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Introducing eCornell WebSeries

Cornell University has launched a subscription-based webinar series that offers monthly online live webinars led by Cornell University faculty. The WebSeries consists of lectures, driven by Cornell University faculty, Q&A and interactive audience exercises on topics that are immediately applicable to your life. If you can’t attend the live event or want to re-watch something you’ve seen, the lectures are archived for viewing at a later date. You can earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs) by attending each event. We are launching with two channels: Women in Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

The Women in Leadership Channel features Cornell University faculty who bring academic expertise and real-world experience to help organizations overcome imbalanced power and influence in the workplace. In these one-hour interactive sessions you’ll learn how to:

  • Identify gender bias and stereotypes in the workplace.
  • Execute on individual and organizational strategies for overcoming bias, allowing for women to succeed in leadership positions.
  • Communicate, strategize and direct from a leadership position as a woman.

The Entrepreneurship Channel brings together Cornell University faculty, leading entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and financiers to help you turn your brilliant idea into a successful startup business. In these one-hour interactive sessions you’ll learn how to:

  • Present and validate your startup business idea.
  • Manage the financial, legal and ethical aspects of your venture.
  • Introduce entrepreneurial principles and best practices to your business, whether it be a tiny startup, a global enterprise, a nonprofit, even a government agency.
  • Assess the competition and optimize your product or service for market success.

You can sign up for a free 30-day WebSeries trial! Learn more here: eCornell.com/StartWebSeries

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Introducing our new HR Certificate

We are pleased to announced the launch of a new online Human Resources Management Certificate, developed by faculty at Cornell University’s ILR School. The nine-course program covers the foundational core competencies of human resources and features engaging content and interaction with expert instructors and peers. Like all eCornell certificates, it was designed with working professionals in mind as it is taken 100% online.

“The new Human Resources Management Certificate is based on the leading research, teaching, and outreach that are the hallmarks of our school’s mission of advancing the world of work,” states Kevin Hallock, the Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and the Joseph R. Rich Professor of Economics and Human Resource Studies at the ILR School.

The online HR courses cover topics crucial for a career in human resources, including employee performance management, total rewards compensation, labor relations, staffing decisions, employee engagement, training and development, coaching, countering bias, and internal consulting. Students who successfully complete the online program will receive a Human Resources Certificate from Cornell University.

“Whether you’re an HR generalist, specialist or new to the world of human resources, this Human Resources Management Certificate gives you the foundation needed for a successful career by providing ways for you to align your HR department to your organization’s goals,” said Associate Professor John Hausknecht. “We’re proud to make this online certificate program available to professionals around the world.”

The new Human Resources Management Certificate program includes lectures from 10 faculty members, input from numerous practitioners in the field, and a range of activities designed to translate concepts and best practices to application on the job.

Want to learn more? Go here or download our printable information sheet.

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Why Branding is Dead, and Why Mindset Is Your Only Hope In the Future

There was more content created online in the last two years than was created in all of the prior 2000 years. Every conversation, tweet, and piece of content is a part of your brand image, and impacts a prospect’s experience with your brand.

The future success of your brand relies on you being able to provide and manage a positive experience across over 60+ marketing channels, 24 hours a day. Simple branding no longer works; the only sustainable way to consistently provide a positive experience to your prospects is by understanding Mindset.

Salesforce.com’s Mathew Sweezey explains why the modern digital landscape has killed the traditional concept of branding, and why Mindset is your only hope for building a consistent brand in the future.

Mathew Sweezey is the Head of B2B Marketing Thought Leadership for Salesforce.com. A consummate writer, he authors a column for Clickz.com on marketing automation, has been featured in publications such as Marketing Automation Times, DemandGen Report, Marketing Sherpa, ZDNet, and is the author of Marketing Automation for Dummies. Mathew speaks more than 50 times per year around the world at events such as Conversion Conference, Dreamforce, SugarCon, and to companies including Microsoft, Investec, NetJets, and Restaurants.com, to name a few.

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Inspiration Isn’t Enough: The Mindset of a Social Leader

In this one-hour webinar and panel discussion, Switch & Shift’s Mark Babbitt and Shawn Murphy detail what makes social leaders and people-centric organizations successful.

