I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
Trends in AI & Generative AI: Insights from The 2023 AI Summit New York
Last week, I covered the AI Summit in New York. I was excited to learn about the trends in AI and generative AI and to see some commercial applications of these new technological advancements.
Patrick Murphy of UAB led the AI Exhibitor hub. Patrick shared insights from his research on Entrepreneurship. He shared how start-ups use AI, and Generative AI to scale up and bring products to market.
Generative AI is being used in the following eight ways:
Content and Asset Generative
Automated Processes
Ideation
Financial Management
Project Design
Optimized Structures
Acceleration and incubation
Ethics and Risk Management.
There was a pitching completion where start-ups did pitches in multiple rounds. At the beginning of the competition, they received advice from judges on best practices.
One of the start-ups that was of interest was Botwise. Jan Nowak shared how his team shared a use case on how they leveraged Language Learning models (LLM)using statistics and GPT solutions for rapid automation in customer service for Mylead.global is a platform that allows influencers to earn money. As a result, MyLead.global was able to screen influencers faster and better for their big brand clients.
AI-Powered Use Cases from across the board panel discussion
Leaders Saira Kazmi Ph. D. (CVS Health), Matthew Blakemore (Creative Industries Council) Taha Mokfi (HelloFresh), Kriti Kohli (Shopify), and Kris Perez (Data Force) share how they use chatbots, improving both the buyer and seller experience using AI. How AI can be used in video games to identify levels of violence and how AI can improve in healthcare and Radiology reducing the amount of time images are read while improving accuracy and detail.
Another interesting Panel was by Tim Delesio CTO of techolution
Tim asked What’s driving the explosive rise of AI all of a Sudden?
The answer is the economics of the labor market.
On the demand side, he cited labor shortages and persistent high inflation.
On the supply side, he cites the rise of ChatGPT and, major scientific and Technological breakthroughs in the past five to seven years.
He shared trends in AI for 2024 that include:
Physical Labor with AI to help deliver small batch sizes with high-precision quality control
Improved customer engagement by providing a new generation of customer service agents using Generative AI
Tim demonstrated some of these trends when he ordered a soda using an AI-powered robotic arm.
The booth had another machine showing how AI can enhance inventory management when items are ordered.
I was amazed to see some AI Tech that techolution brought to the marketplace.
On that note, I saw an AI-powered Kiosk by Graphen where a man ordered his food and paid. This company is using AI to revolutionize all industries.
Man orders food AI Kiosk
Man pays for food at AI Kiosk
There were so many great talks and exhibits.
Additional pictures can be found on Instagram.
I want to thank the AI Summit for having me as their guest. If you want to use AI and Generative to improve business outcomes, sign up for the AI summit in your city.
What do you think is next for AI and Generative AI?
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
During my time in field sales, I wanted to obtain the business of Dental Schools and Hospitals. After obtaining meetings and making presentations to prominent Dentists, I was informed that they could not buy from me. After handling objections, showing how my offerings were better than the competition, I found out why. The decision-makers explained that they were under contract with large manufacturers and distributors.
These competitors offered deep discounts to Dental Schools so their students would get comfortable using their products. When students would become licensed Dentists, they would use the products they trained on instead of the competitors. These competitors built lifelong customer loyalty.
When I called on certain Dentists, they said they liked a particular company’s product. I asked them why they liked the product and would they consider switching for something comparable with faster service. The Dentists said no saying that they learned on particular equipment in Dental School and it was the only thing they felt comfortable using.
Geoffrey Moore discusses the Technology life cycle in Crossing the Chasm.
Dental manufacturers and large distributors used pricing to target the Innovators/Early adopters/which in this case was the dental students and hospitals. To increase market share, they offered discounted pricing in exchange for purchase and long service contracts. These manufacturers and distributors succeeded in targeting dental students right before they would become customers; earning them years of customer loyalty.
Here is how this SAAS marketing program could be executed on the Technology Life cycle curve.
Innovators Preparation Programs
Offer Preparation programs discounted pricing and free trials to try the product.
Have Pre-service Professionals get comfortable using the product.
