Anyone who has been in the marketing industry longer than ten years will paint the picture of a discipline completely foreign to our current practice. The channels have changed and the reach has become measurable, but there is one thing that has revolutionised the marketing landscape unlike anything else – digital innovation. So, how does a seasoned marketing professional keep up with digital innovation, and actually grow to leverage these platforms and capabilities? Let’s take a look.

Find a digital marketing agency

Behind every successful campaign is usually a savvy digital marketing agency. Fitted with a team of channel specialists, the right agency can allow you to tap into different markets and excel on all fronts. That means ranking for the right search terms, being responsive on social media, delivering relevant ads, and so much more. We’d love to do it all in-house, but the reality of that is expensive and labour intensive. Plus, working with a digital marketing agency gives you access to their knowledge. If your current marketing mix doesn’t have a healthy blend of digital, it could be time to seek a digital marketing agency.

Take out all the guesswork

Speculation and gut feelings should play no part in your marketing plan. There is simply no need for it with a plethora of platforms specialising in customer data. Google analytics is one you are likely familiar with, but you can dive even deeper into the habits and drivers of your customer segmentation with specialist data capabilities. And we’re not just talking about demographics. Values, preferences and buying drivers should be something that you are understanding and leveraging. Data scraping is another innovation that is sharpening the strategies of small and large business operations, allowing you to discern top-selling products and competitor patterns. Manual data scraping could be the missing piece holding you back from new markets. A good example: Scrape amazon seller prices to showcase them on a comparison site.

Educate yourself

If you can’t beat them, join them! The greatest way to keep up with digital innovation is to join the movement, and there are so many digital marketing courses you can take to improve in these niche areas. Remote, classroom and workshop training are the common formats, so identify which style is going to work best for you. This is also a great addition to your resume, showing future employers that you have an ongoing desire for further education. Another route to take would be to find a mentor who is dominating in the digital space, while also having ties to the traditional marketing you are accustomed to. This will allow you to build on your base knowledge while learning from someone who can relay real-world situations in the understanding and functions you are comfortable with.

Establish a cross-channel brand strategy

Understanding and applying digital innovation will not come overnight. The best way to ease yourself into new channels and platforms would be to take your existing activity and make it cross-channel. If you are working on growing your CRM through email marketing, you could also set up some retention-focused social media marketing. If you are introducing new product lines through print media, cover your bases with some Google Ads and Google Shopping. This cross-channel strategy will not only cover all the bases but lead you to think deeper about what you are trying to achieve and which activity will get the greatest cut through. if you’re digital marketing mix does not have a healthy blend of digital.

Digital innovation is not something to fear, but rather embrace. Equipping yourself with the right strategies and guidance will provide a base canvas to build on your existing knowledge, leveraging digital capabilities. Marketing does not need to be an ‘us vs. them’ situation between tradition and digital professionals, but rather a lateral cross-channel, holistic approach.

The post How Can Marketers Keep Up With Digital Innovation? appeared first on Global Gurus.

In this particular post, you’ll know how marketing gurus drive more online sales, and their websites bring them even more profit.

Without further ado, let’s find out it.

Note: While improving their websites’ usability, global gurus don’t forget about online security. Always maintain your site via encrypted VPN connections. If you still don’t use this service, you can find the one at bestvpnrating.com, which is an online platform with expert reviews.

Here’s the list of 10 tips that all marketing gurus follow not to kill their conversion:

• Shorten the distance between a product and transaction pages.
• Provide a free trial period for your product or service.
• Make user-friendly navigation on your site.
• Publish only quality and useful content in your blog section.
• Use good calls to action on your website.
• Check if the website’s pages are loaded fast.
• Provide an opportunity to choose among products.
• Be sure you have a close-up in your product carts.
• Use real users’ reviews of your product.
• Make your customers trust you when paying for products via your site.

