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Omnichannel marketing is referred to the process of integrating an organization’s channels, processes and strategies to gain the ability to engage with its consumers at any time, from any place and from any device. It has become key to the success of marketing as customers engage with the organization in different ways like in a physical store, via websites, mobile apps, virtual catalogs and social media. They also interact with businesses through smartphones, tablets, computers and laptops. The challenge for businesses is to make all these interactions seamless, effective and consistent for all its customers. Consumers expect more personalised communication when interacting with businesses through various channels and devices and those who do not keep up that level lose their ground to its competitors. One of the biggest challenges faced by organizations taking up omnichannel marketing is to break free from traditional marketing campaigns. This strategy requires an entir...

Digital Asset Management (DAM) is referred to the process of the content management system (CMS)that stores and manages rich media or digital data like photos, music, video, animations, podcasts and other multimedia content and also managing its digital rights and permissions. It involves creating an archive, developing an infrastructure to preserve and manage the digital assets of a business and search functionality that allows its end users to identify, locate and retrieve an asset. Digital asset are those assets managed and stored in a digital format detailed by its metadata describing asset content, means of encoding, ownership and access rights. In simple words, DAM is a group of database records that contains metadata explaining the file name, its format and details regarding its content and usage. This can be used to create and manage database and helps a business to store rich media cost-effectively. DAM is categorized into many- brand asset management, libr...

Quality Score is referred to the Google rating for the quality and relevance of both the keywords and the PPC ads done for a business, product or service. Quality score is used to determine the Cost Per Click rate (CPC) which is then multiplied by the maximum bid to determine its ad rank in the ad auction process. It depends on multiple factors like click-through rate (CTR), the relevance of each keyword in the ad group; quality and relevance of landing page; relevance of ad text; and historical AdWords account performance. When more and more people clicks on your ad then it’s a strong indication to Google that the ads drafted are relevant and very much useful for the users. Accordingly, Google rewards you with higher ad rankings and lower cost. By optimizing the quality score of your ad, you are setting up a higher Return on Investment (ROI) as lower cost per conversion is directly linked to better ROI rates. To increase your quality score, do a keyword re...

Bounce rate is an internet marketing term that is used in web traffic analysis which represents the percentage of users visiting a website and then leaves or bounce rather than continuing browsing the website. It is calculated by counting the number of single web page visits by a user and divides it by the total number of visits. Bounce rate (in percentage) = Number of visits in a single page by a user / Total visits to the website Bounce rates are helpful in determining the effectiveness or the performance of an entry or landing web page in generating interest of users. The web page that has a low bounce rate means that it is effectively causing visitors or users to view other pages of that website. High bounce rates indicate that the website is performing ineffectively without attracting the interests of visitors. They usually visit an entry page and leave. Interpreting bounce rate measure should be relevant to the business objectives of a website and also its de...

Call to action (CTA) is a marketing term used widely in advertising and selling where any device is designed to prompt an immediate response or encourages an immediate sale. CTA mostly refers to the use of words or otherwise phrases that can be incorporated into ad messages, web pages, sales scripts, etc. that encourage consumers to take prompt action. In marketing, CTA is an instruction to the audience group which is designed to provoke a quick response usually using verbs like “call now” or “find out more”. Other types of CTA might provide consumers with strong reasons to purchase something immediately like that of an offer which will only be available for a limited time period or during special deals. For example, order before midnight to receive a free gift with your order, two for the price of one for first 25 orders, etc. Marketing materials like brochures, flyers, catalogs, etc. make use of call-to-action in which instructions are designed to show customers how to...

Hawthorne effect, also known as observer effect, is referred to a type of reaction in which people modify an aspect of their behaviour in response to their awareness of being observed. From an original research conducted at the Hawthorne Works in Illinois focused on work structure changes like working hours and break times and was initially interpreted by Elton Mayo and others. As per the interpretation paying attention to the needs of all workers would improve productivity. Later on, the interpretations done by Landsberger showed that the novelty of being research subjects and the increase in attention to workers from such researches might lead to certain temporary increases in their productivity. This productivity gain is linked to a motivational effect due to the interest shown in the workers and this interpretation was called as the Hawthorne effect. For example, if a person who is conducting an experiment were to ask the subject about the number of times he has he...