Early Adopters Early Career Professionals
Offer them free trials and a lower discount.
Early/Late Majority Seasoned Professionals
Offer Trials and discounts to targeted staff and managers
Laggards Senior Staff Members
Continue to innovate the product and messaging to show how the product is being used.
Obtain Testimonials from satisfied staff and managers.
Show how the product exceeds competitors.
When appropriate, offer free and discounted trials to all appropriate prospects.
This is how Tech companies can improve their market share and generate life-long customer loyalty.
Tech Companies have the chance to improve business and generate life-long customer loyalty. This opportunity can be seized by offering discounted pricing and free trials to Innovators/Early Adopters which in this case are the preparation programs.
How this applies to EdTech & E-Learning
This strategy can be applied to the EdTech/E-Learning market because many companies serve this space but only a few companies dominate the market. The opportunity to target Innovators/Early adopters as I described above presents itself as the United States Department of Education is asking for Education Technology to be embedded into K-12 teacher preparation programs.
EdTech/E-Learning companies have the chance to improve the Teaching profession and generate life-long customer loyalty. This opportunity can be seized by offering discounted pricing and free trials to Innovators/Early Adopters which in this case are the teacher preparation programs.
Here is how this marketing program could be executed on the Technology Life cycle curve.
Innovators Teacher Preparation programs
Offer Teacher Preparation programs discounted pricing and free trials to try the product.
Have Pre-service Teachers/Admins get comfortable using the product
Early Adopters Rookie Teachers/Admins
Offer them free trials and a lower discount.
Early/Late Majority Seasoned Teachers/Admins
Offer Trials and discounts to targeted staff and Administrators, Lead Teachers, and Instructional Coaches.
Laggards Senior Staff Members
Continue to innovate the product and messaging to show how the product is being used.
Obtain Testimonials from satisfied Teachers and Administrators
Show how the product exceeds competitors.
This is how EdTech/E-Learning companies can improve the Teaching profession and generate life-long customer loyalty.
What EdTech/E-Learning product do you want to try?
Additional Market Research
Why & How People Buy Tech
When marketing and selling a tech product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
I surveyed my LinkedIn audience for answers.
1. What motivates people to buy a tech product or service?
People buy a technology product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
People find and buy technology products or services in different ways.
How Buyers Find EdTech & E-Learning Products & Solutions
I asked my audience how they find Education Technology products and solutions. According to a survey I conducted on LinkedIn, 58% used google, viewed product demos, and read reviews. Next was Social Media and word of mouth at 33%. This suggests that the education technology buying cycles are customer-centric. A great product demo is only as good as product reviews, word of mouth, and the customer experience for established brands. Only 8 % found products from seller-centric activities such as seller calls emails and catalogs. Customers are educating themselves and seeking out sellers at the end of the buying process, not the beginning.
When marketing and selling an EdTech or tech product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy your tech product or service?
2. How do people find a tech product or service to buy?
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace. Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create, and, position offerings people want to purchase.
Why & How People Buy In General
When marketing and selling a product or service, it is important to ask two questions to understand your buyers.
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
1. What motivates people to buy a product or service?
People buy a product or service for many reasons.
2. How do people find a product or service to buy?
People find and buy products or services in different ways.
These findings suggest businesses need to create customer-centric offerings to survive in a competitive marketplace.
Answering these questions will help businesses develop, create, and, position offerings people want to purchase.
I’m a Strategic Marketer with Field Sales, Sales Enablement, Content Creation, and, Classroom Teacher/Trainer skill-sets using Marketing to drive Sales/Growth.
As a Marketer, I’ve worked with Start-Ups, a Political Campaign, and a Digital Marketing Conference. I’m certified in Inbound Marketing with classes in Marketing, Product Management, Product Marketing, SEO, SEM.
Before teaching, I was an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep. selling and marketing dental products to Dentists using consultative selling, trade show marketing, field marketing, and market research.
I publish Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today a blog covering industry events and trends.
