It's All About The ExperienceA blog about managing and improving customer experience and improving profits.https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-BlogAI In CX Improvement? Five Great Exampleshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/33/ai-in-cx-improvement-five-great-examples-of-how-its-doneArtificial Intelligence,Conversion Improvement,Customer Complaints,customer experience,Customer Relationship Management,Customer Service,Product Management,Profit ImprovementTue, 12 Mar 2024 14:40:11 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">As a lifelong tech enthusiast and internet start-up cofounder, I have embraced technology solutions in my daily life and business career. I have been here for it, from using primitive neural networking software in financial planning to deploying&nbsp;robot-cleaning devices at home and asking Google Max to use its collaborative filtering capabilities to play the music that Google thinks my dinner guests would like.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">However, as a professional with a lifetime of work in the brass-tacks of customer experience (CX)&nbsp;management, I was skeptical about artificial intelligence&#39;s effectiveness in addressing problems in the customer&nbsp;realm.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">My recent research on AI applications in customer experience improvement has been enlightening and, to be honest, sobering! Below are five powerful examples of companies using AI to revolutionize customer experience management at scale. Several examples are likely disruptive and industry-changing, but <em>all</em> are worth understanding. Let&#39;s dig in!</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Disney&#39;s Magic RFID Data Creates Magical Experiences</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Disney&#39;s RFID Magic Band technology provides my first example. The MagicBand is a bracelet Disney gives customers at its theme parks. The technology &quot;magically&quot; provides users with a room key, theme park ticket, and credit card all in one device, allowing guests to enter parks, unlock hotel room doors, pay for purchases, check in for rides, and sync photos to their account with a simple tap of the wrist (Hollander, 2022). The technology eliminates the need for guests to carry multiple items and reduces waiting times at ticket booths. Additionally, MagicBand enables staff to provide personalized experiences by quickly identifying guests and anticipating their needs based on data collected from the bands (Hollander, 2022). The appeal of this technology for frictionless purchasing and upsells is intuitively obvious on the revenue side.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">But there is more. There is the data. Disney uses the information from the MagicBand to optimize customer experience. It collects this information with RFID sensors installed throughout its parks and resorts. The data allows Disney to connect each tap of the MagicBand to a specific guest&#39;s profile, enabling data scientists to analyze customer behavior. Predictive analytics allow Disney to open and close attractions to maximize customer satisfaction, optimize staffing, and better manage restaurants, attractions, and park queues. (For more on Predictive Analytics and its applications, please see my previous <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/11/small-company-big-data-huge-impact">blog post on Big Data</a>.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In terms of personalization, these bands help curate a visit personal to the last detail. The technology can orchestrate a timely appearance of one&#39;s favorite Disney character or a surprise birthday message during fireworks. The MagicBand technology has been a significant investment for Disney, with CEO Bob Iger approving approximately a billion dollars for its implementation (Sweeney, 2013). Based on what I have learned, it was a worthy investment.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Uber&#39;s COTA - Improving the Handling of Customer Tickets With AI</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Imagine the customer service challenge of handling hundreds of thousands of customer messages in thousands of cities worldwide every day. Uber&#39;s Natural Language Processing (NLP) System, COTA, enhances customer experiences. COTA, short for Customer Obsession Ticket Assistant, uses machine learning and NLP models to assist agents in providing better user support. NLP breaks words and phrases into components the computer can understand, then buckets them into response categories. COTA empowers agents to resolve issues more accurately and swiftly, reducing ticket handling time by about 10% (COTA: Improving Uber Customer Care With NLP &amp; Machine Learning | Uber Blog, 2018).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">COTA&#39;s success led to the development of COTA version 2, which integrated deep learning models into Uber&#39;s machine learning platform. Uber eponymously named the deep learning system Michelangelo. This second-generation system significantly outperformed its predecessor regarding accuracy, ticket handling time, and customer satisfaction. Additionally, COTA v2 introduced a model management pipeline to ensure continuous model updates so that Uber&#39;s Data Science team could continuously improve the model.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The second version also focused on enhancing the extensibility of future NLP models within Uber. According to Uber, adopting deep learning in COTA v2 significantly improved the breadth of support resolution solutions for Uber&#39;s diverse services and simplified service delivery across multiple languages and regions, thus making the system much more adaptable to future use cases as Uber&#39;s business grows. (Scaling Uber&#39;s Customer Support Ticket Assistant (COTA) System With Deep Learning | Uber Blog, 2018).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In addition to CODA, he has been working with Converseon, a company focused on the AI specialty of sentiment analysis. Customer sentiment analysis involves identifying and categorizing the text&#39;s positive, negative, and neutral emotions. It assists brands in learning what consumers are saying about them in online testimonials and posts. However, Customer sentiment analysis has an added benefit in offering marketers qualitative and quantitative data that goes beyond the &quot;what&quot; to clarify the &quot;why.&quot; Uber used sentiment analysis to help manage its leadership transition and address customer satisfaction in 2017 (Dupre, 2017). More recently, Uber has used the technique to analyze and apply changes to Uber&#39;s rideshare maps. It uses the technique to identify customer dissatisfaction with its routing and identify and make needed changes based on customer feedback (Uber Engineering, 2018b).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><img alt="Robot Placing Customer Rating 5-Star Ranking" src="/Portals/0/AdobeStock_668433937.jpeg" style="width: 400px; height: 267px;" title="Robot Placing Customer Rating 5-Star Ranking" /></strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Airbnb Solving Big Platform Problems During Hypergrowth</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Airbnb faces the challenge of managing a vast global platform of users and hosts on its platform and developing scaleable ways of creating optimal experiences for both. Airbnb has used Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in a variety of ways. To improve conversions on listings, the company used image classification computer models to label millions of listing photos accurately, improving the display of beautiful assets in listings (Standley, 2023). This approach allowed for more personalized experiences by enhancing user search, discovery, and personalization through machine learning ranking models based on user engagement data like clicks and booking rates.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">To solve a platform-wide problem using booked properties as party houses, Airbnb intensified its background check procedures by implementing advanced artificial intelligence. This initiative scrutinized wide-ranging online public data &mdash; including social media, blogs, and search results &mdash; to detect signals of potentially harmful behavior by users seeking accommodations. This patented process aimed to assess the authenticity and dependability of guests by contrasting online profiles with those processed by AI, thereby eliminating discrepancies and highlighting genuine identities (Owen, 2021).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The company also harnesses an algorithm to evaluate activities across external online platforms, formulating a &quot;trustworthiness score&quot; for each guest. In concert with Trooly, a firm acquired by Airbnb in 2017, the breadth of data assessed encompasses online posts and comments and extends to database entries and professional memberships. Reservations flagged as high-risk based on this metric are then treated to a meticulous manual review by Airbnb&#39;s team, underscoring their commitment to safeguarding the community (Owen, 2021).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">With these enhanced measures and investments, Airbnb has invested in a secure environment for its global user base. It affirms that it will execute background verifications for guests from the United States and India within ten days before their stay (Owen, 2021).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Airbnb has utilized machine learning in various ways to combat fraudulent activities on its platform. One approach involves using network analysis to identify potential scam listings. By analyzing data on Airbnb listings, including reviews and host connections, researchers have uncovered networks of connected hosts with fake reviews, indicating potential fraudulent behavior (McAleenan, 2022).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Airbnb also employs machine learning techniques to fight financial fraud. They use &quot;targeted friction&quot; to prevent fraudsters from using stolen credit cards on the platform while minimizing negative impacts on genuine users. (Friction is ideally something that blocks a fraudster, yet it is easy for a good user to satisfy.) This proactive approach involves leveraging machine learning, experimentation, and analytics to identify and block fraudsters effectively (Fighting Financial Fraud With Machine Learning at Airbnb, 2018).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Airbnb employs image recognition technology to process and understand visual evidence through user photographs. When combined with customer comments, this AI guides the complaint-handling process, ensuring it takes the right actions to address the issue swiftly and accurately. Airbnb&#39;s AI has been trained to identify a cleanliness issue and analyze its severity. The automation and level of precision ensure that complaints are categorized relatively and consistently, something only possible with AI (TensorFlow, 2019).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>MacDonalds - Making Fast Food Dynamic</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">McDonald&#39;s Restaurants has harnessed predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance their menu options and drive increased sales. MacDonalds is leveraging technology from Dynamic Yield, a Tel Aviv-based firm specializing in personalization and decision logic. Using this technology, McDonald&#39;s has begun to offer personalized suggestions on digital displays based on customer preferences and external factors such as time of day, weather, and previous menu choices. A snowy day might trigger the placement of hot chocolate as a menu option, while a hot day might cause the system to suggest lemonade (Kamal, 2023).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The technology considers factors like time of day, current order selections, restaurant traffic, the popularity of items, and weather conditions and will update digital restaurant and drive-thru menu displays (Owen, 2022). MacDonald has tested the technology with kiosks, websites, drive-throughs, and restaurant menu displays.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">To optimize its supply chain order, McDonald&#39;s also plans to connect the AI and menu data recommendations with its supply chain network, improving the management of stock levels (McDonald&#39;s Is Using AI and Data to Optimize Its Supply Chain, 2023). By linking predictive customer demand with stock levels at individual stores, McDonald&#39;s hopes to optimize its inventory management and reduce waste throughout the entire chain.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Dynamic Pricing at Wendy&#39;s</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A use case I am less sure about is Wendy&#39;s plan to use AI to develop dynamic pricing for its restaurants. Wendy&#39;s is using AI to develop dynamic pricing for its restaurants. The chain hopes to adjust prices based on demand and other factors like time of day and traffic levels. This strategy involves fluctuating prices similar to surge pricing used by ride-sharing apps like Uber or Airbnb. The fast-food chain plans to follow MacDonald&#39;s lead and invest in digital menu boards to enable these changes, with a similar focus on enhancing customer experience and increasing sales through suggestive selling and menu adjustments (Yeo, 2024)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">CEO Kirk Tanner mentioned that Wendy&#39;s will trial dynamic pricing, potentially raising prices during busy times and lowering them during quieter periods. This move aligns with Wendy&#39;s broader investment in technology to enhance its digital business, including implementing AI-enabled menu changes and suggestive selling tests based on factors like weather. While dynamic pricing is typical in various industries, its application in fast food is relatively untested. For the future, Wendy&#39;s aims to modernize its operations by leveraging technology such as AI chatbots for drive-through orders. (Rogelberg, 2024).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>How Can AI Help Your Business?</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, how can you determine whether AI can help your business? As we have seen from the examples above, Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning (ML) can significantly benefit businesses that use them. AI models are good at completing repetitive tasks quickly and efficiently at scale but must be appropriately trained. They are rarely infallible.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here are some ways of thinking about how these tools can apply to your business. Applications of AI/ML include:</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Driving Revenue Growth: </strong>AI can uncover new opportunities for products and services. As we saw with several examples above, AI tools can identify pricing, pairing, and upsell opportunities, improve service speed, and, through Natural Language Processing, provide customer insights for informed decision-making (Martech, 2022).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Boosting Efficiency: </strong>AI can automate processes, optimize supply chain operations, and, as we saw with Uber&#39;s example, help in decision-making by analyzing data faster than humans (COTA: Improving Uber Customer Care With NLP &amp; Machine Learning | Uber Blog, 2018). AI Automation can improve customer experience by providing faster decisions in consumer finance, insurance underwriting, and claims processing, for example, by replacing processes that took weeks or months with those that take seconds. Faster decisions mean higher transactional conversion rates, raising revenue (Finance Magnate Contributors, 2023).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Improving Customer Service: </strong>AI tools like chatbots can enhance customer service by providing prompt responses and reducing wait times. A chatbot, kiosk, or online food ordering process always gives you exactly what you requested in your preferred language. (How AI and Machine Learning Can Impact Your Business and Small Businesses, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Enhancing Product Quality Assurance:</strong> Machine learning can quickly identify patterns in large datasets to ensure product quality and detect fraud or cybersecurity threats (How AI and Machine Learning Can Positively Impact Your Business and Small Businesses, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Where to Start?</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">When considering implementation, I looked back at a Harvard Business Review article by Wharton AI Professor Kartik Hosagnagar and Apoorv Saxena. Saxena is the former head of AI at JP Morgan Chase and cut his teeth as the head of the AI Vertical at Google before that. Hosnegnagar and Saxena&#39;s advice on building an AI program in large organizations has aged remarkably well. The two AI leaders suggested a slow simmer rather than a rapid boil to implement AI in a large organization (Hosanagar, 2018).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Here it is in a nutshell.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">1. <strong>Start with good, clean data.</strong> Start by developing data gathering and management capabilities throughout the organization. Early data projects help organizations gain experience with large-scale data gathering, processing (cleaning), and labeling&mdash;skills that companies must have before embarking on more ambitious AI projects. Establishing organizational learning on developing good data hygiene in a new AI platform is far more important than seeing a significant impact in the short run (Gruttadauria, 2024).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">2. <strong>Develop a portfolio of short&mdash;and long-term projects </strong>rather than betting your organization&#39;s AI future on a single, massive &quot;moonshot&quot; project (Hosanagar, 2018).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">3. <strong>Focus on early wins by improving processes, </strong>but focus on more than individual touchpoints. Don&#39;t use AI to pave the cow paths. Instead, look at the entire process and explore how AI can improve it. Leaders can consolidate early wins by creating value for multiple parts of the organization, then press on to more significant challenges using a portfolio approach (Why Portfolio Management Is Essential for AI Projects, 2024).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">4. <strong>Don&#39;t Bet the Ranch! </strong>Remember, your business does not have to invest all its AI project-related money upfront. Managers can control costs by hiring slowly but steadily and using outside suppliers for AI and machine learning infrastructure early (Hosanagar, 2018). As the AI field has developed, outside resources have become increasingly available in various AI-related specialties. Leverage early wins using outsourced resources, then gradually build your in-house capabilities (Roy, 2023)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">5.<strong> Hit Lots of Singles, Then Look For Home Runs.</strong> Your last step will be to swing for the fences by identifying new, game-changing customer experiences only your AI solutions team can create!&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>References</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">AI, Data &amp; Analytics Network. (2024, February 16). How Disney World collects customer data. AI, Data &amp; Analytics Network. https://www.aidataanalytics.network/data-science-ai/articles/disney-world-theme-park-or-massive-data-collection-apparatus</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Airbnb uses artificial intelligence to transform its business. (2023, August 28). BDO. https://www.bdodigital.com/insights/analytics/airbnb-artificial-intelligence-transform-business</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">COTA: Improving Uber Customer Care with NLP &amp; Machine Learning | Uber Blog. (2018, January 3). Uber Blog. https://www.uber.com/blog/cota/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cruz, M. D. (2022, January 6). Analyzing Disneyland Reviews with NLP - Towards Data Science. Medium. https://towardsdatascience.com/analyzing-disneyland-reviews-b916b6dcccf4</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">David Koenig, Associated Press. (2023, September 20). Airbnb says it has removed 59,000 fake listings from the platform in effort to crack down fraudsters. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/national-international/airbnb-says-it-has-removed-59000-fake-listings-from-the-platform-in-effort-to-crack-down-fraudsters/3343055/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Dupre, E. (2017, July 10). Can sentiment and emotional analysis help Uber steer its brand around? - DMNEWS. DMNews. https://www.dmnews.com/can-sentiment-and-emotional-analysis-help-uber-steer-its-brand-around/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Editor. (2023, May 5). AI in Short-Term Rentals: How Machine Learning Shapes STR. AltexSoft. https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/ai-in-short-term-rentals/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Fighting Financial Fraud with Machine Learning at Airbnb. (2018, March 20). InfoQ. https://www.infoq.com/news/2018/03/financial-fraud-ml-airbnb/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Finance Magnate Contributors. (2023, June 13). The role of AI in insurance: From underwriting to claims processing. Financial and Business News | Finance Magnates. https://www.financemagnates.com/fintech/education-centre/the-role-of-ai-in-insurance-from-underwriting-to-claims-processing/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Gruttadauria, B. (2024, February 9). Unlocking the Power of AI with an Effective Data Hygiene Strategy. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unlocking-power-ai-effective-data-hygiene-strategy-brian-gruttadauria-oxfme/?trk=articles_directory</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hollander, J. (2022, October 28). Disney&#39;s MagicBand: Breaking Down One of Hospitality&#39;s Greatest Innovations. Hotel Tech Report. https://hoteltechreport.com/news/disneys-magicband</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hosanagar, K. (2018, July 24). The first wave of corporate AI is doomed to fail. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/04/the-first-wave-of-corporate-ai-is-doomed-to-fail</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How AI and machine learning can positively impact your business and small businesses. (n.d.). https://www.datek.co.uk/blog/how-ai-and-machine-learning-can-positively-impact-your-business-and-small-businesses</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Https://www.paraspot.ai/. (n.d.). Paraspot Software Website.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hurler, K. (2023, February). I&#39;m hating it: McDonald&#39;s AI-Powered Drive-Thru sucks. Yahoo.com. https://news.yahoo.com/im-hating-mcdonalds-ai-powered-163800036.html</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Inc, A. (2023, November 28). AI in Short-Term Rentals: How Machine Learning Shapes STR. Medium. https://altexsoft.medium.com/ai-in-short-term-rentals-how-machine-learning-shapes-str-e158b6fc8302</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Kamal, N. (2023, March 7). How McDonald&#39;s utilized big Data - Nuha Kamal - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@nuhaaltoraby91/how-mcdonalds-utilized-big-data-c6016e8b46b5</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Marr, B. (2017, August 24). Disney uses big data, IoT, and machine learning to boost customer experience. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/08/24/disney-uses-big-data-iot-and-machine-learning-to-boost-customer-experience/?sh=1ae1ed0e3387</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Martech, A. (2022, January 19). How do businesses use artificial intelligence? Wharton Online. https://online.wharton.upenn.edu/blog/how-do-businesses-use-artificial-intelligence/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">McAleenan, J. (2022, January 7). Identifying potential scam listings on Airbnb - Towards Data Science. Medium. https://towardsdatascience.com/identifying-potential-scam-listings-on-airbnb-e9aed41611e5</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">McDonald&#39;s is using AI and data to optimize its supply chain. (2023, September 25). ProcureCon Supply Chain 2024. https://procureconsupplychain.wbresearch.com/blog/mcdonalds-ai-data-optimize-supply-chain</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">McDonald&#39;s: Loyalty program continues to beat inflation - The Anchor. (n.d.). https://anchor.placer.ai/the-anchor/mcdonalds-loyalty-program-continues-to-beat-inflation</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Mehta, I. (2023, November 8). Airbnb leans on reviews to make listings more reliable as it tests review summaries using generative AI. Tech Crunch. https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/08/airbnb-is-leaning-on-reviews-to-make-properties-more-reliable/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Owen, R. (2021, October 4). Artificial intelligence at Airbnb &ndash; Two Unique Use-Cases. Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-at-airbnb/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Owen, R. (2022, January 26). Artificial intelligence at McDonald&#39;s &ndash; two current use cases. Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research. https://emerj.com/ai-sector-overviews/artificial-intelligence-at-mcdonalds/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Payments. (2022, January 27). McDonald&#39;s leverages loyalty personalization to combat aggregators. PYMNTS.com. https://www.pymnts.com/earnings/2022/mcdonalds-leverages-loyalty-personalization-combat-aggregators/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Rogelberg, S. (2024, February 27). Wendy&#39;s will implement Uber-style surge pricing for your Baconator&mdash;with the help of AI. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2024/02/27/wendys-uber-style-surge-pricing-baconator-ai/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Roy, K. (2023, January 17). 6 Business benefits of outsourcing your AI projects. Medium. https://medium.com/datatobiz/6-business-benefits-of-outsourcing-your-ai-projects-e8d084aef3ac</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Scaling Uber&#39;s Customer Support Ticket Assistant (COTA) System with Deep Learning | Uber Blog. (2018, August 23). Uber Blog. https://uber.com/blog/cota-v2/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Schaal, D. (2023, November 9). Airbnb&#39;s latest tools: &#39;Guest Favorites,&#39; AI photo tours, and more. Skift. https://skift.com/2023/11/08/airbnbs-latest-tools-guest-favorites-ai-photo-tours-and-more/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Standley, E. (2023, May 11). How AI is Revolutionizing the Future of Airbnb. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-ai-revolutionizing-future-airbnb-edward-standley/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sthapit, E., &amp; Björk, P. (2019). Sources of distrust: Airbnb guests&#39; perspectives. Tourism Management Perspectives, 31, 245&ndash;253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.05.009</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sweeney, D. (2013, January 9). 4 Benefits that MagicBands bring to the wonderful world of Disney Parks. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahsweeney/2013/01/09/4-benefits-that-magicbands-bring-to-the-wonderful-world-of-disney-parks/?sh=f285de77446a</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">TensorFlow. (2019, March 6). Powered by TensorFlow: Airbnb uses machine learning to help categorize its listing photos [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPb2u9kwh2w</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Uber Engineering. (2018a, June 5). Uber Tech Day: COTA -- Improving Uber Customer Care with NLP, ML, &amp; DL [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGHY7fz2XA</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Uber Engineering. (2018b, October 22). Applying Customer Feedback: How NLP &amp; Deep Learning Improve Uber&#39;s Maps. https://www.uber.com/blog/nlp-deep-learning-uber-maps/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Vaičiulaitytė, G. (2018, January 2). Twenty-five funny tweets about Amazon Alexa that prove there&#39;s nothing artificial about her intelligence. Bored Panda. https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-alexa-tweets/?media_id=1120057</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Why portfolio management is essential for AI projects. (2024, January 17). https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/why-portfolio-management-is-essential-for-ai-projects/#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20unique%20nature%20of,value%20and%20ensuring%20ethical%20compliance.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Yeo, A. (2024, February 28). Wendy&#39;s is trying out dynamic pricing. It&#39;s not as Uber as it sounds. Mashable. https://mashable.com/article/wendys-surge-pricing-dynamic-ai</span></span></p> 33Technology In Education: 10 Retention Tools in Higher Edhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/32/technology-in-education-10-retention-tools-in-higher-edCorporate Culture,EducationThu, 08 Feb 2024 21:46:41 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuid1iWufQI2q2SD" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Post-COVID, higher learning institutions are redefining what it means to teach and learn. On-campus learning moved to the cloud during COVID-19, leaving many learners behind. Many faculties have returned to on-campus learning, some hoping it will be business as usual. At the same time, other universities are experimenting with &#39;hybrid&#39; approaches, upping the ante in what will be an increasingly technology-driven educational battleground.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Student Engagement and Retention</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Student retention and re-enrollment are as critical to institutional survival as academic excellence.&nbsp;<strong><em>Student engagement,&nbsp;</em></strong>a hard-to-measure factor that drives re-enrollment and retention rates<strong><em>,&nbsp;</em></strong>is central to this battle. Research shows many emerging technologies can improve engagement, student retention, and re-enrollment rates. For university administrators and educational technology leaders, leveraging tech-based strategies can bring educational and financial benefits. But where to start?</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Ten Technologies And How They Help Keep Students Engaged</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">This post will explore ten ways institutions of higher learning leverage technology to improve student engagement, keep students enrolled, and help those who may have fallen through the cracks to reenroll and succeed. For the first generation to grow up with smartphones, these technologies may be the secret to keeping them engaged and enrolled.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/JasperArt_2024-02-08_09_55_27%20%281%29.png" style="width: 300px; float: left; margin: 10px; height: 300px;" title="" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Personalized Learning Paths And Assessments</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Traditional educational models are heavily course-centric, often overlooking the nuanced learning needs of individual students. Tailoring learning experiences to fit each student through personalized learning paths best has gained acceptance for its potential to improve engagement and outcomes. Adaptive learning technologies like AI-driven content platforms include&nbsp;<strong>EdApp</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Zavvy</strong>. First used in corporate training, these technologies analyze students&#39; performance and offer a customized pathway through the material, encouraging mastery-based learning. This pathway model permits students to excel at their own pace, driving improvements in subject matter mastery according to tests conducted at the&nbsp;<strong>HarvardX&nbsp;</strong>massive open online course (MOOC)<strong>&nbsp;</strong>(Rosen, 2018). Educators can adapt the technology to analyze user behaviors to alert educators to those at risk of departing a course due to frustration or boredom (Rushkin et al. Educational Data Mining 10th Conference, 2017). More than mere time-savers, these tools prompt faculty interventions and highlight areas where institutional support services can assist (Adams, 2019).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Predictive Analytics for Early Intervention</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Remember the old saw, &#39;An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?&#39; We&#39;ve learned that it often applies in higher education. Predictive analytics technologies offer this &#39;ounce&#39; to academic advisors and faculty. By factoring in a wide range of data &ndash; from attendance and online engagement with learning tools to personal circumstances and transcript data &ndash; these systems predict a student&#39;s likelihood of departure with surprising accuracy. The insights generated lead to targeted intervention strategies, such as additional tutoring, advising meetings, or adjustment of schedules. In the often-cited case of&nbsp;<strong>Georgia State University</strong>, this tech reduced the likelihood of students dropping out by 20% through early identification of at-risk students and tailored support measures (Brennmoen, 2017).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Mobile Apps for Support Services</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In a world where smartphones are ubiquitous, mobile applications cater to students&#39; expectations for instant accessibility and support. On-the-go assistance through apps permits universities to wire everything from course registration and financial aid information to mental health resources and campus activities. This kind of digital access can significantly improve a student&#39;s daily life.&nbsp;<strong>Texas A&amp;M</strong>&#39;s&nbsp;<em>My Aggie Nation</em>&nbsp;is a stellar example, offering over 500 services to students and faculty and focusing on simplifying interactions with critical university offices, all in real-time (Dulaney, 2020).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Online and Flexible Degree Programs</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">For students juggling work, family, and other commitments, a traditional, fixed semester schedule may be an inflexible barrier to re-enrollment. Online and flexible degree programs enable such students to continue their education seamlessly. Technologies supporting these programs provide virtual simulations, on-demand coursework, and real-world learning experiences, catering to non-traditional students&#39; needs and creating an environment where students feel they can succeed despite the complexities of their lives. (Picciano, 2017). Increasingly, online learning faculties are allowing students to pass prior learning assessments (PLAs) -- usually for a fee -- by assembling a portfolio of prior work showing mastery of the course material. Examples of institutions that offer PLAs include the&nbsp;<strong>University of Southern New Hampshire</strong>, the&nbsp;<strong>University of Phoenix</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Colorado State Global</strong>, among many others.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Enhanced Online Learning Platforms</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Platforms like&nbsp;<strong>Blackboard</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Canvas</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Brightspace/D2L</strong>&nbsp;Learning Management Systems (LMS) have evolved into interactive, community-building spaces rather than mere repositories for course materials. Interactive features include:</span></span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Real-time collaboration and discussion forums, as well as support for asynchronous learning.</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Immediate electronic feedback on quizzes, labs, papers, and other submissions.</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Integrated spell-checking, grammar, and plagiarism testing.</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Group learning scenarios.</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Automated messaging based on learner activities and benchmarks.</span></span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Research shows these tools help students feel better connected to learning (Junco, 2013).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">COVID-19 drove the rapid adoption of these platforms with its stay-at-home rules. Many educational institutions (like remote teaching leader&nbsp;<strong>Macquarie University</strong>&nbsp;in Australia) and other schools decided to retain these post-COVID, even as students returned to campus. (<em>Managing post-COVID-19 Uncertainties: Blended Learning in a Nutshell</em>, 2020).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/JasperArt_2024-02-08_11_22_01.png" style="margin: 10px; float: left; width: 300px; height: 300px;" title="" /><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the US, post-COVID, Stanford University and the University of Michigan balanced traditional classroom settings with digital interaction. <strong>Stanford University</strong> quickly pivoted to hybrid teaching by offering in-person sessions and digitally mediated instruction, employing advanced video conferencing technology for synchronous sessions and a suite of web-based platforms for asynchronous learning (<em>Blended and Hybrid Teaching Guide, Stanfrod.edu</em>&nbsp;n.d.).