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The Internet is loaded with clutter everywhere you look at it. Whether it is search engines or social media, you can come across dozens of irrelevant articles that overwhelm you daily. As a business, you don’t want your business to face similar challenges. If so, then your business should use Flipboard. Flipboard is a content aggregation, social media, and news app rolled into one app. It lets you curate and aggregate content from a wide variety of sources, allowing you to share it with like-minded people and stay on top of news. From a business perspective, it offers them a great platform to present their content in the form of visually appealing custom magazines. Here is an infographic that shows you how you can use Flipboard for business and grow your brand.

When Jennifer Lawrence made an appearance at the 85th Academy Awards in the year 2013. It made people raise their eyebrows and stay flabbergasted in a state of awe. Not because Jennifer Lawrence steals the show with her looks. But because the dress she was wearing was worth $4 million. The decision of what to wear to the Awards is a tough nut to crack, especially when your reputation is on the line. The same theory applies to founders who are willing to raise startup funds for their company. Break out sweat and reveal your apprehension, and you will fail to get the startup funds required to get the ball rolling. Some people might not consider it fair but when it comes to raising startup funds. A CEO is a person who is accountable for the results. Therefore, it is important to plan out your startup fund before you pitch it to the investors. I served as a board member for a professional digital marketing company. And what I’ve learned is that for a machine to operate smoothly, all the parts need to be in the right place. This means that there is not a single part that is solely responsible for the operation of the machine. The company is the machine and the various departments in an organization constitute the parts of the machine, starting from PR to customer support, and sales rep to top-level executives. If all the departments are properly synced together, the company will surely raise the capital that it needs. So before you stop reading, let me cut the boring analogies and get back to the real stuff. How to protect your business from falling prey to bankruptcy and never get rejected while asking for startup funds!

1. Give Quality Time to Your Relationships

Being environmentally friendly does not have to cost you an arm and a leg, but it can reap many rewards. Building relationships before you take help from an investor is an ideal way to win venture capital without trying hard. When you are up to your neck busy running a startup, it is often difficult to pour some energy into nurturing strong bonds with people. There is so much on your plate, be it managing your team, solving day-to-day issues, and working hard to keep the operations running smoothly, that you often neglect to take out time to talk to people. Imagine this. When two companies are equally competent, what is the one factor that will lead to starting funds? Your relationship with the investor. Yes, it is often difficult for you to chat idly with your investors over a cup of Joe, but it doesn’t take much time to send a handwritten birthday card to them. Even if nothing else works, it is that bond that gets the job done.

2. Scrutinize the Habits and History of the Investor

I still remember my first investment. Before going over to the investor, I did some background checks and came to know that the investor’s son loves dogs. On my way over to the meeting, I picked up a puppy and gifted it to the investor, as a good gesture. There were 5 startups out there and who do you think got the investment? Just like everyone else, investors see the world with a diverse set of eyes. Some like to support high-tech new ventures, while others are more predisposed to gambling on small startups and expecting huge returns. In ‘The Psychology of Investing’. the author, John R. Nofsinger puts it beautifully. The point of investing in a startup has less to do with the technical aspect and more to do with the instincts and trust in the founder. It is good to understand the thinking patterns of the investors and know their past before you pitch them your company.

3. People Prefer People with Similar Nature

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to unearth information about anyone. Just Google and you’ll get all the references and personal information regarding that person. Instead of being egoistic, try to mirror the behaviors and habits of the investors. This will give them a feeling that you’re from the same tribe. Figure out your best strengths and communicate them to the investor. Investors are always looking for startups that present their ideas in the most promising ways. Once your company makes it to the shortlist, it is your job to sell yourself and your brand to the investor. The investor will categorize your idea into a handful of similar ideas. And then it is up to you to outdistance yourself from others.

4. Defy the Categorization

Everyone talks about what is unique in their brand, but people often fail to impress the investors when it comes to selling themselves. Instead, they start blurting and fail to make an impact on the investors. At some level, this is purely an emotional decision. There's no way to know for sure, so they're relying in part on their instinct. The only way you can win over the investors is by understanding and influencing their gut feelings.

5. Work on What You Can Control and Leave the Rest

There are countless things which can go wrong in the startup funds process and trust me, you’ll be hearing a lot of resounding “no’s” before you get a “yes”. You need to understand that you cannot control the decisions of people. If a potential investor has a poor relationship with one of your team members, it will reflect badly on the investment decision and you cannot do anything about it. Another investor may have recently had a bad experience with a company like yours. There's nothing you can do about that. But what you can control is to create a product which is performing well and do an excellent job in winning over the investors.

To Conclude it All

By implementing the above tips you’ll surely be able to close the deal. The next step after raising the money is to hire competent employees who truly support your idea. Now it’s time to grease those elbows and raise some money.

To help you grow your business, we have compiled a list of growth hacking examples which are low-budget yet high-value promotional techniques that have a propensity to bring incredible growth. Taking your business to unprecedented heights is the goal of every Entrepreneur. Yet at times, it is hard to come up with ideas which can take our business to where we want to see it. Are you stuck in a rut and don’t have a clue how to grow your business? Take a break from the daily drudgery of life and garner a sip of inspiration from these already successful brands. Each business is unique. These growth hacking techniques can unleash your creativity and expand your business to help you earn more revenue. Without further ado, let us start with the proven growth hacking examples which you can steal for your business without letting anyone learn the secret of your overnight success.

1. Groupon – Social Sharing with a Twist

While, indubitably, social sharing and refer-it-to-a-friend techniques worked wonders for a host of influential businesses. Groupon incorporated its own little twist in social sharing which helped them grow exponentially without splurging a fortune on marketing. The principle was to share a deal to unlock a deal. If you want to avail yourself of a deal, you must share it on social media to unlock it. Unless you let others hear about the deal in time, nobody will be able to avail themselves of it since all offers come with an expiration date. This is the best use of FOMO & creating a sense of urgency in marketing. For you to get the deal, you must share the deal, and in turn, Groupon gets new users from your sharing. A win-win situation. Sweet, isn’t it?

2. Go Freemium the WordPress Way

If you have a product that offers immense value to your customers. You can utilize all its wonderful features to your advantage. When people get a taste of something beneficial, they don’t mind paying extra for some additional features. A freemium product is something which worked great for WordPress and attracted a lot of attention by compelling users to pay for some additional premium features of the product. WPForms was a robust product that offered enough features to get people hooked on the free version of the product. It is basically a drag-and-drop feature which can help users build better contact us forms. Although the feature is free for users to try, if you want more features, you must upgrade and pay a fee for certain useful integrations.

