AI

GUEST POST: Infographic: How to Boost Your Bulk Messaging with Artificial Intelligence

Connecting effectively with stakeholders is now more important than ever before. Whether it’s B2C or B2B, 2020 has shown us that meaningful and consistent communications will be the fundamental way to attract as well as retain customers. Recent data for US Q1 and Q2 actually shows a positive upwards trend in how customers and organizations are engaging with promotional or informational business correspondence despite the current climate. In a headline report, Iterable recorded a higher success rate with a range of targeted email marketing. In their report, they measured increases of 21% in email open-rates and 14% in click-throughs between March 2020 and April 2020.

So how can you more effectively reach customers and convert them with your targeted communications? Despite a rise in overall internet activity that many believed would deter customers, there are many reasons for using this time to nurture relationships via bulk messaging. This form of customer service engagement is considered the way to go with projections that it will hit revenue of up to US$ 114.6 billion by 2021. On an organizational level, due to the artificial intelligence aspects, there are equal benefits to be had in a range of ways. This comms tech offers:

  • Greater accuracy in messaging
  • 24/7 responses to standard questions with chat-bots
  • Enhanced staff productivity
  • Streamlining of tasks for better efficiency
  • Overall improved customer connectivity freeing time for higher level tasks

Moving forward, even in the largest companies, it’s seen as a non-negotiable investment with Forbes recently reporting, “In March 2020, 451 Research conducted a coronavirus flash survey, which indicated that 63% of large organizations will invest more in communication and collaboration technology than they did prior to the pandemic, and employee communication tools topped the list of technology they felt they needed to increase investment in.” With this infographic from Cadoo you can learn even more about ‘How to Boost Your Bulk Messaging with Artificial Intelligence’. The graphic explores the topics in more detail with analysis of the key features and headline benefits of this tech for all stakeholders in 2020 and beyond.

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Guest Post: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Digital Marketing

Every year, January is the month when the predictions start flowing in for the new year.

By the time January ends, your inbox is full of articles like “5 Ways ____ industry will change next year” or “Watch out for ____ because it will change the way you ___ in year ___.”

Undoubtedly, the information is overwhelming and nauseating (at times).

You end up feeling – seriously? Is this even a trend? Worse! Why do all the articles sound the same? Are they talking about the future of digital marketing?

All this flood of information seriously makes you question the role of Content Marketing in Digital Marketing. I mean, is the Content even written for users? Or is it just made up for search engines?

Yet, in between all the overflowing information, I manage to catch a trend in Digital Marketing, which I believe is going to change the way Digital marketing industry works.

And my prophecy is – Impact of AI on Digital Marketing.

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Guest Post: 5 Ways to Growth Hack Your Business and Make It Thrive

Even though it’s become a buzzword in corporate and marketing circles, growth hacking is not without its merit. These quick and low-cost methods of marketing can have a huge impact on growth, especially for smaller businesses. Below we offer a guide on how to take these less travelled paths and use them to stand out from the crowd.

What Is Growth Hacking?

Growth hacking itself isn’t all that easy to define. Essentially, it means using a number of marketing techniques and design choices in order to quickly generate sales. All this is done with only one goal in mind: growth.

The process itself is pretty straightforward: first, you run any of the number of analytics tools that will help you determine which pages or sections of your website generate the most traffic. You then focus on one of these areas and run a brief experiment trying to convert that traffic into sales.

This could mean anything, from redesigning your contact page to adding social media buttons or testimonials. As long as the change you made is quick, easy to implement, and results in the growth of one or more metrics, it’s considered a success.

If you are a small or mid-size business owner, hacking growth has the potential to take your business to the next level. All it requires is thinking outside the box and not being afraid to experiment. In the end, you can end up achieving great results with minimum time and money spent.

Below are five examples of growth hacking you can try out right now.

Focus on Quality Content

Simply having a blog section on your website will do wonders for the growth of your business. This is due to the fact that content marketing costs much less than traditional marketing, while generating as much as three times more leads.

Aside from this, posting regularly on your blog lets your visitors know you are an expert in your field. This, in turn, builds your website’s trustworthiness in Google’s eyes, increasing your search results ranking, and making your website visible to more people. It’s a virtuous circle that can have a great impact on your growth.

Make sure that the content is high in quality, though. Going in-depth with your articles and providing useful information about your niche will improve your SEO ranking and convert visitors to customers at the same time.

ipad with graphsLeverage Reviews and Social Media

Anyone who’s ever bought anything online knows how important reviews can be. A quick and easy way to convert new customers is to show positive reviews and testimonials from your previous customers right on the pages of your website.

Also, consider using social media as a part of your advertising strategy. You can do this either by creating a profile for your business and regularly posting updates, or by signing up for Facebook and Google ads.

If you decide on the former, don’t be afraid to ask your followers for help. Adding a call to action to your social media updates will encourage your followers to share and promote your content, basically giving you free marketing space. Also, you can use smaller social media platforms such as The Dots or Profit.ly, where your competition is not likely to have a large presence.

Take Advantage of AI

We’ve already mentioned one of the possible uses of AI in hacking the growth of your company: using it to analyse which parts of your website attract the most visitors. However, the applications are limitless, from analysis and administration, to content generation and customer support.

One area where the use of AI can really benefit your business is customer support. Using software like chatbots can let a small business provide 24/7 support to their customers, without spending extra money on hiring support staff. This level of availability is sure to result in more conversions, and thus growth.

Give Away Free Upgrades (And Make Them Count)

It’s one thing to offer free signup bonuses or sales to prospective customers, but approaching free upgrades in a creative way can truly take your growth to the next level. A good example of a free upgrade scheme is Dropbox, where both the person referring and the new person signing up get upgraded storage space.

Make sure your free upgrades are a win-win company and they’ll become simply too good for potential customers to pass up.

Constantly Test and Tweak

All the techniques we described above are likely to have some influence on the growth of your business. However, this effect will vary on a case to case basis. If you only take one thing from this, let it be the fact that you need to constantly try out small-scale experiments like these. Test and tweak your marketing methods until you find the right ones to boost your growth.

Conclusion

Using the methods described above and remembering to focus on the big picture of growth is sure to take your business to the next level. Innovate, test, tweak, and in no time your business will grow faster than you ever thought possible.

michael deane profile

 

Michael Deane is one of the editors of Qeedle, a small business magazine. When not blogging (or working), he can usually be spotted on the track, doing his laps, or with his nose deep in the latest John Grisham.