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The <strong>University of Michigan</strong> successfully executed a comprehensive hybrid strategy by incorporating learning spaces designed for collaboration and digital connectivity. Facilitators integrated discussion boards and collaborative software to encourage continued interaction beyond classroom hours, ensuring an accessible learning environment for all students (<em>The Hybrid Campus | Deloitte</em>, 2021).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Gamification</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Gamification can be a powerful tool, allowing educators to enrich content and enhance student experience.&nbsp;<strong>Bentley University</strong>&#39;s&nbsp;<em>Agile Mindset</em>, combined with the&nbsp;<strong>Chemagic</strong>&nbsp;platform, offers a responsive simulation of lab experiments with instant feedback, adding an element of skill-building and risk-free trial and error in learning (Smith, 2023). Such simulations help understand complex theoretical concepts and improve retention by allowing students to learn through experience and interaction. The&nbsp;<strong>University of Mary Washington</strong>&nbsp;incorporates a system where students earn badges for completing tasks, each representing a specific skill set. The badging system has been particularly successful in liberal arts disciplines that require practical applications of knowledge, fostering a more holistic and in-depth learning experience (Johnson, 2020). Research has shown that the gamification software&nbsp;<strong>Kahoot</strong>, for example, has improved learning outcomes and engagement for students studied (Tan et al., 2018).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Virtual Mentoring and Tutoring</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Building a relationship with a mentor or tutor can be transformative for a student&mdash;academic support is often most effective when it&#39;s personal. Virtual mentoring and tutoring technologies enable these critical support relationships to form, regardless of proximity. From platforms like&nbsp;<strong>Teams</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>Zoom</strong>&nbsp;that connect students with peer tutors to robust systems like&nbsp;<strong>ConexEd</strong>&nbsp;that offer face-to-face virtual advising and messaging with faculty or professional mentors, these technologies provide the human element within a digitally enriched framework. (Bentley et al., 2013).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Data-Driven Advising Tools</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Effective academic advising is essential to student success, and data-driven advising tools provide advisors with predictive and prescriptive data that can guide their practice. Technologies like&nbsp;<strong>DegreeWorks</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>EAB&#39;s Navigate</strong>&nbsp;offer advisors a 360-degree view of a student&#39;s academic journey, allowing for more informed, personalized, and timely guidance, which can be the difference between a student&#39;s departure and persistence to graduation (Habley, W. R. 2003).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Institutions as diverse as&nbsp;<strong>Liberty University</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Southern New Hampshire University</strong>, the&nbsp;<strong>University of Colorado</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Texas A&amp;M University</strong>&nbsp;have integrated online advisor meetings into their student support framework. In a comprehensive analysis, Perez et al. (2021) found that such meetings allowed in-depth discussions critical for student success. Moreover, the convenience and privacy of online meet-ups appealed to non-traditional learners. See the report by Wharton and Steiner (2020).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><img alt="Student Collaboration" src="/Portals/0/JasperArt_2024-02-08_09_55_27.png" style="width: 300px; margin: 10px; float: left; height: 300px;" title="Student Collaboration" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Community and Peer Learning Platforms</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Universities can also use&nbsp;technology to foster networks and communities. Students often learn as much from other learners as from faculty or textbooks. These learning environments also combat the often isolating effects of higher education. Platforms like&nbsp;<strong>Piazza</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Slack</strong>&nbsp;facilitate peer-to-peer and community learning. Faculty can set up channels or conversations that allow students to interact on a topic, thus replacing the cascade of student emails with a wiki or chat-like experience. Proponents say such systems help reduce the sense of isolation in online learning and tap into the collective intelligence of the student body.&nbsp;<strong>Oregon State University, Yale, New York University, and the</strong>&nbsp;<strong>University of Southern California&nbsp;</strong>use the Slack system to make communication easier (Slack, 2020). These spaces can also extend beyond the confines of a particular class or degree, promoting engagement that transcends traditional boundaries. These learning environments can be invaluable for prospective and returning students and even drive alumni engagement (Bianchi, 2021).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Streamlined Assessment Leveraging AI</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">From teaching adult learners in college and university classes as an Adjunct Professor, I know that the quality of student feedback drives improved engagement. For example, &quot;You are having trouble with noun-verb accordance,&quot; along with several examples from the student&#39;s writing (<em>the dog bark</em>&nbsp;should be&nbsp;<em>the dog barks)</em>&nbsp;is infinitely more helpful than a marginal note saying, &quot;Grammar needs improvement.&quot;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">AI is now stepping in to help faculty affordably generate better, more fair, and more rapid assessments. One example is Turnitin&#39;s&nbsp;<strong>Gradescope</strong>. The assessment technology streamlines the grading process for professors and offers more nuanced student insights. As students upload papers and coding assignments to the platform, Gradescope&#39;s AI groups responses and helps instructors grade quickly and consistently, with the ability to share feedback in situations where common mistakes occur. For students, there is better and more detailed feedback on partial credit answers. The system automatically links points assigned to comments explaining what the student did correctly or incorrectly. The cloud-based storage of submissions helps even the most disorganized student keep track of their work. The quality of feedback a student receives is superior to what they could get from hand-written comments by a TA (Gradescope, 2021). Rapid, electronic return of graded assignments to students permits the feedback to turn into learning gains and allows students to move toward mastery. <strong>Dartmouth</strong>, <strong>Wharton</strong>, <strong>UC Davis</strong>, and <strong>Perdue</strong> are among the institutions that have offered this tool to faculty.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>&#39;No Silver Bullets Here&#39;</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Technology is never a silver bullet, but its potential to design interventions and experiences based on personalized feedback can help students immensely. The research&nbsp;we have shared here shows that educational technologies can drive improvement&nbsp;through predictive early warning systems, increased student engagement, or community-building in learning. It is clear that when implemented thoughtfully, technology can be one of the most potent tools in the retention arsenal of a higher education institution. By investing in these types of tech (and the necessary training to use them effectively), colleges and universities can ensure that their students not only enroll but persist, succeed, and reenroll. This can&nbsp;lead&nbsp;to a richer, more dynamic academic ecosystem that benefits all involved. When deciding which project to prioritize, pick the low-hanging fruit first for retention improvement, then move on to more complex executions.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Remember that adopting these solutions must be based on a deep understanding of your institution&#39;s unique culture and the experiences of your student population. What works in Boston or Palo Alto may not work in Louisiana. Let pilot programs be your guide. Always test new students for technology literacy and ensure student and faculty onboarding is included with the rollout of these systems.&nbsp;There is no one-size-fits-all approach to retention, so administrators should apply a tailored mix of these technologies, informed by ongoing testing, assessment, and feedback.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>References</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Adams, B. (2019). Personalized Learning in Higher Education: The Next Generation of Online Learning. EDUCAUSE Review.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Bentley, Y., Comer, D. R., Supiano, B G., &amp; Haythornthwaite, C. (2013). A Community of Practice: Virtual Mentoring in Higher Education. Innovations in Education and Teaching International.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Bianchi, A. C. (2021). Community of Inquiry Framework in Online Learning: A Social Presence Perspective. IGI Global.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>Blended and Hybrid Teaching Guide</em>. (n.d.). Teaching Commons.stanford.edu. https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-guides/blended-and-hybrid-teaching-guide</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Brennmoen, R. (2017). Using Predictive Analytics to Increase Student Retention and Graduation Rates. Journal of Research on Technology in Education.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Dulaney, A. (2020). Designing a mobile experience that improves student retention. University Business.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Gradescope. (2021, December 12). 10 Ways Gradescope Helps improve teaching and learning.&nbsp;<em>Medium</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/gradescope-blog/10-ways-gradescope-helps-improve-teaching-and-learning-e9ab37ff7f03" target="_blank">https://medium.com/gradescope-blog/10-ways-gradescope-helps-improve-teaching-and-learning-e9ab37ff7f03</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Habley, W. R. (2003). The Status of Academic Advising: Findings from the ACT Sixth National Survey. NACADA Journal.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Johnson, R. D. (2020). Gamified Learning in Higher Education: A Case Study at Bentley University. New York: Springer.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Junco, R., Elavsky, C. M., &amp; Heiberger, G. (2013). Putting Twitter to the test: Assessing student collaboration, engagement and success outcomes. British Journal of Educational Technology.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>Managing post-COVID19 uncertainties: Blended learning in a nutshell</em>. (2020, June 20). Macquarie University. https://researchers.mq.edu.au/en/activities/managing-post-covid19-uncertainties-blended-learning-in-a-nutshel</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Perez, J., et al. (2021). Virtual academic advising: Crafting an experience for students during COVID-19. Journal of College Academic Support, 6(4), 42-51.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Picciano, A. G. (2017). Online education: Foundations, planning, and pedagogy. Routledge.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Rosen, Y. (2018, April 26).&nbsp;<em>Harvard-Microsoft open source adaptive learning engine: From black box to experimental framework</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/harvard-microsoft-open-source-adaptive-learning-engine-yigal-rosen/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/harvard-microsoft-open-source-adaptive-learning-engine-yigal-rosen/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Rushkin, I. &amp; Educational Data Mining. (2017). Adaptive Assessment Experiment in a HarvardX MOOC.&nbsp;<em>Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Educational Data Mining</em>,&nbsp;<em>Paper 167</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://educationaldatamining.org/EDM2017/proc_files/papers/paper_167.pdf" target="_blank">https://educationaldatamining.org/EDM2017/proc_files/papers/paper_167.pdf</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Slack. (2020, March).&nbsp;<em>Distance learning thrives in Slack</em>. Slack. https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/blog/collaboration/distance-learning-in-slack#</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Smith, J. (2023). The Impact of University Gamification on Student Engagement. Journal of Educational Technology, 13(2), 45-58.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Tan, Debbita &amp; Ganapathy, Malini &amp; Mehar Singh, Manjet Kaur. (2018). Kahoot! It: Gamification in Higher Education. Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities. 26. 565-582.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>The hybrid campus | Deloitte</em>. (2021, January 27). Deloitte Insights.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.deloitte.com/an/en/our-thinking/insights/industry/government-public-services/post-pandemic-hybrid-learning.html" target="_blank">https://www.deloitte.com/an/en/our-thinking/insights/industry/government-public-services/post-pandemic-hybrid-learning.html</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Wharton, C., &amp; Steiner, J. (2020). The impact of synchronous, online academic advising meetings on college student satisfaction. Online Learning Journal, 36(5), 21-32.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 328 Innovative Ways to Improve Customer Retention Using Email https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/31/8-innovative-ways-to-improve-customer-retention-using-email-or-notificationsBranding,Conversion Improvement,Customer Service,Digital Marketing,New Product Development,Product Management,Profit Improvement,Research,RetentionSun, 04 Feb 2024 16:01:27 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidzcqdWG6dEMYn" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">In digital marketing, email remains a stalwart for direct communication with customers. For marketers looking to retain and monetize an existing customer base, email can be an affordable, customizable mechanism for improving retention. This blog investigates eight inventive strategies where email drives customer loyalty with personalized&nbsp;messages that&nbsp;delight customers.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>A Personal Touch from an Online Retailing Giant: Amazon</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Have you ever received a &quot;Just for You&quot; email from Amazon? Using complex algorithms, Amazon crafts individualized product recommendations based on a customer&#39;s purchase history and browsing behavior. This personalized optimization encourages further purchasing and makes customers feel understood and valued, enhancing their loyalty to the brand (Ghelber, 2020).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Exclusive Perks and Prestige: Sephora&#39;s Beauty Insider Program</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The way Sephora uses email to reinforce customer loyalty is unparalleled. Their Beauty Insider program members receive status upgrades, birthday gifts, and special access to deals&mdash;all communicated through personalized emails. These perks make members feel part of an exclusive community, building brand affinity and retention (<em>About Beauty Insider Loyalty Program | Sephora</em>, n.d.).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>A Screen-Full of Interest: Netflix&#39;s Show Updates and Recommendations</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Netflix&#39;s user engagement emails are a staple of its retention strategy. Emails entice subscribers to return to the platform with updates on shows they might enjoy, directly aligning content with their viewing behavior. These recommendations drive engagement and demonstrate a detailed understanding of each user&#39;s preferences, fostering loyalty (Io Digital Agency, 2024).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>The Soundtrack of Your Life: Spotify&#39;s Curated Playlists</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Understanding that music is a profoundly personal experience, Spotify offers curated playlists directly delivered to inboxes. Based on a user&#39;s taste and listening habits, these playlists function as personalized entertainment and offer a nudge to revisit the platform&mdash;providing a harmonious approach to customer retention through email (Anderson, 2024).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Step into the Customer Service Hall of Fame: Zappos&#39; Follow-Up Emails</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Zappos is renowned for its customer service, and email plays a significant role. After a customer interacts with Zappos&#39; representatives, they receive a follow-up email ensuring all is well. This extra mile in customer care ensures a lasting positive impression is maintained even when things might not have gone perfectly (Sharpen Staff Writer, 2024).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Write into Success: Grammarly&#39;s Progress Reports</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">As a linguistic companion, Grammarly doesn&#39;t just fix language errors but also educates users with insights into their writing. Weekly emails with writing stats and personalized progress reports are educational and engaging. They instill a desire for improvement, measure how much the user uses Grammarly in their writing, and make users more likely to stay with the service (Reallygoodux &amp; Keen.io, 2023).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Educate to Elevate: HubSpot&#39;s Helpful Content</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">HubSpot&#39;s educational content emails are an underappreciated gem. By consistently providing value through blog posts, whitepapers, and webinars, HubSpot nurtures customer relationships beyond its platform. This act of &#39;giving before expecting&#39; is a powerful customer retention method that positions the brand as a source of knowledge (Storm, 2023).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>A Trip Down Memory Lane: Google Photos</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Google Photos is the default photo storage solution for Android phones. The Google Photo application stores photos in the cloud and then mines this database of photos to create collages of photos from the past. Facial recognition technology, timeline information, location data, and event-related information allow Google algorithms to organize the pictures into collages and, more recently, movies set to music. Google creates and shares these trips down memory lane via user notifications (Ben-Yair, 2021).&nbsp;</span></span><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Users can share the output by text or email or customize the output (e.g., to stop seeing photos of exes) using the app user settings. Recently, Google created a separate tab to store these &quot;Memories&quot; within its Google Photo application. Google&nbsp;added functionality to allow users to name, rename, and edit the Memories that Google created (Brinkmann, 2023).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Data Mining, Personalization, and Links to the &#39;Mother Ship&#39;</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Note that most of these examples rely on three critical elements. First is mining customer information and preferences to understand their needs. Second is personalizing the email or system notification relevant to those needs; third, the messaging provides links to bring the customer back to the website to enjoy or act upon custom offers and opportunities.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Summing up: Five &quot;izes&quot;</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">From special offers to customer education to excellent service follow-up to trips through your photo memories, retention messages engage, excite, and entwine your customers in the fabric of your brand. To deliver this experience,&nbsp;<strong>synthesize</strong>&nbsp;customer data,&nbsp;<strong>analyze&nbsp;</strong>your users&#39; needs,&nbsp;<strong>personalize</strong>&nbsp;your messaging, product, or service&nbsp;to provide a value-added offering, and then&nbsp;<strong>publicize</strong>&nbsp;it to your community using&nbsp;<strong>customized</strong>&nbsp;email. To learn about other digital marketing technologies that you can use to improve customer retention, check out our blog article on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/30/eight-digital-marketing-technologies-that-can-improve-retention" target="_blank">Eight Digital Marketing Technologies</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>References</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>About Beauty Insider Loyalty Program | Sephora</em>. (n.d.). Sephora.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sephora.com/beauty/loyalty-program" target="_blank">https://www.sephora.com/beauty/loyalty-program</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Anderson, A. (2024, January 24).&nbsp;<em>Making Personalization the Center of Your Customer Retention Strategy like Spotify</em>. Sharpen.&nbsp;<a href="https://sharpencx.com/spotify-customer-retention/" target="_blank">https://sharpencx.com/spotify-customer-retention/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ben-Yair, S. (2021, May 18). Your photos, your memories, your way.&nbsp;<em>Google</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/products/photos/new-memories-features-look-back/" target="_blank">https://blog.google/products/photos/new-memories-features-look-back/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Brinkmann, M. (2023, August 16).&nbsp;<em>Your memories have a permanent place now in Google Photos</em>. gHacks Technology News.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/16/your-memories-have-a-permanent-place-now-in-google-photos/" target="_blank">https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/16/your-memories-have-a-permanent-place-now-in-toogle-photos/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ghelber, A. (2020, November 24). Seven steps to achieve customer retention like Amazon.&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/11/24/seven-steps-to-achieve-customer-retention-like-amazon/" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/11/24/seven-steps-to-achieve-customer-retention-like-amazon/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Io Digital Agency. (2024).&nbsp;<em>iO &mdash; blended agency with wide-ranging and in-depth expertise</em>. https://www.iodigital.com/. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iodigital.com/en/history/raak/how-netflix-defined-email-marketing-for-streaming-platforms" target="_blank">https://www.iodigital.com/en/history/raak/how-netflix-defined-email-marketing-for-streaming-platforms</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lambert, S. (n.d.).&nbsp;<em>This is Why HubSpot is the Best Content Marketing Platform</em>. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.xcellimark.com/blog/this-is-why-hubspot-is-the-best-content-marketing-platform" target="_blank">https://www.xcellimark.com/blog/this-is-why-hubspot-is-the-best-content-marketing-platform</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Reallygoodux &amp; Keen.io. (2023). Grammarly&#39;s re-engagement emails.&nbsp;<em>GoodUX.appcues.com</em>. https://goodux.appcues.com/blog/grammarly-engagement-emails</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Staff Writer, S. (2024, January 3).&nbsp;<em>The customer service strategies behind Zappos&#39; success</em>. Sharpen.&nbsp;<a href="https://sharpencx.com/zappos-customer-service/" target="_blank">https://sharpencx.com/zappos-customer-service/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Storm, A. (2023, September 9). Crafting Customer Retention Emails: The Complete Guide.&nbsp;<em>Blog.Hubspot.com</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-retention-emails" target="_blank">https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-retention-emails</a></span></span></p> <aside arial-label="Suggestions panel" data-name="sidebar-tier">&nbsp;</aside> 31Eight Digital Marketing Technologies That Can Improve Retentionhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/30/eight-digital-marketing-technologies-that-can-improve-retentionConversion,Conversion Improvement,Customer Complaints,customer experience,Customer Relationship Management,Customer Service,Digital Marketing,New Product Development,Profit ImprovementRetention,Social MediaMon, 29 Jan 2024 15:34:48 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidrMHno6Xr8OgI" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Over the past decade, a big part of our consulting practice has been helping companies determine how to improve customer retention.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A recent series of requests for contributions to a marketing blog on LinkedIn led us&nbsp;to develop this article. Below are&nbsp;<strong>eight digital marketing technologies</strong>&nbsp;marketers can use to help improve customer retention and grow revenue.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><em>(Please note that while we provide vendor names, the list of software providers mentioned under each category is&nbsp;</em><strong><em>not</em></strong><em>&nbsp;exhaustive. New technology vendors emerge almost monthly, so please search for and compare competitors of the software vendors listed to find the right one for your company.)</em></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Email Marketing Software.</strong>&nbsp;Email marketing is first on our list of customer retention technologies. Why? With email, a business can regularly touch its customers by sending information and messaging that&#39;s relevant to customer interests. The critical adjective here is&nbsp;<strong><em>relevant</em></strong>! The most effective emails are personalized based on valid segmentation schemes. They are consistent in branding and well-timed. They are carefully tested. The test data should show that they will reliably resonate with your customers. Retention emails bring customers back by speaking with your brand voice and offering incentives, discounts, special offers, or unique experiences otherwise unavailable to noncustomers. Email is a powerful tool. But use your email list carefully. Please don&#39;t abuse it, or your list of receptive customers will quickly dwindle. Tools for email marketing include <strong>Vertical Response</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Mailchimp</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Constant Contact</strong>, and<strong>&nbsp;HubSpot</strong>. For more on this topic, check out our blog article with <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/31/8-innovative-ways-to-improve-customer-retention-using-email-or-notifications" target="_blank">eight examples of companies that do retention email well</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Customer Relationship Management (CRM)</strong>: Marketers use CRMs to store customer data like email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, and communication preferences. They also use CRMs to track marketing interactions with current and potential customers. Leverage CRM data to discern customer behavior. Use it to understand individual preferences and track purchase history. If you sell shoes, for example, does this customer buy when shoes are on discount, or is their purchasing more fashion-conscious? Is it event-related (i.e., snow boots after a major snowstorm) or seasonal (summer, winter, fall, and spring collection purchases)?&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">With some imagination and elbow grease, CRM data can give us the information we need to reach these conclusions. It allows marketers to create personalized, high-converting marketing campaigns and ensures that customers who bought from us before keep buying. Integrate your CRM with Marketing Automation (see below) to improve your communication with customers and prospects. Use this integration to build repeat sales funnels with existing customers, driving repeat purchases and improving retention. CRM software providers include&nbsp;<strong>Salesforce</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Zoho CRM</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Microsoft Dynamics</strong>. For more on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/8/customer-relationship-management-not-just-for-big-business" target="_blank">CRM and its uses</a>, see our blog article on how CRM can help improve conversion and retention.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Social Media Management Tools</strong>. Social media has become an integral part of any retention strategy. Use social media to provide brand updates and inform your customers of reasons to maintain a relationship with you.&nbsp;<strong>Hoot Suite</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>Buffer</strong>&nbsp;are two examples of software enabling marketers to schedule social media updates and track social activity across platforms. Social media can increase customer engagement and maintain customers&#39; interest in your brand. See also our blog article on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/24/28-examples-of-social-media-advertising-campaigns-small-businesses-can-use-to-build-their-brands" target="_blank">Social Media Marketing for 24&nbsp;examples </a>of ways you can use Social Media to increase sales, improve customer retention, and support your brand.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Marketing Automation Platforms.</strong>&nbsp;Marketing automation platforms provide tools for automatically triggering marketing execution, including email campaigns, social media posts, remarketing campaigns, and more. If properly configured, marketing automation can track and manage lead generation from all your customer touchpoints and automate follow-up throughout the customer life cycle. Marketing automation systems allow retention marketers to personalize emails for post-purchase follow-ups, upsells, and cross-sells. It can trigger social media posts, offer targeted promotions, and send follow-up requests to salespeople or customer service representatives. Think of these tools as brilliant conductors in your brand marketing symphony. Research and map your online marketing funnel activities to see what works now, then automate it! These tools can save e-marketers time and effort while ensuring consistent, branded customer retention follow-up and communications. Popular options include&nbsp;<strong>Keap</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Marketo</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Pardot</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Drip</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Eloqua.</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Remarketing Tools.&nbsp;</strong>Another favorite way of turning suspects into prospects and customers into return customers is&nbsp;<strong>remarketing</strong>. With remarketing, a website visit can trigger a series of personalized advertisements on platforms like&nbsp;<strong>Google</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>Facebook</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>LinkedIn</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>Twitter</strong>. Marketers can design experiences around the web content visited by linking a website product page to a particular advertisement on Google or a social media platform. These tools are especially useful in marketing luxury or high-involvement products or services because they direct advertising toward people who have already shown purchase intent. While generally reserved for new product sales, we have also seen this technology used successfully to grow revenue from service or parts upsell to customers who have visited company websites related to after-sale subjects. For more on this topic, check out our <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/11/small-company-big-data-huge-impact" target="_blank">blog article on Big Data</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Customer Feedback Software.&nbsp;</strong>We all think we listen to our customers. But do you systematically keep track of their feedback and then take action to address their concerns? Those two final steps are crucial for improving customer retention.&nbsp;<strong>Verint,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>SurveyMonkey</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Qualtrics&nbsp;</strong>are software vendors that sell technologies that gather valuable customer insights and allow users to aggregate the information to identify actionable trends. Use that information to tease out customer service needs, gaps in your product and service offerings, complaint trends, and brand challenges. Use these technologies to develop systematic ways to leverage customer feedback and improve. See our <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management" target="_blank">blog article on customer complaints </a>for more on this topic.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Personalization.&nbsp;</strong>Personalization is another meaningful way of retaining customers, making them feel valued by the brand. Personalization tools such as&nbsp;<strong>Optimizely</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>Adobe Target</strong>&nbsp;are software designed to permit marketers to create customized experiences. Design individualized experiences or offers for each customer persona based on their segment&#39;s preferences and behavior. Build customer experiences that make their lives easier. See <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/22/buying-and-delivery-preference-the-new-battleground">our article on buying preference</a> for more on this topic.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Loyalty Program Software.&nbsp;</strong>Ever since a coffee shop figured out how to offer punch cards to give loyal customers a tenth coffee free, loyalty programs have become a time-honored way to drive customer retention. Reward customers for their continued business. As with everything, software now exists to track and manage this activity. Loyalty program software vendors include&nbsp;<strong>Smile.io</strong>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<strong>LoyaltyLion.&nbsp;</strong>Both can help create and manage new loyalty programs and make starting a program more manageable. Create incentives and rewards for customers, and design programs that encourage them to return. Then, watch retention numbers improve. See our <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/BlogPage/3" target="_blank">blog on Customer Lifetime Value</a> for more on how companies manage customer loyalty.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Integration and Reporting.&nbsp;</strong>Before pulling the trigger on any software purchase, carefully examine how well these systems integrate with your existing marketing infrastructure. Pay special attention to reporting, scalability, and customer support capabilities (and support cost). Many of the leading vendors in each category above offer capabilities in other categories. For example, many marketing automation providers also provide CRM capabilities.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Also, make sure that the reporting system for the software can exactly replicate what you are currently providing to senior management. Senior leaders want what they want, and if the new software can only provide a slightly different report from what leadership likes, you may spend the next couple of years downloading and formatting data to meet their needs.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">For more on integration and marketing, see our blog article about <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/15/integrate-or-die" target="_blank">integration as the modern marketing superpower</a>.</span></span></p> 30You've Been Laid Off. What Now?https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/29/you-are-laid-off-what-nowCareer Management,layoffs,Online LearningMon, 22 Jan 2024 15:30:13 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Okay, based on our previous posts, now you know <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/25/bad-news-for-the-holidays-why-companies-lay-off-employees">why companies lay employees off</a> and <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/27/is-there-a-good-way-to-manage-a-layoff" target="_blank">what to do&nbsp;(and not do) if you have to implement a layoff</a>.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">This article, the third in the series on Layoffs, reviews what to do if you lose your job due to a reduction in force.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Don&#39;t Panic or Take It Personally!&nbsp;</strong>Feeling disoriented and victimized is a natural reaction when you lose your job. Manage those feelings by telling yourself this is a setback, not a permanent change. As we have seen in my previous articles, companies decide to lay off employees for many reasons, most of which have nothing to do with your performance. You should never take the layoff as a reflection on you as a person or employee! Many people have been through this before and have had successful careers. Always reframe this event as an opportunity and not a setback.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Return All Company Equipment.&nbsp;</strong>Before you leave, you have returned company access cards, parking permits, credit cards, computers, phones, or other electronic equipment to the company. Be sure that HR and any remaining co-workers have updated information on how to reach you after you leave the company. (Layoff Checklist for EMPLOYEES: Everything You Need to Ensure Your Paycheck and Other Benefits During a Layoff, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Complete COBRA Health Insurance Paperwork.