Month: June 2021

Categories
Guest Posts

7 Smart Tips for Effective Video Marketing on Social Media

In the era of YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, it is evident that businesses can no longer rely on writing blog posts and status updates here and there. If you want to stay relevant in 2021 and beyond, you need to embrace video marketing.

 We discuss 7 Smart Tips for Effective Video Marketing on Social Media to immediately implement and skyrocket your social media presence. Let’s go!

Tip #1: Cut To The Chase

People are bombarded with content from everywhere, and nobody has the time nor willpower to listen to irrelevant information before getting to the main message of your video. Think about what you are trying to get across and aim to build your video around that in a concise format.

 If you are producing informative videos, give people the information they need right from the get-go. That doesn’t mean you should ignore quality (we will get to that later). It just means you make a video that people can get the information effectively from you. Tell viewers immediately what they need to hear. The first 10 seconds in your video are vital – if you don’t deliver the message there, they will leave.

 In fact, the first 5 seconds are sometimes even more critical. For example, YouTube video ads can only be skipped after 5 seconds – if you manage to deliver your message before a viewer clicks “skip,” you did a great job. Plus, you can use those videos for Instagram ads and stories, and TikTok marketing too.

 Tip #2: Include Text And Closed Captions

 While videos are extremely effective, they do have some drawbacks. People need to have their eyes on the screen and sound turned on to hear your message. Considering that so many of us browse from our phones, it is not always possible to have optimal volume when watching videos.

 For this reason, it is important to include closed captions in your video materials. In addition, when something important comes up in your video, you should have animated text hovering over to highlight what is just being said. That way, you will make sure your message is delivered and that the viewer didn’t miss the most important part of your video.

 There’s another benefit of adding closed captions – Search Engine Optimization. CC can help your videos rank better in search results, which will bring even more eyes to your brand. 

Tip #3: Showcase Your Skills and Knowledge

While our Tip #1 basically means you should keep your videos as short as possible to deliver the message, there’s one type of video that is very effective even when very long – tutorials.

Showing your audience how to solve a problem they face will automatically make you an expert in their eyes. Not only will they return to your channel when they face another problem, but they are also likely to call your number or send an enquiry once they encounter an issue they can’t solve on their own.

Tip #4: Make It Personal

Video marketing is an excellent opportunity to build an authentic relationship with your audience. Don’t be afraid to show your face, your team members, or your office space when appropriate.

Also, read scripts yourself. While hiring actors to do that will sound better, getting involved will create a personal relationship, making your business more “human.” Viewers will think you are not there to take their money and vanish and that you care about your customers, brand, and your reputation.

If you want to take your video marketing to the next step, a user generated content platform might do the trick. That will help you create a community around your brand, making you authentic and different from everyone else in your niche.

Tip #5: Stick To A Schedule And Publish Regularly

This one is important in any type of marketing, but posting videos regularly is crucial. Because video marketing is so effective and creates a personal bond (especially if you followed tip #4), it is essential to create videos on a regular basis.

 This is especially true if you are trying to build your YouTube presence, as getting traction and subscribers can take a long time. Therefore, be patient, and be persistent – posting regularly is key. Whatever pace suits you, just make sure you follow it up.

Tip #6: Make It Count

If a person watched your video to the end, that means they really enjoyed what you had to say. That means you have an excellent opportunity to ask something from them – time to insert a call-to-action!

That can be something as simple as telling them to like the video or subscribe to your channel, to giving them an actual offer, telling them to check your store page, or something completely different, like asking them to attend a conference you are having.

Of course, you don’t have to put calls-to-action on the end, especially if the video is longer. But, just make sure all of your videos have a call-to-action, as you don’t want to waste opportunities.

Tip #7: Up Your Production Standards

 You need to make quality videos. That doesn’t mean you should buy professional TV cameras and lighting. But that also doesn’t mean you should use your old phone and just press shoot. Make sure to do your best, and explore different options to make your videos as smooth as possible.

 And little things count, too – such as thumbnails. If you do your homework and make eye-catching thumbnails, people will click on your videos. And if you followed the advice from Tip #1, they will keep listening to what you have to say, even if your videos are not the most incredible looking.

 The tips listed above will up your video-making game and put your brand on the radar.

 As you can see, keeping your videos short and sweet, including a call-to-action, making videos personal – that’s not exactly rocket science. But, even though the tips are simple to implement, you will be surprised how effective they are once you do implement them, making you wonder why you haven’t done it sooner. So, what are you waiting for?

