Questions on HRM | Human Resource Management Human Resource Management HR training is an powerful integer in all businesses sector method, nevertheless companies don't decide the impact of hr training programmes more than the staff. HR training is helpful only if it produces desired outcome. When the administration is implementing a hr training programme, there ought to be an model facility on which the assessment strategy may be improved, and classification of strength of hr training and usage activities could be through. Categories Full 100 Marks Project reports & guidance on - =>Marketing 1. What psychological methodology does NLP stand for? Ans- Neuro-Linguistic Programming 2. David McLelland's motivational theory identified three principal motivational needs which he said each of us possesses to varying degrees, and which characterise our motivational behaviour; what are these three motivational needs? Ans- Achievement (n-ach), the need to achieve things; Authority/Power (n-pow), the need to have impact, influence and authority; and Affiliation (n-affil), the need for relationships, interaction and acceptance among other people (or words to similar effect as these definitions) 3. Which organisation produces the UK's ABC1C2 (etc) Social Grade Classifications Statistics?

Ans- NRS Ltd (National Readership Survey) 4. What does the selling acronym AIDA stand for? Ans- Attention, Interest, Desire, Action 5. Who developed the 'Equity Theory' of job motivation in the 1960's? Ans- J Stacey Adams 6. What does the financial abbreviation P&L stand for? Ans- Profit and Loss (Profit and Loss Account) 7. Who developed the ten stages of corporate life cycle, starting with Courtship and Infancy and ending in Bureaucracy and Death? Ans- Dr Ichak Adizes 8. The Ansoff matrix correlates what two aspects of business development from the 'new' and 'existing' perspectives? Ans- Products and Markets 9. In selling and communications, what do 'open questions' generally achieve? Ans- Open questions gather information, improve understanding, and build rapport by encouraging the other person to talk and explain things, including how they feel about things. 10.

Albert Mehrabian researched and published a now widely referenced set of statistics for the effectiveness of spoken communications; what three types of communication did he identify and what percentages for each did he attach to each type in terms of the percentage of meaning (or understanding) that each communication type conveyed from person to person in his study? Ans- Mehrabian's research stated that: 7% of meaning conveyed is in the words that are spoken; 38% of meaning conveyed is in the way that the words are said (paralinguistic); and 55% of meaning conveyed is in facial expression. 11. In business accounts and financial reporting, expenses which change according to scale of performance or usage or demand are known as what? Ans- Variable Costs 12. What is the name of Ingham and Luft's model and theory which deals with hidden and open areas of knowledge about a person? Ans- The Johari Window 13. The '360 degree' appraisal method collects feedback from whom, about whom?

Ans- '360 Degree' feedback appraisal collects the views from people who work with the appraisee, about the appraisee, including subordinates, peers, upline managers; effectively anyone who comes into contact with the appraisee and who is happy to provide constructive feedback about the appraisee's strengths and areas for improvement. 14. What are the four levels of learning evaluation defined in Donald Kirkpatrick's model? Ans- 1. Enjoyment; 2. Transfer of learning; 3. Application of learning; 4. Effect of application (or words to the same effect as these four definitions) 15. What is the correct ascending order of these human needs according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Esteem, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Self-Actualisation, Biological and Physiological?

Ans- Biological and Physiological Needs (basic life needs - shelter, food, drink, sleep, etc); Safety Needs (security, protection, law, etc); Belongingness and Love Needs (family, affection, relationships, etc); Esteem Needs (achievement, status, responsibility, reputation, etc); Self-Actualisation (personal growth, self-fulfilment, etc) 16. What part of our brains typically handles process-type functions, according to brain theorists such as Katherine Benziger? Ans- Left Basal (left rear) 17. What does the accounting acronym FIFO mean? Ans- First In First Out (a convention for writing down the balance sheet value of assets of the same type - oldest are written-off first) 18. One of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing is abbreviated to the initials WOM; what is it? Ans- Word Of Mouth 19. Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains divides learning development into three main aspects: Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor; what might these three aspects of personal development more commonly be called? Ans- Knowledge, Attitude, Skills 20. Who wrote the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?

Ans- Dr Stephen Covey 21. The 'Big Five' personality dimensions, by which modern day psychologists believe every person's personality and behaviour tendencies can be measured are commonly abbreviated to the OCEAN acronym; what does OCEAN stand for? Ans- Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. 22. What are the four metaphorical terms used to describe products/services in Boston Matrix model according to market share and market maturity? Ans- Dog, Cash Cow, Problem Child and Star (or Rising Star) 23. The financial ratio which divides a company's 'liquid assets' by 'current liabilities' is known by what popular term? Ans- Acid Test (or 'Quick Ratio') 24. What three important things should be confirmed and understood before conducting a brainstorming ideas session? Ans- The purpose or aim of the exercise; a time limit; the fact that all ideas are welcome and to be respected (ie., sometimes the craziest-sounding ideas are the best ones). 25. What does the SWOT stand for in SWOT analysis? Ans- Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats 26.

What are the 'Four Functional Types' within Carl Jung's theory? Ans- Thinking, Feeling, Sensation, Intuition 27. With what was the Kyoto Summit concerned? Ans- Global climate change (in other words, greenhouse gas emissions) 28. What are the four sequential stages of the 'conscious competence' learning model? Ans- 1. Unconscious Incompetence, 2. Conscious Incompetence, 3. Conscious Competence, 4. Unconscious Competence 29. What is the '1st Law of Cybernetics' (aka the 'Law of Requisite Variety')? Ans- "The unit within the system with the most behavioural responses available to it controls the system." (or words to that effect) 30.What are the four main 'Temperament' types called within David Keirsey's Temperaments personality theory? Ans- Artisan, Idealist, Guardian, Rational/Rationalist 31. According to the Tannenbaum and Schmidt theory relating to delegation and team development, what must be reduced in order for the team's area of freedom (and growth) to increase? Ans- The manager's use of authority 32.

What does the financial term ROI stand for? Ans- Return On Investment 33. Whose experiential learning theory comprises the learning styles named: Concrete Experience (feeling); Abstract Conceptualization (thinking); Active Experimentation (doing); and Reflective Observation (watching)? Ans- David Kolb 34. Daniel Goleman was responsible for popularising and defining what management and behavioural concept in his eponymously titled (ie., the title is also the subject) 1995 book? Ans- Emotional Intelligence 35. What is psychometrics? Ans- The science of measuring (or testing) personality type (or mental abilities) 36. What is the management technique that is commonly abbreviated to MBWA? Ans- Management By Walking About (or Wandering Around) - the term is generally attributed to Tom Peters (In Search Of Excellence, 1982) although it was probably part of a new management ideology first pioneered by a few bright American companies as far back as the 1940's 37. Large size hand-writing generally indicates what characteristics in the personality of the writer? Ans- Extraverted or out-going nature 38.

