What are your goals with email marketing?

If you’re going to achieve those goals and see a return on investment, then chances are you’re not going to be able to do it without some level of automated email marketing.

What Is Automated Email Marketing?

Automated email marketing is a series of emails you automatically send to your prospects or customers. Using an autoresponder, you can schedule emails to send based on your audience’s interactions with your business. 

For example, when someone signs up for your newsletter, you can automatically send out an automated welcome email.

Don’t let the automated part fool you, though. 

To be effective with automated email, what you’re producing should be far from spam. Instead, it’s high-quality, personalized content that your audience has signed up for. 

This may all sound a little bit complicated, but the great thing about modern automated email marketing is that the software is simple to use and offers you some powerful capabilities. 

Why Should You Automate Your Emails?

The key here is scale. If you’ve got thousands of people in your sales pipeline, it’s impossible to write out individual emails for everyone that signs up. 

Instead, automated email marketing allows you to create email series that are perfectly tailored to your audience’s needs and send them out at a specific time. Rather than spending all your time writing and sending out individual emails, you can focus on creating the perfect copy that inspires your audience to take action. 

That’s great, but don’t you lose the personal aspect?

If you’re writing everyone individual emails, then switching to automated email marketing reduces your level of personalization. Each email won’t be unique, but it can still be personal. 

Email responders allow you to segment your audience based on their interests and behaviors. 

Say someone signs up for my email newsletter from a page titled “Link Building 101.” I can put them into a link-building segment so they receive handy tips on how to improve their backlink profile. Someone who signs up through a page titled “50 Content Ideas for Niche Websites” will go into a different segment and receive different emails. 

Segmentation means there are endless ways you can personalize your automated emails, so you’re getting both convenience and personalization.

This combination clearly works because email automation is the most popular form of marketing automation, with 64 percent of businesses using it. With email marketing offering an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent, this gives you plenty of reasons to automate your emails. 

When to Use Automated Email Marketing

Automated email marketing can bring big results, but it’s not always the best option. Here are a few of the times when automated emails can help you make the right impression with your target audience. 

1. Abandoned Carts

Abandoned carts are highly frustrating. 

The person has gotten so close to making a purchase, yet you’ve lost them at the last moment. There are many reasons why people abandon carts, but a common one is that they’re not quite ready to buy yet.

Just because someone isn’t ready to buy today doesn’t mean they won’t be soon, and an automated email is a perfect way to keep them engaged. 

When someone abandons their cart, you can schedule an email to go out to them, prompting them to return and complete their purchase. 

The average cart abandonment rate is estimated to be 77.13 percent, so bringing people back to your checkout page through well-timed emails can be invaluable. 

2. Sending Automated Email Newsletters to Subscribers 

Once someone leaves your website, you may never see them again. 

If you’ve got their email address, you’ve got an opportunity to keep the connection alive and build a relationship (hopefully until they become a repeat customer). Just having someone’s email doesn’t achieve this, though, and instead, you’ve got to be able to offer something valuable.

In the case of a newsletter, you’re offering your amazing content to grow the relationship and keep bringing people back to your website.

3. Promotional Emails

One of the key things with email marketing is providing value to the customer. It’s no good spamming them with links to your product all the time because they’re simply going to treat it as spam. 

That being said, we’re here to market our businesses, and sometimes that means sending promotional emails. 

To get the maximum value from this, you want to make sure your promotions are part of a carefully planned email series, and it’s almost impossible to do this without automated emails. 

4. Welcome Emails

When someone signs up for your email communication, it’s a good idea to send out a welcome email. 

Of course, you can’t be on your computer all the time, monitoring the moment everyone signs up for emails, so this is something that is best to automate. 

It allows you to set expectations and explain the value proposition of receiving your emails. Once someone has a good idea of what they’re going to receive from your emails, they’re more likely to open them and interact with your content. 

5. Automatic Replies to Customer Complaints

When someone has a complaint, they want to be assured you’re taking it seriously. The longer they wait for a response, the more their frustration builds. 

You can’t be monitoring your inbox 24/7, so it’s just not possible to be able to respond to each complaint right away. What you can do is set up an automated email that explains your complaint process and ensures you’re working on fixing the issue. 

This gives people confidence that you’re taking their complaints seriously, and they can expect a response in due course.

When to Not Use Automated Emails

We talk about personalization a lot in marketing, and it’s something that’s very important when it comes to automated emails. 

You can personalize automated emails, but there’s a limit to what you can do. With automated email marketing, you’re reliant on segments to personalize your communications. While putting someone in a segment means they’re not just any person, it still doesn’t mean they’re an individual. 

In many cases, segmenting email subscribers works because it’s an effective way of offering them personalized content. However, there are times when you need to treat people as an individual, and automated emails don’t work in these cases. 

Take our previous example about replying to customer complaints. The immediate response might be an automated email, but the follow-ups should be personal. 

This is something you need to keep in mind when setting up your automated email marketing. In what situations does it pay to address people as part of a segment, and when do you need to address them as an individual?

The farther people progress through your customer journey, the more likely it is they will need personalized communication.

Best Automated Email Marketing Tools

How can you get started with automated emails? The key is finding the email marketing tools that best fit your needs. 

There’s a lot of competition in this space, which is great for the consumer because it means there are some powerful tools available to us. 

Here are some of the best automated email marketing tools.

1. Drip

Drip gives you all the tools you need to run successful automated email marketing campaigns. It’s all about streamlining the process, and that’s exactly why people turn to automated emails in the first place. 

This is a straightforward tool to use, but it’s also powerful. Attract more customers with high-converting forms and schedule creative emails with ease.

2. Sendinblue 

Sendinblue combines email marketing services with SMS messages to offer a complete marketing tool.

It allows you to easily segment your audience, meaning you can work on personalizing your emails to your audience. When you create your content, the drag-and-drop feature makes it quick and easy to produce high-performing emails.

3. Mailshake 

Mailshake offers excellent automated email tools, especially if you’re doing cold outreach. With lots of plugins, it allows you to build out your mailing list, clean it to make sure you’ve got live emails, and schedule the perfect email sequence. It’s also got great social integrations!

The A/B testing and scheduling features are extremely easy to use, which means you can keep testing your emails until you find the right formula.

4. Mailchimp

Mailchimp might be the biggest name in email marketing, and for good reason: It offers some great tools. 

This is an all-in-one marketing platform that allows you to send drip emails, segment your audience, A/B test, and much more. 

5. Emma

Emma is a great tool for large businesses with big marketing teams. Its tools allow for easy collaboration between team members and make the process of automating emails much more seamless.

With lots of handy integrations and great personalization options, it’s a professional email marketing tool that can bring in serious results. 

Examples of Great Automated Email Marketing Campaigns

There are plenty of automated email marketing tools out there, but what should you be looking to achieve with your campaigns? 

Here are some great examples of automated email campaigns.

Automated Welcome Email

The welcome email is the first step in what will hopefully be a long and prosperous relationship. It’s all about introducing your brand, setting expectations, and showing the value of what the person has signed up for. 

Asana does this well in its welcome email. 

It focuses on the idea of teamwork, neatly showing you how its features can make your day that bit easier. It finishes with actionable tips, encouraging users to take the first step and engage with their software.

Abandoned Cart Automated Email

Your goal is clear with an abandoned cart email: You want people to come back and complete their purchase. 

Marketing isn’t always that straightforward, though, and you often have to put the customer’s goals before yours. This means finding ways to help the customer make a decision, not just telling them to buy. 

The first step is typically sending a reminder that they have left items in their cart. Casper does this well in the following email.

It’s not pushy but has tons of character and playfully engages with the customer, highlighting the items left in the cart.

You’ve now reminded the customer that they’ve got an open cart, so it’s up to them whether they return and make a purchase. Some will, but there will still be some people who aren’t convinced. 

The next email is an opportunity to overcome people’s doubts by answering their questions and showing how your product solves their pain points, as this email from Dollar Shave Club does.

Sometimes an abandoned cart is just an abandoned cart, and there’s no way to get people back. However, there’s one last tool you have at your disposal: People love a good promotion. Try sending one to see if you can tempt them with a discount.

Newsletters

There are lots of ways you can use your newsletters to engage with your audience. How you approach it depends on your goals. 

If you look at my email communications, you’ll see my goal is pretty simple. I want to give people quick access to information that will help them achieve their goals, and I want to bring them back to my site. 

To do this, I use an engaging subject line and keep things extremely simple. 

Your email campaigns will differ based on what you’re trying to achieve, but the key is understanding what your target audience wants. 

Automated Email for Marketing Frequently Asked Questions

Automated Email Marketing Conclusion

It’s just not feasible to create individualized emails for each person on your mailing list. Automated email marketing gives you the best of both worlds, allowing you to give your followers consistent updates while still offering a good level of personalization. 

This is important because email marketing is still a valuable digital marketing tool. It helps drive people to your website, nurture leads, and boost conversion rates, so it’s something every business should consider. 

Luckily, there are some great automated email tools out there, and with a bit of hard work, they should allow you to maximize your email marketing campaigns.

How have you used automated email marketing to help your business?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Utilize Automated Email Marketing
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/automated-email-marketing/
Published Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Ultimate guides are everywhere. You’ve probably read your fair share, and maybe you’ve even written a couple.

They can be a great way to get traffic, build links, and increase your authority, but they’re far from easy to create. The issue most people run into is the sheer amount of content out there nowadays. How do you create an ultimate guide if there are already tons of posts on your chosen subject?

In this post, we’ll look at the steps to creating the ultimate guide on just about anything.

What Is an Ultimate Guide?

What turns a lengthy blog post into an ultimate guide? Well, there are a few things that almost every in-depth guide has in common:

• It goes very deep into a pretty broad topic.
• It contains several chapters that look at the topic from a variety of angles.
• An industry expert or researcher writes it.

Apart from that, what you put in your ultimate guide and how you design it is up to you.

Why You Should Create an Ultimate Guide

If you didn’t know how powerful ultimate guides are already, here’s why you should start creating them right now.

Rank for Many Keywords

The length, depth, and authority that go into ultimate guides make them a fantastic weapon in your SEO arsenal. The fact that they are so detailed means they should rank for a huge number of keywords. Including internal links to your other blog posts boosts their rankings, too.

Get Backlinks

A big, in-depth resource like an ultimate guide can be a fantastic source of links. Not only can you use it to go out there and request a backlink as part of your link-building process, but other sites naturally start linking to an authoritative resource, too. So much so that your ultimate guide can continue to attract links for years to come.

Build Your Authority

There are few pieces of marketing collateral better at positioning your brand as an authority in your industry than an ultimate guide. This is your opportunity to showcase how much you know about your subject to the world and go above and beyond what has previously been written about your topic.

How to Pick Topics for Your Ultimate Guide

Picking a topic can be a huge stumbling block for many aspiring writers. Don’t get bogged down overthinking it, though. Here’s how you can find the perfect topic quickly.

Choose a Topic You Know About

This first point is obvious, but it needs to be said. You need to know your topic inside and out if you want to write an excellent guide. That doesn’t mean you can’t use a freelance writer to help you out, but you should give them a thorough brief and create the outline of the guide yourself.

Choose a Topic With High Search Traffic

Not every guide needs to be written with the express purpose of ranking in Google, but it can seriously help drive traffic and generate customers. That’s why I recommend you enter your topic ideas into a tool like Ubersuggest to see the keyword volumes of the main topic and the volumes of every other related keyword.

Don’t just pick the topic that has the main keyword with the highest search volume, however. You may find another topic has so many more related keywords that it could actually generate more traffic overall.

Choose a Topic That’s Trending

Ultimate guides are successful when they’re written about trending topics. When people are excited about a topic, they want to consume all the information they can find about it. Your guide should be a part of that, too.

That’s not the only reason you want to focus on what’s trending, though. The newer your post is, the better it might do in search results if someone is searching by posts made within the last week, month, and so on.

How to Create an Ultimate Guide

With your topic picked, it’s time to get to work creating your guide. Here’s how I recommend you go about it.

1. Consume as Much Content as You Can

Even if you’re an expert in your field, you’ll still want to read blog posts on your topic before you start writing. Doing so will help you understand the level of content currently out there, the common threads writers pull, and the things you need to mention.

Pay attention to the results that Google serves up, too. You’ll find that specific formats are more popular than others, and you’ll want to try to mirror these when it comes to writing your content.

2. Identify What’s Missing

While you’re reading other people’s content, make a note of everything that’s missing from the posts. If you’re writing a how-to post, be sure to go through the steps yourself after reading posts by others.

Then, jot down things you notice during the process that others might have missed or not explained thoroughly. It also might help to sit down with someone who is unfamiliar with your topic and see what questions they come up with.

3. Do Research

You can write an ultimate guide off the back of your expertise alone—but you can make it stand head and shoulders above everyone else’s content if you conduct your research.

For some, this is a case of canvassing their colleagues and contacts for their opinion on a certain topic. Others might want to commit to more detailed research and partner with a market research company that’ll carry out a study on their behalf.

The more effort you put into the research, the more valuable and link-worthy your ultimate guide will become.

4. Put It All Together

To create your ultimate guide, simply combine the basics plus the additional details you found were missing from other posts and your research. This way, people coming across your guide as the first piece of content they have read about a topic will get all of the basic information, and people who have read many other guides will be wowed by all of the missing pieces that you included.

5. Promote, Promote, Promote

An ultimate guide is no good if no one reads it. Considering the amount of time and energy you have spent on your ultimate guide, you owe it to yourself and your readers to promote it well. Do so by:

• Sharing it on all of your social networks: Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are the best. Promote it on your personal and business accounts, if possible.
• Sharing it in groups on social networks: LinkedIn, for example, has some great groups on particular topics. Facebook has some as well, although many are full of spammers who are just there for their promotions. This will expand your guide’s exposure from just your network to all of the members of the groups you select.
• Emailing your list: If you have a mailing list, let them know about your latest and greatest piece of content.
• Repurposing your content: If you can turn your ultimate guide into an infographic, video, slide presentation, or PDF document, you can spread it on even more networks.

