September 2021 - Stellen Infotech Pvt Ltd

September 23, 2021

Voice Marketing: A New Trend for Your Business Strategies

Voice marketing is one of the newest methods of connecting with customers and clients. It shares the same core principles as content marketing. Brands have already started utilizing AI-enabled devices to address customer concerns in real-time. However, they keep the brand’s mission in mind.

Voice search technology enables businesses to enhance the consumer experience, attract traffic to the site, and boost sales. Furthermore, its ease of use and convenience has increased voice searches in the year 2021.

Even stats put it better:

Statista shows that the global voice search demand is expected to reach USD27. 16 billion by the year 2025
Marketing Week says that 61% of audiences made their purchases after hearing the podcasts
Google says that voice search on mobile devices is used by around 27% of the online community worldwide

Using voice marketing helps the customers to stay connected with the brands. Thus, expanding the marketing opportunities and delivering the tailored experiences as per the customer expectations.

Voice Marketing Defined

Businesses, brands, and influencers can use voice marketing to connect with their target audience via audio or live content. Enterprises can use numerous tools and tactics to market their goods or services across voice platform concepts.

The voice-enabled solutions, for example, include Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa, but voice search has evolved beyond this. There are a variety of devices that can interact with people by using voice commands.

Four areas where voice marketing is popular include:

Podcasts: Nearly half (41%) of Americans aged 12 and more have downloaded and/or streamed a podcast in the last month of the year 2021. As a result, podcasts have become one of the most competitive areas of digital media in recent years, according to the study.
Voice Ads: These are made available via voice-enabled gadgets or podcasts, depending on the preference.
Voice Search Optimization: Rather than creating a story, this voice engine optimization is required to deliver quick answers to queries. When someone requests voice support, they don’t expect an audiobook in response. Solutions should be fast and precise. Also, it includes creating content while remembering it is primarily heard.
Sonic Branding: In this modern method of voice marketing, a business produces its own audio resources as part of the marketing campaign. In this way, they become accustomed to hearing these audios. These assets can be incorporated into other media as well.

Need for Voice Strategy

In this new era, voice technology is advancing at a rapid pace. Online, people are more likely to choose a brand by speaking instead of typing it into a search bar. This is because it takes less effort to speak than typing.

Siri, Alexa, and other voice assistants have made people more accustomed to speaking directly into their smart devices to meet their needs.

Businesses need to adopt this technology as this will enable them to communicate with their customers during busy times. It could be something as simple as making dinner, going for a run, or driving. Voice technology can help the brands to gain an increased scope of customer engagement.

How Voice Marketing Can Benefit Businesses

Promote Brand Loyalty

Voice search will be the preferred method of information seeking in years to come. There’s no doubt that this will increase customer satisfaction and retention rates. Voice assistants combining artificial intelligence (AI) with voice technology and other advances such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) can help brands memorize previous queries and deliver more customized information. A combination of these factors can boost business visibility while promoting brand loyalty. These responses are based on relevant search results, which the voice assistants pull from to provide them.

Since voice search strategy is becoming more popular, businesses can become experts to deliver the best online search convenience. Consequently, users are more likely to remain loyal to the brand.

Enhance Stakeholder Experience

Voice technology will also have an impact on the way businesses operate in the future. Even the big companies already work in a certain way. They have different ideas of how and when people would consume information in this modern era. The AI-enabled voice assistance, for example, helps employees set up virtual sessions, record meetings, share screens, and so on.

In addition, the technologies help to improve communications throughout the business, allowing the teams to operate more efficiently. Hence, helping in innovating and brainstorming new ideas, as well as build employee confidence.

Push B2B Sales

Enterprises and B2B sales benefit from voice technology by improving internal connections. As a result of the translation features, it allows brands to better network with overseas partners. Salesforce voice assistant is a good example. Customer relationship platforms can benefit from this feature. Thus, businesses can keep track of daily activities such as action plans and meetings.

So, marketers who want to take advantage of voice technology must optimize it for long-tail keywords. However, it’s also critical to make sure the keywords are organic.

Voice Marketing Strategy Use Cases

Customer Service

These devices, as their name suggests, hear input requests and deliver responses by interpreting that information. Using voice-enabled technology in connection with Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be extremely helpful for customer service departments. A wide range of questions from the audience will be answered quickly. Responses that are both accurate and timely.

To increase operational productivity and efficiency, brands should consider using this technology. Being able to be reached at any time is a plus. Chatbots can preserve 30 percent of customer service costs, according to statistics. As a result, businesses can respond faster. In addition to the efficiency of quick responses, these queries can help to create content to target and enhance other brand touchpoints.

