Revealed: Who is meeting the official development assistance targets?

/in /by

Foreign aid is one of those topics that always divides opinion but like it or not, most of the world has signed up to official development assistance targets.

What does this mean? It means that countries should be aiming to provide at least 0.70% of their GNI towards foreign aid.

Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, a new infographic from Wristband has shown that this isn’t necessarily the case. Instead, there are just five countries who have met such targets, with Nordic countries often taking the mantle. Sweden ranks at the top of the charge at 1.02%, while Norway is at 0.99% and Denmark is at 0.74%. Luxembourg and the United Kingdom were the two other nations above the recommended threshold at 1% and 0.70% respectively.

Of course, the main headline that will derive from this will be the countries that aren’t meeting these recommended targets. While the United States is by far and away the biggest donator, pledging over $34 billion, this only equates to 0.18% of their Gross National income. In fairness to Germany, who are the second biggest donator, they fall only slightly under the recommended target at 0.67%.

For those of you who want to delve into the data in more granular form, we will leave you with the infographic below. It reveals the countries which benefit the most, as well as just how much your own nation is giving to respective countries. It makes for interesting reading, and certainly provides a fresh insight into a topic that is somewhat polemic, should we say.

StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article | Revealed: Who is meeting the official development assistance targets? | Foreign Aid

Why Fee for Service in Healthcare is Dead

/in /by

StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective Article |fee for service|Why Fee for Service in Healthcare is DeadThe healthcare industry is changing and changing fast. It’s become clear that the industry is no longer sustainable.

Healthcare costs have skyrocketed over the last several years. Businesses and employees alike struggle with rising premiums and emergency procedures. The stress is taking its toll on the nation.

The industry is in for several major shifts. One of those shifts will be in fee for service healthcare.
Read on to learn why this model for delivering healthcare will no longer work and what’s going to replace it.

What is Fee for Service Care?

Let’s start by defining what fee for service healthcare is. It’s the payment for services rendered. So, when a doctor or healthcare professional performs a service, they get paid for it.

Take a look at the most recent invoice from your doctor. You’ll probably see a number of line items for a 15-minute visit.

One line item might be for a test performed, another for taking your blood pressure, another for two aspirin that you were given at your visit.

The more procedures they do, the more they get paid. That’s the case no matter what the outcome is. Your health could improve, or it could deteriorate. The healthcare providers will still get paid because they performed the work.

That incentivizes healthcare professionals to perform more work whether the work is necessary or not. It doesn’t give them an incentive to improve your health, even though that’s what they’re there for.

An Alternative to Fee for Service Healthcare

Fee for service has long been the way that the healthcare industry worked. One of the unintended consequences of this model is waste.

Procedures cost more and they aren’t even necessary. This model has contributed to the high costs of healthcare. Of course, there are other factors as well, but this is definitely one of those factors.

What’s the alternative to the fee for service model? Healthcare policy experts are getting behind a value-based healthcare model.

The value based care definition says that providers should be paid based on the result. It’s like a pay for performance model.

In this model, the attention shifts to the patient’s needs, instead of creating dozens of line items for every minute thing.

The good news is that major insurers are starting to get behind the value-based care model. For example, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act legislation have championed this approach to paying for healthcare.

The Healthcare Industry is Changing

It’s become clear that the high costs of healthcare are taking its toll on everyday Americans. Policymakers and healthcare professionals are trying to find solutions to provide quality care and lower costs at the same time.

One big change that’s becoming more common is how healthcare providers are paid. There’s been a shift from a fee for service model to a value-based model. The fee for service model provides a payment incentive for the outcome of the patient’s health, not just the quantity of services provided.

Are you ready for more strategic insights? Check out this site often for more great content.

Social Media Success: 10 Keys to Social Media Marketing

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Social Media Success: 10 Keys to Social Media Marketing

Did you know Facebook alone has over 2 billion active users? That’s an ocean of potential leads, paying customers, and more! Don’t forget there are other social media platforms to consider, like YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

However, you can’t simply post randomly and hope you’ll succeed. There are certain keys to social media marketing that you need to grab and take advantage of.

