Marketing

10 Fun Psychological Fact About Colors That Can Help Your Ad Campaign Run Long!

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Do you feel serenely calm when surrounded by green fields and blue skies? Or why you feel slightly alarmed when staring at a red stop sign?

Everything has a color to represent. In fact,whole universe runs around colors and plays a vital part in everyone’s daily life.

But how much do you  really know about colors?

The article aims to helps marketers and advertisers to understand the psychology of color and how to play around with colors in your next ad campaign to increase sales and customer base.

HOW COLOR AFFECT PEOPLE’S BEHAVIORS AND DECISIONS?

  1. Color psychology studies shows colors can evoke feelings of trust, security, urgency, relaxation and much more which can lead to decision-making and motivates call to action.
  1. 93% of buyers pay attention to the visual aspects of the ad first before sound, smell and so on.
  1. Studies also  show that color is the first thing people associate to a brand. Most consumers agreed that the strongest cue to making the final purchase is color.

So, now let’s dig a little deeper into the fascinating world of colors and discover interesting color facts that are worth knowing.

This would really help advertisers and marketers in choosing the right colors for the ad campaigns and brands.

1. RED

First color that babies see. Increases blood pressure, heart rate and sexual desire!

2. GREEN

 Helps mind find the physical and emotional balance which lead to clarity and boost decision-making ability.

3. YELLOW

 Stimulates logic centre of the brain which can be use to draw in impulsive buyers. Also, create a huge temptation for food. Oh, also can create nausea.

4. ORANGE

Triggers more enthusiasm. Makes food tastes better but excessive use can  create anxiety and make babies cry!!!

5. BLACK

Can trim down the appearance of size of objects! Also, symbolizes intelligence but can be overwhelming sometimes which trigger fears.

6. BLUE

World’s most popular color, mostly preferred by men and young people think of it as a sign of maturity. Also, boost productivity and curbs appetite.

7. PURPLE

 Triggers creativity and imagination. Suitable for anti aging and beauty products.

8. GREY

Symbolize solidarity but too much of grey leads to feeling of loneliness, depression and death.

9. WHITE

 Project neutrality and gives the mind a sense of purity and cleanliness.

10. PINK

Leaves a calming effect that reduces anger and control the untamable behavior.  That is why prisons cell mental care institutions paint their walls pink!

 

为什么“最初接待顾客的员工”，很重要？

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对于一个以向顾客提供服务为主要业务的企业来说，能够让客人对自己的服务满意，其实是对公司最好的宣传。每一位员工在为顾客提供服务的过程中的每一个举动，都直接影响着消费者对公司的整体印象，其中决定了顾客第一印象的“前台接待员”，更是起着尤为重要的作用。而这一角色，也恰恰是被很多公司所忽略。

最初接待顾客的员工

如果企业在向顾客提供服务的过程中，不能充分理解顾客的需求，或者彼此不能达成默契，那么即使再努力工作，也只能是徒劳。不仅如此，这种不能满足顾客“事前期待”的服务，就像工厂生产的次品一样，会影响企业的信誉，使企业失信于顾客。那么，企业应该注意做好哪些方面的工作，才能避免出现这样的情况呢？

首先，应该从最基本的接待顾客做起。顾客来到公司时，首先必须弄清楚他来干什么，需要你做什么，也就是说对方来的目的是什么。这一点非常重要。

就拿汽车修理行业来说吧，以往的惯例都是顾客把需要修理的车开到修理厂后，修理的师傅一边听顾客介绍车的情况，一边着手修理。而现在的汽车修理厂则完全不是这样，他们让最有经验的师傅在前台接待客人，凭借他的个人经验和技术，首先判断出车的毛病，然后再针对车的具体情况，为顾客安排修理。

虽然看似很简单，但其所体现的服务理念却非同一般。一般来说，个别型服务大都需要比较高的专业素质或技能，其技术含量也比较高。顾客并不懂汽车的专业知识，如果像以前的修理厂那样，修理师傅只是一味地按照顾客的要求去修理车辆，可能并不能完全修好。

修理厂家精明之处就在于，它选择的这种事半功倍的办法，既杜绝了不能完全修好的可能性，尊重了顾客的意见，还能提高其修理效率。

对于一个企业来说，其最初接待顾客的员工，首先必须具备站在顾客的立场上考虑问题的能力。那些被旧的观念所束缚而且顽固不化的人是不能胜任的。此外，在多数情况下，还要求他具有高超的专业技能，经验丰富，了解公司的服务能力和特色，以及各项服务的最大限度及弱点。可以说，这一岗位的员工配置，与后期服务工作的进行，有着同等重要的意义。

在下面的文章中，我们姑且把这个职位的员工叫做前台接待员。我们所强调的前台接待员的重要性，不光是针对汽车修理业来说的，还包括酒店业、广告设计业以及各种经营性质的窗口行业。

比如说，大家去医院看病时，每一个专科门诊室外面都会有一个分诊台，那里一般都会有一位经验丰富的护士，负责对患者进行详细的病情询问和登记。这就是现在各大医院都在采用的分诊制度。有了前面护士的详细询问，医生在给患者看病的时候，只需要提一些关键性的问题，把握病人的病情就可以了。

分诊制度能提高主治医师的诊断效率，预防误诊。因为在给患者诊断之前，护士已经为医生做好了铺垫工作，医生相当于是对患者进行第二次诊断，二者可以说是双保险。

前台接待员的工作具有非常重要的意义。对于一个想要提高自身服务品质和整体工作效率的服务性企业来说，一位优秀的前台接待员可以成为公司的一面旗帜，为公司的经营打下好的基础。

墨守成规与积极沟通

一般来说，从事广告、售后服务、设计、咨询、教育、研究、软件开发等知识产业的企业，只要有顾客光顾，按照惯例，首先要听取顾客的要求和希望，然后根据顾客的具体要求制作方案，要和顾客共同商讨，直到整项计划全部敲定，才可以订立合同，开始运作。

对于需要和顾客保持紧密沟通的行业而言，最初与客户交流的过程是至关重要的。在此过程中所作出的所有构想和设计，都将在后期的实施过程中起到决定性作用。

前期与客户交流讨论之后，制定出具有可行性的计划，这一步具有非常重要的指导意义。按照计划，项目将能够赢利多少，各项指标需要达到什么样的标准，计划书的每一个字都将对后期的实践工作起到指导性作用，马虎不得。

因而，制定一份翔实而合理的计划书，可以说是服务性企业迈向成功的第一步。企业必须对各部门的员工进行专门的规划能力的培训。此外，还要定期组织大家交流彼此成功或失败的经验。这也是十分重要的。

每一项重大工作的实施过程都是相当漫长而艰难的。这就更意味着计划书的重要性。比如，一个房地产开发公司，除了房屋以外，还将出售整体设计方案、施工管理这些无形服务。建造房屋往往需要一年甚至几年，如果房地产开发公司最初没有和客户商量好就草率地签订合同，盲目开工，最后倒霉的肯定还是自己。因此，我们说，前期的确认工作就好像是海上航行的船只在出海前要确定好航线一样，具有绝对的指导作用，一定要认真对待。

