This shortlist came up with the best six applications an active and heavy user of phones a person should install on his or her Android or iOS gadget:

Vender

Vender is the ultimate productivity app for salespeople. It keeps all your key information regarding sales, and log your activity there. It also reminds you of the promises or offers you made to a client and made sure that you will fulfill those. As according to their Facebook account, they aim to improve the productivity of businesses worldwide and reduce stress level caused by work through apps and data.

Expect better and improved specs since it is updated last December 2016 and Agorra Creative Corporation (under Optimind Technology Solutions) is its developer.

WPS Office + PDF

WPS Office + PDF was recognized as the “Best App of 2015”, “Editors’ Choice,” and “Top Developer” by Google Play Awards. This app is a good alternative if you don’t have other office apps and requires premium payment for other features. WPS, as they describe their app, is an all-in-one free office suite app focusing on helping you quick and easy to create, view and edit office documents and homework anytime and anywhere on Android phones and tablets, but also offers various of value-added products to fulfill users’ different and further needs at work. Also, a must-have for the students since you can convert PDFs to a word, convert texts to fine images, scan paper documents to PDF using a camera, and much more.

Kingsoft Office Software Corporation Limited Business is the mastermind of WPS, and the last update was May 2017.

Evernote

Evernote dubs itself as your second brain. It can help you with almost everything. As what they say on their site, it can capture, organize, and share notes from anywhere. Also, your best ideas are always with you and always in sync. With Evernote, you can remember everything, work smarter, and bring it all together. You can take notes and save it in different formats such as text, sketches, photos, audio, PDF, web clippings and much more.

Created and offered by Evernote Corporation and was updated last June 2017.

Scanbot

Another app to help you with your documents and files is Scanbot. According to their account in Google Play, Scanbot is the best document to PDF scanner app and very easy to use. Already 7 million people on Android and iOS use Scanbot to scan their documents, receipts, whiteboards, QR codes or barcodes. What’s fun is that they also implemented a Google Drive Device Synchronization, so you have all your documents on all of your Android devices.

doo GmbH is the developer of Scanbot. They updated the app last May 2017.

Strides

Stride is a flexible app which helps you track anything you want, particularly your daily goals and reminders. It also makes you accountable for the tasks you listed and keeps you motivated. You can do target value by date, average over time and project with milestones.

Goals LLC is its seller and has the app updated last May 2017.

Take time to know more these apps by searching for their respective accounts on your Android or iOS applications market. Most of them give their services for free which you can save a couple of bucks and has premium offers for a little amount. Make your phone extra useful and install these productivity apps as soon as you can!

The post Productivity Apps You Should Have appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Did you know that self-made millionaires spend 5 hours a week on learning? If you want to be included in the list of the who’s who, well, at least in the world of web design, please take heed. Read these articles first.

Web design articles

Where it all started

[1] Internaut day: The world’s first public website went online 25 years ago today

Are you wondering how the first web page looks like? It’s built on HTTP and HTML!

[2] A brief history of web design for designers

Let’s do some digging here. Web design has a dark history, quite literally!

[3] The Evolution of Web Design

Here’s a more visual presentation on how web design progressed through the years.

[4] Web design in 4 minutes

Now let’s get down to business with web design as explained in 4 minutes. 4 MINUTES.

Web design principles

[5] The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think

Not all web designers understand this, but the majority of the users may not be able to understand your design. In the article are the reasons you really need to keep it extremely simple.

[6] 9 basic principles of responsive web design

When it comes to the basics, though, the rule of thumb nowadays is it has to be responsive.

[7] 5 Principles of Persuasive Web Design

It doesn’t need to be just responsive, but it also needs to be persuasive. Otherwise, the design won’t deliver any conversions.

[8] 5 Modern Web Designs That Interfere with Conversions

Done wrong, and web design will actually restrict conversion, defeating its purpose altogether.

[9] 4 Factors Lean Web Design Company Considers Important

Even a web design company, Philippines-based or not, has a list of factors important in lean web design.

