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Mar Tech

Transforming the marketing function with technology

Written by Rena Tan on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

The world of work has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, driven by the relentless march of digital and technological advancements. 

In the Marketing and Communications field, we have seen how the adoption of technological and digital tools have similarly caused a seismic shift in the way we work.

Our marketing and digital tech stack now cuts across various marketing and communications disciplines, ranging from content development, SEO, lead generation, media monitoring and database, inbound marketing, right through to project management and customer experience.

This article will highlight some of these game-changing tools that have completely enabled me and my team at Randstad Singapore to work better – and more efficiently.

Engaging and qualifying prospects with conversational AI chatbots

The digital revolution has upended traditional work paradigms, and this transformation has been particularly pronounced in my line of work.

One of the most significant changes has been the way businesses interact with their customers. With the advent of chatbots like Drift, our company’s website has become more than just a static online presence.

Drift, a sophisticated AI-powered chatbot, allows us to engage with website visitors in real-time, delivering personalised experiences, answering queries, and providing assistance 24/7. 

With the ability to deploy various playbooks based on web visitors behaviours and personas, our AI chatbot can speed up sales cycles by engaging prospects with valuable, real-time conversations that lead to opportunities.

This has not only improved customer satisfaction but has also generated leads and conversions that were previously untapped.

With A/B testing, we were able to find out that almost 50% of our web visitors (potential customers) prefer to chat with the bot than fill up a query form, which led to us dropping all query forms from our website.

This significantly improves user engagement and experience – which in turn resulted in more visitors converting to actual marketing and sales qualified leads.

Bridging the gap between sales and marketing

Another area where technology has revolutionised my work is email marketing. One of the main gripes marketing leaders have with their sales teams is the lack of follow ups for the leads that have been handed over from Marketing to Sales.

The introduction of AI-assisted email marketing tools, such as 6sense, has been truly pivotal in bridging this gap between sales and marketing. It brings lead conversion to a whole new level.

6sense AI assistant is programmed to understand intent, which allows it to determine if a lead has expressed interest and choose the right responses. 

Depending on how the campaign playbooks are being deployed, this email bot can understand specific customer requests, personalise email responses and follow ups, and engage with leads automatically.

It helps marketers like me automate conversations with leads and lead nurturing, converting them into sales meetings, and ensuring that no potential customer falls through the cracks.

Every single lead is being followed up on, and handed off to the sales guys once the intent matches the objectives we have set for the bot (e.g book a meeting).

The sales guys are now getting super-hot leads that have already been nurtured and qualified by the bot, which means they can now move in and take over clients who are ready to meet or buy.

The result has been a significant increase in conversion rates and revenue, improved customer experience, and a more streamlined email marketing process – cutting down the time the sales guys have to spend on call calling and lead chasing. 

In addition, the sales guys can now spend more time delivering better and more personalised services to leads that are worth their time.

Effortless content creation with Jasper

Content creation is a crucial aspect of me and my team’s work, and here too, technology has made a significant impact. Jasper, an AI-powered content writing tool, has been instrumental in simplifying the content creation process. 

It can generate high-quality and optimised articles, blog posts, and reports with remarkable speed and accuracy.

Besides articles and blogs, my team also uses Jasper to craft responses for Google reviews, generate headlines for Google or LinkedIn ads, suggest video captions for Youtube and Tiktok, write press releases, summarise email content into persuasive bullet points, generate landing page content and create polls, just to name a few.

While we still provide the creative input and direction, Jasper takes care of the heavy lifting, saving us valuable time and energy in the creation of content and other relevant assets.

The quality of the content produced by Jasper is so impressive that it has become an indispensable tool in our arsenal.

SEO optimization made easy with Frase.io

Effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is vital for ensuring our online content reaches a wider audience, more so in this answer-driven economy. Frase.io is a next-gen content and SEO optimisation tool powered by AI, and claims to be the fastest and easiest way to create content that ranks on Google.

This tool not only helps us to generate content that incorporates facts and background research from the top search results of any query, it also provides keyword suggestions, analyses competitor content and offers recommendations for optimising our content to rank higher in search engine results. 

