The Spring ’21 Release Is About To Bloom — Preview It Now!
Did you know most new innovations in the LIKE.TG Spring ’21 Release are already included with products you’ve purchased? In order to maximise your return on investment (ROI), check out some of our favourite included features such as Sales Cloud’s Forecast Adjustment, Einstein Recommendation Builder, LIKE.TG Shield for Surveys, and Tableau CRM’s Dashboard Components. On February 15, you will have access to hundreds of globally available products and features. Increase your business capability with Revenue Cloud, a revenue management system to speed up revenue growth across every channel. Use MuleSoft Composer for LIKE.TG, the fastest and easiest way to connect your apps and data to LIKE.TG. Explore Commerce Cloud’s Payments, an out-of-the-box payment solution that gets you to market fast while boosting conversion rates. We also continue to drive customer-centric transformations by expanding our industry product portfolio, so you can get closer to your community. Today, you can preview Public Sector Solutions’ Grants Program Management, which tracks, manages, and delivers grants programs with ease. You can also preview Communication Cloud’s Enterprise Sales Management, which transforms the selling experience with effective management of transaction quoting. Additionally, Education Cloud’s Admissions Connect provides an innovative user interface (UI) to read and review academic applications, while Student Success Hub delivers equitable and holistic student support from anywhere. Check out LIKE.TG/releases to explore all that Spring ’21 has to offer. From there, getting ready for the release is as easy as one, two, three: 1. Find what’s new for your company Use the Spring ’21 Release In a Box for a slide-by-slide view of our most exciting new innovations and share Spring ’21 Release demo videos to help LIKE.TG users across your company get ready for their new tools. 2. Skill up on new products and features Earn a new badge by taking the new Spring ’21 Release Highlights Trail or dive deep with the Spring ’21 Release Notes to get more detailed information on each product and feature. 3. Get pro tips from your peers Join the Release Readiness Trailblazers Community, your central location for all the latest release resources and announcements across all LIKE.TG product areas. Now that you’re ready, mark your calendar for February 15 when all Spring ’21 innovations will be available globally. This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
The State of CRM Reveals Top Asia-Pacific Trends and Opportunities
Think back to your last online shopping experience. Perhaps it was your regular grocery order, or the latest activewear that you’ve had your eyes on. Maybe something a little more indulgent like that newest gaming console. Whatever it was, it’s likely you had one of two types of experiences as a customer: You browsed around, found just what you were looking for, perhaps even received a great discount, placed the order in a click or two, got told exactly when to expect it, received it, and even got a personalised follow-up with some great offers and tips. Seamless from start to finish! Or, perhaps you had the other type of experience. You know, where the whole thing feels like a frustrating rollercoaster: clunky websites, broken transaction gateways, multiple online chats and phone calls with customer service, and marketing promotion that feels spammy at best. All these before your order was even processed, let alone delivered. Lesson learned: Not ordering from this shop again! So, what differentiates the first type of experience from the second? Three words: customer relationship management (or CRM). CRM is a technology that helps businesses manage relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships (and, therefore, customer experience). A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability. In short, a good CRM can be the difference between an excellent customer experience and an average one. The State of CRM in the Asia-Pacific The COVID-19 pandemic has had a transformative impact on the way we live our lives, run our businesses, and engage with products and services as customers. This impact manifests in distinct ways. Customers have become more digitally savvy and expect great experiences throughout their purchasing journeys. Yet, many businesses are still playing catch-up when it comes to delivering great digital experiences to their customers. In fact, new research reveals that over one in two executives in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region have struggled to maintain good customer experience (CX) due to an accelerated transition to remote work. Download the State of CRM research, featuring a special spotlight on APAC and all the global insights and trends. The global State of CRM research from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by LIKE.TG, surveyed 795 executives and 1476 employees globally. These include 164 executives and 319 employees across APAC (Australia and New Zealand, India, and Singapore). This research aims to understand how their teams use CRM today, their key challenges, and opportunities for businesses to maximise their use of CRM to grow with resilience. The challenge Data, data everywhere A vast majority (71%) of APAC executives report that customer data in their business originates from far too many sources. This means their teams struggle to make sense of it, access crucial customer insights in real time, or act on them to help deliver good CX. While this a region-wide challenge, it manifests most prominently in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), with 75% of executives feeling this way. Remote but not in control The seismic shift to remote work has also created productivity and communication challenges among employees. This is due largely to the lack of a well-integrated and accessible CRM system. This has had a flow-on effect on CX. In fact, 60% of APAC executives note that they were unable to maintain their customer engagement levels during the shift to remote, a challenge also echoed by employees. Singapore is the most impacted by this, with 61% of employees reporting communication and coordination issues while working remotely. Meanwhile, workers in India are almost 1.5 times more likely to report that they struggle with accessing their CRM system while working remotely. Basic doesn’t cut it A well-integrated, modern CRM can unite multiple teams — beyond just sales and service — to help deliver good CX. However, CRM use in APAC is still largely transactional and basic, with limited adoption of more advanced use cases like deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML). This limits how a business interacts with customers in smart ways, but also how well its employees and teams liaise with each other. ANZ businesses, in particular, are lagging behind their peers in this regard — with only 25% augmenting employee processes with AI or machine learning (ML) recommendations. That’s compared to 36% and 39% for India and Singapore respectively. The opportunity However, these challenges coexist with the silver lining of opportunity. Prioritising CX Executives across APAC are intentional about making a change for the positive, with 79% affirming that a CRM system is instrumental in delivering a seamless customer experience. In fact, nearly half of them say that delivering a superior CX across multiple channels of engagement is a top priority for the next 12 months. In even more positive news, a staggering 81% of executives in the region expect CRM use to expand beyond sales and service/support over the next three to five years. This signals improved coordination between teams, as well as a better experience for customers. This optimism is highest in Singapore at 87%, followed by 82% and 75% in India and ANZ respectively. Driving efficiencies While the current use case for CRM across APAC is basic, the research finds that by 2023, 73% of businesses will be using AI-powered automation to enable easier customer engagement. A further 80% will be using automation to relieve employees of repetitive day-to-day processes, allowing them to focus on work that truly matters. Close to 40% of organisations in Singapore and India are already using AI-driven insights to augment employee processes. While ANZ (25%) is currently lagging, over half of executives there plan to add this capability within the next two years. The upshot Employees as changemakers According to Brian Solis, LIKE.TG’s Global Innovation Evangelist, it’s important to remember that technology alone won’t solve business problems. People are the real changemakers, and they need to be empowered with the right tools and knowledge to achieve greatness. “Adoption, training, and change management are such critical pieces of any CRM deployment, and your overall employee experience (EX). When employees don’t know how to use the CRM, or understand the value CRM can bring to their daily workflows, success and ROI will always remain out of reach,” says Solis. Security, flexibility, automation APAC executives want to ensure that employees can access customer data, whenever and wherever they need to. Therefore trust and security come up as the top criteria that regional execs use when evaluating CRM systems. Work-from-anywhere connectivity and advanced capabilities such as AI insights and automation are close behind as the second and third most important priorities. Integration, integration, integration It comes as no surprise that customers have come to expect highly personal interactions. They expect any business they interact with to have a full understanding of who they are and where they are in their journey. Teams on the frontlines can’t serve customers by using CRM applications that are disjointed, or only support part of the customer lifecycle. Therefore, businesses need to unify CRM applications, and support role-based views to ensure that customers receive the experiences that they expect. State of CRM research tells us that organisations that prioritise consistent usage of CRM systems across teams, better training for customer-facing employees, and enhanced automation maximise the power of their CRM to deliver greatest business value. This, therefore, makes them more resilient in the face of massive disruption or change.
