Category: Martech

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Significance of Online Reputation Management – How to enhance it?

on June 20, 2019

For every business owner or entrepreneur, reputation is currency! In this online world, business reputation is permanent and secure. A decade back, concepts like online reputation, online brand awareness, and search results were gaining prominence in small ways. Today, all these are critical elements of a successful online business.

Online users count on search results more than ever! Hence, it’s imperative to manage and maintain your online reputation effectively. The digital domain has shifted from the era of information to reputation. According to a Pew Research Center, report, about 91% of online users trust what they read and see in search engines. The Edelman Trust Barometer highlights than 65% of people believe online search results more than anything else.

Your online business reputation defines you! It means the information that’s available about you online make people form a perception about you. The news updates can change as your business expands. However, the online footprint never goes away. Posts, reviews, photos, comments, social media profiles, and the like – all these forms the basic structure of your online data, that you’ve put in. Each one has an impact that goes beyond Google page one search results. They influence decisions and reputation. Hence, it is essential to execute effective online reputation management in the online space.

Do you want to manage your online reputation management (ORM)? If yes, then you need to get in touch with a reputed SEO agency to execute the best ORM strategies. You can search based on your location. For instance, if you are in Philadelphia, you can search for the top Philadelphia SEO agencies and make your selection.

Important statistics to keep in mind

Not many people realize the importance of ORM. Here are a few essential statistics to establish its relevance:

  • About 91% of users resort to search engines to look for any information
  • Close to 655 of people count on online search as an authentic information source
  • Almost 50% of the US adults use Google to find out about their brand, report that they find both positive and negative news
  • Close to 90% of online users don’t go beyond Google first-page. Instead, they only count the first ten search outcomes and have an opinion
  • Business houses lose almost 22% of their customers when there’s a negative review about their company on Google page one
  • If your brand has two negative reviews on Google page one, you can lose as much as 44% of customers. If there are three negative reviews, the loss increases to 59%
  • Most people Google a brand online before making an online purchase or booking a service
  • About 45% of people have counted on online facts and reviews, which made them either to join hands with a company or not
  • About 56% of people base their business decisions with a company based on digital information

How to manage your ORM strategy?

It is essential for online business leaders to shape their online reputation management well. For that, they can opt-in for the following steps:

1. Participate proactively

Staying away from online platforms is not a smart call. Instead, you need to be present on social media channels, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and others to connect with your existing and potential customers. It will also increase your online brand awareness. Your users are always using these platforms to seek more information about you.

Having a profile is not sufficient! You need to engage your audience so that they can have a perception of your brand. Go ahead and share interesting posts, relevant industry news, update the audience about new releases, and many more. All these will aid your ORM process. When people have a positive idea about your brand, they will think twice before attaching a negative thought to your brand, should there be a sudden negative review.

Also, look at the people who are following you. It will help you to understand your audience better and create a better ORM strategy. When you have increased customer base and substantial customer goodwill, it will reflect on your work.

2. Understand your audience

Your participation will work well only when you have the correct understanding of your audience. When you collate data from social networks, make sure to cater the content to your target markers, influencers, and followers.

Not every content gets equally created! If you want to leverage ORM, you need to manage your brand message. You should know what you are saying, to who, and how. ORM is not self-promotion. Brands who have done that have suffered severely. You can move beyond advertising for your business and develop content that will add value to your users. Your content should holistically impact the audience. When you can successfully engage your users in interesting conversations and develop a positive association, you can witness your presence on various platforms. You might want to remedy a current crisis or enhance your online business awareness – but for all these, you need to say the correct things about your brand, in a non-promotional way.

3. Stay aware and well updated

The guidelines mentioned above will enable you to navigate the online world and enhance your ORM strategy! But the digital world is always changing. Hence, it’s crucial to stay updated with the constant changes so that you can plan your marketing, SEO, and ORM strategies better. Twitter, Google, and Facebook update their algorithms continually, and it is essential to stay updated with the changes so that your brand can perform better online.

Monitoring Wikipedia and other open-source platforms is a wise decision. Today, most people can make changes to these platforms. So, if you have a Wikipedia page check once in a while to see if there have been any wrong additions that might give out a negative impression about your brand. You need to correct that at the earliest.

There’s no way you can overlook ORM today! If you are online, you come under the ORM radar in all ways. Instead, it’s a smart decision to get proactive and ensure that you are taking the correct measures and steps. It helps in fostering a positive brand image. Also, during a crisis, your ORM team or tactics can you pass through it successfully.

