Search Results

When Kiran Mazumdbar-Shaw began her career as a certified brewmaster in 1975, she had no idea she would eventually go on to start her own biopharmaceutical company, Biocon Limited, and become one of the most influential and richest women in the world. This self-made entrepreneur and thought leader has contributed exponentially to the medical and pharmaceutical industries. As a lifelong advocate for affordable medications, along with her impressive list of accomplishments, she earned a place on Medicine Maker’s 2020 Power List, as well as on Forbes 2020 list of the World’s 100 Most Influential Women . But what exactly qualifies Mazumdbar-Shaw as a thought leader, and why are entrepreneurs so cut out for this coveted title? Defining thought leadership In the age of social media and digital marketing, the term thought leadership has morphed into an overused buzzword attributed to almost anyone who wants to claim it. But what exactly does this term mean and is it even useful to strive to be a thought leader today? To answer this question, let’s differentiate between a thought leader and a subject matter expert. While a thought leader will no doubt be a subject matter expert, the opposite is not always true. The latter is an experienced professional who is well-versed in a specific field. They may be known for their wealth of knowledge and be regarded as an industry leader. Subject matter experts work hard for their accomplishments and possess the foundational attributes to become a thought leader. Thought leaders, on the other hand, possess two primary traits that push them beyond the label of subject matter experts. First, they consistently develop new concepts, ideas and strategies to improve and refine their industries. Second, thought leaders share these ideas with others in simplified terms that they can understand. Entrepreneurs not only contribute to industry conversations, but lead, educate and motivate others to be innovative and think outside the box. They’re game changers, the ones who set sail and shift direction entirely when they find a better route. You need not only passion and expertise, but critical thinking, patience and courage to put your thoughts and ideas out there and, ultimately, take action. This is exactly why thought leadership and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. Why entrepreneurs make exceptional thought leaders While there are many types of entrepreneurs , they all have one thing in common: Entrepreneurs are natural-born problem solvers who create something out of nothing. They possess entrepreneurship skills like vision and perseverance to turn an idea into reality that no doubt comes with many bumps in the road. Entrepreneurs also have the ability to see the bigger picture and imagine a new and different world, one that utilizes and benefits from their ingenious innovation. So how was Kiran Mazumbdar-Shaw able to not only accomplish so many professional goals, but claim the title of thought leader? The truth is, entrepreneurs and thought leaders share similar qualities and personality traits that can help us understand why, oftentimes, the two are one and the same. Muzumbdar-Shaw’s journey began in 1978 from the garage of her home in Bengaluru, India at age 25. Her initial intention when creating Biocon was to focus on extracting and manufacturing specialty enzymes for medical purposes, such as papain from papaya. After doing so successfully, Biocon became the first Indian company to export these materials to the US and Europe. It was at this point that the company transitioned from solely enzyme production to manufacturing biopharmaceuticals. A central component of Mazumbdar-Shaw’s motivation behind her work was her belief that everyone should be able to afford the medications they need to maintain their health. She was adamant about incorporating this into her business model so that drugs would be easily available to developing countries and vulnerable populations, and encouraged other pharmaceutical companies to do the same. However, she faced grueling discrimination because she was a woman and had a difficult time finding employees and investors because of her gender. But she persevered and remained adamantly outspoken against rising drug costs and spikes in pricing, boosting India’s reputation as a global leader in pharmaceutical development. Ultimately, her philanthropic efforts have made her a trailblazer at the forefront of affordable pharmaceuticals. As she states: “All entrepreneurs have a responsibility to the world around them and the communities in which they operate.” This is her legacy. How can entrepreneurs develop their own thought leadership? Just as Mazumbdar-Shaw’s passion and drive goes beyond the scope of her business, developing your own thought leadership requires diligence and continued effort. It can earn you respect, esteem and admiration, as well as the chance to create new business models and industry standards. Here's how you can start developing your own. Consider your impact As an entrepreneur, you’ve already started a business and ventured into the business world. But consider the core message you strive to share and the larger impact you want to have. What do you see as your overall purpose and do you have a bigger mission you have yet to accomplish? There is no right or wrong answer, but becoming a thought leader requires exactly that: leadership. Perhaps you want to help bridge the digital divide or reduce the burden of carbon emissions on the environment. Spend some time thinking about the mark you want to leave on your industry — and on the world. Create content — and plenty of it The key to establishing yourself as a thought leader is creating written and visual content that conveys your message. Having knowledge is not enough; you need to share it with others and prove why your ideas are worth putting into action. One way you can do this is by having your own platform, for example, creating a blog . Dedicate yourself to writing a new article every week in which you share changes you want to see within your field, effective strategies you’ve implemented within your own business and the direction you see the industry going. You can also reach out to other relevant online publications and ask to be a guest contributor. Then, use social media, newsletters and your personal website to share your written work. Video is also extremely valuable. In fact, people retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% when reading it in text. Because of this, this type of engagement can significantly help strengthen brand identity, build community and incite conversations. Using a platform like YouTube allows you to network , grow your following, boost your online reputation and reach new audiences. Just make sure each video is professional in quality, whether you create them yourself or hire someone to film you. And lastly, live speaking engagements are one of the most strategic ways to get your voice heard. Think conferences, university lectures and even TED Talks. The opportunity to stand and speak in front of your peers allows you to reach people on a more personal level. You have the chance to more fully engross your audience, demystify your ideas and solidify your message. While establishing thought leadership is an ongoing process, entrepreneurs already possess the dedication and tenacity required to do so. It’s their passion, commitment to their work and their natural-born drive that motivates them to persevere. By sharing their expertise and personal credence with the world, entrepreneurs have the power to be the future of the modern day workforce.

In this day and age, a world without the internet is unimaginable. With 5.56 billion active users across the globe as of 2025, the web has become the main hub for sharing and disseminating information - whether it’s updates about family, news in science and politics, or entertainment passed between friends. This transition to the online world has also changed the way businesses promote their products and services. Like most things, the field of marketing has come to revolve around the web—with website creation, social media and online ads largely taking the place of billboards, cold calls and print ads. In this guide, we’ll dive into what digital marketing is and how you can use it to promote your brand via small business marketing plans. We’ll also break down the different types of digital marketing so you can learn about the specific practices that will benefit your business. What is digital marketing? Digital marketing is defined as the use of digital channels to promote a product or service. It's the opposite of offline marketing, for example. The goal of this approach is to connect with customers online—the place where they spend the most time seeking information or entertainment. With digital advertising revenue projected to surpass $700 billion by 2025, its impact and reach are impossible to ignore. Digital marketing is a broad practice, simply because there are so many online channels available. Posting on social media is a form of digital marketing, as are email marketing and blogging. Together, the promotional content on these various platforms forms a cohesive online marketing strategy. Whether you are focusing on event marketing or creating an email subscriber list, digital marketing is an incredible important facet. Benefits of digital marketing Every company—from large international organizations to independent brick-and-mortar stores—can gain from advertising themselves online. Here are some of the ways digital marketing can benefit your business: Building brand awareness by making your presence known and putting your unique stamp on the web. Digital ads can increase brand awareness by up to 80%. Targeting specific audiences based on demographics, interests and behaviors to connect with the right people. Engaging prospective customers and generating valuable leads that drive growth. Measuring performance to understand what’s working, refine your strategy and maximize your results. Saving money with cost-effective strategies compared to traditional marketing methods. Reaching customers worldwide and growing your audience beyond geographical boundaries. Deepening customer relationships to build loyalty and encourage repeat business. 66% of marketers report that digital marketing tactics have increased their company’s credibility and trust. Guiding customers through the marketing funnel from their first interaction to completing a sale. Types of digital marketing Digital marketing isn’t a single practice but, instead, is the sum of several elements. Some of the most common examples of this marketing strategy include: Search engine optimization (SEO) Content marketing Social media marketing Pay per click (PPC) Native advertising Affiliate marketing Influencer marketing Email marketing Marketing automation Online PR Mobile marketing Conversion rate optimization (CRO) While this may seem like a lot of different types of marketing, keep in mind that you don’t need to implement each and every one of these practices. However, it’s important that you familiarize yourself with them so that you gain a better understanding of which methods should go into your own internet marketing strategy. Related reading: Lessons from 16 years of marketing mastering (feat. Wix CMO Omer Shai) 01. Search engine optimization (SEO) A foundational element of digital marketing, SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results. When your website appears as a top result on Google and other search engines, people are more likely to click on your link, learn about your brand, and perhaps even become customers. There are three broad ways to improve your website’s SEO: On-page SEO involves optimizing the pages on your website by conducting keyword research. When you incorporate strategic keywords throughout your site, you can rank high on search engine results pages and guide customers through the sales funnel with relevant, authoritative content. Off-page SEO is about improving your SEO by looking at pages external to your website. Inbound links to your website—known as backlinks—are a critical component of off page SEO. Networking with publishers, writing guest posts, and providing information-rich content on your blog can help improve your off-page SEO. Technical SEO deals with the backend elements of your website such as coding, structured data, image compression and more. Optimizing these elements can make it easier for search engines to “read” your site and improve your page speed. 02. Content marketing Closely tied to SEO, content marketing is also a core component of digital marketing. This involves creating and promoting content with the goals of building brand awareness, increasing traffic to your website, generating leads and converting customers. The content you create can take many forms: Blog posts: Creating a blog - and using strategic, long tail keywords in your articles - is a great way to bring traffic to your site and engage your customers. Ebooks and white papers: Adding in-depth, long-form content to your website establishes your expertise in the industry and builds trust among your audience. You can also offer this content for download in exchange for your readers’ contact information, helping you generate leads. Videos: Website content doesn’t need to be in written form. Adding videos to your website is an engaging way to provide valuable information to your audience. Infographics: Another form of visual content, infographics are a fun, helpful way to make information easier for readers to conceptualize. Complex explanations and statistics are particularly well-suited to this content format. Learn more about how to make an infographic with Wixel. Podcasts: This audible content format is a useful way to strengthen your connection with your audience and build a loyal community around your brand. Content can be interview-based or niche-focused like Wix's SERP's Up SEO Podcast. To start a podcast, try repurposing existing website content, such as blog posts, and adapting it for audio. Webinars: A merging of “web” and “seminar,” webinars further engage your audience, establish your authority, and delight customers with the extra value they provide. Whichever content formats you choose, be sure to focus on subject matter that’s relevant and valuable for your audience and that will help boost your website’s SEO. 03. Social media marketing Another cornerstone of a strong digital marketing strategy is social media marketing. This involves promoting your brand on social channels in order to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and capture leads. You can do this by creating posts on popular social media channels such as: Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube Pinterest LinkedIn Your posts can include anything from insightful blog articles to videos of your product in action. Choose channels on which your audience is most active; often, this is a factor of their demographics, such as age and location, as well as their interests. You can even invest in sustainable marketing in these channels, which has become popular as consumer demand for environmentally-friendly products has grown. 04. Pay per click (PPC) Some digital marketing methods, such as blogging, SEO, and social media posting are organic—meaning that they draw traffic “naturally” to your business rather than requiring that you spend money directly. Other practices, however, come with a price tag. PPC, an acronym for pay per click, is a particularly powerful form of paid online advertising. Like SEO, PPC is a type of search engine marketing, or SEM. If you’re familiar with posts labeled “Ad” at the top and bottom of Google search results pages, you’ve already seen PPC in action. By this model, advertisers pay a fee every time their link is clicked. As with other forms of digital marketing, the goal of PPC is to drive traffic to a website in order to generate leads and make sales. Generally, PPC is used on either search engines or social media platforms: Google: Search engine marketing PPC is most commonly associated with Google Ads. Take a look at this article to learn how to advertise on Google. Facebook: You can further use the pay per click model to advertise on Facebook. Creating paid Facebook posts helps you expand your reach, exposing your content to people who don’t follow you. LinkedIn: You can also do PPC on LinkedIn, helping you get in front of professional audiences. Twitter: Likewise, you can use Twitter Ads to target your relevant audience and expand your reach. 