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19 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

Branding 101: Choosing the Right Business Name

When starting a new business (or even venturing into the world of freelancing for the first time), there are some really big, important steps you have to take.

Step #1 is choosing the right business name for your brand identity.

Your business name isn’t something you can casually choose either — especially if you have lofty long-term goals for your company. It’s not as though you can’t change the name down the road, but that comes with a ton of work and will require you to rebuild pretty much everything all over again: your visual brand identity, your reputation, and your SEO…

So, it’s a good idea to spend time choosing a business name that’s going to work for you now and long into the future.

Today, we’re going to go through the process of how to name your brand. These questions will have you thinking beyond just “What name do I like the sound of?” and have you more focused on important questions like “What is my unique value proposition?”.

Let’s get started:

How to Name Your New Business

For those of you considering taking the easy way out and using a business name generator tool, let me show you why that’s a bad idea:

This is a list of business names suggested to me when I told the generator that my business is related to “design”:

Design
Normal Design
Regional Design
Design Partner
Design Stock

Even the more unique names on the list are unusable; they have no connection to me personally or to the kind of business I plan to start.

This is why it’s so important to sort out your brand identity and make sure you pick a business name that resonates with you, and your target audience. To do this yourself, answer the following seven questions:

1. What Services Will You Provide Or Products Will You Sell?

The one thing that name generators get right is including a descriptive word related to your business. That way, it doesn’t take an actual visit to your website or a look through your portfolio to figure out what you do.

Even if you have a very niche specialty, sum up your offering in one or two words. For instance:

Web design
Digital design
Design & development
UX design
Graphic design

Unless you run your business through your own name (which I’ll talk about shortly), your business name should include a simplified version of your offering in it.

2. Who Is Your Target User Persona?

A user persona is a fictional character created using the demographics and psychology of your ideal customer or client. You can use Hubspot’s Make My Persona generator to create a card that documents these details:

Once you sort out who you serve, what makes them tick, and how it fits into the bigger picture of their business, you can better pitch your solution to them.

For instance, Joanna above is a real estate agent and owner whose primary goal is to capture leads and generate sales. You know how effective a real estate website can be for improving an agent’s visibility online and streamlining how they earn money.

So, including words in your business name that speak to that persona as well as their goals might be really useful.

Just keep in mind that web designers don’t always commit to one niche or stick with the same niche over the long run. So, you might not want to make your business name too specific to an industry (e.g. “Real Estate Design Solutions”) and more related to higher level themes and goals.

3. What Are The Names Of Your Top Competitors?

Do you know who your main competitors will be upon entering this space? If not, now’s the time to look them up.

When it comes to business names, you want to see if you can identify common threads among them. Perhaps they use puns or include location-specific descriptors. Or they just stick with the names they were born with.

While you don’t want to come off as a copycat, you can imbue your business name with a similar theme or tone if it’s proven to be successful with your shared audience.

4. What Makes You Different?

Every business has a unique value proposition (UVP) — something that sets them apart from everyone else in the space. What’s yours?

Do you operate within a large metropolitan area where your prospective clients’ industry is booming?

Did you previously work in the industry for which you now build websites?

Are you an SEO expert who builds enterprise websites that rank?

In business, it’s good to be different — so long as it benefits your clients.

If you have a particular UVP that’s going to make you stand out, you’re going to use it everywhere to market yourself — your website, social media, sales pitches, etc. So, you might want to consider using a unique keyword from it within your business name.

5. Where Do You Envision Yourself In Five Years?

No one’s future is set in stone. However, if you’re seriously thinking about starting a new web design business, you have some ideas about where you want to go with it:

Do you like the idea of being a lifelong freelancer or digital nomad?
Would you like to operate your own design agency?
Do you have aspirations to build and sell website products, like plugins, themes, or UI kits instead?

If you expect to pivot your business at some point, be careful about choosing a business name that paints you into a corner. Keep it broader so that prospects don’t have to wonder what it is you really do.

And if you plan on scaling your business beyond yourself, using your own name might not be the best idea. You’ll want clients to associate the brand name with your agency, not with you specifically.

6. Will Your Business Name Be Easy To Remember?

At this point, you have some business names brewing. So, now we need to look at the more technical aspects of naming your brand.

Here’s what you need to do.

a. Write down no more than three to five business names you like.

For example:

Honeymooners Web Design
Charles Murphy Design & Development
FoREver Websites
SOLD Web Design Agency

b. Mash each name into one long lowercase string. Don’t include any punctuation.

For example:

honeymoonerswebdesign
charlesmurphydesignanddevelopment
foreverwebsites
soldwebdesignagency

c. Are any of the names difficult to read? Too long? Do any of them cause confusion and look like they mean something else?

If so, get rid of them as a matching domain name won’t work. Or, if you absolutely love them, fix the name so it’s clear, readable, and short. For instance:

charlesmurphydesignanddevelopment becomes charlesmurphydesign or just charlesmurphy.

7. Does The Name You Want Already Exist?

It’s a good idea to have a backup name in case you discover that the name you want already exists. Due to trademarking issues as well as possible confusion for your clients, you’ll want to avoid using a name that overlaps with or is the same as any other company (in or outside of web design).

Do a Google search for the business name you want to use. Check out the top 10 search results to see if there are any other matches.

You’ll also want to test out the domain name. Go to Domain.com and run your business name string through it:

You have a few options if this happens:

Choose a different top-level domain (e.g. .tech, .io, .design).
Use an abbreviated version of your business name (e.g. solddesignagency.com).
Move your backup business name to the front of the line and see if it’s available.

It all depends on how attached you are to the business name you’ve chosen. Just make sure that any changes you make to it (like shortening the domain name or using an alternate TLD) doesn’t cause confusion for prospects who look you up online. You don’t want them confusing someone else’s domain name for yours if business name and domain name don’t line up.

Choosing a Business Name Is Just the First Step…

Once you’ve settled on your business name, share it with a few people you trust. They’ll let you know if you’ve totally missed the mark or if it’s something you should be excited to run with.

As soon as you’re 100% sure it’s the right name, buy the domain name and register your company. Then, it’ll be official!

Of course, this isn’t the end to branding your new business. In our next Branding 101 post, we’re going to look at the next step: How to create the visual identity for your business.

