WHY PEOPLE FAIL IN DOING ONLINE MARKETING?

Calibre Creators recently caught up with Mr. Bhavesh Trivedi, a Web Professional for  a chart on how can one market himself online.  Here is what follows between Calibre Creators and Bhavesh.  This article was published in the e-Zine - Calibre Creators Learning Letter, released on the 1st of every month.

Exclusively for Calibre Creators

In this article I will focus on a few common mistakes general businessmen commit when they start online marketing for their business and propose some simple solutions to make the marketing effective for them.

Many business people realise the need that their respective business should be online, so they create a website, start accounts on social media websites, and do some updates on social media about their products and offers.

But nothing works after a few visits that hit on your website.

Here are some of the reasons why.

1. No clear objective:

The objective on what the action a user should take after visiting your website is generally missing. Mainly, the home-page of a website provides information about the company, its history, philosophy, vision and mission statements, and value statements as well products they have to offer, without clear action point on what to do next.   Therefore, such websites serve only as a branding collateral and nothing else.  If they are static, not updated frequently, they do not attract traffic nor attract Google’s attention. 

The Solution

Have a clear objective on what the user should do after he has visited your website. Let the website talk to or lead the visitor about what to he needs to do next.  Have clear action points for the user to go further, to the page on which you want him to.

Once the user is on the page you want, the page should speak what to do next. Attractive product information,  glossy pictures, other details, call of actions like – “BUY NOW”, “Inquire”,  “Call me back” (modern way is to ask the visitor to leave his details and let him know  “that we will get in touch with you”) etc., helps in lead generation organically.

2. Wrong and boring Social media updates

“I update about my website and products and ask them to buy... but there is no response” is often what businessmen regretfully state.  The problem is that you don't even pay attention on the updates by your friends and their friends and the update has come on your Facebook (FB) wall as your friends has liked C it.  But you have failed to capitalise on it and convert that into sales.

And now if you update about your website blankly, about your website pages of products, etc.,   is like calling on street to everyone come to my shop, but for what... Not clear!

Solution

What’s in it for me? You should post about the benefits that will accrue to the user coming to your website and why is it important for him to buy your product.  Talk about key features and benefits (FAB).  If you think about the “why” it will lead you to the “how” part of the solution.  Step into the shoes of the user and think like him - what he will like and then make it interesting with relevant images and useful content which is informative.  It has to be crisp and not very lengthy.  These days, very short videos of 5 to 10 seconds are also very popular and help in engaging the viewer.

3. I have huge number of fans on FB and Twitter but it’s of no use! I have spent time and money to get fans ad followers, now what?

As mentioned above, you should have a defined clearly strategy as to how you would like to use the social media applications and everything should flow from that.  It should contain what you will put, when you will put, etc.  Posting updates sporadically once in a while with long intermittent gaps of time never work.  People just lose interest.

People who are your fans or who are following you closely should be regularly fed with honey, preferably, every day.  They should have an element of faith in you and must be eagerly waiting for your fresh new updates. Once your fans and followers are habituated with regular updates from you with clockwork precision, they will start paying attention and give importance to those updates.

You will all agree that you never miss to read an update by your friend on FB or twitter.  Why? Because the friend has been consistently feeding honey to you every time he has posted an update and has been successful in grabbing your attention and your likes.

Use the updates to lure your fans to keep them addicted to you. You may also use the current affairs as a topic to grab attention, but here’s a word of “caution”.  It should be connected to your product or service.  You have to be very creative.  Creativity is always appreciated and people will automatically get attracted to you.

4. Traffic to my website is not increasing.

My website has a very good interface,  good information about my products. All my website pages are optimized with right keywords, titles, etc... Still the traffic to my site has not increased.

4. Solution

Search engines need content.  Web Marketers don’t say “content is the king” for no reason.

All search engine spiders which assess your website will eat the meat (content) of your website and will go away...happy!  To keep them attracted to your site, you must metaphorically say “here is more fresh meat (content) for you, come and eat it.”  Once the spider knows that he will get regular content from your website, it will keep coming back to you.  Search engines like Google rank the website higher when they see fresh content.

5. How to use various social media?

I post same things on different social media, which is time consuming and I don't know if I am doing it right?

5. Solution

Each social media has to be used for specific purposes for which they are meant to be.

