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  • Top 5 Social Media Marketing Experts In India

    Top 5 Social Media Marketing Experts In India

    December 2021. All indications suggest that the country has reined in Covid. The air is filled with optimism. We haven’t done too badly. Thanks to our rapid adoption of digital technologies that came to our rescue in a big way and helped us bounce back.

    Social media is playing an important role in the bounce back of the economy as the channels are increasingly opening up for business communications and financial transactions. With social media user population in India rising at a phenomenal rate, no wonder that the brands and advertisers are racing to cultivate the various channels and establish their presences.

    But social media is a different playground. It’s an enormous canvas of an intricate collage of human emotions that can be navigated with the help of a handful of people called social media experts. Many brands often use their popularity and skill for marketing through social media. Following are the top 5 social media marketing experts in India, as per our latest study, that a brand might want to rope in:

    #1. Ananthanarayana V – Anantha has an amazing list of awards and accomplishments in his bag from 18+ years of corporate and entrepreneurial background. An alumnus of IIM Indore and founder/CEO of Techdivine Creative Services, Anantha is 4 times CMO ASIA and World Marketing Congress award winner and has delivered direct sales worth over $100 million through social media and other digital marketing ROI strategies for clients across 12 countries. His LinkedIn profile describes him as a Harvard Business Review Contributor, Visiting Faculty, Corporate Trainer, Speaker, Author, Social Media Brand influencer, Digital ROI strategist & C-suite ROI Coach and furnishes an endless list of awards and accolades received by him. He is also known as a social media influencer, blogger, brand strategist for client brand partner campaigns and has served a number of brands such as TATA, HONDA, Edelweiss Tokio Life, HUL, SKODA, Pantaloons, Micromax, Airtel etc

    #2. Deepak Kankaraju – Deepak Kanakaraju, a.k.a. DigitalDeepak, is the Co-founder & CEO of LearnToday.com, which is an edtech platform for students and digital mentors. He also runs the world’s largest Digital Marketing group on Facebook called “ Learn Digital Marketing.” A TEDx speaker, author, trainer, and a consultant on digital marketing trends, Deepak has penned a book titled ‘Edge of Sanity’ that gives us rich insights into entrepreneurship. This strong entrepreneurial acumen helped him secure his place as one of the best digital marketers in India. Razorpay, Instamojo, Practo, MoEngage, etc. are among the notable companies that Deepak has worked with as a consultant for digital marketing promotion. Earlier, Deepak founded PixelTrack, a digital marketing firm that had many Fortune 500 companies as clients. He is also a co-founder of OptinChat.com, another startup. His interests include motorcycles and playing the guitar.

    #3. Anup Mishra – If you search about Anup Mishra on Google you’ll come across multiple sites underlining his multiple facets, such as an entrepreneur, a digital media strategist, a startup mentor, a keynote speaker, and more. Together, they percolate down to form a profile that depicts him as a thought leader, a thorough professional, and an expert campaigner on all digital media including social platforms. In his own words (taken from his own website) his primary focus areas are Authority Positioning, Social media PR, Online Reputation Management, and Strategic Marketing Communications. In the past 14+ years he has helped over 800 business people, from novices to CEOs. To complement his consulting works, Anoop Mishra founded popular sites, such as Publicity Mantra, OnlyForStartups, and Pratyashi .com

    #4. Pradeep Chopra – Pradeep Chopra has been involved in the Internet Industry since 2000 and is considered among the first ones who started digital marketing in India. Pradeep co-founded Digital Vidya, which contributed to the growth of the digital marketing industry in India. Pradeep, an IIT Delhi graduate, has trained and advised over 2500 professionals, including CEOs, across Asia in order to help them grow their businesses and resources through Digital Vidya’s hands-on Digital Marketing training. He has been a guest speaker at several national and global conferences, such as SES US, ad:tech, World Blogger & Social Media Summit Malaysia, NASSCOM India Leadership Forum, and also written for prestigious Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur & Inc magazines.

    #5 Saurav Jain – Sorav Jain is one of the most promising young talents in the Indian digital marketing ecosystem. Sorav was named one of the Top Social Media Marketers under the age of 30 by Social Samosa and one of the ‘Top 25 Social Media Professionals of India’ by the Global Youth Marketing Forum. Sorav is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, digital marketing and social media expert, consultant, trainer, author, and speaker with a master’s degree in International Marketing Management from Leeds University Business School. He is the founder of one of the top Digital Marketing communities on Facebook, Digital Marketing Question and Answers, with over 45,000 members, and has written books such as “Social Media for Business” and “How to Build Your Personal Brand on Social Media.”

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • How To Keep Your Brand’s Social Media Feed’s Fresh?

    How To Keep Your Brand’s Social Media Feed’s Fresh?

    No matter whether you are a fledgling company looking to establish your brand or an established brand aiming to enhance your reach, social media is your best bet, without a doubt. Social media has come beyond the stage of personal hangout to be an important part of the marketing strategy for the businesses.

    However, social media by itself is no magic pill for your business success. It only provides you with great opportunities in terms of connecting your targeted customers, raising brand awareness, and increasing leads and sales conversion, but you need to have effective strategies to achieve them.

    Your business gains automatic exposure to millions of potential customers as they habitually log on to social media – this is a tremendous plus. But at the same time, because it is extremely dynamic and noisy and crowded, social media poses significant challenges for businesses as well.

    You need to understand the demographics, tone, timing, and above all the underlying nature and types of content best suited for each channel. Even if you have sufficient resources to manage them, one area that’ll be particularly challenging to you is coming up with fresh and interesting content ideas.

    A lack of consistency in posting engaging content is bound to erode away your following on social media and impact your popularity as a brand. But producing quality feeds every day is a big ask that all marketers will agree. Even the best writers can get burned out at times.

    Relax. True that you are not a content-creating machine but you can act smart and apply your mind into producing new content ideas. Follow successful brands to find out what they are doing differently to cope with this steep requirement with limited resources.

    You can’t have new content ideas everyday; what you can do is just present them in different ways so that they don’t look stale and boring.

    Here are seven tried and tested social media strategies and content ideas) to keep your audience engaged:

    • #1 Hold a contest – When you host a contest or giveaway on your social media channels, you can connect with your existing followers (and gain some new ones). People love free stuff, and they’re more likely to engage with a brand if they’re getting something useful in return. Just make sure to read the legal fine print on how to run contests on the various social platforms.
    • #2 Hold a Q&A session – A question and answer session is a great way to both educate and engage your audience. You have the option of presenting a topic for discussion or being bold and allowing the audience to ask you any questions they want. Everyone wants to be connected, and Q&As are an engaging method through which You can ask your followers to put a question and you can share your knowledge, experience, and insight through the answer.
    • #3 Share videos – In the world of marketing, video reigns supreme. According to statistics, 55 percent of internet users watch videos every day, and social media videos generate up to 1200 percent more shares than texts and images combined. However, creating a nice, informative video requires professional help. If you don’t have the resources, you can even try short clips shot on a cell phone for sharing on social media. You can make videos about anything that will keep your audience interested. Keep it short and simple, and make sure it’s relevant to your brand, product, or services.
    • #4 Post live videos – Live videos always attract people’s attention and therefore can be a good way to keep your feed interesting and keep your followers engaged. You can even broadcast a live video update from a meeting or event. You can use Facebook Live or Twitter Live to host a preview event for your upcoming products or services. This is a fun and engaging way to interact with your fans.
    • #5 Align with current trends – Using current trends and hashtags accomplishes two goals. One, it exposes your brand to a larger audience. Two, it demonstrates that you’re paying attention to what your audience cares about. Go for it as long as the trends align with your core message and make sense for your marketing.
    • #6 Repurposing content – Finding new ways to recycle your existing content has a number of advantages (besides saving you time and money to create a new content) such as reaching new audiences, expanding your reach, and so on. There are a plethora of options for repurposing your company’s fantastic content. Create an image or gif out of a powerful quote from a blog post. Change it up depending on the market or the season. Visual infographics are preferred by some users over text statistics. By repurposing your content for different mediums, you can appeal to a wider range of people and expand your reach.
    • #7 Share or Retweet others posts – Sharing, reposting, or retweeting your partners’ or follower’s content can be an effective strategy. You can reshare those tweets, posts, videos, or anything else your followers share to show them what you’re interested in. On Twitter, you can retweet and share the posts, and on Facebook, you can link to another post on your page. On Instagram, you can use apps like InstaRepost or Repost for Instagram to share your content with other Instagram users.

