Digital Marketing Strategies for Credit Unions

(P.C. – Unsplash, @rupixen)

Why Digital Marketing for Credit Unions is the need of the hour?

Credit unions have always had it tough to demarcate themselves successfully when it comes to facing competition and because they offer more or less similar services like banks and other financers, there target population remains the same more or less and so shall be the approach of targeting the consumers. Therefore, the rules of the game have to be changed and re-molded in such a way that combining an effective use of technology along-with the specialized set of services offered, not only help in customer retention but also in gaining traction amongst new customers.

Before going ahead with your digital marketing strategy, you should know your audience, i.e., one who knows about you and one who doesn’t. For the ones who know about you, it’s always easier to keep them in the loop because of brand familiarity leading to closer relationships. Here the main target is how to attract those customers who aren’t aware about you, even remotely. With so many similar organizations modeled on the same way like yours and having common names with financial and federal, the list of confusion for the unassuming customer grows, unabated. Therefore, our team at Zivanta Analytics shall happily assist you in going ahead with your future endeavors as well as helping in sustaining those successfully cultivated past relations.

Strategies to design your digital marketing approach –

It is important to design a holistic marketing strategy to target customers from all ends, and being impactful but also minding the fact, that it’s not too much of into-my-face advertising and there are tools to help you to achieve the same, let’s have a look at a few of those:

  1. Use of AI and Big data to personalize the user experience – With excessive user data at the disposal of financial institutions, and credit unions being no exception, this data can be channelized to have a consumer-targeted marketing strategy. For instance using simple regression or data algorithm to suggest products or services to a particular customer, based on their past behavior or suggesting them specific loans or mortgages as per their financial history. During the current times, when so much confusion is prevailing, it is important to offer constructive advice and help to your customers and therefore designing or suggesting your customers a personalized financial plan to help them overcome the financial stress that is facing, would go a long way in building your reputation as well as creating a lifelong relationship.
  2. Creating a breezy customer experience as a priority in your marketing strategy – Creating a convenient and a quality rich consumer experience would help your credit union to grow, be it creating a wonderful virtual experience or providing them with a facilitative experience at your physical workplace. The marketing strategy should be so designed that it focuses on creating a positive, helpful, and quality experience for every customer, whenever they interact with your credit union. Thus, having a consumer-first policy shall go a long way in building a good reputation and long term sustenance of your organization.
  3. Having a digital app in the first place – The importance of having a digital presence can’t be emphasized more, with nearly 77% of the U.S. population having access to social media, therefore, the logical conclusion from the same is that these people would prefer something which is on-the go; offers convenience and ease of usage, which not only saves time but is also safe at the same time. With the current change in scenario due to COVID -19, people prefer digital interactions rather than face to face ones. This is a golden opportunity to further push your app and refine it as per consumer demands; you can use it for multiple purposes be it marketing or personal banking and financial services, offering safety precautions, and tutoring customers regarding your services from time to time. This shall create a relationship of ease and trust between you and your customer as well as target new generation customers. We at Zivanta Analytics can help you in developing a facilitative and aesthetically designed app for your business needs, thus giving you a point of leverage against others, in the fray.
  4. Personalizing Consumer outreach – With every business now aiming to enhance their consumer outreach, credit unions aren’t far away and rightly shouldn’t be so. Connecting with consumers in person definitely has a humane touch rather an online one, but it’s imperative to add real value to the outreach, for instance offering on a time to time basis real time consultations, financial planning and advice, personalized customer based financial plans or whatever is applicable to your local demography. What should be kept in mind is the fact that these outreach events aren’t events for creating a sales pitch, thereby, your representatives should remain warm, welcoming and friendly, thereby, focusing on offering valuable suggestions and advice, because the idea is to help the community at large and forging meaningful relationships.

How to Target new Customers:

  1. Use of Social media – As per a study by Forrester social media and digital advertising will form a considerable size of your digital marketing expense, i.e. approximately 40% and there are valid reasons for the same. This is because, advertising on social media gives you an unhindered exposure as well as offering people access to new things and making them aware of the products and services offered by you.
  2. Use of Google for display and search advertising – Use of Google Adwords isn’t something new but the importance of who can’t be emphasized less. Running ads on the search engines results pages (SERPs) and on specific websites ensures you are generating greater returns on your advertising dollars. There are some reasons why Google is more helpful for you:
  • Targeting the appropriate audience
  • Ease of Budgeting
  • Traffic maintenance
  • Testing of multiple ads to judge the best version

                   Maintaining older Customers:

  1. Having an interactive and an aesthetic website: Since most financial institutions get their traffic from consumers landing on their webpage to access their account and for other services, therefore you can use the webpage space available to advertise other services and other products, offered by you. It’s important to understand the value of time, i.e. how to successfully capture the interest of the users in a limited time-frame and that can happen if the banner images so designed and placed are powerful enough to convey the desired messages. It’s important to continuously change the image displayed on the banners and regularly test buttons, CTA’s and tabs; this is important to give variety and a novel experience on a regular basis to your customers.

 

With the given ideas, you can have a head-start to plan your marketing strategy and tailor it as per your needs and the clientele being catered to. Now some strategies might already be in place for you and some might be new, but the way to stay ahead in the game is calculated marketing investment and creating new but targeted strategies to keep customers in loop.