Stay tuned!

Featured image via Pexels.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

14 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

Faire de l’expérience client un avantage concurrentiel

Actualités, ERP & Applications, SAP

Les clients accordent de plus en plus d’importance à l’expérience qu’ils reçoivent plutôt qu’au prix ou au produit. C’est pourquoi l’expérience client est rapidement devenue une priorité absolue pour toutes les entreprises. En 2020, avec les livraisons à domicile et les mesures de distanciation sociale mises en place en réponse à la COVID-19, les consommateurs sont passés à la commande sur smartphone pour acheter de tout, de la soupe aux noix.

De plus en plus de personnes utilisent des applications mobiles pour faire venir de la nourriture à leur porte. Les consommateurs savent à quel point il est important d’utiliser ces applications, que ce soit dans le confort de leur propre maison ou sur le trajet domicile-travail. Avec des options de personnalisation pour enregistrer leurs préférences, des informations précises sur les prix et des offres à portée de main, les attentes des consommateurs en matière de rapidité et d’absence de friction pour passer leurs commandes n’ont jamais été aussi grandes.

Bien entendu, pour pouvoir offrir une excellente expérience au client à ce niveau, il faut investir dans des technologies et des processus intelligents.

Renforcer les capacités du commerce électronique

Ce n’est pas seulement un dépanneur et un détaillant de carburant typique, mais Casey’s General Stores Inc. (Casey’s) est la cinquième plus grande chaîne de pizzas d’Amérique, avec plus de 19 millions de pizzas servies chaque année. En développant des liens communautaires solides, la marque est intégrée au tissu des petites villes du Midwest, offrant un service de proximité 24 heures sur 24, soutenant des causes importantes et célébrant les héros locaux.

Si la marque a su gagner des adeptes, Casey’s devait faire plus avec ses systèmes de commande et de paiement en ligne. Ils ont été construits sur des logiciels vieillissants qui n’ont pas su suivre le rythme de l’époque, ce qui a eu pour conséquence une expérience client en ligne qui n’était pas à la hauteur de l’essence de la marque, hyper pratique et axée sur la communauté.

Ainsi, dans le cadre de sa transformation numérique, il était non seulement essentiel pour Casey’s de renforcer ses capacités en matière de commerce électronique, mais il lui fallait aussi mettre l’expérience du client au premier plan et répondre plus rapidement aux changements du marché.

Pour ce faire, elle a dû utiliser des technologies intelligentes pour créer une application pratique pour smartphone et un site Web mobile afin de rationaliser les commandes par téléphone portable, ce qui a permis aux habitants de ces villes du Midwest de prendre leurs pizzas préférées très facilement et rapidement. En même temps, dans le but de l’aider à atteindre de nouveaux niveaux de confort, Casey’s a conçu un programme de fidélisation des clients.

citation de Art Sebastian, VP de Casey's

Rationalisation des processus de commande et de paiement

Pour rationaliser le processus de commande et de paiement en permettant aux clients de payer en ligne, Casey’s a déployé les solutions SAP Commerce Cloud et SAP Customer Data Cloud du portefeuille SAP Customer Experience. L’application mobile permet aux clients de passer des commandes de ramassage ou de livraison, de définir une carte de crédit par défaut pour le paiement, de personnaliser les commandes de pizza, de trouver un magasin, de parcourir le menu, de suivre les commandes, de réorganiser les favoris et de vérifier le prix du carburant.

Dans les cinq mois qui ont suivi son lancement, Casey’s a généré environ 65 % de ses revenus numériques grâce à l’application et 30 % supplémentaires grâce au Web mobile.

En lançant son premier programme de fidélité numérique, Casey’s Rewards, sur SAP Customer Data Cloud, Casey’s a organisé les données, le consentement et les préférences des clients et les a reliés directement à ses applications sur SAP Commerce Cloud. D’un seul coup, Casey’s est en mesure de récompenser sa légion de fans avec des offres à valeur ajoutée, tout en l’aidant à mieux connaître leurs besoins – ce qui lui permet en fin de compte de proposer des expériences qui dépassent ces besoins.

Une évolution rapide à l’époque de COVID-19

L’investissement de Casey dans les technologies intelligentes a également permis à ses magasins de rester ouverts pendant la période de COVID-19 et à l’entreprise d’avancer plus rapidement que jamais. Pour répondre aux attentes des clients pendant cette période, Casey’s a donné la priorité aux livraisons sans contact, s’est associé à un service de livraison tiers, a élargi la gamme de produits de marchandises générales disponibles en ligne et a lancé un service de livraison en bordure de trottoir.

Pour en savoir plus sur la transformation numérique de Casey’s, nous avons rencontré Art Sebastian, vice-président de Digital Guest Experience chez Casey’s à SAPPHIRE NOW Converge. Dans cette interview de quatre minutes, il décrit comment le détaillant de la supérette a fait de l’expérience client un avantage concurrentiel. Pour en savoir plus, consultez l’étude sur la transformation de l’entreprise, « Casey’s : Building True Customer Loyalty Over Pizza ».

Article publié en anglais sur blogs.sap.com

The post Faire de l’expérience client un avantage concurrentiel appeared first on SAP France News.

8 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

SAP lance 5&5 by ’25 et incite les entreprises à dépenser mieux avec les fournisseurs sociaux et issus de la diversité

Actualités, ERP & Applications, SAP

SAP va consacrer 5% de ses dépenses annuelles auprès d’entreprises sociales et de fournisseurs issus de la diversité d’ici 2025, l’équivalent de 60 millions de dollars par an.

SAP invite les entreprises de tout secteur à rejoindre le mouvement et à acheter davantage de biens et de services auprès de ce type d’organisations.

WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE : SAP) a annoncé aujourd’hui le lancement de « 5 & 5 by ’25 », une initiative dont l’objectif est de réaliser 5 % de ses dépenses auprès d’entreprises sociales et de fournisseurs issus de la diversité d’ici 2025. En fixant cet objectif, SAP souhaite montrer l’exemple et inciter les entreprises du monde entier à acheter davantage de biens et de services auprès de fournisseurs dont les actions et les valeurs ont du sens, et ainsi de produire un impact collectif positif sur les sociétés dans lesquelles elles mènent leurs activités.

