1. Learn the Key Object Architecture  

Salesforce1 app development basic object architecture, which includes Leads, Contacts, Accounts, and Opportunities, is fully utilized by the highest-performing sales companies. 

The lead is turned to a Contact associated with an Account, and maybe an Opportunity, once it has been qualified using BANT. 

When designing sales stages, the relevance of the Salesforce Leads object is sometimes misunderstood and underestimated. Before deals formally enter the pipeline, salespeople should concentrate on early qualifying in the Lead object. Because Leads come from a number of sources and have varying levels of interest or fit for sales, sales executives find the Lead object to be the most challenging in terms of process variation and total conversion rate. 

This has an influence on how marketing uses Pardot or another marketing automation technology to gather dynamic lists.  

2. Establish Lead Stages and a Guided Sales Path 

You can clearly specify the processes your reps take to progress or dismiss a Lead if you think of Leads as a pre-qualification staging area. Reverse engineer some of your best deals all the way back to your company’s or sales rep’s first contact: 

• Where did they originate? 

• What piqued their curiosity? 
• What procedures did you take to ensure that they were qualified? 
• Did you have a product demo, a consultation, a quote request, or another meeting as part of those steps?

To successfully manage project scope, Sales has transformed the lead into a Contact, Account, and Opportunity, as well as completed other related sales operations duties. 

3. Establish Account Types 

A Lead must be linked to an account once it has been transformed into a contact. An Account serves as a sort of umbrella for all Contacts at a company, allowing them to inherit the Account’s attributes and be stored in the same place. 

There are numerous “types” of Accounts represented in Salesforce for most Salesforce customers. We propose that you use the standard “Type” field to designate distinct Account types, but with values that are tailored to your company’s needs.

This is an important filter that your marketing team may use to get customer segmentation or suppression lists from Pardot or another marketing automation tool. 

Better better, use Process Builder to automate the modification of this value to make data entry easier for your reps. 

4. Define the Stages of Opportunity 

For sales teams, defining Opportunity stages is a simpler and more familiar procedure than defining Lead phases. Again, reverse engineering Closed Won Opportunities and the specific processes sales followed to clinch the deal are recommended. It could be useful to think about probability when defining staging. It will be easier to specify the distinction between stages and entry/exit criteria if you divide the signal points you use for probability into steps or stages. For reporting purposes, keep stages simple and clearly identified. 

5. Keep Track of Sales Activities and Set Expectations  

When creating a sales process in Salesforce, it’s critical to set expectations for how many actions salespeople should document and the kind of activities they should log. This can assist you in identifying process inconsistencies that may be affecting performance and training requirements. Alternatively, technology trends that need modifications to corporate processes, products/services, pricing models, or other sales-related issues. Also: 

When possible, use Process Builder or an AppExchange app to automate task setup. Salesforce1 app development can be a critical value driver in this situation. As an example, as part of your standard account management procedure, you might produce tasks twice a year. 

6. Track Sales Efforts Using Campaigns 

Campaigns can be used for sales or marketing, and they include elements like “Campaign Member Status” that are extremely customizable. Campaigns can merge Leads and Contacts into a single list for sales to use as a call-down or email list.  

Conclusion

Building a sales process in Salesforce will involve careful thought and agreement from your Salesforce oversight, admin, and sales teams. Companies with Salesforce integration solutions that follow this approach with well-defined sales phases, clear sales expectations, data validations at each stage, and strong overall acceptance do significantly better meet sales targets. We trust that this article will prove in formative. Until next time, happy bizops!

The post 6 Tips to Build a Sales Process with Salesforce in 2022 appeared first on Tech Web Space.

That being said, the sphere of embedded software development is in a state of metamorphosis as the inclusion of embedded devices in daily life continues to expand. Leveraging a never-before in-flow of data allowing for enhanced analytics has only boosted the proliferation of embedded software.  

This situation now places an increased demand on both development and operations staff. The DevOps approach has carved out a comfortable niche for itself over the past couple of years and is being deployed by enterprises now more than ever.  DevOps will facilitate organizations to magnify their digital transformation strategy by cover the approach for analysis and continuous tempering.