DevelopmentInsightsMartechSaaS

How Modern Data Centers and SaaS are Changing Each Other

on June 14, 2019

They say the key to any relationship is the ability to bring out the best in each other. This has definitely been the case in recent years between most SaaS providers and major data centers.

SaaS evolves and data centers adapt. Data centers evolve and cause SaaS to evolve again, and the cycle repeats.

Let’s take a closer look at how this perfectly harmonious relationship has looked over the last few years. Also, if you’re currently exploring your options for a new data center, you can get more information by clicking that link. Another tip, you can take advice from companies that provide ultra-fast connectivity, business focused cloud and cyber solutions to organisations around the world like 4D Data Centres.

SaaS Cloud Computing Is Driving Data Center Evolution

In recent years we’ve seen the rise of mega-SaaS providers such as Salesforce, SAP, and Workday. We’ve also seen software companies like Microsoft and Adobe reach new heights by properly transitioning their SaaS proposals and offerings into SaaS-based solutions.

The most obvious impact is the sheer number of data centers now required to facilitate a market-wide mass exodus across all boards.

The move towards SaaS has also caused a surge of data centers moving to private cloud deployment to implement new software, using a combination of internal or hosted private clouds, managed by a third party.

According to data from Gartner Inc., 46% of data centers surveyed said they’re pushing for private clouds for deployment across all software markets over the next two years. Only 24% said they will push for a public cloud.

We’re also seeing a higher demand for the flexibility of a hybrid model of on-site data, coupled with colocation data center providers and public infrastructure as a service (IaaS). This opens the door for better efficiency through cloud bursting within a hybrid model.

How Data Centers are Changing SaaS Companies

In previous years, front-line employees enjoyed the simple convenience of a SaaS-based solution. However, department leaders may have found it difficult to get high-level data. Getting richer analytics may have been stalled or cumbersome.

This often meant that leaders would lose time to manually requesting data from the SaaS provider, followed by a frustrating cycle of FTP protocols and encrypted email attachments. Or they may have even had to wait for a manual shipment of data stored on hard disks. By the time leaders got their hands on the data they requested, it may have been outdated, devalued and stale.

However, that “trapped” data can be freed up by data centers evolving from a data warehouse to a data share-house. A data share-house takes away the waiting and inefficiency by removing the steps previously needed to manually move data around via FTP, email, or even courier. This is the end of data silos and gives everyone access to the same data at any time.

No two other industries are doing more to help each other evolve than SaaS providers and data centers. SaaS companies are constantly pushing to improve the customer experience, while they also look to solve any problems a customer may have with a data center. The same can be said for data centers, as they look to solve issues customers may have with a SaaS.

With this type of true synergy in place, it will be exciting to see where both industries are in 5, 10 and 15 years time.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

Here Are the Reasons that Web Development Is Essential for Business

on June 9, 2019

Do you want to expand your business? If so, then this place is very beneficial for you. In today’s world, the development of the website is becoming the main requirements of our business, which across different industries. As we know that some of the people are still don’t aware of this method and its importance in the business.

Nowadays customers buy their things online, that’s why on the internet millions of the consumers are present. So many companies are there who take benefit by creating their online website to attract many customers as they can. But before all these things, companies need to create their website according to the competitors. Today, we are here to tell you about some reasons for the web development which you need to know.

After knowing those reasons, you will be able to understand that Nicholls Web Consulting Adelaide SEO professionals play a vital role in expanding our business.

  • Convenience

If your website is well-developed, then it is beneficial for both you as well as your users. By developing your website, it makes your website simple and even creates it. Due to this, your site becomes straightforward; it means that every people can easily understand what you are offering them?

If the visitors know what is your exact business? And what are you offering them with the help of the website? Then it creates lots of chances that they all are converted into the customer.

  • Marketing on a global scale

If you have a better online presence with the help of the balanced website, then you can easily achieve your target. All those customers are not only from your local area, but they are also from different areas of the world. On the internet, we can see that there are millions of people who are all around the world.

You must make your website and wait to find out your website. When all the things have done, then you can easily do a conversation with your customers.

  • All-time business accessibility

If you are running the online business, then it means that your business becomes available every time. People can be able to visit your site at any time when they need. Due to these reasons, so many customers attracts towards our business. If you are doing the offline business, then you can’t get that type of ease.

