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Branding and Design: Beyond Logos

Author: Ciente Editorial Team

Branding and Design: Beyond Logos
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Branding and Design: Beyond Logos

Branding and Design: Beyond Logos

Design and Branding are always constrained to visuals. These limitations hinder a brand from fully coming into its own. But what if you could go beyond?

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Design is humanity’s greatest invention. Or rather a discovery. The language of design helps us understand, visualize, and create symbols that make sense.

Everything man-made that you see has been designed with the intention that someone might use it or find it exciting. The design makes something memorable. With this usage of abstract symbols and design choices, we are able to use and program commands in machines and create a brand.

Branding and design are linked together like a coin with two sides. They are an inescapable part of each other. The discourse online surrounding brands and design is about the fundamentals of branding design.

But who doesn’t know that? A good brand has a good design. And if you want to be memorable, create an aesthetic that visually appeals to your user.

Is this it? No. To design something entails far more, especially from a brand’s perspective. And while logos and color are a major part of it, it is not something that marketing leaders do not know about.

When it comes to your brand, you know how it should look and feel. If you know your customers, you know what typography, pictures, and logo should reflect their personality.

But what goes beyond these fundamentals? Understanding timeless design principles makes brands successful. It is communicating an idea to another almost instantaneously. And staying in their mind.

The design creates trust, recognition, and belonging.

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Image Description/ Caption: Designed for Perfection

The Vitruvian Man is one of the most recognizable sketches on our planet. Its creator does not need to be named. That is branding and design.

Why is it so that some visual pieces evoke a memory in our heads? When you see an iPhone from the side or front, even without looking at the logo, you understand it is the iPhone.

It is association. Your brain puts thousands of pieces together to recognize the device in an instant. When speaking of branding and design that goes beyond logos and typographies, this is what is meant.

Brands that stay on top of your head communicate who they are through subtle cues. Trust us, aesthetics are part of it, but brand design should not be confused with its sub-part— Graphic Design.

Brand as a system

Within the school of system thinking, any object is broken down into parts, and the interconnected relationship of the parts makes it work as a whole.

Brands are the same. They are dynamic systems that constantly evolve and adapt to feedback. As with any system, the brand is made up of many moving parts. From customer experience and aesthetics to the product/service/personality your brand has formed around, branding design has to consider everything.

Brands are like a movie. The entire experience must be directed to create positive outcomes for the organization and tell a story worth being part of.

This is where branding and design come into view. It is a strategic and scientific approach to creating trust within the buyer and becoming a natural choice for whatever you’re selling. It involves educating, delighting, and retaining your audience.

Build meaningful interactions

In marketing, the interactions your customer has with your brand are known as touchpoints. And marketing teams describe the customer’s path to the bottom funnel as a journey. Yet, among the noise of marketing messages, these concepts have become redundant. Explore effective Email Marketing.

But they do matter if we look at it from a different perspective. Many online resources talk about frictionless touchpoint interactions or journeys. Yet, the reader is not left with an understanding of what the content is trying to say.

These pieces beat around the bush to tell you one thing: Build meaningful interactions.

Directing your customer’s journey is crucial for brand building, as it may. But how do you do this?

You must think like a designer. Because that is what the successful brands do. They design every touchpoint with awareness of what the customer should feel or act like.

Let’s illustrate this with an example exclusive to B2B.

The concept of self-buying

You must know that self-buying has become popular since the pandemic. As more business leaders began preferring the self-buy options, the industry had a wake-up call.

They needed to get on the self-buy train like their B2C counterparts. And they did. But what does the industry find?

B2B buyers felt more regret when they self-bought. Why do you think that is? One of the reasons is that they couldn’t understand what the product had to offer.

One of the drawbacks of self-buying is not having an SDR to talk to and ask crucial questions.

But there was one more caveat: Buyers preferred remote selling. I.e. after the pandemic, in-person sales were not the preferred option for them.

This is a design problem. And shows us customers themselves don’t completely understand what makes their experience good. The design anticipates the problems the buyer may face under possible conditions. And provides an intuitive solution for it.

The intuitive design solution is to understand that your SDRs are not just outreach agents but consultants to the buyer. And through tools like Zoom can interact with the buyer.

Any good brand designer understands through instinct the value of human-to-human interaction. That a loss of it might cause some obstacles. Buyers need meaningful interactions that affirm their values. And this happens through an SDR during the final stages of the purchase.

Companies that jumped on the trend without this thought process may have faced a lack of high-quality sales.

On the other hand, businesses with hybrid models with their sales teams working as consultants and helpers to ease buyer choice must have reported better deals.

And that is not mere conjecture. In the report we linked above, proves buyers were 1.8x more likely to complete high-quality deals when the model was a mix of self-buy and rep-assisted.

Let’s make branding and design into actionable principles.

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Image Description/ Caption: Let Design guide you home

Designing Belonging

SEMRush is adored by a large community. And equally, some who adore Ahrefs.

Both companies are known to feud. They are SEO tools. SEMrush is supposed to be great for keywords and Ahrefs for backlinks. Teams fight over which one is better.

Countless blogs pit the two against each other for commercial purposes. Yet, the SEO community manages to stay passionate about both.

Why do these two brands evoke such appreciation? Because people feel a sense of belonging with them. Both brands have managed to capture their intended audience and hold their attention. Especially SEMrush.

But how do you create belonging through branding? The simple answer is to align with something. There is a debate in the community between keywords and backlinks. And maybe…just maybe. SEMRush and Ahrefs decided to support these polarizing communities by design.

