Mobile phones are everywhere, which has made staying in touch easier and has simplified many daily tasks. As technology grows, our lives become richer. Through filters, we are better photographers (and models). With voice assistants, we all have our very own robot secretary. Just about any fact-related argument can be settled anywhere by opening the encyclopedia, we carry around in our pockets. We don’t need a notepad and pen as long as we have our phone. For modest monthly fees, we can access vast libraries of music, movies, and television shows.
Mobile technology is great for our personal lives, but it’s great for our business lives, too, as you’ll see below.
Time Saving Apps
One of the greatest conveniences of mobile app technology is saving time. To see what we mean, just look at how apps have changed something as ubiquitous as banking. Whereas a business owner (or manager) once had to drive to the bank with an uncomfortably large amount of cash and wait in line for the business teller, the majority of payments are now handled electronically. Checks can be deposited by snapping a photo. Mobile banking apps can save bundles of time.
It doesn’t stop with banking. If you travel for business, there are apps to help you manage business flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, taxis, rideshare services, and dinner reservations. Business travel, like personal travel, is made easier through review apps like Tripadvisor.
Metrics-at-a-Glance Apps
Whether you’re in the back of rideshare, flying in a plane, or waking up in the morning, you can now pull up a snapshot view of a variety of business metrics thanks to mobile app technology. You can most likely monitor your website analytics software, access your CRM, and whip up sales reports with a mobile app. NachoNacho provides a list of CRM tools at a reduced cost.
Physical Plant Management Apps
Many security alarm companies now offer mobile apps so that you can wait until you’re out of the building to set the alarm. If you have security cameras, chances are you can access live (and stored) footage from an app. There are apps to manage smart thermostats and apps to turn the lights on and off.
Office Equipment Apps
Modern office equipment, such as printers and copiers, often comes with a bundled app. For example, Xerox commercial printers can be managed with the Mobile Link app. You can use your phone’s built-in camera to scan documents, manipulate PDFS, and send just about anything you want to the printer.
Cloud Storage Apps
If you use Dropbox, Google Drive, or another cloud storage platform to access electronic apps, you can download a mobile app to help you access and manage those files. This is especially convenient when you want to send a file with your mobile email app.
Social Media Apps
We typically think of social media apps as something for personal use, but you can just as easily manage your business accounts with a mobile device. It’s a good idea to always double-check which account you’re posting to; it can be amusing to accidentally post something for work to your personal account, but the reverse can be damaging. Facebook offers a separate app to manage business pages, but with Instagram, you simply switch between accounts in the same app.
Communication Apps
Typically we think of office communication platforms like phone, fax, and email. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, many business owners have discovered other useful technologies. Teams can–and do–hold video chat meetings with Zoom, Skype, and Google Hangouts, helping to eliminate the need for physical contact. Many office suites provide real-time collaboration features, improving productivity, and further eliminating the need for a physical office.
Asset Tracking Apps
No matter what industry you are working in, a significant amount of work is now done off-premise by employees working remotely, in the field, or simply in a different location. An asset tracking mobile app enables teams who are handling company equipment in the field to easily update information through their smartphones or tablets. They can scan equipment labels to quickly check items in and out, make maintenance requests, reserve equipment, and much more for simplified off-premise operations. Meanwhile, all this activity gets logged into the central system so the organization has visibility into the field operations.
For small businesses, keeping track of your packages can be daunting and time-consuming. Choosing the right labels and shipping companies can ease your worries so that you can focus on your clients’ needs. Luckily, there are mobile apps that can reduce the shipping process for small businesses, as outlined below.
Package Tracker Pro
Package Tracker is a mobile app that lists shipping companies, including DHL and FedEx. The mobile application is available on Google Play Store with a small installation size at $1.99. Package Tracker is available for Android users in an all in one package that lets you track deliveries, keeps you informed, and allows you to customize your packages to suit your needs.
Package Tracker Pro has been in the market for a while and has a robust support system for the users. Some of the features that the app offers include:
Push notification to keep you informed about your packages in the form of ringtones or vibrations.
It allows you to add new options to your carrier list.
The app can show tracking routes on your screen if obtainable.
You can sync your tracking information from your PC to your mobile phone without retyping, which helps save you time.
You can archive tracking numbers to the sync site.
Generous support from the developers who are available to answer any questions you may have.
Package Buddy
Package Buddy is a free Android mobile app for shipment tracking purposes. The app that is downloadable from Google Play Store has an allowance of over 100 courier services. The free version is excellent for personal or domestic use to manage small packages. For small businesses, the pro version is available for $2, and you can integrate it with other android devices for your commercial requirements.
This app’s features include a barcode scanner that enables you to add a package to your tracking list and the capacity to share shipping data with others easily. It also consists of a filter function that allows you to sort your information by the status of whether you are sending or receiving parcels.