Web design and SEO

[10] Understanding the Full Impact of Web Design on SEO, Branding and More

What you need to know is that web design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It also relates to search engine optimization (SEO), among others.

[11] Improve SEO with Inspirational Web Design in 2017

The truth is, you can actually improve SEO using web design principles, and you can improve design through SEO principles. It’ll be a win-win if you do.

[12] 5 Important Considerations for Web Design and SEO

Consider these things!

Web design trends

[13] The hottest trend in Web design is making intentionally ugly, difficult sites

Other than the principles and SEO, you also need to arm yourself with knowledge on design trends. Learn an intriguing yet successful trend about web designing. At times, you really need to learn what challenging the status quo means and how to do that.

[14] Web design trends we can expect to see in 2017

Speaking of trends, some trends don’t feel like trends at all because they stay, and for good reasons. Some trends are recurring, while some others are fleeting. It’s a yearly thing also and every design-related site seems to have its own version of design trends. So expect to see some new trends in 2018 and beyond.

[15] How to Create a Web Design Style Guide

Create consistent designs within the team with style guides. Consider these important points (and do’s and don’ts when crafting a project’s web design style guidelines.

[16] Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design

For more do’s and don’ts, here are some more mistakes you should avoid when designing.

[17] 10 Examples of Pre-Built Websites for Tech Put to Good Work

Design rules, rules and rules; following them makes the life of any web designer easy. The rules for tech are different, and the article outlines such.

[18] Showcase of Creative Designs Made With Vibrant Gradients

Designers love color! Here’s the proof. Now that’s perfect for broadening your RGB spectrum!

Web design inspiration

[19] 17 Sites for Web Design Inspiration

To let the creative juices flowing consistently, you’ll need inspiration from these sites.

[20] 24 Amazing Web Design Blogs You Should Follow This Month!

Learning should be continual. Read the right blogs.

[21] The 30 Best Web Design Blogs of All Time You Must Follow

What? Twenty-four blogs are not enough? Then, let’s make it thirty!

These just some of the articles we’ve found online that are worth your while. Take a moment to visit each website and read what every web designer needs to know. Learn and learn well.

Happy reading!

The post 21 Top Web Design Articles You Should Be Reading Right Now appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Staying productive at work is never an option. It is a must. It’s what keeps us doing tasks at our best by using our time wisely. It’s different from being busy, though they’re more often used interchangeably.

There are so many techniques and strategies that one can learn from various experts in different fields, but the gist of it all is how one can finish something up in a particular span of time. Over the years, technology experts have conducted studies on how to use advanced tools to support employees at work. Thus, the birth of mobile apps and software a lot of us use nowadays to automate our business process.

Despite the varied options we have, there are still a lot of professionals who continually struggle in the tools’ usage. Today, we’ve consolidated the most common functions one can enjoy from these tools (specifically the apps), and how you can make the best out of them.

Collect tasks

Most, if not all, productivity tools work on the assumption that you can’t get started with any job in the absence of a ‘task list.’ This list doesn’t need to be scheduled but covers all the things you expect to accomplish in the next days or weeks.

Decide or suggest the next steps

After you’ve consolidated a particular lineup of things to accomplish, most productivity tools then give suggestions on how to achieve these things or which should come first. Of course, they can vary on the style, and some may even offer options to disable the suggestion feature. Generally, though, it helps users save time in having to deal with

Organize things into categories

How else can tasks be efficiently organized than by arranging them into categories? This is exactly why some productivity tools allow users to create individual folders that represent a particular category and can contain different tasks you have for the whole week.

Generate a doable to-do list

While you can control the things you want to accomplish at a specific timeline, some tools save you the hassle by creating a to-do list out of those things you have listed on the app or software. Unless you explicitly program the tool so that you will have full control over the list, some competent tools are capable of creating to-do lists based on your priorities.

How can professionals maximize the apps’ usage?

