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An Ad's Environment Is as Important as What It's Selling

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 09:51 AM PDT

  • A recent study found advertisements viewed in high-quality mobile web environments performed 74% more favorably than the same ads in low-quality environments.
  • Customers are three times less willing to seek out brands that advertise with "unsavory content."
  • Ads seen in conjunction with high-quality content have the capacity to generate "up to a 20% higher engagement rate and up to a 30% greater memorability" among subjects.

In the age of content creators and influencers, advertisers have had to adapt to fit the open-source nature of the internet, leading to some major growing pains. With an estimated 163 zettabytes of online content expected to be available by the year 2025 and smartphone adoption in the U.S. expected to pass 70% this year, a newly released study suggests that the content an ad is associated with, among other things, can influence how a brand is perceived by a potential audience. It's a small study with potential for a big impact.

Released earlier today by Integral Ad Science, The Halo Effect: Ad Environment and Receptivity examined how an ad's overall environment impacts people's reaction to it. Researchers at Neuro-Insight used Steady-State Topography to monitor the brain activity of 50 people as they made their way through a simulated mobile experience. Eight "digital display (i.e., banner) creatives" from the automotive, consumer packaged goods, financial services, technology and retail industries were shown on four high-quality and four low-quality mobile web environments.

What researchers found as they watched the brain centers responsible for "positive and negative affinity" was that among the few people in this study, the tendency was to enjoy ads more when they were next to high-quality content and disliked them when the content wasn't acceptable.

"This biometric research demonstrates that the quality of an ad's environment has a dramatic impact on how people react to that ad," said Tony Marlow, CMO at Integral Ad Science. "People respond to the entire context of an ad impression rather than just a single component of it, and this generates a very strong and positive halo effect for ads that are seen in high-quality environments."

Site quality's impact on ad performance

When surfing the web, we all want to enjoy our experience. Stumble across a poorly designed website and chances are you will go looking for the same information elsewhere. That kind of site-hopping can be detrimental to advertisers.

Using participants' brain pattern data, researchers found that ads seen on high-quality websites were perceived as 74% more likable than the same ads on lower-quality sites. In fact, officials said those same ads were "actively disliked" when viewed in such conditions. Ads viewed on a high-quality site benefited from 20% more engagement from participants and were 30% more likely to be remembered than if they were seen on a poor-quality website.

Ad relevance in the mobile age

Moving forward, mobile online advertising will grow in importance as smartphones continue to dominate people's engagement. According to an eMarketer study, approximately 31% of Americans spent most of their time with mobile devices, while 29.5% said their television was their primary source of media consumption. As a result, experts estimate that media ad spending will likewise get a larger share of ad spending in the coming years.

With advertisers looking to this space to spend their marketing budgets, researchers found that an advertisement's relevance to the content they're viewing matters now more than ever.

According to the limited study, 63% of the consumers who intentionally clicked on an advertisement said they found the ads were "more relevant than they were two years ago." Conversely, nearly 76% of consumers who didn't click on an ad felt its relevance didn't improve at all.

Content still king

When an unfortunate or controversial situation happens to a content creator, publisher or platform, the backlash from advertisers is often swift. While marketers want to get their brands in front of as many eyes as possible, when those eyes begin looking at something for the wrong reasons is generally when ads get pulled.

According to researchers, advertisers have a good reason to pull out from websites and platforms with problematic content, as American consumers are "three times less willing to associate with brands" that are connected with "unsavory, inappropriate or offensive video content." Researchers also found that those same consumers generally tend to believe that any ads placed with unsuitable content were done so intentionally.

As a result, 80% of marketers in the U.S. have been found to cut ad spending with partners to mitigate the damaging impact of a burgeoning content controversy, while 54% will increase ad dollars with "brand-safe" partners.

"Truly addressing brand suitability will require a shift from all stakeholders in the industry," researchers wrote in a press release. "Advertisers need to clearly spell out their brand suitability requirements without limiting scale, while publishers should actively work with brands to understand and meet their suitability thresholds."

Small businesses may look to organizations such as the Media Rating Council to help them measure the effectiveness and quality of their ads. But this study suggests that you should give thought to what context the reader will see for your ads, not just the pure content of the ads.

'Homeshoring' Brings Call Centers and Customers Closer

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 09:13 AM PDT

The call center industry is famous for offshore outsourcing, sending jobs overseas to places like India or the Philippines. While outsourcing cuts costs for a call center, it often comes at the expense of customer satisfaction. Luckily, call center jobs have been returning to the U.S. in large numbers throughout the past decade, thanks in large part to a trend called homeshoring.

What is homeshoring?

Homeshoring is the process of using at-home agents to achieve both cost savings and a high level of customer satisfaction. Offshore outsourcing typically achieved the first objective but failed miserably at the second. Customers regularly reported language barriers or difficulty understanding agents' thick accents. In addition, agents in other countries are not always subject to the same requirements as those in the U.S., raising concerns about security and privacy. To solve this problem, call centers employed technology to allow agents to work remotely.

Traditionally, call centers have been located in office buildings with hundreds of cubicles and buzzing phone lines. In the U.S., where workers tend to be highly educated and demand more pay to meet the relatively wealthy standard of living compared to much of the world, this setup was costing call centers a fortune. Hence, offshore outsourcing began in earnest. As technology developed, however, it became feasible to get the benefits of a domestic home-based agent – accent-neutral with a high level of education – at a fraction of the cost.

"The basic beauty of homeshoring is that you're able to tap into a talent pool with individuals who are highly educated," said Peter Hargittay, former vice president of marketing and sales operations at Arise Virtual Solutions, one of the companies that pioneered the homeshoring movement.

Editor's note: If you're looking for information to help you choose the call center that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to receive more information from our vendor partners.

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The benefits of homeshoring for call centers

Broadening the geographic scope in which a call center can search for customer service agents improves its chances of finding quality talent. Moreover, when agents work remotely, a call center doesn't have to lease a large space for workstations. A virtual call center with at-home agents results in cost savings for the business.

For employees, homeshoring provides more than just employment opportunities. Agents have flexible working schedules while they work remotely. For those who work as independent contractors, how much they work depends on how much they want to earn. There are also virtual call centers that do employ full-time remote customer service agents. These agents are entitled to the same kind of benefits a customer service agent in an office would receive. However, many home-based agents are considered independent contractors rather than full-time employees. If a homeshoring call center employs independent contractors on an as-needed basis, it doesn't have to offer additional benefits or abide by certain regulations that apply to large companies.

Homeshoring also offers benefits to the caller, as they will be speaking with a native English speaker over a stable phone connection. According to Hargittay, Arise can route calls to the nearest available home-based agent so that the caller is connected with someone in the same region or even the same state.

"The idea is to provide localized service and use local talent," Hargittay said. "If you're calling in from Louisiana, we want to have that call routed to as close to that location as possible."