一份翔实、可行、双方都认可的计划书，既可以避免很多纠纷，也能为企业赢得顾客的信任和好感，对后面的实践工作还可以起到指导性作用。一个想在激烈竞争中立于不败之地的企业，是绝对不应该忽略这一点的。

以前很多公司认为，营销就好像在商场中叫卖一样，如果自己将实际业务做好了，即使不去叫卖，顾客一样会找上门来。其实，这种想法是不对的。

“前台”需要精锐队伍

尤其是在诸如信息产业、各种设计产业、技术开发等高新科技领域中，很多公司都存在这种过于重视实际业务而忽略营销的倾向。因为高新科技领域正处于供小于求的阶段，这些公司自身有一种优越感，觉得不必采用什么营销策略手段，顾客就会自己找上门来。其实，一个真正优秀的企业，除了在实业部门配备一流的人才外，营销部门也必须配备一流的人才。

简单地说，再高新的产业，也需要有顾客。有顾客，就存在第一个与顾客见面接触的员工问题，这就是我们前面提到的“前台接待员”工作，它是一个公司营销部门最基本的要素。此外，一个有能力的营销部门，能够根据公司的具体情况和市场动向，制定出最适合公司发展的生产策略，其中包括企业自身的生产能力、同行业公司竞争现状、顾客需求的变化等等因素。这些工作看似简单，做起来却非常复杂，必须由一整套班子来完成。

当今社会，竞争日益激烈。企业要想生存发展下去，必须要不断地有所创新，在新项目的开发中取得成功。但是，产品开发出来之后，市场能否接受它，接受到什么程度，这些都是生产研发部门所无法左右的。这时，一个强有力的营销部门就显得至关重要，它可以让新产品以最快的速度得到市场的认可。而这种认可，对于以后的研发工作是一种激励和传承。从经济效益来说，一个优秀的营销部门可以为企业赢得更多的利润空间；从研发工作来说，新产品被市场认可意味着对技术能力的肯定。

对于那些从原有的大型或超大型公司中派生出来的物流、电子计算机、教育、房地产、金融、印刷、旅游等相关服务性企业来说，母公司就是它们最近也是最大的客户。要想在激烈的市场竞争中分到一杯羹，必须先得到母公司的认可，然后再逐步争取外面的客户，最终要实现企业外部客户量等同甚至超过内部客户量。

有些企业就存在这方面的问题，在母公司的庇护下，公司的运营状况看起来非常不错，但真正走出去之后，才发现在外部市场竞争中根本没有生存的能力。造成这种状况的原因，在于其对母公司的过分依赖。没有外部市场的开拓，就没有外部客源，没有同其他企业竞争的经验。这样的企业，就像温室里面的花朵，根本经不起市场风雨的考验。

有些人可能会认为，造成这种状况是因为公司的业务实力差，而不是营销不力。试想一下，顾客来到你的公司，第一个接触到的员工就是顾客对公司的第一印象。因此，如果想要成为具有强大实力的企业，先从营销的第一步做起，重视公司的“前台”接待员。

本文摘自：畠山芳雄《服务的品质是什么》

7 Common E-Commerce Marketing Misconceptions that Marketers Should Ignore to Ensure an Overall Business Success.

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7 Common E-Commerce Marketing Misconceptions that Marketers Should Ignore to Ensure an Overall Business Success.

The sea of informations available on the Internet often creates a sense of fear among marketers that they have invested poorly or executed an ineffective marketing strategy.

The truth is that, most of these e-commerce myths on the internet, hold no values to business growth and success.

The best way to ensure your business uses the most effective e- commerce strategies is first to identify and break the most common e-commerce marketing myths.

Plus, it will also educate you on topics that your customers need answers to.

This article aims to help you with that!

FIRSTLY, WHAT IS E-COMMERCE MARKETING?

Ecommerce marketing is the process of driving sales and profits by raising awareness about an online brand, product and services.

It is divided into two general initiatives:

  1. Driving website traffic
  2. Optimizing the user experience to convert more shoppers.

 

9 DIFFERENT TYPES OF E- COMMERCE MARKETING CHANNELS THAT MARKETERS CAN USE TO BUILD A STRONG CUSTOMER BASE.

1) Pay per Click (PPC)- PPC means buying traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo and so on for further conversions. Running an effective PPC campaign involves strategic bidding on the keywords or phrases that is the best fit for your ads.

2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)- SEO traffic help you generates “organic” (unpaid) results. Factors such as social media engagement, inbound links, credibility into consideration before guaranteeing the top spot.

3) Search Engine Marketing (SEM)- SEM is the promotion through paid ads to increase the visibility of your site on search engines results. Google AdWords is the most popular paid search platform used by marketers.

4) Display advertising- Display advertising refers to banners, sidebars and other predominantly visual advertisements that appear on other websites. Display ads are facilitated by ad networks such as Google Display Network.

5) Affiliate marketing- It is the process by which you pay an affiliate a commission for marketing your company through reviews, comparisons or testimonials to drive traffic to your site.

6) Marketplace- This are the sites that allow you to offer your products/services for sale. The consumer purchases these items from the marketplace such as Amazon, Walmart  not your site.

7) Email marketing- Email marketing is used to target current, potential and past customers with newsletters, abandoned cart email notifications and remarketing.

8) Mobile marketing- The use of smartphones has increased universally hence it is strongly recommended that marketers build their brands capabilities in this arena.

9) Social Media marketing–  Social media is significant to marketing. The primary and secondary sales from these channels are huge which is why marketers should start experimenting all the various social media platforms now.

7 Of The Most Common E-Commerce Marketing Myths Debunked.

#1: Social media creates brand recognition but does not bring in customers.

Facebook Advertising

While many people believe that social media is just a platform to get your business name out into the world, but it also holds a great power to your business profits.

Social media marketing give business enhanced profitability and provides an opportunity for business to increase customer base, generate sales, and enhance the overall success of your brand.

Facebook advertising for example is the prove that, there is money can be made through your social media engagements.

#2: Profit and revenue are the only metrics you should watch when you analyze your online success.

Remember, steady growth of profit and revenue aren’t the only measures of a business success!

When it comes to effective e-commerce marketing, you need to look at the bigger picture.

An effective online presence brings in potential growth measurements from many different areas of your analytics such as conversion rates, website traffic, asset values, and social media engagement.

So, track, measure, and analyze these areas of your strategies to evaluate your overall business worth and visualize your business growth potential.

#3: Your website should be the only focus of all your online marketing strategies.

It is difficult to look beyond your website when it comes to marketing online because quality web and graphic designs brings more views

But today success is measured by creating an overall brand experience that is delivered to customers across multiple online platforms.

There are so many different ways you can market your products and services. If you primarily stick to your website to market yourself, it is only limit your growth potential.

