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If you follow me on Snapchat (msuster) you might already know that I’ve been looking at and investing in a number of companies in the computer vision space. My thesis is that it will become a major I/O computing metaphor or as this field is sometimes referred to HCI (human-computer interaction).

Today I am so excited to announce our latest investment in the category — Nanit — which is a smart baby monitor. The objective behind Nanit is to help parent “sleep more and monitor less.” By using computer vision Nanit is able to better help parents understand how well a child is sleeping and if they’re having difficulties what the causes may be (sound, ambient light, temperature or even, gasp, too much parental interference).

https://medium.com/media/dbc7801312367bb6b25e224e463629ef/href

It is simply a stunning use of computer vision (features here) to assist parents in better understanding their babies and young children in ways that were never possible before and we believe with the corpus of data available can also help parents understand child development relative to peer groups and even assist doctors in medical diagnosis in the future. More about Nanit later, but let me talk more broadly about our thesis.

Put simply — computers handle computation, storage and databases store & retrieve results and networks handle the movement of this information to different locations but in order for humans to “interact” with this digital world we need an entry point to “input” (i) information and a mechanism to interpret this information or “output” (o).

The major source of input throughout the past 50+ years has been a keyboard and then in the past 25+ years this added a friend called a mouse. The major source of output of course has a computer monitor that fortunately takes a lot less desk real estate than it did when I started at my first job in 1991.

In that same year I read my first technical article about how voice would profoundly change the I/O metaphor of computing arguing that — of course — typing into a computer was both slow and not intuitive and this even many years before the condition of carpel tunnel syndrome became widely known. In the late 90s I began experimenting with voice as an input with a program by Dragon Systems called “NaturallySpeaking” but I was never quite proficient enough to make this work for me.

Of course in recent years voice as I/O is becoming mainstream. I already use voice daily on Siri to send text messages while driving or search for directions and many friends are now raving about Amazon Echo (I think Father’s Day is coming up soon, Tania? Just sayin’ ;) )

Voice is interesting. But I think computer vision will be much more profound as our long-term human-computer interface and I think will dwarf “wearables” in the field people annoyingly call IoT (Internet of Things). Put simply — intelligent cameras tied to computers will be able interpret what is happening in the physical world with much more more insight than a human using his or her eyes and computers using a projector will be able to communicate with us as humans way more effectively than us staring into a computer monitor all day.

To some extent we’ve already started to accept this as a society because the conversation about “autonomous vehicles” has moved mainstream. Most intelligent people accept that computers attached to your car can predict movements that would interfere with your driving (say, a bicycle that is about to zoom in front of you from the right hand side of the vehicle) and respond more quickly and with fewer errors than a human.

Anybody who knows the field already knows that computer vision is already being used with facial recognition in counter-terrorism, crowd control, combating hooliganism and so forth. But computer vision will enhance the daily experiences of our lives and provide us with significantly more data about the world than we have ever had. (I’ll have to wait until July to tell you more about this when we announce our next computer vision investment).

One of the first investments I did in computer vision was Osmo, a product designed to get children off of the couch and to stop starting into an iPad and instead get them using physical objects (and other people!) in a way that would interact with the iPad and thus fulfill their digital curiosity and ambitions. Osmo produces games, drawing tools and educational toys (most recently a game called “Coding” that can teach children as young as four to program using physical tiles to teach logic.) When you watch children interact with physical objects that control the computing environment and watch how it stimulates imagination and engagement the field of computer vision becomes so obvious you begin searching for many more opportunities in the field.

One of the most obvious to me was Nanit, that was brought to our firm by my colleague Jordan Hudson who met them team, fell in love with their founders & technology, and encouraged us to invest. He and I attend board meetings together in this NYC-based (and Israeli) company. It also helped that Jordan was about to have a baby of his own — Slim Shaney- who is now more than a year old (as is our investment).

The founder & CEO — Assaf Glazer — is a Phd in computer vision from Technion in Israel and furthered his work with a postdoctorate from Cornell Tech in New York, where he hatched Nanit. His co-founder and COO, Andy Berman, made the smart move from being a young VC to becoming an entrepreneur. The CTO, Tor Ivry, heads engineering out of Israel.

And for anybody who has seen me publicly encouraging entrepreneurs to hire senior marketing staff early — amongst the gold standards is Lisa Kennedy who joined Nanit as the CRO having previously been a senior executive at Diapers.com.

When I first saw the product and understood the goals of helping parents make better decisions it was obvious to me and I understood that it wasn’t really a baby “monitor.” For example, my first son has a really skinny body type and as a baby struggled to put on weight. I remember how much emotional pressure this put on my wife wondering whether she was doing something wrong or if it was affecting his health. I distinctly remember her waiting with bated breath to visit the pediatrician and find out how his weight was developing relative to his peer group and whether everything was ok.

With Nanit, of course, parents would be able not only to know the baby’s weight and height (using computer vision to measure his or her proportions) but also help the parents understand where these factors fit into a cohort of similarly aged children.

We all know that baby monitors are used by parents to know when one’s child is crying. But what about if a camera could help you record how many times your baby wakes up in the night, how long it takes her to fall back to sleep and how this compares to all babies? What about if you knew that your baby could self sooth herself within 4 minutes and that was — gasp — normal!?!

How many times is your child waking up? Could the amount of time that you spend attending to her needs in the middle of the night actually contribute to how long it’s taking her to fall back to sleep? These things are knowable using computer vision. And of course Nanit is securely encrypted and HIPAA compliant.

Now. Here’s just a little bit more magic that took me much longer to be persuaded on but now I’m absolutely convinced it’s a game changer. When Assaf first showed us Nanit he told us that parents would want to capture private videos of their child in the crib and be able to share those with friends or grandparents.

NFW, I thought. No. Forking. Way.

Boy was I wrong. Nanit has been in field test with dozens of families in NYC in the past year and once you see real data it’s astounding. As a parent you spend waking hours trying to capture a little bit of magic of your baby’s life: a first step, a first spoonful of food, a babble, a word … a smile. But of course you can’t go around with a smart phone strapped to your head and ready to capture every moment.

It turns out that their are constant magic moments of your child’s development that happen at night. He wakes up and starts talking with his teddy bear. He learns that his right hand is connected to the same body and mind as his left hand and that if he uses them as teammates he can pick up objects. And that time that Connor started learning to get a leg over the side of the crib (and weeks later led to a broken leg … true story).

Using computer vision Nanit is able to monitor when the baby is asleep and when he’s awake and in the awake hours Nanit is able to create private video moments for you the phone that you can scroll through, smile, enjoy, save and share.

As a father this is also pure magic. I remember business trips when my boys were young and how much I missed them. For non parents I would describe this as the same gut wrenching feeling of teenage love and missing your boyfriend or girlfriend. It’s an unknowable human feeling unless you’ve been there. I remember being in China for 2 weeks and having my wife put an iPad at the kids breakfast table so I could “Facetime be there” in the morning and tell jokes and laugh. “Yes! Daddy really did see a guy eat a scorpion on a stick! Yuuuuck! I know! No you’re a poopy diaper head!”

Now imagine being able to see the highlight reel of the best moments from last night of your daughter’s sleep. Her first worlds and babbling and trying to let the ducky talk to ladybug. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen video footage and known just how active babies and toddlers can be in their moments between sleep. And watching how much parents appreciated this video capture knowing how hard it is in the bleary-eyed daytime hours to capture great videos between changing poopy diapers, breast feeding, calming down the screeching, etc.

And.

We believe that Nanit can eventually be used to help predict patterns in childhood development when things may be getting off course. The team has no ambition of playing doctor, but if data could assist a pediatrician in understanding a child’s development, sleeping patterns, weight changes, mood shifts or even inability to communicate emotionally … imagine what a game changer that could be.

Computer vision …

As input in can capture the world around us and store data that can help us better manage our well-being, our health and our precious moments. It can help guide us as parents to sleep more and monitor less (she’s going to be alright!) and can get our children off the couch and using physical toys again.

As output in can play back moments captured from life that be an early warning of danger (Connor!) or as a memory capture that enhances our own sense of connectedness in a world whose pressures often separate more than we may like.

I hope you’ll check out Nanit — it just went on pre-order and will be shipping very soon.

Their whole team has been such a pleasure to work with and their innovations and future plans are so inspiring (and focused on societal improvements in health and well being) — I can’t wait to see what they produce in the years ahead.

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Why Computer Vision Has Become a Major Investment Theme for Me was originally published in Both Sides of the Table on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

 

Read the responses to this story on Medium.

During my daily (ermmm…hourly) scrolls through my Instagram feed there are more motivational quotes popping up than I can count. My favourite ones are usually a blend of a coffee reference, a ‘you can do it!’ boost and a reminder that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I like those ones.

They work for me.

They’re at once motivational, inspirational and safe.

That word – safe – is important. Because frankly, there are some pieces of advice floating around via Instaquote that are dangerous in their simplicity.

Granted, those lil graphics demand brevity, and who on earth knows what the original context was when the All-Star businessperson said it the first time. But still – for the legions of IGers who are double-clicking or screen-capping those knowledge bombs, following them could turn out to be a disaster.

Sales Cures All

A few weeks ago this piece of advice from Mark Cuban was making the rounds. It swam through my feed a few times a day, and each time it did I grew more and more uncomfortable with it.

Yes. You need sales in order to be a business. A venture without customer or clients is just a hobby. But if you’re struggling, bringing scoring a heap of new sales isn’t necessarily going to help you. It could actually make things worse.

Quality, Not Quantity

Bringing a struggling business back from the brink, or busting through a plateau requires high quality sales. Sales that add to your profits, can be fulfilled without an operational breakdown, and support your positioning in the market. Here are 3 key elements to watch out for before going full steam ahead with a Sales Cures All approach.

1) Price for profit

In order for a sale to be worthwhile, it has to at least cover the costs of producing and delivering the product or service. That’s the bare minimum. And let’s be honest – you’re pouring way too much time, effort, resources and love into your business to juuuust be scraping by at break-even.

Before making a push to bring in more customers:

• Know your expenses and your breakeven point. How much does it cost to create and deliver your product or service from start to finish. Know this number. Love this number. This is the price you absolutely must sell at, otherwise you’re losing money with each and every sale you make.
• Put profit into the mix. Increasing your sale price to include profit is all about building your business’ savings account. It’s the money you’ll be able to invest in that new website, upgrading your CRM or hiring out fabulous social media support. It’s also your wiggle room when it comes time to negotiate. Start with an extra 10%, and work your way up from there.

2) Smart scaling

Especially if you’re a service provider, there’s a limit to how many sales you can make before things just go bananas and you run out of hours and energy. If you’ve been burning the candle at both ends and still aren’t seeing the results you need, adding a handful of new clients isn’t going to help matters. The financial upside may be tempting, but you’ll be headed straight for burnout.

Same goes for makers, artisans and producers. How many units can you manufacture each month without quality standards slipping? How many sales can go through your shipping process before there’s a fatal backlog? How much inventory can you reasonably invest in to accommodate a surge in demand?

Before driving hard for more sales:

• Review your operations. Look for bottlenecks and spots in the process where there’s wasted time or resources. Fix those before stirring up a boatload of new sales.
• Look for leverage. How can you turn an existing service into a leveraged product? If you spend a lot of your 1-on-1 client time answering the same sort of questions, can you turn that expert advice into an audio + workbook digital solution that’ll give them the benefit of working with you, without taking the time from your schedule?

3) Think ahead

With elements 1 and 2 we’ve ensured that the sales you’re making are worth making – both financially and operationally. But there’s also the tricky business of how you’re making these extra sales. I’ve seen businesses (both online and offline) do a tremendous volume of sales by slapping on discount after discount. Even if they’re still managing to bring in some profit (doubtful…) the message they’re sending to their market is a doozy. It devalues the brand, makes them look desperate, and if hard to come back from when they want to return to normal pricing models again.

Here’s what to do before hanging out the sale sign:

• Discount sparingly. Shaving off a few percentage points here and there is a slippery slope. Competing on price really is a race to the bottom – and there’s no profit down there. Focus on offering bonuses and bundles that maintain your financial reward, while still giving your clients and customers a deal they can’t pass up.
• Maintain positioning. If you’re branded and positioned yourself as a premium product or service, then having fewer sales may actually work in your favour. The Birkin bag is iconic and coveted precisely because the market isn’t flooded with them. If you could just pop down to the mall and pick one up, the prestige would be gone. Same goes for your product or service.

If you business results are falling short of where you need them to be, the solution may not be making MORE sales. You may need to make BETTER sales.

Did you ever deliver a great sales pitch or demo in a first sales call that you felt really won over the Prospect only to find out later that they are no longer interested?  I know the answer is of course, yes.

In many cases it’s because the Prospect wasn’t really a qualified Buyer or their need did not match your offering.  However, what if the Prospect was a qualified Buyer and the product did fit?   You did your job.  You followed your training and delivered a great sales pitch and/or demo and asked effective qualification questions in your first sales call with a Prospect.  What more could you have done?  

I believe we can evolve our sales communication in a first sales call to demonstrate increased empathy and more effective two-way communication to form a stronger connection with a Prospect.  We can make stronger connections by sharing information through micro stories and quick demo examples that are of the most relevance to a Prospect.  Our communication should resemble a conversation, not a speech or stage performance.  Science supports this communication approach.

When a Prospect comprehends and is engaged with the Seller the two brains actually begin to mirror each other, they don’t just align.  It has been proven that if a communicator engages a listener in an interactive way and shares an engaging story a process called Neural Coupling occurs and more areas of our brain are activated.  

According to neuroscientists Greg J. Stephens, Lauren J. Silbert and Uri Hasson only when a listener comprehends and “participates” in a story without their mind wandering, will neural coupling occur between the speaker and listener where both parties brains mirror each other.  The effect is broken when a listener’s mind wanders. i.e.  “…interacting individuals are dynamically coupled rather than simply aligned.”  

The following additional scientists state “A story activates parts in the brain that allow the listener to turn the story into their own ideas and experience, thanks to a process called neural coupling”. Gregoriou, G.G., Gotts, S.J., Zhou, H. & Desimone, R. (2009b)

Neuroscience teaches us that Sellers can establish and hold attention to form deeper connections by leading an empathetic and interactive two way discussion that has the utmost relevancy to the Prospect.  

It’s also common sense that Prospects are people and people do not like to be talked at, they prefer to have a voice.  People also get bored if they aren’t engaged in a conversation or if it lacks relevancy, minds wander and all is lost!

Below you will find eight recommendations for making stronger connections in first sales meetings to increase your success rate:

1. First, be aware that a successful first meeting for your Prospect is when they are able to assess:

Functionality: What does your offering do? What can it accomplish for them?

Value: How is your offering going to add incremental value within their specific organizations?  What is the perceived general financial return and how long will it take?

Differentiation: How does your offering differ from your competitors and why should they buy it versus other choices?

Cost: General pricing information to determine if it is worth investing additional time exploring your offering based on their available or potential financial resources / budget.

Risk: How credible and reliable are the Seller and the Company now and after the sale throughout the term of the contract?  Are any other Companies or Prospects within my vertical industry I respect who are using the product?

2. Invest the time it takes to become highly proficient at communicating through exciting short stories on how your offering came about, how your offering / company is different and better than competitors, how your offering is delivering high value for comparable Prospects and how well your company is supporting clients.

 

3. Before an initial sales meeting understand the role / persona of the Prospect, take the time to visit their web site, understand the business they are in and try to locate online any current trends or news about their company you can converse about if it is relevant to your solution.

 

4. Once you have researched your Prospect custom tailor your conversation and/or product demonstration to make it as relevant as possible for the Prospect.

 

5. When in the first sales meeting, lead an interactive two way conversation.  Listen and identify what the Prospect most wants to know.  Then answer the questions succinctly but by telling brief stories instead of delivering a one way general sales pitch.  Communicate passion and excitement as you answer their questions with your short stories.

 

6. Instead of pitching features, show the Prospect examples of use cases that are likely to be relevant for their business and then ask them if they are relevant or if they have any other concepts for how your offering might be used in their business.

 

7. Ask qualification questions to increase your knowledge of how well your solution fits for the Prospect and your company.  If there are any open questions find out the specific requirements and validate inside your company that it still makes sense to proceed.