This created a sense of belonging between the community and the brand. If a product is good and does what is needed, its brand can quickly create a passionate community.

And nothing exemplifies this like Notion

The community of Notion

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Credit:https://www.reddit.com/r/Notion/comments/1bwo4tc/i_am_worried_about_notion_community/

Do you see the affection Notion gets from its users? Go and read the comments. They are passionate, to say the least.

Why does this platform have such an avid fan following that people wear Notion merch, and why does the San Francisco Standard say that people use it to run their lives?

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If you are creative, you know Notion. For those who do not— it is a connected workspace for wikis, projects, and docs.

It’s an all-in-one tool for creation and management.

But if you ask any creative, the tool is more than that. It helps you make your ideas into reality. Notion works on the concept of customizable databases, and these databases can get as creative as you. Offering what seems to be endless possibilities. People even monetize their databases because they are effective.

Notion, coupled with marketing, high-quality content, and a tool that satiates the want for premium stationery items, creates a unified experience of satisfaction.

Notion is designed for people to want to ask more. All through intentional design.

Here is the co-founder’s interview. Through his words, we can understand that he and Ivan designed Notion by understanding the needs of the knowledge worker and creating a tool that lets them personalize through building blocks.

Revolutionary.

“Design means everything here. We’re a tool that solves people’s daily problems.” — Ivan Zhao

Look at Ivan’s comments – A tool that solved people’s daily problems. And they designed their brand to exemplify this.

From the community meet-ups to incorporating customer feedback and app integrations. Notion is everything a tool wants to be.

Notion has such a Zen way of organizing and creating programming, writing and designing, and whatever you want to use it for. That it hooks you in. And makes you passionate. Explore Programmatic advertising.

Do you want to create a second brain? Notion’s got you.

Let’s break down the design principles behind belonging: –

  1. Understand what your product/service/personality stands for
  2. Let the customer explore and find out what it can do by sprinkling in clues
  3. Let them talk about it (Or create discussions around it)
  4. Enable their thirst for knowledge.

Creating Trust and Recognition

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Image Description/ Caption: Trust made tangible

In the Soviet Union, things were not branded till the 60s because of socialist rules. This created a huge problem. Quality was bad, and factories could not be held accountable.

After a fiasco involving rivets, ships, and sinking, the USSR realized branding and design were crucial.

Very crucial.

And so started the boom of state-owned design teams that made logos and had names of the manufacturing factories etched into their products.

Have you ever wondered why brands were ideated into existence? It is because of a need. The a need to distinguish between high-quality goods and trustworthy creators.

Great design plays the role of enforcing this idea. Look at McDonald’s. The undisputed king of fast food.

What do you think made McDonald’s so popular? Is it the Iconic logo? Is it McDonald’s the clown?

Of course. But let’s take a granular approach. They dominated because of design. The winner was their kitchens and the Speedee System created by the brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald.

It was revolutionary.

It was the lever of McDonald’s success and why Ray Kroc believed in the brand. Let’s take it a step further.

After World War II, drive-in competition in San Bernardino grew, and the McDonald brothers discovered something surprising about their barbecue restaurant: 80 percent of their sales came from hamburgers. “The more we hammered away at the barbecue business, the more hamburgers we sold,” said Richard McDonald, according to John F. Love’s book McDonald’s: Behind the Arches.

The brothers closed their doors for three months and overhauled their business as a self-service restaurant where customers placed their orders at the windows. They fired their 20 carhops and ditched their silverware and plates for paper wrappings and cups so that they no longer needed a dishwasher. According to Love, they simplified their menu to just nine items—hamburgers, cheeseburgers, three soft drink flavors in one 12-ounce size, milk, coffee, potato chips, and pie. — Source: https://www.history.com/news/how-mcdonalds-became-fast-food-giant

The McDonald brothers thought like pioneers. The success of their business was possible because their brain picked up on design choices— whether through instinct or training.

  1. They realized burgers were selling more
  2. And created a system to deliver it to the customer quickly and in their hand.

Can you see something here? The McDonald brothers created a lean start-up. A quick and agile entity. And their echoes are still heard 75 years later in 2024.

Let us talk about design principles: –

  1. Identify your product or service offerings and analyze what is popular with your customers.
  2. Is there an opportunity to enhance customer experience by becoming aware of what they want or need?
  3. Is there bloat in your design? Something you can eliminate without affecting your main product. Even elevating its speed in some aspects.
  4. Ask yourself: If this choice is so powerful, can a brand emerge through this, or can your brand become synonymous with that offer?

A brand that designs itself to provide value to its user and anticipates their needs will get the opportunity to associate itself with a concept.

Like Apple with design. Like Google with search. Like McDonald’s with Fast Food. And HubSpot with Marketing and Sales.

Design principles put you on par with the giants.

Bring it together for the user to feel, see, and touch.

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Image Description/ Caption: Can you feel the heaviness in their backs?

Great design excites all the senses. You must have interacted with tools and software that seemed tangible. The software almost anticipates your responses and helps you grow. As it guides you through its challenges, you feel the joy of discovery.

SEMRush is such a tool. It knows what the user wants and, through design helps them grow their marketing skills. Another is Google.

Imagine the head of Google’s designers- they thought that search should be simple and made the software easy to use. You cannot touch Google but feel the experience through your keyboards.

Or look at the advent of AI. It is an intelligence designed to derive ideas and help us find new thought processes. Perplexity, Claude, and ChatGPT encourage exploration through simple UIs.

You talk. The AI responds.