Facebook should be used to connect with your fans and with regular updates convert your fans to consumers.  You should always answer question asked on your Facebook wall.  It means, your customers want to connect with you, they are interested in your product.  All they need to action to buy your product is for you to resolve their Objection or Concerns.  Concerns are aspects which are not directly related to your product.  They are willing to buy your product if you could resolve their basic problems like transportation and delivery, actual size, power consumption, etc.  They have already made the decision to buy the product.  If you do not respond to their objections and concerns, you will lose the customer.  Perhaps forever!

Many Facebook applications are available to integrate them with your website, like FB like, FB share,  FB recommend, FB comments,  FB login, etc., which are useful tools to create a social impact.  You need to understand their core functionality, how they work, who are the actual users, what is their social profile (like their age, profession, qualification, geographical distribution, preferences, etc.) which will help you to tweak your social media campaign to attract their attention.  What will work effectively on social media need not necessarily have the same impact on some other media?

Twitter is mainly used for regular updates and is a great tool for customer relationship management (CRM). All large organisations have a dedicated team to handle customer queries.  Twitter helps you to reach out to your customer’s easily and helps in winning the customer’s trust.

Pintrest is a great website where you can share images of your products. The images should be very attractive and clean.  Use the tool effectively to get more visitors and share your product details.

Google+ is very powerful tool which can help you to be seen on page one every time you post an update.  This tool is very helpful to connect with and update your clients.  Also, if the Google+ icon is available on your homepage and if the information you provide is really valuable, the search engine will automatically ensure that have you are on page one in your category.

Nowadays, there many easy tools and applications are available which can help you to update all social media sites and applications at once.

To have a good online presence, it is very important to have a very detailed web marketing strategy, clear and defined objectives as well as goals to be achieved before initiating online marketing and using social media tools.  Online presence will throw at you a lot of data about your consumer’s behaviour and therefore it is important to interpret and analyse what the data actually seeks to tell you.

Happy Selling!

Bhavesh Trivedi is a Web enthusiast and Web professional, believes that innovation can make things simple in life.  A marketing professional over 14 years with experience of various business sectors, right from education to luxury.

Sarfaraz Lakhani

Chief Executive Officer

Calibre Creators

www.calibrecreators.com

To receive issues of Calibre Creator’s Learning Letter, please send a mail to sarfaraz.calibrecreators@gmail.com 

Preparing for Examinations - Guide for Students

This is the time of the year when the broad category of students (irrespective whether he is studying in an International School or in a local Municipal School) have the most difficult time of the year – preparing for the exams.  The pressure is more on students who are appearing for Board and University examinations (SSC, HSC and Graduation examinations).
 

Parents too have a tough time and they shut themselves from all engagements – social functions like parties, marriages, television, travel and vacations.  Their concern is whether their child is preparing well enough for the ensuing examinations.  Parents are feel the pressure and become more jittery than their children.  We will address the parents in the latter part of this article.
 

So dear students, the reality is that your exams are approaching.  Maybe your examination schedule has been announced.  Maybe not.  But irrespective, you will have to face the examinations.  The examination schedule, either favourable or otherwise, will not change your world or the prospect of facing the examination much.  You have to get through to it in any case.
 

So here are some practical tips for you to follow which will lead to success in your examinations:
 

Fear Nothing: Disassociate with your friends who discuss examination fear, who scare you because they are scared. Negative thoughts will cast a very strong influence. No use trying to convince them otherwise. Exams are just a step towards your success so why worry? If your parents or relatives try to scare you, tell them, you have it all planned it out and under control.  Self belief is very important.
 

Whenever, such a discussion comes up, tell them exactly how your academic year has been, what you have already learnt.  Give a few examples.  Such an activity not only assures others but your own confidence will improve and fear will be miles away.
 

You must not only tell, but plan it to be in control.  As one famous quote goes “If you fail to plan, you have planned to fail” and it cannot be more relevant than this.
 

Plan your studies: Prepare a study plan with which you are comfortable. Share it with your parents.  This will have dual effects: You will have taken your parents into confidence and also get feedback.  Second, they will be reassured that you are in the right direction.  Post your study plan on a common wall.  Allow your family to do a status check on your plan.  Don’t get irritated.  The best thing to do is to discuss it over the dining table so that everyone is updated simultaneously.
 

What to Study: Generally, a student must not have any likings or disliking for any subject.  After all, students like you are the toppers so why shouldn’t you? You already know the subjects that you know that you have a lot to catch upon.  Allot more time for them.  Also, take up at least two subjects per day to avoid monotony.  If you find the momentum is going good and have built a good tempo, continue.  Plans should be flexible.
 

