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Definition of Business Opportunity Analysis, Objectives, Characteristics, and Methods
21 November 2024

Have you ever dreamed of having your own business but still hesitant to start? Actually, this is normal. Starting a business is not a small decision, and requires a lot of consideration.

Therefore, to help you be more confident, let's discuss business opportunity analysis. With the right analysis, the level of business success will certainly be higher and have the opportunity to become a leader in the industry.

In addition, of course, you will also be more prepared to face all possibilities in the field and can design a more mature strategy.

Definition of Business Opportunity Analysis

Business opportunity analysis is an important process carried out before starting or developing a business. This process includes several main steps such as research, planning, estimating, and evaluating the business you want to run.

By doing this analysis, you can better understand the market potential, growth opportunities, and various challenges that may be faced.

For example, in a business opportunity analysis, you will conduct research on the needs and wants of consumers in the market. In addition, you will estimate the costs required to run a business, from production costs to marketing costs.

So, business opportunity analysis helps you to better understand all aspects of the business, so that the steps taken are more focused and reduce the risk of loss.

Purpose of Business Opportunity Analysis

Quoting from Hubspot, there are several important objectives in conducting this analysis, namely:

1. Making Strategic Decisions

First, this analysis helps you make better long-term strategic decisions. For example, you can predict market trends for the next 1-5 years.

Thus, it will be easier for you to anticipate changes in market trends, technological developments, and shifts in consumer behavior.

2. Avoiding Bankruptcy

Business opportunity analysis helps you avoid bankruptcy. By conducting the right analysis, you can identify potential problems before they occur.

3. Determining Marketing Strategy

Each product requires a different marketing approach. For example, products for professionals may be more suitable to be marketed through LinkedIn, while products for teenagers are more effective through TikTok or Instagram.

4. Understanding Product Value in the Market

By conducting a business opportunity analysis, you can see how big the chance is that your product will be accepted by the public. This process allows you to understand the right position for the product in the market.

For example, whether your product is suitable to be placed as a premium or affordable product. You can also determine the right price according to consumer purchasing power.

5. Measuring Market Competition

This analysis also helps you to understand the competitive map in the market. You will get a clear picture of who your competitors are, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how they attract customers.

Characteristics of Business Opportunity Analysis

In conducting a business opportunity analysis, there are several characteristics that you need to pay attention to.

A good business opportunity must have elements of creativity and innovation, not just copying other people's ideas. In addition, promising business opportunities are also always based on strong beliefs and enthusiasm.

These two things will be important capital when you face challenges in your business journey. Without confidence and enthusiasm, you will easily give up when facing difficulties.

No less important, business opportunities must also be adaptive to change. In the digital era like today, businesses that cannot adapt will usually be left behind.

How to Conduct a Business Opportunity Analysis

Now let's discuss the steps in conducting a business opportunity analysis.

1. SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat)

The first step is to analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses of your business, as well as external opportunities and threats. This method will provide a comprehensive picture of your business's position in the market.

2. Target Market

Second, determine the target market clearly. Although your product can be used by all groups, it is better to focus on a specific group based on age, gender, or interests.

The more specific the target market, the more effective the marketing strategy you can implement.

3. Create a Clear Budget

Next, prepare a detailed budget plan. Starting from production costs, employee salaries, operational costs, to marketing costs. Don't forget to take into account the desired profit margin.

4. Competitor Research

Conduct in-depth research on competitors or competitors in the market. Understanding the value proposition offered by competitors is very important.

This includes looking at the strategies they implement, the marketing approaches they use, and what can be learned from their customer reviews.

By analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of competitors, you can find opportunities to make your business superior.

5. Pay Attention to External Factors

Don't forget to consider external factors that can affect your business. For example, current economic conditions, developing social trends, technological advances, and government regulations.

These external factors often have a major impact on the success of a business, so it is important to always keep up with the changes that occur.

6. Conduct Routine Evaluations

Remember that business opportunity analysis is not an activity that is done only once. This process should be carried out routinely to ensure that your business remains relevant and growing. With regular evaluations, you can see whether the strategies implemented are still effective or need to be updated.

Interested in deepening your understanding of business opportunity analysis? prasmul-eli provides a comprehensive Business Development Planning class.

In this class, you will learn everything from competitive analysis, competitive strategies, financial aspects of business, and more. Register for prasmul-eli's Business Development Planning class now!

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6 Types of Infographics and How to Make Them to Present Information in an Interesting Way!
20 November 2024

Infographics are the most powerful way to convey ideas in visual form. Various types of infographics are used in design and marketing to present information in an interesting and easy-to-understand way.

Infographics will make your content easier to read and understand, compared to just writing.

Those of you who often give presentations can also take advantage of infographics. This is because infographics can be used to convey important information, present data in an interesting way, or simply to provide additional visuals.

Here is some information about the advantages, types, examples, and how to make attractive infographics.

Understanding Infographics

Infographics are a form of visual communication that aims to attract attention and increase understanding of information and data. Infographics are currently used in online articles, print media, presentations, banners, or even billboards.

The main elements of infographics are images, symbols, diagrams, charts, copy (writing), and numbers (data). The main purpose of infographics is to make complex ideas and information easy to understand and digest, quoted from Column Five.

Infographics are also used to convey stories through visual aids. In other words, infographics can be in the form of static images or videos. This type depends on the needs and persona of the audience.

If you work in marketing, this one is also useful as a tool for presenting information in blog articles, banners, and social media content. Meanwhile, if you are a salesperson, use infographics as a presentation medium related to the products you sell.

Advantages of Infographics

Here are some of the advantages of infographics and the benefits of using them:

  • The combination of images and words allows you to convey stories well.
  • Infographics are more eye-catching and attractive than content that only contains writing.
  • Images and graphics are generally easier to remember.
  • Helps explain difficult topics easily.
  • Infographics related to a topic and content on a website can increase the ranking of articles on Google.
  • Can be printed as posters and flyers.
  • Can be used for social media content.
  • Can be used to raise awareness of a critical situation.
  • Infographics are the most powerful tools for presenting relevant data or research results.

Types of Infographics

According to Adobe, here are six types of infographics that are often created:

Data visualization infographics

Often referred to as statistical infographics, this type is primarily intended to present survey or research data. Data visualization infographics can help you convey stories or narratives from data clearly.

Especially if you utilize attractive design elements so that the data is easy to remember and understand.

Charts are the most important element in this type of infographic. You can use bar or pie charts to illustrate data. Also add color to each data or analysis so that the audience understands the presentation in the infographic better.

Timeline infographics

Timeline infographics help you explain history or present timeline information of an event. You can add fonts and icons to highlight important dates or moments.

This type of infographic can be used for project timeline presentation needs.

Process infographics

You may rarely hear the term process infographic. However, this type of infographic is most often used in printed books and social media content. Process infographics present information on the steps or stages of doing something.

The visual form in this infographic must be able to make the stages explained easy to follow.

The use of this infographic is usually in food recipes, science posters, to social media content related to how to do something.

Comparison infographics

As the name implies, this infographic is used to compare two or more things. By using visuals, the audience will find it easier to understand the differences in the objects being discussed and help them in making decisions.

Usually this infographic will juxtapose two similar objects, such as smartphones, food, to living things.

List infographics

This infographic can be used to make it easier for you to present information that is mostly written. Use a table that contains information about goods, tips, examples, and sources of information.

Hierarchical infographics

The information presented in hierarchical infographics must have a clear order, level, or hierarchy.

