It’s free, so please try it out and let us know if it helps you as well.

https://hiliter.co

The Problem We Needed to Fix

We were always coming across mentions of our products in articles that we knew nothing about. It got us wondering how many other mentions we were missing and knew nothing about. We were spending a lot of time reading through articles and social media and forums because we didn’t want to “miss” someone commenting about our products.

We also wanted an easier way to track our product mentions in news sites and forums. We spend so much time sifting through posts that we needed a better way. We were probably missing someone writing about our business or bypassing links that someone has pointed to you.

Scrolling through endless social media posts is exhausting and impossible to digest everything.  I just want to find the posts that mention my product and company name.  This results in a lot of wasted time, which is why we developed Hiliter Chrome extension. This chrome extension will immediately highlight your keywords and links whenever they exist on any website you visit.

The Solution

With HiLiter Chrome extension, you’ll be able to save time by never having to search for your links or keywords again. You’ll be able to scroll quickly and only stop on those areas that contain your keywords and links.

Potential Users

• Marketing Agencies – It’s an easy way for you to keep tabs on customer mentions in articles/forums
• PR Firms
• OEMs
• Brand Managers
• SEO Specialists
  • Where are you mentioned?  Where are your links on a page?  Are they NOFOLLOW links?
• Venture Capital Firms
  • Keep track of your investment mentions.

It’s free, so please try it out and let us know if you find it useful.

https://hiLiter.co

Thanks!

You Might Also Like

• Follow These 48 best startup blogs to quickly grow your SaaS Business

To help the new startup founder out, we’ve put together a list of some of the best startup blogs that you should be following if you’re looking to grow your SaaS startup. Some are blogs of software and internet companies, but many are independent media sites. All are centered on helping tech companies succeed in the business world and their respective startup industry.

If you’re looking for tech news about other tech startups, there is plenty to choose from as well. The list below is for expanding your knowledge and learning new techniques that will be useful for your business (and maybe a few tech news sites). We’ve put them into categories, but they do seem to overlap in places.

Hopefully, they will save you some time in your entrepreneurial adventure. The need to maintain relevant information is critical – particularly given that the changing world has changed dramatically.

Let us know if we missed a blog that you think should be added.

Digital Marketing Startup Blogs

Digital marketing is the process of using digital channels to promote or market products and services to target customers. Channels include social media, email, search engines, websites, and mobile apps.

The startup marketing blogs we recommend are:

1) Marketing Charts

MarketingCharts is first and foremost a hub of marketing data, graphics, and analyses. They are a leading data source cited by many of the top news agencies. Did you know that YouTube usage by adults is on the rise? I did because I read this site.

This is also a great resource if you need information for a blog post or presentation deck. The site is updated multiple times per week.

2) CMSWire

They obsess over the evolving digital customer experience, customer data, and digital experience optimization universe.

This site is updated daily.

3) Content Marketing Institute

As the name suggests, CMI is all about content marketing. They provide helpful resources, tips, and advice on how to create and market engaging content that will attract and convert leads into customers.

The site is updated daily.

4) Econsultancy

The latest articles on global digital marketing and e-commerce from Econsultancy’s award-winning analysts and experts.

This site is updated a few times per week.

5) MarTech

MarTech is on a mission to educate marketers about marketing technology and strategy through news and feature reporting, newsletters, research reports, live conferences, and digital events.

This site is updated multiple times per day.

Technology & Tech News Startup Blogs

We have to see what’s going on outside of our own business from time to time. Here are the sites we frequently read:

1) HackerNoon

How hackers start their afternoon. HackerNoon is a free platform with 25k+ contributing writers. 100M+ humans have visited HackerNoon to learn about technology.

HackerNoon is updated multiple times per day.

2) ForEntrepreneurs

Run by David Skok, a Venture Capitalist with Matrix Partners. There is a wealth of great articles here that will give you every advantage you need to succeed.

The site is well laid-out and the articles are well written.

3) TechCrunch

TechCrunch has been around for a long time and remains one of the best sources for tech news. They report on the business of technology, startups, venture capital funding, and Silicon Valley in general.

Many updates are made throughout the day on this site.

4) ReadWrite

Self-described as “The Blog of Things”. ReadWrite writes articles slanted toward the tech-savvy reader.

This site is updated daily.

5) Recode

The tech column of Vox Media. Recode explores how the digital world is changing — from keeping Big Tech accountable to explaining how decisions in Silicon Valley affect your daily life.

Recode is updated daily.

6) VentureBeat

VentureBeat covers transformative tech. They help business leaders make smarter decisions.