 

8. If qualified, close and obtain agreement on next steps that satisfy your Prospect’s needs as well as your needs.

The post Evolve from “Pitching” Prospects to Making a Strong Connection appeared first on Sales Hacker.

B2B marketers are charged with creating massive amounts of content, primarily to fuel inbound marketing, social media, lead nurturing, and pipeline acceleration. It’s probably no surprise that 76 percent say they are creating more content than they were a year ago. But even the most stellar content will fall short of your goals for it if you’re not promoting it well – in the right places, at the right time.

It’s also probably no surprise that a huge majority of marketers (about 94 percent) are using LinkedIn for content marketing and promotion … but not all of them are doing it effectively.

Content marketing superstars such as Jay Baer, Joe Pulizzi, and Lee Odden all leveraged LinkedIn to build their multimillion-dollar companies. So: how can you harness the power of LinkedIn as a potent, efficient strategy to reach your company’s goals?

Master LinkedIn Pulse: 7 Tips for Success

Publishing on LinkedIn’s platform started out as an exclusive, invitation-only club reserved for a handful of influencers. But a couple of years ago, this changed, as the site opened up the Pulse platform to everyone.

Some marketers have gotten fabulous results; others have dabbled with this tool with very few results. So what’s missing? Here are a few tactics to supercharge your efforts:

1. Write longer posts. Remember the days of 300-word blog posts? These days, the most-read/linked/shared blog posts have an optimal length of 1,600 words, but your LinkedIn posts need to be even longer. Posts that receive the greatest number of views, likes, comments, and shares through LinkedIn have on average 2,000–2,500 words.
2. Write a stronger headline. Most B2B marketers know that headlines make or break the performance of content. Pay attention to the impact of the headline but also to the length. The optimal length for LinkedIn post headlines is 80–120 characters. Test your headlines on CoSchedule or the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer. Both are free.
3. Select a structure for greater impact. And of top performing long-form content across the LinkedIn Pulse network found that the highest performing content contained the words: Who, What, When, Where and How in the titles. The list format also captures excellent results. In the analysis, 20 percent of the best performing content were list style articles. Industry trends also perform well, with six out of every 10 LinkedIn users reporting interest in industry insights.
4. Make content easy to skim. The majority of readers skim content, so focus on making your content easy to read with bulleted lists and short paragraphs (especially since LinkedIn posts are longer than traditional posts). Use subheads that set the correct expectations for the paragraphs that follow them. Just as with headlines, short and clear trumps long or clever.
5. Use visuals to boost engagement. How many visuals should your LinkedIn post contain? According to Paul Shapiro, writing on OkDork, eight. He says this number of images captures the greatest number of shares, likes, and views on LinkedIn. Geoff Livingston of Tenacity5 Media recommends a new image every three to five paragraphs. (If you like photography, do check out the way he uses images on his blog.)
6. Republish your existing posts. Marketers worry about duplicate content – and rightfully so. Some marketers report there aren’t consequences for using your corporate blog content on LinkedIn Pulse (read a discussion on Search Engine Journal), but only Google knows for sure, and Google isn’t telling. You could do this as a calculated risk. One strategy, since LinkedIn posts are generally longer than traditional blog posts, is to repurpose and expand your original posts.
7. Pay attention to timing. LinkedIn reports that their highest traffic occurs morning and midday, Monday through Friday. Test different times during these hours to determine the sweet spot for your target audience.

Promote Your Content: 3 Simple and Effective Strategies

Once you write a new post, whether it’s created for LinkedIn Pulse or elsewhere, use LinkedIn as a promotional tool. Here are a few strategies for reaching your target audience more effectively:

1. Personal profile (update it!). On your home page, you can “share an update.” This is a great place to promote your content. You can also join industry-related groups, which are highly targeted places to share your content. More on this a little later.
2. Leverage your business page with sponsored updates. Unlike your personal page, on a business LinkedIn page, you can post sponsored updates. These sponsored updates allow you greater reach when promoting your content. You can also target premium and highly segmented professionals.

The Science Behind LinkedIn Sponsored Updates from LinkedIn

3. Post to LinkedIn Groups. After you’ve joined some highly targeted groups, these are great places to share your content. But with two caveats:

• The group must allow such postings.
• The content must be genuinely helpful from the reader’s point of view, and can’t ooze self-promotion.

Try this: Post a question that relates to a pain point of your target audience. Get the conversation started, then somewhere in your comments share your content link as a resource.

How Big Brands Are Using LinkedIn for Content Marketing

Not sure where to get started? Here are a few examples of large brands using LinkedIn to drive engagement and build stronger connections with their target audiences.

TEKsystems: Driving engagement

TEKsystems is a provider of staffing solutions. The company actively uses the Pulse platform to publish articles focused on its audience’s pain points, such as “Become the Employer of Choice for IT Professionals.”

The TEKsystems strategy is to first post the content to LinkedIn Pulse and then actively respond to every comment written. Contributors who write the company’s content also actively respond via their own LinkedIn accounts in order to engage readers.

GE: Connecting with target audiences

If you view GE’s company page, you’ll find it full of graphics, inspiring quotes, interesting studies, and engaging questions. The company also frequently posts updates on what it’s doing in the industry.

For example, GE recently shared “What if we could explore Mars as holograms? Innovative tech is expanding our scope of vision to the far reaches of our solar system.”

That simple question received 464 likes and 46 comments. The audience was engaged.

Microsoft: Leveraging “Showcase Pages”

Finally, there is Microsoft, with close to 3 million followers. Not surprisingly, founder Bill Gates was one of the first influencers hand-picked to share insights with LinkedIn followers through the Pulse platform. He’s a self-described “active blogger,” writing articles such as “Opening Minds on Ed Tech,” which received over 18,589 views, 4,901 likes, and 224 comments within three weeks after its publication. His first-ever post on LinkedIn, “Three Things I’ve Learned From Warren Buffett” ran on June 12, 2013, and has garnered almost 2 million views and 4,000 comments (as of May 2016).

Microsoft also created Showcase Pages, which are subpages of the main company profile. These pages help establish niche communities and conversations about various products; they’re perfect for content marketing.

A Few Last Words

Many marketers are forgetting something very important when publishing content through LinkedIn – the call to action. In fact, updates with links get double the engagement than those without. It doesn’t have to be a hard sell or promotion of products (in fact, in most cases it shouldn’t be). But your audience needs to know where to learn more about what you do.

And finally, post regularly. Companies that post 20 times per month through LinkedIn reach 60 percent more followers through at least one update. So integrate LinkedIn into your content marketing strategy, stick with it, and work it regularly – and you should achieve exceptional results.

Are you using LinkedIn as part of your marketing strategy? If so, please share what’s working and what isn’t.

Photo Credit: Pulse – LinkedIn

LinkedIn has evolved into a powerful lead generation tool for many businesses. Its features, like Publisher and Groups, lend themselves well to connecting businesses with prospects. With so many great features, it can be quite challenging to figure out how to use the ones that best fit your needs. Download Act-On’s eBook, 10 Things B2B Companies Should Be Doing on LinkedIn, to get tips on tricks that will help you navigate your way through LinkedIn.

The future of sales development is bright, and Sr. Director at Birst Chris Pham is joining us on the SalesLoft blog for the final installment of a series on trends in the industry. Today he’s sharing his 7 predictions for the future of sales development.

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Prediction #1: Account-Based Sales Development will eat into Account-Based Marketing.

As ABSD and ABM mature, they will grow closer to each other. Content producers and sales development representatives are already working hand in hand to mold messaging for specific accounts.

It’s not implausible that in the near future, SDRs will produce content (blog posts, landing pages, social media), assets (infographics, whitepapers, direct mailers) and events (guerilla marketing, field events, roadshows) for specific accounts on their own.

Enabled by rigorous training, a depth of knowledge and next-generation tools, SDRs will become a channel for valuable content all their own. The further this goes, the closer SDRs will get to becoming Account-Based Marketers.

Prediction #2: Sales development work will move off of Salesforce to another platform entirely. Salesforce will stay the system of record.

Like your great uncle, it’s old, and hairy, and isn’t going to change anytime soon. It’s Salesforce. The ability to effectively prospect and deliver cadences cannot be from within Salesforce. Plenty of smart people have tried — the architecture just doesn’t support the functionality needed.

But a prospecting, emailing, and dialing platform, which integrates with Salesforce, will set the standard on sales development workflow. The ability to tailor — at scale — will necessitate an entirely different, next-generation platform.

It will do deep research into the web to bring in relevant account and contact specific information, so that SDRs can write emails and make effective phone calls — more quickly. It will suggest content and messaging based on the profile of the accounts or contacts selected. By combining web crawling with internal content, the platform will offer predictive messaging. It will help SDRs by suggesting PPOVs and build entire cadences based on the group’s real performance analytics.

There will be a portal for collaboration with internal SMEs on messaging, content and assets. Robust analytics and rigorous testing methods will ensure that not only will email templates be measured, but entire cadences, phone calls, voicemails and keywords.

Salesforce will not be replaced as the system of record and CRM (it’s in too deep to perform open-heart surgery),  but this platform in the future of sales development will stand alone from Salesforce (or any CRM), but will integrate with CRMs via an API. This will effectively separate the housing of sales data with the workflow which produces it.

Prediction #3: SDR leaders will use automated data analysis to coach and forecast in real-time.

An integrated gamification, performance management, sales analytics and 1:1 platform will change the way leaders coach and manage their teams.

With the drastic increase in sales data collected, leaders will need help with the ability to interpret all of the data and turn those insights into actionable steps. In the future, a software platform will be able to automatically detect what an SDR is doing well (or not so well) by comparing performance against industry and team baselines.

If an SDR is not being effective — with low conversion rates on his cadences — the platform will be able to identify why by comparing the email templates he uses against those of his peers and the content or duration of his calls. It will be able to point out to his coach that his subject lines are too long or that his calls are too short. It will then shoot over a recording of sample calls for coach analysis.

This platform will also be able to see if an SDR’s effort is keeping up with the team’s commitment or baseline. It will notify players and coaches if the volume of activity is abnormally high or low. It will also calculate the effective conversion rate needed for that lower level of activity to result in quota attainment or anticipate performance over quota if a high-level of activity is sustained.

All of this analysis will be pushed to both the player and coach via email, web application and mobile notification in a daily Automated Analytics Report (AAR). AARs will form the foundation of 1:1s. Coaches will continue to provide human interpretation, while assigning and tracking actions that will most efficiently lead to blowing out quota.

Forecasting will be more precise than ever before. It will be done via several models, one of which will be updated in real-time based on the anticipated activities and conversion rates based on historical data.

Prediction #4: Advanced sales analytics will begin measuring SDR Efficiency Rating (SER) and an SDR shot chart.

This same advanced analytics work will be pushed out the entire team to track not only volume, but effectiveness. It will no longer be enough to produce a high volume of activity, but to produce a high-volume of effective activity which converts into positive results. Leaderboards will go from strict volume, to include efficiency.

The movement to measure basketball players purely by Points-Per-Game (PPG) changed the day Player Efficiency Rating (PER) came into being. It’s a lot less impressive that it takes Kobe Bryant 20 shots to score 10 points at the end of his career in 2016, when it only took him 10 shots to do the same thing during his prime in 2006. He was much less efficient towards the end of his career and when he has a higher usage rate (running more plays).

Here’s the top 10 players in PPG so far this season (2016) according to ESPN. On first glance, you would assume each of these players is elite. You can see PER tells a slightly different story for players like Paul George, who should probably be taking less shots.

 

In the future of sales development, activity volume (usage rate) and effectiveness (efficiency) will be needed to measure a more holistic view of performance. The ability to measure the effectiveness of each SDR (down to his emails, cadences, assets used and calls) will shed light on the effective conversion rate for each of his activities, just like a shot chart.

Sticking with basketball, this is Stephen Curry’s 2013 shot chart:

Steph saw that he was particularly weak near the bucket, a below average player at finishing near the rim. Using this data, Steph worked on his game and this is Stephen Curry’s MVP-winning 2015-2016 shot chart:

Using data to identify his biggest weakness turn it into his biggest strength, Steph transformed his game to reach the next level. He led his team to the 2015 NBA Championship and began a basketball revolution.

Collecting similar data in a sales shot chart will create real-time actionable insights for sales people and their coaches. It will also create a baseline to measure SDR performance company-wide and down to a granular level. Coaches will be able to better compare SDR performance on specific skills and activities, across groups.

Driven by data-driven coaching, more SDRs will blow out quota more quickly than ever before. Quotas and productivity will rise by at least 30%. A 13x SDR Multiple will be the new standard.

Prediction #5: Account-Based Sales Development will be table stakes, and Contact-Based Sales Development will begin.

As ABSD becomes widely adopted, the ability the differentiate messaging will once again move to a more granular level. The arms race to provide more value than the next vendor will not end at the account level.

Real personalization will occur; entire cadences and marketing campaigns will target one specific contact at a time.

Prospects will receive more value from their vendors than ever before. Individualized content, agendas, landing pages and assets will be mass produced and delivered at exactly the right moment.

SDRs will be the ones crafting, tailoring and delivering these campaigns in the future of sales development.

Prediction #6: Sales Development leaders will earn their place at the executive level.

It will be the norm for a Sales Development leader to be a part of the executive team. The function will mature and become professionalized.

Investors, CEOs and Boards will realize the importance of an independent and successful Sales Development organization. They will scour the market for talented Sales Development leaders in the same way they search for a great CMO, CFO or Head of Sales.

In the future of sales development, a few Chief Sales Development Officer (CSDO) will exist in forward looking companies.

Prediction #7: More executives will have a background in Sales Development.

The wave of talent that were trained in today’s SDR nurseries will go on to be the next wave of tech talent.

Those young professionals have now turned into an army of well-trained high-achievers across the technology landscape who will support the SDR cause because that is where they got their start, that is where they built their foundation.

Eventually, in the future of sales development, these same talented individuals will be the future CEOs, CMOs, SVPs and founders. They will find their success using the core skills and philosophy they developed as enterprise SDRs.

—

For a more comprehensive look into SalesLoft’s internal SDR process, download our free playbook and optimize your sales efforts to start crushing your sales development goals today.

The post 7 Bold Predictions on the Future of Sales Development – By Chris Pham appeared first on SalesLoft.

A research group in Japan found a new compound H5S2 that shows a new superconductivity phase on computer simulation. Further theoretical and experimental research based on H5S2 predicted by this group will lead to the clarification of the mechanism behind high-temperature superconductivity, which takes place in hydrogen sulfide.

Last year, a striking news came out that H2S broke the record for superconducting critical temperature under high-pressure. However, the chemical composition ratio of sulfur and hydrogen and the crystal structure during the process in which superconductivity takes place have not been well understood.

A research group led by Takahiro Ishikawa, Specially Appointed Assistant Professor, and Katsuya Shimizu, Professor, at Center for Science and Technology under Extreme Conditions, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Tatsuki Oda, Professor at School of Mathematics and Physics, Kanazawa University, and Naoshi Suzuki, Professor at Faculty of Engineering Science, Kansai University predicted a new superconductivity phase of hydrogen sulfide (H5S2), which was presented at a pressure of 1.1 million bar on computer simulation. The superconducting critical temperature obtained from H5S2, whose calculated value was the same as the experimental value. This result may lead to the clarification of the mechanism behind high-temperature superconductivity, which takes place in hydrogen sulfide by further theoretical and experimental research based on H5S2.

Furthermore, by applying methods used and knowledge obtained by this group to other light element hydrides, it will become possible to establish guidelines for enhancing superconducting critical temperature to near room temperature.



Recently, hydrogen sulfide was experimentally found to show the high superconducting critical temperature (Tc) under high-pressure. The superconducting Tc shows 30–70 K in pressure range of 100–170 GPa (low-Tc phase) and increases to 203 K, which sets a record for the highest Tc in all materials, for the samples annealed by heating it to room temperature at pressures above 150 GPa (high-Tc phase). Here we present a solid H5S2 phase predicted as the low-Tc phase by the application of the genetic algorithm technique for crystal structure searching and first-principles calculations to sulfur-hydrogen system under high-pressure. The H5S2 phase is thermodynamically stabilized at 110 GPa, in which asymmetric hydrogen bonds are formed between H2S and H3S molecules. Calculated Tc values show 50–70 K in pressure range of 100–150 GPa within the harmonic approximation, which can reproduce the experimentally observed low-Tc phase. These findings give a new aspect of the excellent superconductivity in compressed sulfur-hydrogen system.