4 Tips to Create an Awesome Ultimate Guide

If you want to take your ultimate guide to the next level, bear in mind these four tips when writing.

Write Clearly and Format Appropriately

You don’t have to be Hemingway to write a great ultimate guide, but take a lesson from Ernest regarding clarity. Short, clear, punchy sentences win out here, especially when writing thousands of words on your topic. Long, convoluted paragraphs may help you get your message across, but they’ll only cause the reader’s mind to wander.

Formatting will also help in this regard. Clearly labeled titles and subheadings will make your guide much more digestible. Short paragraphs will, too. Don’t forget that most of your audience will be reading your advice on a screen, so consider how they might skim it for the information they’re looking for.

Include Images and Screenshots

One thing I sometimes find missing from other ultimate guides is good screenshots. Take yours using your account of the topic as opposed to generic stock photos. This will make it easier for others to follow along and visualize the process.

Use Real-Life Examples

Once you have the basics and missing pieces down for your ultimate guide, look for some good examples of your tips in action. If you’re talking about creating great timeline cover photos, then include some examples from pages in different industries.

If you’re talking about using Pinterest to drive traffic, then link to top Pinterest users who are doing things right. Think about your target audience and find examples that they can easily relate to so they feel they must follow your advice to be successful.

Don’t Break Up Your Hard Work

There is a lot of advice out there suggesting you should take long posts and break them up into a series, so you can get people to come back to your website over and over again. However, I find that if someone hits a piece of content that says 101 Tips on ___, and the post only includes steps 1–20 with the promise of more to come, they move on to find everything they’re looking for elsewhere.

People want to consume information now, not wait for it. When they read the words ultimate guide, they’re going to expect to get everything in one chunk, so unless you are planning to write 5,000+ words on a topic, keep it in one piece.

Examples of Great Ultimate Guides

There are a lot of great ultimate guides out there, but here are some of my all-time favorites.

The Ultimate Guide to Startup Marketing

If you’re looking to grow your startup, I’m pretty sure you’ll get a huge amount of value out of my ultimate guide on the topic.

How to Design a Logo: The Ultimate Guide

With 12 chapters and virtually every angle covered, there’s no reason to read another guide before creating your logo.

The Ultimate Guide to Cart Abandonment

If you’ve ever wondered why shoppers are leaving your website at checkout, this mammoth guide by VWO will answer all your questions.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing & Illustrating Your First Children’s Book

Ultimate guides don’t have to be about marketing, as this guide by Eevi Jones proves.

How to Pick a Career

While Tim Urban hasn’t called this an ultimate guide, you’re unlikely to find a more thoughtful or detailed blog post on picking a career anywhere online.

Further Resources on Ultimate Guides

This blog post isn’t exhaustive by any means. If you want to dive deep into creating high-quality long-form content, then check out these five resources:

1. How to Create an Ebook From Start to Finish by HubSpot
2. The Ultimate Guide Template by Copyhackers
3. Your Ultimate Guide on How to Write an Ultimate Guide (Infographic) by Express Writers
4. The Ultimate Guide to Creating a True ‘Ultimate Guide’ by Search Engine Journal
5. The Ultimate Guide To Content Promotion by Marketing Insider Group

How to Create Specs for an Ultimate Guide

Ultimate Guide Frequently Asked Questions

How long should my ultimate guide be?

There isn’t a defined length for an ultimate guide, but most are at least 3,000 words in length.

How do I distribute my ultimate guide to my target audience?

You can use social media and email to get your ultimate guide in front of your target audience.

Should I create more than one ultimate guide for my website?

Absolutely. Ultimate guides offer a lot of value in terms of SEO and building your authority, so you should write as many as you can.

At what part of the funnel are ultimate guides most useful?

Ultimate guides can be used at any part of your funnel, but they’ll be most useful towards the top. They are great at attracting users into your funnel and converting them to email subscribers.

How to Create Ultimate Guides Conclusion

Ultimate guides are an incredibly valuable marketing resource. I’ve used them to generate huge levels of traffic, build my reputation as an authority in the industry, and improve my site’s SEO.

Follow the advice I’ve given above, and you’ll be on your way to achieving your content goals while sharing valuable insights about your chosen topic.

Have you created an ultimate guide on your website or blog? What other tips would you add to making your ultimate guide a success?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Create Ultimate Guides to Drive Leads, Traffic, and Conversions
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/creating-ultimate-guides/
Published Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Instagram is one of the best social networks to advertise on. It has grown to be just as big of an advertising platform as its parent company, Facebook. In fact, by 2023, the site is likely to exceed one billion users, according to Statista.

Your best bet for Instagram success is to share stunning visuals and high-quality photos.

Add in a branded or targeted hashtag and you’ll be connecting with your ideal customers in no time.

If you want to increase your reach even further, Instagram ads are the way to go.

If you’re not quite sure how to use Instagram ads or you’re worried about how much they cost, read on to find out how you can run effective Instagram ads on any budget.

Why Advertise on Instagram?

Instagram is growing, and it’s growing fast.

There are more than 200 million business accounts on Instagram, and that number doesn’t seem to be decreasing any time soon.

The platform’s incredible growth is all for a good reason. Marketers know it’s worth it: Instagram’s ad revenues could reach $18.16 billion by 2021.

Instagram is not only growing considerably, but it’s also bringing in some serious cash for businesses. It’s attracting tons of big brands because it’s well worth it to advertise there. Even if you’re not a multimillion-dollar brand, Instagram ads are still just as important for you to use (if not more important).

Here’s why any size business should consider Instagram as a way to promote their brand, services, or products:

1. Anyone can advertise on the platform.
2. You can target audiences with Facebook data since Facebook owns Instagram.
3. Audience engagement is limitless. Businesses can interact with users in the comments section of their photos.
4. Post ads look just like any other shared post on Instagram, which makes them feel less conspicuous.
5. There are multiple ways to advertise on Instagram, including in Stories, videos, IGTV, and Shopping ads.

Whether you want to increase brand awareness, get more clicks to your website, generate sales, or boost downloads of your latest e-book, Instagram can help you reach a huge audience.

What Are Instagram's Ad Formats?

Instagram offers a range of Instagram ads for you to utilize, giving you the creative freedom to make something spectacular and reach your goals. Here are a few options to explore and a little bit about how to leverage each one effectively.

1. Photo Ads

Photo ads show up organically in your Instagram feed as you scroll through. An Instagram photo ad looks like a post from any of the accounts you are already following but will include a little “Sponsored” notation in the corner to let people know they are looking at an ad. These ads include a call-to-action button at the bottom to push people to a specific URL or your Instagram account.

These are useful if you have a really evocative photo to share your message. Instagram recommends using this type when you have a specific product or message you want to get the word out about. Keeping it simple can help you stand out and grab attention as people are scrolling through.

You can use this format to promote your past Instagram posts, so look for the most popular ones and click “Promote” to get started.

2. Carousel Ads

Carousel Instagram ads take photo ads to the next level. With this style, you can create a series of up to 10 photos or videos in a single ad.

Just like the photo ads, they exist in the Instagram news feed, but each photo or video can connect to a different URL or location.

This allows you to showcase a collection or group of products.

If you’re not sure whether to choose between photo ads and carousel ads, think about what you are trying to promote. Resist the urge to think about carousel ads as a way to just stuff more photos into an ad. They should function together and make sense as a unit.

Photo ads are like a one-page ad in a magazine or newspaper, while carousel ads are like lookbooks or mini catalogs themselves. When you’re announcing a new product line or a seasonal collection, these are a great option.

3. Video Ads

Video Instagram ads are just as they sound. Like carousel and photo ads, they appear in the Instagram feed. You can post an ad as short as a second or as long as sixty minutes, or anywhere in between.

When you create video ads for Instagram, you’ll want to think about your goals. You may choose to provide lots of information right there in the video to entertain or educate or you may use this ad as a teaser to get people to click through to learn more about your brand.

Again, this is where you’ll want to think about which is best for you in the news feed—the photos, the videos, or the carousel. Videos allow you to share more dynamic content, but people will have to stop scrolling to view it all. You need to catch their attention quickly and early in the video.

4. Instagram Shopping

Instagram shopping ads are an interactive option for showcasing your products, either in the Instagram feed or in the explore section of Instagram. With Instagram shopping ads, you can add shopping links on your photos for viewers to click and learn more about the product and even purchase directly from the Instagram app.

You will need to set up an Instagram shop to use this ad option. If your brand uses the Instagram shop feature, this is a smart next step to get the word out to a new audience about your products.

You can use flat lays, real-world images, or other detailed photos of your products, and create tags to point people to where they can purchase them directly. This is great if you have unique products, maybe with a seasonal or local twist.

5. Creators

Social media influencers play a big role in the content marketing world these days. Branded creator ads are a component of this game. They can consist of photos or videos that one Instagram account creates organically, and another shares as an ad.

To make this happen, an Instagram creator account needs to provide permission to a business partner or a brand they are working with, to share that particular post.

These types of ads are built on an existing relationship between creators and brands. If you are working with an influencer already, these are a great way to showcase organic content they have created with your products or your services.

6. Reels

Instagram reel ads are ads in between reel videos. They follow the same format as an Instagram reel video, allowing the ad to feel like a natural part of the reel video feed. Instagram reel ads can be up to 30 seconds long and play in a loop, in a full vertical screen. You can think of them as the TikTok format of Instagram.

You may want to use this format of Instagram ads if you have eye-catching and intriguing short video content people are likely to engage with and share. Consider the features necessary for a viral video.

7. Stories

Over 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day, so why not pop in there with your own Instagram ads? Just like other Instagram ad types, stories ads are placed natively within the stories environment so your target audience sees the content right there, as they are scrolling through the stories of the accounts they follow.

To make the most of these types of ads, Instagram recommends using motion-focused content, with the message upfront, to fit well with the fast-paced nature of stories.

8. IGTV

IGTV is one of the newest models of Instagram ads available to creators. These ads play at the beginning of ads an Instagram user clicks on, much like video ads on YouTube or another video platform. IGTV ads can be up to 15 seconds long so you should follow much of the same recommendations as above, getting to your message upfront.

Examples of Great Instagram Ads

Let’s take a look at real-world examples of Instagram ads that hit the mark.

1. MUD/WTR

MUD\WTR does a lot of things right with their Instagram ads. This is an example of a Stories ad they ran. The content looks very organic, from a content creator on Instagram, including the text captioning at the bottom. They also included a series of Stories, rather than just one. The story is set up in a narrative fashion, grabbing your attention from the start. In addition, they run regular photo and video ads as well so they tend to show up everywhere as you’re scrolling around on Instagram.

2. Wool&

When you’re casually scrolling Instagram and a video ad stops you with a challenge. Wool& uses their Instagram ads to promote their 100-day challenge, where they invite users to wear their products for 100 days and get $100. It’s a simple challenge that grabs your attention. Just another dress picture may be overlooked.

3. Nailboo

The starting image just makes you cringe, doesn’t it? It’s effective because you can almost feel it. Red nail polish on white carpet. Eek. The video ad from there moves fast, almost frantically, through the information about their product promising to keep that from happening. It fits the dynamic of a fast-moving platform and hits a pain point from the start.

4. Dechoker

Another example of Instagram ads that hit on the emotions from the start, with a bit of a gross factor. Sometimes you can’t look away. This one uses the warmth of the child’s photo with the narrative of what their product prevents. It’s also a very simple product and message, another important feature. If people have to wonder what you’re about, they will keep scrolling.

5. Send a Cake Now

From Candid Camera to America’s Funniest Home Videos, there’s a long line of entertainment proof that we love to watch a good prank. Send a Cake Now plays on this by showing videos of people opening their product, which launches birthday and celebratory surprises their way. It’s ideal for Instagram, with homemade, fast-moving videos. You definitely want to stop and watch who gets surprised next.

Instagram Ad FAQs

Instagram Ads Conclusion

Instagram ads can help you up your social media marketing game by increasing the number of people who see a certain post or broaden the audience you organically reach with your posts.

Through a range of different photo and video formats, you can choose the one to suit your content and your target audience the best and share your brand’s narrative.

If you find your customers are hanging out on Instagram, and you may want to look into Instagram ads to get the message out to even more of them.

What’s the best Instagram ad you’ve ever seen?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Use Instagram Ads
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/instagram-ads-overview/
Published Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2021 20:00:00 +0000

I know you are ready for 2021 marketing trends because you read this blog and tons of other marketing blogs, right?

Here is the thing: I also read the most popular marketing blogs, follow all of the marketing YouTube channels, and listen to the same podcasts you do.

And I’ve noticed very few people are talking about what’s really going to happen in 2021 and beyond.

Sure, they talk about the importance of voice search and Google going mobile-first. They might mention marketing automation. There are actually more interesting trends that will affect your marketing that no one is really talking about.

What marketing trends should you actually be focusing on?

Marketing Trend #1: Companies that Rely on Google Analytics Will Lose

We all love Google Analytics.

Heck, I love it so much I log in at least three or four times a day. And here is the kicker: I get so much traffic that my Google Analytics only updates once a day.

You are probably wondering, what’s wrong with Google Analytics?

There actually isn’t much wrong with it. It’s a great tool, especially considering that it’s free.

However, marketing is changing. New channels are being constantly introduced, such as voice search.

Transactions no longer are as simple as someone coming to your site from an ad and buying.

These days there are things like upsells, down sells, repeat purchases, retargeting, and even checkout bumps. On top of that, there are so many different ways you can generate revenue for your online business, such as partnerships, affiliate marketing, and even webinars.

