March 2019 - Page 2 of 3

How to Develop a Successful Social Media Strategy

Posted on 18/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

When it comes to making a purchase, 75% of consumers will opt for a company they have previously liked on social media. With statistics like this, it is impossible to ignore the potential that social media has to transform your business. However, you can’t just post things willy-nilly and hope for the best; instead, you need to have a social media marketing strategy. In this post, we’ll take you through the process of creating one.

1. Define the outcomes you want to achieve

Your social media strategy needs to be linked to your company’s goals for it to have practical value for your business. For example, you may wish to expand awareness of your brand, improve online sales, increase ROI, get more customers visiting your bricks and mortar store or develop an audience of loyal followers.

When creating your social media strategy, you’ll need to decide what your objectives for it are and then set short-term goals that you know are achievable and affordable.

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is the key to a successful social media marketing strategy. Luckily, your research can be made easier by using some of the many analytics tools. These can give you detailed insights into the audience demographics of the various social media platforms, showing you the best platforms to use and the types of content you should post.

Once established on a platform, you can drill down and analyse the demographic data of those who follow you. This can give you a much sharper understanding of those who actually see your content and how they interact with it.

3. Focus on metrics that count

To work effectively, a social media marketing strategy should make effective use of the data it has available. However, some data is more valuable than others and you need to be selective about which metrics are going to benefit your company the most. Rather than focusing on likes and shares, it may be more useful to track the volume of users who see a post, the number of clicks-throughs your content gets, the rate of engagement (the ratio of interactions to impressions) and the sentiment of those interactions (emoji data). Overall, the metrics you choose to focus on should be able to help you understand how effectively you are achieving your outcomes.

4. Check out the competition

Discovering what works for your competitors is a useful way to help you shape your own social media strategy. You can do this simply by following them and viewing their content or by using one of the many competitor analysis tools that are now available.

What you shouldn’t do is simply imitate what your competitors are doing. Instead, look at the most interacted with types of content which your competitors post, whether that’s video, images, text, or even user-generated content, and use these to inform the creation of your own, unique content.

5. Start working on your own content

Only once you’ve set your goals, chosen your platforms, identified your key metrics and checked out how others do things well, are you ready to start creating the content to publish yourself.

There are several considerations you need to take into account here. Firstly, you’ll need to make decisions about what to publish. This will depend on the platform you have chosen, the preferences of your audience and your budget.

Video is one of the most liked and shared mediums on all social platforms, however, creating it professionally can be very costly. User-generated content, which can be created using a brand hashtag, is not only very popular, it’s often unique and saves you having to create so much content of your own – and because it’s user-generated, it can be forgiven for not being so professional. Visually stunning images have always been popular on social media and these are also useful for getting customers to click through to other content, such as blog posts or promotions on your website. Aside from the format, you must also consider what messages to post. If you over-focus on selling products, users can lose interest – almost half of users are likely to unfollow a brand whose content is consistently trying to sell them things. Instead, post on a wider range of engaging, relevant topics that promote your company without the hard sell.

6. Get the timings right

Timing is crucial to the success of your social media marketing strategy – and in a number of ways. First of all, followers will expect to see you post regularly and consistently. Not just on Tuesdays, but every Tuesday. It’s like in the old days when we used to get our favourite magazine delivered on a certain day – we looked forward to it arriving and were disappointed if it didn’t. Lack of consistency can make you lose followers.

Users will also expect you to respond to their comments or questions quickly, which is important if you want to develop meaningful relationships and networks, and essential if you are using social media for customer service. The speed of your response speaks volumes about your commitment to your audience and quick replies are a big plus for social media brand building.

Another important consideration is the time you actually post a message. Post it at the wrong time and many of your audience might be offline. By the time they are online again, it could have disappeared into the abyss of their feed, never to be seen. Luckily, you can use tools that will allow you to schedule when your posts are published so that they can be sent out at the most effective times of the day.

7. Go back and check the metrics

Finally, you should always keep an eye on your social media strategy data to see which things worked well and which things didn’t. This will stop you wasting time, effort and money on ineffective ideas and inform you which of your creatives are getting the most traction with your users. The more data you have, the better informed you will be.

Conclusion

As you can see, the process of setting up a social media marketing strategy requires forward planning and research. You’ll need to set goals, research the different platforms and their audiences, figure out the most important metrics to focus on and research your competitors before you start. Only then will you be in a position to create the right content, work out the best times to post and how quickly to respond. And remember to track the progress of your strategy throughout your campaign.

In 2020, keep an eye on these five social media trends.

Posted on 17/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

No communication channel is quite as fluid as social media. It is always evolving, continually influenced by its billions of users, and still learning the errors of its ways. It does, however, present businesses with the potential to reach out and engage with vast audiences. To take full advantage, it is always important to keep a close eye on the trends and developments that reshape the social media landscape. With this in mind, this post will look at the main trends predicted for 2020.