First off, you need to understand that not all apps will fit your preference. There are tools which might be equipped with all the functions you need, but don’t have that user-friendly interface you expect.

To experience the change and benefit these tools can give you, it’s best to keep in mind the following:

• Limit your options to two or three. Meaning, choose the best three out of all the potential picks.
• Stick to those with a user-friendly interface. Do away with apps that have complex navigation and functions.
• Explore the features accompanying both the free and premium versions. Some apps may be free but doesn’t give you access to more advanced features unless you pay them. Others allow few premium features to be used even in their free versions. Make sure you have explored your options first before paying for anything.

No one is entirely exempted when it comes to experiencing those random downtime at work, and items like the productivity apps for salespeople are created to help us lighten the burden of ever-growing ‘to-do’ lists.

Identify your needs, be specific in the areas of work you’re having a hard time at and choose the best tools to help you manage your time well!

The post 4 Things Most Productivity Apps Do and How to Make the Best out of them appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

ON FOCUS

“All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling with anything else.” – Plato “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” – Henry Ford “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell

ON GETTING STARTED

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” – Bruce Lee

ON COMMUNICATING IDEAS WITH COLLEAGUES

“It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” – Mark Twain “Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance.” – Robert Quillen

ON STAYING TRUE TO YOUR PASSION

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” – Norman Vincent Peale

ON BEING REALISTIC & PRACTICAL

“Sometimes, things might not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.” – Michael Jordan “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” – John F. Kennedy “Rule no.1: Never lose money. Rule no.2: Never forget rule no.1” – Warren Buffett

They say that experience is the best mode of learning, but there are times when what we need is a reminder more than a new lesson. There hundreds of inspiring quotes you can find online. In fact, there could be books and ebooks that house a compilation of inspirational words from successful people who are known for their undying love for their passion and work. With the emergence of digital tools, it has become easier to acquire information that is difficult to access decades ago. Tools such as those productivity apps for sales people are meant to aid professionals in business to manage their time better and make sure all of their target tasks are tackled. Of course, while reading inspiring quotes and using mobile apps can help, it remains your main decision whether or not to make the decision to enhance your time management or not. Learn to assess the efficiency of your schedule. Are you using your time wisely? Remember that you can no longer pull back the time lost. Stay on your schedule, be inspired but welcome some necessary change!

The post 12 of the Best Productivity Quotes Fit for Your Workplace appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

But if you’re just starting, it might be best to reconsider your plans of going public and focus on polishing the initial steps as well as remembering the crucial matters involved in online marketing. Here are a few of them.

Planning is indispensable

There isn’t any shortcut to online marketing success. Despite all the advanced tools meant to aid digital marketers in making their work easier, there isn’t just a concrete, solid formula that would guarantee long-term success.

This is why careful planning is necessary. For startup and small businesses, this means looking into the specifics of the following:

• Target market
• Budget plan
• Type of social media campaign
• Frequency of online posts
• Quality of marketing copy
• Customer engagement

And so much more. Before one can fully jump-start any campaign, there has to be a solid blueprint that tells the marketers and company owners the step by step way of the implementation. Otherwise, the whole strategy might be rendered ineffective.

Staying realistic is a key

Visualizing the grand dreams we have for our companies is easy, but acting on it is a whole new different story. Aside from it takes time, money, manpower and risk factors are crucial indicators on whether or not you will succeed.

While it’s good to have your eyes on the win, staying realistic is always better. You have to assess whether or not your current budget, timeline, logistics and everything else coincides with each other. If not, you might end up having some huge issues on the way.

Numbers aren’t everything

Ever since social media has dominated the marketing arena, more and more entrepreneurs seemed to be so fixated in gaining a lot of followers and subscribers in their social accounts.

While these numbers are important, it’s not the totality of your campaign. The point of building a strong online presence is to reach out with customers and eventually encourage them to buy your product or service. But other than that, it’s also a matter of building your credibility to ensure that they get back to you after making the purchase.

