Blogs on Marketing & Sales Management

In an ever-evolving marketplace, the services industry is a fast-growing sector which is helping the world economy grow quickly. However, services marketing is a very intricate process that needs to be reviewed after every service encounter with the consumer unlike tangible goods. For this, being aware of the different models of services marketing is necessary. With a beginner-friendly approach to the field of services marketing, Vishal Desai’s book ‘Services Marketing Essentials You Always To Know’ is an excellent resource for learning the fundamental tactics needed to achieve rapid and effective growth in your business. This blog presents 8 strategies you need to consider while designing an effective services marketing campaign for your organization. Understanding the Universal Characteristics of Services Before launching a marketing campaign, it's important to understand the following unique traits of service offerings: Uncertainty: Unlike products, services cannot be maintained or tested. Hence, there is always some amount of uncertainty about the final quality of service delivery. Heterogeneity: Service quality varies across providers due to which delivering a consistent experience to every customer becomes difficult.    Non-storable: A service cannot be maintained or restored. Thus, every interaction is an opportunity to build (or break) a relationship with the customer.  Human Element: The human element plays an important role in service delivery. Sensitizing your employees towards customer-centricity is a crucial factor. Implementing these 8 strategies as a definite plan of action can improve your customer retention. 8 Strategies for Effective Services Marketing: Let us explore the real world of services marketing where implementing the following tactics will certainly bring success for your company. 1. Know and Re-know Your Customer Knowing your audience thoroughly is the foundation of a successful marketing campaign. Thus, conducting market research, analyzing customer data, and listening to every word of customer feedback is essential. Understand what their needs and expectations are. Research is the foundation of all marketing efforts. From consumer buying behavior research to exhaustive scientific research, it can help you make more informed decisions. Companies can grow faster and be more profitable than peers who don’t carry out any research. 2. Storytelling: Paint a Picture, Don’t Just List FactsFacts and figures are useful, but not mind-blowing. Use your marketing skills to create compelling stories that demonstrate a transformative impact of your service. Write customer success stories, highlight real-world applications, and integrate brand values to create an emotional connection. Customize your messages and channels to fit your brand’s personality. 3. Experience is King (and Queen)In the service industry, customer experience is the product. From the initial contact to after-sales support, touchpoints play an important role in shaping the customer's perception and satisfaction level. Optimize your service delivery process and regularly measure customer satisfaction.  Remember, satisfied customers are your biggest brand advocates. It is imperative to reduce the level of uncertainty in service delivery by training, skilling, up-skilling, and re-skilling your workforce. Implementing automation can also help reduce the level of uncertainty. At times, it may be necessary to maintain one-to-one interaction with each of your customers and customize your offering to suit their individual needs. 4.The Digital Stage: Where Intangible Assets are CreatedYour company’s website is undoubtedly the most critical asset in the service marketplace today. It’s not just an information billboard, as many companies believe. A good website is the heart of a service firm’s online presence and having an infographics-rich presentation of your service offering is crucial in influencing customer’s decision-making process. Test your expertise by creating informative website content. Use the power of online platforms to showcase your services and customer reviews. Use social media to connect with your audience and explore video marketing. In the digital era,  content is king. So share valuable knowledge, answer questions, and build relationships through authentic online interaction. Accept negative customer reviews to redefine and calibrate your service delivery processes. 5. Display Accolades and Build Trust Demonstrations are good, but building trust takes many steps. Showcase your expertise and experience through industry associations, display relevant certifications, and promote positive media coverage. Clarity is important, so address potential concerns and negative feedback. 6. Adapt Newer TechnologiesThe service environment is ever-evolving. Stay ahead by exploring new technologies such as virtual and augmented reality to showcase or demonstrate your service and persuade the consumer to make a purchase decision. Use automation to standardize the service delivery or AI-powered analytic tools to gather insights on consumer behavior. Improve your productivity and stand out from the crowd. 7. Reward Loyal Customers Your loyal customers are your brand ambassadors. Incentivize them to spread the word about your services and share their experiences. Create a good loyalty program to reward them. Give them referral discounts if they get their acquaintances to enroll for or subscribe to your services. This is the most cost-effective manner of acquiring new customers. 8. Don’t Forget the Competition Keep an eye on what your competitors are offering to their customers. Can you maintain the same service standards as theirs? Can you pull their customers towards your offerings? What are the gap areas in the service delivery of your competitors? Can you fill in that gap? Such questions can help you stay ahead of the game. Remember: Services marketing is a long marathon, not a 100-meter race. Consistency, customer focus, and willingness to adapt are keys to success. By curating experiences, harnessing the power of storytelling, and embracing digital tools, you can capture the beauty of effective service marketing strategies and watch your business soar. Vishal Desai, an expert professional with two decades of experience in the field of sales and marketing, offers a thorough explanation of marketing methods in his book: ‘Services Marketing Essentials You Always Wanted to Know’ so that you can identify and deploy the right services marketing techniques.  

1. That’s Where All the Customers Are! Despite the industry to which a business belongs, its customers are likely on social media. With almost 60% of the world’s population using social media, it has become imperative for businesses to use this medium to reach out to their target audience. Building a brand on social media will help your potential customers find your business easily. People are using social media pages to find and research brands and products, read reviews, post queries, give feedback, and help them with their buying decisions. For example, if a customer is looking for a poolside restaurant offering a candlelight dinner, they may search for it on Instagram or Facebook. Not having a Facebook and Instagram page will make the restaurant lose this customer’s business. Ideally, businesses should regularly post offers, information about new products and engaging messages that will help them gain new customers. 2. Moving with the Times The world around us is changing and so should we. History has shown us how those who didn’t adapt to changing technology and trends lost momentous opportunities and were thrown out of the game in some cases. If this dynamic environment has taught us something, it is adapting to the latest technology and keeping oneself abreast of changing times. While traditional media is in no way obsolete, the technological age that we are living in demands the use of social media marketing. With cell phones or handheld computers in the hands of most people, social media is just a click away. Social media has over 4 billion users, which is expected to grow to 6 billion by 2027. This makes it a formidable tool to be used by marketers. 3. Engagement, Engagement, Engagement! Customers are the key to any business’ survival and growth. Any business looking to generate brand awareness, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction needs to be able to engage its customers. Customer engagement means delivering personal experiences to your customers by cultivating relationships with them through active communication instead of single, one-off, or fleeting transactions. In this modern era, where technology is at our fingertips, engaging with customers has never been easier. Traditional media doesn’t provide much scope for customer engagement. Social media, on the other hand, is all about engagement. Social media marketing strategies must be designed keeping this in mind and businesses must develop social media marketing content that will attract their customers’ interest and help build a long relationship with them through continued communication. Engagement is one of the most important social media metrics used to measure the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. Therefore, brands build social communities to increase customer engagement, which if done correctly, can result in increased brand awareness and loyalty. 4. Social Media Helps Target Ideal Customers Using social media advertising, businesses can target their advertising campaigns towards users who are most likely to buy their products. Businesses need to define their target customers and understand their behavior. Social media platforms provide valuable data on customers looking to buy products, e.g. their age, gender, location, web page history, transactional data, and much more. This can be used by businesses to optimize their advertising, make it more effective, and target the ideal customers. This translates into increased website traffic, brand recognition, and conversions. The cookies from customers’ browsers are also used to gain insights into their search history, likes, dislikes, and buying habits. With so much data and information, social media is, indeed, a valuable tool that businesses cannot afford to ignore if they want to cash in on its benefits. 5. It is Cost-Effective Social media marketing helps cut costs compared to other media like print and television. Running advertising campaigns on TV, newspapers, radio, hoardings, and other traditional media incurs huge advertising costs. Social media, on the other hand, is relatively cost-effective. Just by investing a few hours per week on social media, businesses can yield great results. The CPM (Cost Per Thousand) on social media is almost 3 times less than traditional media, making it an extremely cost-effective medium. It is especially beneficial for small businesses having limited advertising budgets and manpower. Even if a business decides to use social media marketing extensively as an important part of its media mix and social media marketing strategy, it still remains significantly cost-effective. So even with small budgets and fewer resources, businesses can run social media advertising campaigns on Facebook, X, Instagram (Read Instagram for Small Businesses: A Short Guide to Leveraging Instagram), YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other social media platforms, have the desired impact on their target audience, and increase their inbound webpage traffic, and convert new leads. Social Media Marketing Essentials You Always Wanted To Know is an all-encompassing guide to get your social media marketing fundamentals in line. Also read: How to Create a Marketing Plan Ethics in Market Research 4 Relationship Marketing Strategies Successfully Used by Big Brands      

