Several large high street stores have decided not to participate in Black Friday sales, even as spending is set to soar in the UK this year.

Next, a late adopter of Black Friday sales, saw great success in previous years with high demand for its discounted clothes, furniture and homeware, but this year has decided to avoid levying similar discounts. The move comes after the retailer reported that its in-store sales had been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and loss in customer footfall, down to half of volumes seen in 2019.

Marks & Spencer also confirmed that it would not be offering any “specific Black Friday deals”, in keeping with a pattern that it has set in previous years. Instead, it will “focus on offering great value and deals throughout the whole festive season” – a line echoed by homeware chain Wilko, which said it intends to offer “great value products at great prices every day” rather than implementing Black Friday discounts.

Discount chain B&M linked its decision not to offer Black Friday sales to the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic. A spokesperson said that their strategy of season-long sales “avoids excessive crowds on any one day”.

Black Friday is often seen as a key trading day in the lead-up to the Christmas period, with many traditional and online retailers treating it as the unofficial beginning of end-of-year holiday sales.

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Lloyds Bank expects Black Friday spending in-store to hit $750 million this year, up from £718 last year, though 2020’s longer sales period and greater overall retailer participation make it difficultl to draw comparisons with previous years.

More than two-thirds of shoppers have delayed a purchase in anticipation of finding a bargain during the sale, according to Lloyds.

James Johnston, Regional VP at Cloudera, presents a case for greater utilisation of data by banks and financial services firms.

For those who master the art of delivering customer service in financial services, there are huge rewards — including 55% higher returns for customer-centric banks. However, the financial services market is highly saturated, and challenger banks, of which there are 102 in the UK alone, are rivalling legacy institutions when it comes to giving consumers choices. In fact, Starling Bank, which only opened its doors in 2014, came out on top as one of the brands in the UK excelling at customer experience. So, how can financial institutions improve customer experience and remain competitive? One word: data.

True innovation lies in data

Organisations in the financial sector need to use data and analytics to offer their customers the most relevant products and services proactively. Currently, they do this by looking at traditional data sources, such as account activity, loan requests and investments. This helps these companies to form a complete understanding of the customer and their needs. However, for some banks, it is often here where their data analytic capabilities come to a halt. And it needs to change, as it is leaving them with only half the picture.

Today, there is a wider range of data sources available to banks than ever before, fuelled by the increasing amount of data we are producing. For example, unstructured data sources, including clickstream data, location data, social media streams and chatbots can provide a wealth of actionable intelligence. But by only analysing legacy sources, key insights into customers are lost. True innovation comes with the ability to analyse new and old data sources simultaneously. By doing so, banks can complete the picture of their customers and comprehensively anticipate and predict their needs based on their customer profile.

Organisations in the financial sector need to use data and analytics to offer their customers the most relevant products and services proactively.

Given the complexity and variety of traditional and newer sources of data, financial service providers need to ensure they have the tools in place to support them on their data journey. Gaining full visibility on every piece of data flowing through their network, from a single toolset, regardless of where it resides or where it came from, is therefore critical. By implementing this level of visibility, data can be analysed, and the true value derived in real-time to the benefit of the customer. The ability to detect fraud is a perfect example of this. Suppose a bank can ingest and analyse data in the here and now. In that case, the business can identify patterns and trends that are indicative of fraud and alert the customer to this activity, before it becomes an issue.

Embracing a customer-centric approach

It’s clear that the way data is linked together, in a data lifecycle, is what enables organisations to derive intelligence through which exceptional customer experience is delivered. This is why focusing on developing a connected data lifecycle, which takes into account the holistic view of the entire data journey from edge to cloud, will become a cornerstone of success for banks who want to lead in their industry.

A connected data lifecycle will, however also help banks and other financial services organisations to can meet critical business goals, including:

Acquiring new customers

Segmentation allows businesses to analyse and profile their current customers. By leveraging techniques such as segmentation, companies can fine-tune their outreach and target prospective customers by taking insights and creating messaging that is tailored to target new customers.

Expanding existing business

With a complete picture of the customer, including every interaction they have with the organisation, banks can look for opportunities to offer new products and services proactively. When looking for opportunities to cross-sell, it is important that the salesperson has access to the customer’s entire profile, including previous searches and history, in order to offer the most relevant product. If the different data sets relating to the customer are sat in silos based on how they were ingested into the business, it can delay this process, and the customer may lose interest or look elsewhere.

With a complete picture of the customer, including every interaction they have with the organisation, banks can look for opportunities to offer new products and services proactively.

Driving customer loyalty and long-term retention

Using analytics-driven customer engagement tools, such as digital assistants, customer surveys and feedback analysis, financial institutions can gather this information, derive insights from it in real-time and then push the outcomes back to their customers. It is a quick and effective way to garner a deep understanding of customers’ needs and personalising offerings accordingly. In fact, continuous re-evaluation of the data could quite literally allow companies to give customers what they want, despite their ever-changing needs.

