Category: Business

Should You Invest in Stocks?

The stock market has a reputation for being risky, and it’s easy to see why. It fluctuates constantly and is impacted by a whole range of global factors. Even the savviest stockbroker can’t always predict stock market trends, and if you don’t have a background in finance, then you could lose a lot of money by day trading. 

On the other hand, investing in a diverse portfolio of shares over the long-term can give you great returns, far better than the banks’ savings rates or government bond yields. You’ll need to do your research on the companies you want to invest in and then check on them periodically (usually annually) to make sure they’re still on the right track. Most importantly, you have to be able to ride the ups and downs and keep a long-term perspective. If each small dip in the market causes you to panic, then stocks may not be the best investment for you.

Alternative Investments

Business ownership

Business ownership doesn’t always mean that you’re running a small business. Rather you could be investing in someone else’s business. In exchange for the capital you provide, you receive a stake in the company, which means you’re entitled to a share of the profits.

Of course, the downside of being in a business partnership, even a silent one, is that you’re also liable for the business’ losses and debts. For this reason, it’s critical that you only invest in a small business if you trust your business partner to operate the business in a profitable way.

Real estate

Many people are drawn to invest in real estate because they’re buying an asset they can see with their own eyes. Moreover, most people have a good understanding of how the property market works, either because they own their own home or they have rented in the past. Banks offer a range of mortgage products targeted at investors, which enable them to use the equity in their homes as collateral for their investment property.

Don’t jump the gun yet, though. Burning hard-earned money isn’t fun and will likely get you into future troubles. And owning and maintaining your property can get costly. Avoid potential pitfalls by looking for other options to invest in real estate.

These days, you can invest in real estate without buying property through real estate investment funds (REITs), real estate sponsors, and crowdfunding platforms. However, doing your due diligence is fundamental to ensure you’re putting your money in the right place. Go on the internet, and look up sponsor feedback and grades. This way, you’ll get a clue on where to trust your money, what to avoid, and how to invest in the right deals.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Peer-to-Peer lending (P2P) is quite new, but the industry is growing fast. P2P platforms are online services that connect investors with borrowers.  If you’re worried about investing your money in the stock market, there are plenty of other investment options available.

When you sign up, you can decide how much risk you want to take on and the minimum credit score you want the borrower to have. The platform then pools your money with other like-minded investors and issues loans to borrowers. The borrower makes repayments to the platform, and the P2P platform divides the repayments up so that each investor receives their share.

Because all this happens online, the transactional costs are quite low compared to other forms of investment.

Precious metals

Many people mistakenly think that precious metals, such as gold and silver, are a safe investment. This is, in part, because people are comforted by the tangible nature of the investment and partially because they have inherited the belief from their parents.

In fact, precious metals also fluctuate in value and are loosely correlated with exchange rates. The only time that precious metals are a safe bet is if the economy collapses altogether so that people move away from money and start using gold as currency.

Downsides to Alternative Investments

Alternative investments have many of the downsides that shares have; they can lose value or simply not earn enough to keep up with inflation. However, there can be a few other risks involved. 

Firstly, if you are investing in a business or property, it will likely take up a sizeable portion of your savings. Essentially this means you are putting all your eggs into one basket instead of investing in a diverse range of assets.

Secondly, tangible assets come with their own risks, such as fire, flood, burglary, or mismanagement.

Thirdly, it can be difficult to get your capital back quickly. For example, it can be hard to sell a portion of a business, and selling a house can take months especially if need it to pay medical bills for a critical illness. The stock market, on the other hand, allows you to move funds more easily.

The Bottom Line

Whether you should invest in the stock market depends on your situation. Just remember there are plenty of other options available for you to make the most of your savings.

Greg is the President of Dundas Life, a digital life insurance brokerage. Dundas Life empowers people to make better financial decisions for their loved ones, and to know the peace of mind that life insurance ownership can bring.

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How often have you found yourself in the middle of congestion at the society gate or come across incidents of unwanted visitors knocking on the door to your utter surprise? 

Still worse, if you’re a part of the managing committee, you may have consistently faced the issue of financial mismanagement and delayed maintenance payments from the residents. 

Let’s explore some simple and elegant solutions to such pesky problems. 

