ResidentialBusiness

Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended approval of Fifth Third's $10.9 billion proposed acquisition of Comerica. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Ankle weights seem to have tunneled through a wormhole from the 1980s to the present moment, appearing in countless TikToks and Instagram posts. Do they really help tone your legs? Are they worth buying at all? The promises are overrated, but in some cases ankle weights do actually work. Here’s what you need to know. Where ankle weights work bestAnkle weights’ best use is to add a little bit of resistance to exercises where you are moving your legs against gravity. For example, side-lying leg raises become substantially more work for your muscles with even a pound or two of weight on the ankle that you’re raising in the air. Donkey kicks and hollow body holds would fall into this category as well. Weights like these, with 2.5 pounds per ankle, may be a good option if you're new to strength training or new to these particular exercises. The ankle weights aren’t necessarily making your ankles or legs work harder, in these examples; they just add resistance to what is still an exercise for your hips, butt, or abs. And the main source of weight is actually your leg itself. If leg raises are challenging, leg raises plus an ankle weight will be more challenging. These uses of ankle weights make sense, because they’re a way to add resistance over time. To continue progressing, you’ll need to use heavier weights when your current ones become too easy. Eventually, you may get to a point where an ankle weight exercise is no longer challenging and you’ll need to work those same muscles in a different way. Ankle weights work best for exercises where you're using muscles toward the center of your body (like abs or hips) to move your legs. In these exercises, your legs provide most of the weight; the ankle weight is just adding to the difficulty. Ankle weights being light, you need to put them at the end of a long lever. In a leg raise, your legs are basically a very long third-class lever. Or to put it another way: the farther away a small weight is from your body, the heavier it feels. When ankle weights won't helpIf you’re running, jumping, or walking, ankle weights can make the motion a little bit harder, but they’re probably not a good addition. Think about why you’re doing these exercises in the first place. If your goal with running or walking is to burn calories, you can do that more efficiently by running faster or farther, no ankle weights necessary. Some trainers even warn that wearing ankle weights while running or walking may set you up for muscle imbalances or for injury; though it’s not clear if that’s really the case or not. I couldn’t find any solid evidence about injury either way, but historian Conor Heffernan pointed me to a 1988 paper that concluded ankle weights don’t provide any significant extra calorie burn, and aren’t worth the potential risk. That may be the source of the warning, which I recall hearing way back in the olden days of the 1990s. How much a small weight can actually help youAny time you’re looking at a small weight—whether it’s a pair of ankle weights, or a tiny dumbbell, or anything else—think of it in terms of progressive overload. Progressive overload is one of the basic principles of strength training. To keep getting results, you have to use heavier and heavier weights over time. That’s how somebody who starts deadlifting with just the bar can end up strong enough to lift hundreds of pounds. Small weights can help you get started on that journey, but they won’t sustain it. Ankle weights are often just one or two pounds each, although I have a set like this one that can be loaded with about ten pounds if you put all the little sandbag inserts into just one cuff of the pair. It was handy when I was rehabbing an injury; my physical therapist recommended side-lying leg raises. At first I was doing them without added weight, but I ended up needing most of the weights in the set by the time my rehab was through. Fitness products often exist only because they’re easy to sellLooking through ads and Instagram posts for this article, it became clear why ankle weights are popular all of a sudden. You can advertise them by putting them on a model with great legs in a snazzy pair of leggings, and having her work out by a beach or in front of a vibrantly colored wall. They just look cool, especially some of the newer styles that look like blocky bangles. Also, being fairly lightweight, they’re cheaper to manufacture and ship than, say, a kettlebell. So while they may have a place in your workout routine, it would be a mistake to think you’re buying a versatile or long-lived piece of equipment by treating yourself to a pair of ankle weights. View the full article

The long-awaited release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files by the Department of Justice arrived on December 19 with a bureaucratic whimper and bang of public outrage. While the Epstein Library technically fulfills the government’s legal obligation under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the result is a user experience failure. Thankfully we have another option. Jmail.world makes searching the Epstein files as simple as searching your email. The project has been publishing the convicted child sex offender’s emails—and those of the people who talked with him, like Noam Chomsky, Steve Bannon or Ken Starr—since November using a Gmail user interface clone. Jmail’s database was filled over the weekend as it added the latest Epstein file release. jmail.world Created by technologists Riley Walz and Luke Igel, there’s no better way to explore this Himalaya of filth. It uses a UI you already know: Gmail and the rest of Gmail apps, like Drive. Its creators have been updating it quietly since its launch, even adding an AI called Jemini to search across media, to demonstrate that the DOJ claims that due to technical limitations, it’s impossible to search certain materials—like handwritten notes—is simply not true. How Jmail was built Jmail began in November, after the House Oversight Committee released 20,000 pages of Epstein’s estate emails. Walz and Igel saw a “design problem” in those unsearchable PDF dumps. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), they extracted the text and mapped it onto a simulation of Epstein’s actual Gmail inbox. jmail.world The result was a tool that feels unnervingly familiar—at least I feel weird and dirty browsing it. It’s a standard inbox with “Star” icons and threaded conversations that forces users to confront the banality of Epstein’s daily operation. The Gmail clone works as you would expect. Instead of navigating complex federal indices, you simply type “Maxwell” or “Bannon” or any phrase that comes to mind into a search bar that queries every email, attachment, and contact instantly. The same happens in the other apps. And you can also click on Jemini—introduced on December 3—and just query the AI about whatever content you want, all across the database. Why email is the right interface for the Epstein files You may wonder why the Epstein Files needs a specialized site at all. After all, the official DOJ site has a “Search Full Epstein Library” bar. The problem is, it comes with a crippling disclaimer: “Due to technical limitations and the format of certain materials… portions of these documents may not be electronically searchable.” In practice, this means thousands of scanned pages—where the real secrets lie—are invisible to the search engine. To understand the brilliance of Jmail, you have to understand the DOJ’s barebones compliance with the law dictated by Congress. The files are there, yes, but they are effectively buried under the weight of their own disorganization. The DOJ’s rolling release strategy has resulted in a fragmented archive where “First Phase” declassified files sit separately from “Data Set 7,” and where vital context is usually hidden behind thick black redaction bars. jmail.world As Representative Thomas Massie has pointed out, it “grossly fails to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the law.” By dumping thousands of unsearchable, context-free PDFs onto a confusing web portal, the Justice Department has technically checked a box while affectively obstructing the public’s ability to understand the contents. The data may be public, but it is certainly not accessible, hence rendering it almost useless for the public. In a discussion on Hacker News dated December 19, Igel revealed the collaborative effort to beat the DOJ at its own game: “We had a ton of friends collaborate on building out more of the app suite last night in lieu of DOJ’s ‘Epstein files’ release… JPhotos, JDrive, JAmazon.” They launched a full “app suite” designed to make the files grokable. By organizing the chaos into familiar tools, Jmail.world provides the searchability the government claimed was technically impossible, serving as a critical, citizen-led solution to official opacity. Meanwhile, the new version of Jmail is the closest thing we have to a complete picture of the Epstein case files. The site fulfills the promise that the Transparency Act made but failed to keep: making the truth actually visible. I just wish the AI could be smart enough to turn those black bars into the actual names. View the full article

Instacart said Monday that it will no longer allow retailers to use an AI-powered price testing program, two weeks after an extensive investigation showed wide discrepancies in the cost of groceries purchased through the platform. Effective immediately, retailers will no longer be able to use Eversight technology to run price tests on Instacart, the San Francisco-based company said in a blog post. Previously, a small number of retail partners were able to conduct testing that resulted in different prices for the same item at the same store—something that “missed the mark for some customers,” Instacart said in a blog post. “At a time when families are working exceptionally hard to stretch every grocery dollar, those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart,” the company said. “Now, if two families are shopping for the same items, at the same time, from the same store location on Instacart, they see the same prices—period.” Monday’s announcement of the end of item price tests marks the third time that Instacart has responded to a widely-shared study by Consumer Reports and Groundwork Collaborative. The monthslong investigation conducted by the magazine and progressive policy group found that algorithmic pricing might result in price differences for the same items of as much as 23%. INSTACART IN FOCUS IN D.C. Instacart responded swiftly to the concerns raised in that investigation. In a lengthy blog post late last week, the company sought to clarify what sorts of pricing tests it does—and doesn’t—allow on the platform by responding to four different “myths,” including that it was engaging in “dynamic” or “surveillance” pricing. But the tech company also came under renewed scrutiny in Washington, D.C. as a result of this study. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat from Minnesota, demanded answers from Instacart regarding the scope and implications of pricing tests, while the Federal Trade Commission sent a civil investigative demand to Instacart about its pricing practices, as Reuters reported last week. Instacart was recently the subject of an FTC investigation regarding deceptive business practices. The company was ordered to pay $60 million in consumer refunds, though it denied any allegations of wrongdoing and answered questions from the government agency regarding its AI pricing tools as part of that settlement. REGAINING TRUST The company reiterated again Monday that it has not permitted retailers to do price testing based on supply or demand, personal data, demographics, or individual shopping behavior. Instagram ended the price testing program to engender trust with its customers. “Customers should never have to second-guess the prices they’re seeing,” the company said. Though shares of Instacart fell about 2% in mid-day trading on Monday, it has almost fully recouped a nearly 6% selloff that followed the publication of the price testing study earlier this month. View the full article

Coinbase said on Monday it will buy prediction markets startup The Clearing Company, its tenth acquisition this year, as the crypto exchange looks to expand beyond its core digital assets business. Prediction markets let users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events, ranging from elections and economic data to sports and policy decisions, effectively turning investors’ forecasts into tradable markets. Supporters say the prices can reflect collective expectations more accurately than polls or forecasts, while critics argue the products blur the line between financial markets and betting, drawing growing scrutiny from regulators. Prediction markets surged into the mainstream during the 2024 U.S. presidential race and have since drawn rapid interest and investments from all corners of the financial ecosystem. Meanwhile, trading platforms are broadening their product suites to encompass multiple asset classes under one roof as competition intensifies. This shift, analysts say, could help Coinbase reduce its reliance on crypto trading as new players crowd the market. “Prediction markets offer the company a high-engagement, high-frequency product that broadens the reasons for opening its app beyond crypto,” analysts at brokerage Benchmark wrote in a note last week. Earlier this month, Coinbase launched its prediction markets platform and said it will start letting users trade stocks, positioning it as a direct competitor to brokerages such as Robinhood and Interactive Brokers. “We see many of Coinbase’s new initiatives encouraging and incentivizing customer engagement, which has been episodically more limited,” analysts at brokerage J.P. Morgan wrote in a note after the products were unveiled. The deal for The Clearing Company is expected to close in January. Coinbase did not disclose the terms of the transaction. Among its notable deals this year, Coinbase agreed to buy derivatives exchange Deribit for $2.9 billion in May, and struck a roughly $375 million deal for investment platform Echo in October. Its shares were last up 2.6% in afternoon trading. —Manya Saini, Reuters View the full article

