As marketers and brands, many of you use PPC ads to drive traffic to your brand or a client’s website. There’s nothing wrong with that approach. After all, PPC ads have obvious advantages. You can reach new customers, track your results, and manage your budget. However, for all their benefits, these ads can sometimes lack …
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Ocient | Senior/Principal/Distinguished Software Engineer | Full-time | $130-215k + stock | USA, Chicago / Remote (US) | https://ocient.com We’re building the word’s most scalable and efficient data warehouse. The founding team’s previous startup was acquired by IBM for $1.4B. Recently raised $40M. Our Stack: Modern C++, Linux, etc. Apply at https://ocient.com/careers. Send your questions … Continue reading New comment by stevetarzia in "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2021)"
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What is a Business Valuation? According to Investopedia, “A business valuation is a general process of determining the economic value of a whole business or company unit.” Basically, it determines how much your business is worth. A business valuation gives your business an objective estimate of value. It is usually done by a professional business evaluator
The obvious reason is to determine sale value. However, you may also need one to establish partner ownership or for tax purposes.
Some events trigger the need for a valuation. In these cases, it isn’t optional. You must have one when a shareholder dies, closely-held stock is given as a gift, or you need an equity compensation valuation.
You also need one when there is a dispute as to business value. For example in the case of a shareholder dispute or a divorce. Other reasons include if you need to create an employee stock ownership plan, you are converting from a C-corp to an S-corp, a charitable contribution is made, or you have to allocate intangible asset
You need one to complete an equity compensation valuation, but they are not the same. Equity compensation is the non-cash pay representing ownership in a business. It can include options, restricted stock, and performance shares. It allows employees to share in the profits via appreciation and can encourage retention, particularly if there are vesting requirements. To determine the value of the equity compensation, you must first have a business valuation.
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Many business owners have no clue what their business is worth. Most think it is worth more than it actually is, though some may not recognize the gold mine they are sitting on. Knowing what your business is worth can change the way you view your business. You can begin to recognize what you have to work with.
You can see potential for growth, and also get a handle on worst case scenarios if you have to liquidate quickly. It allows you to get a handle on what you are working for, and how your previous hard work has paid off. Valuation lets you see where you stand and can help you plan for the future. For example, if you want to retire with a certain amount and you intend for the sale of your business to help you reach that goal you must know what your business is worth.
There are several methods for valuing a business. They include market capitalization, times revenue method, earnings multiplier, discounted cash flow (DCF), method, book value, and liquidation value.
Market capitalization refers to the total market value of a business’ total outstanding shares of stock. it’s often called the “market cap.” It is calculated by multiplying the total number of a company’s outstanding shares by the current market price of one share.Companies are typically divided according to market capitalization as follows: large cap equals $10 billion or more, mid cap equals $2 billion to $10 billion, small cap equals $300 million to $2 billion.
Market capitalizationis a quick and easy way to estimate a company’s value. It gives an idea of what the market thinks the business is worth. However, it only works for publicly traded companies. This also means, of course, that the market cap changes with changes in the market.
A simple example of the market capitalization method: Consider a business has 1 billion shares of stock outstanding. If the current market price of one share is $2, then the market cap would be 1 billion shares x $2, or $2 billion. This would put it in the mid cap range.
The times revenue method of business valuation applies a multiplier to revenue over a specific period of time. The multiplier depends on the industry and economic environment. For example, a tech company may be valued at 3x revenue, while a service firm may be valued at 0.5x revenue.
The times revenue method determines a maximum value, or ceiling. You can use it to determine a range of values. You can apply the multiplier to projects to estimate future value. Again, the multiplier used depends on the industry the business is in and the current economic environment.
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The earnings multiplier is actually a more accurate way to get real company value than the times revenue method. This is because the earnings multiplier considers future profits against cash flow potential at the current interest rate over the same time period. Put another way, it adjusts the current price-to-earnings ratio (P/E Ratio) for current interest rates.
The P/E ratio shows the earnings per share of stock in relation to the current price of the stock. This process acts as a quick and dirty tool to help compare the cost of the stocks with other, similar companies. It can help investors judge current prices of stock in relation to historical prices.
These two methods are calculated the same way, but with different multipliers. The revenue number may look different as well, depending on the period of time you use in the calculation. Imagine a company has an adjusted net profit of $1,000 and the multiplier is 4.
Then the value of the business is $1,000 x 4, or $4,000. To a potential buyer, this means that, as long as profits are continued at the same level, they will receive about $1,000 per year for the $4,000 investment, or a return of 25%.
