Launching and promoting products to a global audience used to be the domain of multi-national businesses with big budgets and access to prime time TV ad slots. That’s not the case anymore. Small businesses can promote their products globally for free or at affordable budgets thanks to social media.

The advent of social media has leveled the playing field for businesses to reach masses of potential customers online. You can promote and market to large audiences eager to learn more about your business and buy your products on social media, but you need to know how to do it right.

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Top Tips for Social Media Promotion

Statistics show more than 1 in 3 internet users go to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter when looking for more information about a brand or product. And almost 90 percent of marketers who promote on social media say their social media marketing efforts have increased exposure for their business, while 75 percent say they’ve increased traffic.

If you want to tap into this powerful marketing tool, there are some top ways savvy marketers use to promote and market products on social media you can emulate:

1. Partner with Bloggers and Influencers

Social media influencers, celebrities and bloggers are already in contact with your target customers. Partnering with them can increase your brand awareness and sales. Reach out to influencers and work out an arrangement to have them mention or recommend your products or brand to their followers in subtle ways that work for everyone involved.

2. Create Explainer Videos

A whopping 80 percent of all internet traffic will come from video by 2019, according to SocialMediaToday. Savvy marketers are creating explainer and testimonial videos for social networks, which inform and inspire people to believe in their products. The trick here is to let people see your product in action and witness its benefits with their own eyes.

3. Run Social Media Contests

Run a contest is a subtle way to promote your product without actually advertising it. A contest on social media will attract your target audience’s attention, drive engagement and increase product sales and brand loyalty. For best results, keep the contest simple, fun and offer rewards to all participants.

More Tips for Promoting on Social Media – Infographic

If you want more tips for marketing and promoting your product or business on social media, check out this neat infographic designed by College Paper below. It includes useful info on how to promote your products on social media without being overly promotional.

Image: College-Paper

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Making the Internet of Things (IoT) accessible, affordable, and easy to deploy is a great way to bring small businesses into the fold with this technology. With its Sprint (NYSE: S) IoT Factory, the company has developed an IoT platform businesses of any size can leverage to improve their organization or provide IoT enabled services.

Sprint has formed a partnership with myDevices and The Goldie Group to deliver comprehensive IoT solutions. The ready-made boxed units are available in a wide selection of monitoring options across several industries, and with more on the way.

This new IoT approach by Sprint is going to give small business owners access to an industry slated to grow to trillions of dollars in the next 7 to 10 years. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, potential IoT economic impact could range from $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025. There is no reason small businesses should miss on this this enormous opportunity.

Ivo Rook, senior vice president for IoT at Sprint, pointed out the importance of harnessing this technology for small businesses owners in a press release. Rook said, “We’re excited about the effect this has on small and medium sized businesses. They can now attain the latest in advanced and secure technology at reasonable costs – with the ease of being able to buy a complete solution from the digital store, having it shipped quickly and installing it themselves within a matter of minutes. That truly drives business forward in an unprecedented manner.”

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What is the Internet of Things?

IoT or the Internet of Things is an ecosystem of connected devices with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network. The devices in the Internet of Things could include a thermostat, vehicle, refrigerator, pacemaker and almost anything else for that matter.

If it can be assigned an IP address, it can be part of the IoT ecosystem. And with the full integration of IPv6 and 5G, there could literally be trillions of devices with their own IP address monitoring everything soon.

How Many Devices are Going to be Connected?

The number is always growing, but it is in the tens of billions of devices. Statista has forecast the number of IoT devices is set to reach 31 billion by 2020 and will go to over 75.4 billion devices by 2025.

The Sprint IoT Factory

In as few as two days, the Sprint Iot Factory will deliver your ready-made package so you can deploy your device without IT or technical expertise. Some of the devices you can get right now include refrigerator temperature monitoring, energy management tools, property monitoring, rodent monitoring and more.

Small business owners running restaurants, grocery stores, rental properties and other businesses can introduce new levels of efficiency with these devices.

Rook added, “From family-owned restaurants, medical companies to heavy equipment fleet operators and everything in between, the Sprint IoT Factory is giving business owners the power to easily enhance operations — using IoT technology to track assets and connect what’s most important to them.”

IoT Business Opportunity

In addition to using the Sprint IoT Factory devices to improve the operations of your business, you can also start providing IoT related services.