In the increasingly connected world of today, technology is no longer a standalone player. The domains of products and applications are merging, and only products with embedded intelligence and cognitive technology stand a chance in today’s market.  

We are surrounded by technology wherever we go, which has desensitized us to its presence, allowing for ideals like agility, robustness, and cost-efficiency to score over pure tech. 

This results in a market-wide requirement of embedded software. From a manufacturing perspective, delivering better and more diverse services cost-effectively and with agility has become imperative. 

Market success today is fueled by the level of robustness of the software behind the product/service. As part of the technology domain, we already know how DevOps can assist in creating a streamlined go-to-market strategy.

In this article, we will discuss how DevOps addresses the various challenges of successfully deploying embedded software. So without further ado, let’s get to it. 

1. The Challenges of Agility 

For an enterprise planning to adopt DevOps, agile workflows are a necessity. However, given that DevOps by nature combines hardware and software, an agile process could hinder the hardware section of embedded product development. 

The best way is to compartmentalize the two processes while keeping the hardware development pipeline distinct from system software pipelines. 

Container tech and virtualization can also help combat deployment and versioning challenges. 

This is a crucial aspect that DevOps brings to embedded project development. During the segregation process, identifying modules that need to be moved into DevOps and the process phases are of critical importance.  

2. The Regulatory Challenge 

Compliance policies for software development in regulated industries are exceedingly stringent. The SDLC needs to adhere to enhanced levels of quality, testing and development capabilities, and expertise. For critical domains like aerospace, rail, automotive, and medical, V-model development is a mandate. New approaches like SafeScrum apply the agile methodology to standards like 61508. This approach is still under testing but is poised at addressing issues of functional safety during DevOps adoption. 

3. Existing IP and technology management 

Numerous embedded systems today are built upon existing IP.  

Regulated industries face major risks of data breaches, especially when they are using embedded systems. Upon deploying DevOps to their enterprise, operations managers can maintain stringent compliance specific to their industry’s security standards. 

Legacy systems functioning under tight regulations require end-to-end process visibility for the management team, which DevOps facilitate. Considering the example of the HP Printer embedded divisions’ flawless application of the DevOps methodology, agile and DevOps adaption can cause a sequential re-architecting of product lines and moving all product lines to a single code base. 

The migration of fixes and features across product lines is also enabled through DevOps, which effectively eliminates ‘technical debt,’ thus speeding up product development and boosting innovation. 

4. Product engineering 

With DevOps, enterprises can deliver efficient design and delivery methods backed by effective development processes. In the sphere of product engineering, DevOps shifts the focus of enterprise efforts to quality and the achievement of the scale of operations, eliminating major roadblocks in embedded platform software development. 

For an agile approach, start with a DevOps assessment, then align strategy forming to determine a minimal framework and tool stack. The software build should be conducted with managed and monitored services while continuously optimizing the process through the DevOps feedback loop.  

DevOps can prove invaluable once the right metrics for each phase that measure feature churn in the requirements phase to the branching mechanism and on to the time-to-release in the dep[loyment phase. 

5. Testing 

DevOps offers unparalleled agility and accuracy, which offers solid support to the testing process and embedded software. Challenges like poor code quality usually face an enterprise working on an embedded software project, loss of agility because of redundant testing, and even service downtime. 

One of the enormous approaches that we find as far as DevOps being appropriate to embedded is the capacity to take a reenactment of the embedded gadget and afterwards use it at scale in a cloud-based climate. In that manner, you can have 100 tests running all the while. You’re just restricted by cloud assets. That is one of the changes we see various organizations going through and something that they eventually esteem exceptionally. 

With DevOps, developers can now complete regression testing effectively while remaining time-bound to cause no mal effects to the development project’s agility. Delivering a full-proof system as an end product. 

The Path Ahead 

DevOps and agile process is now a prerequisite of successful software development. Agility encourages DevOps and vice-versa, resulting In the requires tech prowess to remain relevant in the embedded environment. 

While agility boosts productivity, DevOps effectively handles security risks, uptake and boosts coordination between teams to supercharge project progress. 

