CX Demo

Author: Franz Malten Buemann

  • 7 Games and Activities Designed to Boost Call Center Agent Engagement

    Managing a call center team isn’t easy. Call center agents are customer service providers 24/7, which means they need to deal with customers with varying moods all day.
    Due to the nature of their work, it’s common to see call centers struggle with low agent engagement. And if managers aren’t paying attention, this dynamic can severely impact work performance, customer satisfaction, and other aspects of their operation.
    While there are plenty of ways to engage call center agents, there is one low-cost, fun way to boost motivation and general satisfaction with your employees – games!
    How to Foster Agent Engagement in a Hybrid Contact Center
    Why do games help call center agent engagement?
    Games might seem juvenile at first glance, but gamification is a popular and highly effective way to engage your staff, no matter their age. By mixing a bit of fun with performance incentives at your call center, you might see more sales, more smiles, and more engagement!
    Motivational games can also boost agents’ productivity at work, and there are many different kinds of games to play. Here are a few additional reasons to add games to your call center agent engagement strategy:
    They’re inexpensive.
    Contact centers don’t always have the budget for an employee trip or paid course. Games and activities are usually low cost, and their impact comes from creativity and planning.
    They assist with training and performance.
    The best games are not only fun, but also opportunities for learning. Some games, when executed properly, can help agents absorb and internalize information more effectively while boosting their performance.
    They bring your team together
    Games create a great structure for team bonding. This is especially true for call centers that operate remotely, or for call centers that have become remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    8 great games to boost call center agent engagement.
    So what are you waiting for? Check out our list of games and activities to try with your team of call center agents:
    Contact Center Knockout.
    Contact Center Knockout is a great game to play if you don’t have a lot of time or resources. A dry marker board is all you need!
    Instructions:

    Draw a grid on the dry marker game, with a box for each member of your crew.
    Anytime an agent makes a sale, they can put their initials inside the box. Once all the boxes are filled, agents can “knockout” other agents from their boxes with more sales.
    If an agent makes a significantly large sale, or if they receive excellent feedback from a customer, they can “lock” the box so nobody else can take it.
    The call center manager chooses the winning boxes before the game begins, and whoever has initials in those boxes get a prize. Some centers use cash, gift cards, early sign offs or sleep-ins, and food for prizes.

    This game is a great way to add a bit of fun competition to your agents’ day-to-day, and encourage more sales.
    Zip Code Bingo.
    Call center agents deal with diverse customers from different areas all the time. Zip code Bingo uses that diversity to help drive engagement.
    Instructions:

    Managers give agents bingo cards with zip codes instead of numbers. For example, 101 for Manhattan NY, or 103 for Staten Island, NY.
    Agents cross out those zip codes after speaking to a customer who lives in that area.
    The first agent who gets a line, cross, or “full house” gets a prize.

    This game helps agents become efficient in their calls, as they want to move onto the next customer to cross out another postal code. While this is usually a good thing, it’s important to make sure agents aren’t rushing calls to the detriment of the customer’s experience.
    Call Center Monopoly.
    For call center monopoly, all you need is a pen and paper, and a die.
    Instructions:

    Create a new monopoly board, but with property names relevant to the call center. Keep the “Go to Jail,” “Chance,” and “Community Chest” squares, however.
    Set aside 10-15 minutes each week or each day to play.
    Each participant gets monopoly money before the game begins, and can roll the die once they meet a certain KPI target. For example, reaching a number of sales in one day. Each time they pass go, they collect a certain amount of money.
    Instead of spending Monopoly money on property or hotels, the goal is to keep as much of the money as you can over time.
    After an extended period of time, perhaps a couple of months, players can use their monopoly money on prizes like more breaks, early sign off, lunch with the CEO, or any other treats you feel could work.

    This game is great for coworker communication and interaction, and long-term productivity boosts.
    Snakes & Ladders.
    For this game, you’ll need a large snakes & ladders board to post on a wall, or somewhere else that the team can easily access.