1. Video becomes users’ first choice format

If you are not already posting videos on your social media accounts, now might be the time to reconsider. Video is by far the most popular form of social media content and its highly engaging format makes it ideal for reaching out to large numbers of users. It is also on a rising trend that businesses shouldn’t ignore.

Indeed, video has become so popular that YouTube now ranks second amongst the search engines, only outperformed by its owner, Google. Add this to the fact that, by next year, the format will account for three quarters of all mobile traffic and it’s obvious just how crucial it is for brands which use social media to start making their own – even if it is only short, in-house productions filmed and edited on a smartphone.

2. The rise of video-sharing platforms

It’s not just video as a format that’s trending, but also video-sharing apps. While YouTube has been the dominant video-sharing platform for many years and looks likely to remain there, other video apps and networks are becoming increasingly popular and offer plenty of rewards for companies which find value in using them.

Instagram, which started out primarily as a photo-sharing app has now become increasingly video orientated, even ranking videos higher than other forms of content. This shift in emphasis has led to a huge rise in the platform’s popularity. According to influencermarketinghub.com, it is now the 2^nd biggest global social media channel and has over a billion monthly active users.

There is also a growing number of highly popular niche video channels that offer marketing potential. TikTok, for example, is an app used for creating and sharing short videos, with three quarters of a billion monthly active users, most of them millennials and younger. Vimeo is another very popular video network with a similar demographic.

3. A more caring social media

Social media can have its downsides and these come in the form of internet addiction, trolling and online bullying. The mental health issues and even suicides that result has led to increasing concern about the subject. In response, many users are spending less time on social networks; some, including a few well known public figures, have even abandoned it completely.

In 2020, any brand that posts on social media needs to be more accountable for its impact. Some companies are already making significant changes, posting less frequently and with content that is less likely to spark unhealthy disagreements between commenters. Instead of encouraging audiences to do more things online, they are, instead, trying to get them to participate more in real life – as was done by ITV’s Get Britain Talking campaign.

4. Liking is likely to go

The liking of posts is another area that has come under scrutiny for its impact on mental health. This is because when posts stop being liked, it can lead to low self-esteem and all the problems that go with it.

In order to tackle this issue, Instagram is testing the removal of its liking features and its owner, Facebook is trialling the removal too. If likes disappear, they can no longer be used as a ranking criterion, and other forms of social engagement will take precedence, such as how many commenters and comments a post gets and how many times it gets shared. In 2020, the trend will be to produce more sharable and comment-worthy content (another reason to use video) and to find ways to encourage users to comment and share – something YouTube vloggers have been doing explicitly for years.

5. Social media for customer service

Chatbots have been a common feature of business websites for a few years now but in 2020, we’ll see their increasing use on social media. These clever AI programs are designed to engage automatically when messages are received, giving users the confidence that your company is dealing immediately with their query.

Using machine learning, they respond to the keywords within questions to give the most appropriate responses and, as a result, help companies communicate with more customers, more efficiently, than they can with a human-only team. Next year, as chatbots are set to become the primary solution for customer service communication, expect to see even more companies using social media as the place to carry this out.

Conclusion

2020 promises to be a busy and exciting year in social media. We will see more video content, with businesses seeking out the growing number of niche video sharing networks. Demands for a more responsible internet will change how companies interact with their audiences, while the need for comments and sharing will push them to find better ways to engage. Finally, expect to see more brands using social media as the place to carry out customer service, relying heavily on chatbots to undertake many of the interactions.

Is It Time to Switch to a PCI-Compliant Server for Your eCommerce Store?

Posted on 16/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

If you intend to take payments for goods or services on your website, you’ll be required to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) regulations. These are the security standards that companies which store, process or transmit payment card data have to meet. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what they are and explain why you need a PCI-compliant server.

What PCI-compliance entails

If you want your company to accept online card payments your server environment and eCommerce application have to comply with PCI DSS. This is the case even if you use a third-party payment processor. Failure to comply can have a significant impact, including ongoing fines or in the worst-case scenario, being prohibited from taking payments and thus finding your company unable to trade.

The standards you have to meet for PCI compliance are detailed and rigorous. They require you to build and maintain a secure network, protect cardholder data, maintain a vulnerability management program, implement strong access control measures, monitor and test networks on a regular basis and maintain an information security policy.

Ensuring these standards are met requires many other operations to be put into effect, such as the installation and maintenance of an appropriately configured firewall, the use of strong (non-vendor-supplied) system passwords, the encryption of cardholder data during transit, the secure storage of cardholder data and the use of anti-virus software. In addition, you’ll need to update and patch applications, restrict both system and physical access to cardholder data and create unique IDs for individual staff so that you can track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data.

It is obvious from this that the PCI DSS standards are stringent and the responsibility for implementing and maintaining them, as well as evidencing compliance, falls with the eCommerce company and any third-party service providers they use.

