Category: DigitalSuccess

Digital Success Summit: Learning to Achieve Digital Success in India

August 8, 2018

Digital adoption in India has been phenomenal, and the rate at which emerging technologies are embraced by Indian businesses is equally impressive. Part of the reason why the Indian market is more amenable to digital adoption is the fact that it is the hub of software development and outsourcing since the early 1990s. From those early days of information boom to today’s Blockchain development and mobile eCommerce, India has come a long way and is much ahead of other nations. Yet, digital adoption needs to take place at the grassroots level and most Indian businesses today have not exploited the infrastructure and services available to them to bring their products and services to the global market. There are some important reasons why Indian businesses in general, have not adopted technology to boost their ROI, unlike their tech counterparts who offer technology-related services and products to a global clientele. While the Indian eCommerce industry is growing at a rapid pace, regular businesses, stores, and enterprises are still treading slowly when compared with global peers. This unique dichotomy exists not only in India, but also in other emerging countries where a certain tech-savvy section of the business community adopts digital, while the rest of the business and enterprise community does not make use of the facilities, services, and infrastructure readily available to them. Why are Indian businesses slower in digital adoption? To the casual observer, India seems like the hub of all software and technology related activities. After all, India serves as both the backend and frontend of the world’s technology-based economy. Yet, in its own backyard, businesses are slower in adopting a technology, and a closer inspection will reveal that most small and medium businesses in India’s hinterland are simply not made use of the digital tools available to them easily. This is mostly because : Non-availability of information Much of India is rural, and even in the larger cities, business owners do not have information related to digital technologies available to help boost their businesses. There aren’t many outreach programs for business owners to refresh them about the latest technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, Blockchain, or even various facets of cloud computing and automation. The result is, businesses still use outdated marketing techniques, spend more money and time on campaigns that do not fetch the results they seek, and traffic that simply doesn’t convert. Inaccessible services and products While Indian tech companies virtually run much of the global economy, back home, businesses do not have access to services and products available to their international peers. Businesses have still not adopted eCommerce technologies, many still use manual methods in place of automated solutions, and advanced conversion rate optimization techniques, etc. are still unheard of. Making existing digital facilities available to Indian businesses is crucial to digital adoption in India. Both cloud infrastructure and marketing automation solutions are widely available for international businesses, but yet out of reach for most Indian businesses simply because they are not easily accessible. Lack of guidance and support While there are several technical consultants in larger cities of India, the consulting guidance and support available to businesses are not adequate. There simply isn’t a cohesive network of technology service providers dedicated to bringing digital solutions to Indian businesses. Regional digital summits are crucial in helping raise awareness about facilities and infrastructure available to businesses of various statures to lunge forward. Regular summits can help businesses to not only understand the products and services available to help them adopt digital solutions but also to scale quickly. Absence of digital-first culture While lack of information and inaccessibility of digital solutions can be blamed for slower adoption among Indian businesses, there is also an absence of digital-first culture among many businesses. Many businesses still hold on to legacy systems and operations which are not relevant anymore. these methods, tools, and technologies simply hold them back, while their competitors who adopt newer tools and methods achieve success quickly. With this in mind, there need to be more digital events, summits, and conferences which normalize digital adoption among the Indian business community. The Digital Success Summit, 2018 It is with all these reasons in mind that the Digital Success Summit has been organized. The summit brings together a variety of speakers, keynote presenters, and workshops to participating businesses and entrepreneurs, to help them adopt digital solutions quickly and efficiently. The Digital Success Summit 2018 will be held in Kolkata, West Bengal, on the 10th of August. The summit will help business owners to adopt the most useful digital strategies to achieve success and growth. The conference will help businesses to Understand how the internet works and is governed Choosing the right domain name for your business Understanding what cloud computing is all about, and which cloud hosting to choose If you should get a mobile app developed or not Use marketing automation and marketing KPIs to drive more sales Maximize online leads to sales conversion rate Learn how to create viral content and engage in influencer marketing Choosing the right CMS for your website, and using conversion rate optimization (CRO) tricks Using paid marketing to drive eCommerce transactions and creating trust using personal branding How to bring a digital culture shift in organizations, and making sure that every business is safe from cyber attacks Understanding IoT and analytics The Digital Success Summit has been specifically organized to help Indian businesses to overcome the hurdles in adopting digital solutions, and get past their cultural barriers to embrace a brave new world which will lead them along the path of competitive edge, global success and business efficiency. From digital infrastructure to media and advertising, and from business enhancing catalysts to KPIs and analytics, the summit has got all things digital covered for businesses to achieve success.  