Categories
ADVERTISING

A Guide To Market Segmentation: Types And Examples

The key to a great brand is finding out what resonates most with customers. There’s no tactic to achieve this insight greater than market segmentation. 

Market segmentation allows each unique niche of your audience to get a personalized and targeted experience based on their needs and wants. 

While it might sound time-consuming to create separate marketing campaigns for each segment of your audience, it’s worth every minute and Best marketing companies recommend taking the time to do so. It’s that effective.

So, how do you approach market segmentation? Let’s start with a brief overview of what it is and why it’s so effective.

What is Market Segmentation?

Market segmentation is the practice of sectioning your audience into specific groups based on their activity and interests. PPC campaigns are likely the most common instance in which businesses first encounter market segmentation. Simply put, you’re able to segment your audiences into sub-groups that share similar outlooks on why your business interests them.

Why is this method so effective? It’s a more personalized approach to connecting with your audience. Think of it as looking at your audience not as one whole group who wants to know what you’re about but as little pockets of reasons why your business rocks. By addressing their interests head-on and getting more specific with marketing efforts, you’re more likely to seal the deal and turn the interested viewers into satisfied customers.

Types of Market Segmentation (With Examples!)

There are different ways to approach market segmentation. The most common practices include a variety of strategies to splitting your audience in a proactive matter:

 

  • Behavioral Segmentation
  • Engagement Segmentation
  • Location Segmentation

 

Let’s dive into the best strategies for these approaches and why they work.

Behavioral Segmentation

You can learn a lot about your audience by seeing how they interact with your business. From website analytics to app activity reports, you have insights into who is viewing your business in the virtual world and what they’re up to. By segmenting your audience into groups based on their behaviors, you’re able to meet them where they are and address their interests directly.

You can monitor behavior on your website, purchases, when they’re spending time on your app, and even what they’re searching for when they explore your brand online. 

Engagement Segmentation

Closely related to behavioral segmentation, engagement segmentation is the process of grouping your audience based on how they engage with your business. If they’re active on Facebook for example and come across your website, you can target those users with Facebook Ads that lead to your website. 

If you’re finding that some users have your app but only seem to want to view products in-app, you can order targeted ads that guide them back to the app and invite them to shop around more. How your audience engages with your business will vary, but segmentation at least allows you to invite users to the place they feel most comfortable exploring your business.

Location Segmentation

Lastly, one of the most proven ways to segment an audience is by their location. This is especially helpful if you intend on having an audience outside of your home city or state (which you should!) 

Even moving beyond the United States, your audience’s location is going to dictate other things about their interests and lifestyle. Knowing this information and using it to target your audience more effectively pays off time and time again.

Reimagining The Way You Reach Your Audiences

When you imagine your brand in five years, a dedicated, passionate audience is likely part of the picture. One of the most effective ways to get from that dream to become reality is to start practicing strategic market segmentation. Make the most of what you know about your audience and turn it into a big boost for your business!

Categories
Tips & Tricks

The Perfect Facebook Banner Size For Your Facebook Business Page

By now, most businesses recognize the importance of Facebook marketing. Along with a range of effective advertising tools, Facebook is a great platform for connecting and engaging with customers. 

While most brands do recognize the significance of Facebook for advertising, many miss the most important points for having success on Facebook. There is more to it than avoiding the mistakes that can lead to the worst Facebook ads; you need to know how to manage your brand on the platform.

One of the keys to managing your brand on the platform is setting up your Facebook business page. Your page will be one of the first things people encounter when they look for your business on Facebook, and you want to make a good impression. 

When it comes to creating a good business page, one of the first things you need to consider is your Facebook banner. The banner (or cover photo) is the most prominent part of the page people will see when they find your business on Facebook. If it does not look good or conveys the wrong message, that could be the end of your interactions with that customer.

Before you even start thinking about designing Facebook banners, you need to know some of the basics concerning banner sizes. In this post, we are going to teach you about Facebook page banner size and provide some tips for sizing your banner.

Facebook Banner Size

Facebook already provides some of the basic info you need about banner sizes. First of all, you need to meet the minimum size requirements set by the platform. For Facebook banners, the minimum size is 400 pixels wide by 150 tall. With that said, the minimum size will not create the optimal image for a Facebook banner.