Think about it. Such simplicity is born from the complexities of immense computational powers.

The question is: How can you do this with your tool and make it part of your brand’s identity?

Branding and Design as a reflection

Brands are a reflection of strategies, design choices, and the product (or services and personality) your team is selling.

Unique brands manage to bring out their traits through visual, industrial, and software design. Are they special? No. The only difference between good and bad design is not understanding user needs. And anticipating failure.

There’s no point in adding features that will not elevate the user or make their usage easier. In marketing, good design asks itself— will my base customer find value in this message? If not, how can it be?

Branding and Design is asking yourself the right questions.

And Ciente can help you.

Ciente.io produces high-quality content to help you strategize and provide an edge over the competition. Our in-house creatives and strategists provide the data and expertise to help you orchestrate buyer experiences.

Whether design, content, or maximizing your reach, we help leaders grow their businesses and achieve bottom-line growth.

Striking the Right Chords with your Top-of-the-funnel Sales
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Striking the Right Chords with your Top-of-the-funnel Sales

Striking the Right Chords with your Top-of-the-funnel Sales

As per reports, for every 100 leads, only 2-5 prospects may convert into paying customers. How do you increase this ratio by targeting TOFU clients?

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A sales funnel comprises different levels, each denoting the type of customer or the status of your deal with them. These are categorized as TOFU, MOFU, and BOFU.  At the top of the sales funnel (TOFU), you probably have many potential leads. These customers could be new to your offerings and may be getting acquainted with your brand.

Yet they may not be actively looking to buy a product or service. In short, not all the leads you have at this stage are likely to convert into paying accounts. Frankly, very few will. Studies indicate that the average conversion rate for top-of-the-funnel sales leads ranges between 2%-5%. So, utilize this awareness stage phase of awareness as a good opportunity for your brand to make a lasting impression that has them returning to your products or services.  

The top-of-the-funnel is your chance to get your target audience hooked and want to know more about your offerings. It needs to focus on value-added content and ads that create brand awareness while leaving your prospects wanting to learn more. You want to maintain a fine balance between showcasing your expertise and not coming on too strong by selling too much information. If you successfully catch the attention of maximum prospects without being annoying, there is more chance of bringing them to your brand’s sales funnel.

Let trust-building be the core of the TOFU phase to educate your prospects with insights they find valuable. When they trust your brand, they will likely sign up for the long haul. The right elements can enhance awareness and win the interest of more prospects in your brand’s offerings.

How can you make the most of TOFU?

Your sales and marketing teams know that attracting new prospective customers and generating leads are the stepping stones to a successful strategy. However, when the top-of-funnel is a hit-and-miss, your sales and marketing funnel teams won’t have many leads to nurture and carry forward.

Inventing innovative tactics to strengthen your TOFU is the key to building trust among the target audience. Moreover, this is a catalyst for helping you establish thought leadership with prospects. But where do you begin to create a robust top-of-funnel content for your sales?

Adding value to your audience makes all the difference. Be it through your content or your communication, the more you focus on delivering value, the better will be your success rate with prospects. When prospective customers resonate with your brand voice, it enhances their engagement. And if more people engage it elevates the chances of prospects converting into paying accounts. Since more potential customers are in their research phase early on, the primary goal of marketing at the top of the funnel is to stimulate awareness and propel lead-gen campaigns.

These are the prospects who expressed interest in your offerings but are yet to make a purchase. When you can add value through your offerings and address the prospects’ needs, you can create content that appeals to TOFU clients. This enables them to take the next step toward an informed decision for purchase.

Quality TOFU leads help you increase brand awareness, generate qualified leads, and foster strong relationships with customers. A steady flow of top-of-the-funnel leads paves the way for optimizing the best strategy to maximize your returns on investment.

How will you benefit from TOFU sales?

Benefit from TOFU sale

Your sales and marketing teams implement the latest strategies to appeal to the right audience. Yet, there are times when the newest ideas may fail to yield the results you seek. This is where TOFU-focused sales come in handy. It helps brands like yours to produce interest among prospects in your offerings. Moreover, blogs launched to level up the TOFU include impactful CTAs. Feel free to ask your prospects to sign up for a newsletter or a contact form that connects them with your sales team. SEO-rich top-of-funnel content can benefit you in several ways, ultimately increasing client reach and sales conversions.

Brand awareness

Whether your business is newly launched or you have established your brand identity in the market, instilling and sustaining brand awareness are always critical. Plan every content you launch or deliver and use the right keywords. Create brand awareness by connecting with TOFU prospects and discussing ways in which you can address their concerns. When you take different routes to build relationships with the audience, more prospects will become aware of your brand.

Generating leads

If the blogs and content pieces you deliver are rich in value-added information and SEO-backed, they will attract more prospects. If more potential clients read your materials, there is more scope for garnering high-quality leads. While crafting various forms of content, ensure you cover topics that intrigue the target audience. Integrate every content piece with relevant keywords that elevate the overall search engine optimization. Also, discuss the significance of building relationships with potential prospects using social media posts, email campaigns, or other marketing tactics. Implementing these initiatives will increase your lead generation, allowing you to stay ahead of the competition and build a strong client base.

Building relationships

Strong relationships with prospects go a long way in expanding your database and improving customer retention. Although B2B brands realize the importance of robust customer-business relationships, it may feel like a struggle to accomplish this. The good news is— with careful planning and strategic implementation of ideas, it is not far-fetched. For instance, engaging with potential customers through content and social media channels will prove effective.

