Restaurant management is an intense job as managers are responsible for all aspects within the restaurant. A good restaurant owner understands the business side, what the front of the house does, and what the back of the house entails, as well as having managers report to them from the kitchen and floor. Information on staffing, target revenue, inventory levels, customer purchasing habits, and much more are always on the mind of a restaurant owner.

Previously, those tasks required hours of staff time poured over logs, receipts, and payroll. However, in today’s technologically-advanced world, a cloud-based network inside a restaurant brings a seemingly endless supply of data to the fingertips of owners, management, and staff alike.

 

We’re all familiar with the pos software that can track sales, the percentage of sales spent on beverages, how many enchilada plates were sold in a week, and the like. This exact kind of tracking can be expanded to the entire restaurant with cloud-based ordering and kitchen displays.

 

The kitchen, however, would be the place you would find the most benefit and cost reduction from using a cloud-based network in your restaurant. Beyond displaying orders digitally rather than the traditional pen and paper, cooler and pantry levels could also be easily monitored from a central location at the click of a button.

 

Evaluating customer trends will give insight for ideal inventory levels, reducing waste from over purchasing. Inventory management has been proven to reduce overall inventory and reduce your cost of goods sold.

 

In a fully integrated restaurant, inventory that comes in is logged, then stored as usual. When used, items are noted in the system, as well. The front of the house uses a POS system tracking open tables and reservation scheduling, telling the servers what to expect on the screens of their workstations. Here, the servers enter drink and food orders, which are sent to the respective stations for production.

After the customer has completed their meal, they can even be offered tableside payment options. While not all of this is needed in every restaurant, most can benefit from implementing one or two techniques.

 

While this may seem burdensome to employees to access a computer system regularly, the benefits are clear, even for the employee. The information gained from kitchen cloud-based networks is incredibly valuable. The detailed information allows for the reduction of excess spending for the business, leading to higher success for all employees.

 

Some restaurants have adopted this idea to the extreme and have become take-out or delivery only and only accept order online. These cloud kitchens are becoming increasingly popular. Additionally, the cloud feature allows franchised restaurants to communicate with one another or allows top-level management to view sales for every location, regardless of where they are.

 

Overall, the best way to manage a modern kitchen in a restaurant is to have a cloud-based network operating various avenues of information. A simple laptop or pos hardware is all you need to access mountains of information regarding every detail of your restaurant. Expanding beyond the typical pos software is essential for expanding and growing your restaurant. The information available is only limited by the systems not implemented.

 

Adopting appropriate technology is crucial when running a business, as the right software, applications and IT systems can help you and your team work better, faster and more efficiently. No matter the type of company you run or the size of the organisation, technology will aid you in data management, enhance connectivity and improve customer support, all while increasing productivity and reducing labour costs.

Experts from Syntax IT Support London advise on the most essential technology tools to incorporate into your business operations.

A quality website

Nearly 45 million people in the UK use the internet every day and studies suggest that 75% of people judge a company’s credibility based on how their website looks. This means that in order to impress potential customers and clients, a quality company website is crucial. Your website is often the first point of contact for customers and if it doesn’t look good, it’s likely to leave a negative impression and result in a loss of business. It’s estimated that you have an average of 10 seconds to impress website visitors before they leave, so you’ll need to capture their attention and keep them engaged from the start.

A good business website should be clean, modern, easy to navigate and clear and concise. Key business information such as your opening hours, address and contact details should be easy to find, and any social media buttons should be clearly presented. A quality website must also look good in all browsers and be optimised for use on mobile devices.

Marketing automation

The success of your business largely depends on how well you market your products and services, and marketing automation can make it much easier to create a winning strategy and monitor results. Marketing automation is technology designed to automatically manage marketing processes and campaigns across multiple channels, automating repetitive tasks across email, social, web and text.

By utilising marketing automation in your own business, you’ll be able to maximise efficiency and free up employees so they can spend time on high priority tasks. This key business tool will also help you market to customers and clients more effectively.