The challenges and solutions of PCI compliance

eCommerce companies face two major challenges when striving to comply with PCI DSS regulations. Firstly, is the cost of building an in-house system that meets the standards and, secondly, they often lack the expertise to attain compliance. A solution that makes compliance easier and less expensive to achieve is to use the services of a PCI-compliant hosting provider that can offer both the server infrastructure and the necessary expertise.

At eukhost, for example, we are geared up to ensure our data centres, networks and operations are PCI DSS compliant. Aside from ensuring robust physical and system security of all our data centres, all our VPS, cloud servers and dedicated servers are PCI compliant-capable. In other words, we are able to carry out all the necessary configuration changes needed to meet PCI compliance upon request.

There are different levels of PCI compliance and the solutions put in place will depend upon the level your business is obliged to achieve. Most eCommerce sites, for example, have to meet either the SAQ A or SAQ A-EP levels. These are required for companies which process payments via a third-party payment gateway, such as Stripe or PayPal. As customers are transferred to the payment gateway to carry out these kinds of transactions, no card information is stored or transmitted by our servers. As a result, your compliance burden is dramatically reduced.

Putting the compliance process into action

To determine the exact requirements of making a server PCI compliant, your hosting vendor will need to know the application you are going to use and the level of PCI compliance you are required to meet. Here at eukhost, we carry out the following as standard:

Ensure you have a firewall enabled and have a robust firewall policy implemented.
Ensure that you have an SSL certificate installed and correct cyphers are set up.
Ensure that encryption is enforced for all services.
Disable any software which is not required to provide service.
Enable and configure intrusion prevention.
Enable an application firewall
Enable and configure anti-virus and anti-malware services.
Ensure logging and log retention policies are in place.
Apply an access and password policy.
Ensure a backup policy is in place and that backups are encrypted.

Once you have these features, plus any others you require, put into place, you will then be able to arrange for a PCI compliance assessor to undertake a compliance scan.

Remember, overall responsibility lies with the company

While a PCI DSS compliant vendor can help you comply and do so more economically, the ultimate responsibility lies with the company. Standards, such as assigning unique user IDs and maintaining an information security policy, which are carried out in-house, also have to be achieved. Furthermore, companies also need to ensure that any third-party hosting services they use also comply with the regulations.

Conclusion

PCI DSS is one of the most important regulations that an eCommerce company has to comply with. Designed to protect the consumer, it has a stringent set of requirements and is rigorously policed. One of the most effective ways to help you achieve compliance is to use the services of a hosting partner that has experience and expertise in PCI compliance and can provide the compliant server environment required.

7 Steps to Creating a Secure Website

Posted on 15/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

The sheer number of data breaches and cyberattacks that take place means that when developing a website, companies need to adopt a security mindset. Failure to do so can have disastrous consequences, including substantial fines, loss of business and reputational damage. Ensuring your website is secure means grappling with a wide range of security issues and in this post, we’ll look at ways you can overcome many of the vulnerabilities that pose a threat.

1. A comprehensive security approach

Right at the outset of the development process, there should be a disciplined approach to building a site that is end-to-end secure. This is particularly important when the site is being developed by different teams, each working on separate areas. Even if each team is working with security in mind, doing so without an understanding of what other teams are doing can result in data becoming vulnerable. To prevent this, there needs to be someone with oversight of security so that, once all the separate elements are put together, the final website remains comprehensively secure.

2. Validate all data

Not validating the data inputted by your users puts your website at risk from various, havoc-wreaking, forms of attack. These include SQL injection, cross-site scripting, command injection and other similar threats. Data validation, therefore, should be built-in to ensure all information inputted is not going to cause harm.

3. Scan your website from the outset

Scanning is fundamental to ensure your website is secure. It enables you to find previously undiscovered vulnerabilities and security holes so that you can fix them. You should scan regularly during the development process and, once launched, you should continue scanning on a daily basis and after each time you make an update to your website or system. Some web hosts will provide a website scanning service for you.

4. Update apps immediately and use clean code

Hackers send out millions of bots a day looking for websites using outdated, vulnerable applications they know they can break into. Updating your software to the latest version or applying a security patch removes these vulnerabilities and makes your site safer. Importantly, the sooner you update, the quicker you become secure. Auto-updates are the safest and most hassle-free way to do this.

To reduce the number of vulnerabilities overall, it is always good practice to delete unnecessary data, databases and software from your server.

Website developers should also make sure they do not use applications with known vulnerabilities. Older platform versions, themes, plugins, etc., should be replaced with the latest clean versions prior to being installed.

5. Use strong passwords

Everyone knows that the sophisticated software used by today’s cybercriminals makes it easy to crack weak passwords. Enabling users to keep default passwords or use weak passwords puts your company at risk of attack. For this reason, there’s no excuse not to enforce strong passwords on your site. Indeed, implementing two-factor authentication where, for example, a code is sent to the user’s phone, can make security significantly tighter. And as virtually everyone has a mobile phone these days, such methods of authentication shouldn’t be too much of a burden on your users.