For Gate Security

 

• Fortify the access points

 

Whether due to Covid-19 or any other reason, patrolling the gate perimeters is crucial as there’s no telling when the next super spreader or a random intruder/solicitor can gain entry into your society.  

Place security guards in full PPE at the main entry and exit points of your gated complex. It’s advisable to arm them with extra gear like batons, tasers or pepper spray if the neighborhood is strewn with unwanted lurkers. 

It may be a good idea to provide them with a digital copy of the license plate numbers of the residents as well as regular visitor vehicles like the water tanker providers and other vendors so that if any suspicious vehicle or imposter tries to enter, they can further probe them. 

An intelligent society management app like MyGate is equipped with a state of the art passcode verification system that allows entry to visitors who have been pre-approved by the residents, including guests, rental cabs and delivery men. No need for pen and paper registration. 

 

• Use technology to monitor movement

Once the visitor is in the premises, they’re required to leave once the purpose of the visit is served instead of lingering. This includes repairmen, hired labour and delivery men. 

Strategically placed high resolution fixed pole cameras can help track the movement of visitors within the premises. If a society is investing in CCTV surveillance, they may as well figure out the spots inside the society from where a 360° view can be found. 

Another way is to use the ‘Overstay Alert’ feature in society management apps that can alert the guard when a visitor (not including guests) has not left the premises despite the expected timeframe. Additionally, face recognition technology in such apps can take guard attendance without the need to physically verify it, while also registering the entry time of domestic help and relaying it to the residents. 

 

• Use trusted delivery services

 

Tie up with local grocery and daily needs suppliers whom you trust, making sure that they provide daily essentials after following the necessary sanitization protocols. 

Pro tip: Use the ‘leave at gate’ feature in MyGate to have the parcel with the guard which you can collect after passcode verification.

Society management apps have tie-ups with trusted food, medicine and grocery vendors, an option you can use to further secure and monitor incoming traffic. 

For Financial Management

 

• Streamline monthly payments

 

A housing society is often burdened with the problem of late maintenance payments which in turn delays payments to services like common light bills and staff payments. Not every society has extra funds lying around to offset late payments from the residents. 

Going to every household to collect monthly maintenance bills is unnecessary when you can simply have them transfer the funds online via society management apps. But you’ll first need to set a timeframe for residents to pay (e.g. by the 5th of every month), after which you can send auto reminders to the residents if the payments haven’t been received. 

Even if you weren’t using a society management app, you could always follow the same procedure and send reminders on society group chats manually. 

Another way to ensure that payments flow in regularly is by setting a penalty for late payments and defaulters, (the amount and calculations can be predefined on MyGate accounting suite). 

Societies that integrate digital payments and streamline the process of setting up reminders have noticed that at least 80-90% of payments are paid on time once the residents are alerted and penalized for late payments. 

 

• Create monthly budgets

 

A society has several expenses on a monthly basis such as staff/guard payments, common utilities payments, amenities management, running composting units, landscaping maintenance, along with other expenses like cleaning supplies, not to mention petty expenses. It’s a best practice to set aside a monthly budget after calculating how much money is generated from maintenance payments. Conversely, it’s also acceptable to pay for the services first and then charge the amount in the maintenance invoice. However, it’s a good idea to have a budget formed in advance so that no resident feels like they’re being overcharged.

End-to-end accounting suite has easy to use templates for expense and income sheets and pre-built calculations that can make accounting automation simpler and more efficient. 

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Being a successful startup founder isn’t an easy task. Countless hopeful entrepreneurs aspire to establish their own thriving startup, but ultimately very few are successful. According to CNBC, hundreds of thousands of new U.S. businesses launch monthly, and about a quarter of the new businesses fail within their first year.

Aiming to Get It Right

With a large fraction of new businesses failing, many entrepreneurs may be wondering how they can avoid this fate. There are many ways a startup founder can and, often do, go wrong, such as running out of cash or trying to build a product that the market doesn’t need. But what can startup founders do to get it right?

There are several key qualities that startup founders may possess, but it is the combination of these qualities and the synergies they create that is crucial. Being a successful entrepreneur may come down to a “perfect storm,” like having the right idea at the right time, fueled by passion and backed by focus.