The greatest test is the cultural shift that needs to occur inside organizations. What’s more, this isn’t really an embedded-explicit test. It’s all the more profoundly instilled in some software development rehearses.  

You have little groups, and by and large, you have people who do unmistakable assignments. You need a degree of joint effort and collaboration with DevOps that occasionally removes individuals from the domain that they’ve gotten familiar with for various years. You need to say, “Everybody’s cooperating.” Acquiring DevOps services is also a highly effective method of garnering the advantages that the DevOps methodology offers. 

The Ops part of DevOps for embedded is a test in light of the fact that, in a customary DevOps climate for the cloud, the Ops is really standard. You’re running a site or fostering an application that accomplishes something through a cloud-based interface. At the point when you’re discussing embedded, you are discussing a gadget in the field, and what that gadget does is explicit to your organization. As a rule, the gadget makers are not the organizations that are working the devices. A hardware maker might be offering its gadget to a major electrical organization or a major producer. Those organizations are the ones working the devices. Now and again there is help from the gadget producer, yet it’s anything but a total shut circle the manner in which you may see with a cloud-based arrangement.  

There are toolset similarity issues. Having a typical development climate here and there meets opposition. So that returns to a portion of the cultural and the executives backing you need to carry out these frameworks.  

And afterwards, there is the equipment issue once more. It’s a typical subject in the embedded market. How would you get sufficient equipment to work out the mechanization conditions expected to make DevOps a reality? That is a continuous test. Normally, effective clients have a blend of equipment and reenactment to increase their test measures. 

Looking at the path ahead, it is clear that as the rise of DevOps and its toolset expands, the need for enhanced skillsets and smarter deployment will also increase. In the coming years, the DevOps methodology will encourage companies to consistently update themselves while being more flexible and agile to retain a competitive advantage in the market.  

The post How DevOps Addresses Embedded Software Challenges appeared first on Tech Web Space.

Here Comes Flutter 2.2 – Google’s latest take on the iconic cross-platform framework 

Flutter 2.2. builds upon the foundation of Flutter 2 with a view of helping enterprises to create hyper-efficient cross-platform solutions for industries across verticals and segments and in helping them fulfill business requirements effectively. Flutter2.2 focuses on refining the developer experience b offering enhanced performance, stability, and customer appeal. Flutter 2.2 is less of a new version and more of a service update that keeps stability and fine-tuning Flutter 2’s features as its prime directive.   

Flutter 2.2 also carries guides for developers assisting them in creating a unified source code base that supports multiple platforms with features that are pre-requisites of stable and high-utility production applications. 

The number of Google-based products deploying Flutter to their development efforts is increasing by the hour, and Google cannot be happier.

The key highlights that make Flutter 2.2 stand out from the competition 

1. Performance enhancements 

The latest release of Flutter sports major improvements in terms of performance. With Flutter2.2, web application service workers can be deployed to background caching. Both Android and iOS developers have been offered platform-specific features that follow the mobile app development trends to stay up to date in IT industry. 

Flutter2.2 also sports a DevTools suite replete with features that enhance memory allocation during runtimes and thus boost performance. All feature additions and updates in Flutter 2.2 offer the user faster load times, better in-app experiences, and enhanced performance regardless of the platform being used. In addition to the above, Flutter 2.2 also includes support for 3^rd party extensions.  

2. The New Ads SDK 

The Ads SDK in Flutter 2.2 supports features like null safety enabling developers to prevent null exceptions. The Ads SDK also sports adaptive banner formats along with relevant codelab and an updated plug-in. All new projects in Flutter 2.2. sport null safety enables as a default. With the inclusion of null safety as a toggle on/toggle off safety feature, developers are empowered to become more confident and creative when writing app code. Dart’s Pub package manager sports over 500 packages, each of which has been converted to null safety. 

3. Deeper Integration with parent Ecosystem 

Google has served as the support system behind Flutter, and Flutter 2.2 witnesses this symbiosis grow stronger. Google has developed a new in-app payment plug-in that is connected with Google Pay with support for both Android and ioS. Flutter 2.2 ensures that the teams of a Flutter development company experience a stronger and more extensive connection between apps within Google’s ecosystem and allows for enhanced collaboration with partners. 