Definitely a real time and life-saver!

Growing share of voice with Telum Media

In the ever-evolving landscape of public relations and media outreach, staying connected with journalists, influencers, and media professionals is paramount for building brand awareness and share of voice. 

This is where Telum Media, a cutting-edge media intelligence platform, has made a significant impact on our communications work. 

Telum Media is the most comprehensive, earned-media database in the Asia Pacific region – a live platform connecting PR and communications professionals with media contacts across the globe.

This online media platform provides real-time updates and alerts, allowing us to track media mentions, industry developments, media requests, editorial opportunities and journalist movements. 

Its user-friendly interface enables us to craft personalised pitches and communications tailored to the interests and preferences of specific media contacts and journalists.

This level of customisation not only increases the likelihood of securing media coverage but also fosters stronger relationships with journalists and influencers who appreciate relevant and thoughtful outreach.

Using this tool has empowered our team with timely insights, ensuring we are always in the know and allowing us to capitalise on relevant news and opportunities to enhance our media outreach strategies and grow our share of voice.

Challenges in Embracing Digital and Tech Tools

While the benefits of adopting digital and tech tools in the workplace are undeniable, there are also challenges that come with their implementation and use. Some of the common challenges include:

Learning Curve: Many digital and tech tools require a learning curve, and employees may initially find it challenging to adapt to new software or platforms. 

Training and support are essential to help employees overcome this hurdle.

Integration: Integrating various tools and ensuring they work seamlessly together can be complex. 

Compatibility issues and data synchronisation problems can arise, leading to inefficiencies.

Data Security: With the increasing use of digital and SAAS tools, data security is a paramount concern. 

Protecting sensitive information from cyber threats and breaches requires constant vigilance and investment in cybersecurity measures.

Costs: Implementing and maintaining digital and tech solutions can be expensive. 

Companies need to carefully assess the return on investment and budget accordingly.

Human Resistance: Some employees may resist the adoption of technology due to fear of job displacement or concerns about their job security. 

Overcoming this resistance requires effective communication and reassurance.

Conclusion: The Power of Integration

In conclusion, my journey with digital and tech tools over the past five years has been nothing short of transformative.

These tools, including Drift, 6sense, Jasper, Frase.io and Telum Media, have not only accelerated our work, but also significantly improved its quality and efficiency.

These tools have enabled us to connect with prospects, clients and talent, automate marketing processes, create content effortlessly, and optimise SEO strategies. 

However, it’s crucial to acknowledge and address the challenges that come with embracing these tools.

The learning curve, integration complexities, data security concerns, costs, and human resistance are all valid issues that need to be considered and tackled proactively.

As leaders in our respective fields, we must recognize that the integration of technology with work processes is not a choice but a necessity in today’s fast-paced digital world.

It’s imperative to invest in the right tools and provide the necessary training and support to our teams.

Embracing digital and tech solutions can significantly improve efficiencies and productivity, ultimately driving greater performance in our ever-evolving work environments. 

By doing so, we position ourselves and our organizations for continued growth and success in the digital age.

The future belongs to those who are willing to adapt and harness the power of technology to work smarter and better.

“What new technology does is create new opportunities to do a job that customers want done.” – Tim O’Reilly

Most asked questions

How AI can be used in improving marketing?

What is integrated marketing communications?

Most asked queries

Email marketing?

Jasper

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Categories
AI Tech

Do you believe that AI will eventually replace humans altogether?

AI will eventually replace humans altogether????

Written by : Shweta (SOHAM) R on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Let’s try to understand the term first:

💡What Is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is a new and exciting field that is quickly gaining popularity. It is a method of making a computer, a computer-controlled robot, or a software think intelligently like the human mind. AI is accomplished by studying the patterns of the human brain and by analyzing the cognitive process. 

It can be considered a tool to assist us to rise above our circumstances.

Before getting threatened and believing in speculations take a moment and register this, AI is a replica we have created to make our lives better.

It is made of code not cells!

Having said that, we must strive for creative sense because it’s just the beginning, we have only touched the surface of what Artificial Intelligence can accomplish. Our thinking capabilities and problem solving abilities are endless.