Selon la Banque mondiale, les dépenses consacrées aux achats à travers le monde en 2019 s’élevaient au minimum à 14 000 milliards de dollars. En redirigeant ne serait-ce qu’une petite partie de ces dépenses vers des entreprises sociales agréées et des fournisseurs issus de la diversité, les entreprises ont le pouvoir de s’attaquer à certains des problèmes sociaux et environnementaux les plus préoccupants à l’échelle mondiale.

D’après les premiers projets pilotes effectués sur certains marchés, SAP estime pouvoir consacrer chaque année jusqu’à 60 millions de dollars de ses dépenses mondiales adressables aux entreprises sociales et aux fournisseurs issus de la diversité d’ici 2025. Chez les sociétés de l’indice boursier DAX, ce chiffre est estimé à environ 2,5 milliards d’euros, tandis que pour les sociétés de la liste Fortune 500 aux États-Unis, les estimations s’élèvent à 25 milliards de dollars.

Membre du Conseil d’administration de SAP, à la tête de l’entité Customer Success et récemment nommée Global Buy Social Ambassador de Social Enterprise UK, Adaire Fox-Martin a annoncé l’initiative « 5 & 5 by ’25 » lors de l’événement Procurement Reimagined organisé par SAP à Singapour.

« Toutes les entreprises, dans tous les secteurs, ont besoin de réaliser des achats », a expliqué Mme Fox-Martin. « Nous avons tous besoin de savon dans nos sanitaires, de services d’aménagement pour nos bureaux, de produits alimentaires et de boissons dans nos cafétérias, de services de marketing et de fournitures de bureau. Ces produits et services, parmi tant d’autres, peuvent tous être acquis auprès d’entreprises sociales et de fournisseurs issus de la diversité. Cet argent, nous sommes de toute façon amenés à le dépenser. Pourquoi ne pas l’utiliser auprès de fournisseurs dont les actions ont également un impact sur le plan social ? »

Les entreprises sociales sont des entreprises qui, de par leur culture et leurs opérations, cherchent résolument à changer le monde. Elles sont similaires à d’autres entreprises viables sur le plan commercial, mais présentent trois différences essentielles : elles sont fondées et gouvernées sur la base d’une mission sociale ou environnementale clairement définie ; elles réinvestissent la majorité de leurs bénéfices dans cette mission ; et elles sont contrôlées selon le principe de majorité exclusivement dans l’intérêt de cette mission. Un fournisseur issu de la diversité est une entreprise détenue et exploitée à 51 % ou plus par une personne ou un groupe de personnes issue(s) d’une population traditionnellement sous-représentée ou défavorisée.

« Avec nos clients, nos partenaires, nos fournisseurs issus de la diversité et les entreprises sociales, nous nous sommes fixé pour objectif de développer les achats socialement responsables là où les infrastructures le permettent, et nous avons l’intention de mettre sur pied les infrastructures nécessaires et de renforcer les capacités partout ailleurs », a ajouté Mme Fox-Martin. « Nous invitons toutes nos parties prenantes à en apprendre davantage sur le sujet et à participer avec nous à cette initiative, mais aussi à tracer la voie et à donner l’élan pour concrétiser cette ambition et trouver une meilleure façon de se développer. »

Pour en savoir plus, consultez l’article (en anglais) « Achats socialement responsables :trouver une meilleure façon de se développer » par Adaire Fox-Martin.

À propos de l’initiative « 5 & 5 by ’25 »

L’initiative « 5 & 5 by ’25 » a été développée par SAP pour encourager les entreprises de tous les secteurs à consacrer une plus grande part de leurs dépenses adressables à des fournisseurs socialement engagés et issus de la diversité. En rejoignant cette initiative, les entreprises acceptent de formaliser leur exploration des achats socialement responsables, notamment en établissant des partenariats avec des intermédiaires de premier plan, en adoptant des politiques d’achats socialement responsables, en consommant des biens et des services auprès de fournisseurs dont les actions et les valeurs ont du sens, et en élargissant leur engagement auprès d’autres entreprises sociales et fournisseurs issus de la diversité. L’objectif est de réaliser, d’ici 2025, 5 % des dépenses annuelles d’achats adressables auprès d’entreprises sociales et de fournisseurs issus de la diversité et, ce faisant, d’avoir un impact significatif sur les inégalités sociales et les enjeux environnementaux. « 5 & 5 by ’25 » fait partie du programme One Billion Lives de SAP, qui s’attache à promouvoir une plus grande intégration de l’entrepreneuriat social dans l’économie mondiale. Pour plus d’informations, consultez la page 5 & 5 by ’25 .

The post SAP lance 5&5 by ’25 et incite les entreprises à dépenser mieux avec les fournisseurs sociaux et issus de la diversité appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

7 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

Who Do Web Designers Really Work For?

According to Dr. Neel Burton on Psychology Today:

It would be way too easy to answer this question with: “Whoever pays your bills.” And, honestly, I don’t think you can be a very successful web designer if you’re only driven by what the person paying you tells you to do.

Then again, that doesn’t mean you should swing to the exact opposite end and say that you only serve the end user.

When you take an extreme view or approach to this, you’re bound to leave someone or something important out. Everyone along the chain of command — your boss (if you work at an agency), your client, and their customers — matters.

So, what I’d suggest you do instead is approach the idea of who you really work for the way you would Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Establishing Your Own Hierarchy of Needs

Who do web designers really work for? I think the true answer to this question is: “Everyone.” But there’s a catch…

Think about some of the requests you’ve received from superiors, or clients in the past. How many times have you rolled your eyes at their wacky requests?

“The contact form would be better in the header so visitors can always see it.”
“Let’s use this stock photo of two women shaking hands that I’ve seen a few other companies use.”
“Why don’t we redesign all of this and make it look like this site my brother built last night?”

You’re the design professional. That’s why they’re paying you to design their website and they’re not doing it themselves. So, there comes a point where you have to push aside what they want for what they need. And this will ultimately help you figure out who you work for and what you actually owe them (because fulfilling every nitpicky and unreasonable request will never lead to anything good).

So, here’s where the Hierarchy of Needs comes in. If we’re creating our own, it would look like this to start:

Working for the Boss

Maslow called the bottom… levels of the pyramid ‘deficiency needs’ because we do not feel anything if they are met but become anxious or distressed if they are not.

