Wednesday 4 June 2014

How Today Digital Marketing Organization on Turning Point for Big Changes


How Today Digital Marketing Organization on Turning Point Changes

The explosive growth of digital marketing is driving a significant organizational transformation in which chief marketing officers (CMOs) can redefine and elevate their role as never before. Today’s CMOs now have a broadest of tools to impact and optimize customer experiences and ultimately drive revenue for their company And thanks to recent advances in closed-loop marketing, CMOs can measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts in terms of customer acquisition, customer retention, and revenue growth. His level of measurement is transforming the role of the CMO within organizations, paving the way for“21st-century CMOs” whose tenure is on the rise as they become an indispensable asset to companies.

In fact, according to a 2010 Spencer Stuart survey, the average CMO tenure has risen nearly 50% in the past two years, from 23.2 months to over 34 months. Today’s 21st-century CMOs are pursuing digital marketing across a large number of channels simultaneously.

As they do, they leverage the capabilities inherent in next-generation web content management (WCM) platforms to strike a balance between two conflicting goals: to spread branding and messaging as widely as possible, and to maintain control over their content as they deliver branding and experiences appropriate teach unique channel.

His paper highlights the advances in closed-loop marketing that enable measurement and optimization of digital marketing efforts. It also describes the challenges that CMOs face when pursuing digital marketing strategies and how next-generation WCM solutions help CMOs overcome those challenges.

Demonstrating CMOs top-line contribution

As recently as 2008, the average CMO tenure was less than two years, due in large part to the inability of Cost clearly identify and articulate marketing’s role and to prove its value to the organization (from Brand week ), “CMOs Are Staying in Jobs Longer,” June 25, 2010). This shortcoming has helped fuel the popular belief that marketing is not as critical to business operations as sales, engineering, or finance. In fact, the results of recent Forrester Research survey, “Corporate Marketing: Does It Matter?”, reveal that fewer than 50% of marketers view themselves as responsible for increasing top-line growth or increasing profitability.

But recent advances in closed-loop marketing are enabling CMOs to significantly raise the level of understanding regarding the origin and quality of sales leads developed by marketing, providing organizations with quantifiable business results that can either indemnify or indict a CMO. The following capabilities provide MOs with a wealth of data for measuring digital marketing results—everything needed to engage a prospect and move them through the sales funnel:

• Multichannel campaign management
• Campaign and email analytics, such as opens, bounces, click-through
• Multivariate testing
• Landing page optimization
• Email marketing and analytics with results in hand, CMOs have begun to step into the spotlight., As more and more organizations recognize the growing impact of CMO performance on their bottom line, CMOs are seeing their performance evaluations aligned more tightly to revenue.

Digital marketing: Addressing and re-addressing customers

Digital marketing essentially transforms marketing from a transaction-based monologue to an interactive conversation with customers and prospects taking place on any digital media, be it a smartphone, table device, kiosk, computer, or television. If done in an integrated and methodical manner, digital marketing can help marketers grow their pipelines with more of today’s savvy digital channel customers who seek to be engaged, rather than merely sold to, by vendors.

Addressing and re-addressing the customer is key to success. 

For digital marketing efforts to succeed, cozened to focus on the manner in which they address their customers across the differing online channels. Not all channels are the same. For example, customers using tablet devices might be drawn to an interactive, game-styled promotion while computer-centered customers seek in-depth educational materials.

The challenge for CMOs is to maintain consistent branding and messaging while delivering channel-appropriate experiences that engage each distinct audience. Having the right tools and processes in place to control and improve the user experience in each channel is essential. In essence, a multichannel engagement system—or next-generation WCM—is required to fulfill the digital marketing goals of 21st-century CMOs.

CMOs that do not embrace the benefits of interactive and closed-loop marketing will struggle to compete with their peers and can expect short tenures. Jeff Bell, vice president of global marketing at Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, foresaw this trend years ago. According to Bell, “The shorter tenure is in part reflection of the change from failing traditional-marketing approaches to less-defined and more dynamic approaches. Clearly the skill set of CMOs is changing from ‘TV, TV and more TV’ to interactive media.”


But even the savviest CMOs face tremendous challenges when implementing digital marketing programs. Firsthand foremost, they are charged with numerous responsibilities that detract from digital marketing efforts, namely the critical activities listed in the following table. 

Marketing must usually manage the applications and external vendors that support these activities, which means overseeing a disparate set of systems and vendors to get the job done. The list can be quite daunting, and includes everything from marketing automation and business intelligence software to providers of customer data and event-triggered marketing.

Digital Marketing Guidelines for who want to Increase Sales ROI


In simplistic terms, digital marketing is the promotion of products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media. Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing in that it involves the use of channels and methods that enable an organization to analyze marketing campaigns and Understand what is working and what isn't – Typically in real time. 


Why is digital marketing so important?

Digital marketers monitor things like what is being viewed, how often and for how long, sales conversions, what content Works and doesn't work, etc. While the Internet is, perhaps, the channel most closely associated With digital marketing, others include wireless text messaging, mobile instant messaging, mobile apps, podcast, electronic billboards, digital television and radio channels, etc.

Because it is not only a rapidly growing force in the current marketing playing field, it is set to be the future of marketing, and it seems likely that digital media will soon replace more traditional forms altogether. Digital marketing is infinitely more affordable than traditional offline marketing methods. An email or social media campaign, for example, can transmit a marketing message to consumers for the merest fraction of the cost of a TV ad or print campaign, and potentially reach a wider audience. 

But one of the main benefits of conducting your marketing digitally is the ease with which results can be tracked and monitored. Rather than conducting expensive customer research, you can quickly view customer response rates and measure the success of your marketing campaign in real-time, enabling you to plan more effectively for the next one. 

The facts are that digital methods of communication and marketing are faster, more versatile, practical and streamlined, so it is perhaps unsurprising that once the technology became available we began quickly moving into the digital age. 

