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Author: Franz Malten Buemann

  • Data Ingestion: What It Is Plus How And Why Your Business Should Leverage It

    A scaling business is bound to have data stored across multiple sources (e.g. databases, files, live data feeds). Even individual teams within a department — such as Content  Marketing, Brand Strategy, and SEO — likely use multiple data sources simultaneously. 
    It’s important to ensure you have a way of viewing, visualizing, and analyzing all of that data at once. This gives you a complete picture of the health of everything related to your business, from small projects to team projections to overall business success.

    Data ingestion is the process that can efficiently get all of your data in one place. 
    Data Ingestion
    At a high level, data ingestion prepares your data for analysis. In this blog post, we’ll cover the definition of data ingestion in greater detail, describe its importance, review the data ingestion framework, and highlight a few tools that will make the process simple for your team. Let’s dive in.
    What is data ingestion?
    Data ingestion prepares your data for analysis. It’s the process of transporting data from a variety of sources into a single location — often to a destination like a database, data processing system, or data warehouse — where it can be stored, accessed, organized, and analyzed.
    This process allows businesses to get a holistic view of their data in order to leverage and apply resulting insights and findings in their strategies. 
    Why is data ingestion important?
    You may be wondering why data ingestion is so important and why your marketing team — and business as a whole — should leverage it. 
    As mentioned, data ingestion provides a single view of all of your data. Without the ability to access, review, and analyze all of your data at the same time — versus having to check multiple data sources which visualize your data in different formats — you wouldn’t have a clear or accurate picture of what’s doing well and what needs to be improved upon.
    Data ingestion tools exist to make this process even easier by automating the process of integrating all of your data from various sources. This way, anyone on your team can access and share that data in a format and via a tool that are universal among your organization. 
    Data Ingestion Framework
    The data ingestion framework is how data ingestion happens — it’s how data from multiple sources is actually transported into a single data warehouse/ database/ repository. In other words, a data ingestion framework enables you to integrate, organize, and analyze data from different sources.
    Unless you have a professional create your framework for you, you’ll need data ingestion software to make the process happen. Then, the way that the tool ingests your data will be based on factors like your data architectures and models. 
    There are two main frameworks for data ingestion: batch data ingestion and streaming data ingestion. 
    Before we define batch versus streaming data injection, let’s take a moment to decipher the difference between data ingestion and data integration.
    Data Ingestion vs. Data Integration
    Data integration takes data ingestion a step further — rather than just stopping after the data is transported to its new location/ repository, data integration also ensures all data, no matter what type it is or which source it came from, is compatible with each other as well as the repository it was transported to. That way, you can easily and accurately analyze it. 
    1. Batch Data Ingestion
    The batch data ingestion framework works by organizing data and transporting it into the desired location (whether that’s a repository, platform, tool etc.) in groups — or batches — periodically.
    This is an effective framework unless you have large quantities of data (or are dealing with big data) — because, in those instances, it’s rather a rather slow process. It takes time to wait for batches of data to be transported and you wouldn’t have real-time access to that data. However, this is known to be a cost-effective option due to the fact it requires few resources.
    2. Streaming Data Ingestion
    A streaming data ingestion framework transports data continuously and the moment it’s created/ the system identifies it. It’s a helpful framework if you have a lot of data that you need access to in real-time, but it is more expensive due to the capabilities that batch processing doesn’t have.

    Data Ingestion Tools
    Data ingestion tools integrate all of your data for you — no matter the source or format — and house it in a single location.
    Depending on the software you choose, it may only perform that function, or it may assist with other aspects of the data management process, such as data integration — which entails transforming all data into a single format.  
    1. Apache Gobblin

    Apache Gobblin is a distributed data integration framework and it’s ideal for businesses working with big data. It streamlines much of the data integration process, including data ingestion, organization, and lifecycle management. Apache Gobblin can manage both batch and streaming data frameworks. 
    2. Google Cloud Data Fusion

    Google Cloud Data Fusion is a fully managed, cloud data integration service. You can ingest and integrate your data from a number of sources and then transform and blend it with additional data sources. This is possible because the tool comes with many open-source transformations and connectors which work with various data systems and formats. 
    3. Equalum

    Equalum is a real-time, enterprise-grade data ingestion tool that integrates batch and streaming data. The tool collects, manipulates, transforms, and synchronizes data for you. Equalum’s drag-and-drop UI is simple and doesn’t require code so you can create your data pipelines quickly. 
    Start Using Data Ingestion
    Data ingestion is a critical aspect of data management — it ensures all of your data is accurate, integrated, and organized so that you can easily analyze it on a large scale and get a holistic view of the health of your business. 

