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As life continues its relentless pace, the echoes of past sports events still resonate in my mind. Just a day ago, the IPL 2024 auctions took place, a stark reminder that time waits for no one. Yet, my thoughts are anchored in the aftermath of the World Cup 2023, an event that left an indelible mark on my soul. After almost a month since the gripping climax of the Cricket World Cup 2023, I finally find myself sitting down to articulate the whirlwind of emotions and experiences that followed. It was, without a doubt, one of the most challenging moments to witness—the crushing anticlimax that unfolded before my eyes. The genesis of this tale can be traced back to the days leading up to the final. My sister and I were fervently eager to witness the men in blue in the grandest match of the tournament. However, fate had a different plan, and we found ourselves without tickets to the pinnacle event. Undeterred, we embarked on a relentless quest through social media groups, connections with friends and family, and even exploring the shadowy world of black-market ticket sellers. The prices quoted ranged from 10 to 25 times the face value of the ticket, an exorbitant barrier between us and the live spectacle. Despite the formidable challenges, our passion for witnessing the match in the stadium surpassed the hurdles before us. Determined, we decided to don our jerseys and replicate the fervour of the India vs. Pakistan match. However, this time, we knew the struggle to secure tickets at a reasonable price would be even more arduous. Armed with nothing but an A4-sized paper bearing our plea, we made our way to the stadium, arriving around noon, ready to confront whatever obstacles lay ahead. (A local newspaper covered us) I'm elated that we took this unconventional approach; it garnered significant attention, and many passersby enthusiastically gave us thumbs up. Despite the initial flood of offers we received for tickets, the price tags attached were exorbitant, reaching heights comparable to the much-hyped iPhone 15 Pro. The fervor surrounding the event was palpable. As time unfolded, those seeking to sell their tickets and gain entry into the stadium became more amenable to negotiations. By 1 pm, a favourable deal materialised—tickets for the lower stand at a reasonable price. Without hesitation, we seized the opportunity, and just like that, we found ourselves stepping into the vast expanse of the largest international cricket stadium. It was a momentous occasion, marking our entry into the heart of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, the year's grandest sporting spectacle. (Me with my sister) As the coin was tossed, the stadium burst into life with an electrifying symphony of noise. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation. In a twist of fate, India lost the toss, and Australia opted to bowl first. A wave of discontent rippled through the crowd, but collectively, we reassured ourselves that it was alright; we would set a formidable score and defend it with vigor. Credit must be given to the meticulous planning of ICC and BCCI, orchestrating the events to ensure maximum entertainment for the stadium audience. By 1:30 pm, the spotlight shifted to the skies, heralding the much-anticipated airshow by the Surya Kiran Aerobatic Team. The experience was nothing short of marvellous; witnessing something of this magnitude for the first time filled me with joy. As the match kicked off, it didn't take long before India faced its first setback with the early dismissal of opener Shubhman Gill. Undeterred, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli took charge of the batting, with Rohit's well-placed fours eliciting cheers from the animated audience. The mood took a somber turn when Rohit, on the unfortunate number 47, a historical jinx for him, lofted a shot into the air and departed. Virat's departure was equally unexpected, falling victim to an unforeseen twist in the plot, getting out on the follow-on. The disappointment continued as Shreyas Iyer fell for a modest score. A hush fell over the stadium as India found itself in a precarious situation. The once-lively audience went silent. KL Rahul and Surya Kumar took up the mantle, but their struggle to find boundaries added to the mounting tension in the stadium. (Aditya Gadhvi performing) Amidst the disheartening batting display, Aditya Gadhvi took centre stage, providing a much-needed reprieve with his performance during the brief 2.5-minute drinks break. As frustration mounted over the team's struggling performance, a remarkable shift occurred in the stands. There came a point where even singles and doubles were met with resounding cheers from the exasperated crowd. The audience, in an act of collective will, clapped and vociferously tried to rally the players, desperately seeking a turnaround. It wasn't until I experienced the match in the stadium that I truly understood the significance of crowd support. The palpable energy, the cheers, and the encouragement proved to be invaluable. In fact, I must emphasise that the support from the crowd holds such weight that it can single-handedly influence the fate of a match. Despite the batting efforts, we managed to put up a total of 240 runs. However, the collective realisation among the spectators was that it fell short. The atmosphere in the stadium grew heavy with despair, with some visibly losing hope, a few shedding tears, and a handful opting to leave. (Image of the performance during the innings break) During the innings break, the scheduled performance received mixed reactions. Many in the crowd felt a sense of urgency, pleading for the entertainment to halt and allow the Indian bowlers the crucial time they needed for practice and warm-up. The prevailing sentiment echoed a collective plea: "Please, let them have the ground for warm up" The Australian batting onslaught began, and they played with ruthless precision, effortlessly and swiftly notching up boundaries. However, the Indian bowlers fought back, securing three crucial wickets in quick succession. The