&nbsp;</strong>Visit with HR and obtain any state forms you need to file unemployment and that you have arranged for the transition to COBRA if a company plan currently covers you. Review what will happen with 401k investments or any voluntary benefits like group life that COBRA may not cover.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Update Your Resume.&nbsp;</strong>An updated CV will be helpful when you start applying for new jobs. Make sure to include any relevant skills or experience that you have. If time permits, run your updated resume past your supervisors and co-workers for comment. Ask these people what they think you&#39;re good at and what direction you should take in your career. After all, they will be the people recruiters will call when you apply for a new job. Be sure to update your LinkedIn profile and any other profiles related to your industry or area of expertise on the major job boards. Ensure you connect on LinkedIn with co-workers who can provide a reference or help you in your job search. Use LinkedIn&#39;s <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-use-open-work-feature-linkedin-tammy-homegardner/">Open to Work</a> feature to signal that you are looking (Homegardner, 2022).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Network.&nbsp;</strong>Another crucial step if your employer lays you off is to network! Reach out to current and former co-workers, friends, and family members inside and outside the company. Use the excuse of giving them your updated email and phone information to discuss the layoff and what opportunities may interest you moving forward. Be sure also to call old classmates from college and high school. They can help you find a lead or connect you with someone who can help you get your foot in the door.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Ask For Recommendations.&nbsp;</strong>Before you leave your employer or immediately after, reach out to contacts from your former employer and ask them for recommendations. Make it easy for them by listing your activities at your former employer and telling them what roles you will be looking for next. People are usually happy to help.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Check into Unemployment Benefits.&nbsp;</strong>Although unemployment policies vary by state in the US, you will likely qualify for state unemployment because you were laid off. Check the state unemployment office website for what paperwork you will need from your employer to apply for benefits. Ensure you receive this paperwork before you leave and start applying for benefits immediately.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Create a Job Search Schedule.&nbsp;</strong>Once you&#39;re out of your former workplace, becoming disoriented and losing focus is easy. (Lyons, 2022) Leverage the benefit of free time to create an at-home work process. Apply this structure to your job search by creating a schedule like the one you had in your previous work. Make it a daily schedule with start and end times you can adhere to. Then, start applying for jobs. Try to find and apply for one job each day (or every other day.) At the same time,&nbsp;develop a list of people to contact. Grab yourself by the scruff of the neck and keep yourself accountable for reaching out to contacts and networking your way into jobs you want&nbsp;(Lyons, 2022). Don&#39;t allow yourself to be discouraged if you aren&#39;t immediately successful. Just because one employer decides you aren&#39;t a good fit doesn&#39;t mean the next will not. As a senior recruiter once told me, &quot;Recruiting&nbsp;is a numbers game on both sides of the application process.&quot;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Leverage Educational Opportunities.&nbsp;</strong>Additional education can make you more attractive to potential employers and help you get your desired position. If you have a college degree, consider online courses in your functional area or expertise to hone essential skills. Study the job listings for opportunities that interest you but turn you down. Think hard about what skills you may not have. Online providers like <a href="https://www.coursera.org/">Coursera</a> or <a href="https://www.edx.org/learn/computer-science/harvard-university-cs50-s-introduction-to-computer-science?index=product&amp;queryID=1c5fefb50c8d4bad605a9bd2137ea1a9&amp;position=1&amp;results_level=first-level-results&amp;term=harvard+x+cs50&amp;objectID=course-da1b2400-322b-459b-97b0-0c557f05d017&amp;campaign=CS50%27s+Introduction+to+Computer+Science&amp;source=edX&amp;product_category=course&amp;placement_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.edx.org%2Fsearch">EdX</a> often offer affordable courses in those fields. Many employers seek certifications in particular knowledge areas. Think of these courses as an economical way to add the knowledge (and keywords) you need to put your resume and LinkedIn profile at the top of the resume pile.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Check Out Electronic Job Boards.&nbsp;</strong>Many online job boards can be an excellent resource for a new job. These websites often have listings for jobs not advertised elsewhere. You can search for jobs based on location, skills, and experience. Be sure to upload your resume to job sites like Zip Recruiter and Indeed, which use search bots to identify candidates for employers. This technology can put your resume in front of recruiters without knowing it! Here again, be sure to include keywords in your resume that are relevant to the work you want to do in the future. Products like jobscan.co can scan your resume and compare it to a target job. The software automatically recommends optimizing your resume for the keywords at the positions you seek.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Talk to a Career Counselor or Recruiter.&nbsp;</strong>If you have trouble finding a new job, consider contacting a career counselor. Many are available to alums of colleges or local employment boards. A career counselor can help you assess your skills and experience and determine what kind of jobs would suit your skill set. Professional recruiters often provide a service of sharing your resume with their network of potential employers for a fee.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Consider Starting a New Business.&nbsp;</strong>Have you ever wanted to start your own business? My friends have taken downsizing as the opportunity to do something they have never had the chance to do! Friends have started an AI software company, a guitar store, and a food truck catering business. Many of my professional friends have left larger firms to hang out their shingles to form their management consulting, law, accounting, or insurance sales businesses. Two friends wrote books, leading to writing and public speaking careers. The world is your oyster! A severance often provides the seed capital you need to get that business going and a layoff the impetus to start something new.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">As we have seen, layoffs are a part of business life. Losing a job can be the end of something, but quite often, it is the beginning of a new career and life! Take the layoff as a positive event. Remember that this opportunity sets you free to do something bigger, better, and more fun. Having this attitude can improve your mindset and lead to success!&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">My father provides a great example. At 62, he was forced into retirement by his then-employer of more than 30 years! His employer felt that allowing him to retire with a pension equal to his current salary and benefits was a great arrangement. But I remember him being depressed for weeks about losing his job. He was no longer part of something that had been so central to his life for so long. But he was also resilient. He didn&#39;t let it get him down. Two months after the layoff, he started an insurance benefits company with a friend with whom he played gin rummy! A short decade and a half later, he had built up the company to a point where he could sell it to a large publicly traded insurance company. He retired very comfortably in his late seventies!</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">References</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Homegardner, T. (2022, February 8). <i>How to use the Open to Work feature on LinkedIn</i>. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-use-open-work-feature-linkedin-tammy-homegardner/">https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-use-open-work-feature-linkedin-tammy-homegardner/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Layoff Checklist for EMPLOYEES: Everything You Need to Ensure Your Paycheck and Other Benefits During a Layoff: (n.d.-b).&nbsp;<a href="http://www.riklanresources.com/articles/layoff-checklist-for-employees-everything-you-need-to-ensure-your-paycheck-and-other-benefits-during-a-layoff/">http://www.riklanresources.com/articles/layoff-checklist-for-employees-everything-you-need-to-ensure-your-paycheck-and-other-benefits-during-a-layoff/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Lyons, M. (2022, November 9). What to Do After Being Laid Off. Harvard Business Review.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://hbr.org/2022/11/what-to-do-after-being-laid-off" style="font-size: larger;">https://hbr.org/2022/11/what-to-do-after-being-laid-off</a></p> 29Is There A Good Way to Manage a Layoff?https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/27/is-there-a-good-way-to-manage-a-layoffBoard Management,General,layoffsTue, 09 Jan 2024 21:25:38 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">How can a Manager Properly Implement a Layoff?</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">My previous blog post&nbsp;<u><a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/25/bad-news-for-the-holidays-why-companies-lay-off-employees" target="_blank"><span style="color:#00923E;">about layoffs</span></a></u> covered the primary reasons companies lay off employees. Now that we know layoffs are part of business life, what should you do if you have to administer a layoff, and what are the consequences of getting a significant downsizing wrong? Let&#39;s start with a to-do list for managers planning a Reduction in Force:</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Pay Attention to the WARN Act</strong>. If management assigns you the task of organizing a layoff, first review the size and scope of the anticipated layoff. You must know precisely how many people management wants to lay off and how long the layoff will last. You&#39;ll want to see if the planned downsizing falls under the WARN Act (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act.) The WARN Act, passed in 1988, helps people who work for medium-sized and larger companies in the event of a large layoff. The law requires a company with 100 or more workers to give notice before closing a plant or firing a large workforce. WARN says you must tell workers at least 60 days before the mass firing. (For a &quot;mass layoff,&quot; at least one-third of the workers must lose their jobs, and the layoffs will last six months or more.) To comply with WARN, you must &quot;warn&quot; employees of the upcoming layoffs. This notice should be in writing and provided to each affected employee at least sixty days before termination. You must also notify the state&#39;s dislocated worker unit. Penalties are stiff. Violators may have to pay back wages, benefits, and even civil penalties of up to $500 daily! (WARN Act Compliance Assistance, n.d.) The bottom line? If you have 100 plus employees and are likely to terminate a third or more employees, red lights should go off in your head, and you should involve a lawyer experienced in employment law.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Use A Fair Selection Process.&nbsp;</strong>Be sure to base your decision on objective criteria within federal equal opportunity guidelines. A best practice is to use objective measures such as performance reviews or attendance records. Seniority, merit, or skills-based criteria are acceptable for selection; employers should avoid making decisions based on personal biases or preferences. Discrimination based on age, race, gender, or sexual orientation is illegal under federal law. Be sure that performance, not demographics, is the metric used to decide who the company lays off. Any failure in this area can open the company up to damaging lawsuits. (Society for Human Resources Management+, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Try Not To Knick Any Arteries Or Vital Organs.</strong>&nbsp;Successful downsizing planning is complex because you must think like a surgeon. Your goal with the downsizing is to save the patient and keep the organization alive. It is,&nbsp;therefore,&nbsp;critical to go to your most important sources of revenue (the main arteries in our surgical metaphor)&nbsp;and work backward when deciding how to make your headcount cuts. Look carefully at key differentiators, essential product offerings, and services your customers rely on. For example, suppose your single largest customer, whom you rely on for much of your revenue, maintains its contract with you because of a project in your R&amp;D Department. In that case, you may not want to eliminate that Department with your downsizing. Doing so will likely push the customer to another competitor. Start with your revenue stream and use old-fashioned value-added analyses or zero-based budgeting techniques to determine where to make (and not make) your cuts. Don&#39;t shoot from the hip if you still need to learn the business. (See below for an example of a company that did.) Instead, involve subject matter experts or a middle manager who knows it well&nbsp;before deciding what to cut (Jones, 2023).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Give Advanced Notice.&nbsp;</strong>Giving your employees advance notice of a layoff will allow you to comply with the WARN Act. More importantly, from a human perspective, it will help soften the blow and give them time to prepare. Remember that the higher up or more complex the role an employee loses, the longer it will take for the terminated employee to find new work. (The WARN Act: What Is It and Who Must Comply With It? Stokes Lawrence, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Schedule a Meeting with the Laid-off employee (s).&nbsp;</strong>Once you have determined the size of the layoff, you need to inform the affected employees. It is essential to schedule an appointment with the employee to deliver the news respectfully and professionally. During the meeting, explain the reasons for the layoff and thank the employee for contributing to the company. Employers should provide this information in person. While it is essential to protect sensitive company systems by canceling access to those systems for terminated employees, it is also essential to do this in a way that is sensitive to the employee and their need to gather information that will allow them to find a job. (Society for Human Resources Management+, n.d.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Be Clear and Concise.&nbsp;</strong>The employee should understand the reasons for the dismissal and their next steps. Be sure to answer any questions the employee has. Explain the exact timing of the layoff. Review any benefits available after termination and what the employee needs to do to access them. Finally, carefully review severance compensation terms and timing (if any.) (See below.)</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Offer Severance Pay and Benefits.&nbsp;</strong>A severance package can help to ease the transition and make it easier for a terminated employee to find new employment. It can also lessen resentment and anger from displaced former employees. A hard lesson I have learned over the years is that small acts of generosity at termination do much to lessen the likelihood of lawsuits from angry terminated employees. Severance pay is typically lump sum compensation calculated based on the length of an employee&#39;s tenure with a company or as a multiple of the employee&#39;s final salary.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Assist with Job Search Efforts.&nbsp;</strong>Job search assistance can take many forms. A little generosity of spirit goes a very long way in this activity. It may include providing leads on open positions or writing letters of recommendation. Give your laid-off employees a positive reference highlighting their skills and accomplishments whenever possible. Since many recruiters use LinkedIn, a positive review for former employees can be a valuable asset after departure from your employ.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Comply With Laws on the Continuation of Health Insurance.&nbsp;</strong>If your company offers health insurance, consider continuing coverage for your laid-off employees. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) is a federal law allowing terminated workers to continue their health insurance coverage. COBRA lasts up to 18 months after they leave their jobs.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Manage the Public Relations&nbsp; (PR) aspects of the layoff.&nbsp;</span></span></strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Companies implementing a layoff should never ignore the PR needs that arise from downsizing. Without information released to the public, employees, suppliers, business partners, and customers&nbsp;will begin to speculate about the layoffs. In an information vacuum, misinformation, gossip,&nbsp;and made-up facts fill the void. To head this off, as soon as possible after departing employees are notified of the layoff, the company should share a carefully worded and detailed press release notifying the public about the size of the layoff, reasons for it, and a few confidence-building sentences about the revised strategy moving forward. In addition to the public relations release, senior management should send a similar email to remaining employees, customers, and suppliers to ease concerns.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Keep in Touch.&nbsp;</strong>Once an employee is no longer with the company, it is often a good idea to check in with the employee occasionally to see how they are doing. Offer assistance if needed! This follow-up, especially to past strong performers, can make it possible to rehire laid-off employees when business picks up. It also may result in that employee returning the favor to you if you lose your job sometime soon!</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">A Case Study - Mistakes Twitter (Rebranded as &quot;X&quot;) Made With Its Layoffs</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Now that you know the basics of administering a layoff, let&#39;s explore a recent example of Twitter after its acquisition by Elon Musk as an example of a company that didn&#39;t manage its firing well. My journalist friends have described the implementation of the Twitter layoffs in terms that range from the sophisticated word &quot;Shambolic&quot; to the more pedestrian &quot;Dumpster Fire.&quot; Here are some of the better-documented mistakes made by Twitter in its layoff.</span></span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Twitter (Apparently) Ignored The WARN Act.&nbsp;</strong>In January 2021, Twitter announced it would lay off over 3000 employees worldwide as part of a restructuring effort. However, as required by the WARN Act, critics contend many affected employees were given less than 60 days&#39; notice before the layoffs. Many of the affected employees have spoken publicly and on Twitter about how Twitter treated them. Some have said they were given no notice before being laid off, while others claimed only a few days. Many have specifically criticized Twitter for not following the requirements of the WARN Act, and some plan to file lawsuits against the company. (Perez &amp; Mehta, 2022)&nbsp; Twitter has issued a statement saying it &quot;fully complied&quot; with the WARN Act and gave affected employees &quot;severance, extended health benefits, and career transition support.&quot; However, many employees have disputed this claim. These disputes are now in the courts. If regulators find Twitter liable for back pay and benefits, it could owe millions of dollars to its former employees! (Ferris, 2022)</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Twitter laid off too many vital employees too quickly.&nbsp;</strong>Another mistake that Twitter made was laying off key employees. Key executive layoff of personnel with necessary knowledge led to a decline in the quality of Twitter&#39;s products and services, as there needed to be more people left to do the work properly. Some employees had to be rehired. (Mann, 2022) In one case, comically documented on Twitter, an employee who managed office building badge access was fired. Most employees were locked out without weekend access to the San Francisco office. (Twitter Employees Locked Out of Company Offices Until Monday as More Staff Resign, Reports Say, 2022)</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Twitter layoffs showed little understanding of the roles played by the terminated employees or the business consequences of their elimination.&nbsp;</strong>The termination of international moderation teams in foreign countries&nbsp;opened dissidents in those countries to retribution from political enemies. (Bond, 2022)&nbsp; Critics&nbsp;raised similar concerns at home about the layoffs causing a lack of moderation of extremist posts on the platform. Twitter had laid off content teams staffed by contractors who were&nbsp;experts in hate speech and violence moderation. Critics voiced concerns about what would happen if efforts to moderate content in the U.S., Brazil, Japan, and Argentina disappeared. (O&#39;Brien, M. and Ortutay, B., 2022)&nbsp; Their fears were realized. Concerns&nbsp;snowballed, with Twitter employees publicly expressing anger and dismay and debating Twitter&#39;s viability on the platform itself! More impactful from a business perspective, advertisers began to leave as public concerns about&nbsp;content increased. In particular, advertisers raised worries&nbsp;over extremist content, which increased after the layoffs. Many influential advertisers, including Apple, exited&nbsp;the platform out of concern that their advertisements would appear near extremist posts (Reimann, 2022).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Twitter made too many changes at once.&nbsp;</strong>Myriad changes included altering&nbsp;the company&#39;s strategy, employee policies, leadership, and&nbsp;name (now X.) The seemingly unending conga line&nbsp;of revisions and rework&nbsp;increased&nbsp;employee bewilderment and discomfort. Employees with talent and&nbsp;other employment options left the company as soon as possible, looking for a more stable working environment (Mac &amp; Conger, 2023)<span style="font-family:arial;">.</span> This environment&nbsp;made it difficult for Twitter to recover from the layoffs. With so much change happening simultaneously, employees didn&#39;t know what to do next.&nbsp;(Schiffer et al., 2023)</span></span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Twitter was not transparent about its layoffs.&nbsp;</strong>Twitter also made the mistake of not being open with employees or the public&nbsp;about the downsizing. The lack of transparency led to rumors and speculation about who the company would next lay off and why. It also&nbsp;led Twitter users and employees to debate on Twitter whether the platform would survive. The fear, doubt, and uncertainty triggered an exodus of users to other platforms and opened the door to creating the competing Facbook-owned Threads. (Hoover, 2022)</span></span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Twitter has lost a substantial portion of its market value since Elon&nbsp;Musk took it over, partly due to how he managed the Twitter layoff. To err is human; to learn from our mistakes (and those of others) is divine! Rarely has a series of missteps been more public than Twitter in its recent layoffs. Keep best practices and lessons from Twitter in mind if you ever have to manage a downsizing!</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:larger;">References</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">ABC7 San Francisco. (2022, November 18). Twitter employees locked out of company offices until Monday as more staff resign, reports say. ABC7 San Francisco. <a href="https://abc7news.com/elon-musk-hardcore-twitter-resignations-ultimatum/12465940/" target="_blank">https://abc7news.com/elon-musk-hardcore-twitter-resignations-ultimatum/12465940/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Bond, S. (2022, November 30). Twitter&#39;s chaos could make political violence worse outside of the U.S. NPR. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139924914/twitters-chaos-could-make-political-violence-worse-outside-of-the-u-s" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/2022/11/30/1139924914/twitters-chaos-could-make-political-violence-worse-outside-of-the-u-s</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Capel, C, and Carroll, S., (2022, November 14). Twitter Must Cut Extreme Content to Lure Back Ads, Sorrell Says. Bloomberg. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-14/twitter-advertisers-worry-about-extreme-posts-s4-s-sorrell-says" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-14/twitter-advertisers-worry-about-extreme-posts-s4-s-sorrell-says</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Ferris, C. (2022, November 4). What is the WARN Act, and what does it do with the Twitter Layoffs? Newsweek. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/warn-act-have-do-twitter-layoffs-1757119" target="_blank">https://www.newsweek.com/warn-act-have-do-twitter-layoffs-1757119</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Hoover, A. (2022, October 28). Twitter Users Flock to Other Platforms as the Elon Musk Era Begins. WIRED. <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-users-flock-to-other-platforms-as-the-elon-musk-era-begins/" target="_blank">https://www.wired.com/story/twitter-users-flock-to-other-platforms-as-the-elon-musk-era-begins/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Jones, H. (2023, March 15). <i>TechCrunch</i>. www.techcrunch.com. Retrieved January 13, 2024, from <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/15/zero-based-budgeting-a-proven-framework-for-extending-runway/" target="_blank">https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/15/zero-based-budgeting-a-proven-framework-for-extending-runway/</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Mac, R., &amp; Conger, K. (2023, April 7). Senior Twitter lawyer resigns, the latest in a series of executive departures. <i>The New York Times</i>. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/technology/twitter-lawyer-resigns-christian-dowell.html?unlocked_article_code=1.N00.oZvV.pla1i0YB8UyG&amp;smid=nytcore-android-share" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/technology/twitter-lawyer-resigns-christian-dowell.html?unlocked_article_code=1.N00.oZvV.pla1i0YB8UyG&amp;smid=nytcore-android-share</a></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Mann, S. (2022, November 7). Twitter is now asking DOZENS of newly laid-off staff to COME BACK to work on new products. Mail Online. <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11396581/Twitter-asking-DOZENS-newly-laid-staff-COME-work-new-products.html" target="_blank">https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11396581/Twitter-asking-DOZENS-newly-laid-staff-COME-work-new-products.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Obrien, M, and Ortutay, B. ((2022, November 11) Musk&#39;s latest Twitter cuts: Outsourced content moderators. (2022, November 14). AP NEWS. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-misinformation-social-media-a469130efaebc8ed029a647a149c5049" target="_blank">https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-misinformation-social-media-a469130efaebc8ed029a647a149c5049</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Perez, S., &amp; Mehta, I. (2022, November 4). Twitter sued in a class action lawsuit over mass layoffs without proper legal notice. TechCrunch. <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/04/twitter-faces-a-class-action-lawsuit-over-mass-employee-layoffs-with-proper-legal-notice/" target="_blank">https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/04/twitter-faces-a-class-action-lawsuit-over-mass-employee-layoffs-with-proper-legal-notice/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Reimann, N. (2022, November 28). Musk Says Apple Cutting Twitter Ads&mdash;Here Are The Other Companies Rethinking Their Ties. Forbes. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/11/28/musk-says-apple-cutting-twitter-ads-here-are-the-other-companies-rethinking-their-ties/?sh=7a948ef07032" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/11/28/musk-says-apple-cutting-twitter-ads-here-are-the-other-companies-rethinking-their-ties/?sh=7a948ef07032</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Schiffer, Z., Newton, C., &amp; Heath, A. (2023, January 17). Inside Elon Musk&#39;s &quot;extremely hardcore&quot; Twitter. The Verge. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/23551060/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-layoffs-workplace-salute-emoji" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/23551060/elon-musk-twitter-takeover-layoffs-workplace-salute-emoji</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Society for Human Resources Management+. (n.d.). Selecting Employees for Layoff. shrm.org. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from&nbsp; <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/selectingemployeesforlayoff.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-qa/pages/selectingemployeesforlayoff.aspx</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Society for Human Resources Management+. (n.d.). Checklist: Reduction in Force (RIF) Strategy and Selection. shrm.org. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from <a href="https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-forms/pages/downsizingchecklist.aspx">https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/hr-forms/pages/downsizingchecklist.aspx</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">Starner, T. (2022, November 10). The HR troubles with Twitter&#39;s layoffs&mdash;and how to avoid them. HR Executive. <a href="https://hrexecutive.com/the-hr-troubles-with-twitters-layoffs-and-how-to-avoid-them/" target="_blank">https://hrexecutive.com/the-hr-troubles-with-twitters-layoffs-and-how-to-avoid-them/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">The WARN Act: What Is It and Who Must Comply With It? | Home | Washington Law Firm | Stokes Lawrence. (n.d.). <a href="https://www.stokeslaw.com/news-and-insights/stokeslaw-briefs/the-warn-act-what-is-it-and-who-must-comply-with-it#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20employers%20must%20give,employees%20for%20the%20notice%20period." target="_blank">https://www.stokeslaw.com/news-and-insights/stokeslaw-briefs/the-warn-act-what-is-it-and-who-must-comply-with-it#:~:text=In%20general%2C%20employers%20must%20give,employees%20for%20the%20notice%20period.</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: larger; font-family: verdana;">WARN Act Compliance Assistance. (n.d.). U.S. Department of Labor. <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn" target="_blank">https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/layoffs/warn</a></span></p> 27Bad News For the Holidays - Why Companies Lay Off Employeeshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/25/bad-news-for-the-holidays-why-companies-lay-off-employeeslayoffsFri, 22 Dec 2023 16:30:41 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Someone close to me was laid off this week despite top-notch performance and company-wide recognition.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">No matter how many platitudes we float about how it happens &quot;in the best of families&quot; and &quot;it happens to everyone,&quot; being laid off can be traumatic. Having worked in startups for much of my career, I have been forced by grim circumstances to initiate and manage layoffs more than once. I have likewise been laid off myself (after a significant merger.) &nbsp;With some of the most prominent tech companies announcing layoffs in January of 2023 and more planned this December, I thought a blog article about layoffs would be timely. It&#39;s a big topic. I will share a series of three blog articles. The first will be on&nbsp;<strong>why</strong>&nbsp;companies make layoffs; the second will cover <strong>how</strong>&nbsp;to administer a mass dismissal properly and provide a case study of&nbsp;<strong>things you should not do</strong>&nbsp;if you are laying people off. Finally, a third will cover <strong>what you should do </strong>if you are laid off. &nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Why do Companies Have Layoffs?</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Let&#39;s start with a background on the &#39;whys&#39; of layoffs. Set out below are eight common&nbsp;reasons companies lay off workers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Reduce Costs.&nbsp;</strong>If a company struggles to cover its costs due to a loss of revenue or increased costs, a logical first step is to try to save money on salaries and benefits by reducing the workforce to set things right. While this strategy may help the company survive in the short term, it can often lead to future problems (Wiese, 2023). I often recommend employers explore alternatives. These can include a temporary across-the-board salary reduction or moving to more minor, more flexible shifts. Employees can decide whether to move on or stay, but in my experience, most will stay, at least for a while.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Increase Efficiency.&nbsp;</strong>Another reason that companies make layoffs is to increase efficiency. Too many employees can lead to a lack of productivity and efficiency. Companies can increase their productivity and efficiency by reducing the workforce. For example, many employees have less to do when the company automates manual processes. One company I worked with employed this strategy when it moved service operations to another part of the country. The company used simple Interactive Voice Response technology to allow customers to self-serve for payments or balance information, eliminating the need for many CSRs and increasing customer satisfaction. As Artificial Intelligence becomes more and more powerful, look to see increased layoffs in all sorts of jobs, from programmers to accountants to various kinds of factory workers.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Remove Underperforming Employees.&nbsp;</strong>Another reason that companies make layoffs is to get rid of underperforming employees. If a company has employees who consistently fail to meet their goals or perform up to par, the employer may let them go during a round of layoffs. This strategy can help the company improve its overall performance by eliminating employees holding it back. This elimination of lower-producing employees was the strategy one company I worked with used to achieve its corporate profitability goals. The company laid off the lowest-performing third of its sales force, pushing sales per employee up immediately. This downsizing, net of charge-offs for terminations, significantly improved overall productivity and profitability.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Respond to Changes in Demand.&nbsp;</strong>Companies may also make layoffs in response to changes in their sales pipeline. If they experience a decline in orders, as we saw during the Pandemic, they may need to reduce their workforce to stay afloat. A drop in demand can be particularly difficult for companies solely reliant on one product or service. This is what happened to many fine-dining restaurants during the Pandemic.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Shut Down Operations.&nbsp;</strong>Especially at early-stage companies, profits and revenue can remain elusive for months and years. (Hendricks, 2014). Early-stage companies depend on ongoing investments from individual and venture capital investors to survive. Investors can lose confidence or interest in the project or begin to question the viability of the company&#39;s product. In that case, the company must either find a new investment group or close its doors and lay off its employees.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Prepare for a Sale or Merger.&nbsp;</strong>Another reason that companies make layoffs is to prepare for or implement a merger. If a company&#39;s leadership plans to sell or merge with another company, it may need to reduce its workforce. This kind of layoff frequently occurs in the Tech sector because venture capitalist investors want to pursue an&nbsp;<em>exit strategy</em>&nbsp;and put a company they have invested in up for sale. The downsizing sometimes called &quot;putting lipstick on the pig,&quot; allows the company&#39;s operating numbers (e.g., sales per employee) to look more enticing to prospective buyers. Post-merger, additional layoffs are likely in staff positions like HR, IT, or Accounting as the acquiring company seeks to consolidate operations and increase profits. (McClay, 2021) Often, seemingly irrational terminations of high-performing employees are made in silence, with the real reason for the layoff only coming to light months after the acquisition.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>After-Merger Consolidation.&nbsp;</strong>Often, growing companies with access to capital pursue a strategy of buying up smaller companies. This often occurs in maturing economic sectors. Post-acquisition, the acquiring company is faced with having &quot;two of everything,&quot; especially in administrative roles. Consolidation usually means that after the purchase, the acquiring company eliminates&nbsp;many HR, accounting, finance, systems management, or other middle management roles in the acquired company that were&nbsp;deemed &quot;duplicative&quot; by the acquirer.