Businesses and industries are the two essential parts of the global economy that have been threatened and impacted severely by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the businesses and industries around the globe are bound to close (temporarily or permanently) because of the fear of getting infected by this deadly virus. World’s economy is now on the verge of being collapsed. Many business owners are trying to find out alternatives to run their businesses by imposing home office facilities for the employees or maintaining safe social distances. Many companies have already implemented home office facilities to fight this moment of crisis and keep the wheel of the global economy running. We are in a different era of business and marketing now. The year 2020 will decide the fate of the world.
As the public gatherings in the cities, corporate/industrial areas, even in religious houses are prohibited around the globe out of fear, and with good reasons, traditional ways of promoting/marketing and selling your products/services have now become entirely obsolete. As a result, more and more businesses going online and started to invest in creating their digital footprint when most of the potential customers are now using the internet to find their desired products and services.
The problem that arises with this new era of business and marketing is how to reach your target audience when traditional methods are not working? Here web content comes to play. To reach your target audience/customer online, creating a website is the best way. To create brand awareness of your business, and reach your target customers, web content is the irreplaceable part of your website. Content is the king for getting noticed by the search engines and create your strong digital footprint. Because, a high quality, informative and relevant content can help your website rank easily for your targeted search phrases or keywords to the top organic search results.
As more and more businesses are flocking towards online, web competition is increasing like a sand storm in the deserts. Everyone is trying to write better and better content to stay ahead of the competition. A high quality, engaging and relevant content is a crucial part of your website now more than ever if you want to bring online success. There are a lot of web content writing strategies, tips and tricks available on the internet. King Kongtent, a content writing and SEO Agency from Australia, has put together the best web content writing strategies in this infographic for you to get your content writing skill sharpen up!
The
severe impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has paved the way for the
so-called new normal. For consumers, it means consuming content and making
transactions mostly through online means. The goal is to keep people healthy,
productive, and safe in the comforts of their homes, away from public spaces.
For
your company, the new normal entails that you review your business plan. If you
have yet to build a business presence online, now may be an opportune time to
do so. With people spending more time at home with their devices, it will be a
costly mistake not to have a digital marketing strategy for your business.
Digital
marketing allows you to reach your target market in widely-used platforms like
social media, although limiting yourself to social media marketing isn’t the
single best way to connect with your audience, either.
For example, you can expand your reach with PPC. PPC or pay-per-click, as the name suggests, is when you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad. PPC is the opposite of attracting visitors to your site organically via unpaid search results, which is attainable through SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
With
PPC, you’re relying on buying—instead of earning—visits to your site, so it’s
important that you do it correctly. Even if you pay $1–$2 for every click,
there’s a good chance that what you spend in your PPC campaigns will be offset
if you can get people to buy your product or service.
Other digital marketing strategies can help you ensure business continuity even in critical times like the COVID-19 pandemic. Use the succeeding sections to know the different disciplines of digital marketing as well as tips to better align your campaigns with how consumers are behaving based on the new normal.
Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)
SEO
refers to the process of optimizing your website so that it meets the standards
of search engines like Google, Yahoo, or Bing in giving people a positive user
experience through quality and relevant information.
Here are some COVID-19-specific ideas for optimizing your website:
Continue improving the quality of your website, even if there are fewer search activities these days. Know that other businesses may be taking a less aggressive approach in marketing because they may have other priorities to keep their business afloat, so beefing up your SEO efforts puts you steps ahead of the competition.
Find out what types of questions people are asking these days and try to incorporate relevant into your content the keywords based on the most popular searches.
Update your website to let people know any changes in your operations. For example, you may have shortened your business hours or added cashless payment options in compliance with health and safety protocols in your area.
Optimize for mobile users. The user experience should be suited to the type of device that visitors use, including smartphones and tablets. Consumers more connected to their devices nowadays, so make sure that your website interface is both attractive and functional. Buttons, images, and other similar elements should help people to find what they’re looking for easily.
Part
of your digital marketing strategy can also include building apps for your
business. Mobile apps are popular because they help create a seamless
experience in the buyer’s journey, which is an added convenience that’s very
important for customers.
Follow these tips as you launch your mobile app:
Simplify the registration process. Avoid asking users to provide personal information other than their mobile number and email address to encourage them to sign up.
Use push notifications to inform your customers of sales events, new product arrivals, payment reminders, and so on.
Content Marketing
Content
marketing involves creating and distributing educational, highly valuable
content for consumers. In content marketing, you use blog articles, social
media posts, infographics, eBooks, and so on to showcase not only your brand
authority but also to build trust with your audience, as you help them solve
their problems through the information you provide.
Consider these current best
practices in content marketing:
Create content that people
will actually want to consume.
Content
that’s too sales-y won’t make the cut because you don’t want to make people
feel that you’re only after their business, especially in these trying times.
Try giving them something entertaining or inspirational instead to help them
cope with the emotional distress caused by the pandemic.
Include videos in your
content assets
Include
videos in your content assets to let people know how to use your product or
service in an educational yet engaging manner.
For
example, if you’re offering homeschooling services, you can capture on video
the methods that you’ll be using to conduct online classes with students to
help parents decide if the program will work for their children.
Social Media Marketing
As
a digital marketer, social media marketing can be a powerful mechanism for your
team. A lot of people now get their content on this platform, and this trend is
likely to continue as people remain isolated at home.
