Monday, July 15, 2019

3 Ways Small Businesses Can Grow Faster With Video

This past year, Americans received 26 billion robo-calls - prerecorded messages from spammers - on their own phones. That’s up 46%, and there is a similar spike in undesirable email, texts, and - yeah - LinkedIn demands. Junk e-mail has arrived at a crescendo and when you’re in sales, marketing, or customer support, more noise means less attention.

For small companies, which makes competition with bigger, competent brands even harder. However, you can change this tsunami of unrequested outreach into a benefit should you send more powerful signals - like video.

Video is simpler than ever before to produce and it is among the best methods to humanize your organization. It requires someone to record and someone to watch, so when you have a personalized video inside your inbox, it activates curiosity. Who sent this? Did they invest everything time only for me? You are able to harness this attention-grabbing and explanatory capacity to grow business in three vital ways.

1. Drive more pipeline


Nearly all marketers (52%) report video is the most effective tool because it’s fun and efficient. Videos take less cognitive effort to look at than articles do in order to read, so buyers prefer them, and individuals are more inclined to open emails or explore websites which contain videos. And that’s just getting viewers in.



Videos also simplify complex topics which help people retain information. Based on Vidyard research, an astonishing 90% of consumers state that product videos enable them to make buying decisions and 64% state that watching a relevant video means they are more prone to buy.

“64% of prospects say watching a relevant video means they are more prone to buy.”

VIDYARD  2018 VIDEO Running A Business BENCHMARK REPORT

Videos don’t need to be an costly endeavor, either. Vidyard’s Chalk Talk explainer series cost one bucket of colored chalk and a few hrs. However if you simply do purchase a marketing with video platform, you are able to start out a step further with the addition of calls to action (CTAs) to videos to capture more leads and people engaged.

2. Close more deals


You may expect that video’s advantage could it be lets sales people break right through to cold prospects. But the likes of League and LeadIQ have found that videos grow increasingly more effective because the purchase progresses.

Their sales people, like individuals at a number of other SMBs, use videos to:

  • Answer technical questions
  • Explain contracts
  • Reduce no-shows
  • Generate interest with micro demos


Sales people who send personal videos are convinced that prospects recognize them at occasions, despite getting never met.

Their prospects share videos using the entire buying committee and feel a larger personal attachment because video creates relationships. Consequently, video earns 3x more responses and, in some instances, cuts deal cycles in two.

Getting began is straightforward, too. Your team can certainly record and share videos with tools such as this free GoVideo chrome extension.

3. Retain more customers


The enjoyment, effective, and bond-building explanations which make video ideal for marketing and advertising also turn it into a good fit for customer care.

Customer care managers at startups like Miovision and Dynatrace react to clients’ questions with video walk-throughs and provide onboarding video libraries that increase renewal rates.

With video, support reps can respond to questions rapidly without having to sacrifice value, growing client satisfaction. Plus, each video is really a quasi-face-to-face interaction that strengthens the connection.

Customer support managers may use video to:

  • Rapidly respond to questions
  • Onboard customers
  • Encourage renewals


Grow further with video


The greater customers learn how to tune out junk e-mail, the more suitable video becomes. Video enables you to definitely signal that you’re a genuine person too, and also to connect with techniques that attract and retain more customers - regardless of the number of robo-calls they get.

Friday, May 17, 2019

MuleSoft Sets Standard for Successful API Strategies

MuleSoft, provider of the leading platform for building application networks, today announced the next major release of Anypoint Platform™ with the launch of Anypoint API Community Manager and other significant advancements across the platform. API Community Manager uniquely combines a full-featured API portal and industry-leading digital experience capabilities, transforming how teams collaborate across the entire lifecycle of an API program. Until now, there has not been a single solution that brings together full lifecycle API management, personalization, forums, chat, support case management, and engagement analytics. For the first time, companies can easily build connected digital experiences for their API products with API Community Manager, empowering anyone to quickly begin collaborating and co-creating value with a broader ecosystem of developers, partners and employees.