Teamwork Over Individualism

Startup founders don’t have to and shouldn’t do everything on their own. It’s important to understand their individual strengths and weaknesses and how each member of the team contributes to the bigger picture, so they can delegate accordingly. By working with a dynamic, creative team of visionaries with different backgrounds, strengths and weaknesses, startup founders are able to create a well-rounded team that possesses the best qualities of every member.

A great team will have trust and respect, diversity and healthy communication. Successful startup founders will work with their team to create an environment that balances all of these elements for the success of their business.

Risks and Failures

One of the most important things for a successful startup founder to possess is an understanding of the value in their risks and failures. Failure is a necessary part of achieving success. Smart founders will accept failure, learn from it and continue striving for success. It may be scary to make risky decisions, but foregoing risks altogether may also mean foregoing reward.

After studying various entrepreneurs, William Kerr, a professor at Harvard Business School, found entrepreneurs are more willing to tolerate some level of risk, as long as it is informed and calculated. The study by Kerr determined that entrepreneurs felt a sense of control over the outcomes of situations in their lives and felt more capable of delivering favorable outcomes..

Startup Studio Insider designed a graphic depicting the top eight qualities of successful startup founders. A few of the qualities mentioned include how startup founders always seek opportunities to disrupt and innovate, strive to understand tactical work, and view challenges as opportunities.

These are some key qualities successful startup founders possess, but there are always more qualities that can make you successful in your startup endeavors. Think you fit the criteria? Learn more about startup founders and what it takes to launch a successful startup at Startup Studio Insider on Medium.

Online term insurance is a hands-down way to secure your family’s financial future. Ever since its evolution in the year 2009, it has helped many families through their financial problems and taken charge of covering their economic uncertainties. 

An Online term plan offers a hassle-free, stress-free and secure future with numerous benefits. If you have been planning to obtain one for your family, make sure to consider a few essential factors first. 

Here are the 5 things to consider when buying online term insurance: 

Start with the basic version.

The main reason why people opt for online term insurance is to secure their family’s financial future. A base policy ensures the same. In case of your death under any circumstance, it promises to cover your family’s financial stability. Although other procedures may be equally luring, they are designed for specific situations that may not always come in handy. That is why you should start with a basic policy first to ensure the primary aspect of it. 

Don’t hide information from the insurers. 

Many people have resorted to lying to claim their desired insurance plan. But that is a dangerous way of dealing with this. If you lie about your health or your family’s health to the insurer, it can impact your premium plans gravely. Whether you have undergone operations, or your family suffers from a severe illness, be specific and honest to your insurer. That is how you can gain premiums for your online term plan. Remember to consider both your past and present illnesses when telling your insurers about your health. Such information is essential. 

Single premium policies are not a good idea. 

Single premium policies are restrictive. Thus, when your insurer asks you about which plan you would like to buy, do not choose a single premium policy for its affordability. They will not render much use. Instead, go for the yearly premiums to prove to be more useful in the long run. 

Buy the plan as early as possible. 

In most cases, people tend to take their own time before buying the online term plan. The truth is that the more you delay, the more premium prices keep increasing. Since no specific age is specified for purchasing the plan, you should accept it as early as possible. So, you can have a secure future in your hands and be care-free from thereon. 

Do not overthink 

There is no need to overanalyze the situation and hesitate upon buying an online term plan. They are highly reliable and affordable for your future. So, it is wise to buy the plan as soon as possible without a second thought. Remember, premiums can increase between 4-8% every year. So, what is the delay worth? 

The Bottom Line 

 Term Insurance Plan is a potential solution to all your future financial problems. If you have a large family to take care of, this plan will help secure their future without hindrance. So, why keep waiting? Get your hands on one right away to have a stress-free life ahead. 

Businesses and other organizations may need extra space from time to time. Since building new structures may be extremely costly and time-consuming, temporary steel buildings are often the best option that a company can choose. Whether they need for temporary buildings is for production, storing raw materials or finished goods, etc., an option is probably available

Typically, temporary steel buildings are made of an aluminum frame and a roof made from 40 mm steel; This offers better insulation compared to PVC-covered temporary shelters. Thanks to their insulation, they work perfectly for buildings in which staff work, or there is storage or production of temperature-sensitive items.