The Summer ’21 Release Preview Is Here
Dive into the latest Summer ’21 innovations including Employee Concierge, Workforce Engagement, Content Scheduler, and Einstein Search. Watch the highlights below: Our release home page just got a makeover. Watch the Innovation Spotlights, two integrated product journeys showcasing some of the most exciting Summer ’21 innovations, to help grow your business. We’ve also added an Innovation Overview, which explores LIKE.TG’s history of customer-led innovation. Watch the full video now. After June 14, you will have access to hundreds of globally available products and features. Getting ready for the release is as easy as one, two, three: 1. Find what’s new for your company Watch the Summer ’21 Release demo videos and use the Summer ’21 Release In a Box for a slide-by-slide view of exciting new innovations. 2. Skill up on new products and features Earn a new badge with the new Summer ’21 Release Highlights Trail or get detailed information on each product and feature with the Summer ’21 Release Notes. 3. Get pro tips from your peers Check out Release Readiness Live and the Release Readiness Trailblazers Community, where you’ll find the latest release resources and announcements across all LIKE.TG product areas. This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
The Top 3 Small Business Trends for 2022
Last year was an unpredictable one for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the ASEAN region. As we look forward, we can’t be certain about what the year ahead holds for us. That said, we do have recent research that hints at the trends that will be important in 2022. In the fifth edition of the Small and Medium Business Trends report, The Harris Poll spoke with 2,500 SMB leaders across the world. The results illustrated new trends, highlighting the links between revenue growth and certain approaches to business. This latest update of the report shows that SMBs consider attracting new customers to be their number one challenge. This is consistent with the results from the previous editions. On top of that, the new report also shows that SMB leaders worry about retaining existing customers more than they used to. For the SMBs planning in the months ahead, we believe these three trends will determine who’s staying ahead of the curve and who isn’t. 1. A focus on shifting customer expectations The pandemic accelerated customers’ digital habits and their appetite for seamless, omnichannel experiences. It’s little wonder that survey responses show that 92% of SMBs in Singapore and Thailand plan to offer contactless services permanently. More than half of SMBs have increased customer engagement channels. Customers don’t just expect more channels. They also expect convenient and personalised experiences with your business. Any time, anywhere. SMBs say that keeping up with demand and personalisation are two of their biggest customer engagement challenges. Therefore, SMBs will need to keep finding scalable solutions for meeting new expectations. That’s why we’re confident 2022 will see an even greater focus on reshaping business operations around customers’ evolving needs and expectations. 2. Happy employees mean happy customers Customers aren’t the only ones with changing expectations. LIKE.TG research reveals that flexible working arrangements are now the number one employee expectation in Singapore — with growing SMBs more likely to provide this. In Thailand, the focus is on employee safety, with mask wearing and access to vaccinations among the top concerns. Great customer experiences depend on employees having the data, tools, and circumstances necessary to do their jobs well. Empowering your employees with the right tools will lead to greater job satisfaction. This, in turn, leads to a sharper focus on customer needs. 3. Investments in technology that empower customers and employees Underpinning these trends are digital solutions that empower both employees and customers. Solutions in marketing and sales empower employees through better, more holistic customer data, helping them meet evolving customer needs. Additionally, technology like self service, AI, and chatbots can help SMBs’ service teams meet demand, while customers are freed to find answers on their own. For sales, a CRM solution gives teams access to information about prospects in great detail and at a massive scale. With so much information on each prospect, your sales team has the power to deliver a personalised sales pitch every time. Marketing teams can use CRM to organise marketing campaigns and assets in one place. With one central hub for marketing campaigns and lead records, your marketing team will also have unprecedented visibility into how campaigns are performing and driving revenue for the business. Customer service teams can use CRM to get one cohesive view of the customer. Agents will have access to complete case histories, detailed account information, and even the customer’s preferred method of communication. All this information makes it easier for your agents to provide personal service that will turn customers into advocates for your company. More than three-quarters of SMBs from Singapore and Thailand said they wouldn’t have survived the pandemic if they had been using technology from 10 years ago. It makes sense, then, that customer service technology, as well as sales and marketing solutions, are among the top investments made by SMBs in Singapore and Thailand. Want to learn more? No matter what 2022 brings, we’re sure that continued digitalisation built on a flexible tech foundation will be key to future success. In our recent webinar, 4 Key SMB Trends shaping the future of work, Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist, put it this way: In the webinar, we discussed the main trends affecting small and medium businesses today. Brian also talked about what SMBs can do now to help them grow in the future. Watch the webinar on how the latest key SMB trends can shape your future of business.
The Ultimate Guide to Business Development
Picture a scenario where your company needs more dedicated employees focused on business development. There’s no one to push you to improve, inform you about new business opportunities, monitor market changes, keep an eye on your competitors, or help you engage your target audience more effectively. Such a situation would undoubtedly hinder your success, wouldn’t it? This is why businesses establish robust business development practices and hire professionals to spearhead these efforts, among other responsibilities, to achieve growth. Business development encompasses strategically deploying opportunities across your organisation to promote expansion and increase revenue. It involves pursuing opportunities to grow your business, identify new prospects, and convert more leads into customers. Business development closely aligns with sales, as business development teams and representatives are often integral to the larger sales organisation. Despite the close association between business development and sales, it’s important to understand their distinct roles. Business Development vs. Sales While business development operates within the broader sales team, its function differs from traditional sales activities. Business development is a multifaceted process aimed at establishing and nurturing relationships with prospects, understanding buyer personas, enhancing brand recognition, and uncovering new growth opportunities. In contrast, sales teams focus on selling your products or services to customers and converting leads into clients. Business development simplifies the work of salespersons and sales managers, making their roles more effective. Business Development Managers vs. Business Development Specialists In business development, two distinct roles play complementary yet different functions: business development managers and business development specialists. Understanding the distinctions between these roles is essential for building an effective business development team: Business Development Managers Business development managers oversee the overall strategy and direction of business development efforts within an organisation. They are responsible for setting targets, creating strategic plans, and managing a team of specialists or representatives. Business development managers focus on aligning business development goals with broader company objectives, ensuring that the team works towards the company’s growth vision. They also play a key role in building relationships with high-level clients and partners. These professionals often have a combination of leadership, strategic thinking, and relationship-building skills. They are responsible for analysing market trends, evaluating the competition, and making informed decisions to steer the company’s growth. Business Development Specialists Business development specialists, on the other hand, are the front-line professionals responsible for executing the tactics outlined in the strategy. They focus on identifying and qualifying leads, nurturing relationships with prospects, and converting them into customers. Specialists are typically more hands-on and deal with the day-to-day tasks that drive growth. Their skills are geared towards communication, lead qualification, and relationship-building. They play a vital role in researching potential clients, reaching out to them, and guiding them through the sales process. Specialists are often highly trained in the products or services offered by their organisation and are adept at matching these offerings to the specific needs of potential customers. Business Development Manager and Specialist Responsibilities Although specific responsibilities may evolve as your business expands, the following list provides a solid overview of typical business development representative (BDR) tasks: Qualify leads: BDRs must identify and assess leads to pinpoint ideal prospects for your products or services. Leads are typically qualified through calls, emails, web forms, and social media. The key to lead qualification is understanding their needs and determining whether your product or software can address them. Identify and communicate with prospects: By qualifying leads and identifying individuals who match your buyer personas, BDRs locate ideal prospects and engage with them directly to gain insights into their needs and pain points. This enables BDRs to determine whether the prospect can benefit from your product or service, ultimately increasing the potential for enhanced customer loyalty and retention. Once ideal prospects are identified, they can be handed over to a sales representative (or sales manager, as needed) for further nurturing. Proactively seek new business opportunities: Proactively exploring new opportunities, whether related to your product line, target markets, potential prospects, or brand awareness, is a crucial aspect of business success. BDRs seek new business opportunities through networking, competitive research, and conversations with prospects and current customers. When a new business opportunity is identified, BDRs should schedule marketing assessments and discovery meetings with sales reps to evaluate the potential for closing deals. Stay up-to-date on competition and market trends: Staying informed about your competitors’ strategies, products, target audiences, and emerging market and industry trends is essential. This knowledge enables you to effectively identify ideal prospects and prepare your business to adapt to market shifts that may necessitate new approaches to lead qualification and audience engagement. Report to salespeople and development managers: As previously discussed, BDRs typically report to sales reps and sales managers. They communicate with these senior team members to discuss lead qualification strategies and ways to connect prospects with sales reps for nurturing customers. BDRs are also responsible for sharing their findings, including business opportunities and market trends, with sales reps and managers. This collaborative approach ensures that strategies align with business and audience needs, contributing to organisational success. Promote satisfaction and loyalty: A BDR’s interaction with a prospect may be the very first interaction the prospect has with your business. Therefore, it’s crucial to make a strong first impression to pique early interest. Whether a BDR is qualifying leads, understanding prospects and their needs, or selecting the right sales rep for deal negotiations, all interactions with prospects matter. When a BDR conducts research or engages with a prospect, personalised communication demonstrates attentiveness and care, leaving a lasting, positive impression. In addition to understanding how BDRs contribute to your growth, there are other effective business development strategies to engage prospects and discover new business opportunities. Let’s explore these ideas in detail. Business Development Ideas Innovate your networking approach: Traditional cold calls are less effective nowadays. Innovate your networking by building strong relationships with prospects. This can be achieved through face-to-face meetings at conferences, trade shows, and industry events. Leverage online networks like LinkedIn and other social platforms to connect with potential customers who sign up for your email subscriptions or complete forms on your website. Offer consultations: Providing consultations and assessments for prospects allows you to discuss how your product or service addresses their needs, helping prospects decide on conversion. Additionally, consultations and assessments may reveal if a prospect is not an ideal fit for your product, saving time and resources spent on unsuitable leads. Provide sales demos: Offer prospects and leads tailored sales demonstrations showcasing how your product or service solves their challenges. These demos can be shared in person, via email, on your website, or through video calls. Nurture prospects: Nurturing prospects through phone calls, emails, meetings, or other forms of communication is crucial. It involves providing information about your product or service, helping prospects make informed decisions, and ensuring they feel valued and understood by your company. Offer various types of content: Supply prospects with diverse content formats, such as blogs, videos, and social media posts, enabling them to learn more about your brand and offerings. Customise the content to cater to their preferences and make it easily shareable to facilitate sharing with their team members. Collaborate with marketing: While business development resides within the sales department, it should maintain open communication and regular meetings with other departments, including marketing and product development. Sharing insights, content, and information between departments ensures a cohesive strategy to engage prospects and deliver tailored solutions. Invest in your website: Your website often serves as the initial point of contact for prospects. Make it visually appealing, optimise it for search engines, link to sales content, and maintain an active blog to create a positive first impression and facilitate effective business development. Empower employees to enhance skills and knowledge: Business development is an ever-evolving field influenced by changing strategies, technology, and market conditions. Encourage employees to stay updated on industry trends, refine their skills, and adapt to new technologies. Ensure that your team receives appropriate training and education, allowing them to adapt to shifts in the market and emerging opportunities. Business Development Process A business development process combines steps your business takes to grow effectively, boost revenue, enhance relationships with leads, and excel at every stage of the buyer’s journey. By navigating your business development process, your team gains a deep understanding of your organisation’s overarching goals, sales targets, current business landscape, target audience demographics, and more. Here’s how to effectively conduct business development: Conduct extensive market research A critical business development component involves in-depth market research. Understand your market, target personas, and the current state of the market to implement other aspects of business development successfully. Increase visibility and awareness Beyond sales, your marketing department plays a pivotal role in business development. Boost your brand’s visibility by building an effective website, investing in paid advertising, leveraging social media, engaging in co-marketing partnerships with industry peers, and maintaining an active blog. Promote thought leadership Establishing credibility is vital for business development. Publishing industry-specific, insightful blog content demonstrates your expertise and fosters trust. Webinars, white papers, and video content further enhance your reputation and build trust with potential customers. Conduct outreach Actively reaching out to prospects is a cornerstone of business development. Engage with leads, actively reaching out to warm and cold leads through research. BDRs typically oversee this step, making it a crucial aspect of business development. Qualify leads Once BDRs have connected with leads, they must qualify them to gauge their suitability and decide if they are worth the sales team’s time and effort. Effective lead qualification is a pivotal moment in the business development process, indicating the overall success of the process. Provide exceptional customer service Customer service is an integral part of business development, ensuring that current customers remain satisfied and contribute to your business’s reputation and growth. Positive word of mouth and referrals simplify business development and make it more effective. Develop sales content from success stories Translate customer satisfaction into promotable sales content, including case studies and testimonials that highlight the value your product or service provides. This content is tailored to attract potential buyers by showcasing real-world success stories. By incorporating these elements into your business development approach and sharing them with your team, you can create a strategic business development plan that encourages success and growth. Let’s explore the steps involved in crafting a comprehensive business development plan. Business Development Strategy A business development plan is a strategy devised by sales managers to guide BDRs in achieving growth-related objectives. This plan aims to set realistic goals, align team members, identify prospects, and convert leads into customers. Key steps in creating a business development plan include: Step 1. Craft an elevator pitch: Create a concise, engaging elevator pitch that conveys your company’s mission and how your product or service addresses the needs of your target audience. Document the most effective elevator pitches for reference. Step 2. Set SMART goals: Establish Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely (SMART) goals for your business development strategy. Ensure these goals align with your company objectives and are specific to your business. For instance, set goals to increase the number of qualified leads by a certain percentage over a quarter, specifying the type of prospects and measuring success through conversations with sales reps. Step 3. Conduct a SWOT analysis: Conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to gain insights into your business’s strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities. Analyse your competition and potential threats. Use this analysis to identify ways to grow and adapt your business to market changes. Step 4. Determine how you’ll measure success: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate the success of your business development efforts. Common KPIs include company growth, revenue changes, lead conversion rate, leads generated, customer satisfaction, pipeline value, and reach. Step 5. Set a budget: Determine the budget required for your business development goals, considering resources, previous strategies, and operational expenses. Collaborate with your team to establish a budget that aligns with your business development initiatives. Step 6. Keep your target audience in mind: Always focus on your target audience and their specific needs. Tailor your plan to address these needs and increase the likelihood of converting them into customers. Step 7. Choose an outreach strategy: Select an outreach strategy that aligns with your business development goals, such as networking, referrals, upselling, cross-selling, and sponsorships. Clearly define expectations and guidelines for outreach to maintain professionalism and brand consistency. Following these steps, you’ll create a comprehensive business development plan that empowers your team to drive growth effectively and efficiently. Business Development Drives Better Growth Business development is an indispensable component of any successful organisation. It facilitates revenue growth, aids in identifying ideal prospects, generates more leads, and closes more deals. To reap the benefits of business development, focus on creating a robust business development plan and ensure that your team is equipped to set your business on the growth path.