When it comes to Facebook banner size, the image will display at 800 pixels wide by 312 tall for users that view your page on a desktop. For users viewing the page on a smartphone, the image will display at 640 pixels wide by 360 tall. 

Sizing Your Banner

At this point, you are probably wondering how you can account for the difference in banner image display size for different devices. Some might choose to optimize for mobile and others might go with the FB banner size for desktop devices. Others might choose the split the difference between the two. 

Fortunately, Facebook does not try to adjust the size of the image depending on the device. Instead, they crop the image to fit the display. On a desktop, it will crop the height while displaying more of the width. On a smartphone, the user will see more of the height, but the image width will be cropped. If you want to optimize for both options, it means you would use the width for a mobile display while going with the height of a smartphone banner image.

Create a Key Zone in Your Facebook Banner

If you are trying to create a Facebook banner size that will work well for both devices, it is going to require a little compromise. Since part of the banner is going to be cropped out depending on the device, you want to make sure the most important parts of the banner will always be visible. 

Regardless of the type of banner image you choose, you should create a key zone that holds the information or images you want everyone to see. This zone would be the area of the banner that is displayed on both desktop and mobile. If you have a slogan, logo or image that is important to your branding or the feel you are trying to convey, it needs to be in this area. 

When it is done right, your Facebook banner can be effective for driving engagement and getting customers to buy in on your brand. With that said, it isn’t always easy. This is especially true when you need to optimize for mobile and desktop. That is why the services of a Facebook advertising agency can be so important when setting up your business page.

Categories
Tips & Tricks

How to Hide Posts from One Person on Facebook

Posting on Facebook can be like walking into a minefield, especially when most of us have a wide range of Facebook friends including friends, family members, colleagues, and more. If you post on Facebook regularly, you probably have that one friend who you don’t want to see certain posts.

In this article, we’ll explain how to select audiences for your Facebook posts and hide them from specific people or groups. After reading, make sure to check out our guide to Facebook profiles if you’re worried about how your profile appears to your Facebook friends.

  1. Start Creating a Post

 

First, navigate to the “what’s on your mind” section like you usually would when creating a Facebook post. After clicking there, you’ll be able to set the post to appear on your news feed or on your story. Each of these options should have a dropdown menu on the right-hand side where you can choose a target audience.

 

  1. Select Who You Want to Exclude

 

Under the “news feed” or “story” option, you should see choices to share the post with all Facebook users, your entire friends list, or friends except for a particular individual or group. Click “friends except” to bring up a list of possible exclusions and start choosing who you want to hide your post from.

 

In this menu, you should see all your current Facebook friends as well as any lists or groups that you’re involved in. Simply click the minus next to a name to ensure that that person or list won’t be able to see your new post. Make sure to select “save changes” rather than “cancel” to return to your post with the new sharing settings.

 

Remember to go through this process twice if you’re planning to share a post on both your news feed and story—excluded users may still be able to see the post on your story if you forget to exclude them there, too. Once you’ve defined your audiences, simply click “share” and rest easy knowing that the post will only be visible to the people you want to see it.

 

Facebook makes it easy to define a post audience, but too many Facebook users don’t understand how to take advantage of this feature. These simple steps will allow you to quickly exclude any people or Facebook groups who you don’t want to have access to a particular post.

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Uncategorized

Send A Gift Card Via Facebook – The Modern Day Way

Sending your friends gift cards using the Facebook social media platform doesn’t have to be complicated.  With just a few easy steps you can send gift cards via Facebook to any of the friends on your list of contacts.  Compared to how difficult it used to be to enter all of the card information on the app while ensuring it got to the right person, you’ll find that sending a gift card via Facebook the modern day way is much simpler!  You can choose to send a gift card for any occasion including a highschool graduation, college graduation, birthday holiday and more.  With modern technology and integration with social media, gifting has never been easier.

Where to buy Facebook Gift Cards

While third party sites like Amazon, Target and Starbucks do offer their own integrations with Facebook, one of the easiest ways to buy gift cards with the intent of gifting them via the app is already built in.  With that being said, sites like Amazon do make it easy to log in to Facebook from the Amazon web browser or mobile app and post the selected gift card on your friends’ wall or send it to them via direct message.  When you send a gift card through Amazon, you have the option to pick your gift card design, the wall post graphic and more.  For users who are looking to leave a lasting impression by showing their loved ones some appreciation, a unique gift card design is always fun and effective.   