05. Native advertising Native advertising, too, is a popular online marketing model. In contrast to large pop-ups and other intrusive ads, native ads match the format and tone of the platform on which they appear. Native ads often appear on websites, and they display content that “blends in” with surrounding articles or blog posts. For example, they might appear as a video embedded within a blog post, or as recommended reading at the bottom of the page. The goal of native advertising is to guide users to click on content that will take them to your company’s page. If the advertised content is unobtrusive and highly relevant to the material at hand, users may be more enticed to click. Discover the latest trends in video marketing with these video marketings statistics. 06. Affiliate marketing Affiliate marketing is a digital marketing practice in which one party, such as an influencer or a brand, receives a commission for promoting someone else’s products or services. For businesses, this practice is beneficial because it allows them to reach that party’s followers. By the affiliate marketing model, a company provides that party (called the affiliate) with a special link, usually leading to a page to purchase their product. The affiliate, in turn, will post about that product (usually on their blog or social media pages), promoting the given link in their content. When users click on that link and buy, it’s a win-win for both the brand and the affiliate: the company makes a sale, and the affiliate earns a commission on that sale. Brands can connect with affiliates using platforms such as ShareASale or CJ Affiliate, or by reaching out to influencers directly. 07. Influencer marketing This practice is similar to affiliate marketing in that it involves another person promoting your brand, typically on social media or within their blog. Unlike affiliates, however, influencers get paid by the company simply for the promotion - regardless of whether people actually purchase the product. Influencer marketing is effective because it helps brands reach a particular influencer’s fanbase. When that influencer is trusted among their followers, they have the power to sway their fans’ purchasing decisions by recommending a product. On the business side, the key to a successful partnership is to choose influencers whose audience matches your target market. For example, a company selling athletic wear would benefit most from collaborating with a well-known athlete. Likewise, a business selling cosmetics would be wise to seek out a collaboration with a beauty influencer. 08. Email marketing You’ve almost certainly experienced email marketing in some form - in fact, you probably have branded emails sitting in your inbox right now. This popular digital marketing strategy involves communicating with your target audience via email with the goals of improving engagement, promoting products and driving conversions and sales. Broadly speaking, there are four different types of marketing emails you can send to prospects and customers: Email campaigns promote products, provide special offers or coupons, or encourage people to sign up for a product or service. Email newsletters are sent on a consistent basis to provide subscribers with regular updates, such as new blog posts, industry news or upcoming events. Automated marketing emails are sent automatically based on predefined triggers, and they include welcome emails, birthday emails and reminder emails. Automated transactional emails include automatic order confirmations, shipping updates and appointment reminders. You can use Wix Email Marketing to set up email campaigns, newsletters and automations for your business. This platform is particularly effective because it tracks statistics on email opens, views and clicks, giving you insight into your business’s performance. It also allows you to customize the design of your emails so that they match the look and feel of your brand. 09. Marketing automation Speaking of automated emails - they’re examples of a broader digital marketing practice called marketing automation. As the name suggests, this involves the automation of basic marketing tasks. The idea behind this practice is to streamline repetitive tasks that would otherwise be done manually, such as transactional emails, data analysis and more. Some tasks that benefit from automation include: Thank you, confirmation and welcome emails Social media post scheduling Live chat Data analytics Marketing automation is a critical way to build relationships with your customers while sustaining an organized and productive workflow. 10. Online public relations (PR) Online PR is the practice of obtaining coverage from online publications and blogs. This tends to require outreach to reporters and editors at relevant publications, which you can do through LinkedIn or Twitter. PR also involves monitoring your brand’s reputation on the web overall. For example, you’ll need to engage with comments on your blog and social media posts, as well as respond to online reviews of your company. 11. Mobile marketing Often, converting customers through the screens of their laptops seems like the ultimate goal. It’s important, however, that we also take full advantage of a smaller - but equally important - device: the smartphone. This is especially important considering that mobile internet usage comprises more than 50% of online traffic worldwide. Mobile marketing involves adapting standard digital marketing practices to fit the mobile experience. This includes: Optimizing your mobile page speed: Google uses page speed as a ranking factor for mobile as well as desktop search. In addition, users are quick to navigate away from a site with a slow load time. To improve the speed of your mobile site, try to keep your site lightweight—for instance, avoid heavy images, and minimize redirects. Designing your website for mobile: Your site is a fundamental marketing tool that represents your brand, showcases your product or service, and persuades people to buy. As such, the way it appears on mobile plays a crucial role in whether or not your audience will convert. Take a look at this article for mobile website design examples and tips. Creating mobile-friendly emails: Research shows that mobile accounts for nearly half of all email opens. With this in mind, it’s critical that your email campaigns are designed for the mobile screen. That means short subject lines, concise text and a clear and prominent CTA. Experimenting with in-app ads: Don’t limit your ads to websites and search engines. Advertising within relevant mobile apps (as well as ASO marketing) is also a valuable practice that can expand your reach even further. 12. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) If we need to sum up the goals of digital marketing, we’d say it’s about bringing traffic to your site and increasing conversions. This latter component—called conversion rate optimization—requires designing your website with an understanding of the way users interact with it. To do this, you’ll need to take into account how users navigate your site, which actions they take, and what guides them toward—or prevents them from—achieving your goals. Tracking tools and analytics can provide you with quantitative data about the ways users engage with your site, helping you guide them smoothly through the sales funnel. How to create a digital marketing strategy Creating a digital marketing strategy might sound like a big task, but with the right steps, you can build a plan that works for your business and helps you reach your goals: Define your goals: Decide what you want to achieve. Are you looking to increase traffic, drive leads or grow sales? Your goals will give your plan direction. Identify your target audience: Get to know your customers. Think about their interests, demographics and how your product or service fits into their lives. Choose the right channels: Pick platforms where your audience spends time, like social media, email or search engines, to connect with them effectively. Create compelling content: Make content that resonates with your audience. Whether it’s videos, blogs or ads, focus on content that is engaging and relevant. Measure and refine: Keep track of how things are going. Check clicks, views or conversions and use what you learn to improve your strategy. Why you need digital marketing Overall, digital marketing is a broad concept that covers a variety of practices and uses a wide range of online channels. Underlying these different elements, however, is a common theme - the ability to take advantage of the huge marketplace of prospective customers online. Whether you decide to grow your blog, create an email newsletter or advertise on Google, you’ll be able to bring more traffic to your site, build stronger connections with your customers, and track and measure your results. Not only will this help you gain customers in the short term, but it will also help you build a sustainable, long-term strategy for future improvement and growth. What is digital marketing FAQ What does a digital marketer do? A digital marketer helps businesses connect with their audience online. They use channels like social media, email, websites and search engines to promote products, services or ideas. Their work often involves creating content, running campaigns, analyzing data and improving strategies to meet specific goals like boosting sales or building brand awareness. Do digital marketers make money? Yes, digital marketers can make good money depending on their expertise and the type of work they do. Many professionals work full-time jobs or offer freelance services, and salaries can range from entry-level to highly lucrative for skilled specialists. Advanced skills like SEO, paid ads or analytics can open up higher-income opportunities. Can I start digital marketing with no experience? Yes, you can start digital marketing with no experience. Begin by learning through free resources like online courses or tutorials and practice by creating content or mock campaigns. Many free tools are available to help you get hands-on experience, making it easier to build your skills and portfolio as you go.

Depending on who you ask, you’re likely to get a different definition of business development. Some see it as a leadership position; others view it as part of sales or even marketing. The truth is, business development contains important elements defining each of these profound roles. As a result, business developers often feel like they wear many hats and constantly have their hands in different projects. For example, they may be simultaneously working with other departments on creating a business website (and running it from the Wix mobile app), trying to secure new partnerships, increasing brand awareness and making and assessing business goals. Despite their multifaceted job, business developers are guided by a single objective: to create value for their company. While it may sound conceptual, there are tangible ways developers work to achieve that goal. For this reason, I’ll be providing you with a breakdown of what business development exactly means, go over how it differs from other similar roles in a company, and show you the skills you’ll need to succeed in biz dev. What is business development? Business development is the process of making a business better and bigger through initiatives and new ideas, creation of value for your organization or business. This includes increasing profitability and focusing on growth opportunities by building connections with strategic partners and making calculated business decisions. While there’s no such thing as a Herculean job candidate, one might be led to think so just looking at job descriptions for business developers. They need to be “creative, analytical, organized, possess strong communication skills, and much more.” That’s because a business developer has to be dynamic and use any one of their abilities—whether that’s brainstorming new ideas, keeping up with small business trends, creating business plans or making fruitful partnerships—to help their company grow stronger and better over a period of time. In order to understand how business developers can achieve this feat, here’s first a breakdown of what is a brand development manager, then we'll address the main responsibilities associated with the role. Read also: how to spring clean your small business What is a business development manager? A business development manager is a professional who develops business strategies and plans to increase business efficiency, drive business growth and maximize profits. Business development managers typically collaborate with various stakeholders within a company in order to identify business opportunities, develop an effective competitive strategy, as well as implement business management practices that enhance company efficiency. Additionally, business development managers often research customer needs and preferences to develop targeted marketing campaigns. A business development manager should possess a strong set of business and interpersonal skills in order to be successful. They must have strong networking abilities, excellent communication skills, a deep understanding of the products or services being offered, as well as business knowledge and advanced problem solving skills. They must also be able to effectively collaborate with multiple departments and teams to build relationships, identify opportunities and develop strategies for growth. They should also be creative and have strong negotiation skills in order to close deals. In order to be successful, business development managers must possess a high level of self-motivation and the ability to work independently. A strong customer-centric focus is also valuable for the role. Most importantly, a business development manager must have the ability to think strategically in order to create long-term business plans that will lead their company towards success. Developing a business development strategy and then ensuring its implementation is a huge part of the role. Business development responsibilities Find business growth opportunities A business needs to be able to grow steadily to be able to compete successfully against others. Business development will focus on pinpointing specific growth opportunities. For instance, a biz dev team might look at how a company can expand into different markets and conduct research into developing new products or services. These changes, in turn, can help them access more clients down the line. Business developers may also be involved in finding smart ways to market a small business, or working with marketing experts on campaigns that’ll drive the desired hypergrowth. This may also include hiring more employees, whether you work together in person or manage remote employees. Increase company profitability When talking about a company increasing its value, we’re usually talking about profits. While there are many things in a customer’s eye that might make a company valuable, for a business the value is intrinsically tied to the profits it’s bringing in. That’s why biz dev teams will often focus on concentrating sales efforts. This can include expanding to new audiences and looking for ways to find more clients while keeping costs low, which are all good ways to hedge against how inflation can affect small businesses. While this isn’t the same as sales itself, which we’ll get into soon, it's similar to the formation of strategies that help increase sales. Build long-lasting relationships with customers and partners In the field of business development, the focus should also shift to creating bonds with both customers and strategic business partners. When talking about relationships with customers, business developers look for ways to bridge the gap between what customers want or need and what the business is actually offering them. They will look for ways to make a product or service more appealing to clients based on feedback or market research, and then liaise with other departments, like marketing, product development or sales, to make it happen. Likewise, relationships can also be external. For example, during the growth stage, a small business might need to foster strong partnerships with other companies in order to get started. Alternatively a larger company can help a newer one with guidance, capital, or even infrastructure if that’s not yet in place. Sales vs. business development: What’s the difference? As we saw earlier, biz dev usually has a hand in sales. But while the goals and responsibilities of both departments