An example of using this infographic is to illustrate a food pyramid, where the top of the pyramid has the highest caste and the bottom is the lowest caste, or vice versa.

Infographic Example

Timeline infographic: history of social media

Source: streambankmedia.com

Comparison infographic: Millennials vs Gen Z

Source: freepik.com

Hierarchical infographic: food pyramid

Source: nationalgeographic.com

How to Make Infographics

Some ways to make interesting infographics, according to Infogram, are:

  1. Know your target audience, who are you presenting this infographic for?
  2. Collect relevant data and statistics from trusted sources, also make sure the accuracy is high.
  3. Choose the type of information based on the information and data to be presented.
  4. Choose the right type of visuals, images, colors, and charts for data and information.
  5. Prioritize only important data and information so that it is easy to read.
  6. Add an interesting headline or title.
  7. Use infographic templates available on various platforms.
  8. Don't forget to distribute infographics through the right channels.

That's a complete explanation of infographics. You can use infographics for performance presentations, presenting important data, and even distributing important information in an attractive format.

Digital marketing is one industry that uses infographics as social media content, blog content, and banners. Therefore, if you intend to explore this industry, you must understand how to create infographics and their various types.

To master the use of infographics and various other digital marketing knowledge, you can take the Digital Marketing Fundamental short program from prasmul-eli.

This short program is filled by digital marketing experts and professionals who are ready to share knowledge and best practices with you. Interested? Click this link to register for the program!

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4 Essential Computational Thinking Basics for Solving Complex Problems
18 November 2024

Computational thinking is one way of thinking used to solve problems. However, before solving a problem, you must be able to deeply understand the basics of the problem and the best way to solve it.

The process of understanding is part of computational thinking. Maybe you are thinking, is this way of thinking needed in everyday life? The answer is it is needed.

Because, computational thinking combines two other ways of thinking, namely analytical thinking and critical thinking.

The following is a complete explanation of computational thinking, from the basics to examples of its application.

What is Computational Thinking?

Computational thinking is the process of identifying structured and detailed solutions to a complex problem.

Quoted from Learning, the process starts from breaking down the problem into small parts according to the group or situation, paying attention to the patterns of each part, eliminating unnecessary problems or parts, and creating structural solutions that can be used repeatedly.

This thinking process uses the basic methodology of computer science, where in solving a problem, the concepts of algorithms, data structures, and automation are usually used. Computational thinking prioritizes precise, logical, efficient, and measurable steps.

The process of solving problems in small parts aims to understand the problems and situations that exist, then look for problems that can be handled quickly or actually do not need to be solved.

Then, the process of observing patterns focuses on looking at situations and comparing them to other situations or past events. From there you can find the same patterns and solutions to a problem. Later, the solutions used can be used again to solve similar problems in the future.

Benefits of Computational Thinking

  1. Solving complex or complicated problems: when faced with complicated situations or problems, it is better to use computational thinking to ensure that the solution is effective and structured.
  2. Producing efficient and automatable solutions: effective solutions must be reusable and automated, meaning you can solve the same problems faster in the future.
  3. Analyzing data to find insights: this benefit of computational thinking helps you create solutions based on data with high accuracy.
  4. Offering innovation: when faced with complicated problems, you must be able to innovate through creative ideas and solutions. Especially if you are facing modern problems related to technology and digitalization.
  5. Becoming an important soft skill: when you have computational thinking skills, then you have a plus point in the eyes of the company. Every industry, be it manufacturing, finance, marketing, or health, needs individuals who are able to solve complex and innovative problems.

4 Important Basics of Computational Thinking

Whether used in computer systems or everyday life practices, here are four important basics of computational thinking, according to the BBC:

Decomposition

The recycling process is the act of breaking down items into small parts or pieces, so that they are easy to handle or reuse.

The same thing is done in computational thinking, you have to break problems into small parts so that they are easier to analyze. That way, you can handle problems well one by one.

Pattern Recognition

In each problem that has been broken down into small parts, try to find the same pattern. This will help you relate one problem to another to find the best solution.

In addition, you can also look for patterns from similar problems that have occurred in the past. From there you can also use the same approach to solve the problem. The goal is not to limit yourself to seeing trends and patterns of a problem.

Abstraction

Focus on relevant and important problems only. If there is a situation or problem that is not related, leave it immediately. Don't waste time on unimportant problems, so that the main problem is forgotten.

Algorithmic Thinking

The last is to create a structured solution with precise and effective steps. Also make sure you have analyzed and recognized the risks that may occur, to know how to deal with them.

Even if necessary, create steps that can be used in the future when similar problems occur again.

Example of Computational Thinking

Putting together a puzzle

The simplest example of using computational thinking is when putting together a puzzle. This process is certainly done in stages.

Some people with computational thinking skills will take the following steps:

  • Divide the puzzle pieces into several groups.
  • Prioritize completing each corner of the puzzle first.
  • Regroup the puzzle based on its illustration, such as an object or background.
  • Then, focus on the image or illustration that is most visible.
  • Unite each corner and focus on the "content" or center of the puzzle.

Writing

  • A writer uses computational thinking in:
  • Grouping article ideas or content.
  • Composing an article outline.
  • Grouping sources of information, based on the parts or types of information needed.
  • Prioritizing data and facts.
  • Composing a narrative structure that is in accordance with the topic.
  • Ensuring that each sentence has coherence or is related to each other.

It can be concluded that computational thinking is the ability to solve problems effectively, innovatively, and in a structured manner. The solutions offered must also be reusable and even automated. This ability is needed in every industry, so it is important to have this one skill.

If you want to develop computational thinking, then register and study in the Prasmul-Eli short program entitled Problem Solving & Decision Making.

You can get knowledge and best practices from professionals and industry experts. Visit this page now for the program list!

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7 Characteristics of Empowering Leadership to Create a Supportive Work Environment
15 November 2024

Empowering leadership is a leadership style that supports and develops everyone in the company. Leaders must be able to convey the company's vision, improve their team's skills, and ensure that everyone's opinions are equally important.

Empowering leadership is not just a philosophy or leadership style, but a skill that must be learned and developed continuously. A leader may be able to convey the company's vision, but not know how to support the development of the people in his team.

Therefore, here is a complete explanation of empowering leadership, from characteristics to how to develop it, to help you develop this skill.

Understanding Empowering Leadership

Empowering leadership is a leadership style and skill that prioritizes support for everyone in the company to be able to work independently, without strict supervision or even micromanaging from the leader.

Although employees are supported to work independently, leaders still play an active role in providing guidance, direction, and appreciation.

Some examples of empowering leadership are:

  • Showing reports and evidence of employee work results that play a role in the company's main targets.
  • Creating opportunities for development, both in terms of personal skillsets related to work and collaboration between teams.
  • Provide opportunities for employees to be involved in brainstorming to make big decisions.
  • Provide appreciation for employee work results and the impacts they have.
  • Praise their best abilities or skills, while providing direction on skills that need to be developed further.

Benefits of Empowering Leadership

Reporting from Managing Life at Work, some of the benefits of empowering leadership that can be felt by leaders, employees, and companies include:

  1. An effective way to face the challenges of today's work world, as well as a tool to motivate modern workers.
  2. Encourage employees to have a sense of ownership of the company's vision.
  3. Help leaders make decisions related to the company and the employee's own targets.
  4. Help leaders see different perspectives to ensure a feeling that they are heard and that there is justice.
  5. Eliminate hierarchies and gaps that have the potential to create a negative work environment.
  6. Improve the quality of work and employee self-confidence, which has the potential to create mental health for each individual.
  7. Become a stepping stone and valuable knowledge for employees who want to have a career path to become managers.

