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BlogsMay 17, 2024May 17, 2024

10 Best Email Marketing Platforms to Boost Your Business in 2024

Engaging with your audience and building meaningful relationships can be challenging. Use these top 10 email marketing platforms to simplify the process.

Email marketing, a form of direct and digital marketing, is highly effective for several reasons. Whether you use email marketing as your primary marketing tool or as a supplement to other forms of direct marketing, it is a cost-effective strategy for driving sales.

Whoever said email marketing is dead might not have been aware of these stats:

More than 4 billion people worldwide use email, so you can meet customers with sales, marketing, and information.
Email marketing seems to be improving over the years, and nearly 67% of email marketers reported an increase in open rates.
The 2024 email marketing benchmarks report by GetResponse shows an average unsubscribe rate of 0.09% for America.

Crafting the best email marketing strategy depends on your needs and budget. We have curated some of the best email marketing strategies to help you choose the perfect one.

Why Choosing the Right Email Marketing Platform Matters?

Among the millions of options, picking the one suitable for your business can be scary. And, we are aware that the word “free” is the only one that can attract any marketer looking to cut down on the budget that is already shrinking. However, it is necessary to look beyond price when selecting the right tool. Sure, there are many free tools too that solve your problem, the point is to look to choose value over money. Because a one-time investment can be your lifetime returns. Statistics say that email marketing is on top for the return on investment it drives – a whopping $36 for every $1 spent. So, now you know there are good returns, but sowing better seeds can help reap better results.

Criteria for Evaluating Email Marketing Platforms

Here are some of the basic but essential criteria for a good email marketing platform:

Contact Management

The base for all your email marketing platforms is your contact list. With email marketing software, you can store the names of your contacts and email addresses in a secure manner. Many tools also allow you to collect further information, like an address, a birth date, or any other custom contact information.

Most platforms should allow you to add contacts manually, import them from an existing file, or set up a form that you can embed on your website that collects information and automatically adds the contact information to your list.

Basic List Segmentation

The majority of email marketing platforms available in the market have basic systems for segmenting your contact list. For example, you can create specific lists for different groups or apply tags to contacts to label them.

Segmenting your list allows you to send targeted emails to specific segments of your list, increasing conversion.

Email Templates

Most email marketing platforms make it simple to send emails by offering pre-made templates for simple emails, newsletters, and promotional emails. You can use these and edit them to fit your needs, saving time and frustration.

Drag-and-Drop Email Builder

A common email marketing software feature is the drag-and-drop builder. It allows you to custom-create your emails by choosing various elements and dragging them where you want them to appear in the email. You can customize some of the existing templates by adding your favorite elements through drag and drop.

Email Scheduling

A scheduling feature allows you to set up your emails in advance and schedule them to go out on the day and time of your choice.

Simple Automation

Thanks to the automation hype, even the free versions of email marketing software offer basic automation features, allowing you to set up emails activated by ‘triggers.’

The welcome messages you get after signing up on various platforms are all automated emails. You have to set up your email list, and voila! You can save time and effort by not having to send an email manually every time you acquire new subscribers.

Top 10 Email Marketing Platforms

1.ActiveCampaign

Email marketing, automation, and even CRM are all in one place in ActiveCampaign. It is really user-friendly and cheap, with plans that depend on the features you need and the size of your contact list. Moreover, it has the latest innovations, such as website visitor tracking, emails targeting the user, and a chatbot. ActiveCampaign is also a good match for e-commerce platforms and is an advantage if you own an online store.

2. Mailchimp

If you are a freelancer, a startup, or a small business on a shoestring budget, Mailchimp is a good choice for you. It is simple to use, and everything you need for email marketing and automation is there. Moreover, it has many recommendations to help you enrich your campaigns, such as the subject line helper and the content optimizer.

3. Aweber

The Aweber is another excellent first step for businesses not ready to invest more money. They possess numerous features to simplify things – for instance, the pre-designed templates, the AI design assistant, the drag-and-drop builder for emails and landing pages, and even the marketplace where you can find pre-built campaigns. They also have some automation features to assist you in the smooth transition to the automatic mode.

4. Hubspot

HubSpot is a well-known software in the CRM and email marketing domains. They offer a free version of their email marketing platform that enables you to design and automatically manage campaigns and automation for no cost. Though, the main reason for using HubSpot is how it can be integrated with their other software, specifically, the CRM. It enables you to get more information from your subscribers and to personalize your emails even more. Moreover, they have characteristics like calculating the best time to send emails for a higher open rate and the high percentage of email deliverability, A/B testing to see which emails work better, and printing out the reports to monitor your progress.

5. Sendinblue

Sendinblue is the perfect choice if you want something at a lower price with all the services you want. They offer a robust CRM included there, along with the possibility of customizing your automation, segmentation, and integrations. It may take longer to be familiar with it than some of the other choices, but it has some pros like SMS marketing, pre-designed email templates, and email triggers that you can set up based on the behavior of the people on your website.

6.GetResponse

GetResponse is another solid option for beginners. They offer a wide range of essential features:

email marketing
basic automation tools,
landing pages, and
list management.

The nice thing about GetResponse is that you can easily add more features as your business grows and your marketing needs change.

7. Drip

Drip is an email and SMS marketing platform for businesses that run independently on e-commerce. It is compatible with most of the major online shopping platforms and provides you with automated campaigns that will boost your sales. Although there is no free version, Drip limits the trial to 14 days and the pricing is quite simple and depends on the number of contacts.