Keep these things in mind as you use social media to achieve your marketing and other business goals:
Invest in paid ads on
social
As mentioned, other businesses may be doing less digital marketing these days, so there’s less competition in the social advertising space. On the other hand, more and more consumers who are in-home quarantine are shopping online both for essentials and non-essentials. This makes social ads one of the most cost-effective and results-oriented techniques you can use right now.
Leverage social to improve your brand of customer service
If your office or brick-and-mortar store remains closed or operates in limited capacities, you can use social to help resolve customer concerns through instant messaging or the comments section in your social media account. Keeping your customers satisfied helps set your brand apart and conveys a message that you truly care about your customers, with or without the pandemic.
Digital Marketing in the
Age of the New Normal
Customers’ needs and shopping behaviour are continuously changing, especially in light of the new normal. This makes it necessary for your business to update your marketing strategies. Serving the right content at the right time and on the right channels can be a good starting point for your digital marketing team.
The role of advertising in today’s fast-evolving business
world is inevitable. The present-day corporate world is competitive and
challenging. Businesses that rely on proven advertising techniques are more
likely to earn customer’s trust than those who don’t have a solid advertising
plan in place.
Today, almost every field be it
politics, education, or retail make use of advertising processes to grow and
excel. Even immigration advisories
also take help from advertising strategies to draw the attention of prospects.
Advertising not only helps you promote your products, but it
also enables you to communicate well with your customers.
In this post, we’ll help you understand the importance and objectives of advertisements for small and mid-scale businesses. Also, we’ll have a quick look at some of the most popular advertisement methods and their impact on the success of your business.
Importance and Objectives of Advertisement
As mentioned above, advertising plays a crucial role in
today’s vying business environment. In fact, it wouldn’t be incorrect if we
consider it as a key to your growth and success.
No matter how high-quality and long-lasting your product is,
all of your efforts will go down the drain if it fails to earn recognition
among your target audience. Advertising is one of the ways you can fetch
recognition and acknowledgment for your product.
Below you will find some of the benefits that advertisement
offers to businesses, customers, and retailers.
Brand Awareness
With proper advertising strategies, it’s easier for
businesses to drive brand awareness and create trust among potential customers.
When customers see your business name and logo often, they
will eventually start trusting your offers. Here, you can also collaborate with
other third-parties such as non-profits to increase brand awareness.
Market Expansion
The advertisement also allows businesses to expand their
market. It helps them identify new opportunities while retaining the current
options.
With suitable advertising strategies in place, you would be able to convey your message across different locations. This allows you to market and sell your products to the customers living in remote areas.
Product Launch
If you’re planning to introduce a new product in the market,
you can employ the best advertising strategies to persuade your target audience
to purchase your product.
Increased Revenue
As advertising strategies create brand awareness and
encourage people to purchase your products, it significantly improves your
business’s sales volume. Increased sales volume is greatly helpful in fighting
the forces of competition currently prevalent in the market. With constant
advertising and effective marketing, you can outperform your competitors and
increase leads.
Improves Goodwill
Advertising helps improve your brand reputation and
goodwill. Business goodwill is an intangible asset that increases the business
value and expands its customer base in the long-run. Also, it helps you build
valuable relationships that ensure the long-term growth of your business.
Elimination of Middlemen
Advertising strategies help you connect directly with your
customers. When you’re able to connect with your customers without market
intermediaries, you can save a lot on your logistics expenditure.
More Employment Opportunities
Advertising creates more employment opportunities for
talented individuals having remarkable salesmanship skills.
Better Standard of Living
According to Winston Churchill, “advertising nourishes the consuming power of men and creates wants for a better standard of living”. With the right advertising strategies, you can introduce high-ticket products with better quality to your target audience.
Impact Buyer Decisions
One of the biggest advantages of using effective advertising
strategies is to influence buyer decisions and promote sales. For this,
advertisers have to educate customers about their products and prove that their
offers are more value-driven and beneficial than others.
B2C and B2B Approaches
There are two ways advertising can happen in a business
framework. B2C advertising model helps you sell your products directly to your
customers. With B2C, you have to involve other businesses to market your offers
for the final consumers.
Advertising Methods
Brochures or Flyers
Brochures have turned into a popular marketing medium in recent times. There is software available online that allows you to create attractive brochures containing useful info about your products and packages.
SMS Alerts
SMS is one of the surefire ways to reach out to your
customers without investing hefty on your marketing plan. SMS boasts a massive
98% open rate, and it is one of the most effective ways to convey your message
to your target audience.
Email
Similar to text messages, you can also send emails to your
prospective customers containing details about your latest offers.
While there are a number of email templates available online
that you can use to send to your customers, we suggest you opt for custom email
designs to promote your offers.
Direct Mail
Direct mail is another useful advertising method that lets
you send highly customized messages to your customers. Make sure you build a comprehensive
mailing list of your current or potential customers and keep them updated with
all the valuable and recent information you have.
Newspapers and Magazines
While newspaper ads sound outdated, the fact is that a
significant chunk of the population still reads newspapers on a daily basis.
So, it would be a great idea to market your products using this medium if you
think your target audience is a dedicated newspaper’s readers.
Magazine ads, on the other hand, can get quite expensive.
Try to find out options that are relevant to your industry. You can either
place an ad or a short article covering your products in the magazine.
Newsletters
Newsletters can be a powerful medium to connect with your
audience. You can hire a consultant to design an initial layout of the
newsletter. Also, there are many desktop publishing tools that you can use to
create an interesting newsletter for your business.