Since October 2004, UK employers must follow a minimum process of three-stages for handling disputes with employees, including disciplinary and grievance matters; what are the basic minimum three stages required? Ans- 1. Write a letter to the employee explaining the issue; 2. Have a meeting with the employee to discuss the issue; 3. Hold or offer an appeal meeting with the employee if required. 39. Douglas McGregor defined two main styles of management; what did he call them and how are each of the two styles typified? Ans- X-Theory (or Theory-X) which is authoritarian, autocratic and repressive; and Y-Theory (or Theory-Y) which is participative, delegating, and developmental (or words to similar effect as these two descriptions) 40. Bruce Tuckman's theory about team development uses what four sequential rhyming words to describe the four stages of a group's progression? Ans- Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing 41. What are Howard Gardner's seven (original) Multiple Intelligences?

Ans- Linguistic (words and language), Logical-Mathematical (logic and numbers), Musical (music, sound, rhythm), Bodily-Kinesthetic (body movement control), Spatial-Visual (images and space), Interpersonal (other people's feelings), Intrapersonal (self-awareness) 42. According to Herzberg's motivational theory, which of these are 'hygiene needs' (or 'maintenance factors') and which are true 'motivators': work conditions, salary, achievement, advancement, work itself, responsibility, company car, status, recognition, and personal growth? Ans- Of the examples listed, hygiene needs are: work conditions, salary, company car, status. True motivators in the list are achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement, and personal growth. 43. What does VAK stand for in the learning styles theory? Ans- Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic/Kinaesthetic (three different learning styles or methods - seeing, listening, doing) 44. What does the business acronym IPO stand for?

Ans- Initial Public Offering, meaning the initial sale of privately owned equity (stock or shares) in a company via the issue of shares to the public and other investing institutions 45. What does the PEST stand for in PEST analysis? Ans- Political, Economical, Social, Technological 46. What do 'open questions' typically begin with? Ans- Open questions typically begin with Who, What, How, When, Where, and Why, (or for particularly capable or intelligent respondents, 'Tell me about...') 47. What visionary management thinker wrote The Age Of Unreason and The Empty Raincoat? Ans- Charles Handy 48. What are the names of the (nine) Belbin 'team roles'? Ans- Coordinator (was called 'Chairman'), Shaper, Plant, Monitor-Evaluator, Implementer (was called 'Company Worker'), Resource Investigator, Team Worker, Completer-Finisher, Specialist 49. In marketing, what are the The Four P's? Ans- Product, Price, Promotion, Place. 50.

A lot of the traditional 20th century sales theory and training was influenced by the 1937 book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'; who wrote it? Ans- Dale Carnegie. My MBA My MBA Thursday, 28 October 2010 What is SENSEX? The SENSEX, short form of the BSE-Sensitive Index, is a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" index of 30 stocks representing a sample of large, well-established and financially sound companies. It is the oldest index in India and has acquired a unique place in the collective consciousness of investors. The index is widely used to measure the performance of the Indian stock markets. SENSEX is considered to be the pulse of the Indian stock markets as it represents the underlying universe of listed stocks at The Stock Exchange, Mumbai. Further, as the oldest index of the Indian Stock market, it provides time series data over a fairly long period of time (since 1978-79). What are the objectives of SENSEX? The SENSEX is the benchmark index of the Indian Capital Markets with wide acceptance among individual investors, institutional investors, foreign investors and fund managers.

The objectives of the index are: To measure market movements Given its long history and its wide acceptance, no other index matches the SENSEX in reflecting market movements and sentiments. SENSEX is widely used to describe the mood in the Indian Stock markets. Benchmark for funds performance The inclusion of blue chip companies and the wide and balanced industry representation in the SENSEX makes it the ideal benchmark for fund managers to compare the performance of their funds. For index based derivative products Institutional investors, money managers and small investors all refer to the SENSEX for their specific purposes The SENSEX is in effect the proxy for the Indian stock markets. The country's first derivative product i.e. Index-Futures was launched on SENSEX. What are the criteria for selection and review of scrips for the SENSEX? A. Quantitative Criteria: 1. Market Capitalization: The scrip should figure in the top 100 companies listed by market capitalization. Also market capitalization of each scrip should be more than 0.5 % of the total market capitalization of the Index i.e. the minimum weight should be 0.5 %.

Since the SENSEX is a market capitalization weighted index, this is one of the primary criteria for scrip selection. (Market Capitalization would be averaged for last six months) 2. Liquidity: (i) Trading Frequency: The scrip should have been traded on each and every trading day for the last one year. Exceptions can be made for extreme reasons like scrip suspension etc. (ii) Number of Trades: Number of Trades: The scrip should be among the top 150 companies listed by average number of trades per day for the last one year. (iii) Value of Shares Traded: Value of Shares Traded: The scrip should be among the top 150 companies listed by average value of shares traded per day for the last one year. 3. Continuity: Whenever the composition of the index is changed, the continuity of historical series of index values is re-established by correlating the value of the revised index to the old index (index before revision). The back calculation over the last one-year period is carried out and correlation of the revised index to the old index should not be less than 0.98. This ensures that the historical continuity of the index is maintained. 4.

Industry Representation: Scrip selection would take into account a balanced representation of the listed companies in the universe of BSE. The index companies should be leaders in their industry group. 5. Listed History: The scrip should have a listing history of at least one year on BSE. B. Qualitative Criteria: In the opinion of the Index Committee, the company should have an acceptable track record. What is the beta of SENSEX scrips? Beta measures the sensitivity of a scrip movement relative to movement in the benchmark index i.e. SENSEX. A Beta of one means that for every change of 1% in index, the scrip moves by 1%. Statistically Beta is defined as: Covariance (SENSEX, Stock )/ Variance(SENSEX) Note: Covariance and variance are calculated from the Daily Returns data of the SENSEX and SENSEX scrips. How is SENSEX calculated? SENSEX is calculated using a "Market Capitalization-Weighted" methodology. As per this methodology, the level of index at any point of time reflects the total market value of 30 component stocks relative to a base period.

(The market capitalization of a company is determined by multiplying the price of its stock by the number of shares issued by the company). An index of a set of a combined variables (such as price and number of shares) is commonly referred as a 'Composite Index' by statisticians. A single indexed number is used to represent the results of this calculation in order to make the value easier to work with and track over time. It is much easier to graph a chart based on indexed values than one based on actual values. The base period of SENSEX is 1978-79. The actual total market value of the stocks in the Index during the base period has been set equal to an indexed value of 100. This is often indicated by the notation 1978-79=100. The formula used to calculate the Index is fairly straightforward. However, the calculation of the adjustments to the Index (commonly called Index maintenance) is more complex. The calculation of SENSEX involves dividing the total market capitalization of 30 companies in the Index by a number called the Index Divisor. The Divisor is the only link to the original base period value of the SENSEX.

It keeps the Index comparable over time and is the adjustment point for all Index maintenance adjustments. During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which latest trades are executed, are used by the trading system to calculate SENSEX every 15 seconds and disseminated in real time. How is the closing Index calculated? The closing SENSEX is computed taking the weighted average of all the trades on SENSEX constituents in the last 15 minutes of trading session. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded in the last 15 minutes, the last traded price is taken for computation of the Index closure. If a SENSEX constituent has not traded at all in a day, then its last day's closing price is taken for computation of Index closure. The use of Index Closure Algorithm prevents any intentional manipulation of the closing index value. How is the routine maintenance of SENSEX carried out? One of the important aspects of maintaining continuity with the past is to update the base year average. The base year value adjustment ensures that additional issue of capital and other corporate announcements like bonus etc. do not destroy the value of the index.

