editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

SEO tips, tools, and how to’s: Best of 2018

January 15, 2019 No Comments

It’s that time of the year again: reflecting on the year that’s past as we prepare for 2019 lurking around the corner. In this article, we have a roundup of some of our fan favorite pieces from 2018 on SEO.

From how to’s to tips to tools, these were some of our highlights from the past year. SEW spark notes, if you will.

If you missed these pieces throughout the year, they’ll be worth a read. And if you’ve already read them, never hurts to refresh!

On Monday, we’ll have a roundup of our top articles on search industry news and trends.

1. How to force Google to recrawl your website

If you have launched a new website, updated a single page on your existing domain, or altered many pages and/or the structure of your site, you will likely want Google to display your latest content in its SERPs.

While Google’s crawlers are obviously pretty good at their job — indexing countless new pages simply from natural traffic and links from around the web — it never hurts to give Googlebot a little assistance.

In this article, we look at a few ways to alert Google’s crawlers to new URLs on your site.

2. How to set up event tracking in Google Analytics

Because one can never have enough Google Analytics insight, right?

One of the most useful features in GA, event tracking lets you capture all kinds of information about how people behave on your site.

In this article, we go step by step through two different ways you can set up event tracking: first, by adding the code manually, and second, by using Google Tag Manager.

This is a great tutorial for anyone looking to familiarize themselves with the task.

3. A quick and easy guide to meta tags in SEO

Meta tags help search engines and website visitors determine what the content of your page is about.

They’re placed in the <head> section of a HTML document and need to be coded into your CMS. Depending on the platform you use, this can be quite less intense than it sounds.

Many “out of the box” solutions provide extremely user-friendly, labelled sections such as “meta description” calling your attention to exactly what goes where.

In this article, we take a look at why meta tags are important, along with the six main types of meta tags to focus on for SEO.

4. An SEO’s survival guide to Single Page Applications (SPAs)

For anyone who’s ever had questions about what SEOs should do with Single Page Applications (SPAs), this article is for you. Long, thorough, entertaining, and full of resources.

We start out looking at how the popularity of SPAs, Angular, and React have spiked in the last several years. Many developers eagerly embrace JavaScript for website development — and while that may have been rather inconsiderate of SEO ease (what else is new), it seems JS really is here to stay.

This article is bit of a coming to terms with that reality, accepting SPAs as part of our SEO future, and even dipping our toes in, if you will.

We look at what developers like about JS, how it was never intended for web page content delivery, common SEO problems of SPAs, and a host of other questions you might be asking.

Finally, we end with eleven recommendations for further reading — really, this could become the whole rest of your holiday break — on how Google treats SPAs, core principles of SEO for JS and for SPAs, and more information than you could want.

5. How to check your Domain Authority: 4 tools to use

Domain Authority (DA) serves as a handy heuristic in the SEO industry. It helps tell us how likely a site is to rank for specific keywords, based on the SEO authority it holds.

Many SEOs use Domain Authority to sense-check the quality of their inbound links and to understand how these are affecting their own’s site’s SEO health.

In this article, we round up some of the best ways to check out domain authority. We look at what factors go into DA, and how these tools go about calculating it.

‘Domain Authority’ was devised by Moz and they have naturally taken ownership of this name. Their suite of tools (some of which are discussed in this article) will reveal the authority of particular domains, but dozens of other free tools use Moz’s API to show these scores too.

6. 15 actionable SEO tips to improve your search rankings

This is another quite popular deep dive into SEO tips. We know “improving search rankings” gets a lot of fluff, but this is not that.

Here, we look closely at what makes RankBrain tick, and 15 ways to use that to your fancy.

Sections cover tips around optimizing keywords, optimizing title tags, optimizing descriptions, and reducing bounce rates and dwell times. Fun fact: research by HubSpot and Outbrain found that titles with brackets performed 33 percent better than titles without.

Questions about how to add LSI keywords? How long should long-form content really be? Benefits of long-tail vs medium size keywords? How much difference in clicks will a few characters too long in a headline actually make? All of that and much more (along with lots of screenshots) here.

7. 30 ways to market your online business for free

This article is a roundup of exactly what it sounds like — 30 ways to market your online business for free. It covers everything from emails to social media, from Google Analytics to Search Console, from forums to guest posting, from metadata to Schema.org.

While a few of the ways could be updated — posting to Google+, for instance, might be less helpful anymore — the list still provides some hefty inspiration to anyone needing a little boost of ideas for what to do online.

8. Four tools to discover and optimize for related keywords

This was a quite recent article that has soared. As we know, for SEO these days we need content that includes related concepts, satisfies intent, and provides value. The days of exact keyword matching are far behind us.