This has caused companies to use analytics solutions that better tie into their database, such as Amplitude. Or better yet, you will see a big push into business intelligence.

A central place where you can tie in all of your data and make better-informed decisions so you can optimize for your lifetime value instead of your short-term income.

In 2021, you'll see more companies adopting business intelligence solutions, from paid ones to free ones like Google Data Studio.

If you haven’t checked out Data Studio, you’ll want to start now because it is easy to pass in all of your business and marketing data into one place.

For example, you can pass in more granular data from your Facebook ad campaigns into Data Studio, which would be difficult to do with Google Analytics.

Another tool that will give you an edge is Ubersuggest (and its free Chrome extension), as it helps you outperform your competitors in the search engines.

For example, Google Analytics no longer provides comprehensive data regarding the keywords sending traffic to your website. While you can make assumptions based on top keywords, you'll never really know for sure.

That leaves the door open for your competitors.

With Ubersuggest, it only takes a few minutes to dig up keyword data so you can adjust your content and marketing strategies accordingly.

Step #1: Enter Your URL and Click “Search”

We're using Close, a leading inside sales CRM with a strong search engine presence for this example.

Step #2: Review the Domain Overview

Most importantly, you'll find the number of organic keywords your domain ranks for. Other data includes:

• Organic monthly traffic: The total estimated traffic the domain gets for the keywords.
• Domain score: The overall strength of the website, with 1 the lowest and 100 the highest
• Backlinks: The number of backlinks to the website from other websites

Step #3: Scroll Down to SEO Keywords

This is the data you won't find on Google Analytics.

The lefthand column is a list of all the keywords your site ranks for. In this case, there are 6,135 of them. This is followed by:

• Volume: The number of searches the keyword gets each month
• Position: The position the URL is ranked for in Google search
• Estimated visits: The estimated traffic the web page gets from Google for the keyword.

Not only does Analytics withhold information on keywords, but there's nothing about volume, position, and estimated visits.

You have to use other tools, such as Keyword Planner, to find this. Ubersuggest brings it all under one roof.

Step #4: Review All Your Keywords

In addition to reviewing all your keywords, complete with volume, position, estimated visits, and SEO difficulty, you can also type in a competitor's name and see their keywords.

This gives you new ideas of terms to go after. Sticking with the above example, you could run a search for Pipedrive. Here's what you get:

Now, in addition to the keywords you're already ranking for, you can uncover those that your competitors are ranking for, thus giving you additional ideas on what to target next.

I've used Google Analytics since day one, and that'll never change. However, it's not capable of doing everything you need to beat your competition.

If you want to win big, combine Analytics with other tools, such as Ubersuggest, to access advanced data for making more informed decisions.

Marketing Trend #2: Companies Will Optimize for Voice Search, But Not for Revenue

According to ComScore, over 50 percent of searches are from voice search; but that’s not really a new trend — everyone has been talking about voice search for years.

What’s the big deal?

Optimizing for voice search is a great way to get your brand out more, but how will it convert into sales?

I haven’t seen too many solutions for capitalizing on your voice search traffic, but so far, there is Jetson.ai.

If you aren’t familiar with Jetson.ai, it makes it so people can buy from your site using voice search. It doesn’t matter if it is Alexa or Google Home; they work with the most popular devices.

What’s cool about Jetson.ai is that it can learn from each customer and customize the interactions.

For example, if I keep ordering the same toothpaste from a specific store using voice search, Jetson.ai keeps track of that so you can easily keep ordering the same product over and over again with little to no friction.

Heck, it’s easier than logging into your computer or pulling out your phone to make a purchase.

Marketing Trend #3: Your Email List Won’t Convert As Well; Look for Alternative Communication Channels

Email; it’s something we all use in the marketing world.

Here's the interesting thing — I’m in a group with a bit over 109 email marketers across different industries in different parts of the world.

Can you guess what we are all noticing?

Our open rates are staying roughly the same, and that’s largely because we all know how to clean and optimizing for deliverability.

However, our click rates are going down.

So far, we have seen our click rates drop by 9.4 percent.

That’s crazy, considering as a group, we have over 146 million email addresses.

Does this mean email is dead?

Of course not!

Email is here to stay and will be here for a very long time.

However, companies will have to leverage more communication channels.

Chatbots are taking off. Not necessarily the Intercom’s or Drift’s of the world but more so the solutions like ManyChat and MobileMonkey.

In addition to chatbots, more people are leveraging tools that allow push notifications like Subscribers.

It’s so powerful; here is the impact I’ve been able to generate from push notifications so far using Subscribers.

You can wait till next year to leverage chatbots for lead generation and customer service, but I’d recommend you start sooner rather than later.

Marketing Trend #4: Moats Will Be Non-Existent, Other than Brands

You’ve probably heard the word “moat” before. If you haven’t, just think about water around a castle.

There's water all around the castle, and a drawbridge is used to get in and out of the castle, protecting them from invaders.

With your business, you may have a moat.

It could be a feature, cost structure, technological advantage, or even a marketing advantage.

Over the years, moats in the online world have slowly disappeared.

It’s easy for anyone to copy marketing strategies these days. What’s separating you from your competition?

Something that works right now might not work next year.

Do you know what will still be a strong moat in 2021 and even a stronger one in the future?

It’s branding.

People buy Jordan shoes because they love Michael Jordan. His brand is stronger than ever, even though he hasn’t played in the NBA for over a decade.

His shoes are so popular, it’s helped him boost his net worth to over a billion dollars. Plus owning a basketball team doesn’t hurt either.

What’s interesting is he made more money after retirement than he did as a basketball player.

It’s not just Jordan who built a strong brand — so have the Kardashians.

According to Forbes, Kylie launched a billion-dollar company, and it was all because of her personal brand. Her cosmetic company isn’t doing anything revolutionary. She just has a strong brand.

The same goes for companies like Ferrari, Tesla, American Express — and the list goes on and on.

It’s why companies are spending over 10 billion dollars a year on influencer marketing.

Just look at my agency NP Digital. It’s literally one of the fastest-growing ad agencies out there. When I look at all of my competitors’ numbers, we are growing at a much faster pace because of my brand.

Yes, we have a great team, but again, that really isn’t a moat as many agencies have great teams.

It’s my brand that gave us a swift kick start and continues to hopefully push us up.

You’ll want to focus on brand building in 2021. Whether it is personal or corporate, it’s the best moat you can build in marketing. Plus, it will help you with Google’s EAT.

Marketing Trend #5: You Have No Choice But to Use Automation

When I first started off as an entrepreneur, I turned to SEO because I couldn’t afford the big ad budgets like my competitors.

Heck, I couldn’t even afford to run any paid ads.

Over the years, the playing field has become more level.

Credit card companies like Brex make it easier for startups to get approved for larger limits and you may not have to pay them back right away.

Financing companies will give you cash to spend on marketing, so non-venture-funded companies can more easily compete.

Companies like Lighter Capital offer loans based on your existing revenue.

And to top it off, software solutions are now starting to integrate AI to give better recommendations. From Clickflow and RankScience to Distilled ODN, everyone using AI to make SEO and other forms of marketing easier.

Heck, BrightEdge can even automate your SEO (or at least a large portion of it). Their automated SEO solution increases page views per visit by 60 percent and provides 21 percent more keywords on page one.

Keep in mind their clients are huge (their software starts in the thousands of dollars per month) so they would probably see better results than most companies, but still, you will see many more software companies leveraging AI in SEO.

This is being driven by the rise of AI, Rank Brain, and natural language processing.

Even with Ubersuggest, I’m working on AI that does the SEO for you, so you no longer have to spend endless hours on SEO while saving you thousands of dollars.

In other words, the marketing playing field is getting more even. If you want to do well, you will have to leverage AI and marketing automation to survive.

If everyone is leveraging the same AI marketing technology, how can you beat your competitors?

Well, it will come down to everything else — price, customer service, upselling, operations, sales. All of that small stuff is what’s going to help you win.

This brings me to my next point.

Marketing Trend #6: There Are No More Silver Bullets, We All Have to Optimize for Marginal Gains

A lot of businesses were built using just one marketing channel.

Dropbox grew through referral marketing. Invite more friends, get more free space.

Facebook was built off your email address book. Facebook used to tap into it and invite all of your contacts to use Facebook on your behalf.

Companies like Quora and Yelp were built off of SEO. All of those rankings really help drive their businesses.

But you no longer can build a business through just one marketing channel. Good channels get saturated extremely fast. (Take a look at Facebook organic reach if you need a reminder…)

Even if they work and cause explosive growth, it will only last for a short while before your competitors jump on board and make it harder.

Marketing will soon be all about “marginal gains.”

There’s a British cycling coach named Dave Brailsford. His belief was that if you improved every area related to cycling by just one percent, then those small gains would add up to remarkable improvement.

He’s right, that’s how you win a race.

The same will be true with your marketing.

There will be a big shift from people focusing on one channel and trying to find the “Holy Grail of marketing” to working on slightly improving each area of your marketing.

From split testing your title tags to get a few ranking improvements to adding checkout bumps to your order page so you can spend a little bit more on your paid ads to using Google Data Studio to better optimize for your lifetime value—it's all about the little things.

That’s what is going to add up to winning.

That’s what you’ll have to shift your mindset to in order to win in 2021 and beyond.

Marketing Trend #7: Depersonalization is the New Marketing

The problem with marketing as it exists today is that 95 percent of your visitors will never convert into a customer. That’s if you are lucky.

Chances are you are more likely looking at 97 percent or more of site visitors leaving without converting.

The big reason isn’t that your marketing sucks or that all of those visitors are junk and unqualified.

It’s that your message doesn’t fit every single one of your visitors.

Personalization allows you to convert more of your visitors into customers.

A basic example of this is Amazon.

When you go to Amazon, they know what you typically buy, so they show you what they think you'll want to boost their conversions.

It works! When I log into Amazon, I see tons of household supplies because that's what I buy the most often. I never buy dog food (which is smart because I don’t have a dog,) so I'll never see ads for dog food.

Businesses are also trying to personalize each and every single experience, both online and offline.

Companies like Amperity are trying to create a customer relationship engine so you can better serve each of your customers, whether it is online or offline.

Marketing has become a game of personalization. With ad costs and general marketing costs rising, you have no choice but to figure out how to convert the 97 percent of your traffic that just never comes back.

The problem is, everyone else is using the same exact personalization strategies, and consumers are getting wise.

This is why depersonalization is going to be big.

Rather than using names in an email, brands need to dial back the fake personalization efforts and focus on transparency and writing like a real, live person.

2021 Marketing Trends FAQ

2021 Marketing Trends Conclusion

These are the marketing trends that will come true, and you need to be prepared for them.

Here’s the beautiful part, though. Now you have a chance to act on the information before your competition. Make sure you get in ahead of the crowd.

I want to see you not only succeed, but I want you to beat your competition. Whether you are a big company or just starting off with very little to no money, I believe you can.

What do you think of the trends above? Do you see any marketing trends that few people are talking about?

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: 2021 Marketing Trends: Here’s What Nobody is Talking About
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/marketing-trends/
Published Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Nothing scares new business away like hard-to-reach customer service or disorganized sales calls.

By using the best call center software, you can outfit your teams with the tools they need to communicate effectively. And it won't cost that much at all so long as you have a good internet connection.

Forget about the requirements of physical office space or a landline. Modern call center software is all you need to get employees set up–no matter where they are working.

You still have the hard work of engaging your customers and clients, but all the heavy lifting associated with maintaining a call center is off your plate.

Read on for in-depth reviews of my top picks. I'll explain what they offer and the types of businesses they work well for. After the reviews, I've included a brief guide to help you evaluate the leading options and find the one that's best for you.

#1 – Five9 — Best for Reaching More Customers Without Adding Reps 

Five9 centralizes every channel you use within a single clean interface for your employees. It works for any call center application–Five9 is one of the leading providers in the space–but I think it stands out for sales teams.

Discover and connect with leads on social media. Call someone who just filled out a form on your landing page. Answer text inquiries with an email follow up.

No matter how your customers show interest, your reps can talk with them from a single platform. Whether you’re building relationships over a long sales cycle or telemarketing directly to consumers, Five9 gives your reps the tools they need.

You get an auto dialer with multiple modes for prospecting and working through call lists. It comes with built-in calls to manage Do Not Call Lists and maintain TCPA compliance, which lowers your risk of running into issues with outreach at scale.

The same rep who was making 10 calls an hour now makes 50 without breaking a sweat. Everything is tracked in a few clicks within the system, and they are on to the next lead.

Five9 has sales features like web callbacks that you certainly don’t expect from call center software. Say someone enters their contact information on your website to access content about your product. Five9 can get that contact information to the front of your call queue, ensuring a conversation with a lead who’s actively interested.

Strike while they care. Watch conversation rates climb instead of speaking to cold leads weeks later.

You can take advantage of skills-based routing, regardless of how customers are reaching out. Ensure that account executives are the first person to pick up when big clients call in. If they're in a meeting, route the call to the next best person who understands this client’s needs.

Managers will have complete visibility into their team. It doesn’t matter if people are working from home or on-the-go. 

And supervisors aren’t the only ones with a bird’s eye view. Role-based dashboards let agents track their progress, as well. Executives get detailed information about how to steer the ship. 

Everyone knows what’s going on in their lane. There’s no surprises about hitting goals.

Like I said, Five9 is one of the major players in the communications space. You’ll have access to pretty much any call center feature there is. Some of the ones that best serve sales teams include:

• Skill-based scheduling and forecasts
• Agent scripting
• Drag-and-drop IVR
• Customizable KPIs
• Gamification and virtual rewards
• Integration with Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, and others

To get a price on Five9, you’ll have to reach out. I suspect it’s somewhere north of $100 per user per month, given what other omnichannel solutions cost. There are four different plans to choose from, so you don’t have to pay for features you’re not going to use.