Today, the services sector accounts for almost half of the global GDP. Services have unique characteristics which are different from those of physical goods. At the same time, many businesses today offer a blend of tangible goods and intangible services. Hence, it is said that every business is a service business. This makes it imperative for marketers to adopt a differentiated approach to services marketing. This blog suggests cues to build a strong services marketing base that can prove to be beneficial for enhancing your company’s service quality. For this, understanding the distinctive nature of services is essential. Unique Nature of Services Services have unique characteristics compared to physical goods: Intangibility - Services cannot be seen or sensed before purchase. This leads to a perceived risk of customer dissatisfaction for the consumer as compared to tangible goods which can be physically checked before the purchase decision. Inseparability - Services are produced and consumed simultaneously, requiring the provider and the consumer to interact in a live environment. Heterogeneity - Each service experience is unique due to human involvement and thus, standardization is difficult. Perishability - Services cannot be inventoried or saved for consumption later. Unused service capacity is lost revenue for a business. At the same time, they do not have any shelf life for the consumers. These traits have implications for marketing strategy. Firms must find ways to reduce uncertainty, demonstrate service quality, and align demand with variable supply. To deal with the dynamic nature of services, the following best practices can be useful:   Understanding the Marketing Mix is crucial as the 7Ps influence each other and build a strong service marketing base. Extending the Marketing Mix to 7Ps Due to the unique nature of services, the conventional marketing mix of 4Ps (Product, Price, Promotion, Place) must be expanded to 7Ps for services marketing. This is called the Extended Marketing Mix comprising of additional 3Ps as follows:- People - Customer interactions in the service industry depend heavily on staff skills and attitudes. Firms should focus on careful hiring and training, and empower their employees with incentives to maximize customer satisfaction.  Process - Well-designed and efficient processes for service delivery are crucial to providing consistent quality and customized service. Physical Evidence - Customers rely on tangible cues like décor, ambiance, and staff appearance and attitude to evaluate service quality. Getting the 7Ps right is the key to managing perceived service quality. Measuring Perceived Service Quality Historically, various service marketing theories have stated that consumer satisfaction while consuming services is a function of the consumer’s expectation and perception of the service quality finally delivered. The insights include the following: Customers have a zone of tolerance for variability in service performance by the service provider. Staying within this range satisfies them. Service firms must narrow the gap between client expectations and actual delivery. Both, the quality and the manner of service delivery matter, i.e. what is delivered and how it is delivered. A tracking metric like a customer satisfaction score can provide actionable data to improve quality. Understanding Consumer Behavior Consumer choice of services depends on the following attributes. Marketers should promote their services accordingly.                                      a) Search attributes - Potential customers have some idea of what they expect from a service before its purchase as they compare different factors such as availability, price, quality, etc, for example, banking services.         b) Experience attributes - The quality of service delivery cannot be anticipated till the actual service delivery has happened. However, after the delivery, consumers can measure the service quality, for example, pest control services.      c) Credence attributes - Even after the actual service delivery, customers may not be able to measure the quality of service provided by the service provider as the customers do not have the required knowledge for measuring the service quality, for example, surgery for a rare ailment. Thus, they tend to rely on brand reputation or testimonies of other consumers to make their choices. Brand perception of the service provider is shaped by the brand’s alignment with the consumer’s value system, reviews of other customers, and expected customer support quality. Meeting the expectations of consumers is crucial. Service failure and resulting consumer dissatisfaction should be preempted but quick recovery helps regain goodwill among the customers. Unconditional service guarantees are the best marketing tool to build customer trust. Regular surveys, focus groups, and data analysis reveal the factors influencing consumer’s decision-making process.   A holistic approach to enhancing customer experience can be beneficial for providing quality services and increasing customer retention. Improving or Meeting Customer Experience Innovation in areas like personalization, customer support, and self-service improves the user experience. Making a service blueprint visualizes the customer journey and identifies pain points to address during service delivery. Physical evidence like ambient conditions and spatial layout affects customer behavior and it must align with the brand’s positioning. Defining and meeting customer-driven service standards is vital for customer satisfaction. Aligning Marketing with Delivery Marketing communication activities by the service provider communicate the promised quality of service delivery experience across touchpoints. But, such communication must match delivery to avoid disconfirmation by the customers. Employees play a big role in co-creating service value. An internal marketing approach to sensitize them towards matching expected service delivery is crucial. Forecasting demand and managing capacity utilization to serve the customers are a must to match demand and supply. At times, stretching an organization’s resources may be necessary to cater to additional demand that is greater than the usual supply capacity. In summary, services marketing requires a focus on the complete customer experience from promise to delivery. Grasping the unique characteristics of services allows firms to formulate an integrated marketing strategy that attracts and retains happy customers. Key Takeaways Understand how services fundamentally differ from physical goods  Apply the 7Ps of the extended marketing mix to services  Measure and analyze customer expectations, perceptions, and satisfaction Innovate continually to improve service quality and delivery Invest in employees to deliver consistent and superior services Make only those promises that operations can fulfill Adopting these best services marketing practices can help your business delight customers and outperform competitors.  A more comprehensive overview of the best practices in marketing and managing services is available in the book ‘Services Marketing Essentials You Always Wanted to Know’ by Vibrant Publishers. Unlike physical goods, services are intangible, perishable, variable, and inseparable from the provider. The author of the book, Vishal Desai, discusses strategies to address these unique characteristics. The book is an invaluable guide for marketing students and professionals to master strategic services marketing.    

In today's rapidly evolving digital age, businesses are harnessing the power of digital marketing to connect with their target audience, boost brand awareness, drive sales, and outpace the competition. This blog explores the pivotal role of digital marketing in modern business and how it has revolutionized the way companies interact with consumers.  1. Enhanced Reach and Targeting Digital marketing breaks down geographical barriers, allowing businesses to reach a global audience. Utilizing online platforms, social media, and search engines, companies can target specific demographics, interests, behaviors, and locations. This hyper-targeted approach results in higher engagement rates and increased conversion opportunities.   2. Cost-Effectiveness Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing offers a cost-effective alternative. Strategies like pay-per-click (PPC) and social media ads enable businesses to set budgets and pay only for interactions. Additionally, email marketing and content marketing yield substantial returns on investment, making it accessible even for small and medium-sized businesses.   3. Real-Time Data and Analytics Digital marketing empowers businesses with real-time data and analytics. Tracking website traffic, measuring ad performance, monitoring social media engagement, and analyzing email campaign metrics provide valuable insights. This data-driven approach allows marketers to make informed decisions, optimize strategies, and allocate resources effectively.   4. Personalization and Customer Experience Digital marketing facilitates personalized experiences for customers through website personalization, dynamic content, and targeted messaging. By catering to individual preferences and behaviors, businesses can enhance customer experience, foster loyalty, and increase repeat business. (Head to Why Different Organizations Need Different Business Plans for more)   5. Engagement and Interaction Engaging customers is essential in digital marketing. Social media platforms offer a direct line of communication for real-time conversations, feedback, and customer service. Interactive content, such as videos, polls, quizzes, and contests, encourages active engagement, building a strong brand community and fostering brand loyalty.   6. Search Engine Visibility and SEO Visibility in search engine results is vital for businesses in the digital era. Implementing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques improves a company's search rankings. Appearing on the first page of search results boosts organic traffic, credibility, and brand recognition.   7. Agility and Adaptability Digital marketing enables businesses to be agile and adapt quickly to market trends, consumer behavior, and emerging technologies. By staying abreast of social media trends and responding promptly, companies can capitalize on opportunities. A/B testing and iterative improvements allow businesses to refine strategies and stay ahead of the competition.   8. Measurable Results and ROI Digital marketing provides clear and measurable results, making it easier to calculate return on investment (ROI). Detailed analytics track key performance indicators (KPIs), determining the success of marketing efforts. This data-driven approach justifies marketing budgets, allocates resources strategically, and optimizes campaigns for better results. Digital marketing has revolutionized modern business, enabling companies to connect with audiences, deliver personalized experiences, and access real-time data and insights. Embracing digital marketing is no longer an option but a necessity for businesses seeking success in the digital age. As technology continues to evolve, digital marketing will remain at the forefront of modern business strategies, driving lasting relationships with customers and sustainable growth in the dynamic digital landscape. Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know is the newest addition to our Self-Learning Management series. The book is for anyone who seeks to learn or revise their marketing fundamentals, which will help them develop their skills to keep up and even have an edge over their peers. Also read: 5 Essential Skills To Learn This Holiday Season Agile Way of Working How to create a Marketing Plan

