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Tag: Planning

PMTimes_June21_2022

Understanding Enterprise Environmental Factors

Written by Mark Romanelli on . Posted in Articles.

Critical elements in strategic project management

 

As project managers, we can’t control everything.  In every project there are factors beyond our control that can have both large and small effects on the outcome of a project. Market demands, consumer tastes, corporate culture, even the weather, are all factors that can make a difference between project success and project failure.  While these are things we can’t change, we still need to be aware of the elements within our operating environment and what they mean to the projects we manage.

Enterprise Environmental Factors

Enterprise Environmental Factors (EEF’s) are conditions, not under the immediate control of the project team, that influence, constrain, or direct the project, program, or portfolio (Project Management Institute, 2021).  These are things that are beyond the control of the project team, and often the organization in which the project is taking place, that can have effects on the outcome of the project.  Projects take place in settings that can have effects, both positive and negative, on them.  Those factors can exist both inside of the company initiating the project as well as outside of it.  An organization and project team need to identify and consider those factors in order to increase the chances of project success (Arif-Ud-Din, 2020).

Strategic management is the systematic analysis of the factors associated with the external and internal environments of an organization to provide the basis for maintaining optimum management practices  (Thompson, 2010).  It means understanding what is going on both inside and outside of an organization in order to make better plans and decisions about what to do.  Simply put, strategy is deciding what to do to achieve your goals given what’s going on in the environment around you.  Strategic project management means the same thing; making decisions about actions to take in order to achieve your project goals and objectives in consideration of the environment in which the project is taking place.

Just as in general business activities, the operating environment of a project includes both the internal and external environments.  The internal environment includes everything within the organization; organizational structure, procedures, company culture, and so on.  The external environment is the environment outside of the organization and includes everything from customer tastes to legal restrictions, even the physical environment.

In summary, EEF’s are environmental factors, both internal and external, outside of the control of a project team that can have both positive and negative impacts on project results.  The chances of successfully completing a project are increased by strategically considering EEF’s in managing a project.

 

Addressing EEF’s in Projects

Because every project has at least some EEF’s affecting the outcome, every project manager needs to deal with and address those factors in each project that they manage.  All of the major project management methodologies and approaches have their own prescribed steps for addressing environmental factors, but when looked at as a whole, most of them recommend taking the same three steps: 1) Identifying the factors, 2) assessing them, and 3) planning for them.  Based on experience and best practices, this is also the recommended approach to take in addressing the issue of EFF’s in managing projects.  The overall goal is to strive for having a clear understanding of the project environment in order to be better able to pursue, and achieve, the objectives of the project.

 

Step 1: Identifying Enterprise Environmental Factors

From formal and structured assessments to informal examinations, several different methods exist for identifying EEF’s for every project.  The depth and complexity of each method may vary, but the overall goal is still the same, which is to develop as complete of a listing as possible of potential factors in the project environment beyond the control of the project team which may have effects on the outcome of the project.

Here are a few examples of ways to identify EEF’s in projects

PMI List of EEF’s

The Project Management Institute takes a formal approach to identifying enterprise environmental factors.  The table below examines both internal and external factors to be examined as inputs into various project development and execution stages.

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SWOT Analysis

Performing a SWOT analysis is a good way to identify EEF’s in a project.  While it is not a categorical list, as provided by the PMI list mentioned above, it does force a project team to examine elements of both the internal and external project environments.  In doing so, a list of EEF’s emerges and can be identified.

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One advantage of using this tool to identify EEF’s is that SWOT analysis is very well known and understood by most people, which makes it much easier to conduct.

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PESTLE Analysis

A more rigorous, but still approachable and usable analysis, is PESTLE.  PESTLE is an acronym standing for six macroenvironmental factors to examine that can be used in performing an industry analysis.

P Political
E Economic
S Social
T Technological
L Legal
E Environmental

 

Just like SWOT, the dimensions of the PESTLE analysis are not a categorical list of environmental factors in itself, but performing the analysis also helps to identify the various EEF’s that will affect a project.

Other Methods

Several other structured methods for market and environmental analysis exist; too many to develop a definitive list.  For market analysis, Five Forces analysis can be useful.  If culture is playing a factor in an international project, cultural dimensions such as those from the Hofstedde Institute or the GLOBE project might be useful.

