phpFox Blog: Social network and online community building insights

Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded the 🏆 Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35, making him the youngest recipient of the award. While being congratulated on winning, he stated that all of the $54,123 prize money will be donated to the civil rights movement and became an inspiration for many people across the country.    In honor of his contribution, this Martin Luther King Day, phpFox is offering a limited-time sale    🎁👨🏾‍💼15% OFF👨🏾‍💼🎁 On all license & solution purchases & upgrades 🗓️Duration: From Jan 14th to Jan 18th ⚡Promo Code: LUTHERKING2022 BUY NOW   We recently released a better, updated version of phpFox Mobile 1.8.0 that included many improvements for the mobile core features, ChatPlus, and Live Streaming. Making this more accessible and bringing more value to your business    Mobile Core Higher Security Levels Better Quality of Life    ChatPlus Improved Interaction Better Layout More Accessibility    Live Streaming  Improved Connection    So if you want to try out this new promising updated phpFox Mobile 1.8.0, this is the perfect chance to do so.    In addition, 3rd-party experts are also offering Discounts for all their plugins. Check them out!    YouNetCo 15% OFF for all Purchases |  Promo Code: YNCMLK22 | Jan 14th to Jan 18th   For more information Contact us via email hello@phpfox.com

Making it easy for visitors to find what they need is essential when it comes to your website. Live chat is now being integrated into a more extensive user experience (UX) plan for improved customer service. ChatPlus is an excellent tool for improving your website UX, here is how you do it.    RELATED: Why ChatPlus is important for your phpFox online community?   In This Article: Make It More Immediate  Real and Live  Build Different Experiences for Different Users Create Mutual Benefits with Live ChatPlus Data   ChatPlus Offer New Way to Connect with Customers and Great Source of Date   Make It More Immediate    When it comes to consumer satisfaction with live chat, 83 percent of respondents in a recent poll from Statista Research Department said they were happy. As a result, you might wonder: how can I use live chat to enhance the user experience of my web site's visitors and repeat customers?   There are countless websites out there competing for the attention of internet users, making it even more imperative to provide a high-quality service. HubSpot Research found that 90% of consumers expect an instant response from a business and label it as critical to their customer service evaluation. Considering that 38% of people would leave a website that they find unpleasant, it's clear that user experience (UX) has never been more critical for your website, especially if you want to keep your customers happy.   Most visitors will make views on the appearance, functionality, and usefulness of your website within a few seconds of their first visit there. When done effectively, live chat has been shown to boost user perceptions immediately. Optimizing your website's live chat for speed and convenience takes into account several elements, such as:   Every visitor will receive a timely answer All users will recognize and appreciate the simplicity of this chat box's design (similar colors or styles of favorite apps) Instant answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) Allowing users access to a chat box's "call to action" button from any page   There is a lot of trial and error involved in developing a good live chat on your website, but ease and speed are two of the most critical considerations.   ChatPlus has been designed and developed by phpFox's dedicated team of developers making the layout both user-friendly and UX-focused, so you can be sure it would appeal to the users.    RELATED: phpFox Mobile 1.8.0 Official Release   Real and Live    The second point is that ChatPlus can combine human and technology factors into one. As technology constantly evolves and has become one of the most crucial parts of our daily life, we rely on them more and more. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that we also need the human factor included, especially in construction, agriculture, business, and many other industries.    Even while people have grown to accept bots on an increasing number of websites, they don't necessarily enjoy them, despite being highly beneficial.   Chat is a great way to add a personal touch to your site's users. These live chat services would be appreciated by less tech-savvy users, especially if there are skilled chat agents available to boost UX by:   Greeting guests as soon as they land on your website. Using language that is customized to your business and your audience Working from talking points rather than scripts. Retention may be improved by sending tailored follow-up emails.   Build Different Experiences for Different Users   Different people are into other things, and that's why you need to think of a suitable approach for your target audience. Even the most well-designed websites with all the right features will work differently for each user despite their best efforts. Some will enjoy it, and some may have difficulty making their way through it.    If your visitors are having trouble navigating your website or finding the information they're looking for, using live chat might be an excellent method to show them what's available.    Live ChatPlus is a powerful asset for your business as it creates a unique approach for every visitor on your website. By directly interacting with each user, your business will build a brand image on a personalized level. Here are some other you can do with Chatplus:   Add multilingual support Provide guidelines, directory for users with self-service or low-tech solutions Offering to carry on the conversation in other formats (such as email) Managing Service and Product Expectations   Create Mutual Benefits with Live ChatPlus Data   Last but not least, ChatPlus is an excellent source of information for you and your business to use. Data-driven user experiences are usually the best. Any adjustments you make should be based on client feedback and website statistics and ultimately linked to results. ChatPlus offers a unique way to collect and use data from users who visit and engage with your website.    According to the 2017 State of Global Customer Service Report, 2/3 of consumers expect businesses to know about them and their purchase history when they contact customer care. And don't forget about the human factor; it's always good for you to have customer service staff on standby and interact with the users whenever possible. You directly and proactively create a good impression with new potential customers by personalizing the interaction.    Now that you learn about ChatPlus and how you can actively use it to improve your business, build credibility and improve relationships with your customers. Are you ready to get started on your Live Chat feature? What is your next step?    Contact us now! And Get it installed on your phpFox platform in the quickest time possible! Just one click away.   UP NEXT:    How Live Streaming Is Changing the Business World Pros and Cons of Online Meetings Marketing on Social Networks  