Routing calls to home-based agents wherever they might be located also helps call centers in a natural disaster. Incoming calls to a business affected by a storm, for example, can simply be routed to an at-home agent outside of the affected area.

In this way, homeshoring has emerged as a win-win-win for the call center service industry. The call center cuts costs, the at-home agent has more flexibility and employment opportunities, and the customer connects with a domestically based customer service agent. Of course, homeshoring isn't limited to the phones, and as call centers have expanded their scope of work to include other channels, homeshoring has become indispensable.

"The end goal is to provide excellent customer service," said Aaron Kannowski, former marketing and media manager at Working Solutions, "and in order to do that, you pretty much have to step up."

Working Solutions brought the trend of homeshoring to additional channels rather than simply focusing on the call center. It was an early adopter of homeshoring for social media management and communication with customers in comments sections. Today, as many call centers rebrand themselves as more comprehensive contact centers – omnichannel services that manage phones, email, social media and live chat – homeshoring has grown beyond the phone lines.

Homeshoring bringing call center jobs back to the U.S.

The call center industry was once infamous for offshore outsourcing, specifically sending jobs to India or the Philippines. While the Philippines surpassed India as the leader in offshore call center services, the U.S. has started creating domestic jobs in the space once again. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are nearly 2.8 million customer service representatives in the country today. That number is projected to grow by 5% through 2026, a sign that call centers are creating more jobs. While the BLS does not track how many of those customer service representatives are home-based agents, it's a safe bet that homeshoring has played a role in growing the U.S.-based call center industry once again.

What to Look for in Your Credit Card Processing Service Contract

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 08:20 AM PDT

  • Businesses need to understand what is included in their credit card processing service contract.
  • Withheld funds, termination fees and equipment charges are among the things credit card processing service sales agents fail to tell businesses about.
  • Before signing a contract, businesses should have an unbiased consultant review it.
  • If there is something in the contract businesses don't like, they shouldn't be afraid to negotiate better terms.

Accepting debit and credit cards has become a must for businesses today. While consumers are far from abandoning cash altogether, credit and debit cards have become the most popular payment method for shoppers.

Research from the 2018 TSYS U.S. Consumer Payment Study revealed that 80% of consumers preferred paying with debit or credit cards, compared with just 14% who said cash was their preferred form of payment.

This data shows the importance of being able to handle credit card transactions and is the reason why so many businesses are employing credit card processing services to handle those needs.

While most credit card service providers will openly boast about their cheap rates, low fees and mobile options, there are other things they aren't so forthcoming about. The problem many small businesses run into is that the fees and rates they end up being charged to accept cards from their customers are much higher than they thought they'd negotiated.

Editor's note: If you're looking for information to help you choose the credit card processor that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to have our vendor partners contact you with free information.

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What to be aware of in the contract

Phillip Parker, a credit card services provider expert with CardPaymentOptions.com, says it is critical to have a full understanding of any credit card processing service contract you are signing and to always read the fine print.

"Salespeople rarely disclose all of the fees and terms of service verbally and are not required to do so under the law," Parker told Business News Daily. "It's important to read the fine print so as to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into."

One of the most important reasons to carefully read the contract is to get a clear understanding of the processing fees you will be paying. Melanie Stout, a partner with Paul Larsen Consulting, said there are two primary pricing structures: bundled pricing and interchange plus, which is also known as interchange passthrough.

Stout said bundled pricing terms typically consist of a fixed transactional fee plus basis points on the amount of the transaction, while interchange passthrough fee structures are more transparent, and include a breakout of the fees that the card brands charge and separate fees to the processor.    

"In these scenarios, processors may charge transactional fees, basis points on the deposits or a combination of the two," Stout said. "In addition to the straight processing costs, acquirers will often levy fees for additional services, including but not limited to chargebacks, reporting, ACH deposits, account updater (for recurring or card-on-file merchants) and more." 

Parker said there are several clauses in a credit card processing services contract that your provider might not be so quick to share with you.

  • Withholding funds: Merchant services providers can withhold funding on a business's transactions and establish cash reserves – cash deposits used to cover potential losses due to fraud or customer chargebacks – without prior notice.
  • Withdrawing funds: When your business grants a provider access to electronically deposited funds from your credit card sales into your checking account, you are also giving it access to withdraw funds without prior notice. Withdrawals can include funds for cash reserves, fees owed and penalties.
  • Early termination: Most merchant account contracts lock merchants into a service agreement of one to five years. These contracts include early termination fees that usually range from $200 to $500 but, in some cases, obligate the merchant to pay any fees that would have been assessed throughout the remainder of the contract, which may add up to thousands of dollars.
  • Equipment: While the provider will encourage leasing options, the cost of buying equipment is often one-tenth the cost of leasing it. In addition, most equipment leases (mobile card readers, countertop terminals, point-of-sale software and terminals, etc.), which are separate from the merchant account contract, have noncancelable terms of one to five years. In such cases, you must choose between paying a large lump sum to get out of the lease or continuing to pay the monthly fee until it expires.
  • No interchange plus: Most providers will not offer interchange-plus rates, a much less expensive alternative to bundled pricing. You should ask for interchange-plus pricing when setting up a merchant account.
  • Has to be in writing: Many merchant account contracts state the provider will not honor anything an agent promises regarding pricing or contract provisions that are not actually in the contract, even if it's apparent that the agent intentionally misled the business owner or omitted important details.

The length of a payment processing contract is also something businesses need to be aware when signing a contract, according to Stout.

"When evaluating a contract, determine whether the length of commitment is appropriate for your business and the price being offered," she said.

Parker said that, to protect themselves from being caught off guard by unknown fees, small business owners need to find a credit card service provider they can trust.

"Research the provider [with] which you are considering doing business," Parker said. "If the company has unfavorable contract provisions or business practices, other merchants will have filed public complaints."

In addition, he said, there are some keywords that business owners should be looking out for in any credit card service contract they sign.

"Watch out for any provisions that state you must pay 'damages,' 'liquidated damages,' or any language that obligates you to pay a fee or another undefined amount for canceling service prior to the contract's expiration," Parker said. "You could be in for a nasty surprise if you need to cancel your service early."

How to review the contract

If there is something you don't understand in a contract, it is important to get answers. Parker encourages businesses to always get those answers in writing.

"I recommend communicating all questions over email so that you have a record of what is explained to you," he said. "This can greatly improve your chances of getting disagreements resolved quickly." 

Stout said most credit card processing companies have experts on hand for you to talk to, but some businesses feel more comfortable getting someone from outside the processing service to take a look.

"If a merchant would prefer to get an unbiased opinion, there are consultants who specialize in payments," she said. "In looking for a consultant for this, be sure that he or she is not getting a kickback from the processor. Consultants who only represent their merchant clients will typically be more objective in evaluating agreements, negotiating lower fees, and helping ensure a successful processing partnership."