8. Zoho Campaigns

The Zoho Campaigns features a drag-and-drop email editor with automation tools and CRM integration. Zoho, the cloud software company, provides a free version that can accommodate up to 2,000 contacts and charges its customers reasonably for the paid plans. Some marketers might feel that the interface looks less advanced in comparison to some of the competitors.

9. MailerLite

MailerLite is an email marketing platform for different businesses like e-commerce stores and bloggers. It has a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers with unlimited emails and a drag-and-drop editor. The only problem is that it does not include templates in the free version. MailerLite is a tool you can use with website and landing page builders.

10. Campaigner

Campaigner is a marketing automation platform intended for teams with a high level of marketing experience. It has the latest and most useful functions like segmentation, automation, reporting, and landing page creation. The Campaigner plan is not free and can be expensive, but a 30-day free trial is a good option for businesses to gauge whether or not the tool is suitable for them.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, choosing the best email marketing platform results from an in-depth analysis of your needs and budget. If you want to interact and communicate with your audience through email, you should think about using one of these email service providers. All these providers are the best and will help you to do the work proficiently. You can send email newsletters, offers, updates, and so on to your email clients and people globally through a single platform. Using the free trials will let you know if it will be perfect for your current marketing workflow. By spending time picking the best email marketing tool, you can use email marketing for success.

BlogsMay 17, 2024May 17, 2024

7 Email Personalization Strategies That Go Beyond a Name

Consumers are now in control and expect relevant, personalized content and experiences. How can email marketing personalization meet these expectations?

Standing out in a crowded market requires treating customers like individuals rather than leads. Studies show personalization is king, with 8 out of 10 people more likely to buy from brands that cater to their needs.

Marketers know that personalization is their top priority, and with good reason – it boosts engagement and sales.

The key takeaway? Everyone can benefit from sending more relevant, personal messages that resonate with customers. Find out some of the email personalization best practices and some of the strategies that go beyond merely starting the email with the recipient’s name.

Why is personalized email marketing relevant?

Here are three good reasons:

Increases open rates:

Personalization is an excellent way to increase your open rates. Personalized emails can improve your open rates by a whopping 26%. Your subject line is your first chance to make an impression, so make a good one. To make an impression that elicits an open, make it as personal as you can.

Drives engagement:

Email personalization is probably one of the best ways to drive engagement. Which is why marketers all over are adopting it. Everyone loves to be heard, and when you show your customers that they are valuable individuals through personalization, they will engage with your emails more.

Increases revenue:

Email personalization can increase revenue by as much as 760%. The simple reason behind this is that people spend money where they are appreciated.

Now, let’s look at how to implement email personalization in your email marketing.

7 Email Personalization Strategies that go beyond a name

Segment your email list

Among the best strategies for personalizing emails is to split your email list into segments. It thus signifies segregating your contacts according to similar traits, such as location, gender, or job title in an organization. The criteria you choose will vary according to the industry you are in and the goals of your campaign. However, the fact that you have included this information in your emails will make your subscribers feel that you are reaching out on a personal level. It will result in a surge in your email engagement and a high possibility of them doing your desired action.

Personalize based on browsing history

Another exceptional method of making your emails unique is by using the data of your subscribers’ browsing history. Through these cookies, you can know what products users browsed on your website and email them about those products afterward. This personalization technique is especially suitable for cart abandonment emails and emails that promote accessories for recently purchased products. If you aim for your customers to come back to the shopping abandoned cart or to trigger cross-selling, then personalized email marketing according to the browsing history is a top-notch strategy to apply.

Use triggered emails

Email automation is an influential way to create personalized emails for marketing purposes. You can send emails automatically by setting and defining the criteria you need. Triggered emails, also called behavioral emails, are a terrific method to make the subscribers feel as if you know them because you send them emails based on their actions. Triggered emails are sent automatically when particular actions are performed, such as clicks and likes. The studies show that emails sent at the right time and to the right people can be effective, and 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months. It is not as tricky to configure triggered emails as it may appear to be.

Talk like a person, not a bot

It is always nice to personalize the email to the recipient by sending it from an individual, not the whole business. The chances of having trust and establishing a connection with emails that look like they originated from one particular individual are higher. Most people claim that the “From” name notably affects the decision to open an email. To make the emails more personal, use a real name in the “From” field and think about adding their picture instead of a company logo or avatar.

Celebrate important anniversaries

It is a reflection of the fact that all people love to have their anniversaries celebrated. You can personalize it even more by using the facts you know, like the specific date of every relationship with your subscribers. It may also comprise their birthday or the day of celebrating their joining your service. Anniversaries are a good tool to use to make your emails more personal and thus to be able to strengthen the bonds with your subscribers. They are more likely to reply to your emails and participate in your promotions, which can result in the growth of your email campaign revenues.

Use personalized content

Your emails are what generates the conversion. You can increase conversions by customizing your content according to the users’ needs. Here are a few tips:

Keep a friendly tone and make it casual, no matter what your industry is. -Avoid jargon.

Employ humor, for example, you can make your emails sound like they were from a friend.

Use the existing data on your customers to create content that is relevant to their needs.

Through personalized content, you can be sure that your subscribers will wait for your mail and see you as a credible source for the products or services you offer.

Leverage dynamic content

Dynamic content is a new method of tailor-made emails. It lets you put the information in a message for each recipient. Dynamic content is why your emails show different content to different people. The concept of dynamic content is that people like certain types of content, and hence, it changes according to the user’s preference. You can make your subscribers feel more connected to you and your customers by showing them their favorite content in their emails. Keep in mind that the essence of email personalization is the delivery of the customer with the information pertinent to them. Dynamic content helps you to reach this aim by modifying the content for each recipient.