Read More »

How OTT Will Drive Innovation in 2018 in India

August 2, 2018

With nearly 500 million internet users, a figure that is growing at a rate of 8%, India is one of the largest drivers of digital innovation across the world. India’s potential as a market for global media and entertainment sector is unprecedented, and a liberal investment environment is helping foreign players to enter the Indian market easily. The government’s Digital India Initiative is helping even the most remote villages to stay connected. Indian culture values entertainment and the growth potential for media houses and entertainment giants are enormous. Over-the-top (OTT) media services have already entered India, and services such as Netflix, and Amazon Prime have a growing number of users across the country. Surprisingly, OTT is growing popular even in smaller towns and villages where internet speed has been questionable, to say the least. In such a scenario, OTT is going to drive innovation in India simply because of the sheer value of the market that India offers. In this article, let us take a look at how OTT is set to change the entertainment and digital scene in India. What do the numbers say? When we look at statistics related to internet usage in India, it is quite unavoidable to feel overwhelmed by the sheer figures. These figures indicate that video consumption in India is growing at the speed of light, and much of the aspirational rural and small-town users have already begun to stream media using high-speed mobile internet connections. With a rural to urban migration pattern, accessing high-speed internet connections is not only easy but also a reality already in the making. Of the half a billion internet users, there are at least 180 million active online video viewers. In 2017, the OTT market in India was valued at 37 billion rupees. OTT market in India is expected to grow at 17.3% in the next five years. People have already begun to supplement TV viewing with multiple OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix. India is a diverse country with more than 22 official languages. Content in these languages is set to grow at an unprecedented rate. By 2020, there will be more than 700 million smartphone users in India Here are the top 7 areas where OTT is going to spur innovation : Personalized content The concept of personalized content is relatively new in India. However, OTT is set to change all that, and we can see that already happening. Netflix, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, and other OTT-based services have begun to offer personalized content to a market that was mostly used to the hand-me-down equivalent in media content. Personalization spurred by OTT will likely have cultural and social ramifications but in a positive manner. Indian media consumption has been dominated by proscriptive relaying of content without much choice for the actual viewer or consumer. OTT will change that and help Indian users to choose what they want, and watch they will most likely want to watch or listen. Newer players will make use of data insight to change algorithms and develop apps and media content that will actually appeal to individual users. In other words, OTT will help propel the process of individualization of Indian entertainment and media consumption. Streaming of video and audio More than 70% of revenue earned by the Indian music industry now comes from digital streaming. Affordable and high-speed internet connections have helped the music industry to make use of online platforms to offer music as OTT. Similarly, Indian movies and TV shows have a huge potential to reach the market via OTT. Most people in India have begun to replace their televisions with smartphones for media consumption. As smartphones usage tends to be an individual affair, as opposed to a family watching TV, individualization, and personalization of music and movies will grow. There is a potential market for larger screen smartphones in India. Innovation in device manufacturing and accessories is an area that manufacturers and distributors should look at. Accessories such as smart headphones, artificial intelligence, and IoT-based media consumption devices, etc. have a promising future in India, thanks to OTT. Mushrooming of online gaming Video games in India are quite popular, throughout of reach for most ordinary citizens. Xbox, Nintendo, and PlayStation were all out of reach for ordinary and rural Indians, and their usage was limited to affluent urban users. The advent of affordable Android-based smartphones have democratized online gaming and brought gameplay to millions of smartphone users across the country. OTT has a huge role to play in bringing video game content to Indian users. Potential opportunities in online gaming include video games developed in various languages of India, indigenous game development, and streaming of global video games on subscription models. 4G speeds, OTT, and affordable subscriptions have already begun to help users across India play video games. Most video game players use smartphones priced $300 or below, and there is a market for large-screen smartphones in this particular demographic. It is no wonder that the gaming industry in India is expected to become a $1 billion industry. Content in various languages of India Right from sports, music, and movies to online gaming, content in regional languages is likely to be the focus of media houses, whether national or international. SonyLIV, for instance, believes that a large proportion of its OTT offering will depend on media consumption in languages other than English, such as Tamil, Bengali, Kannada, etc. In fact, Sony has plans to attract 200 million users from various linguistic states of India, subverting the idea of homogeneous media consumption. While music and movies already have an OTT presence for various languages of India, OTT-based TV services hold promising opportunities as well. As discussed earlier, the gradual replacement of TVs with smartphones will likely open up opportunities for TV content creators and aggregators as well. Innovation in this area will focus on making TV-streaming in regional content quicker and more accessible. Mobile app streaming via OTT is another area that might open doors to

Read More »

Why should you choose a CMS and not a custom development partner?