Nature Scientific Reports- Superconducting H5S2 phase in sulfur-hydrogen system under high-pressure

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Our latest Design Challenge focuses on creating task-related furniture for freelancers in an ever-evolving and highly amorphous work landscape, an issue that is becoming even more relevant as freelancers begin adding up to more than a third of the workforce in the United States today. Who better to ask about how office environments and the nature of work has changed than designers working for a company specializing in this area for over 30 years?

Humanscale, a company specializing in office furniture since 1983, is well known for its ultra ergonomic and consumer-sensitive understanding of design. One of its most familiar pieces of furniture, the Freedom Chair by Niels Diffrient, was apparently a response to the iconic Aeron Chair. Diffrient realized that the Aeron Chair's levers and adjusters failed to recognize the average consumer's lack of knowledge surrounding ergonomics, so he strived to design a chair that automatically adjusted rather than requiring manual manipulation. The idea turned out to be a hit and his Freedom Chair continues to be one of Humanscale's top grossing products.

DESIGN IS IN THE DETAILS

This type of essential design thinking informs Humanscale Design Engineering Director (and 1-Hour Design Challenge judge) Brad Augustine's everyday work and decision making. Leading a team of over 30 design engineers, his studio works to make sure every Humanscale product is highly functional and reliable. The team also strives to pay attention to changing office environment behaviors, as he explains to Core77: "We've got a mantra: 'creating a more comfortable place to work.' And that really asks the question, how are people working and nowadays? It seems to become more and more the question of how people are interfacing with technology to work,"

So what is there to consider when designing an indispensable piece for the office? Augustine notes that a common misconception about prototyping is that once you've got a model, you're pretty much ready for manufacturing and bringing that product to market when really it's much more complicated than that: "We have to stress that the work we do for regulatory liability, for value—it's a very very iterative process and there's a lot of trade-offs." This means creating something that not only fits all the ergonomic requirements, but is also engineered to incorporate helpful new technologies while meeting business goals. 

DESIGNING FOR A CHANGING CORPORATE WORLD

Technicalities aside, working in such a specific market means designers and engineers must pay attention to trends to stay competitive—in the office world, that means things like standing desks, mobility and flexible workspaces. "There are significant trends going on in office right now, enough where we're almost having to recreate our entire portfolio," says Augustine. "People are working differently than just coming in to a desktop computer that's on their desk and just working with that. We're having to create entirely new products that work with people who are bringing their laptop and want to be able to work very easily...So it's really kind of taking a look at how the user wants to work and how it's changing."

"People are working differently than just coming in to a desktop computer that's on their desk and just working with that. So we're having to create entirely new products"

New product categories include items like sit/stand desks and products like M/Connect, a docking station that provides a more seamless way of connecting electronics on a desktop. Augustine notes that products like M/Connect are a response to office worker's shifting demands for a work environment that conforms to consumer needs rather than the other way around: 

"Before, you were able to just have your [desktop] computer, you install your monitor at your desk and everything is already set up so when a person comes in your station is ready to go...But now, people are bringing their laptop, [so] how do you create a different set of tools that relate to kind of a completely different user experience?" 

These are the sorts of questions many companies are having to ask and respond to as professional and corporate workspaces take new shape. As offices steer away from the once ubiquitous cubicle culture of yesteryear, designers are not only considering how our work environments are shifting, but also anticipating evolving attitudes about how we work. How can a space adjust to accommodate an inspiration-fueled, impromptu brainstorm? How do you create a work station that integrates current and future tech products? These sort of questions are not just beneficial to ask—they are essential.

Brad Augustine of Humanscale is a judge for your 1-Hour Design Challenge: Furniture for Freelancers submission! You have until Thursday, June 23rd to submit your sketches and be in the running for some amazing Grovemade desk gear—so get to sketching! 

Many startup CEOs try to sweep bad news under the rug.

I know this firsthand having been laid off on a random Monday afternoon when the company I worked at abruptly shut down. 

Yet, on Thursday, Buffer's CEO Joel Gascoigne transparently laid out what happened to his company and how it got to the place where it needed cut 11% of its staff, or a total of 10 team members. 

Instead of trying to dodge the issue, Gascoigne's piece is a good lesson on how to be transparent and acknowledge mistakes he made as a leader.

"It’s the result of the biggest mistake I’ve made in my career so far. Even worse, this wasn’t the result of a market change—it was entirely self-inflicted," the CEO wrote.

Gascoigne described what happened to Buffer as moving into a house that it couldn't afford. The company had been able to previously curb their burn rate, or how much money a startup spends, by boosting revenue through new products. 

Yet, the company over-hired, growing from 34 to 94 people in a year. There was also a lack of accountability, over-aggressive growth choices, and not enough scrutiny of its financial model until it was too late. 

Buffer has a history of being transparent — it's the startup well-known for publishing its employee's salaries online. Still, Gascoigne acknowledged that they didn't live up to it in the end since the realization that the company was spending more money than it was taking in would come as a surprise to most. 

"I don’t feel that we fully lived up to our value of transparency, specifically to share early in order to avoid a big revelation later," Gascoigne said. "As a result, our team was understandably surprised by the changes we’ve made, especially the loss of teammates and friends."

Buffer had to account for more than just a smaller headcount. Gascoigne and his cofounder both took a salary cut and the company cut perks, like retreats and wellness credits, and laid it all out:

• We made 10 layoffs in order to recover to a healthier financial position. Savings: $585,000
• Both Leo and I have taken a salary cut of 40% until at least the end of the year.Savings: $94,000.
• Leo and I are committing $100k each in the form of a loan at the lowest possible interest rate, with repayment only when Buffer reaches a healthy financial position.Savings: $200,000.
• We adjusted the loyalty portion of our salary formula. Each teammate previously got a salary bump of 5% on their year anniversary with Buffer. Now it’s 3%, applied for everyone who has been with the company longer than a year. Savings: $74,000.
• We’ve discontinued two perks (with the hopes of bringing them back in 2017, if we are able):
  • A health & wellness grant of up to $100 per teammate per month. Savings: $49,000.
  • An annual vacation bonus of $1,000 per teammate and $500 per dependent. Savings: $52,000.
• We canceled our upcoming team retreat to Berlin. Savings: $400,000.
• We cut our sponsorship budget. Savings: $75,000.

While many startups are facing cost-cutting measures, whether it was a case of not keeping close track of finances or failing to find funding, few have laid it out in such a transparent way to be an example to others. 

Read Gascoigne's full breakdown of what it's like to layoff 10% of your team here. 

SEE ALSO: One Kings Lane was worth nearly $1 billion, but now it's been sold for a 'not material' amount to Bed Bath & Beyond

Join the conversation about this story »

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Write Blog Posts Faster. Increase Authority. Build Relationships.

Let’s face it: No matter how much you enjoy blogging, you will not always be in the mood to produce long-form or otherwise mind-blowing content.

Unfortunately, you may fear that lowering the amount of work may lead to decreased blog engagement and long-term results.

As time moves forward and blogs become more sophisticated, we are increasingly taught that “longer and more unique is better.” While this is largely true, you shouldn’t believe that you must produce this type of content every single time.

What if you could, on occasion, publish content that is surprisingly easy to put together and still be incredibly useful to your readers?

Today’s article will help you write blog posts faster and keep your blog updated regularly, all while keeping readers fully satisfied and addicted.

Did I mention you will also establish greater authority and build impressive relationships with other bloggers in the process?

Let’s get started.

Publish News Content

Many bloggers fall under the impression that a conventional blog should only consist of tips, tricks, general advice, and lists. Visit just about any website, and this is what you’ll primarily find.

How about posting the occasional niche news as a means of keeping your blog regularly updated with useful, easy-to-write information?

Giants like Search Engine Roundtable publish a mixture of conventional articles along with news pieces. Even better, they often insert their own educated opinions (along with the newsy content) as a way to add more value and a greater personal touch.

Here are some benefits to creating a news section on your blog:

News pieces are usually 250-300 words, thus helping you write blog posts faster
They help you become more authoritative in your niche
Not much brain power required: Read/watch, then rewrite
Potential Google News inclusion for even more traffic (provided you follow their guidelines)

In short, publish several “typical” articles throughout the week along with the occasional news, depending on importance and relevance.

Publish Roundups and Curated Content

Content curation is the gathering of multiple resources and grouping them together, sometimes called a one-stop-shop.

Similarly to news content, you can publish some regular articles followed by a list of helpful links at the end of the week or month.

For example:

Is your blog dedicated to social media? Your readers might enjoy a weekly post called “This Week in Social Media” every Friday or Sunday. Link to various new features or case studies.

Similarly, you may post links to every single article you published throughout the month on your blog, along with a short “takeaway” accompanying each link.

How about a roundup linking to the best content around the web? This tactic is great for building relationships with fellow bloggers in your field.

Conduct Surveys and Quizzes

Not only are surveys and quizzes easy to create, they can be surprisingly fun for every party involved. Participants get a chance to voice their opinions and knowledge, while blog readers remain highly engaged in return.

You have probably seen posts where many people chime in on a particular subject, such as, “27 Writers Reveal the Best Ways to Land Freelance Clients.” This is where surveys come in handy.

One particularly great software for such purposes is SurveyAnyplace, as it allows you to embed your own logo, images, videos, and other elements you might find useful. Here are some of the many things you can accomplish:

• Collect data from readers to strengthen your content
• Provide a weekly or monthly quiz (amazing for blog engagement)
• Conduct market research to help you launch a product or service
• Get to know your readers’ likes, dislikes, and ways to improve your relationship with them

All in all, surveys and quizzes can really improve engagement while your blog remains updated with minimum effort.

Interview Your Audience

Interviews provide another way to keep your blog updated with amazingly useful content. Additionally, it helps you establish a relationship with fellow bloggers and influencers.

A quick interview typically consists of a “Q&A” session where you email them several questions about their line of work. Once they return the questionnaire, you are practically done with the written portion and should be ready to publish it.

Introducing interviews to your blog may not necessarily “save time” (considering the back-and-forth process involved with the interviewee). However, interviews are a wonderful example of useful content where you don’t need to break your head all that much.

This saves you from intensive research, verifying data, and having to compose 1,500+ word-articles.

Perhaps the best way to do this is to work in batches:

Gather a list of admirable people in your niche
Send them an introductory email and ask for a quick interview
Inevitably, some of the same questions will apply to multiple people (thus saving you some time)

As with everything else, the frequency here is entirely up to you (once a month works great). You should also keep questions to a minimum, as it helps you write blog posts faster and saves the interviewee potential regret.

Final Thoughts

There you have it. While you should still strive to create “conventional” articles regularly, there is nothing wrong with the occasional “easy content” either. What blogging tactics can you share with us? Please leave your comments below.

Don’t Miss:

Great Tips for Writing More Efficiently

You’ve built a distributed engineering team (whether it’s 1, 10, or 100 remote workers) and created a meaningful work relationship with each of your developers. The next logical step? Building on your success and scaling your distributed team.

Here are four tips to growing your team effectively.

1. Avoid being the hub

In the beginning, you’re naturally the hub through which everything passes. Any piece of information or decision that needs to be made goes through you. However, as your distributed team starts to grow, this structure becomes less and less scalable.

Eventually this will slow work down, create longer decision times, and put an overwhelming amount of stress on you—which is not what you want. As your team grows, you need to empower other members to make decisions, whether they are product-related or about adding new members to the team.

2. Use technology

Technology is the glue that holds your distributed team together, especially as it grows and becomes increasingly distributed over time. Whether you rely on video conferencing, collaboration platforms, instant messaging, or software building tools, technology will enable your team to succeed. Read this article to see what tools and technology Upwork uses with our distributed teams for ideas.

At Upwork, all meetings with our distributed teams are done via videoconference. This gives us that “watercooler” vibe you just can’t get any other way—people joke, get to know each other, and shoot the breeze in a way that can’t be replicated on the phone. Remote team members always have the option to speak first and only they can stop and interrupt a meeting while someone else is talking. They’re able to do this because they aren’t in the same room and can’t sense the dynamic the way those in attendance can.

Also, make sure to continually evaluate new technologies as your team grows and needs change. New collaboration tools are coming out all the time and will only continue to keep getting better.

3. Create teams

At a certain point, your organization may grow so much that you’ll need to form teams within your distributed structure. What started with just a handful of developers involved in a variety of projects may evolve into something that requires some team specialization.

For example, you may need a separate group to focus on front-end development and another one to focus on back-end development. A good rule of thumb? If more than three people work on a specific function or area, that might be a good opportunity to formalize that group as a team. Setting up official teams is great because they can own their respective areas—and that allows you to scale more smoothly without hitting major bumps in the road.

4. Use rate increases to motivate and engage remote developers

When new developers come on board as your team grows, you’ll have more responsibilities to delegate between them, giving you opportunities to evolve the roles of your more veteran developers. Think of this as a new chance to motivate and engage remote team members. Is there an opportunity for them to take on additional responsibilities?

Finally, use rate increases to show appreciation for their work—this is a must if you want the relationship to last multiple years. (Our developers get regular compensation increases.) And keep in mind that inflation and market rates may be increasing faster in the developer’s country than in your own market.

Of course, money alone is not a good substitute for engagement and motivation, so use rate increases in conjunction with other motivational factors. Show them you value their input by asking for feedback and ideas and incorporating them when you can. Limit “busy work” when possible and ensure that team members are a part of a strategic vision, not just the tactical one.

Want more tips and best practices for scaling a distributed engineering team? Download our free ebook Hire Fast & Build Things.

The Secret to Building a Team of Top-Notch Distributed Engineers

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Sales Lead Management is a complicated process. It needs a leader to pull all of the competing interests and people together to work as a team.

Sales lead management is a tough subject to truly get your arms around. There are dozens of outside vendors who say they manage some portion of the sales lead process and more than two dozen internal departments that contribute to the process and the decision making.  My point is this—you need a Sales Lead Manager to pull all of the competing departments and managers together to obtain the best revenue per lead for your company. 

Without a leader for sales lead management, there is nothing less at stake than a predictable growth in revenue when sales leads are managed, versus experiencing a 75-90% waste of the marketing budget when sales leads are not managed. Let’s tackle the subject by looking at the elements involved and our recommendations for solving the problem.

There may be a half-dozen outside vendors managing some aspects of lead management:

1. Sales Lead Management and Fulfillment Firm
2. Direct Marketing Agency
3. Digital Agencies
4. Telemarketing Inbound
5. Telemarketing Outbound (qualification and lead generation)
6. Telemarketing Sales
7. Content Agency
8. PR Agency
9. Branding Agency
10. SEO Agency
11. Business Intelligence
12. Database Providers 

Why It's Important:

“Someone must be responsible for the sales lead management process.  If no one is completely responsible, the company’s revenue suffers from wasted leads, misused high marketing costs, and uncontrolled sales expenses.”

Sales Lead Management Association

A dozen or more internal departments (a more detailed list here):

1. Sales Department
2. Sales Operations
3. Demand Creation Department
4. Inside Sales
5. Product Management
6. Marketing Communications
7. Marketing Department
8. Content Management (grading of the inquiry)
9. CRM Management (grading of the inquiry)
10. Lead Nurturing Services
11. Marketing Automation Management
12. Two major departments compete on rules establishment and daily management (sales and marketing)
13. Marketing Operations Department
14. Website Management
15. Social Media Department – blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, iTunes, YouTube and Pinterest, to name just a few.
16. Public Relations
17. Investor Relations
18. Data Entry (includes screening for duplicates and competitors)
19. Fulfillment – electronic and mailed, which includes warehousing
20. Literature Control – creation, reprinting and inventory management
21. Sales lead acquisition devices at trade shows and conferences
22. Sales territory management: which can include territories by zip code, telephone area code, counties or even major city streets. Not to mention grandfathered account and major account assignments, inside vs. outside vs. independent reps, and lead assignments based on product and revenue, and country or state. The “if this then that” maze is formidable for sales lead assignment.
23. International Channel Management
24. Sales Channel Management
25. Field Marketing Management

Daunting and confusing isn’t it? It’s easy to say that the Director of Marketing manages this morass of competing interests. But we know that is the road to failure because it is a job in itself. It might be placed under the direction of Marketing Operations, but this is usually a strong IT function with limited experience with other departments. It could be under the direction of the Marketing Communications Manager (and often is), but that seems to be a diminishing or disappearing position in many companies.