Start designing, prototyping and commercializing IoT solutions with myDevices Cayenne with your own branded Box Solutions. This will give you a business opportunity in an industry worth trillions of dollars.

Image via Shutterstock

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With TECHSPO Houston 2018, you will learn how the latest evolving technologies will improve your business operation.

The 2-day expo will take place Jun 6-7, 2018 in Houston, TX. Developers, brands, marketers, technology providers, designers, innovators and evangelists will showcase their products and services.

The event will provide training seminars along with learning, theory and inspiration as well as testing, networking and product interaction. If you want to make your business more efficient with these new technologies, TECHSPO Houston 2018 will make it happen.

Join investors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, digital executives and many other attendees from around the world.

Attend The Expo

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Featured Events, Contests and Awards

Zoho One Seminar New York: Simplify and empower your business with Zoho One
May 22, 2018, New York, NY

Learn how Zoho One, our complete suite of business apps, can help you market, sell, support, account, collaborate, and analyze so you can spend more time on what really matters.

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Zoho One Seminar Philadelphia: Simplify and empower your business with Zoho One
May 23, 2018, Philadelphia, PA

Learn how Zoho One, our complete suite of business apps, can help you market, sell, support, account, collaborate, and analyze so you can spend more time on what really matters.

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Zoho One Seminar Chicago: Simplify and empower your business with Zoho One
May 24, 2018, Chicago, IL

Learn how Zoho One, our complete suite of business apps, can help you market, sell, support, account, collaborate, and analyze so you can spend more time on what really matters.

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TECHSPO Houston 2018
June 06, 2018, Houston, Texas

TECHSPO Houston 2018 is a 2-day technology expo which takes place JUNE 6 – 7, 2018 at the luxurious Houston Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel in Houston, Ontario. TECHSPO Houston brings together developers, brands, marketers, technology providers, designers, innovators and evangelists looking to set the pace in our advanced world of technology. TECHSPO Houston 2018 promises to be better than ever and we’re excited to see all the amazing tech companies and talent that will join us. Register today!

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Growth & Success Con
September 17, 2018, Online

This small business virtual conference is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs at all stages who are stuck in the daily grind of building their businesses and struggle to get solid advice and guidance. An amazing panel of experts in various disciplines and business coaches will share tips & tricks on topics including Growth, Marketing, Management & Business Building for Success. Register today!

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More Events

• LEAP HR: Higher Education Forum, Chicago, May 2018
  May 22, 2018, Chicago, United States
• North American Financial Information Summit 2018
  May 23, 2018, New York, United States
• Small Business Expo 2018 – CHICAGO
  May 24, 2018, Chicago, United States
• Incite Group Brand Marketing Summit 2018
  May 30, 2018, San Francisco, United States
• World Business Forum Sydney 2018
  May 30, 2018, Sydney, NSW
• International Franchise Expo
  May 31, 2018, New York, NY
• Marketing Evolution Experience
  June 03, 2018, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Predictive Analytics World – Five-in-One Mega-Conference, Vegas 2018
  June 03, 2018, Las Vegas, NV
• CSFS Small Business Division Seminar
  June 04, 2018, Birmingham, England
• BORDERLESS SUMMIT
  June 05, 2018, Online
• DigiMarCon South 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  June 06, 2018, Online
• Innovation Summit 2018
  June 07, 2018, NYC, New York
• Customer Service Summit West
  June 07, 2018, San Diego, California
• Small Business Expo 2018 – DENVER
  June 07, 2018, Denver, United States
• Consumer Insights for Innovation Workshop
  June 08, 2018, New York, NY
• Digital Summit Portland
  June 12, 2018, Portland, Oregon
• TECHSPO LA 2018
  June 13, 2018, Santa Monica, California
• DigiMarCon West 2018 – Digital Marketing Conference
  June 13, 2018, Santa Monica, CA
• “6th International Conference on Computer Graphics, Animation & Computer-Aided Design”
  June 18, 2018, London, UK, London, UK
• Buy-Side Risk USA 2018, New York
  June 19, 2018, New York, NY

More Contests

• Public Vote to Crown America’s Most Unique Small Business Underway
  November 08, 2018, http://www.paychex.com/vote?utm_source=contest&utm_medium=press%20release&utm_term=americas-most-unique

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.