In this article, we have four great tools to use when optimizing for related keywords — and of course, how to use them.

For instance, the first tool in the list is TextOptimizer. It takes a term you give it, looks at the Google search results page, extracts snippets, and applies semantic analysis.

With that, it ouputs a list of all the related topics, terms, and concepts that form your topic cluster. From that cluster, it recommends you choose 15-25 of the words for a higher rank.

9. How to optimize your Google My Business listing

Lest we forget: local search.

For those looking to rank higher in searches tied to a user’s location — i.e. users that might be quite near your store and itching to buy something — a Google My Business listing is an essential first step.

This article gives a how to guide for first setting up your listing, claiming and verifying your business, filling out the information, and adding photos. From there, we go over gathering reviews, posting updates, monitoring your profile, and tracking data from Insights.

Of all the many, many things to do in SEO, optimizing a Google My Business listing is very straightforward. It can have a profoundly positive effect on your SEO — a whole wealth of ranking opportunity up for grabs.

Sourced from sritutorials

In News

2019 productivity gut check – don’t let metrics squeeze your value

January 14, 2019 No Comments

By Jon Reed

Holiday season is an ~~unwanted~~ necessary view of what we got done in last year – and what we didn’t.

The modern productivity problem boils down to this:

How many transformative projects did we actually complete last year?

I’m guessing few people like the answer to that question. I certainly don’t. Oh, we got plenty of things done. We swatted emails like flies. We texted like champs. We put out fires and paid close attention on every conference call. We were nothing but diligent on the tarmac. That’s because we were strong on task productivity. We hit our deadlines (I hope). But we were mostly reactive.

We were not so effective with what Cal Newport calls value productivity. Alas, value productivity is how our work is ultimately assessed. It’s how we transcend the to-do list and put our dent in the universe.

Yes, productivity is an employer problem. Especially when you consider this troubling reality: all our wondermuss tech innovations have not resulted in collective productivity gains. Over the holidays, I worked through the bulk of Done Right – How Tomorrow’s Top Leaders Get Stuff Done, by Workfront CEO Alex Shootman. He has plenty of field tips for rethinking workplace productivity.

But productivity is also personal. We can’t wait for our employers to implement better collaboration tools, or improve their project methodology. Productivity is a “you” problem. That’s liberating/terrifying in equal measure.

Productivity winners for 2019

Here’s how I see productivity in 2019:

Keep task productivity under control. Get the needful done efficiently – without creating cycles of accelerated busywork (e.g. responding to non-urgent email threads five times a day only increases its velocity back to your inbox).
Advance your value productivity via projects that enhance your topic authority, or you/your company’s IP.
Bonus: avoid having a work meltdown as you hit a burnout wall.

I hear what you’re thinking: “That sounds freaking lovely, Jon – but easier said than done. I can’t get away with that highfalutin value stuff with my employer/project/pressurized situation.”

Yep, it’s not easy out there. Let’s not sugar coat it. However, there are proven ways of increasing your chances:

1. Prioritization is today’s essential productivity skill. With so many notifications and tasks flying at us, our work days are perpetually unfinished. Those who can adapt on the fly, and prioritize the right things daily and weekly, have an edge over the task-chasing “inbox zero” crowd.

2. Those who consistently protect time for “deeper” research/creation/planning have the edge. Add training and continuous learning to that mix.

3. A flexible filtering system that can raise or reduce notification levels is necessary to accomplish the first two. That includes everything from email filters, to phone notification control, to social network presence and withdrawal. Those who pride themselves on being “always on 24/7” are at a value productivity disadvantage.

4. Team communication and “how to reach me” preferred access is needed, to ensure that projects march on during team members’ protected time.

5. Incorporate sharing of work-in-progress – even beyond company walls. Collaboration software can help, marking tasks and milestones for us. Sharing work-in-progress with teammates – and even exposing work product outside company walls, via social networks and advisory groups – can be impactful. External feedback sets up a so-called iterative work cycle that is much more likely to result in relevant output. One classic example: your deep research fuels your public content curation.

Productivity in the real world

Let’s get real: not every employer is going to support our value productivity efforts. For every company that allows employees ten percent time to work on their own projects, another expects employees to take their deadlines with glee and get to work. The employee-as-worker-bee mentality is still too pervasive, though it gets dressed up these days in bogus KPIs.

Whenever possible, it’s important to get buy-in from employers on deeper projects. Whether it’s building mobile apps, or publishing books, it’s worth hammering out an agreement on IP ownership and creative time allotment.