crowd, electrified and hopeful, erupted in cheers, anticipating more breakthroughs. Yet, the middle order of Australia showcased resilience and clinched victory for their team. As a cricket enthusiast, it left me with a lingering sense of sadness—regretful to witness the best team falter on the grand stage, and disheartened to see stalwarts like Rohit and Virat unable to steer the team to triumph. The post-mortem of our defeat led me to a crucial observation—the pitch selected for the finals mirrored that of the India vs. Pakistan encounter, behaving in a similar fashion. A sluggish surface resulted in poor timing, fewer runs on the board, and challenging deliveries. Considering India's batting-oriented lineup, the choice of the pitch should have aligned better with our strengths. The evident advantage for the team bowling first on such a pitch only magnified the importance of the toss. In hindsight, it was the toss, the pivotal deciding factor, that slipped away from us. Winning it could have led us to opt for bowling first, potentially altering the course of the game—much like the outcome of the India vs. Pakistan clash. I left the stadium, dejected, sad, unable to accept what I just witnessed. I wrote this blog on 20th Dec 2023, a lot of things are happening in cricket currently. IPL 2024 auctions are underway Hardik Pandya replaces Rohit Sharma as the captain of MI India v/s South Africa series is currently going on In the first week of December, India concluded the T20 series with Australia and won it by 4-1.

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word marketing? It could be commercialisation, exchange of goods and services, or simply reaching out to people. But do you understand the different types of marketing exist or are you familiar with the ways through which marketing practices can be conducted? In this article, I will be discussing all major types of marketing. But, before delving into the specifics, it's crucial to recognise the significant advancements in marketing practices, particularly in the realm of digital marketing. In recent years, the landscape of marketing has undergone a profound transformation, largely driven by the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). This cutting-edge technology has revolutionised how businesses approach their marketing strategies. AI-powered tools now enable companies to gather and analyze vast amounts of data, allowing for highly targeted and personalised marketing campaigns. AI in marketing enhances ad targeting and content optimisation. Chatbots provide 24/7 support, boosting customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. These innovations make digital marketing crucial for success in today's dynamic business environment. Let's start with the first type of marketing i.e.- 1. Growth Marketing Growth marketing focuses on the ultimate customer and its goal is to create a long-lasting relationship with them. It works with the motive of increasing the customer acquisition rate and the revenue from the sales. Growth marketing is a customer-centric approach aimed at establishing enduring relationships. Its primary objectives are augmenting customer acquisition rates and boosting sales revenue. This strategy is distinguished by its sophisticated use of data analytics. It involves meticulous examination and comprehension of customer behaviour. This data forms the foundation for campaign strategies and rigorous testing. 1.1 Key Tools of Growth Marketing It encompasses customer lifestyle analysis, A/B testing, and multi-channel marketing techniques. By leveraging these technically advanced components, growth marketing pinpoints the most effective strategies for driving revenue. It is a little more complex as it uses a high level of data to read, analyse, and understand the customer more precisely. This data is then used in running the campaigns and performing tests. It uses technically driven tools or components like customer lifestyle, a/b testing, and other cross-channel marketing to find the most effective marketing results. Here are a few examples of companies that have extensively used growth marketing in the past. 1.2 Statistics showcasing the impact on the company’s growth: 1. Airbnb: Strategy: Referral programs and SEO optimisation. Impact: Over 10 million nights booked by 2012. 2. Dropbox: Strategy: Successful referral program. Impact: Went from 100,000 to over 4 million users in 15 months. 3. Netflix: Strategy: Data-driven personalisation. Impact: 200+ million paid subscribers in 2021. 4. Spotify: Strategy: Social media integration and personalized playlists. Impact: 365+ million monthly users in 2021. 5. Uber: Strategy: Referral programs, discounts, and promotions. Impact: Over 110 million users globally by 2020. 6. Slack: Strategy: Word-of-mouth, integrations, freemium model. Impact: 12+ million daily users as of 2020. 7. HubSpot: Strategy: Content marketing, SEO, inbound techniques. Impact: Revenue growth from $255 million in 2015 to over $883 million in 2020. These companies exemplify how growth marketing can lead to substantial user acquisition, retention, and revenue growth. Specific statistics may vary based on sources and timeframes. 2. Product Marketing As the name suggests product marketing is concerned with the products, a company, an organisation, or a startup willing to sell to its potential customers. In simple words, product marketing refers to the continuous process right from finding the needs of the customers to after-sales services. 2.1 Identifying customer needs is a critical step in product marketing, as it forms the foundation for creating and promoting products that resonate with the target audience. 