To find your greatest success online, you need to use your social media presence, mailing lists, PPC campaigns, content marketing strategies, and other online advertising outlets to get your brand in front of the greatest number of customers.

This will you give your business the chance to reach its full online potential.

#4: Email marketing is ineffective.

Although many people think e-mail marketing is a thing of the past, but statistics shows  it is alive and extremely effectual.

E-mail continues to evolve as the greatest form of communication and connection in the business world. The power of e-mail touches both commercial and personal levels.

You should use email marketing to deliver relevant content to your customers and potential customers as it gives you a direct link to your customers.

When you deliver quality content with captivating graphic design, you can create an email marketing strategy that converts viewers to lifelong customers.

#5: Business success is measured by the amount of followers you have.

Instagram Followers

While, it is true that high traffic is driven by large group of followers but, your success is not solely measured by the number of traffic your website draws.

The most effective way to build revenue from your website traffic is to ensure that you target the right group of people.

The goal of all ecommerce marketing is to deliver an online brand presence that creates a quality user experience which converts viewers into customers.

Hence, it is important to identify the right target audiences and deliver effective contents to that audiences to see the greatest return on your investment and watch your business grow exponentially.

#6: Going viral is the best indicator of business success.

Today,  the universal goal of marketers is to create a campaign that goes viral. But in most cases, ‘viral’ does not bring you as much success as you would think it would.

When a brand go viral, it is important to know why it has gone viral. Most time, it might not be the products or services that was engaging with audience but could be the pictures used in ad, or the audio or the music that was catchy or the funny videos that actually went viral.

In this case, your business is getting overlooked and audiences are being carried away by the actual message of the campaign.

This also the reason why in many cases of businesses that going viral fade very quickly. Hence, ignore the 15 minutes of fame and work on creating long term bond!

#7: High-quality products and services market themselves hence digital marketing investments are not necessary.

Apple Products

It is great when you can create products/services is high in demand. But, just because you have a great product does not mean you do not need an effective marketing strategy or other tools to promote your brand.

Even the most profitable businesses continue to market their products and services. Just think how many advertisements you see for Apple, Ford, or Amazon.

Sometimes the best way to advertise a new product is to build suspense before its release. Again, think about the lines of customers who sleep outside of Apple stores when the next tech product is due for release.

Marketing are part of the business that will always be a necessary investment. It is important to continually communicate what your business plans to do next.

If you want real business success, you need to pour effort into your products and services regardless of how great they are.

Remember, customers are always curious to hear about your latest products!

 

12 Low Pressure Tips to Increase Your Business Profit Without Burning Out Your Sales and Marketing Team

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How To Increase Your Sales, Revenue & Profits Without Burning Out Your Sales and Marketing Team.

OPPRESSION ON YOUR SALES TEAM KILLS THE BUSINESS, HOW?

Without a doubt, sales and marketing organization these days are relentless because of the unbearable pressure of the current market.

Infirm economy and shrinking margins, make it even harder to drive revenue and gain profit.

The sales representatives are the first responders to the pressure as they are those carrying the future profits of the company on their backs. They are taking on bigger territories, facing higher quotas, and making more customer contacts than ever.

Unfortunately, in many organizations they are still losing ground because there is not proper guidance. For example, where does the sales rep turn to for direction, motivation, and performance support in the middle of such challenging times?

The answer, is their team leader (sales manager), who is in charge with providing the insights, resources, accountability, and coaching the sales representative to success.

However, most sales managers today  have their own set of pressures to deal with. So, in the face of all this pressure, sales manager gets overwhelmed and distracted to such a degree that they have nothing left in the tank to feed the sales representatives.

Eventually, sales reps especially those who haven’t achieved the star status will  stumble, feeling uncertain of their own goals, their value to the team, and clueless on how to fix the situation.

Ultimately, production that is already underperforming continues to gradually trend further down and the pressure on everyone keeps growing and getting worse.

 

12 TIPS FOR TEAM LEADER TO INCREASE SALES PERFORMANCE WITHOUT KILLING YOUR TEAM

1. Lead your team, not manage.

Sales managers rely too much on metrics and deadlines to drive performance neglecting the teams’ mental health.

It would be more effective to motivate and reward your team in a social format that brings out the best in them in a way that inspires everyone.

2. Set social goals along with business goals to drive sales team performance.

Every team should have a sales process then set a goal and measure pipeline. Somehow you have to align these organizational goals to a social goal.

Example of social goals are like protecting the environment, improving the standard of living of the sales professional and so on.

Leveraging social goals gives sales professionals targets that are practical, comfortable, and therefore more natural.

3. Committed to hiring the best fit for your business goal.

If you want the best, hire the best. This saves time and money on training while protecting yourself from failure six months down the road.

It does costs more now, but it definitely pays off over time.  

Look for individuals with social goals that are already more aligned with your organizational goals.

4. Set and manage every component of the sales and management process.

A sales team thrives when everyone is in tune and follow regular standards and schedules.

If sales managers have the tools, real-time tracking and instantaneous feedback, sales reps won’t feel a need to stop and doubt themselves.

So, make sure you know what is going on the whole time so you can give  instant feedback with deals in motion and bring more positive energy to team.

5. Keep the communication clear and  expectations well-defined.

An integral part of a consistent winning is the tone and the topics of your communications with your sales team.

It important to remind your team know what is expected of them and when it is expected. So, the team members know what to aim for, and understand what will happen if they hit it or not.

6. Know the difference between pipeline and forecasting.

 Pipeline consists of all prospects at all stages in the sales cycle. From the beginning phase of introducing your company to presenting a pricing proposal. Unqualified leads will not be in a sales pipeline but all unclosed sales belongs in it.

The sales forecast on the other hand, is the salesperson’s best estimation of which sales will close in a given time frame. Forecasting is focused on late stage deals.

A  significant difference between the two is that the sales forecast is used to estimate a company’s short term revenue and cash flow. In other words, sales forecasts help a company determine whether or not they can pay their bills, pipelines do not.

Most managers don’t differentiate or understand the difference between the two. Keep this in mind when aligning new goals.

7. Use the tech and tools available to track performance in real-time.

Every sales team works within a standardized process that defines how to approach, qualify, work with, and close the customer.

Up to date tracking let the manager make immediate adjustments and giving the teams flexible guidelines that is optimal in modern dynamic sales environments.

8. Coach and provide feedback that will build confidence and drive production.

Coaching is the responsibility most neglected by sales managers mainly because it is time-consuming but placing a high priority on coaching will boost team morale and sale.

Therefore, take advantage of every opportunity, scheduled or unscheduled, to provide feedback that will make their sales reps perform better.

9. Motivate and reward your team to maximize performance and minimize conflict.

The highly competitive field is a challenge to work in and confrontation are unavoidable. 

Effective sales managers know how to handle these situations, thus taking a good sales professional making them great.

You can also leverage social networking. For example, using the success of high performers to motivate others, turning great individual performers into great performing teams.

10. Think ahead and take note of every little thing.

Try to recognize what small trends indicate before they become big problems.