Since the early days of the Industrial Age, employers have attempted to elevate the hearts and minds of their employees. Their primary goal: to positively affect business results.

Decades later, we see that most of these attempts failed. Even today, 74% of our workforce is disengaged. Perhaps that is because our leaders, while relentlessly trained to marshal resources and improve efficiency, profit margins and market share, largely ignored the needs of the employee.

This short-sighted effort left employees depleted and disillusioned. And ultimately, those less-than-inspiring leaders – and in some cases, entire industries – learned that business growth is tied directly to the ability to tap into the collective wisdom of their people.

To overcome this modern organizational malaise, today’s leaders must infuse two essential human-centered elements into their business model:

  •      Adoption of a social leadership style
  •      Creation of an optimistic workplace

In this webinar, you learn how to leverage social leadership to build and maintain mutually-beneficial relationships with your customers, champions, vendors – and especially your employees. You discover how to create a workplace environment that inspires employees to bring their hearts and minds – and even their souls – to work.

Most important, in the 60 minutes you invest in this webinar, you gain an understanding of how to remove the barriers that limit your organization’s performance – and, working together with your employees, realize your full potential.

Learning Objectives

  1.     Describe the 5 social leadership mindsets
  2.     Explain how the 5 social leadership mindsets benefit business
  3.     Develop a plan to increase social leadership practices in your immediate team
  4.     Articulate the 6 beliefs essential to create an optimistic workplace
  5.     Integrate into your leadership practices an adaptive one-on-one format that transforms relationships and performance
  6.     Learn the signs that your leadership mindsets and practices are having a positive influence on your team

Mark Babbitt serves as President of Switch & Shift, is CEO and Founder of YouTern and is a founder of ForwardHeroes.org. A serial mentor and social leader, Mark has contributed to Huffington Post, Inc. and Harvard Business Review.

Mark is also the co-author of A World Gone Social: How Companies Must Adapt to Survive and an in-demand speaker. Recently, he was named a Top 100 Leadership Speaker by Inc.com.

He and his family call Seattle home.

Shawn Murphy is CEO and co-founder of Switch & Shift, an organization dedicated to the advancement of human-centered organizational practices and leadership.

Often found in the classroom teaching, on the stage speaking, or alongside clients consulting, Shawn is passionate about helping people become the best version of themselves.

UPDATE: Watch the archived event here, and download the slide deck here.

 

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Psychographic Segmentation – What Is It and Why You Need To Use It

No two people are created equal, and no two customers are identical. Market segmentation is a must for any company that wants to maximize its reach. Even within a specific niche, segmenting enables you to reach different sections of society, giving you inroads to more customers and increasing the loyalty of those consumers.

Demographic Segmentation

The most common form of segmenting is breaking down a population by demographics. For example, men might get a different message than women, and older customers would receive a different style of marketing than younger consumers. On the surface, this is a great way to differentiate between groups of customers who are fundamentally different and cannot be reached via identical means.

However, while demographic segmentation does have its place in marketing, it’s not the most efficient way to segment. To really find out the divisions in your marketplace, you have to dig a little deeper. After all, there’s more to people than their age or gender. Behaviors and attitudes are far more important in terms of creating customer profiles and identifying ways to reach groups of people.

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation takes the traditional forms of segmenting and goes well beyond the barriers that once existed. As the name suggests, psychographic segmentation ventures into the various ways that people think and feel about the world around them.

The more you understand a population, the better you’ll be able to market to this group. Psychographic segmentation allows you to develop new insights based on questions you might never have considered. For example, you can learn whether your customers value price or brand name, and you can also see how different discounts affect buying behavior.

The sky’s the limit with psychographic segmentation, but the deeper you try to go with market segmentation, the more diminishing returns you’re likely to receive. For instance, sending out surveys to determine consumer behavior only works if you get a high response rate and your customers tell the truth. Psychographic segmentation also requires frequent maintenance and updating of customer profiles. After all, demographics rarely change, but people’s attitudes change frequently.