Researching your audience and understanding the content they grasp will serve as a roadmap to help you decide the types of topics to discuss in your content. Include advice and informative content to develop trust with the clients. Launching interactive and value-added posts allows your messages to create an impact on the target audience. Tailor messages and content to make them interesting, drawing readers and invoking purchase interest. Catching the attention of TOFU clients with your content and campaigns is a surefire way of increasing the performance efficiency of your sales cycle.

Segmentation

Client segmentation is an essential element to customize campaigns for audiences in a specific funnel of the sales cycle. It is important to thoroughly understand the tone your target audience prefers, the type of content they find interesting and what are their pain points. The sales and marketing approach will vary depending on whether you are targeting new leads or wanting to provide useful information that encourages them to engage with your brand. Whereas, if you are looking to retain existing customers, providing updates about new offerings may work in your favor. The bottom line is the more you know each client segment, the more effective is your marketing campaign.

Ace your content for efficient TOFU marketing

Efficient TOFU marketing

Content conveys your brand’s voice, and at the same time, it is a channel that allows your audience to align with you. Combining high-quality content with strong visuals builds relationships with prospects, attracting new leads. While there is a diverse stream of content that can be launched, these are the common content types the TOFU clients may find appealing.

Blog posts

Blog pieces are a great way to talk about your expertise. You can use short-form or long-form blogs to highlight how your offerings address audience pain points. Develop them as a means to resonate with more prospects. Cover topics your target clients would search for and amplify the searchability with keywords. In this way, you deliver value-added content that drives traffic to your site and increases your customer reach.

Landing pages

Leverage landing pages to discuss all your services to engage a specific target audience. Optimize landing page content to increase site visits and generate more inquiries. Utilize these to encourage brand-customer interactions either directly with the purchase or through web chat or a contact form. You can also create separate landing pages for events or special offers. 

White papers

These offer the perfect opportunity to publish long-form content, shining light on the impacts of your benefits. You can draw upon success stories and how-to guides, and build case studies as white papers. Make them available to download from your site and to the email list. Utilize the launch of white papers as a perfect time to showcase your expertise and connect with the audience.

Infographics

These are concise and visually appealing forms of content. Infographics allow you to represent complex concepts in a clear and easy-to-interpret format. You can post them on your website and social media channels to generate interest among prospects through reposts and engagement.

E-books

If you are looking to establish your thought leadership, E-books are the best resource for sharing valuable content. You can discuss software solutions that would address the pain points of your audience. Leverage this form of content to connect with a large base of prospects and share it through email marketing campaigns. Another way of attracting leads through E-books is making them available on your site and linking them to a contact form for enhancing audience engagement.

Wrapping up

Your brand has a unique idea and offers solutions that address the pain points of your audience. But without connecting with the prospects, it is tough to build your brand reputation. Top-of-the-funnel marketing is your chance to attract your target customers and keep them for the long haul. Focusing on the TOFU of your sales cycle allows you to create a good first impression and generate more conversions. Your innovative marketing techniques focused on the top potential customers are a driving force to convert those potential leads into actual sales. Spend time and resources on marketing tactics to deliver your best lead-gen campaigns and take advantage of top-of-the-funnel sales opportunities.

SWIFT Alternatives for Cross-border Payments: The Top Picks
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SWIFT Alternatives for Cross-border Payments: The Top Picks

SWIFT Alternatives for Cross-border Payments: The Top Picks

SWIFT has transformed the B2B landscape, allowing seamless cross-border payment solutions. Here’s why you need to consider other options.

As businesses are adopting digitization and interconnecting with various economic zones, cross-border payments are gaining increasing importance. They allow brands to execute transactions with vendors, business partners, and employees in different countries. An example of B2B cross-border payments includes making a payment to a vendor of yours who is overseas for the products supplied or services provided. Paying employees based in foreign nations also counts as a B2B international transaction. Such money transfers involve different currencies, requiring conversion.

SWIFT (Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) has become a dominant and trusted payment network for cross-border transactions. It forms an integral part of the global payment system and is a common choice for businesses for overseas money transfers.  The interesting aspect of SWIFT is that it is not a payment system in itself but helps banks and financial institutions exchange encrypted data and safeguard their processes.

Over the recent years, the payment  As of May 2022, SWIFT witnessed 46.1 million financial information (FIN) messages each day, and this figure continues to grow every year. It provides a single platform for payment exchange across borders. This saves you from integrating multiple systems for the different components involved in international transactions.

SWIFT has been established as a trusted payment network that gives banks and financial institutions assurance that the money exchanged is safe.  However, this payment network has some downfalls, which is why businesses are now considering valid alternate channels of cross-border payments. In this article, we have covered these in detail and suggested other efficient payment networks for international payment exchanges.

What are the challenges of SWIFT?

Although the SWIFT network is popular, there are some drawbacks associated with this legacy system. With emerging facilities like open banking, API payments, and money transfer alternatives, several options support easier, faster, safer, and more flexible payments. Let’s dive into the hurdles with this technology.

Slow processing

Transactions through SWIFT can be slow, taking up to 5 days to process if there is more than one intermediary bank. Typically, every transfer goes through several banks, including central banks within the network, which is a complex cycle. The speed may compromise the urgency of payments to go through.

Opaque fees

The SWIFT network implements a system that goes through several stages. The payment order moves from the sender’s bank to the recipient’s bank through a series of intermediary banks. Every financial institution involved is free to determine the fees they charge their business customers. Thus, each of them accepts a fee, and sometimes these could be hidden charges. As a result, the total fees could be a larger amount than expected, making this process costly. 