Putting data insights into practice

The focus on customer experience is a critical component to a financial services organisation retaining loyal customers and remaining competitive. Two premier businesses that have remained at the forefront of their industry because of their use of data are Rabobank and DBS.

In order to help its customers — including small businesses — become more self-sufficient and improve debt settlement, Rabobank needed access to a varied mix of high-quality, accurate and timely data, that they could feedback to customers on demand. To achieve this, Rabobank implemented technologies that can cope with heavy pressures on data processing and ingest large quantities of streaming data. This gave Rabobank the ability to rapidly process historic and real-time data together, helping its employees run faster queries. From customers’ loan repayment patterns to up-to-the-minute transaction records, Rabobank and its customers can now immediately access the valuable data needed to help them understand the status of their financial situation.

DBS, one of the leading banks in Asia, recognised that in order to deliver superior customer experience it had to become more data-driven. However, the company’s traditional technology stack for supporting advanced analytics was expensive to scale and not flexible enough to support this work. This led the bank to build a central data team and enterprise data hub that now enables staff to continually experiment and be at the forefront of innovation, to understand the customer experience more fully. DBS then used data and knowledge to apply human-centred design to its services. With the ability to more easily store and analyse billions of events in a modern data platform, DBS can answer questions before they’re asked, effectively engaging customers and proactively delivering a better service.

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Utilise data, remain competitive

Competition amongst financial institutions is fierce, and one negative experience is all it can take for a demanding, and changing, consumer to jump ship. To avoid this, financial services companies need to be guided by their data. The organisations that excel in the future will be the ones that are investing in the means to effectively ingest, analyse and derive value from data and put these insights into practice. After all, the data is there to be analysed and acted upon, so financial services organisations need to ensure they are getting the most out of it. If they don’t, they risk losing out to the more customer-centric competition.

There are various benefits of using CRM software. It gives more insight and provides more flexibility and agility to business owners than ever. The business owners must read about and understand about this software to gain a proper understanding of the benefits of using them in businesses. The inbuilt analytics and dashboards in CRM software help you centralise your data and get an accurate view of your business. The Microsoft dynamic 365 business central is one example of an integrated enterprise resource planning (EPR) and customer relationship management (CRM) by Microsoft.

CRM software helps you make smart decisions and take actions that drive your business to greater heights by improving your productivity and performance, and also enables you to build a stronger relationship with your customers. There are various benefits of using this application.

Some of the significant benefits of using this software are as follows:

Innovative solutions for the growth of your business

The essential advantage is the AI that analyses your data and gives you custom insight, reducing the need to sift through complex data and extrapolate useful information. The predictive forecasting gives you accurate projections while streamlining the planning. The AI also helps build a stronger relationship using conversation intelligence and identifying customer needs and market trends. The built-in coaching helps you identify risks beforehand, making you more proactive.

Improved systematisation between sales and marketing

The seamless tools in CRM applications help to improve coordination between sales and marketing, also providing you with promising leads. The ability to convert records by scanning business cards reduces manual efforts. Combining automation with technology gives both the users and the customers a pleasant experience. Most of such software integrates seamlessly with tools from Microsoft like Excel and Outlook. Survey insights, combined with your customer data, help you see the customer point of view.

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The digital selling interface

CRM interfaces allow you to focus on being productive using the integrated multichannel tools and by leveraging the AI for emphatic conversations. The interfaces have everything that one needs from a soft phone dialer to email templates. All this translates to less diverted attention and more productive efforts towards business.

Cloud insights

The system analyses the critical performance indicators of your organisation through artificial intelligence and presents this information to you. It helps you avoid shortcomings like inventory shortages for better service to your clients and better business. Essential information like available funding, sales and inventory are always available and up to date. All of this helps to reduce the costs of operation owing to the low maintenance costs of the infrastructure. The development tools help you expand the capabilities of the system quickly.

CRM software can be used on all devices, and it provides you with the same experience, whether on handheld devices or computers. On this interface, you have access to your customer information that helps you create sales and purchase orders. There are different levels of software for different business demand. Some of the best software for every business type are nimble, agile CRM, nutshell, streak, and Bitrix24. They will make your business more effective. Delegation of service tasks to readily available platforms facilitates greater comfort for businesses.

Up to $15 billion is expected to be spent by brands investing in influencer marketing by 2022. Influencer marketing brings a significant boost to many industries, and many B2B and B2C businesses now rely on influencers to extend their reach. This trend doesn’t exclude the fintech industry, and many digital banks, including Starling and Revolut, now use influencers in their marketing strategies. However, using influencer marketing requires careful thought, and there are certain rules regarding its use, which need to be considered carefully by fintech companies.

