Ciente > Articles by: Ciente Editorial Team

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide

Author: Ciente Editorial Team

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide
Blogs

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide

Creating an impact with your SaaS product could be challenging in the dynamic market. How can you design a winning strategy to beat the competition?

The SaaS product market is a huge landscape; navigating through it blindfolded may drift you away from your purpose.  Research indicates that the growth rate every year for SaaS is 18%. And it accelerates business growth, provided a marketing strategy is in place.

SaaS product marketing is all about bringing it to the right target audience and promoting it on relevant sources. For the process to be successful, it has to be consistent throughout.  Your product marketing team can create an effective strategy to enhances brand positioning and gives that cutting-edge you have been waiting for. The end goal here is to create new opportunities and close more deals.

The approach goes beyond knowing every single detail of the SaaS product. The difference lies in exhibiting knowledge about your SaaS value and services.

Steps to market a SaaS product

The key to accomplishing an articulate plan for a SaaS product marketing strategy is integrating this step-by-step guide.

Social media

Since 3.6 billion people are actively using social media, make the most of this channel while embarking on your SaaS product marketing journey. Utilizing this medium to educate prospects on topics related to the SaaS product will promote better decision-making. When more people engage with your product, it also contributes to increased brand awareness.

Social media also offers the opportunity to stand out from other B2B brands. What is posted on these marketing channels and how existing clients and potential customers interact with them can go a long way in building trust. Tracking these responses allows us to understand the campaign performance and whether or not you are heading on the right path.     

Email marketing

This channel of communication is effective for marketing your SaaS product to your niche prospects. Brands can use different routes to execute an email marketing campaign:

Newsletter: Shares updates about launch and modifications to the community. It’s a great way to engage with prospective customers about new features, upcoming events, and more.

Acquisition emails: An email campaign designed to cover MQL and SQL, allowing potential customers to flow through the marketing funnel.

Retention emails: Launched with the motive to increase the probability. Retention emails familiarize prospects of interest with walkthroughs, feature updates, and customer feedback opportunities.

Video Marketing

Content Marketing that is customer-centric and aligned with the brand voice will give you the desired response. Marketing your SaaS software by engaging videos can increase views and target audience engagement. Studies indicate that the conversion rate of retaining information is about 95%when viewing a video. It allows you to highlight the different features through attractive visuals that help in customer retention and lead generation. The videos illustrate how customer loyalty will benefit from the SaaS program and how to use it.

SEO for SaaS

Syncing SaaS product marketing team with SEO optimization may seem like a huge step, but it helps amp up the revenue sales cycle. You can opt for this channel to increase the organic traffic to your product page. When consistently practiced, an effective SEO strategy improves domain authority and the sales funnel.

Paid ads

Paid ads and banners are also applicable to SaaS products. Before launching an ad campaign, determine the best platform to do so. Select the channel frequented by your target audience and design a compatible ad. This route of product marketing strategy is a great way to retarget potential customers who have interacted with your website in some form.

Other content for marketing SaaS products

Blog

Educational pieces relevant to the blog establish you as the thought leader. Leverage resourceful blogs to communicate about the industry and trends specific to your niche, and offer solutions that prospects seek. Blog posts drive more traffic to your website and product page. If you link a form with a call-to-action, an article becomes a powerful tool for lead generation.

At Ciente, we create blogs that improve your brand identity among the right target audience. We also specialize in adding SEO tools and relevant backlinks to increase wider audience reach through the blogs.

Podcast

Your audience can learn more about the products through an engaging podcast session. It also sheds light on how the SaaS program will address their pain point.

Ciente has a channel dedicated to podcasts, conveying the latest technologies, trends, and how to integrate innovations. We understand the role of podcasts in enhancing brand awareness and marketing products.

SaaS product marketing- Pro Tips

Best practices for SaaS product marketing 1

Map your ICP

Without digging into more information about your ideal customer profiles, all product marketing efforts may seem futile. Research details such as the platforms they frequent, the ads they engage with, and the products they buy. Analyzing buying behavior provides clarity on their likely response to your product.

Evaluate the competency

Research the target market in-depth to know where your ideas stand. Assess the performance of your competitors and their marketing plans to get a competitive edge. You can tweak your strategy to better address the pain points. In this way, they will prefer choosing your brand over others.

Design a clear strategy

A marketing campaign is effective if you define your business goals. Whether you are looking to attract new customers or increase the retention rate, it is time to get creative with your strategy. Find ways to deliver more Aha! Moments among the clients. Brainstorm ideas within your team and invent a unique plan of action.

Keep user experience in mind

Customers who have a positive user experience while coming across your product will frequent the channel. Focus on improving user experience through all stages of the buyer’s journey and buyer personas to deliver improved customer engagement, while managing the customer acquisition cost. Strategize a unique experience with your product that creates an imprint and increases interest in buying.