    Apart from directly engaging your customers and improving sales, posting fresh and interesting content on social media may win you a bonus through featuring in the news feeds of your followers and further disseminated through social media networking. This hugely helps in multiplying your brand value.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Top 7 Techniques To Improve/Boost Your Business Online Reputation

    Top 7 Techniques To Improve/Boost Your Business Online Reputation

    Reputation management is basically a part of brand promotion. It takes a long time to own a place in the minds of your customers and create a concoction of trust, confidence, and liking called a brand.

    Unlike many frontal branding activities, reputation management is a back-office process that runs continuously to create a layer of positive feelings and recognition for the brand.

    In the age of digital media when even a minor mistake can cause a sizable drop in sales and spread the news across regions, online reputation management or ORM has become all the more important due to its ability to damage control and image make-over.

    Besides helping brands, ORM is proving to be a gamechanger for the new and small enterprises as well. Rise in e-commerce and local business directories from Google, Yahoo, Moz and others are encouraging thousands of small businesses to conduct e-business from home or small setups. Customers are not visiting their brick and mortar stores but placing orders based on online reviews, comments, and stories.

    So, no wonder that online business reputation management is fast becoming a necessity for all startups or modern-age enterprises. Studies reveal that 97% of customers make their buying decisions on the basis of perception. Perception is the key ingredient for online business and an online reputation management system is all about maintaining a favourable perception.

    If you are looking for more tangible reasons to spend your money on online business reputation management, here are some:

    • Customers will regard you more favourably –  People prefer to do business with companies they can rely on. A repository of reviews created and managed by online reputation management is a type of social proof that will assist you in gaining the trust and credibility of prospective customers.
    • Improved Google ranking – Your company will rank higher in relevant search results if it has a good online reputation. Online reviews provide fresh, organic content for your business and demonstrate your customers’ genuine experiences.
    • Increased revenue – Higher Google ranking translates into increased business, it’s a thumb rule. Study reveals that a one-star rating increase can result in a 5-9 percent increase in revenue.

    How to improve your company’s image and reputation with online reputation management strategy

    As with scores of new businesses thronging the online marketplace everyday and competition level going through the roof, the thought of maintaining a strong online image of your business must be topping your priority list. These seven tips will help you with that:

    #1 Check your online presence closely, and your competitors’ too

    Having a close look at your brand online allows you to discover what your brand’s image is like right now. That’s the first step – it’s difficult to improve anything if you don’t know what’s working and what isn’t.

    Monitor the various review sites like Facebook and Google to see what customers are discussing and writing reviews about you. This’ll assist you in identifying and resolving minor issues before they snowball and cause irreparable harm to your online reputation, not to mention your bottom line.

    It is also critical to keep an eye on your competitors! Customers will most likely look up multiple businesses online when looking for a new restaurant or a new dental practise. That is why it is critical to look at what customers are saying about your competitors on review sites. If there are areas where your competitors excel and you fall short, you can figure out what you need to do differently to stay ahead.

    #2 Maintain a high ranking for your brand on the Google page 1

    This is very important as most of the Google searchers never look past the first page. Your business will be discovered by more customers if you can ensure a higher ranking on the search engine result page (SERP).

    To improve your business’s search visibility, obtain more reviews, and maintain uniform business listings across all platforms. More than a quarter of the ranking factors are based on reviews and listings.

    You can optimise your Google My Business listing by signing up for Reserve with Google and accepting appointments directly from there.

    #3 Make strategies to get more reviews from your customers

    The more the mentions of your company on the internet the more visibility you get from Google. A business with 500 reviews will certainly look much better than a business with 10 reviews.

    Best way to get reviews from your customers is by making them satisfied. Provide a high level of customer service and experience to your customers and request them to share their experiences on the review sites and social media. You can also send links to review requests to your customers via text or email – they will just click on the link and write a review.

    Another cool strategy would be to use an appointment scheduling software. This will send automated emails to customers after their service requests are properly addressed and customers can post a review in reply.

    #4 Be quick and proactive in responding to your reviews

    Customers appreciate businesses that interact with them online, so be sure to respond to online reviews and feedback as soon as possible. This demonstrates to prospective customers that you care about their overall experience.

    Responding to reviews is another effective way to demonstrate appreciation and build loyalty. Thank a customer who leaves a positive review. Also, if they report a problem, contact them right away. Customers will usually update their comments if you get to the bottom of the problem quickly.

    Negative feedback can also be used to improve your customer experience. Use the feedback you receive from customers to better understand which aspects of your business they enjoy and which need to be improved.

    #5 Ensure correct profile data on all review sites

    Increase your digital footprint by ensuring that your company has an active and accurate profile on all review sites. Also, double-check that information such as the website address, phone number, physical address, and store hours are correct.

    Incorrect business listing information can quickly spread across the Internet, causing serious damage to your company.

    #6 Send social media posts regularly to engage your customers.

    You can demonstrate expertise in your field and gain loyalties through blogs, active social media accounts, email, and other forms of content. This provides additional values outside of your products and services. Blogging, for example, boosts local SEO rankings besides creating content to share across social media platforms.

    Also, make sure to post on social media on a regular basis. New offerings, fun business news, promotions, and sharing positive reviews are all examples of information you can share with your customers on social media.

    #7 Be consistent and keep your promises

    To build a great online reputation, you must keep your word and be consistent in all aspects of your communication with your customers, just as you would in any human relationship.

    Have you ever given a customer a discount to make up for a service lapse? Did you say you’d “speak to that employee” about a problem raised on Twitter?

    Following through and implementing the promises you have made proves your sincere approach to customers and helps improve your online reputation. Because everything is said in the open and on the internet, anyone who is interested can follow the storey and find out how it ended (i.e. you lied, or only paid lip-service)

    The online reputation management services are comparable to a personal relationship approach. Both can be tricky and precarious to handle. There is only one principle to serve both – that is, being sincere and cordial.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Instagram Ads Vs Facebook Ads: Which Is Better For Your Business?

    Instagram Ads Vs Facebook Ads: Which Is Better For Your Business?

    Post-Covid, India is experiencing a high level of energy and enthusiasm in commerce, which is reflected in the protracted bull rally in the stock market, high growth forecast by the IMF, an increasing number of startup unicorns, and other indicators.