Articles and insights have been featured, mentioned, and, referenced in:
•SlideShare for being in the top 5% of profiles viewed in 2014
•LinkedIn Profile was in the top 1% of profiles viewed out of 200 million members in 2012
I’m seeking a full-time role in:
Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing, Product Marketing, Demand Generation, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement Enablement, Sales Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Employer Branding, Recruitment Marketing. Reach out to start a conversation on LinkedIn or email me at dan@dangalante.com
Posted 138 weeks ago
Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today
I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
I am searching for a full-time Marketing role.
#Marketing#UVP: My #Sales, Marketing and #Teacher#Skillsets make me a top hire. #ONO
Email Dan@dangalante.com
Website http://www.dangalante.com
Blog http://www.dangalante.me/
LinkedIn http://www.linkedIn.com/in/dangalante
SlideShare http://slideshare.net/dgalantenyc
Twitter https://twitter.com/DanGalante
Posted 306 weeks ago
Marketing UVP: Sales, Marketing, Social Media, & Teacher exp. make me a Top Marketing hire. Hiring? Let’s Interview. ONO
I recently has the privilege to cover the World Business Forum in NYC last week. There were so many great panels and top business minds at the event. I want to highlight some of my favorites.
Seth Godin’s talk on Marketing where he discusses How today’s Marketer needs to be both remarkable and generous.
In his talk Seth discusses his new book This is Marketing and he discusses what it takes to succeed in today’s connection economy.
The new economy was Made of of the following components
A key idea was that Marketers make change happen.
It was truly an amazing talk.
2. A talk by Juan Enriquez on the topic of trends in technology.
Two trends that caught my attention were:
3. Whitney Johnson’s talk on How to build an A Team where she discusses how to design jobs to maximize both employee engagement and performance.
Companies should strive for 70% employee engagement.
Companies should take chances hiring people who are inexperienced to keep a steady pipeline of employees.
4. Daniel Kahneman’s talk on the psychology of how we make Intuitive Judgments and choices based and why people are more risk averse than others. He also discusses how stress impacts decision making.
The World Business Forum is an amazing event packed with insights and for everyone in Business. If you missed out this year; attend the next one.
Sales reps can only be as good as the product and message they represent. Before companies can hire Sales reps, they need a great product with messaging that conveys the benefits to customers. Sales reps need support from marketing in the cross functional organization of tomorrow. The messaging should be able to prevent customer objections. Unfortunately, this is where many Marketing departments fall short.
image via Salesforce.com
Many people that get hired in marketing, lack a sales background and have no idea on how to handle customer objections.
In addition, many people in Marketing lack the background and understanding of how people learn. Teachers and psychologists have this training. Understanding how people learn can make product messaging more effective because it can be presented in multiple formats. Many people in marketing lack practitioner experience and as a result marketing is not as effective as it could be. Practitioners are especially under represented in the Marketing function of many EdTech companies and this needs to change. Now I will make a case for hiring Sales Reps, Teachers and Industry practitioners in marketing.
Case for hiring ex Sales Reps
Knows how to handle objections which can be applied to message
Experience dealing with customers, knows customer pain points
Sees how end-user uses the product
Can increase sales using Sales expertise to make messaging customer centric
Can assist with Sales and Marketing Alignment as companies need to work cross functionally
Understands the issues Sales Reps face and has the credibility of being a Rep when collaborating with Sales Teams
Experienced obtaining , qualifying and converting leads to Sales ie Lead gen/demand gen
Hiring Industry practice experts
They are the customers and understand the pain points better than any market research -should be in leadership roles
Healthcare does this with Doctors, Dentists
Tech does this with programmers and engineers.
Why not EdTech!
Can increase Sales because they are the customer and understand the pain points because they have experienced them in the job
This is the best market research/ buyer persona there is!
Case For hiring ex Teachers
understands how people learned
skilled at tailoring content for understanding based on learning needs
Today’s marketing is about educating customer and earning the right to market to them as they can educate customers
Why it is not Good enough to just place them in Sales
People in Sales are not involved in the creative process and cannot change their cards and company messaging.
They cannot address weaknesses in messaging and product.
The Marketer of Tomorrow
Has all of the above in their background or at least a Sales background at a minimum.
