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A management term linked to an element that is necessary to achieve an organization or project’s mission is called as Critical Success Factor (CSF). It is also known as the Key Result Area (KRA) or Key Success Factor (KSF). CSF is a critical factor/ activity required for ensuring an organization’s success. CSF term was initially used in data analysis and business analysis. For example, the critical success factor for a successful IT project is user involvement. It should not be confused with success criteria as they are outcomes of a project or achievements of an organization that is necessary to consider the project or organization as a successful one. Success criteria is defined with the objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) may be its quantifying unit. The concept of success factors for CSF was developed by D Ronald Daniel of McKinsey & Company in the year 1961. John F Rockart refined this process into critical success factors during 1979-81. And in...

Account-based marketing or in short ABM, known as key account marketing also, is referred to a strategic approach to market business based on account awareness. Here, the organization considers and communicates as markets of one to its individual prospect or customer accounts. It is typically employed in sales organizations belonging to the enterprise level. ABM helps companies to increase their account relevance; engage in deals earlier and higher; align the marketing activities with the strategies of the sales team; get the best value out of marketing; inspire customers with compelling content and to identify specific contact areas at specific markets belonging to a specific market. ABM brings together industry, product/service or channels like direct, social or PR to focus on individual accounts. As the market becomes more commoditized, customers can only see little or no difference between the suppliers and its competitors regarding price as the only obvious differen...

Attack marketing or guerrilla marketing or ambush marketing is a type of marketing that incorporates a set of creative and strategic techniques which are used to build and raise public awareness that surrounds a person, place,  b schools in kerala event or a product. It utilizes the strength of social interactions to execute non-traditional marketing campaigns so as to drive sales, increase brand awareness and to create a long term buzz for a specific business. This marketing strategy is used by various marketing, advertising, public relations, and promotional event marketing agencies to promote products and services of popular brands and events all around the world. It can be altered to fit the marketing programs for all budgets be it small or large. For example, Coca-Cola’s “Happiness” campaign is one of the best examples of a successful attack-style marketing campaign. Filmed and released on YouTube along with a tag “where will happiness strike next?” this campaign ...

Blue Ocean Strategy is referred to a market with no or less competition for a product. This strategy is centred on searching for business where only a few firms function and with less or no pricing pressure. It can be applied across different sectors or businesses and is not limited to any one. The term Blue Ocean Strategy is coined by professors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne and used in their book “Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant” in the year 2005. With intense competition among businesses, firms try their best to gain market share and with pricing pressure influencing their functioning, their existence in the market in under threat. This situation arises when a business is operating in a saturated market, referred to as Red Ocean. When there is limited scope for growth, firms look out for verticals or avenues to find new business where they can capture a market and enjoy uncontested market share...

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...

Customer churn rate is the percentage of the subscribers or customers who have canceled or has not renewed their subscriptions during a certain period of time. It is an important metric for businesses whose customers pay on a recurring basis like that of SaaS or other subscription-based businesses. If your customer does not stick around your business long enough for you to regain your average acquisition cost of customers i.e., CAC, regardless of your monthly revenue, then the firm is in trouble. Customer churn rate can be reduced by starting the customers off on the right foot by giving them a welcome email, dedicated 1:1 and online customer onboarding or by creating educational content on blogs, social media, etc. This educates the customers and gives a feeling of optimal value for your product or service. Then, ask the customers for feedbacks at key moments to re-engage with them. Build a good rapport and faith with customers through proactive communication. And fin...

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...

Earnings per share (EPS) is the portion of a firm’s profit that is allocated to each share of common stock. It serves as an indicator of the profitability of a company. It is calculated using the following formula: EPS = (Net Income or Earnings – Preferred Dividends)/ Weighted Average Common Shares For example, a firm reported net income of $4 million. During the same time period, the firm has a total of 10 million shares outstanding. In such situations, the firm’s quarterly earnings per share or EPS would be $0.40 i.e., $4million/10 million shares = $0.40 EPS is a carefully scrutinized metric which is used as a barometer to gauge the profitability of a firm per unit of a shareholder ownership. As such, it is a key driver of share prices and is used as a denominator in the frequently used P/E (profit to earnings) ratio. To calculate EPS, balance sheet and income statement are used to calculate the weighted average number of common shares, dividends paid on the ...

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 ...

Breadcrumb navigation is a tool used in web searches that allow users to retrace each and every step, or otherwise go back to a point in time that relates to their previous search. The name is derived from the fairy tale “Hansel and Gretel” in which the two main characters of the tale used breadcrumb trail to find their way back home. Breadcrumb navigation helps in linking the user back to the prior website page during the overall online route or backtrack through the previous pages. It may also be called as breadcrumb trail or a cookie crumb trail. Breadcrumbs are categorized into three: path breadcrumbs (dynamic breadcrumbs that reveal the path which the user took to arrive at any given page), location breadcrumb (static breadcrumbs showing a given website’s hierarchy relative to the website page’s location) and attribute breadcrumbs (breadcrumbs that provide information that categorizes the current web page). The parent page of the web page is usually displaye...

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...

Multilingual content marketing refers to the process of content marketing done in more than one language. It is considered to be a difficult task especially with the difference in cultural beliefs and expectations coming into play. As per the Common Sense Advisory study in the year 2012, it takes 12 languages to reach at least 80% of the total Internet users. In multilingual content marketing, content is not only produced in English but also in different languages like French, German, Korean and so on to reach untapped customers in regions where these languages are native. This type of marketing does not have a content marketing strategy but follows the one used for content marketing itself with a cohesive message that resonated with your customers in any selected languages. Before starting off with multilingual content marketing, first, conduct a thorough research to understand your market in accordance to the local preferences. Then, create content that goes along with y...