Now here are the comments upon the tips from the list above:

• Don’t make the distance from your product page to a transaction page too long. Be sure that a customer will get it in a couple of clicks. It shouldn’t be a long journey around your site before actual payment.
• If you offer services, you should remember that customers are sometimes not ready to use them right now. That’s why you should offer a free trial period for them to test your services, which will increase your conversion as in most cases after a free period, customers continue with paid ones.
• Imagine that you click on the elements, but they bring you to another page, not the one you expect to visit. For this reason, the navigation must be clear, logical and easy-to-understand for your site’s visitors.

• The content you publish on your blog can also drive you more online sales. The articles should be in-depth and profound to show your customers that you are an expert in your field.
• Use special calls to action on your website. They will attract the user’s attention and probably bring you more customers. One of the most efficient ways is bright buttons that allure users to click on them.
• In case your product pages are loaded too slowly, you risk losing your customers. Most of the internet users aren’t willing to wait for long. That’s why don’t forget to test the loading speed of your pages and optimize them if it’s required.
• Most people need to have a wide choice of products to compare them and make a final decision. Thus, a user has an opportunity to filter the search of products by defining the key features to meet their needs.
• There are such products which customers might want to look at them closer. Be sure you’ve provided such an opportunity to them.
• Never publish fake reviews of your products or services. Be honest with your customers. Use social shares to prove the good quality of the goods you sell or services you offer.
• When paying, customers must be confident that their personal won’t be compromised anyway. Think of the security of payment transaction conducted through your site. All traffic that goes through your website should be encrypted. Besides, in order to avoid hacking attacks, use two-factor authentication to register or log in on the website.

Now check if you are following all the tips from the list. Have you missed some of the elements? Then don’t waste time and start increasing your conversion right know. As you can see, it’s not difficult enough and global marketing gurus have already done it.

The post HOW INTERNET MARKETING GURUS DRIVE ONLINE SALES appeared first on Global Gurus.

A recent global customer service study by Microsoft looked at customer service around the world and how customers perceive their interactions.

Without exception, a majority of customers around the world have higher expectations of service than in past years.  Consumers aged 18-34 showed the highest percentage increase in expectations at a whopping 70%.  In other words, being nice to customers is not important only for your grandmother!  Having been raised in an era of service customization, it is likely that younger generation’s expectations may continue to exceed those of past generations.  They are also more likely to stop doing business with a brand they perceive to have inferior service, and this is a global phenomenon with only Japan and Germany falling below a 60% likelihood.  It is of note that Japan stands out as the country with the most appreciation for proactive contact regarding customer service issues at a strong 80%.

Another trend is the rise of the use of social media platforms for customer service encounters.  Globally 59% of consumers have a more favorable view of brands that respond to customer service questions or complaints on social media.  Not surprisingly that favorable rating soars in the 18-34 age category at 70%.

It certainly is good news that 66% of consumers around the world think customer service is improving.  Of course, that means that nearly a third think it is actually getting worse.  Those on this end of the spectrum cite the belief that customer service is NOT getting easier.  This may point to the fact that certain segments of the world’s population do not like or feel comfortable with the high level of service automation in today’s world.

No matter the country, customers want and appreciate the ability to provide feedback on service, yet globally indicate they are often not given that opportunity.  Even more concerning is the perception by 49% of the global population surveyed, that even when customer feedback is requested and given, action is rarely taken.

Customer service in today’s world is continually changing.  For organizations wanting to build a brand based on customer service, the challenge is not an easy one.  Continually striving for improvement in the areas highlighted by the Microsoft State of Customer Service Global Report can help organizations compete in a highly competitive global marketplace!

Teresa Allen is a global customer service guru who is asked to share her expertise in publications and at meetings around the world.  For more insights on global customer service, visit her website www.AllenSpeaks.com

The post Customer Service Around the World…Getting Better or Worse? appeared first on Global Gurus.

The post World’s TOP Leadership Gurus and Their Leadership Philosophies appeared first on Global Gurus.

Modern management has been carved into its present state by committed quality gurus who due to their quest of believing in a better world have researched and come up with top notch philosophies and theories. Here are the world’s top 10 Management Thinkers and their unique business philosophies.

John Kotter

Demystifies change in an organization… He has an eight step process for implementing successful change in an organization. He advocates management behaviorsto always be transmitting the message of change.