17TRACK
17TRACK is a mobile app compatible with both android and iOS users supporting famous couriers such as DHL and UPS. The app is great for businesses that order from China or have issues shipping to North America. 17TRACK is free with in-app purchases if you want to upgrade.
Features of this shipping app include push notifications to keep you updated on package status changes. It also comes with automatic syncing across your compatible devices and allows you to track multiple numbers simultaneously. The app can automatically detect your packages and which shipping companies they are on by entering a few digits of your tracking codes.
You can only track about 40 packages with the free version at a time. You can upgrade to a limit of 100 or 200 at a monthly charge of $2.99 or $4.99 consecutively.
Delivery Status Touch
This app is made for iOS devices and is available for download in AppStore for $4.99. Delivery Status Touch covers a wide range of shipping companies, both local and international, like Japan Post.
The features of this app include readable maps that tell you exactly where your package is. The app enables you to see the current transit packages and their delivery dates when you open it.
Delivery Status Touch allows you to sync your delivery dates to your calendar. You can also install it on your desktop and easily switch from the mobile device, depending on where you are.
FedEx Mobile App
FedEx is a development one of the biggest shipping companies which enable users to track packages and create shipping labels from wherever they are. FedEx app allows businesses to track all packages they send and receive. It also has a barcode scanner to add your boxes in the shipment list and enable you to sort it through using your tracking codes and references.
An upgrade to FedEx app that is available in some regions is the FedEx delivery Manager. With this addition, you can leave instructions for the courier services on when and where you want your packages to be delivered, sign digitally, and even send the package to FedEx location to pick later.
While this app is great, if your business heavily depends on shipping companies, you might consider enlisting the aid of a company like Shipware to conduct a FedEx audit. Due to a service and billing errors, you may be eligible for a high number of small refunds from FedEx on an ongoing basis. Shipware doesn’t have an app yet, but they have a history of helping small businesses who use FedEx and other shipping companies, so we thought we’d mention them here.
JumpTrack
JumpTrack is another Android and iOS compatible app that allows users to store proof-of-delivery like photos and signatures. The app will enable you to track shipment status and even trucks that carry the packages with GPS. You can also share the tracking information via email to your customers. This app is excellent for companies with complex supply chains that want to oversee their shipping.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as one of the most powerful tactics to raise the bar of email marketing campaigns. Effective email marketing is all about delivering the right content to the right people at the right time and AI helps you achieve this. There was a time when manual intervention was needed to craft relevant content for individual subscribers. However, with the advancement of AI and automation workflows, it became easier to send personalized emails based on subscriber behavior. No wonder, it is expected to yield $14 trillion of additional revenue and a 38% increase in profitability by 2035.
Before we look into the details of how to employ AI in email marketing, let’s throw light on basic principles of how it works.
Mechanism of Action of AI
AI is a tool with the help of which the computer can use a given set of data and perform a particular function through trial and error. The three steps in which AI works are:
i. Detect
First of all, AI discovers the most predictive attributes or elements in a set of data to ascertain which ones to consider and which ones to overlook.
ii. Deliberate
AI, then, compares the most predictive attributes and accordingly makes a recommendation or answers a question.
iii. Develop
AI can program and reprogram itself and mature with every iteration. Subsequently, it can modify and assess the data according to information or consensus derived from experiments.
With that said, we shall now discuss how you can adopt AI in your email marketing campaigns.
1. Subject Lines
According to conventional practices, a proficient copywriter would be allotted the task of drafting engaging subject lines, considering the target audience and their buying preferences. AI algorithms have made it possible to evaluate the results of your past email marketing campaigns and improve the subject lines to generate a better open rate and click-through rate.
You can use tools like Phrasee that works on the principle of “Natural Language Processing” to craft subject lines that can grab maximum subscriber attention.
2. Personalized emails
Targeted personalization improves customer engagement rate as suggested by 74% marketers. Predictive analytics helps to create complex algorithms that ultimately enable the creation of unique emails. Through AI, marketers can understand the behavioral patterns of the customers and predict their next purchase. Subsequently, you can use this information to assign predictive scores, thereby eliminating the inconsistencies of orthodox lead scoring method.
With the help of AI, you can build groups of audience who display similar kind of behavior. These groups of predictive audiences can bring higher revenue by enhancing subscriber engagement. Marketo and Salesforce offer such tools that allow you to execute AI-powered email marketing.