Characteristics of Empowering Leadership

To be able to empower or support and provide direction for employees, you must begin to master the characteristics of empowering leadership. Leapsome describes its characteristics as follows:

Prioritize communication and transparency

By having good communication skills and transparency in conveying messages, you can build mutual trust, accept employee opinions, and ensure everyone knows what the company's targets and expectations are.

You can also invite employees to communicate openly to get their views or input.

Delegate tasks with a purpose

You must be able to delegate tasks based on each employee's abilities and know whether the task can help their development and fulfill their aspirations.

This also means that you give employees full authority to make decisions when completing their tasks. Of course, you still have to answer questions and provide direction when needed.

Involve employees in decision making

You also have to make sure they are involved in making decisions. Especially during the planning phase, make sure you listen to and analyze their input.

Give them the opportunity to collaborate deeply with other teams. Make sure they also come to you for direction or guidance in explaining their tasks to others.

Overcome obstacles to drive success

Make sure you understand what difficulties and obstacles employees face in completing their tasks. Then, help them to overcome these obstacles so they can complete the task well.

Examples may include inefficient business processes with other teams or clients, or personal issues that affect their performance.

Guiding and directing

As previously explained, employees can work independently, but you as a leader must still guide and direct them when needed. You must create a work environment or team where open communication occurs and every view or complaint is heard well.

Creating opportunities for growth

Set aside time for discussion sessions, Q&A sessions, and training to ensure employees can perform tasks independently and effectively. Not everyone will be able to complete new tasks well.

So, the leader's job is to continue to provide training without having to control the entire process of completing the task.

Praise employee contributions and impacts

When employees understand their contributions and impacts on the main goals of the business, they will feel confident and proud of their own performance.

The way to do this is to celebrate joint or individual achievements, give open appreciation, and support their work progress.

How to Develop Empowering Leadership

  1. Improve active listening skills.
  2. Prioritize open communication.
  3. Create boundaries when to help and direct.
  4. Build a good communication structure during check-ins, meetings, or 1-on-1 sessions.
  5. Focus on the results, don't worry too much about the process.
  6. Create brainstorming sessions to ensure all employees are involved and have opinions.
  7. Train yourself to provide constructive criticism.
  8. Create realistic goals or targets, and conduct performance reviews.

That's a complete explanation of empowering leadership, starting from examples, characteristics, to how to develop it. Being a leader is not easy, you still have to support employees, while still ensuring the company's vision and mission are achieved.

Therefore, by developing empowering leadership, you can lead a team that is always independent and responsible, in order to achieve the company's big mission.

To learn how to build and master various leadership skills, you can study in the Self Leadership Training class in the Prasmul-Eli short program.

You will learn important aspects of leadership, such as self-awareness, self-management, and team management directly from experts and industry experts.
Interested? Register now and learn to become a leader who leads employees and businesses to success!

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Get to Know Customer Acquisition to Reach New Markets and Increase Profits
14 November 2024

Business will not grow and profit without new consumers. Therefore, customer acquisition is one strategy to ensure that your business can attract new consumers and its development is stable.

Customer acquisition is a science that will help you understand how people find a brand or product and why they want to buy or use it.

By knowing this science, you can build an optimal customer journey and increase revenue.

Through this article, we will guide you to understand more about customer acquisition from the stages, goals, to various strategies that can be used.

What is Customer Acquisition?

Customer acquisition is a process to attract attention, interact, and convert prospects or potential consumers into loyal consumers, reported by Hotjar. The goal is of course to expand the business market and increase revenue.

However, customer acquisition will not just happen, there is a customer journey or stages that must be formed, to ensure that consumers decide to buy and use your product.

Customer acquisition stages

Awareness

At this stage, potential consumers are aware and know the existence of your brand. They find it on e-commerce, social media, offline stores, and are even told by people around them.

Interest or attraction

After knowing about the brand, there will be an interest in knowing and getting to know more about your product or business. They may read the label on the back of the product packaging to reading information related to the product on social media or the company website.

Consideration

At this stage, potential consumers have turned into leads for your business. They have started to consider buying and using your product.

Intent

After knowing the benefits of your product and the considerations that have been made, they will intend to buy your product. For example, they will put your product in the shopping cart.

Purchase

The last is the purchase stage, where they have become your consumers. They are ready to use your product.

Customer Acquisition Objectives

Some of the objectives of customer acquisition are:

  • Developing a business by expanding the market, types of consumers, and increasing brand awareness.
  • Increasing income to balance expenses or production costs, paying employees, and reinvesting in the company.
  • Becoming proof of the appeal of the product, stable development in the business, and success, to be shown to investors or other external parties.

Customer Acquisition Examples

According to Amazon Ads, here are some examples of successful customer acquisition cases:

Juna (health)

With such fierce competition in health products, Juna implemented a customer acquisition strategy to increase sales and awareness of their brand.

So, to be able to compete with bigger brands, Juna also focused their marketing strategy on one main product, or so-called hero product.

Detox Drop is the hero product that they push in their advertising and promotional strategies. By prioritizing the health benefits of digestion, energy, and fitness, the message they convey attracts many new consumers.

In one year, the hero product managed to increase their sales by 300% (including other products).

LG (electronics)

LG is trying to target a new market, namely in Italy. The South Korean electronics company is trying a multi-solution, full-funnel strategy, where they market their latest OLED TV products on various channels such as Twitch and Prime Video.

On Twitch, LG collaborates with several well-known streamers to promote their OLED TV technology. In broadcasts on streamers, the OLED TV is marketed as a TV that supports the best gaming experience.

Meanwhile, on Prime Video, LG is targeting football fans. They market OLED TV as the best TV for watching football matches with smooth picture quality and movement.

As a result, LG managed to generate more than 2 million impressions on each channel.

Whiskas (cat food)

Whiskas is one of the well-known cat food product brands. However, because the competition in this industry is getting tighter, they have to think hard to ensure that their product remains number one.

So, they market the same product, but with a narrative of increasing food quality. They also create video ads to explain what new nutrients cats can get.

With this promotion, they managed to increase sales by 303% in four months.

Customer Acquisition Strategy

Here are some strategies you can try to do customer acquisition, quoted from Zendesk.

  1. Optimize the main business site to ensure consumers can navigate it well, plus it is easy to recognize and buy products.
  2. Improve the mobile display on your business site or application, with the aim that consumers can find, recognize, and buy products easily.
  3. Utilize AI to reach consumers, for example, like a chatbot that greets consumers when they first enter the product site.
  4. The sales team must know the consumer to ensure that they understand the conditions and complaints of existing consumers and find solutions that can be used to market products to potential consumers.
  5. Support with effective marketing strategies, such as conducting webinars, events with loyal customers, to social media promotions.
  6. Prioritize a pleasant experience, for example, ease of shopping, personal service when shopping in stores, to promotions for loyal customers.

Channels for implementing customer acquisition strategies

  • Social media
  • Email marketing
  • Ads
  • Blog
  • Offline and online events
  • Customer service
  • Sales calls

It can be concluded that customer acquisition is a strategy to reach more consumers and ensure that the business grows steadily over time. Without new consumers, the business cannot grow according to plan.

If you want to learn how to do customer acquisition and increase customer satisfaction, register for the Customer Satisfaction Relationship short program from Prasmul-Eli.
You will get knowledge and best practices directly from professionals and industry experts. Click here to register and join the program!