 

All you have to do to purchase Facebook gift cards through the Facebook app or desktop browser is search for the friend’s profile who you want to share a gift with, and click on the gears (options) below the message text in the top right hand corner.  Once the menu has been expanded you will be able to select ‘give a gift’ and then choose a retailer from a list of popular and recommended options.  In addition to being an incredible tool for consumers, this integration has proven to be a valuable tool for growing businesses running contests using Facebook ads to promote their store or giving away gift cards on the app.  

Notes & Messages

Just like with a traditional card that is sent in the mail accompanied by a gift card, messages and notes are easy to add.  When you select the retailer that you’d like to purchase a gift card from and then in turn, gift to a friend, you will be prompted to enter an amount as well as a message to your friend.  Popular messages include congratulatory notes, best wishes, holiday greetings and more, although don’t be afraid to get creative!  Again, once you are logged in, all you have to do is navigate to the profile of your friend, select the gears in the top right hand corner next to the “message” text and then click on ‘give a gift’.  Once you’ve selected the ‘give a gift’ option, all you have to do is select your e-card, enter an amount and review your purchase.

If you’ve been spending too much time performing online searches for phrases like “send gift card on facebook” or “send gift card via Facebook”, you should know there is a simpler way.  Whether you are purchasing a gift card through a Facebook partner such as Amazon, Ikea or Target or using the Facebook integrations directly, you shouldn’t be afraid to send a gift card the modern day way!

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Uncategorized

The 4 Ps Of Marketing And How To Bring It To The Next Level

If you work in marketing, you probably already know about the 4 Ps of marketing. The four Ps cover the basic elements of marketing a product, and the idea has been around for decades. 

For those wondering what are the 4 Ps of marketing, they stand for Product, Price, Promotion and Place. All four of these elements must be considered if you are going to have success selling a good or service. 

While the 4 Ps marketing mix is still important, any marketer working today probably sees that there is much more to it than that. Not only do we now have digital marketing, but many of the conventional ideas have changed a lot in this new century of marketing.

In this post, we are going to cover the traditional 4 Ps of marketing and consider some of the ways they fit in the modern marketing landscape.

Product

The product is an obvious part of the marketing mix. Without the product, there is no marketing. This is the good or service you are selling, and you need to answer several questions. What need are you filling? What makes your product unique? In what ways can you improve your product?

In the old days, having a narrow range of products may have been enough, and you might not have needed to offer updates and improvements very often. For most modern brands, this has changed. Consumers like products that are part of a line, and they also want to see new updates and improved versions of the product released regularly.

Today’s consumers also have higher expectations for what is offered with the product. They want things like stronger guarantees and return policies. They also want strong after-sales support and things like free or same-day shipping. Many customers also want products that have different upgrades or accessories that they can buy.

Price

Price is more complicated than it may sound. There is more to it than just adding up the cost of producing and selling the product and then adding a mark-up to make a profit. In reality, there are several pricing strategies that can be relevant depending on your goals and the types of products you sell.

As an example, going for the lowest price possible might be good if you are targeting economy shoppers, but a luxury product would sell for much more than just the basic costs and a small mark-up. In the case of the luxury product, the price you set helps to establish the value of the product in the minds of consumers.

In the modern day, you might have to go beyond the conventional pricing methods. As an example, if your product is an app, you might need to consider whether you charge for the app or if it would be a better idea to go with a freemium, ad-supported or subscription-based revenue model.

If you are selling products online, you can even run tests to find the pricing strategy that works best for you. You could split test different prices to different customers to see which pricing model works best for your business.

Promotion 

This is where you sell consumers on the idea that they need or should want your product. For this P, you need to consider a range of questions. Through which channels should you market your product? Is there a primary audience for your messaging? What types of messaging will you use to raise awareness and drive sales?

Many decades ago, you only had so many options for promotion. Radio and TV ads were considered the height of marketing, but advertisers also considered things like print ads, billboards, flyers, brochures and other promotional materials. 

Any of these traditional marketing methods could still be a part of your promotions, but the internet has changed the ways we promote products. For the modern marketer, things like social media marketing, search engine marketing and email campaigns are almost essential. If you are going to promote products today, you are going to need to know where your customers are and build a presence in that space.

Place

Finally, the place is where you plan to sell the product. In the past, a business might open brick-and-mortar stores, distribute to other retail stores or sell through a catalog. With online shopping and ecommerce, you now have additional options for places to sell your products. 