  • 3 Reasons Your Call Center is Missing Benchmarks

    If sales and profits are up, business is good, right? Usually, yes. But customer success leaders know that performance isn’t always based solely on profit. Call center managers must be aware of industry trends, customer needs, and the latest call center technology. Market research helps, but it isn’t enough. That’s where benchmarking comes in.
    Benchmarking helps call centers compare their operations and processes to other call centers. Call center managers can establish benchmarks by setting goals for their call center metrics, also known as key performance indicators (KPIs). Call center benchmarks are necessary to drive performance and revenue, and can be used to compare a call center’s performance with industry standards.
    Here we’ll go through standard KPIs and common reasons why call centers struggle to meet them.
    The Executive Guide to Improving 6 Call Center Metrics
    4 important benchmark KPIs.
    There are many call center benchmarks your call center might use. And, not all call center benchmarks will be as relevant to one call center as they would be to another. Here are a few of the top benchmark KPIs used by call centers:
    First Call Resolution (FCR).
    First call resolution is the percentage of inbound calls in which customers’ issues are solved with just one phone call. Better call center agent training improves FCR, and FCR drives customer satisfaction. If your FCR is 60% but your competitors’ FCR is 70%, there is room to improve your operations.
    Abandonment rate.
    Abandonment rate measures the number of callers that hang up before an agent picks up the phone. Long wait time is the most common reason for call abandonment. Call center managers might consider investing in visual IVR and hiring more agents to lower abandonment rates.
    Service level (SLAs).
    Service level measures the number of inbound calls answered within a certain time frame. For example, your call center might strive to answer all calls within 30 seconds. The closer the number of calls answered within 30 seconds is to 100%, the better your service level benchmark. Service level is affected by another metric called Average Speed of Answer (ASA), which measures the average amount of waiting time for customers. Call center technology like Fonolo’s Voice Call-Backs, as well as better scheduling, could improve service level.
    Average Handle Time (AHT).
    Average handle time (AHT), also known as average call time, is the average amount of time your agents take to complete or resolve a customer call. AHT is also known as Average Duration Time. Lower handle times improve customer satisfaction.
    How to Create a Call Center Performance Report
    Global call center benchmarks.
    Here are industry standards for call center benchmarks. If your call center meets these benchmarks, you’re in good shape but can still improve. If your call center doesn’t meet these benchmarks, there might be room for improvement in your processes.

    Service level: 80%
    Abandonment rate: 5-8%
    Average speed to answer: 28 seconds
    Average handle time: 4 minutes

    3 reasons your call center is missing benchmarks.
    Is your call center having trouble meeting global benchmarks? Chances are, there are inefficiencies within your call center causing you to fall short. Here are some reasons why your call center is missing benchmarks:
    Poor customer experience.
    Customer experience affects more KPIs than just your CSat score. If your customers are unhappy, you won’t just hear about it during agents’ breaks. You’ll notice it in your benchmarking.
    For example, customers become unhappy due to longer waiting times, which correspond to the ASA and service level benchmarks. Abandonment rate increases with endless phone queues that customers don’t have the time to wait for.
    Put yourself in your customer’s shoes to improve your benchmarks. Test out your call center process, find out how long your customers are waiting, and use call monitoring to see how your agents are dealing with customers.

    TIP:
    To meet your benchmarks, focus on ways you can improve your customer experience.

    Insufficient agent training.
    Call center agents wear many hats – they must be problem-solvers, greeters, listeners, and analysts all in one phone call. To thrive in these roles, agents need solid training. And, call center agent training isn’t just found in onboarding. Call center executives should be setting aside money in the budget each month to offer proper training to both new and old call center agents.
    Insufficient training leads to gaps in knowledge, which cause:

    Higher AHT;
    Lower FCR rates; and
    Poor customer experience.

    Offer your agents frequent and relevant training to make them feel more:

    Confident;
    Knowledgeable; and
    Better equipped to meet benchmarks.