In spite of some flaws, psychographic segmentation is easily the most effective and incisive way to understand your customers and give them the personal touch that’s necessary to retain their business. To learn more about psychographic segmentation and other market research tools, check out eCornell’s Marketing Strategy Certificate. This online program offers in-depth training on:

  • Marketing strategy, marketing research and analysis
  • Applied tools such as segmentation, targeting, positioning, and strategic pricing
  • Brand management and brand equity
  • Promotion strategies

Get more information on our Marketing Strategy Certificate.

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Hiring? Make Sure Your STARs are Aligned

Learn how to utilize the STAR interview method to create optimal behavioral interview questions and minimize risk when hiring new candidates.

Use the STAR interview method to create optimal behavioral interview questions.

When it comes to hiring, making predictions about candidates is crucial.

Ineffective interviewing techniques lead to poor predictions and can result in high employee turnover and more resources spent searching for new candidates.

To minimize this risk, many human resources professionals rely on the STAR interview method.

STAR is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result. The STAR technique is designed to gather relevant information about job candidates to better predict future performance based on past behavior.

By asking behavioral interview questions, HR professionals and hiring managers can better assess the candidate’s ability and compatibility with a company’s culture. The STAR interview highlights the candidate’s actions and takeaways from his or her professional and/or academic experiences.Read More

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Finally! How To Close the Sales-Marketing Gap With Social Media

User-generated and brand-generated content on social media are great for bringing value to the customer relationship, but ultimately you’ll want to encourage a transaction. If your audience is engaged but you’ve failed to produce a desired result or a transaction, then it’s time to revisit your social media marketing strategy.

According to Forrester Research, US marketers are projected to spend $16.2 billion in social media advertising by 2019, which can inadvertently drive customers away from the point of transaction if done incorrectly.

You don’t own your customer on social media. You are only renting your space on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest. It’s time to reclaim ownership of your content and see true ROI from your marketing efforts.

In this informative session, Hashtagio’s Alicia Whalen explores how the marketing mix has shifted in the age of social media, and we’ll look at how a poorly executed social media plan can inadvertently direct a customer away from the path to purchase. You’ll learn how to close the gap between social media and sales and enjoy true ROI from social media marketing.

UPDATE: It was a great session > Watch it here.

 

 

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Account-Based Marketing & the Future of B2B Demand Gen

Account-based marketing (ABM) is shaping up to be the biggest revenue driver for B2B sales right now. While ABM as a business strategy has been around for quite some time, emerging technologies and new ways of looking at customer data have enabled it to become the go-to B2B strategy right now.

ABM is a red-hot topic in business, but many sales and marketing departments are still surprisingly unclear about why and how ABM works. So we’ve assembled a team of expert panelists to look closely at ABM and discuss its implications for the near and distant future.

In this 45-minute video panel discussion, we’re joined by three leading experts on account-based marketing: Engagio’s Jon Miller, Maria Pergolino from Apttus, and Craig Rosenberg, aka the Funnelholic, from TOPO. So don’t miss this video; it’s essential viewing for B2B marketers and sales teams.

And there’s more! We covered a lot of territory in the video, but I highly recommend these resources from our panelists:

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Maximize Your Web Presence with LinkedIn

A thoughtfully managed, carefully crafted Web presence is no longer optional for professional people. It is not merely helpful to have a positive Web reputation; today, most professions and industries expect you to have one. Remember that your Web reputation reflects not only on you, but on the organization you work for.

LinkedIn is the largest online professional network worldwide. Hundreds of millions of professionals around the world maintain a profile on the service. Here’s a few tips on how to make your LinkedIn profile work for you, especially if you’re looking for career advancement or change:

  • Change the vanity URL on your LinkedIn profile to include your name.
  • Use keywords from your target job descriptions and your résumé that are applicable to your skill set. This increases the chance that hiring managers who search for talent on LinkedIn will find you within their target searches.
  • Use the power of your contacts to help build a target list of companies where you want to work, and to locate appropriate contacts at those firms.
  • Join groups on LinkedIn to help expand the reach of your connections. LinkedIn advises that you must have a minimum of 50 connections for this search function to produce favorable results, but a minimum of 100 connections is most beneficial.