    If you are a small business, your best opportune moment has come. Rapid digitalization of the business processes is leading to fast recovery of the market and opening new opportunities across all boundaries.

    Whether you are going to start a new business or revamp an existing one, you can’t do without digital marketing. Digital marketing will power your venture with great products and techniques and help you adopt the best strategy for your business, considering your goal, budget, and other aspects.

    One such important consideration is your social media marketing budget. Social media channels are increasing in number but if you think about branding and marketing your products on social media, you have to select the right channels that’ll give the highest mileage in terms of highest visibility to the right audience, and of course affordability.

    Facebook and Instagram are the two most visited social media platforms that can be a good source of audiences for most businesses. And both offer some great ad formats and ad targeting options.

    Facebook users in India: 340 million

    Instagram users in India: 180 million

    As of September 2021. source : statista.com

    But the question is which platform to go with. Although the user bases in both have some commonality, they are different in terms of characteristics, behaviour, features, and general demographics.

    Ad campaigning on both channels is an option but is cost intensive. If you have a tight budget it makes better sense to compare both platforms and select the one that suits you best.

    In this blog we have discussed the various aspects to answer your quest – facebook vs. instagram, which is better for you?

    Instagram ads or Facebook ads?

    It depends, as there are multiple factors to consider. Although both platforms have massive user bases and are from the same parent company, Meta, they differ in terms of cost, content types, interactions, management, and demographics. We will delve into each aspect individually.

    Cost

    Your Facebook and Instagram ad costs are determined by the bidding model you choose. The options are CPC ( cost-per-click) or CPM (cost-per-thousand-impressions).

    In the CPC model, you will have to pay based on the number of clicks by the viewers gained by your ad. The CPM pricing model, on other hand, is based on how many times your ad will be shown.

    If you have a limited budget and want to generate quick sales, take the CPC model to drive more traffic to your website. But if you focus more on branding and product awareness go for the CPM model.

    The below table provides you a tentative cost idea for each channel. You must note that the rates vary as per the demand and competition. For example, if your product category is apparel, the competition is high and the rates will be higher than many other products.

    FacebookInstagram
    Av. CPC – Rs. 12Av. CPC – Rs. 36.89 – Rs.146.79
    Av. CPM – Rs. 137Av. CPM – Rs. 36 – Rs. 220

    Management of ads

    Both Instagram and Facebook ads can be managed by using Facebook’s Ads Manager. This is an all-in-one tool for creating, managing, and tracking the performance of your ad campaigns.

    You can choose from a variety of audiences and placements thanks to this centralised ad resource. Campaigns are simple to manage, and the results may be downloaded.

    When it’s about managing facebook ads, the campaign manager offers a lot of options for objectives, ad sets, and advertising. There are numerous combinations to try out, as well as numerous ways to preview all of the available adverts.

    On Instagram, the ad manager takes the “less is more” approach. You can get your ad set up with an existing post or story in just a few taps. Instagram is the ideal ad management platform for you if you just want an easy and intuitive way to create and manage your ad campaign without the nitty-gritty statistics and control.

    One advice, if you’re new to advertising on both platforms and have existing audiences on both, start with Instagram first. You’ll be better equipped to make the most of Facebook’s options once you understand how it operates.

    Content type

    Many social media content makers just republish the same information across many social media platforms. While there’s nothing wrong with repeating information occasionally, the truth is that different platforms need different messaging. This is especially true when it comes to the two most prominent social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram.

    Instagram and Facebook are very different in terms of content types and interactions. They serve diverse purposes and meet distinct user expectations. Brands must have bespoke plans and approaches for both channels.

    Facebook ads options

    On Facebook you can have a variety of different ad formats:

    • Single media ads – Single Image, video, or a slideshow of photos
    • Carousel ads – enables you to use upto ten images or videos in a single ad, which can be scrolled through.
    • Instant Experience – it gives your audience a full-screen experience when a mobile user taps your ad. To visually emphasise your business, products, or services and create an Instant Experience.
    • Collection – When someone interacts with the collection format, it opens as an Instant Experience with several products. Customers may use their phones to explore, browse, and buy things in a visual and engaging way.

    Instagram ads

    Instagram has some very impressive statistics to speak for itself –

    Instagram ads reach over 1.2 billion individuals, or 20% of the world’s population over the age of 13, and 27% of users claim they purchase new items and brands through paid social ads.

    So if you plan for paid social ads, Instagram is your platform. The audience on Instagram is much more visually oriented. Before developing any other sort of material, you should think about making appealing photos or videos.

    Following are the different types of Instagram ads available as of date:

    • Image ads – You can use only single images to advertise your brand, products, and services.
    • Instagram Stories Ads – These are full-screen image or video ads that you can use in between users’ Stories.
    • Video ads – Video ads on Instagram allow you to give your users an insight into your brand, products, and services. You have the option to make your In-feed video ads up to 60 minutes long, but shorter videos garner more attention.
    • Carousel ads – This enables you to use multiple images or videos in a series that viewers can swipe through. Carousel ads can be used in both In-feed and Instagram Stories.
    • Collection ads – Collection ads combine carousel ads and shopping ads to showcase products directly from your product catalog.
    • Explore ads – Explore ads show on the Explore tab, which is a section of the site where users visit to find new content and accounts based on their Instagram usage habits. More than half of all Instagram users visit Explore at least once a month, so it’s a wonderful location to be noticed.
    • IGTV ads – These are essentially video ads that feature in the IGTV videos that users often watch from their feed. IGTV ads can be maximum 15 secs long and should be viewed full screen.
    • Instagram Shopping ads – This enhances e-commerce by landing users straight on to a product description page within the Instagram app and enables them to purchase through your mobile website.
    • Reel Ads – Reel ads are the full screen vertical videos, similar to Stories ads, and appear in-between Reels. They can be maximum 30 secs long and should be adorned with music and sounds for seamless integration with organic Reels.

    The large variety of Instagram ad formats allow you to select the most appropriate ad type for your business objectives. But unlike Facebook You won’t have any clickable in-caption links. Instead, you have to use the call-to-action buttons on your Instagram ads

    Demographics

    Reaching out to the right demographics is another major consideration that defines the success of your ad campaign. As your objectives include generating new followers and fans, you have to be particular about the platforms and their demographics. Make sure the channel you select is crowded with people that fall within your desired group.

    Facebook’s demographics are the most diverse of any social media platform. Many products and brands will most likely find at least some of their target audiences on Facebook.

    By contrast, Instagram has a younger audience base. Below tables contain the details of demographics on each platform.

    Facebook demographics data 2021

    There were 447 700 000 Facebook users in India in October 2021, which accounted for 31.7% of its entire population.

    The majority of them were men – 73.3%.

    People aged 25 to 34 were the largest user group (158 900 000).

    The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 25 to 34, where men lead by 75 900 000.

    Age group wise data

    • 9.4% of users aged between 13 to 17 years
    • 32.1% of users aged between 18 to 24 years
    • 35.5% of users aged between 25 to 34 years
    • 13.4% of users aged between 35 to 44 years
    • 5.7% of users aged between 45 to 54 years

    courtesy:napoleoncat.com

    Instagram demographics data 2021

    There were 203 761 700 Instagram users in India in October 2021, which accounted for 14.4% of its entire population.

    The majority of them were men – 72.3%.

    People aged 18 to 24 were the largest user group (86 400 000).