More important than the tool or framework used to evaluate the project or market environment is the ability to identify the factors and how they might affect the projects chances for success.

 

Step 2: Assess the Identified Factors

With the list of factors in hand, the next step in the process is to asses each one.  The depth of the assessment will strongly depend on the needs of the individual project, but the following list can help to provide a basis for assessment that can be built on as necessary.

Each factor should be identified as internal or external to the organization conducting the project.  This asks the question, are the factors affecting success coming from inside or outside.  Does the identified factor increase or decrease the chance of project success?  This means identifying it as positive or negative. A factor can also be rated as neutral if it is simply an item for consideration in managing the project without any inherent positive or negative direct effect.  Is the factor stable or changing?  Assessing the stability of the factor means to examine if it will remain constant or if it is likely to change during the course of the life of that particular project.  Finally, any additional comments on the impact that factor might have on the project should be noted.

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Step 3: Plan for the Factors and their Effects on the Project

Finally, based on the assessment of the identified factors, project managers are in a better position to plan for managing the project in consideration of those factors.  Negative factors can be mitigated as best as possible.  Positive factors can be potentially taken advantage of to increase the changes of project success.  Factors likely to change throughout the lifetime of the project can be scheduled for reassessment as needed.  Other impacts can also be considered as appropriate for each factor.

 

Developing a full understanding of a project environment and considering the potential impacts on project processes and outcomes is an important part of strategic project management.  Projects are unique, and so are the environments in which they operate.  Those environments are also likely to change as time goes on.  The ability to consider the project environment is a tool that every project manager should develop and be able to use.

Visual Project Management: Everything You Need to Know

Written by Sasi Dharan on . Posted in Articles.

Visual project management has been creating a buzz in the project management arena, and it’s not difficult to see why. Visuals are captivating, and now that most companies have adopted a lean culture, project managers no longer have the time to go through multiple reports. Regular status briefings are also not enough to gain a complete picture of the project’s status, which is where visual task management comes into play.

It allows you to plan, execute and monitor the progress of your project quickly, without having to read multiple reports. Visuals also bring ideas to life and make complex ideas easier to understand, saving valuable time. Simply put, visual project management allows you to track your project in an easy and fun way. In this guide, we’ll highlight why you should embrace this method of task management.

What Is Visual Project Management?

Visual project management effectively plans and manages projects using tools and techniques such as calendars, Kanban boards, and timelines. These layouts allow you to visualize the progress of your project and give you quick insights into the key deliverables at a glance or in a digestible format.

Regardless of the projects you are managing, you need to find an effective way of planning and tracking the milestones. For instance, you need to know who’s responsible for what, key pieces essential to the project’s success, and any areas that are delaying project progress.

While traditional project management tools get the job done, they are ineffective. For example, spreadsheets and lists may contain all the important information, but it can take time to determine the true progress of your projects. This is because they are text-based, and let’s face it: the business environment is now so fast-paced that document-heavy processes just don’t cut it anymore.

How Do You Visualize a Project?

Research shows that your brain can process images in about 13 milliseconds, which is why visuals are an effective project management tool. They also allow you to capture and retain information easily.

IG Content:

6 Steps to Visualize a Project

  1. Plan your entire project schedule, including the important milestones and deadlines.
  2. Use a chart to organize your team while showing the relationship between all the key stakeholders.
  3. Present the data visually using maps, charts, infographics, and other images that allow for at-a-glance comprehension.
  4. Create a risk breakdown structure to assess the tentative project risks.
  5. Use a status report to track the project’s progress. Ensure everyone involved is updated periodically.
  6. Use color coding for effective communication. All project materials should be available for all stakeholders so everyone can see project progress in real time.

Here’s a step-by-step guide into how you can visualize your projects:

  1. Plan your entire project schedule, including the important milestones and deadlines.
  2. Use a chart to structure your team while showing the relationship between all the key stakeholders.
  3. Present the data visually using maps, charts, infographics, etc.
  4. Create a risk breakdown structure to assess the tentative project risks.
  5. Use a status report to track the project’s progress.
  6. Use color coding for effective communication.

The whole idea is to make sure that all the project’s key moving parts are organized & easy to identify and that everyone is kept in the loop.

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What Are the Benefits of Visual Task Management?