James Collins III

His approach deals with how companies can transform themselves with key ideas centering around ensuring that this success lasts. He debunks the myth of any connection between money and change mastery and shows research to prove it.

Nicholas Taleb

his unique concepts which include faultiness of quantitive economics and the idea of ‘antifragility’. His reputation comes through his regular correct predictionsof matters concerning risk management and finances.

Joseph Stiglitz

Focuses on income distribution, international trade and vices like corporate governances. He gives his views when it comes to capitalism as an inherently democratic and democratizing into an instrument that promotes the interest of an influential few.

Daniel Goleman

Focuses on the psychology sector of the management world and topics which mainly deal with the human brain.  They include self deception, creativity and transparency.

Daniel Pink

He mainly deals with the different behaviors we experience in an organization. He explains how these behaviors tend to influence the outcome of any business.

Clayton Christensen

Explores how a personal philosophy of life affectthem in management at work. His aim is to keep high achievers from being disrupted in their own lives.

Dr.Phillip Kotler

He focuses on marketing management and defines it as the art and science of choosing target markets andgetting, keeping and growing customers through creating, delivering and also communicating superior value.

Chris Anderson

He looks at a thorough overview of the history of pricing and commerce and touches on how digital commerce has revolutionized freeconomics.  His unique paradigm is based on his 4 basic business “free”models.

The post Philosophies of The World’s TOP 10 Management Gurus appeared first on Global Gurus.

There is a GlobalGurus criterion that a GlobalGurus competitor needs to satisfy before they are selected. This criterion is imperative as they connect with close to around 22,000 representatives, advisors, scholastics and MBA’s around the globe for their votes and popular sentiment survey.

The Criteria, is however, extremely basic and simple to determine. 60 namesfrom a global pool of experts speakers and thought leaders are shortlistedby approximately 22,000 agents, specialists, scholastics and MBAs, from all over the world. Then, they go for a Google scan for the content evaluation, this content is assessed for uniqueness. Finally they are asked to vote. Voting is also open to the public who follow these thought leaders. There are safeguards to assure that votes are legitimate and not being purchased. The idea is that if a guru sends out a request to his followers, and they take their time to vote for him or her, that this person deserves the vote.

Criteria for judging the TOP 30 is categorically marked on the basis of the following factors:

• Public opinion – 30%
• Originality of ideas – 30%
• Impact of original ideas – 10%
• Practicality of ideas – 10%
• Presentation style (boring gurus get lower points) – 10%
• Number of publications and writings – 5%
• Other considerations – 5%

In judging the contenders of the different Global Guru Categories, the emphasis is put on two gatherings that prohibits political, military and public representatives and concentrates on those professionals, thought leaders, mentors, speakers and specialists who create and support competency in others. The Top 30 Gurus, in their individual classifications are the “Cream of the Crop”, the World’s Top 30 most powerful Professional Speakers, Trainers and additionally Consultants in their territories and who have got more than 500 votes each. All of them do not just apply their own principals to accomplish prevalent outcomes in their associations, yet create and impact individuals and associations all through the globe.

They have profoundly qualified Gurus and a board of judges who do intensive and fastidious research in surveying whether a coach, speaker or thought pioneer meets the standards they have set. It is a full-proof and scientific analysis based on both objective and subjective points. The complete procedure is transparent and this quality of transparency enables them to be trusted by the industry moguls throughout the globe.

The selection and voting procedure is done in a scientific manner and latest methods and techniques are used to incorporate as many extra features as possible to make the judgement more precise and accurate. This allows the speakers and motivators with extra skills and achievements to march ahead of those who lack in these qualities. The world acknowledges the fact that a person with better skills and experience would motivate the people in a more efficient manner. Had there been no criteria for selecting the best motivators, they would not have been acknowledged all across the world. The complete exercise tries to acknowledge the cream who have made commendable contribution in motivating the industry and people associated with them.

The post Why the Criteria at Globalgurus.org? appeared first on Global Gurus.