July 26, 2018

Every business has different needs, and this truism is reflected in deciding the kind of website a particular business must have. Each company’s web development requirements are different too and the only factor that’s common among business websites is that they all need a content management system (CMS) to function. A CMS helps you to add, edit, and manage content on your website. While there are already readymade CMS tools available (Joomla!, Drupal, WordPress, etc.), there is also the option of custom development of CMS, right from scratch. While readymade CMS helps businesses to get their websites up and running in no time, custom development of websites has its own advantages. Highly complex projects require custom development, in order to make sure that all the requirements of a client are met. Yet, even many complex projects can be undertaken with just Drupal if your developers are experienced enough. In this article, let us take an objective look at the differences between CMS and custom development, and what you should choose for your web requirements. What is CMS development and who is it for? A Content Management System (CMS) is uncomplicated and comes with all the features you would expect from a fully-functional website. Without the need to start from scratch, you will be able to choose from a template and set up navigation, file management, databases, libraries, etc. in a short period of time. Third-party plug-ins are always available for all the popular CMS platforms such as WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla!. Drupal, in particular, is suitable for extremely complex websites, while being perfect for simple business websites at the same time. An experienced developer can customise Drupal and program it to run better than any custom developed website at a fraction of the cost. Most importantly, it takes very little time to set up a CMS-based website and get it up and running. Multi-user management is easy and complex graphics can be displayed efficiently with no errors or bugs. Most importantly, regular updates keep your websites safe and secure, without you having to worry too much about security risks. CMS-based websites have very few errors and development community is widely accessible if you need any assistance. Of course, customisation can prove to be difficult if you choose the wrong vendor but when you find the right partner, using a CMS is the quickest, simplest, and the most affordable path to setting up even complex websites. CMS websites are great for just about anything. Whether you want to set up a simple website or a complex web portal that runs a number of online processes, a CMS-based website can handle it all. What is custom development and who is it for? If we are discussing custom development, you can expect your developers to code the website right from scratch to finish. It sounds like an attractive process but it is going to cost a lot more than CMS development. There are obvious benefits to custom coding, such as better control with respect to what you can do with a website or a page, and how quickly you can get it to load. However, the same results can be achieved with CMS as well. Developers will need to be proficient in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, ASP.net, etc., and should be able to decide if you really need custom development. Custom development costs significantly higher than regular CMS development because developers need to build a new website right from scratch. Most of the times, custom development is not necessary and is a bit of overkill. It also takes a long time to debug errors. If you ever change your development vendor, you might face issues if the next developer isn’t as proficient to read code written by someone else. While it isn’t hard to find agencies that specialise in all the languages required for custom development, the time and skills that they will need to utilise for building a website for you right from scratch will result in exorbitant bills. Most businesses that need a website for corporate or eCommerce purposes do not need custom development. Instead, they can get an open source CMS such as Drupal or Joomla! customised to suit their needs. In fact, we have engaged in Drupal development for some of the most complex projects pertaining to very large enterprises. Does your business need CMS or custom development? In most cases, you will not require custom development. As discussed, custom development takes a longer time to complete the project and is invariably very expensive and difficult to manage. On the other hand, CMS websites are quick to install, can be customised as per your requirements, and there are umpteen number of third-party plugins available if you need complex features. In fact, there are superior plugins that can do a lot more than you might imagine. Unless the situation calls for it, you only need to consider a good partner to set up a CMS-based website. Use Case 1 eCommerce business needs a website that can handle heavy traffic and payments Requirement: An eCommerce business required a website that would not only handle high web traffic but also to ensure that all payments went through in a safe and secure manner. The business wanted a website that looked unique and placed stress on ease of use. Solution: Indus Net Technologies developed a Drupal-based website that was sturdy and stable. Customizing Drupal code was enough to make the website appear the way the client wanted. As Drupal loads quickly, and is particularly suited for heavy traffic, the website we build for the client was a success. Results: The website was easy to use, could handle high web traffic, and payments went through secure PCI DSS-compliant servers. The business saw more people purchasing products due to an increase in customer trust. Use Case 2 A large financial institution needed a web portal to sell its insurance products and help customers manage their accounts. Requirements: The insurance giant needed a web portal which would

Read More »