Chatbots

Integrate artificial intelligence into your business by starting with chatbots, which are computer programs designed to interact with humans and provide customer support. You can easily set up a chatbot to answer common questions relating to your products and services, locations and delivery details, giving your customer service team the time and resources to deal with the more in depth questions and complex issues.

Accounting software

Not many people enjoy dealing with business finances, but it’s one of those things that has to be done in order to keep a company running smoothly. Thankfully, there’s a range of accounting software out there to help you get to grips with your accounts and manage important tasks. These easy-to-use tools will help you sort out payroll and billing and can also help you keep track of expenses, all without having to learn the ins and outs of accounting.

Security

A thorough cyber security policy is essential in all businesses to reduce the risk of external threats and prevent data breaches. Cyber criminals target companies of all sizes and attacks are only becoming more advanced, so it’s absolutely vital that you properly safeguard your business assets.

Investing in a robust firewall and antivirus program are good places to start, but you’ll also need to utilise offensive techniques such as automated detection for peace of mind. Call in the professionals if you’re not confident in this area, as cyber security is one thing you must get right to stay safe, secure and successful as a business.

 

Civil engineering is the backbone of civilization. This has been true ever since we got together to build roads and irrigation canals. Technology has been advancing quickly on many fronts, though most tend to focus on the flashiest innovations like Mars rovers and the promise of artificial intelligence that rivals human beings in ability. Let’s look at some of the greatest engineering advancements occurring today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0N9q_HDtuU

Changes in Infrastructure

It is possible that we’re seeing an end of mega-infrastructure projects like Hoover Dam, Three Gorges Dam and traditional nuclear power plants. One reason why they’re going away is the great risk associated with the project. You invest billions in a dam and hope that it doesn’t silt up before you get enough power out of it to be worth the investment. In the case of conventional nuclear power plants, it costs billions of dollars to build, and operations can be halted by anything from an interruption in the cooling water supply to legislation to lawsuits. Another factor killing these projects is corruption. Mega-projects in the developing world have little to no economic benefit because they tend not to be selected on the basis of real economic benefits, and the potential benefits are eroded by inflated prices for building materials to giving every relative of the dictator an impressive, high paying job on the site.

This is leading to a democratization of infrastructure development. You get more cell phone towers and fewer country-wide networks of phone lines. It leads to more small solar, wind and micro-hydro power installations and fewer massive projects. The cost of these projects is smaller and often in reach of private individuals, and it doesn’t depend on government players approving and building it.

High Power, Zero Emission Vehicles

Electric cars have been around for years. However, their adoption has been hindered by energy storage and power delivery technology. For example, early electric cars had a range of 30 to 50 miles per charge, and it took hours to charge them. This was enough for urban dwellers who could recharge cars at home and work, but it isn’t enough for a long distance trip. Nor could this technology be used in heavy duty vehicles like semi-trucks and cargo-haulers, because the power systems couldn’t generate enough power to get an 18 wheeler truck up a hill. Advances on both fronts and engineering big ideas have led to the literal roll out of high-power, zero emission systems. For example, we’re now seeing electric water-sport equipment, electric semi-trucks and other zero emission systems. These systems cannot yet replace an 18-wheeler carrying a full load cross-country, but it makes inroads into niches where electric just wasn’t good enough a few years ago.

The Internet of Things

The internet of things or IoT is a network that brings massive amounts of hardware into the internet. When you log into an app on your smart phone to verify the front door is locked or look through your digital security camera, you’re utilizing the internet of things. When a smart electric meter in your home can tell you which appliances use the most power and warn when power consumption is higher than average, this is how the internet of things may help us save money over the long run. The goal is to save power and reduce wear and tear on equipment, reducing capital costs. This is why the IoT has been appearing in factories far faster than in private homes. Close monitoring of motor vibration, equipment temperature, energy usage and material feed rates allow businesses to maximize production, minimize downtime and quickly identify needed repairs with fewer people. Conversely, the IoT is necessary to match the flow and demand for renewable energy to the highly variable supply of renewable power.