6. Rigorous permissions management

The issue with weak passwords is exacerbated when administrator permissions and privileges are not well managed. If these are given to non-essential users and third-parties, the website becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack. Organisations need to have a clear policy in place about how permissions are managed and this should include precautions which ensure that the higher the level of privilege a user has, the stronger their authentication process needs to be.

7. Encrypt your data

If you store personal data about your users, the best way to keep it secure is to encrypt it. This way, even if your database is breached and the information stolen, the hackers won’t be able to access it. If you sell directly from your website, you should also encrypt the user’s financial data while it is in transit from their browser to your site. This prevents it from being stolen on-route. You can do this by installing an SSL certificate.

Conclusion

Security is essential for all websites in order to protect your company and your users from today’s sophisticated cybercriminals. To make your website secure, you need to put things in place during its development, rather than bolting them on at the end of the process. Hopefully, the points raised in this post will help you develop a secure site of your own.

Which Operating System is Best for You: Linux or Windows?

Posted on 14/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Whether you use shared hosting, VPS, a dedicated server or the cloud, when it comes to hosting your website or other applications, your choice of operating system (OS) boils down to either Linux or Windows. Which you choose depends on the needs of your business, the applications you wish to run, your technical expertise and your budget. In this post, we’ll take a look at both OS to see their advantages and disadvantages.

The Windows Server operating system

With Windows, you know you are getting an operating system created by the world’s leading software company, Microsoft. However, as a proprietary software with professional support, it comes with a cost. Linux, on the other hand, which is open-source and community-developed, is free.

Relatively simple to set up, Windows is more or less a complete solution, offering the flexibility of remote desktop access with the intuitive user-friendliness of a graphical user interface. Additionally, and unlike Linux, it provides this without the need to undertake command-line programming.

Those companies using other Microsoft software, such as Office 365, find obvious advantages in using Windows, as the native OS is fully compatible, out of the box, with other Microsoft applications. The same goes for using Microsoft SQL databases. Indeed, these are incompatible with Linux unless you use a Windows emulator – and to do this you would still need to buy the Windows OS and the database software. As this is the case, it can make more sense for Microsoft SQL users to stick with Windows.

Similarly, Windows is the solution for those organisations that need to use scripting frameworks, such as ASP and ASP.NET, as the embedded scripts in an ASP can only run on Windows servers. Linux is unable to processes these scripts before a user’s page can load.

The Linux operating system

Linux benefits considerably from being open-source and this has enabled several operating system distributions to be developed, including Fedora, Ubuntu and CentOS. Additionally, and unlike Windows, developers can take its freely available source code and make any changes or enhancements to its software functions, which not only helps users to eradicate bugs and vulnerabilities, but to edit features in order for it to do new things and work with prototype applications.

From a financial perspective, being open-source means there is no software licence to pay for and so, in comparison to Windows, using it is more cost-effective as your provider won’t need to charge you for it.

While Windows is compatible with Microsoft software, Linux works with most open-source software, like WordPress, meaning software licencing can be less expensive across the board. What’s useful is that Linux also enables users to run Microsoft programs as well, giving it a broader versatility, including the ability to use legacy applications which require a Windows emulator – though obviously, the user will need to pay for using any proprietary software.

Linux servers also offer other advantages. Their applications generally aren’t as resource-hungry, making them less liable to become sluggish under heavy workloads, and if needed, the servers can be modified without rebooting.

Another advantage is that Linux is more secure than Windows. This is simply down to the fact that, as the World’s leading OS, Windows has become the main target for hackers. The vast number of PCs using Windows just means there are more Windows computers to attack and so this makes it a more attractive OS to target.

Other considerations

Generally, Windows is easier to install and manage than Linux. However, as many companies are now making use of managed server hosting, this task is increasingly being done by the hosting provider. However, it may be a consideration for those purchasing an in-house system.

The same logic applies to technical support, which together with updates and patching comes included with a Windows package. If you use a Linux OS, in-house users will need to provide their own support or buy it in. Of course, this isn’t the case where the server is hosted for you, as with both systems, technical support, updating and patching will be included in the hosting package.

Conclusion

Windows and Linux are both excellent operating systems that have their own advantages and constraints. Your choice depends on the applications you use now and intend to use in the future, your expertise and familiarity with the systems and whether they provide you with the means to achieve your business goals. Pricing is also a consideration; however, if Windows is the best option in terms of what you need to achieve, then it is worth paying for.

Vital Services A Managed Server Provider Should Deliver

Posted on 13/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

The significant cost-savings offered by managed server hosting has led to a huge increase in the number of enterprises opting to use it. However, many of those still considering the move are unsure exactly what services are included. Indeed, while many vendors offer a similar raft of services, there are differences between them. In this post, we’ll look at the key services you should expect to see your host provide.