In doing so, you can prevent weaker performances from becoming anchored as bad habits that sap overall yearly productivity and sales.

11. Practice good time management habit.

Make sure your sales teams is making the most of their time by eliminating usage of time that don’t directly help drive revenue.

Aligned goals and activities that can be quickly evaluated. Activities that don’t support these goals can be eliminated or updated to bring them into alignment.

12. Dispel some of the pressure off by celebrating big or small victory.

This ought to be self-explanatory, but do not wait too long or not celebrate enough.

Reward the team even for small successes and celebrate as often as possible. It as an opportunity to give everyone a little boost.

A little celebration creates motivation and that goes a long way.

TOP 12 SALES MANAGEMENT TOOLS THAT EASE PRESSURE OFF THE TEAM AND BOOST SALES

These are some of the best tools designed  to improve sales team performance. When sales reps are equip with the best tools, it enable them to work efficiently and sales managers can achieve lean management and increase profit.

1. Ambition Sales Performance Management Platform- The only platform that scores overall user performance in real-time.

Cost: Free trial available

2.Sales Cloud by Salesforce- Helps the team to sell smarter and fasters.

Cost: Free trial available

 3. Yesware- Helps team keep track of emails and work more effectively and efficiently from their Gmail or Outlook inboxes.

Cost: Free 100 email tracking events per month, personal email templates, and reports

4. OnePageCRM- OnePageCRM keeps all contacts and sales information in one place and has a proven follow-up system. 

Cost: Free 30-day trial available

5. Clari- A sales productivity platform, Clari combines mobile, design, and data science to help sales managers guide their teams through the selling process.

Cost: Free trial available

6. NetSuite- It is the only cloud solution that delivers a real-time 360-degree view of your customer. Helps sales teamwork their way throughout the customer life cycle and offers suitable  quote.

Cost: Contact for a quote

7. DemoChimp- Help teams stay lean and efficient by automating sales and marketing conversations and then measuring them.

Cost: Contact for a quote

8. LevelEleven- Utilizes the competitive nature of salespeople, uses real-time leaderboard and performance recognition, and integrates with Salesforce data to make it simple for sales managers to increase sales with motivated sales professionals.

Cost: RM 2000/month  

9. Infor- Provide a complete 360° customer view for their sales teams to turn their organizations into streamlined, efficient sales leaders.

Cost: Contact for a quote

10. Yooba- Turns sales and marketing materials into apps and adapts to your sales teams’ best practices.

Cost: Contact for a quote

11. Brainshark- Enables sales managers to produce content and training tailored to their own teams every time.

Cost: Contact for a quote

12. LivePlan- Simplifies business planning, budgeting, forecasting, and performance tracking for small businesses and startups.

Cost: Free 60-day trial available

 

12 SIMPLE LOW PRESSURE SALES AND MARKETING HACKS TO SELL SMARTER AND FASTER

  1. Practice active listening to identify customer pain points.
  2. Seek out feature requests and product criticisms.
  3. Use data to decide which problems are most profitable to prioritize and solve.
  4. Inform potential customers about your offerings, trends that apply to their business, and how your product is the perfect solution for their needs.
  5. Send your first email within 90 minutes of sign-up.
  6. Share an in-depth how-to guide to get started.
  7. Personalize each of your emails to users and sign off with brand contact information.
  8. Include a clear and obvious call to action.
  9. Send multiple emails throughout the trial period and lighten the pace of email delivery after the user’s trial ends.
  10. Host a weekly or monthly seminar so users have an opportunity to walk through different ways of using your product and so they may ask questions.
  11. Offer free trial extensions to customers who have not yet signed up as paying customers.
  12. Source feedback to understand buyers’ biggest reservations, which prevent them from purchasing.

WhatsApp Will Delete Your ‘Things’ If You Don’t Back It Up Soon – Here’s How and Why.

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 WhatsApp will delete your chats, photos and videos if you don’t back it up soon, take note!!!

WHATSAPP’S  LATEST UPDATES SPARKS PRIVACY FEARS. WHY?!

WhatsApp users have been warned earlier this year about a change coming to the world renowned messaging service. The change is now here and it has high potential of valuable information leakage with no proper guidance and protection.

Fom the 12th of November 2018,  WhatsApp users will be required to update backups that haven’t been touched in a year or it will get permanently deleted. Whatsapp announced that a system update that could see all your chats, pictures videos and audio files be deleted.

The changes are part of a deal between Google and Whatsapp, with Google agreeing users can backup their accounts and messages on their Google Drive account.

However, tech site ZDNet reports that while the Google Drive backups may be free for users, communication records will not be protected in the same way.

This is poles apart to Whatsapp’s data protection, which features the highest level of end-to-end encryption.

Though, this is not the first time that WhatsApp have said messages or media stored in backups aren’t encrypted. But with the new November 12 deadline approaching it’s worth a reminder.

Google is also advising WhatsApp users to manually back up content in the chat app before this date or risk losing precious files.

This means if users do not fully ensure all of their data, both past and present, backed up to Google Drive before November 12 they could lose all photos, chat history, video and other media after such time.

5 REASON WHY YOU SHOULD USE WHATSAPP MARKETING FOR BUSINESS GROWTH AND SALES ?

1) Key way for your audience to share content via ‘dark social’- Dark social is a term to describe when people share content through private channels such as email or chat apps like WhatsApp, as opposed to more public networks like Facebook.

2) Most widely used social network at the moment- Many of your customers are probably already using it. Whatsapp, which is only 5 years old, already has 700 million active users and more than 60 billion messages are sent through WhatsApp every single day. Officially overtaking its competitor Facebook Messenger.

3) Broad reach with a young demographics- 42% of smartphone owners between 18 and 29 years old use WhatsApp for their day to day communication, compared with only 19% of smartphone owners who are 50 or older.

4) Incredible engagement rates- 98% of mobile messages are opened and read everyday  with 90% of them getting opened within three seconds of being received.

5) Significant for information sharing-  84% of information sharing now takes place on Whatsapp. So, even if you’re not using WhatsApp to market your business, your prospects are likely using it to extend your content’s reach already.

7 EFFECTIVE WHATSAPP MARKETING TIPS THAT HELPS MARKETERS TO WIDEN REACH AND INCREASE SALES

The most critical thing about Whatsapp is that you CANNOT push messages to consumers you do not know. You need to get invited by consumers to become their contact which makes it even harder to market.

Hence here are a list of 7 seven effective Whatsapp marketing tips that can help you:

1. Create an engaging brand persona with its own Whatsapp number

People don’t like to chat with impersonal company representatives. In fact,  the most popular brands and companies have the most visible and lively company cultures.

So, try to be more intimate and personal while communicating with customers on Whatsapp.  

2. Create an identity for the person in charge of your Whatsapp channel

For instance the brand Rarepink has a Whatsapp number managed by its customer service managers who are available at all times to engage with customers.

Busy business people find it easy to engage with this person on Whatsapp, exchanging pictures of products they are interested in, asking questions and even agreeing payment and delivery terms.

