Take a step back and assess your business as it is today

What aspects of your business plan are no longer viable? In what ways can you adjust it to better fit the current market and customer needs? Ask yourself questions such as:

– Is my product still relevant in today’s economy?

– Are my pricing strategies competitive with other similar businesses?

– Have I identified new target markets or customer segments to expand into?

– Have I taken advantage of the latest technologies and trends?

– Are my marketing strategies up to date with current trends?

Evaluate what has and hasn’t been working over the past few years

Take a look at the successes and failures of past projects, initiatives, and campaigns. What worked? What didn’t? Identify areas that need more attention or could use improvement. Pay close attention to any changes in customer needs, competitor offerings, technological developments, and industry trends—these can all have an impact on your business plan.

Brainstorm new ideas and strategies for reviving your business plan

Now that you’ve assessed the current state of your business, it’s time to brainstorm some strategies for reviving your outdated business plan. Think about different ways you can use technology, marketing tactics, or other resources to stay competitive.

Draft a new business plan that focuses on your strengths and areas of improvement

Once you’ve identified potential strategies for reviving your business plan, it’s time to create a new one. Make sure that the plan takes into account any changes in customer needs, industry trends, and technological developments.

When drafting your new business plan, evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Identify what you do well and what areas need improvement or adjustment. Think about how you can use these to create a competitive advantage for your business.

Implement your new business plan and measure its success. Monitor the results of your strategies and make adjustments as needed. Keep in mind that a successful plan requires consistency, dedication, and patience.

Create achievable goals for the next five years

When reviving your business plan, it’s important to set realistic and achievable goals for the next five years. Consider what areas of your business need improvement or development, then determine how you can get there in a reasonable amount of time. Additionally, look at current economic conditions and industry trends to better anticipate what may be needed for success in the future. For example, if the industry is shifting to become more digitally focused, then you may need to create a digital strategy for your business in order to remain competitive. Set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely (SMART) in order to make sure your five-year plan is successful. By setting SMART goals now, you will be better prepared to take your business to the next level in the coming years.

Additionally, it’s important to set regular milestones and review points so that you can track your progress over time. This allows you to adjust your goals as needed if changes arise unexpectedly, or to celebrate successes along the way. Knowing what needs to be accomplished and when will help you to stay focused and motivated, while also ensuring that your five-year plan is successful.

Implement changes slowly so you can track progress accurately

You should always make changes to your business plan slowly and track progress accurately in order for you can tell which strategies are working. Additionally, it will give the opportunity adjust or refine new plans as needed-a process that’s essential when creating any type of document. As time progresses, you’ll be able to grow your business more efficiently and effectively.

When making changes in your business plan, it’s important to consider the potential impact on other areas of your business. For example, if you decide to expand into a new market or increase spending in certain areas, how will that affect customer service, employee morale, or other factors. Evaluating these areas can help you make sure that the new plan won’t cause unintended consequences.

Finally, once your plan is in place and you’ve made all the necessary changes, it’s important to review and update it regularly. This will help you stay on top of any changes to the market, trends in your industry, or other external factors that can affect your business. By revisiting and revising your plan on a regular basis, you can ensure that it will stay effective in the long run.

Celebrate your successes along the way!

Reviving your business plan can be a daunting task, so don’t forget to reward yourself and celebrate successes along the way. This will help keep you motivated and inspired to keep pushing forward. Make sure you take a moment to recognize the progress you’ve made and pat yourself on the back. You may even find it helpful to create a timeline, so you can track your progress and have a visual reminder of how far you’ve come. Celebrating successes can be as simple as taking yourself out for a coffee or treating yourself to a nice dinner. Whatever works best for you, make sure you take some time to enjoy the small victories as you work towards your ultimate goal.

With the right approach and dedication, reviving your outdated business plan in 2023 can be an exciting opportunity for growth. By following the strategies outlined in this blog post, you can ensure that your business plan remains relevant and competitive for years to come.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely impacted the global economy, putting numerous business owners in the ground. Given the uncertainties and enormous obstacles that this time brings, businesses must alter their operations and customer service. A change in approach will enable firms to improve the care for their people, meet customer expectations, and improve their financial condition.

Developing a detailed business continuity strategy and cash flow projections will enable you to continue operating at a limited capacity while also easing recovery once the crisis has passed.

Businesses should utilize this downtime to re-strategize and prepare for the post-lockdown comeback and see it as a perfect chance to return to business after lockdown even wiser. This advice might help you get your business up and running if you are not certain what your business-after-lockdown alternative solution should entail.

1. Prepare a sales and marketing plan to start following the lockdown.

During market crises, businesses frequently decrease marketing costs. Marketing, on the other hand, is essential for this not only to attract new customers but also to maintain existing ones through brand touchpoints and retention programs. Businesses should assess their sales and marketing resources ratio balance right now. Look for ways to improve operational effectiveness by automating the sales and marketing process using existing technology.

• Reconsider offering. It is no mystery that the pandemic has altered the way we live our lives daily. Whenever it comes to your clients, this is something you never overlook. Some of the items you sell may be outdated to their requirements, while others may be more critical than before.
• Customers should be informed. Your company must communicate with its customers at all times after and during an outbreak. Be it a financial hardship or a small adjustment of habit, companies, and consumers are both going through a lot of adjustments in their daily lives. According to 4 A’s research, 43% of consumers found hearing from businesses they trust throughout this time comforting.
• Begin planning ahead of time. If you did not have an emergency plan in place before the outbreak, your company could have been taken by surprise and damaged as a result. There is no better time to get serious about how you will handle the duration of the outbreak and how you will get back to business as usual once it is done than now.
• Make changes to your marketing plan. Once the outbreak hit, one of the first actions you should have taken was to go through your current marketing strategy and eliminate anything unnecessary or improper. Examine all of your planned advertisements, online posts, and email campaigns to see what needs to be eliminated or updated if you have not yet. It is also a good idea to consider how you might incorporate distancing or health-related concerns into your present promotion while remaining relevant.

Give sales and marketing the resources it needs to succeed by defining your ideal customer description, outlining the particular reasons customers should select you over the competitors, and being clear on the challenges that will most likely influence customer judgments. For the most part, the outbreak has resulted that there is less business to be gained. Yet, as a means of increasing sales, profit, or market share, this gives a chance to reconsider not only what you are promoting, but also how you are selling it.

Dealing with the effects of Covid-19 is still a struggle, but it might open up unanticipated chances to improve the marketing strategy with customers and prospects. Your marketing plan, experience in sales, and consumer contacts can arise from the pandemic better than ever with smart revisions, preparation, and a little innovation.

2. Improve your business by innovating with your current technologies.

Digitization can help your company better compete and profit in the long run, but it is crucial in these times to ensure that your technology is laser-focused, fulfills your clients’ varying demand, uses existing technology whenever necessary, and is backed by a continuous improvement that empowers your front-line workforce to start sharing fresh concepts to enhance the customer experience.