3. Email retargeting
Traditionally, marketers used to send out cart abandonment emails to all the customers within the same timeline. AI gives you the liberty to retarget the customers at the right time by considering their behavior and response time. For example: Some customers may respond to a cart abandonment email sent immediately while some others might take the decision to purchase a week after the cart abandonment. AI allows you to differentiate between these customers and send the retargeting emails at an optimal time while cutting down the cart abandonment rate. Salesforce provides a feature known as Commerce Cloud Einstein that proves to be a boon for ecommerce marketers by providing access to detailed predictive insights. These insights can be used to send customized recommendations to customers.
4. Automated testing
Once used as a two-dimensional process, A/B testing has now advanced to an omnichannel hyper-targeting model with the help of which you can carry out complex testing. It lets you test a number of variables in different permutations and combinations. Bandit testing helps you automatically get a hint about what kind of traffic your versions will get. In case it is found that one of the versions is performing better, bandit testig will attempt to increase traffic to that variant and reach to a statistical significance faster.
Wrapping Up
Subject lines, copy, testing, and retargeting – these are the top four elements in which you can incorporate the magic of AI. Besides, AI also lets you reach out to the person with intelligent and more humanized automated emails. So, if you are wondering how you can take your email marketing a step ahead and beat your competitors, AI is the answer for you.
Author bio
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free responsive HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
What are some of the top mobile apps for families? We polled our editors, and here’s what we came up with.
When Tracker Apps Aren’t Creepy
Tracker apps are best used by parents to know the whereabouts of children and other family members. A family tracker app will help parents track where the kids are at any time of the day, either school or playing. All you need is your child’s smartphone; download the app and activate it to be functional. There are lots of apps in the market you can choose from, starting with basic ones and also the advanced apps that require subscriptions. Some of the best tracker apps you can find in the market include Find My Kids, Life360 Family Connector, Glympse, Sygic Family Connector, Foursquare Swarm, FamiGuard, and Safe 365.
Exercise Apps Are Fun for the Whole Family
Every family needs to stay fit and healthy. Everybody with a smartphone in the family can download an exercising app to help them stay fit. Some of these apps are free, while others cost a subscription fee. Some of the best exercising apps include Nike Training Club, Daily Workouts Fitness Trainer, Aaptiv, Zombies Run, 7-Minute Workout, Sworklt, and Daily Yoga.
Apps to Help the Whole Family Learn Stuff
If you’re planning a trip to Spain next year and you want the whole family to learn as much Spanish as possible before the trip, there’s an app for that. Want to make your brain work better? There’s an app for that, too! Want to learn to read the stars in the night sky? You guessed it; you’re going to find something in your app store. Some of the best skills improvement apps include Duolingo, Lumosity, Sky Guide, and Pocket. They can bring the family together as they present learning in a fun, reward-oriented environment. And the learning doesn’t have to stop there. Try The Human Body to teach science, Hopscotch to teach technology, Minecraft to teacheEngineering, and Mathmateer to teach your kids mathematics.
These Aren’t Necessarily for the Kids, But…
Some of the most popular mobile apps for families have practical, everyday, boring uses, like banking and insurance apps. You can find these apps on Google play store or App Store for android users and iPhone users, respectively. Some of the most popular insurance apps include Allstate Mobile, Esurance Mobile, Geico Mobile, Progressive, and State Farm. Unfortunately, not all insurance providers have a mobile app, and no insurance app will answer all of your questions, such as: Can I buy life insurance without a health exam? Is life insurance taxable? Can I even afford term life insurance? To answer those questions, you’ll want to step back into the analog world and talk to an agent via email, chat, phone, or in person.
Just for Kids Apps
While your kids might fall asleep trying to make sense of an insurance app, you might have a hard time entertaining yourself with these apps. One of the top-rated apps for children is called ABC Mouse; it is geared towards toddlers, and it teaches shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. Epic! is an e-book library for children ages 2-12; with over 35,000 children’s books, it’s a great alternative to letting your kids watch TV on their device. There are apps for children that teach the ABCs, math, geography, creativity, science, and even coding. But the “just for kids” genre doesn’t stop there. YouTube Kids screens videos for age-appropriate content for children up to 12 years old. And there are games galore, many with educational bents. Swift Playgrounds, for example, uses puzzles and other techniques to teach children a coding language. PBS Kids Games uses entertainment to teach reading and math. Just make sure you don’t send your little ones unescorted into their device’s app store. As we have reported, children’s safety can be a concern.
In the old days, marketing for a small business was a relatively straightforward affair. You could choose between limited options in print, radio, and television advertising. Maybe you could also consider a billboard or banner somewhere out in the community. These strategies had existed for decades, so they felt familiar and easy.
Then the internet came along and changed everything. Suddenly, the world of advertising became incredibly complex. Now there are so many options available that it’s hard to know where to begin.