I’d argue that these basic needs are like the ones we fulfill for bosses (or clients, if you’re a freelancer and work for yourself). It would look something like this:

Of course, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment by meeting these needs, but, as a creator, how important are these really to you? These are the basic things you have to do in order to make your boss happy and to stay gainfully employed. They also help to ensure that the client is happy with the boss and agency in the end.

Bottom line: Without these needs fulfilled, you won’t be able to move any deeper into the triangle/hierarchy. So, when focusing on working for your boss, make sure the basic needs are met so you can move on and serve others as they need you to.

Working for the Client

Now, if your boss and client are two different people, you’ll have a second layer of needs to attend to here.

Just as your boss wants you to help them make more money and earn a strong reputation within their space, so too does your client. However, the work you owe them is different. Here’s how it would be represented in the triangle:

Again, you’ll be pleased if you can do and be all these things that your client needs, but is this ultimately what drives you as a designer? Sure, you want to build great relationships with clients so they return to you time and time again with all their website and marketing needs. But in terms of being fulfilled by being a good listener or a timely communicator? Probably not.

All the same, it’s important to be skilled in this type of work and to know how to serve your clients in order to get to that top level. It’ll also help you prioritize their needs accordingly, so you’re not jumping at every single thing or request they claim to “need” and blowing the budget or scope of the job.

For example, if they start demanding more of you (like bombarding you with emails every day wanting to know what’s going on), you can confidently remind them that things are under control (because you’re adhering to the project deadlines, per your boss) and you’ve already scheduled the next client check-in for this week (because you’ve been a good communicator, just as they need you to be).

Working for the End User (Customer)

Maslow refers to the top-level of the pyramid as the growth need. And here’s how Dr. Burton sums this one up for us:

Once we have met our deficiency needs, the focus of our anxiety shifts to self-actualization, and we begin, even if only at a sub- or semi-conscious level, to contemplate our bigger picture. However, only a small minority of people are able to self-actualize because self-actualization calls upon uncommon qualities such as independence, awareness, creativity, originality, and, of course, courage.

These characteristics perfectly sum up everything you want to and should be as a web designer. Unfortunately, it’s those employer and client needs that can stand in your way before you can truly flex your muscles as a creative.

Once you’ve attended to the basics, though, you’ll get your chance to design the kinds of user experiences you know will delight your client’s customers.

Here’s how their part of the triangle should look:

These are universally applicable needs and cannot be ignored.

After you’ve addressed them, though, you will have fulfilled your responsibility to all three parties: your boss, your client, and your end users. And once you’ve done that, you are free to be the creative designer that you are.

Wrap-Up

What I want you to take away from this, is that there are certain basic needs which you must fulfill when working as a web designer. These are the ones you’ll put into your own hierarchy of needs.

Take a systematic approach, starting with your boss and ending with the customer:

What do you have to do to ensure that your boss is happy to have you on the team?
And that the client is pleased with the site you’ve built them?
So you can design a website and experience that end users respond to positively?

Once you’ve figured all this out, you’ll unlock the answer to whom you work for and, more importantly, how you should work for them.

Featured image via Pexels.

7 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

7 All-Too-Common Landing Page Errors You Must Avoid

And it does this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year without ever asking for a pay raise.

But this is true only if your website landing page is designed well, maintained, and optimized to the gills. The art and science of a flawless landing page is beyond the scope of a single article, but we can start with helping you spot seven of the most common – and damaging – trouble spots.

1. Unclear Value Statement

Typically, new visitors to your page will only stay on it 3 to 15 seconds before they get distracted. In that span of time, you must offer a clear and visible reason to stick around and interact with the page.

That reason is your value statement. What value do your readers get in exchange for the time you ask them to spend? High-quality content is a must (and hopefully a given), but you also need to pull them in so they experience that content.

Does your landing page do that? If yes, great! If no, you should fix that. If you’re not sure, ask yourself:

Is there a compelling, visible headline that expresses the end benefits clearly and succinctly?
Is there a subheadline explaining your offering in more detail?
Are there supporting graphics that pull the eye toward your headline and subheadline?

If there aren’t, add them now.

2. Poor Signposting

Your landing page isn’t just there to be pretty. It’s meant to convince people to take action. If you don’t make it easy to find your call to action, most viewers won’t look for it.

deliver enough value to make it worth the hassle

You must make it clear — in as succinct and efficient terms as possible — why the action you want a reader to take will deliver enough value to make it worth the hassle. Tell them, in words that stand out from the rest of the page, what you want them to do next and what they’ll receive for doing so.

Improving your signposting stats by asking yourself the following questions:

Do you have a clear understanding of what the next step in a visitor’s customer journey should be?
Is it easy to find and take that step on your website?
Does your copy make a clear and compelling argument in favor of taking that step?

If you can answer yes to all three questions, your signposting is likely good (or at least good enough for now). If not, now you know what you have to do to improve it.

3. Slow Loading Time

Remember that 3 to 15-second maximum time limit we mentioned earlier? That span includes time spent waiting for your landing page to load, and every microsecond of that wait increases a reader’s likelihood of bailing on the whole thing. You must get your loading time to be as quick as possible.

Viewers who exit your landing page early – including while still waiting for it to load – increase your site’s bounce rate. Higher bounce rates reduce your rankings on Google and other search engines, meaning a page that loads too slowly not only impresses fewer viewers, but it also gets fewer viewers overall.

Improving your loading time is usually a job for your tech team or whoever in the office is responsible for overseeing your hosting service. That said, here are a few of the most important ways to optimize this important factor:

Optimize image size, file format, and compression;
Clean up your database by deleting saved drafts, old revisions, unused plugins, and similar virtual detritus;
Confirm that your WordPress theme (if applicable) is optimized for quick loading;
Use a content distribution network for file storage;
Analyze server response time with your hosting service, and work with them to reduce it;
Install tools that leverage browser caching;
Fix all your broken links;
Remove all render-blocking from JavaScript;
Reduce the number of redirects necessary to reach your page;
Optimize your code, especially in CSS, JavaScript, and HTML;
Enable file compression — except for on images;
Replace all PHP content with HTML wherever possible.