are aligned, they aren’t quite identical. In the simplest terms, sales is tactical, whereas business development is primarily about developing a strategy. A biz dev also takes a more holistic approach to the sales funnel by analyzing what’s working and what can be improved in the long term. By contrast, a sales team will likely concentrate on short-term success and swiftly closing deals. Business development vs marketing Biz dev and marketing work closely together. While marketing is focused more on attracting new customers and leads, business development is also about building new relationships with clients and maintaining these new bonds to leverage them when needed. You can think of marketing, sales, and business development as a cycle of lead generation and treatment. Each one handles a different aspect of the buyer’s journey: Awareness: This is when a buyer recognizes they have a problem and knows they need a solution, but they’re not sure what it is yet. In order to get a better understanding of what that could be, they research the consumer market. Consideration: At this stage, a buyer has a better understanding of their problem and is committed to finding a solution. They might be considering a few different approaches or answers, but haven’t settled on one. Decision: The buyer knows the solution they need, based on their research, and might be looking at multiple options from various companies or vendors, before ultimately settling on one option. Once you understand how the buyer’s journey works, you’ll also have a better grasp of the roles of each department during different stages. In our case, business development is responsible for reaching customers in the awareness stage as well as in the consideration stage. They will look closely at the buyer’s problem and try to figure out how their own products can act as a solution. Marketing also works in the awareness and consideration stages, with some changes. Marketers will try to present their brand directly to the buyer during the buyer’s research phase. Finally, the sales team is responsible for guiding the buyer through the decision stage and getting them to choose their product or service, thus closing the deal. 7 skills you need in business development Since business development is made up of so many different tasks, it’s important that those who want to work in biz dev come prepared with the necessary skills to succeed. Here are some that you’ll need to develop in order to excel as a business developer: Strong leadership and management skills Goal setting Curiosity Acute attention to detail Boot-strapping Being a team player Self motivation 01. Strong leadership and management skills Since your goal is to help the company grow and be more profitable, you’ll need to create new ways to accomplish that. The position requires you to find and think outside of the box to improve business processes, increase sales, and make the company more valuable. Other departments will look to you for guidance and to set expectations, so you’ll need to possess entrepreneurial and leadership skills to design your own projects and manage them accordingly. 02. Goal setting The ultimate goal is growth, but in order to get there, you’ll need to set a whole collection of smaller goals along the way. When you work in biz dev, it’s rare that others will set goals for you. Upper management might tell you what they want or need, but ultimately, it’s up to you to organize your work. It’s also key to have a good grasp on how to create SMART goals, which will set expectations for other departments, namely sales and marketing. 03. Curiosity You might not have expected this one, but being curious can open the door to so much more when you work in business development. A good business developer is inquisitive about everything, from how to improve the sales funnel to why some partnerships are stronger than others. With curiosity comes a drive for research, which can help you understand your brand’s shortcomings and fix them so that it may grow. Curiosity also breeds creativity since you’ll be constantly looking for new solutions to ongoing challenges. 04. Acute attention to detail Whether it’s a metric or a piece of business writing from a client or a potential partner, business developers require a lot of focus to pay attention to all the details, and there are a lot of them. When you’re working on a few different projects with various teams, it’s easy to let things fall through the cracks, but a good business developer will pay attention to small details to try and understand how they affect the big picture. This mean being involved in anything from decisions about the text on advertising campaigns, to a decision on the best business website design. 05. Boot-strapping As a business developer, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves when it comes to breaking new ground. You’ll quickly find out that in order to grow a business, you’ll need to identify and bootstrap new paths to travel on. Being a self-starter will get you far in business development and help you achieve bigger goals by nurturing your entrepreneurial drive. This sense of ownership can inspire you to take on more initiative, as well as study new concepts and do anything you can to bring more value to the business. 06. Team player By now it seems like a cliche to see “team player” as a requirement on a job posting, but working in a team is an essential skill in business development. We’ve already seen how biz dev works hand-in-hand with other departments, so interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively are necessary. More than that, though, is having the understanding that in biz dev, there’s nearly nothing that comes across your desk that you can pass off or ignore. “That’s not my job” just doesn’t work when you’re working towards such large company goals and you need to have your finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the entire business. 07. Self-motivation If it wasn’t clear by now, business developers need to have a ton of motivation. Truckloads of motivation, in fact. It may seem like there’s too much work in business development to handle, but a successful business developer will know how to prioritize tasks while also self-motivating themselves to complete work and even seek out work. It’s true, the workload can be a lot, but when you’re able to get your own projects off the ground and see the success of your team and your business as a result of your own hard work, then all the work is worth it and can motivate you to aim even higher. Business development tools you’ll absolutely need Aside from your colleagues and assistance from other departments, there are a few tools that are especially helpful for the day-to-day tasks of business development. These tools will help you manage your workload, stay on top of tasks, or organize projects with ease: Marketing automation tools: Marketing automation lets you run specific tasks automatically without your intervention. For example, you can automate emails, pop-ups, invoices, and a number of other things to save time. This is especially helpful if you’re in the phase of collecting information about your audience and you want to engage with them but you don’t have the resources to do it on the spot. CRM tools: Since relationships are so important in business development, you’ll want to invest in a good CRM (customer relationship management) tool. This will allow you to keep track of both clients and potential partners. You can collect all their contact details in one place, track communications across multiple channels, run reports and gain analytical insights, view their spot in a sales funnel, and more. Task management tools: Aside from tracking your customers, you also need help keeping on top of all your tasks. Use a workflow planner or task management tool to stay on top of all your tasks, organize them, and communicate with your team to see where everyone’s at. You might want to consider tools like Trello, Asana, or Slack. Networking tools: Before you add new partners or clients to your CRM, you need to first make an initial connection. Don’t underestimate the power of social media in order to network. Twitter and LinkedIn are great places to make professional connections with others in your industry. Business development strategy examples Looking for inspiration for your own business development strategies? We've put together some famous examples of companies who did business development in way that powered their success. Each company went a different way and it's a good lesson in the importance of developing a strategy that works for your company, while learning from what other's have done well. Amazon are a good example of a company who took their business development into different areas. Not only did they go after global markets, to expand their reach they also expanded their product categories - remember when they just sold books? No, neither can we. Recently they have also expanded into the streaming service space and are a prime example of how business development plans can and should change and evolve all the time to make the most of new markets and sale opportunities. Facebook took a slight different approach to developing their business, and have gone the route of acquiring other businesses to expand their product offerings - Whataspp and Instagram are just two of their purchases that saw them expand their product portfolio and customer reach. Netflix started off as a company that streamed other's content and have since evolved into a creator of their own original content, a business decision that has allowed them to grow exponentially in terms of users and revenue. The key takeaway? Business development is a strategy that can and should evolve with your business and customers. It should also help your business scale and expand. Business development and ethics Business development and ethics can go hand-in-hand. Business owners should ensure that their business practices and business software are ethical in order to create a positive business environment and build customer trust. Additionally, business development managers should consider developing an ethical code of conduct for their business which sets out the standards and expectations for how the business is run. This should then apply to all employees, regardless of their role. It should also govern how a product is manufactured and a service delivered. Patagonia is just one example of a company that has put ethics and sustainable practices at the core of its business development strategy. They offer a return and repair policy for all of their clothes sold, and insist on legal and humane working conditions wherever their clothes are made. Read Also: How to start a business

There are many aspects of your website design that can foster a good user experience—and many details that when overlooked, can ruin it. From the visual appeal of your site, to its layout, use of text and more, a good website requires a balance of good aesthetics and functionality. Of all the elements to consider, one can make or break your site’s UX design: website navigation. An easily-navigable website will help users find the content they’re looking for, and offer them a positive experience that will encourage them to return. Let’s look at why website navigation is important, and how you can provide users with a flawless user experience. Here, we dive into the basics, plus tips on how to design your site. What is website navigation and why is it important? Imagine the scene: You’ve been wanting a new bag for a while. Finally, you sit down, browse different designer’s eCommerce sites and pick your favorite. After deliberating, you’ve found the perfect bag and want to make your purchase. But once you're ready to pay—you can’t locate the “checkout” button. After all that browsing, completing your purchase seems far too complicated. So eventually, you give up in favor of another brand. Website navigation refers to what facilitates this user journey, and is impacted by the architecture of your site: the organization of links, menus and the connection between different pages on your website all play a role in navigating. Good website navigation practices would avoid a scenario like the one above for your own brand. It impacts traffic, conversion, bounce rates—and is a determining factor in the user experience of your design. What is a website navigation menu? The heart of navigation lies in your website’s menu. A website menu is a series of linked items that help users navigate between the different pages or sections of the site. This helps visitors find what they're looking for easily and quickly. It's typically a horizontal or vertical bar (although other creative layouts exist) containing a list of links to the most important pages and sections of your website. Types of website navigation menus There are several standard types of website navigation menus that are recognized throughout the online world. We've outlined these below, including visual examples from website templates. Depending on your design or whether or not you're following a flat architecture approach, any of these, when implemented with our best practices in mind, will help users find their way around your website with ease. Horizontal navigation This is a classic menu that usually appears at the header of your website. Running horizontally across the screen, a horizontal navigation menu will list the pages available on your site. Because it’s a standard in web design, this type of menu is intuitive to use, and easy for visitors to find. Dropdown navigation While we do recommend limiting your menu items, if a website contains a lot of content, that’s not always possible. In such cases, you can create a dropdown menu. Dropdown menus are large lists or panels that open up to an array of options. To avoid information overload, you can use design tools to create hierarchy within this element. Pay attention to typography and make sure each category and sub category stands out. You can also use extra space around each item so that visitors understand the distinction. Hamburger menu While this is primarily seen on mobile navigation, this simple three line icon is now being seen on many desktop versions of websites, too. The hamburger menu offers a minimal icon that doesn’t interfere with the website’s design and is especially useful when real estate is limited (like on mobile devices). Pro tip: If you're looking for something different, explore hamburger menu alternatives too. Sidebar Sidebar menus are vertical menus placed on the left or right of a website. This is a list that is located on the side of your page. Your sidebar lists can be minimal, or can take center stage and become an integral part of the design. Footer navigation Your website footer is a great place to add your social media links, and any other important links that site visitors may find useful. It can also repeat the navigation menu at the top of your page. Website navigation tips Plan navigation with a sitemap Prioritize your pages Stick to conventions Use a sticky menu Limit the number of items Add a search bar Label your menu clearly Link your logo back to the homepage Indicate what page the user is on Ensure visitors can reach any page, from any page 01. Plan navigation with a sitemap When deciding to create a website, a little forward-thinking goes a long way. Clarify which features and pages your website requires, and what their hierarchy should be. Do you need an About Us page, a blog or an FAQ section? Which of these pages is most important or valuable for your site visitors? To develop this hierarchy, it is a common practice to create a sitemap. A sitemap should include a list of all the main items of your user interface and all the sub-categories within them. Since it will form the base of your navigation menu, this practice should help you clearly indicate which pages are most important for visitors to access. To create one, you can use any method you find most comfortable: write it by hand, present it as a flowchart or diagram, or type it out on a spreadsheet. 02. Prioritize your pages When deciding on your hierarchy, consider where you want to lead visitors first. Your goals will depend on what kind of website you’re creating, but here are few guidelines to consider: How will you direct visitors through your funnel? What information is most valuable for you and your visitors? What is the goal of visiting your website, and can visitors easily achieve it in your navigation menu? These pages are part of your primary navigation, and should appear in your site’s main menu to make them as accessible as possible. 