To avoid becoming overwhelmed, think of internet advertising as an opportunity rather than a burden. With social media apps, you have the ability to reach out to customers like never before. This is especially true if you utilize these platforms correctly. Take these tips into account as you exploit the wonderful opportunities out there to build your customer base.
Download the Apps and Use Them
Your social media marketing should be coherent and sustained. If all you do is throw a hodgepodge of information at potential customers, it’s unlikely that any of it will stick. Think long and hard about a marketing strategy that you can employ for months. Choose a goal and then develop a line of consistent messaging to support your objectives. This way, consumers will come to recognize your brand through the messaging they regularly encounter.
One of the best pieces of advice for any social media account manager is to download the apps, create personal accounts, follow people (and brands) who interest you, and get into the habit of spending some time on the app every day. You’ll learn a ton just by observing what other people are doing, and by having the apps on your smartphone, you’ll be more likely to use them frequently enough to learn something.
Use Hashtags to Your Advantage
Most social media platforms–whether you use the mobile app or web version–allow you to use hashtags to direct content. This is a free and easy way to reach out to certain groups of people. For example, if you’re hoping to target soccer fans during the big game, ending a tweet with “#WorldCupFinal” is a great way to target a specific audience. Mastering the hashtag game will make you a more skilled digital marketer.
Build Followers with Ad Campaigns
If you market on social media apps without choosing a specific target audience, you’re doing nothing more than blowing trumpets into the void. One of the principal benefits of social media is that it allows businesses to target the people who are most likely to be interested in their products. Instagram shows ads to people based on the types of accounts and hashtags they follow. Since Facebook users provide a lot more personal information, you can narrow down ads on that platform with incredible precision. Either way, running ads is a great way to get more followers.
Monitor the Performance of Your Ads
Social media companies allow you to track the performance of your ads. Take advantage of this service regularly. When you see that your ads are producing engagement, you’ll know that your marketing strategy is working. If your ads aren’t getting clicks for weeks on end, you’ll learn that it’s time to switch tactics. And this is a topic for a whole new article, but there are even apps to help you manage your social media ad campaigns.
Use a Chatbot on the Facebook Messenger App
The gold standard for any marketing campaign is a personal interaction with potential clients. In a perfect world, we’d all have plenty of time to chat with individuals in public parks and message people on social media. Unfortunately, this is not logistically possible. With a Facebook Messenger bot, however, you can replicate the feel of a personal conversation without actually having to be present yourself. Your bot can instantly answer questions when people contact you using Facebook’s Messenger app.
Be Persistent
Marketing on social media apps is never a “one and done” sort of game. Hardly anybody will engage with your ad the very first time they see it. It takes patience and repetition to break into the consciousness of your potential customer base. Don’t give up when social media ad campaigns fail to bring immediate results. It’s with continual campaigns and slight changes in tactics that you’ll eventually find a strategy that works. Finally, remember that Facebook and Instagram aren’t the only social media apps out there. The marketing landscape is more diverse than ever, providing the types of opportunities advertisers used to dream of. Use the tips above to perfect your marketing on social media apps. The results will prove how successful these strategies are.
There are apps for entertaining you and apps to help you be more productive. Certainly, there must be mobile apps for helping you make money… right? We decided to look, and here’s what we found:
Money App
Yes, that’s what it’s called: “Money App.” This is an Android and iOS market research app which rewards its users for completing tasks such as playing games, offering opinions, testing services, mystery shopping, using free trials, and checking store displays. Using your PayPal account, you can redeem your money after completing tasks. This app is convenient as the user can redeem their rewards and get paid within two or three working days, which is rare in market research apps that tend to pay monthly and sometimes never even pay at all. On both iTunes and Google Play, the app scores 4.8 out of 5. Quite decent for being a couch potato.
iPoll
Like Money App, iPoll is another task-based app to help you make money while you’re waiting on the bus. It’s an Android and iOS market research app that rewards its users through completing retail missions, writing down diaries (for example, your meat consumption over a week), and taking market surveys.
Once registered, you are required to input basic information like your consumer habits and preferences, to determine your availability for tasks. You are then alerted when there are new available missions based on location and preferences. This market research app is unique in the sense that it is customized so that missions and tasks given to you are suited to you and could, at times, be enjoyable. On Google Play, it is rated 3.1, and on iTunes, it is rated 4 out of 5. Users enjoy the lack of glitches selection of topics. Rewards can be redeemed as gift cards or cash, which can be acquired through PayPal.
Foap
But what if you don’t want to take surveys for pennies? Foap is an Android and iOS money-making app that allows photographers to make extra money by selling smartphone-taken photos. It is a platform for marketing and advertising agencies and brands to search and buy images from Foap’s registry.