People choose semi-permanent buildings, especially made of steel, for many reasons, and this article looks at some of them.

Easy Installation and disassembling

One of the most significant benefits of temporary steel buildings is that they are fast to assemble and equally fast to dismantle. As such, they make perfect relocatable buildings for those organizations that need extra space for a short period or need to relocate their structures afterward, maybe to set up operations in a new location. Construction firms, businesses in need of temporary showrooms, or short-term processing structures can find temporary steel buildings very useful. Due to the ease of assembly and later disassembly, they reduce costs because there are no material losses nor any need to rent permanent structures.

Provide excellent stability and protection

The materials used to make temporary steel buildings are sturdy and make the structure stable. Aluminum is a light yet strong metal so using it for the frames is a great choice. Additionally, the steel roofing and wall cladding add to the stability of these semi-permanent buildings. Moreover, the insulation from the roofing material and wall coverings keeps out the elements offering protection to anything that may have been stored in them.

If you need the temporary buildings for any temperature-sensitive processes or will employ people working in them, you can hop over to these guys and place your customized order. Smart Space is the leading provider of temporary building solutions in the UK and has experience spanning over 30 years. Spart Space will deliver and help you install the structure so your operations run smoothly.

They are cost-effective space solutions

Temporary steel buildings are affordable solutions for individuals, businesses, and other users. Firstly, those in need can hire these semi-permanent buildings for a short period on pre-determined hire agreements when they need them; hence avoiding any need for permanent structures they may not use for long and which are costly to put up. The users can also choose to buy the steel structures with a buy-back option agreed with the seller.

Another way relocatable building saves costs is by making it possible to move them from one location to another. In this way, the business can operate without any space problems across its various sites. Also, it avoids environmental harm often associated with permanent buildings.

Additionally, temporary steel buildings have clear panels as part of the roof cladding which allows for natural light, thus cutting lighting costs. The insulation also reduces excess heating or cooling bills, saving on air conditioning costs. Besides, the erection of these buildings does not require any foundation or footings.

Conclusion

Other than the reasons above, temporary steel buildings are customizable to suit their users’ needs, making them a good choice. They are also versatile and allow the owners to put them to multiple uses eliminating the need for new buildings every time a different need arises, such as storage, manufacturing or even a showroom.

One of the biggest hurdles for contractors, regardless of experience, is deciding between charging an hourly rate or a daily rate. On the one hand, hourly rates can be more financially beneficial, but on the other, daily rates make things streamlined and straightforward.

There is no particular gold standard for contractors to value their time and expertise, as both rates have their advantages and disadvantages. The only real constant is the need for contractors to do their own research, and weigh the available options’ pros and cons.

Read on for a guide on contractor rates, so that you can make this all-important decision better informed and improve your take home pay.

Research your industry

One of the core parts of making this decision is research. It goes without saying that industries can vary significantly from one another, with contract hire rates being one key difference. The price you end up charging will often dictate whether you charge an hourly or a daily rate, so it is vital to have a good idea.

To ensure your rate is reasonable for your sector, assess what the average hire rate is for contractors in your industry. Not only will this give you a good feel for what price is acceptable, but you will also be able to use this information to put yourself in a competitive position for securing work.

Also note that you could decide to charge a fixed rate. As opposed to hourly or daily rates where you charge for your time, a fixed rate is simply quoting for the job as a whole. It can sometimes be quite difficult to accurately assess how much time a contract will take and how much you should charge, so using this kind of rate might not be suitable for less experienced contractors.

Be careful not to mischarge

Doing research into your industry’s rates is invaluable, as without doing so, you risk quoting the wrong amount for your services. By quoting a low price, you might well find yourself with lots of work, but you risk selling yourself short. Competitive rates can be a great way for newer contractors to get started, however too low waste your time. Charging too much can have the opposite effect, with potential clients dismissing your quote at first glance.

While awareness of the average hire rates in your industry is undoubtedly a good thing, you should keep in mind your skill and experience level. Contractors that excel in their field are often worth the premium fee, so don’t think you must necessarily stick to the average rates if you can bring higher quality service to the table.

The pros and cons of an hourly rate vs. a daily rate

After doing the research into your industry, you should have a general idea of what you will charge. With this in mind, deciding upon an hourly rate vs. daily rate is the next step.