The certificate you earned from eCornell looks great listed under the Education section of your LinkedIn profile. Here are the instructions from LinkedIn on how to add an Education section to your profile and populate it:

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, then View Profile.
  2. If you have not added to your Education section before, click Add profile section in the introduction section. From the Core dropdown, click Add education.
  3. If you have added to your Education section before, scroll down to that section and click the + (plus) symbol.
  4. Type your education information into each applicable field.
    1. School: Enter Cornell University and select it from the dropdown.
    2. Degree: Enter the word “Certificate,” followed by name of the program that you completed. For example: Certificate, Marketing Strategy.
    3. Field of study: Leave blank.
    4. Start date: This field is optional. If you choose, you can enter the date you began your first course.
    5. End date: Enter the completion date listed on your certificate.
    6. Grade: Leave blank.
    7. Activities and societies: Leave blank.
    8. Description: This field is optional. If you choose, you can enter the certificate description, faculty authors, or course names — whatever you decide is most relevant for those viewing this certificate listing on your profile.
  5. Click Save.

If you have completed multiple eCornell certificate programs, you may choose to enter them all under one Education listing. In that case, enter the following information.

  1. Type your education information into each applicable field.
    1. School: Enter Cornell University and select it from the dropdown.
    2. Degree: Enter the word “Certificates” only.
    3. Field of study: Leave blank.
    4. Start date: Enter the completion date listed on your earliest completed certificate.
    5. End date: Enter the completion date listed on your most recently completed certificate.
    6. Grade: Leave blank.
    7. Activities and societies: Leave blank.
    8. Description: Enter a list of all completed certificate programs. For example:
      1. Marketing Strategy
      2. Data Analytics
  2. Click Save.

As an eCornell student, you are welcome to join eCornell’s Official Group on Linkedin. It is a great way to network with your peers and gather valuable information helpful to your career.

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Determine Your Customer Lifetime Value

Marketing is all about maximizing a customer’s financial contribution to your brand. The more a customer spends on your products or services, the better it is for your bottom line. But there’s more that goes into a customer’s value than a big purchase here and there. We’ve taken the formula for determining your customer’s lifetime value from our certificate in Data-Driven Marketing to give you a sneak peek into the Ivy League strategies we can offer to enhance your marketing campaign.

Customer Lifetime Value Equation

You can use a simple equation to determine exactly how valuable a customer is to your overall success as a company. By figuring out the customer lifetime value (CLV) for your top customers, you’ll be able to see just how much each contributes to your revenue goals.

The customer lifetime value calculation consists of three distinct parts, which are multiplied to give you a quantifiable figure that shows a customer’s overall worth. Use this formula to see how your top customers shape up or to analyze a specific segment to see how certain customers can become more valuable.

Average Spend

The first part of the equation is simple. How much does a given customer spend, on average, when he or she patronizes your business? This number can be easily calculated through any sort of internal database you may have. You can also help to drill down to the individual customer by using customer loyalty cards or personalized website logins for online purchases.

Repeat Sales

Knowing how much a customer spends is only valuable if placed in the right context. A customer who spends $1,000 for a one-time purchase is less valuable than someone who spends $100 each month over the course of a year. While you obviously want a customer to spend as much as possible, the frequency with which a customer shops is just as important. Furthermore, frequent visits show a measure of loyalty that can’t be quantified by looking solely at a customer’s average expenditure.

Retention Time

Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as a lifelong customer. You’d be foolish to expect a customer to stick around forever. But you can figure out how long the average customer supports your business and apply that to the general population. Again, the longer the retention time, the better off you are, but some businesses aren’t based around lengthy periods of retention. For example, a store that specializes in baby merchandise won’t be able to retain customers for as long as a store that targets adults.

When you multiply all three of these elements, you end up with a figure that can be used to represent a customer’s lifetime value to your business. This amounts to the present value of future cash flows, so you may end up getting more out of customers than you expect. In any case, customer lifetime value is a great tool to use as you attempt to identify and target your most important customers.

Alternate Calculations

The calculation described above is just one way to calculate CLV. Other formulas incorporate additional factors, such as acquisition costs, direct mailing costs, and your company’s margin rate.

If you’re interested in learning more about CLV and other marketing concepts, consider the Data-Driven Marketing certificate program offered by eCornell. You’ll learn about the elements that comprise customer lifetime value, as well as how it can best be used as part of a comprehensive marketing campaign.