Fintech companies can benefit from influencer marketing

So long as the influencers are chosen to suit the niche, influencer marketing can be as beneficial to the fintech industry as it can to any other business. Influencers have the power to improve a business’s reach and visibility, demonstrate authority and target the right audience immediately. This is a valuable asset to any business operating in the fintech niche, but to be used to full effect, businesses need to choose an influencer whose lifestyle and message coincides with the brand’s ethos. Potentially, when used well, this gives fintech companies a chance to reach a much wider audience than they can through traditional advertising. However, although advertising standards authorities have guidelines for influencers, none of them relate specifically to financial products or services, which means those working in the niche need to tread carefully.

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Advertising regulations for influencers

Advertising guidelines state that influencers should use ‘#ad’ to tag any post they’re paid for: this is the minimum an influencer needs to do to legally promote a product or service. They are required to consider the demographics of their audience, as age-restricted products must not be promoted to underage followers. Although this rule doesn’t apply directly to financial products and services, companies and the influencers they work with must be aware of the demographics of the audience, as many financial products do come with age-related criteria.

Lack of regulations for financial services

There are no regulations for fintech companies using influencer marketing, but this is problematic because the majority of an influencer’s reach extends to a young audience. Advertising guidelines are currently focused on influencers labeling ads rather than on the products and services they’re promoting. For regulations to be established, close co-operation would need to be achieved between the advertising and financial regulators, but this has not happened yet. While this may be good news for fintech companies who can find influencers willing to promote their products, it’s more problematic for the consumer. The ideal situation would be that influencers truly believe in the companies they’re promoting. However, the algorithms on social media make it difficult to know for certain whether influencers or the brands they work with are operating with a full awareness of what they’re promoting. Consumers, therefore, are urged to research all products promoted by influencers before making a commitment.

Influencer marketing is one of the most successful marketing strategies any business can employ, but regulations are minimal. This is particularly problematic in the financial sector, as there are ethical considerations to be aware of in the promotion of any financial service or product. Consequently, although influencer marketing is a valuable tool for a fintech company, consumers must be wary when choosing products promoted by influencers. However, providing consumers conduct independent research, influencers can be helpful in informing them about new financial products.

This reputation has been particularly prevalent since July 1997, when the region gained independence as a sovereignty and set about establishing itself as a low-tax haven with a raft of lucrative free trade agreements.

In the modern age, however, what is it that makes Hong Kong such an attractive proposition for international investors, and what role does the digital sector play in this?

Accessing a Free Market Economy

The most apt description of Hong Kong was provided by the economist Milton Friedman, who opined that the region was the world’s greatest experiment in laissez-faire capitalism. There can be little doubt that Hong Kong represents the quintessential free market economy, and one that’s built on the principle of lowering trade barriers and minimising corporation tax (this is currently fixed at 16.5% and will not change until 2022 at the earliest).

This is one of the main reasons for the popularity of Hong Kong amongst overseas business owners, who’ll have the opportunity to minimise their operating costs and boost their bottom line profit accordingly.

The low rate of corporation tax is also appealing to forex trading firms, which already benefit from the fact that most brokers don’t charge a levy on currency trading. Not only this, but Hong Kong is now ranked as the fourth-largest financial centre in the world with a 7.6% share of the global forex market, while the region is also home to the second-largest exchange in Asia (behind Singapore). Hong Kong is also renowned for having the fifth-largest stock exchange and largest initial public offering market in the world, and this highlights the appetite for domestic and international investment in an open and prosperous economy.

The low rate of corporation tax is also appealing to forex trading firms, which already benefit from the fact that most brokers don’t charge a levy on currency trading.

The nature of Hong Kong’s economy also contributes to an incredibly influential and cash-rich consumer base, which ensures that firms are able to optimise turnover on an annual basis.

In US dollar terms, one in seven Hong Kong households exist in the millionaire category, and while real estate represents 70% of these assets, there’s clearly an opportunity for international businesses to thrive and target affluent consumer demographics.

How is the Digital Sector Faring in Hong Kong? 

Despite the issues that the region has faced in terms of social unrest and angst, it continues to record average annual GDP growth of around 5% in real terms. One of the key factors here is also the rise of digital and web-based businesses, with Hong Kong’s relaxed commercial climate ideal for low-overhead and tech startups who wish to target a vast and diverse marketplace.

The open nature of Hong Kong’s economy also means that it’s easier than ever for companies to invest in advanced technologies and computational infrastructure, creating a competitive and potential lucrative landscape where profit margins are often higher than in developed economies.

Make no mistake; there’s a clear alignment between the values of Hong Kong’s economy and the ambitions of domestic and overseas SMEs, and this continues to build the digital landscape and lead into a far broader economy-wide transformation. Of course, we’ve already touched on the viability of launching a digital forex trading business in Hong Kong, and this is indicative of an economy that’s perfectly suited to online companies and tech-led startups.

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In terms of the best practice, the way in which you open a business in Hong Kong (digital or otherwise) will depend on the sector that you operate in. For example, firms looking to operate in the competitive forex space will need to identify a key differentiator, while also relying on key knowledge and datasets from the Asian marketplace.