Five9 doesn’t have a laundry list of integrations like some of the other tools I looked at, but 

Here, I want to step back for a second. I’m really highlighting the sales features because I think Five9 offers the most complete package in that regard. 

But you can run an amazing customer service call center with it. For sure. Universities and hospitals would be happy to use Five9 to centralize communications, especially if they are using some clunky system that looks nothing like the other tools they’re using.

Make it easier for every rep to reach more people. Make every conversation just a little bit better by giving agents the tools they need to connect on any channel. Get in touch with Five9 today to request pricing.

#2 – Aircall — The Lowest Price on Complete Call Center Software

For less than half the cost of other good call center software, you can outfit your agents with Aircall.

Aircall is sleek and integrates with popular business apps. The interface feels lightweight and it's super easy to navigate, even for first-timers.

You might think a low price would mean that you don’t get as many helpful features. That’s not really true.

Transfer calls to another agent. Make it a warm transfer and let the new agent know what’s happening before passing the customer over. View a customer's record before you pick up the call without having to sign into your CRM. It’s all right there.

You’ll get real-time metrics, clear reports, and the ability to route incoming calls much the same as you get with the heavy-weight platforms. 

Set up an IVR to allow customers to find their way to the right department, manage call queues, and allow callers to get a call back later if the wait time is high.

Some of the other features include:

• Skills-based routing
• Call tagging
• Ring groups
• Shared contacts
• Call conferencing
• Power dialer

Simply highlight a list of contacts or select a list. The powerful auto dialer gets to work saving clicks and time for every conversation.

So why is Aircall so much less expensive? The main reason is that it’s not omnichannel out of the box. Yes, you can set up SMS messaging via the integration with Salesmsg, but that’s going to cost extra. The other more expensive products I reviewed offer all the channels in-house.

In a way, that’s the beauty of Aircall. It’s a simple yet powerful solution. It’s like the missing puzzle piece that connects voice communications with the rest of your business. 

Developers can use web hooks and APIs to extend Aircall’s connectivity with other software. Everyone else can use the one-click integrations with 85 apps like Salesfoce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, Zendesk, Slack, Shopify, Big Commerce, Intercom, and the list keeps growing.

If you are already using these apps, Aircall may be a great way to get the call center you need without breaking the bank.

With the Essentials plan, which starts at $30 per user per month, you’re getting a complete call center for voice. This includes unlimited calling in North America. Remember that some vendors charge per minute for calls, so this can amount to a really big savings.

With the Professional plan, which starts at $50 per user per month, there are additional analytics and coaching features, as well as increased customer support. 

For large call centers, this is a good idea, as you will have a dedicated account manager and one-on-one onboarding to get everything hooked together right the first time.

One important thing to note is that Salesforce integration comes with Professional only. However, Essentials supports every other integration.I can’t overstate the ease of use for Aircall. You should really schedule a demo if you are interested in an affordable solution to empower your agents. Or just start a 7-day free trial today.

#3 – 8×8 Contact Center — Best for Large Customer Service Call Centers

8×8 Contact Center is one of the more robust tools on the market. 8×8 has been around for a long time and can fully support migration to a UCaaS contact center.

You can set it up for any size or purpose, but I recommend it highly for large customer service call centers. Why? Because working in these environments is stressful. There’s high turnover, as new agents struggle to deal with irate customers and veteran supervisors burnout.

8×8 gives you a complete set of tools to fully support agents and help supervisors keep morale high. You’ll be able to retain talent by making the day-to-day a little bit less hectic, and happier agents lead to happier customers.

Imagine day one for a new hire at a call center. If they’re working on 8×8, they’ll have everything they need as soon as they put on a headset. This includes easy access to a deep knowledge base of call scripts, best practices, and a library of recorded calls that showcase agents at their best.

The speech analytics tools are really helpful as well. You can use them to ensure that new hires are sticking to the script, and they will be able to read voicemails instead of having to listen to them. This makes it easier for agents to scan through the backlog for important calls.

Supervisors can use the speech analytics to discover trends in customer inquiries and potential gaps in efficiency that would be impossible to bring to the surface otherwise. They’ll also have a dashboard that reports important metrics clearly, making it easy to recognize when agents require more support.

8×8 also offers an intelligent IVR that gives your customers self-service options. This lowers operational costs, as agents no longer have to speak with customers for simple requests. This cuts down your time to resolution, and keeps agents energized because they’re not handling the same call over and over again.

The ACD is capable of handling skills-based routing, so you can ensure that calls are getting to the right agents. This is important if you offer service in multiple languages, or have agents divided by departments based on expertise.

Intelligent routing is especially important for organizations that offer premium service packages to particular clients. These customers don’t want to get an entry-level agent who doesn’t understand the ins and outs of their system.

Both the ACD and IVR are easy enough to configure that you won’t have to worry about calling IT or 8×8 to build a solution that works. Simply use a visual drag-and-drop builder to customize.

8×8 Contact Center is highly extensible. There are integrations with tons of the top products you already use, and API’s that let developers add even more functionality. Additional features include:

• Social media, chat, email, and SMS
• Customer surveys and quality management
• Call and screen recording
• Payment processing
• Virtual agent
• Workforce management tools

While 8×8 offers support for every channel, you only need to pay for the ones you use. 8×8 Contact Center comes in the following packages:

• Voice – starting at $87 per user per month
• Omnichannel – starting at $107 per user per month
• Advanced – starting at $146 per user per month

The pricing is extremely competitive. In fact, $107 for Omnichannel is just about the lowest you will find for a product that covers everything, including social media. One thing to note is that the speech analytics features only come with Advanced.

This is a really great solution for large organizations that want to give agents the best possible shot at success. Constantly onboarding new folks is a huge drain on productivity, and the revolving door doesn’t do much to create a culture of collaboration.

With 8×8 Contact Center, you can build out a system that works for you. Support your agents with best-in-class software, centralize their work across multiple channels, and position supervisors to help before issues get out of control.

Learn more about how 8×8 is helping companies today.

#4 – Dialpad — The Safe Way to Migrate a Traditional Call Center to the Cloud

Dialpad is a phenomenal cloud-based call center that ties into traditional landline infrastructure. You can go total cloud day one, if you want, or stay hybrid and modernize at your own pace.

This allows companies to maintain their investment in hardware, while immediately taking advantage of the cloud-based platform. Unify your business phone system with text, chat, fax, and web conferencing. Allow your employees to work from the office as easily as from home.

Migrating your phone system to the cloud is stressful. Lots of vendors promise a turnkey solution, but anyone who has ever handled a large scale business communications transition knows it’s rarely that simple.

Dialpad offers two on-premise gateway options to connect your traditional phones to its cloud platform. Whether you rely on a traditional PBX or the PTSN, you can continue to use existing systems seamlessly.

The company offers continued support for desk phones, conference phones, and allows you to port numbers without a break in service. International numbers are available as well.

Instead of having to make a giant transition immediately, companies can phase out embedded technology at their own pace.

The best part is that the benefits are immediate. You get deep calling and routing features that are so much easier to manage than a traditional PBX. Plus, all of your channels are in a single interface for administrators and agents.

Some of the other highlights of the platform include:

• Call routing and queues
• Virtual hold
• Real-time and historic reports
• Call monitoring and coaching features
• Data backup
• Voice intelligence

The voice intelligence features of Dialpad are particularly well developed. It transcribes conversations, making it easier to search through later. Post-call summaries are generated automatically, complete with action items and a recorded meeting sentiment.

It can also assist agents by picking up on conversations and automatically providing relevant documentation.

Your old phone line won’t do that on its own. But with Dialpad’s help, you can continue to use phones alongside VoIP, chat, and text. Regardless of how customers reach out, agents will interact through the centralized cloud platform.

Dialpad Pro starts at $125. This is typical for high-quality call center software, but one thing to like about Dialpad is that all the integrations come with Pro. This includes Salesforce, Zendesk, Slack, among others.

You also get unlimited SMS and MMS in North America, as well as 24/7 phone support.

There are low per minute charges for calling: $0.01 for inbound, and $0.02 for outbound.

If you are just looking for a sales call center solution, you might want to check out Dialpad Sell. You’ll get a lot of the same features that help teams stay organized, as well as a powerful outbound dialer.

No matter how you want to use it, though, Dialpad is definitely a good option for the modern call center. It may be the best if you are trying to make use of your business phone system, or want to move to the cloud gradually.

For a pain-free migration, get in touch with Dialpad today.

#5 – Talkdesk CX Cloud — Best for Helping Customers Answer Their Own Questions

Putting important customer information at the fingertips of your agents is a must for any good call center software. All my recommendations do a great job with that, and Talkdesk CX is no exception.

Where it steps away from the competition is putting information within reach of your customers–without an agent ever answering a call. 

Using interactive voice response (IVR) allows people who call in to complete common tasks on their own and get the information they need. It’s a huge boost for both agent productivity and customer satisfaction. 

No call center software makes IVRs as easy to configure as Talkdesk CX. It’s not the only one on my list of recommendations that comes with a visual way to build IVRs, but its IVR studio is a cut above.

From the simple interface that lets you tailor customer journeys in a few clicks, to the AI alerts that keep caller flows flawless, the IVR studio feels truly modern.

Sure, it’s possible to create an IVR that integrates your apps and databases with other options. But can you do it without writing a line of code?

Talkdesk CX lets admins and others build and customize IVRs quickly. There’s no need to get IT help just because departments shifted around. You’ll be able to give your customers a deeper range of options for self-service.

The more customers are able to help themselves, the more time agents are going to have to respond to other inquiries. There’s no sense tying your phone lines up with callers who want routine tasks or information.

It’s Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant, so customers can pay bills and access account information directly from their phone. 

Your agents will never have to ask for the three digit code on the back of the card again.

And with Talkdesk, this isn’t just on voice. You’ll have the same IVR function for text-based conversations, like chat and SMS. Chatbots aren’t a perfect solution for every customer inquiry, but they work wonders for the basic stuff.

Surveys are easy to include and automate as well. What could go better next time? What additional services would people like to be able to handle on their own? You can find out quickly and adjust your IVR in a couple of clicks.

I know companies that used to have to outsource all the work for their IVR. In all fairness, it used to be super complex. Talkdesk CX is changing the game.

I focused on the IVR for this review because that’s really where it stands apart, but don’t lose sight of the fact that Talkdesk CX is as good as it gets in virtually every area.

You get crisp reporting dashboards for management, an intuitive interface for agents, and integrations with leading CRMs and ecommerce platforms. Some of the other standout features include:

• AI agent assistance
• Intelligent call routing
• Predictive outbound dialer
• Business intelligence tools
• Speech analytics
• Deep coaching tools

Supervisors can listen to recordings of agent calls and leave time-stamped comments to offer concrete feedback about how to improve. Even if everyone is remote, supervisors can pinpoint issues and upskill agents.

Everything is a few clicks. All the information is right there–for customers and agents.

You’ll have to get in touch with Talkdesk for pricing, but the IVR studio is included with every plan they offer. With premium plans, you’ll get a low-code editor to be able to customize even more.

Take a closer look at this next-generation call center and request a quote from Talkdesk today.

What I Looked at to Find the Best Call Center Software

I make calls when I’m thinking about committing to a new product or service. Lots of people do. 

The human connection is real, intimate, and—unfortunately—easy to mess up.

One dropped call. One mistaken name from an agent who’s spoken to 35 other people within the hour. 

It doesn’t take much to lose a lead or earn a 1-star review carved in digital stone on the internet.

You’re looking for a system that establishes trust with customers because they know they can call and speak with the right person quickly. 

It must also come with an interface that empowers agents by giving them insight into calls, client histories, and any other information they need to resolve issues in real-time.

Customers need prompt answers from helpful agents. End of story.

The best call center software comes with everything you need to meet these two fundamental call center objectives, and much more.

Here’s what you need to be thinking about as you make your choice.

Support For Every Channel Your Agents Use 

The best call center software includes way more than voice communication. This is why you’ll see a lot of solutions marketed as contact center software instead. This reflects the common sense reality that people use way more than just phones to communicate.

Phones are still critical, but for many businesses, the ability to handle more channels is becoming increasingly important.

Some customers want to text. You want to be able to respond, or be able to text people reminders after they called in to schedule an appointment.

Or maybe you want to be able to seamlessly switch to a phone conversation with a customer who reached out via chat. They’re dying to speak to an actual human (you know the feeling). Making it happen earlier than they expect.

Here’s a list of the channels you can tie into a modern call center solution:

• Phone
• VoIP
• Email
• SMS and MMS
• Chat
• Social media
• Video and web conferencing

All of the solutions I looked at can handle most of these channels, though 8×8 Contact Center, Five9, and Talkdesk CX make it as easy as possible. These are known as omnichannel solutions, or unified communication as a service (UCaaS).

Regardless of how your customers make contact, your agents will be looking at every conversation within a single platform. They can see the whole relationship there, and give informed answers.

But not everyone needs everything. Some people don’t even need a blended call center that handles inbound/outbound calls. If inbound is all you need for customer service inquiries, just get that.

You will definitely have to pay over $100 per seat for UCaaS. If you really just want voice communications, Aircall is going to be less than half that, and it’ll be way easier to deploy.

There’s a big payoff for uniting all of your channels, but it’s going to take a lot of work and money to set up. The good news is that all my recommendations have tiered pricing and other options that let you add more channels over time.

You know what channels you use already, but what would you add if you could? Getting good call center software is an investment no matter how you swing it, so treat it as an opportunity to rethink how you connect with customers.

Ask them how they’d like to get in touch. Maybe they’d love it if they could text you. Maybe they already do and you just just don’t know.

Clear Visibility Into Agent Performance for Management

One of the key differences between call center software and a simple business phone system is quality assurance. Beyond the basic infrastructure to make calls, you are getting tools to organize and manage your workforce.

