Almost every time you read or talk about mobile strategy you’ll hear the phrase “on the go” conjuring up images of people interacting with your brand via their smartphone while catching a train or hailing a taxi. This leads people down the road of trying to create mobile marketing campaigns, websites and apps that will facilitate consumer interaction while running along a platform.

Newspapers are mobile yet marketers didn’t work on this assumption in the days of newspaper ads so why do we now assume the modern tech user wants to respond to your advert while they’re busy being “on the go”? This approach is close but flawed. It highlights a different behaviour from our consumers that creates different needs, wants and expectations but the users location isn’t the cause of this change. A huge percentage of website visits on mobile devices now happen in either the home or the workplace. The device they are now using is a lot more than a tool or a even part of their home like the desktop PC has become; it’s a part of them, the thing that’s been missing from their hand. More so with smartphones but the lines are becoming blurred and tablets are entering this same place in peoples minds too.

At first glance this is a worrying and problematic situation for marketers but when examined in more detail a fantastic opportunity presents itself. There is now a chance to engage with current and potential customers in a very personal way (there’s also a danger here that it’s now a lot easier to annoy them!).

Thinking like this allows us to put aside our worries about reaching this “on the go” customer with micro-seconds to spare and reach two conclusions:

1. The development of your platforms, the design, layout and experience should be as simple as possible

2. Your marketing should be focused around transparency and honest engagement.

If you’re keeping your brand strategy up to date then these two points should be part of your overall approach anyway! So while you’ll need a slightly different tactical approach to your marketing and development when considering mobile, you shouldn’t need to create an entirely separate mobile strategy.

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In the digital era, considerable changes have come about in several job descriptions and a few new ones have been created as well. When it comes to digital project management, the transformations that have occurred in the way the job is done, the factors to be considered and the challenges faced are immense. To succeed today, the digital project manager needs to keep in mind these 5 steps.

Define the Requirements with Clarity

Although every project manager will accept that this is the most critical first step for the successful completion of the project, there are far too many instances where it is ignored. A surprising number of failed projects can be traced back to ambiguity regarding the objective/ deliverables. With digital projects, even a slightly skewed outcome can make the difference between a successful project and a failure. It is up to the project manager to ensure that each and every member of his/ her team has a clear idea of what he/ she is required to do and what the project, as a whole, should deliver.

An excellent way to ensure clarity in requirements is to take a leaf out of the management principles of startup businesses. Here the team is closely connected, in contact with each other constantly and the team leader/ project manager is readily accessible throughout the project duration to clarify questions.

A Step by Step Approach

Breaking down the project into stages is a highly practical and effective way of ensuring project success. As project manager, you need to set realistic mid- project targets and breaking down the project helps you prioritize these targets to achieve measurable outcomes at various stages. Of course, you should invest time and attention in identifying the steps so that the project can be tested as soon as each stage is completed.

Embrace Change

Adaptability is the key to the success of a digital project manager. The virtual arena is in a constant state of flux. To create products that will find success in this arena it is necessary to design them in such a way that they can imbibe the best of the changes yet not allow the disadvantages to reduce their functionality.

Balance Creativity and Functionality

Design is all important when it comes to digital products because they are directly in line of sight for end users or underpin the functionality of the end product. However, design alone will not support a product. The developmental phase of the project shares equal importance. Both design and development need adequate attention and time. Neither should be allowed to squeeze out the other in terms of time and energy afforded.

Understand Your Team

This is far easier in a startup business where the team is closely interlinked, the team members are constantly interacting with each other and very familiar with the strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes of each other. This familiarity and understanding of various team members helps in a balanced distribution of work where each one is doing what he does best. The outcomes reflect the perfect match between skill sets/ interest and task allocation.

In larger organizations, the gap and lack of familiarity between the project manager and the individual team members often sets the stage for imbalances. The project manager should make a concerted effort to understand his team members and aim at allocating work in such a way that each one’s best skills are deployed in the project. This ensures that the team members can demonstrate their abilities to the fullest in the project paving the way for job satisfaction and career progression. Needless to say, the project also benefits immensely from the perfect match between skill sets and allocated tasks.

You can help team members to understand each other and communicate freely with regular project sessions. These aren’t standard meetings but “creative get togethers”. Take a look at “Make Sure You Get Together (And Get Creative)” for more clarity on this.

The post 5 Steps to Excellent Digital Project Management appeared first on EcommNews.net.