03. Stick to conventions While it’s tempting to break the mold, there are times when it’s best to stick to best practices. After all, there’s a reason why hyperlinks generally appear blue, or why a logo will usually be placed in one of the top corners of a website. These familiar nuances, or design conventions, exist because they work. You want visitors to seamlessly glide through your website. So, while we encourage letting your brand’s identity shine (please do implement web design trends and engaging design elements!), when it comes to navigation, emphasize clarity over aesthetic boldness. 04. Use a sticky menu A sticky menu (also referred to as a “fixed” or “floating” menu) is a menu that stays put even as visitors scroll down your site. This is especially important for long-scrolling pages, since you don’t want visitors to journey all the way to the top of your site, just to reach another page. There is also the option of adding a “Back to Top” button that will help users save time. Whichever solution you go for depends on your website’s design and layout, so take into account the different options when considering the most convenient form of navigation for your visitors. To create a floating menu on Wix, you can simply go to "Add" on the left-hand side of the Editor, then “Menu” to choose which menu style you want to go for. Next, right-click on your menu and select “Pin to Screen.” 05. Limit the number of items in your menu Keep your menu minimal, with a maximum of six or seven categories, so users can process the information and reach their desired pages faster. This way, users will be able to process the information easily and reach their desired pages faster. If your site contains lots of information, you can break it down into sections using a dropdown menu. This means that when visitors hover over one item on your menu, a list of sub-categories will come up that they can choose from. 06. Add a search bar A great navigation practice for content-heavy sites is adding a customized search bar. This tool can help users find what they want seamlessly—and fast. A search bar is especially useful for visitors who have less experience surfing the web, since it’s a familiar concept that they can understand intuitively. In terms of the placement of your search bar, it is a good practice to keep it close to your menu. Just like your navigation menu, it can stay fixed in place when visitors scroll down your site to provide easy access to your site’s pages. On Wix, you can add a search bar by using drag and drop features embedded in the editor. 07. Label your menu clearly Once you know which items will appear in your menu, you should think strategically about how to label them. In this case, the biggest priority is clarity—so refrain from using creative micro-copy and industry jargon. Make sure your menu text is clear, descriptive, to the point and not too generic. If you’re not completely sure which wording will work better, you can try out two different versions and test them out by performing A/B tests on your site. In addition to making sure items are findable, a descriptive navigation menu will also hint to Google and other search engines what topic your website is about. 08. Link your logo back to the homepage Not doing this is a common web design mistake that can be easily avoided. Your menu does not need to include the word “Homepage” (in fact, if it does it may appear outdated). Instead, add your own logo at the top of each of your website’s pages and link it to the homepage. This will be a highly intuitive action for most of your users (hello again, web design conventions.) Often, logos appear on the left-hand side of a website’s header, but the exact placement varies. The most important thing is that your logo will appear at the top of your site, in fairly close proximity to your menu. 09. Indicate what page the user is on Nobody likes to feel disoriented—and there’s no exception when navigating a website. You can avoid this for visitors by making it clear where they are on your website. One of the best, and most sophisticated, ways to do this is adding breadcrumbs to your site. Breadcrumb navigation is a method that displays the user’s location on a page in relation to the rest of the site, making it easy to maneuver. Breadcrumbs are usually presented across the top of a page as a series of horizontal links separated by the “greater than” (>) symbol—but of course, you can use arrows or other imagery that stays in line with your site’s visual language. A minimalistic option for sites with lengthy content is a status bar, which indicates to the user where they are when making their way through a specific page. 10. Ensure visitors can reach any page, from any page A final tip and rule of thumb is that visitors should be able to navigate to any page they desire, from any page. Remember, not everyone will reach your site from its homepage. This means that any other page they land on should connect to the rest of your site. An easy solution is to ensure that all pages are accessible from the menu, and that each page includes a menu. To make things even more intuitive, keep the website menu design consistent on every page, placing it in exactly the same spot to avoid confusion. Pro tip: When considering the user experience of digesting lengthy pages of texts—such as long blog posts or landing pages—anchor links are another handy navigation tool to have in your arsenal. These links live outside your navigation menu, generally placed at the top of a page to help visitors to skip irrelevant content, the the parts they're most interested in.

Creating a beautiful website is one thing; transforming it into a whole experience that mesmerizes users and meets their every need is a different story altogether. These websites have managed just that, with spot-on UX design. Crafting beautiful creations comes as second nature to most designers. Certain color combinations mesmerize us, our eyes are drawn to perfect compositions, and we have some kind of innate gene that tells us what looks good and what doesn’t (any scientists in the crowd? Don’t judge). It’s true that crafting a beautiful website design is not a task to be taken lightly. But coming up with one that also creates a whole experience, has a logical layout and hierarchy on each page, enables users to navigate freely and tells a complete story from start to finish – or in other words, has perfect UX, really is a challenge (as you can tell from these UX design trends ). We’ve handpicked five Wix websites whose talented designers have clearly considered the user throughout, resulting in truly successful UX design . Run Wild Design > One-pager with a fixed menu & a visual storytelling experience A powerful fullscreen video is the first thing that greets you on entering Run Wild’s website. This dramatic hero draws you in, while the extra details on the top fold serve a more functional role. The large, concise text immediately explains where you are, and the ‘show me how’ button indicates there’s more content to be found, making website navigation accessible to those who aren’t accustomed to scrolling. As you venture down the site, Run Wild’s story unravels before you, starting from a personal first paragraph, to design projects that integrate seamlessly into the experience, to testimonials and a ‘contact me’ section at the end. All this is presented in strips, with inviting text, big images and fun animations that make you want to explore further. The website menu at the bottom acts as a summary, as well as offering the user further actions, ensuring that the experience doesn’t end abruptly. Feeling short of time? Run Wild have thought of you too, adding fixed social icons and a hamburger menu for those who’d rather not scroll. The menu opens up as a fullscreen lightbox, so you can always close it and return to the point you were previously at. A satisfying ‘full circle’ sensation is created, with the top fold’s video being subtly incorporated into the logo at the very bottom of the page. But it doesn’t stop there: the experience is completed with the ‘back to top’ icon that takes you on a sped up journey back to the hero video, giving the user a recap and a sense of conclusion. Run Wild Design‘s website Styling by Whydee > Personal touch in the microcopy & a unified visual language in every detail The first thing you may notice about this website is the general bright and clean design, consistent throughout each and every detail. Yaya Ding, the face behind the brand, has added various elements that show that she’s clearly paid attention to the user’s comfort, putting the UX design in the forefront. The small ‘back to top’ icon that rightly appears just when you start scrolling down is a real time-saver, as is the search bar, that makes getting to the content you desire just that little bit easier. Additional nice touches are her handwritten logo at the top of the page, a personal ‘love, Yaya xo’ at the end of each blog post and cute microcopy, especially on the ‘contact’ page. Instead of ordering site visitors to follow her on social, she’s gone for a much friendlier ‘let’s get social!’. Placing her blog on the homepage, as opposed to her portfolio, shows that she’s less about selling her services and more about sharing her ideas. Starting a blog and writing content is also a great way to show users that you’re active and take your profession seriously. Last but certainly not least, are the crisp photos throughout the site, whose color palettes somehow harmonize perfectly. Styling by Whydee‘s website Design Matters > Organized menu & various navigation options to suit every user Before we get carried away expressing our undying love for the gradient background and for the podcast itself, let’s focus on the website’s UX design (that’s what we’re here for, after all). Everything about Debbie Millman’s website is crystal clear, leaving no space for confusion: from the short and engaging explanation at the top, to the super organized menu bar that includes any details you could possibly need to locate a podcast on a specific topic. The fixed header means that even if you start by scrolling down to browse the interviews, you can always change your mind and search via the menu instead. It allows you to easily sort through the content, filter results and get to your desired page. If you’d rather a more fluid kind of navigation, you can search via tags. These diverse options suit all types of users, whether they know exactly what they’re looking for, or prefer to explore and see what interests them. By having a ‘load more’ button, the loading time is sped up – always a plus. Built with Velo by Wix , the site is full of rich content and dynamic pages. To top it all off, take a peek at the cute favicon (featuring an icon of Debbie Millman), indicating that this site’s creators really have considered the whole experience. Design Matters ' website Liron Ashkenazi > Structure that emphasizes the works themselves & a fixed header that appears on every page This online portfolio by super talented multidisciplinary design director Liron Ashkenazi gives her works the platform they deserve. The website’s structure and the text in the header are simple and to the point. But don’t let that fool you – this portfolio is full of small tricks and attention to detail that take it to a whole other level. The individual pages have similar layouts, with each one being slightly adapted to suit the specific project. A few of them add variation by breaking the mold, while the header stays put throughout, creating a nice effect when navigating between pages. The gallery for The-Artery project combines screenshots, motion and brief explanatory headers in a seamless and unified language. A similar thing can be said for the 24 Hours in Icons page, which is full of movement and animations that transform it from a simple gallery to an engaging experience. From the works themselves, to the straightforward language (including the ‘Don’t steal anything. Duh’ in the footer) and seemingly effortless layout, Liron Ashkenazi manages to create an effective and nonchalant vibe. By showcasing the projects on the homepage and minimizing the number of CTAs, the emphasis is rightly placed on the works themselves. Liron Ashkenazi 's website OFFF TLV 2018 > Clear branding throughout & an organized structure Created by Studio & More , this website acts as a landing page for this year’s OFFF design conference in Tel Aviv. Not only are the essence and purpose of the website clear at first glance, but so is the branding, with a strong unified visual language in every detail. The designers behind this site have clearly considered the users, enabling them to reach the required pages quickly and easily; the two most important CTAs appear right in the center of the top fold and the fixed menu header means that you can either browse the site leisurely, or navigate through the pages in a more direct way. The ‘chat’ option improves the user experience , allowing them to speedily receive responses to any questions they may have. The subtle animation and hover effect on the ‘buy tickets’ button makes it stand out, grabbing visitors’ attention. A classic site structure is just right for this kind of event website. It starts out with a teaser at the top, goes on to present the speakers and ends with a big footer full of all the relevant info. As you move down the homepage, you discover that each strip has been designed in a different way, making the scrolling experience especially engaging. Your eyes are kept stimulated as you scroll, with an aesthetic combination of text, stills and videos layered in various ways, and certain elements that break the grid, shaking up the alignment. An extra sense of movement and energy is achieved by including animated headers on each page. Learn more: What is a wireframe OFFF TLV 2018 website by Studio & More

Creating a beautiful website is one thing; transforming it into a whole experience that mesmerizes users and meets their every need is a different story altogether. These websites have managed just that, with spot-on UX design. Crafting beautiful creations comes as second nature to most designers. Certain color combinations mesmerize us, our eyes are drawn to perfect compositions, and we have some kind of innate gene that tells us what looks good and what doesn’t (any scientists in the crowd? Don’t judge). It’s true that crafting a beautiful website design is not a task to be taken lightly. But coming up with one that also creates a whole experience, has a logical layout and hierarchy on each page, enables users to navigate freely and tells a complete story from start to finish – or in other words, has perfect UX, really is a challenge (as you can tell from these UX design trends ). We’ve handpicked five Wix websites whose talented designers have clearly considered the user throughout, resulting in truly successful UX design . Run Wild Design > One-pager with a fixed menu & a visual storytelling experience A powerful fullscreen video is the first thing that greets you on entering Run Wild’s website. This dramatic hero draws you in, while the extra details on the top fold serve a more functional role. The large, concise text immediately explains where you are, and the ‘show me how’ button indicates there’s more content to be found, making website navigation accessible to those who aren’t accustomed to scrolling. As you venture down the site, Run Wild’s story unravels before you, starting from a personal first paragraph, to design projects that integrate seamlessly into the experience, to testimonials and a ‘contact me’ section at the end. All this is presented in strips, with inviting text, big images and fun animations that make you want to explore further. The website menu at the bottom acts as a summary, as well as offering the user further actions, ensuring that the experience doesn’t end abruptly. Feeling short of time? Run Wild have thought of you too, adding fixed social icons and a hamburger menu for those who’d rather not scroll. The menu opens up as a fullscreen lightbox, so you can always close it and return to the point you were previously at. A satisfying ‘full circle’ sensation is created, with the top fold’s video being subtly incorporated into the logo at the very bottom of the page. But it doesn’t stop there: the experience is completed with the ‘back to top’ icon that takes you on a sped up journey back to the hero video, giving the user a recap and a sense of conclusion. Run Wild Design‘s website Styling by Whydee > Personal touch in the microcopy & a unified visual language in every detail The first thing you may notice about this website is the general bright and clean design, consistent throughout each and every detail. Yaya Ding, the face behind the brand, has added various elements that show that she’s clearly paid attention to the user’s comfort, putting the UX design in the forefront. The small ‘back to top’ icon that rightly appears just when you start scrolling down is a real time-saver, as is the search bar, that makes getting to the content you desire just that little bit easier. Additional nice touches are her handwritten logo at the top of the page, a personal ‘love, Yaya xo’ at the end of each blog post and cute microcopy, especially on the ‘contact’ page. Instead of ordering site visitors to follow her on social, she’s gone for a much friendlier ‘let’s get social!’