Video content popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. As a result of the fast advancement of video technology, Live Streaming has also become increasingly popular. How does Live Streaming affect the business world? What are their impacts on different global industries? Let's find out!    RELATED: Live Streaming: A Must-Have strategy for modern marketing   In This Article: Impact of Live Streaming on Global Industries  Entertainment Media Education Business Benefits Live Streaming Offer to Your Business  More Engagement Create Trust And Credibility Better ROI and Cost-Effectiveness    Live Streaming Is the Key to the Expand Your Business    Impact of Live Streaming on Global Industries    Many large businesses throughout the world, from entertainment to education, have been affected by the rising popularity of video streaming. To better understand how it affected each of them, let's take a closer look.   Entertainment   Live broadcasting has had a profound impact on the entertainment industry. As a result of the advent of OTT services like Hulu, Roku, Netflix, Disney+, and others, conventional television has declined viewership.   These services are preferable to traditional television because they allow customers to watch programming on demand. Viewers may now select the programs they wish to watch by just pressing a button for the first time. However, it's the ability to watch videos at any moment that makes these services so enticing.    OTT services are predicted to have more than 383 million active customers by 2021, according to experts! Your favorite movies and TV shows may now be streamed from many devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, as well as high-end televisions.   Media   With video and live streaming content growth, conventional media types have increasingly transitioned to the internet realm. Digital media has swiftly surpassed its old equivalent, from newspapers, flyers, billboards to blogs, banners, and video commercials. And, given the popularity of digital media, when live streaming gained momentum, it did it with a bang!   It didn't take long for live streaming to become a standard feature on most news websites. Instead of waiting for the 6-o'clock broadcast, you may now capture live news at any time and from any location.   Education   By providing a variety of online classrooms, workshops, and schools, live video has proven helpful in extending worldwide access to education. As a result, this has proved especially advantageous to countries with little educational resources. It's now possible to communicate with academics and professionals from all around the world. And that's only the beginning of the benefits of educational live streaming!   During times of crisis, such as the current worldwide pandemic, live video allowed schools and institutions to continue operating during the lockdown. Indeed, this technology has proven so successful that many people consider making remote learning a permanent option, even after COVID-19.   Business   Live streaming technology has created many opportunities and quality-of-life improvement in the business world. For instance, live conferencing has been booming in popularity, especially during the lockdown period.   We are all aware of the importance of both external and internal communications in the success of any organization. So imagine what happens when you combine it with live broadcasting! Because of this, businesses can arrange meetings and conferences with employees from all over the world with the press of a button. They can also communicate more efficiently at work by using live video calls. Another great example would be to live broadcast your company's activities. This will allow you to get your brand in front of more people and create credibility.   Live Streaming Solution   By applying live streaming into your business, you can drastically improve how everything functions, from meetings to conveying announcements to informing customers about your new products/services with just a single click. If that's what you want, then phpFox has just the thing for you.    phpFox is a powerful social network platform for niche online communities, complete with a built-in Live Streaming feature to connect better with your staff members and your customers most quickly and conveniently possible. phpFox also offers live ChatPlus to add more engagement and coverage to your target audience.   Not only that, phpfox has spent a big deal of time working on performance enhancements to guarantee that the software is an efficient investment for your growing business.    Learn more about phpFox: https://www.phpfox.com/about-us/   For more useful: https://www.phpfox.com/blog/   Benefits Live Streaming Offer to Your Business    More Engagement   Live streaming is a must-have tool for businesses that rely on influencer marketing or for influencers themselves.   With the advent of live streaming, influencers now have an easier way to engage with their followings. Being one of these people means that your audience will always have a way to get in touch with you. Because you can interact with your audience in real-time, you'll be able to keep them interested in your content.   Create Trust And Credibility   Live streaming is a great way to demonstrate your company's commitment to openness. To create trust with your customers, give them access to your products or a tour of your facilities and show them what goes on behind the scenes. It's an excellent opportunity to have a live Q&A session with one of your specialists because of the open nature of live broadcasting. Your clients will get the message immediately away if you use this method.   Better ROI and Cost-Effectiveness    Compared to making regular videos, live streaming requires far less post-production time than the latter. In addition, the spontaneous nature of live streaming allows you to produce more material more quickly. If you combine these two factors, you can avoid paying a video editor and save money in the long term.   Watching live streaming is more popular than viewing pre-recorded recordings – It's no secret that there's a more significant demand for live video material. Three times as many people watch Facebook Live videos than view regular ones.   The cost of getting started with live streaming is meager since you can now do it even from your mobile device. Streaming allows you to save a lot of money since you don't have to worry as much about the quality of the video.   Have you tried to implement Live Streaming into your business? If you want to get started, CONTACT US and let us know how we can help you!    UP NEXT:    Impact of Livestreaming to Business Chatplus: What Does It Have to Offer? Why ChatPlus is important for your phpFox online community?  