In simple terms, businesses cannot afford to stay viable if they do not welcome change and innovation. Here are three important elements to consider when it comes to the value of innovation in the workplace.

• Companies benefit from innovation.
• Companies stay relevant through innovation.
• Companies may distinguish themselves through innovation.

A company’s ability to enhance operations, deliver newer and better products or services to market can boost efficiency, and, most crucially, boost profit depending on its ability to successfully utilize fresh concepts. With local, regional, nationwide, and international markets getting increasingly competitive, greater exposure to new technology, and the enhanced trade and expertise potential provided by the Internet, competition has intensified.

Innovation does not need to be a game-changing achievement. It might take the form of small, gradual steps in any aspect of your business.

3. Make a positive cash flow plan.

The ability to earn revenue over a given period is measured by cash flow. If you improve overall cash flow, you will be in a better position to meet your running expenditures, unexpected costs, and cash balances. Cash flow management is a set of methods and tactics for ensuring that you have greater cash flowing in than flowing out at the appropriate periods. Understanding expected income and costs is part of cash flow forecasting.

A cash flow projection is an effective component for any business since it tells you if you will get enough money to run it or develop it. This will tell you whenever the firm is losing more money than it is bringing in. When it comes to running a successful business, this is one of the most crucial qualities to get properly. You can pay your bills on time, fulfill consumer needs, and even invest in building your business if you have positive cash flows.

4. Improve customer services.

Customer service entails providing clients with whatever they want, whenever they want it, and most efficiently feasible. You have a better chance of preserving and growing your market share if your company gives outstanding customer service.

Customer service may aid in the growth of your company to improve:

• consumer volumes as a result of positive word-of-mouth marketing
• the amount spent per consumer per purchase in dollars
• the number of times a consumer visits

By creating, establishing, and supporting a customer value proposition, you may create a culture of outstanding customer service in your company. Prepare your employees to provide the best service possible to your consumers.

5. Increase the quality of your business presentation

Giving a great business presentation might make a huge difference between closing a huge deal and failing it. Businessmen who can produce and deliver compelling business presentations have a better chance of succeeding in their careers. As a result, if you want to advance in your company, mastering the art of presenting corporate demonstrations should be a primary focus. Here are a few tips:

• Reduce the amount of information on each slide. Eliminate everything else out and just provide the most crucial material that will assist you reach your main aim. The key to a successful demonstration is perfect concentration and clarity, rather than throwing everything at your listeners and drowning them in data overload.
• Keep your eye on the prize. People frequently struggle to create and give effective business demonstrations because they do not however focus on attaining a set objective with their presentations and rather than attempt to cover so many more subjects, leaving their listeners puzzled, uninterested, and overwhelmed in information overload. To be effective with demonstrations, concentrate on attaining one objective and directing every line of your discussion toward that aim.
• Shine. Don’t run the risk of hiding behind your slideshows and simply reading the contents from them. It is you, not your slides, who should be providing the presentation and performing. If you want to become an expert, imagine your speech as a one-person Theatrical performance, with your powerpoint serving as a useful backdrop rather than the main attraction.
• Make Your Presentations Adaptable to Your Attendees. Business presentations are a great way to interact with your listeners while also encouraging them in seeing things your way. Engaging with your listeners just before standing up on the platform to talk is an excellent practice that has assisted many business executives to enhance their demonstrations. You will have a better understanding of the people’s requirements and current atmosphere by speaking with them before the presentations. You’ll be able to adjust your material to your listener’s mood and demands in this way.
• Practice Makes Perfect. You must devote a significant amount of time to practicing your speech. As much as you can, don’t wing it because you’ll come out like an idiot and an unprofessional. Use a video camera to film yourself if you have one. Examine each video for any errors you may have made. Then practice until you’ve removed any flaws in your talking, nonverbal cues, tone and pronunciation, and any other component of your presentation.

A good presentation is much more than the PowerPoint presentations you prepare when giving presentations to a mass audience, senior management in your organization, or even a venture capitalist. If you want to give amazing business demonstrations, think of yourself as a performer putting on a show. You are on stage as a performer, and your mission is to charm and captivate your audiences. Commit yourself to never delivering another dull demonstration in which you merely read sentences from your PowerPoint. Make an effort to amuse. Make a name for yourself as a performer. Make a living as a narrator. Have a good time. Your audiences will want to give you a big round of applause if you deliver a fantastic presentation.

6. Boost Your Search Engine Optimization

More individuals are buying online than before, and this phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down once the virus is finished.

This is where search engine optimization (SEO) plays a part. SEO, when done correctly and in conjunction with other marketing and technical techniques, can allow your organization to achieve high ranks and appear on the first page of Google search results. Check out these tips to increase your search engine optimization (SEO) and see your webpage climb the search engine rankings to the peak.

If you have a presence online, you should be optimizing for search engines. During the outbreak, it is even more critical for your company to rank higher in the search engines when potential buyers look for your items. You cannot always rely on consumers passing through your regular shop, so you will have to make up for it by increasing your internet traffic. It is critical for a business to improve to contact its target market online with its central aspect, goods, and services, or latest promotions in today’s interconnected world and complex and competitive business landscape.

7. Assess whether funding is required for your company’s revival

Anticipate getting a huge amount of cash on hand going into the COVID outbreak if you need extra funds to get your business back up and running after the crisis.

When it comes to financing your operation throughout the rebuilding process, you have a few choices to evaluate. You can apply for loans through your bank, and you can also take advantage of a few initiatives. You can, for instance, take advantage of the furlough program, which is intended to provide monetary support to small enterprises that are having difficulty retaining personnel due to economic slowdown. You can rely on Bounce Back Loans for brief finance for purposes other than keeping your staff.

The only issue with these nationally regulated initiatives is a lack of financing. Money may run out before your loan application is reviewed. As a result, other options for funding your small business should be considered, like:

If you are looking for funding to help you rebuild your firm, keep in mind that taking loans might be difficult because creditors want confirmation that you will be able to return the debt. It is a good idea to check your credit ratings (personal and business) as well as your business and private cash flows to see how probable your loan will be authorized.

Get Ready For Recovery

Though we do not know how long it will take, there is reason to believe that the outbreak will be dealt with appropriately. Businesses that want to expand must think ahead and plan for a comeback. Acquiring resources, getting new supplies, enhancing the workplace environment for your employees, and cultivating a solid business environment are all part of staying ahead of the market. To motivate workers and achieve the required growth of the company, corporate leaders will need to implement effective strategic leadership.

There are numerous other development techniques you can employ to make sure the company endures the pandemic both during and after it. You will, nonetheless, need to identify measurements that are tailored to your demands and objectives.