The Winter ’22 Release Preview Is Here
At LIKE.TG, we are constantly innovating to help you connect with your customers. After October 11, you will have access to hundreds of globally available products and features. Preview the latest Winter ’22 innovations today! How can you get started exploring? First, get a slide-by-slide view of the newest features with Release In a Box, and earn a new badge with the Highlights Trail. Next, cozy up with the Innovation Spotlights, two integrated product journeys showcasing the latest products and features across the Customer 360: Improve employee performance and grow your business. In this video, you’ll see how a bank analyses sales calls to train reps more efficiently with Einstein Conversation Insights Enhancements, simplifies document workflows with Digital Process Automation, and quickly builds personalised chatbots with Einstein Bots Enhancements. See how Cumulus Bank maximises employee performance with Customer 360. Engage with your customers. Watch how a manufacturing company utilises out-of-the-box templates to build fast-loading landing pages and event sites with Microsites, supercharges campaign analytics with Datorama Reports for Marketing Cloud — Advanced, and modernises the post-purchase experience with LIKE.TG Order Management for B2B. See how Badger engages with customers using the Winter ’22 Release. Don’t miss out on the latest news about Slack, our recent acquisition. With Slack-First Customer 360, it’s easier than ever to connect customers, employees, and partners with the conversations, apps, and data that power digital workflows for an all-new way to work. Learn more about innovation at LIKE.TG and the Winter ’22 Release at LIKE.TG/releases. This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
These 3 Apps Help Your Business Automate Processes, Save Costs, and Improve Employee Experience
In today’s economic landscape, organisations face the challenge of doing more with less. The need for efficiency and productivity has become a top priority for businesses. As a result, many businesses are now focused on optimising their operations to meet these demands. The complexities of sales, service, and marketing have prompted businesses to improve cross-functional alignment, enhance data quality and accuracy, and modernise technology. According to the State of Marketing report, CMOs have identified the need to continually innovate to remain competitive, with 91% stating this as a priority. Additionally, 70% of marketers who invested in process/workflow automation view this as a long-term strategy shift. By leveraging apps such as Slack, Mulesoft, and Tableau all within the LIKE.TG Customer 360, businesses will be better positioned to drive growth and improve both employee and customer experience. Build your Digital HQ with Slack Building a Digital HQ with Slack can transform the way teams collaborate. It’s more than just a platform for communication — it’s a platform where businesses can streamline their operations and increase productivity. The IDC Marketscape Report has positioned Slack as one of the leaders in worldwide collaboration and community applications. This is due to its easy integration of apps within the Slack environment, making it popular among developers. The platform’s low-to-no-code interface is also user friendly, allowing anyone to create custom workflows that automate routine tasks and improve efficiency. At Aureus Academy, in addition to facilitating daily collaboration between departments, Slack is used to motivate employees and celebrate their achievements. By recognising employee contributions and successes, Aureus Academy creates a positive work culture and increases employee engagement. Another organisation that has leveraged the power of Slack is IBM. With 3,500 apps integrated and 3,400 Slack workflows created every month, the company has significantly improved its productivity and streamlined its processes. By automating routine tasks and enabling real-time collaboration, IBM has achieved faster time-to-market for new solutions and a more agile workforce. With Slack, both Aureus Academy and IBM have created a more connected and productive workforce. This enables employees to work together in real time to solve problems, make decisions, and drive growth. This not only helps to improve team dynamics but also has a positive impact on the overall performance of the organisation. Put enterprise-level analytics in the hands of everyone with Tableau Data analytics can help organisations make informed and effective decisions. A global survey conducted by LIKE.TG reveals that 73% of business leaders recognise that data reduces uncertainty and drives better decision-making. When it comes to choosing a data analytics platform, ease of use is a top priority for many business users. They want a product that delivers clear business value and empowers non-technical users to perform advanced analytics without the need for IT support. LIKE.TG Tableau has enabled this. Named a leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Analytics and BI Platforms, Tableau is a powerful data visualisation and analytics tool that helps businesses gain valuable insights from their data. As part of LIKE.TG Customer 360, it allows every employee in your company to easily connect, visualise, and share data across the entire organisation. Take M1 as an example. Tableau allows its business teams to analyse data on their own and access real-time insights without having to rely on data analysts for reports. This results in faster decision-making and more efficient use of data. In the long run, it improves productivity and frees up employees’ time to focus on more meaningful work. With Tableau, businesses can make data-driven decisions and gain a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced business landscape. Integrate data from anywhere with MuleSoft Part of LIKE.TG Customer 360, MuleSoft is a powerful integration platform that helps businesses connect, integrate, and unlock data from any system. A leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Integration Platform as a Service, Worldwide (iPaaS), it uses the power of AI to deliver real-time insights and personalised experiences. In the latest State of Service report, 79% of decision-makers say new technology solutions result in faster time-to-market. 77% of decision-makers who partner with IT say it helps the organisation save on software costs. This is the case for M1. MuleSoft has been critical in enabling M1’s IT team to bring legacy technology and modern platforms together. MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform integrates its backend systems and automates its business processes. As a result, MuleSoft helped the team to go to market 25% faster than originally planned and saw a significant reduction in operational costs. With MuleSoft, companies can streamline their workflows, reduce manual effort, and make better use of their data, enabling them to make informed decisions and drive business success. Slack, Tableau, and MuleSoft are three powerful tools that can work together within LIKE.TG Customer 360 to help businesses automate processes, save costs, and improve the employee experience. With these tools, businesses can go to market faster and ultimately improve their bottom line. Learn more about LIKE.TG Customer 360 at World Tour Essentials Asia on 25th May.