You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.

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The latest round of privacy scandals at Facebook might have been enough to crush a lesser company, but not this social media giant — at least not where small businesses are concerned. As a matter of fact, a new survey by The Manifest titled, How Small Businesses Invest in Social Media in 2018 has revealed 58 percent of respondents plan to increase their marketing investment in Facebook.

2018 Small Business Social Media Spending

In addition to the Cambridge Analytica fiasco, Facebook also admitted it scanned Messenger and was collecting massive amounts of data about its users. But all of this didn’t affect its user base or bottom line. Facebook’s Q1 2018 earnings report beat Wall Street’s revenue estimate with $11.79 billion while adding 48 million daily active users to boot.

For small businesses, this is great news because 80 percent of them use Facebook for their marketing. What’s more, the Manifest surveyed 351 of these small business owners and managers across the US and found 92 percent plan to invest more time and money on social media in 2018.

Kristen Herhold, who wrote the report on the survey, said “Smaller business owners are focusing on what they see as more important tasks to keep their company running, but they should also focus on social media. Although larger businesses are more likely to invest in social media, smaller businesses can also find success with this technology.”

How Are Small Businesses Investing in Social Media?

First it is important to repeat 92% of small businesses in 2018 plan to increase their investment in at least one social media platform. And when it comes time to make this investment, Facebook is the number one choice with 58% of respondents. Facebook is followed by YouTube and Instagram at 39%, and Twitter at 32 percent. An amazing 31% still say they would invest in Google+. Snapchat is also still relevant for a certain demographic with 21% of respondents said they would invest their marketing dollars there.

The reason social media is a good investment for small businesses at this time is that it provides measurable metrics that can be analyzed and acted upon. When it comes to the most important metric for the business owners 20% said engagement and 19 percent indicated audience growth, according to the survey. Other important metrics for small business owners and managers included clicks to website at 16%, leads or conversions at 15%, number of posts at 13% and reach at 12%.

 

Regarding the kinds of resources small businesses use to manage their social media marketing efforts, 53% said they use in-house staff while 33% of respondents each said they used software, freelancers or consultants. Only 24% said they used digital marketing or social media marketing agencies to maintain their online social presence.

You can read the rest of the report on The Manifest here.

In the report, Herhold says small businesses can gain inspiration for their own social media strategies by learning how other businesses invest in this space. She goes on to say businesses should invest in social media because, “Social media is a part of consumers’ everyday lives, and companies are hard-pressed to find consumers who aren’t affected by social media in some way.”

Image: The Manifest

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Retail has become synonymous with digital bells and whistles. Artificial intelligence is helping retailers detect patterns and predict customer preferences, augmented reality enables customers to try on clothes or test out room decor, and “scan and go” apps are changing the way shoppers pay. But even as technology has enhanced the shopping experience, consumers are often coming away unsatisfied. Call it an experience disconnect: Companies tout their latest digital innovation, but fail to focus on the aspects of customer experience that are the most meaningful.

Findings from a recent PwC Consumer Intelligence Series (CIS) survey of 15,000 global consumers confirm what we’ve observed in countless shopper–retailer interactions: The human touch still matters. Seventy-five percent of survey respondents report that they want more human interaction in the future, not less. Further, nearly three-quarters of shoppers say customer experience is more important than price and product quality when it comes to purchasing decisions; 65 percent of U.S. consumers say a positive experience with a brand is more influential than advertising, even advertising they consider “great.”

These numbers should serve as a wake-up call to retailers as they consider how best to engage with shoppers. Technology will remain central to retailers’ ability to understand and predict customer behavior. But none of these high-tech capabilities would be possible without people. Whether on the front lines or behind the scenes, it takes a veritable army of specialized staff — floor associates, data scientists, product designers, artificial intelligence experts, supply chain specialists, distribution center workers, and more, all operating in concert with technology — to delight customers with products and services they didn’t even know they wanted and keep them coming back. Stories of a retail apocalypse notwithstanding, this is a time of revival and reinvention for retailers able and willing to deliver the experience that customers increasingly demand. Here are three ways they can start.