    Outdated or absent call center technology.
    These days, call center technology is essential in keeping up with your competitors. If you want to meet benchmarks like FCR, AHT, abandonment rate, and service level, your agents need support from technology. With the right technology, your agents can better handle call spikes and improve customer experience.
    Customers are more likely to escalate calls if your call center technology isn’t up-to-date and up to industry standards. Consider technology like Fonolo’s Visual IVR to improve customer experience and lower wait times. Or, Voice Call-Backs to lower abandonment rates and optimize current agents staffed.
    The ROI of Call-Backs for Your Call CenterThe post Blog first appeared on Fonolo.

  • Become a Salesforce Order of Execution Hero

    If you’re a Salesforce professional, the order of execution in which events happen once you save a record in Salesforce is vital to understand. It will help you strategise solutions, as well as debug issues. In this post we will talk about how to become… Read More

  • Urgent cultural change

    Culture doesn’t change (much). Elements of human culture have been around for 100,000 years, and it persists. In fact, its persistence is a key attribute of why it works.

    People like us do things like this.

    In the last ten years, the culture has changed dramatically. We’re buffeted by shifts that are faster and more widespread than anyone can recall.

    The combination of media, illness, technology and climate have made each week different from the one that came before.

    Even early adopters and news junkies are becoming fatigued in the face of so much, so often.

    And this persistent shifting in the foundations of our culture is sharpening the rhetoric and resolve of folks who would rather things stay as they imagined they were.

    Our conversations and arguments about how we react to changes in the culture do little to change the forces that are shaping our future, though. Change persists whether we asked for it or not. Wishing and insisting won’t get us back to a world that’s static.

    Our response to change is often all we have control over. And the way we respond is how we create the next cycle of culture and possibility.

  • 6 Tips On How To Triple the ROI on Your Lead Generation Efforts

    Leads are the lifeblood of any business, and a good lead generation strategy is key to long-term growth. Marketers and agencies focused on ROI are great at crunching the numbers and acquiring new leads.  Unfortunately, quality leads often get lost as the workflow continues on. Interested prospects get left on read, long-term customers fall off…
    The post 6 Tips On How To Triple the ROI on Your Lead Generation Efforts appeared first on Benchmark Email.

  • Platforms that work with multiple CRM email addresses

    Hello! I’m looking for some advice. I work in Higher Ed. Our CRM hosts contact information for individuals who relate to the University in multiple ways. Those contacts may include 5-10 valid email address! Multiple campus emails, personal, work, alumni, etc. Our users may have to email to one or the other depending on their need. Students need mail at campus email, alumni relations to a personal, etc. The kicker is that our users may need to use these emails simultaneously. That is because contacts can be in multiple categories at the same time (student and alum for example). We have really struggled to effectively use marketing automation in this environment. We need an enterprise solution to integrate to enterprise Salesforce implementation, but most tools want to leverage a single email address from CRM. We have had limited success with data extensions from Marketing Cloud, but haven’t found that scalable as it limits our use of Journey Builder and other features. Is anyone aware of another enterprise application that might meet that requirement? Marketo? Eloqua?
    submitted by /u/dionisus1122 [link] [comments]

  • Your iOS 15 To-Do List from Benchmark Email

    We already noted earlier this summer that Apple’s iOS 15 update is just around the corner – likely mid-September. As Apple rolls out new privacy protections for users, email service providers (like Benchmark Email) will have less data on some users. We’re excited to tackle this challenge head-on with the rest of the email marketing…
    The post Your iOS 15 To-Do List from Benchmark Email appeared first on Benchmark Email.

  • How to do a Website Audit to Improve SEO & Conversions

    When was the last time you gave your website a checkup? If you’ve never before audited your website, it’s been a while since you have, or you’re planning a website redesign in the near future, use this post as your go-to website audit checklist to make sure your website is primed for maximum SEO and conversion results.

    Below, let’s learn what a website audit is, why it’s important, and how to use the information to improve your SEO and conversions.