Voice Marketing in Apps

Search marketplaces like Amazon and Google allow brands to create applications that can be found on their websites. Apps available on both of these storefronts are referred to by a variety of names. To give you an idea about it, Google has Actions, and Alexa has Skilled. The brand’s reach can be extended in enormous ways with the help of these apps. This technology is still in its origin, and businesses need to take advantage of it.

Voice Marketing in Search

A business’s website’s voice-enabled search capabilities are becoming increasingly important. Since people use Google Assistant to ask questions through voice commands, this trend has increased. On top of search results pages, featured snippets provide answers to voice searches. First and foremost is researching natural question queries related to business to incorporate voice search into a brand’s services.

Besides this, brands focusing on voice search marketing strategy should create content that provides users with quick answers.

Voice Marketing Trends

Of course, voice marketing is not new. However, in recent years, audio-only platforms have gained a lot of popularity. And the popular and biggest voice marketing trends include:

Voice Assistants

Voice assistants with Artificial Intelligence capabilities include Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and Echo. Lately, all of these have become household staples.

Voice assistants help in making the buying process easy for the customers. The stats simplify this. Around 35% of voice assistant users buy goods like clothes or groceries using voice search technology.

Technologies such as voice assistants make the buying process easier for customers. Statistics make it easier to understand what’s going on. Around 35% of voice assistant users use voice search technology to purchase items like clothes or groceries. This tool is not just for buying clothes or other household essentials, though.

On several levels, this brand strategy is effective. It provides valuable at-home entertainment solutions, thereby increasing business exposure and boosting sales.

There is no doubt that voice search marketing is gaining in popularity. Also, with continuous technological advancement, people keep on finding new ways to consume content. Thus, it makes sense for businesses not to overlook the rising opportunities.

Any business can use voice marketing to increase brand awareness and drive sales, regardless of its industry or target market.

Podcasts

Everything from the business tips to reality shows and crimes, finding a podcast genre for every individual. So, here are some ways how businesses can get involved in this space.

The podcast genres range from business tips to reality shows and crimes, so there’s something for every person. A few ways that businesses can get involved in this space are listed here.

1) Build Branded Podcasts

Branded podcasts are the media organized by a business. These can be regarding the brand or its offerings. Also, they can be aligned with the company’s brand values and mission.

For example, you may be familiar with Sephora. They host #LIPSTORIES, a podcast about self-image that’s a lot of fun.

Whenever on the go, podcasts are a great way to connect with the audience. It’s not uncommon to feel like a casual conversation between two close friends in the beginning.

Businesses and creators can take advantage of their existing channels to host podcasts and grow their audience. Also, social media following can be increased by regularly posting your podcasts on Instagram or other platforms. This encourages them to subscribe to the podcasts wherever and whenever they listen to them.

2) Invest in Ads Segments

As a marketer, you have the opportunity to reach large audiences of active listeners by buying an ad spot while hosting a podcast.

An Interactive Advertising Bureau study found that 61 percent of podcast listeners bought a service or product after hearing the ads on a podcast.

Different types of ads spots to consider includes:

Native ads in which the customers or hosts discuss the specific product or service
An exclusive podcast promo code for those who are listening

Brand-aligned podcast advertising allows you to reach an audience that is interested in your product or service.

This requires businesses to consider who their target audience is and what content they are most interested in.

Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse

In response to the rapid growth of social media, podcasts and apps are getting into the game of voice marketing. Users can easily listen to discussions in Clubhouse, which is an audio social network. Podcasts have given it a critical boost in terms of publicity and growth.

Twitter is also going to launch a voice chat room feature called Spaces, which will allow users to interact in real-time. In the words of Twitter, this feature intends to deliver difference and understanding, and emotion, which is often lost in the text.

Overall, social media trends are constantly evolving. Keep up with the latest social media platforms to promote your products or services in a fresh, new, and exciting way.

Future of Voice Search

All online businesses will be required to take advantage of voice technology as it spreads across the global digital landscape. Access to and gaining a large number of potential clients will be the need. At every digital touchpoint, the world is moving toward productivity and ease of use. Vocalization will undoubtedly be a big move forward.

To remain consistent, online brands around the world must build a voice-optimized strategy. Interactivity will help gather more information and provide customers with easier-to-understand communication mediums. All that remains to be seen is how well businesses can take advantage of these features to improve advertising, collaboration, or customer retention rates.

September 14, 2021

Marketing in 2022 : 11 Key Principles for Developing a Digital Mindset

Digitalization, AI, and other innovations are well-documented on the internet and other resources. There is, however, one significant question that remains unanswered. That is which mindset will be required to set apart yourself or your business in the coming future.