The good news is that digital offers just as much potential to marketers as it does to consumers. The bottom line is, the digital age is here, and those businesses that fail to adapt to the new marketing climate are at great risk of going extinct sooner rather than later.

The importance of using digital marketing channels, The use of digital marketing channels is key if you want to reach your clients, says Dez Derry. Law firms are still not using social media properly Article by asking you a simple question. When did you last go online? Being online is not just about checking social media, reading news stories or shopping.  

Your emails came to you online, the text messages on your phone may well have been transferred in part via an online system, and your TV broadcaster can use the internet to update your listings or subscription to your set top box. My point is online digital channels are everywhere, yet there are still a lot of law firms lacking any Desire to embrace digital channels fully. 

We’re now at a stage where an entire generation of young adults do not remember what the world was like before the internet. For them it is something that has simply always been there and in turn they’re influencing other generations to use digital channels to find the services they need. 

The legal sector needs to start acting now and make the most of what is no longer a digital revolution but is now a digital normality. Other business sectors have embraced digital marketing and it has done wonders for them. Looking at retail, it ’s hard to find anyone that’s not at least once purchased something online via Amazon or had their weekly supermarket shopping delivered. 

In fact the UK’s online retail association IMRG and consultants Cap Gemini predict that this year online retailers will earn over £10bn for the first time ever, and that’s just in December, so why shouldn’t law firms also Take a cut? Different digital channels offer different solutions for growing your business and using them together can make a massive difference.

Telling people who are:

Website: This is your most important digital channel and the place where your online clients will learn the most about you. Easy to understand content needs to be updated regularly with the whole site mobile optimized too, meaning it can be viewed on any device. This is increasingly important with figures published by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) showing that globally 1.2 billion people access the web via mobile broadband.

Video: A video on your website gives your firm a personality and allows you to get across information that isn’t always easy with text alone. It also keeps people on your homepage for longer which means your clients are more likely to get in touch and become a paying client. Showing how professional you are in your videos will also reflect how professional you are in the services you offer.

Search Engines: Following the previous steps will help your website appear above your competitors in the results of search engines like Google, when a potential client is searching for a service you offer. You can increase this further by looking at pay-per click (PPC) campaigns to refine exactly where you appear when certain search keywords are used. A full service digital agency can assist you in creating a PPC campaign so you’re able to generate good leads and analyses how well the campaign is working.

Reaching a wider audience:

• Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn are where peer recommendation come into play. Being on social media allows current clients to talk about how great your service independently. It also gives you a chance to add links to your blog and your website, while also interacting with potential new clients.

• Blogging: As explained earlier, writing a regular blog helps keep your website higher up in search engine results. But as experts in law, writing short articles on legal matters, offering basic advice, or opinions on recent sector changes show that if the reader ever needs a lawyer you’re the one to contact. It also gives you another chance to point your social media channels to your website.

• Email: Offering an email newsletter is a great way of keeping in touch with previous clients for repeat business. According to the Direct Marketing Association email marketing ROI was £21.48 for every £1 spent in 2012, proving it’s a fantastic investment.

Using digital channels does not mean you have to stop the traditional methods used to interact with new and current clients. But as more and more people look for services online, the importance of not accessing the market via digital channels become clear.

Challenges Facing Digital Marketers

Proliferation of digital channels. Consumers use multiple digital channels and a variety of devices that use different protocols, specifications and interfaces and they interact with those devices in different ways and for different purposes. Intensifying competition. Digital channels are relatively cheap, compared with traditional media, making them within reach of practically every business of every size. As a result, it’s becoming a lot harder to capture consumers’ attention.

Exploding data volumes. Consumers leave behind a huge trail of data in digital channels. It’s extremely difficult to get a handle on all that data, as well as find the right data within exploding data volumes that can help you make the right decisions.

Three Keys to Digital Marketing Success 
So, what does it take to do digital marketing right? Here are three keys to digital marketing success:
1. Manage complex customer relationships across a variety of channels – both digital and traditional. 
2. Respond to and initiate dynamic customer interactions. 
3. Extract value from big data to make better decision

Monday 2 June 2014

Lines within Digital Marketing Become Unclear - Preethi Mariappan


Day 2 of Goafest 2014 started off on a promising note with an insightful presentation by Preethi Mariappan, Executive Creative Director at Razorfish Germany. Giving real-life examples to highlight each point, Mariappan outlined the new focus areas for brands in the current digital and social world -  content, experiences, influencers, fans and social data.

This “social transformation”, according to Mariappan, can be seen since in the way the metrics used by advertisers have changed over the years. 2009 was the age of likes, where one would do anything, including offering free stuff to get people to like your page. Around 2011, we had Facebook apps as the panacea for everything. Right now, we are in the age of social relevance. “Today, social metrics center on customer conversations, meaningful connections, branded experience, relationships and lead generation,” she said.

So, how does one achieve social relevance? According to Mariappan, it can be achieved by focusing on great content, reaching out the right influencers, using fans for amplification, creating meaningful experiences and using social data to identify customer problems.

Speaking on content, Mariappan said, “Only 74 of the top 5,000 channels on YouTube belong to brands. When you think about content on the internet, remember you are going up against the likes of Disney, Lady Gaga, etc.” The trick here is to differentiate your content from everyone else. Along with this, brands should also identify, which are the right platforms for their target audience. Giving the example of Maggi, she explained that to reach out to their target audience of young, working people looking for a quick recipe, Maggi started creating Vine videos that gave cooking tips, e.g., ‘How to slice mushrooms quickly’, etc. The idea was to communicate with the TG in a manner that would be relevant to them and through a platform that they were comfortable with (since most of the TG would most likely watch the videos on their phone while travelling.)