    Before we dive into the things you should be keeping an eye out for as you’re auditing your website, let’s review some of the benefits of doing one. Here are some of the top benefits from a marketing perspective:
    1. Website Performance Optimization
    Website audits usually evaluate a site not only for its content but also for its technical performance.
    As a result, an audit will give you a chance to inspect the robustness of your website’s technical framework and infrastructure, assess how friendly your website is to search engines, and determine how easy it is for users to navigate and intuitively find content on your website.
    2. Search Engine Optimization
    By conducting a website audit, you’ll be able to identify any missed SEO opportunities and remedy any misguided or poorly executed SEO pitfalls (e.g. keyword stuffing, exact match anchor text links, etc.) throughout the content of your website.
    It will also allow you to re-focus your SEO efforts on users first and search engines second. This will safeguard you from constantly chasing changes to search ranking algorithms, meaning you won’t be applying misguided practices just to show up at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).
    3. Conversion Rate Optimization
    Website audits also enable you to re-evaluate the effectiveness of your website in terms of lead generation and conversion. As a result, you’ll be able to spot any previously overlooked opportunities to convert visitors into leads so you can add relevant CTAs, as well as identify deficiencies in your landing pages so you can optimize them to boost conversions.
    4. Competitive Analysis
    Conducting a website audit will allow you to compare your website to your competitor’s. You can analyze how well you’re ranking against competitors for keywords and determine potential new sources of revenue.
    You can use tools, like HubSpot’s website grader, to perform an audit on your competitor’s websites to gather more insights. You can learn how your competitors are attracting visitors and see how they’re garnering conversions.
    Ultimately, this will help you brainstorm new tactics and strategies for your site.
    5. Identify Issues
    When you do a website audit, you’ll be able to find issues that are hurting your SEO and conversions. Perhaps it’s broken links, hidden content, long page load speed times, or more. Identifying these issues will help you repair issues that are diverting traffic.
    As you can see, assessing both the content and technical aspects of your website will open up opportunities to drastically improve the traffic and conversions your website generates.
    Now that you know what a website audit is and why you should do one, let’s look at how to conduct one.

    1. Run Your Website URL through a Site Audit Tool
    Before you get started, you’ll want to find a website auditing tool that can help you analyze how your website is performing. When you use site audit software to run your site through, you can get specific recommendations and test how your page is performing.
    2. Find Technical Errors
    Once you’ve put your site through an auditing tool, you’ll want to look for technical errors. These could be related to performance, SEO, mobile, security, and more. The technical site structure and setup of your site play a large role in how well your website performs for customers.
    3. Identify SEO Problems
    Now, you’ll want to look at SEO-related issues so you can improve your ranking on search engines. This might mean looking at meta descriptions, reviewing image alt text, and more.
    4. Analyze Design and UX
    One of the things I like to look for when conducting a website audit is the user experience. How is this design working for your customers? Some software has heatmaps of what parts of your design draw the most attention and what users are reading. This type of analysis will let you know how the overall design and user experience are impacting your visitors.
    5. Assess Website Content
    A website audit will help you assess website content including blogs, website pages, etc. You’ll want to know how your current pages are stacking up. Ask yourself, “Is my content ranking well in search engines?” and “Is my on-page SEO and performance aligned with my traffic numbers?”
    6. Generate a Checklist of All Site Issues and Recommended Fixes
    Lastly, when you’re conducting a website audit, it’s important to have a place where you put a summary of all your findings. List out the site issues and recommended fixes, so that you can send that information to the appropriate teams.
    Now let’s dive in even more specifically so you know what to be checking for in this website audit.
    Assessments to Make When Auditing Your Website
    But first, enter your website into HubSpot’s Website Grader — this will give you a general overview of your website’s strengths so you can gauge your focus on each of the assessments that follow in this article.

    How’d you do? Got an idea of which website audit benefits you need the most? Here we go.
    1. Website Performance Assessment
    In the first part of your website audit, you should be focusing on how users navigate your website — from your homepage to blog posts, to landing pages, and any related content in between.
    Make a list of the pages on your website and ask yourself the following questions to evaluate them for optimization opportunities:
    Is Your Website Optimized for Maximum Usability?
    The more visitors you can attract to your website, the more opportunities you’ll have to generate leads and, ultimately, customers. But only if your website performs well.
    As I’m sure you can imagine, just having a website does not guarantee results. As part of determining the overall efficiency of your website, your audit should check to make sure your site is designed with your visitors in mind. The design and overall navigability of your website should correspond with what a person would come to the site to seek out, such as more information on a business-related topic, resources, product/pricing information, testimonials, etc. This will largely depend on your individual business.
    The main goal here is to make it easy for people to get the information they’re looking for. As a result, you’ll likely see conversion rates improve on their own.
    To audit your website for usability, consider the following:

    Are all the main value propositions of our business easily accessible via our main navigations/menu items?
    Do we have a simple yet intuitive website design and page layout? Make sure pages aren’t too cluttered; littered with ads, CTAs, or links; or void of internal links altogether.
    Are your conversion paths and/or shopping cart or checkout processes intuitive? Are there a ton of distractions along the way that could be creating friction for your site visitors?