  • Believable source

When you are creating your website then with the help of the web development company, make their features very easy and good approach, which is easily understandable. Due to this, you will be able to get all the important information related to your company in just a few minutes.

When people realize all these things, then it will make your site a believable source, and you must promote to your friends. It means that web development optimizes your website and makes it a credible source and a good source of information.

These are the reasons which express that web development is beneficial for business.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

5 Ways to Boost Your SEO With Visual Marketing

on June 7, 2019

Visual marketing can propel your SEO strategy, but it is often overlooked by companies who focus on optimizing their text for search engines, without giving proper credence to their visuals. Strong imagery can have a measurable impact on how your website ranks on Google.

With all the innovation we have seen in the digital medium over the last few years, Google is still the leader in determining which websites get the highest rankings, and that impacts the number of sessions the websites receive. It is with Google’s organic rankings in mind that you need to create your plan for visual marketing before you put in the time, effort, and money to design visuals, especially if you’re a small business with limited resources.

Here are five simple tips that will help boost your SEO:

  1. Write optimized alt tags
  2. Don’t use stock photos, create infographics
  3. Create accompanying text for your infographics
  4. Keep an eye on file sizes
  5. Capitalize on image shareability

1. Write optimized alt tags

Keywords are crucial to creating any piece of content, but they also make a difference to the images you use. One of the easy-to-miss steps when creating visual content is with regards to optimizing alt tags. The alt tag is a text alternative to the image attributes which allows images to show up in Google’s text searches. You can already see why this would be so important in your website’s Google ranking.

Consider uploading an image without an alt attribute or alt tag. Google’s search algorithms will not be able to read the image as it is not equipped to do so, but it can read the text you add in the alt tag section of the image. This will give Google the ability to read the image in context of your website’s text and rank the website accordingly.

Alt tags are usually easy to edit. Most content management systems allow you to change the text in the alt tag or attributes text box, so you can make adding alt text to your image part of the uploading process. Here’s an example in WordPress:

When creating your alt text, you should keep it short as Google will find it easier to index shorter tags. As you wouldn’t include too many keywords in your text content, you should avoid doing the same when using keywords in the alt tag. Search engines pick up on keyword stuffing and can actually lower your website’s rank as a consequence.

Instead, focus on using the alt tag as an opportunity to describe what is in the image with words, as alt tags are generally used for screen readers for the visually impaired. By optimizing your alt tags, you will not only boost your SEO on Google but reach out to a demographic that may not have been able to properly access your content before.

2. Don’t use stock photos, create infographics

Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/vW02fA1pnzc/infographics-and-visual-marketing

The quality of your visuals will impact the way visitors to your website engage with your content, and will, as a result, affect your SEO. But when we talk about high-quality visuals, many companies immediately turn to stock photos that are of high quality. It is not the same thing.

Because of the proliferation of stock photo providers, and the increased savviness of users, stock photos have become easily recognizable. So much so that users can become bored by their appearance on websites and may even feel that they are unable to trust a site that has not created its own visual language.

Investing in overused stock photo properties may be the cheaper option, but it isn’t the best one to use if you want to enhance your SEO. You should be working towards creating strong visuals that not only grab the attention of users but make them stay on your website. You need engaging visual content that gives visitors information in a quick, concise way, while still being attractive, and shareable.

One way to do all this is to use infographics. This is particularly true if your website is data-heavy. Infographics can relay a wealth of information in attractive and interactive ways. Venngage’s timeline Infographics give you the option to convey a variety of information – historical milestones, event calendars, product deliverables, even superhero origin stories – that will make the user experience that much more engaging.

If you want proof, use heatmaps to analyze how your readers spend time on individual pages and what images they engage with more.

Here’s an example of an infographic we created for Mention to visualize their unique research:

3. Create text for your infographics

Once you have begun using infographics to deliver your information and data in an attractive way, you need to ensure that your infographic is optimized for Google. As with images and alt tags, infographics are not easily indexed by Google without proper text accompanying it. Google’s image search will be able to index the infographic but to boost your site’s SEO, you will need the infographic, and the page it is uploaded to, to appear in Google’s text search as well.

The best way to do this would be to write accompanying text on the page featuring the infographic. This will help Google scan the text and evaluate the content so as to give the page its deserving rank. To do this, you should create written content that complements your infographic.