3. Create a fictional Whatsapp character to build interest and engagement.

For example, Absolut Vodka created a fictional character called doorman Sven to engage with their young audience.

The whatsapp number was released in all the Absolut media and advertising and users started sending messages, songs and even indecent proposals to Sven in order to get in to the party.

Once the persona is created, the character can be used again and again for different events to bring consumers in.

4. Offer one-on-one help to inspire new uses for a product

Hellmann’s in Brazil wanted to inspire people to think of mayonnaise as a cooking ingredient, not just a condiment. So they invited visitors to their website to submit their phone numbers along with a picture of the contents of their refrigerator.

They were then connected through WhatsApp with real chefs, who came up with a recipe using Hellmann’s and the other ingredients in their fridge.

A total of 13,000 participants spent an average of 65 minutes interacting with the brand, and 99.5% of them approved of the service.

5. Make sure to constantly deliver instant and functional customer service

Whatsapp has a 70% opening rate, which means you are almost guaranteed exposure of your message if you customer is on Whatsapp with you.

Leveraging this, Banco Santander Bank in Spain, has created Open Bank, a whatsapp customer service number where you can chat with the bank, post queries, solve issues.

With 17,000 customers using the service, 99% of consumers found the service very useful and 98% said they would continue to use it.

6. Make sure your contents are relevant and free

Whatsapp has a 84% of information sharing, so you need to offer users great content on relevant topics to ensure that they are engaged with you.

A great example of this is Dr Amrik Singh, Agriculture scientist in India, who has created a WhatsApp group called Young Progressive Farmers to educate farmers on modern methods of farming for rice which use less water and get higher yield like the information below on wedding.

This method is very low cost, and you can create multiple groups for a personal bond. But remember,  as the numbers grow, one has to think of how to resource for managing a large database of whatsapp users.

7. Design an attractive promotion to get users to share their number with you

Whatsapp will remain ad free and hence in order to build a base of users, you need to offer them something of value in exchange for their phone number. This can be a promotion, a freebie, a free service or valuable information.

WHAT IS DARK SOCIAL MARKETING?

  • ‘Dark social’ as mentioned earlier is when people share content through private channels such as instant messaging programs, messaging apps, and email.
  • Dark social describes any web traffic that is not attributed to a known source, such as a social network or a Google search.
  • Referral traffic is usually identified by certain “tags” attached to the link whenever it’s shared.
  • Dark social links, however, don’t contain referrer data.
  • Common examples of dark social include links copied and pasted into emails or instant messages, or shared via text message.

5 REASON WHY YOUR BUSINESS SHOULD START PAYING ATTENTION TO DARK SOCIAL MARKETING

1. Dark social is everywhere- For the past year-and-a-half, the majority of responses (clickbacks) to dark social shares have come from mobile devices.

2. Dark social has a huge impact on traffic- According to marketing firm RadiumOne, in the last year-and-a-half, dark social shares as a percent of on-site shares jumped from 69 to 84% globally.

3.Dark social data gives a detailed representation of consumers’ real interests- Familiarizing yourself with this information will allow your business to access a targeted audience of connections.

4. Dark social reaches unique demographics- 46% of consumers age 55 and older share only via dark social, as opposed to those in the 16 to 34 age group, where only 19% do so.

5. Dark social sharing is prevalent in many industries- If your business is in personal finance, food and drink, travel, or executive search, more than 70% of social sharing is done through dark social.

 

8 SIMPLE AND COST EFFECTIVE WAY TO MEASURE DARK SOCIAL MARKETING?

Measuring dark social should be an essential part of your social media ROI framework.Here’s a short list of how to do so:

  1. Use shortened URLs for outbound links in your content to get a deeper analysis of the engagement rates.
  2. Use Hootsuite’s built-in URL shortener which allows you to upload images, track real-time clicks and have the ability to post to your various social networks sites.
  3. Thoughtfully arrange the share buttons on your website so that they are easy for visitors to spot.
  4. Distinguish which are the “follow” buttons and which are “share” buttons.The sophistication of your share buttons should match the quality of your content.
  5. Use dark social tools that allow marketing professionals to track dark social traffic origins and analyze their outcomes.
  6. Check for a simultaneous spike in link traffic coming from Facebook or Reddit.
  7. Try digging into user agent data, which includes a line of code users leave after visiting a website, which identifies their operating system and browser type.
  8. Ensure all your content gets shared by creating interesting, informative and original materials. 

 

Guidelines for Entepreneurs to Choose the Best Social Platform for Marketing in 2018

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Today social media platforms has become the essential tool to build and branch out as a business.

More and more consumers are using these channels to find new companies and engage with their favorite brands. That is why it is vital for businesses to be strategic about which social media platforms they work to build a presence on.

The key to successful social media marketing in 2018 will be choosing the best social media platform for your business and planning strategically on how to sell your brand in those platform. Remember, what works with Twitter crowds won’t necessary work in Instagram. Youtube videos won’t fit in Facebook profile video. 

It is based on a number of factors, including the type of business you have, what audience you are trying to reach, your specific goals, and much more. Below, I’ve put together a quick and simple guide to choosing the best social media for business today.

FACEBOOK

Why Facebook for Marketing?

  • 2 million monthly active users, it is the world’slargest social media platform
  • Diverse and large audience demographics being those aged 25 – 34.
  • Even gender balance, 76% of all female users and 66% of male users. Facebook users are statistically proven to be  smart and earn decent.
  • Educated users, 74% of Facebook users have completed some form of higher education.
  • Average income user, About 72% of Facebook users that have incomes of over $20,000 annually.

3 Best Features for Your Business

  1. Targeted digital advertising platform- With Facebook ads, you are able to target those who are most likely willing and ready to purchase your products or services. This ensures that your business gets your ad content in front of the right users at the right time.
  2. E-commerce integrations- Facebook makes it easy for users to purchase from your company through the social media platform by just  clicking one button.Through
  3. Facebook messenger- You can also provide shipping updates and other order notifications through the Facebook platform as well.

 

INSTAGRAM

Why Instagram for Marketing?

  • Instagram has more than 700 million active users
  • Has the biggest brand followers, 50% of users follow brands on Instagram.
  • Young demographic, 53% of people ages 18 to 29
  • More female users than male users

3 Best Features for Your Business

  1. Unique and engaging visual content- Unlike other social media platforms, Instagram is focused on visuals. You can use Instagram to showcase your products and tell your brand story in a way that’s visually appealing.
  2. Live Instagram stories- You can take live video and share it with all of your followers. Easily provide behind-the-scenes footage of your business and share important news and updates with your followers.
  3. Direct Messaging-  Instagram also allows you to message users directly and can a great tool for customer service.

TWITTER

Why Twitter for Marketing?