The judge's order allows potentially thousands of consumers to join the lawsuit against the company, similar to other fights between borrowers and servicers. View the full article

Fresh content or content freshness simply means how new or recently updated a page is. Keeping your content up to date tells Google and AI assistants that your information is current, helpful, and reliable, which helps you keep good rankings…Read more ›View the full article

Overall satisfaction is highest when customers receive status updates from mobile apps, according to the J.D. Power's 2025 U.S. Claims Digital Experience Study. View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. Remember the letter-writer who was the chair of a board and had one board volunteer making everyone’s jobs harder because of his struggles with technology? Here’s the update. I found your advice and the advice in the comments very helpful. To start, I wanted to clear up something that that came up in the comments: this is not a 501(c) organization, though we do volunteer work for them. I fudged some of the details to make my story less recognizable, but this is actually an employer-sponsored affinity group. So no, there is no requirement to have a secretary and no legal forms to complete or anything like that. Other than chair and vice chair, all other board positions are up to our discretion both in title and responsibilities. After you published my letter, the rules and guidelines of our affinity group were thrown into chaos because of anti-DEI executive orders. While our group was not eliminated, it became very difficult to get anything approved and we had to re-work all our plans for the year. I used this as an excuse to sit down with each of our board members and redefine their roles and responsibilities to better align with our new guidelines. I worked with John to figure out where he can contribute without slowing anyone down. As it turns out, he was starting to get stressed because he couldn’t keep up and was happy to take more things off his plate if he got to keep participating! Ultimately, we decided that he would continue scheduling and taking notes for our regular monthly meetings. I’d send him a thorough agenda ahead of time, which limited the number of notes he needed to take. Then, any non-standard or urgent meetings would be scheduled by the vice chair. Those meetings would be event-specific, and whichever board member was leading that event would set the agenda and take notes. This seemed to work well for the team! John got to stay involved without getting overwhelmed, other board members got a chance to step up and lead meetings, and I got to focus on making sure our events would be approved under the new rules. I’ll be stepping down from the chair role at the end of this year, but I’m working hard to recruit new members to support the new chair next year! John asked to stay on the board, and the new chair is happy to have him. The post update: our board volunteer makes everyone’s jobs harder appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. 2025 was a fun year to review fitness devices. We saw three companies introduce devices that could have been Whoop killers, and one definitely came closer to the mark than others. One running watch gobsmacked me with its accuracy, one device was so inaccurate it sent me down an investigative rabbit hole to figure out why, and two devices delighted me with how well they solved a real problem no other device even tried to tackle. Read on for the winners of my very subjective award categories. Most accurate: Garmin Forerunner 570 Credit: Beth Skwarecki Garmin’s Forerunner 570 and 970 were new devices this year. I felt ambivalent, on average, about the upgrades they made from previous devices like the 265. But I want to call out the heart rate sensor on the 570 for being so accurate it confused me. See, Garmin’s previous watches, like the Forerunner 265, had a perfectly good heart rate sensor. I’d put them in the same tier as most Coros watches, a smidge higher than the Apple Watch, and generally as good as, or better than, most other high-end devices. But Garmin put its very best heart rate sensor in the Forerunner 570. This same sensor, the Elevate version 5, is also in Garmin’s Forerunner 970, Venu 3 and 4, and Fenix 8. I was not prepared for how much better it would be. I test all my devices against an electrical heart rate chest strap, the gold standard for this sort of thing, and a good wrist-based sensor will only show a few small deviations between its heart rate graph and the one I get from the chest strap. But the 570 sometimes showed exactly the same data. The graph below shows what I expect from a good sensor (top) and what I got from the 570 (bottom). Yes, there are two lines in the bottom graph. Credit: Beth Skwarecki At first I thought I had screwed up, and gotten the chest and wrist data mixed up somehow, maybe uploading the same file twice—that’s how close they were. But with further testing, and also zooming in to see the occasional tiny difference between the two lines, I confirmed that the 570’s sensor really was that accurate. Damn, Garmin. I’m impressed. Coolest concept (that actually works): Core 2 Thermal Sensor Credit: Beth Skwarecki The summer heat is a problem for every runner in a climate with warm summers. Not only are those hot runs unpleasant, the heat literally slows you down, and puts you at risk of heat illness. If you can manage to adapt your body to the heat, you can withstand it better and make your summer training a lot more bearable and productive. You don’t need a specific gadget to do heat training, but there’s a lot of guesswork in the process, and it’s hard to know whether you’re doing enough heat training (or too much). The Core 2 sensor promised to handle this for me, and it worked well. You can read about my experience here. You clip the device to your heart rate chest strap, and it measures your body temperature in two different ways: a temperature sensor detects your skin temperature, and a heat flux sensor paired with a heart rate algorithm delivers an estimate of your core (internal) body temperature. From that data, the device can tell you when you’re hot enough that your workout counts as useful heat training, and it can warn you when you’re getting too hot and need to take a break. The biggest downside was that I only got my training data if I wore a heart rate chest strap for every hot weather workout, which I couldn’t always be bothered to do. But once I had gotten through the spring and early summer, and hit 100% heat adaptation, I found I didn’t really need the device. I found the device incredibly useful, especially since it could broadcast my temperature data to my Garmin watch during runs. I could also log sauna sessions in the device’s app (without taking the device into the sauna) and see how heat-adapted I was becoming. The data I got from the app seemed accurate, and as a result I had probably my most productive and enjoyable summer of running ever. Runner-up: DFC Credit: Beth Skwarecki The Data Fitness Connector is a little box that you connect to the cables on the back of your Peloton Bike (original Bike only, not the Bike+) It felt a little sketchy to order this device from a crowdfunding site with few reviews available, and unfortunately it can only give power data, not speed or distance. But it works! You can read my review here. I took a chance on the DFC because I had canceled my Peloton subscription, but still wanted to use the Bike and sync my workouts to my fitness watch. The DFC did exactly what it promised: beamed power data over Bluetooth so that my watch or phone could pick up the information and log it in a workout. My Garmin was able to give me an FTP estimate and recommend power-based workouts, and there was no ongoing cost. (The $125 price costs less than three months of the Peloton All-Access subscription.) I can highly recommend the DFC for anyone with an OG Bike who wants to opt out of the Peloton subscription world. Best upgrade and best overall: Coros Pace 4 Credit: Beth Skwarecki Coros’s running watches tend to lag a little behind Garmin’s, in terms of features, but they more than make up for it on price. I’ve consistently found the Coros Pace line (Pace 3, Pace Pro, and Pace 4) to be reliable, accurate, and conveniently usable. The Pace 3, in particular, has long been one of my favorite budget watches, even though it has a few small downsides. But late this year, Coros introduced the Pace 4. Between the new features in that watch, and an extra thing or two that dropped in the December software update, it’s hands down the best fitness watch for the money and is my overall pick for the best fitness watch of 2025. You can read my review here to learn more about why I feel this way. In terms of upgraded features, the Pace 4 improved on the Pace 3 by adding an AMOLED screen, better battery life, and a new button and microphone. Those last two items unlock two features that seriously upgraded my runs and training sessions: voice pins, which let me quickly make notes about a location while you’re hiking or trail running, and voice training logs, which mean I’m prompted to record a 60-second voice note right when I finish a workout. These notes are transcribed and attached to the workout in the Coros app, giving me information that I would pretty much never get around to adding after the fact. And then the December software update added a major feature that has kept Coros lagging behind Garmin and other watches: the ability to control media that is playing from your phone. The interface for that isn’t as smooth as I would like, but it’s there, and that’s huge. Runner-up: charging features on the Pixel Watch 4 Credit: Beth Skwarecki The next best upgrade of 2025 belongs to the Pixel Watch 4. You can read my review here, where I found the upgrades to be a mixed bag. (Dual band GPS? Great! Brighter screen? Eh, not really.) But the headline improvement here, to me, was the ultra-fast charging. I only needed half an hour for nearly a full charge—specifically, I charged the watch from 3% to 97% in 31 minutes. No other smartwatch out there charges this fast. The Pixel Watch 4 also ships with a new magnetic dock-style charger that is far more convenient than the back-of-watch puck that previous versions used. Best Whoop alternative: Amazfit Helio Strap Credit: Beth Skwarecki This summer, a somewhat unexpected competition popped up: three different device makers (Garmin, Polar, and Amazfit) were rumored to be working on screenless fitness trackers that could compete with Whoop. All three companies released their promised or rumored devices over the following months, and I tested them all. Garmin’s device turned out to be a $170 sleep tracker; fine, I guess, but not what so many of us were hoping for. Polar’s $200 device looks and acts more like a Whoop, in terms of hardware, anyway. It’s a welcome addition to the market, since Whoop had this product category all to itself for too long, but I have to admit I couldn’t get too excited about it. The winner, surprisingly, turned out to be the Amazfit Helio Strap. At just $99, it does everything the Polar device does, but (in my experience) more reliably, and it costs half as much. It goes without saying that it leaves Garmin’s sleep band in the dust. You can read my review of the Amazfit Helio Strap here. None of the devices are even attempting to compete with Whoop’s subscription app on software features, which is to be expected—Whoop is really a software company that gives you a cool gadget to go with the app, while the other companies in this space are hardware companies that figure their app doesn’t matter very much as long as you’re happy with the physical device. I think that’s a fair take on the market: These new products are for people who like the idea of a screenless tracker but don’t want to pay for a Whoop-caliber app. I expect Amazfit will have a lot of happy customers. Biggest disappointment: Powerbeats Pro 2 Credit: Beth Skwarecki The idea of putting a heart rate sensor in your ears is intriguing, and I really wish it had worked out for the Powerbeats Pro 2. But the company that placed their bets on this technology this year—Beats—just didn’t execute it well enough. As I discovered through extensive testing (here, and then more in my review here), the heart rate sensor doesn’t make good contact with your skin unless your ears are a particular shape and size. Changing out the silicone ear tips doesn’t change the fit of the heart rate sensor (or at least, not enough to fix the issue), so some people simply end up with unusable or unreliable heart rate data. From my limited data, it appears that people with larger ears get reasonably good data, while smaller people may have more issues. I suspect the flaws affect women more than men, but Beats hasn’t shared any data with me that would confirm or deny that hypothesis. A September software update improved the heart rate algorithm slightly, and included a feature that warns users if their fit is poor enough to affect heart rate readings. That’s a good start, since otherwise you wouldn’t even know if you’re getting inaccurate readings. But if you’re one of the people for whom tweaking the fit doesn’t give you usable data, you’re out $250 for a device that doesn’t actually work for you. On the bright side, they are good gym headphones even with the heart rate feature turned off. View the full article