If you see something in the contract you don't like, there is usually room for negotiation. Stout said most providers will begin with a rack rate and terms that are strongly to their benefit. However, those should always be viewed as a starting point for negotiations. 

"All aspects of the agreement should be considered negotiable," Stout said. "Merchants should first determine on which areas they are willing to concede in order to get better pricing or terms in another area."

In the end, Parker said, if the contract you are proposed rubs you the wrong way, you shouldn't hesitate to search for another provider.

"If it seems like things were being intentionally omitted during verbal discussions in hopes that you will just sign the agreement without reading it, or the fees or terms seem excessive, then it's probably best to look elsewhere," Parker said.

How to Use Technology for Direct Mail Marketing

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 07:20 AM PDT

Paper-based advertisements, like direct mails, play a crucial role in influencing the purchase decision of the buyer. While direct mail is a proven marketing strategy, technology takes it to a whole new level.

It's evident that even in the wake of technological advancements, customers are actively embracing direct mail. It's no surprise why big corporates invest in direct mail engagement. The touch-and-feel experience offered by direct mail helps customers remember the brand and the product. [Are you interested in direct mail marketing services? Check out the business.com reviews and best picks.]

By streamlining the process and utilizing the power of technology in direct mail, marketers can improve personalization and ease planning, execution, and tracking. In this post, we'll discuss how technology can make direct mail better and easy for businesses.

Direct mail: The traditional way

1) Redundant process

Traditionally, direct mail marketers handled customer data and mailing information manually. Even now, most are likely to use spreadsheets to share data with other teams. This leaves no room to track data accurately. A notably redundant process in direct mail is where the same spreadsheet passes through multiple hands. Numerous edits, revisions, and updates can damage the entire operation. While necessary in some cases, such a redundant process is time-consuming and involves a lot of work.

Using technology can streamline the process and maintain an up-to-date system to achieve better results.

2) Room for errors

Efficiency and accuracy go hand in hand in direct mail marketing. Assume you are managing direct mail marketing and you send out printed copies to thousands of users. This process may involve different teams within the organization and some third-party vendors for printing and logistics. How do you know the right team is managing the process? Are you confident that your mailing list is error-free?

Without the influence of technology, it is difficult to solve accuracy-related issues. Technology offers accuracy and real-time data, which are critical to a successful direct mail marketing.

3) Lack of optimization

The conventional approach to direct mail marketing divides the process into three decision areas: Find the target audience, analyze their needs, and send out printed communication. In practice, a direct marketing agency runs reports and conducts discussions among teams to sort the list, as well as design and print it. They spend a lot of time on logistics. As a result, traditional practices lack room for optimization.

4) Inefficient data or resources

Data and resources are essential for a successful direct mail campaign. It is critical that marketing campaigns are designed to meet the demands of customers. Direct mail marketers process large and complex data from different sources. While the traditional approach is outdated, automation and technology advancements can be of great help.

Direct mail: The technology way

Don't be too fast in judging direct mail in the modern era. Technology can overcome challenges in direct mail marketing and create highly effective direct mail campaigns. Marketers now use technology to send direct mail from the CRM with a click of a button. They also get notifications when the piece is delivered and they follow up to record the customer response. 

Editor's Note: Considering using a direct mail service for your business? If you're looking for information to help you choose the one that's right for you, use the questionnaire below to have business.com vendor partners provide you with information from a variety of vendors for free:

 

1) Cloud-based software to manage the workflow

The rising popularity of cloud-based solutions makes managing data better than traditional spreadsheets. Cloud solutions and automation enable easy access to data from anywhere and at any time. It is helpful to track the progress of direct mail. Large CSV files and spreadsheet data can be transferred to an automated cloud system. You can avoid sending out multiple emails and follow-ups between the team.

2) Easy to customize

Content customization is easy with technology. Dynamic content helps businesses to send personalized marketing mails according to customer age, preference and likes. This will increase the response rate. Automating this entire process requires no effort from the marketers.

3) Effective communication

Knowing the best time to communicate with your audience is very important. A trigger-based mailing system allows marketers to print and send emails to customers based on certain events and situations. For example, you can send direct mail to customers a few weeks before the big Thanksgiving sale based on their previous purchase history. Instead of sending random emails that land in the Junk folder, send direct mail that improves response and action.

4) Easy to measure and optimize the process

Printed materials require proper management. It involves a lot of teams and follow-up of logistic communication back and forth can be a daunting task. An automated system can enable effortless tracking and optimization. Overall tracking and measurement of the process will also be easy.

How top businesses use technology in their direct mail campaigns?

Using technology in direct mail is critical as it can improve profitability and enable you to stay competitive. The good news is technology can simplify and optimize the direct mail process. Direct mail marketers and big brands use innovative technologies to streamline the entire process.

1) Audio in print

Ignore plain text and make your direct mail piece more interesting by adding audio in print. You can record a message or simply add a sound. When customers open the mail, they will hear the sound. You may have seen this technology in musical greeting cards.

2) Video in print

Video brochure takes printed communication to the next level. Surprise your customers with a video brochure and leave a great impression. Customers who are exposed to the regular direct mail will be amused to hit the play button to find what's in store for them. Video in print can get extremely creative. It is easy to insert a video screen in the printed material and play a specific video or live stream an event. With embedded Wi-Fi hotspot and video players, it can get simple and realistic.

3) Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented reality is the future of marketing because it keeps people entertained. It's flexible, interactive, and enhances the customer experience. AR gives an immersive experience to users. AR, in direct mail, includes digital elements on the printed surface. The concept is simple and flawless. Users have to point their smartphones on the printed material and it will immediately bring up information about the product and services.

a) United Mail's AR Initiative: United Mail created an interactive AR card for Christmas. The recipients of the card should download an APP on iPhone and Android to interact with the AR. The card came with the 'Wow factor' which made people to see over and over, it also made them share it with others. According to the case study, there was a massive increase in the marketing campaign. The study recorded a 106% increase in the number of downloads by iPhone users and 915% by Android users.

b) AR Movie Poster by AMC Cinema: US-based AMC cinemas used augmented reality to play trailers and display cast information to customers when they pointed their phones at movie poster in theaters and magazines.

4) Quick Response (QR) code

With a quick scan on smartphones, Quick Response codes can take the customer to the online store, product page, services or anything that you wish to promote. The latest QR code is sleeker and comes with several marketing advantages. You can even include a QR code into your logo, image or graphics to provide a powerful digital effect. A QR code can deliver a lot of information to your users, from delivering the direct mail to tracking it.

a) QR Code Alarm: Another interesting example is the QR code alarm. You'll have to print code and place it somewhere that's hard to reach (really hard to reach from the bed). You'll be able to turn off the alarm on the phone only if you scan the code. This ensures to push you out of the bed early in the morning! Isn't this an inspiring concept to use for direct mail?

Businesses can take advantage of printing QR codes on letterheads, door hangers, flyers or posters.