Here’s why you should adopt visual project management:

  • It enhances communication across all project levels.
  • It saves you time as you’re able to monitor the project’s progress at a glance.
  • It gives you clarity on the entire project and makes it easy to identify roadblocks slowing you down.
  • It allows you to make data-driven decisions.

Most importantly, visual task management helps you understand the true impact of making changes to a project in real-time.

What Are the Main Methods of Visual Representation of Projects?

There are 5 main tools you can use to make a visual project;

    I.         Calendars

Project calendars are straightforward, and they come in handy when there are multiple tasks to manage, all with varying due dates. They help you keep track of key deliverables and milestones as well as plan ahead for successful execution. You can use them on your social media calendars, editorial calendars, or other projects that require earlier preparation.

 II.         Kanban Boards

Kanban boards are essential for projects with distinct stages such as website development, sprint planning, bug tracking, and word results. They are visual tools that use cards to represent projects. These cards are then arranged in columns highlighting the project milestones, task priorities, and responsible personnel. When the project is completed, the cards are moved to the next stage, allowing you to identify the task progress at a glance.

III.         Timelines and Charts

Project timeline or Gantt charts come in handy for projects with definite start and end dates. They help you organize your entire project schedule so that everyone involved in the task is aware of the deadlines and the time each task should take. Some of the perfect tasks for timelines and charts include product launches, campaign management, and event planning.

IV.         Dashboards

Dashboards treat your project as a car and use intuitive tools such as charts and graphs to help you track the task progress. They highlight all the important project information on one page, showing you the overall progress. You can use this visual tool to check the status of tasks, track KPIs and manage the key resources. The dashboards you use should be intuitive and easy to navigate for maximum efficiency.

  V.         Mind Maps

We’ve all been in a situation where we know what we’d like to achieve but have a hard time organizing our ideas. Well, mind maps can come in handy during brainstorming sessions. They allow you to highlight your main ideas and then create sub-ideas below them until you have everything figured out. You can also use them when collaborating with the team to create a project plan.

Statistics reveal that around 48% of all organizational projects aren’t completed on time. This is shocking. By using the above visualization tools, you’ll be able to see the bigger picture without missing the key details.

FAQs

  1. What Are the Four Types of Project Management?
  2. Waterfall: This technique involves working on your project in waves, such that each project stage is dependent on the previous one.
  3. Agile: This method involves working on projects quickly, mostly by breaking them down into smaller projects that several teams can handle.
  4. Scrum: This technique uses sprints to complete projects.
  5. Lean: This project management method is all about achieving maximum project efficiency while putting the customer’s needs first.
  6. How Do You Visually Track a Project?

The best way to visualize a project is by first breaking it down into several phases and then creating timelines, defining KPIs, and highlighting important milestones. You should then communicate this plan to your team for maximum efficiency.

  1. What Are the Five Elements of Project Management?
  2. Conception and initiation: This is the beginning of the project, and the task details are usually broad.
  3. Project planning: At this stage, you should set goals and create a roadmap of how and when your project should be completed.
  4. Project execution: This is where you develop deliverables and complete them. You can also make modifications when needed.
  5. Project monitoring: At this stage, you keep track of the performance and progress of the tasks.
  6. Project completion.

Streamline Your Project Management Today!

There are many frameworks and methodologies you can combine with visual project management to help better streamline your achievement and success.

Combining project management with a robust performance management program, for example, can help hold your team accountable for their deliverables, as well as offer them continuous feedback so they can constantly improve their performance on a certain project. Give your team an opportunity to evaluate themselves, and show them self-evaluation examples so they know exactly what information they should share with you. This will help you gain a better understanding of how they see themselves and their contributions in the organization.

Managing a Project with a Volunteer Team

Written by Kim Fields on . Posted in Articles.

You’re a project manager, right? So, when you’re at home, you take the project management hat off, right? Wrong! You apply similar principles that you use in your organization to getting projects done at home. Case in point: I recently reorganized/refurbished my home office. I had a small idea of what this project would entail, but, as with any project, there were uncertainties and risks. One of the uncertainties was dealing with a volunteer team that helped to clear out the old furnishings and streamline what was kept as well as a volunteer decor team. No, it’s not as complex as some of the projects that we manage in IT, but it was still important to apply some of the key tools and techniques of project management to this home project.