Wrapping it up

Email personalization has grown and continues to evolve beyond merely addressing your recipient by name. Big data has risen, and marketers are now better equipped to be personal with their subscribers. The benefits of personalizing your email are huge, and that is why you must follow email marketing best practices. Personalizing your email strategy can help you stay ahead of your competitors.

BlogsMay 9, 2024May 10, 2024

How To Build a Sales Enablement Strategy

B2B buying behavior is constantly changing. How can you build a sales enablement strategy that keeps up with buyer needs?

Sales enablement is about equipping salespeople; it gives them the knowledge, tools, and resources they need to succeed.

But what does sales enablement mean to you and your business? That’s your answer to creating the perfect sales enablement strategy.

The most common goal of sales enablement is unifying sales and marketing. The plan often covers providing requisite training and coaching for salespeople to understand customers better and have the right tools and strategies to engage them. Your sales enablement plan can also include competitor insights and technology optimization for enhanced consistency and efficiency.

Who is Responsible for Sales Enablement?

Depending on the core values, companies designate a sales leader, PMM (product marketing manager), or a dedicated sales enablement manager to take charge of the sales enablement process.

The person in charge ensures that sales teams have everything they need to close a call. The necessary resources could include anything ranging from relevant content, tools, and training materials to drive the success of sales enablement initiatives.

Their responsibilities include aligning sales and marketing efforts, creating a centralized repository for sales content, coaching, and training sales reps, and continually assessing and improving the sales enablement program.

So, how do you enable your teams with a sales enablement strategy?

Creating a Sales Enablement Strategy

Establish a Structure

First things first, you must establish a structure of your sales enablement strategy as soon as possible. Without an established strategy in place, your sales enablement plans probably will fall apart.

It is important that all the people – from C-suites down to executives – must be aligned with the goals and outcomes of the strategy.

Delegate Responsibility

The expectations of an enablement strategy differ across companies. So, It is paramount to formally align the roles of everyone at the very start of your planning process. Ensuring the person responsible for sales enablement has a complete vision of your strategy sets a strong foundation for success.

Document the groundwork for a scalable strategy that’ll stick around and that you think will work for your business.

You must not be intimidated by creating a charter. It doesn’t need to be a detailed guide to your enablement processes. Be open to changing things along the way. The charter should be a blueprint, outlining the primary process and expected results of your sales enablement process.

Training and Coaching for Sales Reps

Training and coaching are what your sales enablement strategy relies upon. Providing sales managers and reps with the essential skills and knowledge to succeed in their roles is what will help you get there. With proper training sessions, you can assist your sales team and representatives in reaching their quotas reliably.

Helping them understand the importance of necessary skills, such as empathy, critical thinking, and strategic thinking, when it comes to a coaching-driven approach to sales training is required.

For better after-sales enablement services, businesses should:

Involve their sales team while choosing the sales tech stack
Provide incentives to them for using the new technology
Provide continuous ongoing training and coaching in their sales enablement strategy

It ensures that sales reps are well-equipped to have SQLs meet their targets and drive sales performance.

Content Creation and Management

Creating and managing relevant, engaging content is vital. It helps the marketing and sales team deal with prospects and customers. Sales enablement bridges marketing and the sales funnel. It adds relevant content to a catalog. The catalog is searchable and provides relevant, consistent content. It does so when the marketing and sales team needs it most.

Efficient tools like Google Docs or a reliable CRM can organize sales content. They ensure all materials are easy to access, intuitive, and located. This is key because the materials are often needed.

A content library should be like a pro kitchen. All tools should be accessible, intuitive, and handy when needed, often. They should also be searchable and well-organized.

Focusing on effective content creation and management empowers your sales representatives. They get the resources they need to engage with prospects and close deals.

Sales Process Technology and Tools

Using the right sales enablement platforms, software tools, and technologies is essential. They optimize processes and make them more efficient. Sales enablement platforms and software include CRM systems and content management platforms. They can provide a single platform and tools for building, editing, sharing, and managing resources.

The right sales enablement technology and tools can improve communication between departments. They can speed up reaching out to prospects and ensure sales pros are ready to give the best presentation.

Sales training tools include role-playing scenarios, training videos, and call or email scripts. They help sales reps hone their skills and improve their sales performance. Adding the proper sales training and sales resources, tools, and tech to your strategy speeds processes. It also boosts sales productivity and drives sales success.

Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Enabling sales requires fostering teamwork among sales, marketing, and product teams. This teamwork is crucial to ensure a unified approach. Optimal practices for cross-departmental collaboration involve:

Creating clear communication channels
Cultivating a combined environment
Setting shared objectives
Encouraging knowledge exchange
Offering resources
Assessing and optimizing
Leadership endorsement
Celebrating accomplishments

Creating a team environment and fostering cross-departmental communication ensure all teams work together. They do so toward a common goal and support everybody’s efforts. This single approach will improve your marketing and sales teams. It will put in place a sales enablement strategy. It will also drive business growth and success.

Wrapping it up

Sales enablement strategies equip sales teams with the necessary tools and resources to achieve their business goals during the B2B buyer’s journey. For a successful strategy that leads to improved results throughout the buying process, it is imperative to encourage collaboration between the sales and marketing teams. Measuring success involves tracking leading and lagging indicators, and utilizing the right technology and tools to streamline processes and enhance productivity. A good sales enablement strategy empowers your team. It does this by giving them the right resources and fostering collaboration. It lets them navigate the journey of B2B buyers with confidence. In the end, it leads to better buying experiences and measurable success.