5) Near Field Communication (NFC)

This technology works without having to download an app or opening a web browser. A microchip inserted in the direct mail piece can emit short radio waves that communicate with the mobile phone to activate a digital experience. An NFC-enabled mobile device must be placed over the NFC-embedded direct mail and the content will appear on the mobile screen. NFC-enabled product labels, smart posters, contest, and discount coupons are some smart examples.

a) Samsung's Digital NFC Poster: Samsung made advertisement campaigns smarter with NFC posters. Touching the poster with an NFC-enabled mobile took them to the website that had all the information about their new products.

b) NFC Labels by Lexus: Toyota's Lexus used NFC labels in WIRED magazine. It helped users open a new application and learn about the car maker.

c) Adidas NFC Campaign: 'Tap into the story' was a successful NFC campaign used by Adidas. When customers tapped on the product labels with their smartphone, it would take them to the product information page. It attracted the attention of a lot of athletes and sports enthusiasts.

6) Programmatic mail

This is a highly-targeted and customized type of campaign that delivers desired results. Programmatic direct mail is designed for customers who are actively searching for your products and services. It combines digital technology and data.

After proper analysis of customer information, it is processed via direct mail to improve conversion and response. Top e-commerce websites like Amazon and eBay send an email to let customers know about abandoned carts or send suggestions based on recent product searches. Similarly, programmatic mail marketers use real-time online behavior to send printed copies to customers' doorsteps!

Target Store's Programmatic Mail Campaign

Target, a retail chain in the U.S., uses programmatic mail to increase sales. With more than 1,800 Target stores across the U.S., millions of shoppers walk in and leave information about themselves. With the help of data from surveys, coupons, loyalty cards, emails, and other sources, the marketing team at Target analyzes the demographic profile and runs a marketing campaign for audiences.

Finally, on your way to a successful campaign

Plan your direct mail campaign with the help of cloud-based software and automation tools. Store data on the cloud and use it whenever needed. Artificial intelligence can also play a major role in planning and sorting the data.

Execute the design of your printed material (flyer, brochure, poster) with the help of audio, video or AR technologies and create dynamic content for direct mail customers.

Send printed materials to the audience with the help of direct mail automation and programmatic mail concept.

Track user response rate and improve the overall direct mail marketing plan.

Conclusion

The goal of every direct mail is not just to send a printed copy, but to get a response. The traditional practices are time-consuming and difficult, but you don't have to employ them anymore! With the help of technology, you will find it much easier to manage the direct mail process.

How to Measure Your Brand Awareness Online

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 07:00 AM PDT

Brand awareness is the extent to which customers are able to recall or recognize a brand. Research shows that, on average, 5 to 7 brand impressions are necessary before someone will remember your brand. However, in order to improve your brand awareness, you first need to know how to measure it. 

Luckily, there are a number of ways you can measure your brand awareness online, including:

  1. Create customer surveys

  2. Look at website analytics

  3. Use social listening tools

  4. Look at search volume data

  5. Find your brand on review sites

Here are more specifics on each type of measurement.

1. Create online surveys

One easy way to measure your brand awareness is by creating online surveys. In order to get the truest sense of your brand awareness, you can approach this tactic in two different ways: by creating customer surveys or surveying a random group of people. 

Sending a survey to your customers that includes the question "How did you hear about us?" will give you insight into how people are discovering your business. For instance, are the majority of your customers finding out about your company through your blog posts? Or maybe they discovered you on social media? Getting these valuable insights will help you determine where users are talking about you online and how you're reaching your target audience best.  

Remember though, creating an online survey is just the first step. The next step is actually getting your customers to complete it, which can be challenging. Make sure your customer survey is simple enough for users to fill out quickly and also engaging enough to keep their interest. You can make sure your forms are engaging by keeping them short, adding images and emojis, or using conversational forms. 

Aside from surveying your existing customers, it's also important to gauge how familiar random online users are with your brand. So, create an online survey that asks users "How familiar are you with XYZ Company?". By surveying a random group of people, you can learn how many people can recall your brand. 

2. Look at website analytics

Next, you want to look at your website analytics using a free tool such as Google Analytics. Google Analytics can be confusing for beginners but don't worry, you only need to focus on a couple of sections to measure brand awareness. 

The "Channels" section is the best place to measure your brand awareness in Google Analytics. In this section, you are shown a list of 8 different channels, the one you want to focus on is "Direct." The Direct channel mainly tracks the number of people that typed your website URL into their address bar or used a bookmark to directly access your site. Here you can monitor your direct traffic over time to see if your brand awareness is improving.

You can also take a look at your main traffic sources, which is an indicator of how people discovered your brand online. Head to the "Acquisition" section, then to "All Traffic", and finally to "Sources/Medium" and click on it. From there you can see your website's top traffic sources. If you find your top traffic sources are social media platforms, it gives you an idea that you're social media marketing campaigns are working to increase brand awareness. 

3. Use social listening tools

People love to get online and talk about the brands they love – and sometimes the brands they don't love so much. So, what better way to find out if people are talking about your brand online than by checking out social media. By monitoring the conversations people are having on social media about your brand, you're able to get unbiased, unfiltered opinions. 

One way to see what people are saying about your brand online is by doing a simple search on Twitter, Instagram, or another platform of your choice. Type in your brand name into the platform search bar and see what comes up. But, don't limit yourself to just direct mentions of your brand's name. You should also do searches for common misspellings of your brand name as well as specific products or features. 

You can also get more in-depth by using social listening tools. For instance, with social listening tools like Awario do the work for you. They monitor the web in real-time and send you mentions of your chosen keywords straight to your inbox so you never miss out on a conversation. Plus, they are even able to track your keywords in any language, collects posts that ask for a recommendation of a product similar to yours, and find posts that include complaints about your competitors.

4. Look at search volume data

To measure brand awareness, you also want to find out how much your brand is searched for online. This might seem difficult to do, but thanks to tools like Google Trends and Google Keyword Planner, it's pretty easy. 

With Google Trends you can enter in your keywords, such as your brand name, and discover online interest in your brand over time to see if search volumes are increasing or decreasing. You can also see the interest by subregion, for example, which states are most aware of your business, as well as related topics and queries. 

To find the exact search volume of your keywords with the Google Keyword Planner, you will need to start a paid campaign with them, otherwise, they'll simply show you a range such as 1000-100,000.  

5. Find your brand on review sites 

Customers love to leave reviews on sites like Google, Yelp, Yellowpages, and so on. These sites are also where users go to find out about your company. For instance, before dining at a new restaurant, you'll check out the reviews first, right? If the restaurant has awesome reviews, you'll book a reservation. But if it has poor reviews, you'll probably skip it. Most people check out the reviews of companies before making a purchase. In fact, 97% of people read reviews for local businesses. So, it's important to monitor what people are saying about your brand on review sites if you want to get a good idea of how they view your company. 