Posters and Billboards
Posters and billboards also enable you to get your message across. Make sure you choose the right size, images, and text for these mediums. Also, place them at locations where your customers will easily notice them.
Television
Television is certainly one of the most popular mediums when
it comes to advertising your products and services. Almost everyone owns a TV
these days, making it very easy to convey your message than any other
advertising channel.
With Television, you can create ads that can be targeted
both locally and internationally. TV ads grab consumer’s attention when they
are relaxing in their home. While this channel is more expensive than other
online and paper-based advertising mediums, it’s worth all the money
considering the fact that you can reach out to larger audiences.
Advertising is key to running a successful business. A
well-designed advertising campaign triggers public interest and encourages
customers to purchase products.
It’s important to understand that the money you invest in your advertising campaigns is a long-term investment linked directly to your income statement.
Make sure you keep your attention focused not only on
advertising strategies but also on the right products.
Last but not least, make sure you research about different available advertising approaches and choose the channel that best fits your business and marketing style. Don’t forget to make a cost comparison that supports your overall marketing budget.
What advertising
strategies do you follow to accelerate marketing activities within your
organization? Share your feedback below as we would love to know about your
choices.
Author-Bio:This article is published by our guest author Kazim Raza. He is one of the highly prestigious contents & research specialists. He’s expanding his career in brand optimization and the betterment of brand, traffic, and conversion. He’s currently associated with Optimus Law which is one of the biggest Birmingham Immigration advisors.
The monetary burdens of COVID-19 have put many small businesses searching for lower-priced marketing ways for their business. The accurate information is that people are spending time online more than ever before, and there are lots of easy ways to attain your customers digitally at no cost.
Here, I’m sharing 11
unfastened strategies to enlarge you’re attaining on 4 famous online
structures:
Google
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Reaching Your Target Audience on Google
One
brief notice before we start this phase: As of writing this publish, Google My
Business profile modifying capabilities are varying from daily as Google
suppresses and adds functions in reaction to COVID-19. If you get caught on any
of the underneath hints, skip them and be on the lookout for abilities to
return.
1. Update Your Google My Business Profile
Your
Google My Business profile is the free list that appears for your commercial
enterprise on each Google Maps and Google Local Search outcome. Due to big
hours, physical closings, and constrained travel, consumers are acting even
more “close to me” and “open now” searches on Google at some stage in COVID-19.
They’re also searching for specific standards together with transport and
online charge options. That being stated, you have to make the following
updates to your profile to retain reaching your target market on Google:
Verify your hours (or mark your business as quickly closed).
Modify your description (a.K.A. “From the business”) to include relevant COVID-19 services.
Have a class decided on, as this may allow you to suggest enterprise-specific attributes, such as curbside pickup, drive-thru, and transport for eating places.
Create posts (greater on this subsequent).
Note: Google is the usage of blanket labels right now which include “hours and offerings may vary,” however you may nevertheless set your business up for success once they elevate this label.
2. Create Google Posts
Just like with social media systems, you could submit posts in your Google My Business list at no cost. But in contrast to social media structures in which users are leisurely strolling, consumers on Google are actively in search of. GMB posts permit you to get your updates and unique gives in front of consumers who are ready to have interaction, making this is a wonderful manner to attain and maintain customers throughout COVID-19.
This
salon is quickly closed, but its online keep is accomplishing a giant Google
Maps target market through this GMB put up.
And with GMB’s new COVID-19 publish kind, you can be even greater effective at accomplishing your target market at the proper time. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the Q&A phase (“Is your enterprise open all through COVID-19?”), which is temporarily not acting on profiles.
3. Write Applicable Blog Posts
The
internet is saturated right now with COVID-19 content, however, that doesn’t
mean you can’t still attempt to show up on the first web page of a Google
search. The trick is to target lengthy-tail key phrases noticeably particular
for your area of interest. For instance, a chiropractor could write a blog
publish “At-home Lower Back Exercises” or “Avoid Neck Pain While in
Quarantine.” This content material prices nothing to create apart from some
time, which you may have extra off at this point, anyway.
The
first actual results for “save you neck ache at some point of quarantine” are
none aside from a small PT business in Cambridge, MA.
You
ought to even tie on your geographic location for extra powerful concentrated
on, like with a list titled “Best Places to Walk Your Dog in Bethesda.” These
coronavirus-applicable pages will garner traffic in and of themselves proper
now, but they’ll also raise your standard internet site search engine
optimization for a long time.
Reaching Your Audience on Facebook in the Course of COVID-19
Social
media is prime for building relationships, and with utilization growing all
through isolation, you could attain greater of your audience on Facebook at
some stage in COVID-19. Here are 3 methods to do this.
4. Hop on Facebook Live
More
people are looking to stay motion pictures right now than ever earlier than. In
truth, Facebook Live visitors have multiplied through as much as 50%. There are
many obvious makes use of this free Facebook marketing function, which include
answering COVID-19 purchaser questions, presenting a relevant recommendation,
or leading a quarantine workout. But don’t forget additionally that Facebook
Live movies may be stored. With viewership at an all-time excessive, this is a
superb time to run live classes on your conventional and evergreen topics,
which you may repurpose down the road as soon as the coronavirus has handed.