Dr. John Kotter

The guru has served as a Harvard Business School professor for over 30 years; he has strived to answer the question of how one can make sure that a change project is successful. This comes from conclusive studies that between 60-80% of all change projects tend to fail fully or partly.  In this case the projects objectives may not be fully met or the project is not completed in time or on budget.

John Kotter provides solutions to this challenge by providing an eight step model for leading change. An overview of this process as described by our guru is analyzed below:

Increase urgency- in this case the company’s management should examine competitors, discuss crisis facing organization and finally provide evidence to that complete change is mandatory.

Build your guiding team- it is always wise to have a reliable team that will be the steering power behind the change needed.  Do this by selecting key change leaders through showing much enthusiasm and commitment.

Get the vision right-have a clear insight of what you need done through developing strategies and also ensure that your team inputs some good effort.

Communicate for buy in- use every channel to deliver your desired vision and always remember to make it simple and heartfelt.

Empowering action-ensure that you deal with the obstacles you are bound to face. Also be ready to overhaul systems that hinder your vision.

Create short term goals/wins- always ensure that you break the long term wins into short term achievableperformances and reward your team which helps you achieve that.

Never let up- the process may not be as smooth however no matter the situation never let go of your goal. Always be ready to reinforce the actions that have led to the improvements.

Stick to the changes/schedule-upon fruition, you are required to articulate the connections between the new behavior/actions  and the corporate success.

John Kotter’s model is highly reliable to all top-down change processes; in this case these projects are likely decided at the top management level of an organization.

Some strengths of this model range from its, simplicity, clarity of steps, fits well into classical hierarchies. However it may have some few weaknesses like wrong assumptions due to linearity of model, rigidity of model once it has began and sometimes it may lead to deep frustration.

James Collins III

Our second guru started his research work at the Stanford University Graduate School of business.  He is highly dedicated to his mastery of helping companies excel and sustaining their success. In his first work, ‘Good to Great’ he shows that greatness is not primarily a function of circumstances; however it is a matter of conscious choice and discipline.

He argues that companies that transform from good to great don’t have a name for their transformation and also no program. These companies don’t rant or rave about some form of impending crisis and thus don’t manufacture crisis. These companies have some self motivated personnel thus no need of motivation from outside.

He also tries debunks the myth that there is a connection between money and change mastery,  also James Collins depicts that fear doesn’t drive to change but it does perpetuate mediocrity. Finally he says that dramatic results do not necessarily come from a dramatic process. Below are some major points in his work:

How change doesn’t happen- many organizations and companies tend to look for change in the wrong places, ask the wrong questions and finally make the wrong assumptions.

How change does happen- he uses the flywheel example. The flywheel effect whereby when the momentum of the heavy wheel will kick in your favor it will spin faster and faster. However this is brought about by the small effort you applied at the beginning.

Therefore for an organization to transform form good to great, it all takes the real people in real companies who desire to be the part of a winning team. They want to produce real results and want to feel the satisfaction of seeing tangible results.

‘Who’ before ‘what’ discipline-with the right people in your company and those who are willing to put out A+ effort company’s manager can now turn to the ‘What’ question. With the right people you won’t face the challenge of motivating them since they are self motivated. However even if you have a great vision but with a set of mediocre people be guaranteed of mediocre results.

Hedgehog concept- it applies through simplifying a complex world into a single organizing idea, in this case the idea will unify, organize and guide all decisions. This concept entails vigorous debates, piercing questions and resolute actions and with the right people this concept is bound to work.

The ‘Stop doing list’- with your hedgehog concept it is now time to transform your company from good to great by disciplining yourselves into avoiding things that doesn’t fit tightly within this concept.

This philosophy by James Collins III has helped many companies make that worthy leap from good to great and continued to sustain those results for many years.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

He is a bona fide super high level statistician who holds a Distinguished Professorship at New York University. He is best known for his renowned books ‘Anti-Fragility’ and ‘the Black Swan’ which have received much praise as being one of the twelve most influential books since World War II. Let’s have a look into some of his philosophies and how they have impacted the financial world.

In his works Taleb has called for the cancellation of the Nobel Prize in Economics, according to his claim is that the damage from economic theories can be highly damaging. He is also of the view that option pricing should be determined in a more heuristic way by the operators themselves contrary to models, this is because models are somehow ‘lecturing birds on how to fly.’