BlogsMay 7, 2024May 9, 2024

Healthcare Technology Trends to Watch in 2024

New technologies have sped up development in healthcare. How is AI in healthcare changing the domain for patients and doctors alike?

With the growing needs of the healthcare industry, it is no wonder that doctors burn out. Health institutions struggle to solve challenges and deliver high-quality services – from analyzing health issues to safeguarding patient privacy. With the introduction of new healthcare technologies, overcoming some of these difficulties is possible.

The U.S. healthcare market is growing, with national health expenditures expected to exceed $6.2 trillion by 2028. Although there are still significant obstacles to overcome, there is hope that technology will be able to help. Healthcare technology can change how the industry operates for patients and healthcare professionals.

Let us find out how:

The Telemedicine Revolution

Telemedicine has been around for quite some time. Doctors used telemedicine for far-away consultations. They have done this since the time of bulky computers.

People started becoming familiar with technology, and phones completely overtook our lives. People became more comfortable with tech, and the rise of video and audio consultation was near. It was the time when Googling the symptoms was becoming a thing.

Then the pandemic happened. It changed the way we lived – there were a lot of changes in healthcare – people accepted online consultations, not wanting to come in contact with others fearing they might catch something new.

The new normal pushed the government agencies to lax the rules. After the pandemic, the medical field relaxed several rules, leading to the acceptance and preference of telemedicine.

AI and Machine Learning in Healthcare

Imagine how hard it would be for a hospital to sort and analyze the data of every patient – they have so many new patients on a daily basis and, many have a history of tests and diagnoses. The hospital cannot make a mistake with these crucial data and at the same, it also has to sift through it for every patient to draw a pattern or make any predictions. It would take forever. That is where AI and machine learning come in – they can analyze this vast data and use it to improve healthcare in some mind-blowing ways:

Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is an umbrella term for intelligent machines that can learn and act like humans – almost like humans. In healthcare, professionals are using AI for healthcare things like analyzing medical images (X-rays, MRIs). It helps to detect diseases or help doctors develop treatment plans.
Machine Learning (ML): ML is a specific type of AI where computers learn from data without explicit programming. In healthcare, machine learning algorithms can analyze patient data. They use it to find people at risk for diseases, predict how they might respond to drugs, or even help with drug discovery.

Here are some other examples showing how AI and machine learning are making healthcare better:

Spotting diseases early: AI can analyze mammograms, skin images, and other scans to find abnormalities doctors might miss, leading to earlier diagnoses and better outcomes.
Personalized medicine: Every person can have different reactions to the same drugs. Machine learning can help personalize treatments for individual patients based on their unique medical history, genes, and lifestyle.
Drug development: AI can analyze data to find new drugs and treatments faster.
Virtual assistants: AI-powered chatbots can answer patients’ questions, schedule appointments, and provide primary medical advice. It is better than Googling symptoms.

Blockchain for Health Data Management

Instead of relying on a single doctor’s office to hold all your information, and different offices to have different variations, blockchain lets you have a copy that can be accessed by anyone you trust with your permission. Your address book is backed up and kept safe by a complex code, making it tamper-proof. And that is how blockchain technology works for managing health data.

Here is a breakdown to understand things better:

Blockchain: It is a digital ledger recording transactions, in this case, your health ledger, across a network of computers.
Health Data: All your medical history, allergies, medications, etc. that you have records of.
Security: The code that protects the data from violations and unauthorized changes.

This way –

You get to control who sees your information.
Your data is secure, and no one can alter it without your permission.
Everyone sees the same up-to-date information, leading to no extra fuss about whose version to trust.

So, instead of each doctor’s office having its copy of your records, making it hard to share and update, all authorized users see the same secure, shared record.

Wearable Health Devices

It might surprise you that even wearable tech devices have been used since the late 1970s – people used calculator watches back then. It was the stepping stone for wearable tech.

In the late 1800s, there were hearing aids, a proper introduction to wearable healthcare. But, it was not until 2010 when Fitbit launched the popular wearable bands, and then came the influx of smartwatches, which now are turning into small phones!

The latest wearable health devices can track you:

Fitness – includes steps taken, calories burned, and distance covered – like a souped-up pedometer.

Sleep – includes how long you sleep and how well you rest.

Heart Rate – helps you watch your heart health and activity levels.

Other biometrics – include some advanced wearables that can even track blood pressure, oxygen levels, or even glucose levels for diabetics.

Virtual Reality in Healthcare

Virtual reality works for healthcare in diverse ways. Most hospitals and medical universities implemented VR applications to train professionals, perform surgery, or provide medical education.

It involves problem-oriented learning, internal body organ explanation by virtual visualization, and teaches the necessary communication skills to students.

Another use case of virtual reality in healthcare is distracting patients’ attention. Virtual reality is known to relieve chronic pain in people who are recovering from any disease or when the use of pain medicine or anesthesia does not have the desired effect.

VR in the medical field also assists in physical therapy and rehabilitation for patients who find it difficult to exercise because of pain. VR motivates them to complete their physical activity by distracting their attention away from pain with the help of visual aids, sensations, and sounds.