My mix of Outside Sales, Marketing, Social Media, helping Customers and Classroom Teaching experience makes me an excellent Marketing candidate for the following reasons:
Former Outside Sales Rep which allows me to create messaging to preemptively stop most sales objections
Can help with Sales Enablement/coaching/go on selected sales calls to improve the sales process
Experienced Marketer
Can build a better talent brand by building out your career site with employee stories
Create and establish new markets along with helping to create new product offerings that complement existing ones
Experienced online audience builder
I have built up a large audience with 21, 000+ followers on WordPress
24,000+ followers on LinkedIn along with a following of 6000+ on my Twitter handle @DanGalante
Are you ready to increase Sales by improving Marketing? Your sales teams deserve better!
Change today!
Are you hiring for Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles?
I’m willing to build Marketing from scratch if no marketing function exists.
Hiring?
Contact me via LinkedIn or E-Mail to set up interviews. If you are not hiring, share this with people that are looking to hire.
See how I can improve your Sales and Revenue using Marketing.
I’m passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. HubSpot Certified in Inbound Marketing, Dan has worked on various marketing assignments including Start Ups, a Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to teaching, I served customers as an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep in NYC. In this role, I taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach combined with direct marketing; supporting marketing efforts at industry trade shows.
I write and publish a business blog on the topics of Sales, Marketing and Social Media entitled Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; which has grown to 24,000+ followers on LinkedIn and 21,000+ on WordPress.
I’m is seeking a full-time marketing role in Marketing; willing to create and build out the Marketing function of your organization if it does not exist. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas of: Inbound Marketing, Digital Marketing, Product Marketing, Content Marketing, Customer Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Sales Enablement, Lead Gen, Demand Gen, Retention Marketing, Talent Branding and Employer Branding roles, contact me directly via LinkedIn or email at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
This week, I covered Advertising Week in New York.
There were amazing panels. My key takeaways from Advertising Week were:
CMOs need a wide array of skills sets from Storytelling to Data Analysis to owning a P&L statement much like CEOs and other General Managers if they want to survive and thrive in today changing landscape.
CMOs need to be the Voice of the Customer inside of the organization and understand how intent is changing the customer journey.
Customers want a personalized experience with brands while having the their data protected.
Brands need to take a different approach when Understanding and Marketing to Gen Z
Marketing and Advertising is not the same anymore.
Today’s successful marketer is generous,
gives value to the customer and does not steal their attention.
AI will empower Marketers to do their jobs better; bring them closer to customers.
AI will also allow marketers to get quicker feedback to see which campaigns work best at different points in time by allowing them to make sense of all the data they collect.
It is an exciting time to be a Marketer. How will Marketing change?
Comment and share below.
I was amazed about the impact voice technology will have on our lives. According to comscore.com, Voice search will account for 50 % of all search results by 2020.
Voice technology is already in use in many home devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google home. Voice applications are already available in many smartphones as we can use our voice to dictate messages along with smartphone assistants Siri, Google and Bixby.
Home owners can use voice to operate things in their home.
Voice is at the very infancy of its capabilities. People will be able to use their Alexa or Google Home to start their cars and adjust the temperature as well as other commands. Mercedes Benz is implementing a digital assistant in their newer vehicles.
People will be able to dictate a search as opposed to having to open google and type what they are looking for. Voice provides brands and businesses with an opportunity to improve customer experience. However, brands are not currently equipped to serve up content and engagement using voice.
Voice is at the beginning of the technology life cycle. Many believe that voice will be another channel added to the omnichannel experience. Others think that it will overtake existing channel. Bret Kinsella of voicebot.ai discussed the data behind the companies in voice, the technology, its adoption and market growth prospects in his talk Voice Platform wars.
In terms of how Voice is changing marketing, it is on marketers to find new ways to engage their customers using voice. Rob Bennett CEO of rehab agency discusses the impact of Voice technology in Marketing.
CMOs need to incorporate voice into the marketing mix along with the other channels.
Jeff Rhores, Mike Darne, Wilson Tang and Chris Vennard share how they use Voice in their business and its potential for brands.