3. Create a Free Tool Like CoSchedule

Do you aspire to a growth hacking technique which can help people recognize your brand? Create an insanely useful tool for your users. The idea was simple yet downright brilliant. To use the headline analyzer, you must subscribe to their email list. Once people subscribe to the email list, CoSchedule can wow their subscribers with their paid products and give them a chance to try them out. If you’re a startup who is looking forward to creating a website, try out this free website cost calculator tool by Branex and know how much a website will cost for your product. Do check out this list of free online tools which you can use to grow your business.

4. Start an Invite-only Gmail

The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a powerful marketing technique, and for a product that people want, this can generate a lot of sales. When Gmail was launched, there were other email providers offering features along the same lines. To gain an edge over competitors, Gmail came up with an invite-only growth hacking system, and luckily, the strategy worked. A word of caution, though. Google failed miserably in an attempt to reuse this growth hacking strategy with Buzz Wave and even Google. One size doesn’t fit all! There is a reason behind this. This growth hacking technique works best with open tools and communities. With Gmail, you can still email people using other email services besides Gmail, so the exclusive invites worked well. But when it comes to social networks like Buzz or G+, the platform is unusable if you’re the only one using it.

5. Create a Smart Signature Just Like Hotmail

From zero to 12 million users in a span of 18 months. Yes, no kidding. An engineer at Hotmail suggested this growth hacking strategy, and it did wonders for Hotmail. A signature was appended with every outgoing message, inviting the recipients to sign up for a free email account. Therefore, it is not prudent to ignore the power of email signatures as they can add a great deal of value when catching new users.

6. LinkedIn Started with Just One Niche

When Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn, the aim was to connect professionals in the tech industry. Once the initial idea kicked off, LinkedIn focused on other industries and niches and gained global coverage in a fleeting period of time. LinkedIn changed the way we interact with our colleagues and the way we can get referrals and recommendations from them in a pain-free manner. Furthermore, LinkedIn paid attention to their target audience and optimized their home page which drove more growth than email invitations. Lastly, LinkedIn encouraged users to opt in for InMail to get advanced search features and more accessibility. This is akin to the freemium tactic we already discussed above.

7. Queue Jumper Growth Hack by Monzo

This growth hacking strategy helped Monzo start from scratch and managed to get 250,000 users to sign up within a period of two years. At the time of sign-up, users can see how many people are ahead of them and how many people are in the queue behind them. And the users can jump the queue by inviting more users. Smart right? The same tactic was used by the Robinhood app, which yielded a whopping 1 million signups in just one year.

8. Improve & Gain Points with Proven

This growth hacking tactic was used by Proven which improved their traffic to 43% without producing a single blog post. How did they do it? The company initiated a project, Mission Week, where employees were awarded points for tweaking and promoting existing pieces of content already present on the website. Every employee in the company participated and did their due diligence in social sharing, content optimization, and reaching more people to gain points. In return, search ranking for many pieces of content improved, resulting in an organic traffic boost. That’s it, people. These are the 8 proven growth hacking examples which can help you kick off your startup to unimaginable new heights. Feel free to try some of these & do let us know what you gained with the said strategy.

It is happening. The wheels have been set in motion, the stage has been lit up, and you cannot deny it. Whether you’re the CEO or the co-founder of a company, if you’re not active on social media, you’re losing out on a huge opportunity to connect with customers, pick their brains, walk in their shoes, and follow-up on the performance of the company. All the way since 2010, the percentage of active CEOs on social media has escalated from 36% to around 80%. In a report generated by socializing CEOs, it was concluded that 50 CEOs of the top Fortune 500 companies have an active presence on social media. The USA wins the rat race, touting a whopping 94% active CEOs on social media, with Europe trailing behind at 84%, and Asia falling just behind at around 55%. The top engagement tools on social media are YouTube videos, company websites, and Twitter. Around 76% of women executives are more active on social media than men. But in this era of social media frenzy, even the CEO needs to be active and engaged on all social media platforms. Also Read: Social Media Marketing Ideas

How Can CEOs Use the Power of Social Media to Drive More Customers?

Here are some ways that a CEO can leverage their social media profiles to win more sales and engage more customers.

1. Forget ROI and Remember ROE

While ROI translates into return on investment, ROE comes down to return on time invested. Simply incorporating the title of CEO across your social media channels adds credibility to the profile. You’ll be perceived with high authority which means your ROE will be higher. There is no need to spend hours on social selling; merely spending 15 minutes a day, sharing, posting, and replying to people can help you generate warm business opportunities.

2. Establish the Company Culture

In a study conducted by Weber Shandwick, it was revealed that a social CEO has a 70% positive impact on their employees and customers. Not only does this lead to a jovial working environment, but it also keeps the company culture alive and thriving. This, in turn, makes the CEO appear conspicuous, more alive, and human. A prime example is that of John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile. His Twitter profile is both popular and active. In addition, his witty tweets help him gain followers without even spending a dime on marketing. He listens, communicates first-hand with customers, and solves their problems then and there which makes him more social than any other CEO.

3. It’s About Leading with Example

This goes for all employees who feel that using social media at work does nothing more than while away precious time. Regardless of just sitting in a shoe box all day and shouting out orders. The CEO is responsible for building the reputation of the company. What can be a better way to establish a reputation other than direct interaction with customers? If a CEO can take some time to understand the behavior and pain points of customers and resolve them, why can’t everyone else in the company do it? Regardless of how busy Tony Hsieh is, he manages the Twitter handle of Zappos.com himself. This gives him the authority to make quick decisions which can fuel down angry customers and retain old ones. This also implies that modern-day CEOs need to take social media seriously. McKinsey researchers have estimated that around $1.3 trillion value that is still untapped in social media can be unlocked once companies are able to comprehend how to use social media to drive business and sales. A social CEO can inspire their employees to stay active on social media as well.

4. Grease the Wheels with Sales Opportunities

A great advantage of CEOs conversing directly with customers is that the conversation appears “less-sales”. Even though a CEO won’t be able to converse with prospects in a 280-character limit, your sales team surely can. Your CEO can be a starting point to the conversation by pitching forward a new product and letting the customers know how it can help them in their daily lives. And after the initial connection, you can direct the customer to the sales team. Not to mention, with the CEO in the loop, there is a greater chance that the customer is actually looking forward to buying from you.