The same principle of standing out from the crowd also applies when launching a business in the digital space, with marketing and the ability to target key demographics in Hong Kong also crucial to new ventures.

However, it can be difficult to know the aspects that are best to invest in. Here are five things your business should put their profits into in order to be successful.

Marketing

One of the most important elements of your business is going to be marketing. This is how you sell your products and services. Do not wait until you have built up a good customer database. From the beginning, you have to be investing in marketing so that you can grow. In particular, internet marketing is vital in the digital age and will attract new people to your business. If you do not know a lot about this, it is imperative that you outsource or hire employees that do. Having a marketing team will be highly benefit for your success.

Training and Education

If you want to continue to grow as a business, you need to invest in your workforce. Your staff are going to be responsible for the daily running’s and tasks at your company. It is essential they know how to be efficient and productive. Therefore, regular training is going to be important so that new skills can be learned and updated, depending on the field you are working in. There should also be a general opportunity for education so that your employees can progress.

Outsourcing

As your business builds momentum, there are going to be simple yet time-consuming tasks that need to be done. This could be anything from accounting to sorting the payroll. A good way to invest in your company, but save money at the same time, is to outsource some of this work. This can be a good way to find experts with the relevant skills and experience and only pay them for the work completed. Take your time and find professionals that are going to help your business grow and do not rush into decisions. Always seek testimonials before hiring third parties.

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Yourself

While many businesses owners remember to invest in their premises and their employees, they often forget to invest in themselves. There are still a lot of skills you can learn, whether this is taking online courses or attending conferences. After all, you are in charge of everything when it comes to your business. You want to stay up-to-date with the latest discoveries and technology so that you can stay ahead of the competition.

Equipment

If your business is doing well, you may see no need to change the status quo. However, it is essential that you continue to invest in your technology and equipment. This is going to allow you to keep up with innovations and trends in your industry. While you do not have to change your setup completely, every year you should be looking for ways to boost your efficiency. If you are worried about money, you can always look into equipment financing online. This can give you access to credit options.

In several sectors of the economy, negative prices have existed for years, meaning that it is not the seller but the buyer of a product who is paid. Examples can be found in power generation and banking. Triggers are imbalances between supply and demand and marginal costs of zero or below.

In the traditional world of physical products, marginal costs are significant and so prices of zero are rare, and those below zero practically never occur. The Internet and other technologies are changing this situation fundamentally. For many digital businesses the marginal cost of an additional product unit is often zero or close to zero – for example adding a new subscriber to a streaming service such as Netflix.

We’ll now cover three interesting scenarios where these effects can be observed.

Negative prices from oversupply

At the European Power Exchange the number of hours with negative electricity prices has increased from 15 hours in 2008 to 211 hours in 2019. Last year, the power producer paid the buyer a (negative) price per megawatt hour for almost ten days. The buyer received the electricity plus money. How can this be explained?

In this case, even when demand for electricity is low, stopping production is not possible.  In order to be able to produce on days with positive prices and make a profit, the producers must subsidize the electricity on days with negative prices.

With the negative oil prices we are currently observing, we encounter the same conditions. It is more advantageous for the oil producer to pay the buyer something in addition than to interrupt production or rent expensive storage capacities.

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Negative interest

Interest is nothing other than the price of money. Negative interest rates were first observed in Denmark in 2012. Today they have become a widespread and much discussed topic. In some cases we have seen negative interest rates on loans… so a financial institution is paying someone to take a loan!

For European banks it can be more profitable to lend the surplus money at an interest rate of -0.2% instead of depositing it at the central bank and having to pay negative interest of -0.5%. And if depositors are willing to provide the bank with money at a negative interest rate, the bank can lend this money at a negative interest rate and still achieve a positive contribution margin.

Pricing when marginal costs are negligible

In traditional transactions, from the seller's point of view, the theoretical short-term lower price limit is the marginal cost, which means that he or she only sells a product at a positive contribution margin.

That said, a price of zero is common in promotions. Free samples (for pharmaceuticals or consumer products, for instance), are widespread for new product launches. This tactic makes sense if the price of zero stimulates sales in subsequent periods.

These tactics become even more powerful for subscription services such as online news subscriptions or streaming music/video services. That is why so many offer a 30-day free trial, because once the subscription is started then future sales are almost 'automatic'.

However, the question arises why zero should be the lower price limit in this situation. With marginal costs of zero this option becomes much more attractive than with the significant marginal costs in the traditional economy.

For many digital businesses the marginal cost of an additional product unit is often zero or close to zero.

In fact, such negative prices can be observed. Commerzbank has been crediting new customers with 50 euros for a long time, which means it pays a negative price. The same applies to the voucher of the same amount that METRO Cash & Carry gave to new customers.

In its initial phase, PayPal also used negative prices. Each new customer received 20 US dollars. In China, providers of bicycle sharing services such as Mobike paid their customers to use the bikes to return them from the suburbs back to the centre of the city, where they are needed more.