Track the campaign

The efficacy of a SaaS marketing campaign is limited unless you keep tabs on its performance. Utilize relevant metrics to track engagement and deliver the results. Metric analysis gives you the big picture, whether you are on track with your goals or there are miles to go.

Automating SaaS marketing

Automating your marketing efforts involves integrating software and technologies that manage repetitive tasks. It feels like a heavy weight lifted off the shoulders when these daily tasks are automated. From email scheduling to data management, a series of tasks can be simplified with marketing automation.

Wrapping it up.

In the expanding realm of SaaS, a robust marketing strategy is the catalyst for improving customer journey and engagement, right from the onboarding process. Its success hinges on carefully planning the nitty-gritty of the marketing campaign and maintaining a competitive edge. These steps will reduce the churn rate and instead drive demand, adoption, retention, and expansion of your client database in a continuous cycle.

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing
Blogs

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing

Is building a compelling brand narrative a solution for navigating the challenges of performance marketing?

The Times of India coined 2023 as the year of content fatigue, describing it as the year businesses were in an attention battle.

Just as fatiguing as it sounds, content fatigue is detrimental to developing a digital marketing strategy. Especially, if the blog post is not engaging enough, it can result in a low conversion rate.

The marketplace is congested with short-term trends and long-term business goals, where the target audience is dealing with an incomparable number of native advertising and content.

In a simpler term? Ad saturation.

This is a challenge for digital marketing strategy. Creating high-quality and valuable content is complicated, and time-consuming, and the digital landscape is already crowded.

Content matters, particularly compelling and relevant ones, but for business growth? Quantifiable results take the driver’s seat.

And the audience fatigue when it comes to dealing with stale and irrelevant content influences these results. As the trends tire out consumers with short attention spans, the need for content with flashy factors increases. The process of consumption should make the consumer feel exhilarating and generate the need to share it with others.

The general public (with newer generations) has become demanding, while the market is highly competitive.

Measuring the demand in digital marketing is crucial.

What is in demand and how much returns is it bringing in? At the end of the day, marketers need to report back with numbers and justify their investments in specific campaigns and the return on investment generated.

Why and how do marketers calculate these quantifiable metrics and map where they stand against their competitors?

Content performance marketing comes to our rescue.

It uses display ads, affiliate marketing, referral email marketing, and search engine marketing to drive quantifiable results.

The campaigns encourage measurable actions whose results can be outlined in numbers that stakeholders can use to compare and gauge the campaign’s effectiveness. The advertisers only pay for specific actions or results such as when a browser clicks on a page or completes a purchase.

Content marketers have revised their marketing strategies to integrate data-driven methodologies such as different types of performance marketing strategy. Hence, the marketing budget is narrowed down and allocated towards driving the success of ad campaigns.

To know where to shift our expenses, we outline the demand – which of our performance marketing campaigns has the maximum ROI? Studying this demand can help analyze the present and past returns by assessing if it’s reaching the right qualified audience.

For content performance marketing to be effective, knowing who your target audience is, the audience your brand is targeting, and what is driving demand is crucial. In simpler terms, understand your audience.

As marketers, we want to pinpoint how our existing social media advertising campaigns are performing instead of focusing on boosting the number of ads in the market. Please Check Programmatic Advertising.

Along with studying audience demand, our marketing goal is to focus on quality over quantity. And both require a strong brand narrative.

How Does Content Performance Marketing Work?

In content performance marketing, decisions are data-driven and comprise performance-based goals. The expense depends on how the user interacts with a piece of content and through which performance marketing channels.

For example, a brand will pay you (the marketing agency) only after the goals have been met or an action taken, such as a sale, lead, or clicks, based on how well their ads which you help develop and place, perform.

Understanding content performance marketing channels is a small feat. And this discussion ends with numbers – quantifiable results. It is a seamless and efficient way for businesses to build targeted campaigns and invest in digital channels generating the maximum measurable ROI.

The story behind your brand matters.

Analyzing which content is performing the best is significant, and is calculable through different SEO strategies.

But to what extent, is this possible without the usual storytelling, the creative shelf, at the core of content marketing? Is performance marketing well-founded enough without a strong brand narrative?

An intriguing and well-thought-out brand narrative offers your leads a reason to hold on even after the interest is generated, boosting customer retention and elevating performance metrics.

It is not as easy as throwing all your darts at the board and seeing which sticks, right? Additional efforts are necessary.

While talking about demand, the numbers can help us outline what we are looking at. Engagement is demand after all. Click-through rates, sales, and leads represent demand for your brand.

Even though content performance marketing serves a different purpose than content marketing. For effective marketing of a brand, a delicate balance between the two is required.

The middle ground between content performance marketing and brand building

Take Dropbox as an example.

It’s no secret that the company has had one of the most successful performance marketing campaigns focused on referral marketing.