  • Twitter is the go-to place for the latest news and trends on a variety of topics. 
  • Equal gender, 24% of men and 25% of women use Twitter.
  • Young demographics, 36% of users between the ages of 18 to 29.  
  • Least college experience
  • Urban users

3 Best Features for Your Business

  1. Hashtags– Allow you to follow and participate in conversations about trending topics in your industry. You can use hashtags to reach new audiences who might be interested in your content.
  2. Multiple ads options and format- . You can promote your account, which will show up in the left column or promote a tweet from your brand, which will appear
  3. Promote a certain trend- Your company may be using to start a conversation among target users.in the user’s Twitter feed. T a conversation among target users.

YOUTUBE

Why Youtube for Marketing?

  • Second largest search engine in the world, What’s more is that YouTube users are watching a billion hours of video each day and generating just as many views.
  • Wide audience range, 18 to 49-year-old
  • Predominantly male, with 55% male users and 45% female users.
  • Great brand engagement, 74% of YouTube users will watch brand channels weekly.
  • Highest conversion rate, 63% of users have taken action based on a brand or creator video on YouTube, Best Features for Your Business

3 Best Feature for Business

  1. Unlimited amount of video hosting– An affordable way for businesses to publish video content that can drive more engagement and influence conversions.
  2. Easily integrated- So you can easily shares across other platforms like  onto your website or to other social media platforms
  3. Boost SEO-  The content that you post on your brand’s YouTube channel is searchable in both YouTube and Google. That means that Google may just serve your YouTube video content in its search engine results page.

 

 

 

5 Essential Skill Every Marketer Need in 2018 to Knock Competition Out

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The problem with most marketers is that they too much to do with too little time.Which is why it is important for marketers to have a plan before launching a campaign. This will keep you ahead then the rest in the same league.

Though general speaking, marketing, is not a skill set that people are born with and can be mastered in a day but there are certain skills you can pick up to be better.

Statistics by Reuters shows that Marketers are struggling to succeed with the demand of the current generation.

More than 55% of marketers consider their marketing personnel to be “unskilled” in terms of satisfying customers need.

So what can you do to become a better marketer?

Here are 5 marketing skills to practice to be able to live up to the needs of the new generation.

1. Focus on Multifaceted Content Creation

Multifaceted content means content that offers different types of perspectives. Add new content frequently and consistently and the same content can be repurposed and formatted for different social media platform.

Post videos on sites like YouTube and maintain a strong social media presence for your brand.Use tools like Hootsuite to make publishing and management of content to various channels easy.

Manage a range of channels and keep them all in the air to be successful. Multifaceted content creation is can be a  challenging concept but promises potent results.

Remember to keep the content fresh to you are reusing the same content in multiple channels.

Focus on quality content that establishes authority. This may take more of an initial investment but can do a number of things for marketers.

2. Optimize Existing Marketing Channels

Know how and when to optimize your existing marketing channels through testing and audits.  Previous channel success does not guarantee future performance so conduct a regular website audit.

Ultimately, the goal is to have pages performing well with calls to action and high conversion rates. Constantly review the pages and make a plan to work on other aspects that need fine-tuning.

Search engine optimization rules are constantly changing so reformatting and new techniques need to be incorporated in marketing strategy and constantly updated.

For example, graphics content, special offerings and advertising need to be informed from the objectives and campaigns of the company as a whole and tie into efforts within other departments.

The optimization of website efforts, inbound, email, and social media are necessary to properly penetrate your market and achieve best results.

3. Create Strong Customer Relationships

Customers are very savvy and are bombarded by sales pitches and advertisements every time they go online. So, it is pivotal to create an organic relationships with individuals and form a loyal customer base.

The aim for marketers is to build ongoing relationships with customers. Know their needs and attune messages to address their concerns. Listen to their feedback.

If there’s negative feedback from marketing efforts, be open to hearing the complaints and review your strategy because perception marketers and companies have of what customers want can be vastly different than the reality.

Learn about consumers. Combine efforts with internal departments. Align marketing strategy with company objectives, campaigns, and messages. Plan and initiate efforts. Review and reflect on results. Lead with knowledge and informed experience, not guesswork.

4. Learn to Understand Analytics Data

The key is paying close attention to exactly what that data is telling you. Data can provide extensive insight into customer behavior and the effectiveness of marketing efforts.

According to The Top 5 Google Analytics Reports for Social Media Marketers, there are 5 ways to watch the behavior of incoming leads from the data being generated from marketing efforts.

  1. Filter social media traffic.
  2. Watch for conversions.
  3. Quantify traffic to social media venues.
  4. Create and implement “
  5. Understand the link between marketing efforts and sales.

Learn where to look and the tools to use to effectively and efficiently direct marketing efforts. If the tools that you are using do not provide analytics, it may be time to upgrade.

5. Be Patient!

Most successful marketing campaigns are not launched overnight. Ihe marketing landscape is changing continually at a rapid pace, efforts aren’t always going to be immediately successful.

Become a master of testing and constant iteration. Be patient and observant.Especially in the age of social media, it is vital to allow an appropriate amount of time for your campaign to breathe and grow.

Allow time to get enough feedback to inform next steps and tailor your marketing strategy. Pay close attention to areas of success and those needing improvement.

If you immediately identify problem areas of an ongoing campaign, feel free to make adjustments. Remember: a lack of immediate success does not make a campaign a failure!

 

In conclusion, the honing of marketing skills means an increased ability to drive more revenue to your business in a variety of ways. New perspective helps to stay ahead of the curve in an ever-changing landscape.

Do not chase the trends of yesterday in a failing attempt to recreate a past success. Focus on constant quality and create the trends of tomorrow.

 

Top Secret: How Brain can Make you a Better Marketer

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Companies assume that brand building is more of an art than a science. However,  prominent companies use a combination of art meet science, to make decisions that appeal to their customers on an emotional and logical level.

Science meets marketing

When marketing enters the world of neuroscience marketing, it gives companies  and brands an insight into the way the brain responds to certain stimuli. While neuroscience focuses more broadly on the behaviour of the human brain, “neuromarketing” looks at how companies can adapt their brand awareness strategies to influence customers on a psychological level.

Considering how much work we put into influencing the human brain, approaching branding from a scientific perspective makes a lot of sense especially because:

  1. 95% of buying decision are subconsciously made ( Harvard, 2018)
  2. Human brain process visuals 60,000 times faster than text which is  why pictures are important to content. ( LivePlan, 2018)
  3. 70% of the time, companies struggle to get customer attention both on offline and online platforms. (Zoho, 2018)

 

Neuroscience Marketing Definition: The Connection between Brain and Brand  

The biggest challenge for marketers in today’s world is getting better results while spending less money. How can we solve for this challenge? Neuromarketing. Since the begin of marketing companies are trying to  understand human attitude and behaviour to create products, services, logos and campaigns that appeal to the right customer. Marketers have even used these strategies to identify ideal user personas, using the right demographics and psychographic information. The more you can learn about our customers from a scientific perspective, the more we can adjust our marketing campaigns and advertising strategies to appeal to the right group and minimise budgetary waste.