7 Things to Consider Before Having a Mobile App for Your Business

July 24, 2018

A couple of years ago, if we asked around, every business would have expressed interest in developing a mobile app. Even today, businesses are eager to develop mobile apps, motivated by a number of factors. With more than 3.5 million Android apps and close to 2.5 million iOS apps, it might seem like you are missing out on a lot of things by not offering an application to your users. Yet, more than just getting a mobile app developed, assessing customer needs, your market strategy, and industry scenario are all more important factors to consider. A successful mobile enhances user satisfaction and brings value to your customers. Sometimes, enhancing a website for mobile use may be a better option. Even more important is the task of finding the right agency which will help you to develop a winning mobile app. To make your mobile app a success, spend some time assessing your needs, market situation, and your customer requirements. In this article, we help you do just that by listing 7 important questions you need to ask before getting a mobile app developed. Do you really need a mobile app? What started out as a game-changing development soon became a trend, leading to businesses developing mobile apps whether they needed it or not. Playing catch-up, or doing what everyone else is doing, is not the way to go when it comes to technology adoption. There may be a good reason why your business does not need mobile applications. If your product or service is more likely to be accessed over a website, investing in mobile-optimised responsive web development might be a better solution. Progressive Web Applications (PWA) and Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) may prove to be better solutions for your need than a mobile app developed for iOS and Android platforms. Progressive Web Applications are also great when your users are located in places where the internet connection is unreliable or slow. Flipkart’s Flipkart Lite is a great example of Progressive Web Applications. Hastily developing a mobile app to impress your target audience or your competitors may have just the opposite of the intended effect. What is the purpose of your app? If you think you do need a mobile app, and that is a matter of concern for your profitability, competitiveness, and customer experience, explore what the purpose of the mobile is going to be. The app could serve the purpose of selling a product or service, or it could simply enhance customer experience. The purpose of developing a mobile can greatly vary. Sometimes, a mobile app may serve multiple purposes. Spend time deliberating on why you want the mobile app, which problems it is going to solve, and what its long-term purpose is going to be. Developing a mobile app without a purpose may cause long-term damage to your brand, and may result in the wasteful expenditure of resources. Many studies indicate that people uninstall or stop using a majority of mobile apps after downloading and installing them. Who is your target user? For a mobile app to be successful, it should be developed with the target user in mind. Always try to understand your audience deeply, and use data insight to do so. Data analytics helps you to test and retest your ideas for efficacy so that your investment in mobile development is not wasted. A mobile application should suit the lifestyle of your target users and should be intimately tied to their personal identities. We recently developed a mobile game for a US veteran who lost his eyesight and wanted to launch a mobile game for people who are visually challenged. There was a clear understanding of who the target audience was, and the challenges they may encounter while playing the mobile game. To compete with the millions of mobile apps that are out there, make sure that you understand your target user at an intimate level. Otherwise, your mobile app will risk being ignored. Will your app solve a customer problem? Every mobile app should not only help you make profits, but also solve a customer problem. If not solve a problem, it should enhance the user experience. If your mobile app is not going to add value to your target users, then it risks being ignored after being downloaded. To help develop a mobile app that truly solves your customer problems, understand their pain points and explore how your mobile app could address those pain points. If there are no pain points to be addressed, explore if you can bring a “wow” factor to the table. If your mobile app is going to present a revolutionary experience or concept to the user, then it is going to be successful. Sometimes, reducing the duration of certain processes and making your customers’ lives simpler are reasons enough to develop mobile apps. However, you will need to back up your reasons with deep data insights. What kind of app do you need? Before you decide on developing a mobile app, consider how and where it is going to be used. You will have to choose between native mobile apps and cross-platform mobile apps. Native mobile apps are developed for iOS and Android (usually) using programming languages that are native to the device’s OS, such as Objective C and Swift for iOS devices, and Java for Android devices. Native mobile apps offer a better user interface and excellent user experience. They also make use of all the features a platform has to offer. However, they tend to be more expensive, challenging, and time-consuming projects. Cross-platform mobile apps can be used on both Android and iOS devices, and multiple versions of the code need not be written, leading to reduced expenditure and saved time. However, the user experience will not be as great as that of native apps and your mobile app will not be able to make use of all the features that each platform offers. How do you plan to monetise your app? A successful mobile app needs

Read More »