. Placing her blog on the homepage, as opposed to her portfolio, shows that she’s less about selling her services and more about sharing her ideas. Starting a blog and writing content is also a great way to show users that you’re active and take your profession seriously. Last but certainly not least, are the crisp photos throughout the site, whose color palettes somehow harmonize perfectly. Styling by Whydee‘s website Design Matters > Organized menu & various navigation options to suit every user Before we get carried away expressing our undying love for the gradient background and for the podcast itself, let’s focus on the website’s UX design (that’s what we’re here for, after all). Everything about Debbie Millman’s website is crystal clear, leaving no space for confusion: from the short and engaging explanation at the top, to the super organized menu bar that includes any details you could possibly need to locate a podcast on a specific topic. The fixed header means that even if you start by scrolling down to browse the interviews, you can always change your mind and search via the menu instead. It allows you to easily sort through the content, filter results and get to your desired page. If you’d rather a more fluid kind of navigation, you can search via tags. These diverse options suit all types of users, whether they know exactly what they’re looking for, or prefer to explore and see what interests them. By having a ‘load more’ button, the loading time is sped up – always a plus. Built with Velo by Wix , the site is full of rich content and dynamic pages. To top it all off, take a peek at the cute favicon (featuring an icon of Debbie Millman), indicating that this site’s creators really have considered the whole experience. Design Matters ' website Liron Ashkenazi > Structure that emphasizes the works themselves & a fixed header that appears on every page This online portfolio by super talented multidisciplinary design director Liron Ashkenazi gives her works the platform they deserve. The website’s structure and the text in the header are simple and to the point. But don’t let that fool you – this portfolio is full of small tricks and attention to detail that take it to a whole other level. The individual pages have similar layouts, with each one being slightly adapted to suit the specific project. A few of them add variation by breaking the mold, while the header stays put throughout, creating a nice effect when navigating between pages. The gallery for The-Artery project combines screenshots, motion and brief explanatory headers in a seamless and unified language. A similar thing can be said for the 24 Hours in Icons page, which is full of movement and animations that transform it from a simple gallery to an engaging experience. From the works themselves, to the straightforward language (including the ‘Don’t steal anything. Duh’ in the footer) and seemingly effortless layout, Liron Ashkenazi manages to create an effective and nonchalant vibe. By showcasing the projects on the homepage and minimizing the number of CTAs, the emphasis is rightly placed on the works themselves. Liron Ashkenazi 's website OFFF TLV 2018 > Clear branding throughout & an organized structure Created by Studio & More , this website acts as a landing page for this year’s OFFF design conference in Tel Aviv. Not only are the essence and purpose of the website clear at first glance, but so is the branding, with a strong unified visual language in every detail. The designers behind this site have clearly considered the users, enabling them to reach the required pages quickly and easily; the two most important CTAs appear right in the center of the top fold and the fixed menu header means that you can either browse the site leisurely, or navigate through the pages in a more direct way. The ‘chat’ option improves the user experience , allowing them to speedily receive responses to any questions they may have. The subtle animation and hover effect on the ‘buy tickets’ button makes it stand out, grabbing visitors’ attention. A classic site structure is just right for this kind of event website. It starts out with a teaser at the top, goes on to present the speakers and ends with a big footer full of all the relevant info. As you move down the homepage, you discover that each strip has been designed in a different way, making the scrolling experience especially engaging. Your eyes are kept stimulated as you scroll, with an aesthetic combination of text, stills and videos layered in various ways, and certain elements that break the grid, shaking up the alignment. An extra sense of movement and energy is achieved by including animated headers on each page. Learn more: What is a wireframe OFFF TLV 2018 website by Studio & More

Whether or not UI and UX design are a mystery to you, it's safe to say that each workplace has a slightly different approach. Here's a look into the essence of both disciplines. Yin and yang are similar to UI and UX in more ways than one. Not only are the pair inseparable, unable to exist without one another, but there are also very few people who can tell the difference between the two. Okay, this might be an overstatement for UI and UX design, but who here actually knows which is yin and which is yang? Without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look into the profession. We’ll clarify what the difference between UI and UX design actually is and go over some of the key stages involved in each one: UI and UX design: the basic definitions It’s true that a UI ( user interface ) or UX (user experience) designers’ main aim is to enhance users’ satisfaction, by creating products and interfaces that are intuitive, simple and efficient. And many people have a part to play in this, including developers, content writers and more. But what exactly is each designer’s role within this overall aim? In general terms, UI is about the visual design of the product interface. Depending on the nature of the product, this normally includes the layout, icons, buttons, information architecture, colors, typography, animations and illustrations. And as the name suggests, UX is about the user, or rather, human experience. It’s about analyzing people’s intents when they use the product – what they should feel, what they need to understand and what action they should eventually take. In most cases, this part is done first, followed by the visual design. To summarize with an effective metaphor, you can think of it as a house: UX is about providing the skeletal structure, deciding where each room should be placed, planning the electricity system and other structure-related aspects. The UI is more about the details, such as the doorknobs, curtains, colors and more. In the end, all these elements come together to make up a whole experience and atmosphere. These might sound like two very separate areas of expertise, and it’s true – they are different and each one requires a wide array of skill sets. However, just like coffee and cake, they complete one another. Imagine, for example, an instruction manual for a complex coffee machine. It could be the most beautifully designed thing in the world, with the most stunning color palette and on-trend fonts, but if it the user doesn’t manage to understand what they’re supposed to do, they may as well throw it away (or hang it up on their wall). That’s exactly where UX comes in. As the two professions are so intertwined, at Wix, designers specialize in both UI and UX – a requirement that is brought up right from the initial design interview. This allows them to package an optimal product experience, that includes spot-on functionality, content and visuals. Is UX just about functionality? A large part of UX is about making a product functional, but the road to perfect functionality is long and winding. When it comes to the house example (hint: look up!), certain things might be obvious to us, as we have personal experience of them. We know that it makes no sense for the electricity sockets to be too high up to be reached and that a kitchen sink that’s far away from the dishwasher is a nuisance, not to mention having to get out of bed to switch the light off. But when it comes to developing other products of whom we’re not users, further work and investigation is required. As well as the structure and functionality, many products also involve visual and textual experiences, which is why UX designers and writers work together closely, especially at the beginning of a project. Without the right text, it’s difficult to test the product, so taking care of the text from the start is important. On top of working with UX writers or microcopy writers, designers from this field also collaborate with a number of other team members, such as product managers, engineers and more. Together, they conduct the following research and processes, while constantly keeping in mind the desire to create a product made up of an optimal mixture of business goals and user needs: – Product analysis: gather BI (Business Intelligence) to understand more about your users’ behavior, know support issues users have faced in the past or are likely to face, do competitive analysis, pinpoint the pain points and determine the goal of your product. As soon as you have a goal, you can create a plan and stay focused on your purpose throughout the process. – Create low fidelity wireframes and interactive prototypes that include user flows, focusing on allowing users to fulfil their desired goals. To do this in the best way, know which personas will be using your product, what their aims are, and what their entry points are. Creating various iterations will help you understand the different scenarios of the product and which screens and panels are required. This preferably comes before the visual part of the design and even more importantly, before the technical developments are too advanced. Sketching out user flows at the beginning of the process An interactive prototype created for the Wix Editor – Conduct usability tests throughout the project (as well as once the product is live) so that you can make the right decisions. It will also enable you to save design and development time. – Once the product is live, further tests and analysis are done, so that the product can be refined. Also conduct A/B tests to get insights into how your users interact with the prototype (or live product) you created. You can discover what they liked, what they found challenging and ultimately – how you can improve the product. Is there more to UI than beauty? When there’s a final structure and prototype that has been tested and approved, the UI design begins. Of course, the name of the game is to create a beautiful product, but that’s not all. In fact, the appearance of any product has a much deeper, psychological impact on the user. Imagine, for example, how a room with cream-colored linen curtains blowing in the breeze would make you feel, in comparison with dark heavy velvet ones. And pressing a smooth touch-screen light switch will feel completely different than a standard switch. These are just a few of the decisions UI designers take into account. Depending on whether they’re working according to a design system, or for a newer brand whose visual language may not be as clearly defined yet, here are some more details that their work entails: – Gathering inspiration and exploring various concepts. – Designing various details, such as buttons, text fields, drop down lists, menu bars, search fields, icons, accordions, pop-up boxes and more, keeping aligned with the brand’s language and the product’s style guide. This means that all visual elements will be consistent and will come together to form the desired look and feel. Planning how each element will look at each and every stage – Choosing a color palette that’s in line with the branding. – For digital products, UI designers add extra elements (or “delighters), such as animation, video, illustrations and micro-interactions, to complete the overall experience and achieve the desired vibe. – Making sure any online assets are responsive, working well on desktops and mobiles of different screen sizes. Planning the position of each panel Creating emotional connections with users As already mentioned briefly, the visual aspects of an interface can evoke different emotions, as can text, that has a crucial part to play in the user’s overall experience. Let’s examine this topic further, from a UX perspective too. The aim here is to spark a connection with the user, creating something that they can really understand. By basing a website or app’s structure on a mental model (or in other words, something that we’re familiar with from our everyday lives and experiences), the user is more likely to feel a cultural or emotional connection. What does this mean in concrete terms? You can try replicating a familiar situation, like strolling around a city aimlessly, into your online design portfolio, for example. Just like you might discover surprising spectacles when walking around city streets, you can make the online browsing experience fluid, with fun little surprises along the way, such comical animations, interactions and more. When it comes to visual design, there are infinite ways to conjure up emotional connections with users. UI designers aim to develop a whole language that will be consistent throughout every detail of the brand’s products. Anything from color choice, to illustrations, videos and sound can be used to evoke sensations and communicate a specific vibe. A website featuring cute hand-drawn illustrations and pastel colors will make the user feel one thing, whereas a website with a dark fullscreen video on the homepage will create quite the opposite sensation. See how The Entropy Project’s design portfolio, built on Wix, does just that, with powerful visuals that draw you in and create a mysterious and intriguing feeling. The Entropy Project's online portfolio User experience beyond the four corners of your screen What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of UX? If your answer was anything involving websites and mobile apps, you’re right. But these days, the scopes of both UI and UX are broadening. Companies have a growing awareness of the importance of understanding their users and how these methods can improve their user experience – ultimately, impacting retention. UX is now employed across a variety of products, interfaces and services – and not only those with a web presence. It’s not just about the interface, but rather about the product’s experience as a whole. Referring to the Wix eCommerce product for example, UX designer Israel Martin Alberto explains that “the experience involves every detail, from start to finish. It’s not just about the online part. It’s about the moment the user clicks onto your site, all the way to the moment they receive their purchase at their doorstep and open the package.” The idea is to accompany the user throughout their whole journey and through different obstacles. “That’s how you can build a strong relationship with the user,” explains Israel. You can take a look at the case studies on these UX design portfolios and these websites for UX inspiration and research to gain a better understanding of the full process a designer goes through, as well as these UX design trends . UI is no different in that it’s also used for a variety of interfaces, whether they’re online or not. Any product that involves a point of contact between the object and the user, such as coffee machines, keypads and car dashboards, should be designed with UI in mind. Want to rest your minds and just enjoy some eye candy? Take a look at this inspirational selection of websites that nailed their UX design .