For a basic neuroscience understanding , you just need to know that neuroscience is a field of research that studies the cognitive and affective responses of human brain. Essentially, it focuses on figuring out how the brain responds to a certain stimuli. So, in the case of “neuromarketing”, the main focus is on finding out how the brain responds to certain stimuli in marketing. Big  companies like Google and Disney have invested in neuroscience marketing.Neuromarketing uses neuroscience methods to measure consumers’ neurological reactions to products, commercials, brands and so on. Thus, companies assure maximum appeal and immense profits. Although they may offer different services and products, the objective of all businesses is common which is  to understand our brain so they can manipulate us into desiring what they offer. Neuromarketing enables them to do exactly that.

 

How exactly does Neuromarketing work?

How the Brain Works

It is not as complicated as it sounds to be honest though it is very scientific. Let’s say you are asked to  think of something, the brain impulses travel to the cortex of the brain and make the articulators respond. This process whole  happens so fast that the Electroencephalogram, (EEG) can capture every impulse. During the half second from when our brain receives a stimulus, and before it reacts, there’s  something entirely neurological happening that is free from the control of the conscious which we call subconscious. It’s the action before our conscious filters the data because of bias or societal responsibility. The EEG promptly reads these electrical waves and relates them to memory, emotions and attention according to the activity in specific areas of the brain. It’s fascinating and may sound complex , but this half-second is the prime time here. It will give an accurate insight of how a person feels when watching a commercial or thinking of a product.

Neuromarketers claim though such methods are more cost effective, but it is even more efficient than traditional methods such as focus groups or surveys. A test using neuroscience methods like EEG does not need thousands of people to produce accurate findings. It only requires a sample of just twenty people. The low sample number is because our brains are remarkably similar, although there are differences between gender difference and age difference are some of the variables. Skeptics are fearful about the use of neuromarketing and mass manipulation over consumers. However, it can be determined that these tests can provide companies with valuable information, unlike traditional strategies. With neuromarketing tools they will know how to design products to look, function and feel before they are even ready to hit the market, minimizing risk and maximizing all resources.

 

How to bring neuromarketing into action?

Significant Red of Coke

1. Add Color to Life

Using colors to sell something is the best approach to it because colors can have significant impact on the human brain.  Utilizing color effectively can be a powerful marketing tool. One of the most famous examples is the Red of Coca Cola’s.

2.The Need for Speed

Neuromarketing is useful for detecting customer trends. Whilst companies often seek to portray a sense of safety and security, speed and efficiency may be what customers are after. For example, PayPal has discovered that the promise of convenience activated the brain more than security. They used this information to convert more shoppers to their online payment service by emphasizing their speedy payment system.

3.Setting the Right Price

We are all aware that pricing something at $9.99 instead of $10 is an advertising tactic, but does it work? One fascinating new piece of information being used by neuromarketers, is that rounded figures are more likely to work alongside emotional decision making, whilst more complex figures work better when the logical brain is engaged. This is because complex numbers make the brain work harder, perhaps convincing it that the complexly priced product is the more logical decision.

4. Loss Aversion

One interesting thing utilized by neuromarketing is that people really don’t want to lose out! People are more worried about what they might lose to what they might gain. For this reason “buy before it’s gone” strategies are highly effective. When the alternative option is posed as a loss, consumers are much more likely to buy. A concept called “framing” is highly important in neuromarketing. This technique is teaches how to present decisions to consumers in a way that makes them more likely to splash the cash.

5.Ad Efficiency

Unlike back then where brain imaging was purely reserved for use  the academic and scientific purpose, neuromarketing, has tapped into the incredible potential of fMRI imaging to grant us insights into human behavior and consumer habits. With that, you can compare advertising campaigns before releasing them to the general public. This gives an incredible potential and advantage for enhancing marketing strategies, increasing engagement and action.

 

Is neuromarketing praticable though?

The answer to that is certainly a yes. Though, skeptics are fearful about the use of neuromarketing and mass manipulation over consumers. However, it can be determined that these tests can provide companies with valuable information, unlike traditional strategies. With neuromarketing tools they will know how to design products to look, function and feel before they are even ready to hit the market, minimizing risk and maximizing all resources.

The idea that the brain can reveal hidden and profitable truths about consumers is attractive but can also be misleading, not least because behaviour is the bottom line in business. The most powerful development in marketing is not neuroscience but invisible and ever-present experiments. Every time you go online, marketers can test which ads and prices make you most likely to part with your cash. Because people today tend to shop on the internet more, few realise that others are tested with a different set of images and offers, before the most effective ones are chosen for the biggest return. The benefits are obvious, the tests are easy to run, and the scale is massive.

 

 

 

 

 

Key Things to Know about Marketing in ASEAN

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As for marketing, ASEAN region still remains as one of the most remarkably flexible, despite a blowout of sluggish prospects in many industrialised economies and a slowing Chinese economy. Though there are challenges to the retail sector which is mainly due to customer loss of confidence in the company and operating costs plus number of tourists visiting all as some of the reason but there region offers compelling growth opportunities anchored by rising domestic demand and fast-growing incomes.

The expansion of the market  is highly being driven by the strong fundamentals of the ASEAN market including which is a young and fast-growing population, emerging middle-class consumers, and strong GDP growth in each individual member country. Other factors that are stimulating the retail sector include falling unemployment numbers amid a tight labour market and increasing urbanisation. Employment growth clearly adds to a country’s consumption ability, while urbanisation prompts demand for the development of organised retail outlets.

Among the major ASEAN economies, Indonesia and Malaysia appear to be in a strong position to have a booming retail sector.  The four ASEAN biggest retail market nations in the region are Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The economies in the region are at significantly different stages of development, with all offering unique opportunities for retail investment. All the countries in the region are in the rapid urbanisation phase where the infrastructure is improving with relatively young populations. Most of the government in the countries are making retail friendly policies to drive the retail growth. Singapore for example, represents a mature retail market with the presence of a high number of international retailers.

Fun facts about ASEAN market:

  • Retail sales in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia is estimated to grow by an average rate growth of 6%. (The Edge Market, 2018)
  • For the same four countries mentioned above, domestic consumption is expected to increase  to 75% of GDP by 2025. (WorldBank,2016)
  • Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia’s GDP per capita figures are expected to achieve compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) of 5.4%, 9.8%, 5.0%, and 5.0%. (IMF,2018)
  • Countries such as Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia have the lowest labor cost (Canasean, 2016)

What Makes ASEAN the best marketing hub?