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Digital Products: Advantages, Characteristics, Types, Examples, and How to Market Them
13 November 2024

Currently, digital products are a lucrative business entity. Many new entrepreneurs have emerged thanks to the presence of digital products and the availability of platforms to sell or market them.

A digital product business can be started while you are still working in an office. This is because this business can be your additional income or passive income.

If you are one of those who are interested in building an online product business, then find out the complete information below.

Definition of Digital Products

A digital product is an entity or product and service that is created, marketed, and used using digital technology. In other words, a digital product is a product that does not have a physical form and can only be used in the digital sphere.

Some examples of digital product businesses that you must have used or use every day include:

  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Grab
  • Go-Jek
  • Spotify
  • YouTube

The brands above do not offer products that can be held or used physically. They offer digital products such as online social media platforms, online transportation services, music streaming platforms, and videos.

The digital product business is part of a long-standing digitalization effort. The Indonesian market also still has great potential for digital product businesses.

Advantages of Digital Products

Here are some of the advantages and benefits that can be felt from doing a digital product business:

  • Reduce operational costs, because you don't need a warehouse to store products or pay shipping costs.
  • Increase income and profits, because digital products have no recurring costs for production, so you can maintain cash flow including income to profit margin.
  • Can be automated, in other words you don't need to supervise or present products manually.
  • The products sold are more flexible, because they can be used for various digital needs and are easily accessible. For example, subscribing to Spotify on one account, you can listen again on any platform, from smartphones, laptops, to TVs.
  • Products can be updated easily, because users and buyers don't need to bother going to offline (physical) stores or offices to get the latest version of your digital products.
  • Environmentally friendly digital products that do not produce waste or vehicle gas emissions. So digital products have a very low carbon footprint.

Characteristics of Digital Products

The characteristics and characteristics of digital products that you often encounter include:

  • No physical form: as previously explained, digital products do not have a physical form that can be touched. You will use another device to be able to access and utilize digital products.
  • Interactive: users can interact with the product, change settings, and provide feedback or input directly. This helps businesses to develop their products to be better.
  • Easy to get: no need to go to a store or travel far to be able to buy digital products. Simply with internet access and a device such as a smartphone, users can buy and use digital products. Examples include digital video and music content from YouTube.
  • Upgradable: the process of changing or developing digital products can be done and given easily to users. They can still use digital products while updating the application.
  • Maintenance costs are quite affordable: unlike physical products which if damaged must be taken to a service center, digital products can be repaired remotely. This will certainly reduce the cost of maintaining the product.

Types and Examples of Digital Products

According to Productfolio, here are some types of digital products and examples:

Applications or software

This type includes all types of applications on your smartphone or laptop. Starting from productivity applications, entertainment, design, social media, streaming, and others. Examples of these digital products are: Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok, Google Chrome, Microsoft Office, WhatsApp, and many more.

Digital content

Digital content comes in various types or forms, such as e-books, music, videos, articles, and podcasts. Examples of digital content are Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, online articles in the media, songs and podcasts on Spotify, and audiobooks,

Online platforms

Online platforms include various digital platforms that users use to interact with products, make transactions, and share content. Examples of online platforms include social media (Instagram, X, Facebook), e-commerce (Tokopedia, Shopee, TikTok Shop), and online marketplaces (OLX, Facebook Marketplace).

SaaS (Software as a Service)

This type of digital product is a business offering an application as a solution to their problems, and the application is managed by the business, not the user. Examples of SaaS are cloud-based collaboration tools such as Google Drive and CRM tools such as HubSpot.

Digital services

Digital services mean services offered via the internet, for example online courses (Skill Academy), telemedicine (Halodoc, Alodokter), and digital marketing services (SEO agencies and social media).

How to Market Digital Products

You can market and sell your digital products, from applications to digital services through various online channels, according to Shopify. Here are some recommendations:

  1. Online stores on e-commerce or marketplaces, you can market your brand and create interesting content for your audience.
  2. Ensure digital products on social media by creating a special account for your brand.
  3. Sell your digital products in the appropriate category in e-commerce, use the right keywords to ensure your products come out when users search.

That's a complete discussion about digital products. It can be concluded that digital products are business entities that continue to grow and have an increasingly wide market. Moreover, with the development of technology, digital platforms have also changed to meet the needs of consumers or users.

If you are interested in building and running a digital product business, follow the Prasmul-Eli short program which discusses Business Development Planning in full.

In this class, you can learn directly from experienced business people, of course also in the digital field. You will also learn how to improve your competence in creating a comprehensive business plan and its effective implementation.

Interested? Visit this page to register for the program now!

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What is Brand Development? Learn the Benefits, Creation Process, and How it's Different from Branding
12 November 2024

What do you think and feel about brands like Apple, Adidas, GoPay? Do you immediately think of innovation, trendy, and financial solutions? Well, those feelings are formed in your mind and many people thanks to an effective brand development strategy.

Brand development is known as a way to transform products and brands that were previously ordinary into having distinctive characteristics and are always remembered by many people, especially loyal consumers.

Interested in learning more about brand development? Find out the meaning, benefits, roles, and processes in the following article.

What is Brand Development?

Brand development is a strategic step in managing and developing a brand. The goal is to build long-lasting brand equity, increase brand awareness, connect emotionally with target consumers, and excel over competitors.

This strategy is an ongoing process. Because brands and businesses continue to understand the changing needs of consumers, build brand identity, convey messages effectively, and adapt when needed.

Simply put, brand development forms an identity that represents the vision, values, and image of the business. This strategy must be implemented in every product, marketing effort, and even the sales process.

Benefits of Brand Development

Some of the benefits of brand development include:

  1. increasing awareness and becoming better known to consumers
  2. supporting business development targets
  3. reaching a wide and targeted market
  4. targeting and retaining various types of consumers
  5. building brand equity and value
  6. showing brand differences and advantages from competitors
  7. conveying brand messages and values ​​clearly

The Role of Brand Development for Business

Reporting from Tiller Digital, brand development acts as an initial strategy that defines and develops many things that are needed by businesses to grow, including:

  • Brand goals that combine qualitative (creativity) and quantitative (profit) elements.
  • Brand purpose that determines the main purpose of the business, but is not limited to profit or business development. But what changes the business wants to bring to consumers, communities, and society as a whole.
  • Audience persona that contains the goals, needs, fears, and concerns of consumers that the brand tries to answer through products that are solution-oriented and effective.
  • Competitive review that describes the conditions of competitors like what they offer and the value they have. That way the brand knows how to surpass them.
  • Brand positioning that focuses on unique and special messages that represent brand values ​​in the market.
  • Brand differentiator that differentiates your brand from competitors, to be the reason why consumers should choose your product over competitors.
  • Brand character that contains brand personality and brand voice to ensure that the brand is directly connected to consumers so that the message delivered is in accordance with consumer needs.

Brand Development Process and Stages

Here are the processes and stages for creating an effective brand development strategy, reported by Dream Farm Agency:

Research and analysis

Conduct research and analysis to understand your target consumers, competitors, and current brand perception. Important data that you will get, such as:

  1. Target consumer demographics: age, class type, location, income level.
  2. Consumer needs and benefits sought.
  3. Challenges and problems that the brand can solve.
  4. Information about competitor products that are similar to yours.
  5. Analysis of branding, positioning, pricing, and others from competitor products.
  6. Weaknesses of competitor products, for example consumer problems that they have not solved.
  7. Knowing the current brand image and perception to identify gaps and opportunities that were previously not realized.

Determining brand identity

In this stage you will identify two things, namely brand personality and core values.