Failing that, your projects may have to be relegated to weekends until you have momentum – or a new employer. Call it staying ahead of the robots or personal branding. Whatever it is, this deep work needs to get done. No job title is immune from the value productivity imperative. Yes, even sales. Give me a salesperson who builds their own collateral or competitive analysis slide deck any day. Or maybe a sales proposal to target a much bigger fish.

Even if you have the go-ahead on a deeper work project, there is the problem of notification fatigue and interruption culture. Some companies have downright oppressive expectations about “always-on” email. Thankfully, others are moving towards team collaboration tools that reduce that email load, or instituting email off hours.

In most work environments, I’ve found that if you educate team members on your “off email” times, or make sure they have an easy alternative way to reach you, then you’re good. Yes, you may miss a few important pings here and there as you fine tune those filters, and who has access to you. But hey – it’s better than missing out on a better career. It’s better than blowing yourself out on inbox whack-a-mole.

Yes, we do have to filter news notifications as well – particularly to keep sketchy and inaccurate info at arm’s length. But, we should also build in a surprise factor into our networks. It’s important as we design our filters not to become too insular. There are ways to build discovery into our filters.

I’ve breezed past crucial points in this article, such as how to put email filters to work. If you follow the links, you’ll find deeper dives.

A final word on measuring productivity. Workplace productivity metrics are in vogue. Applied sensibly, some are useful. The same holds true for measuring against your own goals. Just be careful the metrics don’t become the sole arbiter of your output. KPIs can be one heck of a creativity stifler. Try to cultivate something that isn’t subject to a KPI – or that has a chance to incubate before its value is assessed.

A productivity motivational message from yours truly

When I wrote my first piece on deep work and value productivity in 2014, diginomica was still in its early stages. Since then, robotic automation has intensified the threat of skills commoditization. Productivity requires a certain ruthlessness. I don’t know about you, but I find that the fear of becoming irrelevant is a darn good motivator.

But it’s the upside that should motivate us the most. As Newport put it:

It’s not that task productivity lacks importance — it has saved me much stress — but I think the value variety is what will rule in an increasingly competitive knowledge economy.

To which I added in 2014:

I jumped to the same conclusion Newport reached. Any competitive advantage I have achieved in the last five years is directly tied to the creation of high-value deliverables.

I should have gone further. This approach saved my career. I still consider myself a student in this quest, learning and failing and trying to get better. So – let me know what’s worked for you. I hope there is something here you can apply in 2019.

End note: this piece is from my semi-occasional diginomica series on productivity, filtering, and beating the noise with curation.

By Jon Reed

Sourced from diginomica

In News

Email marketing trends to expect in 2019

January 14, 2019 No Comments

By Kyle Henderick

This year the email marketing landscape will continue to focus on personalization with a focus on quality over quantity as well as expanding loyalty programs.

Many exciting trends and developments hit the world of email marketing in 2018 as email turned 40 years old – from the emergence of AMP for Gmail to mobile email reaching its long-awaited tipping point.

As we head into 2019 and marketing budgets “refill,” it’s our chance to give our email programs a restart and refocus our efforts on innovation and speed to keep pace with the demanding customer. In 2019 we can expect consumer expectations for quality content to increase – it’s become an annual tradition. Marketers will need to leverage new technologies and disciplines to continue to push the boundaries. Email programs will become even more personalized and more interactive, and as a result, more effective at driving revenue and brand loyalty.

To achieve these lofty goals and marketing dreams, below are my predictions for 2019 changes in the email marketing landscape you should be most aware of.

Personalization will put the right content in front of the right customers

Email marketing content can and should be more deliberate based on customers behavior, and I believe in 2019 we will see this become more prevalent in marketing strategies. Marketers have no excuse not to personalize email content based on the plethora of data they capture from browsing, purchase histories and email preferences.

The use of this data is becoming less “creepy” and using it in a deliberate way can deliver success. If you haven’t done so already, you should make it a priority to collect and use more data for personalization in content execution. Marketers should implement/expand their current preference centers for content choices or follow browse, purchase, click and open behavior to identify the content that piques subscribers’ interest most.

This process will get even more scientific as marketers push vendors for perfection. In 2019, marketers will continue to test AI platforms, while pushing vendors to handle their AI needs and automate at a larger scale. This innovation in technology should enable marketers to identify content combinations that perform better, faster and more efficiently.