    Agents can roll the dice if they receive positive feedback on the IVR survey
    The survey asks about the customer’s experience – specifically, how much effort the call took, on a scale from 1 to 9.
    If the agent receives a 9, they can roll the dice and move up or down the board.

    This game is a great way to encourage call center agents to ensure customers are satisfied with their calls. It’s also a great way to make use of Fonolo’s Visual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, which is accessible, multi-lingual, and gives your agents real-time updates on the status of your call-backs.
    What’s a Visual IVR and How Does it Improve CX?
    Mystery Prize.
    Mystery Prize is another cost-effective game that boosts agent engagement.
    Instructions:

    Hide a prize somewhere in your call center. Make sure it’s a prize that won’t easily be found or guessed by your team.
    The agent who performs the best on a decided metric each day gets a clue. Each clue should help the agent get closer and closer to the prize.
    The first person that finds the prize wins.

    This game really helps agents boost their performance using metrics that are timely and relevant to your call center’s needs.
    Quality Scores Baseball.
    Instructions:

    Every month or every year, hold a competition for agents to win “home runs” based on their performance
    The agent with the most home runs at the end of the month or year wins tickets to a baseball game.
    You can alter the theme of this game to suit different sports preferences, like basketball, tennis, or football, depending on what your team enjoys.

    This game helps agents prioritize performance over the long term. While quick wins are always nice, incentivizing a longer-term, strong performance can help keep sales steady
    Agent Target Practice.
    This game is a great way for agents to relax and enjoy themselves without thinking about sales for a moment. It’s important to decompress sometimes too, so this could be a great way to give employees that little break that they need to jump back into making those sales!
    Instructions:

    Separate your agents into teams
    Each team rolls the die to determine how many bean bags or tennis balls they can throw.
    Managers decide the value of points for each target.
    The first team to reach an agreed-upon number of points wins!
    The winning team gets a small prize.

    Get your call center into a festive mood.
    Holidays are great opportunities to get your call center in a festive mood. Managers and employees might share culturally festive foods and treats to share on the days nearing Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Kwanzaa, and more.
    There are also many opportunities throughout the year to play holiday games. You could have a leprechaun relay or St. Paddy’s Day trivia for St. Patrick’s Day. Or, you could try a Halloween Jinx or candy corn game for Halloween.
    Don’t force your call center agents to participate.
    While the benefits of engaging employees through games are clear, it’s important to remember that if anything is forced, it’s not fun. Some agents might not be comfortable with the public competition or exposure brought on by workplace games. Additionally, if a manager forces their agents to play a specific game, it can be seen as patronizing.
    Instead of deciding on one game for everyone to play, allow your agents to choose which game they’d like to play. And, if they don’t want to play any games, ask them about any other ideas they have. Taking your agents’ voices and opinions into account increases their engagement because it helps them feel valued.
    5 Important Strategies for Agent Engagement in 2021
    The bottom line.
    Call center agents learn a lot from their day-to-day work, and the many call centers offer opportunities for learning and growth. However, when it comes to your job, culture is important too. Having quality time with your coworkers and management, enjoying each others’ company, celebrating holidays, and having a little fun once in a while goes a long way with employee engagement.The post Blog first appeared on Fonolo.

  • Over the circumstances

    How do you act when you’re in charge? Or when someone else is in control?

    How do you act when you win? Or when you lose?

    Is there a difference between the times you’ve been given the benefit of the doubt and the times you wish you had?

    The circumstances change, but perhaps the way we’d like to contribute, to be seen and to connect shouldn’t.

    The circumstances are here, no matter what we do. It’s up to us to decide to be under them or over them.

  • 5 Emails for Summer Campaign Inspiration

    Summer is here!  It’s the time of year for taking time off from work and setting up much-needed vacations. Taking advantage of the warmer weather (or traveling to climates with warmer weather) is what summer is all about. And while it all may seem like fun and games, summertime is also synonymous with declining sales.…
    The post 5 Emails for Summer Campaign Inspiration appeared first on Benchmark Email.