Celebrity endorsement is still a big money business, due to the idea that celebrities can be great influencers. However, Mariappan pointed out that an “influencer” need not always be a movie star or a famous footballer. She introduced the concept of ‘micro influencers’, basically a person who has a lot of influence among a certain section of people on a particular medium, for example, fashion bloggers, popular Instagram photographers, etc. “10 per cent of people can convince the remaining 90 per cent, but brands need to trust these influencers,” said Mariappan. She gave the example of Mercedes Benz, which invited four of Instagram’s most popular photographers to a 4-week road trip on the Mercedes CLA. The challenge was that the photographer with the most likes on their Instagram page during the period would get to keep the car. No professional photographers were involved and the photographs were not touched up. Everything was in real-time. The campaign, informed Mariappan, generated nearly 8,70,000 Instagram impressions with about 2,50,000 likes on Instagram.

The third point in her presentation was on amplifying experiences using digital and social media. “All life experiences are amplified socially. Brands need to create a social experience that is memorable while reaching the user’s own social network without interruption,” she advised. Speaking about the importance of fans in any campaign and how a brand could use them as brand advocates, Mariappan cautioned that this form of fan advocacy was not feasible for all brands. According to her, it works better for “passion” brands, like, a rock band or a car brand like Audi. “Typically, a fan value discussion is dollar discussion. When you can convert a fan to a brand advocate, it is a powerful tool that you can leverage; if you can do it right,” she pointed out. For this to happen, it is imperative that brands celebrate their relationships with their fans by identifying highlights or flashpoints or the ‘passion’ will die out, warned Mariappan.

On a parting note, Mariappan spoke about the importance of social data. Data derived through social networks is considered more valuable than all by advertisers. However, not many seem to be using the data to its full potential. According to Mariappan, no one cares about a new campaign. What people want are solutions to their problems. Her advice to brands was to go through social data to learn the real behavior and pain points of their consumers and then anticipate and solve these problems before or as soon as they occur.

Tags: Preethi Mariappan|Razorfish|digital advertising|Goafest 2014 #Goafest2014|social media|Facebook|Mercedes Benz|Audi|

Digital Marketing Seeing Is Succeeding - Steve Olenski


When It Comes to Digital Marketing Seeing Is Succeeding

A long time ago in a land far away... ok it wasn't all that long ago nor was the land that far away, but a few years back someone said something that struck a chord with me and I have never forgotten it. That something had to do with the way we need to look at our screens - our PC, smartphone and tablet screens.

The man who said it was a gentleman by the name of Bob Gollwitzer, a very smart and savvy guy who is the owner of Pro Mobile Productions in Philly. In fact when Bob said this, it was long before the advent of smartphones and tablets so he is quite the soothsayer.

What Bob said was "We (those in marketing) need to look at our PC screens as if they were televisions and people do not read television, they watch it."

In essence what he was saying that people, AKA consumers don't want to read on their computers per se, they want to view something, too.

Fast forward to today and it's quite obvious that Bob knew what he was talking about.

Below are just some, SOME of the countless statistics that speak to the power of the visual medium - be in video or pictures or both and as you will see, the visual medium permeates every marketing channel.
  • About 50 million people in the U.S. now watch video on their mobile phones . (source)
  • Including video in an introductory email reduced the number of subscriber opt-outs by 75 percent. (source)
  • 85.1 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in January 2014. (source)
  • Instagram has 200 million monthly active users. (source)
  • By the end of 2014, nearly one-quarter of U.S. smartphone users will sign into Instagram or share photos at least once per month. (source)
  • Users spend more time on Pinterest (1:17 minutes) or Tumblr (1:38 minutes) than on Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and Google+ combined. (source)

Should surprise no one

Face it, if you're in marketing and any of the above stats throw you for a proverbial loop, you may want to consider another career.

The power of visuals in marketing and advertising is not the future, it is the present. Ok technically it's the present AND the future, but my point is this is not something that's coming down the road nor is it a trend or a fad for that matter.

Consumers have, as Bob predicted, taken to looking at their screens as if it were a television. They want and quite frankly, expect to see some kind of visual aid, if you will, when it comes to marketing and advertising. These visual aids resonate and connect with consumers and spur them to take action.

Below are some quotes and thoughts from various marketing professionals re: the power of the visual.

But before I get to them, I want to remind marketers and advertisers alike that just as is the case with every form of marketing, the most important word to remember at all times is relevance. If what you share is not relevant to your customer and prospect, it will not matter so don't even bother.

Moral: Know your customer and potential customers then give them what they want and are looking for and are interested in.

Some words to wise on the subject of the power of visuals in marketing.
"Video is all about storytelling. There is no better way to get people to connect to a story than having them watch something. This helps them to see and hear things first hand. It draws out more emotion than just reading something in print. People want to share a video that made them laugh, cry or was simply informative. In fact, video gets shared three times more often than text. When you can get people more emotionally involved, then it develops a deeper connection with the brand." -- Chris Yates, Huddle Productions CEO, 4-Time EMMY Winner

"With user preference shifting to viewing information versus reading it, we have begun to redirect our marketing dollars to visual relevance in our industry. While the return on economics isn't quite there yet, we are making the investment now in order to learn best practices for the future. Without question in the next few years, this will become a significant marketing platform and the major forces are steering us this way." -- Chris Mettler, Comparecards.com

"Pinterest, our still somewhat new little sister on the block in regards to tactics, can be a little daunting and way too fun at first, but it has proven to be a powerful tool. When we look at our site analytics and conversion rates, pinning has a great ROI. We post cool pics coupled with no-nonsense call's to action. We pin to the right boards and our content gets shared to relevant and targeted followers who are highly interested in what's being shared." -- Asenath Horton, Principal, The City Launch

"Visuals in marketing are essential for us. We work in a highly technical field. Our software and technologies can be daunting to some of our clients. Visuals such as infographics and videos help us tell our message more effectively and in a concise method. In addition, they make excellent sales tools." -- Dave Turner, CEO of SkyCentral and GroupLink

British Telecom announces 80 jobs for engineers in the North East


David Cameron is “delighted” at today’s news of a major BT recruitment drive that will create 80 engineering jobs in the North East and play a crucial part in growing the economy.