4. Dart 2.13 arrives 

Flutter 2.2 sports the latest Dart update, version 2.13. dart 2.13 has proven its effectiveness in enabling type aliases as well as native interoperability. It also supports packed structures in arrays and foreign functions with a legacy C code communication interface. 

Dart 2.13 also includes backing for type aliases resulting in easily readable code and simple refactoring. Flutter2.2 Comes with Dart2.13 as default, and Dart 2.13 is also available as a stand-alone download. 

5. Platform Adaptive Apps 

Flutter 2.2 supports cross-platform app development that includes diverse form factors like tablets, PCs, and mobile while catering to diverse input styles ranging from navigation drawers to system menus. Flutter 2.2 can be deployed to create platform-adaptive applications capable of adjusting to the specifications of the target platform. 

6. Improved Web Platform 

Flutter2 was stable with the web as a platform, and this stability has only been enhanced in Flutter 2.2. The new release optimizes caching behavior with an intuitive loading mechanism for service workers. The framework’s web renderers have also been updated to support HTML font features, text rendering through canvas APIs, shader mask support, and opacity masks for transitions. The semantic node position has also been improved to enhance accessibility and bridge the gap between mobile and desktop applications. 

7. Improved Text Handling 

Text handling was not considered as important a factor in earlier releases as compared to Flutter 2.2. Considering the desktop form factor, Flutter2.2 incorporates new ways to handle text inputs. Features like keystroke cancellation, customizable keystrokes, etc., add greatly to how text appears on apps developed with Flutter 2.2. 

8. Automated Scrollbars 

Scrollbars are not part of the default interface in Android and iOS applications. In the case of desktop apps, UI principles state that the scrollbar must occur automatically when the length of the content surpasses the area of the screen. Other frameworks require you to add a scrollbar widget. However, in Flutter2.2, the addition of a scrollbar widget wherever necessary is automatic. 

9. Mouse Cursors Over Text 

In Flutter’s earlier releases, custom mouse cursors could be added to in-app widgets. But in diverse and differently styled text spans, adding a custom mouse cursor over each span was not possible. Flutter2.2 enables users to automatically acquire a custom mouse cursor over text spans with gesture recognizers.  

10. Smooth Page-Transition in iOS 

Cupertino page transitions are a lot smoother for iOS, given that Flutter2.2 reduces frame render times, adding value to both the developer performance and end-user experience. With incremental iOS installs being implemented, installation and testing turn-around times have also been reduced. 

11. New Material Icons 

Flutter 2.2. sports two separate PRs that add new Material icons, including an icon for Dash. It is easy to search for the required Material icon using a list bifurcated into names and categories included in Flutter2.2’s icon library. The addition of Dash to the app being developed has also been simplified to a great extent. 

Summing up 

Powered by Google and boosted even further by a rich and skilled community, Flutter 2.2 has acquired key enhancements, making it one of the most desirable and efficient cross-platform app development frameworks. Partnering with a Flutter app development company can prove to be crucial to the success of your app development initiative as well as your business. It will be interesting to see what future releases of Flutter will have in store for developers and the user. 

Developers can reach Flutter’s latest release by upgrading their original installation or starting a new installation. 

One in every eight apps in the Play store is built using Flutter. The official number of Flutter apps on the Play Store is 200,000. Apps of all types deploy Flutter to their UI development to craft deeply appealing yet intuitive multi-platform experiences for users across the globe. 

Flutter has continued to enhance its utility with each iterative release and draw in an ever-increasing fan base. The user community is hyped to leverage the framework’s potential, and the popularity of Flutter 2.2 is proof. 

The post The Key Highlighted Features of Flutter 2.2 – Google’s Latest Offering appeared first on Tech Web Space.

On the other hand, the latter is driven by a blend of geopolitical instability and environmental degradation. All of this demands a new, unconventional approach that prioritizes environmental governance and resource conservation.

Eventually, businesses now understand that only a linear growth in production and consumption is insufficient to meet the world’s increasing demand for products and services. People will not address the social and ecological challenges of this age without an essential business model innovation. Furthermore, unsustainable practices cannot be hidden anymore.

What is the present scenario?