2.2 This process involves several key components: Market Research: Dive deep into industry trends, competitor strategies, and customer behavior to uncover opportunities. Customer Segmentation: Divide target markets based on demographics, psychographics, and behavior for tailored offerings. Surveys and Feedback: Engage customers directly for vital insights into preferences, pain points, and expectations. Competitor Analysis: Scrutinise competitors' products and strategies to identify market gaps to fill strategically. Feedback Loops: Establish communication channels for ongoing customer engagement, listening to evolving needs. Prototype Testing: Gather direct customer feedback through prototypes or beta versions before the official release. Data Analytics: Utilise tools to reveal customer behaviour patterns, guiding decisions on product features and pricing. Post-Sales Feedback: Analyse post-sales data and customer reviews to understand how well the product meets expectations. This iterative process ensures products not only meet customer needs but also position the company for enduring market success. It focuses on creating a demand in the market, analysing the needs of the customers, studying the potential market locations, and a lot more to keep the sales up. The most important factor is the customer, and It also gives the product marketing team feedback on where to improve. 3. Performance Marketing Performance marketing depends on the targets achieved or fulfilled by the performance marketeer, and the payment is based on the targets achieved. Performance marketing relies on meeting specific targets set by the performance marketer, and compensation is directly tied to achieving these goals. It operates primarily in the digital sphere, encompassing lead generation, campaign management, and brand/product/service promotion across various digital platforms like social media. This approach aims to enhance customer engagement and subsequently convert leads into potential buyers. In performance marketing, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns play a crucial role. These are advertising campaigns where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked. This model ensures that marketers only pay for actual user engagement with their content, making it a highly effective and measurable strategy. 3.1 Performance marketers meticulously track vital metrics to assess campaign success: Click-Through Rate (CTR): This gauges the percentage of users clicking an ad after viewing it, indicating its relevance and engagement level. Conversion Rate: It measures the percentage of users completing a desired action post-ad-click, like making a purchase or filling a form. Cost Per Click (CPC): This reflects the expense for each ad click and significantly influences the campaign's ROI. Quality Score: An assessment of keyword, ad copy, and landing page relevance and quality. A higher score leads to better placements and reduced costs. Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS): It evaluates revenue generated versus campaign costs, a pivotal metric for profitability assessment. 3.2 Key performance indicators: (KPIs) include Acquisition and Retention Metrics ROI, Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) Conversion Metrics. Performance marketers use data to optimize campaigns for maximum efficiency and aim for the highest return on investment. Performance marketing is a digital form of marketing where the service providers create leads, run campaigns, and advertise the brands, products, or services on different social media and other digital platforms to increase customer interaction and thus convert them into potential buyers. 3.3 Key terminology used by performance marketers in their day-to-day operations includes: CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): This metric represents the cost incurred by the marketer for each successful acquisition of a customer or lead. CPS (Cost Per Sale): CPS denotes the cost associated with generating a sale. It measures the expenses incurred for each successful transaction. CPL (Cost Per Lead): CPL represents the cost incurred by the marketer for each generated lead. It calculates the expenses associated with acquiring potential customers. CPM (Cost Per Mille): CPM assesses the cost for every thousand impressions or views generated by an advertisement. It is particularly relevant in display advertising and is used to compare the efficiency of different advertising channels. 4. Digital Marketing Digital marketing is the new era and has become the base of marketing your products or services. With the introduction of the internet and social media, digital marketing has taken new in taking business growth to another. . 4.1 Evolution of Digital Marketing In other words, Digital marketing serves as a foundational and universal element across all modern marketing strategies. Initially, marketing efforts were primarily focused on digital platforms due to the advent of the Internet and social media. However, as marketing needs evolved, strategies became more sophisticated and strategic. It refers to the promotion of goods and services on digital platforms like TV, phones, emails, and digital hoardings. 4.2 Digital Marketing Tools Within this realm, techniques like SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), social media marketing, and affiliate marketing have become pivotal tools. In essence, digital marketing has not only revolutionised how products and services are marketed but has also become a crucial component of contemporary marketing strategies, influencing their overall effectiveness and reach. 5. Account-Based Marketing Unlike other marketing strategies where the target customers are large and unspecified, account-based marketing ABM focuses on specific individual accounts that work as a market for the companies. These accounts give them higher ROI and more leads. This tailored focus tends to yield a higher Return on Investment (ROI) and generates more leads In account-based marketing and sales, both teams work together to target the potential turrets, create quality customer profiles, collaborate with them closely, and finally, approach them using information regarding their needs, and preferences. They collectively identify and prioritise potential accounts, craft detailed customer profiles, and then engage with these prospects based on their specific needs and preferences. This personalised strategy enhances the likelihood of securing valuable and long-lasting business relationships. 