Key Metrics for preparing Dashboard for Clients

(P.C. – Unsplash, @campaign_creators)

Irrespective of the type of business you are into, measuring Key Performing Indicators (KPI’s) for it is essential, but with dime a dozen KPI measures available online, it not only creates chaos but also deviates you from the path of strategic thinking and decision-making.

You don’t need to measure each and every KPI, as it is not only unnecessary but also creates a burden on your resources to successfully meet the fulfillment criteria for every KPI which is short of the target, as well as not necessarily you need every metric to understand how your marketing plan is performing. Generic KPI’s aren’t helpful in making sense for your clients and as well as whether they align with the type of marketing campaigns run by your team.

By employing revenue-focused marketing KPIs, you can ably show your team’s valuable efforts while staying aligned with your broad business goals.

Some Key Marketing KPI’s to show your marketing worth

  1. Rate of Conversion – Individually measuring conversion rates for every phase of your marketing funnel shall lend you a productive insight into your customer’s journey. While studying that you may across certain loopholes in some phases, which can be a cause of you losing your potential revenue. For every organization, marketing funnels shall be different, and so shall your measuring metrics. It is important to have a well designed webpage to attract your customers and have your landing pages designed into conversion points. It is imperative to test the success of your landing page, so test them and refine them periodically, this is very important to ensure higher rate of conversion.
  2. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV or LTV) – It is important to calculate your customer lifetime value (CLV or LTV), to assess which customers carry value for you. To engage those customers, marketing campaigns have to be designed and adjusted; this can happen once we know which acquisition channels are giving the most profitable customers. CLV or LTV also helps in designing your retention marketing plan.
  3. Quality of Leads generated; Bounce rate and MQL:SQL ratio- Lead counts, the higher the number, the better it sounds and makes you feel good, but how are they helpful, if they don’t convert into closed deals, then it just shows a misdirected marketing strategy, as well as results in loss of money, time and resources. The main goal of any lead generation activity is to generate qualified leads, those who are in all probability going to indulge in a transactional activity with your business. In this case, Bounce rate can help you determine, whether you are attracting the right audience traffic to your website, whereas, MQL:SQL ratio acts as litmus test for your sales team, wherein, whether they are successfully able to convert leads into proper customers.
  4. Leads generated by Channels – Extracting the most of your given resources, plays a crucial part in determining and developing any marketing strategy. To determine your success rate and highest ROI generated, you can break the results by determining leads by channel, these can be your social media channels, e-mail based marketing, in-bound marketing, content creation, material downloads, newspaper based marketing, etc.
  5. Marketing Generated Revenue- This is one crucial KPI as it enables marketing-sourced pipeline to reach the end of the funnel, thereby helping the companies to know the exact figure of the total revenue earned from successful deals that originally were just marketing leads. This metric carries great value as it shows the marketing team’s alignment to the organizational goals as well as determining the overall health of the business.
  6. Marketing ROI – This is one of the most important and impactful marketing KPI, especially when one wishes to convey the most important message in a crisp manner, i.e. the impact generated with every dollar spent, which can help the higher management determine the value which marketing brings to the table. MROI also helps in determining important decisions like creating marketing budgets, marketing goals and strategies, future course of action, etc.
  7. Marketing percentage of Cost to obtain a consumer (M% of CAC)- Marketing undoubtedly forms a cornerstone of any customer acquisition process, but for any organization it’s important to know what the actual breakdown of the incurred expenses includes, especially if the costs are inclusive of the entire operational costs, as a part of CAC. Though, changes in CAC can provide useful insights to the team but it has to be kept in mind, that there are various factors at play, before determining the impact of Marketing %, i.e. for instance impact of any new marketing initiative, cost incurred to generate new leads and how effective they were, etc.

 These are just some of the KPI options mentioned, you have to be the best judge, to assess which KPI’s suit your needs, because with so many KPI options available with ease, to aid you in tracking your digital marketing campaigns, it’s easy to get flustered and lose sight of your goal, but the key here is to determine which are important and which aren’t. We at Zivanta Analytics can help you in streamlined monitoring and report generation of your digital marketing campaign KPI’s, because the main aim here is to see and assess which KPI’s are truly the right fit for you, hence, meaning success for your client and the different types of campaigns run by you, to ensure that the data which you have is more streamlined; as a result helps your team in successfully hitting the bull’s eye, instead of wasting time and resources they can optimize and successfully run the campaigns.

How to use Digital Marketing to grow your Fitness Business

(P.C. – Unsplash, @buildingjavier)

With the fitness business revolutionizing every day, it’s important to stay abreast with the latest market trends as well as successfully keep up with rising demands of the consumer. This field is undoubtedly competitive but if you are able to carve out a name for yourself and build customer trust, then no one can stop you from gaining ahead on the road to fame. With people now working and having sedentary lifestyles, emphasis on maintaining good health and physical fitness has gone up by notches.

With the onset of Covid-19, many fitness centers, gyms, health zones and clubs have suffered tremendous losses, because of the need for maintaining stringent social distancing and cleanliness norms, people still haven’t been able to completely let go of the risks associated with the virus and are avoiding public places like these. Undoubtedly, not only has this created a negative impact on the revenues of the businesses but also has had a negative impact on the health of many and now people are actively looking forward towards maintaining a good physical health routine.