 

 

Abakion offers a series of applications for Dynamics 365 Business Central, which serves every business to manage betterits supply chain management alongwith its financial activities.These applications have deep functionality and can be used for general customization also. Supply chain management is made easier for small and medium scale enterprises to large and complex organizations. The latest technology from Microsoft offers first-class solutions that are easy to implement and use without any hassles at the same time. The Abakion supply box enables all the add-ons to be applied instantly to the Dynamic solution in the organization by just making a single click of the button. It covers a wide range of functionalities such as Manufacturing, Warehousing, Distribution, Wholesales and many more all of which are agile. The supply chain box is certified for Microsoft Dynamics and has approval from Microsoft which signals the customers that the solutions can be used by them to adopt best business practices.

It is much easier for the user to extract the original data and its history from the previous ERP system and quickly implement the same in the new Dynamics 365 Business Central. The applications will bring together users from networking groups and allow them to share their experiences. The supply chain box is developed after making a continuous dialogue with the users. Microsoft has committed to maintain and develop the functionality providing the organization agility at all levels. There is an important connection between supply chain management and business performance. The management can capture the trends in supply chain challenges and upcoming opportunities. The overall health and visibility of the business improve by handling supply chain problems effectively. Supply chain management has undergone a huge transformation in the previous few years and the supply chain box has contributed largely to improving the business functionalities.

Companies in the past used Enterprise Resource planning solutions to track data across the business but nowadays they use a mix of spreadsheets and ERP solutions both together. While others used cloud-based planning platforms Supply chain box is an application that is made use of multiple add-ons to plan a product from the raw material stage to its delivery to the consumer. The organization can make effective demand planning and supply planning. The purpose is to balance both demand and supply to achieve the financial objectives of the company.

Every business needs to adapt itself with the digital revolution to succeed in the growing global market and seek more practical ways to connect the supply chain from beginning to end. The organization can provide real-time data across all the points of the supply chain. The organization saves a lot of time and money in the process which could contribute to increased profitability. It is a unique combination of disruptive technologies such as Artificial intelligence and machine learning which allow the companies to harness maximum benefits. Your organization will now be able to quickly adapt to the market changes and do the same with increased efficiency at must lower costs. For more details please visit here Akustikloft.

 

Big data and data analytics are the business buzzwords of the moment. Many businesses are questioning whether they should invest in analytics consulting or new software. Today, companies need to be well-versed in the digital world. From social media to ecommerce, the world is becoming increasingly more digital. With all the sharing of information, businesses have access to data on consumers, potential customers, and the psychological patterns of transactions.

Currently, according to a report released by DOMO, we’re generating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day! But how are businesses using this information? Can you use this data to increase growth? What are the benefits? Let’s look at how companies are using data analytics.

Tracking Potential Customers:

Many companies are using big data to track their entire customer path. From the moment they first come across the company, to the second they make a purchase, every moment in the customer acquisition cycle is trackable and full of useful data.

Companies can analyze which ads perform best, which emails work, how long it takes for a customer to make a purchase, and more. You can dig deeper and determine when a customer is ready to buy and how to get them to take the plunge.

Tracking customers and data throughout the entire purchasing cycle requires several programs, types of software, and skills. In general, it’s like creating a big data-crunching machine, where several parts are running simultaneously, and they’re all essential to keep the machine working.

Improving Customer Experience:

Businesses also use data analytics to track customers after they’ve purchased. There are hundreds of programs to help track the entire customer life cycle. You can get in and see how and If customers are engaging with follow up sequences. You can analyze which salespeople are resonating with customers. You can even see which method of communication works best for your clients. From chatbots, to phone calls, to emails, and social media, there are endless ways to track the customer experience.

Diving deeper, analytics give insight to customer issues, and breaks in the customer process. This insight allows business owners and executives to nip service problems in the bud. Without analytics or tracking, huge customer experience issues often go unnoticed until they become an unmanageable issue.

Moreover, in-depth data analytics help to identify patterns. For instance, with data tracking in tow, it’s easy to see if customers continually have the same questions. If they do, it might be worth addressing those questions as part of the onboarding process or creating a webpage that answers those questions. Identifying patterns is one of the most significant ways that companies are utilizing data.