Facebook adverts are appealing for many reasons, one of the best being the across-the-board low cost per clicks, even lower than display ad CPCs.

So why are Facebook adverts undervalued and how can you as advertisers take advantage of this?

These ads, which act very much like display ads are worth a lot more than advertisers are paying for them and it could be said that they are more valuable because of their varied and wide social context.

Why Are Facebook Ads So Cheap?

One reason is that Facebook does not provide conversion tracking. On the Google Display Network, conversion tracking is standard; the price we are willing to pay on the Google Display Network backs up the requirement of CPA, which Google gives us, and because of this the platform can extract the max value from advertisers.
But Facebook does not provide comparison in tracking conversion rates. Advertisers CPC is not based on our tolerance for profit margin but is based heavily on instinct. As a result, it is unusual that companies aggressively use Facebook ads. So, the auctions are capped at a random price and people often race to the bottom to get cheap clicks.
Due to the fact that Facebook does not have native conversion tracking, time will have to be spent engineering resources to writing tracking codes and attribute conversions to Facebook, search, and Google Display Network, to see which works best for you.

Facebook Adverts vs. Google Display Network

• Facebook ads have less fraud. Google Display Network ads are subject to fraud because the website owners making money through those ads are more likely to exaggerate the number of clicks. Facebook ads are served by a single entity, Facebook itself, and the risk of inflating clicks is not worth it.
• Facebook adverts are smaller. Facebook ads are very small compared with Google Display Network banner ads. This means that users have to pay more attention for a click on Facebook than on Google Display Network. This works as aninstrument to eradicate accidental clicks.
• Facebook ads have more integrity. Filtering out bot traffic is easy, and there is no reason for Facebook to take the risk to inflate clicks.
• Facebook browsers are more loyal. The people who click on Facebook ads are Facebook users. They use Facebook often and are more likely to click ads. Non-Facebook users simply can’t click Facebook ads. The people who click Google Display Network ads are often random audiences who rarely come back to the same ad twice.

Facebook adverts are higher quality than the Google Display Network. If you’re spending money on the Google Display Network and, if your product is a general consumer product, you may get more on Facebook for less money and higher return.

Hopefully Facebook will put out conversion tracking soon. When the conversion tracking is in place, advertisers will immediately see what a good deal Facebook ads are, and aggressive bidding war will start. Facebook’s ad prices will quickly rise from there – at least to the Google Display Network’s price levels.

It has been said that conversion tracking is already in beta testing in Facebook. The quality of Facebook traffic will rise, and so will their CPC. If you’re having success with Facebook ads right now tell us how it’s going and take full advantage while it’s cheap.

The post Facebook Adverts, The Not So Secret Advertising Weapon. appeared first on EcommNews.net.

Being the leader of a small team, a department or an entire corporation means you have a responsibility to your employees and their morale, so that you can trust each other and get things done properly and as efficiently as possible.

Here are seven guaranteed ways to completely ruin workplace morale. The essence of them come down to one simple truth that is apparent in most people’s personal life but not always at work; treat people how you want to be treated.

Calling employees out in public
There is no reason to ever publicly embarrass an employee. This is a tactic employed by bullies. Instead, pull them aside and deal with the situation privately. Public
embarrassment can only serve to make employees scornful and ruin the office environment.

Holding workers back if they’re doing well
It is frustrating for someone when they feel bottled up. If people have ideas they want to propose, or initiatives to make things better, at least let them have their say, even if their idea is a bad one, make them feel heard. Sometimes, there will be a good idea out there that you can use, or something you may have missed and employees would love to see their own ideas in action. Let them own the idea, and give credit where it’s due.

Giving vague or incomplete instructions
Accuracy is important in the workplace. Some managers feel that they can give instructions that lack precision because they are busy, but their employees’ time is equally important as theirs. It is extremely frustrating not knowing exactly what you have been asked to do, then if you do it wrong and are reproached by your boss for it, that just makes things worse.

Setting impossible goals
Goals exist to encourage people to perform to the best of their ability, but when employees are consistently coming up short because the set goals are impossible to reach, their morale is going to plummet. They’ll feel like they’re under-performing, even when they aren’t.

Belittling their role
When you make people feel like they are expendable, they have little incentive to perform. It’s easy to make someone feel worthless if you treat them like a number and not a person with distinct abilities.

