The Advantages of Working for a Startup

There are many different risks that appear when working for startup companies. Over 75 percent of startups fail, so it is quite obvious that job security is something that is not a given, no matter how great the initial project is. Short-term risks are definitely high and the pay is not normally high when you are initially hired.

While the disadvantages are obviously numerous and should not be taken lightly, many are still highly interested in finding startup jobs. You have various different sites to help you find a startup job. The demand is high for these jobs, but why is that? Mainly: a startup job offers many advantages that often can’t be found in other traditional jobs.

Motivating Growth Environment

One of the advantages of working for a startup company is that the companies will encourage individualism and creativity, and strict hierarchy normally doesn’t really exist. This basically means that you will get a lot of freedom. The workers manage to directly influence the evolution of a startup, making this highly attractive for those that want to make a difference.

Working in a startup is something that is normally associated with risks but it is also something that is attractive because of the environment offered. Combine this with the potential growth that is much higher with a corporate job and you have something that is attractive for a large part of the population, especially younger people.

Attractive Extra Perks

The salary that you get in a startup job is normally lower than what you would obtain something else but the business owners do manage to attract many through extra perks. For instance, the company can allow you to work from home or can offer free meals. We can also highlight the fact that for many that look for a startup job it is the satisfaction of doing a really good job that is enough. While many work for salaries, some are attracted by other things.

Quickly Gaining Skills and Experience

The startup environment is naturally one that is sped up. You basically end up learning everything that you need to do in a much shorter period of time as you are forced to do this. Many skills can be gained and all those can be added to the CV.

A problem with the larger corporations is that job descriptions naturally limit duties. This is not actually the case in a startup since working there will force you to move to other duties and to constantly adapt. You can even end up mastering a brand new job, making you a lot more valuable for the future employer.

Should You Work For A Startup Company?

The truth is that working for a startup company is definitely not something that is for everyone. You may want to try it out though since startups can help you to grow at a much faster pace than regular jobs in large corporations. For many, this is the largest advantage associated with working for a startup.

 Source : http://bit.ly/1QryE0S

4 things you can do to become a better manager today

 

Effectively managing people is difficult, and no one is born knowing how to do it.

Fortunately, management can be learned. We suggest following these four steps, which are simple, but time-tested:

1. Set appropriate goals.

Goal-setting is essential. It helps employees prioritize their activities and focus their efforts. When setting goals with employees, you should make sure that they are SMART goals (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistically high, time and resource bound).

The goals must also be meaningful to the employee. Sufficient rewards for goal achievement and consequences for failure should be specified. This will ensure that the goal and what's needed to achieve it will rise to the top of the employees' "To Do" list.

Near the end of his life, H.L. Hunt, the self-made oil billionaire, was asked to name the requirements for success. He answered, "There are only two real requirements for success in life. The first requirement is deciding exactly what you want [setting goals]. Most people never get to that point. The second requirement is determining the price that will have to be paid to get it, and then resolving to pay that price."

2. Develop a plan to achieve the goals.

After setting goals with the employee, put together a plan to achieve them. To accomplish any individual goal, the employee will need to commit to a set of actions. A goal without an action plan is just a dream. It’s not real, and it’s not likely to happen.

Most people don’t understand how to break larger projects, goals or tasks down into actionable steps. As a manager, you can use your experience and knowledge to guide the employee. Keep the number of actions from becoming overwhelming by limiting them to what the employee can reasonably accomplish within two weeks. Set dates and even a deadline that makes sense, for when the employee will complete each action step. This will create the urgency necessary to complete the work in a timely manner.

Finally, holding a meeting that occurs at the same day and time each week will give you a mechanism for checking on progress and creating a natural deadline for your staff. The meeting can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as an hour, but should be comprised of three segments:

• First segment: Have the employee report to you on his or her progress.
• Second segment: Give the employee feedback and help him or her overcome obstacles that stand in the way.
• Third segment: Set new actions, including dates and times for completion.

3. Empower the employee.

To maximize the probability that your employees achieve their goals, empower them. That means three things. First, you must properly train your workers to do the tasks necessary to achieve their goals. This includes giving the employee enough time to practice the new skills so that they become proficient.