Daily rate

While only a rule of thumb, contractors looking to charge over £40 an hour are generally best suited to charging a daily rate, though do keep in mind that it isn’t always as simple as that.

True to the name, a daily rate will see you paid for a number of days, rather than a number of hours. This can be ideal for contractors looking for simplicity in pricing or prefer to have less pressure from a client mindful of their budget.

From a client’s perspective, a contractor charging a daily rate can be appealing as time is much more flexible. Should they need to ask for overtime, they can do so without worrying about a heftier bill at the end of the job. Additionally, a higher daily rate can be less psychologically off-putting for a prospective client, in contrast to a high hourly rate.

The main downside for daily rates is, unfortunately, the ease with which contractors can be taken advantage of under the system. As the price is for the day, there are instances where a contractor could be asked to put in unreasonable amounts of overtime. However, the easy fix for this is to charge an hourly rate, where you would at least be compensated should overtime be needed.

Hourly rate

As it stands, hourly rates are the most common rate charged by contractors. They reduce the likelihood of being asked for extra hours, and increase earnings should they be required. If the work does need overtime, the manager would need to give the go-ahead, which means you won’t typically have to worry about last-minute additions to your workload.

Broadly speaking, hourly rates are the rate of choice as it is expressly clear what is expected from everyone involved. Provided the contractor sticks to the agreed time schedule, it is easy to form a good working relationship and breeze through the contract with few, if any, issues.

Which to choose?

There is no one size fits all answer to this question, as much as we would prefer otherwise, since it is almost entirely dependent on your situation.

Hourly rates can be ideal, as all parties know exactly what is expected from the beginning. Provided the time schedule is met, and progress is in line with what the client expects, using this rate can be fairly straightforward.

Conversely, a daily rate offers a good degree of simplicity, and lessens the time pressure faced under an hourly rate. Hourly rates are sometimes criticised as providing an incentive to work at a slower pace, which isn’t the case when charging a daily rate.

Ultimately, the decision between charging an hourly rate vs. a daily rate is best left to you, given how dependent it is on your situation and how you prefer to work. Provided you do your research and keep client preferences in mind, you will be able to choose the best fit for you and your business. Remember, you aren’t locked into a particular rate, you can always change from contract to contract as necessary.

Various lifestyle disorders are not only becoming rampant in the present time, but also affecting the younger population more than ever before. Though changing the lifestyle habits and adopting healthier practices go a long way in keeping you fit, it is necessary to be at least financially prepared for any eventualities. 

So, even if you have a family health insurance policy already, getting a critical illness insurance policy would be a sound decision on your part. After all, the higher cost of treatment for the critical illnesses are better covered by the latter. And, if you’re considering a critical illness plan, here are a couple of things you must know about it.

• Critical illness policy doesn’t replace family health policy

Critical illness policies offer lump sum payments when the policyholder gets diagnosed with a disease or ailment that the policy covers. It doesn’t cover daycare treatments, hospitalization expenses, and so on. While the critical illness policies complement your usual family medical insurance policy, it does not substitute that in any way.

• Critical illness policies have the survival cause

Health insurance plans have a specific waiting period, and the same goes for critical illness policies. However, the critical illness policies also have the added caveat of the survival clause.  So, the survival clause becomes effective when you’re diagnosed with critical illnesses. Usually, there is a thirty-day survival period. However, there are several plans that don’t have this clause. You just need to look for a plan that is free from this clause.

Read the Policy Documents Thoroughly

If you’ve made up your mind about a policy, go through the details given in the policy documents. While doing that, pay close attention to the following factors:

• Inclusions

Different insurers provide coverage for different ailments. You can’t just look at the number of critical diseases covered under a policy and go for the ones that have the highest number. You need to know the precise definition of each disease for the insurer. For instance, a critical illness plan that covers cancer might only let you claim after the disease has attained a certain level of severity.

•  Exclusions

Understanding what the policy does not cover is as crucial as knowing the illnesses that it covers.

• Claim Process

Know about the claim process in advance from your insurer because it will help you remain prepared beforehand. You need to learn which documents you need to submit and the formalities related to filing insurance claims.