This shall prove to be a win-win situation, as now the gym, fitness center owners can market themselves in a unique fashion post the pandemic and attract the consumers yet again, as well as, give a chance to customers to rekindle their trust.

How to use Digital media to rev up your presence

With competition rising up by notches every day, digital media gives you an equal chance to promote your brand and generate awareness, as much as is available to your competitors, so is available to you, then why not make the best use of it. If you are a newbie, then you can start organically and once the results start pouring in, you can opt for aggressive marketing, but the results shall only be visible, if your strategy is  well thought of and well-placed and we at Zivanta Analytics can precisely do that for you.

Use of Digital Media:

  1. The first is to know your target audience and their preferences – It is imperative to know whom are you wanting to attract, for instance whether they are professional body-builders, celebrities or influencers, college-goers, working professionals, etc. The marketing strategy shall change for every profile you undertake and wish to target because of their different set of needs and so shall change the information you wish to share with them. It’s very important to understand the obstacles or the challenges faced by your target consumers, for instance whether it is related to flexible time schedules or giving privilege services and facilities or solving gym membership related queries.
  2. Making it easy/convenient to schedule appointments – With people using smart-phones at all times of the day, the route to reach up to your business or signing up for your services, shall be easy and convenient. It’s important to have a clear call to action (CTA) route to reach your goal.
  3. Have an interactive website – Having an interactive as well as a pleasant website, shall enhance your likability, your website shall not only be easy to navigate but shall answer basic first-hand queries of your potential clients, because that can determine how successfully are you able to convert future leads into proper clients. For instance, you should provide answer to
  • What all entails your membership
  • List of amenities and facilities offered
  • Batches if any, and the timings
  • Process of signing up

You should offer some special discounts or free classes or any freebie to attract the consumers, this shall not only incentivize them to come to you but also experience the services offered by you first-hand, and if impressed, can act as local brand ambassadors.

  1. Creatively using social media channels to attract your target audience – With nearly every local or big business having social media presence, it’s important to create such messages and ads which shall appeal to your target audience and publicize them on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, etc., wherever you engage with them the most. People surf through these channels to know more about your business and not to forget, the social media ads. You can create brand awarenessand attract new customers in and around your local area with the appropriate social media advertising strategy.
  2. Having positive reviews, helps your business grow organically – With people now preferring to gain knowledge about any service or product they wish to buy first-hand instead of believing ads or marketed stories; brands and businesses these days ask their customers to leave a positive feedback for them online on Google, Yelp, Facebook or any such channel, where reviews can be posted.

     Not only does this help the client get an idea about your quality of services but also have a first-hand idea about your services leading to authenticity in a business-consumer relationship, which is the cornerstone for any business or brand to rise up, organically.

Here are some interesting suggestions to retain your existing clients and attract newer ones:

  1. Offering special discounts on your Gym Anniversary – Running a special program on your gym anniversary can be beneficial for you in the long run, because not only you can make your old customers feel special again but also attract new customers by offering specialized discounts or some special facilities or maybe some surprise gifts. This will help in cultivating strong relationship between you and the client.
  2. Calling local businesses for a challenge – To boost up sales and attract crowd, organizing fitness challenges is a good idea; because business owners and entrepreneurs are competitive per se, offering them an opportunity for friendly competition with other businesses shall encourage everyone to work towards a common goal, and resultantly enhance profits of your gym. The winners in this case, shall be decided fairly because here there runs a risk of being funded or being partial towards one organization. Prizes in this case can vary from offering bulk discounts on gym membership or free training or customized diet plans for all.
  3. Featuring well-performing Gym members – Featuring exceptional performers or your loyal customers on your website as well as on-site premises, won’t only act as a source of motivation but also encourage others intrinsically to perform well and enroll with your centre as they would believe in your results, here action would speak louder than words and those featured customers would act as unpaid brand ambassadors for your business. For instance, you can take a photo of that special member while or after their workout, share and post why are they special to you and give them recognition them on your digital platform. You can make it more special, i.e. by creating special gifts like Mugs, key-chains or t-shirts that have a special saying or acronym specially attributed on them. These shirts won’t be made available to everyone but shall have to be earned i.e. only those special or featured members will get them.
  4. Having an interactive member interaction platform- In today’s times when everyone is short of time and are running a hectic schedule, it is very important to have a vibrant and a dynamic interactive channel between your business and them, not only to clarify their doubts instantaneously but also make them feel privileged by acknowledging their time crunch. This can be done by posting blogs on a regular basis apart from running a question answer portal. This can be enhanced by you posting personalized videos by coaches, dieticians, successful clients etc. on a regular basis on various social media channels like Facebook or Youtube, this shall also help in spreading your word over a larger geographical area. This unique content not only saves your time, but also helps in improving your website rank for more keywords.
  5. Providing customized diet plans – ‘Nutrition and Healthy eating’ are the two key words in today’s times, especially when people have less time to dedicate towards building a healthy lifestyle, of which healthy food forms a huge part as well as the biggest problem is when people don’t even know where to start off from and what to eat. This is the place, where you can step in and offer them guidance to make their lives easier, that’s why it is imperative to generate content that will attract people and keep them with you. So providing your members with a healthy yet tasty meal plan will not only keep them happy but also make them feel that they are cherished and that you are working hard to keep them fit and healthy.