Why Marketing Automation Matters for Your Business

July 19, 2018

If you are late to the party, marketing automation is a force to reckon with and is the fuel that is driving small and medium-sized agencies and businesses to compete with the top players in the industry. Marketing automation helps a small team to put its marketing strategy on steroids, and use Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions to automate both basic and complex marketing tasks to achieve stellar heights. There are a number of software tools and cloud solutions that help businesses to automate various marketing functions, right from understanding a target market to capturing lead-related data and nurturing long-term customers. While implementing a thorough marketing strategy used to be expensive and time-consuming, it is now accessible even to the smallest of companies thanks to SaaS subscription models. SaaS solutions provide efficient, affordable, and accessible marketing tools on different subscription models. Both big and small businesses have begun to use these SaaS marketing tools to automate various marketing functions, and have begun to see exemplary results. Regardless of the size and nature of your business, the axiomatic truth is, you need marketing automation. To explain why marketing automation matters so much for your business, we have listed 7 reasons. Let us take a look at each of them briefly. Understand your market better Most businesses fail to achieve traction because their marketing strategy is not in touch with the actual realities of the market they are targeting. This is only possible when campaigns are tied around behavioral and demographic variables that are often easy to miss. Marketing automation tools provide rich insights into the market in question and help businesses to design campaigns that are effective. When you subscribe to a MarTech solution, you will be able to compete with large businesses who probably have better resources to conduct market research. Market research can get quite tedious and expensive for those who do not have the resources to carry out large market research campaigns, Data analytics, combined with marketing automation tools can help you to arrive at marketing predictions that are useful and effective, at a fraction of the cost. MarTech is increasingly being used to conduct market research by a large number of companies and is encouraging a metrics-driven culture. Curate high-quality leads New GDPR rules and privacy-related restrictions have severely curtailed most businesses’ ability to capture high-quality leads. Yet, the new developments are positive in nature when assessed objectively. Marketing automation tools can now quickly detect and predict which of your web visitors are going to be hour leads, and which of them will convert to customers. Data analytics and marketing automation tools can be integrated and programmed in such a way that you automate the curation of high-quality leads. There’re a number of tools already available to help you automate both lead generation, and filtering of those leads. However, partnering with an agency which will help you to integrate data analytics with marketing automation tools will help you curate a list of high-quality leads. After all, communicating with high-quality leads, even if they are fewer in numbers, is a better sales strategy than coming up with a digital marketing strategy that involves targeting an exponentially higher number of users. Shortlist the best distribution channels Once you have the list of leads generated and curated automatically, you will also need to assess how you should communicate with them. This decision was earlier left to managers or staff who used their own methods (both objective and subjective) to list the preferred distribution channels. Unfortunately, this is not an effective strategy and is mired with loopholes. Inbound marketing can easily be automated, and a digital marketing strategy should be built around actual facts and figures related to which platforms, social media tools, and channels your target users prefer to use. As such, a strategy that involves marketing automation and data analytics will reveal the cold hard facts about where to reach your target audience, and how best to communicate with them. Use marketing automation to choose the best distribution and communication channels, and to base this choice on insight derived from data analytics. Understand different buyer personas To engage in successful marketing, you need to understand your target audience at an intimate level. This is only possible when the most minute of their behaviours are statistically analyzed. Automating the process of studying user behavior will help you to group them under various buyer personas. Right from what they tweet to how they respond to certain images or news feeds, you can predict exactly how you should develop your marketing strategy to win them over. As consumers tend to be a diverse group, you can develop different marketing campaigns for different buyer personas. Understanding personas are closely linked to creating winning digital content as well. Automating the process of collecting information and using data analytics to process this information helps you to arrive at useful insights related to different personas. Use this insight to create a successful agile marketing strategy. Take personalization to the next level There is a misconception that automation implies lack of personal touch. Any Chief Marketing Technologist (CMT) will tell you that automation, in fact, enhances more personal communication. Automating content distribution and basing content creation on various buyer personas help you to personalize all communication at the micro-level. For example, MarTech products can help you to target communication individually, based on various tastes, quirks, behavioral patterns, personal details, etc. While content distribution and communication can be automated, you can use your free time and man-hours to enhance customer interactions and build valuable relationships. Creating a more personal approach used to be expensive and required hiring more in-house staff. Automating such a personal approach will reduce the need for hiring more employees, and will help you build more meaningful relationships with your customers. Save time and money For most small and medium businesses, marketing is the single most expensive business process. Not only does it cost money, it also requires time and effort, all of

Read More »

#VideoMarketing – Is It Viral Yet?

June 22, 2018

Video Marketing is here and in a big way. You must have by now tried your hands on it already. It definitely yields more results than most of the other forms of marketing don’t you think? And don’t we all want our videos to be viral? Well going viral should never be the primary objective of any video marketing campaign. You should rather focus on the content before anything. Here are some of the ongoing discussions on Video Marketing that will help you propel your social media forward. https://twitter.com/mattbertramlive/status/1008746595800604672 YouTube Marketing is a fantastic way to showcase your products and services. Using interesting content will help you build your brand globally. With over 1 billion views a month YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine behind Google. #youtubemarketing #videomarketing — Andrew Lloyd (@AndrewL31763166) June 17, 2018 I love that YouTube is still ranking so high in google search results. Too bad Facebook can’t do that, they would do so much better as a video platform. #socialmediamarketing #VideoMarketing — Jacqueline Jax (@JacquelineJax) June 16, 2018 21 Efficient Video Marketing #Growth Hack for Your #Stratup's Content #Marketing [Infographic] #VideoMarketing #GrowthHacking pic.twitter.com/oeyStv5ks3 — ipfconline (@ipfconline1) June 19, 2018 YouTube Marketing is a fantastic way to showcase your products and services. Using interesting content will help you build your brand globally. With over 1 billion views a month YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine behind Google. #youtubemarketing #videomarketing pic.twitter.com/oKP1xixpvE — Esanz Marketing (@esanz_m) June 19, 2018 Top #socialmedia trends. #VideoMarketing #AR #Chatbots #AI #InfluencerMarketing #SMM #SocialMediaMarketing #AugmentedReality By @Filmora_Editor pic.twitter.com/l3MxUDw9ef — Jonathan Aufray ? (@JonathanAufray) June 18, 2018 A massive infographic of #videomarketing stats and tips (via @irfanahmad1989) #smm https://t.co/qnnEBMCAfx — Social Media Today (@socialmedia2day) June 17, 2018 People consume video more than written words. Share short videos on social media and longer versions on your site -via @Brucem67 #AMPlifySocial #VideoMarketing — Holly Chessman (@HollyChessman) June 12, 2018 Video #marketing Tools and Softwareshttps://t.co/e3GJWsejoD#videomarketing #tools #software #videoproduction pic.twitter.com/yjtGIkfK0B — GSG Promotional (@GStarsGreen) June 19, 2018 The AUDIENCE is the new CURRENCY for your #business. Today in this digital age for businesses to engage with their target audience they will need to have a strong engaging online presence to pull such valuable interest to their services & products. #VideoMarketing #namitakabilas — Namita Kabilas (@NamitaKabilas) June 18, 2018 50+ Video Marketing Stats to Guide Your 2018 Strategy [Infographic]#DigitalTransformation #DigitalMarketing #SEO #ContentMarketing#SEOServices #SEOtips #marketingtips #SocialMedia #infographic #makeyourownlane #infosec #finserv #defstar5 #Mpgvip #smm #startups #VideoMarketing pic.twitter.com/bo9B00myl3 — Nitish Sharma☯️ (@Nitish_Sharma23) June 14, 2018 Keep watching this space! We regularly publish similar blogs with current happenings from around the globe in the world of Tech and Digital.To read more Click Here