5. Make an Appearance Not Just a Statement

Being a socially active CEO means that the CEO is not just the typical authoritative figure that no one wants to see and hear; rather it gives the impression that the CEO cares and is indeed spending a decent amount of time in understanding the customers and helping them out with their needs. While it is good practice to maintain an air of authority. It is also important to be visible to your employees and earn their respect. For instance, in the wake of the crash of an AirAsia flight, CEO Tony Fernandes solicited the help of social media to navigate the waters of crisis management. By taking to Twitter immediately ensuing the aftermath, this is what he had to write, “To all my staff AirAsia all-stars be strong, continue to be the best. Pray hard. Continue to do your best for all our guests. See u all soon." By leveraging the power of social media to open all lines of communication, he offered the support and transparency that his customers and employees sought and turned an extremely damaging situation into a less difficult one.

6. An Extension of Your Personality

If you’re really looking forward to seeking inspiration on social media, subscribe to the Twitter updates of Elon Musk. No kidding. This man is borderline genius. Watch how this man tweets. Elon just nails his epic humor on Twitter. He doesn’t just act as a CEO, he brings out his whole personality on social media just like he does in real life. No hidden skeletons in the closet. As a CEO, what are your company's beliefs? What traits do you hold dear as a leader? And what perception do you want to give to the general masses? These are the questions that should drive your every tweet. When you’re the CEO, you cannot afford public slip-ups. And even if you do fall prey to one, you must pay a heavy price to make amends. Bid adieu to the trepidation of flaunting your passions on Twitter, and your hobbies outside of work. This helps your customers see your human side. And when people see you as a human, they will surely find ways to connect with you and do business with you.

On a Closing Note

Social media is just a platform to help CEOs connect with their customers,  understand their needs, and in turn, enable customers to foster a strong bond with their brand. Just make sure that while on social media, you need to stay conscious of the negative aspects. No matter how bad your day went or how angry the customer is, you need to stay on track and exude patience always.

Many people consider starting a business an unfathomable notion; a stuff of dreams you may say. They all know that they need to start a business, but for some reason, they don’t know how to come up with a smart idea. Well, good news people. In this blog, I will be sharing some life-altering ideas which can help you realize your aspirations. According to Moya K. Mason, 137,000 startups are launched each day, which adds up to 50 million new firms every year. Now, this is a huge number. And since you’re fed-up with the tediousness of your 9-5 job, and the fact of the matter that you’re still reading the blog post, you are looking for a way out. You want to start your own business, but you don’t have the slightest idea where to begin. Let us delve deeper into your deepest fears. An apprehension of failure. A trepidation of losing all your eggs? What if your idea doesn’t click? What if the idea that you have planned doesn’t seduce people into taking action and buying from you? Well, fret not. If you already have a great idea, you can just validate your startup idea without squandering a fortune. Starting a new business is less about making money and more about the mindset that you possess. If you cannot envisage yourself being already successful, you won’t take the necessary steps and the inevitable risks to achieve success. Consider these three examples:

• The boxing legend saw himself victorious even before the actual fight.
• Jim Carry wrote out a check for himself and pictured himself getting paid for it.
• Michael Jordan used to take a perfect shot in his mind every time before scoring it in real life.

Unless you are a genius like Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or are the next Mark Zuckerberg trying to reinvent the wheel, you will have to come up with a stellar idea that can help you set yourself a head and shoulder above the rest. Before you start working on your dream idea, you need to be very clear on “how can your idea help other people?” Is your idea something unheard of in the market, or are you planning to improve upon an already established niche? Here are some strategies which can help you come up with an idea that you can transform into a vision.

Clear Your Mind & Jot it Down

Julia Cameron in her best-selling book "The Artist's Way” talks about the morning pages journal. In the morning, your brain is at its most creative state. At that moment, you need to jot down your ideas. No need to edit those ideas. Just write down everything that comes to your mind. Do three morning-pages each day… Every weekend, take some time to evaluate your ideas. Pick the ones that you feel the most passionate about. Pen down any qualities that will complement those ideas. Also, jot down your weaknesses on one side. But focus mostly on your strengths. Don’t overthink your ideas. Pick a few that you think can turn your life around and go do that. If you have five ideas, go and master the qualities that are required to accomplish those ideas.  If you want to sell a product or your craft, go on and read everything that you can on how to boost your sales, social media marketing, and habits of highly successful Entrepreneurs.

Look For Inspiration

Good ideas can come from anywhere. Neflix.com stemmed from a gentle musing of “Why can’t movies be rented just like your health club, where you will be charged based on your usage of the service?” Now, Netflix is making $1.3 billion in revenue. Kristen Hadeed founded Student Maid service while she was at her friend’s home and her maid was on vacation. Kristen, along with her friend, did all the work & came up with a brilliant business idea. The same goes for Chris Guillebeau. In his book, the “$100 Startup”, Guillebeau talks about how he came up with a business idea when he was busy working with his father on their family farm. If you are waiting for an idea to show up, it won’t. You need to be prepared for the right dose of inspiration. You need to read books, network with people, and sit with friends to find out something that is not right and figure out what you can do about it.

Sell Your Craft

If you are still confused about what you can do, you can start selling your craft and earn with that. You can start a business by selling something you are good at. This can include cooking, baking, designing websites, mobile app development, or even delving into affiliate marketing. For instance, my friend loves to read books. And by love, I mean he eats, drinks, and even dreams books. You can find books in every nook and cranny of his home. So, one day, while we were talking, he came up with this book rental service. He purchased the domain and the very next day he was talking about books, attracting customers, and connecting with fellow readers.

Be a Co-founder

You don’t always need to start your own business. You can leverage your technical expertise to help your friend establish a business. Be the co-founder of a business. You can help your partner achieve his dream. But it is not just about his dream, you need to embrace their dream as your own. Find something from a business that intrigues you. If there isn’t something already, create something new. Being passionate about the business is a must for the brand. People don’t just buy services or products, they buy the dreams of the founders. And if as a founder, you can make that dream truly intriguing, you’ll be able to create a lasting impact.

Stop Reading & Execute

Determining what you want to do is only the first step in the process. Being a startup takes a lot of time and effort. You can ramble all that you want, but if you are not willing to take action & execute fast, you won’t be able to create a sustainable business.

Located in the midst of their old brewery in Amsterdam, Heineken has set up perhaps one of the most famous beer museums in the world. The Heineken experience now become the 17^th most sought-after tourist magnet in Amsterdam, boasting over 400,000 paying guests annually. Unlike conventional marketing or advertising, Heineken lives up to its slogan which is in itself a remarkable strategy to introduce new visitors to their brand.

“Meet the Beer, Share the Magic”

The burgeoning burst of competition, the myriad emerging avenues of communication, the gradual overloading of advertising space, and the ever-increasing demands of customers. How can a business look beyond the horizon to offer what other brands haven’t even conceived of yet?

