Week 5 - E-Learning

21st Century Classroom

Technology is undeniably changing the face of education, and it is now easy to see the impact already. Imagine what classroom will be like in 20 years with the speed of technological innovation.

Today, more than 91% of teachers have computers or laptops in their classroom, but currently, only 1 out of 5 feel that their classroom have the right level of technology. 

Nevertheless, our studying and learning cultures have been shifting as compared to our early years.

Using Open Source Textbooks (Tablets)

In the next decade, open source textbooks are expected to grow to 25% of the textbook market. Now, at least every 6 out of 10 students have used a digital textbook, as compared to just 4 out of 10 back in 2011. 

81% of the teachers believe that using tablets enrich classroom learning

86% of the students believe they study more efficiently with tables. 1 in 5 students have used a mobile app to keep their coursework organized. 59% of students would like to use their own devices to enhance learning.

Using of Social Networks 
Engaging students with a free tool they already use can help them learn in new ways, gain focus and increase participation.

4 out of 10 (40%) students believe integrating social networks into the classroom would benefit their education. 

 

29% of teachers and  80% of collage professors use social media for coursework.

Top 3 Reasons for Using Technology in Classroom

1. Adapt to diverse learning styles 

2. Boost student motivation 

3. Enhance the material being taught

Future Classroom

As the use of technology for education is increasing rapidly throughout the years, I strongly believe that in the near future, teaching and learning will be all in digital forms. Students will be able to submit their homework and do their exams online! 

Week 4 - E-Commerce

10 Critical Success Factors in E-Commerce 

Ask yourself! Why do you buy a product from a particular website? What are the factors which motivate you to choose that site and not others? That answer is what you’re looking for your own e-store success. They are the key factors which will help your e-store to stands higher in crowd and sell more.

1. Branding

A brand is a belief and the most powerful thing. The reason why you decide to pay higher price without any problem. That is why people are paying for brands like LV, Gucci and Prada.

These are the effective ways to build a stronger brand using Internet for a new business.

1. Unique Design: Good enough to hold them! If you’re able to amaze them, you can sell even more. Get a Logo and designed website. It doesn’t cost you much if you use service like Elance.
   
   
2. Utilize Social Networks: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn presence are very helpful here. They got some very innovative products (Twitter Promoted, Facebook Ads etc) to promote a brand. Spend some time to discover the ‘best practices’.
   
   
3. Run multiple Display Advertising Campaigns: Let them remember your name and what you do.
   
   
4. Participate in conversation and Q&A sites and answer every questions about your brand
   
   
5. Showcase your Testimonials, Reviews and feedback across the site and networks
 

2. Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

How do you differentiate your business from others? What are the product differentiators?

A buyer usually spends a good time on research. He searches for Price, Quality, Deals and Reviews. So how do you differentiate your products? Is it price, quality, customer support, any guaranty (Money Back, warranty etc.) or payment flexibilities?

When you find your USPs, showcase them everywhere. It’ll help buyers to make decisions. For example, I’m willing to pay higher price for fast shipping. It’s strange but justifies my impatient behavior.

3. Store Experience / User-Friendly Website 

A good store experience is a must have for E-Commerce success. Make your store as much as user-friendly you can. Easy navigation, clear headers, correct spelling and a visually pleasing look all contribute to a site that people visit and stick around to explore. Links that take users to sales pages contribute to converting visitors into customers. You also want a clear shopping cart or buying process spelled out to get the sale.


4. Product Catalogs

When it comes to product catalogs, consumers agree that the following five factors matter most:

1. Additional costs must be clearly shown
2. Shopping cart is easy to edit
3. Thorough product information and detail
4. Clear path and navigation through the catalog
5. Products are easy to find

5. Web Traffic

A point to succeed in E-Commerce is the traffic to your website. Just as a brick-and-mortar store can't sell to non-existent customers, you can market and sell to online users who don't come to your site. This point helps emphasize the importance of marketing in the development of an online business. You have to include a marketing plan, a budget and a commitment to communicate with your targeted customers as part of your business development process.

6. Customer Retention 

A business is never going to be a success without Loyal Customers. Customer retention is helpful to get more sales and brand building. A loyal customer not only buys from you but he/she also spreads the good words in his/her network.

Also you’ve to apply less effort to sell something to existing customers again. They’ve already used the product and they won’t be affected by Fear, Uncertainty and Doubts.

Always be connected with your existing customers. Let them feel special. Ask for regular advice using newsletters, blogs or surveys. Thus they’ll be connected and feel like a part of the business and not only a proposition/asset.

7. Multi-Channel Marketing 

There are opportunities lying everywhere in the Internet. Some businesses are making millions from Facebook. Some businesses are killing their competition with Search Engine Marketing. The key is to spread your reach everywhere over the Internet. An ideal marketing strategy should focus on no. of marketing channels. Use Email Marketing, SEM, Affiliate Marketing, Referral Marketing, Social Media and offline campaigns to diversify your reach. Thus you’re not dependent on a single source and they’ll also bring you regular amount of buyers.