Supervisors know what their agents are doing in real time. They can jump in and listen on a call, whisper instructions the customer can’t hear, and help a new hire close their first sale.

They’re also better positioned to assist agents over time. With call recording, a customer service leader can supply tangible evidence in support of their guidance. Here’s exactly where you got off track–here’s another point where you were able to work back to the script successfully.

There are dashboards with clear metrics for supervisors, but also for sales managers and VPs. What’s the percentage of first call resolution? How many new leads are created per agent per month? Are you cutting average call time?

A lot of the most important metrics, such as cost per lead, are going to be a team effort between your call center software and CRM. Make sure the options you're considering give you insight into the metrics that matter most.

Customers Connect to the Right Agent Automatically

Call center software comes with routing features that segment and direct incoming calls, potentially automating the processes which connect callers with the expert or agent they seek.

It could be making sure a priority support customer gets to speak with their dedicated service rep. Or it could be a lawyer ensuring that calls to her line go straight to a virtual receptionist while she runs to court to put out a last minute fire.

Here are a few of the popular call routing features you’re going to see:

• Automatic Call Distribution (ACD): Greets customers and allows them to select from a main menu or enter extension to route themselves. 
• Automated attendant: Takes calls when all agents are busy, plays hold music, relays wait times, and reminds callers that their time is valuable.
• Intelligent call routing: Uses automation, AI, or interactive voice response to route customers to the most appropriate agent.
• Mobile device routing: Allows calls to be routed to mobile devices.
• Omnichannel routing: Allows calls to be routed across any channel.
• Skills-based call routing: Assigns calls go to the right agent based on relevant skills, like fluency in a particular language.
• Virtual hold: Gives customers the option to receive a call back when an agent is ready, instead of waiting on the phone.
• Warm transfer: Lets customers speak to a new agent before the call is transferred, and allows the previous agent to explain any ground that’s already been covered.

These features make a big difference. With warm transfer, for example, customers don’t have to repeat information over and over again. Agents love this, too, because they’re not getting yelled at for having to ask.

Another important feature is interactive voice response (IVR). This enables customers to use a phone to access information from a connected database. This could be someone calling to find out their checking balance, hear the status of their order, or pay a bill.

If you have customers routinely calling to access information, you can free up a lot of phone time simply by implementing IVR. It’s a truly self-service solution that helps people get what they want, without ever talking to an agent.

This all sounds amazing, but who is going to maintain this system? 8×8 and Talkdesk CX have drag-and-drop applications for creating phone trees, call flows, and IVRs. This means an administrator can switch up the phone tree when someone new joins the team instead of having to wait on IT support.

Integrations With The Tools Your Teams Depend On

Cloud-based phone systems boast, “No hardware required,” or they “deploy out of the box.” 

It’s all really exciting, but will you really be “ready to start calling in minutes!” 

Maybe–it depends what you are trying to do and what systems you have to tie into your new call center software. 

Are you looking to connect to a popular CRM like Salesforce? It might be true one-click integration. 

But have you customized your CRM? If that’s the case, the connection may need a little more attention to work properly.

There are a lot of similarities in what call center software does in theory–helps you keep better track of customers, route calls quicker, and so on–but in practice, none of this is going to work if the integrations are finicky.

If your helpdesk software doesn’t pass data back and forth with your call center software, agents are going to lose track of tickets. If your calendar doesn’t sync, it’s going to be impossible to set appointments. You get the picture.

You have to test drive these products in order to figure out the true quality of the integration. 

There are native, pre-built, seamless, and direct integrations. What’s the difference between these? No one knows. Until you have seen it work in practice, take the term integration with a spoonful of salt.

Conclusion

Ten years ago, setting up a call center took months. Today, you can deploy one over the weekend. Let’s take a look at the entire list of my top picks:

1. Five9 – Best for reaching more customers without adding reps
2. Aircall – The lowest price on complete call center software
3. 8×8 Contact Center – Best for large customer service call centers
4. Dialpad – The safe way to migrate your traditional call center to the cloud
5. Talkdesk CX Cloud – Best for helping customers answer their own questions

Aircall is a really affordable option and it’s easy to get set up. It’s well within the small business price range, and you can try it for free for a week.

If you are just beginning your migration to the cloud, Dialpad is going to make your life a lot easier.

Follow the links to learn more about each product. My reviews are a good place to start, but you should get in touch for a demo or a trial. There’s no way to know how good call center software is until you’ve let agents experiment for a few days on the phone.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: Best Call Center Software
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/best-call-center-software/
Published Date: Mon, 12 Jul 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

The right image convinces a conference room instantly. 

Sell that new client, get your boss's approval, and rally the team behind you. Data visualization tools turn a whole mess of numbers into a crisp image that says it all.

With the right product, you can take command of overwhelming amounts of data to tell a clear and compelling story. Leave your audience with a visual that resonates long after your presentation ends. 

In this post, I’ll give a complete overview of the best data visualization tools, and what to look for as you make your decision. 

#1 – Tableau Review — The Best for Enterprise

Tableau is a best-in-breed business intelligence (BI) software with phenomenal data visualization capabilities. It’s not the cheapest option on the market, but you get both an intuitive UI and the ability to drill down into virtually any data source.

In other words, you don’t have to make the typical sacrifices. Tableau is ultra-powerful in terms of supported visualizations, but it’s really user-friendly once you get it set up.

Unlike a lot of other powerful data visualization software, people aren't going to need help exploring and analyzing on their own.

Middle managers and C-level folks, can play with Tableau just fine. And, because of the pricing structure, these users don't cost very much to add at all.

Many companies elect to use Tableau in order to encourage a data-driven, transparent, collaborative culture. It’s also one of the most secure products on the market, with enterprise-grade governance tools and the option for on-premises deployment.

For the most part, Tableau can do everything that any other data visualization tool can, but better. Some of the standout capabilities include:

• Combine different data sources without writing code
• Drag-and-drop statistical analysis, forecasts, and trendlines
• Optimize dashboards for all screen sizes
• Natural language queries of any published data source
• AI-powered data analysis 
• Publish data sources as encrypted extracts on Tableau Server
• Robust data management tools
• Support and solutions from an active community of over 1 million users

Team pricing for Tableau is role-based, which lets large organizations economize their subscription. The roles are:

• Creator: $70 user/month
• Explorer: $35 user/month, 5 user minimum ($42 if fully hosted by Tableau)
• Viewer: $12 user/month, 100 user minimum

Creators have full author/edit privileges, and can connect new data sources and flows. Explorers can work with most existing assets and create their own visualizations. Viewers can interact with data and collaborate with colleagues, though they cannot author or prepare data.

Tableau Public is a free forever version of the product and the company offers a free 14-day trial that lets you test drive some of the premium features.

#2 – Infogram Review — The Best for Collaboration

Infogram is an intuitive data visualization tool that delivers stunning reports, slides, dashboards and social media visuals. 

First-time users are going to love the UI. Basically all of the visualization building can be accomplished via drag-and-drop. 

This isn't one of those tools you need to hire a software developer to babysit. Anyone can start using Infogram immediately, turning raw statistics into beautiful infographics and captivating visuals.

Infogram makes it easy for teams to share and produce consistent work with customizable branded templates, role-based permissions, and file versioning.

You can see who’s editing your projects in real-time and you can add comment threads directly to an image within the infographic. 

Teams can get up and running with Infogram quickly, taking advantage of its incredibly deep design capabilities::

• 1 million stock images and icons, as well as animations, GIFs, and video
• More than 35 interactive charts and over 550 interactive maps
• Preset and customizable branded design themes
• Data integration with Google Analytics, Amazon Redshift, OneDrive, MySQL, Oracle, and more
• JSON feed to import live data
• WordPress plugin

The streamlined features don’t stop there. Tasks like embedding projects, for example, involve no more than copy/pasting embed codes into your CMS. 

Infogram can be extremely beneficial for companies of any size. In addition to a free forever version, Infogram offers several pricing tiers:

• Pro: $19/month for an individual
• Business: $67/month for an individual
• Team: $149/month for 3 users
• Enterprise: contact sales

With Team and Enterprise subscriptions, you get the ability to invite members, set flexible permissions, share projects, and collaborate in real-time.

Connect your data, get the input you need, and start publishing great looking content before the end of the week.

#3 – Plecto Review — The Best for Sales Teams

Plecto is a great tool for promoting a data-driven team culture. The idea is to involve everyone in the constant flow of data by making all relevant KPIs available in a real-time, highly-visible dashboard.

Okay, plenty of other tools can do that. Gamification is where Plecto really separates itself from the crowd. 

Gamification? Yes, it’s a word, and a hot one these days. With Plecto, it’s super simple to create contests using your KPIs as benchmarks. This could be sales closed, employees hired, lists built—whatever metric you need to drive, use Plecto to enable the spirit of competition.

Plecto is built for this. It’s easy to set goals and achievements that are directly tied to the numbers you care about. Increase transparency and motivation at the same time.

The platform’s capabilities work exceptionally well for sales teams, yet other departments across the organization can benefit from the unique mix of features and functionality, which include:

• Unlimited dashboards and data sources
• Custom KPIs
• Display multiple dashboards on the same screen
• Integrations with Microsoft SQL, Oracle SQL, PostgreSQL, and MySQL
• Notifications based on thresholds and other milestones
• One-click integration with more than 60 leading cloud services
• Create and track individual performance agreements in private employee-manager dashboards

There are three plan options for Plecto:

• Medium: starts at $200/month for 10 licenses, $20/month per additional license
• Large: starts at $350/month for 10 licenses, $20/month per additional license
• Enterprise: Contact sales, minimum 100 licenses

Some of the important data visualization tools (like SQL integration) are not included with the Medium plan. You only need to buy licenses for users who send their data to Plecto (view-only users are free).

#4 – Datawrapper Review — The Best DIY Data Visualization Tool

Datawrapper has a simple chart tool feel, yet it’s got the ability to deliver interactive and responsive charts, maps, and tables. 

It’s not designed for BI so much as mass producing next-level data visualizations to capture attention on feeds and pages.

Lots of companies, like The New York Times, for example make use of Datawrapper every day to improve their content. Using striking visuals, the Times can convey complex ideas to consumers about voting data, consumer preferences, and so on.

Datawrapper has a clean, intuitive interface that makes it easy to engage with the cloud-based product’s full range of functions, which include:

• Copy data from Excel, Sheets, or the web into Datawrapper
• Create live-updating charts by uploading CSV/XLS files or linking to a URL
• Embed different types of interactive and responsive charts, maps, and tables
• Export as PNG, PDF, or SVG
• Colorblind check for all images
• Live-updating graphics for maps
• Collaborative tools and shared team folders
• On-premise creation to comply with regulatory requirements

You have to purchase premium plans to create custom charts and white-label projects. Custom, the first tier above free, starts at $599/month and really allows companies to reach their audience with on-brand, original visuals.

Datawrapper’s free version is excellent for internal or team use, but less attractive for public-facing visualizations.

#5 – Highcharts Review — The Best for Interactive Visualizations

Highcharts is a wonderful tool aimed at helping developers add interactive charts to web and mobile projects. It’s a clean, SVG-based, multi-platform, JavaScript charting library.

Upload multiple types of data and use official wrappers to work in:

• Microsoft .Net
• Python
• PHP
• R
• iOS & Android

This product requires some technical skills to use effectively, but the tradeoff is that it’s relatively inexpensive and works with any database or stack.

And the results are phenomenal. 

Highcharts is extensible, scalable, and meant to work anywhere on every device. Some of the key features include:

• Multiple map types (heatmap, mapline, tilemap, etc)
• Dedicated Highcharts Gannt product
• Export JPG, PDF, PNG, or SVG
• Add tooltip text information when users hover over labeled data points
• Pure JavaScript requires no client-side plugins
• Intuitive configuration and chart editing
• Mobile and touch-optimized for truly interactive user experience
• Download, inspect, and edit Highcharts source code.

For personal, non-commercial, or non-profit organizations, all of Highcharts’ products are available for free. This includes Highchart Stock, Gantt, Maps, Editor, and Mobile. 

They also have deals for startups and ways for other businesses to customize the various Highcharts products to their needs. Contact sales to start putting together a pricing plan.

What I Looked at to Find the the Best Data Visualization Tools

I get it. There are a million tools to help you visualize your data. 

Then, when you start digging, it’s like, “Wait, do I have to know several programming languages to use this really cool product?”

Slow down. Don’t worry. You’re not going to have to go back to school to get amazing data visualizations.

Some of the high-end tools will require a little IT know-how to get off the ground, but those are really aimed at companies who can factor that into their budgets.

If that’s not what you’re looking for, no worries. There are really great data visualization tools a non-specialist can have up and running before lunch.

The key is knowing what you want your data visualization tool to do.

By understanding your local requirements, you can whittle down your options quickly by going through each of the major elements of data visualization products.

Visualization Capabilities

Are you looking for a nice tool that creates sleek reports, or a platform that lets you publish interactive dashboards?

Every vendor showcases data visualization examples on their site. Check these over and really reflect on your gut reaction. 

If you are in search of the “wow” factor, don’t settle until you find something that will give your presentations that aesthetic edge.

Connectivity

This is perhaps the biggest make-it-or-break-it factor on the list: What data types and sources are supported by the data visualization tool?

No data visualization tool is good enough to justify a massive migration. You need to find something that connects with your data, wherever it lives. 

Ideally, connecting data is an easy, secure, and highly-visible process. 

Look for products that clearly explain how to manage and connect data sources. Official partnerships with the database products you use is a big plus. 

Cruise a few reviews to see if people are finding that the connectivity is as good as advertised. Also, be sure to walk your sales team through your desired deployment to make sure it’s going to work as planned.