If you’re open and delivering, it’s an awesome concept to add a few greater pride in your deliveries. It’s a fair higher concept to add a few mysteries to the combination. As with the Facebook instance below, you can run a giveaway in which all orders positioned inside a specific time body qualify for an unfastened treat—and one fortunate winner receives a present card. Not most effective can this inspire extra audience engagement; however it’ll improve their spirits, as well.
6. Check-in along with your network
There
are a plethora of COVID-19 posts on social media, however, that doesn’t imply
you want to come up with an earth-shattering publish to stand out for your
target market. A simple, heartfelt put up without a purpose aside from to wish
your network properly can cross an extended way. After all, truly is
authenticity.
Reaching your audience on Instagram throughout COVID-19
Instagram
is wonderful for storytelling, and every person has their very own specific
COVID-19 testimonies to percentage. Here’s a way to attain your audience at no
cost on Instagram throughout COVID-19.
7. Use COVID-19 hashtags
Hashtags are an unfastened and yet powerful manner to amplify your social media visibility. There is, of direction, many trending COVID-19 hashtags circulating around. But huge Instagram hashtags like #COVID19 aren’t going to provide you with plenty of visibility. The secret’s to use a place and industry modifiers. For example:
Instead of #COVID19, attempt something like
#covidfashion #covidpetsafety or #covidhomeschooling.
Instead of #wereinthistogether, attempt something
like #portlandstrong.
Some different ideas
for COVID-19 hashtags you may use or modify for your business are:
Of route, in case you’re just seeking to sprinkle in
some friendly and uplifting hashtags, that’s high-quality too! Try COVID-19
hashtags like #wereinthistogether, #wellgetthroughthis, #allinthistogether,
#thenewnormal, #alonetogether, #stayhome, #saferathome, and #sixfeetapart.
8. Write COVID-pleasant captions
There
are a number of purposes your COVID-19 Instagram posts can serve. Here are some
writing guidelines for Instagram captions to correctly attain your Instagram
audience:
When boosting morale: Keep captions mild and not too
precise; anybody is experiencing it otherwise.
When providing fitness and protection hints: Check
captions for accuracy.
When offering updates: Keep captions concise with
essentials most effective.
When promoting pivoted services: Include words like
“curbside pickup “or “still available.”
Reaching your target audience on Twitter for the duration of COVID-19
Twitter
takes on the conversational nature of Facebook but the faster intake tempo of
Instagram. Here are three unfastened approaches to acquire visibility and
resonate with your target audience during COVID-19.
9. Repurpose opinions
Part
of Roger Smith Hotel’s Twitter method is that of taking rates from advantageous
consumer reviews and growing tweets out of them. They have endured this tactic
throughout COVID-19, and I must say, it works. The tweets don’t ask you to
depart an overview or eBook a life, but the high-quality phrases and attractive
pix do leave you feeling quite precise.
10. Take up #supportsmallbusiness gives
There are lots of purchasers on Twitter right now who’re presenting to promote neighbourhood organizations in their area. Run a hashtag search like #shoplocal, #supportsmallbusiness, #shoplocal [yourcity], or #smallbusiness and notice if you find any gives.
11. Support different nearby corporations during COVID-19
In the instance below, Connected Kent gives to share 5 exceptional neighbourhood groups for every one tweet about their offerings. Why not do that method to your commercial enterprise? It’s a brilliant way to reach new audiences on Twitter at the same time as also supporting out different local organizations suffering in the course of COVID-19—all without cost.
These free techniques of digital marketing are awesome strategies for reaching your target audience and assuaging monetary worry at some stage in COVID-19, but they may be tailored for use even after the pandemic has surpassed. Try them out and how knows, perhaps you’ll come out of this pandemic with a more potent online presence than ever earlier than.
Author Bio: This article is written by our guest author Dave Jones. He is a web content writer, and guest blogger, at Getsetgoweb who offers content writing services to online business owners including SEO and Digital Marketing, Website designing, and development, logo design, and corporate branding.
We all want our businesses to thrive, evolve, and shine in
our respective markets. The quality and efficiency of our employees make a
difference as to whether the business rises or falls. Let us show you how you
can make them better.
Failure is not an option. That is what you probably tell yourself every day. No one wants their business to fail, but sadly, many do, and due to a variety of factors that cannot be controlled. But one that can, the level of employee proficiency and overall enthusiasm to do their job with gusto.
The workplace conundrum
Most people only work hard to avoid getting fired, and many
employers only pay enough to keep an employee from quitting. Both employer and
employee are looking at the edge of a veritable cliff, and that is no way to
run a productive workplace. The employee motivation is obviously to get paid a
living wage, or better, but doesn’t inspire passion in their respective craft.
They need something extra, and they will give you something above the usual
employee performance.
If you started a business, you probably did so to achieve
something above what you could working for someone else. It’s naïve to think
your employees aren’t thinking the same thing. They are hired by you to do a
job, do it well, and together, the business reaches greater heights. After all,
without them, your business is just you, and if you could do the job on your
own, would you have needed to hire other people
1. A better employee relation strategy
The needs of the people change regularly, and you must have
your finger on the pulse of this change to stay relevant to your people’s
needs. Here are a few tips to help find that pulse and use it more effectively:
2. Achievable goals
There is a line between ambitious and impossible, and many
employers skate that line thinking more about the money than the reality of
what can be accomplished.
Keep your goals just beyond the range of employee capability
to inspire a better drive to succeed, but not so far out of the realm of
possibility to discourage them.