When a major power outage left tens of thousands of San Francisco residents in the dark weekend, the city’s fleet of high tech self-driving vehicles went offline too. Videos circulating on social media showed Waymo robotaxis clogging up intersections, addled by the sudden absence of guidance from traffic lights. In one video posted to TikTok, a Waymo robotaxi sporting its telltale rooftop cluster of sensors blocks a busy intersection as human drivers stream around it on both sides. “This car did not move for 10+ min – it only left when the passengers ditched the car,” the TikTok user who caught the footage wrote in the caption. In another widely circulated video, at least five of the self-driving cars blocked a neighborhood road, flashing their hazards in confusion. The outage also took chunks of San Francisco’s public transportation system offline and disrupted local businesses during one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. In light of the chaos, Waymo temporarily paused its service to San Francisco on Saturday evening. “While the failure of the utility infrastructure was significant, we are committed to ensuring our technology adjusts to traffic flow during such events,” a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement provided to Fast Company, adding that Waymo would prioritize “rapidly integrating” lessons learned from the weekend outage. Because self-driving cars rely on a complex array of sensors rather than human judgment, unusual or unexpected events can cause them to behave unpredictably or shut down altogether. Even within normal traffic patterns, self-driving cars like those in Waymo’s fleet sometimes break traffic laws and endanger other drivers and pedestrians. Earlier this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a probe into Waymo following reports that the company’s autonomous vehicles were zooming around stopped school buses, endangering children exiting the bus. An Austin school district reported that the self-driving cars continued to pass its stopped school buses, even after Waymo said it pushed a software fix. San Francisco’s power outage isn’t the first time that Waymo’s fleet has terrorized the city, which regularly serves as a testing ground for new technologies developed nearby – whether residents like it or not. In late October, a Waymo self-driving car struck and killed a beloved bodega cat in the Mission, leading to a public outpouring of feline love and anti-AI ire. San Francisco goes dark More than 120,000 people in San Francisco lost power in the weekend’s outage, leading to strange scenes of a mostly dim Bay Area skyline on Saturday night. By Sunday morning, around 24,000 homes were without power as PG&E worked to get the city back online. By Monday morning, a handful of blocks near Golden Gate Park and around the Civic Center remained affected, with PG&E promising to restore power to those areas by 2 p.m. Pacific Time. According to PG&E, a fire in one of the power company’s substations caused “significant and extensive ” damage, plunging parts of the major West Coast city into darkness for multiple days. “This is a very complex work plan and will require the highest amount of safety focus to ensure safe work actions,” PG&E wrote in an update on its website. The utility company, one of the largest in the U.S., reported no injuries to its workers or city residents related to the outage. The San Francisco outage is the latest black eye for PG&E, which has faced criticism, bankruptcy and even criminal charges in the course of providing power for major swaths of the West Coast. In 2020, the utility pleaded guilty to over 80 counts of manslaughter for the 2018 Camp fire, which leveled the Northern California town of Paradise, destroying 11,000 homes and most buildings. “Our equipment started the fire. Those are the facts, and with this plea agreement we accept responsibility for our role in the fire,” then PG&E President Bill Johnson said at the time, acknowledging that the company’s badly maintained equipment ignited the deadly blaze and erased a rural California town from the map. View the full article

The The President administration on Monday suspended leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast due to what it said were national security risks identified by the Pentagon. The suspension, effective immediately, is the latest step the administration has taken to hobble offshore wind in its push against renewable energy sources. It comes two weeks after a federal judge struck down President Donald The President’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, calling it unlawful. The administration said the pause will give the Interior Department, which oversees offshore wind, time to work with the Defense Department and other agencies to assess the possible ways to mitigate any security risks posed by the projects. The statement did not detail the national security risks. It called the move a pause, but did not specify an end date. “The prime duty of the United States government is to protect the American people,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers.” Wind proponents slammed the move, saying it was another blow in an ongoing attack by the administration against clean energy. The administration’s decision to cite potential national security risks could complicate legal challenges to the move, although wind supporters say those arguments are overstated. Projects paused over national security concerns The administration said leases are paused for the Vineyard Wind project under construction in Massachusetts, Revolution Wind in Rhode Island and Connecticut, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, and two projects in New York: Sunrise Wind and Empire Wind. The Interior Department said unclassified reports from the U.S. government have long found that the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called “clutter.” The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of wind projects, the Interior Department said. National security expert and former Commander of the USS Cole Kirk Lippold disputed the administration’s national security argument. The offshore projects were awarded permits “following years of review by state and federal agencies,” including the Coast Guard, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, the Air Force and more, he said. “The record of decisions all show that the Department of Defense was consulted at every stage of the permitting process,” Lippold said, arguing that the projects would benefit national security because they would diversify the country’s energy supply. A judge ruled blocking wind projects was unlawful The administration’s action comes two weeks after a federal judge struck down The President’s executive order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt virtually all leasing of wind farms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violates U.S. law. Judge Patti Saris of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts vacated The President’s Jan. 20 executive order blocking wind energy projects and declared it unlawful. Saris ruled in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, that challenged The President’s Day One order that paused leasing and permitting for wind energy projects. The President has been hostile to renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, and prioritizes fossil fuels to produce electricity. Wind proponents slam the move Wind supporters called the administration’s actions illegal and said offshore wind provides some of the most affordable, reliable electric power to the grid. “For nearly a year, the The President administration has recklessly obstructed the build-out of clean, affordable power for millions of Americans, just as the country’s need for electricity is surging,” said Ted Kelly of the Environmental Defense Fund. “Now the administration is again illegally blocking clean, affordable energy,” Kelly said. “We should not be kneecapping America’s largest source of renewable power, especially when we need more cheap, homegrown electricity.” The administration’s actions are especially egregious because, at the same time, it is propping up aging, expensive coal plants “that barely work and pollute our air,” Kelly said. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called the lease suspension a “lawless and erratic stop-work order” that revives an earlier failed attempt to halt construction of Revolution Wind. The wind project has been vetted and approved through every layer of federal and state regulatory process, including a careful review of security issues raised in the latest announcement, he said. “Every day this project is stalled is another day of lost work, another day of unaffordable energy costs, and other day burning fossil fuels when American-made clean energy is within reach,” Tong said. “We are evaluating all legal options, and this will be stopped just like last time.” Suspension is praised by anti-wind group A New Jersey group that opposes offshore wind hailed the administration’s actions. “Today, the president and his administration put America first,” said Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast New Jersey, a nonprofit advocacy group. “Placing largely foreign-owned wind turbines along our coastlines was never acceptable,” he said, arguing that the projects posed serious national security risks. But the Conservation Law Foundation, a Boston-based environmental group, called the pause “a desperate rerun of the The President administration’s failed attempt to kill offshore wind,” noting that courts have already rejected the administration’s arguments. “Trying again to halt these projects tramples on the rule of law, threatens jobs and deliberately sabotages a critical industry that strengthens — not weakens — America’s energy security,” said Kate Sinding Daly, senior vice president for law and policy at the law foundation. —Matthew Daly, Associated Press Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report. View the full article

Over the weekend, rapper Nicki Minaj made a surprise appearance at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest convention, where she praised President Donald The President and Vice President J.D. Vance, mocked California Governor Gavin Newsom, and instructed listeners, “If you are born a boy, be a boy.” On TikTok, her queer fans appear to be overwhelmingly disappointed. The event was hosted by Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, who now serves as the CEO of the conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA. Kirk took the stage with Minaj, where the two discussed Minaj’s recent alignment with the MAGA movement. During the talk, Minaj called The President and Vance “role models” for young men. For Minaj, the appearance was an official confirmation of a political stance that she’s been hinting at on social media for several months. Back in 2020, the rapper said that she was “not gonna jump on the Donald The President bandwagon.” This November, she signaled otherwise by reposting an official White House TikTok celebrating the administration’s supposed successes, including the claim “Our cities are safer than ever,” which appears to be a reference to the administration deploying the National Guard and ICE officers to multiple major cities, as well as the anti-trans sentiment, “No men in women’s sports.” Now, Minaj’s queer listerners—who have always represented a large portion of her fanbase—are expressing feelings of betrayal on TikTok. Nicki Minaj’s queer fans speak out In past years, Minaj positioned herself as an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, offering words of encouragement to her gay fans and, at one point, describing herself as bisexual. By aligning with MAGA, repeatedly promoting anti-trans rhetoric, and working with Turning Point USA (which has an extensive track record of anti-LGBTQ+ animus), she appears to be alienating some of her most dedicated supporters. One of the most-viewed clips from Minaj’s appearance is a TikTok with nearly 300,000 likes in which the rapper states, “If you are born a boy, be a boy,” adding, “boys will be boys, and there’s nothing wrong with that”—apparently discouraging trans women from transitioning. The comments are flooded with negative comments from disappointed fans. “She built her career from the queer community,” one user wrote. “Literally almost half her fandom is part of the LGBTQ community,” another added. A number of commenters noted Minaj’s guest appearance on season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race as further evidence of her shifting support. Others have shared that they plan to revoke support for the rapper after the recent appearance with Kirk. In one TikTok with nearly 50,000 likes, an old clip of Minaj championing her gay fans is overlaid with the caption, “I miss the old Nicki who actually cared about the LGBTQ community. R.I.P. 1982-2019 Nicki, you would’ve hated 2025 MAGA Nicki.” View the full article

Elusive street artist Banksy appeared to confirm Monday that a new mural in London, depicting two children lying down and pointing up at the sky, is his latest work. The artist posted two photos of the artwork on his official Instagram account Monday, hours after its appearance on a wall on the side of a building in Bayswater, west London sparked speculation over whether Banksy was behind it. The black and white mural, painted above a garage, depicts two figures dressed in winter hats and boots lying on the ground, with one of them pointing a finger upwards. An identical image appeared at the foot of a tower in central London on Monday, but the graffiti artist did not post that version on his account. Banksy began his career spray-painting buildings in Bristol, England, and has become one of the world’s best-known artists. His paintings and installations sell for millions of dollars at auction and have drawn thieves and vandals. While his work is often critical of government policy on migration and war, the latest artwork did not seem to carry an overt political message. In September, he made headlines with a mural showing a judge holding a gavel looming over an unarmed protester holding a blood-splattered placard. That piece, which appeared on an external wall of a Royal Courts of Justice building, was swiftly covered up and authorities said it had to be removed out of consideration of the building’s historical significance. View the full article