1. Initial server setup

Initial server setup can be a technically challenging process, especially if you have specific configuration requirements. If you don’t have the in-house expertise, this can also be an expensive procedure. With managed server hosting, however, the initial server setup should be carried out for you by the provider. Not only does this remove the technical burden; it also ensures your server will be configured as required and to the highest security standards.

2. Migration services

Migrating your applications from one host to another or from in-house to vendor hosting is another technically challenging procedure that puts many organisations off the idea of upgrading at all. You should expect a good managed server provider to undertake the migration for you on your behalf.

3. 24/7 server monitoring

If your server goes down, the cost of downtime could be significant, especially if it happens at peak times. Your website will go offline and any other critical applications you need to stay operational will cease to work until the problem is resolved.

A competent managed hosting provider won’t let this happen. They will have 24/7 server monitoring in place which can detect potential issues, allowing them to be fixed before they become major problems and lead to an outage. Importantly, they will have failover servers in place, so that if a physical server needs to go offline for maintenance, a backup server will ensure continuity of your services. As a result, you should get 100% uptime, guaranteed.

4. Highly secure network

Enterprises are obliged to comply with an increasing range of ever more stringent security regulations in order to protect the data they hold on customers and employees, such as PCI DSS and GDPR. Being the victim of a cyberattack that results in that information being stolen risks considerable reputational damage, substantial fines and potential lawsuits. Hacking, DDoS attacks, ransomware and other forms of malware infection can also lead to service disruption, financial loss, data corruption and application failure, all of which can have significant consequences. Indeed, 60% of businesses that fall victim to a cyberattack go out of business within six months.

While the responsibility for security ultimately lies with the enterprise itself, any responsible business will ensure that their managed hosting provider also takes security just as seriously – and key to this is that they deliver network security of the highest standards. Security measures should include the installation of mod_evasive to prevent DDoS attacks, firewall configuration, operating system updating and patching and security monitoring.

5. Scheduled remote backups

While the technology used in today’s servers, such as SSD (solid-state drives) makes them more reliable, this does not mean they are infallible. Your applications, files and data are still at risk from cyberattacks, accidental deletion and from major incidents like fires, floods and earthquakes. Although your host will have remote backup datacentres in place to cover the latter, server backups are essential for ensuring that if a disaster does happen, you are able to recover swiftly in order to minimise the impact it can have on your operations.

Not only will a good host provide a backup solution for you; such a solution will give you the flexibility to backup as often as your business requires – which in some instances can mean continuously. In addition, those backups will be stored remotely to ensure that if the datacentre your server is based at goes offline, the backup is still accessible from another location. At the same time, the backup service should be able to encrypt your data for security purposes and check that none of the files have been corrupted so that if you need them, they will work.

6. 24/7 technical support

Technical issues can happen at any time, so it is critical that in the event of a problem or even a technical question, there is an expert on hand to help. The quality of technical support is crucial when choosing a managed hosting provider as you need to be assured that whatever the level of challenge you face with your hosting, the issues can be dealt with quickly by someone who has the skills and experience to deal with them effectively.

Conclusion

Managed server hosting is designed to give an enterprise all the features and benefits that come from using a powerful dedicated server but without the expense and burden of having to manage it for themselves. To really take advantage, however, you need to know that your vendor can provide all the services you need and at the standards you expect. Hopefully, this post will have given you an idea of the services you should look out for.

Watch Out For These 5 Email Marketing Trends

Posted on 12/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Email is a tried and tested method of email marketing. Cost-effective to run and with the highest ROI of any form of marketing, it’s become an essential part of many companies’ marketing strategies, especially as it’s possible to grow huge subscriber lists over time. However, with more consumers now preferring other forms of communication, like texts, private messaging and app notifications, email is having to move with the times in order to keep recipients engaged. Here, we’ll look at some of the ways email marketing is expected to develop in the near future.

1. Personalisation on the rise

In an effort to increase opening rates and conversions, many companies are now turning to personalisation in order to make marketing emails more relevant to their subscribers. The solution that makes this possible is the use of cloud-based AI and machine learning applications. Their ability to carry out big data analysis of customer behaviour provides insights that can be used to trigger automated, personalised emails, sent out at the optimal time, to improve the chances of conversion.

2. Intelligent campaign analytics

Email software used by webmasters has always included some metrical data on email campaigns, providing information about opening rates, clickthroughs and so forth. Today, however, technology has moved forward. With more campaign data being collected and AI and machine learning used to analyse it, companies are able to run far more successful campaigns. Even better, much of the work needing to be done is automated for them. Now, not only is it possible to track how effective a campaign is; you can also use the data to make automated optimisations throughout, enabling the campaign to be constantly tweaked in order to improve its effectiveness.

3. Email reviews

Customer reviews are now essential to the success of a company, with over 70 per cent of all purchasers reading them before deciding to buy. What’s also true, is that the same proportion of customers are also likely to leave a review if you ask them to do so. Email offers a great way to do this as links to review sites can be built into the email copy. Indeed, feedback forms can also be embedded into the emails and the comments received here can be used as user-generated content to send out to other recipients. Not only will more companies do this; we’ll see them using AI to choose the customers who are most likely to write positive reviews.