    The highest difference between men and women occurs within people aged 18 to 24, where men lead by 40 600 000.

    Age group wise data

    • 13% of users aged between 13 to 17 years
    • 42.4% of users aged between 18 to 24 years
    • 31.6% of users aged between 25 to 34 years
    • 8.5% of users aged between 35 to 44 years
    • 2.9% of users aged between 45 to 54 years

    Courtesy: napoleoncat.com

    To start your campaign, you need some existing followers or fans who will interact with your ad to create a successful ad with engagement. The simplest way to achieve this is to boost a post in your profile, which is accessible for both networks. This is very easy. No ads manager is required.

    Wrap up

    Benefits of Facebook ads at a glance

    • Facebook is most visited social media platform
    • You’ll find users from all age groups on Facebook
    • Used by both B2B and B2C companies.
    • Facebook offers a lot of effective ad features

    Benefits of instagram ads

    • High conversion rate
    • Great organic functionality of the platform.
    • High engagement rate

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • What Is Social Commerce? The Tricks And Tips You Need For 2021

    What Is Social Commerce? The Tricks And Tips You Need For 2021

    Social commerce, the new horse in the stable of digital marketing, galloping ahead to redefine retailing with a great business idea that taps a huge huge audience base in an easy and direct manner.

    Yes, you guessed it right. What can be a bigger audience base than social media, of which the larger part is made of GenZ and millenials? Isn’t it a big orchard for the marketers that provides an unlimited number of fruits?

    No question, but the challenge was to match the characteristic and temperament of the new age buyers whose buying decisions are usually triggered by emotions and feelings and taken at the spur of the moment. Likes and recommendations from friends generate instant desire for a product.

    But if you ask them to visit and search through your website for the details of the products, you lose that moment. That strong buying urge gets fizzled out.

    For a long time this has been a concern in digital marketing, which has got an awesome solution in social commerce. Now, you can open your store on the social media platform and conduct business without having to send your customers to your website.

    What is social commerce?

    The name by itself reveals the concept – “social” comes from social media and “commerce” comes from e-commerce. Together it means a complete shopping experience being on social media, which includes visiting your virtual store, interacting with you through messaging and voice, selecting products from a variety of options, and making purchases through online payment.

    For example, while being on Facebook one can browse and compare products and make purchases. Or, one may also learn about a product in a tweet and then buy it right there on Twitter.

    Social commerce sites are most active on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Let’s have a look at what these platforms offer to build social commerce sites for your business.

    Facebook

    Facebook has redoubled its efforts in the area of social commerce. Companies may develop complete “Shop Now” storefronts and use Messenger to communicate with customers (both pre- and post-sale).

    You can use a Facebook store to…

    • Upload products and information about them,
    • Curate and personalise the products in your store’s catalogue,
    • Manage orders and sell directly from your Page,
    • Create and run Facebook ad.to market your products,
    • Obtain insights.

    Instagram

    According to Facebook research, 70 percent of shoppers use Instagram to discover new products. This comes as no surprise because Instagram Shopping makes it easy for users to view and learn about products by tapping on the photograph and stories that relate them.

    Instagram Shopping promotes Social Commerce by helping businesses

    • Offer actual products for sale,
    • Comply with Instagram’s merchant agreement and commerce standards,
    • Have an Instagram business account linked to a Facebook profile.

    Pinterest

    Pinterest sales have an average order value of $50, which is highest in comparison to any other social media site. There is a whopping 456 million active user base of Pinterest worldwide.

    Pinterest has introduced new shopping tools that will make it easier for merchants to display their products and for consumers to browse and buy on the platform. The new features are promoting Pinterest as a shopping destination besides adding consumer friendly features.

    For example, slideshow for collections creates customised video adverts highlighting merchant products that match users’ requirements as per the browsing histories.

    Another feature will allow verified merchants to post information about their beliefs and the communities they serve to their pages. A merchant can, for example, specify that their products are responsibly sourced or that their company is Black or LGBTQ-owned.

    Social commerce examples in Indian perspective

    India now has approximately 200 million active social media users, with that number predicted to rise to around 370 million by 2022. The most happening social commerce categories in India include Fashion, consumer healthcare, infant items, the food and beverage industry, financial services, beauty, personal care, and women’s care.

    Recommendation is also among the key reasons that drives people to buy things through social media and makes social commerce a next-generation trend that will transform commerce’s future.

    The following are some of the Indian startups that are powering the rise of social Commerce in India.

    • Meesho – helping small businesses start their virtual stores on Whatsapp, Facebook, and Instagram
    • Shiprocket – providing pan-India shipment and courier service options with tracking and packaging.
    • Glowroad – builds virtual stores for women, students to help them earn by selling millions of products. 
    • Voonik – social commerce site that helps buyers choose their favorite apparels. 
    • Klip – connects users based on their klips to offer personalized shopping through online vendor ties.
    • Wooplr – allows users to evaluate and purchase new products based on genuine information from users.
    • LimeRoad – active mainly in fashions it provides diverse library of fashionable looks for your size and type
    • Memoirs – helps to tag, classify, and recommend fashion and gifting products, handpicked from vendors.
    • VioletStreet – recommends best products in a selected product category and allows friends to shop and discuss the purchases in real time online. 
    • Promon – provides promotional deals on food and beverages in the popular restaurants and pubs
    • EtailOne – a product discovery platform that helps users select products from electronics, fashion, and furniture.

    Social commerce business model

    Social commerce facilitates purchasing and selling of goods or services directly from within a social media platform. This strategy is an extension of social media’s conventional function of networking and communication that encourages consumers to finish the entire purchase process without leaving their favourite apps.

    According to The State of Social Media Investment Report, executives unanimously agree that social commerce is driving a growing share of their company’s marketing-driven income. Within the next three years, about eight out of ten people expect to offer their products or services using social media.

    Wrap up

    As being a natural evolution of e-commerce, India’s social commerce market is expected to reach US$70 billion by the year 2025, riding on the back of an aggressive campaign by an increasing number of startups to attract the vast unorganized market of sellers and buyers in tier II, III, and IV cities. This is pegging social commerce to be the next big thing in the Indian e-commerce business, with a bigger consumer base, fewer overhead expenses, and growing investor interest.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • 7 Basic Steps For Content Creation

    7 Basic Steps For Content Creation

    What is content? Content is a form of communication. What is the purpose of communication? To connect with other people. And why is content particularly important in digital marketing? Because digital marketing means doing business over the Internet where content is everything. Content makes your identity, perception, interface, reputation… In fact, it is the only bridge of communication between business and its clients.

    So, if you are a business and have taken to digital marketing for publicity and growth, creating and disseminating good and purposeful content must be one of your highest priorities. A business may have multiple objectives to achieve, such as information sharing, training, sales, branding, etc. You should be specific about the purpose of your content and create the ones that serve the purpose well.

    For example, when it’s about the branding of your product, it pays to go for content marketing, which is a marketing strategy that creates and shares blogs, videos, podcasts, and other content relating to your industry.

    Content marketing is a time-tested approach that engages the audience and promotes brand awareness so that your brand name comes to the top of their mind when they decide to buy.

    Content marketing for brand promotion is more effective and more economical than traditional branding methods. Also, it can be reused and repurposed. But you need to maintain the content creation process and the basics of content writing to make your content stand apart. In this article, we’ll focus on blogs and discuss the steps involved in developing a blog.