5.1 The process of ABM is not too complex but requires a set of skills to make it successful: Identifying Key Accounts: Select specific individual accounts with high value for the company. Prioritizing Accounts: Rank and prioritize these accounts based on their potential impact. Creating Detailed Profiles: Develop comprehensive customer profiles for these key accounts. Collaborative Efforts: Foster close collaboration between the marketing and sales teams. Tailored Engagement: Engage with prospects based on their unique needs and preferences. Enhanced Relationships: This personalized approach increases the likelihood of forming enduring and valuable business relationships, ultimately leading to higher ROI and increased lead generation. 6. Conclusion Through this article, I shared a comprehensive overview of various types of marketing strategies. I discussed the five major types: Growth Marketing, which emphasises building lasting customer relationships and utilises data-driven tools for effective results; Product Marketing, which covers the entire process from identifying customer needs to after-sales services; Performance Marketing, a digital approach where payment is based on achieving specific targets; Digital Marketing, leveraging internet and social media platforms for promotion; and Account-Based Marketing, which focuses on specific individual accounts for higher ROI and lead generation. As a professional marketer, I have shared valuable insights into each type, aiming to enhance the understanding of diverse marketing practices. I hope you got something valuable from this article. Stay tuned for my coming articles.

What is a product-led growth strategy? A business model known as a "product-led growth strategy" uses the product as the primary engine of client acquisition, conversion, activation, expansion, and other business processes. Allowing consumers to try and buy is a bottom-up strategy for product-led growth. Mostly, this marketing technique depends on the product's viability, functionality, and performance. Converting a user is considerably more straightforward if they have used a free trial or freemium model to feel the value of your product. Gainsight's 2022 PLG Index polled 58% of businesses, and 47% said they planned to quadruple their investment in product-led growth strategies. Today, more than 65% of the Forbes Cloud 100 for 2021 use a PLG motion, compared to less than 35% just five years ago. The overall market capitalization of publicly traded PLG companies increased dramatically from $20 billion to well over $600 billion within the same period, further enhancing the perception of PLG as a strong GTM strategy. How? To provide engaging product experiences at scale, PLG uses product usage data to accomplish these goals. Gainsight claims that subscription-based SaaS businesses are a natural fit for PLG strategies since they must match their goods to the needs of their consumers at every point of the customer journey. Gainsight claims that a conventional approach centered on the marketing and sales funnel is no longer successful in generating long-term development for SaaS subscription businesses. Making the product a crucial component of the customer lifecycle and experience is the answer. According to the Gainsight analysis, the PLG approach prioritizes the development across the customer experience to promote conversion, adoption, retention, and growth. Product Qualified Leads: Users that have used your product and found value in it are known as product-qualified leads (PQLs). PQLs have the highest likelihood of eventually becoming paying clients. Typically, they are customers that signed up via a free trial or freemium model. What may be done to influence the SaaS company's revenue? The solution is to track all the customer-related data using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) application. What is a PLG CRM? PLG CRM is a solution that enables SaaS organizations to manage their accounts, contacts, and opportunities in a dynamic, real-time manner. It replaces some of the conventional CRM principles that relied on data input to accurately estimate deals with actual data gleaned from product usage and other sources. Source: Here It is a record-keeping system that compiles all relevant data. Due to the lack of client interaction with humans, it includes subscription data. Seamless integration of product data, comprehension of user journeys, and other data points Intelligent automation workflows to assist workflows As seen from the image above, PLG CRM enables SaaS organizations to reach out and assist end users at every step. This makes the customer journey seamless thereby helping them in faster decision making and faster closure. Benefits: Eliminating silos, PLG CRM is connected to every customer-related data point and intention. Increased conversion rates from free to paid: Representatives closed big deals. Coordination between several roles Increased revenue from expansion. The Difference between Traditional CRM and PLG CRM: Traditional CRM: A CRM aids in creating and maintaining customer relationships. It gathers client data and enables you to establish a relationship with your customers by providing a seamless customer experience. Furthermore, these systems are not created by SaaS modules and therefore cannot collect data on end customers and how they use the product. This necessitates manual updating and feeding of data. Any entity that needs to be set up needs an implementation professional. These systems provide data and limited insights. Product Lead Growth CRM: A product-led CRM is beneficial since it offers a deeper understanding of user behavior, including product consumption. It keeps tabs on a customer from the moment they interact with your business till they continue to use your brand. It may quickly add new components and modify old ones following the user's journey. These systems offer valuable insights following the established benchmarks, allowing the end user to take the necessary action. Read about how CRM systems helps SaaS businesses with growth, a SMART approach.