Read More »

#RetailTech For Successful Retail Business

June 1, 2018

With the introduction of emerging technologies and with the advent of digital disruption, the customer shopping experience has seen a major evolution. Online stores, smartphones, dynamic ads, same day deliveries have given the modern day shopper more flexibility. #RetailTech is the new buzzword, and the retail industry around the world has seen a lot when it comes to digital disruption. For any successful retail business, delivering great customer experience is the most important aspect. Here are some new things happening in the #RetailTech. Have a look: Alibaba's futuristic supermarket in #China is light-years ahead of the US. #Alibaba wants to use #data and #technology to transform #retail ft. 30 min. deliveries and #facialrecognition payments [#video] | via @BrettKing#retailtech #innovation pic.twitter.com/lwg52kDHd9 — Dimitris Ioannides (@diioannid) May 24, 2018 The Future of Retail Includes In-store Behavior Tracking, Payments and Re-stocking! #AI #Computervision #Ecommerce #RetailTech #MachineLearning #DeepLearning pic.twitter.com/6sr3pI8G9q — MtN (@FashNerdEditor) May 31, 2018 https://twitter.com/RETTechInsider/status/1001451342425219072 What did Goldman Sachs say about us in their #StoreOfTheFuture report? "PERCH leads with its aesthetic appeal, while providing its retail enterprise customers a full content curation and analytics via cloud." Isn't it time for your store of the future powered by #retailtech? pic.twitter.com/OlXh733bjX — Real World AI – Where Technology Meets Humanity (@RealWorldAINews) May 30, 2018 #AI in #retail is expected to exceed $8bn by 2024 marking it one of the fast growing sub-segment of #retailtech at 40% CAGR#qopius #goQopius #retailoutlock #global #machinelearning #ML #artificialIntelligence #research pic.twitter.com/hUlDDCWN9h — Bedeir (@elbedeir) May 30, 2018 The right #retailtech transforms shopper experience but where to start? @PwC_UK @the_brc webinar https://t.co/GJbIm8mpHA #intelligentdigital pic.twitter.com/ZNOJxzChMq — Madeleine Thomson (@MadsThomson) May 31, 2018 In many ways Starbucks is on the cutting edge of using #BigData and #ArtificialIntelligence to drive business decisions https://t.co/pF3F79x1Zs #InnovationIsNow #RetailTech — Tofugear (@tofugear) May 29, 2018 3000 robots are working in this Chinese delivery warehouse to process 200,000 items per day #retailtech #logistics #Robotics #AI #IoT #Industry40 @rajat_shrimal cc @MikeQuindazzi @evankirstel @kuriharan @debashis_dutta @MHiesboeck @chboursin @jblefevre60pic.twitter.com/jQFial3ICc — Rajat Shrimal (@rajat_shrimal) May 16, 2018 These 10 Retailers Are Leading the Way in Augmented Reality https://t.co/nokIPHwZvt #SneakerTech #FashionTech #FootwearTech #AugmentedReality #AR #RetailTech pic.twitter.com/SM6CTe6wgM — Shape Innovate (@shapeinnovate) May 15, 2018 https://twitter.com/BF_Tech_UK/status/982185154348138496 #RetailTech is here and it is here to disrupt the way we shop and the retailers do their business. Watch this space for more such carefully curated posts, to be updated on all the latest happenings around the globe in Technology and Digital. For updated news visit our Blog

Read More »

What We Learnt From Tech Events From Around The World This Month – May 2018

May 29, 2018

May saw some very interesting tech events, conferences, summits, and exhibitions across the world. These Tech-events give you insights on the current happenings and activities in the world of technology. Whether you could attend the event or not, we bring you carefully curated updates from some of the best tech events held in May 2018 from around the globe, from San Francisco to, Las Vegas, Munich and more. Gartner CIO & IT Executive Summit, Munich https://twitter.com/joannegwenhayes/status/996475034356146176 The Next Web, Amsterdam OVERHEARD at #TNW2018:@docjamesw We are the first human generation smart enough to build artificially intelligent machines and stupid enough to actually build them. ? Watch the livestream: https://t.co/YQqzqbz6ui pic.twitter.com/A7sUlQhw1b — TNW Events (@tnwevents) May 24, 2018 Tech Superwoman Summit, San Francisco https://twitter.com/emily_rouse/status/992476312764694529 F8, San Jose Need to catch-up on everything announced at #F82018? https://t.co/UWS0WPWmdw — TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) May 4, 2018 Knowledge 18, Las Vegas Businesses need a platform that can enable their #digital transformation journey to help them reach their goals and deliver true #Business value. #Know18 https://t.co/VB9ccu2q3m pic.twitter.com/sXk5V1ckRs — Terry Brown (@terryalanbrown) May 11, 2018 Red Hat Summit, San Francisco How can you make your architecture optimized for the future? Create scalable, flexible cloud-native applications that are connected to real-time data analytics. #DellEMC teaches you how: #RHSummit https://t.co/wdQwgPndFV #Iwork4Dell pic.twitter.com/X4u2ji18y7 — roshan pradeep kumar (@roshanpkj) May 28, 2018 As the year progresses, we will be coming up with more such updates. Make sure to check this space often! Check out more Tech related blogs here  