To realize the full value of establishing this API ecosystem, companies not only need best-in-class technology capabilities in a single solution, but they also need an informed strategy for how they will engage their ecosystem to co-create value and drive business growth. An API program is a coordinated effort to manage the creation and usage of APIs in support of a broader digital business strategy. With this release, MuleSoft is also the first to productize how to build a successful API program by further extending MuleSoft Catalyst with Catalyst Mobilize, a packaged set of proven best practices and methodologies built on experience working with thousands of organizations across industries. Now any company can create and nurture a thriving API ecosystem in order to open new business channels, launch new business models and increase operational efficiency.

Digital transformation requires every company to create and nurture a thriving API ecosystem


APIs are now the standard way for an organization to expose business capabilities out to a broader ecosystem of developers, partners and employees to accelerate innovation and co-create value. However, creating and nurturing this API ecosystem requires a new set of capabilities that do not exist within most organizations.

“In this digital age, companies must shift their mindset around APIs from a technology to a strategic business approach to create value for their customers and get ahead of the competition. This requires an organization to understand its partners and developers and build API products that directly meet their needs. It also requires delivering digital experiences that turn developers into evangelists by providing them what they need to be successful,” said Mark Dao, chief product officer, MuleSoft. “This release represents an important moment in the industry – providing companies with both the product and organizational capabilities to easily build and engage API ecosystems so they can innovate faster and deliver business value together with their partners and developers.”

Setting the new standard for successful API strategies


Until now, customers have had to use a combination of technical content management solutions and generic social engagement tools to build developer portals and drive engagement. With the release of API Community Manager, companies can create customized digital experiences that promote API products, support API ecosystems and increase engagement between developers, partners and employees – all in a single product without writing any code.

API Community Manager extends MuleSoft’s Anypoint Exchange, allowing organizations to build on the assets that they already have and meet the expanded needs of a broader set of cross-functional stakeholders, including developers, partners, API product managers and other line-of-business users.

Anypoint API Community Manager includes the capabilities to:

  • Build API portals in minutes with out-of-the-box templates
  • Customize API portals to create engaging, pixel-perfect branded experiences
  • Personalize these branded experiences based on the API consumer's role and needs
  • Foster communities of partners and developers that ultimately drive API adoption
  • Auto-populate interactive API documentation from Anypoint Exchange
  • Increase developer engagement through forums, chat and case management
  • Measure ecosystem engagement and track API program business metrics, including cost savings, revenue generated and most popular APIs

MuleSoft is also the first to combine industry-leading digital experience capabilities with a packaged approach to defining an API strategy. MuleSoft Catalyst is a unique operating model that enables customers to adopt a methodical approach to integration known as API-led connectivity. With this release, Catalyst Mobilize is expanded to provide a guided approach to establishing an API strategy, from planning API programs and creating a foundation for a digital business to building a digital platform and measuring the value of integration and APIs. It includes proven best practices, playbooks, API program workshops, and API strategy blueprints based on MuleSoft’s expertise working with more than 1,600 customers globally.

Successful API strategies empower customers to innovate faster


With MuleSoft, customers across industries can create thriving API ecosystems as part of their API strategy. For example, banks can establish open banking platforms to connect digital services, retailers can securely expose inventory data to third parties to create new shopping experiences, and healthcare providers can develop partnerships to deliver better care.

“APIs allow us to be agile and innovate rapidly,” said Sheila Jordan, CIO, Symantec. “MuleSoft has helped us use APIs to standardize and accelerate integration of new technologies, as well as create new business models for continuous improvement. MuleSoft has also allowed us to improve how we operate with our extensive partner ecosystem.”

Damian Giuffre, chief digital officer, federal government agency IP Australia, said, “With almost 100% of our customer interactions taking place digitally, we needed to revamp our agency’s digital channels. IP Australia looked to MuleSoft to help modernize how we deliver digital services and communicate with customers using APIs to underpin our customer-facing systems. By building an application network, we’re able to expose APIs to help create digital marketplaces so that third-party software developers can build new applications around IP Australia’s data and services. With this API program, we’re able to jointly create value with our partners to deliver the best experience for our customers.”

Additional highlights from the Anypoint Platform May 2019 release


In addition to the launch of API Community Manager, MuleSoft has continued investing in driving depth in its core integration and API management capabilities.