 Fitness these days just isn’t about going to gym or Zumba classes and losing weight, but it is holistic, i.e. maintaining a healthy lifestyle in all aspects. So as a business owner you should always remember to communicate the right message to the right audience by following the right routes, and this is where Zivanta Analytics can help you directly hitting the target and make you stand apart from your competitors. At the end of the day, just selling doesn’t matter, how you sell and what you sell, as well as what value does it carry for your customers, matters.

Use of Social media to promote vaccines

(P.C. – Unsplash, @schluditsch)

With the Covid 19 pandemic hitting people across the globe and leaving them paralyzed even for basic day-to-day movement, a cure had to be found out and what better than vaccines for the same, which will have a universal reach as well as be economical for everyone and most importantly give an all-rounded protection against such a complex virus. Developing a vaccine in a short span of time for people across the globe is not only time-taking because of such a huge genetic diversity which but naturally involves lot of R&D which entails humongous cost due to work happening on war-footing. But, now various companies across the globe are coming up with Vaccines as a defense against the Virus and shall start distributing the same, very soon to countries across the globe, major companies like Pfizer, Serum Institute, Amgen, Altimmune, CytoDyn etc. are all involved in bringing these vaccines to the market.

For the vaccine to be successful, it has to be proven effective with proper clinical trials in place, once convinced of the results, it has to be marketed effectively, such that people are genuinely convinced of the results and this shall involve direct and targeted marketing, so we at Zivanta Analytics will enlist some ways to tell how you can use Social Media effectively to target your target customers.

But why did Social Media gain so much of importance?

The reason being, its ease of access and ease of use; with various social media platforms easily available on your smart-phones, there is too much of information at the disposal of the users, some might be wrong and some false; with many articles being shared again and again, many deceptive sources actively work to undermine the ability of pharmaceutical and scientific communities’ to actively work towards immunization.

So how do pharmaceutical companies counter this?

It’s easy; the same way fake information is being spread, thereby, using the same online portals to disseminate actual information and focus on re-imagining and re-invigorating their brand. By placing a calculated and a well-thought of strategy in place, the vaccine manufacturers can spread positive and factual information to the elders as well as the youngsters, and this can be great especially in unprecedented times like these, where there’s lack of clarity on how to counter this virus, which has proved deadly. Therefore, sensitizing people and making them aware of the ill-consequences of not being safe against virus can act as a propeller to go ahead with immunization and be safe.

Impact of Social Media-

  1. Interacting with your audience – virtually- Post building trust and authenticity, it’s imperative that companies re-work on the damage that’s been done and work towards improving unfounded fears of the people where there is easy access i.e., digital forum. Millennials being the most active generation on social media, marketing strategies must be so framed, that they are unique and attractive in their approach to consumer interaction.
  2. Being Genuine in your interaction – Consumer trust forms the basis of any medical company’s marketing strategy because any such sensitive issue needs to be dealt with caution and trust at all times. With consumers now focusing on authenticity, the duty now lies on the shoulders of the vaccine manufacturers to build on creating transparency by using open communication channels and reputation management strategies to help control the narratives regarding the company’s products and services. In such circumstances, working with known and trusted industry experts shall enhance your credibility and allay people’s fears. The most important aspect here is to work with a skilled digital marketing agency, who can convey the humanitarian aspect of your business to the consumers in a convincing manner and this is where Zivanta Analytics can help you in conveying your complex ideas in a simple and a stratified manner to the target audience and convince them of your values and ideas.
  3. Expanding your reach – Sometimes it so happens, that despite your best efforts you are still unable to convey your message to the audience the way it should be and lot of your resources go waste. The best way to reach out to people is via your own platforms and that helps in maximizing your reach to the audience. There are various ways to convey your message to the audience, one such way is to engage celebrities and social media influencers to help spread awareness about your campaign. For long now, this strategy has been used by the anti-vaxxers group where they use celebrities to speak out against vaccines. The other way can be exploring partnerships with popular state officials, established hospitals, healthcare clinics, news agencies, and trustworthy community establishments that will aid in popularizing and personalize immunization campaigns Not only does this deepen the consumer-manufacturer trust whilst boosting reach, resulting in increased sales.

There can be various ways to make your campaigns interesting and effective, some are;

  1. Making it funny– This can involve use of cartoons, caricatures, sarcasm or a comic strip to convey the message in a funny yet subtle manner, this is not only effective but also lessens the stress level associated with such a cause.
  2. Making it Personal– Quoting personal incidents or bringing successful recovery stories to the fore; will not only convey the understated message but also motivate the target audience and remain optimistic.
  3. Talking about the Coronavirus and not the vaccine – It’s always better to talk about the disease and not the vaccine, that way not only does it sound more convincing and appealing but also makes the consumer aware of the seriousness of the situation.
  4. Launching a coordinated social media campaign- The one way to bring in mass consciousness is through social media, and this is effective because there is open access of information to people of all cultures, classes and nations, thus, spreading the information on a huge scale. A well-coordinated social media campaign will generate not only generate curiosity but also create awareness amongst the people.
  5. Hitting the segmented audience – The main contribution towards the success of any campaign is when you hit the right audience, in this case it shall be the adults who are the main family heads, so that they will be able to convince the children as well as the elderly, this shall be a holistic combination to ensure that everyone is sensitized about the virus and its implications, also are open to vaccination to protect themselves in future.