If you have a physical location or partners that sell your products from their stores, that is great. However, you do need to consider ecommerce. Online selling grows with every year. In many industries, it will get harder and harder to compete if you do not have options for shopping online.

In the case of online shopping, you need to consider the place as well. Will you sell on your own website? Will you offer your products on a large ecommerce site like Amazon? There might even be benefits to having your own site and taking advantage of the platforms of large ecommerce giants. Beyond that, you might even want to consider building an app to offer a better shopping experience for mobile users.

Categories
ADVERTISING

Hands-Free Snapchat: How To Record On Snapchat Hands-Free

With all of the stickers, filters and effects, Snapchat can be a fun app for users. When it comes to Snapchat marketing, the more than 500 million monthly active users make it a valuable social platform for reaching customers.

As fun and engaging as Snapchat can be, there was an issue many users complained about for a long time: the fact that you had to keep your finger pressed on the screen to keep recording. All it would take is one little slip of the finger and your recording session would be cut short. Not only that, but you couldn’t set your phone up to record and use both of your hands in the video. This left many looking for workarounds that would offer hands-free Snapchat recording.

Recognizing an issue that was annoying so many users, the team at Snapchat eventually released an update to make it possible for users to record without keeping their thumbs pressed down on the screen. In this post, we will show you how to record on Snapchat without holding the button. 

How to Record on Snapchat Hands-Free

After years of complaints from users, Snapchat finally pushed through an update that allows for hands-free recording. While many may have missed this new feature, it is pretty easy to use. The following are the simple steps you need to follow for hands-free Snapchat videos on Android and iOS.

Start by opening the Snapchat app on your phone. With the app open, press and hold the record button as you normally would when recording a Snapchat video. When you press the record button, a lock should appear next to it. If you are using an iPhone, the lock should be below the button, and if you are using Android, it should be to the left of the button. Just slide your finger over to the lock and then release it. The video will keep recording without your finger on the screen. You will also see a stop image in what was the record button. You can press the stop button to stop recording.

That is how to record on Snapchat hands-free. It is really easy and it opens up a lot of options for recording different types of videos that would not otherwise be possible. However, iPhone users have a second option for recording hands-free in Snapchat.

Alternative Method for iPhone Users

The in-app method for hands free recording should be good for most users, but iPhones have a feature that makes it possible to create a Snapchat timer for hands-free recording.

  1. Go to Accessibility in your iPhone settings.
  2. Turn on Assistive Touch.
  3. Go to Create New Gesture.
  4. On the New Gesture Screen, press and hold your finger until the bar fills up.
  5. Save the gesture and give it a name.
  6. Exit settings and open the Snapchat app.
  7. Tap the dot for Assistive Touch.
  8. Tap custom and select the gesture you just created. 
  9. Drag the gesture over the record button on Snapchat.

Setting up the gesture will keep the record button active for as long as the gesture is set. In a sense, it offers a short Snapchat timer you can use to create hands-free videos on your iPhone.

Regardless of which method you use, hands-free recording is a great feature and Snapchat users have been waiting a long time to be able to record without having their finger pressed to the screen. Once you have finished recording the video, you can then follow the same process you always have for editing and sharing.

Categories
Guest Posts

Getting Familiar with Amazon Enhanced Brand Content

The Amazon marketplace is like a goldmine for sellers and marketers alike. It provides a huge audience which results in higher clicks and sales count.

 

The benefits of amazon a+ content are not limited to sellers. It also provides a better look at the product to potential buyers. Moreover, the audience can feel the looks and design of the product even before buying. This way, decision-making becomes easy for people, and buyers can make a confident sale. Yet, even with many quality features, amazon a+ content is free. So, anyone registered under the amazon brand registry can use it.

 

Although it provides many benefits, the ebc content is not for everyone. It requires an experienced person to make full use of it. A few hurdles confuse some of the sellers and retailers but workarounds are available. A quality amazon enhanced brand content service is all you need to boost your sales chart. 

6 Reasons to Invest in Amazon Enhanced Brand Content

Amazon A+ content has many technicalities and options to consider. As an entrepreneur, it is hard to learn about every new thing and feature. To make things easier, here are the six most important reasons to invest in Amazon EBC. Every point will first focus on a feature of Amazon marketing. Following that, a brief description of how it can benefit your business.

 

  1. Easy Personalization

Immediately after getting into the A+ feature, there are tons of options. These settings may seem complex but are not hard to follow.