The growth of mobile average order value

Historically, mobile average order value (AOV) has lagged behind its desktop counterpart because consumers are less likely to make big-ticket purchases (e.g., large, expensive items) on-the-go. In 2019, we’ll see this gap close. In fact, Yes Marketing data from Q3 shows significant growth in mobile average order value (AOV) for the first time in a long time. In Q3 of 2018 mobile AOV was $66.40, just $20 less than the $86.20 desktop AOV – and this is just the start.

In the year ahead, it will become more common for subscribers to purchase larger orders on mobile devices as the user experience gets better. To take advantage of this trend, brands will need to gain subscribers’ trust by offering detailed product content, more images and videos, or customer testimonials to push subscribers over the edge.

The continued rise of interactive content

As in 2018, I’m a firm believer in interactive content and I’m predicting it will continue to take off in 2019. Emails that contain games, quizzes, image carousels or simply “fun’” clickability (my word for 2019) allow users to interact with the brand without leaving the email itself. The more brands allow subscribers to engage within emails in new ways – whether it’s a personality quiz or the ability to book hotels without leaving email – the more engaged and ready to purchase subscribers will be with the brand.

The use of interactive content can help boost sales or simply educate and entertain. Fun games are a great way to get subscribers in the habit of opening your emails. The ability to actually make purchases within email makes the buying process even faster, and will boost sales for the brands that embrace interactivity.

Quality over quantity (deliverability + greater spend in targeted digital acquisition)

Deliverability has become a serious concern for marketers. Due to poor data management and increased standards from major ISPs like Gmail, Yahoo and AOL, emails can quickly land in the SPAM folder, making all that hard work in creative useless. To reach the inbox every time and maximize revenue from email marketing campaigns, marketers need to ensure they are sending relevant content to high quality value email subscribers and stop focusing on the total quantity of emails sent. In the coming year, that means embracing best practices even more, such as segmentation, data hygiene, email verification and preference centers.

In addition to reaching current subscribers/customers, smart marketers will use data to drive their digital acquisition efforts and better target new subscribers. Again, quality over quantity in acquiring new subscribers will pay dividends for your email program down the road. Model out your digital acquisition by appending the right types of data and finding look-a-like versions of your best customers instead of just paying your standard cost per lead. Yes, this approach may and most likely will cost more to successfully acquire quality subscribers. But in the end the lifetime value of higher quality customers is worth the additional investment. Smarter acquisition = greater ROI.

Loyalty programs will further expand to collect customer data

Many marketers already embrace loyalty programs and in 2019 these programs will become much more sophisticated. Smart marketers will use loyalty programs to collect customer data and better understand customer behavior, allowing them to reach loyal customers with better personalization and acquire new customers with the same characteristics.

What will this look like? Email marketers can track the behavior of their most loyal customers (e.g., those who engage with loyalty emails most frequently) and better understand their needs when it comes to email. What time of day do they want to receive emails? What types of products do they typically browse and purchase? What promotions work best for them? Then, marketers can take this data to encourage subscribers with similar behavior to join the loyalty program. Additionally, strong brands are already leveraging loyalty points as an incentive to receive data from their customers. This combination will lead to greater engagement in the inbox and more revenue for brands who execute flawlessly.

Over the past year, it’s been fun watching email marketing turn 40. While many in the past have claimed email is dead and ready for replacement by a shiny new channel (*cough* Sheryl Sandberg *cough*), we’ve yet to see a true successor. That’s why I’m challenging all marketers to keep up the strong work in 2019 to make it even better.

As you ring in the new year, consider tactics such as AI for personalization, interactive content, improved loyalty programs and spending a little bit more in acquisition so next year at this time, you can give yourself the greatest gift of the holiday season – a bonus or raise.

By Kyle Henderick

Kyle Henderick is Director of Client Services at Yes Marketing, a single solution provider who delivers relevant communications across all channels for mid and enterprise-sized companies. Kyle is responsible for helping major clients implement new programs, processes, and data-driven strategies to create campaigns that truly drive revenue. With a passion for technology implementation and a background in database, email, web, and social media marketing, Kyle turns his real-world experience into executable tactics to help clients see an incremental lift in revenue, subscriber engagement, and customer retention. A lover of all things Chicago, when Kyle is not reading up on latest marketing practices or focusing on improving client programs, he can be found enjoying the city’s great restaurants or wearing his heart on his sleeve while rooting for all Chicago-based sports teams. A curious individual willing to try any and every food that does not include raw onions, he is always looking for exciting dining options and new adventures around the city.

Sourced from Marketing Land

In Jobs

Online Marketing Manager

January 11, 2019 No Comments

Flipdis, First Floor, Heron House, Corrig Road, Sandyford, Dublin 18

Marketing Manager
Base salary + equity

B2B2C

Perfect English speakers only.
Must have business to business marketing experience, in SaaS preferably.
The successful candidate will receive equity.