The beauty of maintenance lies in the fact that adjustments for corporate actions in the Index should not per se affect the index values. The Index Cell of the Exchange does the day-to-day maintenance of the index within the broad index policy framework set by the Index Committee. The Index Cell takes special care to ensure that SENSEX and all the other BSE indices maintain their benchmark properties by striking a delicate balance between high turnover in Index scrips and its representative character. The Index Committee of the Exchange has experts from different field of finance related to the capital markets. They include Academicians, Fund-managers from leading Mutual Funds, Finance - Journalists, Market Participants, Independent Governing Board members, and Exchange administration. Q.8 How are adjustments for Bonus, Rights and newly issued Capital carried out in SENSEX? The arithmetic calculation involved in calculating SENSEX is simple, but problem arises when one of the component stocks pays a bonus or issues rights shares. If no adjustments were made, a discontinuity would arise between the current value of the index and its previous value. The Index Cell of the Exchange periodically adjusts the base value to take care of such corporate announcements.

Adjustments for Rights Issues: When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues right shares, the market capitalisation of that company is increased by the number of additional shares issued based on the theoretical (ex-right) price. An offsetting or proportionate adjustment is then made to the Base Market Capitalisation (see ' Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment' below). Adjustments for Bonus Issue: When a company, included in the compilation of the index, issues bonus shares, the market capitalisation of that company does not undergo any change. Therefore, there is no change in the Base Market Capitalisation, only the 'number of shares' in the formula is updated. Other Issues: Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment is required when new shares are issued by way of conversion of debentures, mergers, spin-offs etc. or when equity is reduced by way of buy-back of shares, corporate restructuring etc.

Base Market Capitalisation Adjustment: The formula for adjusting the Base Market Capitalisation is as follows: New Base Market Capitalisation = Old Base Market Capitalisation X (New Market Capitalisation/Old Market Capitalisation) To illustrate, suppose a company issues right shares which increases the market capitalisation of the shares of that company by say, Rs.100 crores. The existing Base Market Capitalisation (Old Base Market Capitalisation), say, is Rs.2450 crores and the aggregate market capitalisation of all the shares included in the index before the right issue is made is, say Rs.4781 crores. The "New Base Market Capitalisation " will then be: Rs.2501.24 crores = 2450 X (4781+100)/4781 This figure of 2501.24 will be used as the Base Market Capitalisation for calculating the index number from then onwards till the next base change becomes necessary. With what frequency is SENSEX calculation done?

During market hours, prices of the index scrips, at which trades are executed, are automatically used by the trading computer to calculate the SENSEX every 15 seconds and continuously updated on all trading workstations connected to the BSE trading computer in real time. Management & Business Quiz What psychological methodology does NLP stand for? Neuro-Linguistic Programming David McLelland's motivational theory identified three principal motivational needs which he said each of us possesses to varying degrees, and which characterise our motivational behaviour; what are these three motivational needs? Achievement (n-ach), the need to achieve things; Authority/Power (n-pow), the need to have impact, influence and authority; and Affiliation (n-affil), the need for relationships, interaction and acceptance among other people (or words to similar effect as these definitions) Which organisation produces the UK's ABC1C2 (etc) Social Grade Classifications Statistics? NRS Ltd (National Readership Survey) What does the selling acronym AIDA stand for? Attention, Interest, Desire, Action Who developed the 'Equity Theory' of job motivation in the 1960's? J Stacey Adams What does the financial abbreviation P&L stand for?

Profit and Loss (Profit and Loss Account) Who developed the ten stages of corporate life cycle, starting with Courtship and Infancy and ending in Bureaucracy and Death? Dr Ichak Adizes The Ansoff matrix correlates what two aspects of business development from the 'new' and 'existing' perspectives? Products and Markets In selling and communications, what do 'open questions' generally achieve? Open questions gather information, improve understanding, and build rapport by encouraging the other person to talk and explain things, including how they feel about things. Albert Mehrabian researched and published a now widely referenced set of statistics for the effectiveness of spoken communications; what three types of communication did he identify and what percentages for each did he attach to each type in terms of the percentage of meaning (or understanding) that each communication type conveyed from person to person in his study? Mehrabian's research stated that: 7% of meaning conveyed is in the words that are spoken; 38% of meaning conveyed is in the way that the words are said (paralinguistic); and 55% of meaning conveyed is in facial expression.

In business accounts and financial reporting, expenses which change according to scale of performance or usage or demand are known as what? Variable Costs What is the name of Ingham and Luft's model and theory which deals with hidden and open areas of knowledge about a person? The Johari Window The '360 degree' appraisal method collects feedback from whom, about whom? A '360 Degree' feedback appraisal collects the views from people who work with the appraisee, about the appraisee, including subordinates, peers, upline managers; effectively anyone who comes into contact with the appraisee and who is happy to provide constructive feedback about the appraisee's strengths and areas for improvement What are the four levels of learning evaluation defined in Donald Kirkpatrick's model? 1. Enjoyment; 2. Transfer of learning; 3. Application of learning; 4. Effect of application (or words to the same effect as these four definitions) What is the correct ascending order of these human needs according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Esteem, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Self-Actualisation, Biological and Physiological?

Biological and Physiological Needs (basic life needs - shelter, food, drink, sleep, etc); Safety Needs (security, protection, law, etc); Belongingness and Love Needs (family, affection, relationships, etc); Esteem Needs (achievement, status, responsibility, reputation, etc); Self-Actualisation (personal growth, self-fulfilment, etc) What part of our brains typically handles process-type functions, according to brain theorists such as Katherine Benziger? Left Basal (left rear) What does the accounting acronym FIFO mean? First In First Out (a convention for writing down the balance sheet value of assets of the same type - oldest are written-off first) One of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing is abbreviated to the initials WOM; what is it? Word Of Mouth Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Domains divides learning development into three main aspects: Cognitive, Affective and Psychomotor; what might these three aspects of personal development more commonly be called? Knowledge, Attitude, Skills Who wrote the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People?

Dr Stephen Covey The 'Big Five' personality dimensions, by which modern day psychologists believe every person's personality and behaviour tendencies can be measured are commonly abbreviated to the OCEAN acronym; what does OCEAN stand for? Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion/introversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. What are the four metaphorical terms used to describe products/services in Boston Matrix model according to market share and market maturity? Dog, Cash Cow, Problem Child and Star (or Rising Star) The financial ratio which divides a company's 'liquid assets' by 'current liabilities' is known by what popular term? Acid Test (or 'Quick Ratio') What three important things should be confirmed and understood before conducting a brainstorming ideas session? The purpose or aim of the exercise; a time limit; the fact that all ideas are welcome and to be respected (ie., sometimes the craziest-sounding ideas are the best ones). What does the SWOT stand for in SWOT analysis? Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats What are the 'Four Functional Types' within Carl Jung's theory? Thinking, Feeling, Sensation, Intuition With what was the Kyoto Summit concerned?