Introduction The software industry and the methods used to promote it have changed over time. The current sales procedure is difficult, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. Sales cycles are lengthening due to the market's growing competition and the democratization of software. More time and effort are spent in: · Selecting the appropriate persona. · Being aware of their needs · Understanding how prospects use the product · Assuming their intention to pay. · Forecasting their procurement timeline, among other things SaaS businesses utilize various tech products, including email automation, account-based marketing, sales intelligence, etc., to analyze the data and draw actionable insights. This collection of tech products is referred to as a "tech stack." Previously, the sales team was solely responsible for the sale of software. They used emails to schedule 15-minute demo sessions and delivered a real-time demonstration and a product walkthrough using the presentation deck. Also, the sales strategy was focused on getting leads from downloads of the whitepaper (or for that matter any other asset). But now, the prospect (or end-user) is aware of the market, competition, issues, requirements, etc., due to the enormous amount of information available in open forums. Today's consumers are 60–70% aware of their needs before even speaking with a salesperson. End-user/ Buyer today expects or desires to try the product and experience the freemium version of it before making any decisions. They are more aware than ever and prefer not to base their decisions on a 15–30 minute demo. Today, prospects are less motivated to fill out the form before downloading the whitepaper. Product-led growth is the contemporary strategy that is reshaping the SaaS market. The primary causes are a change in consumer behavior and easy access to numerous sources of information. The dynamics of the buyer's journey, market research, and the belief that individuals "would buy what they wanted to buy" have been altered by options and open & accessible marketplaces. What is CRM? Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology that organizes all of your business's interactions and relationships with current and potential clients. Companies can enhance profitability and optimize operations and customer relations using a CRM system. The objective is straightforward: to strengthen commercial ties. With the aid of a CRM system, you may concentrate on your firm's relationships with specific individuals, such as clients, service users, coworkers, or suppliers, throughout your interactions with them. This includes acquiring new clients, gaining their business, and maintaining and extending your ties with them. Source: Here Objectives of CRM: Strengthen relationships with customers. Transform leads into paying clients. Engage prospects and customers more frequently. Enable a better experience for current clients. Raise customer satisfaction across all channels, mediums, and devices. SMART approach: 5 ways a CRM helps SaaS businesses. 1. Sales Forecasting: A CRM setup enables sales representatives to work on the sales pipeline, automate crucial tasks, assign milestones, evaluate sales data using the centralized CRM database, and create a cutting-edge yet efficient sales process that is outcome-focused. Prioritization: A CRM system assists in categorizing hot and cold leads based on customer interactions, which enables a sales representative to calculate the opportunity's win probability. Sales Effectiveness: Gain knowledge of how prospects or current clients respond to you and their purchasing intentions so you may reach out to them at the most appropriate time. Synergies for cross-selling and up-selling: CRM can aid sales representatives in comprehending the potential for upcoming encounters. Closing: CRM offers a 360-degree view of the prospect, enabling the sales representative to clinch the deal quickly. Future planning: CRM aids in examining historical data, producing insightful conclusions from it, and aids in tactical planning for the future. This aids in determining guidance for the upcoming quarters and clarifies what the firm should anticipate shortly. Furthermore, it aids a business in developing SMART goals that are appropriate for those projections. 