These 4 Marketing Trends Are Reshaping How We Connect With Customers
We surveyed 6,000 global leaders to find out how new technologies and expectations are changing the way businesses build relationships with customers. Here are the key findings and tips for success from our newest State of Marketing report. Over the past few years, marketing trends have forced brands to navigate uncharted waters. Shifts in customer behaviours, an economy in flux, and emerging technologies are all rocking the boat. You can help your company weather the storm by embracing tech tools, personalising your customer interactions, preparing for a cookieless future, and prioritising collaboration with remote teams. The key is to focus on the right solution for right now. We’ve identified four major marketing trends from LIKE.TG’s latest State of Marketing report. These trends are changing the way we work and how we connect with customers. Trend 1: Tools and trust are ASEAN marketers’ priorities and challenges New challenges call for innovative solutions. As customer expectations shift, marketers are adapting to meet audiences’ new demands. More than 90% of CMOs around the world say they must continually innovate to remain competitive. Over the past year, marketing organisations have changed their top priorities to make this happen. As businesses are charged with doing more with less, many ASEAN marketers are looking to leverage marketing tools and technologies. The ineffective use of these tools and technologies is also the top challenge for marketers in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. Trust is another major concern — consumers are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the way their data is handled. Many marketers are working on ways of reassuring their customers and using data responsibly. Marketers in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand listed issues relating to trust as their top priority. Marketing tools Technology adoption, vanity metrics, and a disconnection between marketing and sales can slow marketers down. Many marketers are further prioritising the modernisation of their tech stack, with significant numbers around the world investing in automation and employee productivity solutions. We’ve seen customers experience a 26% boost in productivity* thanks to Slack. Customer data The growth of martech tools has created more data than marketers can know what to do with. With more data generated than ever before, businesses are able to target customers with personalised experiences with much greater precision. However, marketers must manage the deluge of data types that come in and balance how to personalise without crossing the ethical line. Quick tip If you’re implementing new tech, make sure you don’t end up using it in the same way as the old solution. Martech data is only as good as how it’s shared and implemented. To translate technology investments into business value, you should focus beyond the platforms you’re using and ensure clear, cross-team visibility of your data. Ultimately, this will unlock your tools. Trend 2: Marketers are redefining customer engagement with smarter, targeted interactions Data has gone from being a supporting player in a marketer’s toolkit to a critical component in marketing strategy. Marketers need to get the most from technology that uses data to provide more personalised interactions. At the same time, you may find that costs are lowered and processes become more efficient. In fact, customers have told us that LIKE.TG marketing tools lower their customer acquisition costs by 27%*. Marketing organisations around the world use the following technologies: 90% use a customer relationship management (CRM) system 89% use an account-based marketing (ABM) platform 62% use artificial intelligence (AI) According to our report, 80% of marketers around the world say customer experience is a key competitive differentiator. They also say that they are hungry for more connected data in order to deliver better experiences. Marketing trends show that organisations continue to increase the number of data sources they’re using each year — with a projected total of 18 in 2023. Marketers are using technologies like CRM systems and ABM platforms to unify data and deliver targeted campaigns, while leaning on AI to integrate automation into their marketing activities. Three of the top four AI use cases are related to automation, highlighting the importance of scaling up speed and effectiveness with existing resources. Marketers are also focused on getting the most out of limited budgets and resources to meet audiences where they are. We found that 83% of marketers around the world say their marketing organisation engages customers in real time across one or more marketing channels. Quick tip If you want to fully understand your customers’ demands, you’ll need a new way of using the data you have. This is why integrated tech like customer data platforms (CDPs) are more relevant than ever. Using the insights provided by these platforms will help you optimise the critical moments in your customers’ journeys and build better marketing strategies. Trend 3: The cookieless future is pushed back, but marketers continue to prepare The decline of third-party cookies has led marketers to look for other sources of customer data. They’re pivoting to data given freely by customers (zero-party data) and data collected directly from customers (first-party data). Marketers we surveyed in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand all said that they are providing incentives to their customers to share data. In contrast, marketers in Indonesia are concentrating on investing in new technologies. As deadlines to phase out third-party cookies continue to be delayed, 75% of marketers worldwide say they still rely on third-party data. However, they aren’t allowing this to impede progress. Our study shows that 68% of marketers around the world have created a fully defined strategy to shift toward first-party data as they adapt to changes in privacy regulations and calls for data transparency. Streamlining the number of data sources will also help marketers be more efficient and reduce costs. While not all third-party data is cookie-related, marketers will need to reconcile this strategy with future changes in privacy regulations. Strategies such as providing information-sharing incentives for customers can help bridge the gap by enriching customer data profiles. The growth of data sources in the near term highlights the need for technology that will help marketers combine multiple data sources into a single view of the customer. Current marketing trends back this up: Around the world, 32% of B2B marketers say that sharing a unified view of customer data across business units is a challenge. The numbers across our region paint a slightly different picture, with some marketers struggling more than others. Only 28% of marketers in Indonesia and the Philippines say that sharing data is a challenge, for example. The number climbs to 32% in Thailand, 35% in Singapore, and up to 45% in Malaysia. Quick tip As we approach a future without third-party cookies, you can start to incorporate more inbound marketing into your strategies. You can offer value through content and digital experiences in exchange for your audience’s consent to use their data. After years of investing in brand marketing across various platforms, this approach may feel like a complete turnaround for B2C marketers. But building owned digital experiences will still allow you to access valuable data — with complete control as an added bonus. Trend 4: It takes more than an investment in tools to unlock collaboration Remote work has fundamentally changed the marketing landscape, making collaboration that much more difficult. We found that 69% of marketers around the world say it’s harder to collaborate now than before the pandemic. Many marketers continue to juggle communications, processes, collaboration, and problem solving, all while working in a hybrid world. And they believe this marketing trend is here to stay — 70% expect investments in remote technologies to be permanent. In response, marketers are investing in collaboration technologies to ensure that work gets done, regardless of location. Marketers who said they use the following collaboration technologies: Video conferencing: 46% Channel-based collaboration platform: 45% Instant messaging or chat apps: 45% Enterprise social networks: 44% Email: 43% Shared documents: 42% Voice messaging: 41% Phone: 38% Virtual whiteboards: 36% Marketing organisations have adapted to the shifting needs of their workforce, adopting an average of four collaboration technologies to unify global marketing teams. Taking the lead are technologies like video conferencing, channel-based collaboration platforms like Slack, instant messaging or chat apps, and enterprise social networks. While email makes it into the top five, it’s clear that communication tools that enable instant, asynchronous work are preferred when interacting with one another. Quick tip Integrating one platform that streamlines multiple applications and workflows can break silos and better coordinate marketing efforts. But it’s the adoption of the platform that can actually empower teams. Is the leadership team encouraging teams to use collaboration platforms, but are not actually using it themselves? Are content teams using one tool, but designers using another? To thrive in a work-from-anywhere world, collaboration requires an all-in approach to tools and processes that make teams agile and aligned. This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog. *Source: 2022 LIKE.TG Success Metrics Global Highlights study. Data is from a survey of 3,706 LIKE.TG customers across the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, India, Singapore, Japan and Brazil conducted between June 8 and June 21, 2022. Results were aggregated to determine average perceived customer value from the use of LIKE.TG. Respondents were sourced and verified through a third-party B2B panel. Sample sizes may vary across metrics.
This Company Saved Millions with AI – Here’s How
The big trend You can’t scan the headlines lately without seeing buzz around generative artificial intelligence (AI). The product innovations are only beginning. But even with the best technology out there, you’ll still be faced with a key question: How can you implement AI at scale in a way that maximises the return on your investment? Let’s look at one model company you can learn from. Breaking down silos Schneider Electric, a global energy management and industrial automation company, has formalised an AI program under a new Chief AI Officer and scaled it to every corner of the company. Its vision, “data and AI first,” is already paying dividends. For example, the company has saved millions by using AI to more accurately forecast and manage inventory demand. The backstory you might need Enterprise AI use has already doubled since 2017, but few companies are seeing significant return on their upfront costs, and a majority have failed to scale AI beyond the pilot stage. Analysts say the reasons include a lack of skills, complex programming models, upfront costs, and a lack of business alignment. What you can do now Take cues from Schneider Electric: Formalise AI efforts under one senior executive Understand the immense impact of AI – this is not like any technology that’s come before Hire dedicated AI and data experts Consider creating an AI centre of excellence to work with business unit leaders on AI projects AI success requires AI at scale Schneider had already been using AI in a decentralised fashion for years when, in 2021, it began its AI at Scale initiative and appointed its first Chief AI Officer, Philippe Rambach, to formalise its AI strategy. Madhu Hosadurga, global vice president of enterprise AI at Schneider, said it’s important to have such a top-down approach. “If you want to drive AI at scale and get value from it, top management has to motivate it as a corporate-wide objective,” said Hosadurga. “Without the C-suite, everyone tries different things at a departmental and individual level.” He said a departmental approach typically involves highly technical people that understand the technology but “lack the influence and power to make change management happen.” Bring business and tech leaders together to scale AI The company has implemented a global hub and spoke AI operating model. Each business function “spoke” (marketing, sales, service, etc.) has an AI product owner and change agent who works with the tech competency centre “hub” to find new uses for AI, deliver the technology, and ensure employee adoption. The hub is comprised mainly of technologists who help the business leaders identify AI opportunities and put them into use. For example, supply chain leaders wanted to use AI for, among other things, balancing inventory based on projected demand, and its ability to deliver based on those projections. With 200 factories and tens of thousands of suppliers, it’s impossible for humans to ensure optimal inventory levels, Hosadurga said. AI analytics and predictive modeling helped it reduce inventory levels to avoid a glut while balancing its ability to efficiently deliver products like transformers, switches, and prefabricated substations. He said that improvement alone has resulted in about $15 million in savings, measured by how much excess inventory it reduced, and capital allocated to other projects. “We targeted $5 million to $10 million in value, so that was a pleasant surprise,” he said, adding that it plans to use new AI capabilities to pare an additional five percent of inventory. Hire AI and data experts for better decision-making Schneider’s AI at Scale program included adding more than 200 AI and data experts. These two are inexorably linked, as AI is the linchpin to extracting more value from data and therefore making better, faster decisions. For many business leaders, it’s still a challenge. LIKE.TG research shows a deep disconnect between business leaders and their data. Half of business leaders lack understanding of data because it’s complex or not accessible, and the vast majority aren’t using it to make better decisions. According to Yuval Atsmon, senior partner at McKinsey, this is a missed opportunity. “For a top executive, strategic decisions are the biggest way to influence the business, other than maybe building the top team, and it is amazing how little technology is leveraged in that process today,” he said on a recent podcast. Get articles selected just for you, in your inbox Sign up now It’s extremely hard to synthesise huge amounts of data, let alone detect patterns, make recommendations and predictions. This is the promise of AI-driven systems. Hosadurga offered this advice for companies looking to formalise their own AI program: Bring AI to the mainstream. Don’t view it as just another tool in your tech toolbox but as a new business capability that can change the way you operate, sell to customers, and enhance your employee experience. Organise with IT and business partnering from the get-go. Often, AI is relegated to the IT team. When that happens, IT will ask the business for a use case, but the business usually doesn’t know what to do with AI. At Schneider, people come together from both sides, with a mix of about 70% business and 30% tech. Don’t wait until your data is perfect, in terms of quality and being all in one place, before embarking on a companywide AI initiative. “Many organizations believe they can’t use AI without perfect data,,” Hosadurga said, “but it’s more of a mindset issue where each business use case has to find the data, which is there in one form or another or in different places.” AI is not like other technology Business people dominate most AI projects at Schneider, Hosadurga said, which is one thing that makes it different from any other technology project. “Every use case — and we have use cases in almost every function — has people from both the AI Hub and business,” Hosadurga said. It’s entirely possible to deliver AI at scale, but unlike some other major business technologies, AI requires an entrepreneur’s mindset. “If you look at a typical IT culture, things are well defined, you know what you get from them and they can be programmed with a long-term plan,” he said. “But AI tools move so fast that it requires a very agile, quick-win, fail-fast culture. We operate more like a standup where we find an idea, incubate it quickly, and move on to the next phase.” Schneider Electric, which invests tens of millions of dollars in AI each year, plans to apply more AI and automation to its finance, sales, marketing, IT, and human resources functions over the next year. The company has launched an AI knowledge library, featuring blogs, ebooks, podcasts, training, courses, and other resources, prepared by its AI experts, so others can learn from its experience. “It’s as applicable as Excel in business,” Hosadurga said “It’s everywhere.”