  • Getting Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest

    According to Michael Scott, “Real business is done on paper.” Considering we help companies send more than 180 billion personalized emails every year, however, we have other opinions.
    Regardless of how you do business, though, the last year has been full of changes. After all, who thought you’d be balancing Wi-Fi priorities between your work and school Zoom calls? Or that you’d forget what wearing pants all day feels like?
    We’ve been away from work for so long that many of us have forgotten our favorite parts about office culture. So, how will things like Casual Friday, coworker gossip, and coffee breaks change as a result of this ‘new normal?’
    The Future of Work?
    The truth is, nobody has all the answers. So, we asked two of our favorite accountants to lead Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest. And while Chili’s wasn’t at 100% capacity yet, this virtual experience still brought Kevin, Oscar, and hundreds of marketers together to discuss the future of office life.
    If you weren’t there, you missed out on an intimate, hour-long Q&A session with Brian Baumgartner and Oscar Nunez that covered topics like:

    The art of prop comedy
    What they’ve both been learning and doing at home during the pandemic

    Untold, behind-the-scenes stories from the set of The Office

    Their predictions about the future of office culture

    Fortunately, for the next month you can access our full recording of this experience. Simply click here, enter ‘dundies’ into the password prompt, sit back, and enjoy!
    The post Getting Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

  • Salesforce User Experience (UX) Designer Certification Available Now!

    The brand new Salesforce User Experience (UX) Designer Certification is available now! If you navigate to Trailhead credentials, you’ll see there is a new role called “Salesforce Designer” and the new credential “User Experience (UX) Designer”.  “Are you passionate about creating human-centered user experiences? Salesforce… Read More

  • 3 Actions to Take on the Road to Leadership Bravery

    “The best way to learn if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
    – Ernest Hemingway
    Companies that practice what I call “leadership bravery” are choosing to reverse the trend on business practices that have defined their industries. Through leadership guidance and company actions,  they are establishing more balanced relationships, where both sides win.  Both customer and company are better off because they are in each other’s lives.
    What Does Leadership Bravery Look Like?
    Ask how we will and will not grow.
    Three common behaviors are common among these admired companies as they move in this direction. First, leaders are clear about how they will and will not grow.  Leaders diligently take actions to point out exactly what the high road is; creating a path for the company to follow.  For example, by refusing to open their stores on Black Friday, REI’s CEO took a stand to inspire employees and the marketplace by deciding how they would and would not grow.  For REI, Black Friday is a family day, not a commerce day.  Airbnb takes the high road by showing employees how to embrace the coda “belong anywhere:” building its culture of “belonging.”
    Lean into transparency.
    Next, they choose to be transparent in explaining the “why” behind their actions, such as pricing or how and why they build products the way that they do.  By sharing information about their products and pricing, and by openly transferring knowledge to customers they prove they want to do what’s best for them.
    When writing my book, Would You Do That To Your Mother?, I learned a term that describes this approach to fearlessly sharing, that builds bonds with customers: “radical transparency.” In that book, you’ll read about OVO Energy in the UK, who practices this level of transparency with customers by opening up their pricing plans to the public, outlining exactly what the energy costs are to them, so customers feel equity in what they are paying.  As a result, they are earning customer raves and growth.
    Transparency, increasingly, is becoming more important to customers, and more differentiating for brands.  A recent Harvard Business Review article cites a study by researchers at the MIT Sloan School of Management, which found that consumers may be willing to pay 2% to 10% more for products from companies that provide greater supply chain transparency.
    Level the playing field.
    Finally, these admired companies choose to level the playing field, reducing or eliminating practices where in the past, customers might have felt that the company was holding all the cards. They are deliberately resisting or changing industry practices so that customers feel a balanced and equitable partnership, and one based on trust. For example, Luscious Garage brings the technician and customer together as partners making decisions.  As a result, they have eliminated that phone call of waiting for the ‘final’ estimate of the car repair, turning the experience instead into one of collaboration, trust, and even joy.
    Why Take the High Road?
    Some of the high-road actions these admired companies take to grow may sound irrational.  But repeatedly, examples of their bravery in committing to customer relationships have proven otherwise.  They build bonds by the humanity that their acts display.
    The high road is a choice.  And while it’s not always the easiest choice, it’s the one you’ll be happiest about in the rearview mirror. It’s the stuff that clearly makes that mom of yours proud.
    The high road is also the route to success for companies who take this path. Empirical data and anecdotes from customers and employees prove that behaving in this manner grows a business.  Fred Reichheld was one of the first to connect the dots between “golden rule behavior” and business growth.  Further, Danny Meyer’s Hospitality Quotient proves how companies with business practices and employees that deliver values based and human experiences significantly beat the S&P 500. But the key to growing in this manner is leadership.  Leaders must build a company that believes that doing the right thing is the right way to grow.