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Because Other Companies Have Lay Offs.&nbsp;</strong>In&nbsp;my experience, board members are highly suggestible.&nbsp;When a firm in their sector, for example, technology, makes a large layoff, many board members at competing firms start asking questions of their operating executives. &quot;What do they know that we don&#39;t know?&quot; &quot;Do we need all the employees we have? Company Y seems to be able to get along with many fewer?&quot; are some of the common refrains. Early in my consulting career, a client hired us to call many of its competitors to find out how many employees they had in their corporate headquarters to find the answer! The CEO wanted to know if their so-called &quot;corporate overhead&quot; numbers aligned with those of other companies in the industry.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">While the reasons for the layoffs vary from company to company, sector-wide &quot;belt-tightening&quot; is common after a leading player implements significant layoffs. A round of layoffs in the tech sector was a&nbsp;recent example. After Elon Musk acquired Twitter and laid off a substantial portion of Twitter&#39;s workforce in late 2022, many other tech companies followed suit. The layoffs occurred in early 2023, though most analysts projected tech spending to rise in 2023! (Trueman, 2023). We&#39;ve seen more layoffs in tech in late 2023-4.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">To summarize, companies lay off employees for many&nbsp;reasons. Most layoffs have <strong><em>nothing</em></strong> to do with employee performance! In the following two articles, I&#39;ll review <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/27/is-there-a-good-way-to-manage-a-layoff">how to manage layoffs with a discussion of best practices and a case study </a>of a recent significant dismissal that hasn&#39;t gone well. A final blog article will discuss <a href="https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/29/you-are-laid-off-what-now" target="_blank">what to do if you are part of a layoff</a>!&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>References</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Hendricks, D. (2014, July 7). 5 Successful Companies That Didn&#39;t Make A Dollar for 5 Years.&nbsp;<em>Inc.Com</em>. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inc.com/drew-hendricks/5-successful-companies-that-didn-8217-t-make-a-dollar-for-5-years.html" target="_blank">https://www.inc.com/drew-hendricks/5-successful-companies-that-didn-8217-t-make-a-dollar-for-5-years.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">McClay, R. (2021, October 25).&nbsp;<em>How Do Mergers and Acquisitions Impact the Employees?&nbsp;</em>Investopedia.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041515/what-does-merger-or-acquisition-mean-target-companys-employees.asp" target="_blank">https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041515/what-does-merger-or-acquisition-mean-target-companys-employees.asp.</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Trueman, C. (2023, January 25).&nbsp;<em>Tech layoffs in 2023: A timeline</em>. Computerworld.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/3685936/tech-layoffs-in-2023-a-timeline.html" target="_blank">https://www.computerworld.com/article/3685936/tech-layoffs-in-2023-a-timeline.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Weise, K. (2023, January 19).&nbsp;<em>Microsoft to Lay Off 10,000 Workers as It Looks to Trim Costs</em>. The New York Times.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/business/microsoft-layoffs.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/18/business/microsoft-layoffs.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 2524 Examples of Social Media Advertising Campaigns Small Businesses Can Use To Build Their Brandshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/24/28-examples-of-social-media-advertising-campaigns-small-businesses-can-use-to-build-their-brandsBranding,Content Development,Conversion,Customer Complaints,New Product Development,SEO,Social MediaThu, 30 Nov 2023 14:29:00 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuid3YuAHgdErd3s" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Social media is one of the most influential elements of modern advertising. It has arisen from a trendy curiosity to a mainstay of consumer marketing. Marketers use social media in various ways, most of which small business owners can use to build their brands. These include&nbsp;<strong>paid advertising</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>influencer marketing</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>content creation</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>social listening</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>user-generated content</strong>&nbsp;development. Finally, new technology has allowed marketers to engage in community building through&nbsp;<strong>live-streaming</strong>&nbsp;events and<strong>&nbsp;contests</strong>.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">As a Management Consultant and part-time College Instructor in Marketing and Management, I am a great keeper of examples that help explain marketing techniques. Below, I briefly explain the six kinds of social media advertising strategies. With each element of this typology, I provide examples of excellent execution of these strategies. If one of the examples interests you, click on it to learn more, then bookmark the URL for future use!&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Paid Advertising.&nbsp;</strong>Paid advertising tops the list of ways marketers use social media to promote their products and services. With paid advertising, marketers provide target audiences with tailored messages. Marketers design these messages to drive engagement with prospects and customers and lift conversions. <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/15/integrate-or-die">Retargeting customers who have visited your website with ads on social media</a> is an example of a particularly successful tactic we&#39;ve mentioned in previous posts. Products from pages previously visited suddenly start appearing on other web pages we visit. Here are some examples of companies that do this well:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://landingcube.com/traffic/facebook-retargeting-amazon-products/" target="_blank">Amazon&#39;s retargeting program on Facebook</a>&nbsp;(LandingCube, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.markettailor.io/blog/growth-hacking-through-retargeting-and-remarketing" target="_blank">Spotify uses retargeting ads on Instagram to increase customer engagement and sales</a>&nbsp;(Growth Hacking Through Retargeting and Remarketin<em>g</em>, n.d.).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://digiday.com/media/apple-brings-retargeting-iad/" target="_blank">Apple&#39;s retargeting Twitter ads drive customer loyalty</a>&nbsp;(McDermott, 2014).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/marketing-strategies/video/how-airbnb-used-ad-sequencing-bring-their-new-product-life-youtube/" target="_blank">How Airbnb&#39;s retargeting campaigns on YouTube used video content to target their audience</a>&nbsp;(Shipley &amp; Clark, 2021).</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Paid social media ads allow marketers to track the performance of their campaigns in real-time. This attribute helps marketers make data-driven decisions about their marketing strategies and how they are paying off.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Influencer Marketing.&nbsp;</strong>As we discussed in previous posts, marketers can reach a broad audience in their target market by working with influencers. Influencers are people who demonstrably speak to your target audience and theirs. Marketers find influencers with large followings on social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and the newly emergent&nbsp;<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/introducing-threads-new-app-text-sharing/" target="_blank">Threads</a>&nbsp;and hire them to insert their products and services directly into their context -- hopefully the same context as your target audience. Influencers can help build trust in your brand with key customers. Influencers accomplish this by providing reviews and recommendations for your products and services or, like athletes and outdoor video bloggers, simply using your products. Here are some examples of successful influencer marketing campaigns. Most examples below include mega influencers, but remember that a top blogger, amateur athlete, or rising musician can be just as influential!</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories/starbucks-stokes-red-cups-fever-on-twitter.html" target="_blank">Starbucks&#39; #RedCupContest on Twitter</a>&nbsp;(Starbucks Stokes Red Cups Fever on Twitter, n.d.)</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQSWlVpnkS/" target="_blank">Nike&#39;s collaboration with Lebron James on Instagram</a>&nbsp;(Instagram, n.d.).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/apple-joins-instagram-to-show-off-shot-on-iphone-campaign/448839/" target="_blank">Apple&#39;s #ShotOniPhone campaign on Instagram</a>&nbsp;(Kirkpatrick 2017).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1304635/how-rihanna-forced-the-beauty-industry-to-acknowledge-a-world-beyond-the-rich-and-the-white" target="_blank">Dior with Rihanna for the Fenty Beauty launch</a>&nbsp;(Singh-Kurtz, 2022).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.scribbr.com/citation/generator/folders/5ikXYlau81nAaRF9KYIVlz/lists/6473VM25BnkXXqIrJvqLOZ/" target="_blank">Coca-Cola&#39;s #ShareACoke campaign on Twitter&nbsp;</a>(Napean, 2014)</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Social Listening.&nbsp;</strong>Social listening is an effective technique marketers use to find out what their target audience thinks about their products and services. Social listening involves monitoring conversations on social media platforms to deliver insights into what people say about a particular product or service. Marketers use this type of research to inform marketing decisions. Consumers provide free feedback that marketers can use to improve the product or service they are promoting. As we discussed in <a href="http://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management">our previous blog about complaints management</a>, this information can improve profits and lower costs when adequately indexed, sorted, and analyzed. Here are some examples of social listening programs that have worked well:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.diligent.es/social-media-listening-strategy-starbucks/" target="_blank">Starbucks Successful Social Listening</a>&nbsp;(Diligent Team, 2016).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://netbasequid.com/blog/envisioning-iphone-worthy-release-social-listening/" target="_blank">How Apple Uses Social Listening to Improve Products</a>&nbsp;(Surico, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/how-do-amazon-use-social-media/" target="_blank">Amazon&#39;s Use of Social Listening to Enhance Customer Experience</a>&nbsp;(Stroud, 2023)&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/09/25/in-dell-social-media-journey-lessons-for-marketers-about-the-power-of-listening/?sh=3734fe902570" target="_blank">Dell&#39;s Innovative Way of Engaging with its Consumers Through Social Media Monitoring</a>&nbsp;(Rooney, 2012).</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>User Generated Content (UGC).&nbsp;</strong>UGC refers to any content created by users on a particular platform that has been shared publicly, such as reviews, photos, videos, etc. UGC provides free exposure for brands as it often resonates more strongly with other users than traditional forms of advertising due to its authenticity and relatability factor. Here are some examples of how marketers use UGC:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://amazonseoconsultant.com/product-storytelling-examples/" target="_blank">Highlighting customers&#39; experiences with the product &ndash; reviews, recommendations, and stories</a>&nbsp;(Buckland, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2023/07/unboxing-videos.html" target="_blank">Showcasing customer &#39;unboxing&#39; videos to demonstrate product quality and features</a>. (Pilon, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-user-generated-content-ugc-with-4-great-examples" target="_blank">Asking customers to post photos wearing or using the product on their social media profiles with a hashtag associated with your brand</a>&nbsp;(Myers, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.omnisend.com/blog/testimonial-advertising/" target="_blank">Inviting customers to submit creative content for marketing campaigns</a>&nbsp;(Meyer, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-celebrity-endorsements/415568/" target="_blank">Engage influencers and celebrities in conversation about your product or service</a>&nbsp;(Weinstein, 2021).</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Live Streaming.&nbsp;</strong>Live streaming has become increasingly popular among marketers in recent years. Live streaming events permit marketers to interact directly with viewers in real time. Showcasing a product or service during a live event builds consumer engagement with your brand. It usually forges a stronger connection between the brand and its audience. Also, live streams often go viral, increasing brand awareness and sales opportunities. Examples abound! Here are a few:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/world-cup-why-nike-should-turn-its-soccer-short-the-last-game-into-a-digital-series-1201242251/" target="_blank">Nike&#39;s &quot;The Last Game&quot; Live Stream</a>&nbsp;(Graser, 2014).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/burger-king-whopper-detour-mobile-marketer-awards/566224/" target="_blank">Burger King&#39;s &quot;Whopper Detour&quot; Live Stream</a>&nbsp;(Koltun, 2019).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/17/apple-musics-concert-series-livestream-performances-harry-styles/" target="_blank">Apple&#39;s &quot;Apple Music Festival&quot; Live Stream</a>&nbsp;(<em>TechCrunch</em>, 2022).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/23799567/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-live-stream-watch-date-time-z-flip-fold" target="_blank">Samsung Live Stream of Galaxy Fold Unpacking</a>&nbsp;(Roth, 2023).</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Contests &amp; Giveaways.&nbsp;</strong>Contests and giveaways are another great way for marketers to use social media platforms like Facebook &amp; Instagram to promote their products and services. Contests allow brands to engage directly with followers while offering prizes for other products or services. Marketers design these promotions so that a company starts a relationship with customers (who typically will trade an email address or phone number in exchange for a chance to win.) These fun promotions increase brand awareness and encourage followers to spread the word about your business, increasing sales opportunities and marketing lists! Here are a few examples of successful programs:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.talon.one/blog/mcdonalds-monopoly-a-masterclass-in-promotions" target="_blank">McDonald&#39;s Monopoly promotion</a>&nbsp;(Bewicke, 2023)</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkzqvcCl_E" target="_blank">Doritos&#39; Super Bowl Action Movie contest</a>&nbsp;(ABC News, 2014).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/oreo-giving-away-100000-if-you-can-guess-the-mystery-flavor.html" target="_blank">Oreo&#39;s Mystery Flavors game</a>&nbsp;(Carter, 2017).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.wrike.com/blog/winning-coca-cola-formula-successful-campaign/" target="_blank">Coca-Cola&#39;s &quot;Share a Coke&quot; campaign</a>&nbsp;(Codella, 2022).</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Summing Up</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Social media is an excellent way for your company to get itself noticed. As the above examples show, the tactic is used successfully by some of the biggest businesses. This interaction is why even small business marketers should learn social media advertising techniques. Take note of the above examples of ways to use social networking for marketing purposes. Social networking allows small and large businesses to create a strong presence, build brand recognition, and increase sales. Every business will have its unique approach to using social media. Still, one thing is sure: if done effectively, this medium can tremendously impact any organization&#39;s bottom line -- including yours.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <h2 style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>References</strong></span></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">ABC News. (2014, January 9).&nbsp;<em>Doritos Super Bowl ad competition offers winners $1M</em>&nbsp;[Video]. YouTube.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkzqvcCl_E" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYkzqvcCl_E</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Avar admin. (2023, August 7). Dell&#39;s approach to social media sourcing and ROI.&nbsp;<em>Avature</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.avature.net/blogs/dells-approach-social-media-sourcing/" target="_blank">https://www.avature.net/blogs/dells-approach-social-media-sourcing/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Bewicke, H. (2023, July 23).&nbsp;<em>McDonald&#39;s Monopoly: a masterclass in promotions | Talon.One</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.talon.one/blog/mcdonalds-monopoly-a-masterclass-in-promotions" target="_blank">https://www.talon.one/blog/mcdonalds-monopoly-a-masterclass-in-promotions</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Buckland, T. (2023, May 26).&nbsp;<em>The 6 Best Product Storytelling Examples from Around the Web</em>. Amazon SEO Consultant.&nbsp;<a href="https://amazonseoconsultant.com/product-storytelling-examples/" target="_blank">https://amazonseoconsultant.com/product-storytelling-examples/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Carter, S. M. (2017, November 22). Oreo is giving away $100,000 if you can guess its &#39;mystery&#39; flavor.&nbsp;<em>CNBC</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/oreo-giving-away-100000-if-you-can-guess-the-mystery-flavor.html" target="_blank">https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/oreo-giving-away-100000-if-you-can-guess-the-mystery-flavor.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><em>Coca-Cola launches Tweet-a-Coke as trackable social coupons gain | Retail Dive</em>. (n.d.).&nbsp;<a href="https://www.retaildive.com/ex/mobilecommercedaily/coca-cola-tests-twitters-social-commerce-waters-as-it-begins-to-emerge-as-a-top-predator" target="_blank">https://www.retaildive.com/ex/mobilecommercedaily/coca-cola-tests-twitters-social-commerce-waters-as-it-begins-to-emerge-as-a-top-predator</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Codella, D. (2022). The winning Coca-Cola formula for a successful campaign.&nbsp;<em>Blog Wrike</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wrike.com/blog/winning-coca-cola-formula-successful-campaign/" target="_blank">https://www.wrike.com/blog/winning-coca-cola-formula-successful-campaign/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">David Kirkpatrick Contributing Editor. (2017, August 8).&nbsp;<em>Apple joins Instagram to show off &quot;Shot on iPhone&quot; campaign</em>. Marketing Dive.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/apple-joins-instagram-to-show-off-shot-on-iphone-campaign/448839/" target="_blank">https://www.marketingdive.com/news/apple-joins-instagram-to-show-off-shot-on-iphone-campaign/448839/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Diligent Team. (2016, September 13).&nbsp;<em>Social Media Listening Strategy and how Starbucks does it</em>. Diligent.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.diligent.es/social-media-listening-strategy-starbucks/" target="_blank">https://www.diligent.es/social-media-listening-strategy-starbucks/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Editorial team. (2013, August 20).&nbsp;<em>Giveaway! Bridal Lingerie from Cosabella | Junebug Weddings</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://junebugweddings.com/wedding-blog/giveaway-bridal-lingerie-from-cosabella/" target="_blank">https://junebugweddings.com/wedding-blog/giveaway-bridal-lingerie-from-cosabella/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Graser, M. (2014, June 23). Variety.&nbsp;<em>Variety</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/world-cup-why-nike-should-turn-its-soccer-short-the-last-game-into-a-digital-series-1201242251/" target="_blank">https://variety.com/2014/digital/news/world-cup-why-nike-should-turn-its-soccer-short-the-last-game-into-a-digital-series-1201242251/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><em>Growth hacking through retargeting and remarketing</em>. (n.d.).&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markettailor.io/blog/growth-hacking-through-retargeting-and-remarketing" target="_blank">https://www.markettailor.io/blog/growth-hacking-through-retargeting-and-remarketing</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><em>Instagram</em>. (n.d.).&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQSWlVpnkS/" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQSWlVpnkS/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Koltun, N. (2019, December 9).&nbsp;<em>Campaign of the Year: Burger King&#39;s &quot;Whopper Detour.&quot;</em>&nbsp;Marketing Dive.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/burger-king-whopper-detour-mobile-marketer-awards/566224/" target="_blank">https://www.marketingdive.com/news/burger-king-whopper-detour-mobile-marketer-awards/566224/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">LandingCube. (2023, April 20).&nbsp;<em>Chapter 5: Facebook retargeting for Amazon products</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://landingcube.com/traffic/facebook-retargeting-amazon-products/" target="_blank">https://landingcube.com/traffic/facebook-retargeting-amazon-products/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">McDermott, J. (2014, October 15). Apple revamps mobile ads with retargeting options.&nbsp;<em>Digiday</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://digiday.com/media/apple-brings-retargeting-iad/" target="_blank">https://digiday.com/media/apple-brings-retargeting-iad/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Meyer, B. (2023, June 20).&nbsp;<em>The 13 best examples of testimonial advertising</em>. Omnisend Blog.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.omnisend.com/blog/testimonial-advertising/" target="_blank">https://www.omnisend.com/blog/testimonial-advertising/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Myers, D. (2023, January 16). 4 Great examples of User-Generated Content (UGC).&nbsp;<em>Digital Marketing Institute</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-user-generated-content-ugc-with-4-great-examples" target="_blank">https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/how-to-use-user-generated-content-ugc-with-4-great-examples</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">NapeanLLC. (2014, July 29).&nbsp;<em>Coca-Cola launches Tweet-a-Coke as trackable social coupons gain</em>&nbsp;[Video]. YouTube.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFUR_4s5oQ" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECFUR_4s5oQ</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Pilon, A. (2023). Twenty-five best unboxing videos and how to create your masterpiece.&nbsp;<em>Small Business Trends</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2023/07/unboxing-videos.html" target="_blank">https://smallbiztrends.com/2023/07/unboxing-videos.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Rooney, J. (2012, September 25). In Dell Social-Media Journey, Lessons For Marketers About The Power Of Listening.&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/09/25/in-dell-social-media-journey-lessons-for-marketers-about-the-power-of-listening/?sh=3734fe902570" target="_blank">https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferrooney/2012/09/25/in-dell-social-media-journey-lessons-for-marketers-about-the-power-of-listening/?sh=3734fe902570</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Roth, E. (2023, July 25). Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023: how to watch the live stream and what to expect.&nbsp;<em>The Verge</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/23799567/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-live-stream-watch-date-time-z-flip-fold" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/23799567/samsung-galaxy-unpacked-live-stream-watch-date-time-z-flip-fold</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Shipley, K., &amp; Clark, S. (2021). How Airbnb used ad sequencing to bring their new product to life on YouTube.&nbsp;<em>Think With Google</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/marketing-strategies/video/how-airbnb-used-ad-sequencing-bring-their-new-product-life-youtube/" target="_blank">https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/marketing-strategies/video/how-airbnb-used-ad-sequencing-bring-their-new-product-life-youtube/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Singh-Kurtz, S. (2022, July 20). How Rihanna forced the beauty industry to acknowledge a world beyond the rich and the white.&nbsp;<em>Quartz</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/quartzy/1304635/how-rihanna-forced-the-beauty-industry-to-acknowledge-a-world-beyond-the-rich-and-the-white" target="_blank">https://qz.com/quartzy/1304635/how-rihanna-forced-the-beauty-industry-to-acknowledge-a-world-beyond-the-rich-and-the-white</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><em>Starbucks stokes Red Cups fever on Twitter</em>. (n.d.).&nbsp;<a href="https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories/starbucks-stokes-red-cups-fever-on-twitter.html" target="_blank">https://business.twitter.com/en/success-stories/starbucks-stokes-red-cups-fever-on-twitter.html</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Stroud, S. (2023). Amazon &amp; social media: How does Amazon use it?&nbsp;<em>Giraffe Social Media</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/how-do-amazon-use-social-media/" target="_blank">https://www.giraffesocialmedia.co.uk/how-do-amazon-use-social-media/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Surico, K. (2023). Envisioning Your iPhone-worthy Release with Social Listening.&nbsp;<em>NetBase Quid</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://netbasequid.com/blog/envisioning-iphone-worthy-release-social-listening/" target="_blank">https://netbasequid.com/blog/envisioning-iphone-worthy-release-social-listening/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><em>TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands</em>. (2022, May 17).&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/17/apple-musics-concert-series-livestream-performances-harry-styles/" target="_blank">https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/17/apple-musics-concert-series-livestream-performances-harry-styles/</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Weinstein, M. (2021). 10 Examples of Social Media Celebrity Endorsements That Paid Off Big Time.&nbsp;<em>Search Engine Journal</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-celebrity-endorsements/415568/" target="_blank">https://www.searchenginejournal.com/social-celebrity-endorsements/415568/</a></span></p> 24The Difference Between Primary, Secondary, and Peer-Reviewed Sources (And Where Chatbots And AI Fit In)https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/23/the-difference-between-primary-secondary-and-peer-reviewed-sources-and-where-chatbots-and-ai-fit-inNew Product Development,Online Learning,ResearchMon, 02 Oct 2023 14:45:17 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidNzV3e7erJBYa" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Introduction</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Good research demands a careful approach to source selection and usage. Different types of sources serve distinct purposes and possess varying levels of reliability and authority. In scholarly and even business discourse, primary, secondary, and peer-reviewed sources are three fundamental categories that play crucial roles in constructing and substantiating arguments. This blog article will explain the differences between these sources, highlighting their defining characteristics, uses, and importance in all kinds of research. I will conclude my article by providing a clear-eyed evaluation of chatbots and how they fit in.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Primary Sources</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Primary sources are foundational documents or materials that provide direct evidence or firsthand information about a particular subject, event, or phenomenon. They are original records that have not been altered or interpreted by others. Primary sources include:</span></span></p> <ul> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Historical Documents&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Letters&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Diaries</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Photographs&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Video</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Eyewitness Accounts</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Interviews</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Research Data</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Artifacts</span></span></p> </li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">These sources offer a direct window into the past or the specific subject of inquiry. They allow researchers to engage with the raw material of their field.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The significance of primary sources lies in their ability to offer insight into the past or the subject we are researching. Researchers can use primary sources to develop a deeper understanding of historical contexts. Primary sources give us access to the thoughts and perspectives of individuals from the past. They allow us to scrutinize original data. Primary sources are critical for history, anthropology, sociology, justice, and the sciences, where researcher depend on empirical data about their topic.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">However, bias, subjectivity, and the constraints of the time during which the author created them often skew the information provided by primary sources. Researchers must assess primary sources&#39; authenticity, credibility, and context to ensure reliability. As AI and authentic-looking fakes become increasingly convincing, researchers must carefully verify the authenticity of source digital materials.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Secondary Sources</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Secondary sources are different than primary sources. Secondary sources explain or talk about the information from primary or other sources. Examples of secondary sources include:</span></span></p> <ul> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Textbooks</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Blog Posts</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Magazine Articles&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Video Documentaries</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Encyclopedias and Wikis</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Study Aids (e.g., Course Hero)</span></span></p> </li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">These sources help us understand complex topics by giving us insights and perspectives we wouldn&#39;t have otherwise. Secondary sources often make it easier to research a topic because they summarize lots of information for you. People use them in literature reviews to find out what others have said about a topic before writing their article or post.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">As researchers, we need to be careful when using secondary sources. We depend on the author&#39;s knowledge when using a secondary source. My mother used to say that you must always cut open at least one sausage to see what&#39;s in it before serving it to your family. So it is with secondary sources! The author may add their own opinions or favor one idea.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">For this reason, it is always important to check who wrote the article and critically examine whether it is good source by comparing it with other sources. Do they provide links or citations to other reliable sources? You need to understand how the author made &#39;the sausage.&#39; When searching for trustworthy secondary sources, in the back of our&nbsp;minds, we as researchers should take&nbsp;into account the following list of considerations&nbsp;from&nbsp;a library website&nbsp;(Pilgrim Library: Finding Primary Sources: Evaluating Primary &amp; Secondary Sources, 2023):&nbsp;</span></span></p> <ul> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The author and what they do for a living (Are they professional journalists, researchers, bloggers, or other experts?)</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Are they an expert in the field, and what other research activities can you find that show them as a credible source?&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Did a scholarly publisher publish the book or journal?</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How long has the publisher been active in the field, and what is its reputation?</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What is the text&#39;s purpose or motivation?</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Does the writer, publication, or website you found it on have a clear bias?&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Does the book or article have a comprehensive bibliography?&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What primary sources is the author referring to?&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">What secondary sources is the author using?&nbsp;</span></span></p> </li> <li> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Does the text have verifiable citations so you can research further?</span></span></p> </li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Peer-Reviewed Sources</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Peer-reviewed sources are particular kinds of secondary sources. Experts look at the source&#39;s quality, truth, and importance before publication in a journal. They do this anonymously so they can be fair. These types of sources are usually excellent because they have high standards. Peer-reviewed sources include articles in journals, books about conferences, and academic books. They have a particular structure, like citing primary sources, discussing other literature about the topic, describing how the researchers conducted their research (usually in a methodology section), and are&nbsp;part of ongoing conversations in that field.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> They provide citations that researchers can use as a road map in their research of topics in the field.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Peer-reviewed sources provide the gold standard in academic research. While not perfect, peer-reviewed articles provide the highest probability that what we are reading is reliable and vetted knowledge and that research is grounded in the best available evidence. Scholars and researchers rely on peer-reviewed sources to stay current with field developments, support their arguments, and build upon existing research.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>How should researchers regard the integrity of bot-generated essays and research?</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">I regard AI or Chat Bot-generated text as a turbo-charged, customizable,&nbsp;<strong><em>secondary source</em></strong>. As such, most AI applications&nbsp;suffer&nbsp;from the &quot;sausage&quot; problem plaguing secondary sources I articulated above. Where did the bot find its information? Is the bot developing its information from reliable, unbiased sources? You can only know the answer to these questions by researching yourself.&nbsp;(Perplexity.ai, which I came upon only recently, is a notable exception that lists its sources.) </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">AI-generated text comes from primary and secondary information sources and naturally includes interpretations or analyses. Chatbots generate text using natural language processing algorithms to interpret and analyze the source material and produce a new piece of writing.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">How Chatbots Evaluate Information Sources</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Like their human counterparts, chatbots also use source verification techniques to evaluate the authority of an article. This validation technique involves looking at who wrote the article and verifying whether they are experts in the subject matter. A chatbot may look at factors such as the author&#39;s credentials, previous publications, and any awards they have received related to their work. The chatbot may also check if the author has been quoted in other reputable sources or if they have links to reputable organizations or institutions (<em>LibGuides: AI Chatbots (ChatGPT): Teaching And Learning: Introduction</em>, 2023).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Citation analysis is another way chatbots evaluate the authority of an article. Citation analysis involves looking at how often a particular article has been cited by other authors and determining whether it is considered authoritative within its field. Chatbots can also examine which journals have published articles citing this particular article and their relative impact (Lee et al., 2023).