In this article we shall discuss a few perks of having a mobile app for your business!

Though there are many, the top 6 ways a mobile app contributes to your business are stated below:

2. Creates a direct marketing channel:

An app performs many functions like providing, general info, search features, news feeds, prices and info, about your products/services and much more. Thus an app provides a platform for direct marketing of your products and/or your services.

3. Provides value to your customers:

Your customers can get on-hand info and reviews of public about your business just at the click of an icon on screen thus helping you them build more trust in your business.

4. Helps build brand and recognition:

An app greatly contributes to your brand awareness. The more often you can get your customers involved with your app, the sooner they will get inclined to buy your product and/or your service. In advertising, this is called “effective frequency”

5. Improves customer engagement:

Whatever kind of services/products you offer, your customers need a way to reach out to you! An app will bridge this gap by providing a platform/medium for your customers to communicate with you. Also, the reviews of public on the app that are visible to your customers help build trust in your business amongst the customers (when the reviews are positive) or help you rectify any errors (in case the review is a negative one).

6. Helps you stand out of the competition:

These days, the mobile apps and small business level is still a little rare. This is where you can take a big leap ahead of your competitors!

Reference used: www.allbusiness.com and www.buildfire.com

If you’re in a dilemma if you should have a website and a mobile app, or have a blog solely dedicated to the accomplishments of your business, then read below, that will give you better clarity on this topic!

Perks of having online visibility:

1. It allows potential customers to come to you:

Today with the internet ruling the world, anyone who wants to know about your company is most likely to research online. So being available online helps you gain customers!

2. It presents an easier way to showcase products/services: The Internet offers a wide and efficient platform for businesses to showcase their products or services.

3. Helps to build strong customer relations: The social media makes it easier to build and maintain relationships with existing customers and potential customers. The reviews that the customers read helps in building their trust for the company. It also enables queries to be answered online.

4. Enables effortless marketing: Email and social media marketing is much easier in terms of the efforts that need to be put in because it lets the customer decide whether they like it or not based on the reviews instead of sales associates forcing them to like something.

5. Lets you track your marketing strategies: What has worked and what has not worked can be clearly understood based on the numbers (likes/comments/views) This saves a lot of capital and also keeps the marketing up to date- as per trend!

Well, these were only a few perks of being visible online, though there are many.

What is Search Engine Optimisation?

Technical definition:

Search engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” search results on search engines.

Meaning in simple words: SEO is processing your online payment in such a way that your website/page is shown first in the list when a specific keyword is searched on a search engine.

Top search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo etc.,  have a specific Algorithm in order to display search results when a keyword is typed in the search bar.

There are many other factors that influence SEO. Some suggest there are over 200 factors that affect the algorithm. The list of factors continues to grow on and on. But these 5 factors seem to remain constant and strong influencing factors. Check them out!

Top 5 Factors that influence or affect SEO:

1. Words: The words used on your website or page. When a keyword is typed on a search engine, if your website has that word, it shows up in the search results.

2. Titles: The titles that are used on for paragraphs on your website/page hold much importance than the content in the paragraph. So the titles have to be chosen carefully so that your website appears in the top search results.

3. Links used: While writing a content is being written, including links that redirect to different portions of your website/page can often be helpful

4. Words used in links: Again, this is associated to point No. 1, which talks about the usage of words.

5. Reputation: This is possibly the one that which boosts your SEO process. Well, this means, if your website/page/any platform that is associated to your company, has regular, fresh and engaging content then chances of your company/business’s name popping up in the top search results stands high.

The above points are like ingredients to a perfect mixture or recipe of SEO. If these ingredients are put in adequate quantities, the SEO will surely be done right just like any dishes!

References used: Search Engine land

Marketing through SMS notification is the new forte into which businesses are venturing today. This type of marketing holds are very high chance of being effective owing to the the fact that most people are on phone for more than 3-4 hours a day.

A study says, that the chances of people viewing text messages is about 90% while chances of people viewing emails is about 30%.

The following are 5 ways SMS can be used to enhance the growth of your business!

1. Sales Promotions

With an estimated open rate of 99%, business text messaging is an extremely attractive (and cost-effective) option for promoting sales. Findings from the same study indicate that 90% of those opens occur within three minutes of receiving the message.

2.    Take orders:

Links to take orders can be sent vis SMS, that will lessen the efforts that a customer has to put to open the app and follow various steps before placing the order. Making things easy for the customers is the best way to keep the maintain customer loyalty.

3. Product Launches:

In theory, using a business texting service is an excellent way to promote a new product. Using SMS for marketing offers:

 1.   High open rates
 2.   Easy linking to mobile sites/app store(s)
 3.   Personalisation if the appropriate data is available

So, this way, SMS marketing stands out to be one of the most effective and easy ways of marketing.

4. Short Surveys and Customer Support

    Companies can conduct short surveys through SMS to understand how satisfied their customers are with the service/product they are providing.

    If the customers are unhappy with any services, this is an easy way to rectify issues and gain more customers.

5. Give information about discounts or sale:

    Sale and discounts are two very strong tactics to attract customers. But there are chances that the customers are uninformed about it. So SMS is the best way to get this news across to many people and thus getting more customers.