The Prime Minister welcomed the announcement by the telecoms giant which he said will deliver a “world-class infrastructure” for Britain as well as financial security for families.

BT, which is already rolling out its high-speed fibre broadband faster than anywhere in the world, is out to up its game in a bid to keep up with ever-rising expectations of today’s customers who are so heavily reliant upon the internet.

Its local network business Openreach already has two thirds of the UK covered, including more than 690,000 homes in the North East, but it is keen to improve its customer service and extend high-speed broadband to more communities.

Having more engineers UK-wide will enable it to install new lines and fix faults more quickly.

The plans are for 1,600 new recruits in total, with 80 of them coming from the North East and today’s news is especially good for Durham, Darlington and Stockton, as well as Morpeth and Bedlington, which are all areas the company is said to be keen to recruit from.

David Cameron said: “Supporting business, creating jobs and providing a better future for hardworking people is a crucial part of our long-term economic plan.

“So I am delighted that BT is launching this major recruitment drive across the UK, providing financial security for families and delivering a world class infrastructure for Britain.”

The announcement includes a call-out too for more female engineers and ex-military personnel.

Openreach has a long-standing relationship with the armed forces, having recruited more than 1,600 former servicemen and women over the last three years. Successful new ones will join through its civilian work attachment scheme designed to ease transition from the Forces.

And it has already launched a campaign encouraging women to consider engineering as a career.

Its chief executive Joe Garner said: “We are also keen to recruit women as I’m keen to dispel the myth that being an engineer is an exclusively male vocation.

“We have many successful women engineers and it is my personal belief that recruiting more will also help our customer service agenda.”

He said new-starters will be joining a world-class team which rolls out broadband faster than anywhere else worldwide.

How to use Cell Phone with Info of Utilization now by Prabhakar


You need satisfactory schooling to properly fully grasp these bits of technological innovation. The ideas are a good begin in your vacation for more information on mobile devices. Be sure to restart your mobile phone sometimes in order to removed saved plan memory space from social media software. As a result your phone to do its finest. Invest some time in terms of acquiring extensive guarantees. These extra prices are generally pointless. If you achieve a malfunctioning cellular phone, issues with a cellular phone are likely to appear from the first year as the standard guarantee continues to be ultimately. As well as, lots of folks get new phones with a annual foundation, therefore the prolonged guarantee is then not really worth your time and effort.

Don’t believe you have to hurry to go into a huge hurry to produce an up-date for the latest cell phone. It’s not really worth the hassle. Take a look at reviews online prior to deciding that improving for the most recent cell phone is a thing you understand whether or not it’s recommended to upgrade.

Keep in mind that era will decrease because they age group.You may download the functional lifetime of them via upgrades. However , the more recent telephones obtain the more robust changes.

Mobile phones will end up decelerate as they age group. This makes it increasingly difficult to conduct upgrades for your operating system. There are some periods you need to pick.

Check with individuals you realize for suggestions if you’re nervous about getting a cellular phone. They will make it clearer which mobile phone for yourself.

Will not acquire touch screen phones in the event the only reason you need a cell phone is always to discuss. Cell phones are perfect for folks who use the cell phone for connecting to the web as well as deliver and acquire e-e-mails. Considering that touch screen phones expense much more than program mobile phones, you would like to make investments a smaller volume within a typical cell phone if you’re just going to be chatting and text messaging.

Be sure that you actually need a smart phone prior to buying it. Smartphones are quite pricey, however they are often worthwhile. The trouble is available in whenever you definitely only require merely a basic cell phone that there are plenty of folks who could use much less. This just might not be the wisest selection for you.

Ask family members for viewpoints on mobile phones. They can assist you in deciding on the best phone to suit your needs. Don’t purchase a smartphone in the event you only want a cell phone to help make calls. Smart phones are good for folks who make use of the telephone for connecting to the net as well as to deliver email or use the web via their cell phones. Cell phones might cost more than simple phones, so save money and have an ordinary cell phone if all you need it for is conversing.

You possibly will not even require a situation for the best present day mobile devices. Cell phone companies usually currently use tough materials such as Kevlar or co2 fibers after they build their cell phones. Even though cases can reinforce this power, they could also impede the conventional utilization of the telephone by making accessibility tough. Weigh up the options carefully, and just make your choices based upon what is going to last.

Usually safeguard your cell phone remains safe and secure properly. They could be pricey to switch or repair. Buy a good monitor protector to avoid marring your display. You might also get yourself a challenging case able to keep your phone safe in the event that it really is dropped.

You without doubt understand the protection location in which you work and stay. It could also be where ever you think. Even so, if you’re departing town, you might find that there is not any protection in certain locations where you’re trying to go. Will not allow on your own be misled through the zooming attribute in mobile phone phone’s zoom lens. The standard visual focus are too major to suit in a cell phones. Cell phone digital zooming enlarges pixels this affects image quality. Move much closer for the far better photo as opposed to employing focus.

When you scarcely text message, don’t add a sending text messages plan with your cell phone prepare. Tex-ting programs are high priced when you think about how tiny info they use. There are numerous software readily available which allow you to text message.

Cellphone programs for households don’t only have to be for people who are certainly not actually within the very same family. A lot of people are not aware of this reality plus they overlook the savings. You will get anyone signed up a plan with any individual and employ the sale.

Don’t keep your mobile phone in the very hot car!Keep your cell phone has run out of harm’s way and definitely in a great place! Only purchase a cell phone together with the functions you want. Many cellular phones have all kinds of options people never ever use. Your cellphone will enjoy longer daily life when you DE-activate untouched capabilities. You won’t need to have these features all the time. You may never make use of them whatsoever. You should always keep these turned off inside of your cell phone. Don’t depart your mobile phone in a hot auto!Make sure your phone remains to be amazing and cool! If you are a parent, you have to be positive to undergo your child’s phone to look into security settings. Make certain they can’t go to harmful sites or check out in question websites. This helps maintain your family members greater.