This site is updated many times per day.

7) GigaOm

GigaOm provides research from engineering-led practitioners to help you innovate, upskill, and be ready for what’s next.

You will spend a lot of time wading through all the information on this site.

8) Ars Technica

Serving the Technologist for more than a decade. A combination of IT news, reviews, and analysis. We love this site.

Ars Technica is updated many times per day.

SEO Startup Blogs

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of optimizing a website for Google search with the goal of earning higher web traffic levels and improving the visibility of the site. A strong SEO strategy can also help to improve conversion rates by making it easier for potential customers to find your website.

SEO strategies focus on improving both on-page and off-page ranking factors. On-page SEO tactics include optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. Off-page SEO tactics include link-building and social media engagement.

Staying on top of Google’s constantly changing algorithm is critical. These blogs can help you with that.

1) Surfer SEO

Surfer is our go-to tool for SEO purposes. Their blog is solid information about on-page, content creation & SEO tips.

They generally provide new tips a few times a month and it will often include instructions on how their tool can make things easier (which it does).

2) The Moz

The industry’s top wizards, doctors, and other experts offer their best advice, research, how-tos, and insights—all in the name of helping you level up your SEO and online marketing skills.

This site is updated every few days.

3) Neil Patel

Neil Patel is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable SEO experts out there. He has great articles and can help analyze your website to identify SEO errors, keyword opportunities, and competition.

His site isn’t updated daily, but there are a lot of articles to go through.

4) RankMath Blog

One of the best WordPress plugins for SEO brings you one of the best blogs as well. Their SEO blog provides you with tutorials and guides on how to improve SEO and take your rankings to the next level. They have quite a few extensive tutorials.

This site is updated weekly or so.

5) CopyBlogger

Their tagline is “We Help Writers Succeed in the Creator Economy”. So few people can really write well which is why we frequent this blog. The insights you get from these articles are empowering and enlightening. Your SEO will benefit greatly from improved content, and this blog helps with that.

This site is updated a few times per week.

6) Ahrefs Blog

Ahrefs is a critical tool for SEO purposes. Their entire business helps you rank higher in Google. You’ll find a wealth of information here on how to rank higher and how their tool can help you save time.

They’ll typically use videos in order to help with their blog posts.

This site is updated a few times per week.

Email / SMS Marketing Startup Blogs

Email Marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach your target audience and build relationships with them. Email Marketing can also help you to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and generate leads.

1) Litmus

Get email best practices, how-tos, and more in the Litmus blog. There’s a lot of them here.

There are new articles and tutorials every few days.

2) SendGrid

Read the SendGrid blog (The Full Send) to learn how to maximize your customer reach, and how to fully take advantage of the capabilities that SendGrid offers.

There are new articles every week or so.

3) Email Octopus

Email tips, inspiration, and insights from the team at EmailOctopus​. They want to make email marketing easier for you and have articles and case studies.

The blog updates have slowed down recently, and are now updated about once a month.

4) AWeber

Find a wealth of valuable advice, tips, and tricks to grow your email list, increase sales, improve your emails, and landing pages, and so much more.

New articles are added and updated every couple of days.

5) Mailchimp

From one of the biggest email software providers. This is less of a blog and more of a knowledge base. Get advice on creating and sending effective campaigns.

We’re not sure of the frequency that new articles are added, although the information seems updated.

6) The Email Marketers

Get the latest email marketing strategies and techniques in e-commerce to grow your online sales while automizing your workflows.

Updates are a bit sporadic. They seem to be about every month or so.

7) Designmodo

Mostly design-centric articles to help your email design skills. They help you get better at web design and email marketing: detailed tutorials and guides, case studies, and opinions from industry professionals.

You can see new articles roughly every week or so.

Social Media Startup Blogs

The best Social Media blogs provide readers with useful, actionable tips and advice on a wide range of topics related to social media. They offer a place for readers to connect with other like-minded individuals, share their own experiences, and learn from the successes and failures of others. And of course, they’re updated often with fresh content.

Here are some we like:

1) SocialMediaToday

The latest news, trends, and tips in social media. If it revolves around social media, it’s probably here.

They provide daily updates.

2) Social Media Examiner

Their tagline is “Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle”. They help millions of marketers discover how to best use social media marketing to connect with customers, generate awareness, and increase sales. You’re going to learn something every time you go here.

Expect new articles every day.

3) The Social Media Hat

Founded by Mike Allton in 2011, The Social Media Hat is an award-winning resource for businesses around the world. Here you’ll find guides to plan successful virtual events, reviews of the best tools, and in-depth articles on social media strategies and tactics.