4. Interactive email content

While getting a user to open an email can be challenging enough, to be of any use, you really need them to read it and take action. With competition from other forms of marketing, emails will need to be far more engaging than the standard text, image and call to action content that most currently contain. Today, more companies are beginning to create emails that have dynamic content which can keep the user engaged and motivate them to click on the CTA, these include embedded videos, hamburger menus, product carousels, rollover images and even animated CTAs.

5. Alexa mail

While efforts to improve the content of emails with dynamic visual content will work with many, an increasing number of people are beginning to abandon the visual email interface in preference for having them read out by smart speakers and voice assistants. This makes it more convenient for users who want to open messages while driving, walking around with their headphones on or wanting to multi-task while making dinner.

With the boom in the number of these voice-enabled devices being sold, an increasing number of emails are going to be opened in this way – though one can imagine that not all users who choose this method will use it all the time. This leaves marketers with a problem of how to communicate effectively with these users. If you send a traditional email, they won’t be able to see any images (only hear the alt-tag read out) and they’ll be unable to click through to any landing page. At the same time, neither you nor the user might know how the email will be accessed, until the moment it is. Overcoming these issues will be a major challenge to email marketers as the number of smart speakers grows.

Conclusion

While alternative modes of communication are challenging email as the preferred means of receiving marketing, the future promises to deliver some important developments that will make it even more appealing to both company and customer alike. Personalisation and interactive content will make emails more relevant and engaging and data-driven analytics will improve campaign performance. On the negative side, however, email needs to adapt to the smart speaker era.

Cloud Computing Advancing, According to New Statistics

Posted on 11/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

The annual round-up of statistics about cloud computing has now been published by the major research companies and these have provided a wealth of valuable insights into how the cloud landscape is changing. In this post, we’ve chosen some of the more relevant statistics which highlight the areas where cloud computing is developing and where companies are spending their IT budgets. Hopefully, you’ll find these informative.

1. Vast majority of companies using cloud

The latest statistics figures from the 451 Research Group show that 90% of companies are now using cloud computing for some of their services. Indeed, the number of workloads running on cloud-hosted servers rose from 48% in 2018 to 60% in 2019. According to Cisco, this will rise to over 90% within the next two years.

2. UK is a major investor in the cloud

The UK is the world’s third-biggest investor in cloud computing, with companies spending £7.6 billion in 2019. This is just short of the £8 billion invested in China. Both countries, however, are well behind first placed US, which spent almost £100 billion on cloud computing last year.

3. Private vs public cloud

Though more expensive, the average company runs more workloads, 41%, in the private cloud compared to 38% in the public cloud. There is, however, a disparity between how larger businesses and SMEs use these forms of computing. Bigger organisations carry out 46% of workloads in the private cloud and 33% in the public cloud whereas SMEs do almost the opposite: 43% in public cloud and 35% in private. The fact that the spending on public cloud is increasing three times faster than that of private cloud indicates that more small and mid-sized companies are migrating and opting for the public solution when they do.

4. Popular cloud services on the rise

According to tech media giant, IDG, almost 90% of companies use Software as a Service (SaaS) which enables them to access and make use of software, such as Microsoft 365, over the internet. Cisco predicts that, by 2021, SaaS will handle three-quarters of all cloud workloads.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) has also become very popular with over 80% of companies now using it to provide them with resources, such as servers, virtualisation, data storage and networking, that they need to run apps and carry out workloads.

5. Clear reasons for cloud migration

The cloud’s ability to give access to data from anywhere with a connection is the driving force behind over 40% of cloud migrations. The opportunities it provides for collaboration, global networking, BYOD environments and flexible, work-from-home working conditions, together with all the benefits these bring, has made this the primary reason for cloud adoption.

Other major factors to have influenced companies’ decisions include using the cloud for disaster recovery and for reducing the burden on IT staff so that they can concentrate on more business-oriented tasks.

6. Cloud more secure than in-house data centres

According to Gartner, this year will see workloads carried out in public cloud, IaaS environments experience 60% fewer security events than in-house data centres. The main reason for this is that the expense and complexities of maintaining secure in-house systems is difficult for most businesses to achieve. Public cloud providers, on the other hand, have the resources and the income to develop first-class security that uses a multi-faceted approach. As this security comes as part of the cloud service, customers who opt for IaaS can often forgo the issues of developing their own, in-house solution.

While there are still risks when using the cloud, Garner believes that within 2 years over 95% of problems will be caused by customers. Problems resulting from employee errors will be much reduced due to the increasing use of automation.