They introduced a double-sided incentive program in which users referring their services to their peers received 500MB of extra storage space for basic users and 1GB for plus members per referral. Meanwhile, those who joined using the referral link received 16 to 32GB of extra space.

unnamed file 1

How was this incentive/referral program a form of performance marketing strategy?

Over 2.8 million direct referral invites took place in the first 18 months of introducing the program, resulting in a 60% increase in signups.

Dropbox witnessed a 3900% increase in conversion rates in just over 15 months.

After this, they transformed their onboarding (sign-up) process. They added the referral program and used one of the latest and most sought-after marketing strategies in the book: personalization.

Their invites did not simply say, “Invite Your Friends”, but said, “Get More Space.” Inviting and creative.

They studied their audience, i.e., they know what their audience is here for – storage space – and personalized the invites to convey: we know what you need and we are offering that to you, but on only one simple condition: refer us.

This was not a huge ask. As consumers, we use word-of-mouth marketing in daily life and referral marketing works the same way.

Dropbox ensured that the campaigning aligned with the user’s needs. The user knew what they were searching for (storage space) and Dropbox found a way to leverage that in a way that benefits them and the user.

Dropbox studied its audience and modified its brand.

Today, it is known for its referral program. This has ensured a positive brand narrative for them, attracting new users.

As of June 2024, it has 700 million registered users and 18.22 million paying users.

It targets existing users to attract new ones at lower costs, a crucial part of performance marketing. Dropbox has made the campaign more visible and accessible for users by making it a part of their sign-up process.

Moreover, another element that elevated the participation or response to their referral program is clear messaging. Their marketing campaign mentioned what the users were getting, fostering trust and transparency in their brand.

Often for a marketing campaign, the goal is to lure prospects through ambiguous messaging. It’s most often a trap. But Dropbox leveraged the trust their existing users have in them by mentioning how exactly the referral program works:

pp 1

This is how Dropbox leveraged brand narrative for its content performance marketing strategy.

Content performance marketing considers short-term metrics, and the brand narrative accounts for customer perception. A positive brand image increases visibility, converting one-time users into long-term customers.

Your brand identity can influence performance in the long run. One is accountable for the other and the outcomes generated. One cannot be measured in isolation from the other.

This is why there is an increased focus on how the ads and their messaging might look to the audience.

Our priority remains valuable campaign creation.

Even in referral marketing, when a brand is referred to you, you click the link – what then? While the brand holds the referrer’s trust, a new user still has to resonate with the brand.

Content performance marketing targets qualified users, but building the brand narrative can lure new ones. Hence, a balance of both is crucial for driving conversion rates.

Focusing on the brand during content performance marketing adds value. It brings into focus the face of your business and its functional features. And a positive value can drive revenue by elevating brand aw

Open-source-or-proprietary-database
Blogs

Open source or proprietary database management: What should you go for?

Open source or proprietary database management: What should you go for?

If your business database is not structured, you may lose crucial information or struggle to retrieve them. How do you decide which DBMS is the best?

B2B brands are evolving at lightning speed with the technological revolution, and so is their database. In the absence of an accurate data management system, information is not organized and may go amiss. Moreover, a DBMS ensures that you can create, modify, and add query into a database, along with managing the security and access controls for that software.

While designing and building data management systems, you can incorporate open-source database technology or purchase commercial software. And each of these options brings with it a set of benefits and drawbacks. The demand for open source and proprietary databases is equally high. This often puts IT teams in a state of dilemma. Studies indicate that in 2023, the worldwide DBMS market was expected to cross $100 billion.

We’ve discussed each of these separately.

What is meant by proprietary software?

In recent years, the realm of software has evolved significantly, with tech brands having an array of software options to choose from. Proprietary software restricts the usability and ownership rights to the software. Vendors sell this technology as an off-the-shelf commercial product that may or may not allow customization. Its code is unavailable to other users or vendors, which is why it is also known as closed-course software. Typically, proprietary software gives ownership to a single entity but it can be licensed by other parties who want to utilize it.

Proprietary Software- Benefits

The software is faster and more reliable than open source. Proprietary software companies have efficient helpdesks and online resources. If you prefer access to prompt and easy support, this option is your go-to because of the additional layer of security that makes this possible.

Let’s dive into the various advantages this software offers its users:

Bug-Free

Integrating proprietary software only to get disrupted by a cyberattack, would be a huge disappointment and a problem that is hard to fix. Investing heavily in quality assurance and testing safeguards your software and provides reliable solutions for your specific needs. You can also receive free patches to fix any potential bugs.

Easy Usability

Proprietary software suppliers customize it to align with the target user. These companies end up investing significant resources in user interface design. When you choose this software, you experience easy usability even if you are new to the technology’s functionality.

Clear Roadmap for Development

These software companies offer a clear overview of software development. Typically, they comprise a team of developers working on the software, allowing them to craft upgrades. The clarity verifies that you know what features to expect, helping you navigate the application efficiently.