Which brings us to this thought: without a single supreme being making all of the decisions necessary when taking into account the dozens of stakeholders (not to mention the salespeople), most companies have no control over their sales lead process because no one is in charge.   

Four Recommendations:

1. Put someone in charge of the entire sales lead management process; someone whose authority is respected by all those who touch the inquiries.
2. Create rules (policy) for Sales Lead Management (no one likes to break the rules). The sales and marketing people should create them jointly; one page, 12 items or so.  The rules should cover the definition of a sales lead, follow-up rules, timing for lead distribution (how soon leads are given to a rep), ROI reporting, etc. There should be a definition of an inquiry and a qualified lead. These are broad-based sales lead management rules so that everyone can figure out how to comply. You can get a suggested outline of the business rules here.
3. Create a job description for a Sales Lead Management position. You can get a job description here.
4. Create a Sales Lead Management Checklist for the management of the process.

If you do these four things, the entire sales lead management machine and dozens of departments and vendors will fall into line, with the objectives of serving the prospect and the company’s revenue expectations to the best of their abilities.

You cannot make progress in solving this problem unless you have a manager specifically tasked with managing the company’s future revenue: the Sales Lead Manager.

There’s not a single sales leader on the planet who doesn’t want more leads. Building a large, consistent pipeline is one of the most important elements of closing the right number of deals and meeting quarterly sales goals.

But building a clean pipeline both important and challenging – and accepting any and all leads can waste an entire company’s time and resources. Here’s how determining which leads should be qualified makes a sales team’s job easier, closes deals and leads to better long-term customer relationships.

Give SDRs a Good Head Start

To build a pipeline that yields the best deals, begin at the beginning. With sales development becoming the hottest job in sales, it’s critical that sales development teams are given a good head start. Teaching a team of sales development representatives (SDRs) to ask the right questions can capture a clearer picture of a prospect’s needs.

Questions about a prospect’s current tech stack, their sales process, and their own customers’ needs provide SDRs the information they need to determine whether a prospect is a good fit. Remember: the earliest stages of the sales process aren’t just for buyers to evaluate a product; they also help sellers evaluate a buyer. Moving bad leads through the sales process can create friction between the SDR team and the account executive (AE) team.

Close the Right Deals

Disqualifying a lead in the mid-stage can be more difficult, but can still save valuable time. It becomes the AE’s job to personalize the buyer journey, guide them to the close and facilitate a clean transition to client success. If any of those actions become difficult, or the prospect begins to disengage, it could be time to let go and work more engaged mid-stage leads with a higher likelihood of closing.

Personalizing the later stages of the buyer journey is vital. Providing content that offers information on how to prepare for, implement and receive support for your product can help prospects move quickly to the post-sale phase.

Build Better Customer Relationships

A less-than-qualified lead doesn’t just waste time for salespeople; it can cost significant time and resources across an organization. Disqualifying a lead at later stages of the sales process will almost always be painful, but bad prospects become bad customers. Prospects who expect a product to be a “magic wand” or won’t follow directions can lead to everything from resistance during implementation to low adoption.

When prospects are engaged throughout the sales process, they’re more likely to view a vendor as a partner rather than a quick fix. When engaged prospects become engaged customers, they’re more likely to build longer relationships – and that’s good for the bottom line.

Sales teams have opportunities through the sales process to improve the buyer experience and move prospects closer to becoming customers. But not every prospect is built to be your customer, and recognizing it – at any stage – gives companies the opportunity to pursue prospects that are the best fit for their business.

Every sales team needs leads — but the best sales teams know how to make every lead count. Our e-book shows you how to jumpstart your lead management strategy.

In one of our recent sales training sessions with John Barrows, he made a great and profound point:

The worst thing in sales is not losing, but instead taking a long time to lose.”

Most Account Executives are very familiar with this, and can probably tell you a deal right now that took longer than it should have to get to the “no.” But as an Sales Development Rep, prospects who take a long time to get to the “no” can still be just as unsettling.

In most sales training sessions, taking “no” for an answer is simply unacceptable. And while you should never get comfortable being told “no,” the fact is, you’re going to hear it a lot in sales.

But here’s the thing: getting a “no” may not be the worst answer an SDR can get from a prospect… it’s the “Long No” that’s the worst.

There’s a ton of ways that prospects can give you the “Long No” (or, as I like to call it, the LoNo) and they always end up wasting time on both ends. Here’s 4 examples of the dreaded LoNo:

1. The “Timid No”

This is the prospect who’s afraid to say “no” in person (or on the phone). They may even schedule a meeting with you, before eventually backing out or pushing it off completely.

Most SDRs can sense this “no” from a mile away, and should address it as soon as they do. Ask questions like “Are you afraid to tell me no?” or “What’s stopping you from committing to a time?”

This is the best way to get right to the heart of their decision (or lack thereof) and establish a sense of urgency.

2. The “Send-Me-Something No”

This is the prospect who has no intentions of looking into this further, but wants to push you off to email. This way, they can say no through email, or simply ignore you. A variant of the Timid No, this answer is super common in prospects.

They want you to send them something — a follow-up email, pricing information, more content, etc. — which, in nearly every SDR’s case, you already have. But the idea is that they will supposedly read it, and get back to you, “if they are interested.”

This is a “nope” waiting to happen. They most likely won’t give your email the attention it deserves, and in the same time that it has taken to have the conversation, send the email, have them read the email, and reply — you could’ve already shown them the value of your product.

In this case, blocking off time for a meeting is always going to be the best use of both of your time. And when it comes to the, “we’ll get in touch if we’re interested” line, just remember this: if the world waited on business to come to them, sales would be obsolete. This is why you should always defer to scheduling another discovery call over “sending something.”

3. The “Push-Out No”

This is the prospect who sees value in your product, but isn’t willing to commit to time to explore right away. They’ll normally give a short-term follow-up time (say, a week or two), but then ultimately say it’s just not a priority.

One of our SDRs here at SalesLoft, Angela Kirkland, is great at combating this line on the phone. When a prospect says that it’s not a priority, or asks her to follow-up down the road, she immediately addresses something in their job title/description that contradicts their priority list.

For example, she’ll tell a Director of Business Development who’s giving her the Push-Out No, “As a Director of Business Development, how can you say something built to help develop more business for your team is not a priority?” 

Ultimately, if you’re sensing a Push-Out No, this may or may not get you a yes — but it’s worth a shot. If then it’s still a “no,” it’s better to try to accelerate that answer, rather than spend time and effort only to result in a dead end.

4. The “Pass-Along No”

This is the prospect says they’ll share this with their boss, or that they’ll “pass the email along,” which usually results in a back and forth banter before ultimately ending with “no.” What can they do? It’s out of their hands…

This “No” is the hardest “no” to defend. If the prospect is merely saying that they’re “passing the email along,” with no mention of a specific name or department of whom they’re passing it to, then it leaves you high and dry.

Ask them who they’re passing you along to — then you can always reach out to that person directly. If you don’t get a specific answer, then the best thing you can do is research the account on your own and find a different contact. The sooner the better.

In any case, the best way to combat “no” is always going to be to pick up the phone and learn more about their business. Bring your shovel and find a way to dig in and learn what their pains really are in the context of their process.

Most of the time, prospects may not even realize what they’re saying “no” to when they give you the sales brush-off. From their point of view, they’re saying “no” because they haven’t seen the value of your product, yet.

It’s our job as SDRs to provide that value up front, and make them realize that they do not want to pass up this meeting. But don’t just take my word for it: when the next prospect just says “no,” I challenge you to really push back and find the real reason behind their hesitancy.

If our sales training has taught us anything, it’s that time is everything to an SDR. Spending our time having meaningful conversations that result in purposeful, qualified sales meetings is the most important part of our job. And spinning our wheels with prospects on The Nope Bus is only wasting more of that precious time.

Dig as much as possible, as fast as possible — and if they don’t get it, that’s their loss. On to the next one. There’s a world of people out there willing to listen and understand the value of your product. Don’t waste your time on the ones who won’t, and don’t be afraid to get to a “no.”

Here’s a clip from the John Barrows sales training:

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For a more comprehensive look into SalesLoft’s internal SDR process, download our free playbook and optimize your sales efforts to start crushing your sales development goals today.

The post Sales Training 101: Why “No” Isn’t the Worst Answer a Sales Development Rep Can Get appeared first on SalesLoft.

Are you working hard for someone else? Do you have a great idea? Are you sitting at your desk at your company office, reading this and thinking yea I do want to start a business? Are you ready to take the leap? Or have you already jumped!? I recently did a podcast with executive business coach and radio show host, Amy Walker. We talked about the entrepreneurial spark, and what it takes to run a business. The good, the bad and the ugly. It caused me to reflect on how I got to where I am today in my business, and all the bumps along the way.

Starting a Business… Or Maybe Two

The first business I started was sort of an accident. I was training teachers at the graduate level, and they needed resources. I found a need and started to fill it, not thinking of it as a business. I started collecting resources and sharing them in the form of an extensive newsletter. It took me hours. Then people kept asking me where they could buy the resources. So I went to a local bookstore to see if they could provide them. I was procuring the resources and delivering them but not making any money for my effort. Someone said to me, why don’t you get a resale license and sell them yourself, and a business was born. I call that ‘accidental entrepreneurship’ as I had no intention of going into business. Once it took off, I saw clearly that it could be a business and wrote a business plan, got it funded and opened the doors. That process was difficult, but not nearly as hard as having to close my business three years later. You’ll hear the whole story in the recording, but let’s just say I was losing a lot of money fast.

The next business I started was accidental as well. You’d think I would have been better prepared for business number 2, but I wasn’t. It was a result of not knowing what else to do. Being entrepreneurial, I have little fear. I just took a leap, no plan, nothin’. Company number 2 is my current business, Alice Heiman, LLC that I started in 1997. My current business has evolved several different times. It has had its ups and downs, as you will hear, but I love it! I’ve learned a ton, and it is currently going through its next exciting evolution.

Starting a business can be exhilarating and exhausting, but if you’re ready to make that leap, or you’ve already made it, here’s some things that will help you. As I say in the interview, I highly recommend you make a plan, your chances of success will be much higher.

Find Your Tribe and Establish Your Expertise

First, you have to establish yourself as an expert and build your tribe.  It’s crucial for small business owners, whether they are selling a product or offering a service. I recommend doing this before you leap, but most of us don’t. Start taking action to build your personal brand, your expertise and your tribe. This will give you a strong foundation, so when you are ready to sell, your tribe will already know who you are and look at you as an expert. People are willing to listen more and look at your product and services when they know you, like you and trust you. As the owner of your business, even if you have a sales team, you need to be the CLG – Chief Lead Generator. You should draw people to you because of your expertise and then you can give those leads to your sales team.

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As the owner of your business, you need to be the #ChiefLeadGenerator.
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No Experience? No Problem!

When you are just getting started it’s hard to get those first few sales. It’s hard to get a client when you don’t have any clients. “Hey, Mr. Customer, I have a great product and you should buy it. You’ve never heard of me and no one has ever purchased our product, but you should. It really works, trust me.” Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? You need social proof and some references to get you started. Both times I started a business, I was already doing the thing I wanted to sell. I had a tribe. They knew me, liked me and trusted me. I had already proven my expertise so they were willing to pay for it. If you don’t start your business that way, you can still get social proof and references; however, you may not be able to charge the full amount, but you can still get some accounts started.  You could offer it to a non-profit or another small business that could use your product or expertise. Offer your services to them for free or at a discounted price, but only if they agree to give you feedback, let you write a case study, and/or allow you to use them as a reference.  This will let you test and prove your concepts. If you do a great job and go above and beyond, you will have great referral sources and testimonials for your website.

Pro-Tip: Write case studies about your first successes and publish those, but don’t stop there. Great stories sell. Continue to write case studies that share your customers’ successes.

Even though those first customers might not have paid you with cash, they’ve paid you with the case studies and their testimonials. You’ve also proven yourself and built your reputation. Happy customers may even become a ‘walking advertisement’ for you.

Overnight Successes Don’t Exist!

You see those other companies and think, wow, how did they do that? You’ve heard people say, “She is an overnight success.” Sorry, there is no such thing.  Oh, I’m an overnight success all right, and it took me twenty years to get there.  Whether you’re an entertainer, a business person, inventor, or an artist there’s always a backstory to your success. We have to work hard and smart and go where the opportunities are. Some just seem to get lucky, but we all know that most luck comes from the previous things I mentioned. We have to prove ourselves. We have to work smarter. We really have to get the credentials that will allow people to look at us as an expert. Then they are willing to pay for what we offer. As the saying goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. The way I get going is to get help. I can’t possibly know everything and I don’t want to slow down my own success, so I find people who know the things I don’t and pay them to help me get there faster. In the interview, you’ll hear me talk about the many business coaches I have used over the years. In fact, I’d like to take a moment here to thank a few. Nancy Anderson, Valerie Cardenas, Leisa Peterson, Joelle Jay, Deborah Dupree, Laurie Taylor, and I am sure there are more that I am not remembering right now. Get the help you need. It costs money, but it is worth it.

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Get the help you need. It costs money but it is worth it. #Mentorship
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Define Your Own Success

Overnight successes aren’t a thing, but success is. Amy asked me, “What is your definition of success?” This is an important question to ask yourself. What is success for you? It’s important to define your own success and not look at others. Everyone is different, and money is not the only defining factor in success. For example, I feel highly successful, widely successful. Am I as rich as Richard Branson? No, and I may never be because it is not a goal of mine.

“My success is defined by my happiness and health and my family. If I am happy and healthy that is success. If my family is happy and healthy more success. No amount of money can buy that.”

But What If I Fail?

The answer is that you will. I know that I have. Bestselling author and marketing expert, Seth Godin, phrases it perfectly in his new book Linchpin,

“The answer to the what if question is, you will. A better question might be, “after I fail, what then?” Well, if you’ve chosen well, after you fail you will be one step closer to succeeding, you will be wiser and stronger and you almost certainly will be more respected by all of those that are afraid to try.”

P.S. – If you haven’t read Linchpin, I highly recommend it! [Buy Now]

The risk of failure is part of being an entrepreneur. It’s critical for entrepreneurs to be able to hear the reality that not every single thing that we undertake is going to be an instantaneous success, but it does not mean that we are a failure and that we can’t continue to move forward. The destination is the same, you still have that same desire to own a successful business, to make an impact and make a difference. That part doesn’t change, just sometimes the business that we’re doing does need to change. Not every business is a win, and that’s okay. Any great entrepreneur will tell you about their failures, and I think that’s the part we forget. We see people and we go, “Wow, look at that, they have all that.” Really what you don’t know is the backstory, and what it took for them to get there.” We want the success without paying the price, but that’s unrealistic. You make mistakes, you learn from them, and you keep going.

If the entrepreneurial spirit moves you and you start your own business, or if you are in the weeds of working night and day to make your business work, you are in good company.  That entrepreneurial enthusiasm will get you started and keep you going. Your hard work and tenacity will bring you success, and your failures along the way will help you learn and make you stronger for your next adventure.

Here’s the full interview with Amy Walker:

 

I hope you enjoyed the interview. I’d love to hear your entrepreneurial story or questions. Please post a comment.

The post Mentors, Tribes & Failure: What No One Told Me About Starting a Business appeared first on Alice Heiman, LLC.

In 2005 a website called Reddit was founded by Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman. It quickly became known as the front page of the Internet. With the ability to have complete anonymity online in the days of Facebook, and Twitter was a big draw to the website. Most of it’s users are between the ages of 18 – 29 and mostly male. Keep that in mind because it’s an incredibly important detail to remember.

The Community:

Now with any big website that house anonymous conversations, you will get your scandals, just look at the few that have stemmed from 4chan. The first big one that brought attention to Reddit was the Boston Bombing. This caused an issue because Reddit users started a witch hunt to find the man who supposedly did it. It turned out they were completely wrong and almost ruined someone’s life. The community learned from that, and no more witch hunts were to be started.