3. Always have a direction
Forward momentum without guidance is how a goal can be lost
in the mire of uncertainty—this business is that flagship of your ambition.
Captain your crew, and always have a plan, preferably before you do something
new or different.
4. Hire effective management
People never ask why employee management is important
because the answer is obvious. Without clear direction and the person in place
to enforce that direction, sooner or later, chaos ensues. But management must
be done right. Never micromanage. It undermines the staff’s ability to
focus when a boss hovers. Employee monitoring is not hovering. It is checking
in, getting updates, offering guidance, and keeping all the trains running on
time.
5. Communication is crucial
You never want your place of work to turn out like a bad
marriage, in which no one talks to anyone else, and nothing gets done. For your
business to thrive, an active dialogue is paramount. Sometimes there are issues
that you need to know. Employee support is key to keeping the wheels greased,
and the best way to do that is an employee survey. If you wish, they can do it
via an employee online survey platform that allows anonymous input.
6. Have some fun
There is a tried and true cliché that says, “if you
love what you do, you will never work a day in your life.” While that may
be true, having fun all the time isn’t productive. Having occasional fun events,
on the other hand, can be. One of many employee motivational theories is to
loosen up the workplace one day a week or have quarterly events, like casino
night, complete with table games and no deposit slots.
7. Keep everyone on point
Never lose your focus and keep others true to theirs. It is
so easy to become distracted with nonsense and take your eye off the ball. It
is sadly part of human nature. Remove distractions and set clear standards to
keep the focus clear and steadfast.
8. Criticism
For employee help, the best medium is yearly evaluations.
Let them know where they have succeeded and give them insight into where and
how they have slipped below acceptable expectations. Then assist them in
bringing those lower numbers to a happier level.
9. Know thyself
You are not infallible. Know what you are capable of, and
more importantly, what you struggle with. This will help you determine who to
hire or what business is best suited for you. And will help you better grasp
that your employees also have limitations.
10. Completion
Never leave a job undone. Set quotas but keep them fixed in
that they are for completed tasks. It is easy to lose your place when you quit
in the middle of a job, even if you intend to circle back later.
Get the hard stuff out of the way
Even as a kid, we were told to do the hard chores first. The
same applies to business. If you manage to get the more difficult tasks done
early, then everything else is downhill and can be done with limited stress.
And don’t forget to celebrate the little victories, as well as the overall
completed goal. It keeps the motivation as a constant sensation.
No one is telling you to satisfy every
selfish whim of your staff. That is no way to run a business. The suggestion is
to be aware of the deeper realities of the people you work with and who work
for you. If they want to be there, they will perform at a higher level than if
they must reluctantly drag themselves into the workplace. Clear business
knowledge is more than just how to make money. It is how to effectively inspire
people to give their best effort. It’s about employee knowledge, too. Do you
have any tips that can enhance and enrich a staffer’s workplace experience?
Let’s start with some intriguing facts. While shopping, for 64% of buyers customer experience is more important than pricing. And if the buying process is too vague and complicated, 70% of buyers would rather change the brand.
Moreover, before even dealing with the vendor or
seller B2B consumers completely define their requirements for which half of the
B2B buyers have already identified solutions.
This data should not be surprising as it reflects
how the mindset of consumers has evolved with the evolution of technology. The
emergence of the internet has made all the information we need easily
accessible to all of us.
Cable, Phone, and Internet connections are as
essential commodities like anything else in our homes, and we cannot function
properly in their absence – forget undergoing a sluggish connection. Amid
COVID’19 it has become even more crucial not to have steady communication
support and that primarily includes Cable TV, internet, and phone.
Most of us working from home are only relying on
good internet connection and ISPs have also come forward with packages and
deals that incorporate students and professionals working online during the quarantine.
ISPs enabling instant customer support help is also more significant than ever before because we cannot afford the internet not functioning properly for a single day – it greatly affects our productivity and work hours. Spectrum internet customer service has been phenomenal throughout this global pandemic as it has always been before as well, quoting from general consensus and recent experiences.
Here, in this article, we are going to
comprehend why ISPs should keep the customer service system intact and how
significant it is for their business or any business in general.
But the question is how is it relatable to what
you think about your marketing, selling, and your customer service team. There
would be three definite roles described by many:
Marketing covers brand and appearance.
While the sales departments are all about developing relationships.
And sustaining those relationships is linked to customer service.
But if these three roles are not operating in
synchronizations with each other; they can affect your growth and can cause
damage to your brand.
Whether the potential buyer is looking for any
product or service, researching for options, making endorsements, or seeking an
outlet to let other people know about their previous experiences which were
good or bad their major option is doing it online. This is an established fact
now, which results in blurring the boundaries of marketing, selling, and
customer service.
Thus, adjusting your strategy is crucial to be effective in the marketplace we have today. Your organization needs to line up with the behaviour of your prospect as their journey is being commenced with your brand, which means you need to know how your potential buyers think; how they are researching; how they are purchasing, and what their buyer’s journey is.
Before any business is being sent to your way a
prospect undergoes three stages which are: awareness, consideration, and
decision.
Your prospect will search the internet and will
look for information related to their problems or requirements. The content
they get to see is helpful for them and that content is establishing
trustworthiness between you and your client. You need to produce content that
helps them in their research and let them know how your offers and services can
aid them in the aforementioned stages.