After registering for your account, you can upload your tagged photos (high-quality). The photos’ visibility will be higher if the rating is high. The registered community is responsible for rating photos. Each image earns you $5, but a photo can get as much as $100. Some agencies and brands sometimes hand out “missions” where they require specific images or, in recent times, even videos. The app is highly rated on both Google Play, where it is rated 3.8 out of 5, and iTunes, where it is rated 4.3 out of 5.
Helium 10
But what if you already have a way to make money online? If you’re an Amazon seller, the Helium 10 Chrome extension gives you an advantage over your competitors. This powerful extension includes a profitability calculator, an ASIN grabber, a review insights tool, quick-views of inventory levels, and more. We mention it in this list because there is a streamlined mobile app version for Helium 10 subscribers. The app version provides you with charts and sales trends at a glance, deep-dive product research tools, order monitoring, and suspicious activity alerts. You can get a great understanding of what is going on with your Amazon selling business just by looking at your phone. The Helium 10 mobile app is available on both Android and iOS.
Fluid Market
Our last choice for a mobile app that helps you make money is called Fluid Market. Many people have cars that they do not use often, and other people do not have cars at all. Fluid taps into this business opportunity by allowing someone to rent out their SUV, car, pickup truck, box truck, or cargo van by the week, day, or hour. The folks at Fluid claim that renting out your truck could make you up to $24,000. Tools such as hedge hammers, saws, and drills can also be rented. It is convenient for both parties in the car rental system. Users enjoy using the app. On iTunes, it is rated 4.5 out of 5, and on Android, it is rated 3.5 out of 5.
In the last decade, technology has been gaining more and more influence on most aspects of our life. That includes shopping and making payments. The biggest shopping day of the year is Black Friday, and at first mention, the mind goes straight to long lines and large crowds at the mall. But, as it turns out, most buyers turn to online shopping instead of actually visiting the store.
Last year’s Black Friday broke all records when it comes to online spendings. Adobe’s analytics published that consumers spent $7.4 billion online. Yes, that’s billion with a B. And we don’t see that number going down with the pandemic and everything going on in 2020.
Because of how people handle it, and how quickly it exchanges hands, cash was always a potential vector of transmissible diseases. With COVID-19 still going on, the popularity of paper money is likely going to take a hit. What are the alternatives? If you aren’t familiar with other choices except for cash or credit card, this is the article for you. We are going to inform you about the best digital payments for 2021.
Infographic created by Clover Network, a retail POS company
EMV Chips Turn Cards Into Smart Cards
EMV stands for Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, but is most often referred to as a credit card with a smart chip. It uses the smart chip for storage of the data that is needed to process the transaction, unlike a mag stripe used by older credit cards.
EMV’s increased security is the reason more and more cards have chips nowadays. Unlike the mag stripe, which was a lot easier to clone, the chip is tamper-proof, thus making the card almost impossible to duplicate. Furthermore, EMV cards use a unique code for every payment, your bank then uses the code for the transaction, and once it’s used, it can never be used again.
Another plus for the use of EMV is the possibility of a contactless transaction. You can just tap the POS terminal, or even wave the card in front of it to make a payment. It allows you to use the card without putting in the pin. Contactless is the way to go in 2020.
You Might Be Using EChecks Already
If you went to the gym for a while, chances are, you used an electronic check without even knowing it. Most people do. Gym memberships are considered automatic payments, but in fact, they are fulfilled via eChecks.
By using eChecks, you only spend time when you agree on the terms for the first time, everything else is automatic. That’s the biggest advantage of electronic checks, significant time gets saved by both the client and the supplier, everything is done electronically. This type of online payment takes the agreed sum of money out of the payer’s account and transfers it to an overarching network, which deposits it to the payee’s account.
Have you ever thought that you’ll be able to forget about your bills and not even think about the due dates, but everything still gets paid on time? EChecks make that possible!
Home Assistants Can Do All the Work
In 2014, Amazon came up with the first smart speaker, and a few years later, Google Home and Apple presented their home assistants as well. Since then, smart speakers have been helping people with their everyday tasks. Unfortunately, most users still don’t believe in the safety of their information with home assistants, so they mostly rely on them for tasks with less risk.
Statistically, 82% of all consumers use smart speakers for seeking information, checking the weather, and making appointments, while only 28% dare to send money or make payments. The percentage is significantly lower due to security reasons most users have, but the future of smart speakers is still bright.
With big names like Amazon, Google, and Apple investing in developing safer home assistants, we can assume that the future of smart speakers is secured. Also, Business Insider estimates that the usage of virtual assistants will unquestionably grow in the next few years.
Mobile Wallets Are Convenient
A mobile wallet is exactly what it sounds like, a wallet on your phone. What better way to lower the clutter you carry around in your pockets than to combine a phone and a wallet in one thing. That’s why the number of mobile wallet users is growing consistently.