• Benefits

Apart from understanding the core benefits of the critical illness plan, you should look into the added facilities that you will get from an insurer. Besides, it helps to figure out the benefits you can receive at the time of renewal for the claim-free duration.

• Coverage Age

Find out the age limit until which the critical illness plan covers you.

Summing Up

The lump sum amount that you will get from the critical illness plan will be of immense help in your time of need. So, if you still haven’t taken the policy, it’s high time you do. After all, the last thing anyone would want in such difficult circumstances is to worry about funds.

An EMI calculator or Equated monthly installment calculator is a tool that calculates monthly Emi payments within a few seconds. To use the home loan calculator, all you need to do is enter the variables, principal amount, interest rate, tenure etc. in the calculator and it will give you the EMI amount instantly.

Formulae for calculating the EMI:

EMI= [ P x R x ( 1+ R)”T]/[(1+R” (T-1)]

The use of variables is as follows:

EMI= Equated monthly installments.

P- Principal amount of loan.

R- Rate of interest on loan.

T- Tenure of loan, or the no of installments to be paid [monthly]

The use of the EMI calculator is an important tool to calculate an EMI as it is quick and easy to calculate as well as it is very accurate.

On an EMI calculator:

If the customer is taking a loan of amount worth Rs.50 lacks for 20 years at the rate of 6.80% per annum.

 Answer: The monthly EMI which the customer will have to pay is Rs. 38,167 per month.

There are two types of interest rates being applicable while opting for EMI’s:

[1] Fixed interest rates.

[2] Floating interest rates.

Explanation:

Fixed interest rates are the ones wherein once the interest rates are fixed the applicant will have to pay the fixed same interest rates until the end of the loan tenure. In fixed interest rates the higher the duration of repayment of the loan, the higher is the total repayment of the amount that needs to be done by the applicant while opting for a longer duration of the loan can lead to a lowering of monthly EMI’s.

While as floating interest rates are the ones wherein the applicant is liable to pay installments with interest rates on a floating basis depending on the current interest rate going on. While opting for floating interest rates the customer can benefit in terms of interest re-payment if the interest rates get reduced. While as sometimes if the floating interest rates increase then the customer is liable to pay higher interest on the loan taken. As per the current market trends, the interest rates are on a continuous declining trend as the Reserve bank of India is reducing the repo rates thus resulting in a reduction of interest rates.

Home loan EMI calculation example:

Mr.XYZ borrowed a home loan of Rs.3,50,000 (Principal amount of P) from a particular bank. The rate of interest is associated with 8.65% per annum. The tenure is 360 months i.e: 30 years.

P= 3,50,000

Interest rate: 8.65% 

N= 360 months.

Monthly EMI= Rs.27,285

EMI paid for the year= Rs.27,285 * 12= 3,27,419.

Benefits of Home loan Emi calculator:

Easy process:

The person has to enter only the details of the amount of loan taken, the interest rate applicable as well as the duration of the loan. Within the few seconds, the monthly EMI gets calculated. Also there are no chances of error in case of calculation through EMI calculator.

Breakup of the finance charges:

This tool helps us know the financial charges such as total interest payable and processing value based on the EMI. Since the bank and financial institutions present them as the percentage of the loan amount, knowing the actual value can help understand the true cost of the loan.

Comparing loan offers:

The applicant can use the loan calculator from various banks. The results will show you the total cost of each loan at the earliest. Otherwise, you can pay a more comfortable EMI and extend your loan period.

Choosing the right tenure:

Knowing the right EMI can help choose the appropriate tenure of the loan. If an individual is able to pay higher EMI then they can opt for shorter duration loans, while for lower monthly Emi there could be higher interest rates applicable.

Helps in validating information:

If the applicant negotiates with the bank, you can verify the repayment schedule. The lenders may also include some other miscellaneous charges and fees in EMI calculation.

Helps with loan management:

Sometimes while paying your EMI’s applicant may have extra funds for pre-payments. If the applicant revisits the financials help the loan term-end.

Thus we conclude that the EMI calculator helps the applicant find the exact installment amount to be paid on a monthly basis so as to check the affordability of EMI. Also, EMI calculator helps the applicant decide whether he/she will be able to afford the EMI applicable on a monthly basis or not.