    Some of the high-road actions companies take to grow may sound irrational. But repeatedly, examples of their bravery in committing to customer relationships have proven otherwise. It can be a route to success.Click To Tweet

    Leadership Bravery Pays Dividends
    As customers, we desire to give our trust to companies who trust us back.  We seek out companies whose employees are given permission to do the right thing, and where we are honored as assets. We breathe a sigh of relief and gratitude when “Gotcha!” moments are flipped to “We’ve got your back” moments. We applaud accountability  because we know that everyone makes mistakes.  And we thank goodness for the companies who level the playing field, and give us information to prosper.
    It takes all of us years of experience to figure out exactly how we, as leaders, will take the high road.  But as we go through the ups and downs of living…it becomes clearer.  Situations provide the choice.  The hard work is having the life lessons to test it out.  Those moments where my dad would say to me, “Jeanne, you can learn from this if you let yourself.”

    This blog post is excerpted and adapted from Would You Do That To Your Mother? 
    Learn more about the book and find out where to order »
    The post 3 Actions to Take on the Road to Leadership Bravery appeared first on Customer Bliss.

  • Getting Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest

    According to Michael Scott, “Real business is done on paper.” Considering we help companies send more than 180 billion personalized emails every year, however, we have other opinions.
    Regardless of how you do business, though, the last year has been full of changes. After all, who thought you’d be balancing Wi-Fi priorities between your work and school Zoom calls? Or that you’d forget what wearing pants all day feels like?
    We’ve been away from work for so long that many of us have forgotten our favorite parts about office culture. So, how will things like Casual Friday, coworker gossip, and coffee breaks change as a result of this ‘new normal?’
    The Future of Work?
    The truth is, nobody has all the answers. So, we asked two of our favorite accountants to lead Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest. And while Chili’s wasn’t at 100% capacity yet, this virtual experience still brought Kevin, Oscar, and hundreds of marketers together to discuss the future of office life.
    If you weren’t there, you missed out on an intimate, hour-long Q&A session with Brian Baumgartner and Oscar Nunez that covered topics like:

    The art of prop comedy
    What they’ve both been learning and doing at home during the pandemic

    Untold, behind-the-scenes stories from the set of The Office

    Their predictions about the future of office culture

    Fortunately, for the next month you can access our full recording of this experience. Simply click here, enter ‘dundies’ into the password prompt, sit back, and enjoy!
    The post Getting Back to The Office: An Evening with Dunder Mifflin’s Finest appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

  • Customer Onboarding & Project Management for Salesforce [In-Depth Review]

    TaskRay is a Salesforce native, customer onboarding and project management application, designed to make projects organized, repeatable, and scalable. TaskRay enables you to deliver flawless customer service, automate and template repeatable tasks and projects, as well as easily identify and report potential issues. This in-depth… Read More

  • The Modern, Inside Scoop on Google PageRank In 2021

    If you have been in SEO for a while, you may remember the days of working hard to increase the PageRank of websites — it was the metric every SEO cared about and wanted to improve.
    Improving PageRank meant improving your authority (usually with backlinks), which in turn could result in higher rankings and more traffic. 
    But what happened to PageRank? It’s rarely talked about anymore. 
    Believe it or not, PageRank is still used as a ranking signal for Google, even if you haven’t heard it mentioned in a while. Here, we’ll explore what you need to know about Google PageRank in 2021.