Proprietary Software- Challenges

Despite the several advantages, proprietary software also has some drawbacks:

High Cost

You may have to pay an initial fee plus a subscription charge, which increases the total sum. Additionally, you may need to hire developers to maintain and develop the software, further increasing the cost involved.

Fewer Options

One of the downsides of these companies is the limited options and features that you can access. As a result, users may be unable to determine the ideal solutions and settle for something else.

Limited Freedom of Use

Proprietary software is often heavily restricted in terms of how you can use it and what changes you will be allowed to make. You will be required to sign a license agreement, which specifies how they can use their software. Since it is copy-protected, you may find it difficult to share or resell the product.

Restricted Customization

The design of this software is launched with a specific end goal, which eliminates the concept of customization. You may not have the flexibility to modify or tweak their software.

Lack of Transparency

Since the software providers keep their source code private, there is a significant lack of transparency. As a result, you cannot review the code to verify whether the outcome is secure and reliable.

Open Source

Beyond the obvious cost-effectiveness, upstream projects are free to use and download. Studies revealed that 32% of IT leaders consider open source enterprise software of a higher quality than proprietary products. Moreover, it is free of licensing restrictions and high costs, overcoming the challenges faced with proprietary software.

And then there is the online open source community! It allows companies to deploy their data systems anywhere— in the cloud, on-premises, or in hybrid environments. Selecting a database service requires organizations like yours to overcome the dilemma of integrating the best solution.

Benefits of Open Source

Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness offered by open source is by far a winning advantage. The technology is open to public access and downloading, plus it’s free. Brands like yours can lower the costs involved in licensing and subscription.

Flexibility and Customization

This technology delivers great flexibility and customization options to the audience. You can access the source code and alter it as per your needs, thus sharing innovation with the open-source community.

Community Support

You engage with a growing community of developers, contributors, and users. This promotes the exchange of best practices, contributing to the ongoing development of the technology.

Vendor Neutrality

Vendor neutrality makes sure that you are not locked into just one vendor. In fact, it gives you the freedom to draw the best from a stream of choices based on their preferences and your needs.

Drawbacks of Open Source

Lack of Official Support

Open source databases lack the necessary channels of support that you can get from proprietary solutions. This may cause difficulties in terms of reliability, responsiveness, and accountability. The lack of official support also makes it difficult to address critical problems.

Complexity and Learning Curve

Operating these solutions requires a high level of technical expertise, enabling efficient deployment. When using open source, you may need to set aside additional resources for skills and training that promote its management.

Security and Compliance Concerns

Although open source is free and resource-rich, the software may be susceptible to security and compliance risks. The possible threats may arise due to a lack of official patches or vulnerabilities. You can prevent this challenge by integrating robust security protocols and compliance monitoring measures, amplifying data protection.

Integration and Interoperability

Another hurdle with open source databases is compatibility and interoperability issues with proprietary software, legacy systems, or third-party applications. While incorporating open source in your existing infrastructure, you may encounter mismatched data formats. This can make the entire process quite cumbersome.

What is open source vs proprietary activity?

Open Source vs Proprietary Software

There is an overlapping similarity and yet a stark difference between these software solutions. For instance, proprietary software is not open to the public, and users are unable to access or modify the source code. Whereas, the biggest hit of open source software is its availability and access to the public, allowing you to modify and share the source code. Another selling point of these software companies is their free usability. Unlike proprietary software which is purpose-oriented, open source is customizable. However, in some instances, open source can transform into proprietary— termed ‘proprietary fork’. This happens in situations when versions of the open source software are modified and copyrighted by developers as their own.

Wrapping up

Choosing between open source and proprietary database services demands your consideration of the pros and cons of both these technologies. Evaluating your brand’s needs, priorities, and constraints guides you to integrate the best solution provider. If you opt for open source, you are sure to experience cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and support from a community of other brands. However, they may require more technical expertise, which makes it difficult to comply with regulations. On the other hand, proprietary solutions will provide better vendor support, easy usability, and advanced features. The drawback of this platform, however, is higher costs and vendor lock-in. Instead of juggling between either of these solutions, you can utilize proprietary DBMS software to fulfill some data requirements and open source technology for the other relevant requirements.

Network-OS
Blogs

Network OS: An Unsung Hero

Network OS: An Unsung Hero

The interconnectedness of computers is a fascinating topic. The way machines interact with each other has enabled us to streamline our work and exchange knowledge with each other.

Internet, cloud, the edge, and even AI are facilitated by the vast connection of computational networks. Ada Lovelace and Turing would be delighted at the turn of these technological advancements.

The need to harness and manage this complex network to the fullest facilitated the creation of network operating systems, making communication with network-based computational machines easier.