Stakeholders: The primary stakeholder of this project was me, the homeowner. My main concern for the project was that the available resources were utilized efficiently and that the final product would provide maximum utilitarian use. The ancillary stakeholders would be those who participated in the project, where their reputations became the currency.

Communication: The exchange of information that primarily occurred on this project was internal communication — that is between me, as the project manager, and the volunteer team members who were part of the project. The method of communication occurred mostly via text messages and phone calls. Those messages were conveyed on a semiweekly basis with the participants that were necessary for the next particular phase of the project.

Schedule, Cost, Quality: This was a 4-month project utilizing the following duration timeline:

The cost (budget) for the project was $2000, which mainly included purchasing the furnishings, paintings, and lighting. A small percentage of the budget was allocated for appreciation gifts, beverages and refreshments.

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Quality for the project meant understanding how the project would meet the needs for which it was created. The project was created to refurbish and revitalize my home office so that it was a calm and effective workspace. This was accomplished by determining my requirements for the end product and acquiring the best services and products at a reasonable cost that met my standards. Items purchased should be durable and match the new color scheme for the office. Quality also entails trusting that everyone on the project team understands what is expected of him or her as well as their willingness to meet those expectations. This aspect of quality was communicated to each project participant prior to their commitment to work on the project. I served as the final authority to make the necessary decisions when corrective actions were warranted.

Scope: The scope of the project included removing 90% of the old decor in the office, removing clutter and unused items such as old paperwork, files, books, etc., items that no longer brought me joy, organizing and storing the remaining books, purchasing new furnishings, and creating an open floor plan. The scope did not include removing any walls or doors, painting the walls or replacing the flooring.

Multi-generational Team Management and Coordination: The project team was strictly voluntary team consisting of the decoration lead, clearing lead, cleanup crew (3), organizing/decor team (3). The team members had varying levels of experience; this helped in many ways to streamline the process and also, for those team members with minimal experience, to slow down the process as well. The availability of this volunteer team was an issue since several had other projects going on and were unavailable during parts of the project. The team members were present and working for a minimum of 6 hours on the days they were scheduled; breaks and refreshments were served. Team members generally worked every other weekend with one team member on site either on a Saturday or a Sunday; during the clearing and cleaning phase, a couple of team members were present for one Saturday. Working with Gen Xers and Millennials was an interesting experience as far as the levels of commitment and the differences in communication styles. While most participants understood the vision that I had for the final product, Gen Xers stayed on task with getting the work done whereas Millennials tended to need more guidance on the task at hand in order to complete the work

Success/Customer Satisfaction: Overall, the project was a success. The main criteria that were used to determine whether the project was a success or not comprised: (1) staying on budget; (2) the overall aesthetics and energy of the office; (3) ease of use for accessing various items in the office; (4) furnishings that conveyed calm/openness and provided ample storage; (5) sufficient natural light; and (6) the incorporation of greenery. Using various light sources including the natural light that streams through the patio window as well as multiple artificial light sources was an important element as for as creating a diverse ambience for completing various tasks/work. Everyone was thanked for their work and participation on the project; the team leads were provided with appreciation gifts.

Lessons Learned: The lessons learned on this project are things to keep in mind for any future home projects. These particular lessons were:

  • Ensure the availability of resources that are scheduled to complete tasks by certain days (and making sure that all affected parties are aware of that availability).
  • Have more oversight over the demolition crew (who ended up throwing away a couple of binders that were important).
  • Make sure that the communication channels are clear and that updates are provided in a timely manner to all concerned (there were a couple of times when I expected the team member to be present and their absence was communicated to someone else on the team but not to me).

Scale Your Company’s Effectively With These Top 5 Business Trends

Written by Jimmy Rodela on . Posted in Articles.

The global business landscape is rapidly changing, making it challenging for businesses to keep up.

If you don’t know and learn to adapt to the emerging business trends, you could miss opportunities to scale and grow your business.

The solution? Understand the five major trends below.

These trends are likely to dominate the business landscape in the coming years. Learning them now can help you scale your company and better position it for success.

1. Growing customer preference for alternative pickup options

The pandemic has forced many companies to get more creative at the point of sale to accommodate changes in how customers wanted (and needed) to obtain products.

As a result, alternative pickup options and contactless delivery dominated 2020, which is likely to continue moving forward.

According to data from Medallia Zingle, 87% of surveyed customers prefer that businesses continue to offer options such as curbside pickup to limit in-person visits.