💡The four A.I. types are:

🧩Reactive Machines

🧩Limited Memory

🧩Theory of Mind(Exits only in theory)

🧩Self Aware(Exits only in theory)

We are currently well past the first type and actively perfecting the second. At the moment, the third and fourth types exist only in theory. 

Most of the recent or past developments are data driven. I am looking forward to the theory of mind and self care developments because their AI will have to deal with thoughts and emotions.

How on earth a machine is going to handle that?? 

According to Forbes AI is expected to see an annual growth rate of 37.3% from 2023 to 2030. AI continues to revolutionize various industries, with an expected annual growth rate of 37.3% between 2023 and 2030, as reported by Grand View Research. This rapid growth emphasizes the increasing impact of AI technologies in the coming years.

A quarter of companies are adopting AI because of labor shortages as labor shortages become a pressing concern, 25% of companies are turning to AI adoption to address this issue, according to an IBM report. AI helps businesses optimize operations and compensate for the lack of human resources.

Software engineers and data engineers are being recruited for AI support

As AI becomes more integrated into businesses, there is a growing demand for AI support roles. In 2022, 39% of businesses reported hiring software engineers, and 35% hired data engineers for AI-related positions, according to a McKinsey report.

97% of business owners believe ChatGPT will help their business

According to Forbes Advisor, a staggering 97% of business owners believe that ChatGPT will benefit their businesses. One in three businesses plan to use ChatGPT to create website content, while 44% aim to generate content in multiple languages. More than half believe AI will improve written content. 

Over half of respondents, 54%, believe that AI can improve written content, suggesting that AI-driven solutions such as ChatGPT have the potential to enhance text quality, creativity and efficiency in various content creation contexts.

💡What can we do to adapt the process?

In the emergence of AI technology, we may need to accept and reassess ourselves. We will need to be equipped skills-wise and knowledge-wise on how to handle and prosper in a world that is continuously changing and improving as days move on.

Conclusively, I will say it is important to get the hang of AI but again try to acquire a balance while you are turning into a robot with AI advancements to keep your natural stupidity alive to be creative. YES, AI is the present, but will it be the future?!

That’s a question mark for me, I believe quantum computing will take over.

Most asked questions

What are the pros and cons of AI?

 Can AI take over the world?

 

Most searched queries

Generative AI 

Machine learning

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Categories
HR Tech

Leadership development in a virtual world

Leadership development in a virtual world

Written by –  Sreena Seetha Nadarajan on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Remote learning and training became the norm during the covid pandemic. With most of us locked in our homes, we were forced to look for new ways to acquire knowledge, to connect with people and, for many, develop new skills and capabilities. Those at the top of organisations, including senior leaders who are Members of our Community, had to navigate the challenges of leading their businesses remotely. How do you keep in touch with your executive team, your Board, your people and the outside world? How do you seek inspiration and advice, from colleagues, mentors and peers, in a lock down? 

Online learning and training is nothing new. Companies have offered employees access to e-learning as a flexible and often cost effective way of upskilling teams for some time. The challenge of leadership development is more complex. For executives, it’s often less about learning a new skill, but instead understanding the business landscape outside of your immediate organisation and industry. It is no longer enough to have deep sector expertise, leaders need insight from a range of sources and across different geographies in today’s fast-paced environment.

Executive development using technology to let the outside in

According to our research, senior executives including CEOs, CFOs and HRDs consistently rate development opportunities like mentoring and peer learning as most effective to their roles and responsibilities. When lockdown hit back in March 2020, Criticaleye had to quickly adapt many of the learning experiences we offer our Members, so technology played a major role in keeping leaders current and connected. 

In fact, when it comes to executive development, virtual meetings and connections with other leaders around the globe has become one of the major opportunities to emerge from the crisis. Our mentors are now able to combine face-to-face interactions with virtual conversations, creating a constant and consistent touchpoint for their mentee. Equally, and although we resumed our calendar of physical events last year when restrictions were lifted, the advent of more regular, virtual roundtables and forums at Criticaleye is enabling our Members to dip into leadership insight and be inspired by peers more than ever before.