Inspire a community of commerce. Innovative retailers understand the imperative to create a welcoming environment where shoppers enjoy spending their time as much as their money. Liberated from being just an inventory repository, today’s reimagined store is a community of commerce — an outlet for product discovery, a forum to educate and entertain, and a channel to reinforce the brand. And the opportunity for stores to transform is ripe: In PwC’s 2018 Global Consumer Insights Survey, 44 percent of shoppers reported visiting a physical store at least weekly, up from 42 percent in 2012.

In April 2018, traditional retailer Nordstrom opened a Manhattan boutique catering solely to men. Customers can have their shoes shined and meet with a tailor for custom alterations, and can virtually try on clothes using a digital avatar. The retailer is also breaking new ground with Nordstrom Local, its new concept for women. The small boutique does not carry inventory for immediate purchase but has items available for shoppers to try on. They can then buy online or order merchandise for in-store or curbside pickup. To promote a sense of community, the store also boasts shopper-friendly amenities such as personal stylists and on-site alterations, as well as a cocktail bar and nail salon.

Some companies that started as online pure plays are also finding that physical stores are a critical way to build in-person connections with customers. This omnichannel experience makes good business sense, considering that online sales still represent just 10 percent of core retail sales. Even Amazon is blurring the lines between online and offline retail with the launch of its first Amazon Go in Seattle — a cashier-less grocery store, but one with employees on site to help troubleshoot, locate items, and prepare meals for purchase.

Warby Parker, which started selling its reasonably priced, direct-to-consumer eyeglasses as an online-only brand in 2010, now has more than 60 boutiques across the U.S. and aggressive plans for more. Other online upstarts, such as mattress company Casper and socially conscious clothes brand Everlane, have recently opened physical stores to enable shoppers to interact with their products in person.

Create a culture that empowers employees. Even as technology plays a larger role, the most successful retailers understand that employees are the connective tissue in the retail experience. The risk of not getting the human element right is significant: PwC’s CIS survey found that 56 percent of shoppers will turn away from their favorite products or brands after several bad experiences, and 32 percent will walk after just one bad experience. Meanwhile, 53 percent of respondents to PwC’s Global Consumer Insights study reported that interaction with knowledgeable, helpful salespeople gave them the most satisfaction as shoppers — a higher percentage than those who named technology-enabled experiences such as personalized offers or in-store screens that display an extended range of products.

Some companies have taken the need for excellent service to heart. The Ritz-Carlton, for example, empowers each employee to spend as much as US$2,000 per guest to provide superior service, and encourages employees to use their creativity to ensure every customer experience is memorable. That relentless focus on the customer works: The Ritz-Carlton has received numerous prestigious hospitality awards for guest satisfaction and has among the highest employee retention rates in an industry notorious for employee attrition.

Another company whose core values are infused throughout the customer experience is outdoor equipment retailer REI. REI’s culture encourages employees to embrace the sporting lifestyle and share their experiences with customers. Employees get two extra days off each year to participate in outdoor and wellness-related activities. REI also closes its doors on Black Friday, encouraging employees get into nature instead. This strategy has translated into deeper customer engagement, with millions of customers participating in REI’s #OptOutside movement.

Recruit a data-literate workforce. Being in the retail business today means being in the data business. Customer experience falls short if retailers can’t effectively harness the power of technology in order to engage customers. Retailers need data scientists and other professionals with advanced analytics skills who can help companies carry out analyses and apply data to better understand customers and predict trends.

Analysis from a 2017 report by PwC and the Business-Higher Education Forum finds that retail has the highest proportion of job openings for data-driven decision makers. And retail is in the top three industries seeking functional analysts. By 2021, employer demand for data science and analytics skills will far exceed supply. To fulfill current and future needs, savvy retailers are rethinking the talent pipeline and doing more outreach to identify, develop, and recruit retail workers with in-demand skills.

To aid in this effort, some trade groups are implementing programs that prepare workers for tomorrow’s retail environment. One such program run by the NRF Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the National Retail Federation (of which one of the authors is the president, and another is on the board) offers college students — with majors as diverse as merchandising, economics, and computer engineering — an opportunity to explore retail career paths spanning the entirety of the retail ecosystem, including supply chain, logistics, marketing, finance, and technology. Elsewhere, UpSkill America, a coalition of businesses that promotes retraining, partners with retailers to reskill and upskill employees in areas such as marketing analytics, user experience, and software development.