At every step, we have mentioned before a buyer is looking for specific information. And exactly where it becomes interesting, let’s talk about blog, review, ratings, or your accessibility to your clients whatever it is you need to make the recent ecosystem work for you. For which you need to have input from your whole team
Your marketing team should create relevant and
helpful messages and content that the customer can relate to.
Your sales team should make sure to be
accessible. They need to be more helpful rather than just being some average
salespersons with sales talks only.
Your customer support
should be more focused on reading and reviews of your existing customers. If
you are generating helpful content you need to have a track record as social
proofs, testimonials, and reviews. Also, the team needs to be available when
clients have any questions. This way their trust in you will be established and
they will start having confidence in you that you are qualified enough to meet
their requirements.
You may catch yourself daydreaming about the
biggest goals you can’t wait to achieve. You may even find yourself sleepless
at night thinking about the life you’d be able to live once you get there. But
once it comes to working towards those large goals, it may seem rather
unachievable.
If you’re nodding your head yes, this is for
you. Start by writing out what you want your life to look like. Then, break
those goals down into smaller goals. Once you have those set, create a
realistic timeline with rewards up to the leading goal — and repeat.
When you reward yourself for your
achievements, you push through the hardest of times. Yet, if one of your
biggest goals is to save for a house, or even a car, spending money on a reward
may not be the best choice, but that doesn’t mean you should celebrate your
wins either.
To create healthy habits and reach your goals time and time again, download Mint’s reward setting printables to track and celebrate your big achievements. Not to mention, the list of free reward ideas to celebrate your hard work.
Set Your Goals
Start off by setting your big goals and write them down. Keep track of where you are on each week so you know exactly what you need to be focusing on.
Track Your Habits
It only takes 66 days to create a habit. If one of your goals is to work out four days a week, or drink enough water throughout the day, keep yourself accountable. Track your habits and ensure you do it for 66 days.
Have
Visible Reminders
Sometimes, you may get down. You may lose all motivation and not want to keep going. Print out our motivational signs, cut them out, and hang them on your wall for a motivation boost.
Check Off Your Goals
As you start to check more and more off of your goals list, cut out and tape our stickers to remind yourself of how good you’re doing.
Reward Yourself
Now, as your goals fully come to a close, celebrate! Of course, be sure to set your next set of goals to keep the momentum going.
Effective data
management, oriented to meet client requirements, has become a daunting task
for companies of all sizes. This is primarily due to the massive amount of
information generated when interacting with users. Fortunately, there are smart
procedures to overcome these challenges and turn them into new opportunities.
One of the most revolutionary ways this is represented is with artificial
intelligence (AI) and CRM integrations.
Predicting
current and future customer behaviour, plus understanding what their
requirements are, is now simple with AI. Read on to know more about how CRM and
AI can aid you in improving your client relationships.
Development of Human Machines
Today,
technological progress has enabled human beings to give machines some
abilities, which go beyond the archaic functions of merely storing data. Hence,
as a result, this advancement has encouraged the growth of AI.
Intelligence
signifies the capability of machines to understand, learn, and assess in the
same manner as a human. To better understand how AI correctly works, it is
essential to consider deep machine learning, as it is closely associated with
this technology.
Deep Learning
It is an
algorithm based on a cascade of networks that enables a predictive analysis via
a parameter’s combination.
Machine Learning
Signifies the
capability of machines to learn by themselves, without a programmer’s
intervention or input.
Such learning
engines became complicated algorithms, representing the basis of artificial
intelligence. It’s the key to ensure success by combining CRM and AI
technology.
If AI signifies
an efficient resource, it’s because of the incredible scope it has to offer.
It can understand natural language.
Leverages reasoning and logic to solve problems.
It helps to detect patterns and predicts behaviour.
Collects and processes massive amounts of data, quickly.
When AI meets CRM
What does a CRM
focus on, and what is the need to combine it with AI? The primary goal of CRM
solutions is to understand clients better and offer them customized products.
From the start,
CRMs have utilized databases to acquire their objectives in more
straightforward ways. Until now, this management has been focused primarily on
gathering, storing, and offering data at a customer’s request, leaving
extraction, analysis, and interpretation aside, which provides actual value
into the details received.
Coupled with the
ever-enhancing volumes of data that companies must manage, it becomes easier to
see why a CRM requires some AI support to adapt to this new age of digital
transformations.
Combining CRMs with
AI
Good Data Management
All the data
collected from digital interfaces and social networks can get centralized into
the CRM system. So AI can interpret and redirect them to provide real value for
their organization’s goals. In these scenarios, marketing teams and helpdesk
systems can streamline and improve customer relationships by integrating
resources, which enable the support department to respond quickly and
appropriately to all client requests.
Streamlined Sales Strategy
It’s via intelligent data analysis and automated data entry where companies can generate accurate profiles of the clients who are willing to buy your products. By analyzing client behaviours, organizations can personalize advertising and provide the best material of interest to every lead.
As a result,
sales teams can quickly promote a positive perception of their organization’s
brand and encourage leads to close deals. Plus, AI can get utilized to assess
client emotions to establish the right strategies, which increases the overall
engagement level for every current and potential customer.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Quality customer service is a determining aspect when it comes to client satisfaction. Leveraging user-friendly marketing strategies that are specifically targeted for the correct time and in the appropriate context, organizations can aid their clients in developing positive feelings about the company. Additionally, by providing quick and efficient customer service, it is possible to humanize the communication your sales teams have with users and promote the ideas of an organization that stretches beyond sales.