 

The customization includes many noticeable features. It has some templates to choose from and different settings to try. The templates available are; rose, tulip, orchid, sunflower, and lily. Each template has different layout settings for text and images. Moreover, the color choices, text placements, and designs make it a complete package.

 

The e-commerce market is tough for everyone. Every little thing and design is capable of making a change and bringing in quality traffic. Amazon EBC has many great qualities for businesses to take advantage of and rise to the top. 

  1. Attractive Brand Profile

Amazon A+ content lets you develop an exclusive showcase for your products. Even though the embedding options are HTML based, it does not kill creativity. Lots of choices are available to try and make your brand stand out from the crowd.

 

In recent times, there are lots of similar products. Every idea is presentable in many ways to create something unique and appealing. Moreover, the graphical elements make it easy to highlight the brand’s unique qualities. All you need is proper research to know what the audience demands and how.

 

Every brand has its own set of rules and skills. Amazon EBC allows everyone to build a connection with the audience in unique ways. This way, results get better, which in turn increases revenue generation.

  1. Featured Product Demonstration

By signing up to amazon ebc, you get many premium features. One of these is the ability to showcase products in expressive ways. It provides access to highlight unique product features and completely explains them. 

 

The basic reason to adopt amazon A+ content is its easy understandability. It lets the seller present their product with noticeable features and special angles. This way, you can remove long content paragraphs and focus more on detailing. At the same time, it lets the buyer completely understand the product. The whole features list and design are in front, and the decision becomes clear.

 

Most of the time, a potential customer bounces off due to a complex explanation. This hurdle restricts growth and limits total leads count. The amazon ebc service counters this problem and helps in gaining traffic.

  1. More Impressions, Higher Sales

A great design put together with the right skill looks better. The A+ content is all about creativeness which promotes increased oncoming traffic.

 

The Amazon EBC helps you define your brand story. A professional design presented in an appealing way will not go unnoticed. Moreover, interesting and attractive content can make a fine first impression. All these qualities improve clicks and impressions, which result in higher conversions.

 

Many great products get scrolled away or lost to an urgent email. Although it may be the right thing for customers, it fails to gain attention. Amazon ebc can help you leave an everlasting impact on your audience and make them come back every time.

  1. Improved Trust, Better Feedback

If the end-user can witness the product before buying, it removes many queries. The enhanced branding enables better product descriptions and details. In turn, it increases customer’s trust and faith in the brand name.

 

The enhanced content feature promotes better satisfaction standards. It can be set for all types of shoppers. For example, some like to look for a specific feature, and some are nerdy buyers. To counter this, the enhanced feature can help give out vital information on the front. To get more informed, there is always a complete description section. This will not only increase sales count but also improves the quality score. Well-maintained content will provide enough information to gain the customer’s trust. After that, the quality and quantity of the product will define the ranking feedback.

  1. Less Returns and Exchange

The main reason for many to go for enhanced branding is fewer chances of complaints and refunds. The customer gets to feel the product, which results in confident sales and less returns.

 

The A+ content makes it easier for marketers to answer queries that may arise. This ensures quality sales with less chances of return and exchange. It will also help increase reviews and customer engagements.

 

The return or exchange policy is not only hard for sellers but also for customers. The whole process involves many steps, and it may irritate the buyer. Amazon EBC, if used right, can help end this issue. It helps sellers target their product’s questionable aspects beforehand. This will limit the returns and promote better reviews, in return increasing traffic.

Glimpse of EBC Amazon

A quality Amazon enhanced brand content is a perfect feature to increase sales. It boosts engagements and helps businesses in making a name for themselves. Understanding everything in A+ content is hard for a non-specialist and requires guidance. To fulfill this task, premium EBC Amazon service providers are available to guide you.

Conclusion

If you want to increase your brand awareness and gather a quality audience, Amazon EBC is for you. It can enable higher engagements and customer count. Although it has some complex functionalities, they are worth learning. After all, who does not like engaging content? Make full use of this amazing feature and enable more green arrows on the sales chart.

Categories
Guest Posts

How The Internet of Things Is Improving Supply Chains

One of the biggest opportunities for businesses lies within the Internet of Things (IoT) enhanced supply chain. With a collection of interconnected physical devices that can monitor, report on, send and exchange data using device sensors to measure specific aspects such as location, temperature, speed of movement, and other environmental factors, it is possible for you to improve supply-chain efficiency and unlock new revenue opportunities.