8. Build Reputation and Establish Credibility

Partly driven through your marketing, E-Commerce success grows as you build a solid reputation and establish credibility. Small businesses with a proven brick-and-mortar store can often more easily convert to the Web with an established reputation. A secure website, which includes clear symbols of security commitments, is part of online credibility. Statements of commitment to guaranteed satisfaction can also put online shoppers at ease. Rapid responses to customer services inquiries and complaints help you build long-term relationships.  


9. Clear Value Proposition 

One mistake some e-businesses make is the assumption that the "if you build it, they will come" mantra applies to the Web. You can't just have a nice, tech-driven website and make money online. You also have to understand basic business facets involved in delivering an excellent value proposition. Knowledge of your targeted customers, a distinct product or service offering, an efficient distribution or delivery system, revenue optimization and cost controls and Web maintenance all contribute to customer-oriented value propositions.


10. Accomplish

Last but not least, every great E-Commerce website has a few things in common. For starters, brand loyalty is huge. That said, both new and established online merchants should focus on staying competitive, attracting new customers, offering enhanced customer service, facilitating shipment tracking and so much more.

Week 3 - Social Media Marketing

Today I would like to share a company who had successfully used social media to market their products.

Sennheiser is a German audio company, who specialized in the design and production of a wide range of both consumer and high fidelity products, including microphones and headphones. Their products are widely popular and well known among audio fans (LIKE ME!) internationally. Let me share on how they market their products. 

Microphones

Sennheiser has endorsed many international artistes, and one of their high end microphone, SKM5200, can be seen by the use of singers such as Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna and many more!

Sennheiser uses social media, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube channels, to keep their consumers updated on their latest news. Such as which celebrity is using their products and so on. In their YouTube channel, they have videos of their endorsement artistes giving their testimonial on the microphone they are using!

Singer Seal, on his Sennheiser SKM 5200 (Youtube)

 

Headphones

Sennheiser has a signature headphone series, Momentum. They have recently launched social video campaign to engage the youth market. Sennheiser’s consumer campaign will focus heavily on the use of social media, promoted across Sennheiser’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels and through online advertising and branding together with Spotify. The campaign will aim to reach 24 million active users across 56 countries, and aims to generate an audience of 5 million that engage further via the campaign landing page or on social media.

The first phase of social video campaign is to boost awareness of the Momentum range with the target group of young professionals. While the second phase of social video campaign focuses on online push to drive sales through paid search, supported by banner advertising targeted to achieve over 50 million impressions during the course of the campaign.

Today, the use of their products can be seen very often on TV shows, such as The Voice USA, MTV Awards, and even our local TV station Mediacorp. 

Week 2: Social Media

Last week, I mentioned about how social media has made our daily lives really convenient. In today's Web 2.0, everything is about using social media! From staying in touch with family and friends, news update and even business purposes through various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others.

In today's social media era, many of our networks have expended as compared to before. If you are actively on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you would be able to meet new people all over the world everyday and having such platforms, it makes communication much easier and convenient. In the past, communication between parties were only limited to phone, emails or regular mails. However, thanks to social media, we are able to communicate through public reply, private & group chat, direct message, and hashtag.

Let's take Facebook as an example, we are able to reply strangers or friends through their wall; thus, this is known as public reply, where your reply is made available to other people who had viewed that particular post. Besides public reply, facebook allows us to private chat with a particular person, or create a group chat with various friends you would like to communicate with. Such group chat allows users to share information with selective groups of people.

Let's talk about direct message and hashtag. Direct message and hashtag are often seen in Twitter and Instagram. Direct message allows you to communicate with the person instantly and privately. 

Hashtag helps to organize information on social media, which allows users to locate and access the content easily by just a click. This is something which other media are not able to do so.  It helps users with similar experiences to connect and communicate better than users in general.

Social media also serves as a business solution platform. Many companies these days are going through social media for advertising and promotion for their services and products. And through social media, the responses are much more pleasant as compared to print media. Why do I say so?

First, companies advertising through social media is low in cost, or perhaps, free of charge.

Second, sharing of details of normal print advertisement usually depends on word of mouth from one another. However, with social media, information can now be easily shared to all by using the repost function on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

One good example I would like to share is Starbucks. Starbucks has their own Facebook page, which allows them to stay in touch with their consumers on their promotions and updates at no cost.

And whenever they are having any promotions on their drinks, they will post an advertisement on their facebook page; thus, users who have "liked" their page will be able to see the advertisement on their news feed. 

 

Using Facebook as an advertising platform definitely helped Starbucks to save cost, and the responses generated are in fact better than printing brochures. Because users are able to repost the advertisement on Facebook to inform their friends, or save the image and repost it to Twitter and Instagram with their fingertips! 

Therefore, social media is a very powerful yet convenient tool. The benefits of social media is continuously expanding through time and it has completely transformed our daily lives. Today, social media is no longer just about leisure purposes and sharing of information, it is also our networking platform which is capable of bringing profits for companies.