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Defining Pricing Strategy

Pricing strategy is a method that is used to set and establish the best prices for any product or service that the business is offering. The ability to consider consumer and market demand will allow and help you to choose prices in order to maximize income or profits and your business’s shareholder value.

However simple the definition of pricing strategy may be, there is so much more that goes into the process of being able to set the proper and standard pricing for your business’s products or services. The types of pricing strategies available are dependent on so many factors such as income targets, marketing objectives, target market, the kind of product or service that you are offering, and your brand’s position in the market. Other factors such as market demands, pricing by competitors, and even market and economic trends influence and affect pricing strategies.

However you price your product, the type of pricing strategy you employ must maximize your business’s profit and revenue because this is the ultimate goal of a business.

Nowadays, the retail business is a mix of actual physical shops and e-commerce or online retailers and there are definitely some differences in terms of their pricing strategies. There are still a lot of people who would prefer going to shops on a retail strip or mall because they would prefer being able to closely look at the products that they want to buy for themselves. This does affect pricing strategies in a way. It does not necessarily mean that online shops have lower pricing than those that have retail physical stores. Although there are mathematical and accounting-based formulas to arrive at a pricing that would be optimal for the sales target of the business, pricing can still be experimental in some way based on internal and external factors in the course of business operations.

The types of pricing strategies you are going to use in the course of your business remains dependent on the type of transactions your business engages in. Especially for high-end or luxury shops, products may be pegged at a higher price on lower volumes or in the case of other regular retail shops, it could be lower priced items to cater to high volume of transactions or items to be sold. Either way, the pricing strategy should be able to help in achieving the sales targets of the business for a given period of time that would yield better income or profit for the business.

Price Elasticity of Demand

This is a concept that would help the business owner understand the effects of fluctuations in your target market on your pricing strategy. This also determines how sensitive your product or service can be in terms of changes in demand brought about by internal and external factors.

Typically, you would want your product or service to be inelastic, meaning, despite higher pricing or an increase in price, your customers would still purchase your product. A good example would be fuel. This happens simply because fuel is essential in running certain businesses and for those with vehicles, they are left with no choice but to still purchase fuel as they need it to keep their vehicles running.

Elastic products such as movie tickets and even mobile subscriptions suffer from pricing fluctuations. When these products or services increase in prices, consumers do have a choice of whether they will be purchasing them or not. There is a big possibility that because of these pricing fluctuations, consumers would go for cheaper rates and might leave your business out if your pricing is not right for your customer’s budget. Customers would go for cheaper prices especially if the offers are better and would still give them the quality that they are looking for.

A business owner would want their products or services to be inelastic because the demand would still be stable despite price fluctuations brought about by market factors.

Types of Pricing Strategies

There are several pricing strategies applied by retailers and other businesses and each of them have benefits and disadvantages just like anything else.

1. Keystone Pricing

This type of pricing strategy is one of the most commonly used pricing in business. Basically, the price of your products is pegged by doubling the wholesale cost of your products.

This could very well be illustrated using this formula:

Retail price         =            ((cost of item) / (100 – markup percentage)) x 100

                             =            ((10) / (100 – 50%)) x 100

                             =            $100.00

Let us say that you are marketing your product to be sold at a 40% markup for a product that you got at $10.

Retail price         =            ((10) / (100 – 40)) x 100

                             =            $16.67

This type of pricing strategy works as this is an easy rule of thumb for a sufficient profitability margin for your products and services. However, due to tough competition in the market or industry that your business is in, it could also be a challenge to maintain this kind of pricing strategy especially if the market is already saturated with similar products or services. The key here is to ensure that your products and services remain competitive in terms of pricing so your target market would be swayed to favoring your product offers while maintaining your known quality levels.

2. Competition-Based Pricing Strategy

Also known as competitor-based pricing or competitive pricing, this type of pricing strategy focuses more on what is the going rate or market rate of the products or services that you are offering. This pricing strategy does not take into consideration what the current consumer demands are nor does it consider the cost of the product or service.

The benchmark by which your pricing strategy comes into place lies on what your competitors’ prices are in the market at the current time.

For example, if your competitor is selling the same product between $20 to $30, you would choose to price your product or service in between those numbers.

Marketing has a big effect on this type of pricing strategy. And because they are aware of the business’s competitors, your marketing team can make recommendations to probably give more perks and loyalty rewards to your current and new customers to maintain your competitive edge in the market without having to pay too much as for the price of your business competitors.

3. Anchor Pricing

This type of pricing strategy employs having to put on your price tags the original price of the item and its sale price in order to quickly show the savings your customer will get when they purchase your product or avail of your service.

The original price of your product serves as a reference point to your customers whether they would be buying the product or not. And because consumers are more likely to purchase items where it is presented that they can save more by buying it, a sale would always be imminent.

This type of pricing strategy is usually employed at retail shops like groceries and clothing stores. However, since consumers are always on the lookout for great deals, consumers are more likely to know base prices in other similar stores. And if it happens that your anchor prices are higher than other stores, consumers are just more likely to leave and often feel a sense of distrust with your service.

4. Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP)

This type of pricing strategy is the kind where manufacturers peg or recommend a price that a retailer will offer on their products, and this will be standard across all the retailers in all locations where the product will be sold. More often than not, conventional and mainstream products often have this type of pricing strategy in place.

There are a number of factors that go into this type of pricing strategy. Aside from the retailer not having a hand in the decision-making process of pricing the products or services, it could be difficult to reach sales targets with this type of pricing strategy. Surely, it would take more effort to carve your place in the market especially if there are a lot of other retailers offering the same items in more strategic locations.

5. Psychological Pricing

Have you ever wondered why a lot of products that you buy either online or from retail shops have price tags that end with odd numbers like 5, 7, or 9? This type of pricing strategy actually taps that part of the consumer’s brain which triggers impulse because there is a perception of a bargain. The number 9 reigns supreme in this type of pricing strategy. So, for example, if one see s a price tag that’s $99.99 instead of $100, consumers could actually buy that item on impulse. However, for those who can actually afford to buy the item at an even $100, this pricing strategy would seem a bit off.

6. Pricing Below Competition

This type of pricing strategy uses as benchmark the competitor’s pricing. Business owners deliberately lower their prices compared to that of their competitors with the intention of luring more customers to buy their products or services.

This type of pricing strategy will be very successful if the business owner is able to negotiate with suppliers on the purchase price of their products from them. Whatever cost that will be saved from successful purchase negotiations, it is likely that the business will be able to use the savings on marketing strategies and plans to gain more traction with current and potential customers.

7. Pricing Above Competition

Business owners who see the need to give a perception that their products and services yield higher quality among their competitors use this type of pricing strategy. It is not always easy to pull off this type of pricing strategy since it is primarily demographics and location based. You would not expect to price your items way higher than your competitors if it is a suburb or an area that is quite remote. Price-sensitive customers may not buy this type of pricing strategy.