The candidate must be technically adept and understand modern internet and modern online marketing technology and best practices.

Flipdish.com

Flipdish is one of the fastest growing startups in Europe. Flipdish powers ordering websites and apps for restaurants, take-aways, cafes, and convenience stores in over 10 countries. Some of our customers include Centra, Mao At Home, Bombay Pantry, Chopped, and Base Wood Fired Pizza.
At Flipdish we are dedicated to becoming the global leader in white-label online food ordering, with a focus on client and employee success.

About This Role

Increase revenue for Flipdish by way of marketing.
Get Flipdish more customers, and get our customers get more orders.
Will be expected to build a team.

The Ideal Candidate

Will have 1+ years specialising in online marketing
A track record in growing inbound leads through various channels
Proven ability to increase company revenues and client success
Interested in working in a dynamic high growth start up.

Click HERE to apply for this job

In Jobs

Social and Web Writer – Fitness industry

January 11, 2019 No Comments

CoachWho, Grand Canal Square, D2

We are looking for a Social Media and Web Content Writer intern on a part-time basis for 4 months. A strong understanding of the fitness industry is a must.

Our team helps people discover talented fitness and wellness instructors and coaches in various disciplines in their city. We are looking to grow our team with people who share our energy and enthusiasm for fitness and for creating world class digital content to feature on our platform and on our social media.

This is an unpaid internship offering the right candidate the opportunity to progress into a permanent position. Travel allowance and some expenses will be provided.

Key responsibilities

Understand the voice, audience and goals of CoachWho to produce social media and web written content that inspires engagement and builds trust.
Create relevant, original, high-quality written content for social media, web blogs and other digital communications
Research, and obtain information as needed to complete projects to best of ability
Follow calendar of projects and requests and deliver the written content in a timely manner.
Brainstorm and implement creative ideas and strategies to further promote social media engagement.
Welcome feedback, edits, and changes to content while maintaining a detail-oriented eye
Contribute to the building of our digital content strategy through competitive analysis, benchmarking and capturing best practices

Key Skills & Requirements

Minimum 1 year of content experience within an in house marketing department or advertising/interactive agency environment
BA in English, journalism, communications or related field
Minimum 2 years experience in web/social content writing for the fitness industry
Passion for building brand awareness and thought leadership through storytelling
Impeccable spelling and grammar
Previous experience of social management tools preferred
Knowledge of digital marketing tactics, including SEO, email marketing and web analytics preferred.

Click HERE to apply for this job

In Jobs

Digital Marketing – eCommerce – PPC Executive

January 11, 2019 No Comments

House of Ireland, 114 Grafton St.

About House of Ireland

House of Ireland is one of Ireland’s leading retailers of Irish and international luxury giftware, crystal, clothing, jewellery, china and linen. With our flagship store on Lower Grafton St. in the centre of Dublin and travel retail stores in Dublin Airport and in Belfast City Airport, House of Ireland showcases over 200 internationally recognised brands including Waterford Crystal, Belleek, Newbridge Silverware, Barbour and Swarovski.

Digital Marketing – eCommerce – PPC Executive

We are looking for an experienced Digital Marketing executive to join our e-commerce team. You will work with a Web Developer and Front-end Digital Media Designer to grow House of Ireland’s online sales across all channels. You will work closely with our Senior Management team in terms of our overall e-commerce development. We are looking specifically for dynamic candidates with strong PPC & SEO skills and experience who have the ability and desire to manage House of Ireland’s Digital Marketing efforts to increase online sales internationally.

Responsibilities:

Build online sales through House of Ireland’s website, Facebook, Amazon, Google Shopping, eBay & other 3rd-party channels.
Develop and implement Digital Marketing campaigns using PPC, Display Advertising, Remarketing, Google Shopping, Email, Video, SEO and Social Media Advertising (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter etc.).
Measure and report on campaign performance using Google Analytics and social media analytics.
Manage website content appropriately for SEO, produce ad content for PPC campaigns, develop blog content and manage product database (images, descriptions and product findability).
Manage contact database and increase subscriptions through web-marketing initiatives.
Collaborate with Graphic Designer/Front-end Digital Media Designer and Web Developer to develop content for frequent email marketing newsletters and improve overall website performance and UX.
Ensure a consistent multi-channel approach between digital and in-store marketing/PR.