To kick off 2022 with a BIG BANG, we proudly present the new updated phpFox Mobile version 1.8.0, which includes various improvements. In addition, recent improvements for ChatPlus and Live Streaming are included in this year's release.   Mobile Core   Better Quality of Life    With the updated version, now you can select and approve multiple pictures at once, making the process of sending or receiving them a lot easier. In addition, the new version will also support  compressing every photo by default, making the uploading process easier and more streamlined.    The layout for some long texts on the Profile Privacy page will also be improved, giving users has a better look at the information.    Higher Security Levels    Users will no longer have to worry about losing their accounts if they lose their mobile devices that are currently signed in. When this occurs, you have to change the password, and the account will be forced to log out on all mobile devices and websites. And also, it allows users to delete phone numbers if the account already has an email and vice versa.    →That's a significant step forward in terms of account security.   On top of it, the system will display the phone number verified in the account setting page after the user signs up for the account via email. And every time a user requests to resend the passcode, the system will generate and send the new passcode right to the user's phone number.    →These strict security measures are enhanced to prevent the theft of the user's valuable personal data.   Other Highlighted New Features / Improvements   Support "Reassign owner" function for Page/Group  The user could copy the thread in Forum The confirmation will appear when the user want to unfriend someone Some minor improvements on updating email/phone number Display the created time of each poll/quiz on the listing page   ChatPlus    Improved interactions    These new improvements allow you to see a small notification whenever they receive a new message. This helps users stay in touch with each other more timely.   Better Layout After looking at the current layout, we have decided to make some changes and adjustments to improve the UI to make it more user-friendly and appealing.   Accessibility    phpFox Mobile 1.8.0 supports the "Download photo" function in the conversation, which can help you receive and store the pictures from other users.    When you are in a group chat, type in @ a list of usernames of that particular group to tag/mention them in the conversation.   Live Streaming   Privacy is extremely important, especially when using social networks and online communities. This new Mobile version 1.8.0 prevents blocked users from seeing your live videos.    Connect With Friends   You can now tag other users into your Livestream Video detail.    To see the full detailed update, please click here: phpFox Mobile 1.8.0 Release Notes.   Upgrade now and get all these new features and improvements added to your social networks!  Open Mobile Build ticket in our Client Area to request us to upgrade your mobile apps. Don't hesitate to submit tickets or report immediately to our Client Area for any issue. We're constantly working to improve your phpFox experience. We always appreciate any feedback to make phpFox better; hence please feel free to share with us your ideas.