The social media landscape has undergone major changes since we started using Facebook in the 2000s. While social media is used for social networking, it has also provided businesses with the opportunity to market their products to their target audiences. Social media marketing has grown to be an integral part of the media mix of companies across the globe (head to How to Create a Marketing Plan for more). Various studies have shown that over 90% of US companies having more than 100 employees are using social media marketing. Worldwide too, the percentage of businesses using social media marketing to reach their target audience is more or less the same. This shows that social media marketing is a vast and growing field, providing several career opportunities. Individuals looking for career opportunities can consider social media marketing as it provides various career paths and opportunities for growth. Youngsters looking to enter this field may be confused regarding where to begin and what are the various job profiles available. In the current marketing environment, social media plays a vital role in advertising, brand management, and customer service. Social media marketers are required to help businesses operate and grow. There are numerous career paths available in this area. Here are a few career paths you can consider:   1. Social Media Marketing Manager A social media marketing manager is responsible for communicating with the clients and customers of a business using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Individuals who have a passion for social media and finding innovative ways to connect with people are best suited for this role. Social media managers must have excellent communication skills and must be good at customer service as they are required to monitor customers’ feedback and promptly respond to them. You must also possess creative writing ability to create content for the audience on various platforms. Moreover, you must have good planning and organizational skills to schedule various social media marketing activities. Sound knowledge of various social media tools, like tools for content creation, social media analytics tools, and social media metrics, is a must. Individuals having experience in advertising, marketing, or public relations can enter this area. Freshers with good knowledge of social media marketing and all the requisite skills mentioned above can enter this field as well. You will oversee social media marketing plans, social media marketing strategy, and day-to-day social media activities such as posts, advertising, and so on.   2. Social Media Marketing Analyst A person with good knowledge of social media along with marketing analytics can become a social media marketing analyst. You should be able to identify and understand current and future trends in social media marketing. A social media marketing analyst heads the qualitative and quantitative measurement of the business’s social media marketing performance. Your job would include measuring performance, preparing reports, providing strategic support, providing supporting analysis and reports for the business’s social media marketing campaigns, analyzing the social media marketing content and social media marketing strategies, and the impact of social media marketing plans across various platforms. You must possess a good understanding of marketing analytics and must be able to examine and analyze the decisions and their impact on the business.   3. Social Media Consultant Businesses looking to evaluate their current social media marketing strategy or social media profiles may hire social media consultants. If you have gained considerable social media expertise, you may consider becoming a social media consultant. You can work as a freelancer or join a social media marketing agency, where you’ll manage multiple client relationships. You will also need to advise your clients on how to create and execute their social media marketing strategies. You will help clients develop, grow, and manage their online presence. You must be excellent at identifying problems and providing solutions. You must also possess good research skills and must be able to guide clients on how to use various forms of content across various social media platforms effectively.   4. Social Media Marketing Copywriter or Content Producer Individuals possessing excellent communication skills, creativity, and a flair for writing can aim at becoming a social media marketing copywriter, also known as a content producer. You would be responsible for writing/creating content for various social media marketing platforms. Having good content helps in increasing brand loyalty and reach. Content can take many forms like blogs, vlogs, posts, videos, tweets, graphics, eBooks, advertisements, reels, and live streams to name a few. This is considered to be a very important role as good content induces customers to buy the products and keeps the brand engaged with the target audience. A social media marketing copywriter needs to write content; proofread it; and create attractive ads that capture the attention of the target audience for driving website traffic, conversions, and brand interactions on external platforms. Social media content creators help produce content across any social media platform. These content creators help bring to life the business’ ideas by creating and using quality content.   5. Social Media Marketing Specialist A social media marketing specialist is a professional responsible for the creation and publishing of content on all social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and YouTube to grow its audience, build brand awareness, and increase sales. A social media marketing specialist may work with or within an organization to monitor, execute, filter, and measure the social media marketing activities and social media presence of a product, brand, or business. They are responsible for creating marketing campaigns for a business across various social media platforms. You must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills along with thorough knowledge of social media management and social media marketing strategy. You must also have experience in using various analytics software. You must also be skilled in SEO (Search Engine Optimization). With social media marketing having become an integral part of most businesses, it offers enormous career opportunities. If you possess good communication, creativity, organizational skills, research, and analytical skills, along with good knowledge of social media and social media marketing, you can opt for various career paths in this field. Our book Social Media Marketing Essentials You Always Wanted To Know serves as a beginner’s guide to the basics of the realm and can be used by professionals, businesses, and students to brush up. Head to NetGalley to read the Advance Review copy now and let us know how you like it! Also read: Instagram for Small Businesses: A Short Guide to Leveraging Instagram Ethics in Market Research 4 Relationship Marketing Strategies Successfully Used by Big Brands