Ultimately, the question is how marketing and promotional measures work compared to negative prices. Product launches are regularly supported with substantial budgets. The funds flow into instruments such as advertising, displays, promotions and discounts. A negative price can be more effective than advertising or similar measures without having to provide larger budgets.

More negative pricing as a deliberate tactic?

It is likely that we see more negative prices in the future. As we write this, the COVID-19 crisis is causing markets to experience supply and demand spikes like never before. This not only upsets the traditional short-term equilibrium but will also have some lasting effects to customer buying behaviour and their appetite for risk.

Will negative prices be used by new entrants as a way to disrupt established markets? To arrive at an optimal outcome, the effects of promotional measures and negative prices must be quantified. In the Internet age, it can be expected that investments in negative prices will increasingly pay off in the future.

Professor Hermann Simon is founder and honorary chairman of Simon-Kucher & Partners, the world’s leading price consultancy. Mark Billige is Chief Executive Officer of Simon-Kucher & Partners.

As a company leader, you will be doing everything possible to grow your business, but what is the true impact of good, strong branding, and why is marketing so important? Read on to unearth some of the key financial benefits that you will stand to reap when you decide to improve your brand model.

Increased awareness and revenue

Making more people aware of your brand's existence will stand you in better stead in your attempt to increase your revenue, there's no doubt about that. Fishermen and women cast bigger nets if they need to catch more fish, and you need to make more people aware of your services if you want to draw more customers and turn over a greater profit.

You can increase your brand awareness in a number of different ways. If you have a big marketing fund to tap into, you can go ahead and promote your brand on a plethora of different online mediums. Don't worry if you don't have a lot of cash left in your advertising reserve, though. Having a small marketing fund doesn't need to spell disaster for you in your attempt to increase your brand awareness. It just means that you have to be more strategic in your attempt to ensure that your branding model is easy to remember. Companies such as Monzo and N26 have already made a conscious effort to ensure that their product marketing campaigns are alternate and more memorable than most. Monzo have tapped into the impact color has on the memory by making a bright orange credit card available, while N26 have striven to help their audience 'make a statement' by offering them their patented Metal card.

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It's not just debit cards that can make your brand stand out from the crowd, however. There are a plethora of ways for you to advertise your business in a memorable fashion. You could, for example, print your company name and logo on items that your consumers are likely to use on a day-to-day basis, such as drinking mugs. Going down this route will help your brand to remain at the forefront of your audience's mind, simply because your consumers will come across it whenever they use the product that you have opted to print on.

Decreased price sensitivity

Price sensitivity describes the way in which demand for a product changes based on how the price of said product changes over time. It is the degree to which elasticity in cost impacts customer buying habits. As expected, price hikes generally act as a customer deterrent in this instance. For example, should a barbershop raise its prices by an extra few dollars to cover certain costs, it will be liable to lose customers due to the fact that the same service is available close by… only cheaper.

Sometimes, due to economic inflation or personal financial difficulties, price rises are necessary. With a good branding model in place, however, you will be able to limit the impact price sensitivity has on your ability to draw customers going forward. By branding your business as a leader in its field, people will still feel inclined to bring you their custom despite the fact that your products/services are more expensive than others in your market. Think about it this way, would you shy away from paying an extra dollar for Coca-Cola's original taste when your only other alternative was a store's own version of cola? Chances are, not likely, and so this is important to remember.

By utilising high-quality and targeted data, you can be able to connect with more of the right individuals, getting more leads and reducing costs during the process. On the contrary, utilising the wrong data can result in dire consequences for your entire organisation other than your marketing campaign failing to gain traction.

As such, picking the right B2B data provider is imperative. You need to be sure that the partner you will be working with has the credentials and ability to provide the results you are after. Whether you want phone numbers, postal addresses, email addresses or a combination of all, you will only have peace of mind if you trust that your data provider really cares about your company.

That being said, here are important things to look at when picking a business data provider in the UK.

Verifiable Sources of Data

Can the provider tell you just how they garnered the data that they're selling? Also, have their sources been thoroughly inspected? If the answer is no, that should be a red flag. If you have proof that the business data is from a credible source, you'll want to check how often it's updated. Business data is constantly evolving and decays pretty fast. As such, the data needs to be cleaned and refreshed on a regular basis or you won't get the results you're after.

Proper Accreditations

Your business data provider needs to be registered with the Data Protection Act and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Ideally, it is worth looking for a data provider that's registered with the Direct Marketing Association. This is a network of over 1000 firms that provides the best practice guidelines and legal updates. Each member is expected to collect data in an ethical manner.

While undertaking this process, it is a good idea to review the business data provider's own site in a more general manner. Do they have contact information like postal address and phone number? An unscrupulous provider may hide being their site, selling you data and then going missing thereafter.

Thorough and Targeted Data Records

What you deem as targeted and thorough will certainly depend on your specific needs. Regardless, it's best to have detailed information than the opposite. For instance, are you just given employees names, or are you told more about their roles? Also, can that data be paired up? For example, a postal address linked to an email address?