Ultimately, the human element remains central to customer interactions, even if it’s embedded within automation, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, or other technologies. The premiums shoppers are willing to pay — as well as the value of their loyalty — add up for companies who heed the call for a customer experience that hinges on human connection.

Work-related stress has been found to increase the risk of heart problems. Researchers from the University College London have associated stress at work with a 23 percent increase in the risk of heart attack. And Harvard researchers say women whose work is highly stressful have a 40 percent increased risk of heart disease compared with their less-stressed colleagues, including risk of heart attacks.

If you have a demanding job, which may in fact include most small business owners, it is in your best interest to take measures to manage stress and prevent the heart risks your work is causing.

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Ways to Reduce Heart Related Health Risks at Work

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), you should not allow your health to suffer due to the demands of your work. CDC acknowledges the dangers of work-related stress and recommends some healthy behaviors to combat the risk of heart problems:

1. Stop Smoking

Not smoking is one of the most important ways CDC identifies for preventing heart disease and lung cancer. Quit smoking and using other forms of tobacco to avert heart issues.

2. Limit Alcohol Use

Excessive drinking is bad for your heart and productivity. Cut or limit your alcohol intake to stay healthy.

3. Limit Salt Intake

Too much salt (sodium) in your diet can cause high blood pressure, which can lead to heart problems. Limit your salt intake to ensure you maintain normal blood pressure.

4. Limit Sugar Intake

Similarly, too much sugar in your diet can raise you blood sugar levels, which can lead to heart problems. Limit your sugar intake to prevent or control heart disease.

5. Limit Cholesterol Intake

Eating foods high in cholesterol, saturated fats and trans fat increases the risk of coming down with heart problems. Eat foods high in fiber instead to prevent high cholesterol and avoid heart issues.

6. Maintain Healthy Weight

Lack of sleep is cited as one reason people sometimes become overweight and end up feeling tired and cranky all the time at work. If you lose enough sleep, you could be too tired look for healthy eating options like fresh fruits and vegetables or to exercise. Make sure one of your strategies for maintaining a healthy weight is getting enough sleep each night, 6 to 9 hours of shuteye at least.

7. Stay Physically Active

Engaging in physical activities like jogging, bicycling or walking is another factor identified as central to preventing obesity, heart disease and helping to improve productivity.

The CDC notes most Americans engage in two or three of these healthy behaviors, but only a handful do all seven. It is important that you and your team adopt all seven habits to stay healthy at work.

More Tips for a Healthy Heart at Work

Dr. Steven Gundry, a cardiac surgeon based in Palm Springs, CA, medical innovator, and the mind behind Gundry MD, offers additional tips to upgrade your workday from harmful to healthy. From the type of food you eat to how long you stare at a computer screen, his tips provide effective ways to stay healthy at work.

Check out Dr. Gundy’s tips in this neat inforgraphic below.

Image: Dr.Gundy

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In a world where virtually anyone can create an Ecommerce site overnight, shoppers rely on reviews to confirm that they can trust a new brand and its products. Reviews provide an added level of security for consumers to shop without fear of being scammed or purchasing poor quality products.

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Ecommerce Customer Reviews

That doesn’t mean reviews are only for Ecommerce newbies. For established brands, reviews are still useful and have a similar impact. They help shoppers trust that the products they are considering to purchase have good quality, independent from the trust they may have in the brand.

A consumer can already love and trust a brand, but still think twice about buying one of its products. It’s not only a question about the product’s quality, but also a question about personal fit, use, wear and tear, and many other factors.

For instance, if a consumer is looking to buy a dress, she would want to make sure it is the right fit for her body type, the quality she is looking for or the right style. Even if she trusts the brand and the site offers a thorough product description, there is nothing like a good review. It provides unbiased feedback. It’s like getting a recommendation from a friend or family relative. In fact, research shows that 85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

Therefore, every Ecommerce site, whether new or established, needs to have product reviews to provide a good shopping experience. If you don’t have product reviews, shoppers will try to find them through other sources. Thus, it’s best to compile them where the reviews can be monitored and optimized: on your own site.