8. The Cheapest Above All

While it is true that having the lowest price among all your competitors can do a lot better than bad for your business, there is a tendency for this type of pricing strategy to put you in a spiraling downward position after quite some time. This type of pricing strategy is recommended for short-term business needs such as the need to boost sales or getting rid of old stock in your inventory so you could replenish and still be able to recover from potential losses.

9. Seeing Red

The color red has always been associated with impulsive sales activities that are beneficial for businesses. In a study, men are more often and likely to respond and buy on impulse when seeing red tags in shops. On the other hand, women, although they are highly likely to be more impulsive than men in terms of buying products, would not really be bothered about the colors of the price tags that they see. Women are still more scrutinized over their purchases compared to men. So, if your merchandise mainly deals with items for me, your prices should be on red price tags. Red tag sales mainly target the male audience as compared to the females.

10. When Size Matters

This does not refer to shoe or dress sizes but mainly with the size of the text or font used on the price tag of your items. This type of pricing strategy has given the perception that the smaller the text size of the discounted price is on the tag, the more likely it is to be purchased. The size of the text guides the reader’s brain to think that the price has been significantly reduced, and it is now currently much lower than the original price.

11. Drop Your Currencies

Probably you have noticed that most restaurants do not include currency symbols on their menu. This is a type of pricing strategy that has been in use by these food providers simply because people tend to not think about too much of the cost when they do not see any currency symbols on the menu. Seeing currencies on your price tags has the tendency to have the customer cut down on spending, thinking that it would already be too costly though sometimes it is not. This type of pricing strategy takes off the pressure of spending, leading your customers to even spend a higher amount eventually.

12. Customer’s Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

FOMO is a current buzzword among millennials that refers to making impulsive decisions on the fear of not being able to take part in something that is trendy and relevant.

This type of pricing strategy totally helps in big and seasonal sales such as Black Friday sales or even during product launches of popular brands like Apple and Samsung.

You usually see tag lines such as “Last 5 items….,” or “For the first 100 customers only…” These types of tag lines employ this type of pricing strategy in order to gain more sales from customers, raking in more income for the business for the period.

13. Discount Pricing

No customer would decline purchasing products or items that include loyalty rewards, coupons, discounts, rebates, and other similar marketing strategies that increase sales for the business. This type of pricing strategy helps the business have a foot traffic increase into your shop, to sell old stock for new inventory to come in, and even to attract the most price-sensitive customers that would always consider purchasing products or services that would benefit them in a lot of ways – again, for example, through rebates, or coupons that they can use on their next purchase from the store. 

This pricing strategy should only be used at certain times mainly because you do not want to be “rebranded” into being a discount shop all throughout the time. It would be harder to deflect the perception of customers of you being a discount shop when you do this often and you will not be able to go back to being on “normal” prices again in the future.

14. Multiple Pricing

You know how it is when you buy products in bundles? Let us say, you bought the new PlayStation console with a bunch of games and other items with it. This type of products and purchases fall under this type of pricing strategy. Consumers will be made to think that buying in bundles would mean more savings for them rather than buying the items individually. While it is true that this would boost sales and allow your business to reach its target market sales, it could be more difficult to sell these items sooner at their regular prices if this type of pricing strategy is done on a regular basis. This type of pricing strategy would be recommended for seasonal sales, especially Christmas, or after season sales for restocking of newer inventory items.

As previously said, there is no one size fits all pricing strategy for any business under any given market or industry. Any business may collectively use any of the above pricing strategies that would work well for them in reaching their income goals and targets for the period.

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Financial technology has improved so much over the years and businesses have started to embrace the idea of minimizing trips to the bank to physically transact their money and to make transactions with their internal and external customers, as well. Decades ago, employees would receive their salaries in envelopes with the payroll manually computed. These were very prone to errors that almost always caused stress to the payroll team and the employee, too.

All paperwork involving transactions with the bank was manually processed. You will still have collectors at a certain period during the month going from one customer to the other to collect the check payments for the invoices owed to the business. Similarly, payments to creditors and vendors were paid in physical cheques in the past or had to be sent through mail or the company’s collectors to be delivered to the creditors and vendors. Monthly dues, such as electricity and water, were paid by going to the respective offices and paying over the counter to settle. All of these things are now almost obsolete as countries have adapted to the use of digital and electronic payments to ease the way of doing business and personal financial transactions.

Financial technology applications have greatly improved over the years. Almost everyone now has access to a computer or even a smartphone that you can now do almost anything with a few clicks and presses on your digital devices. The financial mobile applications used to be feared upon by individuals because of the risk of fraud and online theft are now mostly secured and can be trusted. The convenience brought about by being able to pay with smartphones nowadays has become a necessity, especially to a lot of business owners who are always on the go and barely have time to physically transact with banks and payment centers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has also played a very huge role in changing the way money circulates in everything and everywhere nowadays. Because of the need for lesser physical contact to lower the risks of being infected with the virus, businesses have started to invest in electronic and digital forms of payment to operate their business. Similarly, everyone else has also started to gain confidence and trust in using mobile applications that will allow them to pay with smartphones and transact their money without physically having to go to the bank.

Paying with your smartphone has never been this easy with mobile applications that are simple to use but are secured and safe for online use. Like with all other mobile payment apps, most of them would need you to integrate or allow access to a main bank account or credit card where all transactions will be reflected almost real-time depending on the type of transaction done. You can also generate statements and even invoices that could readily be used by your business to reconcile records and transactions done online. And with the introduction of Near Field Communication (NFC), your very own smartphone can also be used like a credit card or a tap card as it acts as a digital wallet for you.

Here are some of the best mobile payment apps available in the market for both Android and Apple users that are being used by businesses and individuals alike.

1. Google Pay

This seems to be the best mobile payment app of choice for most Android phone users because of its integration to Google and ease of use. On most Android phones, Google Pay is already pre-installed and all you need to do is set it up with your bank account, credit card, or debit card for use. iPhone users can also use Google Pay provided that you have a Google account installed on your smartphone. You need to register and connect your credit or debit card to your Google account to schedule automatic payments for a number of utilities and subscriptions available.

What is good about Google Pay is that it works seamlessly to pay for other applications that are installed on your smartphone and can be set up in a way to make payments for other utilities. The platform is secured with multi-layer security encryption and will not divulge any information about your bank, credit card, or debit card accounts stored in your Google account for this purpose.

Most bank-issued Visa, Mastercard, and American Express credit cards can be connected to your Google account to serve Google Pay. This mobile payment app is also widely accepted in a number of establishments, too, so it is convenient and generally safe to use. However, person-to-person payments or transfers would need another application called Google Pay Send to transact and send money. You may also connect your PayPal account for Visa cards and it is supported by Visa Checkout when used with Google Pay.

Of course, there are features that may not be available in all depending on the monetary and financial regulations of the countries Google Pay is being accessed from.