Digital transformation and environmental sustainability – these two concepts are mutually fortifying and have evolved. Significantly, the Covid-19 pandemic has presented an opportunity for organizations to expedite their adaptation to digital technology and keep sustainability practices at the top of their priority list.

Anticipated to be notable years for artificial intelligence, 2020 and 2021 rapidly turned into a race for how fast organizations could identify the hidden issues in their supply chain and digitally transform themselves for survival. According to IDC, 65% of global GDP will be digitized by 2022.

It’s hard to estimate just how much enterprises have needed to adapt in the past few months. Could you imagine 8 billion people working together under lockdown in the interests of a common good before? We couldn’t!

According to Science Magazine, gas emissions were reduced by 17%, and human-related seismic vibration reduced by half during global lockdowns. These quick reversals have created a once-in-a-an-age platform from which fundamental changes are being pursued.

Digital transformation and Sustainability: The pivotal combination

As the pandemic has redefined society and digital transformation across all industries, leaders have begun to shift their focus on the sustainable side of the organization or the 3Ps – Planet, People, and Profit. The most efficient leaders are forward-thinking and proactive, only letting themselves see opportunities where others see obstacles.

And now, in the brim of a global crisis, those leaders realize a sustainable digital transformation is possible that will make them more resilient and more vigorous.

Sustainability comes as a catalyst for organizations to incorporate digital technologies into many areas of their business. It’s already well evident that digital technology is helping reduce carbon emission by 15% in agriculture, manufacturing, energy, traffic and transport management, building infrastructure, and so forth. Here’s how digital transformation could be your easter egg.

Mentioned below are some examples for your better understanding:

• Machine learning and predictive analytics are being applied for automatic processes with renewable energy forecasts for wind and solar power, environmental impact, and predictive maintenance.
• Artificial intelligence is being aided with air pollution reduction, disaster response, helping make infrastructure more energy-efficient, and making affordable renewable energy.
• IoT devices are being used to analyze production processes, gather data to monitor, and assist environmental impacts.

Reasons why sustainability is important

Now, let’s come to the bottom line – why digital transformation and environmental sustainability must go hand in hand and how sustainability strategy transforms the enterprise. We’ve presented the following grounds.

1. The mounting industrial pressure to integrate sustainable practices

The MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics (MIT CTL) and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) recently conducted a study in which 46% of the respondents stated that external stakeholders compelled them to adopt sustainable digital transformation consulting services.

With this enforcement, stakeholders demand transparency of such practices besides traditional press releases. Leaders can substantiate current state processes by incorporating sustainable practices within their organizations.

2. Voluntary sustainability reporting” – The growing expectation

Several countries such as China, Indonesia, India, USA have mandated the reporting for sustainable practices. KPMG has reported that 93% of the 250 most prominent global organizations now publish this report. As a result, stakeholders are looking forward to small and medium-sized enterprises taking part in such reporting.

By aligning the digital transformation strategy of an enterprise with sustainable reporting protocols like Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework, leaders of all industries will be able to chart out metrics and information from organization application into sustainability reporting templates.

3. The great change in consumer behavior

The buying power has shifted from Boomers to GenZs and Millennials, emphasizing sustainability efforts and ethical practices while making buying decisions. As per a study conducted among 10,000 consumers worldwide, 91% of them noted that they would prefer a brand that supports an environmental or social cause.

Another study found that 90% of buyers are likely to boycott a company for irresponsible and immoral business practices. The volume of green-washing is continuously increasing among small, medium, and large organizations, and consumers are now demanding organizations ‘validate’ sustainable claims.

4. Sustainability as a criterion for investment and lending

Sustainability plans used to be seen as a distraction to the essence of an organization. But now, the majority of investors and lenders consider an organization without sustainable practices a reputation and ethical risk. In this regard, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.), in association with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), has decided to offer lower interest rates to vendors that have prioritized sustainable digital transformation trends.

Additionally, investors and lenders of small and medium-sized organizations have included sustainability efforts within risk evaluations and assessments. As an initiative to record these practices from a financial perspective, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) involves integrating sustainability reporting and digital transformation strategy in an organization.