Big companies like Samsung, Apple, and Google already have their applications that are used as a wallet, so we can expect others to follow with similar apps in the future. The possibility of just tapping your phone to make a payment makes the use of a mobile wallet practical, which a lot of buyers are looking for these days. Also, the app can store your loyalty cards, credit cards, and multiple companies can work together to make the experience extra convenient for you.
Use Your Fingerprint to Make a Payment via Biometric Authentication
This way of payment makes you realize that we live in the technological future. Biometric authentication uses a person’s biological and structural characteristics to verify who is trying to make a transaction. This includes methods like fingerprint scanning, facial and iris recognition, or even heartbeat analysis or vein mapping.
The main goals of all the transactions that are being invested in currently are security and fraud protection. It’s hard to find something more secure than bio authentication, and that’s why we’ll see more of it shortly. Stats suggest that by the year 2021, more than 18 billion biometric transactions will be completed, every year.
Lead generation has always been a challenging task because of its complexity.
Having in mind that businesses don’t exist without their customers, it is not surprising that whole teams and departments work for the same goal – finding more and more qualified leads.
As you already know, the sales process involves not only the bottom of the sales funnel, but also creating products or services themselves, and even a number of steps that come before that, like creating a target audience.
It is important to optimize your sales process because you don’t want your potential buyers to lose their interest.
To prevent this, here are the most important techniques for achieving an optimized and successful sales process.
1. Identify your target audience
The importance of choosing the right target group is huge. Your target audience will actually influence everything else you do.
When you really know who you are addressing, you get a very good start for everything else you intend to do.
Even if you have already started with other steps such as product presentation, selection of sales channels, and so on, and you have not defined the target group clearly enough, go back to it and afterwards change everything else accordingly.
This is the initial and key step in creating an optimized sales process.
In order to make it easier to form a target group, imagine an ideal buyer persona – a representative of your customers.
Make a set of questions and start researching. Based on that, you will create your perfect customer and you will know who you are addressing and trying to convert.
In order to achieve that, the best way is to use the chatbots, integrated with a well-designed knowledge base software. Intelligent chatbots can identify patterns and respond appropriately, meanwhile collecting valuable information about your potential customers.
After determining the gender, age, location, and other basic characteristics, move on to more complex questions such as what interests your ideal customer, how he spends his free time, what he spends the most money on, and similar.
Keep in mind that you can have two types of customers:
Primary target audience
Secondary target audience
Let’s explain that using an example so that it doesn’t confuse you.
For example, let’s say you sell women’s jewellery.
The primary target group would certainly consist of women, aged, for example, 20-50 years, of average or higher purchasing power.
The secondary target group would consist of males who want to surprise their better halves with a gift for a birthday, anniversary, or similar.
Therefore, you will also create duplicate content to address both target groups, and the content you create will depend on who you are addressing at the time.
Everything you learn about the ideal customer will help you find out exactly how to address your target audience and it will also help you create quality content.
2. Distribute quality content
Your content is a crucial part of the sales process. It presents the product or service you want to sell.
To retain the attention of potential customers, your content must meet at least one of the following purposes:
To educate
To entertain
To inform
To solve a problem
Ideally, quality content combines two, or even all of these categories.
Content that intrigues and affects the interest spheres of a certain target group is also the one that retains your leads and guides them further through the sales funnel.
To interest and retain people, try to combine multiple types of content including textual content, visuals, videos, infographics, tables, and similar.
Of course, everything you create should be in line with your product or service.
Sometimes the content alone will not be enough to encourage the purchase, but there is a solution for that as well.
3. Implement adequate pop-ups
Pop-ups are a great solution to optimize your sales process and increase conversions.
Engaging pop-ups need to have:
Visually appealing design
Catchy copy
Right context
Irresistible offer
CTA
It may seem like they can require a lot of time, but today you can use tools that can help you to create this kind of window in just a couple of minutes.
These five basic elements are crucial for an effective pop-up window.
In the example above, we can see how these elements’ full potential was actually used.
The design is simple, but effective and tailored to the target group’s needs. There is not a lot of persuasion or excessive effects here, because the people who came to the website already know what to expect, and the offer itself is just a continuation of the content presented on the website.
Although the goal here is not direct sales, the email popup campaign is an extremely important part of nurturing leads, which will be discussed more in a minute.
You need to create a certain pop-up depending on what you offer and what goal you want to achieve.
Still, if you want to encourage your leads to purchase immediately, you can offer some benefit that will encourage them to make a purchase as quickly as possible.
Free shipping, discounts, or flash sales are all old but still really good practices.
Perhaps one of the most important advantages of pop-ups is the possibility of using exit-intent technology.