In his book the Black Swan which mainly deals with unpredictability nature of events has been praised for predicting the banking and economic crisis of 2008.  It is here where he claimed that the foundations of quantitive economics are faulty. He claims that statistics is fundamentally incomplete and is not fully reliable when it comes to prediction of risks or rare events.

He sees the main challenge as mapping the ideas of ‘antifragility’, this refers to being ready to act and live in a world where we have little clue about the future.

A good instance is where he suggests investing money in ‘medium risks’ investment as being pointless since risk is almost impossible to compute. Therefore he advocates for both hyper conservative and hyper aggressive approach at the same time. Through this he asserts that a portfolio can be robust while at the same time enjoying positive exposure to black swan while also limiting losses suffered by such random unpredictable events.

From his works Taleb attracted both praise and criticism. Some are of the belief that Taleb has changed how many people think about uncertainty of events especially in the financial market. This is due to his book ‘The Black Swan.’

The post Top three MANAGEMENT gurus and their philosophies appeared first on Global Gurus.

 John Maxwell–  A name that has become legendary as a leadership speaker and consultant. He has been voted the top leadership thought leader and leadership speaker continuously for 6 years; a speaker, a coach, a pastor and author, John Maxwell has a lot in his kitty to offer but one of the most influential parts of his life is his philosophy of leadership which he has time and gain mentioned is books like The 21 IrrefutableLawsofLeadership, The 21 Indispensable Qualities ofLeadership etc. These are also some of John Maxwell’s best-selling books.

His philosophy of leadership is simple, John believes that everything rises and falls on leadership and a good leadership are an influence, nothing more and nothing less. Voted the top leadership professional six years in a row on GlobalGurus.org, The ideology behind this is simple, you are not a leader until you have followers and there is no leader who cannot influence his/her followers. You must give people a reason to follow you, a quality or a skill which they can admire and aspire. Apart from this, in one of his books, John mentions that it is important when you lead people rather what to do and where to go. To sum it up, good leadership is about the right timing and influencing the people.

Robin Sharma – Robin Sharma was a litigation attorney but later he decided to move on and become a leadership consultant. Taking his pursuit for leadership training ahead he has published 15 books and one of the popular in the series includes, the MonkWho Sold His Ferrari. One of his books, The Leader WhoHad No Title mentions that leadership is not restricted to the position, rather anyone can show leadership.

Taking his zeal to initiate leadership skill development in people, he has opened Sharma Leadership InternationalInc. which is a global consultancy that trains the employees? Throughout his philosophy, he has emphasized on the fact that one should not wait to achieve a title to become a leader, this quality is not depended on any kind of title. You can be a leader if you went to be.

Ken Blanchard – He is popularly known for his book, “The one minute manager”, he has defined leadership as an influential process where we tend to influence people around us. Whenever you try to accomplish anyone through thoughts and actions to achieve their personal and professional goals, you are getting engaged in leadership.

Ken Blanchard propagates the idea of being a servant leader; a servant leader wants to create a difference in the life of their peer or people around them.The role of a servant leader is to anything which can help his or her people win and achieve their goals.

Words of Wisdom –   To sum it up, leadership is all about influencing people and making a difference in the lives of people around us.Even if you do it on a very small scale, you have turned out to be a good leader. One shouldn’t wait to attain a position to inculcate this skill rather it can be inherited at any point in life. A good leader and his leadership skills completely transforms the life of people around them.

There are more philosophies and concepts that are brilliant by other leadership thought leaders like John Mattone’s Intelligent Leadership Coaching Process, Arthur Carmazzi’s Leadership Anti-model, Marshall Goldsmith’s Personal Leadershipcoaching process and more. We recommend searching them out to define what works for you.

The post Philosophies of Leadership – A comparison appeared first on Global Gurus.

You like people and enjoy sales. You believe everyone, no matter their profession, is really a sales person. After all, sales drives business and generates revenue, right? So, whether you’re a manufacturer, service provider, retailer, even educator, you have something to sell to your distributors, clients, customers, students and parents.