Micromanaging
The fastest way to demoralize an employee is to micromanage everything they do. Nobody welcomes someone looking over their shoulder, checking everything they do and second guessing their work. When you micromanage an employee, you are showing them that you don’t trust their judgement. This is extremely discouraging for even the best employee.

Never offering any praise
Your employees need recognition that they’re doing a good job. If they go through their entire work life without any, it crushes their spirit. That is not to say you should constantly be showering your workers with compliments, this would make it difficult to know when they really deserve it or if they are being paid lip
service.

When it comes to motivation of creative staff, take a look at Digital Motivation Comes From Making A Difference.

What demotivates you and your people the most? What’s your best motivator?

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When businesses want to improve their  email marketing, they have to look at what they are sending and simply decide; would they open their own emails?

Whether your database holds 200 emails or it holds a million emails, look at how people have come to find out about your company or product before you consider the content of your emails.

Did the recipients originally sign up for a newsletter? Did they sign up for information on a specific product line? Or a white paper to learn more about a particular offering or service?  Too often the same email messages are sent to every address in a database. The person who signed up for the newsletter is looking for something entirely different than the person who signed up for a white paper.

Look carefully at what people sign up for and you will start to uncover any issues with your response rates. Delve deeper into your offerings to make sure that they provide enough valuable information so you are actually providing people with “real” email. The better you make your offers, the more responses you will receive.

An interest-piquing subject line can save the day

Most businesses take the time to review their marketing before it goes out. They might work with a designer on details for their website or change the layout of a brochure multiple times before it reaches potential customers, but what about the time they spend looking at the subject line of an email?

Open your email right now and take a look at the volume of messages. How quickly do you scan the list to determine if you should delete the message, save it for later, or actually read it? Five seconds? Ten seconds? You have just a few seconds to grab people’s attention, which means taking the time to come up with a powerful subject line is worth the investment.

Try challenging your original thought as you look to write engaging email subject lines by asking yourself these questions:

• Interest piquing: Is there an element of curiosity to the subject line that would make prospects want to find out more?
• Pain: Does the email subject alleviate pain or pound on a bruise that is bothering prospects?
• Benefit: Will your prospect experience a benefit of time, money, or well-being if they read on?

Take time to write your email subjects and watch your response rates increase.

Not just any email will do; each touch must add value

While the goal of email is to attract more customers, try to encourage more people to call for assistance, and rouse potential customers to purchase more of your products online, that can’t be what your emails are all about. Sending emails that are only about sales, new products, or services is a sure-fire way to ensure that your messages are quickly deleted. Look at the content of your emails and ask yourself a very simple question: If I was opening this email as a total stranger, would it add any value to my day?
For most emails, the answer is that the message adds no value at all. It’s simply an advert delivered digitally. Whatever industry you are in, it is imperative to create emails that add real value. Add tips and advice to your emails and don’t try to disguise helpful tips as sales letters; add real value and your emails will be anticipated by your customers.

How many emails are you sending?

Even if your database has a few million email addresses, sending a big “blast” email is not likely to help you achieve your goals. Instead of periodically blasting your database of customers with offers, consider an email follow-up sequence that will keep people engaged until they are ready to take action.

A good email follow-up sequence will appear personal, add value, and can allow you to stay in-touch with your customers for years. In some cases, you will have a different email follow-up sequence for those that have purchased a product or service versus the ones that have not yet purchased anything.

The more time you invest in your email marketing, from writing subject lines to offering quality content, the more success you will enjoy from your efforts.

Email is one of the most common forms of online marketing and retention. With so many emails being sent, what techniques have you employed to make a difference and stand out?

The post Email Marketing, Would You Open Yours? appeared first on EcommNews.net.

Everyone can increase their productivity at work even people who strive to deliver a high level of performance every day, have room for improvement.

What is important is how you streamline, batch, expedite, and execute your tasks. If you have never analyzed what you do at work, and how you do it there is no way you can perform at your level best. Without a systematic approach to your job function process, maximum proficiency can and will not be achieved.

When you arrive at work; what do you do first thing in the morning, how do you manage your time, how many breaks do you take and when? Do you spend a lot of time without anything to do or do you rush to finish task after task and struggle to eat lunch? Neither of these is productive. The first one places the employee in a state of career limbo and lethargy. The second is a one-way ticket to emotional and physical burnout, not to mention an early grave.