There has never been a better time to consider adding IoT capabilities to your logistics facilities than now. You can enhance quality management throughout the supply chain by having real-time inventory tracking and management of surety bonds and other paperwork. This can take your logistics operational capacities to the next level. Take a look at how IoT is improving supply chain management.

Image Source

 

Monitoring and Real-Time Tracking

Lost shipments and misplaced inventory are slowly becoming a thing of the past. You can place IoT sensors on your goods to enable you to track the location and condition of your items at all times while they are in transit. 

By mapping every stage of your shipment’s supply chain and having control over product movement, you are able to improve the planning of routes and transit modes and have contingency plans to speed up the supply chain.

If you deal in items such as food and chemicals, you will need to keep them under certain ideal conditions. Smart sensors can help you monitor such items, with the ability to monitor your shipment’s overall conditions such as fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and pressure. You can also detect any problems during transit such as spillage, ensuring goods arrive intact and usable.

 

Improves Digital Marketing

Digital ads wouldn’t be so annoying if they were relevant and showed up at the right time. With the help of IoT, you can embed things like GPS trackers, sensors, and even everyday objects with electronics and internet connectivity to make them smart. 

These smart devices can connect to the cloud and be remotely controlled to communicate with each other and reveal patterns in product usage.

You can use the data from IoT-connected devices to understand the everyday lifestyle of your customers and possibly read their minds by having the ability to accurately forecast demand. 

With these insights from IoT, you can determine when customers need to replace products, the types of products they would like, and the factors influencing their purchase patterns. 

You would also be able to identify the ideal markets where your products will sell the most and showcase your products on the right platform at the right time.

IoT can also help you in marketing automation. Without having to spend lots of money and time gathering customer data, IoT can automate this process allowing you to get relevant data quickly with very little effort and at low costs.

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Improved Paperwork Management

If you want a smooth supply chain operation, paperwork management is a key factor you must consider. 

IoT helps you to instantly move away from tedious manual paper methods to instantaneous digitalization and connectivity with more streamlined document management, thereby increasing your productivity and improving workflow operations.

IoT integrates and works well with printers, smart connected scanning solutions, and document scanning software to track and manage all data in real-time, automate processes, manage resources and alert you when something isn’t working quite right. 

This will save you time, money, and stress by reducing the burden of tasks that are usually manually done.

When you pair IoT with advanced capture software such as ILINX Advanced Capture, smart connected solutions, and networked scanners, you will increase your productivity by eliminating the risk of manual errors, optimizing time, and gathering data that provides you with useful insights.

 

Improving Inventory Solutions

Inventory control is also key in warehouse and supply chain management. You can install IoT sensors with a variety of components to help manage inventory more efficiently by automatically tracking and analyzing inventory positions and stock levels of several high-value elements. With IoT inventory control technologies such as smart shelves, you can monitor your supply levels in real-time and prevent shortages while easily predicting future inventory needs.

Warehouse errors and inaccurate operations can be costly. IoT devices can help reduce errors and increase processing speeds and overall warehouse efficiency. Installing IoT sensors will help you monitor the movement and use of material and other assets inside your warehouse, and track en route inventory, with the ability to identify where and when goods are delayed in transit. 

This aids in emergency planning and helps you identify alternative ways of speeding up the supply chain.

 

Improves Contingency Planning

If you are dealing with perishable products, maintaining a stable temperature is important to enable them to last longer. Did you know that according to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, up to one-third of food perishes on transit every year? With IoT sensing technology you can easily avoid this by keeping track of the temperatures of your products and have proper contingency plans.

You can also manage uncertainties and challenges within the entire supply chain process. IoT gives you the opportunity to go ahead with a number of factors that may prove difficult to predict or control. 

Uncertainties such as traffic delays or other delay-inducing occurrences on the highway will be a thing of the past if you make use of sensor-enabled IoT solutions to plan for clear routes.

This technology offers you real-time alerts and data that will increase your speed of risk mitigation while providing you with flexible contingency plans. IoT collects all data required to create a proper emergency plan, taking into consideration the unforeseen events that might occur on the way.

Photo by Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition on Unsplash

 

Final Thoughts

IoT technologies will allow you to better manage your operations from production through to delivery. It will transform your supply chain to be more efficient, shorter, and increasingly transparent. IoT will become your eyes and brain, helping you spot trends and opportunities to make pivotal decisions for your business. In case there is a problem, you can see it and resolve it before it negatively impacts your supply chain.