2. Apple Pay

This is the best choice for Apple users who are on the iPhone and using Mac digital devices such as the iPad or MacBook. Apple Pay is connected to your Apple ID account that is very specific for the devices that you have. You do not even need to download this as a separate app. Apple is known to simplify complex things and this is one of those. Apple’s products are known to be secure and so the trust rating of Apple Pay is very high especially to those who use their devices or smartphones .

How this works is that you simply need to provide and connect a debit or credit card account to your Apple ID so it will already contain the payment method you would use for purchases online and in store. Apple Pay is being used by a number of establishments as well and is also touted to be very secure because of the use of Touch ID sensor or Face ID, depending on the model of your mobile device.

Another advantage of Apple Pay is you may also send or receive cash to and from another person by simply using iMessaging or by asking Siri, the iPhone’s digital assistant. The cash is transferred to your Apple Pay cash balance which you can then transfer to your own bank account as necessary. Please note that this feature is available only for those who are using iPhones as their mobile device.

It is to note once more that not all features of Apple Pay are available in all countries because of certain monetary and legal restrictions per country and the digital infrastructure capabilities of the telecommunications providers of those countries in which Apply Pay may be used.

3. PayPal

PayPal is already a household name in the field of financial technology and development when it comes to e-commerce, digital, and electronic payments. PayPal started as a security software for handheld devices in 1998. Their business model was not successful, so the owners decided to shift its focus to a then new concept of digital wallets. PayPal is considered as the proponent and pioneer of digital wallets and then the rest is history.

PayPal has been in the digital wallet business for more than twenty years and over time, they have been the mobile app of choice of business owners who would like to do their monetary transactions seamlessly and anywhere in the world. Their tie-up with eBay paved the way for online shops to use PayPal and do their business from all parts of the world. PayPal used to be accessed only from your browser and they were able to create a mobile app for it but still with the need to access your account from the browser for very sensitive and important changes in your account such as your bank account details tied-up to your PayPal account, addresses and other account verification requirements as stated in their terms and conditions of use.

You can transfer money to and from your PayPal balance from a debit card, bank savings or current account, and credit card. PayPal does not divulge these specific details during payment or receipt of cash as part of the site’s security measures. Also, if your PayPal balance does not have anything on it, what it does is it would automatically get the amount needed to be paid to your connected bank account and transfer the money from there.

PayPal also has features for businesses who use it as one of their modes of payments for their transactions. All one needs to do would be to get the PayPal email address so that the money may be sent to that account. PayPal can help automate your collections process by sending out templated invoices that are specific to the requirements of your business.

For individuals, PayPal is also one of the best mobile payment apps used and is not far behind Google Play and Apple pay for your online shopping requirements because the process is simple and uncomplicated to use. You may also send money from one person to another which makes it a whole lot more convenient for their use.

4. Venmo

Venmo is a fairly new mobile payment app that is being used a lot especially for crowdfunding purposes. It is said that there are possible privacy concerns with its default settings, but this has not been too much of an issue because of the ease of its use and accessibility to almost all countries in the world. One very good advantage of using Venmo is the fact that one may be able to send and receive money and can also be directly deposited into your bank account. This platform is free for transactions without a credit card, and you may be able to connect Facebook contacts in order to send money.

5. Samsung Pay

It is considered as one of the best mobile payment apps available because it allows you to use your actual phone as a credit card in the point-of-sale terminals for as long as it accepts credit card payments. This is with the help of NFC technology that allows the phone to act like a credit card when tapped on to the payment terminal. Not all Samsung phone models though may be used as that. Samsung pay is available on most of the later models. 

6. Skrill

Skrill is similar to PayPal where you have an online wallet, and you can both send and receive cash via other payment channels or from another Skrill user as well. Skrill also has a loyalty program that allows you to earn points that may be used towards cash rebates or equivalents when receiving or sending money using the mobile payment app. The company has been in operation since 2001 and since it is patterned after PayPal, you are assured that this is one of the best mobile payment apps that can provide you a secured transaction wherever you may be.

7. Xoom

Xoom allows the user to send money to other people in about sixty-six countries around the world. The mobile payment app also may be used to top up load for your prepaid mobile phones. A lot of people around the world are using this to send and receive money elsewhere.

8. Tyro

This is one of those stand alone and integrated applications into the point-of-sale machines of businesses where contactless payment is used with the swipe or chip payments systems of credit or debit cards.  There are fees involved per transaction and are mostly secured transactions in nature. Any money that goes through the system goes directly into the bank account of the business so it would be easier to generate reports and statements that may be used by the business for ensuring that sales and income are all recorded properly and accurately.

9. Strike

Strike is part of the list of the best mobile payment apps available in the market today due to its multi-functionality and its secured way of being able to send and receive money from all over the world and anywhere you may be. With the advent of cryptocurrency such as bitcoins, Strike may also be used to purchase bitcoins and is one of the easiest platforms to buy bitcoins with.

10. Albert

Albert by the Commonwealth Bank is a standalone 7-inch tablet that is used and works as a mobile point-of-sale system for financial transactions. It is considered as one of the best mobile payment app systems in Australia that always boasts of a multi-layered secured transaction and is very convenient and easy to use as a point-of-sale system for businesses. There are fees involved in the use but it is still practically convenient and very safe to use.

With all the best mobile payment apps available, there are questions about how safe it would be to pay with your smartphone using these apps. As mentioned earlier, with the advent of the improved and highly secured technologies being used by financial institutions offering these types of mobile payment services, we can be assured that financial data is safe and protected. Security features about these types of applications which include the following:

• Tokenisation – where mobile payment apps replace your actual card data with another 16-digit credit or debit card number during purchase for security. This is the reason why you will often see asterisks ending with the last 4-digits of your card number when saved on payment sites.

• Most smartphones nowadays already use biometric data such as fingerprint and face ID in order for you to access the mobile device. And when these mobile payment apps are installed into your smartphone, they are integrated to be able to use these biometric features as a way of authorizing the transactions that will be done on the application.

• We are all worried about fraud and online theft. With the more advanced technologies used by banks to detect and curb fraud, you can rest assured that the banks will be able to notify you right away for any deviations or major changes in your credit card activity that you may need to be aware of. All banks have been working closely together with the developers of these mobile payment apps and the authorities so this gives us, at the very least, assurance that our financial data will be safe and secured.

Everything is now at our convenience and within the reach of our fingertips. What used to be a complicated and tedious process of paying our financial obligations has become simpler and more accessible to each person who has a smartphone. Our smartphone now not just connects us to the people we care about but more importantly, it is serving its purpose to help us meet all our obligations and errands without having to make big moves and being mobile all the time, especially during this time of the pandemic. You just have to choose the right mobile payment app that would meet your financial needs and pay with your smartphone easily and efficiently.