Let's take a look back at what you have done this year and prepare for what to come. Here are some great new year's resolutions for business.   RELATED: What Makes a Good Online Community?   In This Article: Update Your Business Plan Refresh and Renew Your Marketing Plan Apply Automation into Your Business Build a Website  Create a Community and Expand Your Network Improve Customer Service Prioritize Company Culture   Start 2022 with a Bang with These New Year's Resolutions   Update Your Business Plan   The first thing that should be on the top of your new year's resolutions list is to have everything carefully planned out in your business plan. When you're stuck, and in need of direction, a solid business strategy may act as a helpful guide. Business plans can be used to demonstrate your business's value to potential investors and lenders and potential new business partners and investors alike. It's a great way to stay on top of your to-do list.   In other words, if you want to be successful, you need a business plan. In any case, it isn't intended to be a one-and-done piece of work. Since you initially developed your business plan, we're confident that your business has evolved significantly.    Now is the time to reassess your strategy and include: The most recent financial data. Goals. Market research. Marketing concepts into your plan to ensure that your business continues to thrive in 2022.   Refresh and Renew Your Marketing Plan   The following new year resolves to take a closer look at your marketing plan and ask yourself, "does it work?", "How can you improve it?", "what channel works best for you?". The answer to these questions can be a great source of data offering you better insights on business.    Let your imagination go wild with fresh ideas. Using the information you've gleaned from analyzing which marketing activities were most successful for your company last year and which ones failed, you may revise your current marketing strategy. Your new plan should eliminate anything that didn't work and focus on what is best for your company. This will help you figure out where your marketing budget should go in 2022, so you get the best return on your investment.   RELATED: How to Build an Effective Marketing Plan on Social Media   Apply Automation into Your Business   Every day, technology makes our lives simpler, but are you making use of its full potential for your business? Look for areas of your business where you can automate processes. There is software that can make activities like invoicing, inventory management, customer support, bookkeeping, sales, and others an automatic event that you no longer have to worry about.    This not only reduces the possibility of human errors but also frees up time in your and your staff's calendars to work on other vital duties.                     Build a Website    If your company does not already have a website, now is the time to invest in one. A well-designed company website may boost revenue, audience growth, brand awareness, and customer service.   Even if you don't sell things on your eCommerce website, a decent company website may help potential customers or clients find you through search engines, provide examples of your work, and offer contact information to anybody who might want to work with you.   RELATED: Tips to Build a Great Online Community   Create a Community and Expand Your Network   In addition to having a website, having an online social network or brand online community is an excellent asset for your business. Creating an online community means you will have more online presence and have the chance to connect with more people. As a result, you can grow your business and expand your network.    Not only that, an influential online community can offer many different values to help your business reach new heights, including   Increasing customer service and satisfaction  Improving brand loyalty  Providing better insights and data    These values can help you a lot in the long run as it builds a strong brand image in the customer's mind and widens your target market. So if you currently don't have an online community of your own, this is the time to build one.    phpFox helps businesses build niche social networks and online communities to connect with the right people. phpFox is exceptionally customizable, with many built-in features that are simple to use, so you don't need to be concerned about not having prior coding expertise. Furthermore, our dedicated support team is always accessible to assist you with any difficulties you may face.   Improve Customer Service   Next new year, resolve to find a way to up your game in customer service. According to a study, 93% of consumers said they are more inclined to shop again at businesses they feel provide top-notch customer service.   People are just as likely to recall an awful customer service encounter as a truly excellent one. Determine what mistakes you and your workers made in 2021 and how to prevent them in the future.   RELATED: How To Improve Customer Experience   Prioritize Company Culture   Lastly, on the new year resolution list, if your small business relies on the efforts of your staff, concentrating on developing a positive corporate culture is an excellent resolution for 2022. Ones interested and motivated at work are 125 percent more productive than "satisfied" employees. A good business culture that makes employees feel valued, respected, and if their career growth is essential is a wonderful method to increase employee engagement and loyalty.   And it's not such a bad idea to create an online community for your employees where they can proactively interact with each other while creating a deeper connection between them. An employee community can indirectly help your brand grow and develop a better image in the mind of your employees and your potential customers.    What are your New Year's Resolutions for 2022? Are you planning to start on your niche social network and online communities? Give us a call, let us know how we can help!    UP NEXT:    Differences of Public Social Network and Private Online Community Great Business Goals For 2022 Get the People to Contribute More with Gamification  