Small businesses are growing at a rapid rate. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, applications for businesses grew in the second half of the year 2020 — a time when Covid was at its peak. This shows that while the pandemic was towering over us, we found ways to keep ourselves productive and even found our hidden passions. Running a small business is a mammoth task if you are doing it alone. You are running a one-man show and are your sales, accounting, operations, and marketing team. Thanks to the digital mediums and their rapid growth in the recent years, marketing has become affordable and easy. To learn the essentials of digital marketing without going through the heavy jargon, you can read the book Digital Marketing Essentials You Always Wanted To Know. It is a perfect-sized guide, not too big and not too small. Instagram is one such medium where people find everything they need. It is a hub for entertainment, news, online shopping, personal messaging, and much more. If you’re reading this blog, you might already be aware of Instagram and its influence on the young masses of today’s age. In this blog, we have listed four features of Instagram that we think are essential to help you scale your small business. First, set up a business account if you don’t have one.  Step 1 - Open Instagram and click on “Create new account”Step 2 - Type your unique username and set a passwordStep 3 - After successfully creating an account, go to “Settings and privacy” and click on “Switch to professional account” Step 4 - Select a category for your businessStep 5 - Add your contact details like phone number and email and voila! Your business account is set up. Instagram requires you to create a lot of content. Don’t get scared by it though. You don’t have to do this alone the same way you don’t run your business alone. You need help from other people. This blog is created keeping in mind that you have at least 2-3 people to help you out in your business.   Instagram Reels After the TikTok ban in some places of the world, Instagram leveraged the short video concept and came out with Reels. Reels are the fast food of entertainment. They are short 30-to 90-second videos on comedy, entertainment, and education. Reels are not only used for entertainment as is the myth. You can use them as mediums of “edutainment” as Instagram calls it to entertain and educate your audience. They are fun to create too. Reels are also an alternative to creating posts. According to a study on Statista, accounts with upto 500 followers showed a 900 percent reach of reels to new accounts compared to posts. You can insert song clips, create transitions, edit and insert video clips, and even tag people. Instagram recommends the ideal aspect ratio (the ratio of the video’s width to height) between 1.91:1 and 9:16 and a resolution of 720 pixels. Some reel ideas for your small business: Never-heard-of facts about your product/industry History of the product you are selling Significance of your product in cultures around the world Announcement of workshops/seminars Ideas to use your products in different situations (“how to decorate your house with pots”, “gift someone a vase”, “how to paint your own bowl”) Trending memes in the context of your product Behind the scenes of your workspace Happy customers using your products FAQs about your products Your and your business’ story Some tips to make your reels reach a wider audience: Use high-quality videos and images. People don’t generally like videos that are blurry or have poor-quality images. Insert songs and audio clips currently trending on Instagram (Instagram suggests a bunch of songs that are currently trending and are new). Leverage reels as an opportunity to showcase your real brand identity. See what other similar businesses are doing but spice up your reels with your own personal touch.  Use relevant and trending hashtags in your captions. Hashtags help people discover your reels on their For You Page (FYP). Make your thumbnail attractive and interesting so that people are interested in what you have to offer.   Instagram Posts While not having a wider reach in the current times, posts are still a great way to connect with your customers and display your unique selling point. You can either post a single photo or a carousel of multiple photos (up to 10). Posts should be in a 1:1 ratio and 1080 x 1080 pixels. Remember, as a small business, it is important to keep your uniqueness alive. You don’t need to copy other pages or businesses; create content that resonates with you as a business owner and your ideology. Instagram gives you multiple filters to edit your photos. You can even write a caption of up to 2,200 characters. In posts, you can add music, tag people, insert your location, and sync your Facebook account to post the post (too many homonyms, we know). Like reels, edutainment is the key to engaging your audience. Some good post ideas for your business can be: Pictures of your products (e.g. beautiful pots and vases) Positive customer reviews New product launches (e.g. new line of products like bowls) Discounts on products Seasonal offers  Your own behind-the-scenes pictures  Snapshots of customers with your products Tips for using your product As posts are relatively easier to create than reels, you may use the ideas of reels to create posts instead.   Instagram Ads Let’s face it. You cannot scale your business without ads. Organic marketing will only take you so far. Instagram’s ad feature is specifically designed for small businesses like yours. The ads are budget-friendly and help you reach your intended and specific target audience. Instagram ads can be in the form of reels and posts. To create an ad, simply select a post or reel that you would like to convert into an ad and follow the below procedure: Select a goal - Decide what you want from the ad. Do you want more profile visits? Or increased website visits? Or do you want more people enquiring about your product? Choose a target audience - Instagram gives you two options here. In “Automatic”, you don’t have to select a target audience; Instagram does it for you. But the preferred way to go is to select your own audience. Click on “Create Audience” and select the location you want to target (you can select your local area if you want people in your locality to know about your business), people with interests (books, pottery, candles, etc), and the gender and age group. Set your budget and duration for the ad - Instagram will show you a minimum budget per day that you can spend on your ad. Slide the slider and set your daily budget. Then set the duration for the ad. Make the required payment and your ad is live! Dashboard giving an overview of an Instagram business account   Instagram Influencers Collaborating with influencers is another way to reach out to a varied audience. Influencer marketing does come with a cost though but there are some ways through which you can collaborate with influencers without paying them. Nano influencers — with a following between 1,000 - 10,000 — are an affordable medium for marketing your product. Because their follower count is less than the more famous influencers, they charge less and even do free promotions. Search for nano influencers who have a following similar to your target audience and reach out to them. Message them on Instagram with one or more of the following ideas: Offer them your product(s) for free. Give them a discount code that they can share with their followers and pay the influencer a commission on the product sold by their code. Ask them to shoot a creative video using your product (this may be charged). Set up a deal of creating a certain number of videos and posts per month (this can be paid or unpaid depending on whether you're giving them your product for free). Offer them to become the face of your product for a certain period of time.   Tracking your growth Snapshot of insights of an ad campaign on Instagram Do not go overboard with spending your precious earnings on marketing if you're not seeing its benefits. Track your growth and see how effective these tactics were. Instagram insights will help you know how many people you've reached, and how many have clicked on your ads or watched your reels.   Starting out with marketing can be daunting. You may have many questions like where do I start? How do I define my target audience? What are some other channels through which I can market my products or services? What is a SWOT analysis? The answers to all these questions can be found in these books — Digital Marketing Essentials, Marketing Management Essentials, and Services Marketing Essentials. These books are perfect guides to know the fundamentals of marketing and strengthen your base. Buy these books from our website and get a 10% discount. They are available on Amazon too! We are soon going to launch a book on social media marketing in which we will cover the basics of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and much more. Stay tuned!   Related blogs: 5 Essential Skills To Learn This Holiday Season Money Management through the “Ages” Contract for Service: 5 Things You Need to Know

In today's competitive business landscape, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a strategic approach that helps businesses build and nurture strong customer relationships. This comprehensive blog explores the concept of CRM and its profound impact on marketing, focusing on improved customer satisfaction, retention, and business growth. What is CRM and How it Works for Marketing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a set of practices, technologies, and strategies that businesses use to manage and analyze customer interactions. At its core, CRM revolves around a central database that stores valuable customer information, facilitating personalized experiences and solutions. The Impact of CRM on Marketing 1.Personalization and Targeting: CRM enables businesses to segment their customer base based on demographics, purchase history, and behavior. This allows marketers to craft highly personalized marketing campaigns that resonate with specific customer groups, leading to increased engagement, conversion rates, and customer satisfaction. (Head to Engage the Right People for Project Success for more) 2. Enhanced Customer Insights:By analyzing CRM data, businesses gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences. These insights help marketers understand customer motivations and needs, allowing for the creation of more relevant and compelling marketing content. 3. Improved Lead Management: CRM streamlines lead management by automating lead capture, tracking, and nurturing. This enables businesses to prioritize efforts and allocate resources efficiently, leading to higher conversion rates and an efficient sales process. 4. Customer Retention and Loyalty: CRM facilitates customer retention by enabling businesses to stay connected with existing customers through regular communication, personalized offers, and exceptional customer service. This fosters loyalty and repeat business, creating brand advocates who promote the business through word-of-mouth and online reviews. 5. Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities: CRM identifies customer needs and preferences, enabling businesses to recommend complementary products or services. This leads to increased average order value and an enhanced customer experience. 6. Measurable Results and ROI: CRM provides measurable results and calculates the return on investment (ROI) of marketing initiatives. Through detailed reporting and analytics, businesses can track the performance of their marketing campaigns and optimize their strategies for maximum impact. In conclusion, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has emerged as a powerful tool for modern marketing strategies. By leveraging CRM systems and practices, businesses can transform their marketing approach to a personalized and customer-centric one, leading to improved customer satisfaction, higher retention rates, increased sales, and better overall business performance. Embracing CRM as an integral part of marketing efforts is no longer an option but a necessity in today's competitive business landscape. Our book Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know is packed with all the marketing fundamentals you might need, all in one volume. Pre-order now to sharpen your knowledge and build a sturdy foundation.   Related Blogs -   Why Principles of Management Essentials Is a Must for Managers How to create a Marketing Plan Multi-Level Marketing

