your baby is cute, until she’s not. The narrator explains what happens to a baby’s nose when they’re sick -- and why your baby gets fussy. Immediately, he’s identified the viewer’s pain points and explained the problem with NoseFrida’s competitors.

The narrator begins to explain how to use the NoseFrida -- a device that allows parents to physically suck snot out of their baby’s nose and effectively ruins your days of carefree milkshake sipping forever (take it from me).

It’s here that the company does something brilliant. They know their customer’s biggest purchasing block is the gross-out factor this product elicits, so they confront it head on. “Breathe easy, we know what you’re thinking.”

The narrator then explains how NoseFrida is designed to be hygienic and safe. Know your product has a big red flag for customers? Try addressing it bravely, like NoseFrida does, instead of tip-toeing around the elephant in the room.

12. Bluprint

How do you get people to part with their most valuable asset: their free time? Online learning platform Bluprint does just that. They overcome viewer objections early on. Think you don’t have time? “There’s always a way to get your creative fix,” the narrator explains.

The video takes an aspirational lens, showing people cooking, painting, and dancing. It ends with a call to action, “What will you do today?” Bluprint knows what they’re up against, and their demo video is a strong rebuttal against inactivity.

13. Sphero

Are you known for one product but want to introduce another? Sphero knows a little about that. A few years ago, they created a robot called BB-8 for a little-known movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Lucky for them, I hear that panned out.

In a Kickstarter video for their newest robot, they begin by featuring the iconic BB-8 robot that skyrocketed their success. Once the viewer knows who they are, they present their new robot: The Sphero RVR.

The rest of the video features the robot’s engineers speaking about what their new creation does and why it’s special. We believe them, because they’ve tethered this new creation to their past authority.

14. Ring Door View Cam

This is another great example of showing instead of telling viewers what your product can do. The video shows everyday people using Ring’s Door View Cam in a variety of ways. We see them use the mobile interface, benefit from the speaker, and avoid danger using the camera.

15. Dyson

Dyson takes a more classic approach by featuring three new products. They have presenters share the features each product boasts, and influencers explain what they love about the new products to lend social proof. It’s straightforward, informative, and concise. Sometimes, that’s all your product demo video needs.

What I love most about this video is that they include subtitles allowing viewers understand what’s being communicated even without sound.

16. Lime

Text that reads, “How to Lime” kicks this video off and tells viewers exactly what to expect. We see a step-by-step demonstration of how to use Lime, their safety recommendations, and some basics on their mobile app.

17. Peloton

This product video begins with an origin story of the Peloton bicycle and quickly moves to the benefits (i.e., you can ride it in your bedroom without waking your partner). Before you know it, the video is speaking to viewer pain points, “One of the challenges with boutique fitness is that it can be inconvenient.” They solution? Peloton.

Thousands of classes, experienced instructors, community, and ease of use. Close-ups of the machine in use highlights certain features, but what this video demonstrates most is the experience you’ll have using Peloton. “This is what I’ve been missing,” says one video participant. I can’t help but think that’s the primary goal the makers of this video had for their viewers.

18. Zoom

This is a classic example of a product demo video. A solid, feature-heavy script immediately jumps into how professionals can use and benefit from Zoom. The viewer sees the product being used as they listen to how it works, and they’re left with a clear picture of what Zoom can offer them.

19. Gusto

I’ve saved the most comprehensive product demo video for last. This example, from HR software provider Gusto, clocks in at an impressive five minutes and fifty-six seconds.

What follows is a careful walk-through of the product, it’s benefits, and how to pick the perfect plan.

Viewers who make it to the end likely signal to Gusto that they’re ready to speak with a salesperson. This video probably works best for buyers further along in the buyer’s journey. If your goal is to introduce your product/service to new audiences, stick with a shorter option that’s quick and easy to consume.

Product demo videos can be an effective marketing tool. Want to create your own video? Check out our ultimate guide to video marketing.