In 2014 theFappening occurred where hundreds of nude celebrity photos were leaked online. This led to a much stricter policy on these type of images being posted. This of course was well understood to the community and didn’t cause any huge lasting outrage.

Then in 2015, Ellen Pao the new CEO shutdown the subreddit “fatpeoplehate”. It was shutdown due to harassment issues, which caused a very controversial argument on the site, between what types of posts should be allowed and which shouldn’t. Ellen Pao stepped down after this, party due to a petition had received 200,000 signatures asking for her removal. Steve Huffman, one of the original cofounders stepped back in.

Now these scandals, were mostly caused by the users as opposed to admins of the site (Admins being the people who actually work at Reddit). When the community does something wrong, they typically have understood that they crossed a line and would accept new site rules that were placed to prevent it from happening again.

The Admins:

As I said before Reddit by Alexis Ohanian and Steve Huffman. They ran the company and grew it while. Condé Nast Publications acquired the site in October 2006.

Just a quick overview of their time at CondeNast from Aliens in the Valley:

For the first few years it was part of Conde Nast, revenue wasn’t the top concern. The real reason Conde Nast acquired Reddit, according to two execs close to Conde Nast then, was so the ad sales team could lump Reddit’s audience together with the audiences for their other tech-focused digital properties, including Wired.com and Ars Technica. Reddit significantly increased that segment’s number of uniques. It was also a ploy to get the attention of advertisers by showing Conde Nast had a hip, innovative tech property. They then spun Reddit out as it’s own company in 2011. Yishan Wong took over in 2012 as the CEO.

This is where everything starts to get interesting. Yishan took over in the worst time possible, because most of the Scandals happened while he was CEO. He was someone who didn’t believe in making big bold changes to reddit. He tried to protect the community’s freedom of speech for as long as he could. When theFappening took place Yishan eventually put up a perplexing blog post stating yet again that Reddit’s team supported free speech, even for the most unsavory content. He argued that “every man is responsible for his own soul.”

Finally he quit, surprising most of the staff and the community.

Another note to keep in mind is that Reddit, still was not technically profitable. Their only real source of income was selling Reddit Gold which users could pay for monthly. They had issues generating advertising revenue due the community’s hatred of it and use of adblockers.

Ellen Pao took over in 2014, by this time shareholders are starting to get hungry for some money so monetization efforts are started. She led the monetization front of Reddit. A large campaign from an advertiser runs in the $100,000 range, according to this person, while a good-size single ad sale is around $20,000.

Now since Ellen stepped down, almost one year ago on June 15th, everything has remained quiet until recently. The first big change that came was they announced a mobile app. Apps to browse mobile have always been made by a 3rd party, until now. They announced the app and gave free gold to anyone who downloaded it. Unfortunately, for them the app isn’t quite as good as its competitors. It is still in its infancy but it has a lot of catching up to do. Now before I get into an explanation of why this might end up hurting Reddit. Let me tell you about another big change. Reddit is now hosting it’s own pictures. Up until recently most Reddit users used the site Imgur to host images. The site was actually created by a Reddit user and the community quickly grew to love it. This is kind of important because the communities are symbiotic to each other. Users could easily navigate between the two sites.

Now hosting your own images and creating your own app makes a lot of sense when you want to monetize, you don’t want to push users off your site onto another one, especially one that started boosting it’s own monetization. The one big issue again leads back to the symbiotic relationship of the two sites. Reddit has close to double at monthly page views at 8 billion vs Imgurs 5.5 billion.

It will be interesting to see how Reddit now handles the annexation of Imgur and the likewise. They have now officially become competitors to each other, not only that but Reddit has now become a competitor to all it’s 3rd party viewers. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t appear to be a big deal but if you take a look at Digg, the history starts to look a little similar. When Digg V4 came out their was a major immigration from Digg to Reddit, and that was due to a change in how the site worked. Reddit is starting to walk a very fine line with its new changes. It is only a matter of time before they push a little too far and make a change the user base doesn’t like. At the moment there are no real Reddit alternatives, one ex-employee recently launched Imgzy, but it is still in its infancy and Voat is still around but does not have a huge user base.

My prediction is that Reddit’s future is up in the air. It could go in a lot it different directions and it will be interesting to see where the Admins take it.

This post was originally published on my linkedin.

Inbound leads are great for salespeople. Instead of having to hunt down buyers, create interest, and educate them, reps can simply call prospects who have already interacted with their Marketing content and awareness of their brand.

Sounds ideal, right? As more and more marketing teams adopt inbound strategies, more and more sales reps are now able to pare down the time they spend proactively sourcing leads to call and can devote more of their days speaking with buyers who have already expressed interest in speaking with them.

But like all things in life, inbound leads aren’t perfect. No matter how high your lead flow, it’s impossible that every single inbound lead will be a good fit. The higher your lead flow, the more important it becomes to be able to separate out good leads from bad. If you’re handed hundreds of inbound leads a month, you can’t just start dialing from the top of the list -- you’ve got to be strategic about how you tackle the group of buyers in front of you.

If any of the following eight things are true of your inbound lead, rethink calling them right now (or ever) and focus your attention on other better fits.

When You Shouldn't Call Inbound Leads

1) They provided obviously fake information.

This one’s a no-brainer. Has your prospect filled out their phone number as (555) 555-5555 or their name as “Haha, Yeah Right”? Don’t call them.

2) They’re clearly in the educational stage.

Prospects that have just entered your funnel and are still educating themselves aren’t a good group to prioritize. It’s a possibility that they’ll become a good fit in a few weeks or months, but your job isn’t to nurture the lead throughout their entire buying process -- it’s to be there with answers when they’re ready to speak with a rep.

For example, if a lead’s converted on just one landing page and hasn’t been to any other parts of your website or interacted with your company first, let Marketing nurture them before you devote serious time to working with the prospect. If you have the time, interact with the prospect on social media a few times to keep your brand top-of-mind, but don’t devote serious time to prospects who are this early in the buyer’s journey.

Instead, prioritize leads who are converting on middle- or bottom-of-the-funnel content and viewing premium pages (like pricing and product information pages).

3) They’ve been converting on your site for years with no response to other reps' attempts to reach out.

When your company reaches a certain size and generates enough content, you’re bound to get a number of leads who are interested in your content and will read it consistently, but will never buy your product.

Before you call on an inbound lead, check their contact records in your CRM. Have other reps been reaching out to them for long periods of time with no success? Do they subscribe to your blog or interact with your social channels, but never move past reading and sharing content? It sounds like you’ve got an evangelist on your hands -- someone who loves your product and brand, but has no use for it in their day-to-day.

4) They’re still in school.

Depending on your product and industry, it’s very possible that your blog and content are valuable sources of research for students and professors. Unless you sell to educational institutions or departments, employees and students are not a good lead source, as they rarely buy products on behalf of their institutions or have the influence to drive purchasing decision.

Exceptions: Professors and students who are on task forces or special committees may have been tasked with solving a specific problem -- you can usually determine whether this is the case through a quick Google search. Student newspapers and institutional press rooms will often publish articles or press releases if this is the case.

5) They don’t fit your ideal buyer profile.

Businesses use buyer profiles and buyer personas for a reason -- they summarize the companies and people who are the best fits for your product based on historical data. Not every inbound lead you call needs to fit this buyer profile to a tee, but if an inbound lead’s company is significantly smaller or larger than your profile (whether it’s revenue, employee size, customer base, or something else) or a far cry from your best verticals or industries, don’t prioritize them highly.

Keep in mind, though, that a point of contact being too junior (i.e. if they’re an intern, or entry-level) shouldn’t disqualify an entire opportunity. If the company is a good fit but the contact isn’t, reach out to the lead to see who the right people to loop into a conversation are. For more on the distinction between buyer profiles (company fit) and personas (point-of-contact fit), check out this blog post on how to define buyer profiles.

6) They converted once five years ago.

When you’re sifting through your CRM to check if you’ve overlooked any leads, you’ll sometimes find old leads that seem like great fits. But wait -- their last conversion was years ago, and they haven’t been on your website since.

Although it might be tempting to start scraping the bottom of the barrel when things get tough, calling that “inbound” lead might as well be a cold call. Unless they’ve converted from a different email address or other people from the same company have converted recently (and you should absolutely check your CRM to see if that’s the case), the time it’ll take to explain who you are and why you’re calling and where you got their information isn’t worth it. Place them in a Marketing drip campaign and move on.

7) They just signed up with a competitor.

I know, I know -- going with a competitor does not mean a deal is dead. In fact, it means the prospect has recognized a problem that needs solving and has taken action to do so -- a very good sign.

However, the first month after purchasing a new product usually isn’t a good time to start a conversation. Between implementing the new product and getting familiar with it, your ideal points of contact probably don’t have time to speak with you -- and they won’t yet have a sense of whether the product is a success or not. Instead, reach out when they’re a few months deep to see how things are going and whether you can help.

8) They’re a sales rep for the competition.

Believe it or not, some sales reps prospect this way. Whether it’s creating fake LinkedIn profiles to stalk their competitors’ networks or using their prospects’ “Contact Us” form to try and get in touch by pretending to be an inbound lead themselves, be on the lookout for leads that aren’t really leads at all.

What are other signs that you shouldn’t call an inbound lead? Let us know in the comments below.

The customer journey has changed. With as much as 90% of a buyer’s journey being self-directed, according to Forrester Research’s 2015 report, “Don’t Let Muddled Messaging Compromise Customer Experience,” it’s clear that the modern customer journey now begins with self-education.

Marketers are seeing a tremendous shift in how buyers are researching and buying, particularly on social media platforms. In fact, 55% of B2B buyers do their research by using social networks, according to a Business.com study, and Forbes research revealed that 78% of people say that their buying decisions are influenced by a company’s social media posts. Social channels provide a real-time platform where buyers can share information, research products, make informed decisions, and come to their own conclusions when it comes to their purchasing decisions.

Whether you’re ready for it or not, social media is becoming the Wikipedia for your buyers, where they can find information about your brand from their peers. Let’s take a look at how you can engage with your buyers on social media throughout the customer journey:

1. The Many Roles of Social Media

It’s important to remember that engagement with a brand doesn’t necessarily begin or end with a purchase. Your buyers are increasingly looking to social media for information that guides them through every stage of the customer lifecycle.

Social media helps your buyers:

• Keep up with the latest trends and new products and services.
• Share their favorite products and brand experiences. Teradata reports that 61% of consumers say they would tell their friends about their good experiences.
• Learn more about a brand, product, or company and educate themselves on possible purchases.
• Listen to what others are recommending or talking about. 71% of consumers are likely to purchase an item based on social media referrals, as reported by Social Media Today. Buyers want validation that they’re making the right choice, so one person’s review on social media informs another person’s research. Offering easy access to third party reviews and testimonials can help alleviate buyer hesitation.
• Interact with their friends, favorite brands, communities.
• Ask for support from companies. Your customers expect their complaints on social to be addressed, and addressed quickly. Brands that provide the best customer experience and service have the highest retention rates.

2. Engage with Your Buyers Along Their Journey

There’s a unique opportunity for marketers to meet the needs of their buyers on social channels by embracing every facet of the customer journey from education to advocacy. A successful social media marketing plan will include a strategy for developing long-term relationships, so consider how you will not only acquire new customers, but what steps you’ll take to consistently provide value to your customers, and in turn, hopefully create brand advocates.

As you’re engaging with your buyers on social media, it’s critical to:

• Know your audience. Whenever you’re posting, understand who your followers are and what they care about. Let’s say, for example, that your brand is known for being a cutting edge cosmetic company. Your followers will most likely be interested in seeing posts that highlight the latest trends, cosmetic tips and tricks, and how to’s. That’s not to say A/B testing isn’t warranted, just be strategic about your brand voice.
• Respond to negative feedback appropriately. With social listening, you can instantly identify both positive and negative feedback. How you respond to feedback says a lot about your brand. Acknowledging positive feedback promotes a community of sharing and further engagement, and responding quickly and appropriately to negative feedback can increase customer loyalty and retention. As Jay Baer says, “When you answer all the complaints in every venue, you’ll instill more value in your brand.”
• Be authentic. Maintain an authentic brand profile and be consistent about it. Your tone of voice should feel genuine, not forced. If you consistently communicate with your audience as if you were marketing to a single person, you’ll come across as more personable. Think about how you can humanize your tone so that when you take part in conversations, it seems natural.
• Engage buyers as individuals. One of the easiest ways to do this is by responding to your audience when they mention you in conversations to show them that you are listening to them and appreciate them. Recently, one of our customer posted a picture of a himself using our branded water bottle. Instead of simply favoriting the post, we continued the conversation by thanking him for sharing the post with us.

• Pay attention to buyer behavior across all social channels. Create a single, integrated view of your personas. There are several tools you can use for listening, everything from native platforms to a social media management platform like Hootsuite, Sprinklr, or Buffer. These platforms allow you to monitor for brand mentions, hashtags, keywords, or phrases. With social listening, you’ll also be able to identify influencers and advocates.
• Meet buyers where they are with omni-channel marketing. Not sure where your buyers are? Here are a few tricks to find them:
  • Just ask them! You can do this through autofill forms for content downloads, newsletters, or even your shopping cart. In addition, you can integrate social referral capabilities into your campaigns through a marketing automation platform.
• Use the search function in the native social platforms. Simply enter the names of some of your prospects and customers into the social channel’s search engine to determine if they have an account. You can also search for relevant topics, brands within your niche, or relevant industry leaders. This is especially helpful when you have a short list you’re researching. In Twitter, for example, you can use the advanced search option to look for not only topic words or phrases, but also geographic location and sentiment.

3. Track Your Progress

How can you tell if you’re succeeding with engaging your buyers on social? There are several ways to measure engagement. It’s not about one complete metric, but rather a combination of several. Monitoring and understanding how each metric correlates is pertinent when reviewing your results.

Here are a few ways to figure out whether your engagement strategy is working:

• Native platform analytics: Benchmark your followers, likes, comments, shares, retweets, replies, favorites. Increases in these soft metrics show that you’re doing something right and that you’ve successfully created interest around your brand. If you’ve implemented a social media strategy and don’t see an uptick in these metrics after a few months, it’s probably time to go back to the drawing board.
• Social listening: Monitor sentiment in mentions. 42% of people will tell their friends about a good customer experience on social, while 53% will talk about a bad one, according to the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer. A great way to gauge if your audience is finding value in your social channels is to listen to what they’re saying.
• Direct interactions: Get it straight from the horse’s mouth. Spend time interacting with your followers and asking for direct feedback. Often, I ask questions in my posts to garner feedback. Utilizing Twitter polls is also a fun, easy way to ask a question and get instant feedback.
• Calculate conversion rates: At the end of the day, money talks. If your followers are converting to sales, you’re doing something right. Here at Marketo, we use our platform to track the number of leads our paid social campaigns generated that become actual customers.
• Monitor engagement from influencers: It’s important to consider who is sharing content relevant to your business. Every subject has a niche of influencers that can potentially help raise awareness around your brand/product. Once you’ve defined a list of 20-25 influencers, be proactive about engaging with them and building a relationship by commenting on and sharing their content. People are much more willing to share your content when you’ve shared theirs. And don’t forget to be human. Influencers are people, and once you’ve built rapport with them, the relationship will grow naturally and hopefully become mutually beneficial.

Whether you’re just starting to engage your buyers on social media or you’re looking for ways to improve your relationship with them, put them at the center of everything you do. Relationships don’t end at the point of sale, and they’re the most valuable when both parties can reap the benefits.

How are you using social media to guide your buyers through the customer journey? Share your tips and tricks in the comments below!

The ever-evolving B2B selling space, increasingly complex sales process, and changing buyer expectations present new challenges for B2B sales teams on a daily basis. At the same time, traditional sales processes are becoming less effective. In order to remain competitive and hit revenue goals, it is critical that sales reps understand the shifting landscape, why these changes are happening, and how to sell to the modern B2B buyer.

Here are five factors that influence B2B buyer behavior and steps you can take to more effectively sell to the 21st-century B2B buyer and drive bottom-line results.