Improving Decision Making

Ultimately, data analytics makes making decisions much more straightforward. With so much information, business owners feel empowered to move in directions and know that they’re making the right choice. Having comprehensive data analytics is almost like having a crystal ball. You can predict the future based on the past, no magic required.

Whether you’re trying to make decisions about client acquisition, retention, or satisfaction, the data has all the answers. It also helps determine the best ways to allocate your budget. If you know what’s working and what isn’t (or who is and who isn’t), it makes budget allocation much simpler. There isn’t any guesswork, just hard numbers and reliable analytics.

Beyond that, big data can help identify fraud and find ways to increase revenue, that you might not have otherwise seen. Decision-making is a crucial skill for business owners, and data analytics allows companies to make those decisions with less inherent risk.

How to Implement Big Data and Data Analytics

Wrapping your brain around the complexities of big data is hard enough. Learning how to use it to benefit your business effectively is even more difficult. There isn’t one clear path or one right answer for data analytics implementation. The size of your business, the number of customers you have, your available budget, and the inner workings of your company all affect your implantation strategy.

You might not need every single analytic tracking software out there. You may not have a complicated marketing schema. You may not have any employees. However, regardless of your current operation, there’s a place for data analytics integration. The path to data is much like the path to building a business. What works for one company won’t work for another.

If it’s within your budget, hiring an analytics consulting company is a great option. They’re experts at data and do all the heavy lifting for you. If hiring an expert is outside of your scope, there are thousands of free resources online to help you start learning. Begin small and start implementing data collection and analytics into your daily operations. If you’re doing it on your own, don’t try to add it all on at once.

Big data is the new big thing business, so whatever you do, just get started.

Link to sources: DOMO https://web-assets.domo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/17_domo_data-never-sleeps-5-01.png

 

Over $100 billion of retail sales occur online every month. With this being said, ecommerce businesses are constantly implementing new technologies to continue selling their products online. After all, consumers’ expectations are only growing as the tech industry continues to prosper. The top online stores stay up-to-date on the latest ecommerce merchandising trends in order to stay ahead of their competition. If you are an ecommerce business owner who wants to do the same, read this post and learn about the emerging ecommerce merchandising trends to follow.

 

High Quality Images

 

One of the most crucial ecommerce merchandising trends to track revolves around images. Every ecommerce site is made up of a mixture of content forms. One of the most prominent forms of media is pictures. When an online shopper visits an online store looking for a new pair of boots, they expect to find quality photos of boots. If they enter a site and find low-quality images or stock photos, they will leave that shop and resort to another. With this being said, you need to ensure that your product images are professional, clear and enticing. Consider using advanced features such as 360 view to truly impress consumers. If you use this ecommerce merchandising tactic to your advantage, you can excel in the industry.

 

Advanced Search Functions

 

Another ecommerce merchandising trend worth taking note of is advanced search functions. In addition to high quality photographs, consumers also expect to be able to find what they are looking for easily on ecommerce sites. If you want to increase your sales, you need to keep this in mind. Moreover, you need to act on it by implementing advanced search functions. Optimize your search tool so that users can refine their search results in various ways. Integrate functions like auto-complete, product suggestions and navigation rules. Ensure that your tool is smart enough to recognize spelling mistakes and offer users recommended products even with such errors. If you want to meet online shoppers’ expectations, take note of this ecommerce merchandising trend.

 

Artificial Intelligence

 

Moreover, consider using artificial intelligence (AI) in your online store. This ecommerce merchandising trend is highly advantageous when implemented properly. Successful online shops use AI for customer segmentation. They also use the technology to identify customer patterns. Artificial intelligence can analyze each customer’s browsing history and make conclusions based on them. Then, ecommerce store owners can use the data they receive to improve their online shops by grouping products, highlighting featured products and cross promoting similar items. In order to improve your customer experience, follow this ecommerce merchandising trend carefully.

 

Interactive Tools

 

The top ecommerce websites are also using interactive tools to boost sales. One of the main trending interactive tools is the chatbot. While this is not exactly a new tool in the realm of ecommerce, the technologies are constantly improving. Thus, chatbots are still emerging in their own way and are still crucial to keep up-to-date on. After all, they, too, improve customer satisfaction rates and increase conversions. If you implement a quality live chatbot into your online store, you offer your visitors continuous support. You can sell your products to consumers just as you would if you were talking to them in-person in a brick-and-mortar store. With this feature, you can answer questions, reduce concerns and persuade consumers to become customers. For these reasons, track this ecommerce merchandising trend.