The new year comes with many new opportunities to improve and new challenges to overcome, so it's better to be prepared. The sooner you get your business goals down, the better. Check out how to set great business goals in 2022.   RELATED: Ecommerce on Social Networks   In This Article: Review Your Work  Be S.M.A.R.T Accountability  Have a Strategic Planning Session Follow Approach-Oriented Goals   Tips on How to Set Effective Business Goals for 2022   Review Your Work    Before setting new goals for your business to achieve in 2022, you might want to take a closer look at what you have been doing and what has been done throughout the year 2021. Meaning you should review all the campaigns, go through all data and numbers, check the statistics to make sure that you understand what you have done right and what needs to be improved.    Growing and improving our company year after year requires a well-defined strategy that can be measured. For those who don't have a strategic plan for the upcoming year but have a SWOT analysis or list of goals from last year, don't worry about it since you can still use it as your guide for this year.    Tips on how to set practical business goals: you should try to ask yourself these questions like "how did the business do?", "were the goals clear enough?", "What could have been done better?". When you know the answers to these questions, you'll better understand how successfully you defined realistic company objectives.   Be S.M.A.R.T   It's crucial to make intelligent decisions if you want to go further and higher. That's why having a S.M.A.R.T goal is essential.   Specific. There is no place for generalized or vague suggestions when creating corporate goals. For example, if you wish to raise sales, you must specify how much more sales are required.   Measurable. You must determine whether or not you are making progress toward your objectives. Goals are fantastic, but if they can't be measured for success, they're just ideas. If you can measure your progress, you may change and attempt other techniques if the objective isn't being fulfilled.   Attainable. The goals you set need to be achievable. So you might need to think about having a down-to-earth goal rather than some outrageous over-the-top goal that's impossible to achieve. Not to mention it will be a waste of your time and effort.   Repeatable. There can be no measure of success if a goal is not repeatable. You're dealing with anomalies rather than achieving a realistic and helpful aim for your company.   Trackable. This directly ties into the idea of having your goals both measurable and repeatable. Having trackable goals allows you to chart the course for how they will be achieved and monitored. This will also be useful when you reassess your ideas next year.   Tips on setting practical business goals: whatever the case, you should start close step by step. Carefully think about each step of the S.M.A.R.T goals, but don't overthink it, and try to keep it simple. This will prevent you from forgetting the crucial point and make it easy for your team to understand and follow.    Accountability    Starting a goal may seem easy at first, but as the months pass and you face challenges, it is all too tempting to give up. Keep your end of the bargain. Maintain accountability for yourself and your employees.   When things get complicated, we frequently abandon them. You require a motivational factor. As a reward, the mind needs something to perceive, and even if it is self-created, they function great.   You can keep on track by having an accountability buddy, for example. Reporting to someone else makes you accountable for your actions, and vice versa. Another option is to utilize visual tools to illustrate your progress tangibly.   Tips on how to set practical business goals: Visual tools such as whiteboards, magnets, reward sheets, and other visual aids allow you to see your progress at a look. You may also create a digital spreadsheet to track development from a distance. These tools make it easy to see how far you've come - and make it more difficult to make excuses.   Have a Strategic Planning Session   This is when strategic planning comes into play. Gather your staff around the table and reduce your company's aims to three core objectives. These objectives should assist you in reaching your aims. You can then develop three approaches for each target. Your methods should push toward achieving the objectives, just as the purposes point to your larger aims. It's likely that your team members' particular goals for their regions are the exact methods necessary to reach the targets that meet your aims.   Tips on how to set practical business goals: In addition, it's crucial for everyone in the team to understand and align their goals and objectives with your own; this can make things a lot easier in the long run.    RELATED: Pros and Cons of Online Meetings   Follow Approach-Oriented Goals   According to research, approach-oriented objectives are linked to long-term success, but avoidance-oriented goals might have a reverse impact. This implies that instead of defining your aim negatively, frame it positively. Consider the language you choose to explain your purpose. Instead of telling yourself, "I must reach this goal, or I will fail," consider what you can actually do with your present resources.   For instance, if you are running an online business and want to increase revenue and gain more customers, then trying building your own online brand community is an excellent choice for you. Many people just focus on gaining more revenue and improving the brand image in traditional ways, but sometimes it can be outdated. On the other hand, building an online brand community can offer you many different values such as:    Connects with more people  Improves brand awareness Expands the target market Drives website traffic Increases customer retention Better customer insights    RELATED: How To Manage And Grow An Online Community   Tips on how to set practical business goals: So, if you're trying to get your online brand community up and running, then phpFox is the solution for you. phpFox is a powerful social networking platform for building niche online communities. With various built-in features, phpFox can help you create your ideal neighborhood and help you increase your branding, and connect with the people more effectively.    In addition, if you're not a tech-savvy person or lack knowledge in coding, no problem, phpFox is absolutely user-friendly and highly customizable, so you can change it however you want. And if that's not enough, our team of dedicated professionals can help you whenever you need it.   So have you got started on making business goals for 2022? If you don't know where to start, you can start with building your online community. Don't hesitate to contact us! And tell us how we can help!   UP NEXT:   The importance of the Customer community in Business Customer Community: The Key to Create Value How to Build an Effective Marketing Plan on Social Media