As its name says, exit-intent pop-ups are windows that appear when a visitor tries to exit your website.
At the same time as this intent appears, it triggers a window that presents your best offer and keeps potential customers on your website page.
With a simple but powerful word ‘WAIT!’, QuickSprout pop-up grabs the attention of a visitor and creates a surprise effect.
This example also includes a human element which increases the possibility of the brand gaining the target audience’s trust.
It is important to make as many interesting offers as possible because it is your last chance to keep your leads and convert them into customers.
4. Create an e-mail campaign
E-mail campaigns are a perfect way to nurture your leads.
“ By having your customers’ contacts, you are able to spread awareness about your brand and maintain communication with your leads. “— says Dhaval Sarvaiya, co-founder at Intelivita.
Even those leads that are cold may become interested in your business more and more if you share valuable content with them through e-mails.
Not just that you can share valuable information and announcements, but you can also offer discounts and special offers with personalized messages.
A personal touch can have a great impact on your potential customers and show them that you really care about them.
But how can you invite people to become your newsletter subscribers?
Besides the regular contact form that is part of your website, you can implement pop-ups with a short form that will include a field for an e-mail address and a CTA button.
This example shows how to use a pop-up for newsletter campaigns in your advance.
An interesting design catches attention and effective copy intrigues the target group and makes them want to leave their addresses and find out what Contently can offer them.
5. Measure and analyze results
If you don’t track and measure your results, you will not have the right insights on how your business is progressing.
Track your conversion rates, ROI, number of e-mail subscribers and sales, and find out if you are on the right path or is it time to change something.
Based on your business, determine your most important and less important KPIs.
Compare your results on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis.
It is a good practice to monitor the tactics of your competitors, too.
By analyzing their strategies, you can get some new and fresh ideas and implement them later on into your business strategy.
You can use basic tools such as an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of your important KPIs. Use a simple excel test to assess the skills of your marketing team, to address the skill-gap.
It is inevitable that a number of people who have entered the sales funnel will, in the same way, come out of it.
Take, for example, an advertising campaign on Facebook.
Your ad will reach a certain number of people, but a slightly smaller number of people will click on the link too, visit your page, website, and similar.
From this second group, a certain percentage of people will buy your product or service.
Not all leads will buy what you offer, at least not right away, but it is up to you to increase that number as much as possible and achieve the highest possible conversion rates.
By tracking the results of the campaign, you will notice if there is a major leak from the sales funnel.
If that’s the case, it’s time to revise the entire campaign you created.
The reasons why a small number of people reach the bottom of the funnel, in this case the purchase, can be different.
Just some of them are:
Too wide or too narrow target group
Low-quality visuals
Confusing copy
Broken links
Unmatched ability of ads and offers
As we have already said, you must always keep in mind the ideal customer and create everything in accordance with his expectations and needs.
Once you identify the problems, you will be able to prevent leaks from the sales funnel and optimize the entire sales process.
The bottom line
Although creating and optimizing the sales process may seem complicated, after you use the first piece of advice from this list – identifying the target group, it will be much easier for you to fix all the other items.
The appropriate target group is the main guideline for optimization.
The better you understand and know it, the easier it will be for you to build a powerful strategy that will lead to more sales.
Regularly analyze and update your sales process to achieve long-term goals and to keep your business growing.
For decades, clinical laboratories have played a significant role in advancing patient care within the nation’s healthcare system. Through effective testing processes, clinical laboratorians generate accurate results that support doctors and other medical experts in making appropriate diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. As new diseases, strains, and the global spread of life-threatening illnesses increase, rapid testing and diagnosis become more apparent.
Laboratories around the world have stepped up to the challenge by adopting technologies that enable them to work more efficiently to support the growing demand for improved diagnostics and patient care. Continue reading to learn more about technological trends in clinical laboratories.
Cloud Technology
The adoption of cloud technology in clinical laboratories has worked to streamline lab processes, create controlled environments, and disseminate information in real-time. Advanced lab equipment comes with features that automatically record testing data and store it in the cloud allowing technicians, scientists, and other associated parties to access pertinent medical information quickly.
Assisting scientists and technicians in maintaining a controlled environment, the integration of cloud technology in advanced lab equipment immediately alerts teams when issues arise in the testing or experimental stages. Such alerts provide teams with the support they need to accurately monitor and adjust processes as necessary to generate accurate results.
Modern laboratories are also adopting cloud based test equipment tracking solutions to gain visibility into their disposable and non-disposable items ranging from expensive testing equipment to instruments and disposables such as laboratory reagents. This software helps ensure reliable reservations of equipment required for testing and enables timely preventive maintenance and calibrations to make sure everything is always in top-notch condition. Also, alerts can be set for important events such as expiring equipment leases or low stock levels of materials so testing cycles are not stretched out due to such shortages.