With powerful web publishing platforms like Wix available today, more and more people take their online presence to their own hands and create websites that promote their company or services. But doing business is not the only reason to learn how make a website. If you are passionate about a hobby or your extracurricular activities, why not set up a site that is dedicated only to that? Now more than ever, building a website is an accessible and fun task. If you invest time and effort in a hobby, you can easily share your passion and your achievements online. Creating this type of a website will enable you to expose your abilities to a broader community and interact with people who have similar interests. It's easy, for example, to turn a love of traveling into a great travel and tourism website or even a fan website. The Wix Team prepared a short list of ideas that can help you get started with a beautiful hobby website. Tell Your Story Websites that are dedicated to hobbies and interests are by nature more personal than business websites. Don’t be embarrassed to tell your site visitors how you discovered your passion, why it keeps sucking you in and what do you do about it. Your individual perspective is a big part of how your hobby interacts with your life, and therefore it is interesting even to strangers. Show Your Work Your website creates a space for you to present your own achievements, so be sure to share samples of your work. If your hobby involves visual arts like photography, illustrations or digital designs, create a gallery and upload your images as files. A gallery can also work well with more day-to-day related activities, like gardening, cooking, interior design or sports. If your hobby is more text-based like poetry or analysis of current events, you can add a blog to your website and easily update it with new materials. Share Tips As a person who invests a fair amount of time in their hobby, you must have creative ideas that can inspire other people with similar interests. Use one of the pages on your website to share these personal tips and to show others how you tackled challenges and problems that are unique to your hobby. For instance, amateur photographers can explain how to construct DIY lighting accessories; experienced joggers can tell site visitors about their routine and their nutrition plans; passionate vegans can share recipes that make dairy-free life much easier. To come up with helpful ideas for your website, think about questions that interest you when searching for websites that are related to your hobby. You could also consider doing this through a forum on your site, where your community could come together to share and be inspired. Check out these best forum software options. Be Informative Almost every hobby has an entire community built around it, with events, news and reviews that fellow enthusiasts follow closely. To make your website more interesting to people in your community, be sure to share valuable information that comes your way. Good examples for such news bits are new releases of gear and accessories – as well as your evaluation of them, meetups and workshops that relate to your interests, videos and articles that present an interesting approach, public debates surrounding your topic, and more. In trying to decide what is newsworthy information for your website, consider whether this is something that you will bring up in a face-to-face conversation with other enthusiasts. Get Feedback One of the main purposes of creating a website for your hobby is to get in touch with other people that share your passion. Give site visitors the opportunity to contact you by adding links to social media profiles and by adding a contact form that is connected to your email address. Show your visitors that you are happy to start a conversation with them. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of getting an online presence.

If you’re one of the brave entrepreneurs who has ventured to open a food or drink business, you know that success in the field means more than just cooking up a great dish. In this high risk, high reward field, branding and marketing play as big of a role in building your reputation as the great tasting goods that you have to offer. With so many people turning to the internet for advice on what or where to eat, you want to makes sure that you have a website that’s as appetizing as your signature dish! Check out these inspiring food entrepreneurs that took a creative spin on the kitchen circuit to serve up mouth watering business ideas. Amy Waldman | Puree Artisan Juice Bar Raw food advocate Amy is not only a small business owner, she’s an inspiration for anyone looking to lead a healthier lifestyle. Having lost 90lbs on a raw food diet, Amy decided to spread the word and open Washington DC’s first & only 100% organic, raw vegan, fresh, cold-pressed juice bar; try saying that in one breath! Under the guidance of cleanse specialist, Lauri Bosserman, Puree Artisan Juice Bar puts clients on the right track to health. Hooked on her new lifestyle, Amy turned to Wix to spread the good word about raw juicing to as many people as she can: “Wix has lots of great apps that streamline our events, for example, which is a big part of getting the word out… Wix enables me to keep control over the site, changes and updates while looking professional and clean. And it’s fun!” Jodie Graham | The Choc & Rock Lolly Buffet Owner of what she called “The Sweetest Little Lolly Buffet in Brisbane”, Jodie Graham has taken her love of lollies to a whole other level. With The Choc & Rock Lolly Buffet, Jodie owns a catering business that creates beautifully made sweet tables for any occasion. Having created a site with a different web design platform in the past, Jodie chose to turn to Wix based on the professional looking design options: “Wix has given me a more professional presence on the web – whereas my previous website looked very amateur. The main challenge in my business is to get our name out there, and by having a professional looking website Wix is helping with that”. Steven Rasovsky | Lenka Bar The Rasovksy family’s snack bar business is as homegrown as you can get – literally. From their modest beginnings of baking all natural granola bars right in mama’s kitchen to their newly established full-fledged commercial production facility, Lenka bar proves that there’s no limit to where a good product can go. With the help of Wix, Lenka was able to turn their homegrown operation that could only deliver within a 200 mile radius, to a household name that can be found in coffee houses across America. Are you a Wix user with a great story to share with us? Submit your own Wix Story!

Email marketing is one of the most effective methods for reaching your target market and keeping them engaged. Small business owners, artists, bloggers, service providers and brands of all kinds rely on this mode of communication to strengthen their online presence, increase their traffic (once they create a website) and gain more business. In addition to being amazing marketing strategies, email campaigns and newsletters are also fun to work on. But creating them can get a little challenging. It’s not easy to come up with so many different topics to communicate about! But worry not, dear reader. We created this useful list of effective newsletter ideas that will inspire you to create many, many great newsletters. And, a tool like Wix Email Marketing helps you create a stunning newsletter in a flash. Now you only have one tricky question to answer – which one should you start with? 30 newsletter ideas your audience will want to read Send a holiday greeting Introduce a new product or service Share real customer success stories Reveal a new design Offer a contest Run a limited time sale Invite to a real-life event Solicit feedback Announce exclusive coupon codes Examine a case study Deliver a message from the CEO Share advice Show off your most popular products Celebrate an anniversary Present an end of season sale Connect on social media Create a Top 10 list Give subscribers first access Follow up after a sale or interaction Provide a solution to a common or trending problem Recommend do's and don'ts Distribute a weekly or monthly recap Support and promote a social cause Advertise an upcoming webinar or course Share a personal story Make them laugh with fun facts Answer FAQs Tap into media buzz Give a free download Inspire with a guest author 01. Send a holiday and seasonal greeting The annual calendar provides many great opportunities to reach out to your subscribers – from Thanksgiving to the summer solstice. Find a nice angle that ties in your specialty with the essence of the event, create a newsletter design that matches the occasion, and you’ve got a holiday marketing email campaign going. Subject line example: “New Spring Fashion You Just Can’t Miss” 02. Introduce a new product or service When you make a newsletter, look for opportunities to announce new products. A new launch is always exciting. Share the news with your subscribers and show off what you got. Add enticing visuals that will get them eager to try it out for themselves. Oh, and it’s always a nice idea to add a coupon code as a treat. Subject line example: “Introducing: Wave Speakers – A Whole New Way to Experience Music” 03. Share success stories of real customers Your happy customers are your best advocates and most effective ambassadors. Share one of their success stories with the rest of your audience. It’s a triple win situation – you get to showcase your brand’s potential, your loyal customer gets exposure and encouragement, and your readers get inspired by someone else’s achievements. Subject line example: “How Dana Increased Her Conversion Rates by 92%” 04. Reveal a new design/look/logo This may not seem like such an important issue, but sharing updates about a new look is actually a wonderful way to connect with your subscribers. You can invite them to share their feedback and use the opportunity to explain how the new design represents your brand identity. Subject line example: “Breaking News: Our Homepage Just Got a Makeover & It’s a Knockout!” 05. Offer a contest Draw your subscribers in with a hook by promising them a chance to win a cool prize – it could be a voucher for your online store, a special basket filled with the best of your products, a free consultation session, or any other reward that is unique to what you do. Subject line example: “We’re Giving Away 10 Tickets For Our Upcoming Tour. Come Get Yours” 06. Run a sale for a limited time only A sense of urgency is a great incentive for action from a newsletter. Create a short-term campaign with a defined end point – preferably no longer than 2-3 days – and announce it to your subscribers with a motivating message. A terrific advantage of this type of campaign is that you can send not one but two emails; one announcing the promotion and one just shortly before it ends, as a last push and reminder. Subject line example: “Madness Sale! 50% Off For 48 Hours Only” 07. Invite subscribers to a real-life event Show your audience that you’re interested in strengthening your relationship by inviting them to an event. It can be a meetup at your brick-and-mortar location, a conference presentation, a block party your brand is involved in or other opportunities for face-to-face engagement. Subject line example: “Wanna Meet? Let’s Chat and Exchange Fashion Tips Next Week” 08. Solicit feedback Open the lines of communication and invite your subscribers to share their thoughts, reviews and suggestions with you. You can design the email with an integrated form, ask guiding questions or leave it more open. Initiating this type of conversation will show your audience that they have your ear while reinforcing your brand’s trustworthiness. Subject line example: “A Penny for Your Thoughts? Help Us Get Better at What We Do!” 09. Announce exclusive coupon codes for subscribers Your subscribers deserve a special gift. Treat them to an exclusive bonus and send them a coupon code to use in your store or website. They’ll appreciate the VIP treatment. Subject line example: “Here’s a little thank you. Hope you like it!” 10. Examine a case study Case studies draw much interest, especially when they hold real insight and practical benefit for readers. In this case, your newsletter will introduce a case in which your product or service proved especially valuable. The purpose is to show your readers that you can do the same for them, by narrating the process the challenges brought about in that particular case study. Subject line example: “How We Helped Mark and Jane Plan the Wedding They Dreamed Of” 11. Deliver a message from the CEO Extending a personal word from the movers and shakers of your company generates an air of distinction. It’s not every day that newsletter subscribers get to hear directly from the people on top. If you want to try this approach, make sure you create an email with unique content that is appropriate for the occasion. You don’t want to lure readers in and then under deliver. Subject line example: “A Personal Word From Our CEO” 12. Share advice As an expert in your field, you are in a unique position to share insights and knowledge with your readers. You can choose to send a list of quick tips that revolve around a particular topic, or a longer tutorial to guide your subscribers step-by-step through a specific action. Subject line example: “The Complete Guide to Baking a Failproof Pie Crust” 13. Show off your most popular products (and why people love them) This email topic works on a very basic human concern – FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. People want to know what others are up to, what the current trends are and what they need to do to stay “in.” By revealing the most popular products, you’re sharing the wisdom of the group with the individual. It’s also a terrific opportunity to showcase the amazing qualities of your products by explaining what makes them so popular. Subject line example: “Introducing Our Best-Selling Headphone Sets” 14. Celebrate an anniversary Your brand’s anniversary is coming up and it’s definitely a reason to celebrate with a special newsletter. Use this opportunity to thank your audience for their support, to share a funny story from the early days and maybe even offer a special anniversary deal as well. Subject line example: “It’s Our 10th Birthday! Let’s Celebrate Together” 15. Present an end of season special Every experienced consumer knows that end of season specials are something to look forward to. Would they miss out on an opportunity to see what great merchandise you’re offering? Not if you hook them with a gorgeous email about it. Subject line example: “The End-of-Season Sale You’ve Been Waiting for all Summer” 16. Connect on social media Why limit your interactions with your audience only to one platform? Write a newsletter and invite your subscribers to follow your social media pages (and vice versa!). Make sure they realize that connecting with you on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. actually offers your readers added value. It can be chat support, exclusive visuals, or access to social raffles. Subject line example: “Follow Us on Instagram to Get a Sneak-Peak of our Latest Designs” 17. Create a “Top 10 list” Lists are a superb form of content that has great potential for virality. Readers love to share lists that they believe could be interesting to their friends. With a good list, your subscribers will happily click the Fwd button and do their share in promoting your brand. Subject line example: “10 Mistakes You’re Making That are Killing Your Plants” 18. Give subscribers first access Are you launching a new feature, a new website or a new physical location? It’s a great opportunity to get in touch with your subscribers and invite them to be the first to check it out. They’ll be grateful for the personal treat, and you’ll get to give your new baby a trial run. Subject line example: “Be the First to Try Our New Fruity Flavors!” 