Here’s an example we did at Venngage. We teamed up with SurveyMonkey to do a study of logo styles, made an infographic with the results and put it on our blog. Check out the introductory text:

It is best to avoid explaining what is in the infographic because the user does not want to read a repeat of what they can easily see in the infographic. With the combination of a strong infographic and relevant text, you will add value to your page, the user experience, and to your site’s Google ranking.

4. Keep an eye on file sizes

We have stressed on the importance of good quality visuals but it is also important to keep your file sizes small when uploading them to your website. Large file sizes will slow down your website’s loading time, and that is guaranteed to frustrate users enough for them to leave your site. This is not something you want.

Beyond the user, what many companies don’t realize is that Google’s organic search ranking is also affected by site speed. The faster your site loads, the better your rank is likely to be; on the flipside, Google will penalize your site if it loads slowly.

One of the major factors in your website’s loading speed is the size of your images. You should be testing your site speed using Google’s Page Speed Insights Tool, and if your site isn’t loading quickly enough, you should take a look at your images to see whether their sizes are slowing your site down.

Here is a screenshot of Venngage’s site speed using the Google Page Speed Tool:

Some points to keep in mind about uploading images and infographics. PNGs, SVGs, and GIFs are good for graphics as well as infographics, because they maintain the quality of the image even in small sizes, while JPEGs are best for photographs. You can also use image compression tools like ImageOptim before uploading images on to your website to ensure that the site loads quickly.

5. Capitalize on image shareability

Source: https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/X5EkhFNfmhs/image-shareability-simple-chart

Images, and infographics, in particular, are excellent for sharing because of their visual appeal and the ease with which they can be shared widely.

When you create visual content to accompany your text, it is likely that others who view it will share it with others or re-use it on their own sites, hopefully with permission and with backlinks to your site. This process not only taps into audiences that you may not have been able to reach, but the use of backlinks increases your Google ranking.

If someone uses your images without your permission, you are well within your rights to ask them to credit you. You can use Reverse Google Image Search to find sites that are using your visuals to ensure that you are receiving due credit and to find out about backlink opportunities.

Another way to capitalize on image shareability, and to get more backlinks, is by pitching to the media or influencers. Images enhance text properties, and if you are able to create high-quality infographics that will enhance a news piece or help an influencer get more traction on their guest post, you can build a partnership that will be mutually beneficial for you and your partners. Do remember that Google has strong backlink policies that you need to keep in mind. SEO best practice says you should not request backlinks directly. Allow the relationship to evolve organically and you will most likely get the backlinks you deserve.

Conclusion

Images and infographics can make a world of difference to how your content engages with users and can help your rank on Google. Following these few helpful tips will make a difference to how your visual marketing boosts your SEO because if you are spending the time and money on creating beautiful and informative visuals, you should be getting the most out of them.

About the author

Ronita Mohan is a content marketer at Venngage, the online infographic and design platform. Ronita is interested in a variety of topics with regards to digital marketing, visual content, and online engagement, which she enjoys researching and writing about.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

3 Massive Benefits of Deploying a Sales Engagement Platform

on June 4, 2019

Technology has touched nearly every aspect of modern business, and sales are no exception. Whereas before, sales reps had to manually choose which leads to follow, schedule their follow-ups, dial their phones and log information – a process as inefficient as it was non-systematized – technology has gifted sales teams a better solution.

It’s called a sales engagement platform, and it’s an easy-to-integrate, easy-to-use software that helps your reps engage and qualify leads with greater efficiency. If your sales team is just operating with a simple SaaS CRM, you only have part of the equation: you need a way to put your CRM’s info into action and push those leads through the pipeline.

Still unsure? Here are three, massive, undeniable benefits of deploying a sales engagement platform.

Enjoy a Boost in Productivity

A sales engagement platform automates reps’ workflow and therefore, increases productivity. You can check out Vanillasoft.com for the stats (for instance, they measured a 94% increase in productivity when using their sales engagement platform) or read client testimonials – either way, the proof is pretty apparent.

How an engagement platform does this is, basically, by removing as much keyboard activity as possible. The auto-dialing and auto-email-population functions of a sales engagement platform save reps a lot of time, as does the queue-based lead routing (more on that below). It allows sales development reps to touch more leads, more often, qualifying more leads for your AEs to close.

Don’t Let Leads Slip Through the Cracks

Without a sales engagement platform, an SDR has to hunt their CRM for their next lead. Inordinately, they will choose the biggest lead in terms of size, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best lead – they overlook the mom-and-pop business hiding in plain sight in the CRM, who just expressed interest in the product, for instance.