Lastly, cloud technology features allow scientists to share information in real-time with project contributors from virtually anywhere. The data can be accessed remotely, making it easier to collaborate with other employees and laboratories for improved productivity.
Improved Equipment Designs
New technologies have enabled designers to create more efficient lab equipment compact in size with advanced capabilities for more efficient lab and testing processes. Microfluidic cell sorting, for example, can be done on a compact system, performing various functions, and helps to eliminate the need for traditional flow cytometry lab setups with simple, easy to use technology. Such innovations save laboratories money, time, and space.
Automation
The use of lab equipment to automate testing and experimental processes have been an ongoing practice for most clinical labs. As technology continues to advance, current equipment designs include features and automation tools that save time and improve efficiency in laboratory processes. The use of automation in laboratories reduces the need for manual tasks previously performed by lab technicians eliminating many daunting and repetitive steps in experimental studies resulting in authentic results in record time. Scientists and technicians are now able to focus their attention on critically analyzing data.
Sustainability
As the general public becomes increasingly concerned about the environment, industries across the board have taken great strides to do their part to reduce their carbon footprint. Realizing the extensive amount of energy used to operate labs, scientists and lab workers have begun utilizing resources that support a more eco-friendly and sustainable work environment.
Many laboratories reduced their carbon footprint by improving their recycling efforts by properly and safely disposing of used supplies, equipment, and containers. Consequently, in purchasing recycled materials for experiments, testing, and lab processes, laboratories have also been able to save a significant amount of money.
A new concept, referred to as open labs have also become an increasingly popular method for laboratories looking to reduce their carbon footprint. With technological resources like compact equipment, cloud technology, and automation features, sharing space, equipment, and data amongst other labs cuts down on waste while saving money.
The investment in more efficient lab equipment has also improved sustainability within the industry. Newer models require less energy to operate without compromising the accuracy of results. At a time when the world is in the middle of what could be the worst threat to public health in history, clinical laboratories are needed in the fight. From increased testing and rapid results to the development of vaccinations and treatment options, scientists and lab techs around the world will ultimately save humanity. As such, laboratories need to continue to adopt technology trends such as those described above to deliver the most accurate results as quickly as possible.
Understanding the differences in the types of server hosts can help enterprise companies to know how to best proceed. People have many hosting opportunities, and they should understand what each one offers and how it will have an impact on their website. People should choose their hosts carefully. Every company has different needs for capacity, usage, and security, so you’ll need to analyze your needs and the feature of different hosting solutions to ensure you are set up for current needs and future growth.
What Features Should an Enterprise Company Have?
First, it should have security because a hosting company offers nothing to an enterprise if it can’t protect its data and confidential information. This will keep your data protected. You should look for a hosting company that uses a multi-layered approach because in this way, even if cyber criminals can get through the first layer of security, they will have to break multiple layers to get inside.
A good hosting company should also offer good support 365 days a year, 7 days a week, and 24 hours a day. If they can’t provide solid support all the time and your website goes down, it can mean a huge loss in business especially if the web host isn’t providing you with the much-needed guidance. In this way, too, you never have to waste your time on IT issues.
Pros/Cons of Server Hosts
Let’s have a look at the pros and cons of dedicated server hosting to better understand them:
Pros
Higher security
Faster speeds and upload time
Extra storage options
Total control over the server
Run the software and utilities that you want
Cons
More expensive than shared hosting
Harder to do problem resolution and diagnostics
Prior knowledge required to administer the server
Why Do Enterprise Companies Need Server Hosts?
Having a dependable server cluster is essential to continuing your business. You want to continue to operate successfully, and this is one of the best ways that you can continue without interruption. When you have a strong and depend on a server cluster, they can ensure that your website stays online so that you never have problems with getting a steady stream of business. As businesses continue to grow into a full-blown enterprise, the needs grow for bandwidth, customer service, CPU, and security, and they have to stay proactive. Don’t let yourself fall behind.
Security Benefits for Enterprise Companies
The bigger you get, the larger of a target that you will have painted on your back. More and more cyber criminals will become aware of your presence, and if they see you as easy meat, they will take what they can from your hard work. A good server cluster will give you the additional security that is required of enterprise businesses and make it that much harder for hackers to do what they will with your company. Don’t give anyone the key to your business. Joe Joe Oesterling, Chief Technology Officer at Liquid Web describes one server cluster environment as, “private cloud hosting solution is a single-tenant environment. A single organization can take advantage of a cluster of servers in a private cloud environment and use the combined resources to fit their needs.”
With each hosting plan, you should also take the time to understand the limitations of each one. In this way, you can figure out what hosting plan will serve your needs best.
Miley on September 30, 2020 