    You might also consider doing some user testing with members of your target audience to ensure you’re effectively surfacing the content they’re looking for, and that they find it easy to navigate to the parts of your website they’re interested in.
    How Is Your Website’s Overall Speed?
    Are there excessive page sizes and/or long page load and server response times? Does your site go down frequently? Site speed can be impacted when image files are too large or HTML and CSS needs to be cleaned up, all of which can drastically improve your site speed.
    Ultimately, fast-loading and optimized pages will lead to higher visitor engagement, retention, and conversions. To quickly check a web page’s load time, download MozBar, a toolbar by Moz that you can attach to your browser for simple page analysis every time you visit a website.
    2. SEO Assessment
    Optimizing the performance of your website is crucial to holding onto visitors, but the above question isn’t the only one you should be asking. You should also audit the content you’re publishing to ensure it’s actually solving your visitors’ problems.
    Is Your Website Content High Quality?
    As you evaluate your content for quality, think about it from your target audience’s perspective. Did this information leave me satisfied? Did it answer all of my questions? Does it give me all the resources relevant to this topic? Do I know what to do next?
    Keep in mind quality content should appeal to the interests, needs, and problems of your buyer personas; be interesting and well-written, provide valuable, thorough, and detailed information about a particular topic; and leave the reader with next steps (such as calls-to-action, links to resources, etc.).
    If you’re still not sure if your content is high quality, evaluate it with this checklist:” How to Tell if Your Marketing Content Is Actually Valuable.”
    Is Your Website Search Engine Optimized?
    Make sure all your web pages are following on-page SEO best practices. To audit your content for on-page SEO, conduct a keyword analysis in which you do the following:

    Consult your analytics to review keyword performance. Which keywords are giving you the biggest gains in traffic and leads?
    Assess how well you’re factoring keyword performance into your content strategy. How much relevant content are you adding to your website to target those keywords?
    Review basic on-page SEO elements like URLs, page titles, meta description, and copy. Make sure keywords are included where relevant.

    To help you conduct an on-page SEO audit of your content, read the “Step-by-Step Guide to Flawless On-Page SEO,” which also includes a free downloadable on-page SEO template to keep you on track.
    3. Conversion Rate Assessment
    While high-quality, search engine optimized content is a great way to boost your traffic numbers, it’s what happens once those visitors are on your website that really counts. Unless of course, you don’t care about conversions (ha!).
    Is Your Website Optimized for Lead Generation and Conversions?
    This is where optimized calls-to-action (CTAs), marketing offers, and landing pages play a major role in the performance of your website. Not only do they offer you opportunities to capture visitors’ information so you can follow up with leads, but they also keep your visitors engaged with your content and your brand.
    To audit your website for maximum conversion potential, ask yourself the following questions:

    How many marketing offers do I have in my content arsenal to gate behind landing pages?
    Do I have a variety of marketing offers that appeal to all my different buyer personas?
    Do I have any landing pages/conversion forms on my website to begin with?

    How optimized are those landing pages?
    Do I have conversion opportunities for visitors in varying stages of the funnel?
    Am I using calls-to-action effectively? Am I missing opportunities to include calls to action on various pages of my website?