Digital Intelligence has become the new norm in this innovative world. Especially after the COVID-19 has hit the globe. However, this does not mean becoming a specialist in digital assets. It is about having a solid understanding of technologies and the opportunities it brings to the businesses and audience.

Stats says:

The digital transformation initiatives of 85 percent of IT companies are hampered by implementation difficulties.
According to a survey, 59% of IT decision-makers are boosting their digital transformation because of pandemic pressure.

Thus, any business that wants to survive and thrive in the future must embrace the change today with digitization.

Digital tools can become outdated anytime. Hence, businesses must integrate shifts internally into their company culture. Innovation means creating an environment where the ideas are valued, opinions can breathe, and failures are used as the next step towards progress.

If you’re looking for long-term success with your digital business, adaptability, questioning, and flexibility are more significant than just investing in the latest technology.

Hence, to keep businesses evolving, and begin on the path to digital transformation, below are the key principles to consider.

Key Principles for Developing a Digital Mindset

Sorting Business Strategy Before Investing in Anything

Only money won’t help you transform your business towards digitization. Smart people use specific technologies to improve organizational performance. You’ll be able to set measurable goals this way.

To begin with, you must develop a strategy for innovation. As an example, identify areas for improvement. For example, a decrease in productivity or reduced time to market.

Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can invest in the right tools to help you achieve them. Thus, you can save money and stay focused on your goals.

Promote Digital Culture

The lack of digital skills is another key factor in the digital transformation process.

Today, everyone thinks they are tech-savvy, but that’s not the case. However, there are some individuals or businesses with employees who require assistance. When a company implements or uses new technologies, staff with less knowledge and experience in a particular area increases.

Undoubtedly, the skills gap is a pressing issue that must be addressed immediately. It’s significant to help employees gain technical knowledge and stay current in the digital age.

First and foremost, the firms should invest in employee training before implementing any complex system to increase productivity. Otherwise, it would be like throwing away a lot of money and wasting a lot of time.

Address Employee Concerns About Transformation

Incorporating new tools or technologies into the company’s culture and business processes can be a source of anxiety for employees. After all, technology has been used to replace workers in many cases. Thus, you need to communicate with the employees when it comes to fear of digital transformation.

This decision will not only hamper progress but could also lead to unintended outcomes. As a result, businesses need to highlight the importance of digital transformation as a new opportunity for business and staff growth.

Ensure to the staff that the new technology implementation will enhance their expertise and fit the future marketplace. Such a company culture will help the digital transformation go more smoothly. Thus, delivering a win-win opportunity for both the employers as well as the employees.

Customer-Centric Approach

Businesses that still focus on just increasing sales and do not want to know what their audience expects will face the consequences in the future. Taking banks as an example, what do their customers expect from them? Do they only want to use digital banking services? Is it possible that they’d like to have physical branches too? Is there a need for both, or is it a combination of both?

This simply means that while building the new solutions you have to consider the customer needs in that whole progress. Products and services will always remain in demand and never finish. But if their expectations aren’t met, customers will leave. Keep this in mind!

Understanding Why Digital Mindset Matters

People must always be at the forefront of any digital transformation. Employees should be kept informed throughout the entire implementation process. Also, the reasons for all of these measures should be explained to them. Overall, staff must be informed of the benefits they can harness from new technology.

Business owners must stay responsible and be available to interact with their employees. In this way, they will be able to address the concerns of their employees. Also, they will be able to gather new ideas, depicting that all opinions and concerns are heard.

Appointing representatives for different departments would be a good idea for companies struggling to convince their employees of the benefits of new technology. Provide a sense of innovation in the workforce and encourage a positive attitude towards the transformation process. Not all new or creative ideas originate from the top.

Empower Flexible Decision Making

Numerous companies need to improve their decision-making process. Efficient prototyping and business structuring make this possible. However, companies are afraid of digital transformation uncertainties, which impact businesses.

Businesses should consider forming cross-functional teams to improve decision-making speed and effectiveness. Aside from that, these teams must be responsible for different stages of the digital transformation process. They’ll have an easier time integrating the new technology into their digital business operations. Also, gathering feedback from the company’s leaders before implementing new ideas will become easier.

Overall, such a structured approach will lead to more quick and efficient decision-making.

Transforming Customer Experience

Enterprise leadership is quoted with two crucial key aspects for digital transformation: customer interaction and satisfaction. Gathering customer feedback becomes significant to achieve the right level of customer experience.