Brand personality

Useful for creating characters and characteristics that reflect the emotions and nature of the brand. Your brand persona must be able to attract consumers. You can create it by adjusting your business vision and mission.

Core value

You can determine three to five priorities and beliefs that control the operation and image of the brand. For example: Integrity, innovation, and sustainability. These values ​​will be priorities and guidelines when creating products or promoting them.

Developing brand positioning

After successfully determining the brand identity, you must build brand positioning. Some things you must determine:

Frame of reference

The goal is to find out the product or service category and who your main competitors are. Examples of the categories in question are:

  • smartphones and tablets
  • running shoes
  • transportation

Points of parity

Illustrate how your brand can meet the needs and expectations of consumers in the category. Examples:

  • affordable
  • best quality
  • accessible

Points of difference

What are the unique values ​​and advantages of your brand compared to competitors. Examples:

  • environmentally friendly materials
  • reduce gas emissions
  • luxurious appearance

Create brand messaging

This final stage will combine all research data, values, and brand characteristics, then use them to communicate:

Product benefits and advantages

Explain the practical functions and benefits that your brand offers to consumers. Examples:

  • save money
  • durable / tough
  • help dieting

Emotional function of the product

This emotional function must be felt by consumers after using your product or service. Examples:

  • more confident
  • calmness

Persona and tone of voice

Character, grammar, and style of language that will be used in various promotional elements of your product. For example:

  • inspiring
  • friendly

Differences between Brand Development and Branding

Many people still equate branding with brand development. Simply put, the differences between the two are:

  • Branding: only focuses on visual appearance such as logos, names, slogans, and brand colors.
  • Brand development: communicating important and profound values ​​of a brand.

That is a complete explanation of brand development that you must understand. To build this one, you need to do research, analysis, and determine clear messages and goals.

Also, make sure brand development continues to adapt and adjust to consumer targets and changes in their needs. These values ​​will help businesses determine many things such as brand purpose to brand character.

So, are you interested in learning how to do brand development properly? Learn more by joining Prasmul-Eli's short program, Strategic Brand Management.

You will gain relevant knowledge and experience directly from experts and professionals from related industries.
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What is an Audience? Know the Types, Benefits for Business, and How to Choose
11 November 2024

To ensure that your digital marketing strategy is successful and generates conversions and sales, the first step you must understand is the audience. The audience is the main target in every promotional strategy you create and they are the ones you want to turn into consumers or buyers.

In digital marketing, audience data represents the number of people who are affiliated and interested in your product or brand. Therefore, in this article, understand more about the audience.

Starting from the meaning, types, functions, advantages, to how to choose it.

Understanding Audience

An audience is a group of people who interact with you through digital marketing platforms such as social media, email marketing, to blog articles. Harvard Business Review explains that this group of audiences is interested in the content or promotional strategies you create. So they have the potential to become buyers of the products and services you offer.

The audience is willing to read articles, watch videos, and listen to podcasts that you create or are related to the products being sold. They also come from various ages, genders, jobs, lifestyles, preferences, and needs.

However, it is not enough to just have an audience, because for a business strategy or digital marketing, you need a target audience. In digital marketing, target audience is a set of data that you must have before creating a content or promotion strategy.

Some important data about your audience are demographics, customer behavior, and consumer motivations.

In simple terms, here is an explanation of the three data:

  • Demographics: detailed and specific information about the audience, such as age, gender, occupation, and lifestyle.
  • Customer behavior: information about consumer habits or behavior related to your product, such as audience interaction on the site, email marketing open rates, to how often they buy products.
  • Consumer motivations: information related to preferences or what they are looking for from your product. Examples are status/image, product value, to the convenience of using the product.

Types of Audiences

According to FPPT, here are five types of audiences:

Neutral audiences

Neutral audiences are those who recognize your brand and content, but have not decided whether they will like it or not. They only interact by seeing or hearing.

This audience group can be potential consumers, and they can also not. They must be convinced through different types of content from your competitors.

Conflicting audiences

Conflicting audiences are those who don't like your brand and content, but still interact by watching, listening, commenting, and leaving direct messages (DM) on social media accounts.

This type of audience can become potential consumers if there is a change in their minds and perceptions about your product.

Expert audiences

Expert audiences are a group of people who have been exposed to your content or brand on social media, the internet, or in public places. They are people who have knowledge about your brand image and are familiar with your product.

They are potential target audiences that you can target in new digital marketing strategies.

Lay audience

Unlike the previous type, lay audiences are those who do not know your brand and have never been exposed to or interacted with your content at all.

They can be potential target audiences, because their demographics are usually wider.

Business audience

Business audiences are related to B2B businesses. This means that if your brand and content offer products or services that can be used by other businesses, this type of audience should be your target audience.

They are other businesses or brands that need the help of your products or services to operate.

Audience Function

  1. Helps the process of determining the type, topic, and form of content to be created.
  2. Increase the number of interactions on the content you create. (both positive and negative).
  3. Become important data for planning new digital marketing efforts.
  4. Helps you group who can be the main target audience.
  5. Helps understand the need for your products or services.
  6. Recognize the benefits of your products and services in society.

Audience Benefits for Business

  • Become potential consumers who will buy your products and use your services.
  • Become a free promotion channel through word of mouth and their interactions on your content.
  • Build a specific target audience that is in accordance with the products or services you have.
  • Help businesses identify competitors with similar products and industries.
  • Increase business revenue and profits when they become loyal consumers.

How to Choose a Target Audience for Business

Quoting Nielseniq, here are some easy steps to choose and build a target audience for your brand.

  1. Analyze their interactions on social media content, blog articles, and your DMs.
  2. Understand their needs and demands, then adjust them to the function of your product.
  3. Do keyword research that is widely used in relation to your product.
  4. Create a survey related to your content and products to the audience.
  5. Do a review and analysis of your competitors.

It can be concluded that the audience is a group that determines the success of your digital marketing efforts.

They will interact such as watching, listening, commenting, leaving DMs, and sharing your content. Later, you can choose this audience again to be a more specific target audience according to the type of your product or service.

Audience is closely related to the world of digital marketing, so you must understand more about them. Also find out what marketing channels and types of content can reach them.

You can get all this information through the Digital Marketing Fundamental short program from prasmul-eli.
This short program is filled by digital marketing experts and professionals who are ready to share knowledge and best practices of digital marketing for you. Click here to register for the program!

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SEO Learning Guide: Easy Steps and Beginner Mistakes to Avoid
08 November 2024

Learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a crucial step for anyone who wants to increase the visibility of their website in search engines. SEO focuses on how to improve a website's ranking so that it is easier for internet users to find it, especially through organic search results.

Although it looks complicated, learning SEO can be done by anyone, as long as they have the will to learn and practice. However, many beginners often get caught up in several mistakes that can actually be avoided.

This article will discuss how to learn SEO and common mistakes that are often made by beginners.

How to Learn SEO for Beginners

Learn the Basic Concepts of SEO

The first step in learning SEO is to understand the basic concepts. SEO consists of three main elements:

  • On-Page SEO: All optimizations carried out on the website itself, including URL structure, keyword usage, meta tags, and others.
  • Off-Page SEO: Strategies used outside the website, such as backlinks from other trusted websites.
  • Technical SEO: Involves technical matters that affect website rankings, such as mobile-friendliness, data structure, and website security (HTTPS).

Understanding these differences will help you determine the steps needed to improve your website's ranking.

Taking Online Courses and Reading Trusted SEO Blogs

There are many online SEO courses, both free and paid, that can help you learn the basics and strategies of SEO in more depth.