Enhance Client Engagement with an AI-driven CRM
Technology can
aid you in receiving emotional insight from your consumers. Sentiment analysis
and image identification are two main reasons why an AI-enabled CRM is regarded
as the future for your business. Do not risk losing your qualified prospects.
Artificial
intelligence can aid you in understanding a client’s satisfaction or
dissatisfaction in real-time. After collecting this valuable insight, it is
easier for you to spot problems and take action accordingly. AI will be able to
read client intentions better than your sales team.
Bots and Virtual Assistants
Now, it is time
to forget about tedious processes and accelerate the sales cycle by leveraging
new technology to interact with clients and easily schedule meetings. Also,
enhance lead generation by creating accurate marketing campaigns. By
integrating artificial intelligence into your CRM, you can automate reports,
emails, capture data, and more. It aids you in avoiding the risk of potential
human errors in your daily activities and administrative duties.
Automate Regular Everyday Tasks
AI will help you
and your team to automate tedious and repetitive tasks that are time-consuming.
Tasks such as data retrieval and input, determining call lists, and upgrading
forecasts can all get handled by AI.
When CRM
solutions learn more about client preferences and patterns, they will be able
to recommend and deploy new methods on the user’s behalf. The sales departments can then tap into each
client’s collected data and spend time on developing stronger relationships and
closing more deals.
Provide Instant Responses
Most customers
value excellent client services, which should always provide instant responses
and quick resolutions. As per HubSpot,
more than 90 percent of clients considered an immediate response as very
important, and above 80 percent felt the same about marketing and sales
inquiries.
For an extended
period, instant responses were challenging to deliver to customers. With the
help of automation and AI, things are now starting to transform. Common
questions get quickly answered via automation, thus freeing up service
representatives’ time so that they can focus on more high-value and complex
questions or issues.
Learn How Your Customers Feel
According to Gartner, CRMs are where most of the company spending on business software occurs. Cloud-based systems tend to come with substantial price tags. It still makes sense to invest in, as the customer service and sales departments are the cornerstones of any successful business.
Meaning it is
critical to get the most out of the money being spent. It is not enough to
simply collect customer information and sales data. With AI, it is now possible
to collect the data and filter through it to generate more appropriate sales
goals, which can get upgraded in real-time. By implementing AI, it is possible
to view how your clients feel at each stage of the sales pipeline and gain a
collective view of their opinions.
This analysis
data can satisfy customers’ inquiries and help turn an unhappy customer into a
happy one. By knowing how a client feels can increase total sales by enhancing
customer service and transforming the way, an annual business plan gets
completed.
Organizations
have recently been using AI to measure the emotions of clients. For instance,
the Alexa team has been working to spot a user’s feelings by listening to the
sounds and tone of their voice.
Smart Chatbots
Chatbots offer smart customer support and are better at crafting personalized content than human beings. They have access to lots of client-centred data points and combine location-specific requests to detect common problems easily, spot patterns, and predict what might be causing issues for a group of users.
Overcome Language Difficulties
Language is a
tedious and strenuous barrier for organizations to cut through, particularly
for smaller companies. Artificial intelligence has the power to help eliminate
these obstructions.
For instance, when eBay introduced an AI-powered tool, which translated searches as well as listing titles back in 2014, sales from outside the United States to other countries were able to use this new tool, and total sales rose by 11%. The company statistics to this day remain particularly high as eBay continues to utilize this translation tool.
For
organizations, the ability to sell across borders can transform their
trajectory of user adoption and retention. Big business enterprises like Google
offer AI-powered translation tools for every to utilize. Each business can now
easily interact with their clients all over the world. So, we all must be
thankful for machine learning and artificial intelligence for this change.
24/7 Availability
Even when your
staff is not available, communication channels remain available open 24/7. With
the help of AI, brands can better aid their clients, also if they don’t have
the time to answer every single customer request. It makes your clients feel
supported continuously. Investing in a good AI proves to be beneficial for your
brand.
Empower Self-Service
One of the best
factors of an AI is that it will eradicate the need of support agents to keep a
customer “on hold” for an available executive to aid them with a simple issue
related to a product or service.
AI has
transformed all of this by enabling organizations to leverage virtual
assistants and chatbots to answer many frequently asked questions, without
filling up call-in support lines. It ultimately frees up customer service
agent’s time to work on more challenging issues.
Does Your Business Need a CRM with AI Capabilities?
Do you need AI
within your cloud-based CRM solution? Or is it just some other fancy add-on
that might not provide real value to your business? The answers will depend on
your organization’s unique requirements. Companies who are using the full power
of their solution will find a lot of value in integrating an AI-powered tool.
The companies who
are still struggling with CRM adoption, on the other hand, may find it an
unnecessary and challenging burden to deal with. Finally, the more data your
company gathers on leads and clients, the more use you will find in a tool
specifically built to collect, organize, and access the information seamlessly
within one solution.
Author Bio: This article is written by our guest author Emma James. She is a freelance content writer at SutiCRM, who frequently blogs on Business, Marketing, Sales, ERP and SaaS trends.
Extended periods of
anxiety or stress can lead to an occupational phenomenon called burnout. This condition can cause
feelings of lasting frustration and decreases in motivation that can destroy
productivity and overall satisfaction, especially in business owners.
Entrepreneurs are uniquely affected by burnout because of the long hours and
high stress that starting and running a business can cause. These issues are even
more prevalent now during these times of crisis and economic disaster.