Motivating the sales team by offering monetary and non-monetary incentives has been an established practice in salesforce management. Non-monetary incentives can include the following ways to push team members up to the next level of performance and job fulfillment, and in the process, make them contribute their best to the organization’s growth journey. Here are some ways to motivate your sales team:   1. Continuing education and training In today’s ever-evolving market place it is essential that an employee is well-versed with the best practices being followed in the domain of sales management. Even the most experienced salespersons can face difficulties in meeting the changing benchmarks of performance without adding up to their knowledge and skills. This is where continuing education can help bridge the gap. There are several ways to encourage the sales team members to pursue continuing education to enhance their skill set. Online programs and courses from leading educational institutes or online Edu-portals Offline training programs by a well-known coach or a corporate trainer Sending them for on-campus part-time executive programs in sales management at leading universities Giving them a sabbatical to pursue full-time, continuing education An organization should ideally sponsor the above initiatives in order to motivate the employees and provide them an incentive for taking up these initiatives. Organizations which encourage such human resource policies are more likely to stay competitive in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) marketplace. In most cases, salespersons are armed with knowledge about the basic essentials of the sales function. But organizations should conduct training programs that build a layer onto the foundation of the fundamental learnings of sales management. 2. Who fits where? All sales reps are not equal. As a sales manager, you should be able to identify their strengths, weaknesses, ambitions, and preferences, and accordingly, assign them their roles and responsibilities. This will help in achieving optimum results. For instance, one may like to build rapport with small and medium client accounts and another one with larger customer accounts. Are they a part of a set of seasoned executives or are they still learning the basics? Some may have in-depth knowledge of a focused market or industry vertical. Some may be well networked within the peer community. Some may be well versed with sales automation tools and using the latest software technology. Assigning roles and responsibilities based on their specialties can fuel sales growth and make a happier and satisfied sales team due to the following reasons: A person is more successful when they focus on what they are good at. Specializing in one or two roles spares one from time-consuming activities, which may require multitasking It helps the salesperson to consolidate resources toward achieving the sales goals At times creating silos for certain roles and functions may help in streamlining processes that can be further integrated with other roles to maintain a collaborative and sustainable growth environment within the organization. 3. Coaching at an individual level Personalized and regular coaching to the team members helps in assessing their performance and bottlenecks faced while achieving their KRAs and KPIs. Focusing on individual sales team members presents them with a transparent window to share the challenges they face in contributing their best. At the same time, you can identify team-wide challenges as well as individual issues. This approach makes it simpler to set achievable goals and implement effective strategies to meet team and individual goals. At times, the services of a professional coach can be engaged to conduct a gap analysis for each employee to identify the gaps that need to be filled up for that employee. These gaps can be Knowledge, Skill, and Attitude (KSA) related gaps. This will help you crystalize the exact coaching and training needs of that employee. 4. Offer out-of-the-box incentives Out-of-the-box incentives can keep your team motivated and highly charged. Some of them are as follows:- Plan a surprise movie screening for the team and their family during the weekend. Appreciate top performers at regular team meetings rather than waiting for the annual appraisal Offer to switch roles with them for a day. Highlight their success stories in the company’s newsletter. Reward them with a “late-punch in and early punch-out” for a whole week when they achieve smaller targets. Ask customers to share their testimonies about the sales team members regarding the management of their respective accounts successfully and publish these on the company’s website. Make sure to think of more fun and enjoyable moments that could be used along with incentive programs. In Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know, the complex world of Sales Management is defined and elaborated in a fun and easy-to-understand way. Buy Sales Management Essentials and start learning about this field today!

Our newest title, Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know, will release on April 8, 2022. If you’d like to read and review the book before its release, click here to request the Advance Reader Copy on Netgalley. Join us in conversation with Vishal Desai, author of Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know, as he talks about the book and its main focus of study – sales management. Vishal Desai has worked extensively in the areas of sales and marketing strategy, brand and product management and corporate strategy. His area of expertise lies in launching new products with the right marketing strategy and managing products through their entire life cycle. His portfolio of brands launched while working at Indian licensee companies, includes Sony PlayStation One, Slumdog Millionaire, Spiderman, WWE Raw and several other entertainment franchises across the gaming and movie industry. In Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know (Sales Management Essentials), he compiles his vast experience and theory into one exciting, informative book. Read on to find out more about Sales Management Essentials. We all know what sales is. But what is sales management and why do we need it? Sales as a function acts as the bridge between an organization and the final consumers it intends to serve through its market offering. Sales is where most of the action in a business lies because it is a crucial revenue-generating function. That’s why sales management is extremely important to meet the challenges of increasing competition levels in the marketplace. Effective sales management helps an organization to optimize results from its selling and sales force management efforts to achieve the organization’s revenue targets. It is thus imperative for one to be familiar with various aspects of sales management. What does the book have to offer? Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know is a book that deals with all the essentials of sales management which are required to make decisions about sales channels, selling techniques, distribution strategy, sales promotion tools and sales force management to achieve the desired sales objectives. It enumerates the important facets of sales management. The book explains each aspect of sales management in a lucid manner and a structured format, so that it is an easy read for the readers. It addresses the need of having a book which acts as a concise ready reckoner on sales management which spares you the effort to read through a traditional and voluminous textbook. The established as well as recent practices followed by organizations in the function of sales management are discussed in the book. Who can use this book? This book can be helpful to students, entrepreneurs as well as executives working in the sales department of an organization who wish to apply the learnings from the book in their professional life. The book also serves as an excellent aide for faculty members who teach courses or programs in Sales, Distribution or Marketing Management at colleges and universities. What’s inside the book? It contains many relevant examples, tables, charts and diagrams for better understanding of various sales management concepts and their practical applications.  At the end of each chapter there is either a case study or a class assignment or a role play activity which can be administered by the faculty to reinforce the learnings from the chapter and to enhance the teaching learning process. Every chapter has a set of three quizzes, each with ten multiple choice questions and their respective answer keys to engage the students. Could you give us a brief overview of the chapters? The chronology of the chapters of the book is aligned such that the initial few chapters of the book familiarize the reader with the introductory topics of sales management and the subsequent chapters discuss some advanced topics. The book also throws light on the recent developments in sales management like Direct to Consumer (D2C) sales channel, Omni Channel sales and the shift from product selling to concept selling. Each chapter also outlines, at the beginning, the key learnings to be gained by the reader from that chapter. Moreover, each chapter contains a ‘Chapter Summary’ which summarizes the discussions of the chapter. The book ends with a concluding chapter on the impact of a pandemic on sales management practices. By the end of the book, readers will be able to: Get a complete understanding of the concepts and approaches required for effective decision making in sales management. Understand how to select, manage and evaluate the sales channel members. Implement various sales strategies in your organization to maximize its sales revenue in today’s competitive marketplace. Learn how to manage strategic and key client accounts of an organization. Appreciate the importance of sales force management and manage the sales force effectively. Learn various sales promotion tools and techniques to increase sales revenue of the organization you work for. Understand how to handle conflict situations in a sales management role.   Sales Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know is set for release on April 8, 2022. However, you can read an Advance Reader Copy on Netgalley now.     When on NetGalley, click on the ‘Read Now’ button to request the Advance Reader Copy. Grab this opportunity to read the book before its release and leave your feedback on Netgalley.  