#1: The Availability of Information

The availability of online content and the growth of social media have made B2B buyers more educated and informed about their options than ever before. And not only is information widely available, but it is also instantly accessible. Prospects are spending more time doing independent research and obtaining info from peers and other third party sources. According to an Accenture study, 94% of B2B buyers conduct online research at some point in the buying process.

As a result, prospects no longer have to engage with sales reps in order to obtain the most basic information about a company and its products / services. Prospects can search online and quickly find information such as reviews, feedback, pricing, technical information, and competitive comparisons. But prospects still need the sale rep to guide them through the increasingly complex sales process, build the business case, and offer value-add insights.

Solution: Offer Innovative Insights

B2B buyers look for vendors who understand their pain points and are knowledgeable about the industry. Sales reps should be subject matter experts in their field and should be able to convey that information to prospects in a clear and concise manner. They should also be able to provide perspective on the market and help the prospects interpret and apply this information to their own situation and challenges. Look to content enablement and sales training as approaches to make your reps experts who add value to prospects beyond online sources.

#2: Skeptical Prospects

The 21st-century buyer is increasingly cynical and critical of vendors. And they do not want to engage with reps who utilize a “one-size-fits-all strategy”. According to Forrester, 59% of buyers prefer to do research online instead of interacting with a sales rep because the rep pushes a sales agenda rather than helps solve a problem.

Solution: Build Trust With Buyers

Research shows that the more trusted an individual is, the greater their sales effectiveness. One of the fastest ways for sales reps to build that trust is by focusing on helping their prospects rather than selling to them. Buyers don’t want to hear a sales pitch – they want to learn something. And while prospects can easily find information online, that doesn’t mean that they always understand it or know how to interpret and apply it to their own business situation. A LinkedIn survey found that B2B buyers are 5x more likely to engage with a sales professional who provides new insights about their business or industry.

#3: Hyper-Connected, Socially-Influenced Customers

The past several years have seen a significant rise in the importance of digital channels in the sale process, for both the sales rep and the prospect. B2B buyers are more connected and more informed, and the availability of online data and content is altering traditional buyer trust models. At the same time, peers have gained greater influence, as decision-makers look to their colleagues, professional networks, and social media followers for advice in making a purchase decision. In fact, an IDC study found that 3 out of 4 B2B buyers rely on social media to engage with peers about buying decisions, and Influitive data asserts that word-of-mouth recommendations from peers influence over 90% of all B2B buying decisions.

Solution: Help Prospects Make an Informed Decision

Many B2B sales are complex, costly, and collaborative. Your buyers need to be able to make an informed decision and feel confident that they made the right one, hence why they consult with peers. Sales reps must know what to say to support a prospect’s business case and offer the information and content that will help prospects advance in the purchase process. Leverage key proof points that will help buyers build that internal business case and sell it to decision-makers. And encourage your sales team to share these insights via email, social, and in-person.

#4: Buyer Confidence and Risk Cognizance

The industry is seeing a rise in the potential for post-purchase dissatisfaction – buyers want to feel confident that they made the right decision. Ironically, this anxiety over opportunity cost is fueled and intensified by the same technology that makes buyers more informed. Prospects often second-guess themselves over making the right choices or are afraid to commit and potentially missing out on a better vendor. B2B buyers are also increasingly seeking out ways to identify and reduce risk factors, including damage to professional credibility, reduction in job security, inability of the software to technically perform as promised, and loss of monetary investments.

Solution: Add Value Via Relevant Content

B2B buyers are now relying on content to guide them through the complicated and confusing purchase process, from research to decision. B2B buyers review an average of 10.4 sources in any buying situation; the more costly or complex the sale, the more pieces of content that are viewed. And a 2014 DemandGen report found that almost 70% of buyers have increased the amount of content used to research and evaluate their purchases.

But while your prospects can easily find that information, they may not necessarily be finding the right information. B2B sales reps should share relevant and engaging content that is appropriate to the prospect’s stage in the sales cycle. Proactively offer them pieces that address their apprehensions, that demonstrate value and the ability to solve a problem, and that show how ROI can be attained. This strategy will also position you as a go-to resource for your prospects. Sales enablement tools are able to automate this process and surface the right content at the right time based on the specific sales situation, as well as provide feedback about which types of content are most effective at advancing the sale.

#5: A New Decision-Making Process

Today’s sales reps must deal with an increasing number of stakeholders in the decision-making process, giving rise to the “consensus sale”, where less importance is placed on connecting with individuals and more emphasis is placed on helping the group effectively reach a decision. These buying groups, ranging from 7 to 20 people, represent a wide variety of jobs, functions, and geographies. As the number of people involved in a buying decision increases, the likelihood of purchase decreases. More so, it takes 5 to 6 prospects to agree for a sale to even progress.

Solution: Understand Your Buyer

It is important to understand who your audience is and how to best tailor the sales process for relevance. Use demographic data (i.e. age, generational cohort, gender, job title / occupation, seniority, company size, industry, number of employees) and psychographic information (i.e. attitude, interests, opinions, pain points) to gain important insights about purchase intent and sales process expectations. With a more complete buyer profile, you will get an indication of how your prospects will react to your content and messaging, as well as ideas into which channels your prospects prefer to use. This information is particularly important in the case of a buying team, where each decision maker likely has a different demographic profile, but they all share similar psychographic traits.

B2B buyers are more empowered and informed and have higher expectations than ever before, and traditional sales strategies will continue to decline in effectiveness. To see continued success, sales reps must adapt to better serve the needs of the modern buyer by understanding buyer personas, adding value to the conversation, and engaging buyers early on in the purchase process with relevant content. The last element is sales enablement technology, which can be used to establish best practices, help organizations better understand buyer needs and behaviors, and provide insight into the customer.

Every sales team needs leads — but the best sales teams know how to make every lead count. Here’s how to jumpstart your lead management strategy.

GIFs are great.

And they’re everywhere.

We use them at Buffer in our customer service tweets, our emails, our Slack channel. We include GIFs in marketing emails and team announcements. Anywhere there’s a message; there’s the chance for a GIF.

And what’s more, we’ve found GIFs get great results! GIFs in tweets are one of our top tips for more Twitter engagement. One of our most popular transactional emails we send to customers features a GIF.

Want to know how to create GIFs yourself? And know when and where to share them?

We’ve collected all the best tools, tips, and tricks for an A+ GIF game. Take a look at the list here, and feel free to leave a comment with anything more we can add or help with!

What we’ll share in this post:

In this article, we’ll give you all you need on how to start making the most impact with GIFs, including:

1. How to create your own GIFs
2. Where to find brilliant pre-made GIFs
3. When to use GIFs in your marketing

Let’s start with a quick guide on some of the best tools available to create your own GIFs…

9 Simple Apps and Tools for Creating Your Own GIFs in Minutes

How to create GIFs from video

1. Gifs.com

If you’re looking to create a GIF from a YouTube video, Instagram post or Vine, Gifs.com is the perfect tool.

With Gifs.com, all you need to do is paste the URL of the video you’d like to convert to a GIF, and you’re all set. The app features a range of great editing tools as well, including the ability to add captions and crop the image.

2. Giphy GIF Maker

Giphy is home to one of the internet’s biggest GIF collections (more on that a little further below), but it also has some brilliant GIF making tools. The first of which, GIF Maker, enables you to create GIFs directly from video files or YouTube links.

To use GIF Maker, simply paste a video URL or upload a video file, and you’ll then be able to create a GIF and edit it within Giphy’s simple-to-use interface. With GIF Maker, you can choose the point in the video from which you’d like the GIF to start, choose the duration, and add a caption.

Once you’re happy with the way your GIF feels, click ‘Create GIF’ and it’ll be added to Giphy ready to share across any social network.

How to stitch together photos

3. Giphy Slideshow

Slideshow, another tool made by Giphy, enables you to combine your pictures and GIFs to create animated GIF slideshows.

To get started with Slideshow, you first need to choose the still images or GIFs you’d like to use (you can combine both stills and GIFs). Then, once your images are uploaded you can choose the order in which they should appear in your GIF and the length of time the still images will appear in your slideshow before going to the next image.

4. Gifmaker.me

Gifmaker.me is a great free tool that allows you to create animated gifs and slideshows from images. Gifmaker features a useful ‘Control Panel’ allowing you to customize your GIF by changing the canvas size, speed of transitions and the number of times the GIF should repeat.

5. Imgflip

Imgflip is similar to Gifmaker.me and enables you to create a GIF from multiple images and also turn video into a GIF. Imgflip allows you to edit your GIF, too, by adding text, changing the delay and toggling with the image size. To export your final GIF without a watermark, you’ll need to be a Pro member, though.

How to edit a GIF

6. GIF Editor

Giphy’s GIF Editor is a brilliant tool to edit and enhance pre-existing GIFs. The free-to-use product provides you with the opportunity to add animated stickers, fun filters, and captions to your GIFs.

To start editing a GIF, simply choose a GIF to edit by entering a GIF URL or any Giphy link or by uploading an image file from your computer. Once your GIF is ready for editing you can choose to add any stickers from Giphy’s library and choose from a wide range of filters (such as inverting your GIF or making it black and white), before adding a caption and exporting the finished item.

How to create a screencast GIF

7. CloudApp

Sometimes it can be super-useful to create GIFs directly from your computer screen. This technique is great to give tutorials or walk-throughs on how to use a product and also extremely handy for customer service.

CloudApp is incredibly useful and amazingly simple. It allows you to take screen recordings, annotate images, record webcam videos and much more – it’s my go-to app for GIFs.

Once you have CloudApp installed, you can record screencasts, download them as GIFS and even share them with a unique URL generated for each recording you make.

8. Recordit

Similar to CloudApp, Recordit allows you to select a section of your screen and create a GIF in seconds. Also like Cloud App, it’s a bit of software that you install to your computer (available for Windows and Mac). You can see from the GIF above how quick and easy it is to use.

9. Sir Gifs A Lot – A fun Slack GIF app we use at Buffer

Sir Gifs A Lot is a Slack-based app that lets you create GIFs from your webcam. Once you’ve connected the app to your Slack, you can create a recording by simply typing /gifalot. This is one of our favorite Slack integrations and provides us we a great way to have a bit of fun together.

Bonus tutorial: How to make GIFs in Photoshop

Creating GIFs in Photoshop takes a little more time than any of the other apps and products we’ve mentioned so far, but it also gives you the most freedom to create exactly what you’re looking for.

Here’s an example of a GIF we made in Photoshop using the technique we’ll explain below:

Step 1: Load images into Photoshop

If you already have a sequence of images ready

GIFs are made up of a series of images (or frames), and if you already have a bunch of images you’d like to turn into a GIF, open Photoshop, the select File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack. Then select ‘Browse’ and choose which files you’d like to include within your GIF.

(P.S. This GIF was created using CloudApp, mentioned above)

If you don’t have an image sequence ready

If you don’t have a pre-made sequence of images you’d like to use, you can create a set of new layers within Photoshop to act as the frames in your GIF. To add a new layer to your Photoshop project, chose Layer > New > Layer.

When all your layers are ready, it’s time to move onto Step 2 and create your animation.

Step 2: Create your animation

To create a GIF, you need a Timeline. A Timeline will help you organize your images into a flowing animation ready to export as a GIF. To get started with your Timeline, click Window > Timeline.

You’ll then see a Timeline appear at the bottom of your screen.

Next, you need to create your animation. To do this, click ‘Create Frame Animation’ within your Timeline and then click the menu in the right-hand corner of your Timeline and choose ‘Make Frames From Layers.’

Now that all of your frames are in place, it’s a good idea to run through your animation by hitting the Play button in the bottom left of your Timeline. If any frames are out of place, you can drag and drop them to a new position in the Timeline.

Step 3: Export your GIF

Once you’re happy with the way your GIF is looking, it’s time to export it for use on your website, social media profiles, or anywhere you’d like to share it. To export your GIF, click File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy).

You’ll now see the ‘Save for Web’ window, and this is where you can choose the type of GIF you’d like to create. You can see all of the available options by clicking Presets. The choices include GIF 32, GIF 64 and GIF 128 – you can also choose Dithered or No Dither. The number after the GIF indicates the number of colors that’ll be included in your GIF and including Dither helps to alleviate color banding.

How to convert a video into a GIF using Photoshop

Photoshop can also help you convert a video into a GIF by transforming each frame of the video into a frame within Photoshop. To import a video, click File > Import > Video Frames to Layers. You’ll then have the option to choose how much of the video you import and whether you’d like to pull in every frame (for longer GIFs, importing every other frame should be sufficient quality).

Once you’ve imported your video, you can add text, captions and edits withing Photoshop and then follow Step 3 above to export your GIF.

5 Must-Visit Websites to Find the Perfect Pre-Made GIF

There are tons of GIF resources out there; here are just a few of our favorites:

1. Buffer Mood Board

There’s a chance we’re a tiny bit partial to our own resource, the Buffer Mood Board. Find positive, safe-for-work GIFs for specific occasions like hello, thank you, goodbye and more.

And then share them directly from Buffer in one easy step!

We’re particularly excited to share the Mood Board as it comes along with our announcement that you can now share and schedule GIFs from the Buffer dashboard or extension!

2. Giphy

With tons of GIFs and GIFs alone, a great search function and pre-selected categories, Giphy is the gold standard of GIF finding.

3. Google image search

Perhaps the best-known place to search for anything—including GIFs—is Google. To include only GIF images in your search, navigate to an image search and then use the search tools to choose animated images under “Type”.

4. Tumblr

Tumblr is often Ground Zero for GIF culture and finding the memes of tomorrow before they blow up. Explore all GIFs here, or search for a specific GIF type using the Tumblr search bar.

5. Imgur

You never quite know what you’re going to find on Imgur, a viral photo, video, and GIF hub that gets over 150 million monthly visitors.

Try your luck with the site’s grab bag of new and viral GIFs here, or search by topic or activity.

A quick note of caution: If you or your company is in a highly regulated area or might be a bit wary of using copyrighted work in your social sharing, it might be worthwhile to consider the risk attached to using GIFs. Never fear, though—you can still make your own GIFs!

When to use GIFs and why they’re essential for every marketer

1. Use GIFs to show your brand’s personality

Social media is fun—why else would we spend so much time on it? Brands who manage to stay human and share authentically can create a deep and special relationship with their audience, and funny/weird/endearing GIFs can be a part of that.

Who’s using it? Denny’s has built a devoted fan base by being just a bit “out there” with its social media presence, including wacky but mesmerizing GIFs like this one.

2. Use GIFs to show off a product

Want to give your audience a closer look at your product? GIFs can show off the kind of details and motion that can entice shoppers.

Who’s using it? Marie Claire took advantage of the GIF format to offer viewers a look at a product: these killer gladiator sandals.

Gladiators Are Back and Sneakers Are Here to Stay: A Look at Spring's Two Hottest Shoes http://t.co/pkP8k27U0r pic.twitter.com/jlMoN5z8Ph

— Marie Claire (@marieclaire) August 16, 2015

3. Use GIFs to explain a process or a how-to

Sometimes it’s a lot easier to explain something in an image than it would be with words. For step-by-step how-tos, following along with processes, or even quick recipes, a GIF can be exactly what you need.

Who’s using it? Here, the Huffington Post explains 5 ways to wear a scarf. Imagine trying to write this process down!

4. Use GIFs to thank someone

Saying “thank you” with a GIF on Twitter can provide an extra touch of delight. Our own Kevan Lee shows you how in this quick video:

Who’s using it? Here at Buffer, we’re big fans of conversation through GIFs. Here is an example of a recent moment where communicating with GIFs just felt right.

@wssnr http://t.co/YMDOW0sANz Thank you, Jay! :) -Mary

— Buffer (@buffer) August 28, 2015

5. Use GIFs to create a tiny presentation

Think a GIF is too brief a vessel to get a real point across? I was skeptical, too, until I saw some of the amazing mini-presentations that can be shared in this format.

Who’s using it? For example, check out how The Center for Investigative Reporting tells a whole, eye-catching story in just a few frames—and creates curiosity to learn more.

The U.S. imported approximately 17 million pounds of caffeine last year. Here's why: http://t.co/ljaprw288N pic.twitter.com/LcmqPHeoeJ

— CIR (@CIRonline) August 12, 2015

Creating a micro-presentation, sharing a mini-screen recording or even a simple cartoon to complement your tweet’s primary message Who’s using it: The Center for Investigative Reporting

6. Use GIFs to tell a story

GIFs can be particularly effective when you want to string multiple still images together to tell a story of motion or change over time.