The best business data providers in UK will work closely with your to source data that best match your marketing and business goals. They will conduct penetration analysis or profiling which involves analysing your clients and looking for what they have in common as well as what drives them. This information is then used to get similar prospects from their database and thus help boost your sales.

Guarantees in Deliverability

It is also important that your business to business data provider can verify that your marketing message will reach the individuals you are targeting most of the time. Of course, a 100% deliverability guarantee is impossible as there are numerous variables that can impact the outcome. However, your business data provider should be able to show that your emails and direct mails will reach the intended prospects and that your phone calls will be answered by the right individuals majority of the time.

Business data is imperative in reaching prospects and boosting sales in this day and age. You want to ensure you are on the right side if you're going to use a business data provider. Use the tips above to ascertain such.

One needs to understand the industry before jumping into its business. Many things that look easy on the outside will surprise you when you get to their implementation. You should have a few resources beforehand if you are to start a property development business.

Make Sure You Know the Industry

People say you need money to start a business. Most successful entrepreneurs disagree. They say you need to have skills like no other to start a business, and the investment will come to you. Make sure you are worthy of running a successful business before you worry about finances. Learn everything there is to know about the industry you plan to target. For that, you may have to do a job, work as an assistant, or join a study course. When it comes to property development, you need to understand every corner of it. Start the business only after you are certain that you have explored the entire industry.

Arrange Investment

Once you are confident that you can run the property development business, it’s time to prove it. Your skills will be tested and there will be money on the line. You either have to invest your own finances or get a loan. It’s best if you have your own investment because that way you don’t have to answer to anyone. On the other hand, it won’t be a problem even if you don’t have the finances. As I said, the

investment will come to you if you are skilled. Anyone would agree to invest with you when they know you are not going down. You can get development finance from Property Finance Partners for your business. It is a property finance company that provides real estate raising finance solutions in the UK.

Keep Contact with Suppliers

A professional network is your net worth. You need to have contact with every supplier related to your work. You should also understand every service and product that you will use and their current value in the market. As a property developer, you may need services of builders, electricians, painters, architect, carpenter, plumbers, decorators, and interior designers. Having a reliable relation with these professionals will give you confidence and allow you to meet deadlines with quality work.

Understand Your Target Market

You should have a full understanding of your target audience before investing in a business. You should know who will need your services, how they will approach you, and if there is any space for you in the market. It can be difficult to survive in a market with fierce competition. Likewise, you should also know the right time to penetrate the market and when to take a break. Having an audience persona in your mind will help you better target your potential customers.

Use Digital Marketing

Marketing is important to make an entrance in the industry. While many property developers may underestimate it, digital marketing has helped many new entrepreneurs build their business. Use every marketing tool to get an edge over your competitors. Once you understand your market, targeting potential customer becomes easier.

Digital marketing doesn’t need you to have an office, you only need a website and a few social media profiles. You will reach out to potential customers through these channels. It’s also a great way to enter the market because it lets everyone know that you exist and now offering your services. Portray your skills and unique selling point on the internet. See what your audience is expecting from your industry and provide them an easy solution for that.

Build a Reliable Team

Every businessperson needs a team that he can rely on. The team builds the foundation of a business. If your foundation is strong, you are likely to survive in the market. Property development business doesn’t necessarily need a team if the leader is skilled enough. You will need the expertise of an accounting professional with the knowledge of all legal matters to understand and control all expenses. A project manager can divide your responsibilities and ensure that all development on site is in order. Moreover, you may need someone who understands the field to be on the lookout for opportunities.

Deciding Your Property Sector

A property business developer should know every sector of his industry. He should further understand the requirements of each sector where he wishes to operate. Whichever sector you choose, you will need to follow its every news and update. By specializing in just one sector, you are more likely to dominate it. You will know what, when, and where to buy, sell or rent a property. You will be able to make more sales by telling customers exactly what they want to hear if you focus on just one type of audience.

In today’s connected world, we are constantly bombarded with marketing messages. Whether it be social media posts, online blogs or direct mail, important customer communications are in danger of becoming lost among the digital noise. So how do financial institutions ensure that communications are impactful and capable of enhancing the customer experience? The answer, says Stephen Lester, of Paragon Customer Communications, lies in personalisation.

Make it personal

In our technologically advanced world, a global desire still exists for a personalised, ‘human’ approach to customer communications. This can be as simple as the barista who makes your morning coffee remembering that you always take a skinny latte, right through to adopting technological innovations to analyse customer behaviour in order to predict the outcome of a new communications campaign.

However, financial organisations without a digital communication strategy are in danger of being left behind – a recent study[1] predicts that by 2020, 85% of relationships between brands and customers will be conducted without human interactions.