This Is What Makes LIKE.TG One of the Best Workplaces in Singapore
I am honoured to share that LIKE.TG has been named one of Great Place to Work’s “Best Workplaces in Singapore” for the sixth year in a row! This award is great recognition of our amazing employees based in Singapore who have build such a great workplace culture based on our core values of Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, and Equality. This is my first year at LIKE.TG, but it’s been clear since my first day that this is a company that cares deeply about its employees and the culture it creates around them. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons that I wanted to join. While this year has presented us with changes large and small, what hasn’t changed is the company’s focus on its values. It’s because of those values that we’ve been able to come together as a team to solve problems for our customers, give back to our communities, and support each other through this unprecedented year. I’m inspired by the work we’ve done, and have seen so many examples this year of people coming together for each other, our customers, and our communities. Giving back to the community In Singapore this year, LIKE.TG teamed up with the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) to offer S$960,000 to 120 eligible small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). We know SMBs that have embraced digital transformation and these grants will help them to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and return to growth. LIKE.TG is a company that believes in purpose beyond profit. That’s why we practice the 1-1-1 model: donating 1% of our equity, our employee time, and our product back into the communities. We also encourage our employees to give back through our volunteer time off (VTO)and donation matching programs. All LIKE.TG employees are given seven days of paid time off per year to volunteer. Employees are also given access to a generous matching policy of up to US$5,000 every year. Throughout this year, we’ve also come together and donated over 14,400 hours of our employees’ time to help support the most vulnerable members of our communities. We raised more than S$40,000 to give free meals to migrant workers in-need and the healthcare workers who were on the frontline fighting COVID-19. We sewed hundreds of face masks and donated them to migrant workers. Additionally, our SD Miles for Jamiyah fundraiser and wellness challenge saw our team contributing more than 1,600 hours of VTO to help the local communities in Singapore. Prioritising wellbeing We’ve shone a spotlight on wellbeing this year. Many of us have undergone stressful situations that we never would have imagined. In response, the company has introduced new benefits, especially for parents and primary caregivers. To support our parents as they work from home in Singapore, we offered a fully subsidised, daily, online interactive school holiday program for children, with a variety of engaging skills-based activities and experiments. We also have programmes to support employee wellbeing, such as the B-Well Together series (catch up on some great videos here). One of the biggest adaptations we’ve had to make is to our mindset. It’s become more important than ever for us to lead with compassion. We understand that people are doing the best they can to help our customers and work with each other in new ways, while keeping up with the various demands on ourselves. Our free online learning platform, Trailhead, offers resources or trails f or employees to learn soft skills, including “Leading with Empathy”. During the circuit breaker period in Singapore, we saw a 70% increase in soft skill-based trails completed in Trailhead. Thank you to everyone at LIKE.TG Singapore for your passion and commitment to making this a great place to work year after year. Find out more about life at LIKE.TG Singapore and join us!
This New Data Glossary Will Demystify Data for You and Your Teams
Indonesia is the largest digital economy in ASEAN, and is emerging as a digital leader on the global stage. Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance estimates technological adoption will grow the economy by as much as $2.8 trillion by 2040, with an eightfold increase in the size of the digital economy over the next 10 years. Many Indonesian businesses will require support to capture this opportunity and unlock the benefits of digitisation. That’s why LIKE.TG, the global leader in customer relationship management (CRM), is proud to announce that we are deepening our commitment to Indonesia with the launch of our Indonesian entity, the general availability of Hyperforce, and a new partnership to address the digital skills imperative in the region. The new Indonesian entity will bring LIKE.TG’s team and decision-making closer to our customers and partners in the market and enable LIKE.TG to tap into the local talent pool. The efforts aim to create greater impact and support growth of businesses in Indonesia. “We’re launching our new entity at a very exciting time for Indonesia and the broader region in ASEAN,” said Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, LIKE.TG ASEAN. “Embracing digitisation unlocks the potential for Indonesian companies to cultivate stronger customer connections and establish an adaptable workforce. LIKE.TG also benefits the ecosystem, such as the budding entrepreneurial developer community in Indonesia who can build on, extend and monetise from the LIKE.TG platform.” Bringing the power of secured Public Cloud to Indonesia The evolving global landscape presents new challenges in terms of innovation, trust and safety. This requires businesses to enhance the way they scale operations globally, while ensuring they meet local data security and privacy requirements. Hyperforce reimagines LIKE.TG’s platform architecture for the public cloud, placing greater emphasis on rapidly and reliably delivering LIKE.TG applications to global locations. Indonesian companies can now use Hyperforce to quickly and securely deploy the majority of the LIKE.TG Customer 360 products – including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud, Platform, and Industry Clouds such as Financial Services Cloud – by leveraging the scale and agility of public cloud computing. Hyperforce will empower more Indonesian businesses to capitalise on the value of LIKE.TG while streamlining adherence to local data residency regulations – an imperative for regional and global organisations in regulated industries such as financial services, telcos, government-linked businesses and more. “As the world shifts and reshapes, the pillar of trust stands firm. At LIKE.TG, we champion the security and privacy of your data,” says Matthew Parin, Product Director of Hyperforce. “Hyperforce’s path-breaking innovation embodies this value – providing customers across dozens of countries a world-class, scalable foundation for the LIKE.TG platform with security, privacy, data residency, and agility across clouds.” Accelerating Indonesian innovation with Hyperforce To thrive in the digital economy, Indonesian businesses need to develop and deploy innovative solutions at speed and scale. “The local launch of Hyperforce allows Indonesian organisations to harness the scalability of the public cloud to facilitate growth and the pursuit of innovation.” said Abraham. With Hyperforce, resources can be quickly and easily deployed in the public cloud to reduce implementation time from months to weeks or days, and deliver performance at B2B and B2C scale with built-in trust and local data storage. Hyperforce also gives Indonesian businesses backwards compatibility, ensuring that every LIKE.TG app, customisation and integration will run on Hyperforce. Addressing Indonesia’s digital skills imperative As well as product innovation, LIKE.TG recognises the imperative to build digital skills in Indonesia to help drive growth in its digital economy. That’s why LIKE.TG has engaged in a new skills partnership with The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (KOMINFO) in Indonesia. “LIKE.TG is continuing our commitment to addressing the skills imperative in Indonesia by equipping local talent with the tools and skills to improve their job prospects in the digital economy,” Abraham said. Under the KOMINFO Digital Talent Scholarship Program, participants will be supported to develop the skills required for roles as LIKE.TG Administrators, Developers and App Builders. Nokentech will support the delivery of training to participants, which will be delivered via Trailhead – LIKE.TG’s free online learning platform – and through expert-led workshops. This builds on LIKE.TG’s existing partnership with Nokentech to train up to 100,000 students in Indonesia in customer relationship management (CRM). Delivered over three years, the training will be delivered to a student base made up of 50 percent of women in order to address gender inequity in access to digital skills. “Today’s announcement of our Indonesian entity, the launch of Hyperforce and our local skilling initiatives underscore LIKE.TG’s ever-growing commitment to the Indonesian market. We look forward to working more closely with our customers and partners to help more businesses in Indonesia leverage AI, data and CRM to capture the digital opportunity today,” said Abraham. How Hyperforce can empower your business future Want to learn more on how to take your business to the next level with Hyperforce? We are excited to invite you to join us on 5 October, 10.00am Jakarta time. Our leading experts, Matthew Parin, Product Management Senior Director, LIKE.TG Hyperforce and Eric Suwandhi, Principal Solution Engineer, LIKE.TG Indonesia will delve into these comprehensive benefits as well as cover the migration process. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear how Hyperforce can empower your organisation and drive your business forward with the next-generation hyperscalable and hypersecure cloud infrastructure. Register now to find out more.