A sales engagement platform takes the guesswork out of lead prioritization. With queue-based lead routing it constantly pushes the next best lead up to the top of your SDRs’ lists, meaning that the moment they’re done contacting the last lead, they are onto the next best one. It also means that “speed to lead” is optimized – that is, the time it takes SDRs to make the first contact, a metric that is of crucial importance to successful engagement.

Develop & Automate an Effective Sales Cadence

If you’re unfamiliar, sales cadence is a term used to describe the choreography of touch points a salesperson makes to engage a lead. Together, the number of touches, the type of touch (email, phone, voicemail, SMS, etc.) and the timeline of the touches create a cadence.

Without a sales engagement platform, that cadence can be all over the place, totally at the mercy of an SDRs whims. With one, however, you can automate the cadence, and ensure that each prospect receives the right amount and type of touches, over the right amount of time.

If your sales team isn’t already making use of a sales engagement platform, maybe it’s time to try one out. It’s not simply about modernizing for the sake of modernizing – it’s about better productivity, more qualified leads and an automated sales cadence.

MartechProductsSaaS

Immense Development of Fintech to Support the Digital Currency Dealings

on May 17, 2019

With the digitization of almost all the sectors in our life, the way we see and use money has also changed drastically. People today are comfortable with carrying out online money transactions, making online purchases and payments, sending money across virtual platforms and also lending, borrowing and investing online. Online banking has become popular among many and transactions that are based on API have become a new way to handle money.

1. A major Shift in Financial Services

With the introduction of FinTech companies that provide virtual financial service, the manner in which people utilized and handled money has undergone drastic changes in the past two decades. Developed and technologically advanced systems of software and hardware have allowed FinTech companies to provide much more user-friendly and secured financial transactions.

To offer such lucid and flexible platforms for quick and secure financial transactions, internal infrastructure has to be overwhelmingly complex. To make this process simple for common-man, digital currencies and cryptocurrencies were introduced while the regulatory framework had to be more rigid and sophisticated. No wonder modern fintech companies have to upgrade and develop technologies in order to be able to produce extremely complex yet easy to use, safe and highly secured financial services so as to exist, thrive and function in today’s immensely volatile environment.

2. Reasons for the Growth of the FinTech Sector

Utilization of fintech tools and services can be attributed to many aspects. It promotes cashless transactions, ensures quick and safer money transactions, lets you connect with banks and other platforms seamlessly with a mere hand-held device, facilitates online shopping along with easy processing of loans and payments. The emergence of e-commerce is another factor that has brought about immense advancement in financial technology. Apart from this boom in the use of digital currencies that have grabbed the attention of investors is another significant reason for the ultimate sophistication of fintech industry.

3. Investment in Cryptocurrencies

Investors are always watching out for investment options that are safe and provide lucrative returns in a short time. Gone are the days when equity, property or forex was considered as some of the best investment options. It’s time and age of cryptocurrencies that have immense potential to multiply money in a short time frame than any other cash investment can ever do. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin are limited in nature and therefore have a tremendous value attached to them and can be traded for large amounts of local currency. Hence it becomes necessary to minimize the dangers of prying programs and internet connections that can launder your money and hack your personal accounts. This arises the need for secured technology which can be achieved by immense development in the field of safety and security in current Fintech.

4. Better Exchange Rates

Previously individuals and small businesses had to accept undesirable exchange rates and only banks and large organizations had access to near-market exchange rates. But today, many FinTech companies provide competitive near-market exchange rates.

5. Little to Zero Transfer Fee

Just like exchange rates, transfer fees adversely affected the cost-effectiveness of the transactions. Banks collect high transfer fees while FinTech companies charge little to no transfer fees. For instance, FinTech organizations such as OFX and Currencies Direct offer fee-free transfers to almost all the countries.

6. Multiple Payment Options

Most of the FinTech that facilitate overseas money transfers provide their clients with multiple payment methods to choose from. Bank account transfers are the most secure and cost-effective in nature. All FinTech companies don’t accept payments through credit and debit cards and organization that allow card payments tend to charge extra fees for the same. Other methods that you can opt for payments are SOFORT, POLi, iDeal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, ACH, etc.

Final Conclusion

Introduction of Fintech has revolutionized the way in which financial transactions were carried out. Today transactions have become easier with user-friendly software, faster with improved connectivity, cost-effective with reduced transfer fees and exchange rates, safe and secure with decentralized technologies like blockchain and flexible due to availability of various modes of payment. These are major shifts that are sure to disrupt traditional banking and financial institutions in coming days.