 

Detailed Product Descriptions

 

Finally, write detailed product descriptions on your online store. Many ecommerce business owners fail to recognize the importance of this emerging trend. A large amount of owners assume that writing too much in a product description will deter consumers. Contrary to this belief, consumers appreciate the information. They want to know about the materials your products are made of. Visitors are curious about the functionality of each product. Consumers purchasing clothing need size charts to select the right sizes for themselves. All of these pieces of information persuade consumers to purchase products. Keep this emerging ecommerce merchandising trend in mind when optimizing your online store.

 

In order to keep up with the ecommerce competition and achieve your goals, you need to use the top merchandising tactics. Firstly, use professional photographs and advanced features to impress visitors. Optimize your search function to make the process of finding products as simple as possible. More so, take advantage of artificial intelligence. Implement interactive tools like chatbots to improve your customer satisfaction rates and boost sales at the same time. Furthermore, write detailed product descriptions to persuade users to add products to their carts. Follow these emerging ecommerce merchandising trends to boost your profits.

 

Let’s face it, the digital world never sleeps. And, living in the digital era means your business needs to get with the program and offer one – or several – mobile apps. Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), and the impending 5G takeover – our world is more connected than ever. You have devices talking to other devices.

We can control our home’s thermostat with a mobile app, and our washers can send diagnostics to certified mechanics. Not to mention, more people are using mobile apps than there have ever been before. So much so that the instant gratification society we have now become accustomed to has even served to shorten all of our attention spans.

Yet, even if you know that you need to create a mobile app, you might not have the resources in-house to produce an app sophisticated enough to satisfy tech-savvy consumers. In this case, it’s time to hire a team of expert mobile app developers who can design the type of app that will wow your end users.

Create a stunning product

When you work with professionals, you will be assured that the end result will turn out the way you have imagined. It will be tested, fully functional, and free of bugs. You see, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Perhaps you want something that will make it easier for your employees to automate business tasks.

If you want to debut your dream app, you should make it worth your time and worth the time of your intended audience. This is why professional app development is so necessary. You don’t want to do anything half-baked. Now is the time to go full throttle.

Get a dedicated team

If you work with the developers you have in-house, they may already be inundated with other pressing work projects and deadlines. They might not have the time, or the staff, to dedicate the necessary hours to your mobile app project. It can also help to avoid mistakes many have made when they wanted to expand their business. On the other hand, if you hire expert mobile app developers you can be sure you will have a team dedicated to your project. As a result, you get the focus that is necessary and it cuts down on errors too.

Professionals will ask the right questions

If your company is launching something new, then professional mobile developers will know which questions to ask to ensure they create a relevant product. You don’t ever want to start on a mobile project and come out with something completely unexpected and even foreign to your company’s objectives. A professional team of developers will know what core features should be included and what they can do with the budget you have.

Final thought

As you can see, for any special mobile app project, it helps to hire professionals. If you need to fix wiring in your office, you would hire a certified electrician. The same is true for mobile apps. Why would you consider developing an app in-house, when you can hire and use the skills of an expert?

 

Getting people to download your app is important. Without that first action, where would you be? But for better lifetime value, it’s more important to put resources into keeping those users well beyond the initial download. User retention means keeping users engaged with and active in your product.

Low retention rates mean that you are spending too much time and attention-getting people to notice and download your app and not enough keeping them. The sad truth is that low retention rates are typical. An average app loses nearly 80 percent of users just three days after they download. This can be improved, though, and here are five ways to make sure your retention rate is much better.

1. Make Onboarding Easy

Once a new user has decided to download your app, you have them hooked. But you have a long ways to go to turn that new user into a regular, long-term user. First impressions are crucial in apps as in life, so put some effort into providing users with a great onboarding experience as they get started.