You can make the mark only if you unravel the mystery behind this “How” that has eluded brands for centuries!

This post is written as an inspiration! An inspiration I took from how Nike enabled users to experience their latest shoes on the product line. I believe the answer to this “How” lies in its amazing example.

Here’s what Nike did…

Nike-enabled test-run sneakers are set within an awe-inspiring video game environment for all its walk-in customers.

The company recently launched one of its hottest brands, the Nike Epic React. For its promotion, Nike created an amazing 16-bit fantasy video game environment that it calls the React Land, which I find reminiscent of Nintendo's Super Mario Bros.

Shoppers can just walk up to the mini React Land center where employees at Nike take a picture of them and transform them into a 16-bit video game character. After that, shoppers tie on the sneakers of their choosing and jog on a treadmill while their video-game avatars sprint through a springy, fluffy fantasy world, bound through deserts and forests, leap dexterously over city tops, and race past the Giant sphinx of Gaza or dancing giant pandas in China. Described as durable, light, soft, and bouncy, pillows, springs, clouds and other fun elements in the game are a metaphorical nod towards the benefits of the react technology.

The game is interactive with vibrant colors and interesting obstacles. Individuals are handed a trigger button which allows them to make jumps to avoid obstacles which makes the experience a whole lot better and further reinforces the bounciness of the shoe.

Sneak a peek at what it feels like to be a part of the React Land.

[embed]https://youtu.be/JJliIaKTtEo[/embed]

But, are brands like Nike and Heineken the only ones investing their time and effort in promoting the concept? Let’s find out who else is making a major impact using the concept of experiential marketing.

Also Read: Devise a Marketing Plan in 6 Easy Steps to Succeed

The Adidas D'Rose Jump Store

Many inspirations are derived from some of the most progressive athletes and if they become the brand ambassador for one of your products, what more could you ask for? Pop-up stores take a positive swerve, but one store that swept the crowd off its feet is located in London. The launch of the D’Rose Jump Store ignited the hearts of over a million fans.

So what did Adidas do which other brands couldn’t think of? Adidas talked the Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose into launching a pop-up store where fans were given a chance to get their hands on a pair of shoes poised 10 feet off the ground. Now, all that the fans needed to do was to make that jump. Fans poured in from all around the country to get their shot at this amazing chance to win an original D’Ross pair.

The Magic Mirror at Macy’s London

Every shopaholic is well aware of Macy’s! Let’s face it, everyone’s been there. In the heart of London city, the amazing Macy’s store is opening new doors for experiential marketing by capitalizing on their ultimate Magic Mirror technology. Haven’t heard of it yet? Don’t fret! Let me help you catch up.

At Macy’s, you don’t just buy clothes off the rack, you actually experience yourself in them in a 21st-century version of dress up, and that too without visiting a changing room, grappling with piles of clothes slung over your arms. You can digitally try anything from their New York collections by simply swiping and making a selection. Check yourself out in the magic mirror from every angle. Finding that shirt too overflowing on your bodice, tap to tone it down a size or two!

Here’s a video illustration of how sharp the supported technology behind the Magic Mirror is.

Also Read: Top 5 Successful Marketing Campaigns for Your Inspiration

Air France In-Flight Entertainment

What makes a flight service stand out above the competition? It’s the number of in-flight services they offer to their customers. And above anything else, what customers want most is entertainment. There is no doubt that long flights can become quite tedious, but with the recently launched Joon airline service of Air France, users are provided with virtual reality headsets inside the plane.

Some are restricting the flight service as solely designed for the Millennials. If you are on a long flight and you have purchased a business class ticket on Joon, you can enjoy some of your favorite TV shows and movies in a virtual reality experience. In fact, just to make things more fun, the airline allows you and the person sitting next to you to share a viewing experience with each other, making the flight more amusing.

Blink Box’s GOT Marketing Stunt

Now, we can’t exactly deem it as an experiential marketing strategy as it felt more like a well-executed PR stunt played out to grab the public’s attention. Somebody on the team of BlinkBox (UK movie and TV streaming service) thought it was a cool idea to drop a king-size dragon skull at the Dorset beach before the launch of Season 3.

Apparently, the season’s opening saw an amazing 632% increase in revenue which marked the date as one of the highest trading days for the company. All thanks to the great skull, BlinkBox made a fortune.

The Coca-Cola Hug Machine Experiment

If you are a cola lover, you should definitely try one at the Coca-Cola hug machine. Where can you find one? At the National University of Singapore maybe. On the 125th anniversary of the Singaporean University, the Coca-Cola Company installed a “hug me” vending machine within the University premises. Here, students were encouraged to hug the machine in return for an ice-cold and rejuvenating bottle.

It was a pleasant experience as most students were overwhelmed with joy when they got the chance to embrace the machine and have it reciprocated the gesture with a free Cola. Now, one can find a similar machine installed at Queen's University as well. Besides, there are other mystery machines placed at different locations. Are you interested in giving a warm fuzzy hug to this machine? It’s time you show some love and get yourself a free coke.

Bombay Sapphire Immersive Dine-In Train Journey

Last year, the famous Gin brand Bombay Sapphire launched an immersive fine dining experience for individuals on a stationary train in East London. For a reasonable £30, the train was explicitly and rather exorbitantly designed to take individuals on a sumptuous journey of gin discovery. The event was held for only a week, with the chef star Tom Seller preparing gourmet cuisines for everyone.

Although the chic dinner campaign lasted for a limited time, it created a lot of hype among beer aficionados. The exclusive nature of the event, the breathtaking and opulent ambiance, and the great-tasting cuisines created an everlasting appeal. As a result, Bombay Sapphire nurtured an interminable list of valuable connections and enabled the company to make headlines in celebrated London-based publications.

Hello Sunny Guerilla Marketing

If you have ever visited London, you may realize that it is replete with tourist spots one can visit. However Love Creative, in collaboration with MDS Ideas, initiated a perky and joy-filled campaign with their jovial costume-clad staff encouraging people to visit Fort Lauderdale to glean a unique hospitality experience. They called it the “Hello Sunny” campaign.

As the campaign gained ground across social media platforms, it instilled passers-by and commuters with joy during the bleakest and most depressing times of the year. The enthusiastic ambassadors of the campaign distributed flyers, leaflets, and brochures at some of the busiest locations across Liverpool Street Station, Southbank, and One New Change shopping center, inspiring onlookers to participate in a competition to win a free holiday. If you're feeling inspired and want to create your flyers, check out this easy-to-use flyer maker to get started!

Why Should Businesses Invest in Experiential Marketing?