5. Growing augmentation and automation will need growing integration

On the surface, it might not appear as a sustainable practice. Several organizations have stepped up to create a sustainable business environment by transferring technology services to the cloud. It has been noted that organizations that move technology applications to the cloud consume 84% less power, 77% fewer servers and decrease carbon emissions by up to 88%.

On top of this, IoT has introduced effective devices across the business of an organization. Leaders now can track, evaluate, and report on a range of non-financial metrics like the use of an innovative HVAC system in the plant maintenance app of the organization.

Sustainable digital transformation: More than just a trend

Digital technologies are advancing day by day. Accordingly, financial reporting and sustainable innovations are improving as well. Organizations across all industries are compelled to look inward and look towards the coming days. In the S&P 500 Index, 86% of organizations have submitted sustainability reports in 2018, rising from 20% in 2011.

With the increasing pressure from investors and lenders to reveal quantifiable, consistent, and reliable ESG metrics, many companies are now looking for an opportunity to accomplish their sustainability goals through digital transformation in the supply chain. They’re applying the latest, high-tech, data-driven applications to their source patterns.

It seems like there’s no coming back from the critical sustainable aspect of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Sustainable strategy transforms the enterprise, and it’s no longer a nice thing to do; it’s a must to do.

Final thoughts

The wind of change is blowing from two different directions and uniting into a life-changing storm over the world economy. Digitization is on its way; in fact, in many cases, it has already arrived. Sustainability is coming along with it, and together, these are the most powerful influences in today’s corporate landscape.

But, the underlying concern still remains. The impact digitization will have on this planet, human lives, and societies are still unknown. If digital transformation is genuinely the facet of a great social and economic change, it has to be fair, relevant, and above all, sustainable to all the people. It must be working for the common good.

Therefore, the need of the hour is a perfect combination of digital transformation and environmental sustainability. Whatever strategy you execute in your business, the solution must give you the depth and breadth to incorporate these five considerations into your decision-making.

And if your company is yet to set out on its digital transformation journey, look out for digital transformation solutions that utilize technology as an accompanying instrument for sustainable development.

After all, you must integrate sustainability practices as a strategic imperative to ensure your organization remains both competitive and resilient in the long run!

The post 5 Great Reasons For a Sustainable Digital Transformation appeared first on Tech Web Space.

In the wired world of today, a robust and progressive digital marketing strategy is imperative. In the virtual space, Enterprises across the globe are clamouring to create a niche for themselves with direct access to interactions with their target audience, respond to customer queries and tell their brand story in a creative and engaging way. With the digital marketing techniques, trends and tools included in this article, I endeavour to paint a clear picture how digital marketing can help you reach new customers and meet and exceed your unique business goals. 

If you are looking to increase sales, gain more revenue and enhance awareness and loyalty amongst customers for your brand, then this article is for you. 

So without any further ado, here are 8 modern trends/techniques that will revolutionize your digital marketing campaigns.

Target Featured Snippets- “Position Zero”

For a very long time now, enterprises have churned out strategy after strategy with the goal to be listed on the #1 spot of search results. Now that we have entered 2021, SEO efforts have shifted for even higher visibility offered by “position zero”

Position Zero is basically Google’s featured snippet that appears above normal search results on your search page. What makes position zero special is that it works differently from normal search rankings and is even targeted at a different end goal. While normal search engine results want the user to click on the displayed link and then reach the company’s website, “position zero” aims at answering the user’s question right there on the search page, earning the nickname “no click search”  

The featured snippet space forgoes a user clicking on a link and travelling to a website and instead capitalizes on the factor of gaining brand recognition for the enterprise as a thought leader in its space. Featured Snippets are also read aloud with Google assistant web searches which adds an extra layer of interaction between the customer and the brand.

If you wish to target a featured snippet for your brands digital marketing strategy here a few pointers that might offer assistance-

• Featured snippets usually answer long-tail keyword phrases and questions that begin with “how to”…
• A featured snippet can be a step-by-step bulleted list, a table structure, a definition or even a video so long as the keyword question is answered thoroughly and clearly.

Content marketing- Organically inform and attract customers.