The success of a business strongly depends on a well-structured marketing plan.   In the new digital age, any new business entrepreneur can start an online business with very little effort, most individuals forget to craft a curated marketing plan that lays down the essential guidelines which benefit their business objectives.     Why craft a good marketing plan? A good marketing plan helps you benchmark against your competitors, conduct adequate research and analyze how you can surge ahead of the competition.   The plan will help you recognize your strengths, take action against your weaknesses, analyze current trends, develop and expand your goals toward the future.   This enables you to create a unique marketing proposition that gives you a competitive edge.   The steps below will help you in detailing exactly what you need to know in order to drive successful growth for your business.     Step 1: Know Your Worth You know your business best; therefore, it is vital to do the initial SWOT analysis to determine where you are positioned in the market.           The SWOT analysis helps you detail out the small intricate details that you never noticed thus giving you an overall snapshot that highlights opportunities for your growth.   SWOT Analysis     Example   Strengths – Strong Customer Network –Already have contacts of over 500 customers Weaknesses – Don’t know how to get those customers to follow us on Facebook Opportunities – Start Facebook page promotion and invite those customers Threats – Customers may follow Facebook pages of similar businesses       DOWNLOAD SWOT ANALYSIS TEMPLATE Step 2: Know Your Market Having a ‘go-to-market’ strategy is key. Ask yourself some valid and important questions.   Where is my market? Who am I looking to attract? What are the demographics? What do these customers or target audience resonate with? What can I do to leverage my presence?   Detailing more about who your customer is and how you can target them can be easily identified in the infographic below.     Once you know who you are targeting, the rest becomes easy. Mapping out their personas can be detailed through the template below.   DOWNLOAD BUYER PERSONA TEMPLATE Step 3: Know Your Competition The next stage is to be well-aware of your competition.   You have found out what you do is unique and that it’s important to stand out but consider what your competitors are doing and how you can top that?   Being fully aware and resilient will help find ways to stand out from the crowd and possibly create a niche for yourself.   Ask yourself… Why should people come to you? What can you offer that is different from the rest?   This helps identify how you can reach out to them in the most unique manner and tackle any challenges and demonstrate that you are aware of your competition and are willing to take measures to overcome them.     DOWNLOAD COMPETITOR ANALYSIS TEMPLATE     Step 4: Know Your Goals Identify your key goals and list them out. The template below can be used to map out your priorities.   Goal Template (With Example)   Are you looking to grow more customers? More Market share? More profits?   The significant part is to work through milestones that pave the way for the projected period of time, whether it’s a year, five years or the next financial quarter.   The key is to identify each milestone with a realistic stepping stone that will help you toward the next step. Slowly but steadily align each milestone to form the bigger picture of your marketing plan.       DOWNLOAD GOALS TEMPLATE   Step 5: Curate Your Strategy You have reached the final stages after assessing your worth, knowing your goals and defining where you are in the competition. Now, it’s time to create a strategy that will help you take the necessary action toward your objectives.   Create a strategy that works for you. It is possible to create many small strategies that align with each goal or have a master plan that fits all the tiny pieces of the puzzle together.   Examples of smaller objectives and strategy can be: Objective -To gain 1000 followers on Facebook Strategy – Page promotion, page boosts, friends recommend the page to garner more attention   Examples of Larger objectives and strategy can be:   Objective – To gain 100 new customers by the end of the year Strategy – Marketing Promotion, Sales Outreach, Ask for Recommendations, More Outbound Calling, etc.   It is advisable to target each objective separately so you can move towards that particular goal and adjust accordingly.   It’s a great way to get your ideas moving and it gives you a more realistic picture of what lies ahead and what measures you can input that will help your goals in an efficient manner that deliver the desired results.     Step 6 : Set Your Budget One of the most important factors is to identify a budget that you want to invest into your plan.   How much of your resources do you want to allocate on marketing and promotion?   Tweak and tailor your approach until you find the budget that works for you.   Map out what your costs are versus how you intend on covering those costs and what necessary actions you need to take to increase/decrease spends.   Example: If you need more page followers, ask yourself, how much am I willing to spend for page promotion?   Do I need to test out with a small budget and monitor the results and then increase it as I go along?     HOW DOES IT ALL COME TOGETHER?   Let’s follow through with an example to understand how it all comes together.     Overall Business Goal – To establish my business on Facebook   Step 1 – Know Your Worth – E.g. the business specializes in custom jewellery Step 2 – Knowing the Market – Understanding the buyer persona of the ideal customer – E.g. income above 10 lacs a year, loves online shopping, etc. Step 3 – Knowing Your Competition – E.g. – There are 10 other online custom made jewellery business in my location Step 4 – Knowing Your Goals – E.g. – Long term goal – to grow more online presence, Short term goal – to get all customers to follow us on Facebook Step 5 – Curating Your Strategy – E.g. – Send a Customized email to join Facebook, Create an invite-only event, etc. Step 6 – Setting Your Budget – E.g. – I am willing to invest 10K on my marketing promotion       DOWNLOAD OVERALL PLAN TEMPLATE   Now you have the much needed ‘know-how’ on creating a good marketing plan that works for you; that’s all you need! Since you have gained valuable insight on how to create the perfect marketing plan through the various steps and stages of driving marketing and planning effectiveness in your business, all you need to do is pull it together with the right tools!   Remember, your approach is best known to you, so whether you want to craft something filled with intricate details or use it as a starting point to navigate your way through, you can curate your own marketing plan that gives you the best results for your business.     DOWNLOAD ALL MARKETING PLAN TEMPLATES         BUY NOW  

Market research was first developed as a concept in the late 1930’s in the USA as an off shoot of the advertising boom during the Golden Age of Radio. Companies began to decipher consumer demographics by the specific type of brands that advertised in between specific shows.Today it is one of the most important functions of marketing management. It is used for everything a new business decides to do – from launching a new product, improving an existing one, understanding roadblocks in the company’s progress in almost every function from supply chain to product development to taking corrective measures therein.Nowadays, however, the way businesses conduct research can have some serious consequences. Moreover, failure to follow proper ethical guidelines during research, could subject companies to face major backlash from the public and or land the company into legal trouble. Marketing Management Essentials states that over the past several years, survey rates have declined drastically because the sentiment of “Big Brother is watching” is rampant in our society today and the main reason why people refuse to take any kind of survey.     Why Ethical Market Research Matters? To protect the rights of the subjects, the researcher and the client and to uphold the welfare of the society at large – where the research is being conducted.   That said, here are the reasons why ethics is considered important in market research:   The results and information obtained from the research, eventually and more often than not becomes a part of the public domain. Hence, those taking part in the research stand the risk of exposing their private information to the public at large. The information provided by the subjects or respondents becomes the proprietary information of the company conducting the research, and it may use the information towards its own benefit. It may sell the data to another party, or use the data to send out unwanted messages to the subject or manipulate the data and use it in some other unethical way without the consent of the subject.     Key Elements of an Ethical Market Research: Voluntary Participation: The subjects in market research must be voluntary participants. They should in no way be compelled to participate and provide personal information and details, either by means of threat or blackmail or any other way of coercion. Informed Consent: The participants decision to take part in the survey should be an informed one and he/she must be made aware of details like the instrument of the survey, the use of the findings and personal information, selection criteria of subjects used etc. Risk of Harm: There should be no risk of any harm that could come to the respondents as a result of participating in the research. Confidentiality: The researcher should maintain full confidentiality of all the information provided by the subject and should not use it for any purpose other than the one clearly stated prior to obtaining subject consent. Anonymity: The anonymity of the participants has to preserved after the findings are made public else it may harm the subjects and their reputation in some way, and the company could land up in legal trouble. Privacy: The researcher needs to maintain the privacy of the participants and not cross the line during the research process.     Importance of Language in Market Research: It goes without saying that language is the single most important factor affecting the ethical practice of market research. Inappropriate use of words and twisting of sentences could lead to misinterpretation of questions and findings and could jeopardizing the entire marketing efforts of the company.   What could go wrong? 1) Lack of Objectivity in Interpretation:   Sometimes the researcher is not experienced and may include / exclude data collected from the research as per his or her own beliefs, interpretation, knowledge of the research subject. Purposely withholding of information either by the research company, the client or the subject, each to suit their own selfish purposes rather than the research problem. Changing the wordings of the either the questions or findings of the survey to get a desired outcome rather than an arrived one. Generalizing findings of the research.   2) Lack of Integrity in data collection:   Collecting false data (fudging the data) Failure to abide by pre decided data collection methods.   3) Treatment of Respondents:   Disrespectful treatment of subjects Lack of privacy for the respondents during the research process.   4) Plagiarism:   Copying the survey forms / instruments from other researchers Reporting researches done in other surveys as ones own   5) Sugging: Selling under the guise of research     6) Fugging:   Fundraising under the guise of research     The Nuremberg Code (German: Nürnberger Kodex) is a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation created as a result of the Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War. (source:  Wikipedia)   This is the most widely used code of conducting an ethical research by any company / organization.     Conclusion: Always keep in mind that ethical practices for conducting marketing research will provide long term benefits not just to your company but to your employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders as well. Apart from that, ethical market research practices also allow you to create trust and credibility for your company.   The only thing that an ethical market researcher needs to remember is “If you think you are doing something unethical, you probably are”   To know in detail about market research systems, how it is conducted and what are the dynamics involved, grab a copy of Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know.  