Burnout can be a difficult condition to treat, and it can vary greatly from person-to-person. The best way to avoid burnout taking over is to notice the signs early on and implement time management strategies to manage your stress and anxiety. For some inspiration, ZenBusiness has put together this infographic that details a few time management techniques and provides some suggestions for different situations. If you are starting to notice stress and anxiety take over during this uncertain time, try out a few of these techniques. Once you find a good fit, use it daily to keep burnout in check so you can run your business smoothly.
If you an entrepreneur or a
business owner, the hustle of running a business is not unknown to you. To run
an organisation smoothly, you need active coordination between all the
resources. This includes human resources too. Managing your office employees can
be a tricky undertaking. In fact, it can be much more demanding than you
anticipate. All people respond differently to different management styles,
incentives and work arrangements. So, the question is simple: how can one
manage the office employees to get the work done effectively and efficiently?
Here’s a handy guide to help you
in the process:
Choose Your Management Style
Anyone in a senior role at any
organisation, leading people and taking managerial decisions will tell you that
there is no fixed recipe for success. You need to adapt your working style to
the changing business environment and always be open to changes.
In managing your employees effectively, your management style dictates your actions. Here are the four management styles that you can adopt under various circumstances:
Classic Entrepreneur: If business conditions demand that you prioritise the financial
well-being of your company, then it would be helpful to create reporting
structures within your team that help you measure your activities and goals in
terms of financial returns, market shares and similar metrics
Modern Missionary: If you are someone who doesn’t think success and financial payoffs
are synonymous, then you might be inclined to create an aspirational product or
service. If you are taking risks to create an impact, then the employees will
need to be motivated on these intangible aspects too!
Problem Solver: If your product aims to address a gap in the market, you would be
interested to get concrete results. You will rely on experience and expertise.
In this case, employees would benefit from solid instructions from you. You are
likely to confront difficulties and identify new opportunities, so teach your
employees to do the same.
Solution Finder: If your eyes are on the goal, you will often take charge and
responsibility for the results as well the steps to get there. You will need to
let go a little and believe in the genius of your employees and colleagues.
Different business situations
might require you to adopt a different leadership style. Make sure your
managerial actions work in tandem with your larger organisational goals and
industry trends.
Team Building and Personal Rapport Building
One of the trickiest parts of
managing people is dealing with emotions. Unlike physical or external
resources, human resources present this unique challenge: how do you talk to
people to get work done, but ensure dignity in the workplace?
The answer lies in team-building
and personal rapport building. There are a plethora of tasks that you can get
done faster if you share a personal tangent with your employees. So, put in
that slight extra bit of effort in getting to know your employees! A personal
rapport will take you a long way with your teams!
Communication is key
This cannot be emphasised enough:
always communicate well with your office employees. No matter which level in
the hierarchy your employees work at, they like to be kept in the loop about
company decisions, ongoing projects, prospective clients etc. They also like to
preempt any misadventures. Here are a few things you should solidify
communication on:
Clearly
convey your expectations of them and how they contribute to the overall
organisational success.
Encourage
an environment of feedback. Provide timely feedback on their work.
Ensure a
safe space where the employees can share their feedback too.
Acknowledge
the achievements and efforts of your employees.
Avoid
micromanaging. Except in extremely rare situations, micromanaging never works.
Assign work, communicate your goals and follow-up with your employees, but
don’t hinder their creative processes.
Design the office in a way that facilitates communication
Having established the importance
of communication in the success of any project, teams need to be seated such
that this communication is made possible. This may seem innocuous but the
design and layout of the office can play a major role in creating a space
conducive to active communication. Keep in mind the following:
Strike an architectural balance between collaborative work sessions and quiet pursuits
Understand how the design elements of exposure and enclosure will impact the
Invest in good furniture. Office desks should serve well on all fronts, including utility and size.
Make space for technology to be incorporated in the design of the office such that it enhances the quality of communication.
Have a dedicated space for brainstorming sessions. It should be a well-lit and spacious room with tools like whiteboards, pin-boards, markers,
Have a common space where people – especially leaders – can make themselves available for open interactions with others. Hierarchy is good, but open communication is what wins the game when it comes to new-age companies and start-ups.
Manage conflict
No matter how solid and foolproof
your communication systems are, there will always be conflicts arising in the
workplace. Do not ignore a conflict, address it.
Ask yourself a few questions when
you try to resolve a conflict:
Who are
the employees and what role do they play?
Does one
party in the conflict have more expertise than the other? Even so, nothing
gives them the right to dictate work on their own terms.
How do
such conflicts impact clients, prospective hires and other visitors to the office?
Are their
behavioural patterns displayed in the office that possibly point to an
unhealthy bias?
How is
the leader’s role perceived by the employees?
Hiring and Firing
As mentioned before, feedback is
a critical part of any job. Ongoing feedback needs to contribute to overall
performance reviews, which later form a part of the promotion, hiring and
firing cycle. Performance reviews should be done at least twice per year. Make
sure there is two-way communication, open for the employees too.
Be empathetic when it comes to
tough decisions like firing.
What happens when offices go remote?
In today’s time, it is not uncommon to have employees working for you remotely. There is a compounded risk of employee disinterest or dissatisfaction in such a scenario, so here are a few things you can do to ensure a steady workflow:
Schedule daily check-ins
Create
separate channels for official and unofficial communication
Make
space for emotional support
Provide
technological tools in the form of devices and internet to work productively
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