It is updated approximately every month or so.

4) Jeff Bullas

Helping business and personal brands with digital marketing including social media with Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Search Engine Optimization. Their goal is “To optimize your brand in a digital world”.

He seems to update the site every week or so.

5) AdEspresso

Owned by HootSuite. They claim that their blog is the best resource to stay up to date with Facebook & Google Ads news and tactics for successful campaigns that convert!

They seem to update the site with a new article every week or so.

Finance / Legal / Venture Capital Startup Blogs

Financing your startup can be complicated and tiresome. If you are in this phase, you probably have plenty of questions. Be sure to view our list of best venture capital firms. The top Venture Capitalists provide funding for early-stage startups and help them to grow and scale their businesses.

Some of the best blogs for more information can be found below.

1) SecureDocs

Stay on top of the latest tips, trends, and best practices for M&A, fundraising, and other business events.

2) Red Rocket VC

Red Rocket can help your business “blast off”!! Our Partners are proven CEOs and CMOs, that have already mastered the same growth challenges you are experiencing. They can help you with your growth strategy, execution, or financing needs such as venture capital. Check out their free e-books such as “101 Startup Lessons”.

Updates occur every month or so on this site.

3) Andreessen Horowitz

Commonly referred to as “a16z”, this is the blog/site of one of the biggest Venture Capital firms in Silicon Valley. There’s a lot of wealth in these articles, and they are updated daily. Check out their podcast as well. Good stuff.

They have updates daily on this site.

4) First Round Review

This is a startup blog from First Round Capital and is made up of mostly guest posts from experts in their field.

There’s a wealth of great information here, and the articles are well-written.

5) Tomasz Tunguz

Tomasz Tunguz is a VC at Redpoint and writes a blog post or two each week. Topics include how to raise funds, KPIs that matter, and other questions that startup founders might need answering.

The articles are to the point and without the fluff. Just the way we like it.

6) OnStartups

Dharmesh Shah maintains this site. He’s an Angel Investor, and co-founder of HubSpot. He knows what he’s doing.

This one has waned a bit with the updates, with only three new blog posts in 2022. It still has a wealth of information that is still very relevant.

Startup News Sources

While it’s important to see what the rest of the world is doing, we typically hit these once a day or so.

1) TechCrunch

TechCrunch has been around for a long time and remains one of the best sources for tech news. They report on the business of technology, startups, venture capital funding, and Silicon Valley in general.

If you want to know the details of what’s happening in the world of tech the minute it happens, this site is for you.

2) Young Upstarts

Young Upstarts is an online business resource for startup entrepreneurs, small business owners, idea people, and intrapreneurs seeking change within their organizations.

They have daily updates on this site.

3) Microsoft for Startups Blog

Learn from founders who’ve been there before. Accelerate your startup with Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub.

There are many good articles here that often help you use Microsoft products. Surprise! Many of the guest authors have partnered with Microsoft.

4) StartupNation

Want to learn how to start a business? StartupNation has the resources you need to ensure your success.

This is a great resource that is updated daily.

5) Tech Stars

Techstars is a global platform for investment and innovation. They connect entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations. This blog contains ideas & insights from the Techstars network.

There are many sections to this blog, and most seem to be updated every week or so.

6) The Startup Magazine

The Startup Magazine aspires to educate and inspire startups. They provide advice, access to business tools, and tell great entrepreneur stories.

It’s not our favorite layout, but the site is updated pretty much daily.

7) Killer Startups

Great place to showcase your app and read articles from other founders.

Update daily with shorter, to-the-point articles.

International Startup News Sources

1) StartUs Magazine

Europe’s leading source on daily happenings in the startup community, reaching over 400.000 people monthly.

This blog/site has a section for pretty much every area a startup founder may need, and it’s updated daily.

2) YourStory

This is India’s biggest platform dedicated to fostering the startup ecosystem via entrepreneurship-related stories, resources, products, research reports, and more.

It’s updated daily.

3) Startups.

Starting a business? Startups is the UK’s leading independent, online resource for anyone starting and growing a business. Find independent advice, tools, events, and information for new businesses, start-ups, small businesses, and ambitious entrepreneurs.

It’s updated daily for the most part.

4) e27

Get access to insights, updates, and resources that let you learn more and connect with investors and startups in Southeast Asia.

The site is well laid out, and updated daily.

Conclusion

There you have it! These are some of the best startup blogs that you should be reading if you’re looking to grow your SaaS startup.

Please let us know your thoughts and if we missed any!