    What is Google PageRank?
    Google PageRank is a very complex concept, but we are going to try and break it down to make it easy to understand.
    PageRank uses a mathematical formula to score the value of a page based on the quality and quantity of the pages linking it to it. 
    The PageRank formula will look at the number of inbound links, external links, and the PageRank of those links to determine authority. The formula will create a score using a logarithmic scale with values ranging from 0-10. 
    The higher the PageRank score of a page, the more authoritative that page is.
    You can get more in-depth information about the PageRank formula in the original paper that was published back in 1997.
    The PageRank Toolbar
    Years ago, there used to be a toolbar that could show you the PageRank of any webpage you visited. 
    Unfortunately, the toolbar was removed by Google back in 2016 — and the mystery of what your PageRank is has existed ever since. 
    The problem with the toolbar was that it created an obsession and caused many SEOs to try and find ways to manipulate it. 
    Essentially, the Google team realized that making this score public was adding little value to website owners and decided to stop investing in it. 

    Image Source
    Does Google still use PageRank?
    Yes, Google does still uses PageRank. 
    While it may not be a metric that website owners have access to, it is still used in their algorithms.
    A tweet by John Mueller, a Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, solidifies that PageRank is still used as a ranking signal.

    Yes, we do use PageRank internally, among many, many other signals. It’s not quite the same as the original paper, there are lots of quirks (eg, disavowed links, ignored links, etc.), and, again, we use a lot of other signals that can be much stronger.— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu)
    February 24, 2020

    How important is PageRank?
    There is no clear measure of how important PageRank is. With there being over 200 Google ranking factors, they do not provide data on the importance of each factor.
    But we do know that backlinks play a very large part in SEO success. So it’s safe to assume that PageRank still plays a part in how highly your pages rank. 
    Spending time trying to improve your PageRank is probably not the best use of your time. But building relevant and authoritative backlinks to your website is an undeniably effective SEO strategy, and will likely improve your PageRank as a result.
    You may not see the improvement as a metric, but you will see it in your organic traffic.
    What influences Google PageRank?
    There are some factors you should know about that can positively impact your PageRank. Let’s dive into a few of those, now. 
    1. Backlinks
    The primary way to improve your PageRank is through backlinks. The more relevant, high authority websites that link to you — the higher your PageRank will be. 
    Below are some ways to build valuable backlinks:

    Build relationships with influencers and community members in your niche.
    Create original infographics, webinars, videos, and other creative assets that encourage website owners to share and link to your post.
    Participate in forums and communities that are related to your niche. 
    Share your content on social networks — tag relevant people if they are part of your content so they can share, too. 
    Create amazing content! 

    Building backlinks is one of the best ways to grow your website, but it needs to be done properly. Be authentic, do not spam groups or communities, and most importantly — create content with which people can engage.
    You also want to be sure you have cleaned up any bad backlinks. You can learn more about how to Disavow Links here. 
    Getting links from directories or pages that have a lot of links is not as beneficial for improving PageRank. Every link on a page will dilute the value of your link, so while directory-type links can be valuable in other ways, they will not be a big help for improving RageRank.
    2. Internal Linking
    One of the most underrated SEO tactics is internal linking. By using internal links to pass PageRank from one page to another, you can make a big impact on your rank and traffic. 
    As an example — your homepage will usually have the highest PageRank because of the number of websites linking to it. 
    Every link from your homepage to another page on your website will boost the authority of the page being linked to. 
    Additionally, consider using an SEO tool to identify pages within your website that have high authority, and adding links from those pages to lower-authority pages (when relevant) to give your pages a boost. 
    A quick trick is to look at your Google Analytics — usually the pages with the most organic traffic are the highest authority pages. So you can start using those pages to build internal links to less authoritative pages to give them a quick boost, as long as the links are relevant to the content on the page.
    3. External Linking
    One of the biggest myths I can remember about external links is that linking out from your content can diminish the PageRank of that page.  
    This is not true. Remember, the whole premise behind PageRank is links. 
    While the number of links on a page might affect the “value” of that link to the page being linked to, it does not harm your own. If you find a resource that is helpful for your viewers, then you should absolutely add a link to that resource.
    A study done by Reboot showed that there was a positive correlation between rankings and the outbound links of a page.
    How To Check Your PageRank
    Unfortunately, there is no way for you to accurately know what your PageRank is. 
    There are some websites that claim to provide you with your PageRank, but these are not verified tools so there is no proof they are providing accurate data.
    Other tools — like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz — have all created their own version of numerical values that were meant to replicate the PageRank score. 
    For example, SEMRush has what they call an “authority score”, which offers a numerical value that can signal how helpful a backlink from a website may be. This score is based on the following:

    Monthly traffic to a website
    Average keyword position
    Backlink data

    But Google doesn’t use these scores in their ranking algorithm. So, while you can use them as a guide to understand your website authority, they do not replace PageRank. 
    While most SEOs don’t give much thought to PageRank anymore, and do not try to optimize for it, it’s still worth understanding. Ultimately, if you’re working on building backlinks, improving your internal linking, and using authoritative external links, your PageRank will thank you for it. 

  • 25 Google Search Statistics to Bookmark ASAP

    In many ways, marketing is a game of trend watching. The marketer who’s best at spotting and using trends earns their business market share, brand recognition, and ultimately, revenue.
    But how do you search for trends? And where do you start?
    Well, since it owns more than 92% of the global search engine market, the answer to both of these questions is, Google.

    Google’s nearest competitor, Bing, only holds 2.5% of market share, while Yahoo accounts for 1.5%. The distribution has remained relatively stable over the past few years with Google consistently claiming competitive victory thanks to detailed search results, in-depth analytics, and evolving service offerings.
    Consider the rapid uptake of “Google” as a verb meaning, “to search” — “I’ll just Google it,” “can’t you Google that?” “isn’t it on Google?” It’s not an exaggeration to say that when it comes to searching for information online, Google is — by far — the digital frontrunner.
    Google also makes efforts to personalize search results, in turn, increasing the chances that users will opt for Google the next time they have a question. For users that aren’t logged into a Gmail or another Google account, the company uses anonymously stored browser cookies to get a sense of search histories and preferences.
    For users signed into their Google account, Chrome’s browser history provides the data necessary for Google to construct a profile based on age, language preference, gender and search preferences, which informs the type of search results returned. Location offers an easy example of this approach — if users have location services turned on, Google search results will be filtered by geographic location to increase overall relevance.
    Now, let’s look at a few of this year’s top Google Search statistics and take a deeper dive into the trending searches that guide your marketing strategy.
    Top Google Search Statistics in 2021
    Now that we know how to search for trending topics, let’s look at how Google influences search with these latest statistics.

    The top five Google searches in 2020 were “Election results,” “Coronavirus,” “Kobe Bryant,” “Coronavirus update,” and — unsurprisingly — “Coronavirus symptoms.” (Google)
    More than 50% of Google searches end without a click. (Search Engine Land)
    92% of all search queries are long-tailed keywords. (Backlinko)
    As of October 2020, there were more than 267 million unique U.S. visitors to Google. (Statista)
    89% of URLs and 37% of URLs in positions 1-20 rank differently on mobile and desktop. (SEMRush)
    There are now more than 1.8 billion Gmail users worldwide. (TechJury)
    Compressing images and text could help 25% of web pages save more than 250KB and 10% save more than 1 MB. These changes reduce bounce rates and increase page rank on Google SERPs. (Google)
    Chrome accounted for 69% of web browser market share in 2020. (Net Marketshare)
    In 2021, 56% of web traffic took place on mobile phones. (Broadband Search)
    14% of Google searches are a question. (Backlinko)
    In 2020, 500 keywords accounted for 8.4% of all search volume. (Backlinko)
    The average click-through rate for first place on desktop is higher than that of mobile, at 31.5% and 24% respectively. (Advanced Web Ranking)
    Four times as many people are likely to click on a paid search ad on Google (63%) than on any other search engine — Amazon (15%), YouTube (9%), and Bing (6%). (Clutch)
    55% of teens use voice search on Google every day. (Marketing Dive)
    55% of people clicking on Google search ads prefer those to be text ads. (Clutch)
    For every $1 businesses spend on Google Ads, they make an average of $2 in revenue. (Google)
    The average click-through rate in Google Ads across industries is 3.17% in the search network and 0.46% on the display network. (WordStream)
    The average cost-per-click for a keyword is about $0.61. (Backlinko)
    The average cost-per-click in AdWords across all industries is $48.96 for search and $75.51 for display. (WordStream)
    More than 90% of web pages receive zero organic traffic from Google. Just about 5% receive 10 visits or less each month. (Ahrefs)
    A third of all Google searches are for an image and 13% of SERPs feature an “Image Pack.” (Moz)
    The average keyword is roughly two words long. (Backlinko)
    The average conversion rate in AdWords across all industries is 3.75% for search and 1.77% for display. (WordStream)
    There are over 190 different versions of Google Search. (GiT Magazine)
    25. When Google opened its proverbial doors in September 1998, it only averaged about 10,000 daily search queries. (“The Search