So, how do you sell what you offer to a decision-maker? First things first. Do you believe you are targeting the right customers? Is your product or service vital to the success of the business you are trying to sell? If you answered yes to these two questions, then start with knowing your customer. How do you do that? Here’s how.

First, make sure the person you are trying to sell is the decision-maker. Sounds simple but how many times have you talked to someone at a business who appears interested in what you have to sell only to find out that s/he can’t pull the trigger and give you the order? You’ve built a rapport and think you’ll make the sale only to discover you’re actually selling the wrong person.

Second, you need to find out what makes the decision-maker tick. How? Start with research. Scour the company’s website. Read everything and start with its people. Learn their roles and their history with the company. Find out as much as you can about them.

Third, go deeper. Use resources online to find out what the decision maker likes to do outside the office. Do they have a family? Hobby? What civic organizations do they support? Are they on any charitable organization board? Where did they go to college? Have they won any awards or been recognized as a leader in their industry?

Now comes the tricky part. Who do you know that may know the person you are trying to sell? One way to find out is social media, such as Facebook or LinkedIn. Ask someone you know for a referral to the person you want to sell.

Most business owners are introverts who require trust before they commit to anything. So to build trust, you must exhibit a sincere interest in them and their business. To do this, it is important to find out how they like to communicate? Do they prefer the telephone, email, texting, face-to-face or even traditional written notes and letters? Be respectful of their time and navigate how you communicate as much as what you communicate.

Get to know the gate keeper, too. Most CEOs rely on an executive assistant to screen calls and schedule appointments. If you can build a rapport with this person, you are much more likely to get an appointment. Once you do, be prepared to get to the point of your meeting and always ask up front if now is a good time to meet, even though you have already arrived for your appointment. Things can change in an instant so make sure you respect their time at all cost.

The strengths of introverts vary but most have common traits. They are successful and they are proud of their accomplishments. Acknowledge their success and take an interest in helping them grow their business or solve a problem. And, while this may be difficult, do not oversell them or appear in a rush to get the order. You are building a relationship to nurture well after the sale is complete.

*About Alen:*
Alen Mayer helps sales leaders enlarge their sales circles and tap into their team members’ individual strengths to increase sales results. He works closely with companies to create a tailor-made, irresistible language for introverted clients.

Whether you need to sharpen cold-calling techniques or sales strategies, Alen will improve your business. Please visit his website at www.AlenMayer.com or call 647-427-1588 for more information about his powerful sales training seminars, in-house workshops, and speaking engagements.

The post Why Introverted Clients Hate Small Talk appeared first on Global Gurus.

The outdated approach of classical physics, and therefore “the scientific method”, is what we have been using to study leadership—as a subject consisting of separate parts—leaders, followers, organizations, contexts, goals and more (see my White Paper on why this has failed us and what is next). We have even succumbed to the false belief that behavior displayed and exhibited within an organization is separate from, and sometimes not even appropriate for, life outside the organization—for example, at home. But this is an illusion—everything is connected and everything is one, which is evident in my work every day coaching leaders who are seeking to rebuild their domestic partnerships AND reach their professional goals.

The sacred energy we invest in our marriages and personal relationships, is, in reality, exactly the same energy we need to invest in our work life and our organizations. My own list (everyone will have their own take on this) of practices and behaviors needed for a successful marriage are:

• personal growth and mutual learning
• being fully present
• curiosity
• freshness
• spiritual passion
• maintaining individuality AND (paradoxically) oneness
• vulnerability
• intimacy
• humility
• empathy
• devotion
• love
• rituals
• transparency
• trust
• reliability

These, when practiced with sacred energy, lead to sacred and inspiring relationships. Since everything is connected, and one—it stands to reason that these necessary conditions for an inspiring relationship will lead to inspiring relationships anywhere—at work, with nature, with each other—even with God. Clinging to the illusion of separateness gets in the way of our potential. To raise our game we need to create inspiring relationships—everywhere.

The post Leadership as A Sacred Relationship appeared first on Global Gurus.