Ambient Advertising is a technique of placing ads on unusual objects or unconventional places where one would not expect to see an advertisement. It evolved as a concept as it has a lasting impact on the minds of consumers which makes it more effective. Ambient advertising is about creativity and how effectively the advertiser can communicate the message to its consumers through those ads. It can be done along with traditional means of advertising or as a standalone form of communication about the brand’s offerings. Ambient advertising aims at surprising its customers with ad placements. For example, an ad behind a car is not unusual but using its wiper as a part of the advertisement will look different and throws an element of surprise in the minds of consumers. The key to a successful ambient media campaign is to choose the best media format currently available and then combine it with an effective message. It can be found on infrastructure, public spaces, vehicl...

BASHO Email is an attempt to gain the attention of a prospective lead via personalized emails so as to arrange a meeting with them. It is not meant to be super-scalable but when done right, it lets you achieve a steady jump in your email response rates and a total number of booked meetings. It is always great to call a prospect but if time restricts you, then BASHO email is your go-to solution. There are many reasons to implement BASHO email. Firstly, to increase the conversion rate by 60% to 80%. As people tend to open personalized emails, BASHO emails do the work for you if done right. Secondly, it can be used to reach high-value accounts like that of a leading CEO. Thirdly, it is easy and does not require any special training to set strategies. Find any point that can create a way to reach out to prospects in a more personalized way. BASHO emails can be used for more than sales. For example, marketers and bloggers can use BASHO emails for collaborative initiatives, fo...

Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are scales that are used to rate performances. They are normally presented vertically with scale points with a range from five to nine. For example, a five rating for an employee may require them to put in more efforts than an eight rating employee. This system was developed by Smith and Kendall to provide a better method of rating employees and differs from the standard rating scales in one central aspect i.e., it focuses on behaviours that are determined to be important for completing a task rather than looking at the general employee characteristics like personality or work habits. BARS are designed in such a way so as to bring the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative data to the employee appraisal process. Though this system is often regarded as a superior performance appraisal method, it may still have drawbacks like unreliability and leniency bias. BARS is developed through data collected from the Critical I...

Earned Value Management (EVM) aka Earned Value Project/Performance Management (EVPM) refers to a project management technique used for measuring the performance and progress of a project in an objective manner. It has the ability to combine the measurements of the project management triangle i.e., scope, time and cost. EVM is able to provide accurate forecasts of project performance problems in a single integrated system, which is considered as an important contribution for project management. Conducting an early EVM research showed that planning and control are significantly impacted by its use and also, using this methodology not only improves the scope definition but also helps in the analysis of overall project performance. EVM principles are also considered to be positive predictors of project success. EVM has been widely used in government contracting like in the new Federal Acquisition Regulation. The essential features of an EVM implementation include creating ...

Common Short Code (CSC) is a short telephone number usually consisting of 3-6 digits that is designed to be unique for each operator. CSC aka mobile shortcodes or short numbers is used to address SMS and MMS messages from cellular telephones. CSC is used for additional wireless services like polling, ordering ringtones, television voting, making donations and queries to Google’s SMS search engine. They are typically billed at a much higher rate than ordinary SMS or MMS messages. CSCs are supported by all major carriers and thus they suit a variety of interactive purposes like ordering ringtones and making charity donations as mentioned above. It may be obtained from the Common Short Code Administration (CSCA), Mobile Application Service Providers (MASP) and wireless carriers. Then, a CSC application must be submitted to appropriate wireless carriers for processing. CSC-based campaign development may be accelerated by tapping into MASPs and their knowledge relating to...

In business, disruptive technology is referred to an innovation that creates a new market and value network which eventually disrupts an existing one, displacing the already established firms, products and alliances that are leading in the market.   It was defined and analysed by Clayton M. Christensen, an American scholar along with his collaborators beginning in 1995 and has been called the most influential business idea of the early 21st Century. Here, we cannot categorise all innovations as disruptive even if they are revolutionary. For example, in the late 19th Century the first automobiles were not a disruptive innovation as it was a luxury item unaffordable to many, and did not disrupt the market for other means of transport like horse-drawn vehicles. The market remained intact until the lower-priced Ford Model T was introduced in 1908. These innovations are often seen to be produced by outsiders or entrepreneurs in startups rather than the existing market l...

SERVQUAL or Service Quality is an approach to manage the business processes so as to ensure full satisfaction of the customers by providing high-quality services. It is a framework developed by Zeithaml, Parasuraman & Berry in the eighties, aiming at measuring the scale of quality in service sectors. SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of service quality and later on reduced to 5 to measure the gap between customer expectations and experience.   These gaps are caused by various factors like not knowing the customer’s expectations, using the wrong service quality standards, service performance gap, etc. The 5 SERVQUAL dimensions used for assessing the service quality include Responsiveness, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Reliability (R-A-T-E-R). Initially designed for the use of service firms and retailers, the SERVQUAL model became widely discussed when it comes to customer satisfaction and service quality. But it takes a much more broader perspecti...