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Artificial Intelligence has been defined by Merriam-Webster as “the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior.” AI is also called “machine learning” because as it is defined, it is the process of teaching a machine on how to react on some simple data types and as you add more information to it, the more complex the processes become for the machine.

Artificial Intelligence used to be frowned upon because nobody has really believed that it is possible for machines to do what humans can do. It was believed that machines can never replicate the way the human mind thinks or even do tasks just like how humans do it.

With rigorous and thorough studies, countless of research and experiments, and with the advancements in technology over the years, artificial intelligence in business has helped, especially the smaller businesses, automate their services and lower the costs that small businesses incur in the course of its operations. Artificial intelligence has also been known to reduce risks in doing business, increase sales, and improve customer service.

Currently, artificial intelligence is used in almost everything, including cybersecurity software, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, among other similar systems as tools by which small businesses can use in order to streamline and make their business operations run smoothly and more efficiently. With this premise, the following are some ways by which you can use AI for small businesses for the same purpose.

Artificial intelligence in business has changed the way people have been doing business, especially now that we are all still trying to recover from a pandemic. Despite the global negative effects of the pandemic in all industries and economies, the pandemic paved the way to boost the artificial intelligence industry because a lot of the small businesses are now going online and utilizing all the available tools to make business operations easier and less costly.

The use of artificial intelligence in business is mostly to enable these businesses to manage and maximize whatever shortage on skills and manpower that they have. Integrating these deficiencies into a good machine learning technology would enable these small businesses to maximize their resources and still put them to good use and a considerable rate of advantage over their competitors.

With all these talk about artificial intelligence being used in business, how will this seemingly complicated technology help small businesses thrive and survive especially during this time?

1. Improvement of customer service

You will notice that most businesses have now gone online, with product or service inquiries that must go through messaging applications like SMS, email, Facebook Messenger, Viber, or Instagram direct messaging, among others. A lot of these small businesses have already employed the application of artificial intelligence into their business systems through chatbots that automates answers to all possible questions that might be asked about a specific business’s product or service. Of course, there are still limits to what these chatbots can do and answer because the activities and answers of these chatbots are also programmed by the staff into the AI systems that the business is using. And when this option has been exhausted, that is the only time that a customer service representative or agent may come in and assist you further with your other queries.

Why go through chatbots? It is simply because this saves the customer from a lot of waiting over the phone for someone to answer your basic queries. Almost all chatbots of these small businesses would carry almost all the possible and most basic questions and answers about the business’s products and/or services that a potential customer might want to know about the company.

2. Understanding your customer data

A small business’s customers may come from people from all walks of life. Normally, a business would have a database of their customers for records purposes. Usual data on this file would include the type of product or service they purchased, the number of times they purchased from you, their location, and other pieces of information that are on their invoices.

What is good about employing AI for small businesses is that it will be able to give the business owner a variety of insights into the behaviors of their customers when it comes to online purchase history, their online interactions in the webspace, basically, their digital footprint. It is said to boost the business’s relationships with its clients and gain even more in the long run.

Employing artificial intelligence to interpret this data may now be done so that the business owner can better understand the type of current customers that he or she has. This will also be helpful in identifying potential customers from certain locations or groups in the future where the business’s products or services may be offered.

3. Predicting customer behavior 

Now that a lot of the businesses are already online, so do their customers. These current and potential customers keep abreast with the latest trends and updates on practically almost anything that they can purchase around them via their social media platforms.

Artificial intelligence for business helps curate basic information and preferences about your current customers and potential clients just by tracking these social media platforms that you are on. Basically, when a customer or potential one clicks on a post of yours or maybe just your webpage, some of these automated trackers curate the activities of these customers related to your post and the AI system may be able to tell the business something about the demographics of your customers, such as location, interests, and the like.

AI for small businesses can use these data gathered to forecast possible sales offerings of better or a wider variety of products and services that would fit their customers’ needs and wants. These data may be used to provide key insights into what the future of the business operations would be and take this as an advantage against the business’s competitors.

4. Streamlining tasks for human resources

Small businesses have limited or even have a shortage of manpower and skills that would be needed to fulfill the most mundane and most repetitive of tasks within the business. We are all aware of how tedious human resources work is in terms of the hiring process which includes recruitment, onboarding, trainings, and other similar tasks. AI for small businesses can help streamline these services.

Currently, a lot of employers and small businesses have already started using artificial intelligence integrated software to aid in the processing of job applications, administering the required psychometric employment tests, and even the processing of the needed background checks to complete the recruitment process. These saves the business a lot of time and cuts the manpower needed to man these recruitment events and will be able to help the business hire the best and right candidate for the job.

5. Increasing productivity

A small business should be able to maximize productivity even with limited people and resources. AI for small businesses can help that happen even with the limitations involved in the business operations.

There are repetitive and, sometimes, mundane tasks within the business that can be addressed using artificial intelligence programs and algorithms. What it does would be to remove these tasks from people within the organization, most especially if there is limited manpower. Bigger enterprises, especially those in the manufacturing sector, has already started using robotics to replace human employees from doing simple yet time-consuming tasks such as labeling or packing products. These human employees are then delegated to tasks that would better need their skills or expertise.

Pre-pandemic, the use of productivity tools and applications have been consistently on the rise because it helps streamline some processes that gets work done easily and with just a few clicks. Especially now that businesses have provided work from home and remote work options because of the pandemic, these applications and artificial intelligence for business tools have become more useful and makes communication and work more bearable. The use of these tools such as Evernote and Asana may be designed to suit the workflow of a certain team in order for them to still be productive and meet deadlines even while working from home or anywhere remote.

At an age where businesses are going online and processes are being made more simple by programs under artificial intelligence, human intervention and interaction is still needed. However, the repetitive tasks may be delegated into an artificial intelligence system that lessens the workload so that the employees or staff may be able to do other tasks that cannot be done, for now, through artificial intelligence.

6. Improvement of sales and marketing strategies

We have all been receiving emails containing marketing information about products and services being offered by different companies. We sign up to the newsletters of our favorite brands, wanting to always be updated with the latest products and offers. We will also, sometimes, willingly sign up for promotions of different products and services in the hopes of winning the good prizes that they offer and maybe to try out their products and services later.

As a lot of businesses have been transitioning to capture both the traditional and online markets, AI for small businesses have proven to be very helpful when it comes to the development of a variety of marketing strategies to boost their sales and increase their presence in both avenues.

Digital marketing is booming primarily due to lesser costs to the business. A lot of small businesses, especially startups and home-based ones, sign up on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to gain wider reach and mostly for free. Also, these platforms include free AI for small business tools that collect and provide data to the small business as to how it is doing in terms of social media presence. Premium accounts on these platforms have to be paid but considering that you will not really need a lot of manpower to monitor the data, even the business owner can already get a hold of the data with just a few clicks and be able to discuss it with his marketing and salespeople for proper analysis and appropriate action or response.