You can have as many followers online, but if they don’t convert to anything tangible, you can’t fully assess the efficiency of your campaign. More importantly, you can’t get the profit you initially projected.

Don’t hope for instant gratification

Online is faster. This fact alone gives many marketers and small businesses the impression that results are also instant – which of course, is wrong.

As mentioned, there are no shortcuts in digital marketing. It follows a process. Hoping for instant gratification will only lead to disappointment and this defeats the idea of fully building a trusted reputation online.

Instead of only looking at the short-term goals, it might be best to start looking into the long-term ones. If you don’t win by the numbers on your first try, then that’s fine. You’re just starting after all. There is always a room for making your next campaign better.

Social media marketing works wonders

Lastly, social media is no joke. It’s reality. The challenge with small business companies is how to make their services public and get the attention of their market. This issue is primarily addressed by social media and its unique metrics that help entrepreneurs boost their marketing messages.

Unfortunately, not everyone manages to maximize the usage of these platforms and end up being disappointed by the results they get. As you plan your social media strategy, it’s best to consider the appropriate platform where your main market often hangout and boost your content promotion in there.

Competition is tough in any industry, but this should not be a reason for you to shy away from the idea of making your product public. Reassess your initial plan and see if there are areas in need of strengthening.

Also, if you need professional help such as promoting website articles and making it rank higher on search engines, hiring a third party service like an SEO company in the Philippines might be a good call. Just make sure you choose well the people you plan to work with.

The post Online Marketing for Startups and Small Businesses appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Social do’s and don’ts

Do’s

Post often

Although this greatly varies on the social platform, the goal is to be the top-of-mind brand, website or blog through the content you publish. In Facebook, you need to post twice daily on both weekdays and weekends. In Twitter, you need to tweet 14 times on weekdays and 7 times on weekends. In LinkedIn, post at least once per day on weekends, no weekends.

Share own and others’ contents

Strike a balance between publishing original and curated content. Never flood your Timeline or other people’s news feed with purely curated content. Your primary content strategy should be sharing your own content. When sharing other’s content, though, make sure that you read the entire post first to ensure that it is indeed valuable to your readers.

Share various posts

Also, don’t publish the same content and the same type of content over and over. There are many different types of share-worthy social content such as infographics, content with images, and interactive content. If you need to share a particular link within one day, space it out or else, people will think you’re a spammer. You’ll only annoy your audience and alienate them with your purpose.

Share niche-relevant posts

Be wary what you are sharing with your target market. We can only say that it’s a valuable piece of content if your audience will learn something new or find something useful from it. Definitely, this will depend on the goals of your social media marketing. It would be best to define your goals first and make it realistic as possible.

Be grateful

Let your audience know that you are serious about building a lasting relationship with them. Follow back. Comment back. Someone tagged you in a post, comment. Thank anyone who shares your post. Engage your audience through encouraging interactions. You can start conversations with asking questions or opinions. This will not only lead to relationships and goodwill but also gets your brand more exposure without forcing it.

Don’ts

Overshare

Again, learn the basics of posting frequency on each social platform you are at. Don’t share other people’s content too frequently. It will only confuse your audience as to which brand you are promoting – yours or theirs. Don’t publish an update with too many hashtags on it, too. Maintain the right balance and healthy mix of posts.

Share irrelevant information

One tendency is sharing filler content pieces just so you have something to post. No. It would be best to have a social content plan at the start of the month that you can work or build upon. In this way, you won’t struggle on what to post next.

Be inconsistent

Consistency is key when doing social media marketing. Never publish or share too many posts in one week and only a few the following week. This only ruins the expectations of your target audience. Eventually, they will disengage with your business altogether.

Solicit engagement

Never buy followers, likes, and subscriptions. These things offer no real value so it’s just a waste of marketing budget that you should’ve invested on other important things such as creating original posts. Also, numbers of shares, likes, and the likes are just vanity metrics that are punishable by Google once it confirmed that these came from link farms.