The Anypoint Platform May 2019 release also includes additional advancements in API management:

  • Automated policies: secure any API with policies that can be automatically applied and audited for compliance
  • API products: simplify API consumption and management by grouping multiple APIs as products
  • Business operations dashboard: track how API products or individual APIs are contributing to the overall success of an API program through a customizable dashboard that tracks revenue, order volume, unique customers and more


Other significant enhancements include:

  • Anypoint Flow Designer: 10 new, prebuilt templates to automate common tasks across Salesforce, Slack, Box, Twilio and Google Drive
  • Anypoint Partner Manager: fully-integrated B2B solution that simplifies partner management through partner onboarding templates, transaction tracking, and monitoring across APIs and EDI transactions

Monday, April 8, 2019

Salesforce Delivers myTrailhead, Ushering in a New Era of Learning for the Future of Work


Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global leader in CRM, today announced the general availability of myTrailhead, a learning experience platform that empowers organizations to create a culture of learning to continuously re-skill and skill up their employees. As the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes how we live and work, 33% of all in-demand skills will be new by 2020. With myTrailhead, organizations can skill up employees at scale with a reinvented and fun approach to learning that is customizable to their brand and personalized for every employee.

“Business leaders recognize that investing in their people and building a deep culture of learning is a key strategy to moving their company forward,” said Sarah Franklin, EVP of Developer Relations and GM of Trailhead, Salesforce.

Shifting to a Continuous Learning Model in the Fourth Industrial Revolution


The Fourth Industrial Revolution brings an incredible wave of new innovations from artificial intelligence to robotics. With technology changing so rapidly, companies need to look beyond traditional, one-size-fits-all education platforms and seek out new approaches to learning. In fact, workplace learning is a proven driver of success—employees who spend more than five hours a week learning are 39% more productive, 47% less stressed and 21% happier on the job. Yet, a majority of companies lack a culture of learning, creating a gap between the organization's need to rapidly embrace new technologies and their employees’ existing skill sets. Companies need to close this gap to succeed and put a focus on learning at every stage of their employees’ career.

Introducing myTrailhead: Create a Culture of Continuous Learning


With myTrailhead, companies can combine the power of Trailhead, Salesforce’s personal learning cloud, with their own brand, voice and tone in just a few clicks. Using the guided set-up, companies can easily pull in their existing content (including videos or presentations), create custom new content or use the existing free, public Trailhead content to create their own culture of learning. Using myTrailhead, employees can learn what they want, when they want, and managers have visibility into their organization’s existing skill sets and areas for improvement. Now, organizations can:

  • Scale Onboarding — Help employees skill up at any level or stage in their career with custom learning paths called Trailmixes. For example, when an employee is being onboarded, their learning journey starts with an automated custom Trailmix assigned to them and built specifically for their role. Assignments could include a welcome video from a company’s CEO, a trail on navigating the first few months on the job, or even an overview of a company’s history and core values. Once an employee reviews the content and takes a short quiz, they’ll earn points and badges, which can be shared on their profile to showcase the new skill.
  • Empower Employees to Re-skill and Upskill — Employees can learn what they want, when they want with bite-sized content that’s available on desktop or on the go with mobile. The free, public Trailhead library includes more than 500 modules spanning tech skills (like Blockchain Basics) to soft skills (like Cultivating Equality at Work), with new content added every six weeks. For example, a service agent can learn how to better leverage AI-powered insights within their console or take a module to learn how to build an Einstein bot.
  • Track and Measure Learning — Leaders have a complete view of their employees' skills and expertise with Trail Tracker, an app available on Salesforce AppExchange, which assigns, tracks and reports on badges earned by their team with pre-built reports and dashboards. Managers can also use Trail Tracker to drive and incentivize performance by giving employees real-time feedback and recognition for demonstrating new skills and inspire them to reach goals with assignments, ranks and leaderboards.
  • Create Integrated Learning Across Salesforce — Built on the Salesforce Platform, myTrailhead integrates with Salesforce applications like Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud. In-app recommendations surface relevant learning with automated assignments, recommendations and notifications triggered by events. For example, if a sales rep is having trouble figuring out when to convert a lead to contact in Sales Cloud, a trail would appear that would help them learn the process.