By reading reviews from customers, you can also get insights on how to improve your business, so read the negative reviews too. You might discover that a certain aspect of your product or service is lacking. By listening to the feedback and putting it into action, you can repair those negative online opinions. 


With these tips for how to measure your brand awareness online, you'll be able to determine how familiar consumers are with your company and how they view it. Be sure to take these findings into account when planning out your content marketing campaigns, so you are better able to build brand awareness, generate more leads and stand out from the competition.

8 Ways to Build Customer Personas

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 06:00 AM PDT

It all begins with understanding and defining your audience. This is where customer or buyer personas come in. A customer persona is basically a profile of your ideal customer. It is a research-based semi-fictional representation with detailed information about your target consumer, including:

  • Demographic information
  • Consumer behaviors and preferences
  • Beliefs, attitudes and values
  • Pain points or challenges
  • Unmet needs and how it relates to your product/service
  • Channels where they go for information or entertainment 

Your customer persona helps you frame your marketing messages for a specific audience, ensuring that it speaks to their needs, their goals and their preferred channels for content consumption. In fact, according to a Cintell report, 71 percent of companies who exceed revenue and lead goals have documented persona.

But this begs the question: how do you go about creating customer personas? As mentioned earlier, personas are based on research. And while different people have different ways of building customer profiles, many will gravitate toward the same set of questions when doing their customer research. Here is a breakdown of the information you need to define when developing your customer personas.

1.  Role and job title

  • What exactly does your ideal customer do for a living? 
  • Do you tend to engage with C-suite members (i.e. top executives, CEOs, and CFOs among others)? 
  • Who do they report to, if ever?

The answer to these questions depends entirely on your circumstances. For example, if your business serves a predominantly B2B market, you can assume that your audience is composed of business decision-makers – individuals in charge of making procurement and purchasing decisions. 

As you answer this question and begin profiling your customers, you can include information such as:

  • Educational attainment
  • Professional background
  • Skills
  • Position in the organization

These factors, in turn, will help you decide what kind of tone your messages should have and what kind of language to use.

2.  Responsibilities and daily activities

  • What is a typical day in your customer's life like? 
  • What tasks comprise an ordinary workday? 
  • How do they measure the success of their work? 
  • What skills do they need to perform their job? 

These questions allow you to understand the motivations and challenges of your potential customers. Of course, some questions will apply in some situations and others will not. For example, these questions assume that your customers are employed. In this case, feel free to reframe the questions according to your goals.

3.  Media consumption habits 

  • How much time does your ideal customer spend on social media? 
  • Where do they get their news from? What type of content do they consume most on a daily basis –  video, articles, or social media posts? 
  • What is their favorite social media platform? 

These questions help you figure out what kind of content your ideal customers consume regularly and where they go online for news and information. The answer to this question can be the difference between creating mostly video content or blogs or posting on LinkedIn or Facebook.

4.  Demographics and firmographics

  • What is the average age of your customers?
  • Are they single, married, or parents? 
  • For organizations, what kind of industry are they in? What are their verticals?
  • What challenges does the firm face?

Demographic data may seem unimportant, but it can help you frame your messages for a specific age group. For example, millennials tend to care more about price and would rather splurge on experiences, like vacations, concerts and live sporting events. 

Firmographic data, on the other hand, lets you discover whether the organization has an unmet need that your business can solve. This data is especially useful for B2B firms.  

5.  Purchase factors they care about

  • What factors push your customers into making a purchase? Bargains? Limited-time offers? Convenience?
  • What product factors catch the attention of your customers? Is it features, benefits, or price?

Your research in this area will help you frame your message to prioritize things like product features or benefits, depending on what your customers care most about. If they value price, your marketing messages can position your business as providing the best value for money. If your audience values after-sales support or value-added services like free shipping, you can then adjust your marketing messages accordingly.  

6.  Goals and motivations

  • What are your customers' professional goals?
  • What are your customers' personal goals?

Like any other person, your potential customers are driven by personal goals and motivations. Taking the time to understand these goals allows you to see how your business's marketing goals align with theirs. The more things your goals have in common with theirs, the easier it will be to craft marketing messages that align with your audience. Not to mention this actually helps you solve your prospects' problems, guaranteeing satisfaction over your offering.  

For example, assume that your persona, named Sheila, is a procurement officer for a small graphic design company. Her job goals include maintaining solid communications with suppliers and getting the best prices on raw materials and B2B services. 

7.  Values

  • What values and principles do your customers believe strongly in?
  • What are the characteristics of your customers' personalities?

You can also dive deeper into the qualities that define your potential customers' personality, world views and values. Also known as psychographics, these factors fill in details that allow you to identify your customers' attitudes, perspectives, and ideals. 

Psychographic data is particularly useful when creating marketing messages that appeal to the heart and soul of your audience – something demographic data can't quite capture. These qualitative factors will help you know what your audience cares about and how your brand can use this to connect with them on an emotional level.

8.  Pain points and challenges

  • What factors prevent your customers from doing their job successfully?
  • What problems do your customers frequently encounter at work, school, or in their personal lives?

Aside from goals and motivations, it's also important to find out what factors frustrate your customers. Once you figure this out, it becomes easier to understand what exactly will win your audience's hearts and minds.

Going back to the Sheila persona, some of her challenges may include quality assurance of purchased goods, the turnaround time of ordered goods, and communication problems with suppliers.

One of the biggest reasons to build customer personas lies in how it encourages teams or organizations to think about communicating the benefits of their product or service in terms of the actual people who will use it. It forces you to think of them as people, not just users or customers or some abstract concept. This also helps you think about how to provide real value to your customers, which is ultimately what they care about. 

It is important to note that completing your persona is just the beginning. There's still a lot of room for improvement, especially as you get to know your customers more. Over time, be sure to add or change factors like skills, influences, favored brands, and even the tech your persona uses to make your descriptions more detailed. 

How to Start a Podcast

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 05:10 AM PDT

Many of us have made the long commute to work more bearable by buffering the departure and arrival with a podcast or two. Some of us have compensated for the sense of isolation felt as new parents by consuming manageable chucks of podcasts during baby's naptime. And who hasn't tried to cut through the boredom – and worry – of waiting to see a doctor by losing themselves in a podcast? Podcasts can be sanity savers, informative, educational, inspiring or just plain fun. 

As a result of its versatility, this form of media has grown in popularity since its inception in 2005. In fact, today, there are some 750,000 active podcasts, with over 30 million episodes produced. Nearly 51 % of the U.S. population has listened to a podcast, up 7% from just last year. Listeners enjoy an average of seven shows per week, with 80% listening to all or most of each podcast episode. 

Given podcasts' ability to attract and keep an audience, it's no surprise that business owners, entrepreneurs, and marketers are looking to capitalize on the popularity of this medium. As a podcaster, you can position yourself as an authority in a particular topic or field, which will help you influence clients and customers in ways that encourage them to purchase your products and services, invest in your business, or promote you to their peers. And all of this can be done on the cheap, because in most cases, creating a podcast does not require a significant financial investment. 