A customer experience survey is a structured tool designed to collect feedback on how customers perceive and interact with your brand. It plays an essential role in comprehending satisfaction levels and identifying areas for improvement. By gathering insights, you can make informed decisions that improve customer loyalty and retention. As you explore the components and best practices of effective surveys, you’ll discover how they can greatly impact your business growth and adapt to future trends. Key Takeaways A customer experience survey evaluates customer interactions and feelings across various touchpoints to understand satisfaction trends. It collects important feedback that informs businesses about strengths and weaknesses in their customer experience. Metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES are used to measure customer loyalty, satisfaction, and effort, guiding strategic improvements. Gathering customer feedback enhances brand loyalty and informs better decision-making, crucial for retaining customers. Effective surveys adapt to evolving customer expectations, driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage through continuous insights. Understanding Customer Experience Surveys Comprehending customer experience surveys is essential for any organization aiming to improve its services and augment customer satisfaction. A customer experience survey is a structured questionnaire that evaluates customer feelings and interactions across various touchpoints. These surveys collect diverse customer feedback, enabling you to understand trends in customer satisfaction and whether expectations are being met. By leveraging metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES), you can effectively measure different aspects of customer engagement. The insights gained from customer experience data analytics reveal both strengths and weaknesses in your customer experience (CX), helping you identify areas that require improvement. This information is critical for enhancing customer loyalty and building a responsive organization. In the end, a well-designed customer experience survey not only captures individual feedback but likewise provides a representative sample that informs your continuous improvement strategies. The Importance of Gathering Customer Feedback Collecting customer feedback is essential for enhancing brand loyalty, as it helps you understand market expectations and drive product improvements. When you actively seek input from customers, you not just identify areas for growth but additionally show that their opinions matter, nurturing a stronger connection with your brand. This informed approach can lead to better decision-making and in the end improve customer satisfaction and retention. Enhancing Brand Loyalty In a competitive marketplace, insight into what your customers think and feel about your brand is crucial for improving loyalty. Gathering customer feedback through surveys plays a critical role in customer experience research, enabling you to identify areas of enhancement in your customer experience strategies. With 52% of consumers abandoning brands because of poor experiences, grasping their sentiments can help you improve customer experience and cultivate customer loyalty. Significantly, there’s a perception gap; whereas 90% of executives believe loyalty is rising, only 40% of consumers agree. Addressing this gap through effective feedback collection can build trust, a foundational component of brand loyalty. By investing in customer loyalty initiatives, you can better respond to evolving customer expectations, ensuring long-lasting relationships. Understanding Market Expectations Grasping market expectations is crucial for any business aiming to thrive in today’s fast-paced environment. Customer experience companies must prioritize gathering customer feedback through surveys to comprehend evolving expectations. Significantly, 52% of consumers stop using a brand because of a bad experience, underscoring the urgency of collecting insights. Executives recognize that customer expectations are changing faster than their companies can adapt, with 70% acknowledging this challenge. By conducting customer experience market research, you can identify gaps in perception, as only 40% of consumers believe customer loyalty has increased. Furthermore, transparent feedback collection is important for maintaining trust, as 93% of consumers would lose faith if their data is mishandled. Ultimately, improving customer experience hinges on comprehending and addressing these market expectations. Driving Product Improvements To drive product improvements effectively, it’s vital that businesses prioritize customer feedback, as it provides insights into consumer preferences and needs. Gathering customer feedback through experience surveys is significant; 57% of consumers stop using a product after a single bad experience. By regularly conducting surveys, you can capture valuable information about customer satisfaction, which helps identify areas for product improvement. The American Customer Satisfaction Index emphasizes measuring product quality, guiding companies to create customized surveys for specific insights. These surveys highlight strengths and weaknesses in customer service, nurturing brand loyalty. Engaging customers through feedback shows you value their opinions, leading to higher retention rates and increased referrals from satisfied customers, eventually enhancing the overall customer experience. Key Components of an Effective Survey To create an effective customer experience survey, you need to start by defining clear goals that guide your questions. Thoughtful question design is essential, as it helps you gather meaningful insights during keeping respondents engaged. Survey Goals Definition Defining the goals of your survey is fundamental, as it guarantees alignment with specific, actionable outcomes that can drive improvements in customer experience. A clear survey goals definition helps you focus on one primary objective, ensuring your customer experience study yields relevant insights. Identifying your target audience is key, whether you survey all customers or a representative sample. This focus allows you to gather data that directly contributes to improving client experience. Crafting concise questions, ideally between 5 to 13, is critical for effective data collection. By doing so, you support creating a positive customer experience and maximize the benefits of customer experience, eventually leading to actionable strategies for enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. Thoughtful Question Design How can thoughtful question design improve the effectiveness of your customer experience survey? By limiting your survey to 5-13 well-crafted questions, you maintain respondent engagement and gather actionable data. Guarantee your questions are clear and unbiased, using quantitative metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES, alongside qualitative open-ended queries for deeper insights. Mixing formats, such as Likert scales and multiple-choice options, enriches feedback and amplifies your customer experience report. Implementing survey logic, like conditional questions, tailors the experience to previous answers, keeping respondents involved. Regularly refining your questions based on past feedback helps you identify ways to improve client experience, guaranteeing your survey remains relevant and effective in capturing evolving customer service and support experiences. Best Practices for Designing Customer Experience Surveys When designing customer experience surveys, it’s vital to focus on best practices that not merely improve response rates but likewise guarantee the quality of the feedback you receive. Limit your survey to 5-13 questions to maintain engagement and ascertain completion. Use a mix of metric-based questions like NPS, CSAT, and CES alongside open text fields to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights. Organize your questions logically, starting with simpler ones to create a smooth flow and boost the user experience. Clear, unbiased language is fundamental in your questions to avoid confusion and ascertain accurate responses. Furthermore, consider offering incentives for participation; this can greatly increase response rates without skewing the sentiment of the feedback collected. Analyzing Survey Results for Actionable Insights Analyzing survey results is crucial for turning raw feedback into actionable insights that can greatly improve your customer experience strategies. Start by cleaning your data to exclude disengaged participants, ensuring accurate insights for decision-making. Utilize crosstab analysis and predictive analytics to spot key trends and correlations within customer feedback. Regularly reviewing and adapting your survey processes based on findings nurtures continuous improvement in your customer contact experience. Centralizing survey results on accessible platforms boosts collaboration across departments, allowing you to share insights more effectively. To gauge loyalty, satisfaction, and effort, employ diverse metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES. This approach helps you identify targeted advancements that can positively impact your customer experience digital strategy. Metric Purpose Frequency NPS Loyalty Quarterly CSAT Satisfaction Monthly CES Effort Bi-Annually Trend Analysis Insights Continuous Feedback Review Strategy Ongoing The Role of Customer Experience Surveys in Business Growth Customer experience surveys play a significant role in driving business growth by offering valuable insights into what customers truly think about your products and services. By gathering feedback, you can improve customer satisfaction and boost customer loyalty. Here’s how these surveys contribute to your success: Identify strengths and weaknesses through metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT). Show customers that their opinions matter, which cultivates loyalty and encourages retention. Adapt your strategies quickly to meet evolving customer expectations, as 70% of executives recognize this need. When you leverage the insights from customer experience surveys, you’re not just improving your offerings; you’re likewise informing your marketing strategies. This leads to brand advocacy and referrals, crucial components for sustainable business growth. In the end, prioritizing customer feedback through surveys helps you stay competitive and aligned with your customers’ needs. Future Trends in Customer Experience Surveys As technology continues to evolve, the future of customer experience surveys is poised for considerable transformation. The increased use of AI and machine learning will provide deeper insights and more sophisticated analyses, helping you understand customer behavior and preferences more effectively. Automation will streamline the feedback collection process, allowing for real-time responses and actions based on customer input, thereby enhancing engagement and satisfaction. Conversational feedback methods are emerging to combat survey fatigue, making the feedback process feel more interactive and less tedious. Furthermore, hyper-personalization will allow you to tailor questions and formats to individual customer profiles, which greatly boosts relevance and response rates. To address growing concerns about customer privacy, the adoption of synthetic data will protect sensitive information while ensuring accurate feedback. These trends will redefine how you gather insights, creating a more efficient and secure experience for both you and your customers. Frequently Asked Questions What Is a Customer Experience Survey? A customer experience survey’s a tool you use to gather feedback on your interactions with a brand. It measures your satisfaction, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and assesses whether your expectations are met. What Is Customer Experience and Why Is It Important? Customer experience reflects your perception of every interaction with a brand, shaping your feelings and loyalty. It’s essential since positive experiences lead to increased loyalty and engagement, whereas negative experiences can result in lost trust. Research shows that over half of consumers abandon brands after a poor interaction, emphasizing the need for organizations to adapt to evolving expectations. Meeting these standards is critical for maintaining competitive advantage and retaining customers in a dynamic market. Why Are Customer Surveys Important? Customer surveys are vital as they provide direct feedback, helping you gauge customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. By regularly collecting insights, you can adapt to evolving customer expectations, which is critical since many customers abandon brands after negative experiences. Surveys likewise show customers that their opinions matter, nurturing loyalty and enhancing your brand’s image. In the end, they contribute to better product quality and increased retention rates, benefiting your organization greatly. What Are the 4 P’s of Customer Experience? The 4 P’s of customer experience are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Product quality and features directly impact satisfaction, as one bad experience can lead to 57% of consumers discontinuing use. Price reflects perceived value, with 69% of buyers comparing costs before engaging with a brand. Place emphasizes accessibility and convenience, essential for shaping initial experiences. Finally, Promotion involves marketing strategies that effectively communicate value, as 70% of executives recognize swiftly evolving customer expectations. Conclusion In summary, customer experience surveys are crucial tools for businesses aiming to understand their customers’ needs and improve satisfaction. By gathering and analyzing feedback, companies can identify strengths and weaknesses, leading to informed decisions that improve brand loyalty. Implementing effective surveys and analyzing the results helps drive business growth and adapt to future trends. In the end, valuing customer opinions not just cultivates better relationships but additionally contributes greatly to retention and overall success in the competitive marketplace. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Is a Customer Experience Survey and Why Is It Important?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A customer experience survey is a structured tool designed to collect feedback on how customers perceive and interact with your brand. It plays an essential role in comprehending satisfaction levels and identifying areas for improvement. By gathering insights, you can make informed decisions that improve customer loyalty and retention. As you explore the components and best practices of effective surveys, you’ll discover how they can greatly impact your business growth and adapt to future trends. Key Takeaways A customer experience survey evaluates customer interactions and feelings across various touchpoints to understand satisfaction trends. It collects important feedback that informs businesses about strengths and weaknesses in their customer experience. Metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES are used to measure customer loyalty, satisfaction, and effort, guiding strategic improvements. Gathering customer feedback enhances brand loyalty and informs better decision-making, crucial for retaining customers. Effective surveys adapt to evolving customer expectations, driving sustainable growth and competitive advantage through continuous insights. Understanding Customer Experience Surveys Comprehending customer experience surveys is essential for any organization aiming to improve its services and augment customer satisfaction. A customer experience survey is a structured questionnaire that evaluates customer feelings and interactions across various touchpoints. These surveys collect diverse customer feedback, enabling you to understand trends in customer satisfaction and whether expectations are being met. By leveraging metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES), you can effectively measure different aspects of customer engagement. The insights gained from customer experience data analytics reveal both strengths and weaknesses in your customer experience (CX), helping you identify areas that require improvement. This information is critical for enhancing customer loyalty and building a responsive organization. In the end, a well-designed customer experience survey not only captures individual feedback but likewise provides a representative sample that informs your continuous improvement strategies. The Importance of Gathering Customer Feedback Collecting customer feedback is essential for enhancing brand loyalty, as it helps you understand market expectations and drive product improvements. When you actively seek input from customers, you not just identify areas for growth but additionally show that their opinions matter, nurturing a stronger connection with your brand. This informed approach can lead to better decision-making and in the end improve customer satisfaction and retention. Enhancing Brand Loyalty In a competitive marketplace, insight into what your customers think and feel about your brand is crucial for improving loyalty. Gathering customer feedback through surveys plays a critical role in customer experience research, enabling you to identify areas of enhancement in your customer experience strategies. With 52% of consumers abandoning brands because of poor experiences, grasping their sentiments can help you improve customer experience and cultivate customer loyalty. Significantly, there’s a perception gap; whereas 90% of executives believe loyalty is rising, only 40% of consumers agree. Addressing this gap through effective feedback collection can build trust, a foundational component of brand loyalty. By investing in customer loyalty initiatives, you can better respond to evolving customer expectations, ensuring long-lasting relationships. Understanding Market Expectations Grasping market expectations is crucial for any business aiming to thrive in today’s fast-paced environment. Customer experience companies must prioritize gathering customer feedback through surveys to comprehend evolving expectations. Significantly, 52% of consumers stop using a brand because of a bad experience, underscoring the urgency of collecting insights. Executives recognize that customer expectations are changing faster than their companies can adapt, with 70% acknowledging this challenge. By conducting customer experience market research, you can identify gaps in perception, as only 40% of consumers believe customer loyalty has increased. Furthermore, transparent feedback collection is important for maintaining trust, as 93% of consumers would lose faith if their data is mishandled. Ultimately, improving customer experience hinges on comprehending and addressing these market expectations. Driving Product Improvements To drive product improvements effectively, it’s vital that businesses prioritize customer feedback, as it provides insights into consumer preferences and needs. Gathering customer feedback through experience surveys is significant; 57% of consumers stop using a product after a single bad experience. By regularly conducting surveys, you can capture valuable information about customer satisfaction, which helps identify areas for product improvement. The American Customer Satisfaction Index emphasizes measuring product quality, guiding companies to create customized surveys for specific insights. These surveys highlight strengths and weaknesses in customer service, nurturing brand loyalty. Engaging customers through feedback shows you value their opinions, leading to higher retention rates and increased referrals from satisfied customers, eventually enhancing the overall customer experience. Key Components of an Effective Survey To create an effective customer experience survey, you need to start by defining clear goals that guide your questions. Thoughtful question design is essential, as it helps you gather meaningful insights during keeping respondents engaged. Survey Goals Definition Defining the goals of your survey is fundamental, as it guarantees alignment with specific, actionable outcomes that can drive improvements