Ecosystem vulnerabilities

When it comes to processing cross-border payments with SWIFT, the efficiency depends on the operational resilience of every financial institution/bank in the chain. If there is an issue with any party, a chain reaction can arise, delaying your payment or even blocking it.

Technically complex

Since there are various components in the SWIFT cycle, you require sufficient resources to get it up and running. The process can be cumbersome for different financial systems, thereby restricting the benefits of automation.

Political

Every country has its own regulations and restrictions by governing bodies. For this reason, you may encounter limitations in specific geographical regions due to political tensions or conflicts. These can influence the financial institutions and central banks that can access SWIFT.

Top 5 SWIFT alternatives

Challenges with SWIFT payments

Apart from SWIFT, other options are emerging for businesses to enhance cross-border payments. Each of these alternatives overcomes the drawbacks of the SWIFT networks. The applicability of each method depends on your brand’s needs and ability to access it.

Card networks

International card networks such as Visa, Mastercard, and Amex are accepted worldwide and offer a convenient and secure channel. As more and more transactions happen online, these can incentivize brands to purchase more through reward and protection schemes. The only downside here is that card transactions may charge you currency conversion fees plus other charges. You may experience several benefits with these networks but there may be some reliance on SWIFT infrastructure for payment processing, delaying the settlement times. Moreover, businesses incorporating card transactions need to consider the impact on their balance sheets, especially for additional fees associated with these financial exchanges.

Fintechs

Fintech service providers leverage APIs to address roadblocks and improve traditional banking networks. This SWIFT alternative provides you with options like pre-funding to create an illusion of instant payments. In this way, there is automatic re-routing for the fastest and the most efficient path, along with real-time tracking of payment progress. Partnering with fintech providers allows your brand the flexibility to delegate the processing work, giving them time to focus on the core activities. Streamlining overseas payments becomes possible with fintechs, making them a quick and cost-effective solution.  

Blockchains and Cryptocurrency

Blockchain is a shared database or ledger distributed among nodes on a computer network. It offers a transparent protocol for all global users. Cross-border transactions are a top use case of blockchains. They allow the payer and payee to operate with the same data formats and protocols, enabling smooth fund transfer. Blockchains are not restricted by operating hours or geographical barriers.

Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, could be another excellent SWIFT alternative, especially if you are struggling with slow payments. It offers a fast and transparent channel that exchanges payments via cryptocurrency wallets.

Other banking networks

You can leverage domestic banking networks to transfer money between international bank accounts like EFT, SEPA, and BECS. Domestic banking networks are another option for processing payments, enabling instant cash flow and low-cost fund transfers. Such alternative payment channels offer you a range of options for improving cross-border payment processes. The feature that stands out is allowing tailored solutions to specific needs and regional infrastructures. You can access reliable and efficient payment processing capabilities without being restricted by geographical locations.

Summing up

SWIFT payment networks have helped businesses expand across borders, providing a secure payment channel in several locations. They have introduced a large-scale transformation in cross-border transactions remittance. SWIFT’s financial network fulfills the needs of numerous businesses and their clients worldwide to allow international transfers. However, this leading international payment system also has some challenges, making it a good idea to explore and enable these emerging solutions. These cost-effective payment alternatives fill the gaps that SWIFT has yet to address. Brands may not completely give up on SWIFT for the various benefits associated with this network. It is more likely to co-exist with the alternative channels that work best for your business.

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide
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SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide

SaaS Product Marketing: A Complete Guide

Creating an impact with your SaaS product could be challenging in the dynamic market. How can you design a winning strategy to beat the competition?

The SaaS product market is a huge landscape; navigating through it blindfolded may drift you away from your purpose.  Research indicates that the growth rate every year for SaaS is 18%. And it accelerates business growth, provided a marketing strategy is in place.

SaaS product marketing is all about bringing it to the right target audience and promoting it on relevant sources. For the process to be successful, it has to be consistent throughout.  Your product marketing team can create an effective strategy to enhances brand positioning and gives that cutting-edge you have been waiting for. The end goal here is to create new opportunities and close more deals.

The approach goes beyond knowing every single detail of the SaaS product. The difference lies in exhibiting knowledge about your SaaS value and services.

Steps to market a SaaS product

The key to accomplishing an articulate plan for a SaaS product marketing strategy is integrating this step-by-step guide.

Social media

Since 3.6 billion people are actively using social media, make the most of this channel while embarking on your SaaS product marketing journey. Utilizing this medium to educate prospects on topics related to the SaaS product will promote better decision-making. When more people engage with your product, it also contributes to increased brand awareness.

Social media also offers the opportunity to stand out from other B2B brands. What is posted on these marketing channels and how existing clients and potential customers interact with them can go a long way in building trust. Tracking these responses allows us to understand the campaign performance and whether or not you are heading on the right path.     

Email marketing

This channel of communication is effective for marketing your SaaS product to your niche prospects. Brands can use different routes to execute an email marketing campaign:

Newsletter: Shares updates about launch and modifications to the community. It’s a great way to engage with prospective customers about new features, upcoming events, and more.

Acquisition emails: An email campaign designed to cover MQL and SQL, allowing potential customers to flow through the marketing funnel.

Retention emails: Launched with the motive to increase the probability. Retention emails familiarize prospects of interest with walkthroughs, feature updates, and customer feedback opportunities.

Video Marketing

Content Marketing that is customer-centric and aligned with the brand voice will give you the desired response. Marketing your SaaS software by engaging videos can increase views and target audience engagement. Studies indicate that the conversion rate of retaining information is about 95%when viewing a video. It allows you to highlight the different features through attractive visuals that help in customer retention and lead generation. The videos illustrate how customer loyalty will benefit from the SaaS program and how to use it.