🔔Jingle Bell 🔔Jingle Bell 🔔Jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to join in the Promo Tonight!🎄   This is a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on some new and enhanced phpFox Store products, apps, and plugins. Which are certain to improve your website, increase user experience, and provide significant value to your business   During this holiday season, we are offering a Special Discount on license & solution purchases & upgrades   Christmas & Boxing Day Promotion  Duration: 23rd to 27th of December 🎁 20% DISCOUNT 🎁 On all license & solution purchases & upgrades 🎅Promo Code: SANTALOVE2021    Let's shop until you drop SHOP NOW   In additionally,  3rd-party experts also offer special discount for all their plugins   YouNetCo 20% OFF for all Purchases |  Promo Code: YNCJINGLEBELL | Dec 23rd to Dec 27th   phpFoxer 22% OFF for all Products and Packages |  Promo Code: HAPPYNEWYEAR | Dec 24th to Jan 8th   Kibcode 30% OFF for all Products |  Promo Code: newyear | Dec 23rd to Jan 1st   FoxExpert  25% OFF for all Apps, Themes and Packages Promo Code: christmas2022 | Dec 23rd to Dec 27th   Don’t miss out on this chance! Go and start shopping now!  For more information Contact us via email hello@phpfox.com

The Winter season is here, and coming up is Christmas, the most joyful and festive holiday of the year. It's also a great time to start making Christmas promotion ideas for your business to increase your revenue.    RELATED: How to Build an Effective Marketing Plan on Social Media   In This Article: Decide Your Plan and Goals Keep Your Bestseller Stocked Start with Halloween Offer Free Shipping Sell in Bundle Update Your Theme Email Marketing Make Use of Your Online Community  Design a Digital Catalogue Customize Your Packaging   Handy and Useful Christmas Promotion Ideas   Decide Your Plan and Goals   First and foremost, on the list of great Christmas promotion ideas is to know what you want. Defining specific goals is the quickest way to achieve them and make the most out of your resources. You can start with creating your S.M.A.R.T goals, which stand for:   Specific Measurable Achievable  Relevant Time-based    With the S.M.A.R.T goals set, you are ready to start realizing them. Increasing your conversion rate might be a method to achieve it. You might also boost your social media presence. A partnership with an influential person might be a viable option. Regardless of how you choose to achieve your objectives, they must align with your S.M.A.R.T. goals.   Keep Your Bestseller Stocked   Even though it's a no-brainer, you'd be shocked at how often this happens. Quickly sell out the best-selling item on your shelf. But make sure you have enough of it! Having to write to your consumers and explain that you don't have the item they ordered will halt your holiday marketing efforts.   Use your stock statistics to generate a feeling of urgency in your message. Every item on the store's website should have its stock status displayed. For customers, it's a terrific way to become more informed. However, it also generates a sense of urgency and encourages people to buy immediately, especially if they fear that the product may run out before Christmas.   Start with Halloween   Even if you don't live in the United States, you can still witness the impact Halloween has. – It's a terrific Christmas marketing strategy to keep the Halloween mania going into the new year. British, European, and Australian businesses are increasingly using it as well.   Encourage customers who purchased from you during Halloween to buy with you for Christmas. Use Halloween's spooky atmosphere to draw attention to any upcoming holiday promotions.   RELATED: Spookiest Halloween Ideas for Businesses   Offer Free Shipping   Nowadays, free shipment is expected by customers. Free delivery is an inducement that many people expect in 2019, especially around the holidays, whether it's a modest bottle of beard oil or a kitchen table. However, you may have to raise your prices to cover postage expenses.   There's no need to be concerned, though. When your buyer sees the words' free international delivery,' they tend to disregard this tiny increase in price. You'll get a lot of last-minute purchases in the week before Christmas if you have a fantastic Holiday promotion. As a result, you must begin offering free expedited shipping as soon as possible.   Sell in Bundle   This is a great way to upsell your products and services. For instance, whenever you buy a set of headphones, you're given the option of purchasing additional ear rubbers.   Customers regard your product as a 'discounted price.' The perceived value of a bundle of products is enhanced by the addition of other products. When combined products are discounted, this effect is magnified. As a result, your average cart value increases, and your conversion rate improves.   Create your own unique gift boxes to hold all of your packaged things in one place.   Update Your Theme   A Christmas promotion should be obvious to anybody who visits your online business, blog, or social media. Remember to change your social media images as well. Your consumers will appreciate the banner's simple message that they can save them money this holiday season, which is a terrific way for you to convey that word to them.   Both brick-and-mortar retail businesses and online brands rely heavily on email marketing.   Email Marketing   The next Christmas promotion idea is to use email marketing wisely. Email marketing may be used over the holiday season as a means of directing your email list to current promotional efforts. To demonstrate your new interactive digital catalog, for example, send an email to your customer list. Your discount code is only available on Instagram, so send an email about your flash sale and direct all visitors to your Instagram page, where you've posted the code.   This is a great time of year to refresh any images used in your holiday email marketing, as well!   