Skill Requirements

Not so long ago, complex data visualization required familiarity with structured query language (SQL), Python, or another language.

Today, great data visualization products like Tableau allow users to search vast databases using natural language. They provide drag-and-drop functionality that lets non-specialists drill down into the most complex questions.

That said, if you have complex data flows coming into real-time dashboards, it’s a good idea to have someone in-house who can ensure that everything is running smoothly. 

Mobile Compatibility

Look for something that will appeal to your clients and customers, however they browse. 

Does your data visualization tool support touch and multi-touch? 

Good interactive visualizations take a lot of effort, and the last thing you want is for users on iOS or Android to be barred from the experience because of incompatibility. 

Quality data visualization software delivers a final project that looks good on desktop, tablet, or smartphone. You can’t really budge on this unless you are committed to developing visual content for internal use. 

Another thing to think about is collaboration. Will your remote and on-the-go employees be able to stay current with their team projects?

Summary

The best data visualization tool for you is going to depend on what you are trying to get done, and the type of business data you want to visualize. Let's recap my top picks:

1. Tableau – Best for enterprise
2. Infogram – Best for collaboration
3. Plecto – Best for sales teams
4. Datawrapper – Best DIY visualization tool
5. Highcharts – Best for interactive visualizations

Tableau is the best tool for enterprise because it gives teams an edge in every aspect of data visualization.

It’s a considerable investment, though, and not every company is looking for a full-bore business intelligence solution.

If what you need is a data visualization tool to build and share memorable images, Infogram will help your teams take their game to the next level with zero graphic design or programming skills.

For companies that want to embed interactive visualizations in their online content, look no further than Datawrapper. Highcharts is another great option for embedding interactive content into your sites, though it’s not as easy for non-specialists as Datawrapper.

Coming back to Tableau for a second—yes, it’s heavy, but you can try the free version today without having to navigate a multi-step enterprise sign-up process. There aren’t any hoops to jump through, just the chance to take your data visualizations to the next level.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: Best Data Visualization Tools
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/best-data-visualization-tools/
Published Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Online shopping is hotter than it has ever been, and I don't think it's going to slow down. If you're planning to start an online store, your timing couldn’t be better.

Yes, a lot of people are trying to get into ecommerce right now, but that shouldn't stop you. Many of the most successful online stores were only founded a few years ago.

The sooner you take the initial step, the faster you can build your brand and grow your business.

In this post, I’ll give you a step-by-step guide that shows you how to start an online store. You can go from zero to your first sale with as few mistakes as possible.

Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet

Want to skip the details and get a quick cheat sheet? Here you go.

You have to decide what you want to sell and how you're going to get the products. And while you're at it, you must also consider the product's prices, your target audience, and whether or not there is an audience for your product.

After all, why would you want to sell a product nobody wants to buy?

You can choose a product that metaphorically “scratches your own itch.” Or you can also consider buying a product that already exists, improving it, and then doing a better job of marketing it. This is sometimes known as dropshipping.

I would personally recommend the second option for first-time entrepreneurs as it considerably lowers the risk out of selling.

If you agree, head over to Alibaba.com to find suppliers for your chosen product. While Alibaba is one of the more popular marketplaces, it doesn’t mean that there aren't frauds on the platform.

To make sure you deal with genuine suppliers only, look for the Gold Supplier icon. This indicates that a particular supplier has signed up for a paid membership. Therefore, it’s less likely for any fraud to have the Gold Supplier icon on their profile.

If you decide to go forward with the supplier, make sure you order sample products to determine the quality you should expect. Don’t forget to discuss payment terms and other details so that you and the supplier are on the same page.

With the products in place, you'll have to figure out a good name for your brand and check whether a domain name is available.

Buying a domain name is easy. Getting the domain name of your dreams can take more time.

Consider your domain name as a long-term investment, and try to come up with the best you can. Here are some strategies to use if the domain name you want is unavailable.

Next up, you have to set up your online store platform. Consider selling your products on either Shopify or Amazon—both are equally good.

Finally, work on optimizing your site by including targeted keywords in your product descriptions. This is an excellent way to drive more organic traffic to your website rather than partaking in more cumbersome marketing strategies.

If I’m honest, though, you'll still need to look for other ways to promote your shop, such as on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Okay, let's run through each step in more detail. Feel free to skip ahead if you've completed the early steps:

1. Figure Out Your Niche
2. Source Products From Alibaba
3. Pick a Name for Your Brand and Get a Domain
4. Set up Your Online Store Platform
5. Optimize Your Site

Step 1: Figure Out Your Niche

Since you’re going to set up an online store, you’ll need a product. The very first thing you should do is decide what you’re going to sell and who you’re selling it to. 

Many first-time entrepreneurs make the mistake of not putting enough thought into deciding their niche, which includes the product's price, the audience to whom the product is aimed, and the market opportunity.

Don’t make this mistake. 

Always remember your product matters the most—both in terms of quality and relevance. You have two options here: you can either create something you need or source something from elsewhere, make it better, and then market it.

I’ll recommend choosing a niche that isn’t already dominated by a few brands. 

Let me explain this with the help of two scenarios.

• Scenario 1: Your headphones stop working. You want to replace it, so what do you do?

You‘ll either place an order online from sites like Sony, Bose, or Beats. Or maybe visit the physical stores of these brands.

• Scenario 2: You’ve moved into a new house when you realize that you want decorative lights for your bedroom.

You’ll likely Google “decorative lights for bedrooms“ or “buy decorative lights with free shipping.” 

Do you see the difference in your behavior?

Niches dominated by a few brands aren’t really profitable for first-timers. Trust me, customers don’t even think about alternatives as their brand loyalty kicks in almost immediately. 

Instead, it’s much better to stick with niches and products that don’t have a couple of specific brand names associated with them.

You can also use Amazon to check out the competitors in your niche. Try to identify common features that could help you improve your product.

For instance, you can have thick paper notebooks or reinforced steel for bottles. Basically, stuff that will help improve the quality of effectiveness of your products.

Next, you'll need to work on sourcing the products.

Step 2: Source Products From Alibaba 

Alibaba.com is one of the most popular marketplaces when it comes to sourcing products. Many people in the ecommerce industry already use this site, so it makes perfect sense for you to source your products on this platform, too.

But how do you go about this? Let’s assume you want to sell steel bottles.

Search for “steel bottles.” You’ll now see a list of suppliers selling all kinds of steel bottles at different prices.

Next, you’ll have to contact a few of them to see whether they would be a good match for you. You first need to figure out your requirements before you get in touch with them. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting everyone’s time.

The way to distinguish genuine sellers from frauds is to look for the Gold Supplier mark. Gold Supplier is a paid membership for suppliers on Alibaba.com, which indicates that the business is serious about trading with other international companies. 

Take a look at this screenshot:

It shows that this particular supplier has been a Gold Supplier for three years. Since they have to pay for this recognition, you can be sure that they will be serious when negotiating with you.

You must discuss payment terms and minimums and other things so that every detail is explicitly clear to avoid misunderstandings in the future. I’d also recommend ordering sample products before you place a big order to get a better idea of what you’re going to get and the shipping times.

Step 3: Pick a Name for Your Brand and Get a Domain 

Now comes the exciting—and at times frustrating—part of starting an online store: Choosing an appropriate name.

Once you start looking for options, you'll realize how the best names have already been trademarked and website domains already registered. 

It's like hitting one dead end after another!

But don’t give in just yet, as finding a good name is an effort well worth the pain (and tears).

Here’s a quick checklist you should follow:

• It should be easy to spell and concise – three words or shorter.
• It should have a .com domain
• It must reflect your chosen niche
• It cannot be already trademarked by other people—the legal hassle is costly and very troubling.

Take my domain as an example. NeilPatel.com is short, concise, and reflects my brand. You do not have to use your name. That was just a choice that was right for me.

The good news is there's an option for you to get a domain without having to pay the registration fee. Most web hosting services offer users a free domain—provided you choose a company that provides this feature like Bluehost or Wix.

I highly recommend this method, as you get free .com domains with full ownership that'll make you look more professional and credible to your visitors. Plus, if you’re already going to purchase a web hosting plan, why not select an option that offers you a free domain?

Purchasing a web hosting plan, typically as a one, two, or three-year contract, is necessary. Think of the free domain as a bonus to your investment.

The next crucial step is setting up your ecommerce store on a platform that's easy to use and offers good customer support. 

Step 4: Set up Your Online Store Platform

Shopify and Amazon are two of the most popular and user-friendly e-commerce sites.

You can also use WordPress + WooCommerce if you want. But that's best for times when you already have a blog with a large audience. This way, you won't have to put in an extra effort to drive traffic to your ecommerce store. 

Option #1 Setting Up Your Shopify Account

Shopify has over 218 million buyers from 175 countries. So you can imagine the number of people who trust this ecommerce site.

You can start the 14-day free trial to get a feel of Shopify’s features. If you decide to move forward with it, you’ll upgrade to the paid plan.

The first step is to enter a store name, which will also become the default URL to start your trial. For example, if you want your Shopify’s store name to be JoshBeans, your URL will be joshbeans.myshopify.com.

If you buy a custom domain (joshbeans.com), you’ll be able to get rid of the ‘myshopify' part.

Complete further instructions as asked. Then you have your own Shopify account.

To customize your store further, visit the Shopify themes page and select an option that's on-brand with what you sell.

What’s more, you can talk to a Shopify Expert if you need help with the technical aspects of setting up your store or find yourself stuck at a specific place.

Option #2 Setting Up an Amazon Account

 You also have the option to display your products on Amazon. 

Go to Amazon and scroll down to the bottom of the homepage. Select Sell on Amazon.

Sign up to become an Amazon seller. You can sign up as an individual seller or a professional seller. In my opinion, it would be better to become a professional seller if you're in for the long haul.

After setting up and verifying your identity, you can start with listing your products. Before this, make sure you go through the details of the selling process on Amazon.

Then click on Inventory followed by Add a Product. This will open up Amazon‘s catalog, where you’ll have to search for the product you want to sell. 

You can also create a new product listing if you can’t find a suitable option. 

And that’s it! You can now start selling your product on Amazon.

Before you can start listing your products, make sure you have high-quality photos of them, preferably on a white background. Similar to this:

Step 5: Optimize Your Site

If you think customers will come to you just after you launch the website, we have news for you: Not going to happen.

Instead, you need to optimize your website to attract traffic through search engines by targeting SEO keywords in your product descriptions.

Write good copy for every listed product, taking care to mention their USPs and describing them explicitly. 

This will involve you focusing on two primary areas:

• You have to target your product pages to specific terms that are typically searching for within the platform
• Work on getting as many five-star reviews you can on your products as possible

The above two tips are instrumental in improving your search terms and reviews, enabling more people to see your products on the platform. This will translate into more sales and revenue for you, which is exactly what we want.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now have your online store up and running. 

From figuring out what you want to sell and sourcing it to choosing a reliable ecommerce site to display your products, you are now an expert when it comes to launching an online store.

But don’t celebrate too hard—you have to next work on spreading the word about your store to get customers to purchase your product or service. When the money starts rolling in, I’ll be expecting a party.

Here's wishing you all the luck!

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Start an Online Store
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-start-an-online-store/
Published Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

With teams scattered across different locations, collaboration software has become a must-have tool for businesses today. 

From simple check-ins to big-picture project management, these tools makes it easier for everyone to stay on the same page.

Your organization can even use collaboration software to improve the way you work with clients, contractors, and stakeholders outside your business. 

But in order for it to work, your have to find the right tool for your business. People work well together in different ways–which of these good options is going to deliver tangible benefits to your team?

I've put together a list of my top six products. Read my reviews to get a sense of how each one helps teams collaborate. Then, use the buying guide which follows to assess which one meets your team where they are–and gets your team where they need to be.

#1 – Zoho Projects Review — The Best Feature-Rich Collaboration Software

Zoho Projects is one of the most popular and easy-to-use collaboration tools on the market today. The software makes it easy for teams to collaborate, plan, and track work more efficiently. 

As a cloud-based solution, you can use Zoho Projects to collaborate and manage tasks from anywhere. 

Track dependencies with ease in the simple platform. Regardless of how much information you put in, everything remains easy to track in the clean interface.

Compared to other tools out there, Zoho Projects is loaded with robust features. Yet it never feels crowded or too busy. Here’s a quick overview of some of my favorites:

• Task management with Kanban boards
• Set dependencies between tasks based on the order they are completed
• Map your entire workflow
• Gantt charts
• Task reports
• Time tracking tools
• Issue tracking
• SLA management
• Automations

Zoho Projects even has industry-specific solutions for categories like software development, real estate, construction, marketing, education, and more.

It's free to use for three users. You are limited to two projects, but you get the Gannt charting tools and mobile app. Premium plans start at just $5 per user per month and work for up to 50 users. You can try Premium for free with a 10-day trial. 

#2 – Wrike Review — The Best All-in-One Project Management Tool

Wrike is a powerful and versatile project management solution. The software makes it easy to give your team complete control and visibility over projects and tasks.

If you’re looking for collaboration software with a primary emphasis on project management, this will be a top choice for you to consider.

Wrike is trusted by 20,000+ companies across the globe, including some big names like Dell, Google, Airbnb, and Siemens. Let’s take a closer look at some of its features and benefits:

• Agile project management
• Custom dashboards and workflows
• Process automation
• Real-time comments and editing
• Notifications
• Live editing and dynamic reports
• Easy to share information with stakeholders
• End-to-end visibility and real-time updates
• Enterprise-grade security
• File sharing and attachments

Wrike is a popular choice for marketing teams, creative professionals, and product development teams. However, it’s versatile enough to accommodate the needs of really any business type.

The software is free for up to five users. But you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to take full advantage of the project planning and collaboration features. These start at $9.80 per user per month. Try it free for 14 days. 