One key strategy is to utilise innovation to personalise consumer messaging. At various stages of any customer journey there will be defining moments. If businesses can identify these and provide relevant, personalised, engaging content, this creates a positive emotional response from the customer, who is more likely to form a connection and consequently take action.

In fact, today’s tech-savvy consumers know that companies who provide financial services will inevitably hold a large amount of data on their behaviour and habits, and the expectation is that not only will it be stored securely, but will be used to build trust and make messages more relevant.

Adopting the latest technology can allow organisations to pinpoint how best to achieve this, identifying not only purchasing habits but also the best time to contact consumers and the most relevant format to use. The aim is to provide a seamless experience for individuals which shows that the provider understands them and knows what matters most.

Technology helps to join the dots

In the financial sector in particular, numerous opportunities exist to deliver relevant personalised communications through various channels and apps, providing a smarter, ‘joined up’ approach.

There is a growing choice of technology available to enable financial institutions to make the most of their customer interactions. Natural language processing, low disruption plug-and-play options, online and offline tracking and machine learning are among the innovations that can be adopted to achieve seamless customer interaction, from email coding to computer-assisted personal interviewing.

Communication programmes can be automated, with triggered responses built in to improve customer conversation, while data can be harvested from every interaction to profile best customers and optimise message delivery.

The challenge for many companies, though, is not if but how they will use the data they hold, and subsequently, which system will deliver the best results.

Data mining – the new gold

Utilising data and analytics to drive a communications strategy shows that organisations understand customers their needs, which in turn increases the chances of meaningful interaction.

Data can reveal a wealth of insights into customer preferences. It shows not only which products or services have been purchased by specific customers, but can be used to predict what may be of interest in the future, enabling better campaign targeting and more accurate predictions of outcomes.

However, the challenge for many lies in making sense of the wealth of data held; this can become even more daunting for those faced with a shortage of in-house digital skills. Understanding what is held and how best to use it can be central to creating a structured, single view of each customer, in order to facilitate the creation of a dynamic, personalised communications strategy.

Experts in data analysis can provide the most pertinent insight into data held, and then use it to create the most effective customer journeys.

The information retained must also have been collected and stored in full compliance of increasingly stringent data protection laws.

Recent high-profile data breaches and cyber-attacks have seen customer details such as names, addresses and even bank card numbers stolen or revealed. The companies involved now face significant financial penalties.

Turn to a trusted partner

Although knowing where to start with the latest technology can at first appear to be an overwhelming challenge, help is at hand. Despite a general perception that enlisting the services of a communications expert will be expensive, working with a trusted partner can actually save money, remove risks and provide a logical, agile approach that helps organisations stay abreast of ever-advancing technology.

Companies such as Paragon Customer Communications have invested millions of pounds in the very latest technology to maximise data capture, analyse customer behaviour and consequently deliver the most relevant, engaging messages.

In addition, businesses that need to distribute regulatory documents can partner with communications experts to meet all legislative requirements, optimise output and integrate printed documents with digital delivery.

Legal compliance is also assured – it is vital since the introduction of recent new legislation surrounding data collection and handling.

Case study

Paragon Customer Communications worked with one of the UK’s leading independent financial advisory and asset management specialists to distribute many thousands of FCA regulated documents.

Historically, the company – which has more than one million clients – issued the documents annually. Information contained within them included valuation statements, contract notes, tax vouchers and P60s. All print and mail was being produced in-house or using a variety of vendors; however, as the business expanded, the decision was made to investigate the benefits of outsourcing the work to a professional supplier specialising in transactional communications.

Paragon Customer Communications provided a reliable, safe and secure production platform. The company’s Secure Reliable Mailing technology (SRM) provided the peace of mind that all documents would be produced 100% correctly, with no duplications.

The solution deployed included:

• Same-day SLA print and mail service;
• Data processing solution consolidating documents going to the same customer into a single outer envelope;
• Postal optimisation to reduce postage prices;
• Digital e-archive solution;
• A cost reduction and document redesign programme was initiated.

As a result, the company made a six-figure saving on annual postage costs, with a further £75,000 cost reduction through improved efficiencies in data processing.

Client reporting was redesigned to present statements and asset information in full digital colour.

Paragon Customer Communications is one of the UK’s leading providers of digital communications, supporting customers’ transformations to digital formats. These range from developing relevant email campaigns to analysing customer data and weekly campaign reporting, allowing organisations to gain total control of their communication processes. The company helps more than half of the UK’s top wealth and asset managers connect with their customers.

[1] Gartner, https://www.gartner.com/imagesrv/summits/docs/na/customer-360/C360_2011_brochure_FINAL.pdf

Since the beginning of the digital age, the financial industry has gone through a shake-up, and it is now estimated financial services make up 14% of spend is invested in online marketing channels. However, attributing the success of these channels throughout the customer journey, whether online or offline, is proving to be a common challenge within this sector.