Although you may be an expert in your industry, perhaps you are not quite sure where to start when it comes to creating your own podcast. To help you avoid common rookie mistakes, we spoke with experts to get advice and recommendations on how to get started. 

Here is our beginner's guide to starting a podcast. 

Basics

For the newbie, a podcast is an audio series that is available online. Similar to a TV or radio show, it's made up of episodes and seasons. Listeners can subscribe to specific podcasts, download episodes as they become available, and listen to them whenever and wherever it's convenient for the listener. Tuning in to a podcast only requires a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. 

Find your niche

The first step is deciding what you'd like the focus of your podcast to be. You need to find a happy medium between having a topic that is broad enough that you can explore many different aspects of it, but narrow enough that you can attract an audience with that specific interest. 

Don't try to be everything to everybody, advises Jennifer Moxley, the founder of Sunshine Media Network, whose work includes guiding clients on how to start, improve and be interviewed on podcasts. 

"By showcasing quality content targeted to a specific group of people who want that content, you'll find your voice and start to grow your audience," Moxley said. 

If your industry is underserved in the podcast universe, it's likely that there are listeners out there who are hungry for information and actively searching for new content. Carve out a topic niche in which you can easily and authoritatively speak for long stretches in language that's informal and engaging.

Choose a name

There are a couple of ways you can select a name for your podcast. You can come up with a descriptive title that is self-explanatory. Another option is to create something really clever and catchy, but just make sure it offers a clear connection back to your niche. The name needs to be instantly recognizable to listeners looking for info on your topic. 

Though tempting, avoid incorporating your own name into the title. This only works if you already have huge name recognition amongst your audience. For some inspiration on choosing a name for your podcast, check out the top 100 U.S. podcasts.

Select a format

There are many types of podcast formats – the most common include solo shows, co-hosted shows and interview shows.  The solo show involves the podcaster speaking directly to the audience. With a co-hosted show, you share the mic with another presenter. In an interview show, you speak with guests, which you can do solo or with a co-host. 

"If you're interviewing guests, two hosts can be a bit cumbersome and also potentially prevent you from digging into interesting information from your guest, because both hosts may want to add commentary," said Jen Spencer, vice president of sales at SmartBug Media and host of a weekly podcast, SmartBug on Tap. However, Spencer points out that a co-hosted show can work if each presenter plays a specific role. 

Regardless of which arrangement you prefer, what matters most is finding a format that lends itself to exploring your subject matter. "In the end, it's about having a message that resonates with your audience, not the number of voices delivering it," said Mary-Lynn Foster, co-founder of the coaching and e-learning firm BIGG Success and co-host of its podcast. 

Define your style

The most successful podcasts provide targeted content in a conversational, engaging style. Podcasting is no place for a teleprompter. A short topic outline might prove helpful, but successful podcasters don't use scripts, because they lead to stilted language that doesn't resonate with listeners. Podcasts that feel like an advertisement or resemble college lectures won't cut it either. 

Be authentic. Talk about what you know, using essentially the same words and tone you normally use when conversing with a close friend. Successful podcasts allow listeners to get to know the podcasters. 

"Every person who is new to podcasting needs to understand that the key to being interesting is being interested. Curiosity is everything, even if you've got a ton of knowledge on a subject already," said Jason Klamm, founder and executive producer of StolenDress Entertainment and creator of the Comedy on Vinyl podcast. 

"Make each show a connection, either with the interviewee or the audience," Klamm said. "Eventually, you'll figure out what the story you actually want to tell is." 

Decide on the length

The length of your podcast is determined by how much you have to say on a topic and the needs of your audience. "We give each episode the freedom to be the length it needs to be," said Foster. 

There are five-minute podcasts that appeal to a certain kind of listener and four-hour podcasts that offer in-depth coverage of a particular issue. The typical podcast tends to be 20-45 minutes, typically the same length as the average commute. Find what works for you, and don't be afraid to vary the length when necessary ‒ what you don't want to do is stretch out material to fit a rigid timeframe or, conversely, cram so much information into an episode that it overwhelms listeners. 

The objective of a podcast is to connect with listeners and build a community over time. People will invest their time to listen to what you have to say, so make it worth their while. 

Figure out the frequency

Your content will determine how often you release new episodes. However, if you are trying to build a brand or gain traction with a following, consider recording and issuing an episode each week. 

"I wish I'd been told how important keeping a regular release schedule was in maintaining an audience and getting more listeners," Klamm said. "If I had, the show might have grown a lot faster." 

To avoid feeling overwhelmed and hurriedly producing new episodes, Spencer recommends creating a few episodes before you launch. This way "you don't feel unreasonably pressured, but you are still able to stick to a regular schedule for your subscribers," she said. 

Equipment

You don't need a professional studio with fancy equipment to record a podcast. All that's required is a laptop or tablet, audio recording and editing software, and a high-quality microphone to record the audio. 

Microphones

"The utmost important factor in a show is sound," said Tom Scarda, founder and host of The Franchise Academy Podcast. "[Do] not skimp on a good microphone." 

Using a poor-quality mic may result in lack of audio crispness and clarity that will brand your podcast as amateurish. Look for a USB microphone that plugs into the USB port of your computer. Do not use your computer's built-in microphone. 

There are some basic microphones on the market for under $100, but if you're serious about podcasting, you'll want to budget for a higher-quality model. Many podcasters swear by Blue Yeti USB or Audio-Technica microphones. You can also browse mics (and chat with customer service representatives) at online retailers like B&H to see the full range of options that are available. 

Condenser microphones, such as the Blue Snowball iCE, also provide rich sound and are quite popular. Be sure to buy enough microphones in case you have several speakers or guests. Consider purchasing a pop filter to muffle or reduce the clicking and smacking sounds people make when speaking normally into a microphone. 

Ideally, audio should be recorded in a quiet area, away from cars and nature noises. To reduce the time you'll spend editing each podcast, consider sectioning off the room and adding dense, sound-absorbing materials. Some podcasters record in a closet, where carpeted floors and hanging clothing absorb ambient sounds. You can also check out these pop and reflection filters. 

Recording and editing

You'll need audio software to create your podcast. If you own a MacBook or iPad, you are already ahead of the recording and editing game. Apple's laptops and tablets typically come equipped with GarageBand, a professional-level studio editing application that's free and easy to use. Two useful YouTube tutorials on how to use GarageBand to create a podcast can be found here and here. 

For PC users, applications like Audacity and Adobe Audition are similar to GarageBand. Audacity is free, and Audition is available for a monthly subscription. You can find a comprehensive beginner's guide to Audacity here and one beginners' guide specifically for podcasting here. Access a tutorial on how to edit a podcast with Audition here. 

If all this feels too technical for you, you may want to try Alitu, which is a podcast-maker tool that helps build episodes by automating the processing, editing and publishing of your show. 