    #1. Find the right topic

    A Blog is made of a topic. Finding the right topic is the first and foremost step in your content development process for ranking and branding. The topic should be relevant and contemporary. Therefore, start your content writing process by checking your website’s analytics to identify your top-ranking search words or search phrases. Choose your topic from the most frequent search words and phrases.

    #2. Find the main keyword and LSI keywords

    Use of keywords help a content get easily searched and thus occupy a high position in the Google search results. Both primary or main keywords and LSI keywords are responsible for the success of your content marketing. There are a variety of keyword planners and tools that can be used to analyze a document and find the keywords. Some of them are:

    • MeSH (Medical Subject Headings),
    • Google Keyword Planner
    • Google Trends
    • Keyword Tool
    • LSIkeywords.com
    • Ubersuggest
    • Serstat

    #3. Do your research on the topic

    Although you may be knowing the topic like the back of your palm, you should still do some study before starting your content creation. The research phase takes the most time in the content creation process, such as writing a blog,

    It’s critical to look through both well-known and less-well-known websites, as well as some of the more obscure but nonetheless reliable publications and webpages. If you’re not careful, a lot of bogus news might become mixed up in your study. Find statistics that are relevant to your issue and store your sources in case you need to reference them later.

    #4. Maintain a uniform voice throughout your article

    You want it to be an informative blog post, a long article, or a brief, to-the-point blurb? Will it be punched with some humour or you want it a serious type? Will you also want to make an infographic or a video out of this post? Do you want to publish an infographic or a video to accompany this?

    Before you start your content creation process, make sure you know what your article’s voice and tone will be. Otherwise, instead of being one cohesive piece, your content may end up moving in a variety of directions.

    #5. Create a catchy headline

    Studies reveal an average of 80% of visitors will see your title, but only 20% will continue reading your article. This means you’ll need to come up with a compelling headline that will entice visitors to read the rest of your blog post (and then share it). Some copywriters would produce 20 to 30 distinct headlines before selecting the best one. If you decide to write the blog on your own, we suggest that you use a headline generator to assist you with a catchy title.

    #6. Write a story

    People want to read stories. Instead of presenting raw statistics or data, mix them with personal experience. It’s good to learn about the demographics or the type of audience for setting the right tone or voice, but otherwise it’s always safe to keep your writing simple.

    Have a fair idea of what people want to know. Ask questions or put subtitles that should reflect the readers queries and write the answers elaborately. Once readers find their concerns or queries are addressed in your blog, they’ll be automatically hooked on it and also share with others. It’s important to grow an image of consistency and genuineness through your writing. Also, try to finish your article with a nice wrap-up and a call-to-action to help the readers contact you.

    #7. Proofread

    If you’re not a regular writer, you might not care to proofread your article, but this is an essential step of the writing process. When you stare at the same piece of content for a long time, your errors blend in with the rest of the text, and your jumbled phrases seem fantastic instead.

    Return to your article after some time has passed and read it aloud. That’ll help you identify the errors and mistakes in the article so that you can rectify them to ensure your phrases flow smoothly and that you aren’t leaving any spelling or grammar issues in the article.

    Wrap-up

    With tons of content being published every day, you are likely to find a good number of articles in your product category are already doing the rounds. But that shouldn’t dishearten you because a lot of old articles get relegated every day by Google to make way for fresh and better written articles.

    By updating its algorithm regularly, Google has been setting new standards for SEO and text content. This has made content development and marketing a domain of specialist writers and marketers. If you can keep aside a budget, hire a competent agency for content creation and marketing.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • What Are LSI Keywords? Does It Benefits A Company?

    What Are LSI Keywords? Does It Benefits A Company?

    Google is not the father of SEO, but it fosters this technique by contributing single-handedly to its evolution. LSI is one landmark innovation that has given SEO a new paradigm and digital marketing a lot more depth.

    What is LSI?

    The full form of LSI is “Latent Semantic Indexing”, which is the way Google currently searches our queries and delivers results that are more meaningful. LSI adds some degree of cognition to Google search so that it can understand the context of a content. The result – a more comprehensive search through both SEO and non-SEO content.

    How does LSI benefit SEO?

    Gone are the days when the primary requirement for an article would be high keyword density to get good rankings. Today, more than 15% of daily search queries on Google (that is trillions of searches every year) contain new terms and words that have never been used before.

    So, what’s the solution? Should Google ignore the search queries with new words? The world’s best technology company decided to push the boundary with innovation. It implemented latent semantic indexing in its algorithm that enabled them to take in the contextual information from the title, body of the content, and images (if any) in order to understand the main topic. The result was pathbreaking – instead of going by one or two main keywords and their frequency of use, Google could now analyze the entire page to find out what it was about.

    This was unshackling SEO from the overuse of keywords and making it a more practical and inclusive solution by giving Googlers freedom to write their search queries. However, the content makers need to use more LSI keywords in their content. To encourage that Google has also changed the basis of ranking to more LSI keywords in the content.

    From the content marketers’ perspective, it’s a welcome change, for this will give them more freedom of expression in writing and not force them to repeat the use of the same keywords. And from an SEO perspective, using LSI keywords means increasing the contextuality of your article to improve search visibility.

    What are LSI keywords?

    LSI is a computer program whose purpose is to learn a variety of words that are related to the primary keyword or phrases that contain the primary keyword. The words or phrases thus yielded are called the LSI keywords. The LSI keywords, if used in your content judiciously, make it easier for the search engine to understand and identify the content.

    Following are some LSI keywords examples for better understanding. The primary keyword for this blog is “LSI keyword.” So your list of LSI keywords may include:

    • What are LSI keywords
    • LSI keywords examples
    • How to use related keywords
    • Tools to find LSI keywords
    • Do related keywords affect SEO
    • Semantic keywords

    So, you may use some or all of the above phrases that relate to or contain the primary keyword.

    Or, imagine you want to write an article about cold brew coffee and you want it to be easily visible and appear in searches, then besides using the main keyword, cold brew coffee, you’ll need to find and use the matching LSI keywords like

    • Filter
    • Water
    • Temperature
    • Bean
    • Grind
    • Ice

    One thing must be noted here that LSI keywords aren’t synonyms, but are terms or words that are closely associated with your target keyword.

    How will your business get benefitted from using LSI keywords?

    Incorporating LSI keywords boosts the efficiency of SEO marketing, which is a major part of the digital marketing activities of your business. These are the direct benefits your business will gain by practicing SEO based on LSI keywords:

    • Improved search engine ranking: Use of LSI keywords throughout your text aid search engines in comprehending your website and boosting its ranking potential.
    • Semantic keywords boost the relevancy of your content: Including related words also helps to avoid keyword stuffing, or overloading your content with keywords.
    • Increasing traffic to your website with better search experience: LSI keywords also aid in providing a better search experience for users, which leads to improvements in other ranking factors such as time spent on a page, bounce rate, and others.

    How to find LSI keywords?

    It’s necessary that you create a list of keywords that relate to your product and business. A little bit of research will help you accumulate a good number of suitable LSI keywords for use in your content. Here are some tools that you can use to extract a handful of LSI keywords:

    #1. Google Autocomplete

    The quickest way to identify keywords related to your main one is to use Google’s rapid search option. Simply type your main keyword into Google’s search box, and you’ll get a list of suggestions for what you should type next. For example, if my main keyword is Covid-19, typing the same on Google search gave me the below suggestions

    Select from the words in bold that relate your topic and apply them in your text as LSI keywords.