In terms of SEO and buyer personas, they also need to be built for Voice. Duane Forrester discusses how brands can create a voice optimization strategy and brand personas.
The debate is still out on whether voice will replace social media. Brandon Kaplan of Skilled Creative discusses how voice will replace Social Media and ways Brands can create Voice experiences for their customers.
Voice is an exciting technology and it will be interesting to see how it changes Marketing and how we interact with our world.
How are you using Voice technology? Comment and share below.
Do you have questions on Sales, Marketing and/or Social Media? Send me your questions. If you want my Tumblr insights sent directly to your inbox; subscribe to my blog.
About the Author
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. HubSpot Certified in Inbound Marketing, Dan has worked on various marketing assignments including Start Ups, a Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep in NYC. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach combined with direct marketing. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows.
He writes and publishes a business blog on the topics of Sales, Marketing and Social Media entitled Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; which has grown to 24,000+ followers on LinkedIn and 19,000+ on WordPress.
Dan is seeking a full-time marketing role in Marketing. He is willing to create and build out the Marketing function of your organization if it does not exist. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
Sales reps can only be as good as the product and message they represent. Before companies can hire Sales reps, they need a great product with messaging that conveys the benefits to customers. Sales reps need support from marketing in the cross functional organization of tomorrow. The messaging should be able to prevent customer objections. Unfortunately, this is where many Marketing departments fall short.
image via Salesforce.com
Many people that get hired in marketing, lack a sales background and have no idea on how to handle customer objections.
In addition, many people in Marketing lack the background and understanding of how people learn. Teachers and psychologists have this training. Understanding how people learn can make product messaging more effective because it can be presented in multiple formats. Many people in marketing lack practitioner experience and as a result marketing is not as effective as it could be. Practitioners are especially under represented in the Marketing function of many EdTech companies and this needs to change. Now I will make a case for hiring Sales Reps, Teachers and Industry practitioners in marketing.
Case for hiring ex Sales Reps
Knows how to handle objections which can be applied to message
Experience dealing with customers, knows customer pain points
Sees how end-user uses the product
Can increase sales using Sales expertise to make messaging customer centric
Can assist with Sales and Marketing Alignment as companies need to work cross functionally
Understands the issues Sales Reps face and has the credibility of being a Rep when collaborating with Sales Teams
Experienced obtaining , qualifying and converting leads to Sales ie Lead gen/demand gen
Hiring Industry practice experts
They are the customers and understand the pain points better than any market research -should be in leadership roles
Healthcare does this with Doctors, Dentists
Tech does this with programmers and engineers.
Why not EdTech!
Can increase Sales because they are the customer and understand the pain points because they have experienced them in the job
This is the best market research/ buyer persona there is!
Case For hiring ex Teachers
understands how people learned
skilled at tailoring content for understanding based on learning needs
Today’s marketing is about educating customer and earning the right to market to them as they can educate customers
Why it is not Good enough to just place them in Sales
People in Sales are not involved in the creative process and cannot change their cards and company messaging.
They cannot address weaknesses in messaging and product.
The Marketer of Tomorrow
Has all of the above in their background or at least a Sales background at a minimum.
Dan is passionate about using Marketing to help businesses drive sales. HubSpot Certified in Inbound Marketing, Dan has worked on various marketing assignments including Start Ups, a Political Campaign and a Digital Marketing Conference.
Prior to teaching, Dan served customers as an Outside Sales and Marketing Rep in NYC. In this role, he taught and trained Dentists on the company’s products and services using a consultative selling approach combined with direct marketing. He also supported the company’s marketing efforts at industry trade shows.
He writes and publishes a business blog on the topics of Sales, Marketing and Social Media entitled Sales, Marketing & Social Media Today; which has grown to 24,000+ followers on LinkedIn and 19,000+ on WordPress.
Dan is seeking a full-time marketing role in Marketing. He is willing to create and build out the Marketing function of your organization if it does not exist. If your company is hiring for roles in these areas, contact him directly via a free LinkedIn Message or email him at Dan@DanGalante.com to set up interviews.