Who’s using it? When the New York Times announced a new homepage a while back, this GIF that displays how the news site had evolved over time got tons of shares and conversation.

7. Use GIFS to play an ad

Got a TV or print advertisement you want to get a bit more play out of? Transfer it into GIF form!

Who’s using it? When Bloomberg released their groundbreaking “What Is Code?” issue (please please please read it; it’s amazing!); they gave audiences a teaser of the innovative storytelling in the article with this GIF.

8. Use GIFs to animate data

A really awesome way to use a GIF is to give your audience context into a piece of data or statistic through an animated diagram or graphic.

Who’s using it? NPR used an animated GIF to show the rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria—a far cry from the memes and jokes GIFs are best known for.

9. Use GIFs to offer a sneak peek

Want to share just a tiny look at a future product, big announcement or upcoming release? A GIF can be the perfect bite-size teaser.

Who’s using it? The 10th season of HBO’s football documentary series “Hard Knocks” focuses on the Houston Texans, who tweeted a sneak peek recently.

Oh hey #HardKnocks….

More coming tonight at 9 pm CT on @HBO @NFLFilms pic.twitter.com/zWsOBtIMoF

— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) August 25, 2015

10. Use GIFS to highlight your company culture

Give your audience a peek inside your company: Who you are, what you look like, what makes you laugh and what you’re up to every day at work. GIFs can be a fun, lighthearted way to share a bit of your company culture and bring your fans closer to you.

Who’s using it? Wistia does such a great job of injecting personality and fun into everything they share on social media. In this example, they use a fun and friendly GIF to introduce some teammates and pave the way for some great networking.

#MozCon: say hi to @ezrafishman & @notalyce if you see ‘em! Join us @ @StJohnsSeattle tonight: http://t.co/tezaUPEqkj pic.twitter.com/Ck4MF02KDi

— WISTIA (@wistia) July 14, 2014

Over to you

GIFs are such a fun area to dig into, and I hope you found this guide useful. It feels like we still have a ton to learn about GIF making, too, and I’d love to learn from you here.

How do you use GIFs in your marketing or social media? What’s your all-time favorite GIF? It’d be great to hear all about it in the comments!

Image sources: Michael Shillinburg

I have just launched my Fast and Furious Fact Check Challenge with a prize of $50,000 to a team or individual that comes up with a tech solution that will check accuracy in seconds.

Today’s “always on” environment, together with social media, really does give us the ability to hear anything said by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Ironically, this flood of material makes it difficult to know what is actually true! Knowing the believability and accuracy of what we read, hear and see is important around the world — and no less important for us here in the world’s leading democracy.

Fact checking is the process of verifying what someone has said, and then receiving a rating about the accuracy of the ‘fact.’ Fact checking enables us to sort through a tidal wave of massive information and communication.

Some fact checking services exist, but none are instant.

Fact checking today is done mostly by qualified humans. It’s a laborious, time-consuming process that is not easy, quick, cheap or comprehensive. There simply aren’t enough journalism researchers with the skills to verify all the claims made by our political candidates and public figures. It often takes a day or more to verify the accuracy of statements, especially in the context that they were made. And as time elapses, the truth moves further and further away from us.

The critical time to know if political claims and statements are accurate is now — as we read or view it. Therefore, the breakthroughs sought in this prize are those that improve speed of results in fact checking.

What You Can Do To Cause A Breakthrough

Read the complete challenge guidelines to see the rules and requirements for entry into the challenge.

Click the “Start here” button above to compete in the challenge. You will be notified when we’re ready to start accepting submissions.

Click the “Follow” button above to be notified of any status updates to the challenge.

Click on the “Share” button or social media icons above to share this challenge with your friends, your family, or anyone you know who has a passion for discovery.

Leave a comment in our Forum to join the conversation, ask questions or connect with other innovators.

The post My Fast and Furious Fact Check Challenge appeared first on Diane Francis.

“Delete your account.” With this simple three word tweet late last week, it could be argued that presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, officially brought the battleground for the White House to Twitter. The Twittersphere took notice – making this Mrs. Clinton’s most favorited tweet of all time.

With the evolution of social media, there has been a shift in the way that politicians communicate with each other, and people can now easily follow the live action on Twitter. Hashtags and retweets have become some of the most valuable marketing campaign currency. However this isn’t the first time a newly evolved medium has had a strong hand in the presidential election.

The Medium Becomes the Message

In the 1920s and 30s, radio literally gave political candidates a voice, where speaking skills and speeches were judged right from the living rooms of America.  Franklin Roosevelt mastered this art through his fireside chats that engaged the nation.

In the 1960s, television put a face to the voices of politicians.  In many regards, this was the birth of the modern political campaign. John Kennedy harnessed the new medium to appeal to the young, popular culture which played a significant role in his victory over Richard Nixon.

Clinton’s Twitter Evolution

Early on in Clinton’s current campaign, she was very scripted and predictable in her Twitter posts, but her social media presence has evolved into a broad and appealing platform targeted toward a younger audience. Mrs. Clinton’s Twitter account has become increasingly responsive and agile, responding to live issues and news as well as the rhetoric of her presumptive presidential rival, Donald Trump.

While her three word tweet may appear to be an aggressive command, it does have some cultural history behind it. The phrase “delete your account” has been in the “Black Twitter” community for some time now, and is used as an insult. Although this tweet is funny, it can also be interpreted as a sign of Clinton’s attempt to reach young black voters in a more casual way.

Since joining the Twitter community in 2013, Clinton has gained almost 7 million followers. It has been noted that Hillary has a staff of dozens producing original content, including news stories, professional video, all managed by an audience development team.

The Don Of Twitter

By comparison, Donald Trump has been an active Twitter user since 2009 and has over 9 million followers. His Twitter dexterity has been a wide topic of conversation throughout the 2016 election. Trump’s impulsive and uncensored personality is a perfect fit for this medium.

Multiple times a day he responds to rumors, comments on media topics, and engages with his legion of followers. He’s often swift to respond to developing news (and also first to provoke, rather than inform). With enough content and continuous posts, he has demonstrated a unique ability to control a large part of the electoral conversation.

The insults are sure to get nastier as November 8^th approaches, and social media has provided us a front row seat to evaluate the tactics of politicians on Twitter. Who knows – in a future campaign maybe we’ll be casting our votes from the platform as well.

The post The Twitter Tactics of Hillary and Donald appeared first on Social Media Explorer.

   

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The microblogging site's investment was part of a funding round expected to be in the range of $100 million, which would value SoundCloud at about $700 million.

Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn is big and bold — and likely to be consequential. Precisely how consequential and in what way is still a puzzle to observers.

One reason for the uncertainty is that we don’t know yet what kind of acquisition this is. I see three possibilities, each with its own rationale and trajectory.

One type of acquisition is the strategic remix. In this model, the acquired assets and capabilities are combined with existing assets to generate new business or to save costs. Is this what Microsoft and LinkedIn are doing?

Possibly, but the concrete synergies are hard to see, especially considering the $9 billion premium that Microsoft is paying over LinkedIn’s market value as of last week. The only numbers we have so far is that the companies expect $150 million in annual savings by 2018. Beyond that, there are vague tech-speak promises of how LinkedIn’s social network might help Microsoft’s enterprise businesses. Investors can be excused for being puzzled at the numbers.

Perhaps Microsoft is not touting the value-creation potential of a strategic remix because it has just come off a big failure with that model. The company’s 2014 acquisition of Nokia’s mobile phone assets was intended to create added value by combining these hardware assets with Microsoft’s software and services. It didn’t happen. Microsoft ended up writing down the Nokia acquisition just a few years later.

LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner may have had this Microsoft experience in mind when he assured his employees that their new owner would grant LinkedIn “independence.” That, he said, is what sold him on the deal. This implies that a full and close integration of services and software is explicitly being ruled out at this point.

A second type of acquisition thrives on such independence: private equity acquisitions. The model here is to buy low and hope to sell high after injecting the business with resources. PE firms usually do not seek to combine assets of different businesses, and usually use leverage to back up their investment. Is that what Microsoft is up to?

In fact, Microsoft is funding its acquisition entirely with new debt, even though it has $100 billion in cash. Why? No doubt because it can. With interest rates on government debt hovering near zero around the world, Microsoft can get credit cheaply.

And despite the hefty premium above LinkedIn’s current share price, Microsoft is buying low. It is buying LinkedIn stock at $196, roughly what it traded for a year or so ago. Since then LinkedIn suffered some difficult quarters, leading to a steep decline in its share price earlier this year. Is it so hard to imagine that Microsoft is getting a deal?

The last feature of PE acquisitions is that they take the target firm off the market, where it can be managed out of the public eye. That is not strictly the case here, but there is no doubt that LinkedIn will be somewhat insulated from the markets, being buried in Microsoft’s overall business that is almost 15 times its size in terms of market value.

But if Microsoft were following the PE model, it would not try to convince investors of the aforementioned product synergies. And, frankly, a pure PE approach would not be consistent with Satya Nadella’s efforts to forge a new strategy for Microsoft. The company is just not in the business of selling off businesses, even if it does still like to buy low.

There is a third acquisition model that in a way is a hybrid of the strategic remix and the private equity models. It’s the Google model – or rather the Alphabet model. In this strategy, the company acquires businesses or technologies that have promise but are still risky, and it nurtures them to see where they lead. It is a bit of an options game, but the idea is to keep the businesses relatively independent and to provide them with capital and management that may coax them to fly higher.

It is striking that in his letter to employees, LinkedIn’s CEO cites Google’s acquisition of YouTube as a model for his deal. That acquisition folded YouTube into Google but allowed the video company to exist relatively independently of other Google businesses, with some sharing of data, logins, and other features. Other Alphabet businesses are even more independent.

If that is Microsoft’s intent with LinkedIn, then this deal is the first installment of Microsoft’s own “alphabet.” The company may be creating a collection of businesses that are distinct from each other but support the same broad vision.

And, if it works, the collection could expand. Skype, acquired by Microsoft in 2011, would fit this strategy, as could future acquisitions – even Salesforce.com, which was thought to be on Microsoft’s radar before the LinkedIn deal came down. (Remember: credit is still cheap.)

How would Microsoft manage this collection of businesses? Differently from its core business, that’s for sure. Microsoft’s core is a huge annuity based on a dominant market share. The reason to have an array of related but independent businesses is to manage them as options on future growth. They can be made to play with the core when it makes sense, but they can otherwise be “independent,” the term so loved by LinkedIn’s team.

For a Microsoft traditionally steeped in tight integration and control, such an organizational strategy would be a real innovation.

On average, Americans spend 24.3 minutes driving to and from work each day. This may not seem like much, but it adds up to more than 100 hours of commuting time each year — time you could spend engaging your buyers.

If that’s not enough for you to consider the power and potential of podcasts, consider this: Buyers’ evolving content preferences show us that sometimes they prefer to listen to insights over diving into page upon page of content. In fact, 72% of buyers prefer video and audio content that they can access on demand, according to the 2016 Content Preferences Survey from Demand Gen Report.

I chatted with Devin McDonnell, our Director of Demand Generation and in-house podcast aficionado, to find out why podcasts are valuable to B2B brands. Here are a few things that came out of our conversation:

• They allow your audience to multi-task: We’ve seen the research that says buyers are time-starved but still eager to learn about industry solutions and best practices. With podcasts, you can continue to educate and engage your target audience without pulling them from their to-do lists and daily workload.

• They show a new dimension of your company: When we create content, our goal is to spotlight our brand positioning and unique value propositions while addressing buyer needs, questions and concerns. But sometimes, it’s good to show your audience a more intimate side to your company. Podcasts allow you to bring in your company’s “cast of characters” and show off their unique personalities, perspectives and experiences.

• They help you tell complex and detailed stories: A great story is always the foundation of great content. And sometimes, those stories are complex. It is far more effective to tell those stories than it is to write them out. Podcasts allow you to do just that.

Like any other content format, you research your buyers’ preferences and refer to your personas to determine whether your target audience either listens to podcasts or is interested in listening to podcasts.

7 Tips for a ”Serial”-Worthy Podcast

The cult-like following of NPR’s Serial accelerated interest in podcasts. Garnering millions of downloads, the audio series uses real people, real stories, strong investigative skills and hard facts to captivate listeners.

Once you decide to dive into the podcast pool, there are a few tips you can take from Serial as you build and refine your strategy:

1. Identify your goals, and be true to them: For Serial, the goal is to focus on one story over the course of an entire season while examining specific controversies and mysteries to uncover the truth. For example, season two focused on Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. soldier who was a prisoner of the Taliban for five years. The entire season focused on the chain of events surrounding his rescue and what happened when he returned home. Most of all, it tells Bergdahl’s side of the story. While you may not be doing an investigative podcast of this caliber, you should establish similar goals by answering the following questions: What do you hope to achieve with this podcast? Do you want to build a loyal following? Do you simply want to engage your audience, educate them or drive advocacy? How do you plan to use this podcast as part of your overall marketing strategy?

2. Always keep your audience in mind: This goes for all facets of your podcast planning and creation. Serial does a great job of not talking above the readers. Its producers know that people of all ages and walks of life want to enjoy the series, so they don’t go too heavy into political or legal jargon. The content flows like a normal conversation rather than a scripted piece. What would your target audience want to learn from a podcast? What issues or trends matter most to them? What is the most effective way to address these points? These are just some of the questions you should be asking. Then, make sure you answer them and tell your story in a personable yet succinct way.

3. Know what your peers are doing…and differentiate: With podcasts becoming a more popular medium, many businesses are trying to hop on the bandwagon. Do some homework before you join them. Once you have an idea of the topics you want to focus on and the approach you want to take, do a quick competitive analysis of podcasts in your field. What do they bring to the table? How are their episodes laid out? Do they conduct Q&As with experts, focus on news updates and trends, or present an episodic story? When you know what your peers are doing, you can find potential opportunities to stand out.

4. Incorporate audience feedback: This could mean tracking social comments and sentiment to uncover potential topics, or producing an entire segment where you answer questions from your listeners. Either way, encouraging your subscribers to share feedback and outlining how that feedback will be used shows them that you care about what they have to say and that you want to make the podcast valuable and relevant.

5. Get your friends involved: Much like incorporating audience feedback, this step can be approached in a variety of ways. For one, you can turn to your peers and industry influencers to determine topics and the overall structure of your podcast. You can also onboard them as potential guests on your show. This is a great way to add a new voice to the mix and engage with an influencer’s large following.

6. Be consistent: It may take a few months — even a year — to build a strong following for your podcast. That’s why it’s so important to be consistent. If you’re just testing the medium to see how your audience responds, it’s okay to start small. Try a monthly or biweekly podcast. After six months or a year, you will have the subscriber and engagement data you need to help you decide whether you should ramp up your schedule.

7. Get the word out: To drive subscriptions, engagement and feedback, you need to let likely listeners know your podcast is available. Use a combination of paid, earned and owned promotional channels to educate them about the series, the value it brings and what you’ll touch on in each episode. And of course, provide a seamless call to action that allows your followers to easily subscribe.

Podcasting presents a new and entertaining way for B2B marketers to tell stories and share their unique experiences and insights. With so much content flooding the web, it is a highly effective way for you to connect and resonate with customers and prospects.

Has your company added podcasting to its marketing toolkit? We’d love to hear your stories and experiences in the comments section below!

Some of the most successful bloggers do something interesting: they create an email newsletter to go along with their blog. Despite changes in digital marketing strategies, email is still an extremely useful tool for generating leads and driving conversions.

Sending a newsletter every time you publish a blog post can help you harness the power of email. It can significantly increase your number of subscribers and promote your overall email marketing efforts.

Even though blogging is typically a much more personal form of communication, this doesn’t mean a newsletter won’t do your company any good.

If you’re not convinced that combining an email newsletter with your blog is a terrific idea, here are some things that might change your mind:

1. Newsletters Build Communities

Did you know that landlords of apartment complexes often like to create newsletters to create a sense of community within their complex? They post information about holiday parties, yard sales, and neighborhood events. These newsletters are exciting for most renters because they offer companionship and a feeling of belonging.