in customer experience. A clear survey goals definition helps you focus on one primary objective, ensuring your customer experience study yields relevant insights. Identifying your target audience is key, whether you survey all customers or a representative sample. This focus allows you to gather data that directly contributes to improving client experience. Crafting concise questions, ideally between 5 to 13, is critical for effective data collection. By doing so, you support creating a positive customer experience and maximize the benefits of customer experience, eventually leading to actionable strategies for enhancing satisfaction and loyalty. Thoughtful Question Design How can thoughtful question design improve the effectiveness of your customer experience survey? By limiting your survey to 5-13 well-crafted questions, you maintain respondent engagement and gather actionable data. Guarantee your questions are clear and unbiased, using quantitative metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES, alongside qualitative open-ended queries for deeper insights. Mixing formats, such as Likert scales and multiple-choice options, enriches feedback and amplifies your customer experience report. Implementing survey logic, like conditional questions, tailors the experience to previous answers, keeping respondents involved. Regularly refining your questions based on past feedback helps you identify ways to improve client experience, guaranteeing your survey remains relevant and effective in capturing evolving customer service and support experiences. Best Practices for Designing Customer Experience Surveys When designing customer experience surveys, it’s vital to focus on best practices that not merely improve response rates but likewise guarantee the quality of the feedback you receive. Limit your survey to 5-13 questions to maintain engagement and ascertain completion. Use a mix of metric-based questions like NPS, CSAT, and CES alongside open text fields to capture both quantitative and qualitative insights. Organize your questions logically, starting with simpler ones to create a smooth flow and boost the user experience. Clear, unbiased language is fundamental in your questions to avoid confusion and ascertain accurate responses. Furthermore, consider offering incentives for participation; this can greatly increase response rates without skewing the sentiment of the feedback collected. Analyzing Survey Results for Actionable Insights Analyzing survey results is crucial for turning raw feedback into actionable insights that can greatly improve your customer experience strategies. Start by cleaning your data to exclude disengaged participants, ensuring accurate insights for decision-making. Utilize crosstab analysis and predictive analytics to spot key trends and correlations within customer feedback. Regularly reviewing and adapting your survey processes based on findings nurtures continuous improvement in your customer contact experience. Centralizing survey results on accessible platforms boosts collaboration across departments, allowing you to share insights more effectively. To gauge loyalty, satisfaction, and effort, employ diverse metrics like NPS, CSAT, and CES. This approach helps you identify targeted advancements that can positively impact your customer experience digital strategy. Metric Purpose Frequency NPS Loyalty Quarterly CSAT Satisfaction Monthly CES Effort Bi-Annually Trend Analysis Insights Continuous Feedback Review Strategy Ongoing The Role of Customer Experience Surveys in Business Growth Customer experience surveys play a significant role in driving business growth by offering valuable insights into what customers truly think about your products and services. By gathering feedback, you can improve customer satisfaction and boost customer loyalty. Here’s how these surveys contribute to your success: Identify strengths and weaknesses through metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT). Show customers that their opinions matter, which cultivates loyalty and encourages retention. Adapt your strategies quickly to meet evolving customer expectations, as 70% of executives recognize this need. When you leverage the insights from customer experience surveys, you’re not just improving your offerings; you’re likewise informing your marketing strategies. This leads to brand advocacy and referrals, crucial components for sustainable business growth. In the end, prioritizing customer feedback through surveys helps you stay competitive and aligned with your customers’ needs. Future Trends in Customer Experience Surveys As technology continues to evolve, the future of customer experience surveys is poised for considerable transformation. The increased use of AI and machine learning will provide deeper insights and more sophisticated analyses, helping you understand customer behavior and preferences more effectively. Automation will streamline the feedback collection process, allowing for real-time responses and actions based on customer input, thereby enhancing engagement and satisfaction. Conversational feedback methods are emerging to combat survey fatigue, making the feedback process feel more interactive and less tedious. Furthermore, hyper-personalization will allow you to tailor questions and formats to individual customer profiles, which greatly boosts relevance and response rates. To address growing concerns about customer privacy, the adoption of synthetic data will protect sensitive information while ensuring accurate feedback. These trends will redefine how you gather insights, creating a more efficient and secure experience for both you and your customers. Frequently Asked Questions What Is a Customer Experience Survey? A customer experience survey’s a tool you use to gather feedback on your interactions with a brand. It measures your satisfaction, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and assesses whether your expectations are met. What Is Customer Experience and Why Is It Important? Customer experience reflects your perception of every interaction with a brand, shaping your feelings and loyalty. It’s essential since positive experiences lead to increased loyalty and engagement, whereas negative experiences can result in lost trust. Research shows that over half of consumers abandon brands after a poor interaction, emphasizing the need for organizations to adapt to evolving expectations. Meeting these standards is critical for maintaining competitive advantage and retaining customers in a dynamic market. Why Are Customer Surveys Important? Customer surveys are vital as they provide direct feedback, helping you gauge customer satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. By regularly collecting insights, you can adapt to evolving customer expectations, which is critical since many customers abandon brands after negative experiences. Surveys likewise show customers that their opinions matter, nurturing loyalty and enhancing your brand’s image. In the end, they contribute to better product quality and increased retention rates, benefiting your organization greatly. What Are the 4 P’s of Customer Experience? The 4 P’s of customer experience are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Product quality and features directly impact satisfaction, as one bad experience can lead to 57% of consumers discontinuing use. Price reflects perceived value, with 69% of buyers comparing costs before engaging with a brand. Place emphasizes accessibility and convenience, essential for shaping initial experiences. Finally, Promotion involves marketing strategies that effectively communicate value, as 70% of executives recognize swiftly evolving customer expectations. Conclusion In summary, customer experience surveys are crucial tools for businesses aiming to understand their customers’ needs and improve satisfaction. By gathering and analyzing feedback, companies can identify strengths and weaknesses, leading to informed decisions that improve brand loyalty. Implementing effective surveys and analyzing the results helps drive business growth and adapt to future trends. In the end, valuing customer opinions not just cultivates better relationships but additionally contributes greatly to retention and overall success in the competitive marketplace. Image via Google Gemini This article, "What Is a Customer Experience Survey and Why Is It Important?" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As the digital landscape shifts under the weight of burgeoning artificial intelligence technologies, Google Gemini is making strides that could significantly impact small business owners. The tech giant recently announced a new commercial partnership program that aims to leverage AI in a way that enhances audience engagement across its news platforms. One of Gemini’s key initiatives involves testing AI-powered article overviews on its news pages. This feature aims to offer readers a brief, informative snapshot of articles, allowing them to gauge content relevance before clicking through. For small business owners, this could mean higher traffic and better engagement with their content if their articles are featured among those utilizing this AI technology. In tandem with these article overviews, Google is also piloting audio briefings. This is particularly relevant for busy professionals who might not have the time to read articles in full but want to stay informed. The audio feature could provide a convenient way for small business owners to receive industry updates or learn about new marketing strategies while on the go. Google’s partnerships include reputable global publishers such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, and El País. These alliances are designed to enrich the Gemini app with real-time information, making it easier for small business owners to access the latest news and trends relevant to their sectors. Staying informed can be vital for making strategic decisions, and this new functionality offers a streamlined way to gain insights quickly. One of the potential advantages of these updates is increased visibility for small business content. With clear attribution and direct links to articles, small businesses can benefit from greater recognition on a platform that’s frequented by a broad audience. In a competitive marketplace, this added exposure could lead to new clients and partnerships, jumpstarting growth opportunities. However, there are nuances and challenges that small business owners should consider. While the AI capabilities seem promising, the effectiveness of these features largely depends on how well they are integrated and adopted by audiences. There is always the risk that users may not engage with new formats as expected, impacting the expected benefits. Another consideration is the competition for attention in an ecosystem populated by large publishers. Small business content needs to stand out amid articles from well-established media outlets. Creating high-quality, engaging writing becomes even more crucial to capture audience interest against these larger players that often dominate search algorithms. Moreover, small business owners should keep an eye on how these AI tools evolve. Google’s commitment to collaborating with diverse voices means that there will be ongoing updates and refinements. Adapting to these changes swiftly could be critical for maintaining a strong presence on platforms that heavily influence consumer behavior. The evolution of information consumption implies that business strategies must also adapt. As AI and real-time updates become standard features in news consumption, small business owners must continually assess how these tools can enhance their marketing strategies and engagement efforts. In summary, Google Gemini’s new AI initiatives present an array of opportunities for small business owners looking to enhance their visibility and audience connection. The pilot program’s features can offer significant advantages, but they come with challenges that necessitate careful navigation. Engaging with these tools thoughtfully could position small businesses favorably in the rapidly changing digital ecosystem. For further details on Google’s initiatives, you can explore the original press release from Google here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Google Launches AI Pilot Program to Enhance News Engagement Globally" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As the digital landscape shifts under the weight of burgeoning artificial intelligence technologies, Google Gemini is making strides that could significantly impact small business owners. The tech giant recently announced a new commercial partnership program that aims to leverage AI in a way that enhances audience engagement across its news platforms. One of Gemini’s key initiatives involves testing AI-powered article overviews on its news pages. This feature aims to offer readers a brief, informative snapshot of articles, allowing them to gauge content relevance before clicking through. For small business owners, this could mean higher traffic and better engagement with their content if their articles are featured among those utilizing this AI technology. In tandem with these article overviews, Google is also piloting audio briefings. This is particularly relevant for busy professionals who might not have the time to read articles in full but want to stay informed. The audio feature could provide a convenient way for small business owners to receive industry updates or learn about new marketing strategies while on the go. Google’s partnerships include reputable global publishers such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, and El País. These alliances are designed to enrich the Gemini app with real-time information, making it easier for small business owners to access the latest news and trends relevant to their sectors. Staying informed can be vital for making strategic decisions, and this new functionality offers a streamlined way to gain insights quickly. One of the potential advantages of these updates is increased visibility for small business content. With clear attribution and direct links to articles, small businesses can benefit from greater recognition on a platform that’s frequented by a broad audience. In a competitive marketplace, this added exposure could lead to new clients and partnerships, jumpstarting growth opportunities. However, there are nuances and challenges that small business owners should consider. While the AI capabilities seem promising, the effectiveness of these features largely depends on how well they are integrated and adopted by audiences. There is always the risk that users may not engage with new formats as expected, impacting the expected benefits. Another consideration is the competition for attention in an ecosystem populated by large publishers. Small business content needs to stand out amid articles from well-established media outlets. Creating high-quality, engaging writing becomes even more crucial to capture audience interest against these larger players that often dominate search algorithms. Moreover, small business owners should keep an eye on how these AI tools evolve. Google’s commitment to collaborating with diverse voices means that there will be ongoing updates and refinements. Adapting to these changes swiftly could be critical for maintaining a strong presence on platforms that heavily influence consumer behavior. The evolution of information consumption implies that business strategies must also adapt. As AI and real-time updates become standard features in news consumption, small business owners must continually assess how these tools can enhance their marketing strategies and engagement efforts. In summary, Google Gemini’s new AI initiatives present an array of opportunities for small business owners looking to enhance their visibility and audience connection. The pilot program’s features can offer significant advantages, but they come with challenges that necessitate careful navigation. Engaging with these tools thoughtfully could position small businesses favorably in the rapidly changing digital ecosystem. For further details on Google’s initiatives, you can explore the original press release from Google here. Image via Google Gemini This article, "Google Launches AI Pilot Program to Enhance News Engagement Globally" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A new dataset of 300K viral YouTube videos suggests that faces in thumbnails perform about the same as without them, with larger differences by niche. The post Do Faces Help YouTube Thumbnails? Here’s What The Data Says appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Google‘s corporate parent on Monday announced an agreement to buy data center energy specialist Intersect for $4.75 billion as part of its effort to secure the vast amounts of electricity needed to power artificial intelligence technology. Alphabet, which depends on Google’s search engine and other online services for most of its revenue, is buying out Intersect in its entirety after purchasing a stake in the San Francisco-based startup a year ago. Intersect had previously raised $2.1 billion from Google and other early investors. After the acquisition is completed during the first half of next year, Alphabet intends to allow Intersect to operate independently while continuing its efforts to secure the energy sources needed for the sprawling data centers being built to power the AI services rolling out from Google and rivals such as OpenAI. The power-hungry data centers, which are being likened to AI factories, are fueling a backlash in communities where residents have been interpreting their steadily rising electricity bills as evidence that they are helping foot the boom for a technology boom that could still go bust. Intersect focuses on finding ways to increase and diversify the supply of energy in an effort to keep hold down power costs. It’s already working on a data center for Mountain View, California-based Alphabet in Haskell County, Texas. Google’s inroads with AI have helped increase Alphabet’s stock price by more than 60% so far this year, generating an additional $1.4 trillion in shareholder wealth. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Roku Sticks have useful features that can make your dumb TV smarter (or replace the interface on your smart TV), and they are seeing great discounts right now. In particular, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K with HDR and Dolby Vision is $24.99, the lowest price it has ever been after a 50% discount, according to price tracking tools. It's also my personal favorite option, and the one I would recommend to most people. Roku Streaming Stick HD 2025 $15.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $14.00 Get Deal Get Deal $15.99 at Amazon $29.99 Save $14.00 Roku Streaming Stick Plus 2025 $19.00 at Amazon $39.99 Save $20.99 Get Deal Get Deal $19.00 at Amazon $39.99 Save $20.99 Roku Streaming Stick 4K $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 Get Deal Get Deal $24.99 at Amazon $49.99 Save $25.00 Roku Ultra - Ultimate Streaming Player $75.00 at Amazon $99.99 Save $24.99 Get Deal Get Deal $75.00 at Amazon $99.99 Save $24.99 SEE 1 MORE There's a lot to consider when choosing a streaming device for your TV. I've tried many, and Roku is one of the best. It's user-friendly, responsive, organized, simple to navigate, and affordable. Out of all the Roku options, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K with HDR and Dolby Vision is the best bang for your buck—for just $5 more than the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, you'll get support for Dolby Vision, which will deliver more dynamic HDR. It's also much cheaper than the Roku Ultra, which offers WiFi 6, an Ethernet port, and Dolby Atmos for $50 more. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is compatible with Alexa smart devices, Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, Google Home, and with Roku Smart Home, meaning you can mirror your devices, use voice commands, or control them from these respective smart apps. If you have Bluetooth headphones, you can pair them with the Roku so you can watch your shows in silence, and the voice activated remote is a game-changer if you lose your clicker as often as I do. View the full article