2. Managing Multiple Relationships: By developing a thorough grasp of a customer's business, which should start with an overview of their relationship with your company, you may forge a solid partnership based on mutual respect and success. A CRM system can help a SaaS business by: Examining their difficulties: At the end of every transaction, determine what matters to your consumers—their objectives, difficulties, and preferences—and make sure you have a course of action. Keep a record of these notes in your CRM program so you can start up where you left off the next time with a quick review. Engage with relevance: Once you have a thorough understanding of a customer's needs and objectives, you may make timely recommendations for the proper items, discounts, or other content. With CRM, you'll also be able to deliver the most pertinent content and information because you'll know what they've bought and how they're using your goods or services. Scale up your one-to-one interactions: Customers like you as a small (but mighty) firm for the individualized service you offer, but as your business grows, it gets harder to remember every detail about each client and know when to follow up. A CRM platform allows you to communicate with people by hosting email templates, creating task reminders, and enabling phone calls. 3. Analytics: Having a ton of customer data is one thing, but understanding what it means and how to use it is another. CRM software often includes analytical features that contextualize data, dividing it into valuable metrics and actionable items. You may assess the performance of a marketing campaign and adjust your optimization strategies using metrics like click-through rates, bounce rates, and demographic data. Another thing that CRM software excels at is creating a consolidated database with all your client information, making it accessible to anybody in your company who needs it. This makes it simple for a salesperson to identify, for instance, the products in which a particular consumer is most interested. If the customer has previously interacted with the business, records of that engagement will be present in the CRM, which we can use to inform the subsequent marketing initiatives and sales pitches. This improves and increases the client experience and saves your staff time from having to search through outdated files and information. 4. Right Data to the Right Customer at the Right Time: A divergence between the "Product-Led" and "Rep-Assist" sides of the equation has existed in a hybrid PLG paradigm up to this point. Although there is software available to collect and analyze customer and product usage data (such as CDPs, product analytics, BI tools, etc.), these solutions weren't developed with GTM teams in mind, leading to two significant capacity gaps: The product usage data needed to close the gap has long been accessible, but there hasn't been a dedicated platform to provide it to GTM teams. With current methods, finding the accounts that show the highest possibility of transacting requires a data analyst to examine data from several sources. Predefined workflows in downstream GTM engagement tools are not automatically triggered by the current means. How do we solve capability gaps? Compile all pertinent customer data, such as firmographic and demographic data from lead enrichment tools; product usage data from various sources, such as CDPs, data warehouses, and product analytics tools; account data from CRMs; helpdesk data; invoicing information; and so on. Using the information gathered in the previous step, establish the standards that define high purchasing intent. Accounts that satisfy the requirements are often referred to as Product-Qualified Leads (PQLs). Use a proprietary UI, notifications in popular collaboration tools like Slack, or personal CRMs like Salesforce to notify GTM reps when an account matches the requirements for a PQL. Start a drip campaign or sequence in Outreach (a Sapphire portfolio company) to start downstream GTM workflows. 5. Task Management: Managing employees and managing customers go hand in hand. First, improve employee management if you want to provide better customer service. What won't ever improve customer experience if a request from a customer is left unattended for an extended period because your staff is unsure who should handle it? It's critical to allocate and execute jobs on time and within budget. Businesses can automate the task management process using CRM. It creates assignments and distributes them across personnel based on factors like skill set, availability, locality, etc. CRM solutions have developed over the past few years as well. Adapting to a modern Product-Led Growth CRM system is necessary as the software sales process evolves. How does PLG CRM vary from conventional CRM? Check out the Next Blog on What is PLG CRM?

