The 5 Inbound Marketing trends every CMO should Know

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) job title is presently being talked up as apparently most dangerous to the extremely dynamic and ever changing nature of marketing. Marketing research has identified five major trends which will affect the CMO’s effect at work. Inbound marketing is now gaining popularity at the expense of the outbound version. Marketers are increasingly using content generated by external resources to aid lead generation process. Top marketers are in fact investing heavily in marketing automation software. Marketing and sales teams are now working in greater tandem than ever before in what are termed revenue centres. New benchmarks have thus arisen to provide the CMO with best ROI figures.

10 Reasons to Hire a Part-time Chief Innovation Officer

The CIO is someone who is in charge of ideating and subsequently implementing business innovation. However, some points clearly show how the CIO must be hired on part time basis. Firstly, an organization may not be able to afford the services of a full time professional dedicated to something which may not yield tangible results immediately. Also major innovations require lot of risk. At first stage, firms crawl on innovation, thus a part timer is better suited to the needs. Certain aspects of a CIO’s profile may be better handled by other employees, thus further rendering full time service as redundant. In certain cultures, outside professionals may get greater freedom to implement changes than internal hires. It may also be easier to convince a risk-averse top manager regarding recruitments for part time external resource. An ideal model could involve an internal full time employee working in tandem with a freelance external resource.  

The Innovator’s Mindset: Envisioning the Future

Business innovation is something hard to replicate, yet several companies across the globe are grappling to succeed at it. Business research has identified certain traits that are common to innovators. They bring value that is unique. Their innovations are long lasting and their successors can further build on them. They are also quick to embrace new ideas and disrupt themselves before testing on others. Eventually they monetize the innovations they create. Also, such innovators bring a sense of passion to the drawing board.

Japan’s Inbound Tourism & German Visitors by Numbers

Japanese tourists make up a significant amount of foreign visitors to Germany, yet the reverse is not true. Germans are not travelling as much to Japan as British or French are. Their numbers in turn pale in comparison to those from USA or China which stood at million plus. Germans are otherwise among the greatest travelers globally in terms of numbers which is why increase in their numbers for outbound tourism to Japan is a crucial cog in increasing tourism jobs in the archipelago.

How does your Business Fit into the Internet of Things

The way in which the Internet of Things (IoT) is taking shape, a number of businesses are trying to find ways in which they can use the same to their benefits. The manufacturing industry is expecting reduced energy consumption, improved efficiencies and fewer disruptions at work. The government is expecting environmental and cost benefits. For the logistics industry this is a business innovation to improve planning increase safety and provide better overall service. Wearable technologies are getting a boost due to the use of applications that are powered using the IoT.

10 Tips to Improve Workforce Alignment

The workforce needs to be aligned to the company requirements and certain suggestions have been provided by a business consulting publication to achieve the same. Transparency must be built into the system. Every team or must have its own set of accountability. Processes must be simple to follow and execute. The corporate strategy must be communicated and spread across the board for all to grasp. Performance reviews must be a constant part and not annual. Data analytics must be used to identify employees’ relative strengths and weaknesses. Certain aspects of the work must be outsourced to external contractors. Technology must be ingrained into the work system though the same must not be followed blindly. Most importantly, team members must work as a unit as social collaboration is bound to give best of results.

Customer Service lessons from Innovative Brands

Customers across organizations and sectors are providing clues as to what exactly they are looking for and innovative brands are those which are acting on such hints. Social media is one such form which generates enormous amount of big data for business analysis to be conducted which can yield tangible, first hand information. Hipmunk is one such firm which has revolutionized the trip search process by simplifying the entire stretch and diverting a portion on traffic away from established players such as Expedia and Travelocity. They have taken full advantage of the concept of digital marketing. Netflix and Tesco are two other such firms that have disrupted the existing chain.  

Why Focus is the Number-one Element of Business Success

The core competence of any business or group refers to activities which one is really good at. Business research suggests that success at work requires focus. Any working day can be divided into list of tasks most crucial, less so and least. Also a day may be divided into time consuming tasks, less so and least. However the two panes may not align simply because a time consuming task does not necessarily imply importance. Behaviour towards work similarly needs to follow as per the way work is to be driven.