 Hitting the right chords is the most important thing when it comes to ensuring success of such a sensitive marketing campaign, one that has to be well thought of and equally well-presented so that not only does it come across as sensitive but also a well-meaning campaign, focused on the betterment of the masses.

Financial Planners- Let’s See how a Digital Strategy can Work Wonders for You

Financial services need not always be perceived as a straight jacket field, but with the continuous innovation and expansion happening in this particular sector, there is an overwhelming need to explore the untapped sector of digital marketing laden with innovation to reach a wider audience and create an inquisitive mindset amongst the untapped audience, all this can be done successfully with a well crafted digital marketing strategy.

In a short span of time, financial services have undergone major transformations and disruption that has changed the set norm followed for years. There has been a major shift in the operations of the wealth firms, regarding how do their employees work and are their consumers ably managing their finances. The way financial institutions use this data has undergone sea change; ‘Digital Engagement’ is the way forward, which basically involves establishing a healthy relationship between your brand and your customers. With growing competition and more-so with events like Covid-19, the emphasis on direct and engaging customer interaction has increased manifold, because an engaged customer is the best customer to have and most importantly serve as your loyal brand ambassadors to the outside world.

So what exactly does Digital Marketing entail?

Digital marketing is a realm that is too vast to be understood in a jiffy, but getting all those emails in your inbox as promotions or seeing suggestions on your social media, or searching for something on your search engine are all forms of digital marketing. Digital Marketing has many channels be it, social media marketing (SMM), Content creation and marketing, e-mail based marketing and campaigns, Search engine optimization (SEO), PPC advertising for instance Google Adwords, online events, and webinars, etc.

A well thought of and designed digital marketing strategy can ensure the success of your financial services firm. Thereby, it’s of immense importance to judiciously invest your time and energy into framing and implementing a highly efficient and effective digital marketing strategy that shall aid you in enhancing your SEO ranking and furthering the prospects of your sales conversion rate.

How Digital Marketing can help you

Digital marketing is an intensive and thorough field that requires in-depth knowledge and to understand the market, it is important to know about the basics from the scratch, and knowing how busy and intensive your work is, we at Zivanta Analytics are always there to help you ace this game.

Digital marketing and how can it help you;

  1. Target new customers – Digital marketing strategy if properly implemented can help you attract and target new customers and take favorable actions that your brand desires them to take. Though it’s the website visitor who has full control to initiate sales, a digital marketer, if cleverly deploys innovative actions and designs calls-to-action in an innovative manner then that can encourage the conversion to sales. Thus, having creative website designs, forms, texts, graphics, aesthetics, and content will all work in tandem to create the best results for your financial firm.
  2. Increase brand awareness – Digital Marketing can help in generating brand awareness and the necessary buzz for your business. Irrespective of you being a financial advisor, a financial planner, or run a wealth management firm, it is for you to target the customers who are looking for similar services and are willing to know about your organization’s products and services offered. Though they might have already fixated their idea to buy those specific products or services, all you have to do is make your brand interesting enough to for them to buy. A satisfied client can act as your unpaid brand ambassador, in the process help create trust and authenticity for your firm and maybe open up new avenues for your firm.
  3. Hit target audience – Digital marketing helps you gain new clients by employing the latest internet-based tools over the older methods of marketing. To design and kick-start your future course of action it is important to understand the needs and demands of your and gain insights into what your audience expects of you. By employing data analytics you can improve customer experience, inculcate good consumer relationships by gaining their loyalty, and, most importantly, improve your ROI and here is where our team at Zivanta Analytics can give you that cutting edge input for you to race ahead of your competitors by using valuable inputs after a detailed analytical study.
  4. Convert Website users to potential clients- Your digital marketing strategy’s success is determined by how ably and successfully are you able to convert the incoming customer traffic on your website into leads, resulting in sales and subscriptions. Appropriate call-to-action measures are needed on your website to enhance lead conversions; otherwise, all that traffic means nothing for you at the end of the day. Thus, the main aim for financial advisors here should be to work towards ‘conversion optimization’, there are various tools to enhance this for instance SEO, social media and e-mail marketing, etc. shall help you in achieving your digital marketing success.
  5. Building client portfolio- With digital marketing being dependant on social media tools, these days it is of prime importance to have your own social media presence and platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, etc. have become a market-place of sorts and the best part about having social media presence is the fact that you can have direct virtual interaction with your customers and target audience. According to a report, 79 percent of the consumers expect the companies to respond to their queries and comments within 24 hours time span when connecting via their social media pages, for instance, major firms like KPMG, PWC, etc. all have a considerable social media presence to interact with the virtual audience.

 Irrespective of the kind of financial services offered by you, digital marketing holds the key to your future growth and expansion and if you are toying with the idea of employing any such strategy, then Zivanta Analytics can help you achieve that goal of yours with elan.