It’s “where are you now?” month at Ask a Manager, and all December I’m running updates from people who had their letters here answered in the past. There will be more posts than usual this week, so keep checking back throughout the day. Remember the letter-writer whose CEO was demanding everyone return to the office but people didn’t want to — and they were a manager stuck in the middle? Here’s the update. Just a few months after my letter was published … my team imploded. My boss decided after 10 years of service to leave the company to focus on his family, and due to the terrible state my industry is in right now, my team of 12 is now just three, including me. Losing the head of the department in the way it all happened was such a massive blow. Not his fault, he sacrificed a lot for us already, and overall, he’s a close friend of mine so I wish him nothing but the best. As of right now, one of my colleagues is on paternity leave, so it’s just two of us during the busiest time in our field. So, we’re currently about three levels underwater. I’m over 200% capacity; I’ve never been so stressed with work before. I felt like quitting and even told my new boss that recently! (Many, many people in the same field I’m in have struggled to find work for 1 – 1.5 years after a layoff … so quitting isn’t really wise right now. LinkedIn is depressing). For the subject I wrote in about: Prior to the blow-up, the team started to abide by the mandate after a resync on expectations with everyone , so we were doing okay for a while. The three of us left keep to the three days in office pretty regularly because our new supervisor is old school like the CEO in favor of in-person interactions over remote. But he’s flexible if we ask him to only come in two days instead of three because of the workload. We don’t even have HR anymore, so no one is checking keycard entries (people stroll in and out at random times), and the CEO is concentrated on AI now. Alison, your advice was thoughtful and balanced. If my CEO was, let’s say, a normal processing person, what you laid out would make sense. Unfortunately, he’s a very self-focused, verbose individual. I had my first 1:1 with him a few weeks ago, an out of the blue lunch mandate he just decided, and he spoke for the entire hour. I maybe got in 20 words. He rambles and it’s hard to understand him. The company runs around him, not due to him, heh. Just once in a while, he decides a new directive we all have to follow. In the case of the in-office mandate, he seems to have forgotten how important it was to stick to it for all employees, as it hasn’t come up as a thing in months. Despite being a contentious topic for years. A few things I’ve learned from this experience: There is a lot of merit to in-person interactions that can get missed if you’re always remote that I’ve come to value, so I wouldn’t say to get rid of it entirely. I agree with Alison’s take when speaking about employees learning in-person through osmosis — there is really something special to that. Also, it really can help with morale, as there are more moments of levity that can naturally arise in person. I just did my 1:1 with my remaining coworker as a boba walk, which was nice for us both in this terrible chaos. Though I’m still of the mindset that just one to two days a week is enough. I get that people want different things from work, but human connection is the only thing that really keeps me going these past years. Empathetic leadership also really matters. My old boss had some faults, but he was always looking out for me, and I miss that. My new supervisor is giving me a lot of grace as the new department head and is honoring a lot of what I got used to under my old leadership, so that’s also super appreciated. The politics at this level is really hard, and every day I’m learning. I have a lot to learn. (As a tiny glimmer of hope for those worried: I’m also in grad school now to change careers, so I am trying to get out of this! I started this at the worst possible time. My second year requires me to take on an unpaid internship for hour accrual during regular business hours though, so I’m not sure what I’m gonna do. Tomorrow’s problem.) The post update: our CEO is demanding we return to the office but people don’t want to — and I’m a manager stuck in the middle appeared first on Ask a Manager. View the full article