The discounted cash flow method (DCF) is similar to the earnings multiplier. It too uses projections of future cash flows and adjusts them to get the current market value of the company. The difference is this method takes inflation into account when calculating the present value. The goal of the DCF method is to determine the current value of an investment based on projections of how much money it will generate in the future.
The purpose of this valuation method is to get an idea of the money an investor would make from an investment. It is adjusted for the time value of money.The time value of money is the idea that a dollar today is worth more than that same dollar would be tomorrow. This is because you could invest that dollar today, but if you waited until tomorrow it would be invested one day less. Therefore it would be earning for one day less. As a result, it would not be worth as much.
To help understand the time value of money, and thus how it affects the DCF method, consider the following example. Imagine a company releases a new product on January 1st that is hugely successful. Any investors waiting until January 2nd to invest would not benefit from those first day sales. Therefore, their investment is not worth as much as if they had invested on January 1.
Book value is simply the value of equity from the balance sheet. You get it by subtracting total business liabilities from total business assets. The book value is the total value of company assets stockholders would receive, theoretically, if the business were liquidated. Compare it to market value to help determine if stocks are over- or underpriced.
So, if a business has total assets on the balance sheet that equal $10,000, and they have total liabilities that equal $4,000, the book value of the company is $6,000. That means, if the business were liquidated, the stockholders would split $6,000 based on the number of shares they hold.
Liquidation value is a little easier to understand. It is the value of the company’s assets as they are today. Basically, it shows the cash a business would receive if assets were sold and all debts paid off today. This includes assets such as real estate, fixtures, equipment, and inventory.
It’s important to note that intangible assets are not included in this calculation of business value. Intangible assets are assets that are not physical, like goodwill and intellectual property like patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Liquidation value will differ from book value. This is because book value uses what you paid for the assets minus depreciation, not what you could sell the asset for today.
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As you may have guessed, each method can yield a different value. The method you should use depends on your purpose for the valuation. For example, if you are trying to sell your business, potential buyers will want to know the income potential of the business. You must know that as well to price the business fairly.
For pricing a business to sell, an income-based approach, like the times revenue or earnings multiplier method may work best. However, if you are trying to determine a value for a divorce proceeding, an asset method may be better.
Which asset method you want to use will depend on which side you are on. If you are receiving the money, you may prefer the liquidation method. If you are paying, you may prefer to use the book value method. This depends on the difference in what you paid for the assets and what they would sell for today.
There are no hard rules on which method you should use when it comes to selling your business. Your business will always be worth what you are willing to sell it for, and what a potential buyer is willing to pay for it. Value is calculation. Price is a negotiation. That said, if you need a valuation for another reason, you may have to use a specific method.
An official business valuation in the US must be completed by an Accredited Business Valuation (ABV) professional. This is an accreditation accountants can get for specializing in calculating the value of businesses. The certification is handled by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). To get a certification in business valuation, an accountant must (among other things), pass the required exam and meet minimum business experience and education requirements.
Of course, you can calculate the value of your business using any of these methods yourself. This is assuming you know the formulas and the numbers to plug in. But it will not stand for official purposes. Also, you run the risk of being wrong and losing out in the long run. It is definitely better to have an ABV specialist handle this.
Business valuation assigns economic value to a whole business. There are several reasons you may need a valuation. These include pricing your business for sale, or for divorce proceedings, and some events require that a valuation be done.
It can also change the way you view your business. There are many methods for assigning value to a business. The one you choose will depend on the reason for doing the valuation. An official business valuation must be done by an Accredited Business Valuation professional.
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From high fashion to a terrible sense of fashion, wherever we fall on the spectrum, fashion marketing comes our way online, on television, catalogs, billboards, window shopping, and more. We are bombarded with messages of what we should be wearing, and why.
If you’re on the marketing or sales side of fashion, how do you leverage your message to reach the right buying audience? In this guide, let’s learn what fashion marketing truly is and how to form your own strategy if you work in the fashion field.
Because we interact so often with fashion marketing from a consumer perspective, we may think we have a clear picture of what all goes into it. We may have some idea of what fashion marketing is, but maybe we don’t understand all the logistics behind it.
Fashion marketing is about advertising and promoting fashion to the right market in various ways, from print to online, in-person to digital. Remember that it’s more than clothes; it’s also accessories, including hats, shoes, jewelry, and outerwear, that help people connect with and showcase a certain style.
While any industry can leverage the wide world of marketing opportunities, fashion marketing has its own unique practical implications that may impact certain marketing choices.
Just like any kind of marketing, fashion marketing has to start from a pain point, and there’s often kind of an obvious pain point, as well as the deeper whys.