Three Sales Lessons We Can Learn from 2021
Over the past year, your business probably faced its fair share of disruption, resilience, and change. This may be a good time to reflect on the things you have learned and celebrate what you accomplished in the last nine months. It’s important to take a moment and see how far you’ve come and what you’ve been able to achieve. Learn what you can from 2021, so you can end it on a high, and kick 2022 off to a flying start. Here are our top three ways to set your teams up for sales success in the year ahead, inspired by our ASEAN 50 Pro Sales Tips guide for 2021: 1. Review your plans It’s good to review your plans and reflect on what has worked and what hasn’t. After all, good planning is only as effective as your team’s ability to implement it. Having teams in clear alignment across a business is a guaranteed way to get closer to achieving your goals and targets. One way to help make that happen is to introduce new methodologies into your planning cycle. One of the tools we use for planning success at LIKE.TG is our V2MOM, which stands for Vision, Values, Methods, Obstacles, and Measures. It’s a robust planning framework for businesses of any size. The reason the V2MOM works so well is that it helps to align teams around the overall direction of the business. It brings everyone together, from the CEO through to senior managers and sales teams. This provides clarity and momentum around key business objectives. Sujith Abraham is the Senior Vice President and General Manager of LIKE.TG in Asia. He is a big believer in bringing teams together in alignment. “The world, customer needs, and workplace operations have changed. You need to build a sales culture that adapts to the new and constantly changing business reality. Now, more than ever, sales leaders need to motivate teams and align representatives to common objectives,” says Abraham. Jovy Hernandez, Senior Vice President and Head, Enterprise Business at PLDT, advises leaders to “have a vision and purpose for your organisation. Create a sales culture that gives meaning and reason to your day-to-day activities.” When teams are clear on their purpose and the business objectives, they can start to focus on what matters most. This helps to remove distractions and builds energy across the teams for collaborating on common goals. 2. Empower your teams So your teams are aligned and you’ve pointed them in the right direction. If you give them the right tools and access to the right data, you can unlock a powerful combination. Start by empowering your teams and reskilling them, making sure they know how to make the most of any new tools. Cecily Ng is the LIKE.TG Area Vice President and General Manager of Singapore. She suggests fostering a love for learning across your teams. “To succeed in the new normal, you need to build a resilient sales culture. Reskilling and retraining are critical,” says Ng. “Encourage people to have a mindset for learning, as doing so will drive innovation and growth for your business, now and in the future.” A customer relationship management (CRM) platform like Customer 360 revolutionises the way your teams communicate with leads. It will allow them to choose the most appropriate time, format, and content for their conversation. For Avis Easteal, Regional Head of Consumer at Luxasia, timing is everything and applies to all teams across the business. “Try to understand where the client is in their annual budget and planning process,” she says. “When negotiating, timing can be the difference between success and ‘I can’t right now’. Do your research.” 3. Nurture your relationships According to a recent State of Sales report, 89% of high-performing sales reps believe there is an increased need to build trust before a sale. Showing empathy for customers during challenging times is one way to build that trust. “Nurture your contacts. Not everyone is ready to buy straight away, as much as we’d like them to,” says Jimmy Storrier, CEO and Managing Director of Aquient in Singapore. “Take the time to interact with people and check in with them regularly by sharing articles and insights, or a virtual coffee! This builds trust and a solid foundation to grow from.” Another way to be relevant to your customers is to be active across social media channels and interact with them in helpful ways when appropriate. With 3.78 billion people on earth using social media, this form of social selling continues to rise in popularity. Tiffani Bova, Global Growth Evangelist for LIKE.TG, believes that social selling has come of age. She says that “social selling should be your default method to connect and engage with customers.” Whether social selling or interacting with empathy, these are just some of the ways salespeople can nurture their leads and build a pipeline of sales. Learn from 2021 and accelerate into 2022 By aligning your plans, and giving your teams the tools and training they need, you can elevate their ability to nurture their leads. Don’t forget to keep them motivated and celebrate their wins. These will set up your sales teams for success and get 2022 off to a great start. Be inspired by the ASEAN 50 Pro Sales Tips for 2021 with insights and tips from more than 30 industry leaders. Download the e-book and get inspired.
Three Sales Trends You Can Leverage To Inspire Your Team
With the last 18 months changing the sales landscape in ways no-one could have predicted, it’s time to pause and think about the future. A successful sales organisation needs a defined vision, a skilled team, and an obsession with the customer. We have drawn statistics from the latest State of Sales report, and paired them with advice from leading LIKE.TG experts. You can find more from these leaders in their fields in our 50 Pro Sales Tips e-book. Here are three insights into how to supercharge your sales organisation: For details on this infographic, please click here.
Tips From a Lightning-Fast Launch: How GE Renewable Energy Scaled a B2B Commerce Site in Weeks
In a recent survey of 350 B2B leaders, 94% expected their growth to come from ecommerce. And with traditional sales channels at risk because of pandemic-related restrictions, it’s absolutely critical to focus on selling online. But launching or growing your ecommerce isn’t easy. Even under normal market conditions, these deployments traditionally take months to execute. Today, you likely face a newly remote workforce, siloed systems, and uncertain economics. But GE Renewable Energy was able to build a B2B commerce site in 12 weeks. Here’s what they learned. The problem: An outdated system GE Renewable Energy’s products include wind (onshore and offshore), hydropower, and solar power solutions, and it had an outdated B2B ecommerce solution for its aftermarket Onshore Wind parts division. The company began to experience a decrease in online orders since their site wasn’t user friendly and had performance issues. Although a majority of its commerce was still offline, GE Renewable Energy also had high hopes for their digital ordering portal. To make it successful, they needed to grow user adoption and activate a self-serve capability, so it could increase order values, make it easier for customers, and buy parts. This just wasn’t possible with their current ecommerce solution. The outcome: An unexpected use case The GE Renewable Energy team reached out to Deloitte Digital to help them build a portal using LIKE.TG B2B Commerce — and were able to quickly deploy to market. Before they got started, GE Renewable Energy carried out market research to understand their customers’ pain points, segment their market, and hone in on a minimum viable product (MVP) that would meet customer needs and help them grow sales. While they had big ideas for their transformation, GE Renewable Energy started with that MVP and has been scaling and building on that initial success. The team had a phased approach and defined what user stories would be prioritised based on the customer feedback. The project focused on the user experience for the first release and then scaled to the order processing and system integration in the next phases. The new website benefits include: Improved search: faster results and the ability to filter products through different categories Better product information: users can check product availability, see specific pricing, identify obsolete parts and their replacements, browse for sub-components, and check detailed specs Easily request quotes on specific parts and place self-service orders Faster response to customers due to automated order processing and status updates The fast deployment was one success, but the true test would be customer adoption. On day one, the team began receiving orders through the new site. And after just one month, GE Renewable Energy saw that the majority of the users accessed the website at least twice per week, In fact, customers liked it so much, those using internal purchasing systems used the new B2B site to browse and configure what they wanted to buy. The insights: GE’s lessons to other B2B companies 1. Survey customers and base your roadmap on the results The GE Renewable Energy B2B commerce launch didn’t start with the deployment itself. The team engaged a consultancy company to develop a market study, conduct several interviews with customers, and develop online surveys to gather feedback. They then used this customer data to understand the most common pain points, prioritise deliverables, and plan out the roadmap upfront. “It took some time for us to define our strategy, but we wanted to understand what was really critical to our customers,” Marketing and Strategy Leader for GE Parts and Repairs and Universal Fleet Solutions Livia Miyabara said, “We deployed pretty fast because we’ve had a minimum viable product approach and divided it into different releases.” 2. Start with what your customers can see The GE Renewable Energy team had a long wishlist of what it wanted to improve on its website. However, the research revealed that customers were having a hard time navigating the website. Therefore, the team agreed that user experience and search were the top priorities of the first launch — even though that meant that time-saving, behind-the-scenes improvements would be made after. “We really focused on the front end,” said Jeremy Altschuler, GE Senior Manager of Technical Product Management. “We had that very specific goal from the beginning, which helped us focus and move fast.” 3. Customer behaviours should inform future improvements GE Renewable Energy based its deployment roadmap and priorities on customer feedback. But the team didn’t stop there. Once they deployed, they analysed how customers entered the website, along with their journey and flow within the site, and details related to when and how they left. As a result, the team gathered data-driven insights that can help them evaluate what’s working about the website and how they can prioritise future improvements. The next step: Start your own B2B commerce digital ordering portal To stay competitive in an unpredictable business environment, it’s critical to capture your share of B2B commerce opportunities — fast. To help you get there, the newly launched B2B Commerce on Lightning Experience takes the power of our existing technology and marries it with the capabilities of the LIKE.TG platform to bring the most complete and connected experience to market. This makes it: Faster to implement Easier to use, whether you are a developer or business user More flexible than ever to respond to ever-changing market demands Learn more about the GE Renewable Energy story and get the details on how the new B2B Commerce on Lightning Experience can help you innovate with speed, scale your implementation, make regular updates, and connect with ease. This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
Top 10 KPIs for Email Marketers