    #2. Google Related Search or Common Search

    This is another method of getting the LSI keywords. Google gives out options for “Related Searches” at the bottom of the search page. It’s a good idea to use those listed terms for LSI keywords in your content

    #3. LSI Graph

    LSI Graph is a free LSI Keyword Generator tool that lets you identify all the terms that are related to your primary keyword rapidly. Simply enter your page’s main keyword and you’ll be presented with a selection of LSI phrases from which to choose. Simply type lsigraph.com and you will be presented with the below screen. Enter the main keyword

    Other LSI keywords free tools include:

    • LSIKeywords.com
    • Keyword Tool
    • UberSuggest
    • Serpstat

    Hope, you are convinced by now that you should start reworking your website content immediately so that they have good numbers of LSI keywords besides the main keywords. This post gives you an insight into the growing importance of LSI keywords in SEO and in business. For more information and professional advice visit us at www.fluidscapes.in

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • 7 SMS Marketing Strategy Every Local Business Marketer Needs To Know

    7 SMS Marketing Strategy Every Local Business Marketer Needs To Know

    After the devastation of the economies by the pandemic that struck local businesses with heavy blows, SMS marketing is regaining its ground, not just as a channel but as an integral part of the marketing strategies.

    The reasons are obvious – cheap cost and very high reach. If one has to start afresh, SMS marketing can play a critical role in the revival strategy. Persistent lockdowns have changed the purchasing behavior of people in a big way. Fewer customers are ready to visit the brick-and-mortar stores and instead look up solutions on their mobile phones.

    Why SMS marketing is getting the spotlight.

    Mobile has become a mighty tool for doing business. With its enormous base of nearly 1200 million and increasing mobile users, India is leapfrogging in mobile marketing, as expected. SMS marketing aka Text marketing is a form of mobile marketing, which is popular among marketers because of its very high receptivity, high open rates, and low cost.

    Here are some direct advantages of SMS marketing

    • 98% of SMS messages received are opened and read.
    • SMS can be received on any type of mobile (smartphone or non-smartphone).
    • SMS service comes by default when mobile is purchased. No app download, etc.

    And some benefits from the marketing point of view:

    • High customer engagement
    • High brand exposure
    • Increased customer feedback
    • Increased online review
    • Easy monitoring of campaign

    What industries generally use SMS marketing and how?

    The SMS messages sent by businesses mainly fall into two categories – promotional and transactional. Promotional SMS messages are used for marketing and advertising, for example, informing people about a special discount, or a special dish on the menu, etc. Transactional SMS are sent by the businesses to send important messages such as order/booking confirmation, order status/update, delivery related information, etc. Following are the industries, known to use SMS marketing to their advantages:

    • Healthcare
    • Travel and tourism
    • Banking and financial
    • Retail shopping
    • Real Estate
    • Restaurant & catering

    Immediacy is the criterion that makes SMS marketing ideal for these industries. But other industries have also started using SMS marketing to communicate to millions and create brand awareness.

    SMS marketing works best when combined with voice, email, Facebook Messenger, and other channels, as no one method is a silver bullet. SMS stands out as one of the most reliable ways to reach your customers. Consider these 7 best practices to make your SMS marketing deliver superior results:

    #1. Always practise permission-based marketing

    You should only send text messages to people who have granted you permission to do so. It’s known as permission-based marketing, which is crucial to the success of text marketing initiatives. This proper digital etiquette saves you from offending local laws and CTIA recommendations, which protect customers from unwelcome solicitation. You can invite your consumers to opt-in to get text messages with special discounts, new product updates, or other essential information by asking them to fill out an online form, enter a contest, or text a certain keyword to a cell number or shortcode.

    #2. Know your customers

    Analyze purchase history and demographics depending on location to send the correct messages to the right people. If you’re a cosmetics company, don’t send a twenty-year-old an anti-wrinkle cream coupon.

    Use a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool to help yourself send the correct message to the right person and track the success of your messaging

    Segment your customers for more focused marketing. Send out mass communications for general sales and promotions that everybody can benefit from.

    #3. Think using shortcode to create brand recognition

    If you need mass SMSing for your product, using a shortcode will be the best option that will provide you with two strong benefits:

    • High throughput – You can send SMS @100 texts per sec at any given time.
    • Brand recognition – Recipients will visualize your brand by looking at the shortcode.

    Generally, shortcodes are meant for one-way communication to send messages such as promotional, notification, order confirmation, etc. but you may use a shortcode with keyword to allow customers to opt-in to text messaging in which customers will type a given keyword in reply to a shortcode message select, vote, confirm something.

    #4. Make your message clear and concise

    Go straight to the point. Write in plain English and avoid emojis, abstractions, and all-caps You only have 160 characters to say anything. If you can, try to do it in a shorter time. Make sure the message is stated in plain English and is clear and concise. Abstractions, emojis, and all-caps should be avoided.

    Open-ended messages should also be avoided at all costs. A message that welcomes customers to a sale but does not specify when the sale will end is an example of an open-ended communication. The client is unsure whether the arrangement is for a day or a month. Clients are more likely to act if you give them a specific date when a sale ends or put an expiration date on a coupon.

    #5. Timing of messaging holds the key

    The aim of text messaging is to extract immediate response. Clients’ responses to SMS-promoted sales, promotions, and events are driven by spur-of-the-moment impulses. Send the message Friday afternoon if you have a store opening event on Friday night. If your restaurant offers a supper promotion, send it at the end of the day rather than in the morning.

    Sending messages out too early in the morning or too late at night can put you on thin ice. Hours between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. are acceptable.

    Take SMS timing to the next level by determining the optimum moment to send a message to a specific person based on their previous interactions with your texts. This ultra-targeting goes beyond area and demographics, tailoring your marketing to achieve the best possible results.

    #6. Provide Opt-in at every channel

    Your SMS campaign will be very effective if you enable clients to opt-in at every point of contact. Follow these suggestions for an improved response level:

    • Social media – Add an Opt-in button to your Facebook page to allow clients to sign on to your SMS campaign.
    • Website. Ensure that SMS opt-in is prominently displayed on your website.
    • Newsletter. Make the option to sign up for SMS visible in your newsletter.
    • Point-of-sale. Make sure personnel are asking clients if they want to receive promotional and sales SMS texts.

    #7. Measure the performance of your campaign

    Smart marketers always weigh return on investment to measure their performance. An advantage of text marketing is that it provides a direct, quantifiable, and trackable marketing channel provided you choose the correct SMS solution. It enables you to quickly assess which messages and promotions are effective and which are not, that in turn allows you to fine-tune your SMS campaigns and optimise your marketing messaging across all platforms. And the best part of it is that you can capture leads and all text-based responses and queries for sales follow-up.

    With its inherent strength of high open rate and high ROI, SMS marketing is repositioning itself as an essential component of the integrated marketing strategy for the local businesses to achieve higher customer engagement, brand exposure, social media followers, and online reviews. Want to know more about it and get started, contact us now at www.fluidscapes.in

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • ORM Can Be Your Best Bet For Branding – These 100 Stats Will Tell You Why

    ORM Can Be Your Best Bet For Branding – These 100 Stats Will Tell You Why

    Although considered as a module of the digital marketing process, online reputation management has made an identity of its own, and is registering high growth year over year as it caters to a wide range of clients including businesses, celebrities, politicians, doctors, lawyers, and the like for whom maintaining a good public image is very important.