Several popular platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, and Google Digital Garage offer free SEO courses that are suitable for beginners. In addition, reading blogs managed by SEO experts can also increase your insight.

Using SEO Tools

SEO tools are an important weapon for anyone who wants to optimize their website.

There are several SEO tools that can be used to analyze website performance and find areas that need improvement. Some of them are Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Ahrefs.

Tools like these can help you measure traffic, check for technical errors, and analyze the most relevant keywords for your website.

Understanding Keyword Research

Keyword research is one of the most important aspects of SEO. You need to understand the most relevant keywords for your niche or industry.

There are several tools that can help you find keywords that have high search volume and moderate competition. These tools are like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, or SEMrush.

After finding the right keywords, the next step is to optimize the website content with those keywords, but without doing keyword stuffing

Practice and Evaluate Results

SEO is not something that can be learned only from theory. You need to practice what you have learned and continue to monitor the results.

After doing the optimization, evaluate the results through Google Search Console or Google Analytics. The evaluation can be done by seeing how the changes you made affect your website ranking.

Consistent practice and regular evaluation will help you learn from your mistakes and continuously improve your website's SEO performance.

Mistakes That Beginners Often Make in Learning SEO

Ignoring User Experience

Many beginners only focus on the use of keywords and forget about the user experience (UX) factor.

Search engines, especially Google, highly value websites that provide a good user experience. Things like fast loading times, easy navigation, and mobile-friendly designs can attract users to come back.

If users are uncomfortable browsing a website, they tend to leave it, which will ultimately hurt your website's ranking.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is the practice of inserting too many keywords in one article in the hope of increasing its ranking in search engines.

In fact, Google's algorithm is getting smarter at recognizing articles that are written for humans, not just for search engines. Using too many keywords can make content look unnatural and actually reduce the credibility of the website.

Ignoring Mobile Optimization

Many beginners only focus on the desktop appearance of their website, even though more and more people are accessing the internet via mobile devices.

Google now uses mobile-first indexing, which means that the search engine prioritizes the mobile version of a website when determining rankings. If your website is not responsive or optimized for mobile devices, you risk losing a lot of potential visitors.

Not Paying Attention to Quality Backlinks

Backlinks, or links from other websites to your website, are one of the important factors in off-page SEO. However, a common mistake that beginners make is focusing on the number of backlinks rather than their quality.

Some beginners even buy backlinks from low-quality websites. In fact, backlinks from irrelevant websites or those with bad reputations can actually damage your website's reputation in the eyes of Google.

Forgetting Quality Content

Beginners often focus too much on the technical aspects of SEO that they forget the importance of quality content. In fact, useful and relevant content is one of the main factors that makes visitors feel at home on a website.

Interesting and informative content will more easily get natural backlinks, be shared by visitors, and be more appreciated by search engines.

Impatient with SEO Results

SEO is a long-term strategy and many beginners are impatient to wait for the results. They expect the website ranking to go up immediately after a few days of optimization.

In fact, it takes months or even longer to see significant results. This impatience often makes beginners give up halfway or try quick tactics (black hat SEO) that are dangerous and can get their website penalized by Google.

Learning SEO does take time, patience, and consistent practice. Start by understanding the basic concepts of SEO, using the right tools, and paying attention to user experience and quality content.

Avoid common mistakes like keyword stuffing, ignoring mobile optimization, and being impatient with the results. By following the right steps and avoiding these mistakes, you will see positive developments in your website rankings faster.

However, SEO is just one of the digital marketing efforts that can be done for your business. To learn about other efforts, you can join the Digital Marketing Fundamental program from prasmul-eli.

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Regression Analysis: A Statistical Technique for Prediction and Pattern Identification
07 November 2024

Regression analysis is a statistical method used to interpret the relationship between two or more variables.

This method is very important in various fields, from business, economics, to social sciences and health. Through this analysis, we can predict the value of a variable based on the value of another variable, identify patterns, and measure the influence between variables.

This article will discuss the definition of regression analysis, the benefits and functions it offers, and examples of formulas that are often used in practice.

Definition of Regression Analysis

Regression analysis is a statistical method used to understand the relationship between one dependent variable and one or more independent variables. The main goal is to predict or estimate the value of the dependent variable based on the value of the independent variable.

This method is often used in various fields such as economics, business, health, social sciences, and many others.

In business, for example, regression analysis can be used to predict sales based on marketing budgets, product prices, or other factors. Regression analysis is also used to identify factors such as age, lifestyle, and genetics that influence disease risk in health research.

In regression analysis, there are two main types:

  • Simple Linear Regression: Involves one independent variable and one dependent variable, where the relationship between the two is represented by a straight line.
  • Multiple Linear Regression: Involves more than one independent variable to predict the dependent variable.

Benefits of Regression Analysis

Regression analysis offers many benefits in various sectors. Here are some of its main benefits:

Prediction

One of the main functions of regression analysis is to predict the value of a dependent variable based on the value of the independent variables. For example, in business, regression can be used to predict sales based on marketing budgets.

Identification of Relationships Between Variables

Regression analysis helps in identifying how strong the relationship is between the independent and dependent variables. This is useful in situations where we want to know how much influence an independent variable has on the dependent variable.

Decision Making

With a better understanding of the relationships between variables, decision making becomes more informed. For example, companies can use regression analysis to determine the factors that most affect profitability and make strategic decisions based on the results.

Hypothesis Testing

Regression analysis can be used to test the hypothesis whether a relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable actually exists, or whether it just happened by chance.

Measuring the Strength of the Relationship

Regression allows for the measurement of the strength of the relationship between variables. The results can be used to assess whether changes in the independent variable have a significant impact on the dependent variable.

Functions of Regression Analysis

In general, regression analysis has several functions that can be applied in various contexts:

Understanding Data Patterns

Regression analysis allows us to see and understand existing data patterns. Especially when we want to know if there is a trend or relationship between two or more variables.

Controlling Other Variables

In regression analysis, we can control several other variables and still see the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable. For example, in health research, regression analysis is used to see the effect of drugs on health by controlling other variables.

Validating the Model

Regression analysis can be used to validate models created with the aim of predicting or identifying relationships between variables. This is very important in developing accurate statistical models.

Identifying Outliers

Regression can also help in identifying data that is out of the general pattern (outliers). These outliers can provide additional insight into a particular phenomenon or indicate errors in data collection.

Regression Formula Examples

To better understand regression analysis, here are some examples of formulas that are often used:

Simple Linear Regression

The basic formula for simple linear regression is as follows:

y=β0+β1x+ϵ

Description:

y = dependent variable (the variable we want to predict).

x = independent variable (the predictor variable).

β0 = intercept, which is the value of y when x = 0.

β1 = slope of the regression coefficient, which indicates the average change in y for a one-unit change in x.

ϵ = error term (also known as residual), which states the deviation from the regression line; this is the difference between the observed value and the value predicted by the model. 

Multiple Linear Regression Formula

Multiple linear regression involves more than one independent variable. The basic formula is:

y=β0 + β1x1 + β2x2+⋯+ βnxn +ϵ

Description:

x1,x2,…,xn = independent variables.

β1,β2,…,βn = coefficients for each independent variable, indicating how much y is expected to change with a one-unit change in that independent variable, with the other independent variables held constant.

β0= is the intercept.

ϵ = error term.

Regression analysis is a very useful tool in scientific research, both for prediction, decision making, and understanding the relationship between variables. With its various benefits and functions, this analysis helps in identifying patterns and trends that may be difficult to see from raw data.