Don’t fret, we’re not going to leave you hanging. Read on below to discover 10 crucial tips for social media marketing success:

1. Pick the Right Platform

One of the most important keys to social media marketing success is to use the right platform. Don’t immediately assume that people using Facebook are the same as those on Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, or Twitter. People go to these platforms for different things and each platform sets up different expectations.

People on YouTube want to see short videos that fully explain and explore a product. Those on Instagram might want to see expertly-edited photos.

2. Track the Right Metrics

Do you think it’s important to track how many people like your posts or share your latest videos? Those are great metrics but they don’t directly correlate to profit.

Track crucial metrics first.

This means keeping an eye on conversions-per-post, for example. This metric alone can tell you what kind of posts are the most effective in increasing conversions. Do you see more conversions when you post video ads on Instagram, snarky quotes on Twitter, or memes on Facebook?

StrategyDriven's Social Media Publication Timing Whitepaper

3. Invest in Graphic Design

Having a strong brand image is essential for social media success. Look at your favourite influencer and visit their profile. You’ll notice their images are all brand and well-designed. Dark roast is like having your own in-house designer but without the obligation of employing someone full time. It’s also a great design pickle alternative, offering unlimited graphic design for a fraction of the cost!

4. Pop-Culture is Your Friend

Is anyone surprised Baby Yoda exploded in popularity and now every shop under the sun wants to sell some sort of Baby Yoda and The Mandalorian merchandise? The biggest reason the character got so famous is pop-culture. Memes and funny GIFs propelled The Mandalorian into what it is today.

Use pop-culture to your advantage. Dig deep into Reddit and Facebook to discover the most trending memes and GIFs. Integrate the humor into your social media posts to increase shares and brand exposure.

5. Schedule Ahead

Create your marketing materials one month ahead. This should include your ad videos, posters, promo blurbs, and banners.

When ready, use tools like HootSuite. This tool lets you prepare social media posts and then schedule when they’ll upload and go live. As much as possible, do this for the whole month.

Preparing like this helps you reach social media marketing goals. You know what you want and scheduling your posts ensures you know which steps you’re taking to get to the end-goal.

6. Follow Up Social Media Leads

Did a few hundred people click on your Facebook post to sign up for a survey or newsletter registration? Don’t wait for your email marketing plan to kick-off! You can follow-up on social media leads quickly with text message marketing.

Why stop there?

You can prioritize those leads by giving them an exclusive look at your new product or give them a discount for a limited period. You can allow them to participate in A/B split testing for your new services or website design. Give them something, a reward for taking a step forward, and this can encourage them to purchase.

7. Integrate Your Store

Speaking of sales, try to give social media users as much convenience as possible. Did you post an image of your latest products? Why force them to click on a link to go to your site, funnel them to the checkout process, and then redirect them back?

Why suck them out of Instagram or Facebook when you can integrate your store with tools like Shopify? Using Shopify allows you to sell on social media, through your posts. A user can now click on the image you uploaded on Instagram and they’ll immediately get taken to the checkout page.

It’s quicker, simpler, and you’re not interrupting with their social media sphere.

8. Use Facebook Pixel

How do you get site visitors back and convince them to purchase or subscribe? One technique is to showcase ads from your site as soon as they get back on Facebook. You can do this with Facebook Pixel.

It’s a small code you can copy and edit. Paste it on your site’s back-end to let it do its thing. Whenever someone visits your website, the code will target the user and redirect Facebook ads towards them.

While it might seem like a little thing, constantly showcasing ads on social media can influence a person’s shopping habits. They might eventually get curious and click on an ad, increasing the chances of them subscribing or purchasing.

9. Take Time to Engage

One of the reasons people follow brands and businesses on social media is because these are platforms where they feel a strong, human connection. Watching a high-end ad on TV has a certain disconnect compared to commenting on Facebook and seeing an actual reply from the company.

Getting in touch with your audience is effective social media marketing. Schedule something like a Facebook Live video or a Reddit AMA.

10. Take Advantage of AI

No matter how many employees you get, you might not have enough to answer all the messages and inquiries you get on social media. Sooner or later, the expenses of hiring more customer service representatives will outweigh the benefits.

Workaround this by using AI chatbots. Fortunately, you can customize chatbots so they can identify keywords and respond appropriately to a certain extent. If needed, provide a means for users to get in touch with an actual person for special concerns.