Aside from that, there are a lot of free AI for small business apps that can be used to boost sales and increase their presence. The use of email marketing tools such as Mailchimp, has been proven to help boost sales and increase market presence of these small businesses. Although these emails may be considered “spam mail” before and are not really being read by people, the pandemic has made consumers turn to online shops and businesses for the services and products that they need. Subscriptions to these newsletters and emails coming from these businesses are being read more nowadays because this is where they can get discounts or deals that are exclusive for their loyal customers’ use. The use of the more popular Salesforce already integrates a customer relationship management software into their system making it easier for the marketing and sales team to draw up data from their customers to increase sales and profit for the business. Coaching your sales team may also be done via applications like Chorus or Jong are also proven to be helpful in boosting sales and improving your marketing and sales teams’ strategies. All of these applications are based on artificial intelligence which could truly make your work as a business owner more streamlined and easier.

The increasing number of online shops with artificial intelligence integrated functions have proven to be an effective marketing tool. They have become one-stop shops for every consumer’s needs without having to go out of their homes to get the items. On the logistics side, such as delivery functions, this function has also been tied into these platforms making a sale extremely easy to obtain without having to really go out of the office. Artificial intelligence for business has made the whole sales process easy to complete with just a few clicks, making it extremely convenient for current and potential customers. The data that a small business may gather from their sales online with these artificial intelligence for business tools are extremely helpful for their marketing and sales teams to come up with better strategies and plans to yield better sales numbers for the business.

Social media presence, especially for startups, home-based, and other forms of small businesses, is now considered to be an exceptionally reliable tool in ensuring that they can still meet their sales target even during this time of a pandemic. Artificial intelligence can track data of customers’ frequently purchased items and their other preferences, customers will be able to pick out delivery options suited to their needs, and the delivery of

7. Reduce risks and protect your small business by boosting your cybersecurity functions

At this day and age when almost everything is already online, including businesses, securing your business systems and resources is essentially important to protect them from the risks of hacking and other online intrusions.

Cybercrimes at this time have become so advanced that programmers must also level up their skills and programs to counter these events. Top cybersecurity companies are constantly improving their systems with increased research and making sure that their systems are fool- and fraud-proof for use even by small businesses. Unfortunately, a lot of these small businesses fall victim to a whole lot of these cybercrimes, ranging from fraudulent transactions to hacking of their customer databases (which contain sensitive and personal information) because they have not invested on a good cybersecurity program, especially for their online platforms.

Since a lot of these small businesses utilize a variety of social media platforms which also offer a wide array of cybersecurity programs for their protection, it is essentially important to do your own research and, if needed, seek the advice of an IT expert on what program the business would really need when it comes to applying cybersecurity programs that would best suit your AI for small business needs. One good advantage of using AI for small businesses is that with the use of both simple and complex algorithms, it would be able to track and identify user and data patterns which may potentially harm the business operations.

With the advent of online or e-wallets and online banking, most of these companies can and will be able to track the usage of your accounts with them. AI for small businesses backed by a reputable cybersecurity program will enable the small business to identify irregularities, threats, deviances in transactions by their customers, and point out possible breaches in security even before they are completed.

In conclusion, artificial intelligence for businesses is constantly being studied and developed to further enhance its features and resolve all evident loopholes for future use especially by small businesses. Artificial intelligence is already in place everywhere now not just by the big organizations but even by small and medium businesses to keep up with the times. There are still debates about whether AI for small business is totally feasible in the long run. With big technology giants such as Microsoft and Google going into full blast about improving artificial intelligence programs, we can expect more efficiency in business operations even with limited resources.

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In the marketing world, branding is exactly that, and more. Branding is a marketing strategy that makes sure that among the thousands of similar products and / or services that are around today’s market. It ensures that it not only stands out but is remembered for the name, the offer, the experience, the features, the taste, or whatever distinct aspect of a product or a service is.

In today’s highly competitive world, whatever business market or niche you’re in, you have got to ensure that your product or service stands out from the rest of the crowd. Not only that, but you need to position yourself, your company or business, your brand, as an expert in your area. This is what makes a brand, a brand.

When faced with decisions that may affect your brand, always remember that your brand is what people talk and say about you whenever you are out of earshot, which means that there is ultimately just one goal: to only make them say mostly positive things about your brand.

Ultimately, the brand strategy that a business applies must encompass specific long-term goals. These goals should be achieved with the continuous change, evolve, and shift of a successful brand. A brand strategy that is well-defined and implemented in a business affects every single aspect of it. It also is directly in line and in connection to your consumers’ emotions, needs, and market competitive environment.

Again, your brand is more than your product, website, service, logo, or even your name. Your brand is something more than a solid object, it is something that is intangible.

Before we dive headfirst into the various branding strategies that are available and used by a lot of businesses, it is important that you understand the direction of where your business or company is actually going, what it aims to achieve, and understand the process it takes to get there is long and tiring. A businessman needs to understand that there is no easy way out: successful brands do not simply happen overnight. With that in mind, what are some brand strategy examples that we should consider in building a brand?

1. BRAND POSITION

Consumers buy products based on what their perception of it is. Similarly, this works with services as well. Your brand position is where your brand aims to hold in the minds of your various consumers or customers.

Keep in mind that your brand would need to have a strong and impactful positioning statement wherein it is actually a part of your brand strategy. In doing this, you ensure that you control what your consumers and customers think about when it comes to your brand.

Some of the initial questions that you may need to ponder on and ask yourself are:

• Who are your target consumers or customers?
• What makes your own brand unique from all the other brands?
• What problems does your brand tackle and help solve?
• What emotions do you want your consumers or customers to associate and feel when it comes to your brand?

A well thought out positioning statement can highlight your brand’s unique proposition and make it a lot more memorable and meaningful to your consumers or customers.

2. BRAND PROMISE

“ Look out ’cause here I come. And I’m marching on to the beat I drum. I’m not scared to be seen. I make no apologies, this is me.”

For those who recognized it almost immediately upon reading, these are lyrics from This is Me, one of the famous songs from the soundtrack of the musical film: The Greatest Showman. The way this was performed in the movies, if you can remember, is that it is unapologetic and has a clear and distinct message that says: “I am who I am, this is what and who I am and, this is what I stand for.”

Your brand promise should be on the same lines and delivery as that. It should sound confident and sure about who and what it actually is. This brand promise is that clear and resonating message that calls out to your consumers or customers.

Remember that people buy products and avail of services when a brand is able to spark an emotional connection with them, this means that the brand promise that you need to put out there is something that must not only provide help and benefits to your consumers or customers but it must also inspire and motivate them to actually buy the products or avail of the service that you offer.

In the marketing world, a brand is similar to that of a promise made, but it is great brands who are able to pull away from the crowd and be able to ensure that it is a promise kept.