    To learn more about CTA selection, check out our post, ” How to Select the Right CTA for Every Page on Your Website.”
    4. Technical Assessment
    Once you’ve addressed the three primary goals of a website audit, it’s time to loop in a developer or someone from your IT department for a technical evaluation. You could also hire an outside agency — just be sure to do your homework first.
    Keep in mind that there may be some carry-over from the three assessments above — website performance, SEO, and conversion rate. The technical evaluation, however, addresses all three to maximize the user experience (UX).
    Here’s what you should be looking for in the technical assessment stage of your website audit …
    Is Your Website Design Responsive?
    Does your website have a responsive design? Meaning, is it a mobile-friendly website? The usage of smartphones to access the internet is only growing. As of 2017, mobile devices account for half of all web page views worldwide. As a result, websites must be compatible with that growing demand.
    For more on mobile compatibility, check out our “Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Mastering Mobile Marketing.”
    Is Your Website Error Message Free?
    Are response code errors popping up all over your website where there shouldn’t be any? Calling out 302-, 404-, and 500-level response codes can be useful to tell users that something’s wrong.
    However, having this happen is also an indication that someone isn’t cleaning up broken links and, as a result, leading users to dead ends. Find those error messages and clean up your broken links. Tools like Google’s Webmaster Tools or Xenu’s Link Sleuth can be very helpful for this.
    Are Your Website URLs Optimized?
    Does your site have URLs of excessive length due to keyword stuffing? Do they contain session IDs and/or include tons of dynamic parameters? In some cases, these URLs are difficult for search engines to index and result in lower clickthrough rates from search results.
    Does Your Website Have Too Much Flash or JavaScript?
    Identify areas of your navigation that are entirely Flash or JavaScript. Search engines have challenges reading and accessing these, which could prevent your site from getting indexed.
    Furthermore, these elements present problems from a usability perspective. Visitors are often looking for a very specific piece of information when visiting your site; if they have to sit through a 10-second visual introduction before they can find your hours of operation, you’re going to have a pretty frustrated visitor on your hands.
    Is Your Site Structure Optimized for Search Engines?
    We already talked about site structure as it relates to accessing content and usability for users, but it’s also important to make sure your site structure is optimal for search engines. If pages on your site are not internally linked to other pages on your site, those pages are less likely to be indexed.
    Are You Defining How Your Web Pages Are Crawled and Indexed by Search Engines?
    This can be done through various methods that include everything from robots files and tags to sitemaps. These measures are a way for you to guide search engines toward your website’s most useful content.
    Robots Files or Tags
    The robots meta tag lets you utilize a granular, page-specific approach to controlling how an individual page should be indexed and served to users in search results. These tags should sit in the <head> section of a given page.
    The robots.txt file, on the other hand, is a text file that allows you to specify how you would like your site to be crawled. Before crawling a website, search engine crawlers will generally request the robots.txt file from a server. Within the robots.txt file, you can include sections for specific (or all) crawlers with instructions (“directives”) that let them know which parts should or should not be crawled.
    Public and XML Sitemaps
    Your website should also have public and XML Sitemap files. The public sitemap is one that users can access to review the pages of your site, like the index of a book.
    The XML Sitemap is for search engines to review pages that get added to your site, all in one place. The usual location of a sitemap.xml file is www.domainname.com/sitemap.xml. The XML Sitemap is something every website should have; it offers an opportunity to tell Google and the other search engines what pages on your site you want to be crawled and indexed.
    While search engines don’t guarantee they will abide by your sitemap, anecdotal evidence has proven time and time again that XML Sitemaps help provide insurance that your pages are found, and found faster — especially if your sitemap(s) dynamically update your new web pages.
    Are You Defining Canonicalization of Content?
    The canonicalization of your website content is the final major technical consideration to make. To gain more control over how your URLs appear in search results, and to minimize issues related to duplicate content, it’s recommended that you pick a canonical (preferred) URL as the preferred version of the page.
    You can indicate your preference to Google in a number of ways. One such way is to set the Canonical Tag (rel=”canonical”) in an HTTP header of a page. Be sure to have someone check that the Canonical Tag is properly implemented across the site by making sure it points to the correct page, and that every page doesn’t point to the homepage.
    Website Auditing Checklist
    Now, before you get started, you might consider using this basic website auditing checklist to ensure you review all the necessary elements of your site’s performance, SEO, mobile, and security issues.

    Website Audit Example
    To pull all this together, I decided to run a website audit on one of my favorite bloggers, Christina Galbato.
    This website is performing well. SEO and Mobile are scoring very highly. The main areas for improvement for this site would be performance and security.

    You might be asking yourself, “What does that mean?” Well, let’s dive in a little deeper.
    In each section, the website grader will let you know what you’re doing well and what you could improve on. See the SEO section below.

    Then, the grader gives overall recommendations to improve your site overall. As you can see in the example, you’ll see a table to compare your current site to the recommendations.

