In marketing, “effective” can mean different things based on the company, team, and even individual. But the core of marketing is intrigue—to get potential customers or clients interested in what you do. The products you sell, the services you provide, your unique brand. That’s a very general, high-level goal, but each company will also have their more specific desired marketing outcomes, as well as their own ways to achieve it.

Companies and employees are discovering that remote work is not just possible—it may even be preferable. A whopping 52% of people say they are considering shifting to hybrid or remote work this year, and remote and hybrid jobs are the most popular among applicants—they garner 2.6 times more views and 3 times more applications than on-site positions.

Clearly, hybrid work is here to stay. Anticipating this change early on, many updates to Microsoft 365, including in Teams, have been geared toward facilitating successful hybrid work. Let’s look at some of the newest and upcoming features that will make a big difference in your hybrid workplace.

As manufactures adapt to growing trends, changing needs, and accelerated demand, they need a business management solution that is as agile and responsive as their business operations. Dynamics 365 Business Central for Manufacturing is a leading midmarket manufacturing management solution that offers rich, industry-specific functionality to drive automation, cut down on overhead costs, and give your operations a cutting-edge advantage. Here are five ways manufacturers can benefit from upgrading to a cloud manufacturing ERP system like Business Central

Whether you’re replacing an outdated legacy system or if you’ve outgrown your current system and need a new solution that can keep up, implementing an ERP solution is an exciting business decision that will help you unify your business processes, modernize outdated processes, and prop yourself up for success and advancement.

Replacing a system that no longer meets the needs of your organization is vital to support your continued growth, and it can be a serious undertaking. Here are ten do’s and don’ts to keep in mind whether you’re still in the research phase or already in the beginning phases of an implementation project.

A cohesive brand is one that is consistent no matter what or where it is. Visually, your brand can be differentiated by the colors, logo, fonts, and other defining characteristics unique to you. Keeping your brand identifiable across all touchpoints your customers encounter boosts brand recognition, which increases reach and effectiveness of your marketing content.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite of cloud-based business applications of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions. Data-driven and inter-connected, these apps sport modern and aligned interfaces, robust built-in capabilities, and highly customizable development. Whether you use one or many of these apps, there are many build-in features that allow you to create brand-specific content.

The on-premise deployment of Dynamics CRM is a long-standing, reliable CRM option, but adopting a cloud-based solution like Dynamics 365 Sales comes with an unprecedented level of securities, tools, and features. Plus, making the jump to a cloud-based business application is easier than you might imagine. With features like pipeline visibility, task organization, sales activity automation, collaborative workflows, end-to-end data security, and more, all in one unified workspace, working smarter has never been easier with Dynamics 365 Sales on the cloud.

We’ve broken down just a few of the benefits of adopting a cloud-based system, and some of the features that make Dynamics 365 Sales the premier cloud-based sales CRM solution.

Let’s imagine this scenario together: You’re searching for your first or your next ERP solution for your business, but you’re worried about a few things. First and foremost, you will likely consider functionality and budget – what will this cost, does it have what I need, and will it pay off?

After you’ve found a viable ERP—say Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central—you move on to other concerns, like the dreaded how long will this take?

Dynamics 365 Business Central is a growth-minded business management solution that helps organizations stay on top of goals with agility and is the future of Microsoft’s cloud ERP development. It’s a scalable application with a sleek user interface, plus it’s easy to customize (extensively, too) for nearly every business need imaginable.

Business Central boasts a few different license options, so organizations can fine-tune their licensing plan to just the right solution with everything they need to get the job done quickly and reliably. Find the right Business Central licensing for your business needs:

Design principles fill entire textbooks and four-year college degrees. Safe to say the subject is ripe with intrigue and value, yet it is fraught with trouble spots. Strong design for all content is a key requirement for marketing content, such as website pages, blog images, and social media posts.

Because blogs and social media are often created in-house, it’s necessary to nurture the skills needed to build professional visuals for your marketing content, whether it be an infographic, a blog image, a thumbnail image, a social media visual, a header for email campaigns, or anything. But if you or your team is not trained in graphic design, how do you achieve this? Sticking to design best practices is a good first step, and below we will share a handful to start you on the right path.

Efficiency is something we all strive for, but it seems as though only a lucky few can finish their workday without feeling bogged down or sidetracked one way or another. Not everyone has that natural luck, so that’s where Power Automate comes into play. Some Flows are specific to certain Microsoft applications like Business Central, Dynamics 365 Sales, or Dynamics 365 Marketing, but others can be used to facilitate just about anything.