Global climate change (in other words, greenhouse gas emissions) What are the four sequential stages of the 'conscious competence' learning model? 1. Unconscious Incompetence, 2. Conscious Incompetence, 3. Conscious Competence, 4. Unconscious Competence What is the '1st Law of Cybernetics' (aka the 'Law of Requisite Variety')? "The unit within the system with the most behavioural responses available to it controls the system." (or words to that effect) What are the four main 'Temperament' types called within David Keirsey's Temperaments personality theory? Artisan, Idealist, Guardian, Rational/Rationalist According to the Tannenbaum and Schmidt theory relating to delegation and team development, what must be reduced in order for the team's area of freedom (and growth) to increase? The manager's use of authority What does the financial term ROI stand for? Return On Investment Whose experiential learning theory comprises the learning styles named: Concrete Experience (feeling); Abstract Conceptualization (thinking); Active Experimentation (doing); and Reflective Observation (watching)?

David Kolb Daniel Goleman was responsible for popularising and defining what management and behavioural concept in his eponymously titled (ie., the title is also the subject) 1995 book? Emotional Intelligence What is psychometrics? The science of measuring (or testing) personality type (or mental abilities) What is the management technique that is commonly abbreviated to MBWA? Management By Walking About (or Wandering Around) - the term is generally attributed to Tom Peters (In Search Of Excellence, 1982) although it was probably part of a new management ideology first pioneered by a few bright American companies as far back as the 1940's Large size hand-writing generally indicates what characteristics in the personality of the writer? Extraverted or out-going nature Since October 2004, UK employers must follow a minimum process of three-stages for handling disputes with employees, including disciplinary and grievance matters; what are the basic minimum three stages required? 1. Write a letter to the employee explaining the issue; 2. Have a meeting with the employee to discuss the issue; 3. Hold or offer an appeal meeting with the employee if required.

Douglas McGregor defined two main styles of management; what did he call them and how are each of the two styles typified? X-Theory (or Theory-X) which is authoritarian, autocratic and repressive; and Y-Theory (or Theory-Y) which is participative, delegating, and developmental (or words to similar effect as these two descriptions) Bruce Tuckman's theory about team development uses what four sequential rhyming words to describe the four stages of a group's progression? Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing What are Howard Gardner's seven (original) Multiple Intelligences? Linguistic (words and language), Logical-Mathematical (logic and numbers), Musical (music, sound, rhythm), Bodily-Kinesthetic (body movement control), Spatial-Visual (images and space), Interpersonal (other people's feelings), Intrapersonal (self-awareness) According to Herzberg's motivational theory, which of these are 'hygiene needs' (or 'maintenance factors') and which are true 'motivators': work conditions, salary, achievement, advancement, work itself, responsibility, company car, status, recognition, and personal growth?

Of the examples listed, hygiene needs are: work conditions, salary, company car, status. True motivators in the list are achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility, advancement, and personal growth. What does VAK stand for in the learning styles theory? Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic/Kinaesthetic (three different learning styles or methods - seeing, listening, doing) What does the business acronym IPO stand for? Initial Public Offering, meaning the initial sale of privately owned equity (stock or shares) in a company via the issue of shares to the public and other investing institutions What does the PEST stand for in PEST analysis? Political, Economical, Social, Technological What do 'open questions' typically begin with? Open questions typically begin with Who, What, How, When, Where, and Why, (or for particularly capable or intelligent respondents, 'Tell me about...') What visionary management thinker wrote The Age Of Unreason and The Empty Raincoat? Charles Handy What are the names of the (nine) Belbin 'team roles'?

Coordinator (was called 'Chairman'), Shaper, Plant, Monitor-Evaluator, Implementer (was called 'Company Worker'), Resource Investigator, Team Worker, Completer-Finisher, Specialist In marketing, what are the The Four P's? Product, Price, Promotion, Place. A lot of the traditional 20th century sales theory and training was influenced by the 1937 book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'; who wrote it? Dale Carnegie. The Ultimate List of Social Media Acronyms [ELI5, FTW] Jan 22, 2015 Last updated: Aug 26, 2016 19 minutes to read Just today, I found out what SOV means. Researching this post, in fact, was the first time I discovered the definition (SOV = “Share of Voice,” by the way!). I had seen it on social media articles and updates and never knew what it meant. Do you have similar acronyms or abbreviations you’ve wondered about? Our social media shorthand is amazingly extensive.

We have acronyms and abbreviations for not only the marketing terms that we use but also the way that we chat back and forth with one another. I thought it’d be great to share some that seem to come up quite often. I’ve collected over 140 social media acronyms and abbreviations and placed them here in this post, complete with definitions and quick navigation to help you find the terms you’re interested in. Let me know if there are others that you’ve noticed that didn’t make this list! Take the social media acronym quiz! In creating this post, I quickly put together a short and sweet quiz on some of the terms that appear in the glossary here. Test your knowledge to see which acronyms you know and which you might learn!

How to navigate the social media glossary Jump to any letter: View the index of acronyms & abbreviations: Topic: Social media marketing API B2B B2C BL CAN-SPAM CMGR CMS CPC CPM CR CRM CSS CTA CTR CX DM ESP FB FTW G+ GA HT HTML IG IO ISP KPI LI P2P PM PPC PR PV ROI RSS RT RTD SaaS SEM SEO SERP SM SMB SMM SMM SMO SMP SoLoMo SOV TOS UGC UI URL UV UX Via WOM YT Topic: Social media communication AFAIK AMA ASL b/c B4 BAE bc BFF BRB BTAIM BTW CC DAE DFTBA DGAF ELI5 EM EML F2F FaTH FBF FBO FFS FOMO FTFY FUTAB FYI G2G GG Gr8 GTG GTR HBD HMB HMU HTH IANAD IANAL ICYMI IDC IDK IKR ILY IMHO IMO IRL JK L8 LMAO LMK LMS LOL LOLz MCM MM MT MTFBWY NM NSFL NSFW NVM OAN OH OMG OMW OOTD OP ORLY OTP

 POTD PPL QOTD ROFL ROFLMAO SFW SMH TBH TBT TGIF Thx TIL TL;DR TLDR TMI TTYL TTYN TTYS Tx Txt w/ WBU WCW WDYMBT WOTD YMMV YOLO YSK YT —A— AFAIK – As far as I know Ex.

“AFAIK, there are no peanuts in a Milky Way bar.” AIDA – Attention, Interest, Desire, Action This copywriting formula helps devise a list of events that a reader can take toward converting. It’s particularly effective in website copy, online ads, email, blog posts, and social media updates. Ex. “Check this out! Moz is giving away free SEO for a year! Super great chance to grow your SEO skills and powers. Click here: bit.ly/link. Learn more: 27 copywriting formulas to drive clicks and engagement on social media AMA – Ask Me Anything These initials can be used in social media updates as an open call for questions, and the acronym is also quite popular as a recurring question-and-answer series on Reddit, featuring experts and/or well-known names in a huge variety of fields. Ex. “I’m doing an AMA on Reddit tomorrow at 3pm ET all about space travel!” API – Application Programming Interface Have you ever wondered how your favorite app connects to so another of your much-loved services? Buffer, for instance, uses the Twitter API to schedule and post tweets. In general, an API outlines the specifics of software applications, telling components how they should act on an interface. Ex.