Regression formulas, both simple and multiple, provide a strong foundation for researchers and analysts in various fields. Especially for validating hypotheses and predicting future results.

With an understanding of regression analysis, you can more effectively use data for decision making, prediction, and research in various fields. However, this analysis is only one method in helping to make more effective decisions in the company.

Follow the Problem Solving & Decision Making program from prasmul-eli. In addition to theory, the program will also be equipped with exercises to analyze light problems to complex problems.

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Help Work Easier, Get to Know the Effective Mind Mapping Method
06 November 2024

Mind mapping is one of the thinking aids that is often used in education and professional world. The general goal is for everyone to be more focused in carrying out work and more focused thinking.

So what exactly is meant by mind mapping? Can it really be useful to support complex work? Read this article to find out the definition, benefits, and how to do mind mapping.

Definition of Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a way to capture the thought process in your head. Mind mapping helps you think, gather knowledge, remember, and create ideas.

In the work that we do every day, we often have a lot of ideas, but because they are not written down, they will become just ideas. Mind mapping can help your ideas be written down and produce information and how to process them.

Mind mapping is commonly used in brainstorming sessions, especially in education systems that require collective and organized ideas.

Benefits of Mind Mapping

In general, mind mapping helps us think more focused in dealing with a job or project. However, here are some of the benefits of mind mapping in detail that will help you do activities more effectively:

Improve Memory

By using the mind mapping concept, you will be more helped to store memories visually. That way, of course, you will be more helped to understand a concept.

Helps Understand Concepts in a Project

Mind mapping also helps us understand and simplify concepts. By understanding, of course, development in something will be easier and more focused.

Effective Problem Solving

By organizing thoughts and visual ideas, mind mapping can also help you to get a connection between problems and solutions. The result is of course that the problem solving obtained is expected to be more effective.

Better Collaboration and Communication

Mind mapping can help facilitate more effective brainstorming sessions and improve collaboration within a team.

Types of Mind Mapping That Are Often Used

After knowing about the benefits of doing mind mapping, you also need to know that its application can be done in several types.

Here are the types of mind mapping that are commonly used in a discussion or brainstorming session:

Tree Map

A tree map is a type of mind mapping that functions to describe information that has a hierarchy or regular structure.

Tree maps are usually used in situations where a topic or project requires a clear division into several levels. For example, from the main idea to the sub-ideas, then further branches to describe the details or steps required.

Bubble Map

A bubble map is a type of mind mapping that is more flexible and does not rely on a particular order or hierarchy.

This form is suitable for early brainstorming sessions, where ideas are not yet fully structured or divided into levels. In a bubble map, each idea or concept is represented by a "bubble" that can be connected to each other without hierarchical limitations.

Flow Map

A flow map is a type of mind mapping that focuses on the sequence or flow from one step to the next.

Flow maps are usually used in situations where processes or actions need to be carried out in a certain order. This map is similar to a flowchart that displays the cause-and-effect relationship or sequence of work processes from start to finish.

How to Make a Mind Map

After understanding the definition, benefits and types, of course you are interested in trying mind mapping, right? So where do you start doing mind mapping?

There are steps you can take to start using the mind mapping concept that is more effective and helps discussions and brainstorming to be more focused.

Start with the Concept

In mind mapping, make sure you put the idea or theme of the mind mapping in the top center with a large size. Doing this helps as a starting point before many ideas emerge.

Using Short Words or Keywords

Avoid using long sentences, use short sentences or keywords in mind mapping. This is to keep the mind map you create simple and lead to a more structured way of thinking.

Add Branches

From the main concept, in the mind map you create, add branches as sub-topics of related ideas. The branches you create in this mind mapping technique will help organize information.

Use Colors and Images

Using various colors and images makes the mind map more visually appealing and makes information easier to enter the brain. There is a survey that states that the diversity of colors and shapes will help someone absorb information faster.

Explore Topics and Branches

When starting to do mind mapping, explore topics and add them as branches or sub-topics. By doing these two techniques will definitely help you to organize information and better understand the concept.

Mind mapping is an effective tool to help visualize the thought process, organize ideas, and solve problems more focused. By using it, someone can simplify complex concepts, improve memory, and facilitate collaboration and communication within a team.

Mind mapping is also available in various types that are suitable for different needs in brainstorming and projects.

However, mind mapping is just one of many techniques that can make work more effective. There are many other thinking or problem-solving techniques that you can learn to make work or activities more effective.

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Unraveling Consumer Behavior: The Right Way to Understand Your Target Market
04 November 2024

Consumer behavior is the study of how individuals, groups, or organizations make decisions to buy, use, or dispose of goods and services.

In the world of business and marketing, understanding consumer behavior is essential to designing effective strategies to meet the needs and wants of the target market.

To understand the definition, influencing factors, benefits, types, models, and examples, see the article below.

Definition of Consumer Behavior

In general, consumer behavior includes all actions taken by consumers.

Starting from before the purchase, during use, to after consuming a product or service. It also includes the mental, emotional, and physical processes that consumers go through in deciding to buy a particular product.

Understanding consumer behavior helps companies design more relevant products, determine the right price, adjust promotions and many other benefits. The better the understanding of consumer behavior, the greater the company's chances of influencing their purchasing decisions.

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is influenced by various factors that can be grouped into four main categories:

Personal Factors

Factors such as age, income, education, occupation, lifestyle, and social status play an important role in purchasing decisions. For example, a young person tends to choose trendy products, while an older person is more likely to prioritize product quality and reliability.

Psychological Factors

Psychological factors include consumer motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes.

For example, a person who is motivated to improve their health is more likely to buy organic food products. Perceptions about a brand or product can also influence how consumers evaluate it.

Social Factors

Family, friends, status in social groups, and public opinion play a major role in shaping consumer purchasing decisions. When buying something, a person is often influenced by recommendations from people around them, either directly or through social media.

Cultural Factors

The cultural values, norms, beliefs, and traditions that a person adheres to greatly influence their shopping behavior. For example, consumers in Western countries may focus more on individualism, while those in Asia pay more attention to the community aspect in choosing products.

Benefits of Understanding Consumer Behavior

A deep understanding of consumer behavior brings many benefits to companies and business people. Some of the main benefits include:

Improved Marketing Strategy

By understanding consumer preferences and habits, companies can create more targeted marketing strategies. For example, companies can create relevant advertising campaigns, identify the right distribution channels, or offer products that suit consumers.

More Relevant Product Development

Understanding consumer needs and expectations allows companies to design better and more relevant products. This increases customer satisfaction and strengthens brand loyalty.

More Accurate Business Decision Making

Knowledge of consumer behavior helps companies make more informed decisions based on data and analysis. This will reduce the risk of product failure in the market.

Increase Consumer Loyalty

Consumers who feel that a product or service is in accordance with their wants and needs tend to become loyal customers. By understanding consumer behavior, companies can create a more personalized and satisfying experience for customers.

Types of Consumer Behavior

There are several different types of consumer behavior based on the complexity of the purchase decision:

Complex Buying Behavior

Consumers make purchases after careful consideration because the product is expensive, purchased infrequently, and has a significant impact on their lives. For example, buying a house or a car.

Variation Buying Behavior

Consumers often try products that are different from the brands they have purchased previously in order to find variety. This can happen even if they are satisfied with the products they usually buy.

For example, consumers who buy different brands of snacks even though they are not disappointed with their previous choices.