Covering the Basics: Getting a Product Review App Installed

If you’re starting from zero or currently have a bad system in place to collect reviews, a simple product review app can help you collect and display reviews in a professional manner. See below some free and paid options that may be useful if you have a Shopify or Bigcommerce store:

• Reviews by Shopify. It’s free and offers basic features to collect reviews and design a product review area.
• Yotpo. They have a free and a paid version available for Shopify and Bigcommerce. The free version includes basic features plus social integration, review of email requests, and moderation. Their paid version includes cool features like shoppable Instagram, rich snippets and coupons.
• Judge.me. Free and paid versions are available. It has similar features to Yotpo, but it can integrate with many other Shopify apps.
• TrustPilot. The app is free, and can be integrated with Shopify and Bigcommerce. I love this app because it showcases reviews from a trustworthy third-party site.

Creating a Strategy: Segmenting Customers and Orders

Now that you have a place to properly collect and display reviews, it’s time to encourage customers to leave reviews. Asking is key. Most customers will not leave a review unless you remind them to do so. Thus, you have to take a proactive approach to create a product review system that actually works.

Connect your Store with an Email Marketing Platform

To request reviews, you’ll need to connect your store to an email marketing platform like MailChimp to send email requests. Start by saving your customer’s information in an email list. This list should be different from the one you use to collect emails for newsletters.

One customer can be part of both lists, but make sure you differentiate your paying customers from the ones that just registered for an email newsletter.

Segment your Customer List

The keys to getting the highest amount of responses are timeliness and customer order segmentation. Your requests have to be sent soon enough after your customers get their packages, while their memories are fresh and they are excited about the products.

If your request is sent too late, the excitement about the products may have passed, or they may not even remember their experiences. If the request is too soon, customers may not have gotten their orders yet to be able to leave a review.

I like to set up my review email requests to be sent about 2-3 weeks after a customer makes a purchase. This timeframe allows for a couple of weeks of shipping and about a week to try the product. The right time will vary slightly, depending on the products you’re selling. For instance, if you’re selling beauty products, your customers may need a longer amount of time to test the product results.

Besides timeliness, you’ll want to segment your customer list to distinguish the customers with repeat or high order values from the lower order value customers. Your high-spenders and recurrent customers will be more likely to leave a review. Also, you’ll want to tailor your message accordingly to provide the right incentive to the right customer.

MailChimp offers many pre-built and custom segmentations to do this. All you need to do is create a logic, like the one below, to create that segment.

Sending Email Requests

Now that you have your list of customers segmented and ready to go, it’s time to set up your emails. Once again, automation is the key to creating an email system that runs smoothly, without requiring much manual effort. Also, as we mentioned before, it’s important to customize your message according to the user contacted. This will increase your conversion rates.

For my high-spender segment, I like to send personal notes that don’t look like mass emails. Usually, this type of email would just contain text and my signature. The button call to action is replaced with text and a link.

I would recommend A/B testing personal types of emails with more branded ones, to discover which one performs best. Whichever type of email you choose, it’s important to keep certain elements for best practices:

• Send a thank you introduction. Thank the customer for his or her purchase; it makes the customer feel valued.
• Express the value of their review contribution.
• Ask them for their review.
• Provide an incentive to leave a review. Offer a discount code or a free gift.

Measuring Performance and Optimizing Accordingly

Getting a product review is the final goal, but there are many micro-goals that can be accomplished on your way to achieving the final goal. For instance, I focus on improving the open rate and click-through rate. The more people open my email request, the higher chance I’ll have to gain a click and, eventually, a conversion.

See below a list of important metrics and how to improve them:

• Open rate — Improve your subject line.
• Click-through rate — Enhance copy or provide a more enticing incentive.
• Low completion rate (leaving feedback) — Are you linking directly to the products purchased? Is your review system easy to use?

Now, over to you. What has been your experience with customer reviews? Have you tried any of the tactics in this post? Comment below!

Image via: Shutterstock

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Articles published in strategy+business do not necessarily represent the views of the member firms of the PwC network. Reviews and mentions of publications, products, or services do not constitute endorsement or recommendation for purchase.

strategy+business is published by certain member firms of the PwC network.

© PwC. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the PwC network and/or one or more of its member firms, each of which is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. Mentions of Strategy& refer to the global team of practical strategists that is integrated within the PwC network of firms. For more about Strategy&, see www.strategyand.pwc.com. No reproduction is permitted in whole or part without written permission of PwC. “strategy+business” is a trademark of PwC.