7. Main uses of cloud

Analysis of companies’ cloud spend gives a clear indication about how companies are using it. Currently, large businesses spend a quarter of their IT budgets on cloud services compared to a fifth for SMEs. The biggest spend goes on remote, online backups and disaster recovery solutions, which account for 15% of all cloud expenditure. Web and email hosting, together with online productivity, each account for around 10% of overall spend. 2019 saw companies that had already adopted cloud increase their spending by a quarter. Much of this was to help them better manage the increasing number of workloads they were migrating to the cloud.

Conclusion

As these statistics show, cloud computing is now an integral part of almost every company’s IT strategy. With IaaS helping to drive down IT costs and increase security, SaaS opening the doors to access-anywhere data and flexible working conditions and the ability of the cloud to help with disaster recovery, it is not surprising that 90% of businesses now use it. And these figures don’t even take into consideration the cloud’s ability to provide companies with artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analysis and all the other powerful technologies available.

7 Benefits of Virtualisation for Your Company

Posted on 10/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Virtualisation is one of the most exciting technologies being used by businesses today. It has revolutionised the IT world, bringing a range of benefits to both service providers and their customers. In this post, we’ll look at how virtualisation can help your company.

1 . A cool and eco-friendly IT solution

A server can generate a lot of heat and when it is not properly cooled it has the potential to overheat. This can lead to power outages, hardware failure and a resulting loss of data – all critical events that businesses strive to avoid. When you have banks of servers sitting in the same datacentre, the potential for disaster is even greater. One way to reduce the amount of heat generated is to reduce the number of physical servers being used and this can be done effectively by creating multiple virtual servers on each physical machine.

Not only is this a cooler solution; it’s also an eco-friendly one. Businesses are not only lowering the energy consumption needed to run so many physical machines; they are also reducing the energy required to power air-conditioning. As a result, virtualisation can help your drive to become carbon neutral while bringing about less expensive energy bills at the same time.

2. Less expensive to deploy and maintain

The capital expenditure required to create an in-house datacentre can be very expensive when you add up the cost of the hardware. Servers are not cheap. With virtualisation, the number of physical servers needed is fewer, thus lowering the overall investment needed. Similarly, virtual servers require much less maintenance than their hardware counterparts and this lowers costs even more.

Those who opt to use virtual machines hosted by a service provider will also notice a significant difference in the price.

3. Blisteringly fast to deploy

Deploying a new virtual server is a swift and simple process that enables companies to get on with necessary tasks without disruption. This attribute is also excellent for preventing downtime. If a physical server crashed and there wasn’t a redundant backup available, getting back online could be a time-consuming process with a costly outcome. Using virtualisation, a new server could be online in the time it takes to boot up.

4. Faster up-to-date backups

Today’s virtual backup tools, like Veaam, enable not just the data stored on virtual machines but the entire virtual server to be backed up swiftly, securely and at automated schedules, ensuring that what you store is always up to date. As it is possible to migrate these virtual servers between physical machines, any necessary redeployment can be undertaken very quickly.

5. Disaster Recovery made simple and quick

Being unable to recover quickly from a disaster situation can have a catastrophic impact on a company, potentially putting them out of business. Despite this, a 2019 survey discovered that 82% of businesses were not fully prepared for a DR incident, with only 27% confident they could ensure continuous availability and only half of them confident of restoring all their data. The majority believed it would take over 8 hours to fully restore services.

In a virtual environment, however, the DR process is both simplified and quicker. Regular backups ensure your virtual server and data are up to date and these can be migrated to another location to be restored within minutes of going offline.

6. Easier and safer DevOps and testing

For those developing new applications or testing new environments, there’s always the risk that if something goes wrong you would have to restart the testing process from the beginning. The ability to create backup clones of virtual machines at any point during testing means that if the worst happens, you can restore the last working stage of your project almost instantly. As a result, testing is less arduous and can proceed at a quicker pace.

7. Avoid vendor lock-in

Reliance on the hardware configuration provided by your vendor can tie you to their services and prevent you from seeking better provision elsewhere. Virtual machines, however, work independently from physical servers so there is no reliance on any specific server type or platform. As a result, many of the complications that arise during migration to a new vendor are removed, meaning you can be free from vendor lock-in.

Conclusion

As you can see, virtualisation brings many benefits to businesses. It safer, greener, requires less energy and needs less capital expenditure and maintenance. Additionally, it offers swift backups, quick deployment, it simplifies and speeds up disaster recovery and makes testing easier. It even removes the potential for vendor lock-in.

Why Is Personalisation So Important in Online Business?

Posted on 09/03/201922/06/2021 by Tushar

Personalisation is not the latest trend in online business. In fact, it has been around for a while. It is, however, becoming the norm, with more and more companies adopting personalisation as a strategy. Those who haven’t yet begun to use personalisation not only fail to reap its benefits; they risk losing customers and sales to their competitors. Here’s why you should consider personalisation for your business.