Skills and Experience Required:

Third Level Degree or Masters in Digital Marketing or a related field.
A Google Adwords Certificate in Search, Display and Shopping would be advantageous.
A minimum of 2 years experience in Digital Marketing.
“Hands-on” demonstrable expertise and experience in use of Digital Marketing tools, in particular: PPC, SEO tools, Google Shopping, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Webmaster Tools and eCommerce Link Building.
Excellent knowledge and experience of PPC advertising through Social Media and measuring impact of advertising campaign.
Excellent communication skills and problem-solving skills.
Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.

Click HERE to apply for this job

In Jobs

Client Director

January 11, 2019 No Comments

Core, 1 Windmill Lane

Spark Foundry, a leading media agency and part of Core, is currently hiring an experienced, highly motivated & ambitious Client Director to join their team.

Overview

The role requires strong leadership and project management skills. It also requires collaboration and communication with the wider company and other practices within Core in order to add value to clients business. The ideal candidate should have a focus on strategy, and client service along with experience running large accounts. Our Client Directors sit on our Executive Management Committee and have direct input into the running of the company.

Media Knowledge and Skills

Previous media experience in a similar role
Previous experience managing a team
Experience project managing large clients with multiple campaigns and target audiences
High level of business and financial acumen

Person Specification

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Team player – be solution focused, and responsible for the development and motivation of junior team members
Energetic, innovative and creative when communicating with clients and colleagues
Learn on a continuous basis while also sharing knowledge
Leadership skills, leading the team and managing workflow
Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with our senior clients
Strategic thinker – think more strategically about the clients and their business, be able to see where improvements can be made and implement these changes
Take an interest in the management and implementation of new revenue streams for the company

Click HERE to apply for this job

In News

How To Handle Every Graphic Design Challenge With Ease Using These Tips

January 11, 2019 No Comments

Sourced from Skuirel

Someone has said, “A picture speaks a thousand words”. This fact was never more true for anyone else, but for graphic designers. Graphic design is a process of communicating with your target customer using tools like typography, photography and illustration.

Common uses of graphic design can be found in corporate designs in the form of logos and branding, editorial design for magazines, newspapers and books, environmental design, communication design, product packaging and signage. It also includes advertising and web designing.

Graphic design has wide reaching applications. It has application in road signs, interoffice memorandums, reference manuals, selling products or ideas, logos, colors, packaging and branding too. Other applications of graphic design include the entertainment industry, vinyl album covers, opening and closing credits in filmmaking, artwork used for designing T-shirts. It is also an important part of information design. This information could be for newspapers, magazines, blogs and television. It could also be for film documentaries, illustrating news stories on the web, data visualization, and information graphics.

Who Is a Graphic Designer

A graphic designer is one who creates and combines symbols, pictures and text to communicate ideas and messages. A typical graphic designer uses all the three tools namely typography, page layout techniques and visual arts techniques to make visual compositions. A graphic designer is an important member of the branding team. In other words, a graphic designer is a professional within the graphics design and graphics arts industry who communications through images both in still and moving communication media.

Click HERE to read the remainder of the article.

Sourced from Skuirel

In News

The Enormous Power of AI and Chatbots for …

January 11, 2019 No Comments

By Alice Berg

The bots are here and they here to stay. See, despite the chatbot phenomenon has gained ground only a few years ago, it has since become a full-on revolution worthy of the attention. In fact, by 2024, the bot market size is expected to exceed $1.34 billion. And as you ponder on that, it is also important to note that in 2019, at least 40% of large business ventures will implement the use of chatbots.

Let’s take a look at some AI applications in business in 2019 and beyond.

Chatbots and AI in Customer Service

Presently, bots have already delivered impressive results in customer service. Many businesses have rolled out chatbots to help them in distributing useful information and engaging the customers. For instance, Starbucks uses a system that allows customers to easily and quickly place orders using voice commands. The good chatbot will tell you the total price of your order plus when it will be ready.

Another noteworthy customer service company that uses bots is Lyft. Customers of the service can use online chat (Slack or Facebook) or AI voice chat (Amazon) to request for rides on the service. Lyft’s messenger bot offers the customer vital details. It shows the car model, a photo of the license plate, and the location of the driver.

Here are some practical ways you can use bots in your customer service business:

In the Automation of FAQs

Ask anyone if they read the FAQ section of a website, and you will probably get a hard and repetitive “no.” Rather than customers reading the questions, they would opt to email the company their queries. By leveraging chatbots and artificial intelligence, businesses can use appropriate documents to respond to any relevant questions.

As the Internal Help Desk

When an external customer service agent does not have an answer to a customer’s query, logically they would refer to the internal desk. And more often than not, this desk has to respond to the same questions over and over again. By using bots, internal customer service agents will not have to respond to common concerns.