Malaysia- Asean Pride

1.ASEAN is a powerhouse of economic power

If ASEAN was a country on its own , it would already be the seventh-largest economy in the world, with a combined GDP of $2.57 trillion in 2017 . It is predicted to rank as the fourth-largest economy in the world market by 2050. What makes it the powerhouse though is definitely the labor-force expansion and productivity improvements. It is  home to more than 600 million people, it has a larger population than the European Union (EU) and the United States of  America (USA). Another advantage of the ASEAN region is its youthful population which makes it the best spot for your retail brand

2. ASEAN is not a monolithic market therefore one strategy doesn’t fit all

Monolithic mean big and one however ASEAN is very diverse. Each country is different and each market is needs different strategy. For example, the  GDP per capita in Singapore is more than 30 times higher than in Laos and more than 50 times higher than in Cambodia and Myanmar. While Malaysia and Thailand are seeing positive growth in the retail market, Indonesia and Brunei are falling. For a fact, the standard deviation in average incomes among ASEAN countries is more than seven times that of EU member states. That diversity extends more than just economic. The cultural, language, and religion difference should all be taken in consideration before diving in the ASEAN market. Indonesia, for example, is almost 90 percent Muslim, while the Philippines is more than 80 percent Roman Catholic, and Thailand is more than 95 percent Buddhist. To come up with one for all strategy will not work in the ASEAN Market.  Although ASEAN is becoming more integrated, investors should be aware of local preferences and cultural sensitivities; they cannot rely on a one-size-fits-all strategy across such widely varying markets.

Youth of ASEAN

3. ASEAN is highly E-commerce consumer driven

Believe it or not, ASEAN has outpaced the rest of the world on growth in GDP per capita even since the late 70s. The income growth in most of the countries has remained strong and stable since 2000 . In 2000, 14 percent of the region’s population was below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day but by 2013, that share had fallen to just 3 percent. More than half of the population are part of the working class, with incomes exceeding poverty rate. According to the World Bank report, that number could almost double to 125 millions by 2025. This make ASEAN crowd a pivotal consumer of the future. Though people thinks the consumer are all single minded but  make the words there is no typical ASEAN consumer, though there is a growing preference for modern retail formats, and increment in brand awareness which is largely due to its young demographics.

Singapore- ASEAN Tiger

4. ASEAN is home to many globally competitive companies 

ASEAN includes 227 of the world’s companies with more than $1 billion in revenues, or 3 percent of the world’s total income. Singapore is a standout in the region , ranking fifth in the world for corporate-headquarters density and first for foreign subsidiaries.Consistent with this growth, foreign direct investment in ASEAN has boomed, surpassing the levels of EU. In fact, the ASEAN nations like Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand attracts more foreign direct investment than China and India. In addition to attracting multinationals, ASEAN has become a launching pad for new companies; the region now accounts for 38 percent of Asia’s market for initial public offerings.

5 ASEAN is united hence easier to penetrate through the market

Despite their distinct cultures, histories, and languages, the ten member states of ASEAN share a common goal. It focuses on prosperity and development as a whole rather than just one nations. Which means investing in one country gives you a easy flow lead into another member state. Household purchasing power is rising, transforming the region into the next frontier of consumer growth. ASEAN’s goal of becoming globally competitive in a wide range of industries an opportunity to create a seamless regional market and production base. If its implementation is successful, ASEAN could prove to be a case in which the whole actually does exceed the sum of its parts.

In conclusion, the urbanization and consumer growth  in ASEAN’s cities are booming. With 22 percent of ASEAN’s population living the in metropolitan cities ASEAN consumers are increasingly moving online, with a heavy mobile penetration and Internet penetration across the region. Its member states combined makes up the world’s second-largest community of Facebook users, behind only USA. All these, makes ASEAN the hub for retail venture.

 

 

SEO in a Nutshell

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SEO is a very complex content to understand is what most people would say. However, it is much simpler than you think. SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization is the name given to all the activities that attempt to improve your content’s search engine rankings.

All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and so on have a primary search result where each time you search something there’s a list  comes up. The list can go on and on but the first few links actually make it to the top 10 list. So, how is this formed? The ranking is no paid for expect for the ads and it is ranked based on what each of the search engine think is relevant and authoritative. Authority here is measured by the number of links from other pages and this is known as backlinks. So, the more people link to your page to more authority u gain hence Google would think your page is interesting and you can be on top of their list. It’s that simple!

Though search engines like for instance Google rank you based on the authority but it is your job to make your page an authoritative page. How to do this? Simple, just come up with good and credible content to people would find it useful and share in their own pages like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and so on. So, by improving your SEO you can improve your visibility in search engines. This helps you to reach out to more people and builds your brand image and ultimately increase the sales.Okay, now that we know what SEO is let’s look at some of the factors that can affect your SEO ranking. It is impossible to crack the algorithm all these giant search engines sites like Google and Yahoo use to rank the list but by knowing what would get you higher rank you can make your way to the top. The simplest and best way to get your article on to the top is coming up with quality content. Your content drives your traffic. Quality content helps both in attracting the search engines and also building more consumers. The secret to creative attractive contents to both the search engines and your potential customer is to come up with variety types of contents that are not just well written but also something relevant to your audience.

Another factor you should take in note is the ffreshness of the content. There are more than a million articles online of the same topic, so how are you going to make yours  stand out of the rest? The only way to that, is to must make sure your content is fresh and creative. By freshness here, I mean how regularly you post up articles online, consistency matters. Also bear in mind, coming up with new content is good but keeping it fresh matters more therefore always make sure the article is updated and precise and is something relatable to the present time. For example, if your article is about marketing strategy and is written in 2016 most probably it will not work for the time being hence updating it to the current trend would get you more views. It is a very tedious and time-consuming task but it worths the time.

So, now we know the factors that gets you to the top of the list let’s now switch focus to how to make it work. Optimizing SEO can be done in two ways. Firstly, is On-Page SEO. On-Page SEO are those elements that happens within your website which you have control over it. By this it means you can always go back and forth and work on improving it to generate more traffic and sales. Example of On Page SEO are heading and subheading. Heading and subheading provides the consumer with a glimpse of what the article is going to be about and it is also the thing a reader notice. So, if you can keep your heading and subheading interesting yet informative it would really impressed the search engines and also helps your consumer understand the content better. Adding on, another factor that you should consider is internal links. Building internal links or hyperlinks to another content on your page can actually help search engine to learn more about your site.

Another way to optimize SEO is Off-Page SEO. Unlike On-Page SEO you do not have direct control over these Off- Page SEO but there are way where you can get it to work in your favor. One of the of example of Off-Page SEO is trust. Trust is without a question the most important factor to get you on top of search list. Trust is extremely fragile and trust is an important factor especially in Google’s search list ranking. Google determines whether you have a legitimate site that visitors can trust. Best way to improve trust is by building quality backlinks. Speaking of backlinks, it is the most popular Off-Page SEO building factor. But be careful, you do not want to be spamming as that would get you banned from the search engine sites. Instead, start building strong bonds between your reader and customer so that they will link you back in their content.

In conclusion, optimizing SEO is not easy but it is achievable if you put in effort and understand the whole process. However, do bear in mind to not overdo it. For example, over-optimization and excessive use of keywords can led to serious trouble like Google would penalize you for that. Therefore, like I mentioned earlier stick to one or two keywords this helps you to keep your content organized and clear and trouble-free. Also remember, web design is as important as web content. It is only with a good design, search engines can easily scan and browse through to your website. Make it easy to use and make sure it is also unique this can draw lots of attention to your site and attention in marketing is all a good thing.