So, you can request feedback from customers about the company’s best features, as well as areas for improvement. Their input will undoubtedly have a positive influence on the business transformation.

There’s more to this story, though. As a company owner, focus on groups or communities where all the stakeholders are present. Assign a priority to their wants and needs. All of these metrics can then be used to analyze and rate your business’s performance.

You can also start with the internal operations. Your ability to set meaningful goals and determine the tools necessary for achieving them will also improve.

Thus, start on small adjustments and implement specific tools at different stages to maximize the consumer’s experience.

Start with What You’ve Got

Already, we’ve realized that digital transformation doesn’t have to be all-consuming. Transformation is not the same as fixing something wrong. Making small changes can have a big impact on the results. The new mindset also calls for the company to evaluate its talent before hiring from outside.

If you can train your existing team or give them new tools and technologies to use, why hire new staff?

And don’t be fooled into thinking your approach to transformation will be in any way less effective. One-size-fits-all strategies don’t always deliver the best to companies.

Hence, to make digital transformation effective, interact with the staff who are involved in the everyday process and learn from them. A company’s current employees have a better idea of what’s best for the company’s growth.

You should start by analyzing the current workflow and identifying ways to simplify it using new technologies and tools. As a result, a positive change occurs.

Stay Responsive to Collaboration and Learning

The mantra of today’s age is to collaborate with a variety of companies and technologies. There’s no doubt that collaboration is the key, whether it’s to implement new technologies or complete an individual project. And with it comes the idea of learning and growing skills.

Expertise and experience in a particular field will not be able to keep up with future technological advances.

The value of innovation and individual expertise can only be maximized when both are combined. Overall, collaboration is the best way to go in today’s technologically advanced world. Thus, defining the methods that deliver the expected outcomes.

Be Flexible About Space and Time

We live in a connected world with several possibilities to work, learn, explore, and interact with people from around the world. Every situation is different when it comes to working according to time. Personal time and work time should no longer be considered separate. These days, we can balance the personal work during the working time-slots, thanks to digitization.

But some companies still expect every employee to be in the office during working hours. However, it’s a matter of the past now, thanks to digitization. Organizations are increasingly getting influenced by the “anytime, anywhere” mantra in recent years. As a result, maintaining a work-life balance is becoming increasingly simple.

Additionally, it is imperative that time and space are kept flexible. This is to keep the business growing while keeping its employees and customers happy.

A Layout for Better Digital Mindset

You’ve got all the knowledge about common business pitfalls that often arise during digital transformation. Now, you need to focus more on measurable methods to avoid all such hassles. To conclude, these strategies involve:

Interacting with staff, examining their talent, and implementing their ideas.
Resolve staff issues about transformation
Empowering prompt decision-making
Focusing on customer experience

All of these steps will assist you in navigating a more successful transformation. Someone who understands what customers want and how to get it done.

Summing Up

Finally, the strategies outlined above help successful businesses differentiate themselves from their competitors in terms of a digital mindset. All companies must create a digital culture that includes all the fundamentals. Encouraging a positive shift in an employee’s mindset is what this is all about.

Small businesses must unlearn practices that no longer serve the growth of the company. As a result, they must adapt to the new mindsets and initiatives to achieve their goals in this digital age and remain competitive.

September 7, 2021

The Unconventional Guide to Implement ERP Software

Nowadays, businesses are rapidly expanding, and spreadsheets are no longer beneficial in operations. Furthermore, technological developments are changing the way firms operate. Thus, increasing the demand for flexibility, agility, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

Hence, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system comes as a viable solution. It’s a piece of software that streamlines workflow management and automates business processes.

Well said, it collects and organizes business data, allowing employees to work more seamlessly and efficiently as the company grows.

Even stats put it better:

88% of corporations believe that the ERP system helped their business thrive.
By 2026, the ERP software market is expected to be worth $78.4 billion.
Around 49% of organizations agreed that their business operations improved after implementing ERP.

The ERP implementation may seem challenging but all these statistics depict that many organizations are even surpassing the business expectations.

However, many businesses have heard of ERP but are unsure of its benefits or how to adapt it into their operations.

So, let us explain ERP software and how to successfully implement it in detail.

Enterprise Resource Planning Defined

The Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERPS) is a platform that helps businesses plan and run their day-to-day operations. Inventory management, supply chain management, manufacturing, and so on are a few examples.

It can be utilized to automate and streamline an individual’s business processes across the corporation. The tasks may involve risk management, project management, accounting, customer relationship management, etc.

Overall, ERPs help in integrating all company aspects, from budget planning to procedure prediction. Hence, achieving better performance and operational management.