For instance, there’s hunger with food marketing, of course, but there’s also why you want to buy, cook, or eat that food.
Let’s switch back to fashion marketing and think about that obvious point first. Fashion marketing does have a practical side. We have to wear clothes. Fashion marketing tells us which ones we should wear.
Then there are the deeper whys. It’s not just about protecting your body from the elements. Style is about being part of a community and expressing something about yourself.
That’s the story that brands can tell across their marketing campaigns.
As fashion marketers consider those pain points and the motivations of their consumers, they also have to think about seasonal changes and when consumers are primed to purchase for that next season.
They also have to stay ahead of style trends, while maintaining a balance with practical options for consumers. Price points are another tricky topic for fashion marketers. Fashion can range from thrifty and economical to high-end and luxurious.
There’s a lot we can learn from luxury marketing, but it’s important to remember that fashion marketing can span a more approachable and inclusive market as well.
There are many ways to get the word out about your fashion brand, but you can get a lot of tips from big-name brands that are out there.
It’s hard to know what an item is going to look like on your own body when ordering the product online. Allbirds advertised an in-app, try-on experience. Using augmented reality, the try-on feature allows you to see what the shoes would look like on your own feet. To advertise this feature, Allbirds created a social media ad series with a video showcasing how you can do a virtual try-on. The ad also speaks to the brand’s environmental causes.
Warby Parker did something similar to help their customers get an idea of what their glasses would look like on themselves before they order. They created an app-based, virtual try-on experience and a series of TV ads to get the word out about the app. Since it’s a relatively new idea that many may not be as familiar with, the TV ad shows how it works and how customers can “try on” glasses to decide which ones to order.
Patagonia also wanted to use their marketing efforts to speak to a certain cause greater than their own brand. To encourage environmental awareness and a better use of resources, they created a Worn Wear campaign. They took to the road and did a cross-country trip with a team of people who could repair clothes. People were invited to bring worn-out clothes and be given new life. These kinds of long-term marketing efforts are quite the undertaking, but the sense of giving back to the community, aligned with your brand’s philosophies, is something that any brand could try, even on a local level.
Ted Baker came up with an interactive catalog or lookbook, using a 360-degree film experience. The video consists of various vignette scenes of a midcentury family in their home and neighborhood. The scenes are relatively minimal to really showcase the clothes. It went along with a series of commercial style videos with the hashtag #MeetTheBakers. Even if you don’t have the Ted Baker budget, anyone could use videos to showcase their clothes on the whole family and highlight how they could be worn in everyday, or fantasy, life.
DKNY leveraged the power of hashtags and of having a brand consisting of four letters, in their #DKNYStateofMind campaign. That hashtag became popular among influencers, bloggers, and other content creators. In addition to launching a new line with this, they also utilized inspiring graphical messages, with the letters D, K, N, and Y highlighted. It showcased who they are as a brand, both in their clothes and their message.
One of the challenges of selling fashion is helping buyers understand how a piece would work in their wardrobe. Just a single image in a catalog or on a sign may not be convincing enough. Everlane created an influencer marketing campaign where they asked fashion bloggers to create three looks with their jumpsuit. This helped potential buyers see the versatility of their product, as well as the different women wearing them. Everlane shared these on social media, but they also got coverage on blogger websites, such as The Golden Girl Blog. This was great for SEO and backlinks for Everlane.
Sometimes it’s about more than selling shoes. Fashion marketing can sometimes take up causes or philosophies greater than just the clothes they are selling. Even when ads take that approach, it’s about aspiration that is connected intrinsically to fashion. We wear what we wear to send some kind of message.
Nike has long had a history of memorable ads, starting with “Just Do It” and leading to their Colin Kaepernick “Believe in Something” campaign. This kind of fashion marketing doesn’t necessarily showcase the actual products, but they do get people talking, such as in this Forbes article. By taking a stand and creating a campaign around it, fashion brands can align themselves with a certain ambition or way of thinking that may convince consumers to buy and wear their products to align with that mission, too.
In a similar fashion (pun intended) to Nike’s stances, Lululemon has leveraged the community to build their brand. They talk about believing in what their athletic wear is capable of helping people do by living the life they want.
They use their social media platforms to create that community, sharing ideas and tips and allowing others to share their experiences through their ambassador program. In that vein, they use those platforms not just to share their clothes, but to share guidelines they expect from themselves and those in their community. It’s a way of leverage aspirational marketing, like Nike does, in a welcoming, inclusive manner.
When it comes to fashion marketing, sometimes it’s about being there at the right time, with the right offering. In other words, keeping it simple can be some of the most effective fashion marketing. Here’s an example of a Boden Facebook post highlighting their swimsuits with beachy images. This ran in April just as spring is starting to warm and people are starting to dream about summer vacations and beach plans. Seeing this post in this season, with that discount incentive may have daydreamers clicking through.