Conducting interviews

If you are interviewing guests on your show, you 'll need to put together a list of potential guests and reach out to them as soon as possible. A service like Acuity Scheduling avoids all the back and forth involved in scheduling. People can book a date and time to be interviewed directly within your calendar.

If you have remote guests, Skype lets you record calls, and the quality is much better than landlines, plus the connections are usually strong. However, there are tons of tools on the market for recording podcast interviews you can check out, including Ringr, Zoom and Zencastr. 

Beyond the tech tools necessary to record interviews are the skills you'll need to elicit information from your guests. As an interviewer, you need to build a rapport with guests that is natural and fluid while still keeping them on topic. 

"Interviewers must keep the interview moving forward, [as well as] focused and relatable," said Moxley. "They should realize when the answers are getting derailed or lengthy and keep [their] ears open for those golden nuggets of information."

Additionally, interviewers need to be ready to challenge or call out a guest's comments or assertions when necessary. This is uncomfortable for new podcasters, but it's key if you want to establish long-term credibility. 

"Often, a new podcast host is so grateful for an interview, they allow it to be full of fluff. If you're just hosting 30-minute commercials for someone, today's audience will not participate or trust you," Moxley said. 

Voiceovers

An intro is a short voiceover, usually with music, that introduces each podcast episode and the host(s) at the beginning of the show; outros thank listeners and direct them to your website at the end. You can record these yourself, or hire a professional voiceover actor or actress to record them through a service like Music Radio Creative. 

An intro and outro for your podcast add personality and professionalism. They can be creative, fun, but, most importantly, they should make a good first impression, reassuring listeners that they made the right choice in selecting your podcast and that you are going to deliver. 

Music

You want music in the intro and outro that suits the personality of your show. However, don't use copyright-protected music without permission ‒ it's a severe violation that will get you kicked off iTunes or Spotify.  

One of the most extensive libraries of free-to-use, also known as creative commons, music is Incompetech. However, because the music on this and similar sites is free, it's very commonplace and used extensively. If you have some money in your budget, you can get royalty-free music for a one-time fee at Jamendo. You also can access thousands of music tracks through the monthly subscription service Audioblocks. 

Another creative, budget-conscious option is having a local band or musician compose something specific for your show, or ask if you can use a clip from one of their existing songs. This partnership provides you with original music while offering the artist some exposure. 

Cover art

Your podcast cover art is the first thing listeners will see when looking through podcast directories like iTunes or Google Play.  Your cover art should be 1400 x 1400 pixels, in JPG or PNG form, and under 500KB to meet iTunes' specifications. 

Podcast artwork should visually communicate the subject of your podcast, include your logo (if you have one), and use simple fonts and high-quality images. Remember, your listeners will see the image in a much smaller format, so keep it clean and uncomplicated. 

You can use stock images to create cover art on platforms like Canva or Snappa, or you can pay for custom art through sites like 99 designs, Podcast Designs or Fiverr. Of course, you also can design it yourself, or ask an artistic friend or colleague to do it. 

Hosting

Once you edit the audio, and add images and music for the podcast intro and outro, you're ready to export the finished podcast to your website and the distribution platforms of your choice. 

Many novice podcasters assume that you upload your podcast directly to places like iTunes. However, you need to create an account with a media host, which is a subscription service that stores your audio files. In addition to housing your audio files, a hosting service provides stats, marketing tools, and podcast websites while also serving as a link between you and podcast directories like iTunes. 

Libsyn and Buzzsprout tend to be favorites among podcasters, but there are many other hosting services including Blubrry, Podbean and Transistor. 

"They make it easy to upload your audio file, add show notes and get your podcast to the places where people will be listening," said Joey Held, digital manager at INK Communications and host of the podcasts The Good Stuff and The Noise (with INK) and Parks n Wrecked. 

After you have your web hosting squared away, your media host will provide you with an RSS feed, which is basically a URL. This is the feed you'll submit to platforms like iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Spotify. You can then publicize your RSS feed to listeners so they can find, download and subscribe to your show. 

Make sure your podcast landing page on these platforms includes podcast art that reflects the look and feel of your podcast. Platforms such as iTunes pay attention to details like artwork and podcast description text. 

Launch and promote

To generate buzz on launch day, have several episodes already completed and uploaded. Announce the launch in advance to your business network via email and social media. You want to build an audience before you launch. To improve your chances of being noticed and possibly featured by iTunes, encourage new listeners to subscribe to your podcast and leave a review. 

To get the most out of your podcast, think of ways you can repurpose your podcast content on your blog and social media channels. Also, be open and willing to learn about your listeners' needs by the way they respond to your content. This is especially important, if your listeners are current or potential customers. 

"We've been able to track which episodes are the most popular and have used those insights to inform marketing campaigns. For example, one of my latest podcast episodes on SEO basics is pacing well ahead of any other episode," said Spencer. "This data helps validate the need for our company to create more educational content on this topic because clearly our audience is hungry for it."

Resources

Though podcasting may be intimidating, there are support systems to help newcomers succeed. 

"The best thing for every newbie to know about starting a podcast is that other podcasters want to help you," Foster said. "Podcasters are some of the most giving people who freely offer tips and encouragement." 

There are a host of online podcast communities that can answer your questions and provide support.  Here are just a few: 

Benefits

If you're still having doubts about whether it's worth your time to create a podcast, consider the many benefits of talking directly to current and potential customers and clients. 

Podcasting allows you to build a relationship with your audience, which can open doors to new opportunities. "Whether you're hosting your own [show] or appearing as a guest on another show, you're connecting with someone in your industry or field, which can lead to additional work and collaboration down the line," Held said. 

Podcasting gives you access to movers and shakers in your field in a way very few other experiences can. "My podcast gives me credibility with my clients …  and allows me to contact to people who are otherwise out of reach to request an interview," said Scarda. 

Perhaps most importantly, podcasting helps establish you as an expert in your chosen area or field because of your efforts to delve deeper into relevant issues during your show. You can become a trusted voice that others come to for insight and advice. Your brand will grow as you connect and engage with listeners, and provide them with the information they need most. 

"Podcasts can elevate your level of expertise in a field, which you can leverage for your own exposure," said Moxley. "Podcasts can make you relevant; they're a reason for someone to talk about you, share your social media content, invite you to guest panels, or highlight you in your community." 

Additional reporting by Pamela Oldham.

How Paternity Leave Can Narrow the Gender Pay Gap

Posted: 16 Jul 2019 05:10 AM PDT

Before he became one of the four founding partners of Culhane Meadows, Grant Walsh had to fight his firm to get a single day off for the birth of his second child. This led him and his colleagues to create their own "cloud-based" firm – one centered on flexibility and work-life balance. Now that the tables have turned, Walsh is the one urging employees to take parental leave. 

"Men generally have a very hard time taking vacation or family time off because of the competitive pressures they feel at work," Walsh said. "Requiring them to take time off from work when they welcome a new baby into the family may be the only way to really break this cultural stigma."