“I’m late b/c traffic. B2B – Business-to-business Companies that focus on selling goods and services to other companies. An enterprise analytics tool, for instance, would be a B2B product. Often times you may see marketing strategies and statistics broken up between B2B and B2C because some of the tactics and tips may differ based on this distinction. B2C – Business-to-consumer Companies that focus on selling to consumers. A clothing retailer, for instance, would be a B2C company. B4 – Before Ex. “Ask Alice. She got there B4 me.” BAE – Before Anyone Else Used as a term of endearment for someone you care about. Ex. “My BAE and I are staying in tonight.” BFF – Best Friends Forever Ex. “Troy and Abed are total BFFs!” BRB – Be right back BTAIM – Be that as it may For use in arguments and discussions online. Ex.

“BTAIM, I still prefer comments on blog posts.” BTW – By the way —C— CAN-SPAM – Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act This law was passed in 2003 in the United States in hopes of cutting down on unsolicited email. Per the rules of CAN-SPAM, there is a lengthy list of requirements that businesses or individuals must comply with when sending out email—items like providing the ability to unsubscribe, including a physical mailing address, and no misleading subject lines. Learn more: Email marketing’s most frequently asked questions CC – Carbon copy On social media, CC has the same usage as the CC on your emails: to make sure that a Twitter user sees your Tweet, used with the @ mention and their Twitter handle. Ex. “Amazing new insights into digital marketing: bit.ly/link cc: @hnshah” CMGR – Community manager Often, this person is helpful in engaging with the community on social media, forums, and meetups. The social media manager job description has a lot of crossover with a community manager. Learn more: A day in the life of a social media manager CMS – Content Management System A CMS is software used to organize, edit, and publish content.

WordPress is the CMS we use for the Buffer blog. Ghost is another popular blogging platform that could be used as a CMS. CPC – Cost per click In online advertising, cost-per-click refers to the price paid by an advertiser who is charged every time someone clicks on an ad (rather than every time the ad is shown). The cost-per-click is the dollar amount that the advertiser pays for each click. CPM – Cost per thousand In comparison to cost-per-click, cost-per-thousand is based on the impressions (views) of an ad. In CPM, the advertiser is charged for every 1,000 impressions of an ad. Fun fact: The “M” in CPM stands for “Mille,” which is the roman numeral name for 1,000 (in case you were wondering why it’s CPM instead of CPT). CR – Conversion rate CR is the number of people who take an action, divided by the number of people who could have. For example, if you have 100 visits to your landing page and 25 people click the button, the button has a 25 percent conversion rate.

Learn more: How to boost the conversion rate on your marketing content CRM – Customer Relationship Management CRM is a way of managing the interaction and communication between your business and its leads or customers. In certain ways, CRM is like an address book with super powers. Salesforce is one of the leading CRM providers online. CSS – Cascading stylesheet This code language gives websites their look. The layout, colors, fonts, borders, spacing, and all other visual elements of a website occur because of the styles declared in CSS. CTA – Call-to-action The word or phrase that’s used to tell people what to do. Click here. Buy now. Learn more. Join us. CTR – Clickthrough rate Like conversion rate, this measures the amount of people who took an action—in the case of CTR, the action is a click—divided by the number of people who could have. In email marketing, for instance, CTR describes the rate at which people clicked on a link in an email, taking into consideration the number of people who received the email. CX – Customer experience The sum of all experiences a customer has with you. This could involve interactions with your product, your website, your customer support, or your social media. Ex.

“DAE have an invite code for Google Inbox?” DFTBA – Don’t forget to be awesome Ex. “Good luck in your interview! DFTBA!” DM – Direct Message This refers to messages received in your private Twitter inbox. Ex. “I’d love to connect! Can you DM me your email address?” —E— ELI5 – Explain like I’m 5 (years old) This one is often seen on Reddit. It’s used to ask for a simple explanation to a complex topic. Ex. “ELI5, how does wind work?” ESP – Email service provider A program or software that allows you to send emails. MailChimp , for instance, is an ESP, and some large companies have their own ESPs for sending bulk email. Ex. “Let’s chat F2F instead of skype.” FaTH – First and Truest Husband This doesn’t necessarily refer to one’s actual husband but rather anyone you feel a particular bond toward. Ex.

“This relationship has been so incredible, you’ll always be my FaTH.” FB – Facebook FBF – Flashback Friday A theme where you share an old picture or status from back in the day, FBF is often represented in hashtag form (and it’s quite similar to another weekly meme, Throwback Thursday). FBO – Facebook official This term refers to one’s relationship status on Facebook. When you’re FBO, you’ve set your status on Facebook to “In a relationship.” Along with signifying the start of a relationship, these initials can also be a way of stating that you won’t believe something until you see it online. Ex. “I got a new car! It’s FBO! (picture)” FF – Follow Friday A trend that began on Twitter, Follow Friday lets you share the names of other Twitter users whom you think your followers should follow. Ex. “FF: @leowid @courtneyseiter @nmillerbooks #buffer” FOMO – Fear of Missing Out FOMO describes a type of social anxiety where you feel that if you miss an opportunity you might miss out on something great.

FOMO comes into play quite often with social media where some people are compelled to stay connected so they never miss a big moment. FTFY – Fixed that for you A simple shorthand response when someone corrects someone else online. Ex. “Salem, not Portland, is the capital of Oregon. FTFY.” FTW – For the win! A jubilant exclamation, and sometimes used in jest or sarcastically. Ex. “Churros, FTW!” FUTAB – Feet up, take a break Ex. “Just sent his week’s newsletter! FUTAB. :)” FYI – For your information Ex. “My best friend is turning 30 today! HBD @annief!” HMB – Hit me back Ex. “Let’s chat this week. HMB on my cell.” HT – Hat tip A hat tip is a way for users to give thanks or acknowledgement to other users. It refers to the practice of tipping one’s hat toward a person out of gratitude. You see HT a lot in association with shared content, along with “via,” “by,” and “cc.” In some cases, HT can also refer to “Heard Through,” which provides a similar meaning to Hat Tip. Ex.

“51 of the Best Writing Articles bit.ly/link HT: @redman” HTH – Here to help / Happy to help Ex. “Anyone need help figuring out the Facebook News Feed? HTH.” HTML – Hyper Text Markup Language HTML is the coding language used to build webpages and any other information viewable on the web. HTML is the foundation and the frame of every website you visit. CSS adds the color and layout to the page. IANAD – I am not a doctor Ex. “Whoa, sounds like strep throat! IANAD :)” IANAL – I am not a lawyer Ex. “IANAL, but it seems like you’ve got a pretty good case there!” ICYMI – In case you missed it This one can be used when resharing something from earlier or in a “things you should know today” format. You might find it often in recap-type posts and updates. Ex. “ICYMI, the Buckeyes won the national championship! #gobucks” IDC – I don’t care Ex. “Raining today. IDC.” IDK – I don’t know Ex. “Super tough test today! Our 14th president? IDK.