Make sure you close any cell phone system you’re not making use of is entirely shut down.Many times they stay open up except when physically DE-activate. A lot of software at one time can certainly make your cellphone to work slow-moving. A solar powered battery charger is the best way to keep your mobile phone dies. This can serve you properly in a car, home, or where ever there is sun rays. You possibly can make confident your cell phone has better battery power by transforming it away when you’re not in use. Change it off your mobile phone through the night or during any period you don’t intend on responding to it. The identical should be done if you’re within an region exactly where there is absolutely no reception. Achieving this could prolong battery lifetime of your electric battery.

Avoid excessive fees without exception with the aid of apps.Your plan probably includes a reduce with regards to the amount of texts it is possible to send out or mobile phone minutes or so. Skype even gives you to do video to bring down a few minutes. Since you now are familiar with how to get the most from your telephone, as well as how to purchase a fresh one just in case this is not an option, you ought to be satisfied you look at this. These guidelines will enable you to have got a much better knowledge of your cell phone. So, just go and have some fun!

Corporate Giveaways Should be Special - Prabhakaronline


Corporate Giveaways Should be Special - Prabhakaronline
Corporate Giveaways Should be Special - Prabhakaronline
If you are one of those entrepreneurs or marketing directors that are still delusional with their promotional products campaign, you should consider now the quality of the products to have for today. It is not just about giving any ordinary promo product. Instead, it is more of going for promotional items that truly gets you’re the marketing results you truly wanted.

Ask yourself, “Do you think a simple pen will be quite memorable for your prospects?” “Will a non customized bag be an asset that your prospects would love to have?” “Will you be able to make a difference by offering thousands of sub quality products compared to a few but really useful items?”

If the answer to these are no, then it is about time to consider the corporate giveaways you are having. It is about time to just go out there and make things happen. Today, novelty and uniqueness is a thing to have. But not only that, you should also be purposeful and useful to your clients. If you are unable to be so, then you will end up losing more money than what you will get as returns for the campaign.

So what are the corporate giveaways to have to make it special? Or are there any ways to make your giveaways as special matter? Well, there are things you can do. Here are some of the techniques that you can have.

Go for something useful


Items that are useful include promotional USB drives, power banks, and other related to the daily lives of your customers or prospects. Think about it. What are the usual things your prospects or customers need? Do they require a certain task to earn money? What do they need to survive? Are they heavily involved with technology? If you want to get results, you should consider offering giveaways that are quite useful to your clients. Start from there.

Go for something customized


There are always ways to customized the product and there is always a way to make it a little more enticing. Save-On-Promotions, one of the best promotional items suppliers out there, offers full customization just because they know the importance of having a fully customized product. A customized product means that you want to show the personality of the company and the products and services you offer. This means that you as a company also consider the products’ aesthetics.

Go for something affordable


Who in the right mind would spend so much on corporate giveaways? Well, the big companies are. But for your case, you may want to provide quality products but still something coming from an affordable budget. There are tons of supplier that offers amazing discounts. You may want to check these out. Go also for unique promotional products idea that are a lot cheaper but still gets you the results you wanted. A simple promotional USB drive may get you a long way despite the cheap price.

Go for something people can carry

There is an added beauty or benefit with items that are portable. For one thing, it helps promote your product even further because it allows passerby to notice the item you are offering with your logos and company name on it. These items that are portable means as well that they are used frequently by the prospect. Something that is consistently used means more recognition and retention.

Save-On-Promotions offer some of the best and unique promotional products in Canada as well as in America. With their outstanding deals, you will be able to appreciate the company even better. Get to know this company better.

Thursday 29 May 2014

How to Creating And Managing Leads with B2B Lead Generation Company


 One of the most peculiar problems for any B2B lead generation company is to strike a balance between creating new sales leads and managing the existing ones in the sales pipeline. It’s true that creating loads of new leads is necessary for a B2B lead generation company, yet qualifying these generic leads is equally important. 

Even if you have a steady flow of new sales leads coming in, you will find it difficult to discern the qualified leads from the unqualified ones unless you have a proper system in place to manage these leads. This could present a twin disadvantage. 

On one hand, you will miss some really promising opportunities to turn good leads into closed deals and on the other hand, you will have to go back to your lead generation effort to create more sales leads. 

This will require the B2B lead generation company to spend a lot of time and resources, causing huge losses in terms of reputation and profitability.

If you don’t manage your existing sales leads efficiently and take the sales process forward smoothly, you will keep spinning your wheels without producing anything worthwhile. A lot of productive time will be wasted in unearthing new leads when you could have spent that time in following up more promising prospects and setting up appointments with them.

Try to separate the short term sales leads from the long term leads. Identify the prospects that are highly motivated and decisive, and put in your best efforts to win them over. Assign the task of following up with the long term leads to the reps who are more patient and can keep in touch with the less decisive or motivated customers for months without complaining.

Creating new business leads is of course very important, but the real success of a B2B lead generation company lies in managing the existing leads more efficiently and taking them to their logical conclusion.

B2B Lead Generation Companies by Relationships of Creative Management


The entire business scenario has changed over the past few decades and B2B lead generation companies need to adopt new innovative methods and techniques to stay ahead of their competitors. The fact is that the decision makers virtually live on the edge today with so many fires to put out, B2B lead generation companies cannot hope to win them over using the same old cold calling techniques. The entire process of getting to that all important people has become far more complex now with the technology and the habits of the key decision makers undergoing a sea change. Traditional cold calling techniques need a significant make over in the present day business scenario in order to make an entry into the sales cycle.