We all know that corporate social responsibility is supposed to have a positive impact on society. It is seen as a way for companies to make genuine efforts to help improve communities. However, in recent years, there has been a slow rise in debates on whether CSR is now becoming a marketing gimmick used by businesses to earn more profits.This is because there have been some companies that use their CSR to strategically increase trustworthiness through positive imaging which then results in increased sales and profit.     Is CSR Being Used as a Marketing Strategy? It can be a bit complicated to tell whether companies use CSR as a marketing strategy or not. However, the answer can often be determined based on the sincerity of the philanthropic efforts by companies. Here are some signs that show companies are using CSR as a marketing strategy.     Over Exposure: You can notice whether the intention of a company behind their CSR initiative is pure or for marketing purposes based on the amount of exposure that they use to cover the event. For example, various newspaper personnel and photographers attend a small charity event of a company. The need for media attention can make you question the intentions right then and there.     CSR Activities Before Product Launch: Another way that companies use CSRs as a marketing strategy is when they have a new product launch coming. They will use the positive attention from the CSR event to boost their trustworthiness to consumers. This will later translate into sales in the future. Let’s have a look at CSR vis-à-vis its internal and external environment. CSR and Employees: Research done by Cone Communications has shown that around 88% of millennials prefer a workplace that has strong CSR values. Another statistic revealed by Net Impact said that 53% of workers believe that working on a job that allows them to “make an impact” plays a key role in their happiness. There’s also another study saying that the more a company goes for social and environmental efforts, the more engaged the employees will get. CSR and Consumers: CSR has the ability to influence both investors and consumers. Research from Reputation Institute revealed that CSR makes up 40% of a company’s reputation. A number of companies that have the CSR approach, like Unilever for example, are able to gain a number of benefits such as increased growth and profits. On the other hand, companies that failed to properly implement CSR, such as Nike, have suffered from a lot of setbacks. According to Unilever, roughly 31% of consumers around the world prefer sustainable brands and think that businesses should change how they operate in order to align with environmental and social needs. CSR and Community: According to research, CSR activities that help develop downtrodden communities were perceived as having a positive impact. Therefore, people are inclined into buying products from such brands or companies as they believe that by doing so, they’re doing a part in helping society. However, CSR isn’t just about giving away to the community. It’s also about awareness of the way businesses do their operations. A few good examples of these are Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and Lego. Even small companies like TOMS was able to capture the market’s attention by introducing its “one-for-one” model. Each time a customer buys a product from TOMS, he feels like he’s giving back to the community. By merging CSR into the business, TOMS has been able to give away more than 10 million pairs of shoes to kids in need around the world.The farther removed CSR is from the area of a company’s business, the more trust it will be able to generate. Meanwhile, the closer it is, the more sustainable it will be. However, the real challenge is how to get the balance right. This is exactly what a lot of companies that use CSR fail to achieve, and as a result, people think of their CSR as rather a gimmick.     The Key Takeaway: It can’t be denied that there is a rising awareness and demand for CSR. It can give any business a major edge while also allowing it to make positive changes which can lead to a better world and a better future. Eventually, it should become intrinsic to the company’s being. However, the key giveaway between a real and marketing gimmick lies in a CSR project’s duration. Businesses that only aim to make more sales out of it tend to launch a project that lasts for 2-3 months every year.On the other hand, companies that really want to give back to the community believe that CSR is not just a responsibility but a duty as well. As such, their projects tend to be continuous without any timeframe at all. They’re all about building projects that are self-sustaining in order to continue serving the society.      

Multi-level marketing or also referred to as network marketing is not a new phenomenon. It has been widely used by companies all over the world to advance their business. This type of business strategy has often been misunderstood, as it is greatly associated with the pyramiding scheme. However, the two are entirely different. With this article, let us get to know how successful businesses used this model and become effective in boosting their sales.     What is Multi-Level Marketing? According to the US Federal Trade Commission, multi-level marketing or MLM refers to a business paradigm where a company dispenses products through a web of distributors who also earn income from their sales and sale made by the direct and indirect recruits of the distributor. This is a marketing strategy wherein each member in the multi-level marketing network receives a commission from the sales made by their recruits. Thus, every member of the network is motivated to continue recruiting more sales representatives to increase their income.     What are the advantages and disadvantages of Multi-Level Marketing? As aforementioned, multi-level marketing has already been widely used for quite some time. Nowadays, it has become very popular because of the promising benefits that come with it. Let us get to know what are the advantages and disadvantages of this business marketing strategy. Advantages:   Attractive Rewards: The main reason this business model is becoming all the rage these days is because of the promising rewards that come with it. Some companies offer top performers a good amount of cash, discounts, and even luxury cars. This is used not only to motivate the existing recruits to work more but also to entice possible recruits in a breeze. Smaller investment: With this business model, an individual gets the chance in the business world by only capitalizing a smaller amount of money as compared to starting in a typical business set-up. Everyone gets the chance to become successful in the business world with only a spare amount of money which is not that hard to lose in case the endeavor is unsuccessful. Supplemental Income: This type of business model can be used to gain additional income for almost everyone, even those who are working or stay-at-home parents. This is because the selling of the product or the recruiting of potential distributors can be done during breaks or free time and doesn’t really require full time. Balanced Compensation:Unlike corporate jobs where one either gets underpaid or overpaid, this type of business model gives you the compensation that is directly proportional to your efforts. This means the more work you do, the bigger the compensation you get. No Degree required:Unlike most corporate jobs nowadays that require a good educational background, this multi-level marketing model doesn’t need you to have a bachelor’s degree or the like. You just need to know the product by heart and exert more effort in recruitment and sales, and you get to be your own boss. Disadvantages: However, just like any business model, multi-level marketing also has its shares of flaws. Let’s get to know each of these flaws, as it may hinder you to become successful in the field. Good interpersonal and communication skills are a must:Not everyone is blessed to have good communication skills that can entice potential customers and recruits. With this model, you must have good communication and interpersonal skills to become successful. Get the right marketers:In order to get further compensation from recruits, you need to get the right marketer who shares the same passion and ideation with you. And with the skepticism in the market nowadays, finding the right recruit is a tough one.     How does Multi-Level Marketing work? This business model is believed to be one of the safest business models because of the low risk it entails. But, this will mainly depend on the number of participants. For this marketing strategy to work, the MLM company hires some distributors first to start the trade.   Then, the distributors are encouraged to recruit more distributors with the promise that every sale made by their recruits could bring the commission to the up line distributors. This will not only increase the sales of the company but will also save them big time on hiring costs.     Is Multi-Level Marketing ethical? The business model itself is ethical. It gives the right compensation equivalent to the work done. However, by enticing recruits with promising rewards, they are more likely to take the short and faster route by deceiving people just to earn more. This gives the business model a bad reputation. Thus, it is essential for the company and the distributors to thoroughly explain the business and to ensure that it is compliant with the rules and regulations set by the government.   Examples:   Here are some of the well-known companies that have become successful with the multi-level marketing business model.   Mary Kay:Mary Kay has been using the multi-level marketing model since it was founded in 1963. The company hires independent beauty consultants who earn by direct selling to people and through the sales made by their recruited consultants in their distribution network. Avon Products, Inc.:Avon Products Inc. was founded in 1986 and also uses the multi-level marketing business model to increase their sales. They offer various items such as beauty products, fashion garments, jewelry, and so much more which are sold by a network of distributors. Herbalife Ltd.:Herbalife offers nutritional supplements, personal care and hygiene items, and even cosmetics. This was founded in 1980 and has been using the multi-level marketing strategy ever since. There have been allegations that Herbalife uses a fraudulent business model. But, it was not proven since the FBI don’t have sufficient evidence.     Relevance of this business model in today's times.   This strategy is a win-win for both the company and the distributor. The company gets to have more sales while shedding out less hiring costs. On the other hand, distributors also get to earn more from the usual income they get from their corporate jobs. Also, stay-at-home parents can take advantage of this; they can have the luxury of taking care of their family while earning more income for the family as well. This is applicable these days as the income one gets from his or her job doesn’t already suffice for the needs of the family. Thus, this model enables an individual or a family man or woman to earn more to meet family needs.     Conclusion:   In conclusion, knowing more about multi-level marketing gives you an idea of how the strategy works for both the companies and the distributors as well. Although it has its own shares of workable flaws, the benefits that you get to enjoy can convince one to start using the business model. However, you must not use the promising rewards to entice others into the network business without properly explaining as this may lead to deception in the end. Use this scheme to give you more income in a more flexible way. To upgrade your management skills in various functions of management, read the various titles of The Self Learning Management Series from Vibrant Publishers.      