This is technical, detailed work, but it’s important. If you don’t have team members up to these tasks, it can be worth hiring an outside consulting company to do it for you.

4. Only One Landing Page

You have a good idea of your ideal customer’s hopes, fears, pain points, demographics, likes and dislikes, and other important information. If you have several different types of customers, you can’t use the same landing page for each of your customer groups. Each group has different characteristics that will prompt them to follow your call to action, so you don’t want to offer just one landing page.

Similarly, you also probably have more than one product or set of content and offerings to generate sales. Having only one landing page can lose leads because the page is only optimized for one of those products or content sets.

Ideally, you should have a unique landing page with a tailored offer for each of your customer models that would send those individuals to each of the products and content sets. An ad for professionals in their 30s making over $50,000 a year would lead to a landing page built for them, while an ad for heads of households working from home would lead to a landing page built for them.

Yes, that means a company with three profiles and four content sets would need 12 landing pages. And yes, it’s worth that kind of effort.

5. Insufficient Visuals

“A picture is worth 1,000 words” is ancient wisdom, but it’s far from true in the internet world – it’s actually worth more. A quick look at social media and blog performance will tell you many people will look at, enjoy, and share a photo or video, but not many will read an entire 1,000-word post on the same topic.

How well your landing page performs depends on the images you use and how you present them. Does your page’s layout conform to the best practices of visual web design:

Including images that emotionally reinforce the value expressions of your product’s core benefits;
Containing sufficient white space to not be intimidating;
Providing data images to indicate the worth of what you do;
Using visual design cues to lead the eye toward your conversion points;
Applying color gradients to highlight offers and your call to action;
Using infographics to replace the dreaded “wall of text”.

If you can say yes for half of these things, carry on. If not, this point may be among the better places to start with a landing page redesign.

6. Asking For Too Much, Too Soon

Craft a custom calls to action that meet all levels of interest, need, and desire

Not every landing page visitor is created equal. Some are hardcore fans and experts in what you do, ready for a 10,000-word white paper that dives deeply into the research supporting your use case. Others might have heard about your industry on an Instagram page and want to know the basics of what you do.

There’s nothing worse than going to a website and being asked for all of your personal information right away. If your call to action requires too much knowledge, too deep a commitment, or even too much personal information, consider scaling back. Otherwise, you risk turning away potential customers.

Better yet, go back to No. 5 above and build a new landing page for beginners and early-stage leads. Craft a custom calls to action that meet all levels of interest, need, and desire.

7. No Trust Elements

Offering some type of authentic customer referral or testimonial is important. It all boils down to the same thing: telling those who read your landing page that other people already like what you do and how you do it.

Examples of effective modern trust elements include:

Quotes from positive reviews next to a photo of the reviewer;
Screenshots of social media posts praising your company or product;
Short video interviews of happy clients;
Blurbs for industry thought leaders approving of you;
Images portraying business credentials and certifications;
Links to positive press coverage;
Logos of known business customers who buy and trust your brand.

Final Thought: What’s Next?

There isn’t one guaranteed way to turn a landing page from something full of holes into something perfect. But first, run an audit of your landing page using this list as a guide. Note which errors are there. Next, sort them in order of what takes the least time to fix to what takes the most time to fix.

Then, fix them in that order. We find that getting the quick fixes done builds excitement and momentum, whereas starting with a harder fix can mire down the whole process.

If none of these errors exist on your landing page, congratulations. There’s still lots of work to do on your website and content marketing, but it’s not among these rookie mistakes.

Featured image via Pexels.

2 octobre 2020/par Service comm.

Why AI & Automation Are Actually Friends to Design

Artificial intelligence. Just hearing the phrase has been a trigger for many in the technology world since that creepy Haley Joel Osment film circa 2001. But more recently, artificial intelligence and machine learning strike fear into the hearts of skilled workers for an entirely different reason: job security, or lack thereof.

Smart-home devices, streaming services, self-checkouts, even Google searches are ways that artificial intelligence has seeped into everyday life, exemplifying the abilities of computers and machines to master both simple and complex tasks. In some instances, these technological advancements make our lives easier, but for some people, their proliferation has meant job loss and skill replacement. There’s no wonder that when artificial intelligence starts being mentioned along with web design and site creation, the spidey senses of designers all over the world start tingling.

designers think outside the box, something that AI just can’t do

But let’s get real about what AI and automation really mean for designers for a second. Talented designers with busy schedules should view these advancements as virtual assistants. For some small businesses on a limited budget, the websites that artificial intelligence can pump out might be fine…for a while. However, as businesses grow, change, require updating and customization to adapt to their customer base, the expertise of creative and talented designers will always be needed. Even the best AI that we see today is limited by evaluating, replicating, and revising what already exists. It may be able to mix 1,000 different color schemes into 10 million potential combinations, but great designers think outside the box, something that AI just can’t do.

In fact, rather than being scared of automation, designers ought to embrace automation and artificial intelligence as a way to unleash their creative thinking. Delegate repetitive, straightforward tasks to the right software, and suddenly you have time to bring your best ideas to the table and push the boundaries of your own innovation.

Where AI has Failed in Design

The ultimate goal of artificial intelligence and automation in design work is a grand vision that has yet to be realised.

Consider the case of The Grid, which began as a crowdfunding campaign in 2014. The “revolutionary” product posed itself as an artificial intelligence solution for building thoughtfully, yet automatically, designed websites in five minutes. Research “Reviews of the Grid” in any search engine and you’ll be met with scathing criticism with only some small praise sprinkled in. Most of the initial users cite underwhelming results, the feeling of being duped by the Grid’s marketing tactics, nonsensical placement of text, and ultimately, the Grid being a complete waste of money for the resulting product. Even at the low cost of $100, compared to hiring a talented designer, most users felt their investment was wasted.

For the AI capabilities that exist now, most small business owners, or those looking to put together a simple website, are better off using drag and drop site builders (Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, etc) that have been around for ages. Even so, there are plenty of businesses still willing to hire designers to take this simple task off their plate due to a lack of technical expertise or lack of time. And let’s be honest, are there even enough talented (keyword here!) designers out there to keep up with the millions of websites created every year, without each one working themselves to death?