To make a meaningful contact with the key decision makers in the present day sales environment, cold calling requires a creative management of relationships and building of thoughtful approaches based on innovative sales strategies.

Some of the basic fundamentals of cold calling that B2B lead generation companies can adopt in today’s complex and maddening business environment are as follows:

Moving slowly up the hierarchy ladder:

The top level decision makers are so busy putting out a thousand fires of their own everyday, they put up several layers of barriers around themselves in call screeners and administrative assistants. It’s best to start from the lower level executives in an organization and be known to the top bosses before you actually approach them.

Don’t be too greedy:

Don’t be in a hurry to grab a sales opportunity, decision makers have a natural aversion to greedy salespersons. Make your call sound like a business intelligence call, not a sales call. Try to strengthen your social networking with every call and prepare the groundwork for the sales cycle to follow. Empathize with the prospect, know about their needs and pain points, so that you can offer them a good solution.

Learn to use referrals:

Making a short list of useful referrals is very handy while cold calling. Use these referrals while approaching the key decision makers, this can open a few gates for you and let you in with minimum resistance.

The realities of the business world have changed, so B2B lead generation companies should also adopt new methods and approaches if they want to succeed in this fiercely competitive world.

Tips For Sales Survival & Recovery - Prabhakar


One of the most unpleasant situations to be in as a sales person is when the client blames you for what the client perceives to be a failure or shortcoming of your product or solution. Clients might go from being happy and reliable, to being angry and threatening to cancel their contract. 
Tips For Sales Survival & Recovery - Prabhakar, SMARTe inc


“Getting thrown under the bus” in this way by clients can be demoralizing, to say the least. You have invested many hours in building a business relationship, only to find out that the client doesn't trust you as much as you thought. 

As a vendor, we are often the easiest people to throw under the bus. We work outside the client’s organization, and so there is rarely any internal political cost to blaming the vendor when something goes wrong. Vendors are also (wrongly) seen as expendable, since the company can always go put the project out to bid and find some new vendors and solutions. 

If you want to salvage the business relationship, or better yet, avoid getting thrown under the bus by a client in the first place, here are a few tips for what to do and what to avoid. 

Here are a few ways to identify clients who are likely to be “bus throwers.” Often there are several of these factors in play, and the more there are, the more of a toxic mix you have:

1) Clients who are new to their positions. They might not have encountered a situation like the one they’re hiring you to help solve, or they might not have been responsible for implementing this type of solution before.

2) Clients who are new to their jobs and “in way over their heads.” If a client is inexperienced or lacking in management skills, this raises the risk that they will blame you first when things go wrong.

3) Clients who are in their jobs and “in way over their heads” and who were hired by bosses who are also “in way over their heads.” This situation multiplies the risk. Clients who feel insecure in their positions will want to make themselves look better and make their bosses look better – and they will protect their own reputations even if that means throwing you under the bus.

4) Company culture of “micro management.” If your client and your client’s company aren’t good at delegating and letting people do their jobs, this is another risk factor for an unpleasant client experience.

5) Companies in new industries where there is no previous operational or marketing path to follow. These folks are making it up as they go along. They have “great” new ideas that they ask you to execute, but any mistakes will soon become your blunders.

6) Clients who come from other industries where they have been very successful and are now taking over a new business segment and begin to apply rules that worked in their previous experience – without knowing whether the rules will work. 

What happens if you get thrown under the bus by a client?

First, keep in mind that it’s not personal, it’s just business. Even though you might feel frustrated, angry, or even betrayed, try not to let your emotions get in the way. 

Instead, try to salvage what you can. Find out what parts of the contract can still be upheld. Try to talk to other allies or key decision makers within the company and find out if there are other opportunities to serve other parts of the company away from your bus-throwing client. 

If the business relationship cannot be saved, look to minimize the damage to your company’s reputation. Deal with the situation gracefully. Don’t give the client any ammunition to use against you by bad-mouthing you and your company in the marketplace. 

Closing a sale can be tough enough, without having to worry about the deal blowing up in your face. Getting thrown under the bus by a client is never fun, and once it happens there isn't always much you can do to minimize the damage. Instead, prevention is the best medicine. Try to avoid the clients who are most likely to throw you under the bus. Watch out for potentially toxic situations. Try to work with clients who are secure in their jobs, who are trusted by their bosses, and who communicate with candor and authenticity (without seeming to have any hidden agendas).

Biggest Networking Mistakes that Salespeople Make


Sales people often are natural networkers – after all, we tend to be “people persons” who love to meet new people, build relationships, and create conversations, both in “real life” and on social media. But many sales people, without realizing it, are making some big mistakes with their business networking. 

Business networking is one of the sales person’s oldest tools. We use our network of relationships and contacts to get in touch with decision makers, get advice, and get connected with new opportunities. But if you’re making some of these networking mistakes, you might not be reaching your full potential as a sales professional. 

Here are a few of the most common networking mistakes – and how to avoid them: 

Mistake #1: Networking without a strategy. Building relationships is a long-term activity. You can’t just expect to run out and immediately find the contacts or opportunities you’re looking for without investing some time and effort. Just as you would develop a marketing plan or a sales strategy to land a big client, spend some time mapping out some short-term and long-term goals for your sales networking. 

How to avoid: Spend some time asking (and answering) some “big questions” that can guide your networking activity. For example, who are you trying to meet? Which types of companies would you love to get connected with? Who do you already know who works at these companies or knows some of these higher-level people, and how can you strengthen your relationships with your existing circle of influence?


Mistake #2: Networking only to “get,” never to “give.” Too many sales people only look at networking as a way to get what they want. Too many sales people only network in order to get closer to a decision maker, or get their foot in the door at a company where they’re trying to make a sale, or to get in front of someone who might offer them a new job. This is the biggest networking mistake of all. If people feel that you are in it only for yourself, they will be reluctant to trust you or help you. Networking is a two-way street – and some of the most successful sales people are also the most generous with their time and with their contacts. 