As organizational complexities increase and more machines become connected, they must be managed efficiently. To manage such vast communication networks, developers designed an OS specifically for this task. These Network OS enable network admins to facilitate and instruct servers and other network-based configurations to behave a certain way.

The importance of network OS is lost to most, however, it is a vital piece of software that helps networks run smoothly. That includes the vast connection between AI and blockchain technologies.

It is imperative to understand the importance of network OS and its role in the larger picture of computer-to-computer interaction for successful organizational implementation.

Network OS or NOS facilitates communication that keeps the network connected.

Network OS is vital for the entire organization.

  1. It ensures that access to information is available to the correct parties.
  2. Stored and shared files can be accessed for viewing or editing purposes.
  3. Access to sensitive information is protected at all times.
  4. There is no low latency between the data flow to the end-user or buyer from an organization’s side.
  5. It ensures a smooth workflow by enabling collaborative work across connected systems. (Even tools like Google Docs use Network OS in the background for real-time updates)

What is a NOS?

What is a NOS
computer network concept. 3d illustration

Athletes have to be very strict with their instructions. They need to play games to perfection. And follow the rules of the court of their game. Enforcing these rules are referees.

These instructions are known to athletes; all rules are preset. However, as games are dynamic, there are unforeseen events where the referee has to enforce rules based on context. They ensure protocols are met, and fouls are penalized or brought to attention.

Network OS is similar.

In a sense, data are athletes who must move around in a dynamic yet rule-bound environment. And network OS is the enforcer or referee. Data can move dynamically, but it has to do so according to the laws of the governing OS. This enables safe and secure transportation of information. And this happens at an unimaginable scale. Millions of calculations per second. It is a game like no other.

Using NOS

While NOS makes life simpler inside an organization, for its larger purpose, we have to look beyond organizational walls.

Network OS permeates every technological touchpoint. As cloud-native applications become the norm and SaaS takes over the playing field, marketing and tech teams benefit from understanding the NOS.

But what are their applications?

  1. NOS are used to manage CDN
  2. They ensure compliance with local data laws.
  3. Improve network reliability
  4. Provide IoT integration

And so much more.

Akin to a basic operating system, NOS decides where to allocate resources, accesses, and data and helps us interact with our systems through cloud-native applications.

The software directs tasks based on inputs by the GUI of our apps to perform tasks, and in the backend, if a particular organization needs more power, it diverts it there. Performing all computations for efficient workflow.

Types of Network OS

Organizations can choose to build their own NOS (which is cost-intensive). Usually, large enterprises build a proprietary version and mix it with a Linux base. But the main types of Network OS are: –

Types of Network OS
  1. Linux (Many servers in use, especially the ones running AI, are usually Linux-based)
  2. Windows Server
  3. Cisco’s OS
  4. MacOS Server (defunct), now MacOS comes in-built with server capabilities.

To name a few. Usually, these are Unix or Linux-based systems (they are Unix-like) in their nature. Since Unix-like systems offer flexibility, security, and customizations, they are the preferred choice for servers.

Network OS manages Cloud and AI servers.

Servers have become a driving force of computational power. The amount of data stored in these servers is vast. And this incomprehensible number of data increases every year (It is around 79 zettabytes. That is around 72 trillion GBs of data. Wrap your head around that!). And most of it is not original.

Data processing requires a lot of duplication and caching— these moving pieces must be distinguished, managed, and stored securely. Our tools depend on this management system called NOS.

The Tech Perspective

The tech world has decided to make abstract ideas into a reality. With web3, AI, blockchain, and even VR, our virtual world has begun permeating our physical one.

To manage this torrential flow of information and provide it in a cohesive experience— product teams and their collaborators— the administrators must ensure smooth delivery to the end user.

Network OS enables these real-time changes. But there is a real problem in the network world: that of data management.

As data servers grow and edge, AI, and cloud computing make computation efficient, and teams face the onslaught of managing vast amounts of physical servers. Data flowing from these servers must not stay siloed. Insights will be lost if this happens.

The solution is easy: Automation.

AI-powered computation will soon become a standard, as did our previous iterations of computation. From predictive analysis to abstractions coming to life, these supercomputers will become tools for day-to-day chores. The software that manages these supercomputers will have to catch up.

With data growing at such a pace and becoming a currency, NOS that come up will be designed for simplicity and to make connections between two dots that seem unrelated.

NOS must go beyond the administrator’s role and unearth insights stored in the computer and automate tasks crucial yet unnecessary tasks. The OS itself must be AI-powered.

While researching, we found this great article, or as Cisco calls it, their data sheet for the Cisco IOS XR.

It highlights the importance of:

  1. A NOS must be designed for cloud-native architecture for scalability, agility, and automation for modern networks.
  2. As server needs become dynamic, the OS must anticipate client needs and allocate necessary resources to accommodate them.
  3. An OS should be optimized for DevOps strategies and allow continuous integration and development (CI/CD) to provide real-time updates and accelerate service delivery.