Second, motivate your people. Rewards for success and consequences for failure should be specified. But keep in mind that an environment that relies solely on either rewards or consequences will create a dysfunctional culture: You will have employees who either become used to a country-club existence or live in fear of making mistakes. Neither is conducive to long-term productivity.

Finally, remove roadblocks that are within the company’s control. Make sure that people have the tools, equipment and information they need to do their jobs. Removing roadblocks also includes developing effective policies and procedures.

4. Assess performance and make adjustments.

Once the above three steps are complete, you will need to assess performance and make any necessary changes. We’re not talking about annual performance evaluations. A formal review may happen only once a year, but effective management requires assessing performance much more frequently.

For employees who are new to the organization or learning a new task, you may need to assess performance daily or perhaps even more frequently. Get away from your desk and computer screen and walk around the area where your employees work. Stop to talk and ask questions. Be available and interested.

Employees who have demonstrated competence may require only a weekly meeting to stay on track. But, in either case, you should take an active role in monitoring and commenting on performance, to benefit both the organization and the employee.

Managing people is difficult. It’s not an exact science, and there is no magic wand to ensure you always get it right. In fact, you won’t always get it right. Even outstanding managers make mistakes. The good news is that managing people well is a learned skill.

With work, you can improve your capability in this area. A concerted effort on your part is required. But if your company is going to thrive, your skills as a manager will be of paramount importance.

   Source : http://read.bi/1PSHvVI

The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid When Starting a Business

Don’t expect overnight success.

If you are planning on starting a business this year you are undoubtedly full of excitement. While raw excitement, infatuation and determination are all great, you need to make sure that you proceed with caution so as not to encounter the common pitfalls that lead to business failure.

The 5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid  When Starting a Business in 2016

Avoid making these five beginner mistakes many new entrepreneurs often make—and good luck with your new business venture!

1. Expecting overnight success

Very few businesses are going to go from launch to successful revenue monster overnight. Yes, it happens, but not as often as one might think. The media is always going to talk about a unicorn startup that was conceived on a bar napkin and valued at $100 million two months later, rather than a business that’s been plugging away for the past few years, barely staying above water.

So, go into it knowing that you may potentially need a long time to get your business off the ground. If it happens quickly, that’s a bonus, but it’s better to have realistic expectations and not be disappointed.

2. Sitting back and assuming sales will roll in

It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is—if nobody knows it exists, your business will die. You have to market your business and put it directly in front of your target audience.

My online marketing company receives a lot of inquiries from startups that all have the same question: “What do we do if we don’t have a marketing budget?” 

Actually, there are plenty of things that you can do if you are willing to put in the work. A well-thought-out content marketing strategy and media outreach campaign can be executed with little to no marketing budget.

Simply assuming that your target audience will magically discover your brand is foolish—be prepared to grind hard in the beginning to generate momentum.

3. Failing to perform simple due diligence

Will your business name be infringing on an existing trademark?

Is there a domain name available that will make it easy for potential customers to find your business online?

Is your business name available on all the popular social profiles?

These are just a few examples of basic due diligence that can help you avoid problems down the road. A basic word mark search through the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) should be your first step. If it looks like your business name isn’t going to infringe on a mark, see if the domain name is available and then move on to social media profiles.

There are plenty of coupons floating around online that will allow you to register a domain for a dollar, and creating social media profiles won’t cost you a dime. Just be sure to secure your online footprint first.

4. Not going in with a long-term plan

Running a business “on the fly” without a well-thought-out plan is entrepreneurial suicide. On the fly can lead to mismanagement of funds and resources, which will ultimately sink your ship.

While you can’t predict (or prevent) all obstacles you will encounter, setting up some long-term planning will help you avoid inexcusable mistakes. For example, a long-term marketing budget will help ensure that you have funds to cover the marketing, while still leaving enough money to handle operations and payroll.