Experiential marketing is all about engaging your customers & prospects at an emotional level. Instead of reading through a dull and drawn-out brand marketing pitch, watching a commercial, or experiencing an ad multiple times over, experiential marketing is more predisposed toward the ideology of touch, sense, and feel. It gives your customers an unprecedented opportunity to interact with your brand on a personal level.

The end goal of an experiential marketing strategy is to create an emotional connection between buyers and sellers to cultivate long-term customer loyalty. By brewing up a positive bond between the two, a company seeks to reach out to people who are loyal to their brand, and it is, after all, the end achievement of experiential marketing, which is one of the most significant

What it Means for Small Businesses

If the above examples are a little too rich for your taste and are making you break out a sweat, remember that fostering an awe-inspiring customer experience doesn’t have to be a bank-breaking one!

Experiential marketing integrates a grassroots movement aimed towards employing avenues such as community networks and social media to reach customers. Small businesses are restricted by limited finances and budgets and are unable to compete with global giants and multimillion-dollar corporations when it comes to mainstream advertising. However, to jump on the bandwagon and revamp the feel of your shopping experience, the key is to put on your thinking cap and explore effective yet cheaper ways of ringing in your customers. It should be out-of-the-box, creative, and proven to be successful.

Certain Public campaigns grant customers the WOW factor that is unable to be garnered by any other traditional mode of advertising, and they don’t even have to be expensive. Since Startups and small-scale businesses seldom have the capital required to invest in high-profile campaigns, creating an experience that impinges on the minds of your consumers for long is better than splurging a fortune on crappy and whine-worthy sales messages. Not only is it cost-effective, but the potential outreach can be amazing.

An example of this sort of experiential marketing is that of Fuller's brewery, which came up with its #EmptyPint campaign, a catchy social media campaign which entailed their witter users to follow the London Pride page and then post a picture of their empty London Pride glass, accompanied by the caption “#EmptyPint”. The users were rewarded with a free refill of London Pride!

This is an excellent example of how small businesses can leverage the power of platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to lay up their online brand exposure. Instead of talking up big words with their clients, Fuller encourages them to engage with the brand, which is mutually rewarding for both.

Another great example is Cabela’s, which specializes in outdoor apparel and gear. In addition to a commendable blend of top-notch products and meticulous customer service, their unique in-store features are what complete the shopping experience for buyers.

Cabela’s stores offer something for the entire family, including bargain caves, gun libraries, boat shops, indoor archery ranges, fudge shops, delis, aquariums, wildlife displays, and mountain replicas, so that it is possible to spend hours inside their store. Although their customers come from a wide array of diverse backgrounds, they all share in their love for outdoor adventures, and that is what Cabela capitalizes on!

What Experiential Marketing Looks Like

The years ahead of us mark the birth of machine learning, AI, and immersive technologies. Brands of today are going to make use of such technologies to create remarkable experiences for users worldwide. Wouldn’t you like a vending machine that understands your needs better before giving you a specific can of free cola? How about a magic mirror that knows what you have already worn previously and helps you pick a better outfit? Because one way or another, it all depends on how you make your customers feel.

The famous Maya Angelou, (poet and philosopher) once said,

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 

“Ok Google, where’s the nearest gas station in my proximity?”, “Siri please play me the Beethoven lullaby”. “Alexa, what’s the best recipe for pain au chocolat? “Google, what is the cheapest flight from Paris to New York?”. Voice searches are quite common nowadays. Almost every other smartphone on the market is equipped with a voice search feature. I was a bit astonished when I learned that the Wall Street Journal has termed the voice search feature as “the next billion.” And in a way, I don’t think they are wrong. Voice search is one of the most natural ways of communicating. Instead of typing out cumbersome search phrases in Google or Safari, one can simply hold a tap button and record their voice before sending it away to the vast pool of the internet. Google revealed that more than 38% of individuals speak their search terms into a smartphone while watching television, whereas more than 23% of individuals use the voice search functionality while cooking to reminisce a certain recipe or to find a substitute for a missing ingredient. As more robust technologies are emerging on the market, such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home, voice recognition is now becoming a more recognizable feature among the wider population. At the heart of this storming wave of technology is a leisure we all love to delve in Vacationing. All that I am sure of is that it is an amiable experience. I really enjoy taking these excursions from time to time with a small group of friends, to take some time off to unwind on a faraway island or a remote hill station. Because let’s face it, we all need some time off from our hectic rat race schedules and visit our favorite travel destinations. Tourists are more prone to searching for tour experiences, hotels, local cuisines, and other travel-related purchases on Google rather than visit the websites of respective vendors. This is why hospitality brands heavily rely on search engines for traffic. This puts the industry at the forefront of voice searches since tourists delving into picturesque scenery or admiring an architectural chronicle are more prone to speaking out their queries rather than bother with the hassle some typing. Traveling is no fun if we don’t have a tour guide. So how about your smartphone device becomes one for you? Sounds like an interesting option, doesn’t it? It is now possible because the voice search has reached the doorsteps of our tourism industry.

Role of Voice Search in the Website World and How It Benefits the Tourism Industry

Bryson Meunier, the infamous columnist, projects his views on voice recognition by stating: “By understanding the nuances of voice search, marketers can do a better job of helping searchers find exactly what they're looking for when they're asking for it by voice.” Indeed, the future is here and with the introduction of software chatbots such as Apple’s Siri, Google Now, Windows Cortana, and Amazon Alexa, people everywhere are getting help without even typing out a single word. With a bit of research, I found out that each chatbot is intelligent in its own way since they are based on highly intuitive algorithms. The learning enables these bots to access necessary information such as geographical location, user preferences, search histories, and more.

Voice Search Boosts Website Traffic

The world is spinning fast, in fact too soon, even to comprehend. People don’t want to type in the whole question on Google search anymore. They prefer to make use of the voice search feature by voicing their queries into their smartphones, rather than going through the hassle of typing it all into their screens. Every other website on the Internet requires keyword optimization to attract traffic. Imagine, if your site is optimized with keywords which are commonly used in regular conversations. Here is a scenario that will ring a bell: you and your spouse are wandering off into the valleys of Venice, the most culturally rich location across the Planet Earth. However, you are not exactly sure where to begin, so you fire up your Google Assistant and start chucking all sorts of vague things that your mind can conjure up its way. For instance, “Where can I check Da Vinci’s famous artwork”, or “Where can I find the San Zacarias & San Giobbe famed Altarpiece”? Now, if you are a website owner, be empathetic. Put yourself into the shoes of your customers and comprehend what sort of keywords they are going to be capitalizing on. If you optimize your website content on the exact keywords based on your tourism location, you will be more apt to create better network traffic across your site. What’s more, is that you can give your website a more personalized appeal by adding a conversational tone to the content. Besides, results show that voice search keyword optimization provides better SERP results.