InsightsMartech

Reasons Why You Should Give Importance to Video Marketing

on May 15, 2019

It’s the 21st century, and the nature of content marketing has changed manifold. We all know that an image can speak in many ways. When you add a good quality image to a social media post, it increases its popularity manifold.  It is one of the tried and tested tactics of content marketing. And here it is important to mention about video marketing that helps to promote and market your videos. Videos have increased reach and can promote your content in unique ways. It is one of the best marketing methods today that most corporate brands are opting in. Some of the important facts that establish the importance of video marketing include the following:

  • Videos can claim over 80% of web traffic.
  • By embedding videos in your landing page, you can maximize the conversion rate by almost 80%.
  • When you add impressive videos to your email marketing campaigns, the click-through rates can increase between 200% and 300%.
  • More than 90% of the customers find videos helpful when they have to make a buying decision.

It is important to get professional help when you want to make high-quality marketing videos. To know more on this, you can get in touch with Austin SEO agency. Not sure if you want to say yes to video marketing? Refer to the benefits discussed below:

1. Video content helps in maximum brand recall

Based on a HubSpot research about 80% of the consumers will remember a video that they have liked. In fact, if they have watched any influential video in the past 15 days, chances are they will remember it. Video marketing has a visual impact which helps to promote a marketing message better, as you learn if you know more about connectivity for marketers. When an online user remembers video content, he/she also learns about your brand. It automatically translates to lead generation and sales better as well. Also, if an online user has liked a video, chances are he/she will share it as well. And this helps to maximize the online reach.

2. Video marketing can enhance your website SEO

Almost 65% of the business decision-makers choose to visit a website, once they have seen video footage by the brand. Hence, quality content when used through video marketing can significantly enhance your website SEO, by making people curious about your site. It directs people to visit your homepage and learn more about your brand.

3. Video content can perform well on most devices

Responsive design is what impacts online marketing. If your content fails to perform optimally in a chosen browser system or device, it affects the business. There’s less online traffic, and the conversions are also minimal. Video content is apt for all mobile and computing devices. Hence, the reach of the video is much more. And that’s what makes it consumer-driven and user-friendly. If you have added video as a part of your online marketing strategy, you have the best chance to improve your brand message. That aside, you can add a persona to your brand as well! By implementing simple features such as branding and design, to advanced aspects like content and voice, video marketing can boost brand identity. Once you refer to the pointers mentioned above, you can decide better whether you want to resort to video marketing.

DevelopmentMartechSaaS

Custom Software Development – Relevance and Benefits

on May 15, 2019

Simply put, custom software which is also termed as “Bespoke” software gets developed for catering to a specific business or corporation to cater to individual needs. Usually, customized software gets designed to address the business requirements of one client or many clients that state the process and features of software they wish to use.

The relevance of custom software development

You always have to consider the after-effects of purchasing software packages off-the-shelf. Also, you need to consider the essential pros and cons of creating specialized software with the help of credible software development services to cater to particular business requirements.

There’s no obligation for you to spend your time with the development team for designing your software. These applications are all generic concerning the end-user needs. And it might provide you with a set of features that might tally with your specific needs. Hence, even when you spend a huge amount of money, you might need to struggle the business automation process, as you might not have access to a couple of features in the ready-made software.

Today, there are several advantages of developing and designing custom software catering to your business requirements. Some of the essential benefits are discussed below:

1. It helps in optimized business methods

Every company comes with its specific business model as well as in-house practices. It is indeed challenging for companies to alter their business procedures, to cater to a particular software application or package, regardless of its potency or efficiency. Hence, the software requirements should get developed and designed in a way that can easily sync it with the best business models. It should also follow a company’s in-house procedures. The custom software development process also enables in optimizing the business procedures instead of substituting it.

2. The advantage of the invention

With software being customized, you can determine the type of software development technology to make use of when you’re designing your business app. You can evaluate and choose the new age technologies for developing customized software. Go ahead and make it work the way you feel it’s apt.

3. You can focus on your business insight

Are you completely invested in developing the software depending on the business requirements? If yes, then it indicates that you consider the in-house business processes necessary. It also speaks volumes about the commitment for your business as you simplify the working models and process flows, for it to perform seamlessly.

4. Dependability

The capacity to maintain and also follow the business procedures over some time enables you to become successful gradually. Reliability is one of the essential aspects that determine success. You need to test your custom software adequately to make sure that you have consistent IT tools that will help you to develop your business.