SEO for SaaS

Syncing SaaS product marketing team with SEO optimization may seem like a huge step, but it helps amp up the revenue sales cycle. You can opt for this channel to increase the organic traffic to your product page. When consistently practiced, an effective SEO strategy improves domain authority and the sales funnel.

Paid ads

Paid ads and banners are also applicable to SaaS products. Before launching an ad campaign, determine the best platform to do so. Select the channel frequented by your target audience and design a compatible ad. This route of product marketing strategy is a great way to retarget potential customers who have interacted with your website in some form.

Other content for marketing SaaS products

Blog

Educational pieces relevant to the blog establish you as the thought leader. Leverage resourceful blogs to communicate about the industry and trends specific to your niche, and offer solutions that prospects seek. Blog posts drive more traffic to your website and product page. If you link a form with a call-to-action, an article becomes a powerful tool for lead generation.

At Ciente, we create blogs that improve your brand identity among the right target audience. We also specialize in adding SEO tools and relevant backlinks to increase wider audience reach through the blogs.

Podcast

Your audience can learn more about the products through an engaging podcast session. It also sheds light on how the SaaS program will address their pain point.

Ciente has a channel dedicated to podcasts, conveying the latest technologies, trends, and how to integrate innovations. We understand the role of podcasts in enhancing brand awareness and marketing products.

SaaS product marketing- Pro Tips

Best practices for SaaS product marketing 1

Map your ICP

Without digging into more information about your ideal customer profiles, all product marketing efforts may seem futile. Research details such as the platforms they frequent, the ads they engage with, and the products they buy. Analyzing buying behavior provides clarity on their likely response to your product.

Evaluate the competency

Research the target market in-depth to know where your ideas stand. Assess the performance of your competitors and their marketing plans to get a competitive edge. You can tweak your strategy to better address the pain points. In this way, they will prefer choosing your brand over others.

Design a clear strategy

A marketing campaign is effective if you define your business goals. Whether you are looking to attract new customers or increase the retention rate, it is time to get creative with your strategy. Find ways to deliver more Aha! Moments among the clients. Brainstorm ideas within your team and invent a unique plan of action.

Keep user experience in mind

Customers who have a positive user experience while coming across your product will frequent the channel. Focus on improving user experience through all stages of the buyer’s journey and buyer personas to deliver improved customer engagement, while managing the customer acquisition cost. Strategize a unique experience with your product that creates an imprint and increases interest in buying.

Track the campaign

The efficacy of a SaaS marketing campaign is limited unless you keep tabs on its performance. Utilize relevant metrics to track engagement and deliver the results. Metric analysis gives you the big picture, whether you are on track with your goals or there are miles to go.

Automating SaaS marketing

Automating your marketing efforts involves integrating software and technologies that manage repetitive tasks. It feels like a heavy weight lifted off the shoulders when these daily tasks are automated. From email scheduling to data management, a series of tasks can be simplified with marketing automation.

Wrapping it up.

In the expanding realm of SaaS, a robust marketing strategy is the catalyst for improving customer journey and engagement, right from the onboarding process. Its success hinges on carefully planning the nitty-gritty of the marketing campaign and maintaining a competitive edge. These steps will reduce the churn rate and instead drive demand, adoption, retention, and expansion of your client database in a continuous cycle.

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing
Blogs

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing

From Demand to Clicks: Understanding Content Performance Marketing

Is building a compelling brand narrative a solution for navigating the challenges of performance marketing?

The Times of India coined 2023 as the year of content fatigue, describing it as the year businesses were in an attention battle.

Just as fatiguing as it sounds, content fatigue is detrimental to developing a digital marketing strategy. Especially, if the blog post is not engaging enough, it can result in a low conversion rate.

The marketplace is congested with short-term trends and long-term business goals, where the target audience is dealing with an incomparable number of native advertising and content.

In a simpler term? Ad saturation.

This is a challenge for digital marketing strategy. Creating high-quality and valuable content is complicated, and time-consuming, and the digital landscape is already crowded.

Content matters, particularly compelling and relevant ones, but for business growth? Quantifiable results take the driver’s seat.

And the audience fatigue when it comes to dealing with stale and irrelevant content influences these results. As the trends tire out consumers with short attention spans, the need for content with flashy factors increases. The process of consumption should make the consumer feel exhilarating and generate the need to share it with others.

The general public (with newer generations) has become demanding, while the market is highly competitive.

Measuring the demand in digital marketing is crucial.

What is in demand and how much returns is it bringing in? At the end of the day, marketers need to report back with numbers and justify their investments in specific campaigns and the return on investment generated.

Why and how do marketers calculate these quantifiable metrics and map where they stand against their competitors?

Content performance marketing comes to our rescue.

It uses display ads, affiliate marketing, referral email marketing, and search engine marketing to drive quantifiable results.

The campaigns encourage measurable actions whose results can be outlined in numbers that stakeholders can use to compare and gauge the campaign’s effectiveness. The advertisers only pay for specific actions or results such as when a browser clicks on a page or completes a purchase.

Content marketers have revised their marketing strategies to integrate data-driven methodologies such as different types of performance marketing strategy. Hence, the marketing budget is narrowed down and allocated towards driving the success of ad campaigns.

To know where to shift our expenses, we outline the demand – which of our performance marketing campaigns has the maximum ROI? Studying this demand can help analyze the present and past returns by assessing if it’s reaching the right qualified audience.