¯_(ツ)_/¯” IG – Instagram Ex. “ikr RT: @vimeo The most amazing announcement ever. Gotta see this video.” ILY – I love you IM – Instant message Popular instant messaging apps like AOL Instant Messenger predate the more modern social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Some social networks still have built-in instant messaging features. Facebook Chat is perhaps the most well-known (and widely used) version of IM still around. IMHO – In my humble opinion IMO – In my opinion Ex. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to eat and drive at the same time, IMHO.” IO – Insertion order Used in advertising and marketing environments, an insertion order is a written contract between an advertiser and an ad agency or media rep, often used for print or broadcast ads. Typical IOs include air date and time, number of times for the ad to be shown, and costs. IRL – In real life This phrase is often used to distinguish between interactions and events that happen online versus the real world. Ex. “Huge fan of @guy! We met IRL a few years back. :)” ISP – Internet service provider Who do you pay for Internet? This is your ISP.

Comcast is the largest ISP in the United States. Ex. “Running L8! See you in 15. :)” LI – LinkedIn LMAO – Laughing my a** off Ex. “Camping was in tents/intense! LMAO!” LMK – Let me know Ex. “Anyone interested in chatting about small biz marketing? LMK. kevan at bufferapp.com” LMS – Like my status You might see this acronym appear on tweets or Facebook posts, asking those who read it to give the post a like. It’s also an acronym for “Learning Management System,” software for online education courses. Ex. “Got the new iPhone! So stoked! LMS.” LOL – Laughing out loud LOLz – Laughing out loud (plural/sarcastic) Lolz is the plural of LOL, but instead of having an “s,” people write it with a “z”. Some say that LOLz means you’re laughing out loud sarcastically. —M— MCM – Man crush Monday This acronym refers to a weekly trend where users mention or post photos about a man whom they like or admire. MM – Music Monday Music Monday was originally used to share the music you were listening to that day.

It’s no longer as popular of an abbreviation as it used to be. MT – Modified tweet Modified tweets occur when a user is attempting to manually retweet but the tweet is too long and you have to modify the original tweet. The issues with length can occur if you’re trying to add your own commentary to an already-long tweet. Ex. “Incredible resources here! MT: @unbounce The Ultimate Guide to Landing Pages That Work” MTFBWY – May the force be with you A reference to the Star Wars movies, this abbreviation is used when someone is sending words of encouragement or motivation to another user. Ex. “Finals this week! MTFBWY @amyjones!” Ex. “@andydwer That makes sense. OAN, where’d you get your cool cover photo? :)” OH – Overheard Ex. “OH: The show is standing room only tonight.” OMG – Oh my God Ex. “OMG! I can’t believe how great this new app is. :)” OMW – On my way Ex. “OMW. See you in a few!” OOTD – Outfit of the day This social media meme has people sharing which outfit they’re wearing that day.

Popular on Instagram, OOTD often will appear as a hashtag. Ex. “New shirt. New pants. #OOTD” OP – Original poster Ex. “OP stated it best in her original question.” ORLY – Oh really?! Like LOLz, this abbreviation can be used sarcastically as well as seriously. Ex. “ORLY? RT @kevanlee Firecrackers aren’t made from crackers.” OTP – One true pairing This refers to two people or characters that you feel are meant for each other. Ex. “Lady and the Tramp are my OTP.” —P— P2P – Person to person, or peer to peer Similar to F2F, this abbreviation can refer to an in-person meeting, as opposed to an online get together. Also, P2P can come up in a business arena as a way of distinguishing a type of network, tool, meeting, or event. POTD – Photo of the day Popular on Instagram, this abbreviation often appears as a hashtag for those who want to show off their best photo of the day. Ex. “Check out this sunset!

#POTD” PPC – Pay per click In online advertising, pay-per-click is when an advertiser pays based on the number of times their ad is clicked. This is also known as cost-per-click (CPC, mentioned above). Google’s ads are perhaps the most common type of PPC avaialble. PM – Private message Ex. “Send me a PM! :)” PPL – People Ex. “Tons of PPL here. This place is packed!” PR – PageRank, or Public relations PageRank refers to an element of the Google ranking algorithm that assigns your webpage a numerical value from 0 to 10 based on the number and quality of links to the page. In this way, PageRank is hoping to measure the quality of the page itself. Learn more: The Complete Beginner’s Guide to SEO PV – Pageviews One of the most widely-used metrics in Google Analytics and web traffic tracking, pageviews refers to the number of times a user visits a webpage. Unique pageviews goes a step further and counts only the pageviews of unique individuals (for example, if Tom visited a page three times and Amy visited once, pageviews would be four, and the unique pageviews would be two).

—Q— QOTD – Quote of the Day Used for sharing a funny or interesting quote, QOTD will often appear in a hashtag following the quote. Ex. “You will get everything you want in life if you help other people get what they want. – Zig Ziglar #QOTD” ROFL – Rolling on the floor laughing ROFLMAO – Rolling on the floor laughing my a** off Most often used with the simple ROFL, this abbreviation comes as a response to something really funny, to a greater degree than a LOL. Ex. “Listening to the new Brian Regan CD! ROFL! This is so great. :)” ROI – Return on investment This marketing measurement looks at the amount of profit you make based on the difference between revenue and expenses. In social media marketing, ROI tends to be an elusive metric since revenue can be difficult to measure directly from social. Often times, ROI is extended to include a return in clicks, engagement, or new followers based on the time and resources devoted to a social network. Ex. It costs $5,000 a year to maintain your website (domain, hosting, copywriting, design fees, etc.), but is generates $20,000/year in revenue.

Based on this example your ROI would be 400% ($20,000 divided by $5000). RSS – Really simple syndication Many people choose RSS as the way to keep up with the latest blog posts from their favorite blogs, via a feed reader. Feedly is one of the most popular feed readers, letting you pull in content from any site with an RSS feed. RT – Retweet Twitter has added native retweets into their app, so whenever you spy an RT in your timeline now, that user has manually added the RT. For best practices, retweets are to begin with “RT @username” followed by the original tweet. You can add your own commentary before or after. Ex. “Must read. RT @intercom A New Way to Onboard.” RTD – Real-time data Certain social media dashboards and website tracking tools measure data in real-time. For instance, Chartbeat can tell you how many visitors are on your website this moment, including which pages they’re on and how they’re interacting with your site. This real-time data can be super interesting to see as well as valuable to help optimize your content and web pages.

—S— SaaS – Software as a service SaaS companies provide services via software either online or downloaded to your computer. For instance, Buffer is an SaaS company. SEM – Search engine marketing SEM refers to the way that companies and brands promote their website within search engines. The two main elements of SEM are paid advertising and search engine optimization. SEO – Search engine optimization SEO refers to the practice of optimizing a website so that it ranks highly in search engine result pages. Some key elements of SEO are content, keywords, headlines, meta information, backlinks, and site structure/speed. SERP – Search engine results page This is the page you see when you perform a search. SFW – Safe for work The SFW abbreviation is sometimes used on content that seems like it may be NSFW but is actually quite non-offensive. Ex. “Loved the new music video from Nicki Minaj! (SFW, btw)!” SM – Social media Social media platforms may include sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram. SoLoMo – Social, Local, Mobile This refers to a localized and mobile-centric version of search engine results.