Personalized Medicine and Genomics

Personalized medicine, called precision medicine, is how your healthcare becomes perfect for your unique needs. It considers your genes, environment, and lifestyle to predict your risk for certain diseases and recommends the best prevention or treatment options. It is like a personalized medicine that gives you a custom fit, instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. And, it is helpful – we all have had experiences where over-the-counter medicine has caused new allergies or side effects, and precision medicine helps you avoid that.

Genomics plays a promising role in this because it studies your genes and how they affect your health. When analyzing your genes, doctors can:

Predict disease risk: Your doctor can identify whether you will develop certain diseases based on your genes.
Improve diagnoses: They can understand what is causing your health issues.
Choose better treatments: Genomics gives your doctor the power to tailor medications and therapies to your genes, making them more effective and reducing side effects.
Develop preventive strategies: Your healthcare professional can create custom plans to prevent diseases you might be sensitive to.

Your genes act like a blueprint for your body. They act like instructions for the doctor when anything goes wrong. Personalized medicine uses these instructions to create your personal healthcare plan.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

Although the IoMT is nothing new, this sector will grow in the coming years. The industry is concerned with digital health trends. It offers excellent uses to healthcare specialists, with money saved in return.

Many companies are providing IoMT solutions that can help you design and adjust your IoMT system with the help of urbane custom software.

Wearables and Mobile Apps in Medical Practice

As discussed earlier in the blog, remote health monitoring and wellness apps are growing and will keep booming. If you visit your Playstore or the Appstore catalogs, you’ll find many professional healthcare and wellness mobile apps. Again this also highlights how much the telemedicine industry is in demand.

Some of those mobile apps can synchronize with wearables as well, such as pulsometers or fitness trackers, to use data collected through the sensors placed on your body to report or analyze your health conditions, such as pulse, body temperature, blood pressure, and other metrics. While many people appreciate knowing every detail that they can capture about their day-to-day activities, some also prefer to know only the basics such as the step count at max to keep their minds off of worrying about their health. Let’s face it with the kind of lifestyle we are living today – the celebration of the hustle culture – it will take a lot of self-control and discipline for most people to be where they want to be in their health goals. And while knowing the tiniest of the details does help you be aware, it also can increase your stress levels. So, it is always advised to choose.

Smart autonomous devices in healthcare

Autonomous nursing robots or self-moving smart devices are helping medical staff by reducing their sanitation-related or supply management chores.

Different kinds of robots can work in various hospital-based locations and positions, which protects human employees from being exposed to infection risks or burnout due to the immense strain.

For example, robot nurses have been used by an Italian hospital during the COVID-19 outbreak. Those robots were used for remote monitoring of blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels for patients because these are crucial parameters of their current health condition. If the levels drop, the patient requires immediate help within minutes. In this way, the need for nurses to visit patients was reduced.

So, it is safe for us to say that IoMT is one of the most significant medical technology trends in 2024.

Smart Implants in 2024

Innovations in the implants sector can be promising for these reasons:

Regenerative medicine uses techniques to regrow damaged tissues and organs. They might become more efficient.
It speeds recovery from surgeries and injuries. It helps patients recover better and faster.
There were many diseases for which there was no solution. But now there is hope. We can restore lost functions to conditions like paralysis or blindness.

Let us understand the trends driving this transformation:

3D Bioprinting

3D bioprinting technology allows you to get custom implant prints for yourself. It uses specialized printers to create implants from biocompatible materials, meaning your body will not have any aversion to it.

This technology is not new, but 2024 can be a breakout year for several reasons:

Increased Affordability and Accessibility: 3D printing implants will become cheaper and more available for diverse patients.
New Materials and Printing Techniques: Advancements in materials and printing methods will lead to more sophisticated prosthetics with improved functionality.

Neural Implants

Brain-computer interfaces, or neural implants, are chips placed in the brain to interact with electrical signals. Here is what the future looks like:

Neural implants hold immense potential for restoring sight, movement, and other functions lost due to disabilities like paralysis or blindness.
Though challenges remain, the potential for neural implants to change how we treat disabilities is something to look forward to.

Conclusion

Technological advancements have improved healthcare, from allowing for quicker diagnoses with tools like MRI scanners to facilitating better communication between patients and doctors through teleconferencing. AI in healthcare has led to more precise treatments, improved access to information for both patients and professionals, and the ability to personalize care for better patient outcomes.

BlogsApril 30, 2024May 2, 2024

Ad Tech Platforms and Their Role in Digital Advertising Industry

Mass marketing won’t cut it anymore. Marketers must be precise. How can marketing teams leverage ad tech for efficient digital advertising?

Increased awareness, traffic, leads, and sales – are all benefits you can expect when mixing digital ads with your current marketing strategies.

There was a time when marketers used to advertise to as many people as possible, now we show the right ad to the right consumer in the right moment – the road was definitely a long one. Adtech occupies a unique place in digital advertising due to its ability to deliver the right message at the right time to the right audience and track the results.

First of all, let’s understand how ad tech is affecting the digital advertising industry.

Role of Ad Tech Platform in Digital Advertisement

The role of Ad Tech in digital advertisement is significant and it changes advertising by automating processes and increasing target meeting abilities.

Ad Tech is a comprehensive collection of systems and channels that help marketing professionals with powerful tools for campaign operation and optimal ad placements in real-time. It enables advertisers to collect vast amounts of audience data, define target audiences more accurately, personalize advertising communications, and optimize ad spend effectively.

Here are some of the most popular tools and platforms:

Supply Side Platform (SSP)

A supply-side platform helps sites sell ad inventory by placing available ad space on ad exchanges, DSPs, and other networks. The demand-side platform (DSP) purchases the ad as a brand based on pre-established selection criteria. Brands bid on impressions through an auction called real-time bidding (RTB). This allows site owners to select which brands will appear on their site, at what price, and in what location.