In Offering Confident Responses

Interactive bots can ascribe a confidence score to their response. And if the score is below the threshold you had set, the bot will automatically contact a live agent and come back with a more satisfactory answer. In turn, the bot through Machine Learning can respond to similar queries in the future.

AI in Online Marketing and E-commerce

Some players in e-commerce have already started leveraging AI, and by the end of 2019, we can expect mainstream acceptance of the same. E-commerce companies such as Sephora, Asos, Sun’s Soccer, 1-800-Flowers, and Nitro Café are some of the companies that are already bringing in dollars in profit by deploying bots.

So, how can e-commerce stores and marketers use bots? For one, they can be used in customer support. Personalization is the key to every marketing strategy. And so far, bots have proven to be quite useful in providing personalized responses as compared to email or social media. People can express themselves much more freely when talking to chatbots. Therefore, to connect more with your customers, you can use a bot to interact with them and build or improve brand loyalty.

Another way e-commerce players are using artificial intelligence is in building interactive sales funnels. Marketers can use AI to group their customers and sell their products or services. A bot offers an opportunity to be dynamic and engaging. If a customer declines to try your service or product, the program can analyze the possible reasons to avoid the cases in the future.

You can also substitute emails with AI. By using a messenger chatbot, you significantly increase your click-through rates as compared to email. Most online marketers are already using chatbots to get information about visitors on their site as pop-up messages.

Some other benefits of using artificial intelligence in e-commerce include recouping abandoned carts, upselling after purchases, generating leads, providing useful AI algorithms for product recommendations, and boosting customer retention.

“83% of people who shop online need support, 56% prefer to get a text message, and 38% of people consider chatbots are even more useful. It is, therefore, good business to invest in a bot as an online entrepreneur,” – noted Andrew Ortiz, marketing specialist at Skillroads.

AI Online Chat in Tourism and Hospitality

Chatbots are already among the top technology trends in tourism and hospitality businesses. And in 2019, there are expected to be adopted on a wider scale. Bots are helping companies in this sector to reduce costs while also providing an excellent user experience. So far, bots have helped tourism and hospitality companies increase customer satisfaction. Some of the firms that have already witnessed the good results of using AI applications include Marriot, Snap Travel, KLM, Waylo, and Wynn.

You can use a bot in your business for different reasons. For instance, you can use it to engage customers before, throughout, and after the trip. Bots can send prospective and existing customers links to personalized content on hotels, destination sites, top restaurants, and so forth. Once a customer has booked a room, for example, a bot can come in to help them check in, request service, suggest activities, order meals from the restaurant, and more. Upon checking out, a bot can assist in collecting feedback and comments from customers.

Bots can also help in personalizing the customer experience. By doing this, they eliminate competition based on pricing. Customers often consider factors such as location and brand along with the price when choosing hotels. A bot can thus assist you to send out personalized packages to your customers and appeal to them. They help you put together all activities that interest the target audience and market the package to them specifically.

Chatbots and artificial intelligence can also be used in anticipating customers. By using predictive analysis, a hotel owner can identify future patterns and send out targeted campaigns to customers. For example, in 2014, Roof Inn used flight and weather data to predict the customers that were likely to face cancellations of their flights. In turn, they were able to send out campaigns on mobile devices to customers in locations that were likely to experience harsh weather. So what can we take from this? Bots can help in anticipating problems and addressing them way before they happen.

Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services and Banking

Financial tech companies such as Fintech are already causing waves in the industry by introducing bots. By 2020, it is expected that 85% of customers will use Fintech Chatbots to manage their bank transactions. Currently, some big banks are already using bots. These include Visa, MasterCard, Chase, American Express, Capital One, PayPal, Barclays, Ally Bank, and Bank of America.

So, how are financial companies using bots? First, Chatbots and AI are helping in smart messaging whereby they warn customers about dangers or other issues affecting their accounts. Second, they can also give you personalized tips on things you can do with your finances. Moreover, they can help you know how you are using your funds, how you are repaying your loans, and how you can save more money. And not to forget, bots are offering customers around-the-clock support and useful insight that improves customer experience.

It is important to note that, bots are expected to save financial institutions over $8 billion per year by 2022.

AI in Human Resource Management and Hiring

One of the big beneficiaries of AI has to be HR and recruiting. Bots have become integral in virtually all aspects of the employee lifecycle from sourcing, to screening, to interviewing, and finally to hire.

Employers are also using bots to boost customer engagement. These systems act as a bridge that connects employees to the existing job systems thus giving them better experience at the workplace. Maya is one of the companies that is automating all the stages of recruitment. SAP, Wade & Wendy, Loka, and SGT STAR are some other firms that are also using bots.