How to avoid: When networking, always look for opportunities to “give” more than you “get.” Examples of “giving” might be as simple as sharing a timely article about a prospect’s business or industry, or connecting a contact with an opportunity that is valuable to them (even if it is unrelated to your business). Your generosity might not always be rewarded immediately, but in the long run you will build a reputation as someone who can be trusted, and someone who is willing to help others and connect others with opportunities. 

Mistake #3: Networking only with the “usual suspects.” Especially if you sell a complex B2B solution, it can be understandably tempting to spend most of your time focused on networking with people in your niche market. But if you spend all of your time connecting only with a small circle of people, you might miss out on opportunities that could come from connecting with people from other facets of your life.

 How to avoid: Remember that everyone you know, and everyone they know, can potentially be a valuable contact for you. Take a look at all of your social circles – work, family, community activities, social organizations – and see how you can become more of a connector. Someone you know from church or from your kids’ school might have a friend or relative who works in a business that needs your help. 

Networking is the constant, never-ending work of the sales professional. Sometimes networking feels like trying to navigate a maze – lots of blind corners and uncertainty and wrong turns. But at its best, networking is not a maze, it’s a safety net. 

One of the comforting truths about networking is that we are all supported by our own “safety nets” of contacts and all of their combined expertise, experience and relationships. If sales people can learn to network with planning and purpose (instead of just impulsively grasping around with no sense of direction), if sales people can learn to broaden their networks and connect other people within their networks (instead of only talking to the “usual suspects”), and if sales people can use networking as a way to deepen their relationships and build trust (rather than only trying to get what they need), networking will become a more purposeful and helpful tool – and a better way to operate as a sales professional.

Follow the flying car 'proof of process' business model to $1 billion - Linda Tucci


Our new Future State column focuses on emerging technology and its potential impact on CIOs and their organizations. In this month's installment, SearchCIO's Executive Editor Linda Tucci writes about the latest of many attempts to mass produce a semi-autonomous flying car. Sophisticated algorithms help, but two government rule changes and a super-conservative business plan might be the real ignition that propels this month's Future State startup into the annals of automotive history.

Carl Dietrich, 36, started saving for his pilot's license when he was eight, working at the local airport cleaning airplanes. The pilot's license was obtained in high school. Then he was off for 12 years to earn a bachelor's, master's and PhD from MIT's department of aeronautics and astronautics. He picked up $30,000 as winner of the 2006 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for Innovation. Another $10,000 was collected that year when his team's business plan was a runner-up in the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. The money was enough for Dietrich and a small band of MIT grads to start a company, Terrafugia Corp., move into a garage in Woburn, Mass., and start making flying cars.

Let me clarify. Dietrich's ambition is not just to build a flying car. That's been done, after all, in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. The first patent for a flying car was issued in 1918. According to Dietrich, the 1950's version came closest to shaking up the skies. Built by Moulton "Molt" Taylor, an aeronautical engineer, the Aerocar was certified by the CAA (precursor to the FAA), and Ford Motor Co. considered putting the vehicle into production with plans to sell 25,000 a year -- small on an automotive scale, but mass production nonetheless. However, federal motor vehicle standards were just coming into being and Taylor's vehicle couldn't meet them, Dietrich said. Another manufacturer offered to tool up production for 1,000 vehicles, provided Taylor could muster deposits for 500, but alas only 278 buyers materialized.

"And that was that. Had the business been scaled more conservatively, we might have a lot of them around today," Dietrich said, at Disrupting Life!, a recent conference put on by the MIT Sloan School of Management.

"Over the next four to five years, I want Terrafugia to become the first company in the world that has made money selling a flying car," he said.
Where we're going we don't need roads

Terrafugia -- Latin for earth (terra) and escape (fugia) -- has already built one flying car, the Transition, and is testing a second-generation prototype, the TF-X. The proof-of-concept Transition took its maiden voyage in 2009. A boxy bug of a vehicle with 27-foot folding wings (the hardest part to build), the two-seater reaches cruising speeds of  about 100 knots, or 116 miles per hour, boasts a range of 410 nautical miles, gets 35 miles per gallon on the road using ordinary premium unleaded gas and at seven feet tall fits into a single car garage. Oh yes, and comes with a base purchase price of $279,000 ($10,000 refundable deposit to reserve a place in production.)

   " It's technology, timing and regulation. It's that whole puzzle that had to come together in order for this to work, because the flying car is such a big thing".    Carl Dietrich, CEO, Terrafugia

The sleeker, next-gen hybrid TF-X has the advantage of vertical takeoff, requiring smaller landing zones (for example, a corner of the local shopping mall). Except for landings, when the human eye is still better than machines at detecting sudden changes on the ground, the driver of the TF-X, a four-seater, won't have to do much of anything while airborne except enjoy the scenery, thanks to sophisticated technology under the hood known in general terms as human directed local autonomy (HuDL).

"The operator of the vehicle doesn't need traditional piloting skill or traditional piloting knowledge," Dietrich told me after his talk. Making a flight plan? Adjusting for weather? All that can be done automatically. "The safety limits can be hard-programmed in, which means that the pilot is not going to be able to remove the safety limits if they are feeling anxious. It becomes less subjective."

Plus, the new global surveillance technology (automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast or ADS-B) now being rolled out in the U.S. and elsewhere enables aircraft to transmit their position and velocity themselves. "If you have perfect information about where all the other things to hit are, collision-avoidance becomes trivial," Dietrich said, dismissing a question about flying car congestion. "It's hard for people who aren't pilots to understand how much space there is when you have that third dimension."
Government rule changes clear the runway

Combined, the technology of the flying car breaks down some of the traditional barriers to personal aviation, claims Dietrich -- from the inadvisability of flying in bad weather to the costs of hangar storage and aviation gas to the lack of ground mobility after landing. There's no Hertz counter at most of the 5,000 small public use airports across the country. And, as the world has learned from the events of the past two weeks, the adoption of ADS-B technology and other hard-programmed safety limits can't come soon enough.