Demand Side Platform (DSP)

On the opposite side, demand-side platforms simplify media buying for ad agencies and advertisers. These platforms allow advertisers to buy ad space from different sites and media owners and target users who match their brand’s needs. Site owners submit offers to the Supply-Side Platform (SSP), which sends the request to the ad exchange. The exchange selects the best option for the advertiser, and the demand-side platform analyzes all the possibilities to give the best bids for displays in milliseconds.

Agency Trading Desk (ATD)

The Agency Trading Desk is a body of services specialized in advertising provided by advertising agencies. It is used for making the ads plans, getting the ads done and responding to the real time situation generated in the course of the ad campaign. It can also be understood as a mini DSP which is showing the same activities as a DSP one.

This approach is perfect for advertisers who are still adopting ad tech and want to work with a concrete DSP, or expand their sales teams. Nevertheless it should be remembered about its magnify limitations on the contrary of the demand side platforms where the deal is made thorough simple click. Thus, it could become a drawback that the platform wouldn’t be able to provide the best-quality ads available in the market.

Customer data platform (CDP)

A CDP (Customer Data Platform) is a unified database tool that combines data from multiple different platforms into one place containing information on all aspects of customers’ interactions with your product or service. Linking with these storages help to segment the marketing database in many ways and create personalized campaigns.

Ad exchanges

Ad exchange is a virtual arena where advertisers along with publishers are on a virtual auction to Buy and sell of the advertising space. As real-time auction is mostly their main purpose, the communication among them is based on them. Ad formatting can go from a person’s computer screen with a banner ad to a mobile device with an ad. Digital trading platforms pool together publishers’ supply-side bids presented by the supply-side platform (SSP) they selected and advertisers’ demand-side demand for ad impressions through the demand-side platform (DSP) they picked.

Respective buying and selling processes used by advertisers during the real-time auctions is called RTB (real-time bidding) technique. Instantly, when a user visits a website associated with the appropriate platforms, the auction is committed.

The buyer’s platform analyzes the user’s previous interactions and interests to determine the relevance of the bid for the display. The size and appropriateness of the bid are based on the characteristics of the site visitor.

Ad servers

An ad server is a web-based technology platform used for direct ad placement on websites. It translates advertising material to the publisher’s site, tracks the number of impressions, clicks, and other elements of RTB, and has tools for advertising campaign optimization.

There are different ad servers for publishers and advertisers, but they work on the same principle: they store and sort data from either side. Publishers use ad servers to control their resources, organize ad placement, optimize ad delivery, and provide statistics. Advertisers use them to control their creatives and the progress of their ad campaigns.

Ad servers can be self-service or managed service. Self-service servers offer more features and settings but require a significant investment in human resources. Managed service allows you to delegate this work to outsourcers and forget about this problem.

Ad servers can be local or remote. Local ad servers are physically accessible to you and are usually owned by the publisher. Remote servers allow you to use the capabilities of an ad server by buying remote access to it. Typically, remote servers provide access to multiple webmasters and work independently.

Ad Networks

An advertising network is a group of advertising platforms that share a common system for placing ads. Though the term “advertising network” can refer to any type of network, it is often used to describe online ad networks. Online ad networks differ from traditional ad networks in that they use an ad server to deliver ads to the public. By using a central system to place ads, business owners gain access to a variety of audience targeting, tracking, and reporting methods that traditional media alternatives lack.

Ad networks work with publishers over the internet, and can help those with untapped resources or advertising platforms, as well as those who want to monetize their offers. Ad networks aggregate these resources, package them, and sell them to advertisers. Advertising networks can be categorized as horizontal, vertical, or premium.

Horizontal networks work with many publishers, and have low entry thresholds, making it easy for publishers to join. Vertical ad networks are designed for high-precision niche targeting, which makes them more likely to bring in conversions. Premium networks work exclusively with premium publishers. Joining such networks is difficult, but the quality of service is of a higher standard.

In addition to all this, Ad Tech provides advantages like focused advertising, helping advertisers to target particular audiences according to different measures, resulting in improved campaign efficiency and higher conversions. Ad Tech platforms offer data-driven insights that help advertisers improve campaign effectiveness, increase engagement, and boost ROI by utilizing valuable information about user behavior and other metrics.

Ad Tech is vital in digital advertising as it enables communication among advertisers, publishers, and other participants in the advertising process, ultimately leading to the effectiveness of online marketing strategies.

Navigating the Future of Advertising in the Digital Era through AdTech

Utilize programmatic buying and selling to automate ad delivery processes, ensuring efficiency and precision in targeting the correct audience.
Utilize real-time insights from AdTech to make data-driven decisions and create personalized ad experiences based on detailed user information.
Utilize AdTech for rapid campaign launches, allowing brands to remain flexible and quick in the dynamic digital environment.
Increase your advertising impact quickly by utilizing automation, streamlining processes, and expanding reach without compromising effectiveness.
Focus on accurate targeting to make the most of your ad budget with AdTech’s precise targeting features, reaching the most appropriate audience segments for your message.
Remain flexible to user preferences AdTech firms must constantly modify their approaches to changing user tastes, providing a smooth and customized advertising experience that connects with specific customer groups.
Stay updated on regulatory changes and adjust strategies in advance to meet customer privacy expectations and adhere to tracking limitations.
Invest in solutions that prioritize privacy in AdTech by investing in tools and technologies that uphold user privacy and produce successful advertising results.