Source : http://for.tn/1O4yA1l

Quote of the day

5 Big Changes Coming to Social Media in 2016

It’s been a memorable year in social media. 2015 saw the birth of live social streaming, with apps like Periscope and Meerkat winning over early adopters. Snapchat fully shed its reputation as a niche network and now counts more than 200 million active users. Meanwhile, video dominated social headlines, with Facebook users now logging an estimated 8 billion video views a day(even more than on YouTube, by some counts).

What does 2016 hold for social media users? Expect to see new technologies fundamentally change how we interact with social media, opening up new options like shopping and enabling us to share ever-more vivid, real-time experiences. But new functionality and the widening universe of social options also threaten to leave some users in the dust. Here’s a peek into the crystal ball at five trends that will change how we use social media in 2016:

Virtual reality comes to social media: “Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.” That’s what Mark Zuckerberg wrote after Facebook acquired Oculus, the virtual reality company, for $2 billion back in March 2014. Well, we won’t have to imagine much longer. Facebook has already begun incorporating Oculus technology into its 360 Video. The unique videos, which have rolled out on News Feeds, allow users to experience scenes from different angles (looking right, left, up, down, etc.), on both web and mobile devices, creating a more immersive experience.

Right now, there’s 360 Video available from the likes of Vice and The Disney Channel and a really cool clip from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Expect to see more immersive videos in 2016 as publishers and even brands catch up with the technology and begin creating more content. As for true, fully immersive VR, the consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset is slated for release in early 2016, opening up even more interesting possibilities for our News Feeds. Meanwhile, Oculus VR has already released a new “social” appcalled Oculus Social Alpha, for use with the Samsung Gear VR headset. The virtual movie-watching app allows you to “sit” in a theater and watch a video in real-time with other users — perhaps the first truly social application of Facebook’s new technology.

Social shopping takes off: Over the last year, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest all unveiled or upgraded in-line buy buttons, which allow users to purchase clothes, crafts, gadgets and more without ever leaving their feeds. In many respects, this development is long overdue. We’re already discovering and talking about products on social media, and four out of five people say that posts from friends directly influence buying decisions. Plus, overseas in China, Korea and elsewhere, social channels have long incorporated ecommerce functionality.

So far, the primary stumbling block in North America has been ease of use. To buy on social media, we’ve had to click out to other sites (always problematic on smartphones) or we’ve been offered limited selection (a lathe now defunct Facebook Gifts). But innovations like Pinterest’s Buyable Pins now let users browse color and style options and pay, all without leaving the platform. In 2016, expect to see networks’ role shift from being channels whose primary function in ecommerce is providing referral traffic to being platforms where users make purchases directly.

Facebook Live takes live streaming mainstream: 2015 started off with lots of excitement about the new crop of live streaming apps, which allow users to broadcast live video to their followings. By late summer, Twitter-owned Periscope already boasted 10 million active users, and just this month it was named by Apple the best iOS app of 2015.

Expect to see live streaming reach a whole new, mainstream audience in the year ahead as Facebook rolls out its own mobile streaming functionality, generally referred to as Facebook Live. Already being beta-tested among a small number of U.S. iOS users, the feature allows for instantly sharing live video using the Facebook platform. What’s key here is that you don’t have to download a special app or leave Facebook to use the new video functionality. If Facebook Live rolls out as expected, it’s likely to not only dominate other live streaming options but also to fundamentally change the way Facebook’s 1.5 billion users engage with the platform.

The social media skills gap at work widens: With the explosion of workplace social networks like Slack (which recently saw more than 1 million users logged in at the same time) and the imminent launch of Facebook at Work, using social media in the office has gone from taboo to requirement. Businesses are incorporating social tools to streamline internal communications, to help sales staff reach customers, and, of course, for marketing and advertising. The problem is that front-line employees aren’t up to the challenge. Among 2,100 companies surveyed by Harvard Business Review, just 12 percent of those using social media feel they use it effectively. Even millennials brought up on social media are falling short: “Because somebody grows up being a social media native, it doesn’t make them an expert in using social media at work,”explains William Ward, professor of social media at Syracuse University.