If you’re looking to improve your content planning, using effective Excel content calendar templates can make a significant difference. These templates help you stay organized and guarantee that you’re maximizing your engagement across various platforms. From HootSuite‘s customizable calendar to HubSpot‘s user-friendly planner, there are several options available. Each template offers unique features designed to streamline your content management. Let’s explore these crucial tools and how they can boost your strategy. Key Takeaways HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar is a customizable Google Sheet ideal for planning across major platforms with an evergreen content library. HubSpot’s template offers a user-friendly 11×17 planner to track deadlines and engagement metrics efficiently. Smartsheet’s calendar allows for daily content planning with predefined slots and real-time team collaboration features. Buffer’s template simplifies post scheduling and includes built-in analytics for data-driven strategy adjustments. CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar provides a centralized view of all marketing activities to enhance organization and team collaboration. HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar is a valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their content planning across five major platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. This customizable Google Sheet shines as an excel content calendar template, allowing you to adjust it according to your specific needs. With an evergreen content library tab, it helps you maintain a consistent posting schedule, so you’re never scrambling for content at the last minute. The template includes organized fields for tracking post ideas, scheduled dates, and performance metrics, enhancing your overall social media management. Plus, you can download the calendar for immediate use, making it a practical solution for individuals and teams aiming to optimize their social media strategy efficiently. HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar When you’re looking to streamline your social media strategy, HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar offers a thorough solution that helps you organize your posting across various platforms. This detailed spreadsheet serves as an effective 11×17 planner template, allowing you to manage daily posts and monthly campaigns seamlessly. Each section of the calendar is particularly designed for different social platforms, ensuring your content meets each channel’s unique requirements and best practices. You’ll appreciate the user-friendly layout, which simplifies tracking deadlines, post statuses, and engagement metrics. Plus, the calendar is easily downloadable, making it accessible for immediate use. Customize it to fit your precise marketing strategies and avoid scheduling conflicts, enhancing your overall social media effectiveness. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template streamlines your daily content planning by breaking down tasks across five major platforms, plus an “Other” section for added flexibility. With predefined slots for up to six posts daily per platform, you can maintain organized scheduling and guarantee consistent engagement. The template additionally includes fields for social copy, images, links, and engagement data, allowing you to track performance effectively as you collaborate with your team in real-time. Daily Content Planning For anyone looking to streamline their daily content planning, a structured approach can greatly boost efficiency and effectiveness. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template provides a detailed daily breakdown that allows you to schedule and organize content across five social media platforms, plus an “Other” section for additional channels. You can predefine up to six posts per platform daily, ensuring a thorough content distribution strategy. The template includes fields for social copy, images, links, and engagement data, enabling you to track and analyze post performance meticulously. It’s easily downloadable and ready for immediate use, making it an ideal choice for marketing teams seeking to improve their daily planning process, much like a vacation planner template excel helps organize trips. Multi-Platform Support Optimizing your content planning involves not just daily organization but likewise effective management across multiple platforms. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template is designed to help you streamline this process. Here are three key features that improve your multi-platform support: Platform Coverage: Manage content for five major social platforms, plus an “Other” section for any additional networks. Daily Slots: Each platform accommodates up to six daily posts, ensuring you can efficiently schedule and distribute content. Comprehensive Tracking: Input crucial details like social copy, images, links, and track engagement data for each post. This September calendar template allows for easy customization, making it a valuable tool for any content strategy. You’ll find that real-time collaboration boosts team productivity considerably. Engagement Tracking Features Tracking engagement is essential for comprehending how your content resonates with your audience. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template offers robust engagement tracking features to help you monitor important metrics like likes, comments, and shares. With predefined slots for documenting engagement data, analyzing post performance becomes straightforward. You can customize these sections to fit your specific marketing goals, providing customized insights into audience interactions. Metric Definition Importance Likes Number of thumbs up received Indicates basic approval Comments User interactions through text Reveals audience sentiment Shares Content redistribution Measures content value and reach These capabilities allow for trend identification, helping you refine your content strategy effectively. Buffer’s Social Media Content Calendar Buffer’s Social Media Content Calendar simplifies the process of scheduling posts across various platforms, allowing you to manage your content effectively. With its user-friendly interface, you can easily visualize your content plan and track posting times. Here are three key features: Comprehensive Layout: The calendar’s design makes it straightforward to see your content at a glance. Multi-Platform Integration: Seamlessly manage your posts from one dashboard, streamlining your workflow. Built-in Analytics: Analyze your post performance to make data-driven adjustments, enhancing your strategy. This template is downloadable for immediate use, making it a great choice for anyone looking to implement a structured content plan quickly, much like a vacation planner excel helps organize trips efficiently. Content Cal’s Customized Content Calendar When you’re looking to streamline your content planning, Content Cal’s Personalized Content Calendar offers an efficient solution that automates the creation of a structured calendar based on your input. This template spans 12 months, providing an extensive framework that helps align your social media strategy with broader marketing goals. You can easily define various content types, which aids in organizing and clarifying your planned posts. While it simplifies the planning process, it also requires you to draft and post actual content, ensuring that your strategy remains actionable. Furthermore, the customizable nature of this calendar allows for personalized content management to meet your specific organizational needs. For a 2025 calendar excel free download, this option is a valuable tool for effective content planning. Google Sheets Geeks Social Media Editorial Calendar If you’re aiming to improve your social media strategy, the Google Sheets Geeks Social Media Editorial Calendar provides an organized framework that simplifies content planning across various platforms. This template allows you to easily customize sections for your needs, helping you keep track of crucial elements. Here are three key features: Customizable Sections: Organize post titles, publication dates, content types, and platforms to align with your marketing goals. Collaborative Tools: Enable team members to contribute ideas in real-time, enhancing communication and coordination. Performance Tracking: Monitor deadlines and performance metrics to guarantee timely publication and engagement. With its user-friendly design, this one week calendar Excel template is readily downloadable, making it easy to implement for both individuals and teams. CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template offers you a centralized view of all your marketing activities, making it easier to organize and plan your content across various channels. With its visual layout, you can quickly assess your content strategy, ensuring that everything aligns seamlessly. Furthermore, its integration with other tools improves your workflow, allowing for a more efficient collaboration with your team. Centralized Marketing Activity Overview A centralized marketing activity overview is essential for any team aiming to streamline their content strategies, and CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template serves this purpose effectively. With this template, you can: Visualize Content Plans: Easily see your marketing activities laid out in a user-friendly interface, enhancing team collaboration. Schedule Across Platforms: Identify and fill posting gaps, ensuring consistency in your content strategy across multiple social media channels. Manage Deadlines Efficiently: The visual layout provides quick access to key deadlines, allowing you to allocate your resources better. Whether you’re looking for a vacation calendar template in Excel or an all-encompassing marketing tool, CoSchedule’s template is downloadable and ready for immediate use, making it an accessible choice for organizing your marketing efforts. Integration With Other Tools Integrating CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template with various tools can considerably improve your marketing workflow. This template seamlessly connects with platforms like WordPress, Google Analytics, and social media channels, making automated posting and performance tracking effortless. You’ll appreciate the drag-and-drop functionality, which allows you to rearrange tasks and deadlines quickly, optimizing your content planning. The visual layout provides a thorough overview of all marketing activities, ensuring your team stays aligned on strategies. Furthermore, CoSchedule offers color-coding and tagging features, helping you organize content and distinguish between different campaigns at a glance. For an easy start, download a free printable 2025 calendar with holidays excel to complement your marketing efforts and keep everything on track. Frequently Asked Questions How to Create a Content Calendar With Excel? To create a content calendar with Excel, start by defining your content goals and identifying your target audience. Use Excel’s features like drop-down lists and color-coding to organize content types and scheduling. Set up a dedicated worksheet for each month, including columns for topics, publication dates, authors, and status. Regularly update your calendar to reflect new trends and feedback, ensuring your content strategy stays aligned with your marketing objectives and remains effective. Does Microsoft Excel Have a Calendar Template? Yes, Microsoft Excel does offer a variety of calendar templates. You can find options for monthly, weekly, and yearly views, which cater to different planning needs. To access these templates, you can search within the Excel application or on the Microsoft Office website. Many templates include features like note sections, to-do lists, and budget trackers, allowing you to customize them according to your specific scheduling and planning requirements easily. What Does a Professional Content Calendar Look Like? A professional content calendar typically looks organized and structured. You’ll find sections for content topics, publication dates, and formats. It often includes deadlines for creation and review, ensuring timely posting. Color-coding helps categorize content by themes or platforms for quick reference. Collaboration fields allow team members to assign tasks and note research. Moreover, it integrates analytics tracking to assess content performance, enabling data-driven adjustments for future strategies and improving overall effectiveness. How to Make a Sample Content Calendar? To create a sample content calendar, start by defining your content goals and identifying your target audience. Use a spreadsheet program to structure your layout, including columns for topics, formats, dates, and assigned team members. Incorporate color-coding and drop-down menus for organization. Set deadlines for content creation and publication to guarantee consistency. Regularly review and adjust the calendar to reflect any strategy changes and to analyze performance for future content improvements. Conclusion Utilizing these seven Excel content calendar templates can greatly improve your content strategy and boost engagement. Each template offers unique features designed to specific needs, whether you require collaboration, deadline management, or a thorough overview of your marketing efforts. By implementing these tools, you can streamline your planning process and guarantee consistent, organized content delivery across platforms. Take advantage of these resources to optimize your content management and achieve your marketing goals effectively. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Excel Content Calendar Templates You Need" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