You will need more time for practical subjects like Mathematics and Sciences.  This is nothing but a component of planning.
 

Keep time for revisions.  Your studies should get over at least 10 days prior to your exami-nations.  During the last 10 days you must spend time for revisions only.
 

How to Study: There are arguments in favour of, and against studying in a group or in isolation.  There is no fixed formula.  For some, studying alone can be boring and result in loss of motivation. If others in your friend circles, or cousins or neighbours are serious about studies, there is no harm in getting together.  It provides good moral support.  Take time off to discuss questions but not get carried away and deviate from discussions.  What happened in the school classroom is over and should be left there.
 

If you find your study group is not serious and more time is being spent on having fun, discussion sports or television or mobile applications, find another place.  Better still, spend a very small portion of your time studying together and the rest of the time study alone.
 

Ensure that your studying room is free of external sounds, distractions and other disturbances.  Do not lock your room but keep it wide open so that your mother or brother/sister can walk in just to say “Hi!” to you and ensure that you are on track.  Keep the discussion short and ensure that they leave you alone quickly.
 

Depending on your biological clock, determine the best time to study.  It can be very early morning say, from 5.00 a.m. for some, while evening is a good time for some, while for some late nights are peaceful and good time to study.  You and your friends don’t necessarily have to sync because each one’s biological clock works differently.
 

Remember time is ticking, quickly, very quickly!
 

Find a comfortable and peaceful place to study: The study place has to be neat and clean.  It must have bright sunshine coming in throughout the day.  A dull day will make you feel drowsy.  Make sure that the sound of television is not coming very loudly from the adjoining hall.  Children playing outside can be a great temptation so avoid such places.  Make sure that the room does not have a bed else you will feel tempted to take a short nap which then goes on for hours.

It is recommended that you should go to a nearby library, be it your school, college or one managed by a local social group as it will lead to discipline.
 

Remember time is ticking, quickly, very quickly!
 

Recreation is Important too:  “All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy!” Well, that adage applies to studies as well.  Indulge in some physical sports activities which helps you to distract your mind from studies, pumps up your blood circulation and rushes oxygen to your brain, both good for stimulating the brain, further activating it and helps increase your concentration.  Take a shower. Preferably, take a nap.  When you’re fresh enough, resume your studies.  Indoor games like chess, carom and other board games are also useful.
 

But remember, everything in moderation and that time is ticking. Quickly, Very Quickly!
Keep Your Calm : Do not link your studies to how many marks you will get upon writing that answer.  Have the confidence.

This is not the time to re-write your notes, or draft your answers by copying from the text book or class notes.  Rather concentrate on answering your questions from whatever you have learnt.
 

Don’t ever say to yourself, “Hey yaar, I still don’t know this or so much remains to be studied”. This will induce unnecessary stress. Remember, you have all planned it out.  Make necessary adjustments as you go forward.  Stick to your Plan.
 

There are other studying techniques like associating your answers to some favourite event, story or anecdote which will help you remember.  We will cover this aspect some other time.
 

Finally, never plan to cheat in the examinations.  That should never be your plan “B” and not even your plan “Z”.  Remember, an examination is a tool to assess the knowledge that you have gained.   Without knowledge, your career prospects may get affected.  A mark sheet will not be useful it there is nothing to back it.
 

Trust yourself.  Visualise yourself as a Top Scorer whose photograph is flashed in the headlines of all Newspapers, on hoardings across the city and see the difference.   You will get energy, will have the motivation and will have a great impact. 

Best Wishes!
 

By : Sarfaraz Lakhani,
Editor, Calibre Creators Learning Letter
www.calibrecreators.com

India is Pregnant

Oh My God! This is such good news. 

India is more pregnant than ever before.  It is pregnant with 1.2 billion people.  Can it get any bigger than this?

And pregnancy always comes with expectations, like when is it due?; What will be the outcome? What trouble and labour pains will the mother go through during the three trimesters?

The entire attention shifts from the father and the rest of the family to the other like, Is the mother eating well? Is she having any kind of trouble? Are her health parameters in control?

In the recent economic scenario, India is pregnant with lots of hope.  Its children are looking forward with lots of hope to better life for themselves and their children in the future.  The current political situation is generating lots of expectations from the government about new policies that are being framed for doing business in India, for manufacturing in India under the “Make In India” initiative.  The world over business leaders and governments are looking forward to the unveiling of the various policy initiatives that will facilitate the ease of doing business in India and with India.