SoLoMo takes advantage of a phone or tablet’s GPS technologies to deliver a user experience (search results, notifications, etc.) based on location. SOV – Share of voice Share of Voice is the percentage of all the online content/conversations about your company compared to the content/conversations about your competitors. You might think of it as a form of online market share. Tools like Social Mention can help in discovering your Share of Voice. Ex. “I’ve yet to see the appeal of snuggies, TBH.” TBT – Throwback Thursday Often used as a hashtag, TBT is when users share a photo from their past, often baby photos or, in the case of companies, photos from their early years. Ex. “Here’s the first version of our logo! Wow, it’s come a long way! #TBT” TGIF – Thank goodness it’s Friday Ex. “Been a long week. TGIF!” Thx – Thanks Ex. “Big thx to @moz for hosting an awesome conference this week!” TIL – Today I learned Ex.

“TIL how tax credits work.” TL;DR – Too Long; Didn’t Read This abbreviation may appear in a comment, post, or tweet, where the user is mentioning they weren’t able to completely read an article because of its length. Also, some articles or notes may include this abbreviation in lieu of a summary heading. Ex. “tl;dr RT @cnn The Full Transcript from the State of the Union Address.” TMI – Too much information Ex. “TMI RT @mashable The Percentage of People who Use Social Media in the Bathroom.” TOS – Terms of Service Terms of service are the legal notices for browsing a website or using an app. TTYL – Talk to you later TTYN – Talk to you never TTYS – Talk to you soon Ex. “#bufferchat was awesome! TTYL, everyone!” Txt – Text —U— UGC – User generated content This refers to all the different types of content—articles, updates, comments, videos, photos, etc.—that are produced by a site’s users. For instance, all the great presentations on SlideShare are UGC. UI – User interface User interface is the aspects of a website or product with which the user interacts with directly.

To use an analogy, user interface is the saddle, the stirrups, and the reins. In an app like Buffer, the user interface is the buttons, the composer windows, the screen and mouse and keyboard. Learn more: UI vs. UX: What’s the Difference? URL – Uniform Resource Locator A URL is the web address for a specific page. The URL for the Buffer blog is You can see the URL for any web page by looking in the address bar at the top of your browser window. UV – Unique visitor A unique visitor is an individual website visitor who is counted only once in the traffic stats, regardless of how many times they visit or pages they view. UX – User experience User experience describes the way a user feels when using a website or a product. It’s the sum of the user’s experiences. To use an analogy, it would be like the feeling you get riding a horse (as opposed to the horse, the stirrups, the saddle themselves). Ex. “I’m going to Social Media Marketing World this year. WBU?” WCW – Woman crush Wednesday Like Man crush Monday, Woman crush Wednesday is a chance for social media users to share an update or a photo with reference to a woman they like or admire.

WDYMBT – What do you mean by that? Ex. “WDYMBT @kevanlee?” WOM – Word of mouth Another way to think about this is “sentiment.” What are people saying about your brand or product? Word of mouth has some huge implications for growth, and it spreads even faster as social media expands as a medium. WOTD – Word of the Day WOTD is a fun way to share a new word that you’ve picked up (and like many on the list, it could also be used sarcastically). Ex. “Pandiculation – feeling stiff when you wake up from a nap. #WOTD” ACA BUSINESS JEOPARDY Jeopardy Template What movie took home the best picture award this year at the Oscars? 100 What is Universal Life Insurance. A type of flexible permanent life insurance offering the low-cost protection of term life insurance as well as a savings element which is invested to provide a cash value buildup. 100 What is Word of Mouth One of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing is abbreviated to the initials WOM; what is it? 100 Which drink company got it's name after rejecting the first six offers?

100 In the human body, Skeletal, Smooth and Cardiac are all types of what? 200 What is the year 2014 in Roman numerals? 200 What is a 401K Plan a defined contribution plan where an employee can make contributions from his or her paycheck either before or after-tax, depending on the options offered in the plan. The contributions go into a account, with the employee often choosing the investments based on options provided under the plan. 200 What is the Outlaw Club. Which club was the first to officially launch and host it's first meeting? 200 What is a female alligator called? 200 What is the Seven of Diamonds In the game of bridge, which card is known as the Beer Card? 300 What is Islamic State of Iraq and Syria What does I.S.I.S. stand for? 300 What is Cable News Network What does C.N.N stand for? 300 What is Facebook Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Savarin are two of the creators of which networking service, launched in February 2004? 300 What is the sum, in degrees, of the angles in a triangle?

300 What is P Which letter is furthest to the right on a top letter row on a computer keyboard? 400 What is 500 According to 2014 Twitter statistics, how many million tweets are sent every day: 5; 50; 500; or 5,000? 400 What is Initial Public Offering What does the business acronym IPO stand for? 400 What is the Christopher Bond Bridge? What is the name of the famous bridge that leads you into the Northland located by the Casinos and is featured on our Membership Website Link? 400 What is Dopey Which is the only one of Disney’s Seven Dwarfs who does not have a beard? 400 What is Saturday Night Live The 1992 film ‘Wayne’s World’ was a spin-off of a sketch from which US television show? 500 What is Fifty Shades of Gray The 16th century vast eight-choir musical work 'Spem in alium' by Thomas Tallis became a best seller in 2012 after featuring in which controversial book and box office movie currently in theatres?

500 What is Dale Carnegie A lot of the traditional 20th century sales theory and training was influenced by the 1937 book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People'; who wrote it? 500 Social experience – You are what you share How to create buzz around your product Standaard Word-of-mouth advertising is more effective than traditional advertising for two important reasons. Firstly, our friends tend to tell us the truth. Their objectivity, combined with their honesty, causes that we rather listen to our friends. We are also more likely to trust and believe them, especially compared to companies. All these things make WOM advertising more convincing. Secondly, WOM advertising is by nature addressed to an interested audience. You don’t share news or recommendations with everybody you know, but you select the people who are most likely to be interested. Consequently, WOM advertising reaches people that are really interested. It should therefore not surprise you that referred customers are more likely to spend money, shop faster and are generally more profitable. What exactly makes content communicative and catching? Recipes often need sugar to make the final result tasty delicious. The same applies for advertisements that go viral or for products that generate a lot of WOM advertising.

All of these advertisements and products usually contain the same ingredients. Six major STEPPS generate conversations, shares, interaction,… The checklist below can be used to see how good your product or idea scores on the six principles. Social change People share things that make us look good, because they love to make a good impression. You should therefore make your product a way to accomplish this goal. Sharing clever or entertaining things makes you look clever and entertaining. For example: by giving people the feeling that they have inside information, you give them an opportunity to make a good impression. Triggers Triggers are one of the basics of WOM advertising and catchiness. Triggers lie on the tip of your tongue and keep your mind occupied. They strengthen WOM advertising, because they make products or ideas catchy. Some incentives are better triggers than other ones. For example: the frequency of an incentive is a very important factor when determining the impact of the trigger. The more often something is triggered, the more people think about it and the more successful it will be. Emotion There are reasons to expect that experiencing emotions encourages people to share things, because it is known that talking to others ameliorates emotional experiences.