You need a user onboarding experience that is both useful and easy. If the process is too long, too boring, or too difficult, you’ll lose people right away. A good, simple onboarding should be:

• Personalized, guiding users to the unique value they’ll find in your app
• Value-driven so that users see clearly why they will benefit from the app
• Welcoming
• Informational without being too detailed, with personalized hotspots, for instance
• Simple, and not too long

WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, has a very simple onboarding experience that gets users quickly through the process so they can get started immediately. They make it easy with features like detecting verification codes, so users don’t have to search for it in their messages. These kinds of things keep users engaged and moving along to actually using the app.

2. Create Engaging App Graphics

Don’t let the visual design of your app fall by the wayside during development. We are visual animals, and people want pleasing graphics that are easy to read and understand. Better graphics, those that engage users, are more likely to keep them using the app.

When designing the graphics, start with the overall tone and message of your app. The design should follow it. Consider your target audience and the types of designs that will appeal to them. Then, include practical elements of design, like fonts and colors that are readable.

Take a look at the simple, bright, and appealing graphics on Duolingo, an app for learning foreign languages. The message is clear from the design, and the colors and fonts are easy to follow. They are just begging to be clicked.

3. Improve All-Around Product Experience

Informal studies and surveys of app users prove that product and user experience are essential for retention and engagement. The best product experiences clearly lead to engagement and product adoption, loyalty to a brand, and user retention. To improve product experience for better retention, focus on these important factors:

• Clear and easy guidance, including a simple and value-driven onboarding experience
• Quick guidance to the value of the app for individual users
• Continued guidance to advanced and more useful features that help solve user problems
• Directions, graphics, and explanations that are clear and easy to understand

How do you build a great customer experience and know that it’s impacting retention? Design with the above factors in mind and then collect and analyze data. Without data, you are designing blind. Track things like user activity, how and when they found new features, where users stop using your app, and how long it takes for users to find the value in your product. Feedback is another great way to improve product experience over time. Survey users, both regular and lapsed, to find out what they like and don’t like.

4. Create an Incentive Program

Everyone likes to be rewarded. Enticing users to come back again and again by offering rewards is a great way to improve retention. Also known as customer loyalty programs, these provide some tangible reward for using a product or app. An online survey found that more than half of people who shop online would go back to spend at a site that offered incentives. People are driven by rewards.

An entry incentive is simple and easy to do, and can also be effective. McDonald’s is a great example of this. The fast-food chain offered a free sandwich for downloading their app, and as a result, they gained 7 million downloads.

Of course, user retention is a little more involved. To keep all those new users requires a more long-term incentive program. Try creating a loyalty reward system and consider gamification, a popular way to keep users engaged. In this system, a user earns points or badges for hitting certain milestones, using functions, or for time spent in the app. They can cash in those points for rewards. The gamification is a psychological push that keeps people coming back to play.

5. Give Users a Push with Push Notifications

Sometimes a little reminder is all someone needs to remember why they downloaded an app in the first place. Instead of going after new users, push your current ones. Those who already downloaded your app had a reason to do so; they saw value in your product. Push notifications can be highly effective in keeping these users engaged.

It’s important to do this right, though. Send too many notifications, and users will be irritated with all the popups and interruptions. Here are some guidelines for setting up and implementing app push notifications:

• Make a list of events you hope will draw user engagement. Plan a notification for each one.
• Keep a record of notifications sent and how many are acted upon by users. This will help you determine the right balance between too many and not enough.
• Personalize notifications because regular users you want to retain need different messages than lapsed users you’re trying to get back.
• Make sure the push notifications work with all platforms and carriers, so you don’t miss any users.

Here are several great examples of apps that use personalization to target push notifications to individual users.

An app with lots of downloads but almost no regular users is a failed app. Focus serious attention and resources on user retention for a more successful product.

 

 

Virtual classrooms are popping up all around the internet. With this in mind, it should be no surprise to notice there are numerous companies that now rely on virtual training software to train their employees. Even so, there are still many businessmen that do not understand how advantageous these programs are. This is why you should be aware of the following important advantages of using virtual training software.