Why personalisation is important

Today we are bombarded by marketing messages. We find them on websites, social media, emails, television, radio, on the sides of vehicles, on street hoardings and tons of other places. There are so many fighting for our attention that, despite the millions that are spent on them, the majority go ignored. Personalisation has been proven to make customers take more notice and take more action, vastly increasing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

To give some substance to that claim, a recent article from SmarterHQ showed that over 90% of consumers would be more likely to buy from a company that provides them with relevant offers and recommendations. What’s more, they also discovered that, in 2019, more than 70% of customers only engaged with marketing messages that met their individual interests.

Since companies like eBay and Amazon started introducing personalisation, consumer expectations have increased. Indeed, if a website doesn’t offer relevant suggestions, almost half of its visitors will head to Amazon before making a decision. Overall, 70% of consumers feel marketing is too impersonal and 36% want even more personalisation than at present. Importantly, where personalisation makes buying less expensive or easier, 90% of consumers are willing to share their data to obtain those benefits – and it is that data which makes personalisation achievable.

The value of data

Websites are able to obtain vast quantities of valuable data from their visitors. This gives marketing departments the ability to know when people shop, what and who they shop for, how much they spend and even why and how they shop. This, however, is just the tip of the data iceberg. Today, businesses go way beyond tracking website behaviour and create end to end journey maps that collect the data on every single interaction an individual has with the organisation, including customer service interactions, emails and responses, product ratings and reviews, social media interactions and so forth. This helps the company to know their customers better than ever before and thus provide them with a far better customer experience.

The insights gained from analysing such data can help a company procure the products their customers want and market them in the most effective, personalised ways. It can even help them send out marketing communications via the customers’ preferred channel and do so at the time that will have the greatest chance of a call to action being followed. And, of course, when the consumer arrives at the website, they’ll be greeted personally and find all the products they are most likely to be interested in and be given offers which are both relevant and appealing.

How to add personalisation capabilities to your website

The growing demand for personalisation means there are an increasing number of plugins, tools and third-party services you can use to help implement it. The key tool is a Customer Relationship Management application that will enable you to do the essential collecting, tracking and analysis of your customer data as well as providing you with the ability to personalise recommendations on the site and send personalised marketing communications. Chatbots are another popular AI tool that act as personal shopping assistants to recommend products based on customer data.

Personalisation tools vary considerably in price. The WordPress Repository has several highly rated plugins with free and premium versions. More advanced tools dealing with bigger quantities of data can cost hundreds of pounds per month. A third-party provider will cost even more but will take the burden of managing the system off your hands and remove the need for in-house technical expertise.

Don’t forget your hosting

Do remember that if you choose to offer personalisation, you will need the capacity to store all the data you are collecting and the processing power to run the apps that will analyse it. This means you may have to consider a more powerful hosting solution for your website, such as VPS, dedicated server or cloud.

At the same time, collecting large quantities of personal data means you will be obliged to ensure its safety and so you may need to enhance the security features that you use to protect your website and online storage.

Conclusion

Personalisation is becoming a necessity for competitive businesses, especially in the eCommerce sector. Offering personalised interactions improves the customer experience and makes marketing strategies far more effective. To do this, however, you need the right tools to collect and analyse the data and to generate the personalised content. You also need the hosting capabilities to deliver personalisation and maintain data security.

1. Define the outcomes you want to achieve

2. Know your audience

3. Focus on metrics that count

4. Check out the competition

5. Start working on your own content

6. Get the timings right

7. Go back and check the metrics

Conclusion

1. Video becomes users’ first choice format

2. The rise of video-sharing platforms

3. A more caring social media

4. Liking is likely to go

5. Social media for customer service

Conclusion

What PCI-compliance entails

The challenges and solutions of PCI compliance

Putting the compliance process into action

Remember, overall responsibility lies with the company

Conclusion

1. A comprehensive security approach

2. Validate all data

3. Scan your website from the outset

4. Update apps immediately and use clean code

5. Use strong passwords

6. Rigorous permissions management

7. Encrypt your data

Conclusion

The Windows Server operating system

The Linux operating system

Other considerations

Conclusion

1. Initial server setup

2. Migration services

3. 24/7 server monitoring

4. Highly secure network

5. Scheduled remote backups

6. 24/7 technical support

Conclusion

1. Personalisation on the rise

2. Intelligent campaign analytics

3. Email reviews

4. Interactive email content

5. Alexa mail

Conclusion

1. Vast majority of companies using cloud

2. UK is a major investor in the cloud

3. Private vs public cloud

4. Popular cloud services on the rise

5. Clear reasons for cloud migration

6. Cloud more secure than in-house data centres

7. Main uses of cloud

Conclusion

1 . A cool and eco-friendly IT solution

2. Less expensive to deploy and maintain

3. Blisteringly fast to deploy

4. Faster up-to-date backups

5. Disaster Recovery made simple and quick

6. Easier and safer DevOps and testing

7. Avoid vendor lock-in

Conclusion

Why personalisation is important

The value of data

How to add personalisation capabilities to your website

Don’t forget your hosting

Conclusion

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