    With the increasing penetration of the Internet and social media, serving as a massive reservoir of prospects, online presence has become a must for practically all types of businesses and professionals.

    But then, every rose has its thorns – alongside the growth opportunities instances of negative comments and malicious rumours have also grown rapidly over the years, posing a big risk for reputation and goodwill.

    Online reputation management came into existence as a measure for damage control – ET article reported way back in 2014 of 6,000 SMEs and 240 large corporations in India resorted to ‘Online Reputation Management’ to deal with this menace and protect their businesses.

    But in 2021, ORM is a notch above its previous version; it’s not limited to damage control but also to creating and maintaining a reputation or image that favours the business goals of a company. For example, if a brand wants to expand to a new market, it’ll most likely take the ORM route first before starting its ad campaign.

    How does the ORM function? Is it really effective? These questions must be revolving in your head if you’re owning a business and looking for a branding solution, or maybe that your brand has been hit badly and you want to revive that fast.

    A quick glance at the salient features and reputation management statistics will help you get a clear picture of how consumers behave online and how ORM achieves its goals simply by maneuvering these typical behaviours.

    What do you expect from ORM?

    Stats courtesy – Status Labs

    1. 40% of customers received responses for their feedback and reviews from the concerned businesses.
    2. 59% of customers were personally asked to leave an online review during purchase by the businesses.
    3. A 5% average annual increase in the number of businesses who asked for an online review from the customers(from 46% in 2018 to 51% in 2019).
    4. An average of 9 reviews left per year by each customer from a group that was surveyed in 2019.
    5. 34% of those who left reviews in 2019 posted 2-3 reviews for local businesses.
    6. 85% of customers want to leave reviews.
    7. 60% of the written reviews were about positive experiences, while 25% of the reviews were to mention negative experiences.
    8. 66% of customers have written online reviews on local businesses.
    9. 80%of the customers who have written online reviews on local business are within the age group of 35 -54 years.
    10. 71% of customers surveyed, were willing to purchase again from the businesses that had responded to their reviews.
    11. 97% of the readers of online reviews also read businesses’ responses to reviews (an increase of 89% from 2018)
    12. 68% of customers cast doubt on the authenticity of reviews
    13. 46% of consumers believed that they had read fake reviews in the previous year.
    14. 70% of the customers look at multiple sites for reviews when choosing a local business
    15. Reading at least 10 reviews about a business bring confidence in a potential customer before making a purchase from that business.
    16. Only 7% of customers above 55 years chose a business with less than a 3-star rating.
    17. 53% of consumers looked up for at least a 4-star review before using a business.
    18. Businesses with less than 5 stars rating run the risk of losing 12% of their customers.
    19. Consumers over 55 years are least likely to consider a business with a low star rating.
    20. 61% of consumers between 18-34 years are impacted by reviews within 2 weeks
    21. 84% of the consumers wouldn’t consider reviews older than 3 months.
    22. 48% of customers would only look at the reviews not more than 2 weeks old.
    23. 58% of consumers that choose their local businesses based on reviews opined that recency of reviews was the most important factor
    24. Consumers aged between 18-34 years spend 33% more time than the average person in reading reviews
    25. The average customer spends 13m 45s reading reviews before making a purchase decision
    26. 93% of consumers spend more than a minute reading reviews.
    27. 32% of customers make a visit to the seller’s website after reading positive reviews.
    28. 85% of customers think online reviews as dependable as personal recommendations
    29. Peers are now considered to be as credible as experts.
    30. 73% of consumers are impacted by positive news to trust a local business.
    31. 64% of people go by online search engine findings when conducting research on a business.
    32. A bad reputation costs a company 10% more per hire
    33. 15% of consumers wouldn’t trust businesses without reviews.
    34. 77% of customers don’t consider reviews older than 3 months as relevant.
    35. 97% of consumers in 2017 read online reviews for local businesses.
    36. 12% of the customers searched for online reviews every day for local business.
    37. Reviews are the second most powerful ranking factor for Google’s local pack
    38. Reviews have a 7% influence on the rankings through the Google search result.
    39. A rise in the ratings from a 3-star to 5-star results in 25% more clicks from Google for the businesses.
    40. 49% of customers think that a business should have at least a 4-star rating before they would use them.
    41. 30% of consumers say they reckon a business good and trustworthy if that responds to online reviews publicly.
    42. 5 to 9% increase in revenue for every 1-star increase in a Yelp rating
    43. 74% of the online viewers think customer reviews on a business website is a strong factor that influences them to choose that business.
    44. The Edelman Trust Barometer report in 2017 shows that when conducting research on a business, 64% of global respondents trust online search engines the most.
    45. 77.98% of desktop search traffic is controlled by Google. Bing trailing far behind at just 7.81%, according to data from Net Market Share.
    46. 60% of customers say negative reviews turned them away
    47. Wikipedia appears on the front page of Google search for more than 50% of all keywords
    48. 69% of job seekers say they would not be interested in offers from companies with reputation problems.
    49. 83% of buyers trust recommendations from online users over advertising. 87% of comparison shops every time.
    50. Blogging yield 13 times more positive ROI for the marketers

    50 More ORM Facts that you must know

    1. 58% of executives think that online reputation management is very effective, but only 15% actually go for it.
    2. Trust building will be the primary focus of marketing going forward, opined by 84% of marketers
    3. More companies are hiring full-time online reputation managers
    4. 80% of people reveal that they value the advice on social media about what product or service to purchase
    5. 31% of employed internet users said that they have searched online for information about co-workers, professionals, colleagues or business competitors.
    6. 12% of employed individuals say that their job requires them to market themselves online.
    7. 78% of consumers trust users’ recommendations on the digital platform.
    8. 14% of consumers trust advertising
    9. A World Economic Forum study reveals that on average, more than 25% of a company’s market value is directly attributable to its reputation
    10. 76% of companies are complacent about their reputation and are overly optimistic about the influence of their online presence.
    11. 87% of executives reckon reputation management as more important than other strategic moves.
    12. 41% of businesses reported a loss of revenue and brand value from a negative reputation.
    13. 74% of people look to Yelp when searching for a home service provider
    14. 86% of people would prefer to pay more for services from a company with higher ratings and reviews
    15. 70% of employers didn’t hire an applicant with a negative online reputation
    16. 85% of customers use the Internet to research before making a purchase
    17. 80% of college recruitment offices search through Facebook to assess the applicants
    18. A one-star rating hike on Yelp can mean a 5% to 9% rise in restaurant revenue
    19. 83% of buyers are swayed by online users recommendations than by advertising when making a purchase
    20. 85% of the U.S. recruiters and HR professionals surveyed stated that a positive online reputation influenced their hiring decisions to some extent. Nearly half of them stated that the strong online reputations of the candidates influenced their decisions to a great extent.
    21. 45% said they found some worrying information about someone or a company in an online search that made them decide not to do business with them.
    22. 56% found something positive about someone that buttressed their decision to do business with the person.
    23. 88% of the celebrities and other high value people think that it would be very difficult to remove inaccurate information about them online
    24. 62% of celebrities used search engine to search their own names or see the information about them online
    25. 47% assume that people they meet will search for information about them on the internet, while 50% do not
    26. Only 6% of the celebrities are using some sort of alerm to notify them when their names are mentioned in a news story, blog, or elsewhere online
    27. 24% of corporate executives reveal that they are bound by the rules or guidelines of their employers about how they should present themselves online
    28. 11% of the respondents of a survey say that they need to promote themselves through social media or other online tools due to their job requirements.
    29. More than 10.3 billion Google searches take place every month and 78% of US internet users research online for their products or services.
    30. 50% of the sale prospects are lost because potential customers can’t find the information they are looking for
    31. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, on average a dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience, while around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people
    32. In the 25-34-year-old age group, 84% have left a website they previously liked because of bad user experience or advertising they found irrelevant
    33. 89% of shoppers have stopped buying from online stores after they have experienced poor customer service
    34. 17% of consumers would recommend a brand that provides a slow but effective solution. On the other hand, 33% of consumers would recommend a brand that provides a quick but ineffective response
    35. 70% of complaining customers will do business with you again if you resolve the complaint in their favour
    36. Consumers aged 18 to 29 use a brand’s social media site more for customer service interactions (43%) than for marketing (23%)
    37. 74% of consumers depend on social media to guide their purchases
    38. 39% of Facebook users like brand pages so they can research different products
    39. 30% of mobile shoppers abandon a transaction if the shopping experience is not optimized for mobile
    40. 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience
    41. 70% of customers prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than advertisements
    42. 84% of all marketers agree that building consumer trust will become marketing’s primary objective in the near future
    43. More than 80% of reputation damage come from a mismatch between the buzz and the reality
    44. A difference of one star in the average rating in a typical online business profile can lead to a 5–9% difference in revenues
    45. 56% of adults surveyed don’t actively think about the consequences of their online activities
    46. 94% of people only look at the first page of Google results, and only 2% of people own their entire first page of Google.
    47. More than one billion names are searched on Google everyday.
    48. Eight of ten Internet users in the US say that the negative information read online made them change their mind about a purchasing decision.
    49. The searches done with the intent to find a company providing a specific product or service is 17%.
    50. Small businesses say online directories are the most used marketing option today.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • 7 Ways To Improve The Project Management Process