For content performance marketing to be effective, knowing who your target audience is, the audience your brand is targeting, and what is driving demand is crucial. In simpler terms, understand your audience.

As marketers, we want to pinpoint how our existing social media advertising campaigns are performing instead of focusing on boosting the number of ads in the market. Please Check Programmatic Advertising.

Along with studying audience demand, our marketing goal is to focus on quality over quantity. And both require a strong brand narrative.

How Does Content Performance Marketing Work?

In content performance marketing, decisions are data-driven and comprise performance-based goals. The expense depends on how the user interacts with a piece of content and through which performance marketing channels.

For example, a brand will pay you (the marketing agency) only after the goals have been met or an action taken, such as a sale, lead, or clicks, based on how well their ads which you help develop and place, perform.

Understanding content performance marketing channels is a small feat. And this discussion ends with numbers – quantifiable results. It is a seamless and efficient way for businesses to build targeted campaigns and invest in digital channels generating the maximum measurable ROI.

The story behind your brand matters.

Analyzing which content is performing the best is significant, and is calculable through different SEO strategies.

But to what extent, is this possible without the usual storytelling, the creative shelf, at the core of content marketing? Is performance marketing well-founded enough without a strong brand narrative?

An intriguing and well-thought-out brand narrative offers your leads a reason to hold on even after the interest is generated, boosting customer retention and elevating performance metrics.

It is not as easy as throwing all your darts at the board and seeing which sticks, right? Additional efforts are necessary.

While talking about demand, the numbers can help us outline what we are looking at. Engagement is demand after all. Click-through rates, sales, and leads represent demand for your brand.

Even though content performance marketing serves a different purpose than content marketingKPIs. For effective marketing of a brand, a delicate balance between the two is required.

The middle ground between content performance marketing and brand building

Take Dropbox as an example.

It’s no secret that the company has had one of the most successful performance marketing campaigns focused on referral marketing.

They introduced a double-sided incentive program in which users referring their services to their peers received 500MB of extra storage space for basic users and 1GB for plus members per referral. Meanwhile, those who joined using the referral link received 16 to 32GB of extra space.

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How was this incentive/referral program a form of performance marketing strategy?

Over 2.8 million direct referral invites took place in the first 18 months of introducing the program, resulting in a 60% increase in signups.

Dropbox witnessed a 3900% increase in conversion rates in just over 15 months.

After this, they transformed their onboarding (sign-up) process. They added the referral program and used one of the latest and most sought-after marketing strategies in the book: personalization.

Their invites did not simply say, “Invite Your Friends”, but said, “Get More Space.” Inviting and creative.

They studied their audience, i.e., they know what their audience is here for – storage space – and personalized the invites to convey: we know what you need and we are offering that to you, but on only one simple condition: refer us.

This was not a huge ask. As consumers, we use word-of-mouth marketing in daily life and referral marketing works the same way.

Dropbox ensured that the campaigning aligned with the user’s needs. The user knew what they were searching for (storage space) and Dropbox found a way to leverage that in a way that benefits them and the user.

Dropbox studied its audience and modified its brand.

Today, it is known for its referral program. This has ensured a positive brand narrative for them, attracting new users.

As of June 2024, it has 700 million registered users and 18.22 million paying users.

It targets existing users to attract new ones at lower costs, a crucial part of performance marketing. Dropbox has made the campaign more visible and accessible for users by making it a part of their sign-up process.

Moreover, another element that elevated the participation or response to their referral program is clear messaging. Their marketing campaign mentioned what the users were getting, fostering trust and transparency in their brand.

Often for a marketing campaign, the goal is to lure prospects through ambiguous messaging. It’s most often a trap. But Dropbox leveraged the trust their existing users have in them by mentioning how exactly the referral program works:

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This is how Dropbox leveraged brand narrative for its content performance marketing strategy.

Content performance marketing considers short-term metrics, and the brand narrative accounts for customer perception. A positive brand image increases visibility, converting one-time users into long-term customers.

Your brand identity can influence performance in the long run. One is accountable for the other and the outcomes generated. One cannot be measured in isolation from the other.

This is why there is an increased focus on how the ads and their messaging might look to the audience.

Our priority remains valuable campaign creation.

Even in referral marketing, when a brand is referred to you, you click the link – what then? While the brand holds the referrer’s trust, a new user still has to resonate with the brand.

Content performance marketing targets qualified users, but building the brand narrative can lure new ones. Hence, a balance of both is crucial for driving conversion rates.

Focusing on the brand during content performance marketing adds value. It brings into focus the face of your business and its functional features. And a positive value can drive revenue by elevating brand aw

Open-source-or-proprietary-database
Blogs

Open source or proprietary database management: What should you go for?

Open source or proprietary database management: What should you go for?

If your business database is not structured, you may lose crucial information or struggle to retrieve them. How do you decide which DBMS is the best?

B2B brands are evolving at lightning speed with the technological revolution, and so is their database. In the absence of an accurate data management system, information is not organized and may go amiss. Moreover, a DBMS ensures that you can create, modify, and add query into a database, along with managing the security and access controls for that software.

While designing and building data management systems, you can incorporate open-source database technology or purchase commercial software. And each of these options brings with it a set of benefits and drawbacks. The demand for open source and proprietary databases is equally high. This often puts IT teams in a state of dilemma. Studies indicate that in 2023, the worldwide DBMS market was expected to cross $100 billion.

We’ve discussed each of these separately.

What is meant by proprietary software?