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As the global world is becoming more connected and more reliant on the internet, social media has positioned itself as a giant cog in the big machine. It’s been estimated that 85% of the business, startups, and brands all over the world now use the internet to advertise their products and services to their targeted audience.

You don’t want to be left behind in the fast-paced Information technology era. The power of social networking is such that the number of worldwide users is expected to reach some 3.43 billion monthly active social media users by 2023. Social Media is a gold mine.

While some businesses are making the mistake of hanging onto legacy strategy and conventional marketing, others have taken the bull by the horn and taken full advantage of the US$61.4 billion net worth of the social media industry network which is expected to rise by 16.5% by the second quarter of 2021.

With social media ROI projected to be over 300%, social media is, without a doubt, an effective channel for businesses to make some sales.

To effectively leverage the power of social media and drive traffic to your page, essential software is required, let’s take a look at each of them:

• Lead Generation Tool (Hubspot)
• Security & Monitoring Software (Hootsuite)
• Analytical Software (Sprout Social)
• Content Creation (Bannersnack)
• Buyer Personal Software (SocialBakers)
• Scheduling Software (Socialflow)
• Cloud-Based Phone Systems (ULTATEL)

Lead Generation Software (Hubspot)

HubSpot is the most widely used and arguably the most complete and effective lead generation software in the market.

This efficient marketing tool includes the Hubspot CRM, Hubspot Sales, and Hubspot Marketing. Many companies and agencies use it to advertise their product and services to their target audiences.

This CRM solution boasts many cool features like contact management, blog posting, landing page creation as well as lead generation/conversion. HubSpot makes it easy to create a successful marketing campaign with the potential of converting online visitors to customers in no time. You can create ads, welcome emails, forms, and landing pages.

Security and Monitoring Software (Hootsuite)

With the huge benefit of social media also comes its downside. Social media accounts could easily be hacked if proper security measures are not put in place to forestall such occurrences. No matter how much you try, you cannot manually keep track of all your social media accounts unless you integrate them with security software like Hootsuite.

Hootsuite offers an effective social media monitoring platform that allows users to effectively manage their social media accounts from a single accessible environment. Never again will you need to cram login credentials of all social media network accounts as Hootsuite will easily manage that for you.

This software is best for companies/agencies who have a team managing their social media handles. When a team member leaves the company, the company would only have to disable the ex-employee account without having to change social media passwords operated by the ex-staff.

In summary, monitoring, grant, and revoke automation are key indicators that Hootsuite software brings to social media marketing.

Analytical Software (Sprout Social, Facebook Analytics)

The truth is that various companies and agencies across all sectors are now integrating social media into their marketing strategy campaign. However, irrespective of your content quality or followers you have on your account, understanding the data behind it all is critical and it takes precedence over everything else.

Facebook and Twitter analytics are excellent analytical pointers, but Sprout Social offers something more. It offers a robust social media planning service with real-time analytics and report generation that displays your social media engagement and performance across key indicators.

With this software, you can configure and customize performance reports and metrics to help you project your business growth and presence on social media.

For better analysis, you can integrate your Hubspot CRM feature with SproutSocial to collect and view real-time data analysis like views, clicks, impression, regression, conversion, orders on all your social media accounts from a single dashboard.

Content Creation Software (BannerSnack)

Content creation is king in marketing and so is its importance in social media. It is the transformative edge that aligns your message to the readers’ needs and compels them to take action. The content is what will entice, inform, and entertain your readers thereby converting them from prospects to patrons and eventually generating sales.

Bannersnack is an impressive content creation software with its ability to incorporate visual and content creation into its marketing strategy. As marketing strategy evolves, so is the content. Bannersnack is not just a content creator but a visual design tool for businesses as it deploys artificial intelligence (AI-driven) online banner generation that enables users to easily edit multiple ad banners, thereby reducing overall turnaround time.

Buyer Persona Tools (Socialbakers)

The old practice of demographic market targeting might just be nearing its end as businesses are now gradually shifting to a more effective research-oriented target profiling. This strategy ensures that businesses, companies, agencies connect directly with the people who are most likely to purchase their product or services.