#3 – Slack Review — The Best for Team Messaging

Slack is a name that many of you might already be familiar with. It’s quickly become the go-to platform for internal business messaging over the past few years.

Whether you’re working remotely or in a traditional office environment, Slack will be a great option to consider.

More than 750,000 businesses trust Slack for team collaboration. Here’s a quick overview of some of its noteworthy features and highlights:

• Stay organized using Slack channels for projects, teams, or topics
• File sharing capabilities
• Audio and video calls with screen sharing
• 2,200+ Slack apps for integrations (Zoom, Jira, Salesforce, Google Drive, etc.)
• Create your own time-saving workflows
• Use Slack API to integrate your internal tools
• Enterprise-grade scalability and security
• Collaborate with partners like clients, contractors, vendors, etc. by adding them to channels

Plans start at just $6.67 per user per month. All plans come with unlimited messaging. Regardless of your team size or industry, Slack is the best collaboration tool for team messaging.

#4 – Trello Review — The Best for Simple Task Management

Trello is a simple solution for task management. For ongoing work and projects alike, it’s one of the best ways for your entire team to collaborate and stay organized.

With the help of Trello’s boards, cards, and lists, businesses across any industry can use this platform to improve productivity. 

Here’s a quick explanation of what you can accomplish with Trello’s collaboration software:

• Add comments, attachments, and due dates to cards
• Create boards to separate projects and teams
• Built-in workflow automation (rule-based triggers, due dates, etc.)
• Add lists to create a unique workflow for each project
• Integrate with third-party apps that you’re already using
• Collaborate from anywhere using the Trello mobile app (iOS and Android)
• Notifications and team tagging
• Easy to assign tasks or cards to one or more users

Trello is powered by Atlassian, a global leader in the software and project management space. So you know that it’s a solution you can count on. That’s why more than one million teams across the globe rely on Trello.

This collaboration software is free for up to 10 boards with unlimited cards and lists. Paid plans start at $10 per user per month. Get started with a free demo.

#5 – Flock Review — The Best for Remote Work

Flock is another collaboration tool with a primary focus on messaging. But it’s a little bit more advanced than Slack in terms of the features and capabilities.

The software is great for teams that work collaboratively from remote locations.

With Flock, you can keep all of your messages, apps, and productivity tools organized from the same place. Here are some of its features that are worth highlighting:

• Real-time messaging
• Customizable channels and team directory
• Video conferencing
• Screen sharing
• File sharing
• Powerful search (for messages, links, documents, etc.)
• Productivity tools for note sharing, to-do lists, reminders, polls, and more
• 50+ seamless app integrations (Google Drive, Asana, Twitter, etc.)

For small teams, Flock is free with 10 channels included. You’ll also get unlimited 1:1 and group messages. Paid plans start at just $4.50 per user per month, which is a great value.

Try Flock for free with a 30-day trial. 

#6 – BlueJeans Review — The Best for Audio and Video Conferencing

For those of you who need collaboration software for conference calling, look no further than BlueJeans. It’s a simple and safe way to empower your remote staff with audio and video conferences. 

Brands like Zillow, Facebook, ADP, Intuit, and National Geographic all trust BlueJeans for team collaboration.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes BlueJeans so great for collaboration:

• Collaborate with video, audio, and web conferencing from any device
• Live meeting controls and automated alerts
• Meeting highlights and transcriptions
• Enterprise-grade security
• Single-touch interoperability
• Exceptional call quality with HD video and Dolby Voice audio
• Dynamic content sharing
• App network of software integrations (Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc.)
• Support 24/7/365
• Unlimited 1:1 meetings
• Unlimited group meetings

Plans start at just $9.99 per host per month. If you’re not quite sold just yet, you can have unlimited access to BlueJeans and all of its features for free with a 7-day trial. 

What I Looked at to Find the Best Collaboration Software

As previously mentioned, there are lots of different collaboration tools available on the market today. With dozens, if not hundreds of options to choose from, narrowing down the best option for your business can feel like a tall task.

To ease the buying process, I’ve identified the top factors that must be considered as you’re evaluating different options. I’ll quickly explain each one in greater detail below.

Software Type

Collaboration software comes in all different shapes and sizes. 

You’ll come across solutions built for project management, while others are made specifically for instant messaging or video conferencing. There are even some all-in-one solutions on the market today. 

The best option for you will depend on the needs of your business. Some of you might just need an internal messaging tool, as opposed to a platform for document storage or task management.

Business Size

How large is your company? 

In addition to the number of people on your team, the amount of teams, departments, and other segments should also be taken into consideration. 

For example, you might want to have a tool that every single person within your organization can use to contact another employee.

But files being shared by the accounting team or human resources department shouldn’t be available for your marketing team to access. Your sales staff shouldn’t be able to access sensitive financial records. 

So make sure the software you’re considering allows you to create different groups for each department or project. You’ll also want to look for features to manage permissions and access for each individual user. 

Usability

Collaboration software should be making your life easier, not more difficult. 

There are some tools out there that are undoubtedly more complex than others. Depending on your needs and the technical skill level of the end-users, that’s fine. Any time you’re using new software, there will always be a learning curve. So you’ll need to keep that in mind.

However, after the first couple of weeks or months using the software, your entire team should be fairly proficient. If not, it could add complexity to your processes, as opposed to boosting performance and productivity. 

I strongly recommended that you take advantage of demos and free trials. This will truly give you a better understanding of which options are the easiest to use. 

Organizational Tools

This piggybacks off of our last point. The best collaboration software will make it easy for you to stay organized. 

Depending on the software in question, there might be task cards, folders, groups, or other ways to keep everything in order.

How can you jump from one project to another? Will users easily be able to find a file or document that was shared by a coworker? Can supervisors and project managers keep track of everything at a higher level?

At scale, the way everything gets organized within your collaboration software is amplified.

If you’re just running a small team with five users working on a single project, this may not be important. But when that number jumps into the hundreds or thousands, staying organized becomes critical. 

Integrations

Your collaboration software should seamlessly integrate with other tools and software that your company is using. 

From CMS to CRMs, email software, cloud storage services, and more, make sure you check out those integrations before you finalize your decision.

It’s easier to use collaboration software if everything can be managed and accessed from a single platform. Otherwise, users will have to bounce back and forth between different tools, which isn’t ideal from an efficiency standpoint. 

Summary

Collaboration software makes it easy for your entire business to stay organized and connect with each other in real-time.

To find the best software for your business, start by reviewing the buying guide I highlighted at the begging of this article.

Then go through the recommended options above to narrow down the best tool for you. Here's a recap of the full list of my recommendations:

1. Zoho Projects — Best feature-rich collaboration software
2. Wrike — Best all-in-one project management tool
3. Slack — Best for team messaging
4. Trello — Best for simple task management
5. Flock — Best for Remote Work
6. BlueJeans — Best for audio and video conferencing

My last piece of advice is to take advantage of the free trials or freemium versions. Put the product into practice. There's simply no better way for you and your team to get a sense of how well a tool is going to work.

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: Best Collaboration Software
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/best-collaboration-software/
Published Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

Anyone can start up a business. No college degree, huge bank balance, or corporate experience necessary.

All you need is a great idea, the right systems, and the drive to see it through.

Since you’re already searching for ways to learn about how to start a business, odds are you already have an idea and the drive. What you need to know is how to start building your future empire.

In this article, I’m going to discuss the exact steps to start a business so that you can put the right systems in place.

Your 2-Minute Cheat Sheet

I’ll walk through each step in much greater detail below. Here, I want to give you the bare-bones cheat sheet for how to start a business now.

First, refine your idea based on the needs and demands of your target customers, along with your preferences.

Next, you’ll create a business plan. This is a crucial part of the whole process, so you have to get this right.

After sketching out your business’s entire framework, do market research, and collect feedback from friends, mentors, and family.

Then you need to tackle the legal side of things. Get started early in case there are any snags. This includes deciding your business structure, registering your business, getting the necessary license and permits, and setting up bank accounts.

At this point, you have your idea and a plan to make it come to life. You can then use it to arrange for the required capital to launch your product or service. Follow this up by building your team and finding a location if you’re opening a physical store.

Finally, focus your efforts on generating more sales and growing your business, which is also what you’ll find yourself doing for most of your career.

That’s a few years of business distilled to a couple paragraphs. Let’s take a closer look at each step. Of course you should feel free to skip steps if you have already locked down the basics.

1. Come Up With a Business Idea
2. Conduct Market Research
3. Lock Down the Legal Stuff
4. Write Your Business Plan
5. Raise Capital for Your Business
6. Develop Your Product or Service
7. Build a Reliable and Responsible Team
8. Find a Business Location
9. Work On Generating Sales
10. Expand Your Business

Step 1: Come Up With a Business Idea

Every business begins with an idea. If you already have one, congratulations! You can proceed to the next step. If not, you need to start brainstorming.

Here are a few tips to come up with a great business idea (I made a list of over 25 home-based businesses as well):

• Think of ways to get ahead of the curve. Think of how your product or service can change the business landscape, especially with the constant technological advancements.
• Solve a problem you identify. After all, your customers would prefer more of a good thing and less of a bad thing.
• Try to bring a fresh perspective that helps you gain a competitive edge over your competitors.
• Think of ways to make your approach better, cheaper, and faster if your business idea isn’t new.

At this stage, you can also conduct surveys and collect perspectives by meeting people and asking for advice. Researching ideas online is another excellent way to come up with business ideas.

Step 2: Conduct Market Research

The whole point of conducting market research is to understand typical consumer behavior, pain points, and relevant market trends in your chosen niche. This is a sure way to determine how your potential startup might fit into the existing industry landscape.

Try to find the answers to the following questions while doing market research:

1. What product or service is currently in demand in your given market?
2. What is the market size, or how many clients make up your target audience?
3. How many competitors share a similar concept to your business idea?
4. What is the price that customers are willing to pay for products and services in your market?
5. What’s the typical consumer engagement in your market? Did your competitors move online during the pandemic? Can you replicate their sales process or do it better?

One of the best ways to gain genuine insights is to speak with consumers directly. Take surveys, make questionnaires, and do one-on-one interviews.

Another free resource you should absolutely use is Google. Say you are starting a business that sells shampoo to men. I’d search “shampoo for men”, “men’s hair care”, along with other terms and phrases in the space. Then I’d take a hard look at the first page of results for each keyword.

What are the top websites (not paid ads) doing? Who are they speaking to? How do they position their products and services?

Asking simple questions like these can give you a ton of insight into the market. You can also plug keywords into tools like Ubersuggest to find out how many people are searching for these terms each month.

Researching your market is an ongoing process. What you find out today may change tomorrow.

I put this as Step 2 because you want to get started early, but you should be constantly trying to understand the trends in your space.

Step 3: Lock Down the Legal Stuff

I always make sure to get the legal stuff out of the way early. This way, I don’t have to worry about anybody else taking my big idea, ending up in a bad partnership, or getting sued because of misinformation.

Determine your business structure first, as it’ll dictate the legal and tax requirements you will have to meet. Your options include sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation.

Enlist a tax professional’s services, as every structure has its own set of tax requirements, or use an online business formation service.

At this stage, you’ll also have to choose a business name and register your business. Find out whether your chosen name is available for registration in your state and within the digital space. You want availability as a:

• Business name in your state
• Domain name
• Social media platform usernames

If a specific name isn’t available, you can always consider permutations of the name. Make sure your domain name and business name aren’t impinging on any registered trademarks.

There is a quick checklist of other things that you’ll need:

• Federal tax ID
• State tax ID
• Permits and licenses (as needed)
• Business bank accounts
• Trademarks, patents, and copyrights (as needed)

It’s best to consult a lawyer to cover everything you need. You can always work out things on your own, but sometimes it’s best to ask an expert.

Step 4: Write Your Business Plan

Many people question the purpose of creating a business plan. After all, if you already have a vision for your business, why write it down?

When you create a business plan, you describe every aspect of your business in a formal document. You put everything into words.

In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “There never was a good knife made of bad steel.”

It’s precisely why a business plan is such a crucial part of any business. It defines your thoughts and research and exactly what you need to do to make a business a success.

This helps put things into perspective and allows you to identify areas to streamline future processes.

Let me clarify: Your business plan doesn’t need to be 100 pages long. It only needs to be readable and include the main components. Such as:

• Pain points your business solves
• An elevator pitch about what your business does
• A list of your target audiences
• An idea list of how you’ll promote your business (your marketing strategy)
• The financial plan of how you’ll raise money to pay and how your business will make money
• Financial documents

Do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) of your business, too, to gain insights and identify ways to achieve your goals.

As the industry and market are always changing, you’ll find yourself revising your plan frequently. Periodic revisions and refinement of your business plan ensure that your business remains competitive in the long run.

Step 5: Raise Capital for Your Business

There are many ways you can get the resources to start your business. Below, I’ve discussed some of the best ways I found raising capital is easy and effective. You can choose one or more that work best for you.

Start at Home

Bootstrapping your business is a long process, but it gives you full control over your business. You can also leverage personal relationships by asking friends and family for a loan or to invest in your business.

Online Crowdfunding 

There’s no disputing the power in numbers, especially when it comes to raising capital. Crowdfunding gives you direct access to small investments that can add up to something massive.

Check out Kickstarter or Indiegogo, or Google a list of the most popular crowdfunding websites. Crowdfunding is more for a physical product than a service.

Reach Out to Venture Capital Investors or Local Angel Investors 

Venture capitalist investors look for proven teams that require a capital investment of $1 million or more, which is why you need some traction before approaching them.

If you feel you don’t have such traction right now, you can instead apply to online platforms like AngelList and Gust to find potential investors who would be interested in your project.

Apply for a Small Business Grant

Grants.gov is an online directory of more than 1000 federal grant programs that can supply you with the capital to kickstart your project. Although the process is long, you don’t have to give away any equity.