But it was two regulatory changes, one on the product side and one on the customer side, which convinced the MIT team the time was right to push forward on personal aviation. In 2004 the FAA improved the certification process for new products and approved the Sport Pilot certificate for flying lightweight vehicles, a new class of license that costs less and requires less time to obtain than a private pilot's license.

"It's technology, timing and regulation. It's that whole puzzle that had to come together in order for this to work, because the flying car is such a big thing. You're talking about disrupting the whole automotive business, a $2 trillion industry," Dietrich said.

The history of transportation, however, shows that the sort of fundamental change Terrafugia envisions happens over a generation, not in a five-year window. "It isn't going to happen over a venture capital time scale."
'Proof of process' seen as the open sesame to $1 billion

And, indeed, Terrafugia has relied mainly on angel investors and funding from DARPA so far. It will require $20 million more to put Transition into production. The company claims to have $30 million in backlog orders or more than 100,000 people who have written checks, 25% of whom have never been pilots. Aside from the money, the Transition has its detractors, with at least one rather harsh critique concluding the flying car will be very lucky to become the Segway of the light sports aircraft world. You'll hear no such qualms from Dietrich.

"We think of Transition as a proof-of-process product -- a product that proves that our company has the capabilities of designing, certifying and building a profitable flying car even if it is at low volume. Nobody has done that," he said. "And if we can become the first company that has done that, then all of a sudden investing $1 billion to bring the TF-X to marketing is not ridiculous."

Let us know what you think about the story; email Linda Tucci, executive editor, or on Twitter at @ltucci.

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Dr Dre Joins Apple In $3bn Beats Acquisition - celebrity


Dr Dre and recording impresario Jimmy Iovine have joined Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) after the completed $3bn acquistion of Beats Electronics.

The announcement comes nearly three weeks after deal negotiations were leaked to the media.

At $3bn (£1.8bn), the deal for the headphone and streaming music company is the most expensive acquisition in Apple's 38-year history.

It includes $2.6bn in cash and $400m in Apple stock that will vest over an unspecified time period.

Apple broke into the music streaming business last year with the launch of iTunes Radio, but with $1.1bn in revenue last year, Beats should boost the tech giant's earnings once the new fiscal year begins in October.

"Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a media release.

"That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."

Iovine, a co-founder of Interscope Records, said: "I've always known in my heart that Beats belonged with Apple.

"The idea when we started the company was inspired by Apple's unmatched ability to marry culture and technology. Apple’s deep commitment to music fans, artists, songwriters and the music industry is something special."

The growing popularity of music streaming services such as Pandora (Other OTC: PNDZF - news) and Spotify has been reducing sales of songs and albums, a business that iTunes has dominated for the past decade.

US sales of downloaded songs slipped 1% last year to $2.8bn while streaming music revenue surged 39% to $1.4bn, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Mr Cook says Beats Music has more than 250,000 subscribers.

Beats also commands 62% of the $1bn US market for headphones priced above $100, according to market research firm NPD Group.

The acquisition will see both Dre, 49, and Iovine, 61, become executives in Apple's music divisions, though Mr Cook said their roles have not yet been determined.

Dr Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, started his career in influential rap group NWA before co-founding Death Row Records and going on to produce some of the biggest names in hip hop.

Smart People Sabotage Their Success with this Stupid Ways


Sometimes the smartest people do things that seem to make no sense at all.

A group of Quora users drew from their experiences to address the question, "What are some stupid things that smart people do?" The answers provide ways to overcome some of the common ways intelligent people unknowingly undermine themselves.

We've highlighted a few below.
They spend too much time thinking and not enough time doing.

"Because thinking comes so easily to smart people, doing becomes relatively harder. Research and planning are great in moderation, but can offer the dangerous illusion of progress," says Silicon Valley entrepreneur Chris Yeh. Smart people who are perfectionists can get caught up in this kind of seemingly productive procrastination and often nitpick over minute details rather than finishing projects.

They follow the pack.

Venture for America's Andrew Yang has written extensively about the trend of top college graduates going into the same few industries equated with "making it," like finance and consulting, rather than following their passions. New York entrepreneur Lee Semel agrees: "Many smart people often seem to be followers, probably because they grow up spending so much time pleasing others via academic and extracurricular achievement that they never figure out what they really like to work on or try anything unique."

They stop trying.

People whose intelligence has helped them achieve a level of success can often get lazy. "These smart people fail to further develop their natural talents and eventually fall behind others who, while less initially talented, weren't as invested in being smart and instead spent more time practicing," Semel says.

They undervalue social skills.

Some intelligent people don't realize that intellect is only one element of achieving success and that personal connections are everything in the professional world. "They never try to improve their social skills, learn to network, or self promote, and often denigrate people who excel in these areas," Semel says.

They place being right above all else.

Many smart people indulge a dangerous combination of ego and logic and behave as though being right all the time is somehow endearing (it's the opposite), Semel says. It's bad when they argue a point they're misinformed about, but it can be even more embarrassing for them when they insist on arguing facts against someone's long-held beliefs.

They equate education with intelligence.

A high academic pedigree can make some people think that where someone got their college degree reflects how smart they are, says Liz Pullen, a sociologist. In many cases, a degree from an elite university represents a great achievement, but there are countless instances where those who didn't graduate college are more qualified for a job because of their real-world experience.

They are too independent.

Smart people can fail to develop healthy support systems that everyone needs to succeed . 
" Without a good support system, anyone can begin to slide down a slippery slope when they encounter hardship, miscalculate something major, or fall victim to the misdeeds of others,"  says Quora user  Andrea Martin .

How do you develop a good support system? "Methodically place yourself in the company of the most mature, benevolent, competent people you can identify.