Innovative Marketing strategies and planning for Small Businesses

‘Innovation is the key to Success’ and it is rightly said so, irrespective of your organization’s size, continuous innovation keeps you ahead in the ever so dynamic field and most importantly relevant in your area of operation. So we at Zivanta Analytics have come up with some out-of-the box ideas for you to implement….maybe all might not work but even if one fits the puzzle; Voila!!! Your work is done and you are steadfast on the road for success.

But before we start, we should know that there’s no magic pill for all problems, a proper calculated and well-thought-of planning is imperative to ensure businesses’ prosperity and long term sustenance, because marketing is a channel which builds a bridge between your customer base and your core business values.

(P.C.- Unsplash, @slidebean)

Before proceeding further, it’s important to keep in mind certain points before deciphering your marketing strategy, for instance;

  • Your target demographic base
  • Their geographical location
  • Where do they hangout online and what exactly they search for
  • What influences their decision prior to buying your product or availing your services

Until and unless, there isn’t a viable and a definite answer to these questions, creating any market strategy won’t be fruitful or let’s say it sounds like ‘building castles in the air’, doesn’t it. Without further ado, here are some strategies which can be fruitful for you, if you are a small business owner or have a start-up and want your voice to reach out to the people out there:

  1. Advertising on Facebook – With nearly Two millionsmall business owners using Facebook for their advertising campaigns, it shows that the popularity of Facebook as a medium to attract customer interest is huge and at the same time, it’s cost effective and attractive. The main reason behind resounding success for the use of advertising and marketing is because of their precise consumer targeting and profiling based on your product or service segmentation, thus reinforcing the fact that data analytics play a huge role in consumer targeting and we at Zivanta Analytics can help you achieve that by profiling your niche audience and saving your time, efforts and money.

 The ease of using Facebook Ad Manager makes it a no-brainer winner, but if your business is more oriented towards visual appeal, then Instagram can be a better platform for you to reach out.

  1. Google Adwords- By mentioning Google, it is sufficient to assume the out-reach offered by this portal; with a mind boggling figure of approximately 40,000 queries being Googled every second on Google, the way Google reaches out is incomparable. Google Ad words are not only competitive but also expensive, but if you know the way to reach out to your audience and use the right keywords and have a planned SEO strategy in place, Google Adwords can undoubtedly help you deliver relevant search results to the users. Google has a feature of assigning a relevant quality score to your ad, dependent on CTR (Click Through Rate), ad relevance and the landing page your ad sends traffic to. The best part about Google Adwords is that it is symbiotic in nature and can be paired accordingly with other marketing channels, to rationalize cost and enhance your reach.
  2. Organic Social Media – Use of Social media for interaction these days has become a non-negotiable aspect in our lives, therefore, a visible presence on Social Media of your business has to be there, and if you aren’t actively engaging on such platforms, then undoubtedly, you are giving away your share of business to your competitors!! The point of contention here is that how much actively you are using the platform and are employing suitable resources in terms of money and efforts to channelize maximum viewer attention and capture virtual audience.

The key point here is to identify whether you need to invest in such modes of interaction, for instance, using Instagram as a channel of communication is of high priority if you are in a business related to media, fashion, culinary skills, or are a social media influencer, etc. For instance during Covid many people inculcated new skills be it regarding bakery or crochet designing and opened up their business pages on Instagram and Facebook and in a short span of time have managed to amass huge popularity.

  1. Webinars- Due to the pandemic forcing people to work from home, so has the need of interaction on a virtual basis increased manifold and webinar is one such medium where virtual meets/ seminars happen on a regular basis. They can be in the form of presentation, discussion and/or demonstration.

 Webinars are commonly used as lead magnets for email based marketing and choosing the right topic can attract a large batch of new subscribers to your list. As well as webinars help in building credibility amongst your audience. Webinars are more interesting and engaging than simple videos, even if they are used in exactly the same way. Just giving the feel that it is all happening in real time, i.e. the actual start time and live Q&A makes people feel like they are getting more value than watching a pre-recorded video with the exact same information.

  1. Write a column as a guest writer – Possessing decent writing skills with a dose of creativity can do wonders for your business. Writing columns on different virtual platforms and even in print-media can help build great audience for your business, the best part about it is that it is cost-effective, many a times you won’t be paid and as well as you won’t be needed to pay, either. Column writing gives you an opportunity to regularly interact with an audience, creating an actual relationship with the respective publication’s readers. That develops a psychology of the audience who then believe you to be experts of your field, thereby creating authenticity and building long-term trust.
  2. Being part of a local business group – Being part of local business groups offer a great opportunity to share ideas with other people having various talents and interests, share and find referrals, find talent, and identify new opportunities as well as, open new vistas of growth for you. They also act as a major propeller in expanding your professional circle around your area. Though there are a lot of general entrepreneur groups, some might also be your area specific groups and they might have regular meet-ups in your area. If seriously worked upon, then these connections tend to increase manifold, and if your group networks actively and seriously, then you can seemingly translate minor connections into significant ones. Though these groups have a presence online but meeting face-to-face still carries a lot of weight and impact, and gives relationships, the much needed personal trust.
  3. E-mail Marketing- E-mail marketing still forms the touchstone of digital marketing and carries immense importance, even though various new channels have been developed. Though, it is but natural, that all the traffic that land son your website won’t convert into direct leads, but by capturing information, i.e. ‘lead nurturing’, you can use the captured data for future use and tap into the valuable target audience database which you have collected over a long time. Email marketing to attract customers, begins with a “lead magnet”. There has to be something so unique and compelling offered on your website, which shall prompt visitors to share their email address. Many ideas are there to accomplish this, for instance, giving access to a free digital download, access to a webinar, free site membership, a discount coupon, etc.