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Chatbots likewise borrow a method&nbsp;from search ranking&nbsp;to determine which websites link back to a particular article and assess its credibility based on domain age, page rank, and number of incoming links from other sites. Chatbots may also look for links from trusted websites, such as government agencies or educational institutions, to assess an article&#39;s reputation and authority within its field of study (Kooli, 2023).&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Finally, to parse the reliability of sources on an&nbsp;<strong><em>emotional</em></strong>&nbsp;level, programmers are teaching bots to analyze text for positive or negative sentiment toward a particular topic or idea to determine whether an author has expressed support for it. By considering sentiment when evaluating articles, chatbots can better identify those written by experts who are knowledgeable about their topics and more likely to provide accurate information (<em>How to Develop Chatbots With Real-Time Sentiment Analysis</em>, 2022).</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What Are Chatbots Good At?</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">These techniques may ensure that output from bots provides valuable insights and a good summary of what is &quot;known&quot; about a topic. Chatbots are particularly useful for researchers seeking a quick understanding of a broad topic. They also provide an excellent road map for further investigation. For example, asking a chatbot to tell you five ways businesses apply AI to Marketing will necessarily lead an investigator to how AI affects keyword search and SEO. From there, the researcher can learn about specific examples and case studies -- all in the space of a few moments. </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Chatbots And Learning</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The pedagogical opportunities for a technology like this are breathtaking (Hensell &amp; Cameron, 2023). Imagine a study buddy for a&nbsp;college student&nbsp;who can provide online tutoring about anything in their school curriculum. The chatbot can provide this information based on the student&#39;s needs and as the student requires, whenever and wherever the student needs it. Do you have a math problem you can&#39;t solve? You will find it hard to stump the chatbot. You can give Chat GPT a poorly written paragraph and tell it, &quot;Please correct the grammar in the following paragraph,&quot; then cut and paste the paragraph you need to have edited. In my tests, it rewrote&nbsp;even the grammar-challenged prose into perfect,&nbsp;grammatically correct English. Finally, it can even help you learn how to code. An engineering&nbsp;master&#39;s student at a top university told me his professor allows students to use it to develop their coding assignments. </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">The technology&nbsp;can also help with college or graduate school planning by providing information about colleges and universities nationwide. It can help students&nbsp;compare schools based on academic ranking, student satisfaction, cost, location, size, etc. The chatbot can also answer&nbsp;questions and advise on applying for financial aid or scholarships. This buddy is <em><strong>free</strong></em> because the bot wants&nbsp;to learn from the students about their needs.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Talk about leveling the playing field!</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Chatbot &#39;Imperfections&#39;</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Notwithstanding the above, it&nbsp;is essential to remember that chatbots&nbsp;are&nbsp;<strong><em>only sometimes</em></strong>&nbsp;accurate representations of the source material and reality (Fowler &amp; Merrill, 2023). We are leaving it to a computer algorithm (and Open AI or Microsoft Bing Chat or&nbsp;Google Bard programmers) to determine whether the source it is accessing is reliable. </span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">If you need to be 100 percent correct, you need to check. &quot;Garbage in, garbage out&quot; is the easiest way I can summarize the problem of using chatbots&nbsp;<strong><em>exclusively</em></strong>&nbsp;for researching or writing posts and essays (Alba, 2022). An entire cottage industry has been tracking and cataloging Chat Gpt and other bots&#39; failings (Giuven, n.d.)&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/giuven95/chatgpt-failures" target="_blank">Researchers, mathematicians, logicians, and political advocates of all stripes delight in tripping up Chatgpt and New Bing and gleefully&nbsp;documenting failures.</a>&nbsp;Without verifying a few primary and secondary sources in your search to double-check what the bot found and wrote, you are flying blind. Generally, the broader and more codified the topic you are researching, the more likely the chatbot will return a good answer.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards?s_kwcid=AL!8620!3!649201254841!e!!g!!project%20mgmt%20institute&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw1OmoBhDXARIsAAAYGSFceqUXtt8-rMK1poDHm5qykQTEkoL1LSLwOiq4ewHwl4hBToTsVaQaAvdfEALw_wcB" target="_blank">Project Management&#39;s PIMBOK guide</a>&nbsp;makes Bots exceptionally knowledgeable and accurate about Project Management best practices, and the FASB is excellent for guiding answers to accounting questions. If filet mignon goes in the meat grinder, you get good sausage.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Another thing chatbots are <em><strong>not</strong></em> good at is writing essays that reflect you as a person. Depending on the institution, colleges and universities&#39; admission departments take different positions on using Chatbots to generate essays. Some, like the University of Michigan Law School, forbid it altogether (Singer, 2023), while others allow it but suggest that students adapt the output. At Georgia Tech, for example, according to a recent New York Times article, the College Admissions Department has guidelines &quot;encouraging high school applicants to use AI tools as collaborators to &quot;brainstorm, refine and edit&quot; their ideas. At the same time, the site warned applicants that they should &quot;not copy and paste content you did not create directly into your application (Singer, 2023).&quot;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">A Way Forward</span></span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">My advice? Go forward, but verify. You will be mostly pleased -- if not amazed by what you get. We have yet to reach the place where chatbots are researchers&#39; one-stop shop, but chatbots are getting better every day. Researchers should spend time with Google Search or Bing to cross&mdash;reference primary and secondary source materials with bot-generated essays and research papers to identify discrepancies between them. Researchers can also consult people knowledgeable in the field to see if what the bot found and summarized reflects reality. Finally, researchers can and should cite bots as a source (it&#39;s increasingly allowed, even in academic circles), but rewrite their &quot;botly&quot; prose into their own words and check and cite other sources too. Finally, educators and business leaders&nbsp;would do well to stop pearl-clutching about bot technology&#39;s misuse and minor failings and spend more time exploring how to use it to help their students learn and their employees become more productive.&nbsp;</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Understanding primary, secondary, and peer-reviewed sources is essential to good research. Primary sources are original information. Secondary sources can give more details about the original information. Academic groups check peer-reviewed sources carefully to ensure they are reliable and trustworthy, so peer-reviewed papers tend to be the most reliable of all. When using AI-generated research, verifying the accuracy of the information generated by cross-checking and referencing primary, secondary, and human sources is critical. Knowing when and how to use these&nbsp;sources makes your research more trustworthy. Some day, AI will become so powerful and intelligent that its replies will rival the accuracy and transparency of peer-reviewed articles. In the meantime, researchers should cross reference and&nbsp;investigate as many&nbsp;types of sources as possible to verify what their sources and the bots tell them. Even with their&nbsp;imperfections, Chatbots offer business and academic researchers a way to increase productivity.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>References</strong></span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Alba, D. (2022, December 8). ChatGPT, Open AI&#39;s Chatbot, Is Spitting Out Biased, Sexist Results.&nbsp;<i>Bloomberg.com</i>. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-12-08/chatgpt-open-ai-s-chatbot-is-spitting-out-biased-sexist-results</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Fowler, G. A., &amp; Merrill, J. B. (2023, April 14). The AI bot has picked an answer for you. Here&#39;s how often it&#39;s bad.&nbsp;<i>Washington Post</i>. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/04/13/microsoft-bing-ai-chatbot-error/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Giuven. (n.d.).&nbsp;<i>GitHub - giuven95/chatgpt-failures: Failure archive for ChatGPT and similar models</i>. GitHub. https://github.com/giuven95/chatgpt-failures</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hensell, H., &amp; Cameron, C. (2023, September).&nbsp;<i>AI Chat GPT Should We Reject It Like We Did Wikipedia</i>? Remington College Refresher Summit 2023, Online Summit. https://remingtoncollege.brightspace.com/d2l/le/lessons/21191/topics/317396</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>How to Develop Chatbots With Real-Time Sentiment Analysis</i>. (2022, October 27). Vonage.com. Retrieved October 2, 2023, from https://www.vonage.com/resources/articles/develop-chatbots-real-time-sentiment-analysis/</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Kooli, C. (2023). Chatbots in Education and Research: A Critical Examination of ethical implications and solutions.&nbsp;<i>Sustainability</i>, <i>15</i>(7), 5614. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075614</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">Lee, S. E., Ju, N., &amp; Lee, K. (2023). Service chatbot: Co-citation and big data analysis toward a review and research agenda.&nbsp;<i>Technological Forecasting and Social Change</i>, <i>194</i>, 122722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122722</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>LibGuides: AI Chatbots (ChatGPT): Teaching &amp; Learning: Introduction</i>. (2023, March 15). https://guides.westoahu.hawaii.edu/chatgpt</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><i>Pilgrim Library: Finding Primary Sources: Evaluating primary &amp; secondary sources</i>. (2023, July). https://library.defiance.edu/primarysources/evaluating</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">OpenAI. (2023).&nbsp;<em>ChatGPT</em>&nbsp;(September 25 Version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Singer, N. (2023, September 1). Ban or embrace? Colleges wrestle with A.I.-Generated admissions essays.&nbsp;<i>The New York Times</i>. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/01/business/college-admissions-essay-ai-chatbots.html#:~:text=chatbots%20to%20generate%20ideas%20or,might%20have%20a%20democratizing%20effect.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 23Buying and Delivery Preference -- The New Battleground?https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/22/buying-and-delivery-preference-the-new-battlegroundConversion Improvement,Customer Complaints,customer experience,Customer Relationship Management,New Product DevelopmentWed, 15 Mar 2023 16:58:00 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidmmd6o7mSTz8l" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">The most important thing we do as marketers is to segment our markets. Segmentation allows us to define target audiences and customize our products, services, and advertising. However,&nbsp;segmentation should be based on traditional demographics like age, income, or psychographics and&nbsp;<strong><em>how&nbsp;</em></strong>customers prefer to buy.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">By considering customers&#39; purchasing behavior &ndash;&nbsp;<em>when they purchase, which distribution channels they use, which payment method they use, what they are doing when they buy, and how much time they take to make purchase decisions</em>&nbsp;&ndash; marketers can ensure improved product and service designs. They can better target their advertising messages and establish more robust and profitable connections with their clients.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">This blog post will explore how understanding&nbsp;<strong>customer purchasing behaviors</strong>&nbsp;can enhance segmentation efforts, create new paths to the market, and lead to a more successful business!</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>How Do You Like Your Coke?</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Emory University Marketing Professor Sandy Jap, the co-author of<strong><em>&nbsp;A Field Guide to Channel Strategy&nbsp;</em></strong>(Coughlan &amp; Jap, 2016), reminds us that the best marketers &quot;<em>think about market opportunities and harness value in a broader way than only with a product or a price..</em>.&quot; As an example, in an <a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/marketingchannelbenefits#syllabus">online lecture</a>, Professor Jap cites the many ways we might consume the soft drink Coca-Cola: with a Big Mac (as a fountain drink), with a 7.5-ounce mini bottle served with Bacardi and lime (at an elegant bar), in twelve-ounce bottles during a late-night drive home (at a gas station), in 32-ounce bottles as a mixer at a party (purchased at a grocery store chain.) Each way of consuming a Coke represents a&nbsp;<em>different use case</em>,&nbsp;<em>cost per ounce</em>, and a distinct&nbsp;<em>distribution channel</em>&nbsp;for Coke. Indeed, one of Professor Jap&#39;s central messages is that consumers are often willing to pay&nbsp;<strong><em>premium prices&nbsp;</em></strong>to receive the good or service the&nbsp;<strong><em>way</em></strong>&nbsp;they want to consume it when they want to drink it.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Pandemic Impact</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">The need for differentiation goes beyond product extensions in the consumer packaged goods industry. The Pandemic has poured gasoline on a user experience fire ignited by the Internet a decade ago. The Pandemic stay-at-home rules forced users to experiment with new product and service delivery mechanisms. This need, in turn, has driven business leaders to quickly adapt and focus on consumer buying preferences and behavioral segmentations. New segments pop up almost monthly as consumers explore, then expect, alternative buying and delivery channels for goods and services.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><img alt="" src="/Portals/0/New-delivery-buying-post-pandemic2.png" style="width: 800px; height: 800px;" title="" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Not Just A Product, Not Just A Service -- Something In Between</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">We now have the hybridization of products and services as online access becomes integrated into the purchase process. Here is a list of service trends that have emerged recently:</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Ordering Online With Home Delivery.&nbsp;</strong>Amazon&#39;s excellence in logistics has forever changed how we buy. Home delivery is convenient. Online ordering of goods we used to drive to the store to buy has experienced rapid growth since the Pandemic. We have learned that it is nice not to leave our homes and still receive items we order online. We have come to expect two-day delivery of just about anything. Today, retail companies offer home delivery via UPS, FedEx, and the Postal Service. It has not stopped there. Door Dash or Uber Eats will bring food orders to your home or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3xiLGFRiLM" target="_blank">place of work</a>&nbsp;in minutes (PSC Highlights, 2023). Fast food providers have begun to differentiate themselves with home food delivery around food delivery occasions like watching the Super Bowl or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RaVv3s3qw" target="_blank">NBA basketball</a>&nbsp;(DoorDash, 2022). Instacart will deliver an electronic game to a user&#39;s home, so they don&#39;t have to stop gaming with friends! (<em>Bop It Electronic Games Products Delivery or Pickup Near Me | Instacart</em>, n.d.) Carvana will allow users to compare, select, finance, and receive delivery of a used car -- all online (Betterton, 2022).</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS)&nbsp;</strong>is another service permutation. This offering allows customers to order products or services online and then pick up the product at the store (Polson, 2022). Demand for these services already existed, but it has burgeoned as the Pandemic has driven trial. Online ordering is convenient for customers as they can shop from home or work but still have the immediacy of same-day availability. Examples abound. Best Buy has leveraged the combination of its brick-and-mortar network and its online presence to offer customers this option. Amazon has already started leveraging its Whole Foods locations by adding lockers where customers can pick up orders by entering a delivery code emailed with the delivery confirmation information. Home Depot has been experimenting with a similar service to allow customers to pick up smaller products in lockers outside their stores. Need lumber or other building supplies? Users can order them online, and both Lowes and Home Depot will cart them up and bring them to their car or truck.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Custom Manufacturing with In-Store Pickup (MOPUS) or Home Delivery.&nbsp;</strong>(Polson, 2022) Computer manufacturers like Dell and Apple and furniture manufacturers like Ethan Allen have long provided users with the ability to select custom features for products and have them manufactured to order. A small number of auto manufacturers are beginning to do the same thing. Tesla offers this purchase structure with its products. To compete, Volvo has started offering this service with its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kbb.com/electric-car/" target="_blank">electric vehicles</a>, such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kbb.com/volvo/c40-recharge/" target="_blank">C40 Recharge SUV</a>, which is ordered online and picked up at a dealership. As Industry 4.0 brings forth intelligent, autonomous, and flexible manufacturing capabilities, we should see increasing innovation in this area (<em>What Is Industry 4.0? | Definition, Technologies, Benefits | SAP Insights</em>, n.d.).</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Subscription Services.&nbsp;</strong>Companies offer subscription services, allowing customers to receive products or services regularly at previously agreed intervals, another type of service. Subscription purchases are convenient for customers as they do not have to remember to order the products or services on their own. My pest control company visits our home six times a year. Regular replacement products that are hard to remember but need to buy at regular intervals (pet food, refrigerator water filters, HVAC filters, disposable razors, and contact lenses, for example) are perfect for these automatic sales methods. See&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/254744528" target="_blank">my Video</a>&nbsp;about this product delivery strategy here.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Similarly, a subscription can work well for high-value-added or unique goods that need to be organized or sourced from an unusual vendor. For example, <a href="https://sitkasalmonshares.com/products/premium-seafood-subscription-box">Alaskan fish processors</a>, <a href="https://www.cawineclub.com/">California Vintners</a>, and <a href="https://thehonestbison.com/about/">South Dakota&nbsp;Bison</a> farmers are examples of types of vendors that send monthly shipments of their products to households nationwide.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Closer to home here in Tennessee, a farm cooperative allows neighborhood groups in Knoxville to sign up for and receive routine deliveries of fresh vegetables to centralized locations throughout the summer months. A local doctor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has patients pay an annual fee to gain access to a broader suite of services and manage their total health. Subscription services are convenient for customers and save businesses money by reducing client acquisition costs and allowing the companies to predict how much product or service customers will need and when.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Membership Programs.&nbsp;</strong>Membership programs are another service designed to differentiate the offering by giving customers exclusive benefits and making buying easier. Membership programs offer discounts, early sales access, and free shipping.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=23945845011">Amazon&#39;s Prime</a> is one such membership program. Prime customers gain access to music and entertainment streaming and free package delivery annually. Prime members spend about two or three times as much as non-prime customers and enjoy higher&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/9/the-amazing-healing-power-of-clv" target="_blank">customer lifetime value</a>&nbsp;(Ryan, 2018). Membership programs benefit businesses and customers as businesses can increase customer loyalty and spending while customers can save money on the products or services they purchase.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Industries with Large Customer Information Requirements.&nbsp;</strong>Often, membership programs can front-load heavy information requirements in exchange for point-of-sale buying convenience. For example, in car rentals, membership programs like <a href="https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/misc/index.jsp?targetPage=gold_plus_rewards_overview.jsp">Hertz Number One Club</a> can leverage a robust Customer Relationship Management System to store a great deal of information in advance (driver&#39;s license, credit card, car preference, etc.) Busy business customers can enter the car and drive away by showing identification at the gate, reducing business travel time.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Innovative Service Contract Structures.&nbsp;</strong>Customer segmentation around purchase preference extends to service industries as well. For example, competitors in the telecommunications sector differentiate their service offerings around different contract terms to entice new customers (Blumenthal, 2023). A common innovation is adaptations that help younger, less creditworthy customers obtain phone service.</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Cricket Wireless&nbsp;</strong>offers a prepaid wireless service that allows users with little or no credit experience to gain access to the AT&amp;T wireless network (Cox &amp; Timmermann, 2023).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>T-Mobile</strong>&nbsp;likewise offers service contracts that do not require a credit check for new customers. Customers with poor credit can still sign up for T-Mobile service. (Herosmyth Staff, 2020).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Verizon</strong>&nbsp;targets families by offering discounts for customers who sign up for multiple service lines. For example, a customer who signs up for several service lines, one for each family member, will receive a discount.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>AT&amp;T</strong>&nbsp;offers discounts for customers who bundle their services. For example, customers bundling their wireless, home internet, and home phone services will receive a discount.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>US Cellular</strong>&nbsp;offers free phones for new customers, allowing customers to get a new phone without paying any upfront costs.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Virgin Mobile</strong>&nbsp;offers only month-to-month contracts, not annual ones, allowing customers to cancel their service without paying termination fees.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Differentiation In Financial Services.&nbsp;</strong>For a final example, we use the online stock brokerage industry, which has seen large amounts of new product development to make it easy for new investors to purchase and manage investments (Monchau, 2021). Here are several examples:</span></p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.acorns.com/"><strong>Acorns</strong></a>&nbsp;allows users to automatically invest their spare change from everyday credit card purchases into a portfolio of ETFs. Acorns charges a monthly fee but is currently waiving all fees to students.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.betterment.com/resources/how-betterment-technology-manages-money"><strong>Betterment</strong></a>&nbsp;is an online financial planning and investment management service that provides &quot;robo-advisor&quot; financial planning services, such as tax optimization and portfolio rebalancing. This structure allows Betterment to charge a lower yearly fee than many competitors for its services (Betterment Editors, 2022).&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/m1-finance-review/"><strong>M1 Finance</strong></a>&nbsp;is an online platform that introduced fractional share trading in 2017. Fractional share trading is a boon to small investors. It allows an investor to buy a portion of a share rather than pay for an entire share. M1 has taken this one step further to develop a &quot;pie&quot; system that allows users to create custom portfolios of individual stocks or ETFs.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong><a href="https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/robinhood-review/">Robinhood</a>&nbsp;</strong>offers commission-free trading of stocks, ETFs, and options. Robinhood also offers access to cryptocurrency trading. A unique feature of Robinhood is its &quot;Gold&quot; subscription service, which allows investors to trade on margin and access after-hours trading. Robinhood began offering fractional share trading in 2019.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><a href="https://www.stash.com/stock-back-debit-card"><strong>Stash</strong></a>&nbsp;is an online investing service that rewards its users with stock when they purchase with certain retailers using their debit card linked to their Stash account.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuid7rNd2FYKWUp8" /><meta charset="utf-8" /><span style="font-size:larger;">In the insurance industry, where I have spent much of my career, companies have likewise segmented users based on purchase preferences. They are leveraging&nbsp;the Internet to deliver new ways to buy&nbsp;insurance coverage:</span></p> <ul> <li><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Comparison Shopping.&nbsp;</strong>Two decades ago,&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/compare-car-insurance-rates/" target="_blank">Progressive Insurance</a></strong>,&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.answerfinancial.com/" target="_blank">Answer Financial</a></strong>, and&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.insurance.com/" target="_blank">Insurance.com</a></strong>&nbsp;were pioneers in allowing consumers to compare insurance rates online and purchase coverage. Permutations&nbsp;now abound.&nbsp;</span></li> <li><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Policy and Dealer-based Shopping Services.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gabi.com/" target="_blank">Gabi.com</a></strong>, for example,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>provides a unique service that lets people upload their current policy. Gabi uses it to find cheaper policies with similar coverage, thus avoiding the sometimes painful process of combing through existing policy details.&nbsp; &nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.autocomplete.io/dealers" target="_blank">Autocomplete.io</a></strong>, a more recent entrant, noted that many people buy from auto dealers when they purchase a car. Autocomplete has developed a sales platform addressing that channel&#39;s unique needs.</span></li> <li><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Picking your price.</strong>&nbsp;<strong><a href="https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/name-your-price/" target="_blank">Progressive.com</a></strong>&nbsp;has developed a trademarked tool, &quot;<a href="https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/name-your-price/"><b><i>Name your own price</i></b></a>,&quot; that allows consumers to indicate how much coverage they can afford and use the rater to find a policy that fits their budget.</span></li> <li><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Usage-based pricing.&nbsp;</strong>Progressive was one of the first insurance companies to offer usage-based insurance programs and is now one of the largest providers of such programs in the United States. The company&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.progressive.com/auto/discounts/snapshot/" target="_blank"><em>Snapshot</em></a>&nbsp;program uses a plug-in device that tracks various driving factors, including mileage, time of day, and braking habits. Drivers who sign up for the program can receive discounts of up to 30% on their premiums.&nbsp;<strong>Allstate</strong>&nbsp;offers two usage-based insurance programs:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.allstate.com/drivewise" target="_blank"><em>Drivewise</em></a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.allstate.com/auto-insurance/milewise" target="_blank"><em>Milewise</em></a>. Drivewise uses a plug-in device to track driving habits, while Milewise uses a phone app to track mileage. Drivers who sign up for either program can receive discounts of up to 20% on their premiums.&nbsp;<strong>State Farm,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>Liberty Mutual</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>Nationwide</strong>, among others, use a similar telematics device to track various driving factors, including mileage, speed, and braking habits. Insurers boast that careful, low-mileage drivers who sign up for the program can receive up to 50% discounts on their premiums.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Affordable Research Methods</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Many think, &quot;we can&#39;t afford expensive focus groups to figure out how our customers want to buy!&quot; Here is a list of guerilla tactics -- affordable ways -- to understand how customers want to buy without spending much money. Pay particular attention to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management" target="_blank">complaints</a>. The issues that make consumers mad in shopping and purchasing can be a gold mine of opportunities (Ryan, 2018).</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>CSRs and Others Involved in Customer Support.&nbsp;</strong>The first place to gather information on buying preferences is your organization&#39;s customer support teams. They will be able to provide anecdotal information on what is making their life and the lives of your customers difficult. Use this information for hypotheses, then go out and test with affordable online surveys.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Internal Complaint Logs.&nbsp;</strong>Many companies track customer complaints with either formal or informal tracking mechanisms. This data can provide invaluable insights into who is having trouble buying from you and how this is occurring. See my&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management" target="_blank">blog piece about complaints and complaints management</a>.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Social Media.&nbsp;</strong>Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great ways to research how customers like to buy. Researchers can use the platform&#39;s search function to look for relevant hashtags, such as #buyonline or #shoplocal, and see what users say about purchase preferences. They can also follow relevant influencers in their industry and see how they promote their products or services. For more examples of social media marketing techniques, see our article,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/24/28-examples-of-social-media-advertising-campaigns-small-businesses-can-use-to-build-their-brands">24&nbsp;Examples of Social Media Advertising Campaigns.</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Online Forums.&nbsp;</strong>Online forums are another great way to research how customers like to buy. There are forums for every topic, so finding one relevant to the industry is easy. Once a researcher has found a forum, they should take some time to read through the threads and see what kind of questions people are asking and what type of advice they are giving.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Google Trends.&nbsp;</strong><a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/trendingsearches/daily?geo=US&amp;hl=en-US"><em>Google Trends</em></a>&nbsp;is a free online tool that lets users set the popularity of e-specific keywords. This tool can help research how customers like to buy because researchers can see which keywords users search for more frequently. For example, if the company sells products online, marketers might want to research the keyword &quot;online shopping&quot; or &quot;how to buy [product x or y]. They can then use this information to adjust their marketing strategy accordingly.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Amazon Reviews. </strong>Marketers&nbsp;should use the platform&#39;s review system if the company sells products on Amazon. Customers who leave reviews are typically candid about their experience, so reading through them can give valuable insights into how customers like to buy. Just take the time to read through both positive and negative reviews to get a balanced understanding.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Blogs.&nbsp;</strong>Blogs can be a great source of information when researching how customers like to buy. Bloggers write about their personal experiences with different products and services. Search on Google or another search engine using relevant keywords to find relevant blogs. Once they find some blogs that look promising, take some time to read through them and see what insights they offer.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Podcasts.&nbsp;</strong>Podcasts are another great way to learn how customers like to buy. Many podcasts feature interviews with experts in various industries who share their insights on topics related to their expertise. Search on iTunes or another podcast directory using relevant keywords to find relevant podcasts.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">As we have seen, understanding&nbsp;<strong><em>how</em></strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong><em>why</em></strong>&nbsp;people want to buy is as important as understanding&nbsp;<strong><em>who</em></strong>&nbsp;wants to buy. Companies that know&nbsp;<strong><em>how</em></strong>&nbsp;we want to purchase are more likely to earn our business and keep us as customers. Customer complaints, social media, online discussion forums, Google Trends, blogs, and podcasts provide affordable sources of information on consumer preferences and are accessible to companies with even the tiniest budgets.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Go forth and learn how your customers want to buy --&nbsp;<em>then</em>&nbsp;segment. You will be happy you did!&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>References</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>2023 Volvo C40 Recharge Price, Reviews, Pictures &amp; More | Kelley Blue Book</em>. (2022, September 1). KBB.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kbb.com/volvo/c40-recharge/">https://www.kbb.com/volvo/c40-recharge/</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Best Electric Vehicles of 2023 - Top-Rated New Electric Vehicles Ranked | KBB.com</em>. (n.d.). Kbb.com. <a href="https://www.kbb.com/electric-car/">https://www.kbb.com/electric-car/</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Betterment Editors. (2022, September 1).&nbsp;<em>How Betterment&#39;s Tech Helps You Manage Your Money</em>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.betterment.com/resources/how-betterment-technology-manages-money">https://www.betterment.com/resources/how-betterment-technology-manages-money</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Betterton, R. (2022, October 6).&nbsp;<em>How to use Carvana to buy a car</em>. Bankrate.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bankrate.com/loans/auto-loans/guide-to-carvana/#proscons">https://www.bankrate.com/loans/auto-loans/guide-to-carvana/#proscons</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Blumenthal, E. (2023, January 9).&nbsp;<em>Switching Phone Carriers in 2023: What to Know Before You Switch Providers</em>. CNET.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/switching-cellphone-carriers/">https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/switching-cellphone-carriers/</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Bop It Electronic Games Products Delivery or Pickup Near Me | Instacart</em>. (n.d.). Instacart. <a href="https://www.instacart.com/categories/5059-toys-and-games/5060-games/5075-electronic-games?brand=bop-it">https://www.instacart.com/categories/5059-toys-and-games/5060-games/5075-electronic-games?brand=bop-it</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Coughlan, A. T., &amp; Jap, S. (2016).&nbsp;<em>A Field Guide to Channel Strategy: Building Routes to Market</em>. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Cox, D., &amp; Timmermann, M. (2023, February 23).&nbsp;<em>Cricket Wireless Review: 5 Things To Know Before You Sign Up</em>. Clark Howard.&nbsp;<a href="https://clark.com/technology/phones-mobile-devices/cricket-wireless-review/">https://clark.com/technology/phones-mobile-devices/cricket-wireless-review/</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">DoorDash. (2022, October 19).&nbsp;<em>DoorDash x NBA 2022 - Secret Handshake</em>&nbsp;[Video]. YouTube.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RaVv3s3qw">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6RaVv3s3qw</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Herosmyth Staff, H. (2020, February 24).&nbsp;<em>9 Perfect Brand Examples of Why It Pays to Differentiate</em>. Herosmyth. <a href="https://www.herosmyth.com/article/9-perfect-brand-examples-why-it-pays-differentiate">https://www.herosmyth.com/article/9-perfect-brand-examples-why-it-pays-differentiate</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Monchau, C. (2021, March 26).&nbsp;<em>Thanks to Fractional Shares, Trading Is Accessible to Everyone</em>. Entrepreneur.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/money-finance/thanks-to-fractional-shares-trading-is-accessible-to/367129#:~:text=Regarding%20the%20introduction%20of%20fractional,and%20Charles%20Schwab%20followed%20suit">https://www.entrepreneur.com/money-finance/thanks-to-fractional-shares-trading-is-accessible-to/367129#:~:text=Regarding%20the%20introduction%20of%20fractional,and%20Charles%20Schwab%20followed%20suit</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Polson, K. (2022, August 16).&nbsp;<em>What is BOPIS Fulfillment? A Guide for Retailers</em>. <a href="https://blog.deckcommerce.com/what-is-bopis">https://blog.deckcommerce.com/what-is-bopis</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">PSC Highlights. (2023, January 26).&nbsp;<em>food delivery guy walks on the court during a college basketball game</em>&nbsp;[Video]. YouTube.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3xiLGFRiLM">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3xiLGFRiLM</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Ryan, R. (2018, February 28).&nbsp;<em>Finding Increased Profits through Better Complaints Management |</em>. www.ronrassociates.com/blog. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management">https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Ryan, R. (2018, February 8).&nbsp;<em>The Amazing Healing Power of Customer Lifetime Value | RonRAssoci</em>. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/9/the-amazing-healing-power-of-clv">https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/9/the-amazing-healing-power-of-clv</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>What is Industry 4.0? | Definition, technologies, benefits | SAP Insights</em>. (n.d.). SAP.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sap.com/uk/insights/what-is-industry-4-0.html#:~:text=Industry%204.0%20is%20powered%20by,machinery%2C%20robots%2C%20and%20vehicles">https://www.sap.com/uk/insights/what-is-industry-4-0.html#:~:text=Industry%204.0%20is%20powered%20by,machinery%2C%20robots%2C%20and%20vehicles</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 22Managing Board Room Biaseshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/21/managing-board-room-biasesBoard ManagementWed, 22 Feb 2023 15:42:00 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidCj9lOSR47wCs" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Leaders at the highest levels of an organization face difficult decisions almost daily. This decision-making becomes even more challenging in the boardroom, where (hopefully) experienced and educated minds come together to make difficult calls for their business or foundation.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">We all like to think that we make clear-headed decisions based on fact. But this is only sometimes true. Even among highly qualified board members, decision-making bias is a persistent ailment that can lead boards to poor judgment or outcomes.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In this blog post, we discuss some common biases that affect decision-making within a board of directors and provide techniques for mitigating them.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Seven Common Biases</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Confirmation Bias.&nbsp;</strong>Confirmation bias is our tendency to seek information confirming existing beliefs and ignore data contradicting those beliefs. This bias can lead decision-makers to make bad decisions because they only consider information supporting their views. Instead, board members should force themselves to analyze&nbsp;<strong><em>all</em></strong>&nbsp;available evidence even when the data doesn&#39;t make intuitive sense.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Groupthink.&nbsp;</strong>Groupthink is our tendency to conform to the group&#39;s consensus, even if that consensus is wrong. Groupthink is born of our desire to get along with others and not appear contrary or difficult. This bias can lead a board of directors to make bad decisions because it can lead them to rubber-stamp a judgment already made by others in the group rather than critically evaluate it.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Herd Mentality.&nbsp;</strong>Herd mentality is the tendency for people to follow the crowd. This bias can lead a board of directors to make bad decisions because they are influenced by what other boards of directors are doing. They may make this decision even in light of countervailing facts. A prime example here is the me-too layoff. When a company in the industry lays off employees, several other companies may feel it necessary to follow suit. After Twitter announced layoffs in late 2022, several other tech companies followed with their layoffs, even though internal data showed the companies anticipated growth in their markets.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Status Quo Bias.&nbsp;</strong>Status quo bias is the human tendency to prefer things to stay the same, even when the need for change becomes evident and it is clear to all a change would be beneficial. Because they may be reluctant to change existing policies or procedures, a board may demure and wait and&nbsp;avoid the needed&nbsp;timely change. The Board&nbsp;opts to &quot;Kick the can down the road&quot; rather than make a change, even if&nbsp;doing so would be in the company&#39;s best interests.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Sunk Cost Fallacy.&nbsp;</strong>We naturally tend to continue investing in something we have already invested in. To use a personal example, I keep repairing old cars, even when it is evident that the cheaper solution is to trade the vehicle in and get a new car. We don&#39;t like to admit it when we&#39;re wrong, so we double down on decisions regardless of whether or not it is wise to do so. Fallacious sunk cost logic can make a board of directors reluctant to cut their losses on a failing project or investment, even if it would be in the organization&#39;s best interests.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Availability Heuristic.&nbsp;</strong>The availability heuristic is the tendency to base decisions on readily available information rather than&nbsp;<strong><em>all&nbsp;</em></strong>of the data. This bias can lead a board of directors to make bad decisions because they may only consider information that is easily accessible rather than taking the time to find and view all relevant data.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Anchoring Effect.&nbsp;</strong>The anchoring effect is a tendency for people to rely heavily on the first piece of information they receive when making a decision. This bias can lead a board of directors to make bad decisions because they may anchor their decision-making process on an initial proposal or recommendation without considering other options.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>How to Combat Biases</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Check Your Personal Biases at the Board Room Door.</strong>&nbsp;Keeping in mind our worldviews and prejudices is the first step to combating bias. Our beliefs and perspectives shape how we see the world. Good decision-makers seek out information that contradicts their beliefs. This discipline can be tricky, as we are often more likely to pay attention to information supporting our beliefs. However, boards must expose themselves to diverse perspectives to get a more accurate picture. Finally, constantly questioning your (and your Board&#39;s) assumptions is essential. We often take for granted the things that we believe to be true. However, asking&nbsp;<strong>why</strong>&nbsp;you (or your Board) think something is true is vital! This approach can help you identify any false assumptions you may hold.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Make sure your Board is diverse.&nbsp;</strong>The more diverse your customer base and stakeholders, the more critical the diversity of your Board is. When there is diversity on a board, you will obtain more perspectives, which can lead to more informed decision-making. With diverse views, boards can avoid groupthink, where everyone agrees with the majority opinion without considering all options. Having dissenting opinions can also lead to a more robust discussion of the pros and cons of each option before making a final decision.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Encourage Debate.&nbsp;</strong>To avoid groupthink, board leadership must encourage open discussion. Too often, Boards discourage honest disagreement in the boardroom, even though this debate is healthy and can lead to better decisions. Board leadership should create an environment where people feel comfortable disagreeing with the majority. Additionally, leadership must clarify to board members that dissenting views are valued and considered seriously. Ensure that everyone has a chance to voice their opinion and that differing opinions receive equal weight. Try to neutralize those board members who tend to railroad discussions or suck all the oxygen out of the room.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Avoid creating pressure to conform.&nbsp;</strong>Another way to ensure robust decision-making is to prevent pressure to conform. Try not to force people into agreeing with the majority opinion. Instead, organize your board discussions to allow people to reach their conclusions after considering all the available information.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Be willing to change your mind.&nbsp;</strong>Once you&#39;ve identified biases, you must be ready to change your mind. If you find the Board clinging to an opinion simply because it&#39;s what they&#39;ve always believed, ask if any evidence contradicts it. Ensure you and your fellow board members are open to the possibility that you may have been wrong.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Examine the source of your information.&nbsp;</strong>Considering the basis of the original data that guided your previous decisions is always essential in light of new information. Before accepting either source as fact, ask whether the source is reputable. Is it objective? Does it have any hidden agendas?</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Decision-making bias is inevitable, even among the most experienced board members. As we have seen, bias can lead to poor judgment and undesirable outcomes that harm a business or foundation. Board members should look for the seven types of decision-making bias discussed in this post: confirmation bias, groupthink, herd mentality, status quo bias, sunk cost fallacy, availability heuristics, and anchoring effect. By understanding the different cognitive biases and discussing them in the board room when they arise, boards of directors can mitigate their potential negative impacts on their decision-making. It is each board member&#39;s responsibility to recognize these biases, call them out when they see them, and actively avoid them so that they may make more informed decisions.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</h3> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 21Viral Videos That Build Brands (And How To Make Them)https://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/20/viral-videos-that-build-brands-and-how-to-make-themBranding,Content Development,customer experience,VideoTue, 29 Nov 2022 16:21:00 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidoOWh9dlJ6Mmy" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">A terrific way to build your brand affordably is by developing viral content, specifically shareable videos, supporting your brand. But recommending a company create a viral video is like telling a baseball player to &quot;just&quot; hit a home run. It can be challenging!</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><br /> <span style="font-size:larger;">This post will review my Hall of Fame viral videos and then analyze the attributes these videos share, making them compelling and shareable.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>1. The Blendtec &quot;Will It Blend?&quot; Series</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">The &quot;Will It Blend?&quot; series is a series of viral videos created by Blendtec, a manufacturer of blenders. The videos feature company founder Tom Dickson attempting to blend various objects, including iPhones, marbles, and golf balls. The videos are designed to showcase the power of Blendtec&#39;s blenders and have been highly successful, with the original &quot;Will It Blend?&quot; video garnering over 16 million views on YouTube.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bFkYKKVuGbk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>2. Dollar Shave Club: &quot;Our Blades are ***king great.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In March of 2012, Dollar Shave Club released a commercial featuring founder Michael Dubin that quickly went viral. Viewers saw the ad over 12 million times on YouTube and helped to launch the brand into mainstream consciousness.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZUG9qYTJMsI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>3. K-mart &quot;Ship My Pants.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Kmart&#39;s &quot;Ship My Pants&quot; commercial was a television ad that aired in 2013 and quickly went viral online. The ad featured customers in a Kmart store exclaiming in disbelief at the store&#39;s new shipping policy, which allows customers to ship their pants (and other items) to their homes for free. The commercial was widely praised for its clever use of wordplay and helped to increase awareness of Kmart&#39;s ability to process orders online. Sadly, this brilliant campaign was too little too late for the brand.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2xwUuSM06xQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>4. Google &quot;Dear Sophie.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In May 2012, Google released a Chrome web browser commercial featuring a father sending emails to his daughter as she grows up. The video garnered over 5 million YouTube views and helped solidify the brand&#39;s image among a large segment of parents.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zhPklt9nYas" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>5. Old Spice&#39;s &quot;The Man, Your Man Can Smell Like.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Old Spice wanted to get the attention of the primary buyers of body wash products for men, which, research showed, was women! In February 2010, Old Spice released a commercial featuring actor Isaiah Mustafa that quickly went viral. The commercial was viewed over 46 million times on YouTube and helped to improve the brand&#39;s image and sales.&nbsp;<a href="#_edn1" target="_blank">[i]</a></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iS-4WxmKBNI" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>6. Nike &quot;Always # Like A Girl.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In June 2014, Nike released a commercial to redefine what it means to do something &quot;like a girl.&quot; The video went viral, being viewed over 64 million times on YouTube, and helped to improve the brand&#39;s image among young girls and women. The version I shared here appeared as a recent Super Bowl commercial.</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/joRjb5WOmbM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>7. Dove, &quot;The Evolution of Dad.&quot;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In June 2014, Dove released a video supporting its Men+Care Brand. The video describes several stages of fatherhood. We explore the arrival of a first child, becoming a grandfather, and many moments along the way. The videos went viral. They delivered over 6 million views on YouTube, and the collection helped improve the Dove brand&#39;s image among consumers. Notably, the video collection is an enduring asset that Dove can reuse. The videos appear every Father&#39;s Day to promote the skincare brand. Here&#39;s a sample video:</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDXoFbjUMz8" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><big>A Viral Video How-To</big></strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidd0dZmEuabEyj" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong></strong>How do we make a video that can go viral? Keep it universal, and stay close to the heart!&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Here are eight qualities most of these videos share:</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>1. They Are Well-Produced With Quality Content.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">High-quality content is the first element of a viral video. Make the video fun to watch. The video should likewise be relevant to a broad portion of the target audience. A good litmus test for whether your video has what it takes to go viral is the answer to the simple question: are you excited to share this video with friends and family?</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>2. They Use Emotional Appeals.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Another critical element is the use of emotional appeals. Videos that evoke strong emotions like happiness, sadness, or anger are more likely to be shared. For example, Nike&#39;s&nbsp;<em># Like a Girl</em>&nbsp;campaign simultaneously evokes shame and anger.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>3. They Include Unexpected Elements.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Another way to make a video go viral is to use the unexpected. The &quot;surprise&quot; can include humor, shock value, or suspense. The elements should pique viewers&#39; interest and make them want to share the video with others. Each of these videos takes us by surprise, whether it is the surprise of a start-up CEO dropping bleeped-out F-Bombs or the vision of someone using a blender to liquefy baseballs!</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>4. They Keep It Short.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">A video should be short if you want it to go viral. The common wisdom is that viewers are likelier to watch and share videos shorter than three minutes long. Any longer, viewers lose interest and stop watching before the end.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>5. They Use Visual Aids.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Including visual aids in the form of images or graphics can also help to make a video more engaging and more likely to go viral. Visual aids can help break up the monotony of talking heads and keep viewers&#39; attention focused on the video. For example, there is something perversely satisfying about watching a blender grind up a baseball, golf ball, or two-by-four.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>6. They Use Influencers For Promotion.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">If you know of any influencers in your industry or niche, consider contacting them and asking them to promote your video. Influencers have large followings of engaged users who are likelier to watch and share your video when recommended by someone they trust. If you&#39;ve noticed Saturday Night Live spokespeople creeping into many commercials, this is why!</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>7. They Touch on Universal Themes.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Dove&#39;s viral video on fatherhood and Nike&#39;s #like a Girl campaign have evolved from one-off viral videos to full-on campaigns that invite new videos with new approaches. They become campaigns on the same theme as the original video but rerelease them at times when the content will be most impactful. Dove&#39;s fatherhood series appears every Father&#39;s Day, while Nike took its #likeagirl campaign to the national stage on Super Bowl Sunday.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>8. They Are Authentic.</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">While funny, each video is&nbsp;<strong><em>authentic</em></strong>&nbsp;to the brand it represents. The Dollar Shave Club CEO tours his facility while extolling the virtues of his company&#39;s blades. The Blendtec founder shows off how well his blender works by grinding up a baseball. Google shows how their easy-to-use software fits in with family life while a father watches his daughter grow up. Even Isiah Mustafa in the Old Spice commercial strikes us as earnest in his tongue-in-cheek discussion of how men should smell. Each video explains the product&#39;s unique selling proposition in a way that touches on&nbsp;<em>the brand&#39;s essence</em>.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Footnote:</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/20/viral-videos-that-build-brands-and-how-to-make-them#_ednref1" target="_blank">[i]</a>&nbsp;21 Successful Marketing Campaign Examples That&#39;ll Inspire You. https://smartblogger.com/marketing-campaign/</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</h3> 20How Controversy Can Be Good For Your Brandhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/19/how-controversy-can-be-good-for-your-brandBranding,Content Development,Conversion ImprovementFri, 18 Nov 2022 14:44:00 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidcAWj4GjQIuvH" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Based in Knoxville, Tennessee, I have watched the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team enter the national argument over which teams deserve to be in the National Championship and whose quarterback deserves the Heisman Trophy.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">The controversy spilled over at the Country Music Awards show last week. Volunteers Football Alumnus Paton Manning introduced&nbsp;<em>Rocky Top</em>, the Volunteers fight song, as his favorite country song while sharing the stage with notable Georgia Alumn and country star Blake Shelton.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;">On repeat 🎧🔂 <a href="https://t.co/9F0DDxbcdx">pic.twitter.com/9F0DDxbcdx</a></span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;">&mdash; Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) <a href="https://twitter.com/Vol_Football/status/1590674173042786308?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 10, 2022</a></span></blockquote> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></span></p> <p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidqOF03BP3fVRD" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Controversy, if appropriately handled, increases brand awareness and&nbsp;<em>improves</em>&nbsp;brand equity. As marketing genius PT Barnum once famously said,&nbsp;<strong><em>there is no such thing as bad publicity</em></strong>. Below are six companies embroiled in controversies that they ultimately managed in their favor.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">1.&nbsp;<strong>The Pepsi Challenge&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In 1975, Pepsi launched the &quot;Pepsi Challenge.&quot; The Pepsi challenge was a marketing campaign that pitted Pepsi head-on against Coca-Cola using a blind taste test. Pepsi used a corn syrup-based sweetener in a slightly sweeter formulation. The taste test results showed many people choosing Pepsi over Coca-Cola. The controversy resulted in a significant sales increase for Pepsi, increased brand awareness, and led Coke to develop its disastrous &quot;New Coke&quot; product.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">2.&nbsp;<strong>Red Bull&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In 2014, Red Bull became embroiled in a controversy. Reports revealed that the company had been using DEHP, an ingredient in its energy drinks banned by several countries. The ingredient, known as DEHP, is a plasticizer linked to health problems such as cancer. After the story broke, Red Bull announced that it would reformulate its energy drinks to remove DEHP. Red Bull ran ads apologizing. The ads reassured&nbsp;customers that its products are safe. As a result of its handling of the problem, public opinion shifted. Red Bull&nbsp;sales increased by 9% in the following year.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">3.&nbsp;<strong>Nike&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Media reports in 1991 revealed that some of Nike&#39;s Asian factories were using child labor. The reports accused Nike of exploiting workers in developing countries and putting profits ahead of people. The company responded by publicly committing to improving factory working conditions and increasing transparency around its supply chain. As a result of the way Nike handled the situation, Nike&#39;s reputation improved. Sales increased by 27% in the following year.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">4.&nbsp;<strong>Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In 2009, media outlets reported that Ben and Jerry&#39;s was sourcing some of its milk from cows fed genetically modified (GM) corn. A consumer group questioned the safety of consuming genetically modified&nbsp;foods. Anti-GM activists&nbsp;called consumers to&nbsp;boycott Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s ice cream&nbsp;products. The company responded by sourcing milk from cows certified to have eaten non-GM corn. Because of how it handled the situation, Ben &amp; Jerry&#39;s reputation improved, and its sales increased by 11% in the following year.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">5.&nbsp;<strong>Starbucks&nbsp;</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Starbucks found itself at the center of a controversy in 2015 when media reporting showed that Starbucks paid less taxes than smaller businesses in its industry. Some consumers accused Starbucks of tax avoidance. There were calls to boycott the company&#39;s products. Starbucks responded by voluntarily paying more taxes than legally required and investing in small businesses in disadvantaged communities. Starbucks handled the situation well. Sales increased by 13% in the following year.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">6.&nbsp;<strong>Volkswagen and Dieselgate</strong>&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">In 2015, US Federal Regulators caught Volkswagon cheating on emissions tests for its diesel vehicles. The scandal became known as &quot;Dieselgate.&quot; The US government levied billions of dollars in fines and settlements on Volkswagen. Notwithstanding all the negative publicity, Volkswagen&#39;s sales increased after the scandal.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">What lesson can we learn from these&nbsp;examples? Controversy need not be a death sentence for a brand. Controversy can be good for a brand if managed correctly, but only if management handles the situation appropriately. Be careful. It can take vast commitments of corporate resources to weather a storm like the ones identified above. To get through, tread lightly and seek the most ethical path possible. Acknowledge mistakes and move publically to fix them. A brand that did something wrong but moved swiftly to do the right thing can ultimately win consumer support.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 199 Ways To Build A Small Business Brandhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/18/7-ways-to-build-a-small-business-brandBranding,Content Development,Customer Complaints,customer experience,Customer ServiceTue, 15 Nov 2022 20:12:53 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">As a follow-on to our <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/17/six-ways-a-strong-brand-improves-profits">previous blog</a> about&nbsp;the crucial link between a strong brand and higher profits, set out below are nine&nbsp;ways&nbsp; companies can build their brands in their local markets:</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">1. Get Social.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Social media is one of the best ways to build your company&#39;s brand. It is among small businesses&#39; most potent tools. You can build your audience and brand by creating a presence on&nbsp; Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for direct-to-consumer communications and LinkedIn for B2B communications. Posts that are informative, fun, or help your customers in their day-to-day lives can do much to build a small company&#39;s brand. See&nbsp;our upcoming post with <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/24/28-examples-of-social-media-advertising-campaigns-small-businesses-can-use-to-build-their-brands">24 examples of how leading companies use social media</a> to build their brands.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">2. Create Sponsorships.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Another affordable way to build your company&#39;s brand is through event or sports sponsorships. When you sponsor an event or team, your company&#39;s name and logo become visible to fans, athletes, and other local event participants. This visibility can increase brand awareness and create positive associations with your company. For example, I have lived all over the country, and everywhere I go, the local Blue Cross Blue Shield sponsors a 10K event it supports along with other local employers. These excellent brand-building events for the Blues help cement their relationships with local employers (and their employees) who make up their target market.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">3. Develop &#39;Ninja&#39; Advertising Campaigns.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Advertising is another great way to build your company&#39;s brand. A cheap outdoor campaign, for example, can be hugely helpful to a local brand. You can reach many potential customers and positively associate with your brand by placing ads in strategic outdoor locations or running targeted campaigns on local radio, television, and sports media. The smaller your budget is, the more critical it is to be creative with your advertising. A local law firm I know is specialized in defense cases. It is considering buying advertising from home game announcers to use their name every time there is a penalty,&nbsp; just as the local car dealers pay to have their names mentioned with each touchdown!</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">4. Leverage Public Relations With Local Media Outlets.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Public relations is another excellent way to build your company&#39;s brand. Getting involved in community events or working with local media outlets to announce new products, services, or charity initiatives can generate positive publicity for your company and build your brand.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">5. Accelerate Positive Word of Mouth Digitally.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Word of mouth is among the most effective ways to build your company&#39;s brand. Creating opportunities for referencing by surveying and then asking permission to post positive reviews on Google or Facebook can help digitize word of mouth and drive brand awareness.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">6. Request a Local Celebrity Endorsement.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Not all celebrities are in Hollywood. For example, do you live in a city or state that loves its college sports? NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) creates numerous opportunities for &quot;celebrity endorsements&quot; from college athletes. Often, small businesses can cut deals using barter arrangements like burgers for life or free wash-dry-fold services for athletes in exchange for commercial endorsements. Increasingly common, new NIL opportunities are becoming increasingly organized and effective.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">7. Go Above and Beyond.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Your company can garner favorable reviews by going above and beyond in various ways. You can anticipate your customers&#39; needs and do something they will appreciate without being asked. You can exceed expectations by over-delivering. For example, a business can finish work before it is due or be highly responsive &ndash; always picking up customer phone calls or staying open late to help a long-time customer. While seemingly small, these can also create appreciation and build your brand with them. If you make a customer happy, encourage them to post a review that tells others about it. Finally, following up with customers to determine their satisfaction with your work can build trust in your brand and alert you to problems.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">8. Sponsor or Participate in a Parade.&nbsp;</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Sponsoring or participating in a parade can introduce many people to a brand and its products or services in a short time. A parade float can be fun for employees while effectively generating interest in a brand and getting people talking about it. A business on or near a parade route can use the event to increase foot traffic and generate sales. Companies can hand out flyers or promotional items, offer discounts, or set up unique displays to catch the attention of parade-goers and draw them into the store.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-size:larger;">9. Place Your Product in Movies or With Influencers On Social Media.</span></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Product placement involves placing a company&#39;s products or brand in a movie or television show. Advertisers can use placements in several ways.&nbsp; &nbsp;The characters in a movie can use the product, display the product prominently, or mention the product by name. Or, a skilled influencer prominent in a business&#39;s target segment can use the product for free in exchange for the opportunity to use &quot;sponsored&quot; products. So, although placement in a James Bond movie may be out of reach for many small businesses, many can afford to give their products to top influencers in their market segment. Outdoor sports manufacturers like Rossignol Skis or Wilson Sporting have provided top amateur or collegiate athletes with free equipment for decades. For example, Red Bull has a YouTube video channel dedicated to extreme sports athletes. Finally, if all that doesn&#39;t work, make a video! If it&#39;s good enough, the video can go viral! See <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/20/viral-videos-that-build-brands-and-how-to-make-them">our next blog article on Viral Videos</a> to learn how this can work.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Happy Brand-Building!</span></p> 18 Six Ways A Strong Brand Improves Profitshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/17/six-ways-a-strong-brand-improves-profitsContent Development,Conversion Improvement,Product Management,Profit ImprovementTue, 08 Nov 2022 20:18:00 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidXIICyAIe2mVk" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidtI2jXBQVR6hq" /><meta charset="utf-8" /><span style="font-size:larger;">One of the most challenging conversations you will ever have is to explain the power of brand and branding expenditures in a small business context. Most of us find the notion of &quot;brand&quot; hard to define, though we know a superior brand when we see one. How does a strong brand make a company better off? To answer this question, we list six common ways a strong brand can improve profits.</span></p> <ol> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A strong brand helps to increase sales.&nbsp;</strong>Which products are easier to find, branded or off-brand products? Walk through any store looking for a particular kind of product. Which product are you drawn to? The branded one, of course. Customers are more likely to buy if they can easily find the products they need from a recognizable brand. This behavior occurs because customers prefer convenience over other factors, such as price.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A strong brand helps to attract new customers.&nbsp;</strong>A strong brand can increase sales by facilitating positive word-of-mouth. It is easier to tell friends and family about a branded product than an off-brand one. We can remember the names of branded products. When customers have a good experience with a brand, they spread the word. This word-of-mouth can be extremely powerful in increasing sales by making people aware of the brand and its products or services. Consumers value word-of-mouth referrals more than other information about a product or service. A strong brand makes the referral process more manageable by making your brand a &quot;known quantity.&quot;</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A strong brand drives customer loyalty.