For Walsh, company-mandated paternity leave is a win-win scenario for the firm and the new father – good work-life balance makes a satisfied employee, and a satisfied employee is a productive employee. There's also a third party that benefits from mandated paternity leave: working mothers.

"When fathers have access to parental leave benefits, women are more likely to return to work sooner and achieve greater leadership roles," said Mari Hegyi, people team manager at Limeade, which offers eight weeks of parental leave to both mothers and fathers.

In a global survey of 21,980 firms, the amount of paternity leave given was strongly correlated with the percentage of women on company boards, Hegyi added.

In effect, the more that men share the burden – and privilege – of child care, the more level the playing field. That's not to forget the one benefit that transcends climbing the corporate ladder: "[Paternity leave] is also positively associated with development of children," said Hegyi.  

The gender pay gap

Key to understanding what paternity leave can do for working women is understanding the disadvantages mothers face.

It's been widely reported for years now that women earn less money than men – currently about 20% less. A 2019 study conducted by SurveyMonkey, however, found that 46% of American men believe the gender pay gap is untrue, or "made up to serve a political purpose." What's more, despite changing attitudes toward gender roles, the younger the respondent, the more likely they were to believe that men and women are paid equally.

This may be driven by the feeling that many of the underlying problems have already been solved. After all, women are now more likely to get a college degree than men, and the Equal Pay Act has been in place for over half a century.

Economists also note a widespread misconception in what the pay gap represents: Women as a whole earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by a man, but that's not controlling for job type or education level. Indeed, low-level male and female workers tend to earn very similar wages, while the highest levels of management tend to have the widest pay gap, with female MBAs earning 74 cents on the dollar.

The motherhood penalty

Then there's motherhood. All else being equal, the wages of women and men without child care obligations are nearly identical. As soon as children are introduced, however, male and female wages begin to diverge – this is known as the "motherhood penalty." For all the progress that's been made tackling gender discrimination in the workplace, gender clearly still plays a role in parenting, as there is very little wage penalty associated with fatherhood.

Dollar amount is only part of the chasm. Men are also far more likely to be promoted into the higher levels of a company. In a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study of workers in Denmark, one of the most progressive countries in the world on paternity leave, men are more likely to become managers than women with each year that passes since the birth of their first child.

According to the same study, the motherhood penalty may not be just an additional inconvenience, but the crux of the wage gap itself. Loss in earnings as a result of motherhood contributed to 80% of the gender pay gap in 2013, compared with only 40% in 1980. In some ways this is encouraging – it suggests we've largely overcome many of the blatantly sexist contributors to the wage gap. Yet when a couple decides to have a child, the mother still faces the brunt of the economic losses, while the father's career continues unscathed.

Some of these are willing compromises made by mothers but not fathers. As economist Claudia Goldin explains, mothers tend to seek out jobs with flexibility in scheduling to accommodate child care and are less likely to work overtime or angle for promotions and bonuses. At high-level, performance-based positions, this can mean an especially large hit in compensation that accumulates throughout a woman's career, resulting in most managerial positions still being held by men.

Thus, the role of paternity leave is twofold. For one, the more fathers can contribute to child care, the less of a choice women have to make between their careers and their child's wellbeing. There's also an argument to be made that a father's availability in the first few weeks sets a family expectation, creating the pattern for a more equitable division of child care if both parents return to full-time work.

When fathers are unable to take paternity leave, the mother immediately has the advantage in learning a child's tendencies and needs, said Amy Sanchez, who runs her own executive career coaching business, Swim Against the Current. "The fault lies on both sides once that cadence is established – Mom jumps up to tend to a crying baby because she's gotten in the habit of doing so … but this knee-jerk reaction doesn't give Dad a chance to test and learn so he can proactively jump in."

Family leave

While the United States remains the only OECD country that doesn't require businesses to provide paid maternity leave, companies with over 50 employees must offer 12 weeks unpaid. Some states and private companies have supplemented this with their own policies on family leave, with some extending the benefits to fathers.

That's not to say that offering paternity leave will singlehandedly change gender roles in parenting. When maternity leave is offered, it's almost always utilized, but in the few companies offering paternity leave, many fathers waive those benefits.

Indeed, a 2016 Deloitte survey found that while 63% of respondents thought men and women should get the same amount of leave, 54% said their colleagues would judge a man for taking paternity leave more than a woman, and 33% of men went as far as saying that taking advantage of paid leave would put their position in jeopardy.

For companies particularly keen on combating this stigma, a solution has presented itself in mandated paternity leave.

"Men often neglect family in order to get ahead at the office, but in the long run, they often come to regret that decision," Walsh said. "Mandatory paternity leave is one way employers can essentially save employees from themselves."

At Culhane Meadows, employee contracts center on work-life balance. Employees work remotely, don't bill their hours and are paid on a non-salary basis, meaning they technically have all the leave they want. In the case of traditional firms, like the one he worked at when his second child was born, Walsh supports the growing trend of mandated paternity leave. Part of this comes from his belief in the mechanics of the free market.

"Companies who demonstrate a firm commitment to equality and who offer strongest benefits will be recognized for their efforts and will be rewarded within the marketplace by attracting top talent," Walsh said.

However, not everyone who supports paternity leave would go so far as to mandate it.

"I personally wouldn't, because I believe everyone has to make the decision that's right for them and their family," Sanchez said.

Luckily, stigma does not have to be fought with force. Instead, some high-profile fathers – from Prince Harry to the CEO of Toms Shoes – are trying to normalize fathers' more active role in child care by making a point of using their paternity leave benefits.

"It's important for senior leadership to set the example and to also encourage employees to take leave," Hegyi said. She also suggests employers focus on helping parents re-enter their jobs after leave, such as with the option for a part-time schedule.  

Changing attitudes

In any sort of social change, progress can be slow and is often divided generationally. Sanchez, for one, has noticed an increasing acceptance of paternity leave among her clients, particularly in the Bay Area where she resides.

On the other hand, "when I share my husband's plan with my retired father and neighbor, who both worked for large corporations, they both balk at the notion of taking so much time off," Sanchez said. "In their day, dads got three days off at most."

Even as paternity leave itself may take a generation to accept, its effect on women in the workplace may take another generation to kick in. In the NBER study examining Denmark's gender pay gap, there was also a correlation between a mother's and daughter's setback in earnings after having children – in other words, daughters tend to emulate the child care decisions of their parents. The more traditional the gender roles of her parents (i.e., Dad is the breadwinner, Mom stays at home), the more likely a daughter is to take the active role in the care of her children, and the higher the motherhood penalty she'll experience in the workplace.

Curiously, the study observes no relationship between the child care arrangement of a couple and the future decisions of their son. This suggests that, while women make parental leave decisions based on their own parents' habits, men may be more easily swayed by office culture. Hence, an employer nudging them to take paternity leave may be enough to change their ways. 
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