5. Helps you to be unique

Every business has a unique advantage over the other! One solution can’t be applied to all the business processes. When there’s software custom-made to cater to your individual business needs, it can add value to your business model. Furthermore, the process of custom software development also enables you to develop your “unique” business identity.

There are several other advantages of custom software development that you can experience and put to your advantage. For this, you need to join hands with an ace service provider that understands your requirements to customize the software.

DevelopmentInsightsMartech

Are you a Local Business – Here is what you should know about your online reputation

on May 14, 2019

Your reputation online dictates the responsiveness of your target audience and how they perceive your brand. By using a local business review management tool you can identify, monitor and enhance how your customers find you. It is also instrumental in helping you determine what exactly it is they are looking for and their experience with your website and customer service.

The online reputation you have harnessed from previous users isn’t going to be enough to attract future customers. You have to maintain and enhance it so that you can reel in potential customers and provide them with the same level of experience. Consistency is the name of the game here.

The importance of streamlined online reputation management

Managing your digital reputation may sound like a service required to win you the next presidential election or if you’re launching a cutting-edge device. The fact of the matter is, if you want people to spend money on your products or services, you need to first make a good first digital impression. For example, you need to be able to respond to user comments on Facebook in a timely manner. Customer service is what is essentially all about.

In light of this, here are six dynamics you need to understand about your online reputation.

It impacts buying decisions and sales

Source

According to the Local Consumer Review Survey posted by BrightLocal in 2017, it was determined that around 97% of users based their buying decisions on reading online reviews on local businesses. Moreover, according to the same survey, 12% of consumers searched for new local business each day.

There is no question, online reputation management acts as a bedrock for local business success and popularity. Consumers value positive online reviews. You’d be shocked to learn that as per a Moz report back in 2015, four to five bad reviews on any company online cost them 70% of future customers!

Your existing customers will still read new reviews about your product or service or company as a whole, which is why online reputation management can either make or break your digital footprint.

Your digital reputation is eternal

While we aren’t immortal, our business reputation will surely be around for generations to come. The online world has significantly evolved, becoming a sort of a public archive for a variety of things. This includes things that are known and unknown to most. Simply put, in a business sense, your company will always be what people say about it – and it could be frighteningly difficult for you to change anything.

Even if a user says something that is simply not true, there isn’t much you can do about it, other than to not give them a reason to say anything bad. However, comments such as “it’s a scam!” or “don’t shop from this business” can put a lot of potential customers at the backfoot. What is done will remain done; the only thing you can do is effectively manage your online reputation and ensure consistency.

Word of mouth – faster than a speeding bullet!

Source

The speed by which information travels on the web is phenomenal. Social media networks are a great example of how people spread the word around on new businesses and products. As much as this can help businesses grow their brand visibility, it can also destroy them before they can even lift off. Just look at the backlash United Airlines got after it forcibly removed a passenger from an overbooked flight in 2017.

The point is, your customers can either leave you with a 1-star rating or a 5-star rating – both actions depend on a slew of important variables, such as customer service, delivery, quality of the product, response rate and sometimes, boredom. You have to understand that if a customer doesn’t like your website or how sluggish your customer rep was to respond to his queries, one bad review, and down your company goes.

That is why it is so important to keep a check on these incidents and ensure consistency.  As per a research report posted by Vendasta, 95% of unsatisfied users or customers will come back to you if you solve their problem on time.

The opportunity to set the record straight and make things right

Have you looked back on something that you did wrong then jumped on the opportunity to set it right? The feeling is overwhelming, and you don’t have any regrets about anything. Online reputation management is a surefire way to convert a potentially adverse perception of your target audience into trust.

Bad reviews and constructive criticism can be a very good way of acting quickly to change everything that is wrong with your business. You can improve your quality and services and learn from your mistakes. However, repeating the same mistake twice may not give you the opportunity to correct it again.

Sure, it can be heartbreaking to hear a customer talk bad about your business; however, attentively listening to them and converting their criticism into a healthy discussion is a good way of improving your business. That is exactly why a local business review management tool is so important!

The inability to get rid of a bad review

Sure, you can try your best to solve a customer’s problem quickly and effectively, and you can overshadow some bad comments as well.  But what you can’t do is delete negative comments. Sometimes an angry customer is just looking for validation or a refund. Good reputation management includes taking on-time actions on resolving and de-escalating consumer complications in a harmonious yet professional way.