Social media campaigns are also a great way to tell your brand story. In fashion marketing, the story behind the products can be as important as the products themselves. Explain to consumers how products came to be, including the design process and the production. People want to know where their clothes and accessories come from and are intrigued by interesting stories. Threadless uses its social media posts to talk about its work with independent artists in creating unique product lines. People who are seeking a different look, and who also want to support independent artists, will resonate with that story.
We’ve talked about fashion marketing in regard to aspirations and bigger thinking as well as telling brand stories. Levi’s has built a campaign around its water-saving measures. They developed a trademark around their techniques called Water<Less™. They shared this story on their website and social media.
Another way to leverage word-of-mouth marketing is to share reviews from customers. In a sponsored Facebook post, Kotn leveraged a review from a customer who talked about the company’s ethics and commitments to sustainability. They paired this review with an image of a product and a link to shop now. They also included their return policy, which is a great reminder for those who are shopping online and can’t try on.
Getting consumers involved with a brand is a component of fashion marketing. Customers can grow loyal to certain fashion brands they believe in and with whose values they align, as we discussed above. Finding ways for customers to be involved in the whole process, from design to sales, is great to build that loyalty. Atlas Supply did this in an Instagram post where they asked followers to help them name their next product, in return for a free bag.
Sometimes fashion marketing is about being cutting edge, not just in design and style, but in how you design and style. Tommy Hilfiger announced that they would be incorporating 3D design into their process to lean into digital opportunities and be more sustainable. To make more of a splash, they didn’t just start the process but announced that their spring 2022 line would be designed this way, giving fashion aficionados something to watch for.
As discussed, engaging with your loyal customer base is a great way to share your message and get the word out about your brand. Allowing customers who love your brand to share that in their own way can bring authenticity to your fashion marketing, rather than just your speaking all the time. ThredUP has included sections in their YouTube channel where they share user-generated content.
Fashion marketing covers a wide range of brands, from the thrifty to the luxurious, but what they all have in common is the need to understand your target audience and why they wear what they wear.
E-commerce fashion marketing touches on everything from the actual products to aspirations and greater causes. Consumers can hear from loyal customers about what they love about your products, how they are made, what your brand stands for, and more.
Are you a fashion brand looking for help with your strategy? Our agency can help with everything from SEO to social and paid campaigns. Reach out if you want to hear more.
What new fashion marketing idea are you ready to try for your brand?
Search engine optimization (SEO) used to be defined by the number of keywords and keyword synonyms across your website’s content.
When Google launched its knowledge graph, SEO shifted away from simply relying on keywords, and search engine crawlers began prioritizing rich snippets and entities on search engine results pages (SERPs).
These days, Google has more systems to identify the true meaning of keyword searches and queries. By categorizing ideas into “entities,” Google revolutionized its search proficiency.
While keywords are still important, SEO experts now also use entity-based SEO to further their ranking efforts. Context and relevance are becoming increasingly important in search engine results, and entities can help improve these factors.
In this article, we’ll explain what entities are, how to use them, and what the future of SEO might look like.
Entity-based SEO uses context, not just keywords, to help users find the information they seek.
While keywords are an essential part of your SEO strategy, they don’t fully reflect how humans search for information. For example, a person who searches for “Paris” may be looking for Paris Jackson, the city of Paris (in France or Texas), the movie Paris Is Burning, or innumerable other options.
Google offers suggestions for searchers regarding additional context, which serves the dual purpose of speeding up their searches by showing popular options and reminding them to add more context if none of those are what they need.
Entity-based SEO is helpful for searchers but slightly has made things a bit more complicated for content creators. Three ways entity-based SEO has changed the landscape include:
Entities might sound similar to keywords. In fact, they are quite different. Here’s how they differ and why those differences are so important.
Keywords are words or phrases used in searches. They’re often the focal points of terms users search for and can be questions, sentences, or single words.
For example, users looking for makeup tutorials may search for makeup, tutorial, smokey eye, how to do a smokey eye, and so on.
Keywords still matter because they connect your content to queries. Your goal is to drive organic traffic to your site by ranking for keywords that help customers find your brand on search engines.
Keywords have long been the backbone of SEO, mainly because search engine algorithms needed clear, concise direction to populate relevant search results.
In the early days of SEO, keyword stuffing, which involves adding your chosen keyword far too many times or including largely irrelevant, popular keywords, was used constantly. At the time, search algorithms needed to see specific keywords repeatedly to rank content properly.