Bonus: Highlight User-Generated Content

Do you use Pinterest? Create a board and pin images related to your latest advertising theme. Now ask people to create their own boards following the same theme, use a specific hashtag, and share their board with others.

That’s a simple method of giving marketing power to your social media audience by encouraging them to create user-generated content.

Another good example is the Ice Bucket Challenge. It encouraged people to make their own videos to spread awareness about amyotrophic lateral sclerosis aka Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Sometimes, the best way to advertise your brand and business is to let people do it for you. Give them the keys to creative use and watch them make wonders.

Use These Keys to Social Media Marketing Success!

These are ten keys to social media marketing success. Use them in tangent with each other and your goals to get the most out of these platforms. There are millions of people on social media so don’t waste the opportunity!

That said, marketing doesn’t end here. There are other methods outside of social media to consider. If you want content to guide you through these digital marketing techniques, feel free to read our other articles now!

SEO vs. PPC: Which Is Most Valuable?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |PPC|SEO vs. PPC: Which Is Most Valuable?You can find countless articles and blogs about SEO and PPC when you browse around the web. A lot of people are writing about these topics, and it can be hard to know what to think when you’ve read so much. Of course, though, one of these marketing tools has to be better than the other, right?

To give you an idea of how they stack up, this post will be exploring search engine optimisation and pay per click advertising. By comparing their benefits, it should be nice and easy to see which of these methods will be best for your business.

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation, and is the process of preparing a website to make sure that it always has a good position in searches on sites like Google. The speed of your website, the content found on it, and the links between it and other websites all contribute to this area.

Most people don’t understand SEO, though, and this can make it hard to know what needs to be done to get your site into good positions. An SEO company will be able to help you with this, providing you with everything you need to get your website higher in searches. Doing this by yourself will take a lot of time and effort, and will have far from guaranteed results.

What Is PPC?

PPC stands for pay per click, and is a name given to a specific type of online advert. Hosted on loads of different websites, adverts like this cost you money each time they are clicked, but don’t require any special work to get them working properly.

The placement of your adverts will depend on the money you’re willing to spend on them. Using Google Ads, you will have the chance to set up bids and daily caps for your spending, ensuring that you don’t spend too much to get your adverts to the right people. There are a lot of companies out there which can help you with this process.


Benefits Of SEO

SEO comes with a lot of different benefits. To start, giving a professional SEO company work on your site will mean that you only have to pay for this service a few times each year. Their work will last, and will only need to be updated as the market changes.

Alongside this, organic searches have been proven to garner higher quality results than PPC adverts. People who find your link in normal searches will be far more likely to buy things from you than those who discover it in sponsored ad sections.

Benefits of PPC

The results of PPC advertising can often be much faster than working on SEO. While you will have to wait for your adverts to be approved, this will still be quicker than having your site indexed by Google, and this is a benefit which a lot of people can’t ignore.

You will also benefit from being able to choose which demographics see your adverts, using tools like cookies to make sure that no one sees your ad unless they’re likely to be interested. PPC adverts also give you the chance to have your ads in more locations, with services like Google Shopping proving to be incredibly successful in recent years. Of course, though, you have to compete with a lot of other companies with PPC adverts. PPC advertising may seem complicated, but there are many tools that can help you to work professionally and effortlessly. In order to make your PPC advertising more easy and effective at the same time you can use software for PPC management like the one from Adplorer.

Which Is Most Valuable?

Deciding which of these marketing methods is more valuable is a very challenging job. In reality, the answer to this question will usually lie with your company and its needs.

Those which don’t mind waiting for results will almost always value SEO more. While it won’t be as fast, it will draw higher quality clients in, and will cost far less than using PPC ads. This can make it easier to sell expensive items, with those who want goods like this finding it hard to trust sponsored adverts.

Companies which need to make sales very quickly are more likely to find PPC ads more valuable. While it will cost more, this could give you the chance to start selling far faster, and this is a benefit which few businesses can ignore.

It’s crucial that you work on things like SEO as an ongoing process for your business. At the same time, though, it can also make sense to take a more direct approach sometimes, and this is where PPC comes in. Neither are better; they both have their own purpose, and this is well worth recognising.