Make Use of Long-Tail Keywords in Content

Do you know that one thing which is losing its charm in the realm of SEO marketing? It's short-tail keywords. It’s not because they aren’t unique, it’s because they have lost their charisma in ranking. They are either highly competitive or they have to contend with a copious amount of search queries. With the rise of voice search and people searching their queries by asking complete questions in rather informal and conversational intonations, the market of short-tail keywords has been ultimately chucked down the drain unceremoniously. If you have ever had the chance to take a stroll along the Southside beach in Chicago, you will realize that half the youngsters have their hands busy tinkering with the voice search feature by asking a wide array of questions. Most of these questions are rather silly it seems, but they all have a unique element in them. Some are searching for an ice cream shop; others are looking for viable jet-ski spots to hit upon; while some may even be clandestinely looking for the best exotic body massages in the vicinity. These unique elements essentially boil down to long-tail keywords, which could be something that Tony, the skateboard boy, may not be able to identify, but an SEO specialist at a digital tech firm would. They make use of these unique elements by peppering them strategically throughout their websites (mostly on the landing pages) and before you know it, your website is already ranking on those specific keywords.

1. Voice Search Can Be Optimized with FAQ Keywords

All that search you are about to perform on long-tail keywords isn’t going to be limited to voice search alone. If you are under the impression of merely optimizing your landing pages with it, you cannot be more wrong. You can leverage the power of your long-tail keywords in your FAQs as well. As we discussed earlier, most search queries performed using the voice search feature are in the form of complete questions. A way of helping others is to add those exact questions to your FAQ page. With a bit of brainstorming and research, one can quickly identify which long-tail keywords can help customers collect appropriate information. One should also strive to keep the tone of FAQs as natural as possible. Some websites take a different approach by creating a web of interlinked FAQ pages. Each question interlinks with the answer of another to help customers identify what more the business has to offer. It establishes a grid-like structure, assisting customers in navigating and sticking around on the website easily. Isn't that the ultimate goal, irrespective of the industry you belong to?

2. Semantic Search Will Play an Important Role

Google is dependent on a number of factors, in addition to keywords. There are some specifics, such as analyzing the previous search patterns of a user to identify their needs. Using base algorithms to identify what visitors are searching for, Google then recommends to its customers the exact product or service that they are seeking. This capability of search engines is known as semantic search. In other words, there is no harm in claiming that Google is now becoming smart enough to identify what customers are searching for. While tourists who are visiting different parts of the world make use of the voice search feature to find out the local areas and attractions within their vacation destination, Google automatically identifies what places the customer is searching for and then offers its own recommendations and suggestions accordingly. Take an example; if you are in the heart of Los Angeles and you want to watch this really cool movie, “The Quiet Place,” what do you do? You pull out your phone. You reach out and make use of Siri, Cortana, or Google to assist you in finding where it is being aired. It shows you all the relevant cinemas in your vicinity, but that’s not all there is to it. What if the voice search feature helps identify what other amazing movies are being shown across different theatres in the city? Maybe, it can convince you to change your mind and watch another movie altogether.

Ok, Google! We Are Ready to Win in Voice Search Now!

It might sound like a hefty process to go through all the dividends to supervise an effective implementation, but just imagine how beneficial it can be for you when more clients walk in through the doors of your resort. Your returns will maximize manifolds to what you are accustomed to earning, and your business will be well-optimized for the crowds using the voice search feature. More than 60% of individuals using smartphones are well connected to the world, and you may often find one or two using the voice search feature while strolling around in the park or sitting at your favorite spot at the beach. So, I leave the decision entirely in your hands, you take the lead and decide what will work best for you, I will part ways by posing only one question: What if your competitor is already implementing some hardline strategy to work with voice search and you’re not? Think about it.

In the current digital landscape, companies resort to hiring PR managers to manage the reputation of their brands. But sometimes, even these PR managers make mistakes which can be lethal for the brand image. For instance, some Brand managers are too eager to jump into conversations, without weighing their words meticulously. When Prince Rogers Nelson, a famous musician passed away in April of 2008, Cheerios pushed out a tweet just to have something to add to the raging conversations surrounding the demise, which ultimately turned around on them and set the fans on fire. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” ~Warren Buffett Speaking to the press comes with its own vile of poison: they take you up on your words and like vultures, they swoop down and prey upon anything that comes out of your lips and report it. The same goes for PR. A simple “Rest in Peace” would have been construed as an honorary goodbye, had the brand not used the brand stamp in place of the dotted “i”. As soon as the tweet flew out, Prince’s fans went choleric. They started cursing the brand, and rightly so, for leveraging the legend’s death for their marketing gimmicks. Sony Corp. found themselves in hot waters upon the death of Whitney Houston. Just when grief was still fresh and wounds were tender, Sony Corp. thought of playing upon the sentiments of her fans, making some extra cash out of the situation by spiking the price of digital downloads of her music. Fans were peeved by this avaricious deed and started bad-mouthing the brand. As soon as Sony Corp. realized their mistake, they apologized and toned down the prices. Creating brand awareness is a serious business & if brands start messing up their PR, things quickly take a downward spiral. We, being a digital agency understand the importance of fashioning a strong brand presence and sustaining it. Additionally, we are here to help you bounce back from a PR holocaust. Here are four ways to bring your agency back from the dead after an embarrassing slip-up.

Get Your Plans in Order

“Ninety-five percent of all crises I’ve witnessed in my 30-plus year career could have been completely avertable with careful planning,” says Jonathan Bernstein, president of Bernstein Crisis Management. Each PR crisis may come as a surprise, but make sure that your response doesn’t. All successful organizations have a viable crisis management plan in place, lest things go south. If your organization hasn’t assigned a group yet, it’s high time to do so. Here are the three characteristics of a Management Study Guide:

• The Crisis Management Plan should be formulated in the presence of all executives. Every member of the crisis management team should have a say in the plan. Each participant needs to give their valuable two cents and suggestions.
• The Crisis Management Plan should take into consideration all identified problem areas and suggest a possible solution for all of them to help the organization recover from the crisis as soon as possible.
• Make sure that your plans are realistic and solve the purpose of saving the organization’s reputation and name.