Make Use of Your Online Community    Having an online brand community is not only good for improving your image, but also it's an exceptional way to convey your brand message and promotion details directly to your audience. Through multiple channels such as blogs, videos, pictures, all of your services and products can be quickly informed to the people within your community.    Not only that, but creating only events or special posts where they can interact with you, and one another is a great way to get the hype going. As a result, more people will know about the upcoming events, promotions.    However, if you don't have an online community of your own, phpFox is here to help. We help businesses across the world build online communities and niche social networks from FMCG, services, food, phpFox powerful social networking platform with many built-in features that can get you the ideal community.    RELATED: What Makes a Good Online Community?   Design a Digital Catalogue   In order to re-engage old customers, a digital catalog is an excellent tool. It's a terrific method to show off your items in the same manner that a printed catalog would, but without all the printing costs!   Create an interactive catalog like the one above, and make each product image a link to the product page for that particular product. This will assist you in tracking the path taken by your website's visitors. Just like any other piece of content, your interactive Holiday catalog may be shared on social media, blogged about, and even linked to from your main website navigation menu!   Customize Your Packaging   Lastly, on the top 10 Christmas promotion ideas is the design of customized packaging. Only packaging can get to 100% of your clients. Therefore it's important to get it right the first time around. Your items can particularly benefit from unique Christmas packaging over the holidays, which can add a touch of elegance and class and, when paired with a limited-edition product, can really assist in creating a sense of exclusivity.   And your consumer will appreciate the convenience of Christmas-themed packaging. Using a festive mailer box or postal bag can eliminate the need to wrap a present completely!   We just recently launched the new version of phpFox 4.8.8 with many features and improvements to enhance the user experience even further. CLICK HERE to find out more about it.   Contact us now and let us help you bring your ideal social network to life.   UP NEXT:  Ecommerce on Social Networks Tips to Build a Great Online Community How UI/UX Impact Your Business  

Having your online community is the best way to connect your brand with your customers and create better relationships. However, Do you know that there are differences between public and private online communities? Let's find out more about it in today's article.   RELATED: What Makes a Good Online Community?   In This Article: What Is a Private Social Network? What Is a Public Online Community? Personalization  User Engagement  Platform Management  User Experience Business Branding   Public or Private Online Community - Which One Is Better?   What Is a Private Social Network?   The term "private social network" refers to an internet-based platform that allows users to communicate, cooperate, and exchange information inside a "social" forum controlled by a business or an organization. A private social networking site provides greater value to a business than a public one.   Logins are required to access information and dialogues, which are often delivered through an invitation to a specific group or pre-loaded in the community platform's membership database.   Login credentials are required for every user to access the site's content and interactions.   Users who do not meet the criteria for membership might be denied access by administrators (i.e., members, customers, participants in a specific industry)   What Is a Public Online Community?   On the other hand, a public online community is where anyone can freely join, view, and interact with the information, discussion forums in the community.    In order to participate in the community, users simply need to submit their username and password.   One way to increase one's professional and personal contacts is to interact with others through public social networking sites. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, and so on are some of the most popular public social networking websites.   Personalization    As a public community such as on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Linkedin may be free, your accessibility to manage or control the community can be limited. That won't be the case for using a private online community.    With a private online community, you will be able to customize it however you want. With a small investment in a private online community, you may make any design, functionality, backend, UI, or other modification. On the other hand, private social networks make it simple to tailor the experience for individual users. This encourages more active participation, more repeat business, and higher levels of consumer loyalty.   User Engagement    Every business that uses an enterprise social media platform has the same goal: to increase the number of individuals actively involved.   A public social network has become increasingly challenging to engage consumers these days. There's already so much content from various businesses out there. There are so many different videos and visuals to keep the user's attention.   On the other hand, the private online community has a user base that is solely interested in your company. Consequently, whatever you put on a community like this will be read, viewed, and published.   Because there are only a few people on your private social network, there is no rivalry or distraction. The only thing you can do is create a two-way conversation with your clients to build trust in your business. Compared to the public social network, it allows you to rapidly and easily engage more and more consumers.   Platform Management    The ability to control your data privacy regulations must be followed while starting and maintaining a social media community on well-known networking sites. As a result, your only option is to rely on the information provided by these sites to make a decision.   However, private online communities such as those created with phpFox give you total control over the data you collect from members. You'll manage reports and user data better here, allowing you to conduct analyses and make smart marketing decisions with greater confidence.   