Don’t forget these basic rules. A winning social media strategy is all about value, consistency, and balance. If all else fails, let us leave you with a Think Before You Post diagram created by Hootsuite. This flowchat is not the panacea, but a great guide nevertheless when contemplating on what social posts to publish.

The post Do’s and Don’ts of Publishing on Social Media appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

UPDATES

San Miguel had already sold its 700 MHz spectrum to Globe and PLDT

Globe and PLDT started using the spectrum earlier this month

Both are planning to roll out the activation of the 200 cell sites progressively

If there is one thing the Philippines is notoriously known for that would be its slow Internet connection. Foreigners loathe such, having experienced super-fast Internet in their and other countries. It is even dubbed as the worst Internet service in Asia.

Do you ever wonder why the Internet in the country is so slow? We do.

Reasons for slow Internet

Infrastructure

An archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, having fixed networks continues to be a real challenge among service providers – current and would-be entrants. Not to mention, a duopoly exists wherein the available infrastructure is controlled by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. and Globe Telecom Inc.

Internet peering is not possible because of this, which is another factor for the slow broadband services. PLDT charges other providers for traffic riding on its networks.

Yet another issue we can look at is the fact that the Philippines has 15,000 cell sites. Not a lot, especially when compared to our neighboring countries. Indonesia has 76,477; Vietnam has 55,000; Thailand has 52,483 and even Bangladesh has 27,000 cell sites. Thereby, the telcos (telecommunications companies) are working based on what is available to them.

With all these, network modernization will certainly help. Additional cell sites will build more capacity, for example. But, the future might be bleak considering the billions of pesos required to support such an ambitious plan.

Not to mention the red tape involved at the local government units as well as the indignation of the militant groups who often respond through burning cell sites. For a telco to build a cell site, it needs to secure about 25 permits prior to approval. The actual construction of the cell site takes about 8 months, too.

Technology

DSL still proliferates in the country instead of the faster technology FTTH or fiber-to-the-home. In 2015, only 2% of the connections in the country were FTTH and the rest was DSL. Indeed, adoption of other more advanced technologies such as 4G-LTE. The majority of subscriptions are still 2G and 3G.

Cost

Despite being a relatively poor country, the Filipinos need to pay around $60 a month for high-speed broadband services. That’s even higher than what people pay in the US. Thus, Internet service is considered as a luxury by the locals.

For all one knows, only the wealthy and mid to upscale establishments can afford it. It’s one of the slowest services in the world and yet it is also one of the most expensive more than three times the global average. We are actually paying $18.19 per Mbps when the global average is only $5.21!

Anyhow, mobile providers offer free data on a daily basis although the connection is limited to Facebook and other social media sites. But, for sure, this is not enough.

The future President’s mandate

Evidently, the reasons are diverse and they come from all directions. And, the fact that the negotiations between San Miguel Corporation and Telstra had been terminated in March 2015 due to undisclosed reasons. It could have been the only hope for a faster Internet and it’s all gone now.

So, yes, there is hope. The Presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte himself warns the telcos provide better Internet services to the users or they will face foreign competition.

Conceivably, the giant telcos welcomed the challenge, citing that they too have strategic plans on how they themselves can improve their services.

For the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), nevertheless, the government should also do its part. It should support building more fiber optics and base stations. Infrastructure must be prioritized particularly in those areas without any connectivity at all.

Whether we will experience a fast Internet connection in the future is still uncertain. Let’s be hopeful! That’s one thing we can do now. The other? Put pressure on the government to keep its promise of providing us the Internet connectivity we deserve. We’ll see…

The post UPDATED: Why the Internet in the Philippines is So Slow? appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

1) Mobile focus

Image source

Apparently, this year is all about mobile-friendliness. And why not? Google required that all websites must be mobile-friendly by April. Even without mandating it, the number of mobile users is growing by the day. In fact, some people are using a minimum of 2 to 3 mobile devices cause you never know when any of such devices will be handy. Not to mention, what you can do on a laptop computer, you can now do on a mobile device.