    Conducting a Website Audit
    It’s important to establish an audit framework early on. Ask yourself questions ideally centered around gauging “How am I doing?” These questions may also include things like, “How does this compare to others, especially my competitors?”
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • What is a Business Plan? Definition, Tips, and Templates

    In an era where more than 50% of small enterprises fail in their first year, having a clear, defined, and well-thought-out business plan is a crucial first step for setting up a business for long-term success.
    The business plan is an undeniably critical component to getting any company off the ground. It’s key to securing financing, documenting your business model, outlining your financial projections, and turning that nugget of a business idea into a reality.
    Business plans are a required tool for all entrepreneurs, business owners, business acquirers, and even business school students. But … what exactly is a business plan?
    In this post, we’ll explain what a business plan is, the reasons why you’d need one, identify different types of business plans, and what you should include in yours.

    Business Plan Template [Download Now]

    Working on your business plan? Try using our Business Plan Template. Pre-filled with the sections a great business plan needs, the template will give aspiring entrepreneurs a feel for what a business plan is, what should be in it, and how it can be used to establish and grow a business from the ground up.
    Purposes of a Business Plan
    Chances are, someone drafting a business plan will be doing so for one or more of the following reasons:
    1. Securing financing from investors.
    Since its contents revolve around how businesses succeed, break-even, and turn a profit, a business plan is used as a tool for sourcing capital. This document is an entrepreneur’s way of showing potential investors or lenders how their capital will be put to work and how it will help the business thrive.
    All banks, investors, and venture capital firms will want to see a business plan before handing over their money, and investors typically expect a 10% ROI or more from the capital they invest in a business.
    Therefore, these investors need to know if – and when – they’ll be making their money back (and then some). Additionally, they’ll want to read about the process and strategy for how the business will reach those financial goals, which is where the context provided by sales, marketing, and operations plans come into play.
    2. Documenting a company’s strategy and goals.
    A business plan should leave no stone unturned.
    Business plans can span dozens or even hundreds of pages, affording their drafters the opportunity to explain what a business’ goals are and how the business will achieve them.

    To show potential investors that they’ve addressed every question and thought through every possible scenario, entrepreneurs should thoroughly explain their marketing, sales, and operations strategies – from acquiring a physical location for the business to explaining a tactical approach for marketing penetration.

    To show potential investors that they’ve addressed every question and thought through every possible scenario, entrepreneurs should thoroughly explain their marketing, sales, and operations strategies – from acquiring a physical location for the business to explaining a tactical approach for marketing penetration.
    These explanations should ultimately lead to a business’ break-even point supported by a sales forecast and financial projections, with the business plan writer being able to speak to the why behind anything outlined in the plan.
    3. Legitimizing a business idea.
    Everyone’s got a great idea for a company – until they put pen to paper and realize that it’s not exactly feasible.
    A business plan is an aspiring entrepreneur’s way to prove that a business idea is actually worth pursuing.
    As entrepreneurs document their go-to-market process, capital needs, and expected return on investment, entrepreneurs likely come across a few hiccups that will make them second guess their strategies and metrics – and that’s exactly what the business plan is for.
    It ensures an entrepreneur’s ducks are in a row before bringing their business idea to the world and reassures the readers that whoever wrote the plan is serious about the idea, having put hours into thinking of the business idea, fleshing out growth tactics, and calculating financial projections.
    4. Getting an A in your business class.
    Speaking from personal experience, there’s a chance you’re here to get business plan ideas for your Business 101 class project.
    If that’s the case, might we suggest checking out this post on How to Write a Business Plan – providing a section-by-section guide on creating your plan?