Where Automation Shines for Designers

Fortunately for good designers, it appears for now that the days of artificial intelligence completely taking over their jobs is a fantasy. However, what AI and automation do offer designers is a solid starting point for success, eliminating much of the lower-level grunt work that most designers would rather skip anyway.

Even well-received AI website builders like Firedrop still require a basic eye for design and specialised knowledge to produce truly unique, high-converting, and user-friendly websites. Tools and practices that designers should adopt are the artificial intelligence and automation resources that will help them do their jobs better, faster, and leave them with more time to focus on project elements that AI cannot accomplish on its own.

Bridging the Gap Between Designers and Developers

Well-established brands are likely to already have design systems in place that guide the creation of new elements across their digital profiles whether on social media, various mobile apps, or different sections of a website. But even in large corporations — excepting those who have perfected the process — there’s often a breakdown between a designer’s vision and resulting product from the developers. It stems from the basic difference in how they each approach their work and the limitations of the systems they use.

While component libraries — or even full design systems for that matter — won’t reconcile every question, they provide both developers and designers a source of truth to work from that both parties can understand. Design collaboration tools like Invision and Visme, specifically, keep designers and developers on the same page with automated version saving and code-friendly workflows.

Understanding the Consumer

I don’t suggest using artificial intelligence to produce content for your site

Digging into and understanding the behaviours and habits of site users is a relatively new component of site design, but offers invaluable insights. Tools like HotJar, Mouseflow, or Smartlook make it simple to see holes or leaks in your conversion funnels, detect which page elements users are interacting with, and which they’re not interested in to refine the look and feel of a page for maximum conversions. Even though these tools provide the data, it still takes a keen eye and understanding of design to implement the right changes to improve site performance.

Site content is another way that artificial intelligence has the potential to improve our understanding of customer behaviour and improve site performance for individual users. I don’t suggest using artificial intelligence to produce content for your site, no matter how much the results have improved. However, static landing pages or a single set of further reading recommendations are unlikely to appeal to the majority of site visitors. Artificial intelligence tools like CliClap and Personyze instantly collect and analyse consumer data to provide dynamic, personalised experiences that drive more leads and encourage conversions. Creative designers will also learn from this data to improve customer experience with other pages or elements throughout the site.

Removing Distracting, Time-Sucking Administrative Tasks

Because “artificial intelligence” has become a term with such negative connotations, we often overlook the simple way that AI actually makes our work lives better and easier. Machine learning in email filtering is a great example of this. Consider a simple interface like a Gmail inbox. We have the option to mark certain senders as spam or as important, and our inbox learns that type of communication is and isn’t useful to the user. Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music, and more all take cues from the user behaviour of liking a certain song, artists, or genre of music to build customised playlists. There are a myriad of ways that artificial intelligence and its branches of disciplines merge with our everyday lives.

Some of the most useful automations for business, and especially for designers, are related to the administrative tasks that frequently take time away or distract from more pressing projects. A perfect example of automation that can relieve stress and cut down on mindless work is an email autoresponder. I’ve always found that having time blocked off in my calendar to tackle complex or important projects helps me to focus on the task at hand and be more efficient. In order to more effectively block out my time, closing my email and setting an autoresponder to reply to all incoming emails serves two purposes:

Lets those trying to get in touch with me know that I only check my email at certain times of the day and that my response may not be immediate — tempering their expectations of when they might hear from me.
Relieves my personal stress of being tethered to my inbox, splitting my focus, and also saves the time of having to initially respond to each email individually.

This is just one simple way to use automation in your email, although there are many others to explore.

While Zapier isn’t the only workflow automation service on the market, it’s probably the most well known. Workflow automation reduces time spent on mind-numbing, repetitive tasks and helps designers connect apps that might not natively work together. Do you keep a task list in Todoist? Set up a Zap, then create a task in Todoist anytime someone mentions you on Asana or assigns you a task in Trello.

This is especially helpful for freelance designers who work with multiple clients across various project management platforms. The potential for automation to relieve unnecessary mental overhead for designers is nearly limitless.

Don’t be Afraid of AI, Embrace It

The bottom line of this brief overview of artificial intelligence and automation in design is that this emerging technology isn’t something designers should be scared of. In fact, it’s something to welcome with open arms because ultimately it can make our jobs, and our lives, better. Leave the monotonous tasks of collecting and analysing huge amounts of data or administrative minutiae to the machines; they can handle it.

Save the interesting, creative, abstract work for the talented designers who can turn AI recommendations into unique and intuitive digital experiences. Making the relationship between artificial intelligence and design symbiotic will yield the best results for every entity involved: the business, the AI, and yes, even the designer.

Featured image via Unsplash.

Actualités, Méthodes et organisation des process IT

30 septembre 2020/par Service comm.

Availability, Maintainability, Reliability: What’s the Difference?

We live in an era of reliability where users depend on having consistent access to services. When choosing between competing services, no feature is more important to users than reliability. But what does reliability mean?

To answer this question, we’ll break down reliability in terms of other metrics within reliability engineering: availability and maintainability. Distinguishing these terms isn’t a matter of semantics. Understanding the differences can help you better prioritize development efforts towards customer happiness.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

24 septembre 2020/par Service comm.

SAP et le groupe FITEC vont former plusieurs milliers de personnes en recherche d’emploi en France aux technologies SAP en 2020

Actualités, ERP & Applications, Innovation, Ressources Humaines, SAP

Ouvert à 2 000 candidats de niveau BEP à bac + 5
80 % d’entre eux devraient ainsi retrouver un emploi à l’issue de la formation au sein de grands groupes (clients installés SAP en France) ou d’Entreprises de Services du Numérique en recherche de compétences SAP.
Un dispositif pour supporter l’emploi en France et pallier au manque de compétences fonctionnelles et techniques sur le marché du travail.

Paris, le 22 septembre 2020 – Partant du constat que 40% des employeurs européens ont des difficultés à trouver des profils compétents et experts en informatique, équivalent à environ 500 000 emplois non pourvus, SAP a lancé, en France, son programme de formation People to Work destiné aux demandeurs d’emploi en démarrant par une initiative engagée avec Fitec, acteur majeur de la formation métier de l´ingénierie pédagogique et de la formation Tutorée à distance. Un programme qui a fait ses preuves en Allemagne depuis plus de 20 ans et qui permet à plusieurs milliers de demandeurs d’emploi d’accéder à un emploi rapidement grâce à des formations certifiantes SAP.