Email marketing never works when the mentality is “set it and forget it.” Think of your process like a lab. To figure out what’s working and what needs improvement, you need to always be analysing your results. The key to proper analysis is having the right email marketing KPIs (key performance indicators). Identifying the right KPIs always depends on the nature of your business: “Success” varies a lot if you’re selling enterprise software to executive buyers, versus sneakers to anyone who wants them. Plus, the accelerated transition to the digital-first customer has added extra nuance on top of this already complicated process. For example, changes to privacy rules such as Apple’s mail privacy protections have made open rates difficult to accurately track. However, there are some baseline KPIs that almost every email marketer should be using. Here are 10 email marketing KPIs to help you understand how well your messages are connecting and make adjustments to boost success. 1. Delivery rate Delivery rate is the percentage of emails delivered. ((Number of sends) – (Number of Bounces)) / (Number of Sends). Did your intended audience receive your email? This is where everything should start when reviewing your campaigns. If your emails aren’t successfully delivered to inboxes or are going directly to spam, your offers and content, regardless of how compelling, aren’t being received. 2. Click-through rate The click-through rate is the percentage of clicks once an email is opened. (Unique Clicks) / (Delivered Emails). Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of email recipients who not only opened your email but also clicked on at least one of the links in the email. Marketers can use this to measure the strength of the email’s content, messaging, or offers. Combining this with web conversion (coming later!) can indicate whether your email and web messaging are aligned to create a relevant, consistent, and successful customer journey. 3. Clicks by link/URL These are unique clicks on a link within a single email or across many emails. They are sometimes tracked by aliases or UTM parameters. It’s also critical to know what people are clicking on. A high CTR can look nice on the surface, but what if all those clicks are for the unsubscribe button? Or maybe your customers are clicking a link early in the email and not the main call to action you built your campaign around. Tracking clicks by link can help you identify what is grabbing people’s attention and that the flow of your email is working as intended. 4. Event lag Event lag is the average time that passed between the click and send time. Okay, so we know if someone has clicked, and what exactly they’re clicking on: But how long did it take for them to get there? Event lag is a great way to measure the effectiveness of your subject lines, preheaders, and the content of the email itself. With this measurement, you can understand if customers are moving quickly to open your emails, or letting them languish in their inboxes. 5. Bounce rate by bounce type Bounce rate is the percentage of messages rejected by the email client (e.g., Google, Apple). Calculation: (Bounces) / (Sends). While delivery rate is one of the key email marketing KPIs, it doesn’t tell the whole story. If your email isn’t reaching your customers’ inboxes, you need to understand why. This could occur for a variety of reasons, such as an invalid email address, a full inbox, a down server, or mail that was simply too large for the recipient’s inbox. Bounces are typically organised into a few categories, including: Block. Bounces resulting from a complaint, blocklist, content, URL block, or authentication error. Hard. Bounces caused by an unknown domain or user, or syntax error. Soft. Bounces resulting from a full or temporarily inactive mailbox, or temporary domain failure. Technical. Number of bounces caused by the server, data format, or network error. It’s important to track emails that have “bounced” — and why — so you can avoid bounces in the future. For example, block bounces are indicative of mismanagement on the marketer’s end, while soft bounces are typically out of the marketer’s control. 6. Unsubscribe rate and complaint rate The Unsubscribe rate is the percentage of unsubscribes per deliveries. The complaint rate is the percentage of complaints per deliveries. A complaint is logged when a subscriber flags the email as spam. While unsubscribes can be demoralising, there is a lot that can be learned from them. It’s critical to set benchmarks for these. What is your average unsubscribe rate per email? It’s natural that some churn will happen: For example, a company that targets parents with young children will have to continuously scrub and update their lists as those customers’ children outgrow that brand or product. On the other hand, high unsubscribes and complaints for a specific email, or over a specific time period, are a flashing red flag for change, whether it’s your targeting, frequency, messaging, channel, or product offer. By drilling down into the details of the subject lines and content by segment for each send, you can understand mistakes to avoid in the future. 7. Web traffic and conversions Web traffic and conversions and sales are the bread and butter of email marketing. Almost every email campaign is leading customers to some sort of web property where a conversion can happen. Yet this is often left untracked, as it requires connecting two data silos: email and web. This typically calls for adding UTM parameters to email links to easily harmonise emails and campaigns sent in your email automation tool with web pages in your web analytics tool. Doing so is worth the effort, as these metrics indicate the percentage of recipients who completed the email’s intended purpose, such as converting online to visit, purchase, download, or complete a similar call to action. These are particularly important metrics for measuring ROI and optimising to meet your campaign goals. 8. Campaign performance (by campaign and by email) Emails are almost never ad-hoc. They’re part of a larger customer journey, whether that’s a series of emails or a much more complex web of messaging across many channels. Oftentimes, a single email will be used in multiple journeys, at different stages or for different audiences. No matter the case, it’s critical for email marketers to not look at their email performance in one silo or another: They must examine email performance by campaign, and performance for specific emails. Creating distinct email marketing KPIs for each can help; for example, click-through rate for a whole campaign versus click-through rate for individual emails across multiple campaigns. Doing this will help you understand why a campaign is working or not, and which emails to use in future ones. 9. Subscriber list growth and trends Your subscriber lists are behind all of this. Are they growing? Are they stagnant? Declining? Tracking the health of your various lists and segments is a vital indicator of how your emails are performing over time, and if your email sign-up CTAs are effective. It’s particularly critical to view subscriber list health in context of specific campaign and email performance. Try looking at other KPIs mentioned previously (such as CTR, bounces, delivery rate) and list growth for the same period. Is there a correlation in low CTR and stagnant email list growth? Perhaps complaints jumped from a specific email to a list segment, and your list declined in response. These can all give you indications on what to improve in the future. 10. Most and least engaged subscribers Likewise, it can be a great exercise to regularly analyse which subscribers in your lists are most and least engaged. High engagement may indicate a customer with high brand loyalty, who maybe should be targeted in an upcoming loyalty offer. Low engagement, on the other hand, may mean they need to be re-targeted; or perhaps, be removed from your lists altogether. After all, the size of your lists ultimately is not what’s important. It’s how many people on those lists are actually engaging with your content. While email marketing continues to change, the core principles have remained the same: Give your customers something of value, and they’ll return the favor. Tracking your success in doing this, however, requires an agile mindset. While these email marketing KPIs can help get you started, you shouldn’t stop there. Always keep learning, testing, and evolving.
Top 5 Business Priorities for ASEAN Sales Leaders in the New Normal
The COVID-19 pandemic and shifting customer needs have transformed the sales environment in Asia. To learn more about what’s changing and how sales leaders are responding, LIKE.TG surveyed 600 sales professionals across ASEAN. These findings were captured in the 2020 LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report. In summary, the report reveals that digital transformation is rapidly accelerating throughout the region. Tools like Sales Cloud give sales leaders deeper insights into customers and enable more meaningful conversations. Sales leaders are also focusing on reskilling existing sales reps to succeed in a remote selling environment. They use sales automation to gain better visibility into remote selling. At the same time, the sales operations role is undergoing a strategic shift to provide more support for sales leaders who are eager to optimise sales processes. 1. Turning insights into closed deals To build trust in the new normal, high-performing sales reps must become trusted advisors to customers. Therefore, sales leaders must connect reps with the deep insights they need. This will help sales reps to anticipate customer needs and build consultative relationships. For example, according to the LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report, more than 90% of high-performing ASEAN sales reps monitor customer purchase history, customer communication history, and competitor activity at least weekly. Speaking in The New State of Sales webinar, Carol Fong, Regional VP, Commercial Sales at LIKE.TG, said sales leaders can use these insights to drive more relevant conversations with customers. “You can use the customer’s transaction or procurement history to identify how sales reps can be more proactive when reaching out to customers,” she said. “Those conversations will be more meaningful to your customers.” 2. Reskilling to support shifting business needs The LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report reveals that 82% of ASEAN sales leaders plan to meet changed staffing needs by reskilling existing employees. Just 57% plan to meet these needs by hiring. “They have to because the world has changed,” Tom Abbott, Sales Optimisation Expert and Keynote Speaker, SOCO/ Sales Training said during The New State of Sales webinar. “We need to give our reps the tools they need to sell in this new environment. Don’t think about how to survive the next six months. Think about how to succeed for the next six years.” Some tools that would be useful for sales reps to learn are customer relationship management (CRM) software and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. 3. Improving visibility as selling goes remote Sales leaders need more visibility into sales activities in order to effectively manage remote teams. However, this comes with a greater administrative burden. The frequency and length of pipeline management meetings is increasing . The enforcement of activity logging also reduces selling time. According to the LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report, 61% of ASEAN sales organisations say AI has made major improvements to visibility into rep activity. Fong says sales leaders must give sales reps autonomy while maintaining visibility into their activities. “The sales cycle is becoming longer as customers need more hand-holding. We need to give our sales teams the tools they need to manage this,” she said. “At LIKE.TG, for example, we’ve noticed our high performers will typically automate tedious tasks. They’ll also likely have a lead priority system at their fingertips so they know where to focus their time.” 4. Rethinking the role of sales operations The sales operations role has traditionally been responsible for optimising sales processes and systems. Now, sales leaders expect more strategy-based inputs. The LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report reveals that 95% of ASEAN sales professionals say that sales operations is becoming an increasingly strategic role. Abbott believes this is a move in the right direction. “Gone are the days when you could have a lone wolf sales rep out there running the show themselves,” he said. “We have to work as a team, and sales leaders are looking to sales ops to support them in the sales process.” 5. Accelerating digital transformation Digital transformation is essentially the framework that supports the overall pivot to remote selling. ASEAN businesses clearly understand this. According to the LIKE.TG Trends in ASEAN Sales report, 91% of salespeople say their digital transformation has accelerated since 2019. High-performing sales leaders are turning to AI, mobile sales apps, and sales process automation to bring the value of digital transformation to ASEAN sales teams. However, Abbot says that digital transformation can begin with a simple CRM automation: “ For example, instead of a leave-behind brochure after a physical customer visit, now you’re emailing that brochure. Or you’re automating that email through your CRM to stay on top of your business opportunity.” Turning crisis into opportunity Sales leaders across ASEAN are accelerating digital transformation to build more proactive customer relationships and improve visibility into sales activities. They are also turning to sales operations for more strategic support and are reskilling reps to better leverage new technologies. But Fong reminds us that digital transformation isn’t just about technology. “It’s also about your organisational structure and your people,” she said. “When there is a crisis there is always an opportunity. But whether you grasp the opportunity depends on how you pivot and change to reshape your team.”