The consequence of this social media skills gap can be seen in mounting corporate social media gaffes, from misused hashtags (see #WhyIStayed) to scheduled posts gone awry, not to mention trillions of dollars (yes, trillions) in lost productivity and business value. In 2016, expect to see social media training finally begin to make its way into the workplace in an effort to close this gap — similar to initiatives launched when office software suites and later email and the Internet itself emerged as critical business tools. A number of online offerings now provide self-paced lessons and video modules designed for the workplace. (Hootsuite is giving our course away free.)

Social media customer service gets a lot better: Customer service on social media has always seemed like a great idea. Why wait on the phone when you can Tweet and get an answer immediately? But the reality has been quite different. A new study of 500 top retailers shows that only 20 percent answer questions sent via Twitter and 54 percent respond via Facebook. And the average response time ranges from 27–31 hours! Not to mention that not all customer service problems lend themselves to being handled out in the open in a public forum.

Fortunately, change is on the horizon. In the latter part of 2015, both Twitter and Facebook significantly upped their customer service functionality. Twitter ditched the “mutual follow” requirement for its DM (Direct Messages) feature, meaning companies and customers can now contact each other directly and privately. At the same time, it lifted the standard 140-character limit for Direct Messages, so DM now makes a great one-on-one channel for tackling customer issues. Facebook, not to be outdone, has launched a beta version of Messenger Business, offering a new chat-based avenue for companies to have real-time, personal conversations with customers. Considering that Messenger has more than 800 million users, it’s not hard to see it evolving into a ubiquitous, mobile-friendly channel for customer service in the years ahead.

Perhaps the biggest change in social media is the accelerated evolution of networks into “everything platforms.” Twitter isn’t just for blasting out 140-character updates anymore: It’s for one-on-one messaging, video-sharing, customer service and more. Facebook isn’t just about connecting with friends: It’s now (or soon to be) a workplace productivity tool, a video sharing and streaming platform, a place to shop, etc. Similar transformations can be seen across LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat, among other networks. Social media has become less a discrete thing that people do than a natural component of everything they do. And that trend shows no signs of slowing.

Source : http://bit.ly/1PkKSKb

Six Trends Shaping Location Marketing In 2016

How will local marketing change this year? 

From apps to beacons to mobile wallets, columnist Adam Dorfman covers six trends local search marketers should pay attention to.

How should businesses think about location marketing in 2016?

With more than 50 percent of all computing currently being done on mobile devices, I believe location marketing is on the cusp of exploding into something new: Becoming the foundation for all marketing.

The increasingly strategic value of location data and the strength of mobile will make local marketing more of a foundation of all of marketing. Here are six key trends shaping the local marketing landscape in 2016:

1. Location Data Will Become The Foundation For Local Marketing

For quite some time, businesses have treated location data — such as their names, addresses and phone numbers — as a passive asset that protects their brands. Keep your location data accurate, and you make it easier for searchers to find you. 

But brands are realizing that data aggregators such as Localeze and publishers such as Apple and Foursquare can be powerful partners to amplify location data across the digital world where customers live, search and shop.

As a result, businesses have a new imperative: to make their data more accessible by unleashing it through relationships with major publishers and aggregators, as well as carefully curated vertical market platforms. 

According to SIM Partners proprietary research, enterprises that improved the accuracy and reach of their location data by just 20 percent saw traffic to their location pages increase up to 450 percent and on-page action conversion rates increase by 216 percent.

2. Google Will Invest More In Local Search

Google adding local searches to their recently released Search Quality Ratings Guidelines, releasing a Google My Business API and saying that local knowledge graph results will soon be editable, all point to the fact that local search is getting a lot of attention at Google HQ at the moment. 

I suspect that the drop of local business information from Google+ is the first of many large disruptions from Google in the local search space. 

3. Apps Will Flex Their Location Marketing Muscle

Businesses are discovering how apps such as Periscope and Snapchat can support advertising and direct response at a national level. Dunkin’ Donuts recently included Snapchat as part of a promotion to celebrate National Coffee Day. Taco Bell used Periscope to promote a biscuit taco giveaway across its locations.

National enterprises have the muscle to measure the results of these campaigns and adapt them for even more targeted audiences, which is where local marketing becomes more relevant. We’ll see the emergence of more sophisticated local marketing to capitalize on regional differences in demographics, seasons and local events.