According a study by Experian, 51% of financial businesses are relying on simplistic, inaccurate forms of marketing attribution, while some are using none at all, meaning they have no clear, data-driven insights into which channels are driving the most conversions and ultimately the highest return on investment (ROI). Furthermore, considering it takes six to eight touchpoints before a sale, determining the success of each channel should form the foundation for allocating marketing budget to avoid wastage.

To achieve this level of understanding, the financial sector needs to start introducing multi-touch attribution (allocating credit to every conversion (a completed call-to action such as filling a contact form, accessing a live chat or picking up the phone within the customer journey) to evaluate their marketing success. However, getting to grips with this can be tricky.

Here’s exactly why multi-touch attribution is key to shaping the future of marketing for the finance sector.

Paid Search

Out of all the marketing platforms available, paid search is appearing as one of the most successful within the financial sector. According to research by Growthpoint, the finance industry has one of the highest paid search conversion rates at 7.19%; indicating that many consumers are using paid search throughout their journey. However, they also have the third most expensive average cost-per-click (CPC) at $3.72.

When looking into the most popular keywords for financial advisers in Google Keyword Planner (see above), it’s clear the average CPC increases substantially, with ’independent financial adviser’, ’financial adviser near me’ and ’financial advice’ appearing as the top three most expensive keywords. Considering that high cost paid search expense seems inevitable for those in this sector, staying ahead of the game and determining how much ROI paid search is driving for your business is crucial.

Instead of blindly throwing money at the most obvious keywords, the smart financial marketer needs to be thinking of how they can optimise their other keywords to reduce the cost of customer acquisition, whilst maintaining click and conversion rates. To do this they need to attribute how effective particular keywords are throughout the customer journey.

For example, although the digital presence of the finance industry has grown rapidly in recent years, it doesn’t mean that consumers are no longer converting offline, for example by picking up the phone. In fact, a recent survey found that consumers are 2.8 times likelier to call from a paid search ad for financial services than other industries when researching their options.

Let’s say you’re a mortgage adviser who is bidding on the term ’best fixed rate mortgage rate’. How exactly can you attribute the number of phone calls this keyword has driven throughout a customer’s journey?

Call tracking attribution software from Mediahawk, allows you to connect them all, and the activity that generated the call, together, enabling you to analyse the impact phone calls have during the customer journey to determine campaign success. It can also show the full value of the mortgages generated from this specific keyword enabling you to attribute your full ROI from paid search.

Price Comparison Sites

As we’ve already stated, digital marketing is proving to be a popular, yet expensive choice for the finance sector. However, the prospect of high-value conversions means being competitive in this market doesn’t come cheap and these channels include price comparison sites.

When it comes to finance, no consumer wants to feel like they’ve overpaid for a policy for instance, or a mortgage or loan; which is why 60% of consumers are ’very likely’ to use a price comparison site when researching or buying a financial product.

Considering that they’re playing such a crucial role in the customer journey, financial services should certainly advertise on price comparison sites to drive desired results and profits. But this is a rather saturated market and future growth can depend on any changes that might occur to the comparison sites themselves. Therefore, the most successful financial marketers will be those who can hold their position on price comparison sites whilst optimising other channels to achieve growth.

By optimising other channels, such as social media, remarketing and PPC (pay-per-click) whilst maintaining efficient price comparison site coverage, financial businesses can prevent themselves from becoming too reliant on a singular advertising outlet, compensate the costs created from the comparison sites and continue to drive traffic through less costly methods. Determining the success of these campaigns can be a difficult task when financial businesses are using their current marketing tools. With the extensive digital competition that financial marketers are facing, an effective marketing measurement solution is essential for staying ahead, which is where multi-touch attribution comes in.

By making a correlation between actions and revenue, multi-touch attribution can paint the full picture of marketing effectiveness and highlight opportunities to optimise campaigns further. This is essential for finding an even balance between advertising on price comparison sites and external marketing activities.

Paid Social Media

Although it might not appear as an obvious choice, social media is becoming a popular marketing platform for the financial services industry with more and more companies using various platforms for consumer retention. According to research conducted by Community Rising on social media within the financial sector, 87% of respondents said their business uses Facebook, while 52% are using Twitter and 47% are using LinkedIn. The advantages of paid social media are clear and, although it won’t drive as many last-click conversions, it plays a crucial role in portraying a positive image of your company and building brand identity.

In a world where competition is significantly fiercer for financial services, and where it is considerably more expensive to obtain new customers than keep existing ones on board, paid social media is providing a clever, new way for financial businesses to market themselves. However, it isn’t without its issues. Typically, social media platforms play a more nurturing role within the customer journey and lack any real influence at the beginning or end of path to purchases. This means that when it comes to measuring effectiveness, both first and last-click attribution models have become obsolete.

To really understand the vital role paid social media platforms play in financial marketing, a data-driven multi-touch attribution model is essential. By incorporating, into your reporting, exactly how often social media is used during the customer journey you can obtain real insights to aid decision-making over strategy and spend. Furthermore, you can home in on specific channels to maximise your optimisation efforts.