19. Follow up after a sale or interaction Clients love to see that their experience and opinion matters. When you reach out to them shortly after they made a purchase, visited your store or contacted your customer care, you are showing them that you value their input. Subject line example: “How Did We Do? Share Your Experience With Us.” 20. Provide a solution to a common or trending problem Lifehacks are always popular. In this era of digital information flow, we’re already used to going online to find quick answers to questions that constantly nag us. When these solutions happen to arrive into our inbox, we’re definitely going to take a peek. Subject line example: “We’ve Got What You Need to Get the Results You Want.” 21. Recommend dos and don’ts Present yourself as an authority in your business area with a Dos and Don’ts list that gives your readers substantive guidance. Do’s and Don’ts offer advice based on conclusions from past experience. This is the type of instruction that readers truly appreciate and are happy to follow. Subject line example: “The Do’s and Don’ts of Home Design.” 22. Distribute a weekly or monthly recap Depending on the volume of your activities and the type of business you’re in, sending out regular recaps of the past week or month could be extremely valuable in keeping your audience engaged. This email genre can be useful for musicians on tour, for venues with a changing schedule or for non-profit organizations that support a certain cause. Subject line example: “[Monthly Roundup] What We Were Up to in April.” 23. Support and promote a social cause If you’re active with a charity or non-profit organization, share your passion for their cause with your newsletter subscribers. This is a great way to present your brand’s personal side and show your audience that you are committed to making the world a better place. Subject line email: “Why We Spend Every Second Saturday Volunteering at the Dog Shelter.” 24. Advertise an upcoming webinar or online course You have more than one way to share your knowledge with your subscribers. Have you ever considered creating a webinar or an online course, offering to train them as experts in their own right? You can even invite guest speakers related to your field to increase your audience’s interest. Subject line email: “Join Me for a Webinar: Introducing Portrait Photography Basics” 25. Pull back the curtain with a personal story A personal tone of voice is an important aspect of email marketing. People relate better to real people, so it’s always good to show them the person behind the brand. You can share a story about how you started to become a professional in your field, or about a special individual in your life that influenced your vision. Subject line email: “Cycling Changed my Life. Now I’m Committed to Helping Others to Do the Same.” 26. Make them laugh with fun trivia facts What are some interesting, poppy trivia bits about your brand, your industry or your organization that no one knows? Prepare a short list of fun facts and keep it light but interesting. Aim for the type of trivia knowledge that people like to share over coffee at work. Subject line email: “Which President Was Addicted to Scones & More Fun Facts From Pastry History.” 27. Answer FAQs What are the most common questions or concerns that you believe affect your target market? This newsletter example will not only allow you to show that you are an attentive business owner by addressing them in advance. It also gives you a terrific content platform to highlight the advantages of your product or service. Subject line email: “Frequently Asked Questions About Mortgage Financing, Answered by Our Consultants” 28. Tap Into Media Buzz If you notice a trending issue in the media that you think has relevance to your brand, be spontaneous and take the opportunity to create an impromptu newsletter and tap into that buzz. Preparing for the season finale of the most popular TV show? Responding to a viral meme that’s breaking the internet? Go wild! Subject line example: “Is Beyonce Copying Our Latest Collection?” 29. Give a free download Downloads and digital products are a powerful incentive because they offer an immediate result. Musicians, digital artists, authors and other creatives can share a downloadable link (or even better – refer readers to their website for a download) and give a sample of their latest work as an exclusive offer to subscribers. Subject line example: “Available Here Only: Hear Our Latest Track Before Everyone Else” 30. Inspire with words of wisdom from a guest author Think of an individual whose experience and talent has special bearing on your own field and your own professional development, someone whose words can be of great interest to your followers. Invite them to author a guest email and offer to return the favor :) Subject line example: “Our Favorite Author Shares Her Winter Must-Reads With Us”

The phrase "The customer is always right” may have started simply as a department store’s slogan in the early 1900s, but it has evolved into the core motto of the society we live in. You may have put your heart and soul on starting a business and creating a website to offer your services or products, but if the results are not as expected, it’s you, not your customers, who needs to change. This means you need to be able to identify every pain point of the customer journey to figure out where people are losing interest in your offering. Then, you’ll want to adapt your product based on their feedback and assess whether the problem is solved. The marketing funnel will give you all the tools and data you need to do so. Read on to learn all about this powerful process and why you should implement it across all of your marketing strategies, marketing ideas and marketing channels. What is the marketing funnel? The marketing funnel, also known as the purchase funnel, is a visual representation of all the steps a visitor has to go through before they purchase a product or service. Its origins date back to 1910, when American philosopher John Dewey introduced the five stages consumers go through before, during, and after purchasing a good or service. This buyer decision process included the following stages: Problem/need-recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase behavior. Over time, this idea evolved into the contemporary marketing funnel, which focuses on the different stages from the moment people first hear about a business to the moment they make a transaction. But why is it referred to as a funnel? Marketing efforts don’t involve getting people to buy right away. Instead, they start with capturing leads - potential customers who show interest in the brand. When companies turn anonymous strangers into leads, they’re drawing them into the mouth of the funnel. Then, they continue marketing to these leads with the goal of getting some of them to buy. Of course, only a fraction of leads will actually purchase the product. As they advance through the different stages of the buyer decision process, some of them will abandon the effort without ever getting to the purchasing stage. Thus, the crowd thins, and the resulting visual representation of this process forms the shape of a funnel. Benefits of the marketing funnel Now that you know what the marketing funnel is, you’re probably wondering if you should start using it as part of your small business marketing strategy. Ask yourself the following question: Do I have a service or product I intend customers to purchase? Do I have a stellar go to market strategy for my product? If the answer is yes, then you definitely should. As a business, your success does not only depend on the quality of your offering, but also on the way in which it’s presented and marketed to consumers. Everything from your website layout and color scheme to the packaging of your products and brand marketing also plays a huge role in your customer’s journey through the marketing funnel. How you choose to promote your website will also impact on this. Some specific brand and business metrics using the marketing funnel can help improve include, increased brand awareness, increased brand loyalty, higher customer lifetime value, and improved customer satisfaction. Having a clear view of a customer’s journey will allow you to identify any roadblocks that hinder their progress through the funnel. Based on this data, you can make changes to eliminate these barriers and improve your conversion rate - whether it’s by making your website more user-friendly, creating a social media campaign, opting to use more personalized marketing or promoting on different channels. That’s why funnel marketing is so effective. The marketing funnel can apply to any type of marketing. From digital marketing, and online advertising, to using landing pages. From referral marketing to mass marketing including viral and influencer marketing. From traditional to disruptive, to super strategic marketing, the funnel is relevant and effective across marketing channels and strategies. That's part of what makes it so impactful across both marketing and entrepreneurship. Research and the marketing funnel Research is an essential part of making the marketing funnel work most effectively. Before even working through its different stages you should make sure that your understanding of your target audience, and your user experiences are up to date. Your marketing research should be extensive and comprehensive in order to apply it to the funnel for most impact. Refine your market research, both quantitive and qualitative. Stages of the marketing funnel While the overall framework of the marketing funnel has remained mostly unchanged for more than a century, there isn’t a global consensus on the different stages. Here, we’ll discuss the various stages represented in the marketing funnel template above. These stages include: Awareness Interest Consideration Intent Evaluation Purchase 01. Awareness Awareness - located at the top of the marketing funnel - is the first stage. This is the point where customers first learn about your brand, and it’s where lead generation takes place. To build awareness, develop targeted marketing campaigns that are geared toward people who may need your product. Be sure to use market segmentation to create tailored campaigns for each customer type. Think about writing press releases as part of this step. Then, use lead capture forms to get their contact information (typically their email address) so that you can continue marketing to them. This is one of the most important lead generation strategies, as you'll be using their contact information to reach out to them and guide them through the rest of the marketing funnel. 02. Interest Leads who show an interest in your business move onto the next stage of the marketing funnel, aptly known as interest. At this point, lead generation turns into lead nurturing as brands start to establish a connection with all the contacts gathered during the previous stage. One of the most effective ways to build interest is through email marketing. This allows you to start building relationships with leads by reaching out to them directly with relevant, branded content. 03. Consideration In the consideration stage of the marketing funnel, the consumer is evaluating the different methods that are available to them to address their needs. At this point, they already know about your offering and are familiar with your brand. Now, it’s your job to convince them that a product like yours presents the best solution to their problems. To do this, try using marketing automation software to send targeted email campaigns with actionable intent, such as free trials and sales announcements. Another popular funnel marketing technique is to offer them informational content, such as blog posts and webinars, that addresses their needs while gently guiding them toward your product. 04. Intent Ever left something in your online shopping cart and received an email about it a day or two after? That’s what entering the intent stage feels like. Prospective customers (known as prospects) move to the intent stage once they demonstrate a clear intent to purchase a product, such as by contacting a customer service representative, trying out a product demo, or adding an item to their shopping cart. This doesn’t mean that they are going to buy right away, but it does indicate that they are primed for the purchase. With that in mind, the intent stage is the time to prove why your offering is the number one option for the prospective customer. You’ll need to target them with marketing materials that make a strong case for why your product is better than your competitors’. 05. Evaluation The evaluation stage of the marketing funnel is where lead nurture meets sales. Here, the prospective customer is making the final decision about whether or not to buy your product. In this stage, marketing and sales teams must work together to convince prospective buyers to take the leap and make a purchase. Much like the previous stage, the focus is kept on positioning your business’s offering as the ideal choice. 