To take advantage of the value of micro-platforms, businesses need to syndicate their location data more aggressively to the aforementioned data amplifiers that share their data with these apps.

4. Beacon Mania Will Grow In The First Part Of The Year, Before It Inevitably Ebbs

In 2015, beacons were the darling of location marketing, with big brands such as Target announcing national implementations designed to share more meaningful content with shoppers through their mobile devices. Business Insider predicted that beacons would directly influence $4 billion in in-store sales in the United States in 2015, a figure that would increase by tenfold in 2016.

But early adopters are already discovering the drawbacks of beacons, which include limited range and high maintenance, especially for brands with hundreds and thousands of locations. 

In 2016, brands will take a more measured approach toward beacon adoption as they weigh other options to generate in-store traffic and sales, including GPS and emerging technologies such as the IndoorAtlas indoor positioning system (IPS), which relies on a building’s “magnetic signature” to help shoppers locate products and other people inside large buildings such as shopping malls.

Beacons will not go away, but businesses will begin to target their use more selectively to offer targeted content to shoppers in-store.

5. Mobile Wallets Will Explode In Popularity

Just as businesses are getting savvier about the limitations of beacons, they’re also beginning to wake up to the power of mobile wallet offers to create customers at the local level. 

According to mobile marketing provider Vibes, more than half of consumers would like to receive mobile wallet content on a weekly basis, and 70 percent of consumers will save an offer to a mobile wallet when presented with the option.

Consumer acceptance of mobile wallets, coupled with the widespread uptake of Apple Pay, has already inspired businesses such as Pep Boys to create compelling mobile wallet offers that increase foot traffic and sales.

With 80 percent of “near me” searches occurring on mobile devices, businesses are finding more creative ways to create contextual content that turns searchers into shoppers. 

But what will help mobile wallets take off in 2016 is their increasingly diverse applications, ranging from coupons to loyalty programs to mass transit.

6. Disruptors Will Continue To Edge Their Way Into What Has Traditionally Been Google’s Turf

Google will continue to be the 800-pound gorilla of search, but we’ll also see Apple and Facebook continue to encroach upon Google.

Consider how Apple is making search more predictive and smart through iOS 9. In an iOS 9 world, Apple Search has become a far more powerful search tool by drawing up a number of local data sources, including native app content. 

By proactively serving up suggestions for nearby things to do and buy before you even conduct a search, Apple Search is fast becoming an intriguing pathway for location marketing.

In the meantime, Facebook continues to strengthen itself as a local search platform. The day is fast arriving when Facebook will serve up suggested local enterprise content next to personal conversations and queries about where to go and what to buy. I see opportunities for Facebook to monetize its business directory and make use of personal recommendations that people make to each other.

Brands need to pay closer attention to how consumers are using alternatives to Google and build relationships with these publishing alternatives.

Final Thoughts

To flourish with local marketing in 2016, enterprises should broaden their local search ecosystem to include apps such as Snapchat, treat their location data as a scalable asset and pivot to the needs of mobile consumers. Adaptable brands will win with local marketing in 2016.

Source : http://selnd.com/1VJVQrw

Quote of the day.

6 content marketing trends to watch in 2016

It's that time of year again. Columnists, bloggers, prognosticators all publish their digital marketing "predictions" for the New Year.

Personally, no can do. I'm an analyst, not a clairvoyant. And I don't possess a crystal ball. But as someone who continually keeps a finger on the pulse of content marketing and content strategy, and who conducts multiple research projects on the topics (as well as updates earlier reports), I'm trained in pattern recognition. That's what analysts do, and while not infallible, research-based analysis is a better predictor of what's to come than crystal-ball gazing, tea leaves, or reading entrails.

That qualifier out of the way, here are the content trends I'll be watching in 2016:

The content stack (again)

The content stack will continue to evolve. Rather than hundreds of point solutions, marketers will soon be able to look to one-stop solutions for their content marketing needs that incorporate most (if not all) of the eight content workflow scenarios. This will simplify processes and enable tighter integration with earned and paid media.