These days, algorithms have evolved significantly, and many old SEO tactics are, at best, frowned upon.
Google has always maintained that good copy and content are preferred over keyword stuffing and other black-hat SEO tricks.
As defined by Google, an entity is “A thing or concept that is singular, unique, well-defined and distinguishable.” This doesn’t need to be a physical object and can include colors, dates, ideas, and so on.
Entities can be people, places, products, companies, or abstract concepts. They should always be distinct and independent of other entities or keywords.
Emphasizing entities over keywords has allowed search engines to be more accurate in their results. However, search engines aren’t psychic—they need more information to figure out which entity you’re searching for.
For example, a search for the word “apple” could result in pages about the fruit or pages about the company. As interesting as both topics are, if you’re searching for information about whether apple seeds are indeed poisonous, reading about iPhones probably won’t be too helpful. You need to add some keywords to tell the search engine which entity you mean.
We can think of entities as large topics keywords live within. For entities to be legitimate, they need to link to a search engine knowledge graph representing linked information and data across the internet. Knowledge graphs allow search engines to scan your website effectively.
Google’s Knowledge Graph used Wikipedia as its primary trusted seed set. An easy way to think about entities is that they are anything that could have a specific Wikipedia page assigned to it.
It’s important to note that not every entity has a Wikipedia page. This could just be a helpful way to think of the concept.
Keywords with context help entities become defined, but you need to know precisely what your entity is all about before you can create your keyword-rich and well-written content. An SEO strategy recognizing both factors is your best bet for success.
On-page, you can create entities for an internal knowledge graph that uses keywords to link to different pages on your site. You can also connect your content to high E-A-T knowledge graphs such as Wikipedia or LinkedIn. While this won’t directly affect your page rank, it can improve your page authority in search.
Entity-based SEO is more relevant, refined, and granular than keyword SEO alone.
Over time, improvements in automated natural language processing and new search methods like chatbots and digital assistants have made search queries longer and more complicated.
Yet, most search queries still relate to an entity. For example, “Things to do in Brussels” or “What to do in Brussels today” relates to Brussels, Belgium. Even without the quantifier of Belgium, search engines can tailor their results based on previous entity knowledge and context.
For marketers, entity-based SEO offers more concrete discoverability. Ensuring your brand is a concrete entity could help you include a large number of keywords that may not have been previously available. Nike, for example, can be searched through running shoes, tennis shoes, workout clothes, Air Jordans, and more, without users getting lost along the way.
In e-commerce, entity-based SEO can connect your products under a single entity. For example, if you sell windows in Paris, France, you may be able to contribute keywords to the Paris, France entity, opening up your business to potential new clients. Also, connecting your window selling business to Paris, France, helps ensure customers living in Paris, Texas, won’t see your content and mistakenly order from you.
Adding an entity focus to your existing SEO strategies could help you prepare for future algorithm updates.
Understanding which entities your business connects to and establishing your business as an entity in itself will become increasingly important in coming years.
How do you move on from previous, often keyword-focused strategies to an entity-based strategy?
One way to leverage entity-based SEO is to list your business on directories across the internet. Google My Business, for example, is used as a data source for the Google Knowledge Graph.
Other listing services, such as Yelp, can also help create strong, domain-rich backlinks for your brand and help you create a known entity. Yelp appears in the top five search results in 92 percent of Google web searches.
Listing sites may change from location to location, so do your research when deciding where to list. Additionally, be sure to choose sites with high domain authority to improve your search engine standing.
Using this strategy, businesses listed here can form entities and begin connecting unique keywords.
Brand building is another essential tactic in entity-based SEO. Any offline brand presence measures need to be brought online, and you should always be considering new ways to create a well-defined and unique identity for your brand.
Managing your reputation is also increasingly important, as your reputation may factor into entity creation. Be conscious of the keywords you currently rank for and note—and correct for—any possible PR problems that could arise.
Interface management is becoming a factor in entity-based SEO, as a silo approach to collaboration may negatively impact search engine visibility. This may happen despite keyword rankings, which could significantly affect some businesses.
Ultimately, focusing on keywords is not going to be enough going forward. Businesses and marketers need to shift their focus to entity-based SEO and start implementing tactics to ensure their content connects to their entities.
Entity-based SEO can be a great way to communicate the context and relevance of your brand online.
By targeting ideas and context rather than words or phrases alone, entities build a bigger picture of your content, potentially allowing it to out-perform traditional keyword research methods.
We can expect to see more opportunities for marketers to create more depth in their branding strategies by focusing on entity-based SEO.
In what ways have you experimented with entity-based SEO?