You can also try to overshadow bad comments by pushing your content at the top of the SERPs, getting rid of the negative search results on Google. After all, most people don’t go past the first page on Google when searching for information or products.

Final words

Overall, these are some vital elements that will dictate your online reputation for better or for worse. If you are meticulous with your digital strategy, ensure quality and consistency, and are willing to solve problems on time, there is nothing for you to worry about.

DevelopmentInsightsMartechProducts

Everyday Items that Can Change Your Branded Giveaway Game

on April 29, 2019

Promotional products are integral parts of tradeshows and product campaigns. They should never be an afterthought. Sometimes, brands spend months trying to find their one “magical” promotional product that can turn their business around. Whether you aim to sell your products or to introduce a new service; you can leverage promotional items to reach that goal.

Why should your promotional product be common but useful?

The first mistake most brands make is choosing something rather uncommon or unique as their promotional product. Your promotional product should increase the engagement between your consumer and the brand. If it is unique and the target consumer only uses it sparingly, you should think twice before buying and customizing the item in bulk. The product you choose for promotional purposes should be useful and durable. Something as familiar as a pen with customized branding can deliver higher recall than something unique like branded beach towels or snow shovels that people use only in particular season and limited areas.

While surveying items for promotional needs, do not forget to look at everyday things that people buy and keep in their homes, cars or offices. Visit https://www.superior-resource.com/services/promotional-products-nyc/ for a fresh look at the things you can customize for your promotional campaigns.

The seven every day but useful branded giveaways

Here are seven grand ideas for promotional products your brand should leverage in the upcoming trade shows –

1. Throw pillows

Who does not have throw-pillows and cushions at home or office? People love using throw pillows, and no one can have enough of them. There is no reason you cannot use them as giveaways. Create a nice design, keep the logo small and tasteful, incorporate your brand colors and make sure they are plush! Customized throw-pillows are the new “pen” of the promotional product world. Since they don’t have a seasonal factor, people tend to use them in their living rooms or office all year round.

2. Kitchen sponges

Move over coasters; it is the time of the kitchen sponge. With a drastic increase in microwave resistant cookware, people are buying and dumping sponges every week! There is a sudden surge in demand for good quality, reusable kitchen sponges. While a good sponge is not necessarily great looking, you can design one with your brand logo and colors that works great and looks stunning. They are the perfect low-budget giveaways when your target audience is a homemaker or a person, who takes special care in keeping their house clean.

3. Picture frames

We have all been in love with photo frames since time immemorial. Your customer can choose to display family photos, pet photos or graduation photos in a frame with your brand colors. Customization of a frame can help your brand engage with the customer and his or her family every time they look at their photo. Be careful to keep your logo small and tasteful.

4. Storage containers

Storage containers from recycled wood pulp and fiber are our favorites. No homeowner has ever said he or she has enough storage bins in the house. There are always new books, new clothes or new toys that require discrete storage. Design containers from recycled material to uphold your brand’s environmentally friendly image. Don’t forget to include your logo and message on the unique but useful gifts!

5. Socks

Unisex, ankle-length socks are perfect for almost everyone. Whether you are targeting kids or their parents, designing socks in attractive colors and patterns can become your brand’s best chance to lure in more customers. Socks are so easy to customize and design! They are always within the budget. You can think about creating only ankle-length socks or customize a variety of lengths for your target customers. More brands should think about using them as promotional giveaways in events and tradeshows.

6. Water bottles

If your consumer loves the outdoors, you should think about designing eco-friendly and BPA-free water bottles that can keep their drinking water cool for hours. Get a custom labeled, see-through bottle with a water drinking guide. It should not only help your consumers stay hydrated, but it should refresh your brand’s memory each time he or she takes a sip.

7. Scented candles

Scented candles are the black lights and fairy lights of 2019. Do you sell coffee? You can think about giving away coffee-scented candles with your logo on the lid. Give away candles according to seasonally trending smells. The next time your target consumer comes across the same fragrance in a mall, he or she will think about your brand only! It is an entirely scientific method that helps link memory to a scent. Studies show that this method is effective more than 90% of the times.

Brands should consider their demographics before they select the products they want to customize for promotions. These seven items are only suggestions. There are hundreds of budget-friendly, durable and high-quality items out there that you can use to establish high brand recall. Research shows that conducting consumer surveys on promotional products they have used often yields a guideline for new brands.

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