Top 5 Trailblazer Tips – in GIFs
At LIKE.TG Live: Asia we were lucky to have so many Trailblazers sharing their insights, advice, and expertise with us. Here are some top tips from our customers in Asia on data quality, business intelligence, relationships, support models, and more. Enjoy! Avis Easteal, Regional Head of Consumer, APAC at Luxasia, shares how the luxury beauty retailer increased data capture and data quality, and is using that data to build deeper relationships, improve customer experience, and upsell. | Watch the full video >> Jasmin Lau, Executive Director at Singapore Global Network, on how her team codifies all of the organisation’s relationships to increase the relevance of every interaction – and how they started small to build these capabilities and skills. | Watch the full video >> Francisco Collantes Jr – or ‘Cookie’ – Head of CRS Program Management at Meralco, on the trends driving change and how the forward-thinking energy distribution company continues to transform and innovate. | Watch the full video >> When Anantara Vacation Club started offering service via WeChat, more than half of its Chinese customers – or ‘owners’ – selected this platform within three days. Matthijs de Man, Director of Club Services and Innovation, on why channel choice and real-time engagement is vital to Anantara. | Watch the full video >> With one in three residential households and half of active companies as monthly billing customers, and having transitioned to a digital company, Hong Kong Broadband Network can now use its incredible reach for good. NiQ Lai, HKBN Co-Owner and CEO, shares more. | Watch the full video >> Explore the Dreamforce To You 2020 sessions you may have missed, or watch your favourites again, over here. This post originally appeared on the A.U.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
Top 6 Strategies To Grow Your Business With LIKE.TG
The rapid growth of technology has transformed customer behaviour in recent years. Customers are up to date with digital trends and demand a more connected and personalised experience. Modern businesses need to use the right tactics and tools to stay attuned to this change. The most recent State of the Connected Customer report states that 88% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its product or services. As customers switch to digital first solutions, businesses will need to stay connected to their customers across every channel. For example, 78% of customers have used multiple channels to start and complete a transaction, according to the State of the Connected Customer. So how do businesses stay connected with their customers? The answer lies in the efficient management of customer data across channels. LIKE.TG offers a suite of powerful and easy-to-use tools for businesses to manage their customer data more efficiently. To explore how data drives your business and helps you connect with your customers, let’s look at six strategies to increase efficiency, streamline communications, and manage large volumes of data. Stay connected with your customer on every channel The first strategy for success is to stay connected with your customer. State of the Connected Customer report states, 73% of customers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. More importantly, 83% of customers say they’re more loyal to companies that provide consistency across departments. Great service begins with an integrated view of customer data. Customers expect a smooth experience across all touch points, and are willing to stick with the brands that remember them. With Customer 360, your team can have a comprehensive view of customers’ preferences. This single source of truth allows employees to work together to build lasting, trusted relationships and deliver tailored experiences to match the customers’ needs. Unlock value for business with Slack as your Digital HQ In business right now, you want up to the minute conversation with your teammates, stakeholders, and customers. The place where you can collaborate anytime and anywhere is Slack, your digital headquarters. Slack is where all conversations come together. Integrate your team’s favourite apps into Slack for seamless collaboration. It encourages knowledge sharing across the organisation and among teams. Everyone has direct and instant involvement in discussion and exchanging of ideas. With Slack, collaboration is the beginning. Not only does it offer smooth integration across your business, Slack also integrates with Customer 360 to give you full visibility of your customer. Together Slack and Customer 360 unlock limitless potential for custom integrations, automated workflows, and solutions. In short, Slack and Customer 360 is how the future works. Connect your systems together with MuleSoft Customers want integrated experiences. They don’t want to get caught in the information gaps in your organisation. This is the domain of MuleSoft, which helps to bring complex systems and data together. Businesses are balancing many competing demands to stay ahead. One of them is the accelerating speed of digital transformation. The 2021 Connectivity Benchmark report states IT project requests have increased by 30% to meet this demand. All while customers call for fast, digital, and on-demand experiences, or they will take their business elsewhere. The central pillar to solve this huge challenge is to understand how integration drives digital transformation. MuleSoft can connect any system, application, data, and device to unleash the power of Customer 360. The combined power of MuleSoft and LIKE.TG, enables customers to accelerate digital transformation. LIKE.TG Administrators are vital to your business success One of the key team members for success is a LIKE.TG Administrator. But what exactly do they do? A LIKE.TG Administrator best understands how to make the platform work for their company’s goals. They build, configure, and automate technology solutions to deliver business value. The colleagues of a LIKE.TG Administrator can rely on them to: Maintain the platform Make the platform as easy to use as possible for users of any technical level Stay updated on the platform’s new tools, capabilities, and updates LIKE.TG Administrators are vital to your business success, as they influence how business innovations and processes are implemented. They serve as analysts, trainers, and advisors within your business. Think of LIKE.TG Administrators as your trusted advisors on all things LIKE.TG. They are a vital bridge between business and technology. With the help of a LIKE.TG Administrator, your team can set up personalised dashboards and reports to track every lead in greater detail. This level of organisation can lead to greater satisfaction in new and existing customers. LIKE.TG Architects bring people and solutions together How do you describe the role of a LIKE.TG Architect? Most people think that it is a highly technical role, on par with developers. While others see the LIKE.TG Architect role as a creative problem solver. The answer is in between. LIKE.TG Architects find ways to solve real-world problems by bringing people and solutions together to design, deliver, govern, and plan. They are the critical link between your business and development teams as they map out the technological solution to meet the business requirements. Seamless implementation bridges information gaps within your organisation and provides your customers with the best integrated experience. Get started on your LIKE.TG journey with Trailhead To learn the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow, businesses need employees with digital skills. Skilling up is more important than ever. That’s why LIKE.TG has created Trailhead, as a fun and easy way to learn the most in demand digital skills. You can learn everything from coding, to data management, while collecting badges and accreditation along the way. There is a vibrant community of other Trailblazers you can connect with to share learnings across the globe. Trailhead helps to build credible digital skills with your employer. You can earn badges while learning data modelling and management, automation and artificial intelligence, or leadership and management skills. The more tech skills you and your team can draw on, the better your business can stay connected in real-time with your customers. Stay ahead of the competition by skilling up on Trailhead and aiming to become a Trailhead Ranger. With these six strategies, you can manage your business more efficiently and stay connected with your customers at every touch point.
Trends in Ethical Marketing — Is Your Tech Safe?
Often, marketers are the early adopters of new tech. Constantly searching for new and innovative ways to surprise and delight our customers, we find ourselves leading the way when exploring new tools and techniques. A great example is the recent explosion of activity around generative artificial intelligence. Let’s face it – the possibilities are incredibly tempting. But here’s the question, with the rapid rate of change, and with new players emerging onto the scene, how can you make sure you’re using marketing technology and AI safely and ethically? How LIKE.TG ensures its marketing remains ethical Personalisation and optimisation have been part of the Marketing Cloud toolkit for some time. And its powerful predictive artificial intelligence tools have recently been joined by impressive generative AI. What do they have in common? They rely on robust, accurate customer data. Ethical data The survey response from our Trends in Ethical Marketing report had a key message that was loud and clear – the responsible use of data is an important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. More than 60% of customers said that they are comfortable sharing sensitive data with businesses, but only if they are reassured that it’s being used in a transparent and beneficial manner. So how can you make sure you’re collecting and using customer data in an ethical way? Here are just some of the methods we use at LIKE.TG: Understand the data you need Nearly three-quarters of customers think companies collect more information than they need, and nearly two thirds worry that companies aren’t transparent about how they use customer data. Digital privacy laws around the world agree that businesses should minimise the amount of customer data they collect. Before you even begin to gather and store customer data, ask yourself what information you need to achieve your objectives, and then collect only that data. Bottom line – if you don’t need it, don’t collect it. Collect – and respect – preferences International data protection and privacy laws also make it clear that the customer should have ultimate control over how their data is used. Your marketing tools should allow you to record your customers’ preferences about how their data is used, apply those preferences to your marketing activities, and – crucially – allow customers to change their minds. Treat customer data like it’s your own In the day-to-day business of marketing, we often work with partners. But not all partners are created equal, so it’s important to be vigilant about how you share your customer data, and with whom. Will they treat the data with the same care that you have? Will they share it with third parties outside of your control? Make sure you review the contracts with each of your partners to ensure that there are clear obligations with respect to the care, custody, and control of any data sent to them. Ethical personalisation An increasing number of customers expect every offer to be personalised, and it’s important that as marketers we’re able to meet that expectation. The flip side, of course, is that we have to demonstrate real value for our customers in exchange for that data. At LIKE.TG, we make sure that we are transparent with our customers regarding how their data is used, and what they’ll get in return for providing it. Ethical artificial intelligence While generative AI has been taking the world by storm, we at LIKE.TG have been developing – and using – AI for a decade. LIKE.TG marketing teams use predictive and generative AI in many different ways – from automating campaign optimisation, to producing unique and personalised messages. We even use AI internally. It helps by summarising long Slack threads, or automating our reporting and data analysis processes. The full list of ways that we use AI is long and varied, but the one thing that every application of AI has in common? They’re all built on the policy of ethical use that we set out for ourselves. Never share customer data with external language models. The Einstein Trust Layer, natively built into the whole LIKE.TG platform, allows teams to benefit from generative AI without compromising their customer data. Always ensure human review of AI-generated content. This ‘human in the loop’ model ensures we never compromise the trust of our customers Link every innovation, product, or campaign to our core values, especially trust. The benefits of ethical marketing – and how you can do it too As well as improving customer trust, there are also economic benefits to wider ethical practice, too. Eighty-six percent of customers are more loyal to ethical companies, and 69% actually spend more with a company who they see as ethical. Marketing Cloud – recently updated with bold new AI capabilities – is the perfect tool for ensuring your marketing remains ethical. The app is built on the Einstein Trust Layer, meaning your customers’ data is kept safe, and seamlessly integrates with Data Cloud for real-time data, giving you the ability to provide relevant, trustworthy personalisation. It’s a delicate balancing act – aiming to get the best value out of any tool, while also providing a trusted, impactful experience for our customers. Ensuring that ethical thinking is at the heart of all our marketing efforts means that we can stay ahead of the curve without risking time-consuming backtracking to fix mistakes, and it also provides a framework for innovation that is rooted in trust.
相关产品推荐