Content marketing plays a pivotal role in attracting your target audience. The basics of content marketing is serving users with content that is relevant, valuable and is worth the time of its consumers.

Content marketing encapsulates four sub strategies-

• Mobile content- Content designed especially to be consumed on the ever-popular mobile platform.
• Native advertising- Paid advertisements that match the look and functionalities of their respective media format such as ads in social media feeds and recommended content on a web page.
• Influencer marketing- Utilization of users (influencers) with significant followings on social media platforms to recommend your products and service to their communities.
•  Marketing automation- A hybrid of software and strategy, marketing automation allows enterprises to serve useful content to prospective customers at exactly the right time.
  E.g. Customers receiving Ads on their mobiles and in their mail of available properties after the customer has searched for houses. 

Customer segmentation- mould your strategy according to customer type

Customer segmentation has been around for a considerable amount of time and yet remain evergreen. The core thought behind customer segmentation- is that instead of creating one monolithic marketing campaign targeted at a general audience, customer segmentation deploys a large number of smaller marketing campaigns targeting specific customer segments.

Customer segmentation efforts group target audiences on the basis of purchase habits, demographics, traits, and behaviours, which allow your enterprise to create bespoke content for each group. A simple example is a company having a separate mailing list and mail content for high spending customer groups and low spending customer groups, with each mail featuring different products and content styles.

Customer groups can be created on the basis of demographics, geographic, psychographic, customer journeys, and behavioural factors.

Customer segmentation offers an unmatched level of personalization in brand communications through specialized ads on pre-decided sites, blog content categories, and social media content.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)- image and video, local and voice searches

Another classic digital marketing strategy, SEO, is in constant evolutionary flux with Google’s frequent algorithm updates. The traditional search types for images, videos, and content are by typing in keywords, and traditional SEO banks on content sporting these keywords so that users are served with relevant content. But searching itself has come a long way. 

Image searches- 

Many do not know that Google accepts images and even original photos as search context. Google’s photo search app, Google Lens, allows users to submit images to receive search results. These results are currently limited to purchase recommendations and product pages, but with image searches gaining popularity, image and video SEO campaigns are growing increasingly relevant. Some pointers to keep in mind are-

• Always include alt text in descriptions of images
• Create a dedicated sitemap for images
• Include keywords in filenames
• Use high-quality images 

Brand awareness increases by almost 140% after a user watches a video, and this format is therefore fast becoming the go-to option for digital marketers. Video also appeals to current search behaviours across generations where millennials, generation Z, and generation X, all enjoy watching videos whether they are instructional, behind the scenes, event documentaries, or ad films.

Combined with content marketing and social media presence, Video marketing can augment brand awareness to unprecedented levels leading to increased conversions.

Two major factors that put forth arguments in favour of video marketing are-

• 90% of users credit videos for their purchase decisions.
• Pages with video content are more than 53 times more likely to feature on the first page of a generic search result.

A. Local SEO-

Now let’s take a look at “local” SEO integrations. Users searching for businesses/products/services with their location have stronger purchase intent and therefore are more apt to convert into customers. The inclusion of local keywords in your SEO strategy can help your business in reaching users who could be just around the corner, ready and willing to visit your premises.

B. Voice Searches-

And now for the third and most recent form of SEO, voice searches. Ever since voice assistants hit the market a couple of years ago, voice searches have increased manifold. Since people don’t’ use the same keywords while talking as compared to when they type, voice SEO ideally incorporates speech keywords to serve desired search results.

Interactive content- don’t just promote engagement, promote the enjoyment

Interactive content allows its audience to actively participate in the engagement instead of passively reading, listening, or watching. Content types such as contests, giveaways, calculators, quizzes, etc., can take a brand story to new heights of relatability and personal appeal. With interactive content, the value and utility of each user engagement are enhanced. Marketers can also capture valuable insights into customer desires/behaviour with interactive content.

Interactive content is poised perfectly to reap the rewards of the ever-growing trend of personalization. Even when putting aside the personal gratification that users derive from being served with interactive content, at the very least, it increases the length of time that a user engages with a brand, thus improving the brands standing in algorithm-based feeds and searches.