Socialbakers offers the way out. It is a software suite that helps in decision-making based on your follower’s data. It gives you an accurate representation of your key indicators, performance versus competitors then uses those insights and metrics to better improve your content marketing strategy.

Scheduling & Sharing Software (Socialflow)

Scheduling posts, twits, mails are very important in social media marketing. You cannot be everywhere at once. Time differences all over the world makes it even more challenging to continuously post content. With the social flow software, sharing and posting is done automatically. Its strategy is based on your audience’s active period. The user only needs to upload content to a waiting queue via the social flow dashboard. The software collects and uses real-time data with the leverage of artificial intelligence (AI) to determine post relevance.

Cloud-Based Phone Systems (ULTATEL)

Cloud-Based Phone Systems are the latest addition to social media marketing strategy. Also known as a virtual PBX system. ULTATEL is a very good software for this purpose. It’s an effective and reliable cloud-based service that employs virtual phone numbers to make a call via the internet rather than through a traditional phone system.

The ULTATEL cloud phone system is suitable for remote teams as it boasts of features to allow users to route inbound calls, call recording, voicemail via a stable internet connection. With the virtual based phone system marketing strategy, accelerating your sales is guaranteed through unified communication, video conferencing, international call, artificial intelligence, cloud communication, and many other attractive features. You can integrate this software with your business for easy automation and auto-reply.

Conclusion

Small, medium and big enterprises need to incorporate social media software into their business marketing strategy structure if they are to stand a chance to compete in the ever-growing, competitive, and highly dynamic digital marketing.

Marketing is defined as the aspect of promoting the goods and services a company deals with to prompt people to buy them and eventually be loyal to their products. A lot of growth can be sprouted out from marketing via social media. People in this day and age are glued to the internet and it is time that companies take advantage of this and showcase what they do through the various social media platforms.

2 Benefits of Social Media Marketing 

Numerous benefits come with social media marketing. The benefits range from creating awareness about your business to the public to a wide range of engagements with your company’s target audiences. Below are two benefits of social media marketing.

Growing your sales and company’s fanbase

Social media platforms are many but a company that wants to base its marketing there must be wise in choosing what platform suits them best and will bring forth enormous sales to them. The various social media platforms that exist are Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, Flicker, and tumbler.

These platforms could help a company grow its sales and its fanbase as well. A company could opt to sponsor their page or connect their website to social media platforms. Sponsoring widens the scope of people that can see what a company does and gives a company more likes and interactions from their target audiences and even new people who never knew they existed before. 

If a company is looking into growing its sales and increasing its fanbase, they could focus on marketing via various social media platforms.

Great target avenue for new and returning customers

The online space encompasses people from all over the world and hence for companies and even individuals who are into business could market themselves well on the internet. Social media marketing will widen one scope of the people you reach with your marketing information. Out of social media, one engages with interested customers or even potential ones who seem interested but perhaps consume what you produce in the future. 

Startup firms and those who already have a firm base in business could use social media to market themselves. These are platforms that are a great avenue for new customers and even retaining loyalty with old and returning customers. 

When a company has an active existence on social media, they keep their customers always glued to them. It doesn’t have to be a new thing like rebranding or new packaging of the goods and services offered by the company. 

Things like a season’s greetings message or good morning or goodnight-message will always make a company’s customers not to divert from them. MediaGroup Worldwide has benefited from social media marketing. It is the simple things that a company expresses to its customers that makes them loyal.

The advantage of social media marketing is that it is less expensive as compared to marketing via traditional media. For TV, radio, and newspaper ads, a company has to pay for space and timing but for a social media ad, a company only needs an account on the social media platforms it is focusing on. Where they may need to chip in money is if they would like to sponsor their content to get a larger scope of viewership and make enormous space. 

Sponsoring social media pages on the other hand is affordable and could make instant returns if the analysis of who the company is targeting is wisely done. Another benefit that comes with social media marketing is that companies could engage their customers. This would be possible through discussion forums for your company and target audiences via platforms such as Reddit, Quora and dig companies’ blogs, and publishing network

Conclusion 

This article discussed two benefits that come with social media marketing. These two benefits are growing a company’s sales and fanbase, social media being a great target avenue for new and returning customers, and social media platforms that they could engage with their customers. 

Infographic provided by Stanton Chase, a premier global executive placement firm.