Automation/Business Process Automation (BPA) is generally associated with manufacturing industries, but in reality, automation makes businesses in any domain to run smooth and efficient.

Automation in simple terms is managing information, data & processes to reduce costs, resources, and investment. It increases productivity by controlling key business processes through computing technology/software.

It involves initiation, execution, and completion while achieving enterprise-wide workflow efficiency.

Top 5 Reasons why automating your business is important and something that is worth being invested on:

1. Increased efficiency and stability: BPA is designed to maintain efficiency and increase the stability and operational productivity of an underutilized workforce by integrating business-critical software applications.

2. Reduces person hours: The right automation solution will reduce the number of labour hours that go into achieving a particular company goal.

3. Reduces error: Since automation is done through software or computer technology, the errors due to human interference, generally known as human errors get limited.

4. Customer consistency: With business process automation, customers will receive the same standard of care with every interaction.

5. Reduced costs and overhead: By diminishing errors and improving employee efficiency, companies often see a decrease in expenditures while simultaneously improving revenue.

Automation helps your business move with the trend, makes the process, faster, reliable and efficient (both in terms of cost and quality).

It can be vaguely said that business automation is the key to a successful business!

Business process automation (BPA), as the name says is the automation of various processes that take place in a business. While on one hand, BPA has many perks that could help a business reach sky heights by streamlining the processes and reducing errors, there are a couple of challenges that one will face while bringing in Automation to their business.

Listed below are a few such challenges with solutions on how to overcome them:

Challenge 1: Integration of various systems and tools can be difficult

Automation that integrates multiple systems or business processes is mostly very helpful, but it also poses a significant challenge.

Solution: Take help from an experienced IT consultancy, so that they can guide you on choosing the right solutions which will enable easy integration of the systems thus maximizing the benefits of Business process automation.

Challenge 2: Automation usually brings in fear of job cuts

It is true that some automation can result in the loss of jobs for workers who only perform repetitive and easily automated tasks.

Solution: In reality, Automation actually opens up opportunities for many more workers. It actually provides them ample time to focus on customer relations, generate leads, improve the existing products/develop new products, or engage in other tasks that directly enhance the overall business growth.

Challenge 3: Automation needs constant follow up

When major changes are brought about in the processes, it is important to perform honest reviews of the cost and productivity benefits. This means establishing standards of pre-automation work compared to employee tasks and the business gains after automation.

Solution: Again, an IT consultancy will play an important role in guiding you on choosing the right processes for Business Process Automation, the ones that will produce clear long-term gains.

Challenge 4: Taking on Too Much at Once

When you have an efficient automation software, naturally you would want to put it to work right away. But trying to bring in changes in your business processes all at once can lead to confusion and disappointment.

Solution: It’s better to start with one clearly definable workflow, automate and test it, and then, once it proves its ability to withstand, choose another workflow to automate. You’re better off starting by automating simple, standalone processes before attempting to automate complex business processes.

Challenge 5: Automation Steps that are often taken for granted

Solution: To create automated workflows, you have to understand them thoroughly, on a step-by-step basis. The entire process must be defined in discrete steps so that the right conditions trigger the right sequential actions.

Business Automation, commonly referred to as workflow automation, streamlines business processes, makes the processes faster and reduces error (due to the absence of human intervention)

In this blog, we shall discuss various types of business automation which can be primarily classified into four types:

1. Robotic Automation

2. Database Automation

3. Server Automation

4. Department Specialized Automation

Robotic Automation:

The word robot usually brings up a picture of a mechanical figure with arms, but robotic automation does not involve the literal robot with arms and legs, it involves software robots that handle the business processes.

Robotic process automation (RPA) program is effectively designed to perform high-volume repetitive tasks at a much faster rate than that at the rate a human could perform and with minimal errors. While they perform routine tasks like data-entry and form checking with absolute efficiency, humans can perform tasks that involve creativity and strategic thinking. This way, the business can grow at a faster rate and expand into new horizons. Though this involves a high initial cost, in the long run, it will be extremely beneficial.

Database Automation:

This type of automation is usually required in companies that are geographically widespread like they have multiple branches/stores or maybe separate businesses running under one parent company. In such companies, there would be a database that stores all the critical data related to the business. In the absence of database automation, the database administrator, along with storing all the information, will have to perform tasks like duplicating all the data in a cluster with minimal variations. Also, the Database administrator will have to be called upon again and again to perform more and more tasks. This will slow down the Database administrator and also the entire business.

The solution to this problem is to introduce database automation into the system. This way, the database administrator will have more time to handle tasks that involve manual entry. This not only makes the entire system faster but also reduces error.

Server Automation:

Server automation is not very different from database automation. Just like companies have databases to handle and store business data, a server is present to manage the company’s application. In the absence of server automation, the server can take up a lot of time of the IT administrator. This yet again slows down the IT system in the company.

Server automation not only allows easy installation of new server software, but it also helps in easy inventory management and reduces the margin of error.

Department Specialized Automation:

Well, the above three types of automation may not fit into all departments of a business. With the technological era setting in and technology entering into every department of businesses in most domains, there is still some lacuna left. But nowadays, automation softwares can be customized to any department’s needs, be it HR, Finance, sales or marketing.

Automation at the department level leads to a significant cut down in time and cost as the process becomes fast, almost error free and very efficient.