    1. Business Plan Subtitle
    Every great business plan starts with a captivating title and subtitle. You’ll want to make it clear that the document is, in fact, a business plan, but the subtitle can help tell the story of your business in just a short sentence.
    2. Executive Summary
    Although this is the last part of the business plan that you’ll write, it’s the first section (and maybe the only section) that stakeholders will read. The executive summary of a business plan sets the stage for the rest of the document. It includes your company’s mission or vision statement, value proposition, and long-term goals.
    3. Company Description
    This brief part of your business plan will detail your business name, years in operation, key offerings, and positioning statement. You might even add core values or a short history of the company. The company description’s role in a business plan is to introduce your business to the reader in a compelling and concise way.
    4. The Business Opportunity
    The business opportunity should convince investors that your organization meets the needs of the market in a way that no other company can. This section explains the specific problem your business solves within the marketplace and how it solves them. It will include your value proposition as well as some high level information about your target market.
    5. Competitive Analysis
    Just about every industry has more than one player in the market. Even if your business owns the majority of the market share in your industry or your business concept is the first of its kind, you still have competition. In the competitive analysis section, you’ll take an objective look at the industry landscape to determine where your business fits. A SWOT analysis is an organized way to format this section.
    6. Target Market
    Who are the core customers of your business and why? The target market portion of your business plan outlines this in detail. The target market should explain the demographics, psychographics, behavioristics, and geographics of the ideal customer.
    7. Marketing Plan
    Marketing is expansive, and it’ll be tempting to cover every type of marketing possible, but a brief overview of how you’ll market your unique value proposition to your target audience, followed by a tactical plan will suffice. Think broadly and narrow down from there: Will you focus on a slow-and-steady play where you make an upfront investment in organic customer acquisition? Or will you generate lots of quick customers using a pay-to-play advertising strategy? This kind of information should guide the marketing plan section of your business plan.
    8. Financial Summary
    Money doesn’t grow on trees and even the most digital, sustainable businesses have expenses. Outlining a financial summary of where your business is currently and where you’d like it to be in the future will substantiate this section. Consider including any monetary information that will give potential investors a glimpse into the financial health of your business. Assets, liabilities, expenses, debt, investments, revenue, and more are all fair game here.
    9. Team
    So, you’ve outlined some great goals, the business opportunity is valid, and the industry is ready for what you have to offer. Who’s responsible for turning all this high-level talk into results? The “team” section of your business plan answers that question by providing an overview of the roles responsible for each goal. Don’t worry if you don’t have every team member on board yet, knowing what roles to hire for is helpful as you seek funding from investors.
    10. Funding Requirements
    Remember that one of the goals of a business plan is to secure funding from investors, so you’ll need to include funding requirements you’d like them to fulfill. The amount your business needs, for what reasons, and for how long will meet the requirement for this section.
    Types of Business Plans
    There’s no one size fits all business plan as there are several types of businesses in the market today. From startups with just one founder to historic household names that need to stay competitive, every type of business needs a business plan that’s tailored to its needs. Below are a few of the most common types of business plans. For even more examples, check out these 11 sample business plans to help you write your own.
    1. Startup Business Plan
    As one of the most common types of business plans, a startup business plan is used for brand new business ideas. This plan is used to lay the foundation for the eventual success of a business.
    The biggest challenge with the startup business plan is that it’s written completely from scratch. Startup business plans typically reference existing industry data and explain unique business strategies and go-to-market plans.
    2. Business Acquisition Plan
    Believe it or not, investors use business plans to acquire existing businesses, too — not just new businesses.
    A business plan for an existing company will explain how an acquisition will change its operating model, what will stay the same under new ownership, and why things will change or stay the same. Additionally, the business plan should speak to what the current state of the business is and why it’s up for sale.
    For example, if someone is purchasing a failing business, the business plan should explain why the business is being purchased and what the new owner will do to turn the business around, referencing previous business metrics, sales projections after the acquisition, and a justification for those projections.
    3. Business Repositioning Plan
    When a business wants to avoid acquisition, reposition its brand, or try something new, CEOs or owners will develop a business repositioning plan.
    This plan will:

    Acknowledge the current state of the company.
    State a vision for the future of the company.
    Explain why the business should (or must) be repositioned.
    Outline a process for how the company will adjust.

    Companies planning for a business reposition do so – proactively or retroactively – due to a shift in market trends and customer needs. For example, Pizza Hut announced a plan to drastically overhaul its brand, as it sees the need to shift from dine-in to delivery – a decision resulting from observing years of industry and company trends and acknowledging the need to reposition itself for the future of its sector.
    4. Expansion Business Plan
    Expanding a successful business venture into another location typically requires a business plan, as the project may focus on a new target market and demand more capital.
    Fortunately, an expansion business plan isn’t like a startup business plan in that it starts from scratch. Instead, this type of plan references sales, revenue, and successes from existing locations. However, as great as a reference as these points can be, it’s important to not be too reliant on them since it’s still a new business that could succeed or fail for a myriad of reasons.
    Getting Started With Your Business Plan
    At the end of the day, a business plan is simply an explanation of a business idea and why it will be successful. The more detail and thought you put into it, the more successful your plan – and the business it outlines – will be.
    When writing your business plan, you’ll benefit from extensive research, feedback from your team or board of directors, and a solid template to organize your thoughts. If you need one of these, download HubSpot’s Free Business Plan Template below to get started.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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