Read More »

#TwitterChat: Privacy Awareness is always Good for Businesses – Demystifying GDPR

May 22, 2018

There has been a dramatic transformation in the way we communicate and our handling of everyday tasks. We do everything online. We send emails, buy goods, store documents, pay bills, all by entering our personal data. But what happens to all these information that we have shared online? These data include banking information, social media posts, your personal photos, contacts, addresses even your IP address and the sites visited by you. Companies collect data to serve you better, for a better customer experience but is that all they use these data for? The big question was thoroughly discussed by EU and they came up with a solution. On the 25th of May 2018 a new European Privacy Regulation, GDPR will be imposed and it will permanently change the way data is collected, stored and used. If you do not have a plan to be ready for GDPR, it is high time now. We hosted a Twitter chat on Privacy Awareness is always Good for Businesses – Demystifying GDPR’ where Chris Smith, Head of Operations at PORT (@smithcjb1989) and Matt Rutherford, Head of Customer Success at 9 Spokes (@mattr) as our panelists. A lot of deep insights came into focus. Let us quickly go through the interesting discussion. A1 – GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation – is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU. #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 1: A step to bring privacy regulation in line with the digital age! The UK's current privacy regulation was made law in the same year Google was founded! #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech @mattr — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A2: the biggest challenge we faced around #gdpr is the quantum of confusion and misinformation floating around. I think of you respect privacy, just organise your committment around a framework and you are sorted. Not sure if I am over simplifying it.#DigitalSuccess — Abhishek Rungta (@abhishekrungta) May 22, 2018 A2 – Primary problem – understanding the rules. There is a LOT of (mis)information about, so make sure you check the source by visiting the ICO website : https://t.co/BsvJRdt0JB or the European – https://t.co/8edrSR2nTn site #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 They have a range of challenges! For #SME and #Enterprises the biggest issue is often the data mess they currently have with legacy data and systems making keeping track of personal data a real challenge #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A3 – Using a tool might be more comprehensive and speed things up for you – but assess this against your risk-profile, needs and exposure. #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 3: Lots of tools like @MailChimp and @HubSpot are also releasing other smaller bits of functionality that will help a business operate in a compliant manner. Do check them out but remember that alone won't make you compliant #DigitalSuccess #GDPR @mattr @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A4 – Products and services will need to be designed with privacy in mind. Privacy by Design brings many benefits – no least of which is those trustworthy organisations will have a competitive advantage #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 4: #GDPR puts greater emphasis on accountability so in terms of a documented strategy we should be seeing more. More than that though, data protection should be central to organisations – get it wrong and businesses could lose out #DigitalSuccess @mattr @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A5 – Not EVERY organisation needs a DPO – although public authorities do, and any organisation that is involved in systematic monitoring of individuals, or activities relating to criminal convictions #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 5: However, even if an official DPO is not a legal requirement, having a named and accountable individual internally I would say is pretty much a must #DigitalSuccess @mattr @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A6 The GDPR definition provides for a wide range of personal identifiers to constitute personal data, inc. name, identification no., location data or online identifier, reflecting changes in technology and the way orgs collect information abt people. #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 6: It's any information that can be related directly or indirectly to an individual. Importantly this does now include digital identifiers such as IP address #DigitalSuccess @mattr @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A7: My only concern is that, the terms and conditions on website and services may be crafted such that #GDPR loses it's purpose. But the opt-out can is certainly a big relief. #DigitalSuccess — Abhishek Rungta (@abhishekrungta) May 22, 2018 You need new practices : 1. New opt-in permission rules / 2. Proof of consent storing systems / 3. A method for consumers to ask for their personal information to be removed. #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 A7 – Email marketing under GDPR essentially means that, as an email marketer, you need to collect freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous consent. #DigitalSuccess @indusnettech — MattR 👓 🇺🇦 (@mattr) May 22, 2018 Answer 7: The big issue at the moment is one of consent. This is why your inboxes are cluttered! The criteria for consent have become far more strict and much marketing won't be able to take place without legitimate consent #DigitalSuccess @mattr @indusnettech — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 Answer 7: Whilst it's cluttered inboxes for now, it should mean more engaged groups of individuals on mailing lists who really want to hear from brands and interact with them #DigitalSuccess @mattr @indusnettech #GDPR — Chris Smith (@smithcjb1989) May 22, 2018 A8 – There are some specific GDPR specialists who are looking at HR. I'd recommend starting with a checklist like