Platforms like Hubspot, offer various tools and services to promote your business and that too at no or minimal cost. These tools help you in efficiently reaching out to your target audience, as well as engage with them.

  The benefits of E-mail based marketing are many, for instance,

  • Massive outreach
  • Low or no cost of operation, in terms of finances involved
  • Offers immediate and direct communication
  • Ease of operation
  • Ease of tracking and running campaigns

 These are just some of the suggestions to get you started on with your online marketing strategies; your success depends on how creatively you are able to mould your campaign and are able to profile your customers. Not all of the strategies mentioned might work for you but even if one does work out for you, then we at Zivanta Analytics shall feel happy to be a virtual part of your success…here’s wishing you all the best!!!

Post Covid- 19 Business Ideas to look forward to!

With the pandemic now setting in for most of us as a part of our lives, it’s time to move on and look forward. USA has always been a land of thinkers and achievers, where innovation and independence are duly encouraged and with the current trends, thanks to the pandemic shifting towards online activities, the user interest resulting in increased online traffic, shall be a natural outcome. With people now working across the globe, from the comfort of their homes, any business based on the online module is expected to sky-rocket, not only they enhance efficiency but also save time, cost, and other resources, therefore, giving the entrepreneur scope to further diversify and generate new ideas, simultaneously.

(P.C. – Unsplash, @nkachanovskyyy)

   Let’s brew some coffee and look up what business ideas are expected to boom, if pursued online:

  1. Setting up E-commerce portals specially for small businesses – With the burgeoning growth of E-commerce in USA, the revenue earned in this sector has been in billions of Dollars, though the picture looks rosy but the ground reality remains that the big whales are targeting the smaller fishes, for instance Amazon is a huge company, which makes it tough for smaller businesses to survive, in the industry; but this isn’t that bad, because it promotes ingenuity and creative ways to survive this competition. Smaller businesses are able to survive and thrive by providing shipping, storing and distribution services. With the smaller companies’ now gaining foothold, it shall be possible for them to manage their online sales by themselves, in an effective manner.
  1. Virtual Doctor Services – An overwhelming population in States is catered by the baby boomer generation and undoubtedly, contributes highly towards the revenue for the healthcare consumer expenditure sector. Therefore, considering the trend in the sector, it shall be a great decision to open a virtual clinic and further your medical practice, where you can provide medical services from the comfort of your homes and offer relief to the patients, virtually itself. This can also be of great help to the senior citizens who can’t access good medical services due to mobility issues, and simultaneously, this shall help you in expanding your services beyond the already set geographical barriers and ultimately resulting in enhanced income for you. For this all you need is, a simple and an easy to navigate website and Zivanta Analytics can help you in designing that, the way you want it to be for your target audience.
  1. Virtual Interior Designing and home uplifting services – Do you have that creative streak jump in you, upon seeing dull and lackluster properties, then providing virtual decoration and interior improvement suggestions, could be your field of action. Though undoubtedly the economy has taken a dip but this business shall never go out of sight. Re-modeling contractors can earn a handsome figure, due to their field being highly specific and in-demand. Home-owners in USA on an average spend $3,000 yearly on home-renovation services, therefore, just start with creating an aesthetically pleasing website and you are good to go.
  1. Online counseling- With the onset of the pandemic, the stress levels of people have gone up, due to the prevalence of uncertainty, be it the fear or stress of job loss or being able to physically survive the pandemic and ensure survival, as usual. The mental health industry is also looking up and there is an enhanced demand for qualified psychologists, therapists, counselors and in case if you aren’t qualified, then you can pursue a course to supplement your practice.

Online counseling can be of various types too, i.e. education and career counseling,   motivational counseling, etc. The field is huge with innumerable opportunities, the decision to pursue one, depends on your area of interest.

  1. Setting up your own online education classes- Due to the disturbance in the schedule because of Covid-19, many things have turned upside down and so has the traditional mode of education. Approximately 1.716 billion learners have been affected due to this 2019-20 pandemic. These numbers go on to show that online tutoring classes are required at this hour of crisis. So, if you are someone from the educational sector or have a vocational talent, which you can share with others, then this is the right time to tap into the booming market.
  1. Creating your own Freelancing platform – With the presence of many freelancing platforms like Fiverr, 99 designs, etc., they help you in connecting with employers based on your skill-set. You too can accordingly build such a freelancer platform, that too with minimum investment. This can prove to be a great idea because due to the pandemic, many professionals have either been laid off or their offers have been rescinded. This has resulted in an upsurge in the freelancing platform and this is the best time to build a suitable platform to capture those talents and guide them to a meaningful job, as well as provide the employers a viable range of prospective employees.
  1. Setting up your own local hyper-delivery platform- The online delivery business has gained momentum post pandemic and undoubtedly people across the world are preferring online shopping. Many of the existing online delivery companies already existing in the market, have made use of this opportunity and are doing good for themselves. But there are just few of the online delivery businesses focusing on the delivery of miscellaneous commodities. This could be your chance and a turning point for starting your own hyper-local delivery business. You could either start by delivering medicines, alcohol, every-day essentials etc and gain strong-hold over the market, as well as diversify at a later stage, once your brand is established and we at Zivanta Anlaytics can help you by providing valuable data insights by tracking your consumer behavior and create your niche in the particular sector.