06. Purchase The pot of gold at the end of the marketing funnel rainbow is known as the purchase stage. This is where prospects finally decide to buy the service or product. At this point, sales teams take over to manage transactions. Be sure to use various sales psychology techniques to get inside your customer’s head and close the deal. Additional representations of the marketing funnel As we've discussed, the six stages above represent one of the most popular ways of dividing up the marketing funnel. Still, it isn't the only version. Other common variations of the marketing funnel include: AIDA: Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action TOFU-MOFU-BOFU: Top of the funnel (generating leads), Middle of the funnel (generating prospects), Bottom of the funnel (generating sales) Below, we'll also talk about how the marketing funnel differs slightly between B2B and B2C companies, as well as a variation known as the nonlinear marketing funnel. B2B vs. B2C marketing funnel The main difference between the B2B and B2C marketing funnel is the amount of people involved in the process and the level of interaction between businesses and consumers. In the majority of cases, B2C consumers navigate through the funnel alone with little to no direct interaction with the business. Customer outreach efforts are conducted by targeting large buying groups or by using marketing automation tools, and very few customers actually interact with a representative. On the other hand B2B consumers usually include more than five people from different departments. While the uppermost stages of the marketing funnel follow the same pattern as that of B2C consumers, in lower stages sales representatives establish direct communication with B2B consumers. Nonlinear marketing funnel The marketing funnel template above represents the nonlinear marketing funnel. While the cone-shaped marketing funnel has been the default for many decades, some experts argue that the market has evolved beyond linear buying processes. As a result, many businesses have started to leave behind the traditional cone in favor of one resembling a bowtie or hourglass. This type of marketing funnel aims to tackle the fifth and last stage of Dewey’s consumer decision processes: Post-purchase behavior. The upside-down cone shape starts with the few buyers who made a purchase and journeyed to the end of the traditional marketing funnel. From there, businesses look at the post-purchase customer journey, taking into account factors such as satisfaction, testimonials and feedback. The goal of this new funnel approach is to create strong relationships with customers, not only to ensure they don’t move to your competitors’ services, but also so they’ll become repeat buyers and loyal advocates of your brand. While there isn’t a consensus about the different stages of the nonlinear marketing funnel, it nonetheless remains a valuable way to gauge consumer behavior and optimize your marketing efforts. Whichever model of the marketing funnel you use, the most important factor is that your marketing plan strongly aligns with each stage of the buyer’s journey. Specific marketing methods to implement the marketing funnel There are many marketing strategies that can be applied to different stages of the marketing funnel in order to help it elevate your marketing efforts. Here are some of the most popular or impactful, in no particular order. Content marketing as well as user generated content SEO Online and traditional advertising Direct marketing Loyalty programs, including coupons and discounts Social media marketing and channels Testing and the marketing funnel Testing is an essential part of the marketing funnel and it should take place through every stage of the funnel. Here are a few examples of what that could look like, Awareness stage: At this stage, customers should be becoming aware of your product or service. Track metrics such as website traffic, social media engagement, and email open rates to understand this better. Consideration stage: Here, customers are considering your product or service and comparing it to competitors. Test the effectiveness of your marketing efforts at this specific stage of the funnel by tracking metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates. Decision-making stage: If they've reached this stage, customers are making a final decision to purchase your product or service. At this stage you'll need to focus on metrics such as sales conversion rates and return on investment, as well as customer acqiusition cost. To effectively test the marketing funnel, it's important to use different types of testing, including A/B testing, multivariate testing, and user testing. A/B testing involves testing two versions of a marketing element to see which one performs better, such as testing two different headlines in an email campaign. Multivariate testing involves testing multiple elements at once to see which combination is most effective, such as testing different images and headlines in a website landing page. User testing involves gathering feedback from actual customers to see how they interact with your product or service. Overall, testing is a critical component of the marketing funnel, helping you to identify what works and what doesn't, while being able to make data-driven decisions to improve your marketing strategies and increase sales. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What are the different stages of the marketing funnel? Awareness, interest, desire, action and intention are the key stages of the funnel. Each one represents a step in a potential customers journey. How can I use the marketing funnel for my business? You can use it to increase the number of potential customers you have and to better move customers from marketing to sales. If you need to raise awareness and interest, social media marketing is an effective and popular way to do this with huge potential customer reach. Building desire can be done with emotive campaigns, think the bandwagon effect as well as with free demos and trials. Understanding what you need to do at each step of the funnel to improve customer retention, will help you move more potential customers through it. How do I track my marketing funnel performance? Each stage of the funnel will have different metrics to track - from website traffic, to traffic source and customer retention metrics, such as click through rate, time on page and so on. There are a number of tools you can use to track this, from Google Analytics to other popular options. What are some marketing funnel best practices? There are many, and often they'll depend very much on your brand and product. However a few key ones to remember include - consistency with your messaging, tracking your funnel performance and optimizing it based on what the data is telling you, don't neglect retention and repeat conversions, personalize the experience where possible.

Business writing isn’t quite the same as academic writing or blogging. When in a business setting, you want to make your point as efficiently as possible. For example, if you publish a blog, your audience likely expects you to write casually. However, when starting a business, your colleagues and partners expect you to skirt the familiarity and write more formally. Here, we’ll discuss different business writing types for small business owners, give you some common format examples, and share some best practices to improve your own skills. The best place to practice your business writing? Your own business website. Start one today and start growing online. What is business writing: a definition Companies use business writing when communicating both internally to colleagues, and externally to partners and clients. With business writing, purpose drives the content, whether an email, internal memo, report, or business proposal. The author writes concepts with a specific audience in mind, emphasizing its purpose or goal clearly and directly. Types of business writing Before we exemplify what business writing looks like, we need to understand the different categories business writing can fall under. Since purpose drives business writing, a writer’s goals break down into four types, each representing a specific professional goal. Instructional Informational Persuasive Transactional 01. Instructional Instructional business writing aims to help readers successfully complete an intended task, through outlined directions. For example, a user manual would qualify as instructional business writing, as would an email directing employees how to clock in for a shift. 02. Informational Informational writing clearly educates readers about an aspect of a business. This writing type might comprise documents that contain plans for the business, financial statements, or reports about the company. 03. Persuasive Rather than informing or instructing a reader, persuasive writing aims to make the reader feel or act a certain way. Marketers commonly use this business writing in their copywriting content, but others use it when drafting business proposals. 04. Transactional Most day-to-day business communications fall under transactional writing. This might include emailing a client or colleague to discuss a project, sending official business letters, and sending or receiving invoices and receipts. 8 business writing examples Each of these business writing examples could fall into different categories based on the four above, but each one still serves its own purpose. While the tone might change slightly in one business writing type over another, you can apply best practices to all forms to help your message come across as clear and professional as possible. Business proposal Business letter Email Business plan Resume and cover letter Business reports Memos Press release 01. Business proposal A company uses a business proposal to convince a potential client to buy their product or use their services. By nature, this document uses persuasive business writing to sway a client or potential partner’s thoughts and emotions in a company’s favor. If just starting a new business, you’ll find a well-written proposal can persuade a client to sign on or convince a partner to invest in your business growth. 02. Business letter You may need to write several types of business letters in different scenarios, and each one serves a different purpose. Some business letters include: A recommendation letter A resignation letter A thank you letter after an interview An apology from customer service A letter to offer a candidate a position Business letters can be external or internal, but in both cases, the writing style should be the same as a professional document. They can also be transactional and meant to raise awareness, or persuasive, like a recommendation letter. Business letters send a formal message. In most cases, it should follow the format of a traditional letter, so it should include elements like a date, the person or persons you’re addressing, the body text, and a signature. 03. Email One of the most frequently used communications in the business world, emails can take on many forms. Some may skew formal and ”‘by the book,” while others may take a more casual tone. Still, emails are business writing and one should treat them as such—especially when reaching out to clients, partners, or other people with whom you don’t have a personal rapport yet. Always make sure to write a relevant subject line, and use proper punctuation, spelling, formal greetings and salutations. 04. Business plan A business plan outlines a company’s overall goals for business development and states how it plans to achieve them. You might include similar elements to a business proposal, but internal employees usually refer to this plan when making important company decisions. Write out your business’s objectives and strategies clearly and precisely. Leave no room for interpretation when you need to refer back to them in the future. 05. Resume and cover letter Your resume and cover letter give your potential employer their first impression of you, so use the appropriate tone and demonstrate your business writing skills to stand out. Even with the right experience, potential employers will likely reject a cover letter with the wrong tone and grammar mistakes. In fact, according to a survey, recruiters share the following common pet peeves: Typos and grammar mistakes (59%) Casual tone (50%) Use of clichés and jargon (47%) Brush up on your business writing skills to avoid making these mistakes on your resume and cover letter. 06. Business reports A business report is an informational type of business writing that describes a project, investigation or performance summary happening within the company. With reports, the writer must remain objective and solely provide information on the subject, such as data, statistics, and background. 07. Memos A memo, or memoranda, is an informational piece of internal communication on a topic. They’re typically briefer than other business writing types, like letters, and often provide instructional information, such as a department notifying employees of a procedure change. Memos’ internal can be slightly less formal than a letter or other external communications, but should still reflect professional language and formatting. 08. Press release When a company needs to formally announce a new product, event, or company update, they’ll send out a press release. This document informs the public of important information related to your company. News and media publications often publish press releases on- and offline, and they play a large part in your company’s online reputation management. Since press releases are public, you need to ensure accuracy and that you convey your intended message. For example, if you publish a press release to respond to small businesses challenges you’re facing, you must write professionally, empathetically and concisely. Using a too casual tone can turn a bad situation even worse. Best business writing practices Regardless of format, apply these best practices in your business writing. Know your audience You first want to identify your audience when writing for business. An internal email to a colleague will likely use a different tone than a business report prepared for investors. Remember the five Cs Always ensure you write: Clearly: Be forward and precise in your message. Don’t talk around the subject—get straight to it. Concisely: Time is precious, so don’t use a lot to say a little. Keep it brief and to the point. Compellingly: Your writing should drive the reader to act. To do this, emphasize your core message and trim away the excess. Completely: Ensure your message provides all the information a reader needs, when they need it. Consistently: Keep your language, tone, voice, and format the same throughout all communications to avoid confusing or misleading the reader. Edit and proofread Always go over your text with fresh eyes to pick up on any typos or grammar mistakes and ensure you’ve addressed the five C’s (especially if using AI tools for business). Don’t rely on spell checkers and grammar tools too heavily, as they don’t know your audience or intention. Steer clear of jargon Don’t use too many abbreviations or industry-specific terms that the average reader won’t understand. Unless you’re writing for experts who will have no issues understanding industry terminology, you should keep the language eye-level. Keep a scannable format Most times, readers will scan the headline and headers rather than read an entire piece of content. Use a format that allows your audience to grasp your intended message, even with just a glance at a document. Tips to improve your business writing You can’t master business writing overnight, but you can improve your skills right away with these helpful tips: Make a plan: Before writing your message, make an outline or jot down notes. You might also want to write one or more drafts before the final version to test different messaging. Practice: Even if you don’t have any projects on your tasks list, prioritize trying out different forms and writing for different audiences. Like anything else, business writing is a skill you learn with continued practice. Find resources: Use online templates for anything from letters to business proposals, consult writing guides, and download third-party spell-checkers and grammar tools. Take a course: Many digital learning centers like Coursera or Udemy offer business writing classes, allowing you to improve your skills at your own pace.