Nowadays, a lot of content consumption happens on mobile devices. Think of a scenario, you have written a nice blog with good content, appropriate stock images, contextual infographics, etc., and everything seems fine till now. But when you upload this blog to a website, ☹️The size of the web page increases ☹️Flashy content leads to the slow speed of the webpage, which increases page rendering time. ☹️Unable to cater to huge traffic (server problem) This results in users dropping off, resulting in less traffic and output below expectations. A long delay in landing page loading can even hamper brand reputation. What to do now? Solution🚀: Accelerated Mobile Pages What is AMP? Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) is an open-source standard that allows you to create web pages that load quickly on mobile browsers. To help provide a better mobile user experience, you can create AMP versions of your landing pages. How do AMPs work? 1. AMP allows asynchronous Java script with protection against the delay of page rendering. 2. It loads the layout of the page without waiting for any resources (image, infographic, embedded video, etc.). You will observe the gray boxes appear first, and then the content in those grey boxes. Visitors will churn if your webpage takes more than 3 seconds to load. This functionality helps in engaging the user and reducing churn. 3. AMPs don’t allow extension mechanisms to block rendering, which means any external extension requests from social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter are added before the script. Hence, AMPs don’t block or delay the rendering of the webpage due to those external extensions. 4. AMPs keep 3rd party JavaScript out of the path. As in, if your webpage has display ads, it will take time (latency) to load those ads. AMPs allow ads to load without hampering the main page's performance. 5. AMPs are templatized pages with structured CSS blocks and inline style sheets, which help in structured page building, follow hygiene, and enable faster loading. 6. Web font optimization: web fonts are larger. AMPs have dedicated style sheets and fonts. It doesn’t accept other HTTP requests until the font is loaded completely. This means faster loading of text, the first thing visible on the webpage will be the font. Interesting, isn’t it? 7. Minimize the time spent on style recalculations and AMPs work as per priorities. 8. All the animations on the page are accelerated using the hardware (GPU) of the device. Hence, you will observe that a better mobile device with a better processor and better GPU performs faster in dynamic page loading. 9. Prioritization: AMP controls all resource downloads: it prioritizes resource loading, loads only what’s needed, and prefetches lazy-loaded resources. 10. Instant Page Loading: AMP prerenders and downloads the resources ABF (Above the Fold). This means a page gets rendered before the decision of the user to visit that webpage. Isn’t it super cool? It consumes a lot of bandwidth on the CPU; hence, mobile devices with more RAM (8GB+) perform better in instant loading of the webpage. Few other factors which impact the loading performance of landing pages on mobile devices: 1. RAM of the device 2. GPU of the device 3. Processor of the device 4. Refresh Rate frequency of the device screen 5. Speed of data (Mobile data or WIFI) 6. Performance of the dedicated server used to host the landing page 7. Geography of the device (IP address) Other ways to develop mobile websites: Separate Site: Build a separate website for mobile devices with the URL (m.sitename.com). In these types of websites, the browser recognizes the source (here mobile device) and automatically opens the mobile version of the website. Adaptive Serving: The content of the page adapts to the device. It will capture the type of device, and internet speeds and automatically will get adapted to it and display the content accordingly. Responsive mobile site: The layout of the website changes in order to be compliant/ adjusted with the mobile devices. In this, a developer needs to think about the aspect ratio of the device and adjust all the content elements accordingly. Various CMS platforms like WordPress and Wix provide it. That's all folks. Cheers!!

Have you ever installed an APP and uninstalled it just because it had a long process of onboarding? Or too much information was asked while onboarding? Have you ever experienced a seamless onboarding Ex- You have to just enter your mobile number, OTP is auto-populated and BAM you are on the main screen of the product Many tech products still repeat the common mistakes for user onboarding and some great companies have nailed it with their exceptional UI, UX, and knack for users’ psychology. What differentiates them? What makes one company onboard the user seamlessly? What forces users to leave midway? Read this post to know more: There lies a fundamental error with cognitive biases: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬 🧠? Cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them that affects the decisions and judgments that they make. The human brain is powerful but subject to limitations. 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞: Users are less overwhelmed if they are exposed to complex features at a later stage. Ex: A fintech company asking for PAN and other information after a seamless onboarding, only after a user has made their mind to invest in Financial instruments 𝐇𝐢𝐜𝐤’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰: More options lead to more confusion and more time is consumed in taking decisions. If you overload the screen with options and numerous features, it will confuse the visitors, keep it simple. Ex: Check out the pricing plan screen on Netflix 𝐀𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜-𝐔𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭: An aesthetically pleasing design creates a positive response in people’s brains and leads them to believe the design works better. Ex: Zomato, Cred, Dunzo they have nailed it 𝐙𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐤 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭: People remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks. Ex: Unable to apply a referral code or coupon code 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐨𝐛’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐰: Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know. Which other cognitive biases have you observed? Leave a comment below

In a highly dynamic and fast-paced startup ecosystem, it is very important to try and test the growth hacks/ ideas and that too at a high tempo, so how to do that? Let’s understand 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 (refer below image) Analyze The behavior of core and power users The characteristics of your best customers or create an Ideal Customer Profile What leads to the churning of these users? Ideate Collaborate with your team (UI, UX, Customer Experience, Sales, Marketing) to brainstorm ideas and create an Idea Bank. The idea can be in a very simple format like: Idea Name Description Hypothesis Metrics to be measured/ impacted Success criteria 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 This is often the most difficult part of any decision-making process, here is a framework for the same: 𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 (refer to above image) Rate each idea on a scale of 10: 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 (#/10), 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 (#/10), 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐞 (#/10), and calculate the average score Ask the team to submit ideas with the ICE framework, this should not necessarily be accurate but based on a logical and educational guess. This score is for relative prioritization and may not be perfect. This will help in prioritizing the idea 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓 Schedule cross-functional collaboration activities in order to test these ideas and ensure smooth execution Please note: the Pareto principle applies here: 20% of your well-executed ideas will yield 80% of the best possible outcome. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭? Analyze the learnings of these experiments, Learn from them and REPEAT Create a knowledge base of these experiments, and focus on the next idea from the Idea Bank. 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: Big successes in growth hacking come from a series of small wins, compounded over time Cheers!!