User Experience   Each user creates and maintains their social circle on a public network. It indicates that people's interests and behavior influence how they communicate.   On the other hand, a private online community has a single point of contact, making it more transparent among all users. It provides you greater control over the stuff you want to distribute and how you want to enhance it so that more and more people are interested in your business.   Business Branding   Branding is another key distinction between public and private social networks.   Normally, on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc., you are limited in what you can publish and how you can stand out. Additionally, these platforms have a limited number of personalization options for your marketing channel.   According to the interests and preferences of the members, a private social networking site is constructed. As a result, you can devote more of your time and energy to building a better brand image and increasing overall brand awareness.   In conclusion, if you're a little low on budget, using a free public online community is probably the better option. However, there is so much you can do with a free online community. It's always better to make some investment in building your private network or online community where you can have:   Better personalization with your community Higher customizability can greatly enhance the user experience and boost your branding Greater management provide you with better insights and understanding of your community   PhpFox can help you build your ideal private online community where you will be able to manage it more effectively. phpFox is highly customizable with various built-in features that are easy to use, so you don't need to worry about not having previous experience with coding. In addition, our dedicated support team is always available to help you out with all the problems you may encounter.    phpFox's goal is to enable community builders and their members to accomplish amazing things together. Thanks to our current technological platform, community members may interact, communicate, and work more efficiently.    Contact us now! Let us know how we can help with your private online community   UP NEXT:  What Are Online Communities? What Are Their Values? Different Kinds of Online Communities How to Build an Effective Marketing Plan on Social Media  

Chatting is obviously one of the most prominent and most-used features of every online community. That's why we here at phpFox are always looking for ways to improve Chatplus - the chatting solution to make it more accessible and user-friendly for everyone. Let's check out what it has to offer.   RELATED: ChatPlus 4.1.4 and Live Streaming 4.1.1 Release   In This Article: Interactive Chat Sending Attachments Group Chat Voice Chat/ Voice Call  Video Call   Chatplus from phpFox - the Chat Solution for Your Community   Interactive Chat   Chatting can be plain sometimes, especially when you're chatting with a friend with whom you want to share an exciting story and express your emotion. And sometimes, this can be limited due to the lack of interactive features. Worry not! phpFox's Chatplus got you covered! Chatplus allows you to be more interactive with your conversation by giving you the option to send GIFs, emojis, pictures, emoticons to the person on the other side of the screen.    You can also get to react to the messages that the other person sent you to create a better connection and mutual interaction for both sides. The ability to express emotions such as love, hate, sadness, etc., is essential for human beings. These features can satisfy the users' need to do so.    RELATED: Why ChatPlus can leverage your community’s communication   Sending Attachments   Sharing files such as photos, GIFs, documents are also a big part of chatting. Being able to show other people your beautiful moments or funny clips is how you connect with them a lot better.    Chatplus supports sending multiple photos with complete resolution at once. You don't have to worry about distorted or low-resolution pictures when the other person receives them. In addition, if you want to check out the old photos sent, you can see all of them available in the chat room gallery.    So you don't need to waste time scrolling down and digging through old messages to look for a particular file, videos, or photos in the conversation.    Group Chat   Online chatting is no longer limited to only two users; now, we have group chats with tens, hundreds, or even more members. These group chats can be private or public, allowing users to enjoy talking and sharing their favorite topics.    The updated version of Chatplus supports showing the typing status in the chat room when someone triggers the typing action. It also displays the user's status (online/away/busy) and "seen" status below the last message of the conversation if users on the other side have already read it. As a result, this helps the user communicate more effectively and proficiently with each other.   RELATED: A strategic thinking on building engagement towards Online Community   Voice Chat/ Voice Call    In addition to text-only chat, Chatplus allows you to send voice messages to others via the microphone on your mobile devices. Voice calling is also quite useful. Making a quick call to fellow community members is a great feature of Chatplus. Chatplus can call up to 50 users at once.    Video Call   Chatplus makes it possible for many people to join in a single video call with all of their cameras on. In addition, you will also be able to share the screen for other members in the call to see making both video and voice calls are exceptionally good for hosting online events, meetings, and conferences. Creating better communication and interaction among the host/ presenter and the viewers is an awesome way to get people more interested and pay attention to the message.   These newly added improvements and features from Chatplus on the phpFox platform can help you push your online community to the next level. Connecting with your audience is more proficient and engages them more personally.    So if you want to try things out for yourself, here is a FREE DEMO:    Contact us now! Let us know how we can help you build your ideal online community complete with Chatplus!    UP NEXT: Why ChatPlus is important for your phpFox online community? How Localization Can Affect Your Business What Are Online Communities? What Are Their Values?