Senior roles focused on content

Enterprises will begin to hire more senior executives to oversee content initiatives. If 2015 was the year of the content manager or director, 2016 will usher in VP and higher roles. Content is not a channel; it's related to every aspect of advertising, marketing, and communications initiatives. As such, it requires senior, strategic oversight -- something companies are coming to recognize.

A continued need for strategy 

Content strategy will accelerate, but not enough. My research findings correlate with other studies. Overall, we're finding that some 75 percent of enterprises regularly commit to content marketing while paying no heed whatsoever to developing and documenting a governing content strategy. Objectives, goals, systems of measurement, processes, and people -- all are secondary to the burning "we need more content, and we need it now" issue. I've been speaking with my peers who, like me, help enterprises develop content strategies. More and more often, they complain that prospective clients try to engage them to keep the blog bursting with content, but not to solve the "why" or "how" of that (and similar) initiatives. Mark my words, content marketers: without the strategy in place, you'll soon be spinning your wheels, not to mention creating excess costs in money, resources, and efficiencies.

Content measurement becomes more robust and meaningful

For too long, sales has been the alpha and omega of content measurement. Don't get me wrong, sales is the lifeblood of any organization. But it's not the only measure of success, not in content nor in any other marketing initiative. I've been researching how forward-thinking companies are measuring other crucial aspects of content initiatives. These aren't meaningless volume metrics such as "likes" and "follows," but ROI-related analysis you can take to the bank (or to the CFO). Companies wise enough to build content strategies have a huge advantage here -- they'll know what they can measure, as well as how to measure it.

Global content becomes a thing

My clients are working to figure out how to manage content on a global level. What should teams look like? What tools work for international cooperation? How much central authority should exist versus local and/or regional input? What channels, audiences, creative, and messaging can be the same, and what needs differentiation on different continents, or in different countries? As content rises in importance (and display advertising correspondingly diminishes), global content strategy will be a growing concern.

Content around new things

This is 2016's most emerging and nascent trend, but one that will be huge in subsequent years. As we move from mobile content into the Internet of Things, and into a world full of beacons and sensors, content will decouple from screens in many cases, yet be associated with a growing universe of objects and things. Content will permeate the customer experience -- the "who," "what," "when," and "where" of all interactions. Your car, printer, TV, refrigerator, fitness tracker, phone -- all these devices and more will interface, talk to each other, and share content. I'm fascinated by what kinds of content will develop in the next wave of technology, and will be keeping a close eye on the horizon of content disruption next year, and in the years to follow.

Source : http://bit.ly/1Rrspev

7 Marketing Trends You Need to Know for 2016

Here are seven marketing trends to budget for in 2016 and to set up your team for success.

Mobile, video, and other marketing tactics that have been on the rise for years aren't really "trends" anymore. So, how many more trend articles do marketers have to read through that really just tell us what we already know?

Now, just because they're not current trends doesn't make them unimportant. Optimizing for mobile and including high-quality visual content and video in your strategy are still good practices. But to keep yourself and your company ahead of the competition, you need to analyze what's happening now, review your strategy from different perspectives, and prepare for what's to come.

To help, here are seven marketing trends to budget for in 2016 and to set up your team for success.

1. Writing skills and experience will be critical.

When the industry started shifting from print to digital, there was fear among English and journalism students that their craft was dying and no one with a degree in those fields would have jobs. And now with the rise in content, these research, writing, and editing skills are becoming increasingly important, especially when high-quality content is becoming the new SEO.

However, in its 2016 B2B Content Marketing report, the Content Marketing Institute found that only 19 percent of marketers would prioritize becoming stronger writers in the coming year. To keep up with other top content creators and publishers in your industry, encourage your HR team to recruit employees with these game-changing skill sets to build a successful content team, or start investing in education to help your existing team strengthen its writing.

2. Content marketing will enhance other areas of business.

Many people view marketing as the department that works solely to promote your company to your external audience, and while this is one of its key functions, it's not the only one. Content the marketing team produces will become an increasingly necessary asset to many other departments at modern companies, because those resources the team creates for external audiences are just as helpful for internal audiences.