One of the top small business trends to follow to accommodate customer preferences is to invest in contactless delivery, curbside pickup, touchless payment, and other options.

Doing so allows you to prepare your business to accommodate this shift in how customers want and expect to buy and acquire your products.

2. Expansion to eCommerce

While online shopping isn’t new, the shift from physical stores to eCommerce will only continue to boom.

Data shows a forecasted growth of 16.1%, reaching $1.06 trillion in 2022 for U.S. retail eCommerce sales—highlighting how online shopping isn’t likely to slow down any time soon.

Optimize your business’s eCommerce presence to stay ahead of this trend, especially if you’re a brick-and-mortar store shifting to the digital space.

Some of the ways to help you adopt this trend effectively include:

  • Setting up an eCommerce website or optimizing your existing site for mobile and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to help increase your web page rankings and visibility.
  • Leveraging the best digital channels to use for your online marketing efforts, such as social media, email marketing, and all the channels successful ecommerce companies utilize.
  • Delivering personalized and memorable shopping experiences on your website to stand out from your competitors while encouraging purchases from your visitors.

3. Increase in foot traffic

While more customers prefer to shop online, consumers who want to shop in physical stores are likely to increase as restrictions are lowered.

Data from Adentro substantiates this, showing that the average customer foot traffic growth to physical stores is at 27.44% as of February 2022.

Prepare your brick-and-mortar store for the potentially significant increase in foot traffic by providing various payment and pickup options.

You can also offer seamless offline and online marketing, sales, and customer service processes.

One example is to provide an omnichannel experience that allows customers to shop and buy your products across connected (online and offline) touchpoints and channels seamlessly.

For instance, customers can shop and pay online and pick up their purchases from their nearest physical store.

4. Emphasis on social media marketing

According to Statista, the number of social media users globally will reach almost 4.41 billion by 2025.

With this massive number of social media users, platforms such as Facebook and Instagram will remain excellent channels for marketing.

That is because you’ll have a huge reserve of audiences you can tap into and potentially turn into paying and loyal customers on social media platforms.

Below are some of the social media marketing trends to watch for and leverage for your business.

More companies will hire dedicated staff for social media

Social media marketing has a huge potential to drive engagement, conversions, and sales, prompting companies to hire dedicated people to manage social media initiatives.

Dedicated social media hires allow you to optimize your social media marketing efforts instead of tasking your already busy teams.

You can prioritize your social media marketing efforts and avoid missing tons of conversion and sales opportunities.

With a social media manager, you can turn social media marketing into a revenue-generating initiative for your business.

Social media advertising will be more sophisticated

The third-party cookie is bound to die out as Google will start to phase out cookie tracking by 2023.

The death of third-party cookies means you’ll need to pivot your advertising strategies and turn to other approaches.

This is where targeted ads across social media channels and User-Generated Content (UGC) come in.

Instead of relying on third-party cookies, 2022 onward will likely open opportunities to develop data-driven strategies using metrics based on social media user interactions with your brand.

The focus will more likely be on using the metrics to understand your target audiences’ preferences and interests more personally and deeply.

It can help you tailor your ads better to address your audience’s pain points and problems and ultimately compel viewers into acting on your offers.

Consumers will prefer bite-sized content

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook Stories are becoming the most preferred ways for social media users to engage with brands.

As such, 2022 and beyond will see audiences consuming more bite-sized content across social media channels.

Develop solid social media marketing strategies to help your business gain a competitive advantage over other brands that are also jumping into the “snackable” content trend.

5. AI and big data will drive core business processes

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and big data will play crucial and even bigger roles in collecting and analyzing massive volumes of business information.

AI and data analytics are bound to become more advanced and sophisticated, fueling critical business processes such as marketing, sales, customer service, etc.

Through AI and big data technologies, you can gain actionable insights quickly to help you:

  • Target audiences with your marketing campaigns better
  • Streamline internal process workflows
  • Forecast and predict sales and marketing patterns and trends

Advanced AI, Machine Learning (ML), and big data analytics tools are likely to become indispensable.

These technologies allow your business to gain more in-depth knowledge about your customers’ preferences, interests, demographics, and content consumption and buying behaviors.

You can leverage the data to provide highly personalized and custom consumer experiences.

Essentially, adopting more sophisticated AI and data analytics technologies will become necessary to succeed in the modern business landscape.