How to Achieve ERP Software Implementation Successfully

Determine your End-goals and Objectives

The identification of objectives and defining the precise needs is the first step before implementation.

When it comes to deciding whether or not to install ERP, many firms are unsure about their business goals. As a result, there is no successful ERP adoption, and the bottom line suffers.

With so many benefits of the ERP system, firms must concentrate on determining what their objectives are. And it can assist them in accomplishing those goals.

Focus on specific process requirements, how the ERP can affect the bottom line, and why your company requires it. As a result, the more accurate you are, the better the ERP solution you will choose and integrate.

Pick the Right Team and Assign Roles

When you have decided on the enterprise resource planning software, the next step is to hire in-house experts with relevant experience.

Many firms make the mistake of sparing some time to their existing in-house staff to complete the implementation.

So, rather than making this error, remember that only experienced employees can provide you detailed business insights.

Begin by hiring a team with essential capabilities and defining their responsibilities. Encourage them to concentrate on making the ERP implementation process as simple as possible.

Overall, the specialists you choose must be capable of creating high-level objectives and ensuring that the ERP project is completed on time and under budget.

Selecting the Right ERP System

One of the most crucial tasks in the implementation process is to choose the right ERP software. This is because not all solutions will meet your requirements and provide you with the same benefits. Furthermore, the ERP system used by someone else may or may not meet your specific needs.

Your go-to solution should not be dependent on a one-size-fits-all approach. So, think of your business needs, what your specialization is, and your future goals.

Build Project Layout

It is critical to map out the procedure layout before moving on to implementation. It will provide you with a comprehensive picture of your digital transition.

This strategy must have the following elements:

Previously established objectives
Enlist goals and tasks
Well-structured deadlines
Individual and team member responsibilities
Final result testing case studies

Outlining all of these factors can help you identify the areas of the firm that demand additional attention.

Data Migration is Essential

Data migration is again a significant part of the ERP system implementation. This is because simplifying business operations is effective if done right.

Hence, before directing all your company data onto the new ERP system, filter out the unnecessary data. This will keep your system accurate and clutter-free.

The goal behind filtering information is to transfer only the necessary data, resulting in maximum efficiency and integrity.

Perform System Configuration

It’s time to integrate and launch your ERP system now that you’ve chosen it and determined your goals. Configure the software and tweak it according to your needs after you’ve set up the infrastructure.

However, the length of the procedure may vary depending on the implementation partner and software vendor.

Some ERP solutions, for example, are robust yet take a long time to implement. Some of them can be ready to use right out of the box. To make the installation process run more smoothly, choose a good vendor who first knows your demands. Others may overlook critical details during the implementation process, leaving your requirements unmet.

To avoid surprises, you should also negotiate the deadline and procedure with the vendor ahead of time.

Provide Training to Employees

Following the implementation and testing of the ERP solution, the next step is to teach the staff how to effectively use the system. Start by assembling a team of professionals to deliver on-site ERP employee training. Additionally, assist staff in fully understanding and becoming informed about the product.

Of course, your IT staff should receive sufficient training so that they are prepared to address any future technical problems.

Perform Your Go-Live Step

After you’ve learned how to utilize the ERP system, begin with organizing all sources and projects. As a result, the business activities can be successfully streamlined.

You should retest the system to check that it is functioning correctly.

However, don’t fall into the trap of believing that ERP implementation is complete. Continuous operation of a firm is critical for successful implementation. You can’t just teach the staff, implement the solution in place, and forget about it.

Support and Maintenance is Critical

With such software solutions, you can’t just stop on implementation; proper maintenance and support are required.

The level of support provided is one of the most significant differences between successful and unsuccessful ERP installations. For ERP system maintenance, you can hire an in-house team. They should be well-trained and educated about support requirements and how they will affect your business. You can also choose to outsource your support and maintenance requirements.

You must ensure efficient system maintenance to avoid any malfunctions. If something goes wrong, it can be handled swiftly and effectively. As a result, enabling you to achieve maximum profitability and operational efficiency.

The Bottom Line

Investing in an ERP software package might be a worthwhile investment. People frequently choose cost-effective solutions, but you must look for solutions tailored to your company’s demands.

Although it may necessitate a significant amount of effort, time, and outlining, the appropriate transition will undoubtedly pay off in the long run. You may face numerous hurdles during ERP system adoption if you lag the necessary understanding.

At Stellen Infotech, we offer unique ERP systems tailored to your company’s needs. We also have an experienced team of ERP solution installation experts on hand to make the process go as smoothly as possible.

So, contact us today to explore more about how we assist organizations with their ERP journey.