 It’s true that every one of us is greatly impacted in some or the other way because of this global pandemic. But the key is to stay optimistic and progressive and take those decisions that can help you in overcoming this crisis. These are some of the ideas discussed here, start with any of the above-discussed home business ideas, and you are all set to go.

Business ideas for Start-ups to look forward in 2021

With 2020 being a roller-coaster of sorts, not only has it brought in many challenges but simultaneously has thrown up innumerable opportunities to look forward to. In a way, start-ups have a golden moment to look up to and create a niche’ market for selves. USA as a country has always been looking towards the future and it is imperative to assess the upcoming trends to secure competitive leverage in your field. Business is always about innovation and taking measured risks. With the onset of the digital economy, a plethora of options have been discovered, with many people now wanting to be their ‘Own Bosses’ and have their own independence, so we at Zivanta Analytics are throwing up some ideas for you to start your wagon!!

(P.C. – Unsplash, @mbaumi)

  1. Small Business Cyber-security software – Do you possess a knack for technology? Do you dream of keeping hackers away? Folks, look no further, let’s look up-to creating software to protect online accounts for upcoming and small firms is also a good business to start, more so because they are tight on budget and your economical services can help them achieve their target. Consumers would any day prefer keeping their online accounts safe and secure as they indulge in transactions online. Sectors, where this type of service is most needed, are online banking and retail businesses are some that need such protection.
  2. Digital Assistant Integrations company- HNI’s and busy executives require continuous help to maintain a track of their activities and appointments in order. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools help in enabling digital assistants which are capable of performing such tasks, which can be repetitive or dynamic and at the same time are required to be efficient. Digital assistants operated via voice commands can solve problems for instance searching for a doctor or a restaurant near to your place or switching on A.C in your home before reaching your home. IT developers, who have a knack for creating AI, have an untapped potential in this booming market.
  3. Chat-bot developer- As businesses are growing virtually, so is the demand for maintaining direct communication with their customers, and chatbots have gained immense importance. Be it small or large firms, they need chat-bots to interact with customers, depending on their needs, the chat-bots can be complex or simple in functionality. Chat-bots provide an efficient way to assist companies with their customers when they land on their webpage and surf through their products, services, and also provide feedback.
  4. Exploring Virtual Reality – The scope of VR has expanded beyond measure and now isn’t only limited to Gaming, but has spread its tentacles to various sectors like health, education, tourism, etc. Post-pandemic, the travel industry is offering Virtual tours to exotic locales of the world, all that from the comfort of your homes…how convenient and relaxing!! According to Statistica, this number would rise up-to $40 billion in revenue. So IT professionals, the world is looking up to you.
  5. Social Media Management – Though, undoubtedly a lot of competition still exists, the need for digital marketing and social advertising is never going to subside, as long as brands are there, so will be the need for their promotion. Initially, to begin with it is enough to have technical expertise and sector knowledge, but with the expansion of business, it shall be a prudent idea to have a team of experts, specializing in data analytics, algorithms, marketing, and targeted content creation, etc. to name a few.
  6. Web development – It’s always a good idea to start small, so creating websites for businesses of your friends and family can be a morale booster as well as polish your skills. You can initially offer your services at competitive rates and with time, once your efficiency is enhanced and you have a strong portfolio to build up, you can hike up your rates and offer cutting-edge services. Web development is proving to be a valuable skill to fulfill the needs for a burgeoning demand for launching and upgrading websites; more-so as nearly half of the world is using the internet to access some of the other content online. It is imperative for any developer to have basic coding skills in computer languages like CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and Java.
  7. Virtual Assistant – It’s going to pay you well if you are able to productively channelize your excellent organizational skills. The demand for virtual assistants is on the rise be it by large companies, freelancers, or any other kind of business. This also provides excellent opportunities to network and create a useful professional connection. The best part is that you have the freedom and opportunity to work from anywhere in the world while working on your professional skills.
  8. WordPress Website Consultant- WordPress is the go-to platform for upcoming bloggers and posting formal content over the web, and if you have the requisite skills and expertise over its working then you can earn handsomely. Once you have created your demand, then you can diversify your customer base and earning stream. Once done, not only can you bring relevant traffic to your website, but if you establish yourself as a successful WordPress consultant, who knows you might own your advertising agency soon!!

      These are just of the suggestions to start off with, based on your area of interest; you can diversify into related ancillary fields. The good idea is always to start, start be it small or big, but depending on your area of interest, budget, and market viability….you can be truly successful if you listen to your true calling. So fret not and jump-start your journey.