So, if your website is not yet mobile-friendly, then you are lagging behind the industry. Did you know that 67% of the consumers would purchase on a mobile-friendly site than on a non-mobile-friendly website? When it comes to mobile usage, there are 90% of people who uses multiple device screens subsequently.

2) Interactive scrolling

We’ve also seen web designs that consider having fun and interdependent features. One of these features that users can’t get enough of is parallax scrolling. It is originally a 2D video game technique that shows the depths of movements of the background images to emphasize the foreground images. Visually appealing as it is, it engages users through the use of layers of images for creating a 3D effect.

Parallax design allows developers to show a particular product or trails of products in 3D, which captures every single detail of the product. It is done meticulously by following a well-thought-out and carefully charted process. With this kind of technique, it automatically catches the eye of a website visitor that will most likely lead them and engage in a call to action on your website.

3) Flat design

Minimalist web design still works in 2015. Flat design, or the interface design without any stylistic elements such as the use of drop shadows, gradients or any other textures, is one of the lingering trends. The design focuses merely on simple elements, typographies, and flat colors, leading to a clean, polished look website that works seamlessly with responsive designs. The best part is it loads faster than websites with 3D effects, and it can be resized easily without compromising its high-definition screens.

On the other hand, a survey of web designers reveals that 68% of them believes that flat design is here to stay so we can expect more of such in the coming year. Only 9% said that flat design is only a fad that will pass anytime soon.

4) Single page

From the name itself, a single page website displays all the elements and contents in just one page. It is composed of a condensed and scannable content with all the necessary information on the same page, which can easily be navigated by the users. We’ve seen several websites embraced such a trend especially those sites that prioritize storytelling through visuals. Some websites use one-pages for product promotions, portfolios, brief announcements, etc. because they do not have much content.

What drives the brands and thus, the web developers to implement a single page website is the short attention span of the users. An adult user has an attention span of 8 seconds, and if you fail to capture his or her attention within that period, that’s an opportunity you lost to your competitor. Concise and objective contents yield better usability by up to 124%.

Evidently, the emphasis of these trends has a clean and straightforward layout that puts high-quality at the core while dismissing unprofessional-looking websites. When we say high-quality, it pertains to a user-friendly experience that the users deserved. Strategically, each web design has its own purpose and function. One might need to use a particular design to fit perfectly to the brand.

The post 4 Web Design Trends of 2015 appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Digital is inescapable; it’s either you jump into the bandwagon or you lag behind the competition. Unfortunately, only a very few of the local brands have a digital presence. If they do, these are purely concentrated on the social media – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. There is nothing completely wrong with this. In fact, it is commendable on a country where the nationals spend more than 53 hours per week socializing on these platforms.

For emphasis, did you know that about 63% of all Filipinos think more positively about a brand with profiles on social networking sites? Filipinos join brand communities for three main purposes namely 1) learning more about a particular brand (92%), 2) getting advance news about the brand and its products or services (88%), and 3) sharing brand appreciation with other people (85%).

Let’s trace experiences in relation to local brands’ effort to implement a digital marketing strategy.

Disclaimer

The following accounts is the first-hand experience of the writer. It doesn’t, in anyhow, attempt to mud-sling any of the mentioned brands; it is not the goal. Rather, the goal is to determine how the local brands, through these examples, are mapping out their digital strategies.

The oh so good experience

Such experience came as a surprise. Presumably, all KFC branches have announcements regarding the survey at the counters. You may not notice the announcements at first although discerning consumers will surely regard them. The uninitiated may only pay attention upon looking at the receipt. Here’s an example:

Hitting two birds with one stone

The KFC survey is very applaudable because of the double win. First, it gets people to share their experiences online 3 days after the purchase in exchange of a free gift. Second, the people can only get their hands on the free gift if they make another purchase and it is only valid for 14 days.