The bottom line is while businesses adapt to changes in digital advertising, AdTech is seen as a crucial partner that provides necessary tools and plays a significant role in shaping the future of advertising.

BlogsApril 17, 2024May 3, 2024

12 Key Demand Generation Metrics Every Marketer Should Know

Data-driven decisions are vital for successful marketing campaigns. Do you have the right demand generation metrics to ensure your efforts hit the mark?

Demand generation is essential for B2B success. In 2024, the imperative to align with the evolving B2B demand generation becomes more pronounced. These constantly evolving times demand transformation and a deep understanding of the emerging trends and innovative strategies to generate demand and build meaningful relationships with our target audience.

The complexities of demand generation in 2024 necessitate a fresh perspective, blending traditional approaches with cutting-edge methodologies. But demand generation can be challenging – everyone has a unique way to achieve their goals, and the one-size-fits-all approach does not work anymore.

Yet, having some basic demand generation metrics in your map could guide you in the right direction and help you attain your goals faster.

12 Demand Generation Metrics for 2024

MQLs

If you haven’t incorporated MQL tracking into your strategy yet, now is the time to do so. They serve as a crucial Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to measure your progress toward achieving your company’s revenue objectives.

An MQL refers to an individual you identify as highly likely to convert into a sale. While they may not be ready to make an immediate purchase, they are aware of your brand and solution, express a need for it, and are open to learning more. MQLs are individuals who are receptive to additional marketing efforts and nurturing.

Identifying MQLs requires a keen eye and insightful data analysis. Several telltale signs indicate a prospect’s growing interest in your offerings:

Targeted Page Visits: Clicks on crucial website sections like product pages or pricing plans reveal a focus on potential solutions.
Time Invested: Extended website browsing suggests deeper engagement and a desire to learn more.
Frequent Visits: Repeated visits within a set timeframe showcase a sustained interest in your brand.
Content Consumption: Signing up for newsletters, downloading guides, or attending webinars signifies a willingness to receive further information.

These actions collectively point toward a prospect’s:

Engagement: They’re actively interacting with your brand.
Problem Awareness: They recognize a need that your solution addresses.
Nurturing Preference: They seek additional resources before committing to a purchase.

By recognizing these signals, you can effectively identify MQLs and tailor your marketing efforts to nurture them further toward becoming valuable customers.

SQLs and SALs

Finding potential customers ready to buy is crucial for any business. Two key metrics, SQLs (Sales Qualified Leads) and SALs (Sales Accepted Leads) help assess the effectiveness of your efforts in attracting these individuals.

Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

Ready for Sales Engagement: An SQL is a potential customer identified by your sales team as prepared to receive sales information and potentially make a purchase. These are often called “hot leads.”

Data-Driven Qualification: SQLs are determined using specific criteria, often based on data gathered through various sources. Examples include:

Frequent visits to product pricing pages.
Direct contact attempts with the sales team.
Trying a free trial version of your product.
Adding items to a shopping cart but not finalizing the purchase.
Using specific keywords during interactions with your chatbot.

Sales Accepted Leads (SALs)

Similar to SQLs, SALs represent potential customers acknowledged by the sales team. However, the key difference lies in how they are identified:

Manual Assessment: SALs involve a more qualitative approach, typically assessed through manual evaluation by the sales team.

Teamwork: This evaluation often involves a salesperson directly interacting with the lead, such as through a call, to determine their suitability for:

Immediate sales engagement.
Additional nurturing as a potential customer.
Disqualification due to not meeting the criteria.

Both SQLs and SALs are valuable tools for gauging the interest in your product and the overall health of your sales pipeline. They provide insights into how close potential customers are to becoming paying clients.

Cost Per Acquisition

The Cost per Acquisition or Customer Acquisition Cost(CAC) is a crucial metric that provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of your demand generation strategy. While adhering to demand generation best practices does not guarantee immediate sales, the number of customers acquired and the associated costs are key indicators of your strategy’s success.

It’s important to note that CAC differs from Cost per Lead (CPL). CPL focuses on potential buyers, whereas CAC assesses the expenses related to customers who make a purchase.

For instance, if you generate ten sales with a monthly profit of $9 per sale, but customers only stay for one month, and your marketing costs amount to $100 per customer, it signals a lack of sustainability and profitability in your business model.

Monitoring CAC can help you determine the amount of investment required to acquire each customer. It prompts you to consider the money you spend on acquiring customers and their return on investment in terms of Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV). By measuring CAC, you can gain insights into the demand your product has generated or failed to generate, providing a valuable indicator of your business’s health and potential for growth.

Activations & Signups

Two critical metrics for assessing the effectiveness of demand generation are activations and signups. The number of people who register for your product, whether through paid subscriptions or freemium versions, is a significant indicator of demand. Simultaneously, tracking how many users are actively engaging with your product provides insights into user adoption.

These demand generation metrics indicate the success of your marketing team and lead generation campaigns at the top of the funnel. They reflect the team’s ability to generate informed demand for your product and contribute to the overall growth of your business.

CLV

Monitoring Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) is a crucial aspect of demand generation analysis. It emphasizes the average value of customers over their lifetime rather than individual cases. An upward trend in CLTV indicates the effectiveness of demand generation efforts, showcasing a deeper impact beyond basic engagement. It’s vital to differentiate between generating general demand and fostering informed demand.