For example, marketing team publishes a piece of content, our entire team is alerted. Because the content is created for your audience, including clients and prospective customers, your client-facing and production team members can use it to fuel their efforts, our sales team can send it to address common objections or questions, and your HR team can use it to train new team members about your processes. 

3. Personalization will prevail.

One of my favorite keynote speakers at this year's BOLO digital marketing conference was my friend and marketing trend expert Rohit Bhargava. During his speech, he talked about the growing importance of personalization and providing opportunities for clients and customers to feel like VIPs, and he used Disney's MagicBands as an example.

Instead of every visitor receiving the same band, each Disney MagicBand is personalized to that visitor's vacation experience. These simple gestures of personalization show that your brand cares about individual customers, and they're effective. In fact, my daughter didn't want to take off her band when we left Disney because it made her feel so special. Avoid generic templates and find ways-from simply targeting your messaging to sending personalized emails and gifts-to make each individual customer feel that special.

4. Industry authority positioning will become a must.

 Companies without thought leaders who provide voices and contribute to industry conversations are taking harder hits to their credibility than ever before. Executive branding and leadership positioning are no longer just nice to execute-they're becoming increasingly necessary. People want a connection to your brand, and they want to trust your leadership. The best way to establish this connection and trust is to create content that showcases your authority.

To effectively position your company, start taking advantage of your team's unique insights and expertise, and craft your messages into thought leadership content that establishes your company as the industry leader.

5. Add value for your audience and stop selling to them all the time.

Stop focusing only on making the sale, and start focusing also on delivering true value to your customers and potential clients. Whether this value is found in the quality of your content or in the experiences you provide, it's becoming more and more important for marketers to ensure that value is delivered to those who interact with their brands.

For example, on a recent call with Mura Experience Platform, a member of its team mentioned to me that a custom Cards Against Humanity deck designed for attendees of the Content Marketing World event with the Mura Experience Platform brand was one of their most successful marketing campaigns. This campaign was successful because it was original and delivered direct value to Mura Experience Platform's target audience. To keep up with competition, it will be important for marketers to take advantage of the rise in content to create and deliver value to customers.

6. Thought leadership is a new SEO driver.

Traditional SEO-using link building and keyword optimization to increase your pages' search results-is no longer your ticket to high rankings on Google. After Google's continued algorithm updates throughout the year, the search giant has begun rewarding higher-quality content with higher search rankings. Despite efforts by some companies and content creators to cheat their ways to the top of results pages, high-quality content prevails over the old keyword-stuffing tactics of the past.

For example, in my own writing during the past year or so, I've seen a dramatic difference in traffic to my own articles because my team and I have continued to perfect our content-creation processes to align with exactly what our target audience is searching for. Now when you search terms like "thought leadership speakers," you can easily find the article I published to my Forbes column. Because Google's updated algorithm recognizes that this piece of content was created to provide specific value to my individual readership, it rewards the article with a higher ranking to make it easier for readers to find.

As a marketer moving into 2016, your priority should be to provide the best possible content to your audience, not to publish junk content in hopes that it'll land you on page one. Trust me, when you create truly engaging, valuable, and relevant content crafted to serve members of your audience and what they're looking for, you'll earn that sweet spot at the top of the results page.

7. Full-service won't solve all your problems.

The best thing you can say to make someone lose faith in your company's credibility is "My company is great at everything." No single company is great at everything, and that's why full-service firms are becoming a thing of the past.

As the industry becomes more specialized, we'll see fewer full-service, best-at-everything marketing companies in 2016. Instead, focus your efforts on the one thing your company is truly great at and what your customers need and want most from you, and become the absolute best at whatever that is. You'll need to live and breathe that area, develop technology to support your efforts, and consistently innovate your products and services, but you'll ultimately serve your team and your customers better if you focus your efforts on the one thing that separates you from your competitors.

As this year draws to a close and your marketing team starts determining what initiatives will be valuable investments in 2016, a variety of content resources,marketing speakers, and other thought leadership resources will help point you in the right direction. Take the time over the holiday season to do the research and plan where your focus should be in 2016.

Source : http://bit.ly/21olt5h