Furthermore, the plan should also include the training of all higher executives. The responses need to be approved by the public relations managers and social media executives. Also Read: How To Build a Successful Brand

Sorting the Problem and Prioritizing the Solution

As soon as Sony Corp. realized the blunder they had made, the first thing they did was apologize to their hurt followers. As a brand, you need to speak up and own up to your responses. The social media community is very quick to sniff whiffs of dishonesty from brands. Silently hoping that the social media hawkers will overlook your boo-boos is plain wishful thinking. Only, you need to realize and respond to whatever happened. Be honest. Be transparent. There are too many people watching out, so, if you realize your mistake, start by making amends. Also Read: How To Create a Brand Identity? Step-by-Step Guide The next step is to realize how much the PR crisis at hand can affect the organization’s normal workflow or distract the senior management. Can it smudge the organization’s image irrevocably? Whatever the case may be, you need to sit down with the marketing department and the crisis management section to plan out a solution.  Sometimes you can pass off a blunder with a humorous remark in an attempt to clutch at straws and make people laugh it off. Just like KFC apologized with a full-page ad in today's Metro. A masterclass in PR crisis management!

Be Quick to Respond to the Social

Once you figure out that your followers are eager to see your response, time is of the essence. Here, you can combine humor with an apology and use social media as your ally to quickly take control of the situation. What most organizations fail to do is to make their customer service reps diligently monitor the response of the customers. Your reps can be trained to handle any degree of PR crises and can act like an empowered team to handle the catastrophe on their own, without waiting for a cue from the upper layers of the echelon. “An immediate social media response is the key. In most cases, your goal should be to respond within an hour. If you let too much time pass, a lot of negativity can fill that void.” says Chris Britton, a chief operating officer for RockDove Solutions

Be Transparent and Be Direct

Just as a bad response can ruin your PR image, a well-executed crisis can actually boost your brand image. The best companies can turn their PR crisis around into a grand opportunity. Denying or delaying a response to see how things play their course, only means that you are avoiding a confrontation, which immediately makes you look guilty; something that will make your competitors jump over in glee. The best strategy is to own up to your mistakes, apologize to the affected parties, take steps to demonstrate how you’ll mitigate the damages strive to do better in the future, and move on. “Brands need to accept that they are in a constant dialogue with their market. Campaigns will go wrong. Focus group-tested messages will fall flat. Employees will misbehave. But consumers will accept mistakes when the response feels appropriate.” ~Will McInnes, CMO, Brandwatch Don’t take on a defensive stance. Acting fast as a PR crisis will open up doors for your competitors to vilify you. Instead of running around the bushes, tell your customers that you have made a mistake, just like anyone can, and how you are willing to compensate for it. A public relations disaster can be a problem for you – but you can also bounce back from it with pre-emptive measures. The key is to act quickly and get professionals in your corner as quickly as possible. You can even use influencers to get your message across in no time.

This blog highlights the inspiring journeys of entrepreneurs who transformed small startups into thriving e-commerce businesses. We all start a new one. Remember the day when a child is born. He seems like such a helpless little thing, incapable of surviving the harshness of the world. But with a little external support, love, care, and a will to grow. He not only learns to walk, think, and speak but eventually becomes independent without anyone teaching him. This is how the cycle of life runs on! The same happens with online ventures. Entrepreneurs around the world do have the opportunity to venture out into the field of their interest. However, an increasing number of people are putting their bets on online businesses. It isn’t simply because of its burgeoning popularity. But because the online realm is ripe for the picking, unfolding a world of opportunities that they could cultivate in the future. In the digital lines of businesses, an e-commerce website is a prominent and lucrative choice for business owners to start with. Not only does an e-commerce website liquidate quickly. However, the product range continues to swell with the expansion of the parent brand itself. As the business owner continues to learn new techniques of online marketing and embarks on a never-ending journey of evolution. The brand grows too with a prominent and more loyal customer base. However, not all e-commerce website projects are fortunate enough to sustain through the first year of their birth. Many fail and fall somewhere in the middle and get wiped out, but, the internet is replete with success stories that can boost the morale of a prospective e-commerce website owner and also communicate some business vitals that can be helpful in the future.

$170,000 Sales in 10 Months, How?

Bushwick Kitchen is an online retailer of hot sauces, hailing from Brooklyn New York. They created tantalizing recipes for their piquant range of hot sauces by leveraging simple ingredients found in an everyday kitchen. Their top-selling item is the hot sriracha sauce concocted from an exotic blend of chilies, garlic, and vinegar, kicking up the heat in anything it is added to. However, things weren’t as lucrative for Bushwick at the onset, as they appear now. What they focused on was a 3 step formula that helped them succeed. It was:

• Recognition of a problem with the target audience
• A Competitor analysis
• Formulating a solution that was better than their competitors.

By effectively branding their product “MixedMade”, they managed to bag a whopping sales of $170,000 within the first 10 months of their launch. How did they manage to score growth of almost 2,200% in such a startlingly short time? One bounding reason that pushed the product out in front of a vast audience was the extensive press coverage it received. The co-founders were determined not to leave any stone unturned when it came to achieving their press targets. Two major hurdles to their immediate growth were the lack of supplies and PayPal temporarily suspending their online accounts after witnessing the abnormal payment figures. Not only did the cofounders persevere in the face of adversity, but they also made sure to diversify their payment mechanisms. So that in the event of one authority suspending their payments, their cash flow could follow other channels. Now, this is what you call smart business.

Bridge the Gap and Make a Fortune

"Threadless” is the brainchild of innovative thinking and the adaptive mindset of a new-age entrepreneur, Jake Nickell. It all started when Nickell and his partner Jacob started pushing out T-shirt design contests on a website called Dreamless.org, in an attempt to introduce crowdsourcing to the otherwise humdrum realm of T-shirt design. Aspiring designers would post their designs to the website and visitors were asked to vote on their favorite designs. The best entries from the contest were printed on t-shirts and then sold for profit. Soon after the first batch of t-shirts were printed, they launched their very own venture “Threadless” and independent artists started sending them their original creations, for a hefty commission upon the selection of their designs. The company has been growing at double-digit percentage rates annually and sells millions of tees every year. The reason behind the thriving success of Threadless lies in its community service. The e-commerce store moved miles ahead of the typical brick-and-mortar e-commerce business models and actually made an effort to bridge the gap between customers and the creators. By crafting an opportunity that revolves around a rudimentary customer behavior; a yearning to be different. By staying vigilant about the new trends, the business created a fortune. While concurrently providing a platform for design hobbyists to showcase their creations and receive appreciation in the form of online print orders. By giving a voice to their customers, Threadless made customers feel like an indispensable part of their business by giving them the option to decide what they want the company to manufacture. Not every e-commerce business can manage to do it. Thankfully, the founders have an eye for realizing the gap that exists in the market, and in an attempt to bridge that chasm. They also created an equally rewarding opportunity for designers along the way.