[Based on the receipt, it is valid for 14 days from the date of visit although it didn't include any information whether from the date of the visit on the store or from the date of the visit on the site. There might be a bit of confusion here, and a first concern for me.]

Another concern

Upon presenting the receipt with the validation code, the cashier just looked at it, get the free gift, which is a brownie, by the way, and handed back the receipt and the gift. While a free KFC brownie is always appreciated, there is no sort of validation on the part of KFC.

Anyone may write a five-digit validation code so they can get their hands on the freebie. The cashier didn’t even write the validation code on a logbook the way they would do when a consumer buys with a discount card (i.e. senior citizen’s ID).

What if 20 KFC patrons presented an accomplished receipt? That means 20 brownies less the inventory, and the staff will be questioned for the missing items. No, you cannot just say 20 people walked in and presented their receipts. Where’s the proof? Where’s the documentation? That’s the loophole.

Yet another concern

Another thing, in the Facebook announcement, again, while freebies are always welcome, there is no brownie in the picture. Yes, that’s a minor concern, but this is another loophole – the lack of synergy.

For someone who already saw the survey announcement on Facebook, he or she would know what to expect when he or she goes to the store to redeem the free gift.

There is a complaint on Facebook. Here’s a screenshot.

To be fair, we didn’t experience such a problem when inputting the unique survey ID on the field. It would feel really good if KFC will address the issue immediately.

Side note: KFC is on Facebook since 2010. KFC updates its page at least once every day.

The forg-otto-ble experience

Moving forward, this experience also came as a surprise, but not necessarily in a good way. The order was made on September 20th. Here’s the screenshot.

Because there is no email received from Otto regarding whether the orders are ready for pickup or not, we decided to drop by at the nearest store, the pickup location. It was already September 25th.

Long story short, upon presenting the printed order receipt, the staff got confused. They thought we are just confirming if the items are available so we can make a purchase if these are available. They got more confused and suspicious when we told them that the items are already paid online through their website.

One of the staffs quipped, “Ano’ng website? (What website?)” We did what every good digital native would do – inform them that yes, Otto has a website and you can order items through the site and choose the pickup store option to pick up the purchased items on the chosen branch.

So, the Store Manager, we supposed, called another branch and ask how they should proceed because it was the first time that they’ve encountered a customer who purchased items online. When the Store Manager got back to us, she said that the person she talked to has never encountered an online purchase as well. Uh-oh.

My concern

It’s not the fault of the staff. They shouldn’t be blamed because they shouldn’t be blamed. They are not even aware that their company has a [or had (re)launched its; not sure about this] website.

Don’t get me wrong because the staffs are so accommodating and friendly while on the store and thereafter. The Store Manager sent me an SMS after 3 days that the items are ready for pickup. We had to replace one item and the Store Manager guided us on how to return the item.

For Otto, the only question is if you can invest to rebrand, paying Coco Martin as your endorser, how much would it cost to invest in your people? An email will do, telling your people that ‘Hey, we have a new website. Do check it out!’

Evidently, onboarding is not in Otto’s vocabulary. The staffs at the Antipolo store are so amazing so, don’t make them look stupid (apologies for the lack of a more appropriate term) in the eyes of your customers.

Side note: Otto is on Facebook since 2014. Otto updates its page at least once a day.

The key takeaways

1) Synergy

When tying traditional with digital, make sure that all the aspects are the same. It is part of branding that is ingrained to the very purpose of going online. As such, anything you post on your Facebook page establishes expectations that form the reasons why people choose to buy from you and not from your rivals.

When you deviate from those expectations, it may backfire. And the emotional connection established initially will dwindle. A lack of synergy may not necessarily lead to losing that customer’s loyalty. However, this is a possibility especially with the gradual emotional disconnection.

Keep on forming expectations and deviating from those and you will realize the eventual disconnection and thus the loss of loyalty.

2) Onboarding

In light of digitalization, getting the people on the same page is critical. Organizational members can only be effective when they understand what’s going on particularly on the processes.