So in the spirit of good career health and work-life balance, here are 7 ways to be more efficient on the job:

1- Prioritize your day in advance

Set your priorities the night before, not first thing in the morning. Expect the unexpected throughout the workday and, as a rule, try to organize yourself before you take off for dinner. Think about the crucial tasks you have to perform, any meetings or calls you have to prepare for and emails you have to complete. List them in order of priority and make the list accessible, either on a sheet of paper or on your computer. Do the same thing for your week and month as well.

Allocate 15 minutes at the end of every Friday to look at the coming week and make a task action plan. Do this at the end every month, take a look at the next 30 days and compose a list of professional goals. Good organization will streamline your job and provide motivation to work harder.

2- Set deadlines

In the same vein as your new commitment to prioritize, set deadlines for each of your tasks. Ambitious, but realistic deadlines. If you don’t, they might never get done. Even if no one else seems to be working as efficiently, set an example with your own hardcore deadlines. If you work in a team, push them to keep to a schedule.

3- Organize your workspace

Clutter and piles of paperwork can have a huge negative impact on your productivity. Take half an hour at the end of the day to find a place for valuable items. File them away in a space that is easy to access and remember. If you hoard useless files have a one month rule: If more than 30 days has gone by since your last use of the paper or file in question, purge it from your space. It keeps your work space clear of clutter and, if you have paper everywhere you subconsciously think you need to deal with it and end up stressing about the amount of work you have.

4- Upgrade your technology

If you use technology with the proper intent and under necessary circumstances, it can be of huge benefit to your workday. A better, faster computer and a new smart phone can save time and empower you as an employee. Bear in mind as well that technology is only a time saver when you use it for the proper intent and at the suitable time.

5- Save personal affairs for your own time

We don’t often think about the effect that the odd personal call can have on our day. The impact can often be quite detrimental, when you consider the interruptions they cause as we try to complete a major task or project. As a result, the best advice is to save personal calls and emails for your lunch hour.

6- Thought-intensive in the a.m., labour-intensive in the p.m.

Most of us are more on the ball before lunch, so try to get on with tasks that emphasize deep analysis and thought straight away. If you have to write an extensive report or crunch numbers, do it first thing in the morning. Schedule meetings and conference calls in the afternoon. This is the best time for most of us to interact and share ideas with others. So keep the morning for tasks that demand intense examination and scrutiny. Leave the post-lunch hours for less thought-intensive chores.

7- Delegate

Take a look at your tasks and find out where your peers can be of use. Self-delegation is crucial tool. To save yourself time, meet with management on a regular basis to get a clear picture of what your tasks are, what they entail and how best you can execute them.

More easy tips

There are other small shortcuts to help:

Screen your calls
Use e-mail to correspond (but keep messages short and to the point)
Set an agenda and timeline for company meetings.

The post Productivity At Work – 7 Steps To Actual Efficiency appeared first on EcommNews.net.

Google Author Rank is an algorithm made to rank your identity online in search engine results. It allows Google to easily assess the standards of your work and possibly reward you in the SERPs.

Google Author Rank was initially named Agent Rank, it was designed to collect data from both websites and the social world regarding different topics to create more beneficial search engine results for its users.

Google is using social along with other data to measure the worth of every author profile in the online world and the value of that profile to their readership to show the involvement of social media signals and their impact on the old-age SEO. Author Rank allows Google (and other search engines) to measure the rank each individual author and publishers in the system. According to Google’s own study, social signals are less intrusive than SEO signals, and the appliance of these social signals in SEO will provide more useful results to their users.

In order to gain Author Rank in Google, you need to claim authorship of the content you’ve created. You can do this by connecting your content to your Google+ profile. Your +profile must have a link pointing to the pages/websites that host your content – and vice versa, these resources should link back to your +profile.

You can claim authorship by inserting the tag <rel=”author” link=”your-googlplus-url” />into your content. Most SEO plugins for WordPress already feature a copy/paste function making it easy for you to apply the tag all of your pages.

The best links you can get are from high-authority websites relevant to your content. The same applies to Google+ users. When high-authority “Agents” link to or share content that has been tagged with your author ID, it’s a sign to Google that your content is worth reading.

For this reason, it’s important that you interact with leaders in your field. Resources like Klout, FollowerWonk and LinkedIn are perfect for this, because they rely on endorsements from real people and give an accurate view of who the key influencers are.

Has Google’s Author Rank worked out well for you, have you seen the SEO benefits? Or is it simply a way to build the Google Plus user base?

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