When subscribers sign up to receive your newsletter, they’re not just gaining weekly reading material. They’re gaining a community of members who are interested in similar topics. They can participate in a group with like-minded people while investing in your blog.

2. Newsletters Signify Loyalty

As sad as it is to admit, most blog readers are one-time visitors. Most of the traffic blogs receive are readers passing through because of a search engine query or a friend who shared the post on social media. It’s not that your blog was bad or they didn’t enjoy the content. They simply forgot the name of your site as time passed.

When you create a pop-up that invites readers to subscribe to your newsletter, it gives them a way to find you again. Many readers will simply click out of the pop-up, but some will have enjoyed what they read, and be interested in learning more. They’ll be grateful for the easy way to remember your blog.

3. Newsletters Promote Older Posts

Each newsletter should provide things like relevant information, tips and tricks, events, and most importantly, should highlight past blog posts that align with the newsletter’s focus. This will lead more readers to previous posts.

Directing readers to previous posts has some specific benefits worth pursuing. First of all, this helps to improve your rankings. It can also help you earn more per blog post. A well-planned email marketing campaign that includes a regular newsletter can build trust in readers, encouraging them to make purchases or engage with content.

4. Newsletters Are Familiar To Readers

Although some forms of communication, like RSS, are foreign to many of your readers, email is likely to stand the test of time. It’s completely recognizable to your readers, and it will continue to be a standard of communication that everyone knows and loves. When they receive a newsletter in their email inbox, everyone already knows what to do with it, which means it should be more effective.

5. Newsletters Enhance Engagement

Newsletters are also very social, which can lead to increased engagement. Using Google Analytics, newsletters help you track the number of new subscribers and how people interact with the emails you’ve sent. As you study this information, you’ll be able to target those actually interested in engaging with you.

Newsletters are also very easy to market on social media, opening up your blog to a new world of possible subscribers. In combination with your email marketing campaign, promoting your newsletter on social networks will emphasize engagement from readers across the board.

6. Newsletters Increase Readership

This is perhaps the most important reason to include a newsletter with your blog. Every blog wants more readers, even if they already have a substantial following. However, it can be hard to gain the attention of readers with all of the competition out there.

New readers pay attention to things that grab their attention, like graphic design, high quality images, structure and length of the text, or the title and introduction of the first post. They also notice when you have a newsletter that sums up the blog post and lets them know they want to read more.

Does this information mean you should send out a newsletter every time you write a blog post? No…but it does show the value of paying some extra attention to your blog readership. And a newsletter is an all-around great way to find and retain readers for your blog.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, an amazing infographic is worth a thousand shares.

Infographics have seen an increase in popularity over the past few years as we search for unique and captivating ways to tell a story online, capitalizing on our audience’s limited attention span and desire for quick bites of information. An infographic can tell a whole story or it can summarize an article in a way that leads the reader to want to click on the entire story. Our brains process visual information more quickly than text, so infographics are a great way to put a unique and creative spin on data or fact-based information.

Research compiled by MGD Advertising shows that:

• Content featuring compelling images averages 94% more total views than those without.
• Online views per press release is increased 77% over straight text when press releases also contain images, video, charts and other multi-media. (Source: MDG Advertising)

A great infographic tells a story in a visual way, often illustrating facts and data in an organized image that simplifies a complicated subject. The most successful infographics are ones that present information in a way that is easy to read and understand. They use graphic design elements such as fonts, color, spacing, and focal points to draw the eye to key pieces of information.

Excellent infographics are educational and informative. They add value and include research and references to original sources. This positions the creator as an expert on the subject, increasing their credibility. Building trust among readers increases the publisher’s reputation as a thought leader in their field.

An awesome infographic is shareable. It’s so good that readers want to either save it for later (pin it to Pinterest or share to Twitter or Facebook to bookmark it) or share it with their colleagues. This kind of social sharing can yield big results when an infographic goes viral. By making infographics embeddable, they can be used as content by others. The backlinks that can be generated from a successful infographic are important for SEO efforts.

So let’s take a look at 5 Excellent Infographics and How They Made the Grade

A+ in Simplicity

This infographic titled How to Increase Productivity at Work by ELearningInfographics.com gets an A+ in simplicity. It illustrates a topic that has many facets, yet does so in a way that is easy to understand and digest. It summarizes the topic and makes the reader want to know more. It draws the reader in with the use of simple yet entertaining graphics and limited text.

A+ in Shareability

This infographic from Simplilearn.com about social media automation is an excellent example of illustrating a topic that is on-trend and useful. When an infographic contains information that is valuable to a wide range of readers, it’s highly shareable. The use of simple graphics and color makes the subject easy to understand, which will lead readers to share it because they know their colleagues will find it valuable and easy to read as well.

Courtesy of: Simplilearn

A+ in Use of Color and Fonts

An infographic doesn’t have to be full of bright colors and fancy fonts to attract attention. In fact, colors and fonts that are easy to read and easy on the eyes are best. Eliv8group.com gets an A+ grade for their infographic about email drip campaigns. This image outlines a somewhat lengthy subject in a way that is easy to read, using consistent text which stands out (black against a light background and white against a dark background) and fonts that are simple and readable. Keep in mind that when infographics are read, they are often seen on a mobile device or as an image in a social media feed or on Pinterest. The image is very small and so the font and colors play a big part in the image being readable and understandable.

A+ in Visualization

An excellent infographic helps the reader visualize a subject in a way that is easy to understand. It educates the reader on a subject. By breaking down a complicated subject in a simplified manner through the use of graphics, it helps the reader understand it in a way that straight text cannot. MDG Advertising makes an A+ grade for presenting statistics and research done on the subject of visual images in online marketing. Many pieces of data are illustrated in a way that’s easy to comprehend. It’s visually pleasing and easy to read.

Infographic by MDG Advertising

A+ in Storytelling

A great infographic tells a story. It draws the reader in, entertaining them and holding their interest, making them want to know more. Although every type of infographic should tell a story, an infographic that literally tells a story through a timeline can be very effective in laying out a history of events. This image from SSLs.com tells the story of terrible technology predictions in an amusing way through a visual timeline. It gets an A+ not only for storytelling, but all of the other four criteria as well!

You can also find more infographics at Visualistan

Are you ready to know how you can create your own awesome infographics? Next week, stop by for our article on tools and tips that non-designers can use for creating amazing infographics. Until then, take a look at 8 Visual Content Tools to Increase Engagement to learn about some easy-to-use tools to create your own original images. And be sure to download our guide to SEO and Inbound Marketing Tools That Actually Work.

The difference between a high-performing sales team and a sales team that struggles to meet its numbers is process. With only 46% of forecasted deals closing, the importance of a trackable and repeatable sales process is paramount. Teams with a clear and consistent process are more likely to move deals through the pipeline consistently and close them cleanly.

A successful sales playbook is a living document that serves as a roadmap for sales leaders and teams throughout the sales process. It’s also a valuable tool for onboarding new salespeople, a central repository for ongoing training, and a guide for handing off new customers to post-sale teams.

Deciding which sections to add to a sales playbook is critical, and there are five subjects that every playbook must contain: a company’s sales process, discovery call details, standardized messaging, an ideal customer profile and call cadence. Each of these subjects is foundational for sales development and account managers, and can help sales teams improve the buyer journey.

Identifying Your Sales Process

Not every product or vertical has the same sales process, and identifying your sales process is the first step in guiding salespeople toward how to successfully engage prospects. Adding your company’s sales process to the playbook lays out a clear path for salespeople to take (especially during the onboarding process), highlights which stages of the process are most important, and takes the guesswork out of next steps.

Start by examining your current sales process and asking the following questions:

• Is your team’s process missing any steps, or does it have extra steps that slow down the sales cycle?
• Does each stage clearly address customer needs?
• Does your sales process include the post-sale handoff procedures as well?

This section of the sales playbook can help sales leaders 24 hours a day and bolster any weekly training or coaching sessions. Make sure the sales process clearly answers each of the above questions.

Perfecting Discovery Calls

A discovery call provides sales development team members the opportunity to determine the basics of a prospect’s needs. This stage is vital: once a prospect’s problem is identified, a personalized presentation of a solution can be created.

There’s both art and science to conducting successful discovery calls. While salespeople may be able to identify a prospect’s problem, too many of them stop there without digging more deeply into why the problem exists and determining that problem’s personal impact on the prospect.

When crafting this portion of the sales playbook, make sure salespeople address the following questions with prospects:

• What do your current solutions look like now?
• How does leadership drive adoption of those solutions?
• What are the gaps in your solutions, and how do they currently affect you?

It’s especially important that this section is as prescriptive as possible. Left to their own devices, salespeople would create their own discovery processes, leading to a patchwork of messages. Give salespeople enough freedom to personalize discovery for prospects, but provide a foundational set of questions to gather the most relevant information in the early stages of the cycle.

Standardized Messaging

It’s easy to underestimate the power of consistent messaging. Today’s prospects and markets move quickly, which makes steady but personalized message one of the most pivotal elements of a sales playbook.

Training sales teams on message must include answer these questions:

• How does executive leadership position your product and your market – and is it a message easy for sales teams to translate to prospects?
• Does this messaging match and build on top-of-funnel messaging from marketing?
• How often will salespeople receive training on messaging?

Consider engaging marketing, client success and other teams when crafting this section of the sales playbook to ensure messaging is consistent across the organization, and evaluate messaging with those departments on a regular basis to establish and maintain alignment.

Crafting an Ideal Customer Profile

Working to create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) doesn’t just help sales teams identify the best leads; it helps them weed out less-than-ideal leads that would consume valuable time and resources. Because ICP will shape messaging, start by working with marketing leadership to define your company’s perfect customer; this messaging should also help focus prospect outreach. Then, answer the following questions:

• Is it getting to have a larger pipeline or two weed out leads that are unlikely to close?
• Is your product capable of solving problems for a broad range of companies, or is it more specialized?
• Does this profile fit both inbound and outbound prospects?

The answers to these questions can help salespeople personalize conversation and content to fit the needs of prospects that fit the ICP. It also provides guidance on how salespeople should prioritize prospects to engage day-to-day.

Setting a Call Cadence

There’s no specific order to follow when crafting sections of a sales playbook, but setting a call cadence should be one of the final elements addressed. Many of the previously mentioned sections can guide sales leaders toward how, when, and why sales teams engage prospects.

With the right call cadence, sales teams can gauge prospect interest and move them along the sales process. Answer these questions in the “call cadence” section of your sales playbook:

• How much autonomy should salespeople have in setting their own cadences?
• How diligent should salespeople be before letting go of a potential opportunity?
• What channels (phone, email, social) should be included in the cadence?

Prescriptive solutions here are best: giving salespeople clear guidelines and encouraging them to be persistent can streamline cadences while allowing room to personalize.

Sales playbooks offer sales leadership an opportunity to set each sales team member up for success. By including each of these sections, sales leaders can also help set a tone of clarity and collaboration for an entire organization.

The post How to Build the Right Sales Playbook for Your Team appeared first on OpenView Labs.

This list of the top 25 skills that can make you more marketable in 2016 and beyond was published on the Official LinkedIn blog.

The data was gathered by analyzing all of the hiring and recruiting activity that occurred on LinkedIn in 2015 to find the 25 hottest skills required. Since LinkedIn has access to the hiring data of millions of companies and professionals across the globe, it stands to reason that we should pay attention to their insights.

Most are technical skills, but number 2, 3 & 4 are vital for marketing and & PR jobs.

Statistical Analysis and Data Mining

This skills is consistently ranked in the top four across every country LinkedIn analyzed. There is a lot that you need to learn to be able to do this effectively. And there are several ways you can gather data.

Surveying: Survey data can be used in many ways. I am sure you know that the media loves statistics. A good report can garner earned media attention and coverage. It does depend on how you present the findings though. One agency had a stellar study on health care but when they first released it they got zero media interest. After a rewrite of the report and better graphics to tell the story, it was picked up by major media and resulted in more than 1,000 qualified leads. You can use online tools to poll broader audiences or use outside vendors to help you gather data in hard-to-reach audiences. In some cases we’ve used freelance researchers to do the grunt work.

Listening: Social media has provided us with the ultimate research tool. We can now tap directly into conversations taking place right now on any subject or brand. We can find out what problems people are having, how they feel about your brand ad your competitors, what their needs and aspirations are and who the influencers are in that space. There are now a slew of tools to help you do this.

Data Mining: Every company already has tons of data about their product, their sales, their customers and the industry. The skill that’s needed is how to find that data and what to do with it. Having data without insights is totally useless. One tool you should know how to use is Google Analytics. There will be valuable data in CRM systems and other data sources too.

Analysis and Application: This is about seeing the bigger picture. You need to develop the ability to look at several pieces of data and see how they relate and what insight that can offer. It’s a logic skill – if A and B then …. and come up with a sound scenario that makes sense and gives direction.

Campaign Management

There are currently 9,510 marketing campaign manager jobs posted in the US on LinkedIn. These are some of the skills they require:

• Define campaign objectives, target audiences, strategies, and identify the optimum marketing mix of deliverables, events and media.
• Manage content strategy and content development as part of global editorial calendar.
• Create innovative and engaging marketing assets including infographics, slideshares, social posts, landing pages, podcasts, animated gifs, product collateral, email offers, and other tools as needed.
• Oversee project management of campaign and program execution including timelines, ROI/results, changes/improvements.
• Lead the development and publication of out-side-in market stories and conversations that lead a path back to product messaging for products sold into the target markets.
• Help determine appropriate marketing assets including product collateral, email offers, and other tools as needed such as infographics, whitepapers, videos, social media content
• Ongoing project management of the execution of campaigns and programs including timelines, ROI/results, changes/improvements, managing vendors
• Communicate campaign plans and results to internal and external audiences and secure executive, regional and cross-functional support
• Utilize marketing automation best practices to track, monitor and report on results of programs.

That’s quite a list.

SEO/SEM Marketing

This too requires a lot of skills. SEO and SEM for a start are two different animals. SEO is about organic search results and SEM is about paid search. Each has a different set of skills. To be effective at SEO you have to stay abreast of the constant changes in the search engine algorithms. That in itself is almost a full-time job today. At the very least you need to find some resources that will do that job for you, so that you can read two or three sources and stay current. Moz.com and Search Engine land would be my first two choices.

Read my book SMART News: how to write branded content that gets found in search and shared on social media.

Plenty of people find cold emails annoying, but it's actually one of the most tried-and-true sales tactics for generating new leads.

In fact, Dmitry Dragilev, founder of an outreach consulting service JustReachOut.io, claims he was able to help a startup called Polar get acquired by Google by helping them master the art of cold emailing.

Dragilev recently put together a bunch of cold email templates and resources on his own blog. 

We sorted through the list and narrowed it down to 9 of the most effective cold email templates that Dragilev says almost always guarantee a response — and perhaps a successful sales meeting.

SEE ALSO: These 21 foolproof sales tips will help you close deals faster and make tons of money

1. The $3,000 contract email

1) Clearly states he's familiar with the product and also a customer.

2) Establishes he knows his stuff by mentioning a big name customer.

3) Provides link to an actual example of his work.

4) Key point: Shows what the final product might look like, ensuring he'll at least get noticed.

5) Closes with a question, making it easy for the reader to respond to the email with an answer.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN:

"Don’t be afraid to give away tons of value. It means more work upfront, but you’ll stand out in the inbox." 

Source: Bryan Harris

2. A sales meeting cold mail done right

1) Clearly identifies the sender, his current role, and what he’s trying to sell. 

2) Pro tip: if you don’t know who to send an email to, just ask!

3) Clearly lists the exact time and date, while mentioning the length of the call.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN:

"Identify yourself clearly upfront, verify whether you’re talking to the right person, and clearly mention how much of their time you want (and when do you want it)." 

Source: Close.io

3. The "best cold email pitch" HubSpot ever received

1) By referring to HubSpot's blog post, he shows he's not just a random spammer.

2) Mentions a competitor's name to catch the reader's attention.

3) Offers an actual demo video to give an idea of what the final product would look like.

WHAT YOU CAN LEARN:

"Personalize your emails beyond the 'Hi [FirstName].' Mention something the receiver might have done recently (check their blog or Twitter) to grab attention right in the first sentence."

Source: HubSpot

See the rest of the story at Business Insider