Habitual Buying Behavior

Consumers routinely buy products without much consideration or comparison. This often occurs with everyday products, such as toothpaste, soap, or detergent.

Dissonance-Based Buying Behavior

In this situation, consumers experience uncertainty or doubt after purchasing an expensive or important product. They may seek support from other sources to ensure that their purchasing decision is correct.

Consumer Behavior Models

There are several models that are often used to understand consumer behavior, including:

Stimulus-Response Model

This model describes how environmental stimuli (stimuli) affect consumer responses. Factors such as price, promotion, and brand act as stimuli that can trigger purchasing actions.

AIDA Model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action)

The AIDA model is a marketing model that describes the psychological stages of consumers from initial interest to the decision to make a purchase. AIDA is an acronym for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.

Black Box Model

This model emphasizes that the consumer decision-making process is a black box that is difficult for marketers to see directly. Factors such as culture, psychology, and personal experiences influence consumer decisions, which are ultimately reflected in their actions.

Example of Consumer Behavior

For example, in the skincare industry, consumer behavior is heavily influenced by trends, product reviews, and recommendations from influencers on social media.

A consumer may be interested in a product because they see an influencer's recommendation, then consider the benefits and content of the product before deciding to buy. They may also check reviews from other users before making a final decision.

Understanding consumer behavior is key to business success. By analyzing this one thing, companies can create more relevant products and services, and design more effective marketing strategies.

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  • Customer Satisfaction
  • Customer Value
  • Servuction System
  • Service profit chain
  • 8Ps for customer Satisfaction
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Customer Loyalty Ladder
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Share of Wallet
  • Cross Sell and Up Sell

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Effective Strategies for Developing Terms of Reference (ToR): Definition, Components, and Practical Steps
01 November 2024

Terms of Reference (ToR) are an important element in project planning. In addition, this one thing also serves as a reference for all parties involved to understand the objectives, responsibilities, and expected results.

With clear and comprehensive documents, the potential for misunderstanding can be minimized, so that the project can run smoothly and according to target.

So, what exactly is meant by Terms of Reference, what are the components in it, and how to compile it effectively? All are explained in this article.

Definition of Terms of Reference (ToR)

Terms of Reference (ToR) is a document that explains in detail the objectives, scope, and implementation methods of a project. ToR functions as a guideline that helps the project team or stakeholders understand the context and scope of the work to be carried out.

This is very important in the world of business, government, and non-profit organizations. ToR is an effort to ensure that everyone has the same understanding of what, why, and how to do something.

Main Components in Terms of Reference (ToR)

This document generally has several important components that must be explained in detail. The following are the main components of the Terms of Reference:

Title and Background

This section contains the title of the project or activity, as well as the background of why this activity is needed.

This section explains the context of the project, including the problem to be addressed, the opportunity to be taken, or the need to be met. The background helps the reader understand the relevance and urgency of the project.

Objectives

The objectives of the project or activity are clearly stated in this section.

Usually, objectives are divided into two: general objectives and specific objectives. General objectives describe the broader results to be achieved, while specific objectives are the concrete and measurable results expected from the implementation of the activity.

Scope of Work

This section explains the boundaries and areas in which the project will operate. It includes details of the tasks or activities to be carried out, as well as the geographical scope, time, and resources available.

The scope must be clearly described to avoid confusion or differences in interpretation during the project.

Methodology

The methodology section explains how the project or activity will be implemented.

This methodology can include data collection methods, analysis techniques, and approaches used to achieve the stated objectives. The methodology should also reflect the team's capacity and available resources.

Implementation Team and Responsibilities

This section provides details about who is involved in the project and the roles and responsibilities of each individual or team. A clear division of responsibilities will help prevent confusion and increase the efficiency of project implementation.

Implementation Schedule

Here, the project implementation schedule or timeline is listed in detail.

This schedule usually includes important stages (milestones) in the project, deadlines, and who is responsible for each stage. This schedule is important to ensure that the project runs according to plan and everyone knows when their tasks must be completed.

Resources and Budget

This section details the resources needed to implement the project, including human resources, equipment, and budget needed.

The budget plan must be realistic and detailed, covering all relevant operational and non-operational aspects. In addition, it is also important to include the source of funds and who is responsible for managing the budget.

Expected Results (Deliverables)

Deliverables are the final products or expected results of a project or activity.

This section should clearly explain what the expected outputs are, whether in the form of reports, documents, or other relevant products. These deliverables will be the benchmark for evaluating the success of the project.

Risks and Mitigation

In a good Term of Reference, there needs to be an identification of risks that may occur during the implementation of the project, both technical, financial, and managerial risks. In addition, a risk mitigation plan is needed, namely the steps that will be taken to reduce the impact of the risk if it occurs.

Evaluation and Monitoring

The ToR must also include how the project evaluation and monitoring will be carried out.

Evaluation aims to assess the success of the project in achieving its objectives, while monitoring is carried out continuously to ensure the project is running according to plan.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) need to be determined so that evaluation can be carried out objectively.

Stakeholder Involvement

This section explains who are the parties involved or affected by the project, and how they will participate in the implementation of activities.

Stakeholder involvement is important to ensure that the project gets the necessary support and responds to relevant needs.

How to Create Terms of Reference (ToR)

Preparing this document requires several important steps to ensure that the ToR can be a comprehensive and easy-to-understand guide. The following are the steps to create a good Terms of Reference:

Identify Project Needs and Objectives

The first step is to clearly understand why the project or activity is needed. This can involve discussions with stakeholders, data collection, or situational analysis to determine the problems or opportunities faced.

Formulate Background and Objectives

After understanding the project needs, formulate the background and objectives of the project.

Briefly explain the situation or problem to be addressed, and what is expected from this project. Create specific, measurable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives.

Determine Scope and Methodology

The scope and methodology must be described in detail and clearly.

Determine the project boundaries and how the project will be carried out, including the technical approach to be used. Make sure the methodology chosen is in accordance with the team's capabilities and available resources.

Form a Team and Responsibilities

Identify who will be responsible for each stage of the project. The division of roles and responsibilities must be done clearly to ensure there is no overlap or confusion during the implementation of the project.

Create an Implementation Schedule and Budget Plan

Create a project implementation schedule by listing the milestones and deadlines that must be achieved. In addition, also prepare a detailed budget plan, including all the necessary resource requirements.

Identify Risks and Mitigation Plans

In preparing the ToR, it is important to consider the risks that may arise during the project. List risks and mitigation plans so that the team can be better prepared for potential problems.

Define Deliverables and Success Indicators

Make sure the project deliverables are clearly stated, and create key indicators to measure the success of the project. These indicators will help the team to objectively evaluate the project's achievements.

Get Input from Stakeholders

Before the ToR is ratified, make sure to get input from relevant stakeholders. This is important to ensure that the document covers all important aspects and has full support from all parties involved.

With a clear and detailed ToR, project implementation will be more focused, efficient, and measurable. Terms of Reference are not only technical guidelines, but also communication tools that connect all stakeholders in achieving common goals.

Preparing a ToR is just one of many aspects of project management. Join the Project Management 101: Waterfall and Agile program from prasmul-eli, to learn about other aspects.

Takes place in two days. This ISO 9001:2015 certified program has 10 discussions that include:

  • Project Management Fundamentals
  • Define Project Objective
  • Develop Scope of Work
  • Develop Project Schedule
  • Manage Risk
  • Introduction to Agile
  • Agile Mindset
  • Various Agile Practices
  • Deep Dive Scrum Framework
  • Simulate Sprint

Are you interested? Register yourself now!