Read More »

How to Multiply Your Number of #Leads in Your Existing Digital Marketing Budget

May 21, 2018

A question that bothers everybody is, how one can increase the number of leads without increasing their existing digital marketing budget. The answer isn’t quite simple, but it is possible to refocus and strategize your digital marketing budget so that lead generation takes center stage. It all started when businesses began to spend more money on digital marketing than on traditional marketing. The influx of smartphones and other portable devices necessitated a completely different approach at the turn of the last decade. Today, digital is far more important than other platforms, and nobody is arguing about that. However, digital marketing budgets have increased sharply in recent years and in United States Digital Spend is surpassing the traditional media spend. It is in digital media that we are able to understand how the visitors are behaving and a number of us work are trying to get more from what we have already spent. A number of clients often ask this and then we go ahead with a 10 step simple guide which helps to multiply leads without no extra cost. You might just have to divert your budget a little to the left, and a little to the right. Audit your database If you haven’t heard already, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is coming soon and will require you to seek explicit consent from all the emails in your database. The regulation focuses on improving privacy and requires you to stop contacting people if you do not have their explicit consent to do so. Auditing your email database and discarding emails that do not explicitly permit you can be a great way to not only comply with GDPR, but also making your database more meaningful and lean. A curated and lean email database will convert at an exponentially higher rate than a large database with no meaningful leads. Redevelop your website To comply with GDPR, you will also need to redevelop your contact forms and call to action forms, so that explicit permission is sought before customers share their emails. In addition, you will have to change your cookies policies and write terms and conditions in layman’s terms, all of which require a little bit of redevelopment and redesigning. Once you do this, you will notice that leads convert quickly because the traffic is more targeted, and those who engage with your website truly want to do so. Though the actual traffic may fall, your lead conversion percentage will drastically increase. Focus on social engagement While most businesses have a lot of money to spend on social campaigns, they forget to engage with their audiences meaningfully. To increase the number of leads, it is important to focus on social engagement and get more personal. Social engagement is an important aspect that is often neglected by even the savviest digital marketers. Whether on Facebook or Twitter, maintain a respectful friendliness that is neither distant nor uncomfortably intrusive. This balanced approach to social engagement will help you to win hearts, as you will not appear pushy or non-responsive. In result, you will see the number of leads soar quickly. Have meaningful conversations Most businesses fail at customizing and doing meaningful conversations and end up talking to every segment of the market in the same tone and manner. It doesn’t work. At best, people may ignore you, and at worst, they may get annoyed or offended. Every communication from your side needs to be tailor-made for your audience. Study your target audience’s psychographic factors and demographic details, and create conversations that are customized for them. Tailor-made conversations feel a lot more intimate and personal than pushy marketing scripts, which will put people off. Be subtle and friendly, and use data to customize your conversations to suit your target audience. Create lead magnets A lead magnet is type of content that will automatically fetch you a large number of email addresses. This kind of content needs to be of top-notch quality, and people should download it even months after you make it available. Creating a series of lead magnets will help you to gain a large number of leads who can be nurtured so that they convert in future. Please do remember that you may have to make your download page GDPR-compliant, especially if you plan to use visitors’ emails in the future for marketing purposes. This means, you will have to seek explicit consent here too. Create stellar content in different formats Most businesses think of blogs and eBooks when they think of content. However, creating content in different formats will help you to generate more leads. A number of people prefer to watch videos or listen to podcasts than read textual content. It makes sense to create excellent videos that urge the viewer to download a lead magnet if they want to learn more. That will be the moment of truth, if they choose to give their consent and download your lead magnet. Such motivated users usually convert sooner or later.  In addition, this also helps you with your SEO, which in turn again helps you generate leads. Revamp your landing pages If you haven’t fixed your landing pages in a while, now is probably be the best time to do so. Even your landing pages will need to become GDPR-compliant, as explicit permissions will need to be sought before visitors share their email addresses. Make changes to the forms on your landing pages, and see a more relevant database whose conversion rates will be very high. After all, it is not a good idea to keep a large number of leads that will never convert to prospects. A highly curated list will make sure that leads convert to prospects, and prospects to customers. Don’t neglect paid ads Re-route a large percentage of your digital marketing budget towards paid ads, as this is where much of lead generation takes place. Though many choose to ignore paid ads and focus on organic marketing, it is not a great idea. Existing digital marketing

Read More »

Services

Industries

Company

Resources

Press Kit

MENU
Book a Free Consultation
CONTACT US

Let’s connect!

Loading form…

Book a Free Consultation
CONTACT US

Let’s connect!

    Privacy Policy.

    Almost there!

    Download the report

      Privacy Policy.

      Book a Free Consultation