Social Media marketing- customer opinions matter

Social media marketing endeavours to increase brand awareness and conversions for a brand while building and maintaining its reputation. Social media marketing focuses on creating promotional and informational engagements and is extremely successful in doing so, given that 25% of an average user’s internet time is spent on social media.

Mentioned below are a few statistics that describe why social media marketing is effective-

• 3.5 billion people use social media, making an enormous market
• 90.4% of millennials, 66.5% of GenX, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers use social media making it perfect for products targeted at all age groups.
• An average individual spends approximately 3 hours on social media.
• 70% of users make purchase decisions based on the social proof (testimonials, reviews, etc.) they find about a brand on social media platforms.

Artificial intelligence- for intuitive, personable user interactions

Artificial intelligence tech applies machine cognition and reasoning to algorithmic computations facilitating the creation of increasingly accurate strategies. With artificial intelligence tech In place, and enterprise can-

• Find meaningful patterns to acquire insights into marketing numbers for precise ad targeting and projections of consumer behaviour.
• Use search engines to interpret queries and serve up relevant results.
• Improve customer-centric strategies through better trend analysis, precise customer profiling, and sophisticated personalization strategies.

 To give you a glimpse of the value that personalization of user engagement through AI, 43% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a business where the customer experience is personalized. In short, the earlier mentioned trend of customer segmentation is greatly augmented and enhanced by the application of AI.

Big data- augment your digital marketing strategy with data analytics

Big data plays a crucial role in digital marketing strategies. Data analytics can help your enterprise with data-driven conclusions and projections to evaluate customer behaviour and glitches closer to home, like issues in operational processes.

While Data analytics possesses the potential to analyse past trends, it can also make predictions of customer behaviour and emerging market opportunities for your enterprise. 

From insights into the customer-base to keep track of demand flow to assisting strategy teams in creating engagements to precise targeting, digital marketers can now infuse the potential of data analytics into their performance strategies for enhanced efficiency.

Chat bots- For instant answers to your queries

Chat bots emulate live chats and can talk with customers. Most of the chat windows that pop up after you have landed on a site are chat bots in action. 57% of customers say that they require quick responses and accurate answers to their questions, and chat bots do just that. Some of the major benefits of a chat bot are-

1. It improves service experience-

• It reduces wait times for customers
• It reduces the need for a large number of service reps who can be deployed to answering and responding more complex queries and situations
• 24*7 service availability.

2. Customer engagement post-sales-

A chat bot’s ability to handle customer engagement proactively and send follow-up messages, greetings, new product launch info, and new offers is an exceptionally valuable form of digital marketing.

3. Data collection

Chat bots are programmable to capture metrics like customer engagement levels, brand mentions, buying patterns, and other customer behaviour. Using this data, businesses can get a clear idea of customer mind sets and their product/service/brand’s market value.

To sum it up, chat bots can convert a user into a paying customer with the real-time interaction they offer and also function as brand ambassadors 

The advent of IoT

Functioning in tandem with big data, and now perceivably the largest source of behavioural data, and customer segmentation, IoT solutions have taken the market by storm. Enterprises that understand the value of consistent innovation have refocussed their resources towards inclusion of IoT in their operations to remain relevant in the evolved business and cultural landscape that we now know as the “new normal”. 

Offering efficiencies such as agility, automation, monitoring, remote collaboration, smart manufacturing, augmented visualization and business resilience IoT has become integral to all sectors of the market inclusive of consumer white goods i.e. appliances like refrigerators, washing machines and ovens to wearable devices that help in monitoring health stats, locations and productivity. 

Enterprises can now leverage next-gen analytics to identify key points such as efficiency, availability and quality powered by quantifiable data inflows through IoT enabled devices and systems.  

In summation

As we as a society grow increasingly digitally-driven, the physical structure of neighbourhood commerce has now almost entirely given way to larger fluid communities online. 

For companies that have long since possessed brick and mortar business premises, marketing campaigns of the days gone by, such as flyers, posters, radio ads, etc., have been replaced by their digital counterparts. 

With the digital ecosystem flourishing in 2021, following the trends mentioned above and incorporating them into your marketing strategy can help you move beyond your regular market. Field of operations and into the world in its entirety.

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