The technologies will allow minimal guesswork and more data-based strategies and decision-making for companies across industries.

Know the latest trends to position your business for success

Business trends can come and go and rapidly change, but some are meant to stay and will only continue to evolve over the years.

Understand the latest business trends to learn how these can impact your core business processes and initiatives, helping you scale and grow your company.

Get a head start by knowing the business trends in this guide.

Principles of eCommerce Project Management

Written by Ivan Serrano on . Posted in Articles.

What is eCommerce Project Management and Why is it Important?

eCommerce project management is the application of knowledge skills, tools, and techniques in a structured manner to reach eCommerce project goals and requirements. Proper project management can improve a business’s efficiency, foster collaboration between teammates, boost a team’s performance, and improve customer satisfaction. eCommerce project management differs from traditional project management because online businesses function differently at a fundamental level. For example, the storefront management component of a traditional business isn’t relevant to completely digital companies.

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Methods of eCommerce Project Management

  • Lean Project Management

Lean project management is an iterative process, meaning it is meant to be updated continuously until the desired outcome is met. The primary objective of lean project management is to deliver value to the client. This is done by polishing the final product at each stage in the management process, rather than focusing on a long-term implementation plan. In this sense, lean project management is a more reactive process than other management methods.

  • Agile Project Management

Agile project management is another iterative form of management similar to lean project management. The primary difference with agile project management is that each phase of the process focuses on a new element of the final product rather than refining the product at each step. Agile project management also allows for customer feedback to be gathered and implemented very quickly. Flexibility is the primary benefit of agile project management.

  • Waterfall Project Management

Waterfall project management is the oldest method of project management that is still common today. The waterfall project management method is sequential instead of iterative. In this method, the entire project is planned at the beginning of the process. This includes research and development, product introduction, and product launching. The primary benefit of the waterfall method is that your team will have a solid final goal to work towards and an overall sense of direction. However, this method of project management is pretty rigid and does not adapt well to customer feedback or new ideas for implementation.

  • Scrum

Scrum project management has a strong focus on collaboration between team members. Scrum management usually involves short, frequent, oftentimes daily, meetings where team members review project progress, discuss the problems they are facing and plan the objectives for the day. These frequent meetings make it easy to ensure that every member of a team is on the same page. The scrum process is divided into phases known as sprints. Each sprint focuses on creating a ready-to-use product that can be refined in later sprints.

  • Kanban

Kanban is similar to the scrum style of project management due to its use of sprints, but the lifecycle of each sprint is shorter than in the scrum method. The Kanban management style is also more flexible than scrum because it allows for project elements to be refined whenever necessary, not just in later sprints. Kanban focuses on continuous changes and updates that contribute to overall task progress.

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How to Plan Your eCommerce Projects

The planning process of your eCommerce project will vary depending on the style of project management you have implemented, but there are a few crucial aspects that are present in any eCommerce planning process.

  • Competitor Analysis

The eCommerce market is growing rapidly and has a fierce amount of competition. Competitor analysis will give you valuable insights into the competition’s strengths and weaknesses, which can benefit you in a few different ways. Firstly, these insights will allow your business to adapt. You’ll be able to avoid the mistakes that other companies have made and implement strategies that have worked. Secondly, competitor analysis will show you what makes your business unique compared to other companies. This will enable your business to focus on a niche in the market that you can better serve.

  • Website Planning and Business Optimization

Having a fast, intuitive website that is easy to use is incredibly important to eCommerce businesses. If your website doesn’t offer customers a good user experience, then it is unlikely that they’ll return to make another purchase. Creating a memorable website goes beyond the design and structure of your website, it should also have modern functionality such as responsive windows and automation. Many online shoppers today make purchases through mobile devices so your eCommerce business’s website should be capable of responding to different screen sizes. Websites that function well on multiple devices generally outperform unoptimized websites. Many consumers also expect websites to have automated functions. Automation can also streamline certain business operations. For example, shipping APIs can streamline warehouse processes and allow more orders to be fulfilled.

  • Advertising

Advertising is important for businesses of all sizes in any industry. There are several channels that can be used for advertising. These include physical advertisements, influencer campaigns, social media profiles, and digital advertisements. Social media is arguably the most important advertising channel for eCommerce businesses because it offers them a means of two-way engagement with potential customers.