Learn how brands like Amazon, McDonalds and Amway build relationship with customers to grow their businesses.   Every business or organization looking to expand usually seeks out ways and strategies to help them. Relationship marketing is a system on its own and involves developing a relationship geared towards advancing the interests of customers. This also means that potential customers are given special treatment rather than being seen as opportunities to make money. Furthermore, this type of marketing often leads to more than a 300% increase in qualified prospects. But it’s not all result and no work or plans. Strategies are important. Whether you’re keen on taking your online marketing plan to the next level or actively setting up other plans, your customers, new and old, stand to benefit richly. And if they’re happy, you’re happy. Here are four relationship marketing strategies you’ll find worth your time and effort.     1. Creating Quality Content for Your Customers: Chances are you’re familiar with the efforts of many companies to come up with content to promote their products. However, it goes beyond writing a few paragraphs. You want to connect with your customers with high-class content showing them why they remain essential to your business. Ensure whatever you write is for the benefit of the readers. Optimize your content in a way that fits right with their perspectives rather than yours. Furthermore, your content has to be the best value for the time potential customers might spend reading it. For example, Coca-Cola uses interactive contents to engage users, while IBM makes the best out of its many content marketing blogs to nail its relationship marketing strategies. Another impressive example is McDonalds’ ‘Question time’ which keeps readers engaged and waiting for more. The Washington Post’s list-based article is also an example worth imitating.     2. Listen to Your Customers: What are your customers trying to tell you? Do you even bother to listen? Well, this is an essential part of business, especially if you’re a relatively new brand. Sure, it’s an effort to listen, but it’s even more of a challenge to go ahead and put what you’ve heard to work. It’s highly beneficial to listen to customers even if all they have to say is tiresome. The key point is, they want to be heard. You can create measures or use software to know what people are thinking. A good example is PowerSurvey tool which helps you receive feedback from customers and potential clients. For example, if you’ve just sold a product or service to a prospect, you can follow them up to see how much of a help you’ve been to them. You’ll also receive pointers on how best to improve. Additionally, if it’s a physical location, you should never argue with a customer. Let them vent if they have to but don’t trade words.     3. Reward Customer Loyalty: Gifts, incentives, rewards, and the likes. Who doesn’t love them? It’s like a tit for tat because on one side; you have loyal customers who love your products and the service you deliver. Then there’s you or your business getting the patronage from them. It’s an excellent way to improve customer satisfaction. Give your loyal customers gifts, discounts and bonuses as a way of thanking them for choosing you. Relationship marketing is never the same without some giving back. Remember, loyal customers are part of your success story, and they drive up sales. Create platforms where they can get something they’ve always craved, and make the process simple so they can benefit. For example, Amazon Prime and Starbucks have developed platforms to reward loyal customers. By being somewhat lucrative, their customers refer them to other prospects who are just as eager to earn similar incentives. Also, the points program by The North Face, where users earn more points according to what they spend is an excellent example you can follow.   4. Networking: Take advantage of the contacts you make both online and offline to create a powerful network marketing strategy. Not only is it a great thrust in terms of relationship marketing, but it also exposes you and your business to a wide range of opportunities. With the interests you have, you can link up with other people, groups, and businesses that share them. Think of it as a sort of fellowship geared toward advancing your business interests, and meeting the needs of your teeming customers. Amway is a good example of a brand using this strategy to increase engagement with its customer base by joining up with others to create ideas that solve a plethora of issues. More so, it’s not as difficult to begin. You need a clear plan and a decision to link up with those that share your business affinities. These are four proven ways to bring out the best in your quest for better relationship marketing. In your bid to generate more ROI, implement these strategies, and watch your business grow. Remember, the customer is king! Grab a copy of Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know to understand more about customer relationships in the context of marketing management.

Loyalty Programs are structured marketing programs, which are built into a brand’s marketing and promotion plan with the objective of rewarding repeat purchases (of the services or products of the brand) by the customer who thereby shows loyalty to the brand. The development of loyalty programs as a marketing strategy was chronicled and boosted by the intense, yet healthy competition in the global business environment. At first, many businesses, entrepreneurs and companies embraced it, but few actually practiced it. Following its success to increase sales and improve customer retention, the practitioners, onlookers and critics became religious converts; they not only accepted but believed in it. What are the questions you must ask yourself before starting a loyalty program for your brand? Does your brand really need a loyalty program? Or is it being implemented because your competitors are using one? For example, loyalty is almost non-existent for any branded food because the cost of trying out newer brands of foods is not very high and customers are bound to do so. In this scenario, pumping in efforts into a loyalty program may not be very worthwhile.   If you have decided to use loyalty programs, are your efforts directed in the same direction? What would be the cost, time and resource allocation implications of such a program? Is your front end staff ready and trained to service and “DELIGHT” these newly acquired and “Brand Loyal” customers? It is important for your employees to have a good knowledge of customer relationship management in order to implement a solid and successful Loyalty Program. It is imperative to prepare new managers and leaders with the knowledge of building blocks of CRM as well as various facets of CRM. Advantages of Loyalty Programs 1) Entices New Customers In most cases, a loyalty program is geared towards rewarding existing customers. But as a natural consequence, a customer-centric loyalty program will, undoubtedly, attract new customers to your business, product or services. Potential clients or customers will be attracted to your offer and may purchase your product if they are convinced. They will get free products, discounts or rewards in the future. A report by B2B International, a global market research firm, shows that such clients or customers might even become “fans” and eventually refer other clients to your business. This opens up the door for an opportunity to integrate the loyalty program with a customer referral program – It’s a WIN-WIN for all! 2) Increases the rate of customer retention Perhaps the single, most important benefit of the customer loyalty program is its potential to increase customer retention rate. This program, in its different forms, allows customers to feel valued and appreciated. Consequently, this gives your customers good reasons to stay with your business to receive even more discounts, giveaways or rewards. “Businesses that increased their expenditure on customer retention over the past one to four years had a 200% likelihood of increasing their market share”, Forbes reports. Your loyalty program, therefore, should be designed as bait to incentivize additional purchases while also increasing customer retention. 3) Provides Useful Database for Marketing and Enhances Customer Engagement During your company’s loyalty program, customers are required to fill out a form with their details, and this serves as invaluable input for database marketing. From their data, you can evaluate customer behaviour, preferences and buying behaviours. In fact, professional marketers use these details in different ways, from pricing and inventory management to tailoring their products or services to a particular group of people. A professionally designed loyalty program enables businesses to differentiate profitable buyers from unprofitable ones. Moreover, a loyalty program enables direct, effective and two-way communication with a company’s customers. The company can disseminate new product information, benefits and features to its customers directly and the customers can convey valuable feedback about the product or service to the company. This simplifies the brand promotion and awareness efforts and increases loyalty by introducing actionable insights consistently. Thus, a loyalty program enables a business to keep its customers effectively and consistently engaged with its brand at a comparatively low cost. 4) Emotional Connect with the Brand Over time the customers develop an emotional connection with the brand and are “Customers for life”, for the business. A good loyalty program increases customer stickiness, and such customers hardly ever try out newer products as they have a sense of trust and reliability for the brand. This denotes the true success of any loyalty program. Disadvantages of a Customer Loyalty Program 1) Time and Money Involved A well-planned loyalty program provides a service, product or an offer that people actually want to buy. Running a loyalty program takes away time and resources from the other parts of the business, and this may or may not be worth the effort. Hiring a professional marketer or deploying a technological system requires extra costs. 2) Customer Satisfaction gone wrong! Loyalty programs may boomerang right back if the rewards fail to match up to the promises made by the company. For the loyalty program to gain popularity, the brand has to offer genuine discounts and rewards (both tangible and intangible) else the program might foster distrust and create a bad reputation for the brand. Losing your customers to your competitors, and that too, your most loyal ones would prove to be doubly unfortunate. Concluding Thoughts There is no doubt that the pros of loyalty programs outweigh its cons. You will experience a successful and profitable loyalty program if you strategically and carefully launch the program. However, it would help if you had expert advice and professional marketers for your business to retain more loyal customers. To understand more about customer relationships in the context of marketing management, grab a copy of Marketing Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know.