For the tech world, Network OS seems like an untapped area. The discourse behind NOS is how it is used rather than the potential for growth available in the market.

Product teams and administrators should notice this change. As Cisco says, the needs of the servers are constantly changing. A change in network strategy can signify the shift to faster delivery and insights unearthed from the network OS.

It has vast potential to end data silos — a boon for AI. And speaking of data silos. Let us consider another perspective that benefits from the NOS.

The Marketing Perspective

Data has become marketers’ goldmine. It enables teams to reach customers with a message that resonates.

Data is empowering in the right hands, but it remains siloed. And products promising the world to users cannot seem to work as advertised.

It is a real problem for marketing teams when products do not meet customer requirements due to network technicalities. For these reasons, a CMO must familiarize themselves with the Network OS. A tool that manages networks your product runs on.

Marketing and customer success teams are gatekeepers to clients’ experience. Which can be nurtured through communication and data.

A network OS facilitates both. As automation takes hold of our server capabilities, our server OS must connect the dots that humans did not.

  1. The data from the product should be automatically shared with marketing teams (of course, conditionally)
  2. Marketing teams’ data must be shared with sales (Again, conditionally)
  3. Maybe data from operations makes sense with marketing and sales. Or any other departments.

As we know, data tells stories, and machines can help us connect the dots between two unrelated data sets. In marketing, that is a lot to ask for.

A network OS supports security and delivery. It enables CDN (Content Delivery Networks) to reach audiences in microseconds. There is no lag between content and the user today because of efficient NOS. But the journey does not end there.

CMO and marketing leaders must ensure their servers have an NOS that automates information flow and presents the connection between data sets. All serve two vital functions:

  1. Elevating the customer’s experience
  2. Providing an organization with essential and insightful data.

A NOS does more than leaders think it does.

The evolution of NOS towards a more distributed cloud-based design

Let us reiterate: tech is undergoing a phase of agility. And our software and hardware must prepare for this shift.

Our cloud systems and software will move towards a distributed cloud-based design. Handling data and users becomes complex, and use cases like edge computing and local data centers will become popular.

To run a cohesive experience, the OS must work together in distributed settings as they would have on a singular data center. In a distributed cloud-based design: –

  1. There are multiple instances of the same OS running on different centers.
  2. There is a centralized OS instance running on a “main” server.
  3. It stays operational even if one center fails. So, there is no downtime, increasing delivery and reliability of information.
  4. Enables data centers to store and operate data exclusive to a particular region.

Distributed cloud-based designs will transform the future of connectivity. And provide users with a seamless experience. A faster way of connection.

A NOS runs organizational connectivity.

As we move to an era of computational connectivity, NOS and their implementation for unique use cases will become crucial for organizations.

As an organization grows, it will need robust security measures and software in place to discover data hidden in silos. Or have your servers anticipate resource-heavy sectors while under development.

For developers and tech teams, this offers a new promise of agility. Imagine documentation and resources available as you need them. NOS will enable this going forward while keeping data safe from people who do not have the right to access it.

For marketing leaders, it offers the path of reaching their relevant audience quickly and managing the flow of information, ensuring products and services provide a seamless experience. Network OS drives cohesion.

SWIFT-Payments
Blogs

A Comprehensive Guide to Effortless SWIFT Payments

A Comprehensive Guide to Effortless SWIFT Payments

Businesses are crossing borders and scaling across time zones plus geographical barriers. How can you ensure seamless and secure financial exchange?

The digital era is revolutionizing businesses globally. And with these, financial transactions are being executed across nations. How do you make sure it all goes smoothly? A secure cross-border payment system is the need of the hour for brands of all sizes. They optimize your payments and invoice workflows within the landscape of the B2B market, improving efficacy by incorporating automation.

The biggest advantage of SWIFT (The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) payments is a secure and hassle-free exchange of finances. It works by facilitating fund transfers through intermediary banks. The network is not a banking system, but a medium that facilitates payments between different banks with the help of SWIFT codes.

It operates across 200+ nations, which makes it one of the leading international payment networks in the world. Several financial institutions and businesses utilize SWIFT to move funds across borders. Members enroll with a one-time entry fee and annual dues, with fee structures for participating members differing as per time zones. One of the highlights of using SWIFT is the ability to accept/send international money via electronic or credit card payments. And that’s possible even if you have an account in a different bank than the payee.

To access the SWIFT network, you must set up NOSTRO accounts by collaborating with corresponding banks cross-borders. To make a transfer with this payment channel, these are the details you will need:

  • Bank details of the recipient, such as bank name, address, country, and routing code.
  • The recipient’s details including company name, current address, and account number.
  • The Swift code of your recipient’s bank account.
  • Your government-issued ID

Additionally, you may also need to supply other documents as requested by the local or international bank.