If you’re looking to improve your content planning, using effective Excel content calendar templates can make a significant difference. These templates help you stay organized and guarantee that you’re maximizing your engagement across various platforms. From HootSuite‘s customizable calendar to HubSpot‘s user-friendly planner, there are several options available. Each template offers unique features designed to streamline your content management. Let’s explore these crucial tools and how they can boost your strategy. Key Takeaways HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar is a customizable Google Sheet ideal for planning across major platforms with an evergreen content library. HubSpot’s template offers a user-friendly 11×17 planner to track deadlines and engagement metrics efficiently. Smartsheet’s calendar allows for daily content planning with predefined slots and real-time team collaboration features. Buffer’s template simplifies post scheduling and includes built-in analytics for data-driven strategy adjustments. CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar provides a centralized view of all marketing activities to enhance organization and team collaboration. HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar HootSuite’s Social Media Content Calendar is a valuable tool for anyone looking to improve their content planning across five major platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. This customizable Google Sheet shines as an excel content calendar template, allowing you to adjust it according to your specific needs. With an evergreen content library tab, it helps you maintain a consistent posting schedule, so you’re never scrambling for content at the last minute. The template includes organized fields for tracking post ideas, scheduled dates, and performance metrics, enhancing your overall social media management. Plus, you can download the calendar for immediate use, making it a practical solution for individuals and teams aiming to optimize their social media strategy efficiently. HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar When you’re looking to streamline your social media strategy, HubSpot’s Social Media Content Calendar offers a thorough solution that helps you organize your posting across various platforms. This detailed spreadsheet serves as an effective 11×17 planner template, allowing you to manage daily posts and monthly campaigns seamlessly. Each section of the calendar is particularly designed for different social platforms, ensuring your content meets each channel’s unique requirements and best practices. You’ll appreciate the user-friendly layout, which simplifies tracking deadlines, post statuses, and engagement metrics. Plus, the calendar is easily downloadable, making it accessible for immediate use. Customize it to fit your precise marketing strategies and avoid scheduling conflicts, enhancing your overall social media effectiveness. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template streamlines your daily content planning by breaking down tasks across five major platforms, plus an “Other” section for added flexibility. With predefined slots for up to six posts daily per platform, you can maintain organized scheduling and guarantee consistent engagement. The template additionally includes fields for social copy, images, links, and engagement data, allowing you to track performance effectively as you collaborate with your team in real-time. Daily Content Planning For anyone looking to streamline their daily content planning, a structured approach can greatly boost efficiency and effectiveness. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template provides a detailed daily breakdown that allows you to schedule and organize content across five social media platforms, plus an “Other” section for additional channels. You can predefine up to six posts per platform daily, ensuring a thorough content distribution strategy. The template includes fields for social copy, images, links, and engagement data, enabling you to track and analyze post performance meticulously. It’s easily downloadable and ready for immediate use, making it an ideal choice for marketing teams seeking to improve their daily planning process, much like a vacation planner template excel helps organize trips. Multi-Platform Support Optimizing your content planning involves not just daily organization but likewise effective management across multiple platforms. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template is designed to help you streamline this process. Here are three key features that improve your multi-platform support: Platform Coverage: Manage content for five major social platforms, plus an “Other” section for any additional networks. Daily Slots: Each platform accommodates up to six daily posts, ensuring you can efficiently schedule and distribute content. Comprehensive Tracking: Input crucial details like social copy, images, links, and track engagement data for each post. This September calendar template allows for easy customization, making it a valuable tool for any content strategy. You’ll find that real-time collaboration boosts team productivity considerably. Engagement Tracking Features Tracking engagement is essential for comprehending how your content resonates with your audience. Smartsheet’s Social Media Content Calendar Template offers robust engagement tracking features to help you monitor important metrics like likes, comments, and shares. With predefined slots for documenting engagement data, analyzing post performance becomes straightforward. You can customize these sections to fit your specific marketing goals, providing customized insights into audience interactions. Metric Definition Importance Likes Number of thumbs up received Indicates basic approval Comments User interactions through text Reveals audience sentiment Shares Content redistribution Measures content value and reach These capabilities allow for trend identification, helping you refine your content strategy effectively. Buffer’s Social Media Content Calendar Buffer’s Social Media Content Calendar simplifies the process of scheduling posts across various platforms, allowing you to manage your content effectively. With its user-friendly interface, you can easily visualize your content plan and track posting times. Here are three key features: Comprehensive Layout: The calendar’s design makes it straightforward to see your content at a glance. Multi-Platform Integration: Seamlessly manage your posts from one dashboard, streamlining your workflow. Built-in Analytics: Analyze your post performance to make data-driven adjustments, enhancing your strategy. This template is downloadable for immediate use, making it a great choice for anyone looking to implement a structured content plan quickly, much like a vacation planner excel helps organize trips efficiently. Content Cal’s Customized Content Calendar When you’re looking to streamline your content planning, Content Cal’s Personalized Content Calendar offers an efficient solution that automates the creation of a structured calendar based on your input. This template spans 12 months, providing an extensive framework that helps align your social media strategy with broader marketing goals. You can easily define various content types, which aids in organizing and clarifying your planned posts. While it simplifies the planning process, it also requires you to draft and post actual content, ensuring that your strategy remains actionable. Furthermore, the customizable nature of this calendar allows for personalized content management to meet your specific organizational needs. For a 2025 calendar excel free download, this option is a valuable tool for effective content planning. Google Sheets Geeks Social Media Editorial Calendar If you’re aiming to improve your social media strategy, the Google Sheets Geeks Social Media Editorial Calendar provides an organized framework that simplifies content planning across various platforms. This template allows you to easily customize sections for your needs, helping you keep track of crucial elements. Here are three key features: Customizable Sections: Organize post titles, publication dates, content types, and platforms to align with your marketing goals. Collaborative Tools: Enable team members to contribute ideas in real-time, enhancing communication and coordination. Performance Tracking: Monitor deadlines and performance metrics to guarantee timely publication and engagement. With its user-friendly design, this one week calendar Excel template is readily downloadable, making it easy to implement for both individuals and teams. CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template offers you a centralized view of all your marketing activities, making it easier to organize and plan your content across various channels. With its visual layout, you can quickly assess your content strategy, ensuring that everything aligns seamlessly. Furthermore, its integration with other tools improves your workflow, allowing for a more efficient collaboration with your team. Centralized Marketing Activity Overview A centralized marketing activity overview is essential for any team aiming to streamline their content strategies, and CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template serves this purpose effectively. With this template, you can: Visualize Content Plans: Easily see your marketing activities laid out in a user-friendly interface, enhancing team collaboration. Schedule Across Platforms: Identify and fill posting gaps, ensuring consistency in your content strategy across multiple social media channels. Manage Deadlines Efficiently: The visual layout provides quick access to key deadlines, allowing you to allocate your resources better. Whether you’re looking for a vacation calendar template in Excel or an all-encompassing marketing tool, CoSchedule’s template is downloadable and ready for immediate use, making it an accessible choice for organizing your marketing efforts. Integration With Other Tools Integrating CoSchedule’s Marketing Calendar Template with various tools can considerably improve your marketing workflow. This template seamlessly connects with platforms like WordPress, Google Analytics, and social media channels, making automated posting and performance tracking effortless. You’ll appreciate the drag-and-drop functionality, which allows you to rearrange tasks and deadlines quickly, optimizing your content planning. The visual layout provides a thorough overview of all marketing activities, ensuring your team stays aligned on strategies. Furthermore, CoSchedule offers color-coding and tagging features, helping you organize content and distinguish between different campaigns at a glance. For an easy start, download a free printable 2025 calendar with holidays excel to complement your marketing efforts and keep everything on track. Frequently Asked Questions How to Create a Content Calendar With Excel? To create a content calendar with Excel, start by defining your content goals and identifying your target audience. Use Excel’s features like drop-down lists and color-coding to organize content types and scheduling. Set up a dedicated worksheet for each month, including columns for topics, publication dates, authors, and status. Regularly update your calendar to reflect new trends and feedback, ensuring your content strategy stays aligned with your marketing objectives and remains effective. Does Microsoft Excel Have a Calendar Template? Yes, Microsoft Excel does offer a variety of calendar templates. You can find options for monthly, weekly, and yearly views, which cater to different planning needs. To access these templates, you can search within the Excel application or on the Microsoft Office website. Many templates include features like note sections, to-do lists, and budget trackers, allowing you to customize them according to your specific scheduling and planning requirements easily. What Does a Professional Content Calendar Look Like? A professional content calendar typically looks organized and structured. You’ll find sections for content topics, publication dates, and formats. It often includes deadlines for creation and review, ensuring timely posting. Color-coding helps categorize content by themes or platforms for quick reference. Collaboration fields allow team members to assign tasks and note research. Moreover, it integrates analytics tracking to assess content performance, enabling data-driven adjustments for future strategies and improving overall effectiveness. How to Make a Sample Content Calendar? To create a sample content calendar, start by defining your content goals and identifying your target audience. Use a spreadsheet program to structure your layout, including columns for topics, formats, dates, and assigned team members. Incorporate color-coding and drop-down menus for organization. Set deadlines for content creation and publication to guarantee consistency. Regularly review and adjust the calendar to reflect any strategy changes and to analyze performance for future content improvements. Conclusion Utilizing these seven Excel content calendar templates can greatly improve your content strategy and boost engagement. Each template offers unique features designed to specific needs, whether you require collaboration, deadline management, or a thorough overview of your marketing efforts. By implementing these tools, you can streamline your planning process and guarantee consistent, organized content delivery across platforms. Take advantage of these resources to optimize your content management and achieve your marketing goals effectively. Image via Google Gemini This article, "7 Excel Content Calendar Templates You Need" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Once you start down the path of DIY, you'll soon realize that any time you find yourself wishing someone had created a tool to serve a specific purpose, someone probably has—no matter how narrow the use case. Case in point: The cordless blower/inflator. This tool is exactly what it sounds like. Shaped like a power drill, it simply...blows air (though sort of like a handheld leaf blower, these tools typically come with an array of nozzles to give you a bit of precision with the flow of your forced air). You might think this sounds like a tool you’ll never actually need, because you have lungs. But I'm here to convince you that you're wrong: A cordless blower will absolutely be one of the most useful tools you ever acquire. Makita XSA01Z Brushless Cordless High Speed Blower/Inflator $174.99 at Amazon $183.81 Save $8.82 Shop Now Shop Now $174.99 at Amazon $183.81 Save $8.82 One tool, many usesHandheld blowers have a lot of uses that make every DIY job you do a little bit easier and faster: Cleaning. Probably the most common use case for a blower is to quickly clean a work area by blowing away dust, sawdust, clippings, shavings, and other small debris. You can use a blower to quickly clear off a workbench, blow dust out of keyboards, engines, or anywhere else. This is also really useful if you have a tight spot where you can’t fit a tool—the blower can clean it out in a jiffy. It’s also useful for a quick cleanup on outdoor furniture or even my deck—while you might want an actual leaf blower for full-scale yard cleanup, a handheld blower can do an adequate, quickie cleanup on demand. Shortening drying times. If you’re waiting on something to dry out before you can move on to the next stage of your project, a blower can speed up that drying time considerably. Cooling other tools down. There’s nothing more irritating than an overheating tool that forces you to stop and wait for it to return to a safe operating temperature. A blower can speed up that process, acting as a high-powered fan with a very precise, narrow blast of air to cool down hot components. Redirecting dust and debris. When working inside, you often want to use a vacuum to collect dust as you work, but outside, a small, handheld blower can be more convenient. Using it to redirect dust and debris away from you as you work can keep grit out of your eyes and your workspace clean as you go. Inflating stuff. These blowers come with attachments that not only allow you to be as narrow or wide with your airstream as needed, but also fit into standard nozzles. Need to inflate an air mattress, pool ball, or anything else? The blower will make short work of it. Once I started using a blower while I worked, I found myself reaching for it constantly just to keep my workspace clear of dust, and then I started grabbing it literally any time a blast of air seemed helpful. You might not think you need a blower in your tool chest, but you probably do. Choosing a blowerMost cordless blowers are similar in terms of shape and function. The two from major brands you’ll come across most are Milwaukee’s M18 18V Brushless Cordless Precision Blower and Makita’s 18V LXT Brushless Cordless High Speed Blower/Inflator. They’re both solid tools, but I prefer the Makita because, in my experience, its battery life is much better (the Milwaukee has a bit more power, but I’ve never had a scenario where I needed more power). The Makita tends to last 45 minutes to an hour on a single charge, but when I borrowed a Milwaukee it died about a half hour into the job. Obviously, this will depend on a lot of variables, including what you’re using it for, but the Makita wins for me because every time I grabbed it there was enough charge left to finish the job. View the full article