More often than not, our subconscious better controls our consumer behaviors, and believe it or not, about 90% of all of the decisions that we make, regarding not only our consumer behavior, are based on our current emotions. Be sure that your brand exploits and takes advantage of that.

The biggest example one can think of with a brand promise is today’s current rave on Apple’s iPhones. The question “Why do you need the iPhone X?” can surprisingly be answered by a lot of people. Those answers are from one’s emotional state. This means that Apple, one of the biggest and most successful brands there is, was able to make an emotional connection with the people who are able to answer it.

Brands like: Starbucks, Nike, Amazon, IKEA, Apple, Samsung, and so many more are examples of successful brands that have been able to make their brand promise into something that their consumers and non-consumers alike, know by heart and mind. Safe to say, they are brands that were able to master this type of brand strategy example.

3. BRAND CONSISTENCY

Consistency is key. This is one of the many truths in the world. This applies to a lot of things in one’s life, and it similarly applies to your brand. Successful companies and businesses both local, and international ones have built their brands using and with consistent delivery of their brand promise. This is how a company or a business builds their brand loyal consumers or customers.

Remember that it is never enough to only state and announce to the world what your brand is and what it stands for, there must be an equal or a lot more action on that prmise consistently in order for one’s brand to endure in today’s competitive business markets.

One of the biggest examples that we can give is Nike. Nike is considered as one of the top and leading sports brands in the whole world. When someone, consumers or non-consumers of their brand alike, sees their signature swoosh, there is an automatic switch in them that makes them think of Nike’s company. This is because Nike has always been consistent, not only with their products, logo, and marketing, but also their brand promise.

Consumer brand loyalty is built on consistency of delivery of the brand’s promise. Remember that if your brand has a feeling of familiarity to people and they are able to connect with it, then you’re on the right path because this means that you’re doing something right.

4. BRAND EMOTION

And yes you read that right. Your brand should have emotions that your consumers or customers feel whenever they hear, see , or think about your brand. Like what was said earlier, it is best to exploit consumers’ emotions on your brand, and when you set a target set of emotions for your brand, chances are you will be able to hit all of your target set of emotions with different consumers or customers.

When a brand provides its consumers or customers with opportunities to feel like they are part of something, when the time comes and they are faced with the decision between choosing one brand from the other, they will most likely pick the brand that they feel the most emotion in.

But why is this something that needs to be considered when building your brand? Humans are emotional beings, they have in them an innate desire to not only be or feel included but also to build and harbor relationships. There is a need to feel that people belong, and as research suggests, those affectionate and caring bonds that people make from relationships is a major part in the behavior of humans.

Remember that in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, affection, love, and belonging falls into the middle of the triangle. In a business perspective, one’s brand always needs to have that deep connection with their consumers or customers on an emotional level.

5. BRAND FLEXIBILITY

The only constant thing in this world is change, and believe it or not, those changes can come within minutes or even seconds. Flexibility is needed in order to stay relevant today, as even world markets are faced with today’s fast and constant changes.

This begs the question: “But if I am supposed to remain consistent with my brand, how am I to also include being flexible?”

That is a good question. The consistency promised here is the standards that you, yourself or as a company, must retain in your brand. The flexibility that we are talking about here is how you, your company, or business, are able to adjust and make decisions on actions which will build enough interest and be able to distinguish your approach from your existing competitors.

The best branding strategy often requires a certain level of consistency within it, but has an equal amount of variation in order for things to stay fresh and relevant.

In today’s world, there are a lot of old brands who are able to stay strong amidst today’s time where everything is fast paced and automatic. This means that they have both consistency and flexibility enough to stay fresh, hip, and are able to provide something new for this current generation. If your old tactics aren’t working anymore, and trust us, one day it won’t, don’t be afraid of change. This is something that every brand must go through in order to stay alive and relevant.

6. BRAND INVOLVEMENT (INTERNAL)

Remember that consistency is key in order to build brand recognition and loyalty. While it is best to focus on your consumers and customers, remember that it is equally important for our employees to feel the same, and additionally, be well versed in how they carry themselves in front of your consumers or customers. They must also be able to know how to communicate with them, as they are initially your brand representatives out on the frontlines.

This also extends to your employees who are in your customer service department, be it personal or digital, they must know what to convey. If your brand is happy, bubbly, and playful in your marketing engagements online, this must carry over to when a customer calls your customer service hotlines.

This brand strategy example is important because a good brand not only connects with their consumers or customers, but they also form a connection with their employees, and that connection will only help improve and imbue in the minds of the employees how to carry and act as the brand’s front line that usually is seen by most customers.

7. BRAND LOYALTY

There are already people that love your brand, your business, your company, you. Don’t just sit there doing nothing, because chances are, competitors can swoop in and take them in the blink of an eye. Reward them for the love that you receive from them as a brand.

Remember that word of mouth is one of the most effective marketing and branding strategies there is. It not only makes its way to one strategy list, but it is actually included in both! These brand loyal customers have gone out of their way in order to tell their friends and family about you and write about your products and services, on Social Media or on print. In a way, they also serve as your brand ambassadors.

Be able to cultivate that brand loyalty that your brand loyal consumers give. If you are able to cultivate them from the get go, this will only yield a lot more returning consumers or customers to you, and this means more profit and revenue for your company.

Remember that it doesn’t take much. A thank you can make you go a long way, but at times, it’s better to go out of your way this time and thank them properly. Write a personalized letter, offer a discount, include them in a brand loyalty only meet, send over a gift basket with your products, these efforts will not go to waste, because you already know just how much your brand and them are connected.

Loyalty is and should be a critical aspect of a branding strategy because at the end of the day, a positive relationship with your brand loyal customers and you can ultimately set the tone for all of the other potential consumers or customers and what they can expect if they choose you.

8. BRAND AWARENESS

You are not the only brand out there in your market. And while your goal is to outplay, out strategize and outbrand your competition, there must always be an aspect of brand awareness in you and your company. After all, you are in the same market, with ultimately the same goal of going after the same customers, so be prepared to watch what they do.

Watch what is successful and what isn’t, and from there tailor your potential brand position and flexibility to accommodate what is already a freely given set of data that your company can use for the better. Take your competitions and consider them as challenges that can help you grow and perfect your own branding strategy and be able to create a loe more value for your overall brand.

But remember that don’t take things and blow them out of proportion, the main goal here is that you are in-tune with your competitors but never ever let your competitors dictate and control your every move. You are in this business because your company, product, and brand is unique. If you let every move your competitors make affect your own decisions, you immediately lose your edge.

Remember all of this when you’re making your brand strategy and we assure you that you are already on your way into your first steps into becoming a successful brand of your own. And don’t fret, again, remember that no successful brand was made overnight. Take your own time and make your own decisions and in the end, you will know when to turn up the notch for the betterment of your brand and business.

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