Indian’s have tasted prosperity and are hungry for more.  There is already a high imbalance between the rich and the poor as well as geographical imbalance between the various states, which is increasing with the passage of time.   All previous governments have raised the expectations of the common people and the new government has raised it to an all time high.  Everyday people are awaiting news of new foreign investments coming into India, new Industries being set up jobs being created, new products being made available.

The question is, when will all this happen? Indian’s have earlier suffered at the hands of the British and then during the licence raj.  Indians had a frustrating time when any kind of business growth was not possible at all. When will we see goldmine that we have all been looking forward to? When will India finally become the land of great hope, that promised land of prosperity?  What kind of success are we likely to see?  Will it be temporary or will it be permanent? Will this further lead to the already wide disparity between the rich and the poor?  Will it change with the change of the government?

India will need to provide the current generation with necessary skills to become entrepreneurs.  Banks and financial institutions will have to do their bit to support new entrepreneurs.  Governmental services will have to improve drastically.  The day every smallest of legal service, right from acquiring a driving licence to getting your sales tax number to banking to submission of your taxes to all other licences becomes online and one does not have to go to a government office will be the day of redemption for the Indians. 

In the current situation, acquiring a graduation degree or a post-graduation helps you to get a job but for any governmental documentation, you have to seek help of touts and agents who are illiterate and uneducated.  They charge you an unreasonable amount for saving your time, for helping you jump the queue (what this means that those who want to get their work done by following the due process suffer) for a process which is as simple as withdrawing money from an ATM.  The process is made difficult because of the connivance of the government officials and the touts.  Incidentally, all processes related to issue and renewal of passports has become easy.  However, uneducated people still have to approach agents because part of the process is done online like filling in the forms and taking appointments.  Each government must have a service centre to help uneducated people.  They may charge a proper fee for that service which will help eliminate agents.

The crux of all this is that the government must educate all citizens (Yes, I did say earlier that educated people need to take help from touts and all education is of no use) but when all citizens are educated, change will come.  With educated citizens, a lot in the country itself with change.  They way we live, the way we do business, the way we treat customers, the way treat our country, etc. etc. .

And that day does not have to be very far.  It cannot be a mirage that keeps going further and further with every step.  It has to have an end line.  The pregnancy has to end.  It has to have a result.   It has to “deliver” else it is bad for the mother.

Best wishes.

Sarfaraz Lakhani

Calibre Creators

www.calibrecreators.com

Education <> Business Management Consultancy

Do People Buy Your Discounting Strategy?

During good economic times when business is booming, you hardly see large hoardings, posters or banners atop stores shouting loudly about discounts being offered.  During recessionary or lean times, you will see a lot of announcements about huge Discount Sales in newspapers, malls, leaflets, advertorials, social and mass media like Internet and Television.

Festival discounts are a way to lure customers in to the store so that stocks piled up in anticipation of the huge seasonal demand is sold off and does not become a liability at the end of the season.

Clearance sale is an attempt to clear existing stock in sales as the store is being closed down, be it for renovation, change of management or complete exit from the business.

I sometimes find it funny when stores offering discount sale put up banners like “Fresh Stock Arrival”.  Now what on earth do you mean by infusion fresh stock for "Discount" sale?  

Is the "Discount" sale so popular that people are demanding fresh stock?

• Do customers really get fooled by such strategies?
• Are customers really dumb so as to get convinced about discount sales?
• Is the vendor so generous so as to take a cut from his profits and help people to buy his goods at a discount?
• Does the vendor have so deep pockets (high financial capacity) and can afford to make financial loss in business through a Discount Sale strategy?
• Is the vendor able to increase his sales using discounting as a strategy?
• Do customer’s really make substantial savings or benefit from such discounting strategy?

The interesting thing is that people do get lured by such strategies and end up buying large quantities.  I have observed at first hand that women get tempted, much more than men, to be attracted to discounting sales.   

While women get attracted to commodities such as garments, fashion accessories, shoes, men will get attracted to big ticket Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) like Washing Machines, Refrigerators, Televisions, Audio Systems, Communication Gadgets (mobiles, tablets, etc.), shoes and wrist watches.

Can business be done more honestly?  Is there an effective way of doing business where you sell and customers buy but not end up as looking as fools while the vendor laughs all the way to the Bank?

Sarfaraz Lakhani

Calibre Creators

https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5538018103899227922/1435384989613574870

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