Une formation qualifiante et certifiée pour booster sa carrière

Le programme People to Work de SAP permet à des personnes en recherche d’emploi de compléter leurs compétences, se former et obtenir la certification SAP pour faire la différence lors des actions de recherche d’emploi. Il s’adresse à des candidats de niveau BEP à bac + 5 issus des domaines métiers de l’administration des ventes, achats, logistique, comptabilité et contrôle de gestion.

L’initiative propose des programmes individuels et personnalisés de 90h de formation autour des solutions « Ventes & Achats » et « Comptabilité Fournisseurs et Clients » de SAP. Les formations sont dispensées à distance et reposent sur des systèmes de formation SAP dernier cri et des formateurs certifiés SAP qui jouent un rôle important sur la qualité du programme. Chaque semaine, le stagiaire fait un point avec son coach personnel pour revenir sur la semaine écoulée. Ces formations permettent de bénéficier d’une certification SAP, celle de consultant, niveau Associates, et celle d’utilisateur.

Former 2000 demandeurs d’emplois en en France d’ici la fin de l’année

Initié il y a quelques mois en Ile de France, le programme est désormais accessible de tous au niveau national. Depuis sa mise en place, plus de 500 personnes ont bénéficié du programme. SAP et Fitec comptent dès aujourd’hui accélérer la cadence pour former au total 2000 personnes d’ici fin 2020.

People to Work certifie chaque année 25 000 personnes en recherche d’emploi à travers le monde et près de 80% d’entre-deux trouvent un emploi une fois la formation terminée. Le programme vise également à réduire le nombre de personnes vivant dans l’extrême pauvreté mais aussi à contribuer aux cinq objectifs de développement durable établis par les Nations Unies.

Pour en savoir plus et s’inscrire il suffit d’aller sur MonTuteur.fr de Fitec et d’aller sur l’espace SAP.

« Le programme People to Work est une chance pour des milliers de personnes en France de se doter d’une formation qualifiante et de nouvelles compétences pour changer de voie ou simplement trouver plus rapidement un travail qualifié. Désormais déployé sur l’ensemble du territoire, il va pouvoir bénéficier au plus grand nombre. J’espère que cette démarche rencontrera le même succès qu’en Allemagne où elle a été lancée initialement », précise Gérald Karsenti, président de SAP France.

Suite à une demande croissante, SAP et le groupe FITEC proposent également des formations pour ses solutions de gestion des ressources humaines SAP SuccessFactors et de marketing, vente et relation client SAP Customer Experience, montrant une évolution des profils recherchés par les entreprises. DEVENEZ by Fitec propose des programmes longs de 200h à 400h pour des candidats de niveau bac + 3 à 5 souhaitant occuper un poste de consultant SAP, dans le cadre de parcours reskiling et Up’skiling.

A propos de SAP

La stratégie de SAP vise à aider chaque organisation à fonctionner en “entreprise intelligente”. En tant que leader du marché des logiciels d’application d’entreprise, nous aidons les entreprises de toutes tailles et de tous secteurs à opérer au mieux : 77 % des transactions commerciales mondiales entrent en contact avec un système SAP®. Nos technologies de Machine Learning, d’Internet des objets (IoT) et d’analytique avancées aident nos clients à transformer leurs activités en “entreprises intelligentes”. SAP permet aux personnes et aux organisations d’avoir une vision approfondie de leur business et favorise la collaboration afin qu’elles puissent garder une longueur d’avance sur leurs concurrents. Nous simplifions la technologie afin que les entreprises puissent utiliser nos logiciels comme elles le souhaitent – sans interruption. Notre suite d’applications et de services de bout en bout permet aux clients privés et publics de 25 secteurs d’activité dans le monde de fonctionner de manière rentable, de s’adapter en permanence et de faire la différence. Avec son réseau mondial de clients, partenaires, employés et leaders d’opinion, SAP aide le monde à mieux fonctionner et à améliorer la vie de chacun. Pour plus d’informations, visitez le site www.sap.com .

A propos de FITEC

Partenaire formation de SAP depuis plus de 13 ans, deux départements au sein du groupe FITEC œuvrent en étroite collaboration avec SAP en France et en Allemagne dans le cadre du programme SAP People to Work :

DEVENEZ by Fitec programme longs de 200h à 400h pour des candidats de niveau bac + 3 à 5 souhaitant occuper un poste de Consultant Fonctionnel SAP S4/HANA Transformation Digitale, dans le cadre de parcours reskiling et Up’skiling.

MonTuteur by Fitec, programmes Individuels et personnalisés de 90h pour des candidats de niveau BEP à bac + 5 issus des domaines métiers de l’administration des ventes, achats, logistique, comptabilité et contrôle de gestion souhaitant compléter leurs compétences, se former et obtenir la certification SAP pour faire la différence lors des actions de recherche d’emplois. https://vimeo.com/456830760/484f0239d4

En lien avec le Covid19, Le groupe FITEC propose également aux entreprises et candidats qui le souhaitent des programmes de Up’skiling entièrement pris en charge pour les salariés.

Contacts presse :

Daniel MARGATO, Directeur Communication : 06 64 25 38 08 – daniel.margato@sap.com
Sylvain Drillon : 06 44 71 35 68 – presse-sap@publicisconsultants.com
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com

Veuillez tenir compte de notre politique de confidentialité. Si vous avez reçu cette alerte de presse dans votre courriel et que vous souhaitez vous désabonner de notre liste d’envoi, veuillez communiquer avec presse-sap@publicisconsultants.com et écrire Désabonnement dans la ligne Objet.

The post SAP et le groupe FITEC vont former plusieurs milliers de personnes en recherche d’emploi en France aux technologies SAP en 2020 appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

22 septembre 2020/par Service comm.

How to Design the Perfect Developer Portfolio

As a freelance web developer, how many clients do you get from your website? If you’re like most, you’re probably lucky to get one client every 2-3 months. Unfortunately, that’s very common.

These days it’s not enough just to be a web developer if you want to make really good money. You have to be able to differentiate yourself in the marketplace to get more opportunities. If you can do this successfully, I’m 100% sure that it will help you win more projects and charge higher rates.