Increased Convenience

There are no time or location limitations that appear when you use virtual training software. The learners can so easily absorb new content and will engage with their colleagues whenever they can actually learn in a proper way.

Not every single learner out there is exactly the same. For most people, sitting in a regular classroom is a really bad idea since it does not help them quickly gain the information they need. The virtual training environment allows you to comprehend advanced topics alone. You practically learn on your very own terms and you can use any device to do so. You just need an internet connection.

Flexibility In Schedule

The online learning platform you will use is very easy to access. You just need an online connection. Breaks are allowed at any point in time and you can so easily learn when you know that you are going to be really effective. Employees can learn after work or in the morning, before work. Such flexibility is never possible with the regular, physical classrooms.

High Knowledge Retention

For most people, online instruction allows a highly effective learning experience. This is because of the fact that there are numerous, interactive and short modules that can be used. Short modules are often referred to with the term “microlearning”. Learners will help find exactly what is needed in a really short time frame. Learning is broken up so that everything is memorable and manageable.

You Receive Immediate Feedback

When a virtual classroom is used just for compliance or in order to learn something that would require a knowledge test, the learner receives fast feedback. This is something that is really important. In the traditional classroom, you have to wait for weeks until feedback is received. By the time feedback is received, it will not be strong. When you are in the virtual classroom, the administrator tracks everything that is done. This automatically leads to really great results since feedback is so much faster.

Increased Engagement And Participation

You are naturally tempted to think that in the regular classroom setting you have more opportunities for engagement and participation. However, this is not actually true. You can interact in so many effective ways in the virtual classroom. For instance, you can use social learning, rating and chat features.

As you utilize the interactive comment section and you then share features, learners connect and engage. This is quite effective in a company because of the simple reason that colleagues share only what they actually want to and are comfortable with. This builds up relationships in a much more natural way.

The concern for any Chief Marketing Officer with Social Media advertising is always Return on Investment. You could throw your whole budget at Social Media advertising, and at times you may have, but the ROI can be low, and the results fluctuate massively between different campaigns. That’s why most companies hire a Social Media Advertising Firm to manage their campaigns and provide constant direction on where to get the best ROI.

How to Identify a Good Social Media Advertising Firm

I hate to state the obvious, but you don’t want to hire a Social Media Advertising firm that doesn’t run successful Social Media campaigns for their clients. How will you know if they do? Check out the case studies and client reviews on their own website, and their employee’s connection reviews on LinkedIn.

Another factor is are they part of a larger Digital Marketing Agency. It’s certainly an advantage if they are because a good Social Media Advertising campaign should be coordinated with a wider Digital Marketing strategy. If you’re launching new content, or have just received positive PR coverage, you want your Social Media advertising to feed off and into that. It’s certainly advantageous to outsource all of your Digital Marketing elements to one agency who can coordinate all campaigns, taking advantage of uptakes in one of more of the elements.

A third factor to consider is use of technology, a good Social Media advertising firm will mention the use of their proprietary software to create campaigns based on in-depth analysis. Anyone can pay for off-the-shelf tools but a company that has invested in software themselves to manage Digital Marketing campaigns has a commitment to efficient use of their client’s budget and achieving ongoing results.

Finally, a top Social Media advertising firm will be willing to offer a free trial period so that you can see how effective their management of your Social Media budget it compared to when you managed it yourself. You should see a positive increase in conversion rates along the line, with increased revenue.

Which Social Media Channels Should You Advertise On?

Some Social Media advertising firms may suggest a wide campaign across multiple Social Media platforms, but realistically the best return on investments for consumer advertising are being seen on primarily Facebook and Instagram. A well-managed campaign will see a very positive ROI on both Facebook and Instagram, and any budget trialled on any other consumer Social Media channel will likely be switched to these two later anyway to make the most of their high volume and good ROI. Of course, there’s no issue with trying out other Social Media platforms, particularly if you’re a B2B business, but for consumer products and services its very unlikely you will end up looking further than Facebook and Instagram for your long-term Social Media marketing campaigns.

So a good Social Media advertising firm should have proven results, use their own-developed technology to create your campaigns, be part of a larger Digital Marketing Agency, and offer you a free trial period.