    With search volumes constantly fluctuating in response to world events and evolving news coverage, it’s worth knowing what searches are trending, how quickly they’re ramping up, and how they tie into similar keyword queries.
    While one option is a scattershot approach — simply type a potential trend term into Google and see how many total results are reported — more targeted options often provide an easier path to improved search performance.
    Let’s review some of the most useful tools available in the section below.
    1. Google Trends

    Review the “Year in Search,” take Google Trends lessons, and see what’s trending now. You can also view the peaks and valleys of topic interest over time, which uncovers seasonality and allows you to plan your marketing calendar accordingly. Plus, find related topics and queries, and identify sub-regions your topic has been trending to better target your campaigns.

    2. Think with Google

    Discover articles, benchmark reports, and consumer insights that keep you up to speed on search. From ad bidding strategies to brand jingles, you’ll find interesting content that helps you think bigger while staying educated on how to leverage Google search for your business.

    3. Twitter

    Sign on to Twitter for more than vaguely hostile political debates. Use the “trends” feature to uncover what’s trending in your state, country, or around the globe. When you click into a trend, you’ll see top tweets about the topic, relevant news stories, and live responses as well.
    Image Source
    4. BuzzSumo

    Identify the most shared content in the previous 12 months or the last 24 hours with BuzzSumo. BuzzSumo allows you to drill down and analyze the topics that matter to your industry, your competitors, and the influencers you learn from.

    5. Feedly

    This RSS feed aggregator allows you to follow your favorite brands and see their most recent content in one place. Add your favorites and discover new publishers by searching your industry, skills, or — you guessed it — trending topics. Feedly also allows you to set up keyword alerts, so you’re always tracking the latest trends on topics you’re interested in.

    6. Reddit

    Freshness and user-based voting determine how content is prioritized on Reddit. A quick visit to the homepage shows you trending or popular posts. And, you can filter by country or recency for a more relevant feed.

    7. Ahrefs

    Conduct competitive research, home in on a keyword, or search for trending topics. Ahrefs helps you identify trending content and shows you what to do to outrank your competitors.

    8. Pocket

    Pocket allows you to save content from anywhere on the web. Review your content whenever you wish and head to the Explore page to find trending topics that are relevant to you.

    9. Quora

    Sign up for Quora and select topic areas that interest you (e.g., “startups,” “marketing,” and “economics”). Quora will stock your feed with questions related to your content interests. This gives you insight into what your customers are asking, real-time debates about competitors, and even allows you to answer questions about topics you have experience in.

    Expanding Your Google Impact
    Bottom line? Google owns the largest piece of both search and web browser market shares and provides a host of interconnected services that empower the company to deliver personalized, real-time search results.
    For marketers, this makes Google an irreplaceable tool for boosting consumer loyalty, courting new clients, and improving customer conversions. Armed with actionable trend data and relevant source statistics, marketing teams can expand their Google impact and ensure the right content gets seen by the right customers to jumpstart the sales process.