So today I’d like to share with you a little bit of my own story. In the last 4 months, I was able to position myself as a specialist with my personal site that ultimately helped me win more projects and get better clients.

The Importance of Niching Down

The first thing that I would invite you to do is to shift your thinking a little bit.

If you want to be a high-paid professional (especially if you’re a freelancer), you need to learn how to market and sell yourself. And the first rule of marketing is to identify your target audience and the result that you help them achieve.

I can’t over emphasize the importance of this.

You need to know exactly who you help and the outcome that you provide. That is ultimately what you get paid for. So you need to define your ideal client.

My suggestion is to pick a market segment that you would love to work with, that has the money to afford you and (ideally) those that have already done some projects for. Once you have identified your target market, you need to create your positioning statement. Your positioning statement should immediately tell who you help and what results you help them achieve.

Here is a formula that you can use to create your positioning statement:

I help __ (target audience) __ do (build/achieve/overcome) ___ (problem that you help them solve).

For example: I help startup SaaS companies build highly converting websites. You can go even narrower if you want, but this is already much better than just saying, “I’m a web developer.”

If your positioning statement is “I help startup SaaS companies build highly converting websites” it can still be narrowed down and improved. As you gain more experience and work with more clients, you can refine it to something like: “I help healthcare SaaS companies build highly converting websites.”

Now imagine if a SaaS startup founder from a healthcare niche came to your site and saw that positioning statement vs a very generic one like “I’m a web developer”. How much easier would it be for you to differentiate yourself and gain a huge advantage over your competitors in the marketplace?

4 Elements of a Perfect Landing Page

“I am passionate about coding, I have 10+ years of experience, client satisfaction is my main goal…”

Have you ever seen statements like that on someone’s portfolio site? Or maybe it even says that on your own site. From my experience, statements like that don’t really help you convert site visitors into customers.

If you personally go to a company’s website, what would you like to see yourself as a visitor? Somebody saying how good they are, or to find out if they can be a good fit to solve your problem? I think that most of the time the latter is what you’re after. That’s what other people usually go to your website for; they want to know how you can help them solve their problems.

For instance, take a look at this section from Tom Hirst’s website:

As you can see, this immediately helps the visitors understand if Tom is a good fit for them or not. He doesn’t just boast about how good he is, but rather helps the client understand what problems he can solve for them. Another important part here is that Tom doesn’t use a lot of technical terms. Since a lot of his visitors may be not as tech-savvy as he is, there is no point in confusing them with technical jargon. The more you can speak their language – the easier it will be for you to build trust and connection that will later help you during the sales process.

Let me tell you a bit about the 4 parts of my site that I think have contributed significantly to having me win more projects. The 4 elements are problem, solution, proof, and call to action. Let me go over them 1 by 1 and explain why they’re important.

1. Problem

A good way to start your landing page sales letter is by identifying the problem of the client. If you know their pain points and you mention them, you should be able to hook them into reading your copy. And a well-written copy plays a significant role in persuading your visitors to take the next action.

2. Solution

Once you have mentioned their problem, you need to present them with a solution that you provide. You need to show them how working with you can solve their problems. Whatever their problems are, you have to show them that you understand them and can help solve them.

That’s what UX designer Matt Oplinski is doing on his website is doing. He knows that his clients might need help with 3 types of projects: Digital Products, Marketing Websites or Mobile Apps. For example, the clients who are seeking a redesign of their website may have an issue with their current conversion rates. And that’s exactly what Matthew lists in the middle section under “Custom Marketing Website” headline. I would even argue that he may have been a bit more specific with the solutions that he can offer.

The main takeaway here is that it’s important to be very specific with the result that you can help your clients achieve. The more accurate it is, the better it is going to convert.

3. Social Proof

Social proof plays an extremely important role in converting a lead into a customer. When someone comes to your site, they don’t know if they can trust you. If they were to spend one, two, five, ten or even more thousand dollars – they need to feel comfortable with you. They need to have at least some level of trust. That’s why they want to see as many signs as possible that you’re trustworthy.

Social proof obviously can come in many different forms. The most popular and important ones, in my opinion, are case studies with results that you’ve produced and testimonials. They will be absolutely crucial to persuade your clients and be able to differentiate yourself from others.

Here is a good example from Bill Erickson’s site:

Ideally, your testimonials should showcase a particular business goal that you’ve helped your client to achieve. But even if you don’t have those, you can use ordinary testimonials that your clients give you. That alone is better than no testimonials at all.

4. Call to Action

Last but not least you should have a single call to action on your site. Most likely it will be a button to contact you, or book a call with you.

In my opinion, it’s important to have a single call to action because if you give people too many options they will not be so focused on taking an action that you actually want them to take.

I also suggest that you have a call to action button at least 2-3 times on the page: one on the first screen where you have your positioning statement and/or your offer, and one at the very bottom of the page so that when they finish reading they don’t need to go back to the top to take action. Having another call to action in the middle of your page is also a good idea. My advice would be to add it after you’ve described the problem, your solution and presented yourself as someone who can help your leads with their problems.

Results

I started niching down and created my own website four months ago. Being a member of multiple freelance platforms, I’ve been fortunate enough to get enough leads in my target market to test out my strategy. So far the results are pretty amazing.

It has become a lot easier for me to win projects, get clients that respect my knowledge, and my process. Besides that, I’ve been able to significantly increase my rates for my work. A great thing about working with similar projects every time is that you automate and streamline a lot of things, improve your delivery process and become much more efficient. You can even create a productized service. This is something that is very hard to achieve if you’re constantly working on custom projects that have different requirements and involve different technologies.

To be completely transparent, I’m still in the process of building my authority in the niche, polishing my offer and gaining experience. I still have a long way to go. What I can certainly say today is that it has been one of the best decisions in my professional career.

To become a high paying professional in your industry you have to do things differently. Today I tried to show you one of the ways that you can improve your career or freelancing business fast. It probably won’t happen overnight, but in a matter of a few months you can be so much ahead of your competition if you deploy some of the strategies that I’ve shared with you today.

I really hope that this article has helped you gain some perspective and you will start to consider doing a similar thing that I did to achieve amazing results.

Featured image via Unsplash.