In recent years, the realm of software has evolved significantly, with tech brands having an array of software options to choose from. Proprietary software restricts the usability and ownership rights to the software. Vendors sell this technology as an off-the-shelf commercial product that may or may not allow customization. Its code is unavailable to other users or vendors, which is why it is also known as closed-course software. Typically, proprietary software gives ownership to a single entity but it can be licensed by other parties who want to utilize it.

Proprietary Software- Benefits

The software is faster and more reliable than open source. Proprietary software companies have efficient helpdesks and online resources. If you prefer access to prompt and easy support, this option is your go-to because of the additional layer of security that makes this possible.

Let’s dive into the various advantages this software offers its users:

Bug-Free

Integrating proprietary software only to get disrupted by a cyberattack, would be a huge disappointment and a problem that is hard to fix. Investing heavily in quality assurance and testing safeguards your software and provides reliable solutions for your specific needs. You can also receive free patches to fix any potential bugs.

Easy Usability

Proprietary software suppliers customize it to align with the target user. These companies end up investing significant resources in user interface design. When you choose this software, you experience easy usability even if you are new to the technology’s functionality.

Clear Roadmap for Development

These software companies offer a clear overview of software development. Typically, they comprise a team of developers working on the software, allowing them to craft upgrades. The clarity verifies that you know what features to expect, helping you navigate the application efficiently.

Proprietary Software- Challenges

Despite the several advantages, proprietary software also has some drawbacks:

High Cost

You may have to pay an initial fee plus a subscription charge, which increases the total sum. Additionally, you may need to hire developers to maintain and develop the software, further increasing the cost involved.

Fewer Options

One of the downsides of these companies is the limited options and features that you can access. As a result, users may be unable to determine the ideal solutions and settle for something else.

Limited Freedom of Use

Proprietary software is often heavily restricted in terms of how you can use it and what changes you will be allowed to make. You will be required to sign a license agreement, which specifies how they can use their software. Since it is copy-protected, you may find it difficult to share or resell the product.

Restricted Customization

The design of this software is launched with a specific end goal, which eliminates the concept of customization. You may not have the flexibility to modify or tweak their software.

Lack of Transparency

Since the software providers keep their source code private, there is a significant lack of transparency. As a result, you cannot review the code to verify whether the outcome is secure and reliable.

Open Source

Beyond the obvious cost-effectiveness, upstream projects are free to use and download. Studies revealed that 32% of IT leaders consider open source enterprise software of a higher quality than proprietary products. Moreover, it is free of licensing restrictions and high costs, overcoming the challenges faced with proprietary software.

And then there is the online open source community! It allows companies to deploy their data systems anywhere— in the cloud, on-premises, or in hybrid environments. Selecting a database service requires organizations like yours to overcome the dilemma of integrating the best solution.

Benefits of Open Source

Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness offered by open source is by far a winning advantage. The technology is open to public access and downloading, plus it’s free. Brands like yours can lower the costs involved in licensing and subscription.

Flexibility and Customization

This technology delivers great flexibility and customization options to the audience. You can access the source code and alter it as per your needs, thus sharing innovation with the open-source community.

Community Support

You engage with a growing community of developers, contributors, and users. This promotes the exchange of best practices, contributing to the ongoing development of the technology.

Vendor Neutrality

Vendor neutrality makes sure that you are not locked into just one vendor. In fact, it gives you the freedom to draw the best from a stream of choices based on their preferences and your needs.

Drawbacks of Open Source

Lack of Official Support

Open source databases lack the necessary channels of support that you can get from proprietary solutions. This may cause difficulties in terms of reliability, responsiveness, and accountability. The lack of official support also makes it difficult to address critical problems.

Complexity and Learning Curve

Operating these solutions requires a high level of technical expertise, enabling efficient deployment. When using open source, you may need to set aside additional resources for skills and training that promote its management.

Security and Compliance Concerns

Although open source is free and resource-rich, the software may be susceptible to security and compliance risks. The possible threats may arise due to a lack of official patches or vulnerabilities. You can prevent this challenge by integrating robust security protocols and compliance monitoring measures, amplifying data protection.

Integration and Interoperability

Another hurdle with open source databases is compatibility and interoperability issues with proprietary software, legacy systems, or third-party applications. While incorporating open source in your existing infrastructure, you may encounter mismatched data formats. This can make the entire process quite cumbersome.

What is open source vs proprietary activity?

Open Source vs Proprietary Software

There is an overlapping similarity and yet a stark difference between these software solutions. For instance, proprietary software is not open to the public, and users are unable to access or modify the source code. Whereas, the biggest hit of open source software is its availability and access to the public, allowing you to modify and share the source code. Another selling point of these software companies is their free usability. Unlike proprietary software which is purpose-oriented, open source is customizable. However, in some instances, open source can transform into proprietary— termed ‘proprietary fork’. This happens in situations when versions of the open source software are modified and copyrighted by developers as their own.

Wrapping up

Choosing between open source and proprietary database services demands your consideration of the pros and cons of both these technologies. Evaluating your brand’s needs, priorities, and constraints guides you to integrate the best solution provider. If you opt for open source, you are sure to experience cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and support from a community of other brands. However, they may require more technical expertise, which makes it difficult to comply with regulations. On the other hand, proprietary solutions will provide better vendor support, easy usability, and advanced features. The drawback of this platform, however, is higher costs and vendor lock-in. Instead of juggling between either of these solutions, you can utilize proprietary DBMS software to fulfill some data requirements and open source technology for the other relevant requirements.