Marketing Attribution is defined as the process of identifying a set of user actions known as events or touchpoints that contribute in some way to achieve the desired output. Each of these actions is later assigned a value. These events or touchpoints include any branded interaction caused from a TV commercial to a promotional email offer. Marketing attribution is a strong tool for those individuals who can uncover various inner workings of their efforts and to use this knowledge in creating game-changing marketing strategies. By using this tool, marketers understand their customer and touchpoints with highest engagements to create effective marketing strategies. They also use it to understand the value of the customer and looks into the campaign to get insights on how to creatively solve the problems faced by the company and its customers. The common types of marketing attribution models are First-Touch Attribution, Last-Touch Attribution and Multi-Touch Attribution....

Absorption Costing is an accounting cost method which entails the complete cost of manufacturing or providing a service. It includes not just the cost of labour and materials but also the total manufacturing overheads, either fixed or variable. The cost of each cost center can be direct or indirect and is identified with individual cost centers like accounting, IT, maintenance, etc . Direct cost can be identified with individual cost centers whereas indirect cannot be. The distribution of overheads among each department is called as apportionment. Apportionment can be done in two methods – the primary distribution of overheads and secondary distribution. In primary distribution, the selection of the base on which the overheads are apportioned depends on service or use basis, survey basis and ability to pay basis. Whereas in secondary apportionment the cost of service departments i.e., apportioned overheads along with the values of direct materials, labour and expenses of the...

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a continuous process of detecting and decreasing/eliminating manufacturing errors, streamlining supply chain management, boosting customer experience, and ensuring that all the staffs of the business are up to speed with their training. It aims in holding all the parties involved in the production process who are accountable for the total quality of the final output. TQM is a set of management practices that places a strong focus on process measurement and controls as means of constant improvement. While it was originated in the manufacturing sector, its principles can be used in a variety of organizations or industries like manufacturing, banking and finance, and medicine. And TQM techniques can be applied to all departments within the organization as well and ensures that all employees are working toward the goals fixed by the company thereby improving the function in each and every department. The essential requirements for successf...

Crowdsourcing is a practice of approaching a body of people to obtain needed knowledge, goods or service. It is a combination of two words – crowds and outsourcing, coined in the year 2006 by Jeff Howe in his article “The Rise of Crowdsourcing”. Crowdsourcing involves obtaining information, word or opinion from a group of people who submit data through online platforms like social media and smartphone apps. These people involve in Crowdsourcing works as paid freelancers or on a voluntary basis. For example, an app involved in reporting traffic updates to its users encourages drivers and the public to report any cases of accidents and roadway incidents. The advantages of this practice is its cost savings feature, speed and the ability to work with people of all skill sets which may not be possible with the in-house team. If a particular task takes about one week to complete by an employee, it can be broken down by the business and completed in a much faster time period....

Affiliate marketing is an advertising model where an online retailer pays a commission amount to an external website for generating traffic or sales from its referrals. It is one of the most popular ways by which a party partners with a business to make money by referring visitors or users to a business’s page/product/service. The parties involved in affiliate marketing are the merchant or the creator/seller/brand that creates the product. These merchants need not be actively involved in this process but should have a product to sell. The second party is the affiliate or publisher who promotes one or more affiliate products to attract potential customers to buy merchant’s products. For example, a person submitting a review blog on the merchant’s product can paste a unique link for that particular affiliate product. When a user clicks on that link to purchase the product, the affiliate receives a fixed commission on that sale. The final party is the consumer or the user who r...

Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is a list of results displayed on search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. in response to a specific query or phrase. The results include a listing of linked web page titles, its URL, a brief description of the contents in that page and at times, points of interest within that website. The term SERP is often used by Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialists and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) practitioners. It contains two types of content – paid and organic results. Organic results are those pages that are displayed on the pages of SERP as a result of its algorithm. SEO specialists aim at optimizing web content to bring their webpage in the top positions of SERP because it is regarded to be the most useful content pages and as it goes down, it becomes less relevant. Whereas, paid results are ads from brands that are displayed when keywords provided by advertiser matches with the user’s query. Such ads are configured either through sea...