AI in Voice and IOT

Voice-powered assistants are increasingly becoming popular. Alexa, by Amazon, is one of the pioneer voice assistants and accounts for up to 70 percent of the market share. Come 2020; it is projected at least 128 million smart speakers will have been sold.

Final Thoughts on AI for Business

As an entrepreneur, AI is a tech trend to watch out for if you are keen on staying relevant, growing your business, and making a profit. Chatbots are cost-effective, time-saving, and most importantly give your customers a personal touch.

By Alice Berg

Alice Berg is a career advisor, who helps people to find their own way in life, gives career advice and guidance, helps young people to prepare for their careers. You can find Alice on Twitter and Medium.

Sourced from RUHANIRABIN

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3 Tips To Create A Mission That Will Drive Growth

January 11, 2019 No Comments

By Kara Goldin

Last year, just over a third of small businesses grew their revenue. That gives you an idea of how hard it is to scale a startup. One mistake many entrepreneurs make is to think that growth is simply about increasing sales. True expansion demands more than just a great product or idea. You need a mission.

When a business has a clear and distinct purpose, it attracts the kind of employees who will drive growth. People who fit the culture of your company, share your ambitions and bring passion and enthusiasm to everything they do are 30% more likely to be high performers than those just there for the paycheck.

Having a mission also appeals to customers. Edelman’s Earned Brand 2018 report states that 64 percent of consumers take a brand’s principles into account when buying a product. Connecting with customers over shared values is a great way to build brand loyalty.

Finally, your purpose will guide your growth. Scaling is often where a business loses sight of what’s most important. A mission will keep you on the right path no matter how quickly growth comes.

It’s not always easy to know what your ultimate goal should be. Here are three tips for uncovering the mission that will drive growth at your business.

Make your customers central to your mission

Having worked in fashion publishing, Emily Weiss decided to start a blog where models, stylists and makeup artists would share their daily beauty routines. Soon her readers began sharing their own tips and advice with each other. Weiss realized that this community could shake up a beauty industry that typically relied on experts and brands to set the standards.

She founded Glossier, a beauty products company with a mission to democratize beauty. When creating a new moisturizer, the company asked customers for ideas and received more than 1000 responses. When marketing products, Glossier sends samples to its most engaged fans instead of the usual media outlets and social influencers. By making customers central to its mission, Glossier has grown from one woman writing a blog to a 150-person company that has raised more than $86m in funding.

Go back to your why

In Start With Why, writer Simon Sinek emphasizes the importance of purpose by stating “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it”. Yet most startups inevitably focus on developing a product or service and finding customers. When they finally get time to outline a mission, they are so consumed with “what they do”, they’ve lost sight of their “why”.

As my business started to grow rapidly, I went back to the very beginning in order to articulate our purpose. I created our flavoured water drinks to solve a specific problem: I wanted to stop drinking sugary sodas but found water boring. Ultimately, I wanted to be healthier, so I took that “why” and expanded it to a mission of making people enjoy water again. This mission impacts who we hire, the new products we introduce and other decisions we make as we’ve become a multimillion-dollar business.

Don’t make your mission about what you’re selling

Not all businesses produce worthy or world-changing products or services. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have an inspiring mission. Warby Parker began life after business school graduate Neil Blumenthal wondered why people weren’t buying glasses online. Blumenthal thought about this because he was also involved in a non-profit organization that trained women in developing world to give eye tests. So, he and his co-founders made this social cause part of their company’s mission.

When you buy Warby Parker glasses, a pair is also donated to people in need. Blumenthal acknowledges that this isn’t the main reason why customers buy their products. But having a social conscious is core to the business as a whole: “To be customer first, you need to be employee first. And to be employee first, you need to be mission-driven.” It’s definitely working. Warby Parker was valued at $1.75 billion earlier this year.

Creating true brand believers

Whatever your businesses, chances are you’re not the only company out there offering that product or service. Even if you are doing something unique, others will try and replicate your success. To stand out you need to give people a reason to believe in your brand. Your purpose is that reason. And as it informs every person you hire, product you make and action you take, your mission will become the main driver of growth for your business.

By Kara Goldin

I am the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint, which produces the leading flavoured water with no sweeteners and nothing artificial. I founded The Kara Network and recently launched my podcast Unstoppable to tell the stories of entrepreneurs and founders.

Kara Goldin is the founder and CEO of San Francisco–based hint, which produces the leading unsweetened flavoured water. Listen to her podcast and follow her on Twitter, @karagoldin.

Sourced from Forbes