By adding something exciting to a story or an advertisement, the chance that it will be shared increases a lot. Public If it’s hard to see what other people do, it’s hard to imitate them. If you make something more visible, it’s easier to imitate. That’s why visibility is an important factor to make sure that products strike the attention of potential customers. Public visibility strengthens WOM advertising. The easier it is to see something, the more people talk about it. Practical value Practical value is about helping, and people like to help each other. When you know why customers are attracted to your product, you have a good idea of the underlying practical value. The more difficult part is to attract the attention of customers. You should make clear why your product is so useful that people really need to share it. Stories Information that is wrapped as superficial chatter spreads very quickly. By creating a story, the information will be shared more quickly. You should make sure that the information that you want to be remembered and shared about your product is vital for the story. So, you should create a story with a lot of practical value that not only triggers people, but is also emotional, noticeable and visible.

The good news is that everybody has the potential to make something that goes viral, since it doesn’t ask for a big budget or specific knowledge. I hope these were some helpful tips and tricks! Gemma #FAIL Standaard One angry tweet or one destructive reaction on Facebook and your reputation is at stake. With the rise of the internet and social media, the complaints of critical customers seem to become louder and louder. And with their newly acquired power, dissatisfied customers accept less and less. What should you do when you’re publicly pilloried? How can you secure the survival of your organization? People have criticized companies, governments and institutions since we can remember, but the power of the consumer increased with the emergence of the internet and social media. It seems as if a new kind of communication model has been developed. People are well aware of their rights and they love to give their opinion on companies, their products, their services,… In addition, consumers don’t trust companies anymore. In the last ten to fifteen years, this has changed the attitude of the individual consumer dramatically. People complain on the internet for various reasons.

While these reasons are not always immediately apparent from the first tweet, post or update, you base your decision whether or not to react partly on these reasons. Some reasons to complain are in fact very practical in nature and result from specific questions or complaints, or from excessive expectations which you were not able to live up to. Another important factor for online complaints is the low threshold, combined with the fact that people accept less and less of organizations. Later on in this blog post, I will give some suggestions for effective interventions. But before these interventions can take place, it’s important to know who’s complaining. The sooner you know to which category of complainers somebody belongs, the faster you can do an appropriate intervention that will satisfy the complainer. Classifying complainers in categories is hard though, especially since there is no perfect subdivision of complainers. If you analyze complainers, you can recognize at least seven types of stereotypes: the one-time complainer, the repetitive complainer, the business complainer, the impatient complainer, the connected complainer, the threatening complainer and the stalking complainer. These stereotypes are based on the actual behavior of complainers.

In addition, you also have some categories of special complainers, such as employees, competition, trolls, journalists, etc. These last categories deserve special attention, or not. There isn’t a winning formula to react to complaints on the internet. The nature of possible complaints and questions depends on too many variables, such as the type of organization, the sector, the product, the service and target groups. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t any practical guidelines to deal with online feedback in a constructive way. Through an eight-step plan, you can intervene in a professional way with appropriate reactions. After a thorough analysis of the question or complaint (step 1), it is possible to determine the nature of the intended reaction (step 2): is the goal for example to get in touch with the customer and to retrieve customer data, or is the goal the actual resolution of the individual question or complaint? Prior to drafting the concrete reaction, it is important to know by which means you will respond (e.g. Facebook, Twitter,…) (step 3) and to know if the answer could be relevant for a broader audience (step 4).

When drafting the actual reaction (step 5), it is important to react in a correct and consistent manner, with the right tone-of-voice for example. You should always check if your formulated reaction is sufficiently professional (step 6). It should be well-informed, empathic, short, effective and personal. To conclude your reaction, you must always personally sign it (e.g. full name, cotag with your initials in a tweet) (step 7). And last but not least: you should always conclude a case in public, even when most of the conversation was conducted in private (step 8). I hope these were some helpful tips and tricks! Gemma Digital Marketing and Communication Standaard Since a few years, my interest in the digital and social world has increased. Not only Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks attracted my attention, but I also started wondering about Google. How does it work? How does Google order the massive databank of websites and how does it know exactly what you’re looking for, even if you only give two keywords? E-mailmarketing is yet another thing. Why do companies still send out e-mails? Does it really work? Why does it work? What exactly makes an e-mailmarketing campaign successful?

These are only a few examples of the many things in the digital world that started to trigger my attention. Ehsal Management School After my education Business Administration, I looked for something that would provide me of an answer to all my questions about the whole social experience. Pretty soon, I landed on the website of the Ehsal Management School ( website EMS ). EMS offers five very different postgraduates: Finance and Securities A first taste of Twitter Standaard Twitter is a free Internet service that allows users to publish messages up to 140 characters. A lot of companies and their leaders would like to join Twitter, but have no idea where to start. Unfortunately, Twitter has no clear start. The only way to determine your strategy, is by understanding the whole process. The use of a social media dashboard is a must when participating in Twitter with your company, because it’s almost impossible to keep track of all the information without one. Sprout Social ( ), Engagor ( ) and Hootsuite ( ) are only a few the many social media dashboards. These platforms not only manage the torrent of social media conversations, but they also increase productivity.

Organize your own Twitter account A distinction must be made between three different ways to participate in Twitter (just like in every other social network). First of all, you should filter the information that appears on the social network. It’s impossible to read every tweet, given that there appear over 500 million tweets every day. You should therefore collect the tweets that are significant and useful for you and your company. You can do this by following certain accounts on Twitter, but also by setting up lists. This means that you classify accounts according to your interests, certain events,… Finally, you can also collect information by using searches. Hashtags are very commonly used on Twitter and are a great way to find tweets concerning your interests. Secondly, Twitter is a broadcast medium, just like every other social network. This means that you should broadcast data by sending messages to your entire network. As indicated above, the use of hashtags is recommended. You can also send out tweets to a specific person on Twitter (a tweep) by using ‘@twittername’. Last but not least, you should also engage on Twitter. This means you should interact and converse with people. There are different ways to start a conversation on Twitter.

Not only can people respond to something you post, for instance a photo or an article, but you can also ask a question or respond to a tweet yourself. Extend your reach on Twitter Just like your goods and services, your twitter account will not sell itself and should therefore be promoted. Keep in mind that not only your followers matter, but also the followers of your followers. An exponential reach can only be reached when your messages are retweeted. There are a lot of possibilities to increase your Twitter followers. Of course, you should connect all of the different platforms you are using, but I will give a brief overview of some other tips and tricks I think are the most efficient to increase your followers. An easy way to expand your reach on Twitter is by being strategic in the timing of your tweets. Timing your tweets the right way will ensure that others will see what you post. It is common knowledge that the prime time tweeting and viewing hours are the work hours: the late morning and early everning of weekdays. It is therefore recommended to tweet during these hours, but make sure that you do not tweet too many times in a row and nothing the rest of the time.

With a social media dashboard, you can schedule all of your tweets, but be careful that you do not tweet old information. Twitter is known for the use of hashtags. By adding hashtags to your tweet, it (and consequently your account) will be found more easily, because people often search for content by using these keywords. This is therefore an easy way to share your tweets with more tweeps and to increase your followers. Finally, interaction with others will really build your presence on Twitter and gain a lot of followers. Three ways to interact with other tweeps: @mentions

Question: One of the most effective and efficient forms of marketing is abbreviated to the initials WOM; what is it?
Answer: Word Of Mouth