Get a Bank Loan or a Line of Credit 

Applying for a bank loan is easy, but you should do so only if you really need a bank loan and if you’re eligible. You can head over to the Small Business Administration to look for loan opportunities.

Step 6: Develop Your Product or Service

Nothing feels better than seeing your idea come to life. The only problem is creating a product takes a village–if not a city.

You’ll have a different set of requirements based on your product or service. For instance, if you want to develop an app, you want someone with the technical know-how, whereas if you’re going to mass-produce an item, you’ll need a manufacturer.

Product simplicity and quality should be your top priority. Rather than creating the cheapest product, focus on developing something that catches someone’s attention. You can further streamline the process by keeping in mind the following tips:

1. Avoid handing over product development to someone else or another firm, and if you do, make sure you supervise constantly.
2. Implement regular checks and balances to reduce the level of risk involved. For example, if you decide to hire freelancers, hire multiple people so that you don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
3. Enlist specialists instead of generalists. A jack-of-all-trades isn’t what you need right now.
4. Always operate within your budget.

For service-focused entrepreneurs, the game is slightly different.

Your primary focus should be to have the necessary certificates and educational requirements. Search online job portals and freelance working platforms to find opportunities. Upwork and ProBlogger could be great places to start.

Step 7: Build a Reliable and Responsible Team

What’s the best way to scale your business and achieve all your organizational goals?

Have a good team.

One of the critical aspects of a growing business is delegating responsibilities to other people, whether a partner, employee, or freelancer. Here are a few tips to help you find the right team members:

State Your Goals Clearly 

When your team members understand your vision and their role in helping you achieve it, they’ll make fewer errors.

If you are just starting out, you’ll probably be interested in the some of the really great free project management software out there. These aren’t free trials, and you’ll be able to make sure everyone is on the same page–no extra cost to you.

Establish and Follow Hiring Protocols

Welcoming people to your team involves several processes, ranging from screening people, carrying out interviews, and having proper forms. This will help you create a more competent team.

Create a Strong Company Culture 

Great company culture is all about respecting and empowering employees through training and mentorship.

You don’t need futuristic decor or ping-pong tables (if you can afford that, that’s great!) but you do need a positive atmosphere where everybody feels welcomed and appreciated.

Step 8: Find a Business Location

One in four businesses that starts within the next 12 months will have a 100% remote workforce. But if you decide to open a brick-and-mortar retail business, you need to focus on getting the right location.

Here are a few things you should keep in mind:

• Demographics: Think about your customers and how they interact with your location. Does your target clientele frequent the potential location? Does your location reflect the image you’re trying to project?
• Foot Traffic: Monitor the foot traffic outside a potential location throughout the day. Do you see a couple of passers-by throughout the day? Or is it away from the public eye? Is there parking available?
• Business Community: The business community refers to the other businesses nearby that can bring you foot traffic. Is there a mall nearby? Are there restaurants where customers can go after shopping at your store?
• Competition: Contrary to popular belief, having competitors nearby isn’t always bad. Whatever your stand, you should be aware of whether or not you have competitors nearby before deciding on a location.

Research the history of the location as well. If other businesses have tried and failed in the space, find out why. And of course, always keep the cost in mind. Expenses like rent, cleaning services, insurance, and parking fees need to be considered.

Step 9: Work On Generating Sales

Start by listening to your potential customers to know their wants, needs, likes, and dislikes. Next, learn the art of asking for a commitment without being too pushy. In other words, don’t force your customers into buying goods from you, or they won’t return.

Moreover, you have to prepare yourself for hearing “NO“ too. Sad, I know.

People listen to your elevator pitch despite having no intention to buy simply because they’re polite. If they don’t end up buying from you, don’t get disheartened.

Grow your customer base and put out advertisements to find an audience to fit your business. At this point, you’ll also have to figure out the right sales funnel and strategy to generate leads and convert them into paying customers.

Sales and marketing are critical to building a successful business. Check out some of these free customer relationship management tools that help you stay organized as you grow your contact list.

Step 10: Expand Your Business

You must have a growth plan if you want to earn and scale your business. Luckily, there are about a million ways to grow your company.

I’d highly recommend utilizing the power of social media through organic, influencer, and paid campaigns. Email marketing works equally well to create and nurture a dedicated customer base.

One of the key aspects of long-term growth is to have a dedicated customer base and reduce customer churn. All the efforts you put into nurturing your existing customers can be useful in the long run when they act as your repeat customers, ensuring revenue in the long run.

Conclusion

We’ve covered everything you need to know to start a business. Now you can prepare for the exciting adventure in front of you.

Taking the first step can feel a bit scary, but don’t fear. Take the plunge and launch your business–it’s a lot of fun!

Of course, you’ll find challenges and roadblocks along the way, but as long as you remain dedicated and driven, you can learn from your mistakes and climb higher up the ladder.

Don’t wait any longer!

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Start a Business
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-start-a-business/
Published Date: Fri, 09 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

With close to 3 billion active monthly users, Facebook is the biggest social media platform on the planet. That makes it a valuable channel for driving your business goals. After all, the key to successful marketing is to define your target audience and meet them on their favorite platforms.

While not everyone is on Facebook, one thing is certain, it still is the world’s most popular platform. Whether you're in B2B or B2C, you definitely should leverage Facebook’s multitude of features to market your brand and products. One Facebook marketing feature in particular that yields a good return is the Facebook contest feature.

Why Should You Create a Facebook Contest?

Facebook contests have been around for some time, but they’re still one of the best methods to grow an active audience and build meaningful engagement with your brand. Here are a few reasons why you should consider creating a Facebook contest:

1. Extend Your Reach and Increase Followers

One of the most significant benefits you’ll reap from running Facebook contests is that they’re an excellent way of extending your reach. Creating a contest your target audience engages with results in your contest and brand being shown to their networks. With the extended reach comes the added benefit of you gaining more followers.

2. Increase Brand Awareness

Another reason you must incorporate Facebook contests in your social media marketing strategy is that they are a great way to increase brand awareness. Whether you promote your Facebook contest organically, use paid promotion, or both it’s inevitable that you’ll reach people you couldn’t have otherwise reached. As a result, more people will become aware of your brand and product.

3. Get More Engagement

Facebook contests get more engagement than average posts for the simple reason that they’re a much-loved form of interactive content. People prefer interactive content over static content with 66 percent of marketers citing increased engagement rates after employing interactive content in their campaigns.

4. Provides a Data Collection Avenue

Effective marketing campaigns are data-driven. That’s because data enables you to gain a better understanding of your target audience, allowing you to create more personalized campaigns.

Running a Facebook contest is helpful in this regard as it provides an opportunity to collect data about your audience. Whether the contest is in the form of a quiz or simply an engagement-based contest, you still come out with a goldmine of data at the end of the day.

With these and more benefits, there’s no reason why you should ignore Facebook contests. They’re an excellent way to drive engagement and build an active audience for your business. Of course, they’re also an excellent way to raise brand and product awareness and thus drive sales.

How to Create an Effective Facebook Contest

Now that you’ve seen the value of Facebook contests, let’s quickly dive into how to create an effective one. Not all Facebook contests are created equal. Knowing how to create one that your audience will participate in is essential to the success of your campaign. Here are a few pointers to help you:

1. Determine Your Goals and How to Measure Results

The first step to creating an effective Facebook contest is to define your goals for the contest.

What do you want to achieve with your Facebook contest?

You can achieve a lot of business and marketing goals with a contest, a few of which can include:

• market research
• brand awareness
• data collection
• crowdsourcing product development
• launch a new product
• build an email list
• drive sales
• gather user-generated content

Determining the goal of your contest is essential as it will help you design one that’s best suited to help you succeed. It also helps you know which key performance indicators (KPIs) you should use to measure your contest’s success. Examples of KPIs you can use include:

• number of participants
• likes
• shares
• new followers gained
• number of clicks on your contest
• email sign-ups
• reach

With your goals and KPIs determined, you’re ready to start designing your Facebook contest.

2. Select the Type of Contest You Want to Run

You’ve determined the reason for running a Facebook contest. Now the next step is to choose the type of Facebook contest that will help you achieve said goals. There are three main types of contests you can run on Facebook:

Giveaways

These are the simplest Facebook contest type and, as the name suggests, involve giving away a prize to the lucky participant(s) who enter the contest. Most giveaway contests require a participant to engage with a post (like, comment, or share) to enter.

Photo Contests

Photo contests are an excellent way of driving engagement and collecting user-generated content for your other marketing efforts. These usually involve picking a theme for your contest and asking your audience to post photos (preferably while using your product) in line with that theme.

Referral Promotions

Referral promotions require a bit more work to design and manage but they’re one of the best ways to generate leads for your business. Participants have to share (or refer) your contest with a friend or people in their network to enter the contest.

An effective Facebook contest aligns your marketing goals with the right type of content. To aid your decision, you must understand your audience and the type of contests they prefer.

3. Determine the Contest Rules and How You’ll Run It

Every contest needs rules to govern how participants enter. As you design your Facebook contest, you must pay careful attention to how you determine yours.

For example:

• What actions must participants take to enter?
• Will you allow multiple entries?
• Is the contest open to all countries?
• What can constitute grounds for disqualification?
• Are there any age restrictions?

Remember, you’re not running a contest just for the fun of it. You’re running your contest to benefit your business. As such, the rules you set for your contest must help you with that. They must be aligned with your goals.

The rules of your Facebook contest will also determine how you will run it and the kind of data you will collect. Examples of how you could run your contest include:

• Designing a funnel that requires participants to submit their email addresses or other data.
• Using a Facebook messenger bot to lead users to an opt-in page where they perform the required action to enter the contest.
• Using engagement as a means to declare their participation in your contest. This could be anything from tagging friends to following your account and everything in between.

Besides setting rules for entering the contest, you must also determine how the winning participants will redeem their prize.

4. Choose the Right Prize

One of the fundamental pillars of an effective Facebook contest is the prize you’re offering. Hallmarks of the perfect prize include:

• Personalized. Your offer must be something that your target audience is interested in. It must not appeal to people who aren’t your target audience.
• Product-related. To ensure your contest helps boost your business, your prize must be tied to your core business. For example, if you’re a dentist, offering cutlery as a prize won’t help you reach your ideal customer.
• Pain point specific. Understand your ideal customer’s pain points and tailor an offer designed to address one of them. Doing so will help direct participants to your other product offerings.

Choosing the right prize for your contest is crucial to ensuring higher engagement rates. It also ensures most participants fit your ideal customer profile (ICP).

5. Design Your Facebook Contest Page

With so much content being published on Facebook, it can be easy for people to miss your contest as they scroll through their feeds.

To improve the chances of your contest being seen, your design must be optimized for visibility. Here are a few tips to help you do that:

Write an Attention-grabbing Headline

The headline is the first thing users will see. Make it stand out by using descriptive language. Also, ensure it paints a picture of the benefits of winning the prize.

Invest In Professional Images

Invest in professional eye-catching images. Images play a great role in stopping users from scrolling. They’re also helpful in quickly conveying your message.

Write a Brief but Detailed Description

Give users all the information they need to get excited about the contest. Your description must also explain how to enter the contest. The best way to format your description is to use bullet points.

Use a Simple Form

Make it as easy as possible for your interested parties to enter your contest. If you’re using forms, make them simple—don’t ask for too much information. Complicating the sign-up form will negatively impact your conversions. The only exception to this rule is if you’re offering a huge prize that’s worth the effort.

Design a Prominent Call-to-action

Your call-to-action (CTA) must not only be prominent but it must be clear what the next step to be taken is.

Besides these best practices for designing an effective Facebook contest page, you can also consider other optimization options. A typical example would be to use a countdown timer to add urgency.

6. Promote Your Contest

Your Facebook contest’s main goal is to grow your audience and increase engagement with your brand. To do that, it must reach as wide of an audience as possible.

That’s why part of your Facebook contest creation process must include a promotion strategy.

A few Facebook content promotion tips you can employ include:

• Paid ads: Organic reach can only get you so far. To reach a wider audience, leverage Facebook ads to promote your contest. You can also use retargeting to advertise your contest to people who’ve viewed your content.
• Share it with your email list: Promote your Facebook contest to your email list to ensure maximum participation. It also helps you keep your subscribers engaged.
• Spread the word on other social media channels: Leverage your other social media platforms to spread the word about your contest.

With your contest in front of the right audience, you can expect high participation rates.

7. Choose and Announce the Winner

All good things come to an end, including your exciting Facebook contest. You need to wrap it up by picking and announcing the winner. You have two options when it comes to picking a winner:

• Randomly picking a name: Randomly picking a name is the best way as it’s impartial. Use tools like Random Name Picker or Comment Picker to make it easy.
• Selecting the best candidate: This works best if you set specific criteria for your contest. However, make sure to explain how you came up with the winner and why.

Once you’ve picked your winner, you must announce them on your Facebook business page and other channels you promoted the contest on. Bonus points if you can make it a Facebook Live event.

8. Follow Up After the Contest

Picking the winner of your Facebook contest is not the end game. The end game is growing your business. That’s why you must have a follow-up strategy. One of the best ways to do this is to send out an email to participants offering them a discount on your products as an appreciation for participating in your contest. Nurture a relationship with the people who participate in your contest and you’ll be able to turn them into loyal customers.

Facebook Contest: FAQs

Facebook Contest Conclusion

Looking for interactive content that will help you grow your audience and drive engagement with your brand?

Then you must consider running a Facebook contest. With added benefits like lead generation, a boost in sales, and much more, including them in your online marketing strategy is a no-brainer. 

Executed well, your Facebook contest is an excellent way of getting ahead of your competition.

What has been your experience with Facebook contests as a marketing strategy?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Create a Facebook Contest that Grows Engagement and Audience
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/create-facebook-contest/
Published Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000