Digitalization comes with new roles and responsibilities. Each of your employees needs to learn their new roles to be efficient. Without role clarification, they will feel incapable of performing their new responsibilities.

These are just the author’s experiences and two cents.

Source: ThinkItCreative | GMA Network

The post Jumping Into the Digital Marketing Bandwagon appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Have you ever encounter an eye-catching offer online? Do you believe it? Now, have you been tricked by a tempting offer online? Good for you, if you haven’t encountered these tricky ads online yet. For some, however, these are their worst nightmare. A digital marketing agency Philippines can only inform and remind us users to be careful of these online scammers.

Of course, who would say no to tempting offers that seemed to be created for us? Sometimes, they are hard to resist hence some people grab the chance and avail the offer without any hesitations. Perhaps, these people are carried away by their emotions knowing that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; these offers are rare.

Clever are the scammers, they know how to lure online customers to act on their offers. How can you avoid them? Well, knowing the tactics of these online customers would definitely help. Here are some of these dirty tactics.

They ask for payments (fees) BEFORE disclosing details about the deal

The standard procedure of any transaction – be it online or offline – is showing the customer the product (the offer), deciding whether to purchase it or not, signing a contract and then, paying for the product or service. Documents including receipts are intended for legal purposes since they serve as proofs of the authenticity of the transaction.

Online scammers will usually ask for the payment first before showing you the special offer. Sometimes, they will show you the offer but they will ask you to send the payment first before they will demonstrate the product. They will even offer you some add-ons if you pay now. It is a big no-no to give anyone a payment without understanding the pros and cons of the offer and without knowing what you are actually paying for.

As a paying customer, you need to be very particular when it comes to money matter. After all, this is your hard-earned money that should be spent wisely. You have to think twice and double check the credentials of the company or individual behind the offer so your money will not be wasted.

They ask – almost forcing – you to wire money

Wiring money is the fastest and easiest way of paying for online transactions. You may doubt the process, too, if the merchant is asking you to wire the money from one bank to another especially for overseas transactions. However, it should go through proper channels such as reliable and internationally-recognized payment processors. This is the most legal way of transacting online unlike offline wherein you pay with cash and get a receipt. Online scammers tend to skip these processors.

Online transactions, nevertheless, have receipts too, but you have to make sure to keep the records of it such as in your emails. Proper documentation of the payments made is also possible only if the transaction will go through the proper channels. Print these documents in case you need to dispute the transaction.

They tell you that the product is not available as of the moment

Online scammers will resort to alibis including their supervisors are currently out-of-the-country. Such an excuse will never be reasonable enough for making the customers wait especially after paying for the said product. There should be adequate inventory to match the orders; there should be a steady flow of product supply.

If they don’t have something to present to you, then you have to question their credibility. There are scammers that manufacture a few products, show it to the people and ask for payment before producing the same product they show to the people.

Before making any payment, make sure that the seller has stocks, that the product is ready to be shipped and, ultimately, that the product really exist. Otherwise, you are paying for and waiting for something that you cannot have eventually.

They advertise the same product over again with different names and prices

Usually, there are official ads for an offer. There are times, however, that a manufacturer creates other advertisements for the same product under another name. They do it because their previous customers have already discovered their monkey business.

In some instances, some online merchants are selling older versions of their products and continuously offer the same customer to avail the updated model of the product.

If you’ve noticed that the product is advertised many times under different names and prices, don’t be confused. Leave, chances are, this is a scam.

They don’t have a good company background

As consumers, the SOP should be to checking the background of the company to determine its credibility. It should be complete with credentials so you can identify whether a particular company is a fraud or not.

For one, it should have a website of its own where you can check product details and testimonials, among others. If not a website, it should have a professional-looking page on the preferred social networking site. Anything that signals its willingness to reach out for the potential customers like you.

With that, it is also our responsibility that we should not immediately trust companies that appear to be fraudulent. Trust your guts and values and these will make you avoid problems that might occur later on.

Image credit: PoundstoPocket.co.uk

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