    7 Ways To Improve The Project Management Process

    Whether it’s the development of a new product, digital transformation of the company, or expansion of office capacity, each goal in business is a project that requires proper planning and a systematic approach, which is combinedly called project management.

    So, analyzing the project planning process can be an effective way to understand and improve project management.

    What is Project Management?

    Project management is about knowing the goal(s) of the project, making sound planning to achieve them, organising resources, and executing the plans to achieve the desired result.

    But broadly, it’s project planning that holds the key to the success of your project management.

    Project planning is defined by the process of identifying the objectives and scopes of the project, both short-term and long-term goals and milestones(deliverables), and assigning tasks and budgeted resources for each phase.

    A good plan makes it easy to convey to all the stakeholders and is most beneficial when examined on a regular basis. A strategy becomes effective only after carefully examining the pros and cons of it through discussions with the team members.

    If you’re a startup or have a fast-paced work environment, project management may appear to be very slow at first because making a thorough planning and documenting it to the finer details is the first step in a project management process and it takes time.

    However, utilising the plan as a roadmap to keep you and your team on track will save you a significant amount of time and money.

    The following seven steps will help you to improve your project management process:

    #1. The road map should be clear to all stakeholders.

    A well-planned project should have a clear roadmap that explains the strategy to reach the milestones on the way to achieve the final goal. These milestones should not be changed abruptly, and all the stakeholders should be well aware of their roles & responsibilities in reaching the milestones.

    A project can be successful and finished on time with the required participation/contribution from the stakeholders. This will be possible if the benefits from the outcome of the project are explained to them. The stakeholders might include the project manager, the team members, and the beneficiaries of the project (employees or customers).

    Don’t try to assume what each stakeholder’s wants and objectives are. Before you begin recording your project plan, speak with them to ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the project, as well as the abilities and resources of everyone on the team.

    #2. Make a list of the milestones.

    This list should break down the overall project into smaller tasks for deliverables that can be assigned to particular team members, with anticipated deadlines for each deliverable or task included.

    Make sure you understand and document each deliverable’s approval procedure. If you’re working on a project for a client, make sure you understand their internal approval procedure so you’re not surprised by delays or slowed down by competing viewpoints.

    #3. Select the team and reach out to each team member

    Individuals and/or organisations involved in each deliverable or task should be documented by name, and their roles should be described in depth. Otherwise, misunderstandings might cause delays and the need for team members to redo their work.

    Hold a project kickoff meeting with your team to discuss your strategy. Request them for their suggestion in determining the best method for completing the task. This will not only help you to be more efficient, but will also help you get their support because they will feel more attached to the process. Using a project management platform like Wrike to keep everyone on track and save all documents and interactions in one location might be beneficial.

    If you decide to use email to communicate about the project, consider using a team inbox email solution instead of continually passing large conversation threads back and forth. This will allow you to delegate emails that require project-related attention to team members as appropriate.

    #4. Anticipate the risks and take measures to minimize the impact

    Identify the risks that your project entails. Consider what you’ll do if anything takes far longer than expected, or if the prices end up being considerably more than you thought.

    You don’t need to have a fall-back plan for every potential negative event, but you should spend some time with your team brainstorming what could go wrong. That is, rather than being caught off guard afterward, you should do everything you can to avoid such risks at the start. Risk considerations can also impact your budgeting.

    #5. Prepare a budget for your project

    This is a must-do act. Your project planning must include information regarding the expected cost and budget for each deliverable and milestone. Refrain from allocating huge sums of money to large projects without first determining how the money will be used. This will assist your team in comprehending the resources available to them in order to complete the task. These amounts may be ranges rather than absolutes while you’re creating your initial budget.

    You may need to seek quotations from a few different vendors to make a cost idea for individual things. If you need to make adjustments to the bigger project due to financial limits or if your vendor doesn’t offer exactly what you expected, it’s a good idea to mention the agreed-upon project scope briefly in your budget paperwork.

    #6. Set smaller goals to accomplish the project

    Use your list of milestones for setting smaller goals and tasks that must be performed in order to achieve the overall goal. Establish acceptable time frames, taking into account the productivity, availability, and efficiency of project team members. Your goals should be

    • Clear, concise, and written in an easy language.
    • Expressed in a specific number or quantity that is to be achieved in a certain timeframe. A number or quantity makes it easier for people to measure the achievement.
    • Realistic to achieve because setting an impractical and unrealistic target will frustrate and demotivate the stakeholders, delay the project, and overshoot the project cost.
    • Completed within the concrete timeframe. If you need to adjust the timelines for your milestones, make a note of when and why you did so. Avoid making changes in the dark, such as changing deadlines without informing your team and important stakeholders.

    #7. Set progress updating guidelines

    A collaborative workspace, either online or offline, should be set up for your project so that all parties can track its development. Make sure you have a communication plan in place—write down how frequently you’ll update stakeholders on progress and how you’ll convey information. This can be done through email on a monthly, weekly, or daily basis.

    Use the same format or structure of the report you established when you selected your milestones. If you need to inform progress, try not to waste time reinventing a new report structure. Remember that project management software like Wrike helps keep stakeholders informed without clogging your inbox or losing conversations in protracted Slack sessions.

    Staying organized and communicating effectively with your team and stakeholders are the keys to successful project planning and management. Whether you use project management software or not, consider where and how you’ll maintain all the materials and resources related to your project; if possible, keep everything in one location.

    Source- Fluidscapes
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