&nbsp;</strong>Customers loyal to a brand are more likely to continue buying that brand. Brand-loyal behavior continues even when other options are available. Companies develop customer loyalty by providing excellent customer service or high-quality products that solve consumers&#39; problems. Brand loyalty also gives companies a mulligan; we tend to be more forgiving of products or services that fail to fill our needs when they have strong brands. For example, let&#39;s take the simple case of a new waiter who messes up your order in a restaurant you love. You are far more likely to forgive this one slip than at a restaurant you are trying for the first time. That response is in part due to the&nbsp;<em>brand</em>&nbsp;of the restaurant you love.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A strong brand can help increase a product&#39;s perceived value.&nbsp;</strong>Strong brands achieve higher perceived value by making their product or service appear more exclusive, higher quality, trustworthy, searchable, or memorable. This perception of value, in turn, can help with point-of-sale conversions and increase sales.</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A strong brand reduces marketing costs.&nbsp;</strong>Customer loyalty, greater awareness, a better definition of customer preference, and higher customer lifetime values are all reasons a strong brand reduces marketing costs (or makes the same marketing spend more effective).</span></li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>&nbsp;A strong brand helps companies connect emotionally with customers.&nbsp;</strong>When customers feel emotionally attached to a brand, we are more likely to purchase its products, even when cheaper alternatives exist. Marketers can create an emotional connection by aligning the brand with the customer&#39;s values. Consider Suburu&#39;s evocative&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmEkuACGSvk" target="_blank">&#39;Subaru is Love&#39;&nbsp;</a>commercials, for example. Marketers carefully research their target market to align with customers&#39; values&mdash;studying customer demographics and interests - so they know how to tug at our heartstrings. Then, they make life better for those customers by ensuring their products or services solve a problem their target market cares about. (One example is automotive longevity and safety in Subaru&#39;s case.) In advertising, marketers use language that resonates with their target market and is authentic and transparent. Customers are more likely to trust and respect a brand if it is genuine and honest!</span></li> </ol> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Brand equity,&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@keatonhawker/kellers-brand-equity-model-what-it-is-how-to-use-it-84e42d562299" target="_blank">the corporate staple measurement of brand strength</a>, is an acknowledged measure of the value of a brand. Brand equity considers many of the abovementioned variables: customer loyalty, name recognition, customer awareness, and market share. However, name recognition and customer awareness are often difficult to measure in a small business context. This challenge is prevalent in small businesses with no market research budget.&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">What to do? Instead, take a baby step. Consider concrete actions you can take to learn what your customers think of your brand, then work to improve it by working through the list above. We&#39;ll share&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/18/7-ways-to-build-a-small-business-brand" target="_blank">ideas on ways to enhance brand equity</a>&nbsp;in upcoming posts.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Happy brand building!</span></p> 178 Questions A Product Manager Should Ask About A New Producthttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/16/8-questions-a-good-product-manager-should-ask-about-a-new-productNew Product DevelopmentMon, 07 Feb 2022 02:09:24 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuidFsqEjameHcae" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Product Management is among the most challenging disciplines in the business world because of its interdisciplinary nature.&nbsp; Product Managers need to be knowledgeable in Product Design, Business Economics, Consumer Psychology, User Experience Design, Project Management, Law, and Marketing.&nbsp; And because no one can be an expert in all of these fields, Product Managers must be master collaborators.&nbsp; Most of all, successful Product Managers must step back and ask&nbsp;<strong>hard questions</strong>&nbsp;of themselves and their team members.&nbsp; Here are the eight most essential questions Product Managers must ask along the way to a successful product.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Who are the customers for this product?</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">As Product Managers, we need to research our customers and understand them deeply.&nbsp; Our goal is to identify and build buyer&nbsp;<em>personas</em>&nbsp;putting a fictionalized name and a face to key segments which will want and need our product.&nbsp; Persona development should always start with key demographics from third-party sources like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.statista.com/" target="_blank">Statista</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.census.gov/" target="_blank">US census bureau</a>.&nbsp; This data will identify segment trends.&nbsp; From the demographics, you can build out your profile.&nbsp; Explore financial, psychological, behavioral, and even aspirational aspects of your target market:&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">Where do your customers live and work?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What do they do in their spare time?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How do they get their news and purchase information?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How do they use technology?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How and where do they shop?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What economic pressures do they feel?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What is the source of this pressure?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">These are all questions that a good Product Manager asks about his customer &ndash; both today and&nbsp;in&nbsp;the future.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">For established companies, fan pages on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and visitor tracking from Google Analytics can all provide tools that allow you to gain insights into your customers.&nbsp; Social media has a great deal of information about customers, a topic we explore at some length in our blog piece on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/11/small-company-big-data-huge-impact" target="_blank">Big Data Marketing</a>.&nbsp; Facebook and Twitter allow even the smallest companies to engage with and listen to their customers along the way.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Finally, prospective customer interviews provide deep insights.&nbsp; What are the expectations your customers have for an existing product or service?</p> <ol> <li style="text-align: justify;">How do they decide to buy?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Why do they choose&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;to buy?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How can you build a new product that not only meets but exceeds these expectations?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ol> <p style="text-align: justify;">Adele Revella&#39;s book on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Buyer-Personas-Customers-Expectations-Strategies/dp/1118961501/ref=asc_df_1118961501/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=312106851030&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=13382361301030501021&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9013454&amp;hvtargid=pla-437619567332&amp;psc=1" target="_blank">Buyer Personas</a>&nbsp;is an excellent guide for interviewing customers, understanding your buyers, and building personas that deliver successful new products if you&#39;re new to persona development.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Does our product solve the&nbsp;<em>right</em>&nbsp;problem for these customers?</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">History is replete with examples of products that solved the wrong problem.&nbsp; Blackberry kept improving its keyboard while the industry moved to on-screen solutions.&nbsp; Kodak didn&#39;t think digital photography would ever be a thing.&nbsp; Xerox owned PARC lab that gave us the mouse, ethernet networking, and the laser printer yet famously failed to profit from these disruptive technologies as it continued to focus on its core copier business.&nbsp; The broad &quot;right question&quot; breaks down into many little ones.&nbsp; These include:</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">What other needs do customers have that our product can address?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How does our product compare to other products on the market that address the same condition or problem space?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What substitutes currently exist, and how are customers presently addressing these needs.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What will be the source of our competitive advantage over existing solutions?&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Are there any potential customer segments we&#39;re overlooking or underserving with our current strategy?</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">The answers to these questions can only come from customers.&nbsp; Talk to them.&nbsp; I recommend two excellent books,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Startup-Entrepreneurs-Continuous-Innovation-ebook/dp/B004J4XGN6/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1644071008&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Lean Startup</a>&nbsp;by Eric Ries and Cindy Alvarez&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lean-Customer-Development-Building-Customers/dp/B08VL4XRBY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3L3RWFD46GPGZ&amp;keywords=lean+customer+development&amp;qid=1644071098&amp;s=audible&amp;sprefix=lean+custome%2Caudible%2C86&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Lean Customer Development.</a>&nbsp; Eric provides the tree; Cindy the branches -- processes that will ensure you&#39;re building the right product for the right customers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Are people motivated to buy and use our product?</strong>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">To understand motivations, we first need to understand the kinds of motivation driving the use of the product.&nbsp; This knowledge will help frame the language we use in talking to our customers about their needs as we build the product.&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Extrinsic motivations</em>&nbsp;push us to do things for monetary reasons or avoid punishment.&nbsp; Examples of extrinsically motivated activities include working, complying with legal requirements, or doing homework.&nbsp;&nbsp;<em>Intrinsic motivations</em>&nbsp;pursue personal growth, satisfaction, or out of an innate sense of duty.&nbsp; Good examples of things we do out of intrinsic motivation include working out, taking a not-for-credit course, or recreational skiing.&nbsp; Here are some additional ways of thinking about motivation and product:</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">What is the source of motivation for buying and using our product?&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How can we increase this motivation?&nbsp; What can we say or do to increase this motivation in our customers?&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What are some possible obstacles to achieving this motivation?&nbsp; How can we help our customers overcome these obstacles?&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Are there any other factors we need to consider when motivating people to buy and use our product?</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">Nir Eyal&#39;s book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hooked-How-Build-Habit-Forming-Products-ebook/dp/B00LMGLXTS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1644069619&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Hooked</a>, explains how to make products habit-forming by building triggers, actions, and variable rewards into them.&nbsp; Eyal&#39;s techniques are applied chiefly to software products like online games and social media like&nbsp;Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.&nbsp; But&nbsp;brilliant product managers have figured out how to build these elements into various products, including employee communications and compensation planning.&nbsp; For more on&nbsp;Nir Eyal&#39;s addictive engagement strategies please see our blog piece on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/13/why-marketing-post-covid-will-be-about-love" target="_blank">Creating&nbsp;Community On and Offline&nbsp;to Drive Marketing Results.</a></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Will customers understand our product?</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Remember trying to program a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/2008/12/casio-spruces-u/" target="_blank">Casio Watch</a>?&nbsp; Whether it was the Illegibly small directions or the completely counterintuitive button interface on the front of the watch, just thinking about that product can give us a panic attack.&nbsp; How many of your university lectures or work meetings were interrupted by errant alarms going off on people&#39;s wrists?&nbsp; Product designers must bake intuitive design into the product, but what is intuitive to many software developers or product geeks is rarely apparent to the actual users.&nbsp; Usability questions to ask:</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">What is my customer understanding, and how is it essential for product success?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How can we determine if customers understand our product correctly?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What should we do if they don&#39;t?</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">Usability testing is a science unto itself.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">To do it right, product managers need to become voyeurs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usertesting.com/" target="_blank">Usertesting.com</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://dscout.com/" target="_blank">dScout.com</a>, among other providers, allow companies to request anonymous screen-recorded, narrated tests of people going through a website or application.&nbsp; Another favorite,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.figpii.com/" target="_blank">figpii.com</a>, in the conversion optimization space, will enable you to follow heat maps of your website&#39;s users, highlighting places where consumers become derailed in the conversion process.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Will customers keep our product?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Many products, especially&nbsp;financial services, have high acquisition costs and depend on high customer retention rates to achieve profitability.&nbsp; Auto insurance is a great example.&nbsp; It can take as many as three years to earn back the acquisition cost of an auto insurance policy sold over the internet.&nbsp; Finding ways to identify people who will keep their policies and pay their premiums (and keep paying them) has become necessary in many parts of the financial services industry.&nbsp; But customer retention is a challenge for all new products &ndash; from websites to online education to subscription products.&nbsp; Here are some questions we use to identify retention challenges:</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">How can we ensure that customers will continue to use our product after they&#39;ve purchased it?&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">What are the profitability consequences of them&nbsp;<em>not</em>&nbsp;doing so?</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How will we measure customer retention?&nbsp; &nbsp;See our blog article on <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/9/the-amazing-healing-power-of-clv" target="_blank">Customer Lifetime Value</a>&nbsp;for more on this topic.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">How can we improve upon retention once we see it failing to meet our goals?</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">The bottom line?&nbsp; Every product designer needs to study&nbsp;after-sales processes as hard as they think about those leading up to the sale.&nbsp; Personalized experiences and confirmation emails that ask customers about the buying experience and how we improve it can help with this part of the customer journey.&nbsp; Finding ways of thanking customers and bringing them back to you should be part of the initial product design.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Does our product have any legal issues?</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Legal issues typically come in three or four flavors in the new product development world.&nbsp; They include intellectual property, product liability, customer contracts, and privacy.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Intellectual Property Law</strong>&nbsp;protects ideas, designs, and inventions - make sure your product doesn&#39;t infringe on existing patents or copyrights.&nbsp; My favorite example here is from the startup Jarvis.ai which had to change its name to&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@nightingalecopywriting/marvel-disney-threaten-legal-action-against-copywriting-a-i-software-e9bcf35651dd#id_token=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6IjE4MmU0NTBhMzVhMjA4MWZhYTFkOWFlMWQyZDc1YTBmMjNkOTFkZjgiLCJ0eXAiOiJKV1QifQ.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.dqSdheKJz9434lfFJcu3oCdVq4Ax6GhhwRntHek1viCzav7cT9rBWCaui3Y7GOQ372VcvCDn-XH1FyYjMc6JY48j79L5WULqVo6xij7rV00YawKtJfcJFDIGluBOodkBa9Im3rlzwu9qK60jh9UVY2vqH4f3rs-7pcCcfxnetpszX9dhznLFejoRcmUrabnmLraw8YtbKmGC-gj2XE5xbmpIc-qolT0vjx7aSLu2AfB7MenmXd7mkaFc-aezxKPosUdGciNbRaoiVgZ5wyy8BN_70dWZueekLrMs6YbmulOxpwl4w2cmebNfyaXtxCI9gx6v83455kxnY5v-dKcesQ" target="_blank">Jasper.ai</a>&nbsp;because Disney said Jarvis.ai&#39;s name infringed upon Disney&#39;s copyright for the Marvel character.&nbsp; While Jarvis.ai&#39;s founders still maintain it was not an infringement, it would have cost them all their working capital to fight Disney.&nbsp; So, change their name they did.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Product liability law</strong>&nbsp;determines who is responsible if someone is injured or killed by your product.&nbsp; While these issues often appear to come out of nowhere, a great way to avoid them is with diligent product testing.&nbsp; Similarly, product liability insurance tends to surface product risks by forcing these risks to be quantified.&nbsp; The&nbsp;<a href="https://texasjustice.com/blog/major-product-liability-lawsuits-past-decade/" target="_blank">worst product liability settlements</a>&nbsp;tend to go to plaintiffs of companies who knew about product risks and never did anything about it.&nbsp; Never put your head in the sand on product issues that harm customers.&nbsp; &nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Contract law</strong>&nbsp;governs the terms and conditions of sale between you and your customers.&nbsp; While this is an area most companies are comfortable with, make sure that product and service terms are displayed and disclosed.&nbsp; (For a good laugh, see this compendium of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.onelegal.com/blog/fantastic-clauses-hidden-in-contracts-and-eulas/" target="_blank">goofy online contract terms</a>&nbsp;from websites around the internet.)</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Privacy law.&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong>If you have a website or store any personal information about your customers, you need to understand privacy law deeply.&nbsp; Here is the link to a recent compendium, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.centraleyes.com/top-10-us-state-data-privacy-laws-to-watch-out-for-in-2022/" target="_blank">state-by-state guidance</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">In sum, if you&#39;re not sure about something, it&#39;s always better to be safe than sorry.&nbsp; Consult with a lawyer before releasing your product to the public.&nbsp; And when something does go wrong, take corrective action immediately.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How will we sell this product?&nbsp;</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">There are five ways to distribute a product.&nbsp; These include on your&nbsp;<strong>website</strong>, on&nbsp;<strong>distributors&#39; websites</strong>, in your&nbsp;<strong>store</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>through distributors&#39;</strong>&nbsp;stores.&nbsp;&nbsp;<strong>Direct sales</strong>&nbsp;organizations like Amway, Primerica, and Cutco use direct salespeople.&nbsp; For most businesses, where you plan to sell your product (<strong>place</strong>) will drive the rest of the so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/four-ps.asp" target="_blank"><strong>marketing 4p&#39;s</strong></a>: <strong>place,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>product,</strong>&nbsp;<strong>pricing</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>promotion</strong>&nbsp;(including&nbsp;advertising).&nbsp; We often refer to the 4ps as the &quot;marketing mix.&quot;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A huge mistake made by many entrepreneurs was to confuse&nbsp;<em>distribution</em>&nbsp;strategies with&nbsp;<em>product&nbsp;</em>strategies.&nbsp; A product sold online, for example, is not necessarily a new product; it is merely an old product distributed in a new way.&nbsp; That said, various distribution strategies often confer advantages to the companies that use them.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/11/benefits-and-drawbacks-of-internet-banks.asp" target="_blank">Online banks</a>&nbsp;like Capital One or Ally Bank have no branch networks.&nbsp; This advantage allows them to pay higher interest rates than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.&nbsp; However, disruptive distribution models take many years to implement and require patient investors with deep pockets to develop.&nbsp; For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/1196256/it-took-amazon-amzn-14-years-to-make-as-much-net-profit-as-it-did-in-the-fourth-quarter-of-2017/" target="_blank">it took Amazon.com 14 years to become profitable</a>.&nbsp; No matter what distribution strategy you start with, don&#39;t ignore the opportunity to use other channels to sell your product.&nbsp; To do so, you will need to make your product partner-friendly by developing API and other system integration tools.&nbsp; Please see my article on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/15/integrate-or-die" target="_blank">Why Integration is A Digital Marketer&#39;s Superpower.&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How will we make money?</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">This question is the most difficult to answer with certainty with a new product.&nbsp; It is also the most important.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Internet companies have disrupted traditional businesses by moving from conventional, pay-as-you-go sales models to subscription models.&nbsp; The rise of high-speed internet has been a boon to disrupters in the entertainment industry.&nbsp; Netflix disrupted Blockbuster Video Rentals by moving videos online and charging a monthly, all-you-can-eat fee to Netflix users, as did Spotify in music streaming.&nbsp; YouTube TV is streaming traditional cable television, and most entertainment manufacturers like Paramount, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime are developing direct subscription relationships with their viewers.&nbsp; Outside of entertainment, think of something that you use every day, and you may find a subscription model business disrupting it.&nbsp; Dollar Shave Club and Diapers.com (now part of Amazon) are two excellent examples.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Many different business&nbsp;models exist, ranging from the Subscription Model noted above to Distributor and Aggregator and Razor And Blade model and Software as a Service (SAAS).&nbsp; Investment Fund Alcor has created an excellent compendium of&nbsp;<a href="https://alcorfund.com/insight/18-business-model-example-explained/" target="_blank">18 different business models</a>.&nbsp; Our favorite tool for thinking through a new business model is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businessmodelsinc.com/about-bmi/tools/business-model-canvas/" target="_blank">business model canvas</a>&nbsp;designed initially by Alexander Osterwalder of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.strategyzer.com/team/alexander-osterwalder" target="_blank">Strategyzer</a>.&nbsp; The most important part of the message here is that you can be as creative with your business model as product design.&nbsp; Osterwalder uses the examples of Google Advertising and Xerox copies to make his case.&nbsp; Before Google came along, there was no such thing as pay-per-click advertising.&nbsp; And while no one ever wanted to buy a copy machine, most businesses were more than happy to put a copy machine in their offices and pay on a per-copy basis.&nbsp; The business model innovation was part of&nbsp;the new&nbsp;product development in both cases.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The business model canvas is an iterative process, as it is a meeting tool.&nbsp; The key to this process, Osterwalder advises, is to get out of the office and test hypotheses for how your product will make money.&nbsp; And do so iteratively, again and again, until you have defined your business model.&nbsp; His&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzkdJiax6Tw" target="_blank">original YouTube video explaining the tool</a>&nbsp;is worth the forty-five minutes, or so it will take you to watch it.&nbsp; For those who prefer books, Osterwalder has collaborated with David J. Bland on a series of books on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Business-Model-Generation-Visionaries-Challengers-ebook/dp/B06X426D4F/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2SLOONRTO96PF&amp;keywords=profit+models&amp;qid=1644073756&amp;s=digital-text&amp;sprefix=profit+models%2Cdigital-text%2C83&amp;sr=1-6" target="_blank">Business Model Generation</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X429CJH?ref_=dbs_p_pwh_rwt_anx_cl_1&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank">Value Proposition Design</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZZM9FDT?notRedirectToSDP=1&amp;ref_=dbs_mng_calw_2&amp;storeType=ebooks" target="_blank">Testing</a>, among other topics.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Ultimately, It&#39;s About Answers</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The late Harvard Business Professor and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Clayton-M-Christensen-Reader-ebook/dp/B012BLTJH0/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=1644179287&amp;sr=1-5-bc8857be-3dda-4d87-931c-fb888d986596" target="_blank">Disruptive Innovation</a>&nbsp;author Clayton Christenson pointed out that about 95 percent of all new products fail.&nbsp; Asking the right questions and, more importantly,&nbsp;<em>finding the answers</em>&nbsp;to them could make your product one of the lucky five percent that survives!</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> 16Why Integration Is A Digital Marketer's Superpowerhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/15/integrate-or-dieConversion,customer experience,Profit ImprovementTue, 14 Dec 2021 16:17:42 GMT<p><meta name="uuid" content="uuid1Spf1q1Tnhj9" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>&quot;If you want your business to convert customers and lock in online business partners, you need to integrate to create a seamless customer experience.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;</em></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Many years ago, a senior product manager shared this pearl of insight. It was not intuitive to me, but once I understood it, career-changing in its power. Here are some examples of integration and the ways it extends digital marketers&#39; reach:</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Online Advertising and Retargeting.&nbsp;</strong>Facebook/Meta, Google, and LinkedIn, among others, allow advertisers to download a snippet of code and place it on their websites. This code identifies a prospective&nbsp;customer to&nbsp;Google, Facebook, or&nbsp;LinkedIn, respectively, when visiting the&nbsp;advertiser&#39;s website. The javascript codes automatically trigger advertisements on a user&#39;s&nbsp;timeline, or in Google&#39;s case, display ads around the internet. An example using <a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/144576119557578?id=1913105122334058" target="_blank">Facebook</a> will help. Suppose I visit a kayak seller&#39;s website. In that case, the kayak seller&#39;s Facebook code will start advertisements on my Facebook or Instagram timeline. This advertising will occur for days and even weeks after I made the initial visit to the kayak manufacturer&#39;s website. This [re]targeting&nbsp;technique has the aspect of a product following you around the internet! The method has been a boon for the marketers of high involvement products like shoes, cell phones, or kayaks while driving the advertiser&#39;s revenue growth. It is successful because it works.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/business/help/144576119557578?id=1913105122334058" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUiU3MgtGA4" target="_blank">Google</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/help/lms/answer/a420433/get-started-with-linkedin-website-retargeting?lang=en" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>&nbsp;have&nbsp;<em>integrated</em>&nbsp;their digital advertising capabilities with the marketer&#39;s&nbsp;website. This integration allows Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google advertisers to follow their prospects through the often-lengthy buying process.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidv3VhlTIJWaED" /><meta charset="utf-8" />Another way Google allows advertisers to integrate with their partners is through its pay-per-click search advertising extensions. Google allows advertisers to identify their dealer networks through&nbsp;<a href="https://adespresso.com/blog/guide-google-ads-ad-extensions/#AffiliateLocationExtensions" target="_blank">affiliate advertising extensions</a>. Here is how it works. Set up your Google ad for searches on keywords (e.g., &quot;<strong><em>XYZ headphones</em></strong>&quot;), go to extensions for the advertisement, and choose your affiliates who sell these headphones for you. Once the distribution partner is selected, when you run this ad, Google will use geolocation to allow users (people to whom you are selling your headphones) to see your XYZ headphone ad. Below the ad, Google will place an extension, listing nearby locations&nbsp;to buy those headphones through your dealer network.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><meta name="uuid" content="uuidroTIc6jRybRZ" /><meta charset="utf-8" /></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Programmatic Advertising.&nbsp;</strong>There is no better example of marketing integration than Programmatic Advertising. With Programmatic, Ad-Tech Companies rent advertising space around the internet. When a user like you visits a page where the ad tech company is leasing space, in the 100 milliseconds it takes for the page to load, the ad tech company:</p> <ol> <li style="text-align: justify;">Looks you up in its databases via cookies;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Determines how much it can bid with its stable of advertisers for an ad delivered to you;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Offers the winning bid in an auction for that ad space, and;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Loads an eerily relevant ad to you into the leased advertising space.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> </ol> <p style="text-align: justify;">Now, put some machine learning on the back end, allowing the ad tech company to integrate with many large-scale databases and optimize CPM advertising. You have the makings of a seamless, efficient, and highly customized way of delivering display advertising to you. Because of the obvious privacy concerns around this kind of advertising, how the advertisers manage the &quot;electronic plumbing&quot; that makes this possible is, forgive the pun, highly fluid. Follow this link to a good blog piece on&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/2000490/the-death-of-third-party-cookies-will-reshape-digital-advertising/" target="_blank">what is currently happening in the programmatic advertising space</a>. The only thing we know is that programmatic is snowballing and will be around for the foreseeable future.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Online Reservation Management for Restaurants.&nbsp;</strong>Restaurant reservations have moved online to the delight of restauranteur and customers alike. The benefits are readily apparent. The phone no longer needs to be manned at odd or peak hours for the restaurant owner, distracting food prep staff from cooking and dining staff from customers. Online reservation systems like&nbsp;<a href="https://resy.com/resyos/" target="_blank">Resy</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opentable.com/" target="_blank">Open Table</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tablein.com/" target="_blank">Tablein</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://restaurant.eatapp.co/" target="_blank"><em>eat</em></a>&nbsp;automate the reservation process and send follow-up text message confirmation of reservations. They can integrate upstream with online advertisers like Google My Business, Facebook/Meta, Instagram, or TripAdvisor. These systems allow customers like you and me to find a trendy new restaurant online. We can click a link on Google My Business Thursday early morning in our jammies and make a reservation for the last table available at 6 PM on Saturday&#39;s busy holiday season. Downstream integrations for this kind of application allow some systems (like&nbsp;<a href="https://restaurant.opentable.com/products/" target="_blank">Open Table</a>) to integrate with Point of Sale restaurant management systems, enabling restaurant managers to follow a customer from online lead to reservation to Crème Brulé Cheesecake order. The customer insights from this data can be compelling, allowing restaurants to optimize advertising and menu choices and maximize revenue.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Online Giving.&nbsp;</strong>You may be surprised that there is such a thing as church management software and church online giving platforms that allow customers to set up their church donations online. The truth is that we donate more if we set up automatic tithing.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ministrybrands.com/solutions/online-giving/" target="_blank">Ministry Brands</a>&nbsp;owns several online giving platforms and has integrated its payment systems with its church management software. Faith-based organizations can offer secure, flexible giving options tied directly to their church management software&#39;s member management tools, allowing churches to track donations, and recognize, communicate with, and engage their constituents.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>HVAC Manufacturing.&nbsp;</strong>Carrier Corporation, the HVAC vendor,&nbsp;has developed a marketing communications site for downstream dealers. The site allows Carrier dealers to advertise their products to their customers using branded materials developed by Carrier.&nbsp;<a href="https://adkit.carrier.com/en/us/" target="_blank">The online marketing kit</a>&nbsp;includes marketing materials, local radio and television advertising copy, logos, photos of equipment, social media posts &ndash; 12 for each month of the year, even advice on Google My Business and Search Engine Optimization for partner websites. They even offer materials for the recruitment of technicians!&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A supplier to this industry has taken this concept one step further. The agency created a digital platform that allows co-branded marketing between manufacturers and downstream distributors. The technology&nbsp;enables manufacturers to house data on distribution&nbsp;affiliates and the affiliates&#39; prospects in the cloud. The system&nbsp;validates all mailing addresses and&nbsp;eliminates wrong addresses for correction&nbsp;to minimize waste. Users can choose&nbsp;direct mail options or send templated, co-branded emails to recipients. The manufacturer controls branding and content in exchange for subsidized marketing for affiliates.&nbsp; &nbsp;Everybody wins in this formula.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>It&#39;s About Systems Integration</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Okay, so you get the gist of it now. Systems integration is an engineering process concerned with joining two or more systems as one. Innovative companies use system integration to add value by connecting two or more different technologies.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Upstream Integration</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The benefit of integrating with suppliers is that it helps build relationships that last over time and provide opportunities for future growth together while at the same time improving the overall experience for the customer<strong>.</strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;Moreover, through upstream integration, you better understand your supply chain. You can save time and money by eliminating the need for third-party logistics providers. Leadership can cut down on stock-outs and increase customer satisfaction, reducing inventory and materials waste. Finally, integration can simplify product development through suppliers&#39; research and innovation capabilities.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Downstream Integration</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Looking downstream, integrating your vendors can improve your sales and marketing effectiveness. Sharing customer information with a partner can help you better serve that customer. Joining forces with your distributors, you can develop co-marketing plans, partner on events or sponsorship together, share marketing materials and content online to reach new audiences, and create joint customer promotions (e.g., discounts or other incentives). In the brave new world of digital marketing, integration can mean creating that clever piece of code that allows users to add your functionality to theirs. For example,&nbsp;<a href="https://calendly.com/integration" target="_blank">Calendly</a>&nbsp;was a ho-hum calendaring application. Or so I thought until&nbsp;I learned that I could use the application to automate appointment-setting on my&nbsp;websites. Calendly&#39;s website integration&nbsp;allows people on my websites to set appointments with me. Integration with Google calendar, in turn, permits&nbsp;me to see&nbsp;my&nbsp;meetings&nbsp;in one calendar. On my cell phone!</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How to Get Started</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">You may ask&nbsp;<strong><em>how</em></strong>&nbsp;integration opportunities become apparent. Options appear most easily when you and your partners put yourselves in your customers&#39; shoes. That means first researching and defining a customer persona to understand deeply who your customers are and how they shop, buy, and fulfill their needs.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Journey Mapping</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Most importantly, once you have developed this persona, you need to create&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/how-to-build-customer-journey-maps" target="_blank"><strong>customer journey maps</strong></a>&nbsp;to understand what customers want to do and how their needs are underserved by the current process. Draw a flowchart of what your customer does when they shop for and buy your product. Identify any pain points along the way (including during product delivery) and work with your partners and systems folks to make the pain points go away! As the examples above show, those pain points often involve a lack of integration!</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">A favorite example of leveraging customer journey information comes from Patricia Seybold&#39;s Digital Marketing chestnut,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Customers-com-Classic-Patricia-B-Seybold-ebook/dp/B004183XEW/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=patricia+seybold+customers.com&amp;qid=1639427171&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank"><strong><em>Customers.com</em></strong></a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Anyone who has ever rented a car can tell you that walking into the point of sale and renting a car is a time-consuming and patience-challenging experience filled with lots of waiting and filling out forms. In response, Hertz invented the number One Club (now <a href="https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/member/enrollment/skinnyGold/fast?gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;ds_rl=1249110&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAweaNBhDEARIsAJ5hwbfogoadvqufykrx3eqlqbke4-QiDFgyZzdAc4bW2iPvYUIK-J7YO6gaAtK0EALw_wcB" target="_blank">Gold Plus Rewards</a>), which allowed its business customers to leverage the internet and a newly developed Hertz CRM. Customers could provide all the needed information for a car rental in advance (e.g., credit card, driver&#39;s license information, flight info, car preference, etc.) and book rentals online. This new process allowed customers to go to the Hertz desk and pick up their keys, walk to their cars, and show their driver&#39;s license information to get out of the lot, saving hours!&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Making Your Value Proposition Digital</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The pain points for renting a car as a busy professional were waiting to check-in at the rental desk, then having to fill out reams of paper forms. Once I had signed up for Hertz Number One club, I never had to fill out another rental form. Once a member, I never switched, even when Hertz charged more than its competitors. It was worth it to me. Hertz had created a value proposition that served&nbsp;my need for check-in speed. Here is the <em>new</em> Hertz value proposition.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.helpscout.com/blog/value-proposition-examples/" target="_blank"><em>As a persona type <strong>[busy management consultant]</strong>, I need help doing something important&nbsp;<strong>[quickly checking in and picking up my rental]</strong> so that I can achieve my goal <strong>[efficiently leave the airport and drive to see my client].</strong></em></a><i>&nbsp;</i>Voila<em>,</em>&nbsp;a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/04/27/value-proposition-examples" target="_blank">value proposition</a>&nbsp;using systems integration, is born!</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Why APIs Are Important</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">API stands for&nbsp;<em>Application Programming Interface</em>. For your application&nbsp;to integrate&nbsp;easily with business partners, you will need engineers who are good at developing APIs or other easy, secure methods for integrating with partners. Here&#39;s an example to explain why. Online insurance comparison engine and independent insurance agency Answer Financial offers comparison shopping tools for auto and homeowner&#39;s insurance. These tools allow customers to compare quotes from many different auto insurance companies at a time. To achieve the ability to compare quotes from many companies [all of whom have different pricing algorithms] nearly instantaneously, Answer Financial needed to create&nbsp;<a href="http://www.prweb.com/releases/2006/06/prweb390723.htm" target="_blank">a digital standard end-to-end interface between Answer&#39;s system and insurance companies</a>. This standard was a significant step for the property and casualty insurance industry permitting Answer to integrate with its major insurance carrier partners and winning it an industry award in the process! Two different insurers can differ by as much as $500 in the same consumer rate for the same term. By integrating to provide an easy way to compare rates, Answer Financial&nbsp;allows customers to benefit from integration with its insurance carrier suppliers.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Now It&#39;s Your Turn</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">What are some examples of successful systems/partner integrations from your business? How did you achieve them?</p> 15Three (Non-obvious) Ways to Make Your Business Easier to Find on Googlehttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/14/three-non-obvious-ways-to-make-your-business-easier-to-find-on-googleSEOWed, 17 Nov 2021 19:48:31 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Everyone knows that Google owns the ranch in terms of search. Recently, Google&#39;s leadership has expended much energy around local search, accessibility, and voice search.&nbsp; All three of these trends offer savvy business owners opportunities to be found more quickly without spending lots of money to do it! Failing to harness these three trends can hold you back.&nbsp; Here are three things you need to do.</span></span></p> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">&nbsp;​<strong>Create or Update Your Account on Google My Business (GMB).</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;Google My Business can help a great deal in terms of local Search Results. Whether you&#39;re a dry cleaner, orthopedic surgeon, attorney, or taco restaurant owner, you want&nbsp;<em>and need</em>&nbsp;to be part of the conversation when people enter a search for [<em>your type of business]</em>&nbsp;near me&nbsp;on their phones. Here&#39;s how to set up a free Google My Business Account:</span></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">&nbsp;<b>Find your business on Google Maps.</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;Claim your business if there is a listing; If none exists, create a new listing by adding your business&#39;s physical address and phone number. (You may need to verify your business with Google, so Google is sure you are authorized to manage the account.)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Be sure to&nbsp;<strong>add opening times, contact info, services offered</strong>. Add a link to your website.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Use keywords</strong>&nbsp;in your descriptions. Keywords will help when people search for specific products, services, or businesses on Google.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Add photos</strong>&nbsp;that are of high quality and use all the available space in the photo frame.&nbsp;Make sure you are providing compelling images &ndash; this is the first thing people will see when they look for a business like yours.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Embed </strong>service request, reservations, and appointment setting<strong> links</strong>&nbsp;in the GMB listing.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Upload&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/10/6-steps-to-affordable-video-marketing"><strong>a short video</strong></a>&nbsp;highlighting your business and emphasizing the unique aspects of your service.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">If you have multiple locations, make sure that&nbsp;<strong><em>all&nbsp;</em>your sites appear</strong>&nbsp;in Google My Business.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Keep up to date with what customers are saying about you online&nbsp;<strong>- </strong>monitor reviews.&nbsp;</span></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Address <a href="https://www.ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/7/finding-increased-profits-through-better-complaints-management">customer complaints</a> quickly. If you don&#39;t, customers will take their frustrations out on you in the reviews section of your business listing. These <a href="https://cutthroatmarketing.com/blog/the-only-four-ways-to-delete-google-reviews/">negative reviews</a> are challenging to remove.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Have a happy customer? Send them a note!&nbsp;&nbsp;Request that satisfied customers write a positive review&nbsp;on Google My Business.</span></span></li> </ol> </li> </ol> </li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><b>Write articles about profitable and exciting parts of your business that competitors ignore.</b>&nbsp;&nbsp;One of the easy pitfalls that companies fall into is allowing third parties (SEO Consultants, Ad Agencies) to define their business in SEO terms, with a broad-brush category (usually one with lots of pay-per-click traffic) of competition. Often these one-size-fits-all approaches can ignore part of your business that drives your profits.</span></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Make sure you&nbsp;create content for your business&#39;s low volume, high-profit&nbsp;areas that your competitors ignore.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Find the so-called <a href="https://www.wordstream.com/long-tail-keywords"><em>long tail</em> (less frequently searched) keywords</a>&nbsp;related to your specialty and build content that addresses them. By some estimates, seventy percent of all searches fall into the long-tail category.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Research questions</strong>&nbsp;people typically ask about this area and <strong>write Q &amp; A copy</strong> to answer them. Keep a notebook with questions that your clients ask and update your content periodically to address them. Some examples will clarify:&nbsp;</span></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Attorneys:</strong>&nbsp;Maybe you&#39;re a liability attorney who specializes in a certain kind of court case. Write copy around issues you like to take on and document the questions and answers typical for this case.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">If you&#39;re&nbsp;<strong>a doctor</strong>, perhaps you specialize in a specific type of surgery or procedure at which other doctors do not excel.</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>A dry cleaner</strong>&nbsp;may have a specific type of garment, drapery, or bedding that is profitable to clean and which your competition may not handle well.</span></span></li> </ol> </li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><b>Use Schema Markup for Your Web Pages.&nbsp;&nbsp;</b><a href="https://schema.org/">Schema markups</a> are specialized machine-readable information added to your website that allows search engine bots to categorize and interpret the information on a particular page quickly. <a href="https://backlinko.com/voice-search-seo-study">By some measures</a>, Google pulled as much as 40 percent of voice results from these so-called structured data snippets.</span></span></li> </ol> </li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;"><strong>Make sure your website is accessible</strong>&nbsp;to a wide variety of users. Google is committed to making sure the web is accessible to all users. To its credit, Google&#39;s User Experience Design curriculum emphasizes the so-called curb cut effect &ndash; in essence, the idea that improvements that help people with disabilities help everyone else as well. Curb cuts (ramps at corners) make street crossings accessible to people in wheelchairs.&nbsp; Curb cuts&nbsp;also make life easier for the rest of us&mdash;for&nbsp;example, anyone&nbsp;using a dolly or someone looking at their phone.&nbsp;Google&#39;s search algorithm mimics this effect. It rewards&nbsp;sites accessible to many users,&nbsp;<em>including those with disabilities</em>, and punishes those not. Fortunately, accessibility&nbsp;is becoming easy to test! Follow this link to download a&nbsp;<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/axe-devtools-web-accessib/lhdoppojpmngadmnindnejefpokejbdd?hl=en-US&amp;utm_term=web%20accessibility%20checker&amp;utm_campaign=Search%20-%20axe%20DevTools%20-%20Checker&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_ad=552272061839&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-297561648378&amp;hsa_mt=p&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;hsa_acc=7854167720&amp;hsa_kw=web%20accessibility%20checker&amp;hsa_grp=135123751144&amp;hsa_cam=14920961979&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA7dKMBhBCEiwAO_crFLeljydGPQM4x-_BvlA6xuHiMKtqXKhyN_3LH_ok0hzzNRVHAfciExoCvtsQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">free Chrome extension</a>&nbsp;that tests accessibility. In the meantime, here&#39;s a shortlist of questions to ask about your site:</span></span> <ol> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Does&nbsp;your site work well for both mobile and desktop&nbsp;users?</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Are your website&#39;s page load times short, so customers in low bandwidth parts of the country can access your content?</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Does your site use&nbsp;fonts, colors, and contrast that works&nbsp;for people color blind or otherwise&nbsp;sight-impaired?</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">For the blind, does your&nbsp;site work well with screen readers&nbsp;like Apple VoiceOver and NVDA for Windows?</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">For the hearing impaired, do your&nbsp;videos or audio offer subtitles? (Web apps like <a href="http://www.kapwing.com/subtitles">www.Kapwing.com/subtitles</a> offer affordable tools for doing this)</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">Do your<strong>&nbsp;</strong>photos include alt text<strong>&nbsp;</strong>describing the images and provide a text-only version of your videos (for those who can&#39;t see)?</span></span></li> </ol> </li> </ol> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:larger;">For better or worse, Google dictates the rules for how search works on much of&nbsp;the Internet. Follow the above suggestions, and you&#39;ll rise higher in search rankings, be found more often, and convert more traffic!</span></span></p> 14Why Marketing Post-Covid Will Be About Community and Connectionshttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/13/why-marketing-post-covid-will-be-about-loveContent Development,Conversion Improvement,customer experience,SEOThu, 11 Mar 2021 20:22:19 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;">In the post-Covid-19 economy, our businesses will become increasingly dependent on our digital connections with our customers and community. The longer you have been working in marketing, the more counterintuitive this brave new world will be.&nbsp;&nbsp; From direct mail to email to television and display advertising, traditional marketing weapons are becoming increasingly ineffective. The online search drives nearly everything these days. It is time for a new approach. Today&#39;s marketing must leverage&nbsp;technology&#39;s power and integrate&nbsp;the community&#39;s human appeal.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Here are some examples driving this trend:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;">Online Meeting Platforms, Zoom, and Teams wake up to find their online meeting platforms&#39; businesses are exploding. Everything from bible study to classrooms to business meetings has gone online.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">The online streaming service, Hulu, offers a&nbsp;&quot;Watch Party&quot; service that <a href="https://help.hulu.com/s/article/watch-party?language=en_US" target="_blank">permits subscribers to watch movies and shows together</a>, using Hulu to connect online and jointly watch synchronized content from different locations.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://portal.facebook.com/products/portal/?utm_source=gg&amp;utm_medium=a_ps&amp;utm_campaign=6466155258&amp;utm_term=facebook%20portal&amp;utm_content=502615399172&amp;utm_ad=74850662342&amp;utm_location=9013447&amp;utm_location2&amp;utm_placement=kwd-391571568194&amp;utm_adposition&amp;utm_device=c&amp;utm_matchype=e&amp;utm_feed=134437763763&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAnKeCBhDPARIsAFDTLTJSfE8ERaWjFUjOVHtzsue3fLuIriFi_F_-EtvP2vLzT6kZWfvI1L4aAtrVEALw_wcB" target="_blank">Facebook&#39;s portal system</a> allows users, families, and friends to make smart video calls from a device in their living rooms.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Amazon Prime turns 150 million Prime members into a streaming, online books, audiobooks, and entertainment distribution channel.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Girl Scouts are leveraging geo-lookup technology and <a href="https://www.today.com/food/girl-scout-cookies-home-delivery-here-s-how-order-online-t177027" target="_blank">have partnered with Grub Hub</a> to make&nbsp;cookies more available. You can even&nbsp;arrange contact-free delivery in many locations across the US.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;">Ministry Brands, a software company for nonprofits, helps churches around the United States manage everything from <a href="https://www.ministrybrands.com/solutions/live-streaming/" target="_blank">online Church service video streaming</a> to <a href="https://www.easytithe.com/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_term=%2Bonline%20%2Bgiving&amp;utm_campaign=Giving+BMM&amp;utm_source=adwords&amp;utm_medium=ppc&amp;hsa_acc=3413534549&amp;hsa_cam=331299986&amp;hsa_grp=29696239826&amp;hsa_ad=418256446231&amp;hsa_src=g&amp;hsa_tgt=kwd-19412610014&amp;hsa_kw=%2Bonline%20%2Bgiving&amp;hsa_mt=b&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiAnKeCBhDPARIsAFDTLTKc4AgU-KhouK3iXCY7t2ZNubWJwFAbW1ofAjO9qlFKa-DjD1sPEZYaAtncEALw_wcB" target="_blank">online offering collections</a> and <a href="https://www.ministrybrands.com/solutions/background-screening/" target="_blank">background checks online</a>. Business is brisk.</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What&#39;s going on here?&nbsp; </strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The answer is one part Pandemic, two parts software development.&nbsp;&nbsp; Nir Eyal can help us understand how and why this happens from the software perspective. Eyal is&nbsp;Stanford MBA and behavioral scientist who wrote a book called,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LMGLXTS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&amp;btkr=1" target="_blank">Hooked</a>. The book&nbsp;has taken the software development world by storm. Eyal started creating online games and learned how to make communities of gamers who couldn&#39;t stop playing his company&#39;s games.&nbsp; &nbsp;In his book, Eyal builds on the gaming software paradigm to show how to build habit-forming products of all kinds.&nbsp;&nbsp; His formula for success involves a four-step process of creating a trigger (say, an email from Facebook saying one of your friends posted on Facebook), action (posting a comment), variable reward (likes for your comment), and investment (making some posts of your own gradually over time.)&nbsp; Community, it turns out, is addictive. By isolating us, the Pandemic has added fuel to the fire.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>The Big Changes Afoot in Marketing</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em>&quot;Two-thirds of marketing is taking place without us [the marketers]&quot; </em>intones East-Tennessee-based <a href="https://youtu.be/3cg5oLPCzd4?t=73" onclick="window.open(this.href, '', 'resizable=yes,status=no,location=no,toolbar=no,menubar=no,fullscreen=no,scrollbars=no,dependent=no'); return false;">Mark Shafer, online marketing guru and author of <em>Marketing Rebellion</em></a>, &quot;<strong><em>...</em></strong><em>Our hyper-empowered, tech-enabled customers have moved to a different place.&quot;</em><strong><em> </em></strong>In a recent Harvard Business Review (HBR) article, <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/01/when-community-becomes-your-competitive-advantage" target="_blank">When Community Becomes Your Competitive Advantage</a>, HBR&#39;s Jeffrey Bussgang and Jono Bacon take the idea one step further<strong>: &quot;</strong><em>If a company can transition from simply delivering a product to building a community, they can unlock extraordinary competitive advantages and create a superior business model.&quot;&nbsp;</em>Among Mark Shafer&#39;s solutions is User Generated Content (UGC). Shafer suggests <a href="https://businessesgrow.com/2020/08/24/content-isnt-king/">leveraging UGC content</a>, much as a surfer might ride a wave (rather than be hit by it.) HBR authors Bussgang and Bacon believe businesses need to create an environment that &quot;incentivizes the behavior [the business wants] to see, exposes the value generated, and highlights and rewards great participation.&quot;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">There are social, business, and technological underpinnings to these trends. &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Social - We crave connections of all kinds.&nbsp;</strong>The past year of Covid-19 isolation has been a lonely one for most of us. The big winners of the Pandemic have been pound dogs, suburban real estate agents, and, well, online communities. To give some dimensions to this trend, Facebook has reported <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-statistics/" target="_blank">1.8 Billion people to use Groups</a> to join communities of different kinds on Facebook. As Eyal&#39;s model prescribes, we are rewarded with likes from like-minded individuals when we contribute views and content to Facebook Groups. Affinity is revenue in many fields, such as journalism, entertainment, and product promotion. Tweets, clicks, and likes drive this.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Business - Social Proof Drives Conversion and Lowers Acquisition Cost.&nbsp;</strong>Positive comments from third parties about you, your company, or your product provide&nbsp;<em>social proof</em>. Social proof is valuable. While it may not necessarily be from a friend or family member, social proof offers an endorsement that says this product or service is trustworthy. Think about the last time you went somewhere new. &nbsp;&nbsp;Did you ask someone where the best place to eat or shop was? Did you take them up on their recommendation? This is how social proof works. From Amazon&#39;s &quot;People who shopped for this, also bought&quot; to Shopify add-ons to Google My Business page customers reviews, <a href="https://optinmonster.com/social-proof-software-tools/" target="_blank">software tools for providing social proof</a> abound. We trust, therefore we convert.&nbsp; &nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Technology - User-Generated Content Improves Search Rankings.&nbsp;</strong>There are several reasons User Generated Content makes it easier for search engines to find you:</li> </ol> <ul style="margin-left: 40px;"> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Constantly Updated Content.&nbsp;</strong>Harnessing the power of customer comments means your customers are doing the content development for you 24/7. This keeps you on your toes as to both trends and problems. Google treats user-generated content of a site as your content but gives you tools to manage it as well. See a recent video on <a href="https://youtu.be/muCwZcORL0k" target="_blank">how Google Search handles UGC here</a>.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Keywords Oh My!&nbsp;</strong>When customers write about your product in their own words, they increase your site&#39;s amount of content. The users&#39; vocabulary is not yours, so the content they create provides large numbers of <a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/7-brilliant-examples-of-brands-driving-long-tail-organic-traffic/" target="_blank">so-called long-tail (less-frequently used) keywords</a> to your site. Think of it as casting an ever-broader SEO net for your content.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Links Galore.</strong>&nbsp; &nbsp;Users pepper their content with links to content on your site, links to other sites, and social media connections. These links improve SEO. The more high-authority websites link to your site, the higher your page ranking becomes.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>More Trust.&nbsp;</strong>Research has shown that <a href="https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey-2014/" target="_blank">consumers trust other users much more than brands</a>.&nbsp; &nbsp; Google and other search engines trust user-generated content as much as they do yours because&nbsp;users speak the truth about their interactions with your brand.</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Start with Google My Business and Facebook</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">So, how should your business leverage this trend? We recommend our clients start with baby steps. Since Google owns the ranch in search, we recommend spending the small amount of time it takes to have a robust Google My Business (GMB) page. GMB pages are free to set up, and your GMB page is what people are searching for your business usually see first.&nbsp;&nbsp; Ensure every satisfied customer writes a review by following up with them post-purchase with a link to your GMB reviews page. Integrate hours information and appointment setting capabilities, and if you have multiple offices, make sure all of them appear in the GMB locations. Add answers to frequently asked questions and take the time to tell Google detailed information about your products and services. GMB&#39;s capabilities are growing almost daily, so <a href="https://www.callrail.com/blog/guide-to-google-my-business/" target="_blank">stay abreast of changes and update GMB</a> once a quarter. Facebook small business pages offer a similar suite of capabilities to GMB and should be managed and updated similarly.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Building A Product Reviews Capability</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">For larger organizations with larger budgets, consider adding user-generated content to any products you sell online. Ensure that you find ways to provide social proof to your product profiles.&nbsp;&nbsp; Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings in this category is growing quickly. Larger, more established providers include <a href="https://www.bazaarvoice.com/" target="_blank">Bazaarvoice</a> and <a href="https://www.trustpilot.com/" target="_blank">Trustpilot</a>, among many others. Even Shopify offers a <a href="https://apps.shopify.com/product-reviews" target="_blank">product reviews app</a>.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>B2B Solutions</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">For companies operating in the B2B space, the advisory council is a valuable way of creating community. As the Pandemic allows, select a group of your best customers and invite them to join you are a resort somewhere pleasant. &nbsp; &nbsp;Pay for their hotel and meals for a few days in exchange for their input in round table discussions. If this is not possible, a zoom meeting or two rewarded by some gifts can work. For example, ten years ago, one vendor gave me a Gortex golf suit which I still have today! &nbsp; Use these customer councils to test your hypotheses about new products and enlist their help defining new ones. &nbsp; Prioritize opportunities to improve margins, create a competitive advantage, and enhance the customer experience. &nbsp; Make sure to take action on their gripes so that they know you value their insights.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Community Building</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Digital or not, our community is where we find it. Here are some examples from my community. My friend who owns a fence contracting business gets referrals from the neighborhood Facebook page. Another friend, who owns smoothie franchises, donates smooth drinks at local golf fundraisers and hands out free drink cards to student-athletes to build customer-trial. A local orthopedic clinic provides its staff to work the sidelines of local football games and prioritizes scheduling&nbsp;injured athletes. A local restaurant hosts post-game&nbsp;drinks&nbsp;and snacks for a&nbsp;local high school football team&#39;s parents and coaches. Another company I know monitors post office address changes and offers welcome wagon security upgrades to new arrivals. Our church&#39;s&nbsp;services and giving are online now.&nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The possibilities are endless! Make them digital and see them scale!</p> 13Business In a Post-COVID-19 Worldhttps://ronrassociates.com/Rons-Blog/PostId/12/business-in-a-post-covid-19-worldcustomer experience,Customer Relationship Management,Customer Service,Profit Improvement,RetentionWed, 01 Apr 2020 16:07:25 GMT<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The Corona Virus pandemic has changed the way we do business.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">And while we can debate how and when things will return to &quot;normal,&quot; it would be naive to think that the business environment post-COVI-19 pandemic will be like the one before it.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">How will it change?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Dramatically. And Forever.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Here&#39;s why. Online meetings, chat, and collaboration technologies have been around for a long time. But their adoption outside of the tech sector has been relatively slow until now. The Safe at Home requirement enforced in most states forced&nbsp;us to change the way we do everything. In the process, we are all learning new, remote working skills. These skills will permanently change the way we shop and work. Indeed, the broadband revolution, previously driven mostly by entertainment demand, in the post-COVID-19 world, is forcing the adoption of work-from-home technologies.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, most white-collar workers -- from lawyers to reporters to accountants to salespeople to human resources professionals -- have had to learn how to use these technologies from home or stop working. And adopt they have. Dining room tables and spare bedrooms across the country have turned into impromptu offices. This trend will continue. Look for more and more remote work as employers and employees alike become more comfortable with these technologies. The costs of maintaining large offices become increasingly dangerous (and economically redundant.)</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Call centers provide another example. Companies with call centers, especially those in high-cost metropolitan areas with good residential bandwidth, began leveraging Virtual Private Network (VPN) technologies nearly a decade ago. Pioneering employers developed the capability to manage telephone queues, route calls, monitor performance, and deliver all the technology available in the call center to employees working remotely. Implementation amounted to creating a platform to transfer the telephony, call routing, management oversight, and any call center desktop software into something that can work over a VPN, then training workers to use that technology from home in a &quot;virtual call center&quot; solution. This capability saved thousands of dollars in office costs for employers and provided great flexibility in disasters. It also made employees happy because they no longer had to commute to work! In places like Atlanta, New York, or Los Angeles, these initiatives were a home run. Now, this technology also makes those same employees safe from the virus and, increasingly, assures their employers&#39; economic viability.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Grocers and other high volume retailers have grudgingly moved into online shopping services. For many, this was mostly a defensive measure in response to Amazon&#39;s competitive incursions, but in the post-COVID-19 competitive environment, this adjunct service is becoming essential. Look for customers to increasingly avail themselves of delivery services and drive further change in the retail sector. Look for workers to organize and gain power as they become increasingly important. And look for their employers to automate those jobs away in response.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">In the manufacturing realm, in March 2020, Reuters reported, &quot;A shortage of workers and restrictions on human contact because of the coronavirus pandemic is driving up demand for service robots in China.&quot; So it will go around the globe. Robots can&#39;t get sick, and their relatively high fixed cost becomes increasingly attractive as workers become scarce.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Small businesses are adapting too. A few examples:</p> <ul> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Car Repair.</strong>&nbsp;High-end auto repair shops have, for decades, offered to drive customers home while they waited for repairs. With only a slight change in the model, innovative auto mechanics offer to pick up, repair, sanitize, and drop off vehicles once they finish the repairs.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Churches.&nbsp; &nbsp;</strong>Even before the COVID-19 outbreak, a&nbsp;little church we attended used&nbsp;Facebook&#39;s free live streaming capability to share church services electronically with its congregation. Many of the members of this church have to travel on weekends.&nbsp; They also use an electronic e-giving application for donations.&nbsp; If your church doesn&#39;t do this yet, now is the time to learn.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Dry Cleaning.&nbsp;</strong>Dry cleaners who offered drive-through, pick-up, and delivery services targeting their most prominent customers have refocused their offering to provide this service to everyone. In the face of declining to nonexistent traffic, offering remote laundry pick up and sanitization services seems to be one of the few ways forward.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Restaurants.</strong>&nbsp;Take out and food delivery, once the focus of fast-food restaurants is moving upscale as restaurants must deliver or close.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Pet Groomers.</strong>&nbsp;Pet grooming is nonessential, but Fifi, the labradoodle, will need a cut sooner or later. Remote grooming services that pick up, groom, and return dogs curbside in front of their master&#39;s home provide an agile response.</li> <li style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Hardware Stores.</strong>&nbsp;An ingenious manager&nbsp;at the local Bearden Elder&#39;s Ace&nbsp;hardware store took some plexiglass and a couple of two-by-one strips of wood&nbsp;and fitted the checkout with a clear plexiglass cover face level at all the registers. Shouldn&#39;t all stores have these? &nbsp;</li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">You get the gist.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">The bottom line? As you ponder your business and its economic future from home over the next few weeks (or months), business leaders think hard about how your company works, sells, and delivers services to people who aren&#39;t allowed to leave their homes. The time to improvise, invest, and the test is now.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">How can you meet customer needs in this strange new world? The answer is your opportunity. It may even be the key to your business&#39;s economic survival.&nbsp;</p> 12