CLTV serves as a pivotal gauge because simply creating demand is inadequate if it doesn’t result in tangible outcomes like sales or referrals. If demand-generation activities fail to contribute to an increase in CLTV or other key metrics, it’s essential to reassess strategies. Pursuing demand solely for superficial metrics is unsustainable. If the generated demand doesn’t lead to long-term customer value, adjustments in approach are necessary.

Payback Period

The payback period is a critical metric to monitor in demand generation. It signifies the duration required to recoup the upfront costs incurred in acquiring a paid user. Ensuring that demand generation expenses sustain profitability or maintain positive figures while focusing on user growth is crucial. Essentially, the payback period ensures that initial costs and marketing endeavors yield returns for the business over time. Sustaining profitability while focusing on user growth is paramount, ensuring that demand-generation efforts yield positive returns over time.

Days in Status

“Days in status” is a crucial metric in evaluating lead progression within the marketing cycle. This metric measures the duration a lead remains in a specific status before advancing to the next stage, such as from Marketing Qualified Lead to Sales Qualified Lead or from MQL to customer. Unlike customer acquisition cost, which is typically assessed later in the process, “days in status” provides insights into the efficiency of demand generation efforts at different stages of the pipeline. By dividing the acquisition cost per day by a specific status, this metric offers valuable insights into the impact of the budget on the pipeline, highlighting the contribution of demand generation efforts to the overall process. The objective is to strike a balance between efficiency and speed without rushing individuals through stages they are not prepared for.

Marketing Sourced Pipeline

Marketing sourced pipeline is a critical measure of success for demand generation teams. This metric reflects the close rate per channel and serves as a primary indicator of amplified demand in the market. By tracking demo requests on the website, demand generation teams can measure the effectiveness and cost of various channels, allowing them to allocate resources to channels that yield the highest return on investment. Increasing demo requests indicate a growing demand for the product with sales intent, guiding strategic decisions in resource allocation.

Average Deal Size

In demand generation strategy, monitoring the average deal size obtained from each tactic is essential for evaluating progress. This metric provides insights into the effectiveness of different channels in generating larger and more impactful deals. By associating specific channels with the most deals and the largest deals, businesses can make informed decisions about resource allocation. For instance, if SEO efforts consistently lead to larger contracts compared to PPC, it prompts considerations on where to prioritize time and budget within the demand generation strategy.

Contribution to Total Revenue

Monitoring the contribution of demand generation efforts to total revenue enables businesses to evaluate the commercial effectiveness of their marketing strategies. This metric justifies marketing expenditure and guides strategic decisions in resource allocation. A substantial contribution to total revenue indicates the success of marketing strategies in driving business growth and profitability.

Brand Sentiment

Brand sentiment is an essential metric that measures how the audience perceives a brand. Positive brand sentiment fuels demand and nurtures customer loyalty. By consistently monitoring brand sentiment, businesses can identify areas for improvement and take proactive steps to enhance their brand’s image in the eyes of the audience.

Content Performance

Content performance metrics, including shares, comments, likes, and impressions, provide insights into the engagement levels of content. This data shapes the content strategy, enabling businesses to craft compelling and impactful content that resonates with the target audience. Evaluating content performance guides strategic decisions in content creation and distribution, ensuring alignment with audience preferences and interests.

Key Demand Generations Strategies for 2024

Account-Based Marketing (ABM):

Account-based marketing (ABM), a prominent B2B demand generation strategy, can be helpful for laser-focused targeting. The focus remains on targeting specific high-value accounts and tailoring marketing efforts to cater to their unique needs and preferences. A successful ABM strategy is all about personalizing content, engaging key decision-makers, and ensuring seamless alignment between marketing and sales efforts.

Content Marketing and Thought Leadership:

Generating demand through quality content remains a crucial aspect for businesses. By creating informative blog posts, ebooks, whitepapers, and videos, companies can establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective industries. This strategic approach not only helps in attracting but also nurturing quality leads, further strengthening the role of content marketing in demand generation.

Personalization and Customer Segmentation:

Personalization emerges as a critical factor in the success of demand generation. Leveraging customer data and marketing automation tools empower businesses to deliver tailored experiences and targeted messages to diverse customer segments. This enhances engagement and contributes to higher conversion rates, emphasizing the integral role of personalization in demand generation success.

Social Media Marketing:

Social media platforms remain formidable tools for demand generation in 2024. Utilizing platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook enables businesses to expand their reach, actively engage with prospects, and promote valuable content. Social media marketing continues to be a key strategy for generating demand, fostering brand awareness, and facilitating meaningful interactions with the target audience.

Data-Driven Decision Making:

In 2024, data analytics will play a vital role in demand generation. By using insights obtained from customer data, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior, preferences, and concerns. This understanding helps them make informed decisions, streamline campaigns, and achieve better results. The integration of data-driven decision-making processes further cements the effectiveness of demand-generation strategies in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

Conclusion

The future of B2B demand generation demands agility and innovation. Effective strategies blend traditional wisdom with modern tech, helping businesses to thrive in a dynamic market.

Moving forward, businesses must not just meet current needs but anticipate and shape future requirements. Gone are the days of simply reacting to market whims. Today’s B2B landscape demands a proactive approach. Businesses are shifting gears, transforming from passive observers to influential forces shaping the industry.

This strategic overhaul involves three key elements: staying abreast of industry trends, using technology effectively, and building strong customer relationships.

In essence, it’s a call to action for businesses to lose their reactive stance and seize the reins. By taking a proactive approach, they can ace their goals, ensuring their continued relevance and success.