The features that make SWIFT stand out

Network availability

SWIFT offers a highly efficient network and accessibility at various locations across the globe, thereby ensuring reliable and continuous service. 

ISO Compliance

With this payment network, your worry about compliance can take a backseat. It aligns with the ISO 20022 standard for payments, allowing you to experience a seamless and quick funds transfer process. 

Transaction fees

Depending on your location and that of your client company, you may be surprised to find out that the fees for messages are quite small. However, banks may add their own feed to this amount, increasing the gross amount.

What is the use case of Swift?

The intent of SWIFT is to establish a route for banks to communicate faster and more securely within themselves. These payment channels consist of payment instructions from the issuing bank (the payee) to the remitting bank (the beneficiary/receiver). 

All banks participating in a SWIFT mode of payment transfer are required to move funds from one account to another depending on an underlying network of Nostro and Vostro accounts. This refers to accounts that share a branch or more for the main objective of executing international transactions. 

Steps involved in the payment network

A SWIFT transaction requires you to follow these steps:

Reach out to your bank: Share with them the details of the financial exchange: the recipient’s name, bank name, account number, amount, currency, and other relevant information.

Fill out forms: Collect the forms required to initiate the SWIFT transaction from your bank. Each form comprises details such as the originator and beneficiary of the transaction, the amount, and the currency.

Provide payment: After filling out the forms, you must focus on making the payment. This step involves transferring funds from your account to the recipient’s account.

Await confirmation: Post the initiation of the transaction, wait for confirmation to double-check the funds have been transferred successfully. The confirmation process can take hours or days, depending on the banks involved and the complexity of the transaction.

Wrapping up

Advancements in digital marketing call for adopting a secure alternative to SWIFT payments that support cross-border business. NOSTRO/VOSTRO ledger system adds to the network’s flexibility, allowing compliance with standards set by financial institutions. SWIFT platform is not a payment processor, but a messaging system between banks that enables brands like yours to handle a large volume of traffic.

Brand Identity Crafting
Blogs

Brand Identity: Crafting a Timeless Presence

Brand Identity: Crafting a Timeless Presence

Brands are no longer just symbols, names, or designs. They have become an identity. A cohesive message delivered in unison.

Products have become abundant in the market. There is a technology that can solve every business problem. And, with the technology comes the buyers and competitors.

An organization or individual must compete for the attention of the buyer.

With social media, individuals can position themselves as solutions to problems, too. This could be a marketing problem, as the rise of influencer marketing would suggest. Or they could sell their product, like Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. Have no doubt, he is an SEO influencer and the face of his organization. People buy his product because his name is attached to it.

But why is this? Some organizations and individuals present themselves in a manner that we find refreshing.

Their charisma is infectious and investing our attention is entertaining and enlightening. Once an organization or individual is perceived to be charismatic, they begin to hold the attention of a relevant audience.

These organizations and individuals are called brands.

For all the vagueness of the term, we must ask: What is a brand?

Why is brand identity important?

Let us talk about a famous story: Michael Jordan and Nike. In 1984, Nike and Michael Jordan created a historic moment in sports and fashion: the Air Jordan.

The legendary red and black Jordan pair were on full display during a pre-season game when Michael Jordan wore it for the first time.

The NBA was furious. They sent a letter to Nike stating the shoes violated policy and would levy a fine of $5000 per game. Nike agreed and paid the fine for each of his games, revolutionizing marketing.

The Air Jordan became an anti-establishment and a rebel-figure sneaker in the market, becoming the most popular individual-led brand ever. The legendary sneakers sold enough copies in May to reach $70 million in sales.

You may think that Nike here is the brand in question, but let us pivot and understand that while Nike defined itself as a disruptor and risk taker, it was Michael Jordan, the conqueror, who would take the limelight. And not just for his exceptional skills on the court but his presence and sense of marketing.

From his iconic ‘Be Like Mikeʼ marketing campaign to Space Jam, he became a phenomenon. A brand.

Defining a brand.

A brand is any distinctive feature like a name, term, design, or symbol that identifies goods or services. That is what it says on the American Marketing Association.

But looking at Jordan, doesn’t it feel more than that? He had no term or design. All Michael Jordan had to offer was him.

In the influencer market of personal branding, where thought leadership has become vital to stand out—a brand should be defined as the ability of an organization or an individual to craft a recognizable voice that creates an emotional response within an audience.

The need for a brand voice or identity

Have you heard about CEPs? These are Category Entry Points. These cues inside the buyer’s head help them retrieve a brand from their memory banks.

In any category, certain brands will come to your mind. Think about smartphones. Which brand comes to your mind? Apple or Samsung?

Think about AI. It’s OpenAI’s ChatGPT, is it not? Whatever the category, you have associated certain products with a brand. For a brand you trust, you don’t buy only for the product but rather the experience the brand provides through them. You want to be identified with it.