Exploring New Channels to Soar Sales

Say hello to Raw Generation. A pure-organic juice company based in Middletown NJ. The venture is owned by the 30 year old Jessica Geier who is also a certified health coach. While the business had its ups and downs in the beginning, thanks to the proactive approach of the founder, their sales grew to $96,000 from $8,000 in just ONE month. Here’s how? Deal sites are a common online phenomenon now and many entrepreneurial ventures take their help to increase their sales. Raw Generation was no exception. They also solicited help from Lifebooker which is a relatively smaller deal site than its counterparts. The good thing was that the business only had to pay for actual sales to the online seller. Since the entrepreneur was operating on a shoestring budget, she decided to explore one avenue that could increase sales instead of whiling away her meager finances. Deal sites proved a fluke of luck for her. Instead of getting her hands dirty in online paid advertising or social media boosts. She opted for deal sites and focused completely on them, resulting in creating multiple deals in just over 2 weeks. The catch for any budding business owner is the tenacity that Jessica harbored, helping her create deals that translated to a multi-figure increase in sales for her brand.

Conclusion

Things tend to appear easier and simpler from afar, but once you step into the realm of entrepreneurship yourself. Your path is ridden with snakes that threaten to throw you to the bottom. Paying attention to details, and putting together an extensive competitor analysis. And creating a value proposition for the target audience are only a few check pointers that should be achieved before embarking on the strenuous journey of entrepreneurship. Another point that should never be compromised upon is the design of your e-commerce website. Since it’s the first point of contact with your potential customers. It should be appealing and user-friendly to help attract more visitors and keep them riveted. We suggest that you leave the hassle of designing to credible e-commerce website design services in the United States to avoid bounce rates and garner a professional-looking, aesthetically pleasing web presence. A professionally created design that is fine-tuned to minimize flaws only gets better with time. In addition, the business acumen that you strive to develop further translates into the success of your online venture down the lane.

The 2018 Oscars offered important lessons for digital agencies to improve their approaches. The ceremony highlighted the significance of storytelling, showing how engaging stories can foster connections and evoke emotions. The curtains have fallen, and oh boy, The Shape of Water nailed it. 13 nominations plus a deserving win for Best Picture at Oscars 2018. Did you know that The Shape of Water is the first Best Picture winner with a female lead since Million Dollar Baby thirteen years ago? No there was not a mix-up this year. The Shape of Water director, Guillermo Del Toro, even flashed his envelope as proof for the audience. But, hey mistakes happen. Sometimes, you win, other times you learn. As the saying goes, when opportunity knocks on your door, make sure you’re home. There is an unspoken art of accepting an Oscar. You can either accept it with grace and panache, or you can simply mess it up terribly and make a joke out of it. The same thing applies if you’re starting a digital agency. On the surface, it looks like the swan effect. Like a swan is paddling & moving in the water without any effort. But, the real thing goes inside the water. That is where the real battles are raging on. In this blog post, we will highlight 5 timeless lessons that modern-day digital agencies can learn from Oscars 2018.

Lesson 1: Know Your Audience

“If I fall over during my speech, someone should pick me up because I’ve got some things to say.” Frances McDormand said this right after she stepped up on the stage. The next thing she did was unusual. She asked all the females to stand up and embrace the diversity in the industry. The gesture was highly appreciated by everyone. Understanding, realizing, and connecting with your audience is one of the prime responsibilities of any digital agency. What is the point of flushing down your marketing budget without reaching your potential customers?  In an era where customers must come first, you need to know where your audience is hanging out. Use BuzzSumo to figure out what is trending. Incorporate those titles and ideas into your content. Next, with a clear vision, grab the attention of the users who are looking for your products. One way to know who your target audience is to launch a blog. Just be consistent with creating quality content on your blog, and people will flock towards you like a magnet.

Lesson 2: Thank Your Audience, Humbly

“Coco would not exist without your endlessly beautiful culture and traditions." Lee Unkrich, the director, conceded while accepting the best-animated movie award. If you look at the most successful digital design agencies, you’ll know that they don’t just acquire customers, they create a timeless bond with them. Instead of hammering them with countless marketing clichés & promotions, why not start by thanking them for their efforts? If you thank your customers, it can create a bond that can help customers connect with your brand in a more meaningful way. It is your job to appreciate your customers for their time, engagement, and the trust they are putting in you. Try to delight your customers by offering handsome customer service.

Lesson 3: Don’t Make Everything About Yourself

"My fellow nominees, you represent everything good and right and human about this profession, you’re all extraordinary." Allison Janney From Jimmy Kimmel’s shortest speech to Allison Janney's Acceptance Speech, Oscars 2018 was all about giving other people the credit. As a business owner, your job is to make sales and get the word out about your business. In the marketplace, it is less about your potential and more about what unique solution you can provide to your customers.  Sure, customers don’t care about how many sales you nailed last year, or how much traffic your website received, but yes, the customers do care about the story that you’re willing to tell them. A great story helps customers relate to and care about your brand. Find something that you’re good at, and find a problem that customers really care about, find that sweet spot in which both of your values meet. Go do that!

Lesson 4: Don’t Forget to Sell Yourself

“This means so much to me. I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible, I thought it wasn’t going to work, and I thought no one would ever make this movie, but I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, then people would hear it and people would see it.” Jordan Peele got a chance to pour his heart out in front of an audience and he took that chance and turned it into an opportunity to sell himself.

Not an Oscar, but we can develop an award-winning app for your brand.

Whenever a customer visits your website, it is your chance to sell your brand. You can either try to engage that customer or you can let them move on to the next website. Just like everyone else, you can leverage the power of storytelling to double the engagement and compel your users to stay off the website. Use persuasive website designs, stunning real-life images, and emotional content to help customers build a meaningful relationship with your brand.

Lesson 5: Cultivate a Charming Personality

Everybody who appears at the Oscars has a charismatic personality.  No one needs an introduction. But, if you’re a brand that is just testing out the waters, you need to establish a brand personality. It takes extensive hours, and a lot of science to create a lasting impression on your customers. Pick anything. A logo. A website template, or even an award-winning marketing campaign. You need to create something that will be loved, and memorized by your users.

Good Ending

I am a big fan of Hollywood movies. But as a digital strategist, I focus on gathering lessons from movies that are just a form of entertainment for everyone else. With this confession, let us end this blog with a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “In every man, there is something wherein I may learn of him, and in that, I am his pupil.”