You Might Also Like

• The 21 Best Social Proof Tools to Improve Your Business

In this article, we’ll demonstrate the many different types of trigger emails and show you multiple trigger email examples for you to tweak for your business. We’ll also show the pros and cons of each type of trigger email so you can make sure it’s right for you. Be sure to also read our post that lists the best startup blogs to quickly grow your SaaS business since we list some that are centered specifically around email marketing as a whole.

Trigger emails are a great compliment to your social media marketing campaigns and once set up, require little or no maintenance.

Ok, buckle up. This article has a lot of information for you.

What are triggered emails?

Trigger emails are any type of email that is automatically triggered by a certain action or event. For example, a trigger email could be sent when a customer abandon’s their shopping cart, or when a subscription is about to expire. They are used for a variety of purposes, such as welcome messages to a new user, a cart that is abandoned, order confirmation messages, shipping confirmation messages, and more. They are timely, relevant, and often personalized.

Trigger emails are a great way to keep your customers engaged with your brand. They often encourage customers to take action, such as signing up for a newsletter or taking a survey. They also proactively help customers before they reach out to you with questions. They are a wonderful way to alleviate any anxiety for a customer after they make a purchase on your website.

Best of all, they’re automated, so they shouldn’t require any additional work on your part (outside of the initial setup).

Trigger Email Tips

The following are guidelines to consider when setting up any trigger email.

1. Keep your subject lines short and to the point
   Your subject line should be clear and concise. Avoid using excessive punctuation or symbols, and stay away from words like “free” or “limited time only” which may trigger spam filters.
   
2. Personalize your emails
   Use the customer’s first name in the subject line and throughout the email to create a personal connection.
   
3. Use images sparingly
   Images can be helpful in reinforcing your message, but too many images can make your email look like spam. Use images sparingly and avoid using animated GIFs.
   
4. Be clear about what you want the customer to do
   Your call to action should be clear and easy to understand. Avoid using multiple calls to action or making your call to action too small or difficult to see.
   
5. Test, test, test!
   As with any email marketing campaign, it’s important to test your trigger emails before implementing them. Send test emails to a small group of customers or employees to see how they react. Make sure to test different subject lines, images, and calls to action to see what works best.
   

Trigger Email Statistics

Based on data from Wunderkind.co, trigger emails generate 24x more revenue per send than typical email blasts.

Also, a trigger email campaign has more than twice as much engagement when compared to standard email blasts.

Why is this? First, trigger emails typically provide a more personal and relevant message to the recipient. They’re more inclined to be welcomed rather than ignored.

Good Email Practices

A few things to consider when crafting your trigger email campaigns…

1. Never Spam Anyone. Thankfully, trigger emails are only sent out to existing customers/subscribers, but keep this rule in mind.
2. Don’t overdo it. In some less-common circumstances, there may be so many triggers you should elect to send a daily summary over an email for every event. This isn’t common but use your best judgment.
3. Personalize every email. At a minimum, it should include their first name, and potentially something unique about them (Account info, order info)

Every email you send should contain the following:

1. A clear description of what the email is about
   • “Thank you for your purchase. This email serves as your receipt.”
     
2. Instructions on what to expect next
   • “You will receive the next email notification when your product ships…”
     
3. A timeline for for when this will happen to set expectations with the recipient
   • “… which is typically within 3 business days”

Many people fail to deliver #2 and #3. Certain customers/users need to be told what will happen even if this is the last email in the communication cycle.

Overcommunicating is nearly always preferred over under-communicating.

Give the Trigger Emails Personality

Any email that you send out should be unique to your own brand and target base. You won’t want to have the same verbiage if your company sells spa services compared to a company that sells skateboards.

How to Implement a Trigger Email

You don’t need to be a Software Engineer to set up your first trigger email. There are plenty of website automation tools that you can use to send an email based on email automation triggers. They are simple to use and are often designed for non-technical users. Plus you can always reach out to their support staff if you get stuck.

If your website is on a hosted solution, such as Shopify, they have this already built in. You just need to set it up. Go to Settings >> Notifications, and you can edit them to your pleasure. The triggers should be in the notification title so you can tell them apart.

WordPress-powered sites have a choice of plugins to use that will provide this same functionality. Check out Uncanny Automator. It will most likely give you what you need.

Finally, if you want an automation solution that will work with any site check out Zapier. They are a huge automation platform that offers read-made templates for you and a large user base that often helps each other.

The Best Trigger Emails to Send

Below is a substantial list of trigger email marketing options that you should use along with trigger email examples. Successful businesses use nearly all of these, so you’ll want to be in that group. They tell the customer or subscriber that you are legit and you care deeply about their experience with you.