What makes you spend more on any product/ service? Read this post to understand: In the current world, Selling Price ❌Cost Price+ Profit The selling price is a function of lot many different parameters like: · Perceived value of the product/ service · Time saved due to that product/ service · Opportunity lost due to non-usage of product/ service · Perceived price in buyer’s mind · Competitor’s pricing · Monopoly in the market · Ease of switch · Macroeconomic factors · Demand and Supply gap And many other factors There are a few effects that can help you understand how orgs are playing around with human psychology while deciding the price of their products/ services. Decoy Effect It is when the consumer changes their preference between 2 options when they are presented with a 3rd option. Ex: French fries (Small, Medium, Large) Strikethrough Pricing This is done when a seller wants to highlight the value before offering a discount, this is commonly observed on Ecommerce sites Surround Effect In this, the pricing of the base product is kept lower than that of competitors, but the better version of the same product is priced at par with the competition. Most common phenomena in Food & Beverages and quick-serve restaurants. Undercut The price of a few of the best features is kept less as compared to that of competitors to attract and onboard the users. Penetrate Pricing This strategy is followed when the product/ service is offered at dirt-cheap prices as the main goal of the company is to penetrate the market and disrupt the industry. Ex: How Jio entered the market Anchor Effect Helping prospects in making decisions by providing tags on the pricing plan and highlighting those plans. Ex: Best Value, Best priced, etc. Which other pricing effect have you come across? Leave a comment below

I got the below questions: 1. Which magazine is better Forbes or Fortune? 2. Why read both of them? Here is my observation/ answer: 𝐍𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐝𝐬- Lesser in Fortune 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬- Fortune has better (charts, graphs, color coding, placement, etc.) 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬- Length and Breadth of topics covered is better in Forbes 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬- Forbes highlights individuals in a better way. (Just look at the cover pictures of both the magazines) 𝐂𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬- Forbes does it better 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲- The content quality is almost similar in both, but if I want to select one it will be Fortune due to the ease of understanding and more infographics 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡- Forbes approx. 100 pages, Fortune approx. 115 pages. The special edition can be a thicker version with more pages. 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲- Forbes-Twice in a month, Fortune- Once in a month 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝- Fortune You can think of a Venn diagram here, there are few common or intersecting topics. Combining topics from both these magazines will provide a universal picture about: 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐩 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦, 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐲, 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭, 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. P.S.: I have subscribed to both of them What are some of the best business magazines you have read? Leave a comment below

I got a notification from Google Photos about my picture being taken 8 years ago, it dates back to 22nd March 2014. I was a novice with guitar, but still somehow managed to clear auditions and play for the band I owned an acoustic guitar back then, but in order to play on stage I needed an electric guitar At that time, a friend of mine has a shop for musical instruments and lent me a new red guitar He said, "Deepak Bhai, awesome news about you performing on stage. Take this new red guitar it arrived just a day back, it is user-friendly and you can get adjusted with this in 2 days". There is a vast difference between acoustic and electric guitar, in terms of strings, way of strumming, etc. In short electric guitar is very sensitive and trickier to play He gave me the new red guitar for 8 days (so that I get adjusted to it) without a security deposit and any kind of rent. I was in engineering college back then, and renting a guitar for a day used to cost anywhere between 500-1000 INR/ day. I couldn't have afforded it back then. Why am I telling this? Many of us get worried/ overthink about the mediums, things, or gadgets we don't own. For example, someone about to start a YouTube channel is thinking about owning a camera/ iPhone. Just make a move, have a positive attitude towards life, accept opportunities with open arms and the universe will get things arranged for you. The world is a happy place, just ask and people are there to help you out. Have a CAN DO attitude and believe in yourself. P.S.: Currently I own an electric guitar, sound processor, and amplifier and have a dedicated space with the system in place. The pic is not clear, as I didn't have a good camera back then.