A brand voice helps organizations and individuals develop a unique voice that can be thought of easily in buying situations. This voice can generate an emotional response. Or generate trust from B2B buyers in the market for risk-mitigating solutions. A brand voice helps buyers understand what you/your organization stand for.

Crafting a brand identity takes creativity, patience, and experimentation.

Why do you connect with certain brands? It is because something resonates with you. Something that the brand does or conveys speaks to you on a personal level.

That is the brand identity. A way of saying and expressing their ideas. Crafting this voice or identity takes patience, a readiness to experiment, and creative risk-taking.

Let us break the brand voice down into two parts.

  1. Crafting an identity from the organization/individual perspective.
  2. The importance of the voice for the buyers/consumers.

Brand Identity: The creator’s perspective

To find the brand identity, the creator— organization or the individual—must understand the why. This is the noble mission of the brand. For businesses like Apple, it is to bring the best user experience through their services, products, and software.

For SEMrush, it is to make marketing competition fair and transparent. For individuals, take the de facto productivity brand, Ali Abbdal. For him and his team, it is helping people build a life they love.

Knowing the why helps brands craft a clear and concise message. The why provides the core of a brand identity.

Once a brand identifies its core, it can move towards the next layer, the how.

The how details the process of you bringing your mission into reality. If Apple wants to create the best user experience, how are they doing it? It is by using the best available specs in the market and designing their products to have a premium feel.

Or Ali Abbdal? How does he help people lead a life they love? Through free productivity resources online and actionable steps for successful and time-efficient people.

The how brings your why into existence and provides a platform for people to believe in you.

The next layer of this equation is the what. What are the methods by which you deliver your why and how? For Apple, the iPhone, iPad, and Mac are the what.

For individual-led brands, the recent trend is that of the content. Individual brands deliver the what by showing themselves to the world. It is their personality and their life that draws audiences in.

Many platforms enable this, from the GenZ culture of TikTok to thought leadership on LinkedIn. Social media empowers anyone to rise, organizations included and become a cultural phenomenon.

And brand identity is all about it: Becoming a cultural icon.

Keen readers must have noticed that a brand voice follows Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. But it is not that he discovered the formula. He observed that successful leaders and brands followed this type of identity exploration. A differentiating brand builds from the inside.

Brand Identity: For the buyer

Why would the buyer decide to go for your brand? For B2B buying scenarios, they want to mitigate risk without disturbing the status quo.

While purchasing, they think along these verticals:

  1. Will our purchase integrate well within our existing systems?
  2. Does the purchase solve a problem we are facing?
  3. Will it solve any potential risks we will face in the future?

There is a reason why SEMrush, Salesforce, and HubSpot are so easy to integrate with existing software and data collectors. And vice-versa.

Usually, the conversations are around avoiding market failures and adding organization-elevating solutions. For B2B buyers, disruption of their organization is not a safe option. This rings true for most traditional organizations.

According to Gartner’s survey, the B2B buying committee has 6 to 10 individuals. Each individual has concerns and options they would prefer. Yet this group of opinionated individuals manage to reach a conclusion.

ABM is to be greatly appreciated for this. The core of ABM campaigns is a cohesive, consistent, and seamless brand identity.

If the majority in the buying committee: –

  1. Can identify with your brand
  2. Find it relatable
  3. Believe the solutions align with their mission and values.
  4. Accepting the promise to deliver a positive outcome is tangible and achievable.

They will accept your solution as the best in the market for them. With an over-flooded market of goods, services, and personalities, buyers will purchase from you because of trust and perception.

Your brand identity will do the selling. Now, it is your product team’s job to deliver on the promises the voice has made.

Marketing and Storytelling.

Human beings are wired for stories. We derive meaning from understanding a person’s or organization’s story.

Microsoft as the underdog, Or Metaʼs electric rise to stardom. We love a good story. Here is where brand identity is found, in the story of your brand.

Marketing messages can do a lot of things. But it cannot replace a good story. All good stories are marketing, but not all marketing is a good story.

Some messages seem underhanded, while some feel shallow and full of empty promises. A brand’s story relies on resonance and the ability to deliver. A brand that cannot make good on its promise will not find its identity because it is based on false promises. But truth without a distinct voice will fall flat on the audience’s ear.

Marketing teams must deliver the message with creativity, passion, and a deep understanding of their “productˮ and audience.

To understand what works, use a growth marketing approach. Experiment, analyze, create, and reiterate.

As David Ogilvy says, tell the truth, but make the truth fascinating.

Brand voice and identities are an organization and individual way of showing their personality and explicit truth. It is a platform to attract and engage with the right buyer.

However, the line of cultural relevance and customer sensitivities must be considered. What kind of cultural impact does your brand want to make?

Believe it or not, every organization and individual has the power and accessibility to become an icon. The trick is to find the correct audience and the right voice.

Create an identity with your brand positioned to say something unique to you.