A plethora of no-code-necessary, pre-built Flows are out there for the everyday user just looking to get started. Here are our picks for five prebuilt Power Automate Flows that can help make your everyday a breeze:

Acquainting yourself with all the apps and technology required to perform your job responsibilities is a hefty task, let alone using your tech stack with peak efficiency. That’s why it’s so beneficial when applications work together to help you do your job. Enter Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 applications. Built to seamlessly and natively integrate with each other, these business and productivity apps make it easier to transition from one to the other throughout your workday—sometimes without having to actually open another screen.

Social media is a hotbed for marketing these days: everyone is on it, every business needs to take advantage of it, and there are many strategies to engage your audience across various platforms. Marketers work hard to create strong content for their business’ social media accounts—from witty, thoughtful, or research-backed posts, to content from their own website (like blogs, infographics, and whitepapers), to engaging advertisements.

So, when most of the hard work is done, how do you ensure that those efforts are as effective as possible and return as much on your investment as it can? Believe it or not, it’s often simple steps that lead to immense shifts in social media likes, clicks, website visits, and leads.

Plans have been released for the 2022 Release Wave 1, the semi-annual feature upgrades for the Dynamics 365 suite of business applications. These feature releases keep you on the forefront of technology with improvements based off user feedback – so you can always count on quality updates that really make a difference in your workday.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new, standout features coming to Dynamics 365 Marketing with Release Wave 1:

The Dynamics 365 suite of cloud-based business applications are always being improved as user needs are identified and the cutting edge of technology advances. The coming upgrade is Release Wave 1 of 2022, scheduled from April through September. Some of the foci for these updates across applications include leveraging data, AI, and ideal timing to create better experiences throughout the sales and marketing experience, simplifying onboarding, increasing productivity, optimizing collaboration, and improving connectors and integrations. Here’s an overview of what’s coming to Dynamic 365 apps—Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, and Business Central—for this release wave.

While Power Automate is intuitive and accessible for any level of coding experience, it does include its own set of vocabulary that must be learned, as with any new business application. To help you on your journey, whether you’re new to Power Automate or becoming reacquainted, below we’ve outlined the key terms you will encounter when working with Power Automate:

Things like real-time customer journeys, recommended actions, SMS messaging, and using natural language to create targeted segments are exciting (and relatively new) features that can help you connect with customers in the ways that matter most. Now, AI has been harnessed in Dynamics 365 Marketing for a new, imaginative feature called Content ideas.

Here’s how to use Content ideas to quickly generate on-message content to create personalized customer experiences:

Without a doubt, automation is at the front of the pack, in terms of efficiency-building technology. Automating processes within your business—especially time-consuming, manual, and repetitive tasks—can free up calendars and mindpower for activities that can lend more value to a business.

Enter Power Automate, an application made to connect other apps in order to help them work together to complete your tasks faster, with less effort from you. Power Automate is included these Office 365 subscription plans: Enterprise E3, Business Premium, and Business Essentials (head to our page for pricing and further details). We’ve compiled an overview of Power Automate for those wondering the key questions: what is it, what are its benefits, and how does it work?

So you’re thinking about migrating from Dynamics GP to Business Central, but have a few questions you’d like to answer first—like, are they really that different from one another? Well, the answer is yes and no. We’ve started this blog and video series to help break down some commonly asked questions and points of concern when considering a migration, and we’ll talk you through some differences and similarities to be aware of as you plan for the migration process.

For the next video in this series, we’ll zoom in for a closer look at some of the small details that differentiate GP and Business Central, like the terminology that each system uses for certain functions and features.

If you’re using NAV and considering a switch to Business Central, you may have many of the same questions our own clients have asked us. To help you make your most informed decision, here are our answers to the most frequently asked questions for a NAV to Business Central upgrade.

The story behind Business Central’s growth is steeped in Microsoft’s history, and it brings clarity to the movement that many Dynamics GP users may not be aware of: though Microsoft has several ERP’s—including Dynamics GP and Dynamics NAV—Business Central is now Microsoft’s premier midmarket ERP solution. Undoubtedly, if GP is near and dear to you, you will not be on board with a migration without first knowing the answer to this question: why should a business move from an ERP they are comfortable with (such as GP) and forge ahead with a new ERP?

We’ve compiled the most frequently asked questions, and our answers, on the subject.