Tech and Talent

If the way leaders are developing their skills and capabilities is changing, so too is the way they think about their workforce and talent strategies. Organisations need to adapt to remain competitive, and improve their understanding of both what it means to lead a distributed workforce. It’s about much more than remote working. Leading a distributed workforce should be intentional, strategic and it requires a shift in both leaders’ mindset and the culture of the business.  

According to discussions we frequently have with leaders across the Criticaleye Community, executives need to ask themselves how they can create a new sense of belonging in a more remote working environment. They also need to question how they measure and maintain productivity. Overall, there must be a focus from leadership teams on retaining your best talent, and, going back to our Criticaleye Research, the C-suite consistently cites talent as their top priority for the year ahead. 

Digital transformation is not just about the customer. It must also play a key role in how you engage your teams, what you offer in order to hold on to key people, how people learn and how leaders get the touchpoints they need to be successful. 

Sreena Nadarajan, Head of Research UK, Criticaleye

Most searched queries

Leadership qualities

Leadership skills

Leadership development  in human resource management

Leadership development research

Most searched question

What is meant by leadership development and its importance?

Why is leadership development important?

How do virtual organizations deal with leadership development?

How can you be a good leader in a virtual environment?

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Categories
HR Tech

Working reset to “REMOTE FIRST”

Written by JJ Chai on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Technology and virtual ways of working have made “REMOTE FIRST” way of working possible. The biggest proof being, almost the entire global economy has been able to survive because of this reset.

This new way of working requires some basic rules which every organisation, especially a start-up should follow to keep this sustainable and continuous.

Digital fluency

This may seem obvious, and to some extent, already a requirement for any knowledge industry job today. However, in a “REMOTE FIRST” environment, especially in a start-up, there’s no IT department helpdesk to call to fix up laptop or your microphone. Team members who can figure out how to troubleshoot, reboot or do basic configuration of their technology are much more productive than those who are typically reliant on an ‘IT person’ to fix things.

We see the ability to quickly learn the tech tools, whether collaborative cloud documents (no save to laptop and email please…), chat software or video calls as an important indicator of a successful remote-first employee. These are foundational skills, in some ways more important than even English language fluency.

High empathy

As a team with over 16 different nationalities, with different styles of communication in both written and spoken forms, we need team members who have high levels of empathy. It’s far too easy to misinterpret the tone and intent of messages or annoy others by setting up meetings at odd times of day due to time zone differences. 

We find that people who have a strong sense of empathy (e.g. as a simple indicator, they would indicate both parties’ time zone when scheduling meetings), to be much better adept to dealing with communication challenges and being effective team members in a remote-first environment. Some indicators, like experience with working across time zones, or having been well travelled (with a strong traveller’s point of view, vs a tourist point of view), are good signs in this respect.

Clarity of communication

This is true for any regular organisation but is made even more important in “REMOTE FIRST” organisations. With less opportunities to re-clarify at the water cooler or other interactions in the office, the ability to communicate well in writing and verbally are more important than ever. We appreciate structured communication and concise verbal communication.

The challenge to assess these three characteristics, and also other signals are also made tougher in a video-meeting set up. I do miss the days when I could do the coffee cup interview test. In-person at the office, I’d go with the candidate to the pantry, help get them a cup of beverage, bring them along to the interview room, and observe whether they later offered to help take it back to the pantry or assume ‘someone else would do it’!

We founded Rainforest in the midst of the Covid pandemic in early 2021. As an e-commerce aggregator that buys and builds e-commerce brands, growing the brands globally, we saw an opportunity to make the most of the pandemic situation by going “REMOTE FIRST”, i.e. we predominantly worked remotely, outside of a fixed office environment. As we grew, we took this further, and now have no office at all in any location. Our employees can work from anywhere.

We learnt that while most candidates that applied to us say they are comfortable to be part of a “REMOTE FIRST” team, the above characteristics stood out to be better indicators than others of being a successful “REMOTE FIRST” team member at Rainforest. We continue to look for these three traits to ensure they would thrive in our organisation.