1. Email Verification Trigger Email

Everyone has seen this one. After you register on a site, you are shown a message that you need to verify your email address. This is important because you’re going to be sending messages out and you need to verify that this user controls that email address.

Typically a site is locked for a user until they verify their email. It’s that important.

2. New customer trigger email

A welcome message is the first impression a customer has of your brand after they have registered on your site. It should be warm, friendly, and helpful. It should contain information on how to get started with your product or service.

Here are a few examples of welcome messages that do just that:

3. Receipt Email (auto-reply)

A receipt email is sent to verify that you received a message. This is done when the user typically sends you a message via email. This is to let the sender know that you received the message and what to expect next. It essentially closes the loop in this initial communication cycle.

4. Purchase trigger email

A purchase trigger email is sent after a customer has made a purchase. This type of email confirms the purchase and provides information on how to use the product or service. Many times this will include the receipt of the purchase and should always explain what to expect going forward. They should include information about the order (such as the items purchased, the total cost, etc.), as well as estimated delivery times.

This email should be sent immediately. If this does not happen instantly after clicking “buy” or paying for one’s purchase then it may confuse the buyer and that the order did not go through. Customers expect this email so if your system has any delay whatsoever, be sure to explain that on the order page of your website.

These types of messages serve as both confirmation of the sale (for the customer) and a receipt for their records.    Below is an example of an order confirmation message:

5. Cart Abandonment Email

An abandoned shopping cart is when someone puts some items in their cart but leaves prior to checking out.

A recent survey found that 29% of all cart abandonment users come back when sent a personalized email asking if they need help with their order.

Abandoned carts happen all the time—even when customers are fully intending to make a purchase. These triggers can be set up so that if a customer abandons their cart within a certain time frame (usually 24 hours), they receive an email reminding them of what they were purchasing and giving them an incentive to complete their purchase (such as free shipping or a discount code).

This type of trigger has been shown to be highly effective in reducing abandoned carts and boosting sales.     Below are two examples of cart abandonment messages.

6. Order Status Change email

Think of it like this:
You are a Project Manager, and your customer is the CEO. You want to constantly update the CEO so there are no surprises or questions about the project. Your emails are setting expectations and helping the customer see the progress of their order.

7. Product Shipment email

A product shipment trigger email is sent when a customer’s order is shipped. This type of email provides tracking information and the estimated delivery date.

8. Product Delivered email

A product delivered trigger email is sent when a customer’s order has been delivered. Don’t let the package sit on the customer’s front porch waiting for them to see it. You are helping them by telling them it has arrived. They will love you even more.

9. Thank you trigger email

A thank you trigger email is sent after a customer has made a purchase or taken some other action that shows their loyalty to your brand. This type of email expresses gratitude and offers a discount on the customer’s next purchase.

10. Anniversary trigger email

An anniversary trigger email is sent on the anniversary of a customer’s first purchase. This type of email celebrates the customer’s loyalty and offers a discount for their next purchase.

11. Birthday trigger email

This one is pretty straightforward. A birthday trigger email is sent on the customer’s birthday. This type of email offers a discount or freebie and makes the customer feel special on their big day.

12. Review Request Email

A review trigger email is often sent after a customer has used your product or service. It is typically triggered after a set period of time following the delivery of the product. This type of email asks for feedback on the customer’s experience and can be used to improve your product or service. Many times it will include a link for the customer to leave a review on the site.

Some companies use incentives to get users to leave a review, but be careful with this approach. If you incentivize only positive reviews (“Get a 10% discount for leaving a 5-star review”), it may be a turnoff to certain users. You run the risk of lowering the credibility of your reviews.

13. Customer Service trigger email

A customer service trigger email is sent after a customer has contacted you for help. This type of email inquires how you did and if there is anything else the customer may need.

14. Subscription Renewal Trigger Email

This is another courtesy email that goes a long way for your customers. It lets them know that their subscription (monthly, yearly, etc.) will renew soon and they should expect to see the standard charge for it on their credit statement.

15. Upsell trigger email

An upsell trigger email is sent to customers who have expressed interest in a higher-priced product or service. This type of email offers a discount on the upgrade, making it more affordable for the customer.

16. Cross-sell trigger email

A cross-sell trigger email is sent to customers who have purchased one of your products or services. This type of email recommends other products or services that would complement what the customer has already bought.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

These are just some examples of great trigger emails, but there are many more out there! The most important thing is to find what works for you and your business and run with it! Experiment with different subject lines, content, calls-to-action, and more until you find what gets the best results for YOUR business.