What is organizational culture? Definition

Organizational culture is believed to be an integral part of the workplace and plays a key role in it. There are many definitions of this concept. According to economists, it is “the appropriate organizational climate and management method, a system of incentives, qualifications, and interpersonal relations.” According to E. Schein, the culture of an organization can be called a pattern of basic assumptions discovered, invented or developed by a group during its confrontation with its internal problems or with the problems of the environment. There are many other definitions, but they have common points from which it can be concluded that the organizational culture expresses patterns of behavior, norms and values relevant to the company. It has various functions:

– enables the integration of employees,
– determines the manner and time of criticizing people in power, and the decisions they make,
– allows you to understand the strategy and assumptions of the company, as well as to identify its basic goal,
– increases employee involvement,
– defines the boundaries of the group, and additionally the criteria for accepting and rejecting it,
– allows you to avoid aggressive actions and negative emotions, and soothes conflicts.

Organizational culture is based on various disciplines, such as organizational sociology, social psychology and anthropology. It makes it possible to distinguish a given company from others on the market, and also attracts people with similar values.

Components of organizational culture

The aforementioned E. Schein distinguished three elements of organizational culture, that is: artifacts, norms and values, as well as basic assumptions. They should be compatible with each other. Artifacts are conscious, visible, but also artificial cultural creations that require interpretation. They are divided into several types:

– linguistic – this group includes both the language, history and legends of the company,
– behavioral – ceremonies, employee behavior, rituals,
– physical – items characteristic for the company, dress code, technology.

Norms and values are an element more durable than artifacts, but also more difficult to observe. These include:

– a specific image,
– company strategy and goals,
– features desired in employees,
– organizational structure,
– management style.

In turn, the basic assumptions are considered to be the foundation of any organizational culture. This element is the most durable of all three, and at the same time the most difficult to notice. It mainly includes:

– the nature of man and the environment,
– the company itself,
– the company’s relations with the environment,
– interpersonal relations.

Types of organizational cultures

There are different lists presenting the types of organizational culture. One of the most popular models is the one developed by K. Cameron and R. Quinn in 2006. It is considered universal, according to him, there are four types of organizational cultures:

– Klan – otherwise family culture, typical of local, small businesses. They all share similar personality traits, share the same values, and maintain friendly relationships. Great emphasis is placed here on employee involvement and team building, but also on tradition and loyalty. In the culture of the clan, an important role is also played by freedom of action and a partner-like attitude towards clients.
– Market – popular in particular in very large sales companies. It puts emphasis on getting tasks done and improving results. There is a lot of competition between employees and leaders. Hostile attitude towards competition, sometimes also towards the customers themselves, is a common phenomenon in market culture.
– Hierarchy – the opposite of the clan culture, there are many professional levels and well-defined structures and rules here. The leader ensures that the employees are correctly following the procedures. It is a bureaucratic and formalized culture, characteristic of international corporations. Problems and situations that arise are usually solved at a given level.
– Adhocracy – it is characterized by innovation and creativity. The exercise of power is exercised by people who have the greatest knowledge in a given field. The culture of adhocracy is dynamic, focused on constant development and adaptation to the changing reality. Employees are encouraged to new ideas and experiment.

Another division can be found in many studies on this subject. It distinguishes three cultures:

– Normative – the company’s employees fully agree with its goals. They are committed and fully devoted to their tasks, and they often treat the workplace as a second home.
– Coercion – the opposite of normative culture. People work in a given company for financial reasons. It is true that they follow the applicable rules and values, but do not identify with them. This makes the level of employee involvement low, they have no hesitation to leave the company when the opportunity arises.
– Utilitarian – one could say that it is situated between the culture of coercion and the normative one. Employees are involved in their duties for financial reasons, but wages are not their main motivation. There is therefore a certain bond between them and the company.

The organizational culture begins to take shape at the moment of establishing the company. It is very often influenced by the personality and approach of the business founders. It is worth remembering that each enterprise is influenced by various internal and external factors. Organizational culture may change accordingly. Of great importance is, among others the age of the employees and their character traits. Usually, younger people are more risk-prone and open to changes, thanks to which the company becomes more dynamic. On the other hand, older employees attach importance mainly to the sense of security and tradition. The industry, competition in the market or even the value system of the society are also important for the organizational culture.

Why is organizational culture important and how to create it?

The culture of the organization greatly influences the way the company operates. It determines not only the types of relations between employees, but also determines the way in which it is perceived by customers. Not every person using the offer of a selected company knows its system of values. However, it can be easily seen when employees are involved, conscientiously fulfill their duties and, above all, care about the right approach to customers. It is thanks to the organizational culture that everyone can experience the values and the code of ethics adopted by a given company. Thanks to it, the company also gains a chance to stand out from the competition. It is not uncommon that the elements of the organizational culture have a decisive impact on customers’ purchasing decisions, so everything should be carefully prepared.

More and more often it is said that organizational culture plays an equally important role as a good operating strategy. Even a very original business idea will not be successful if the right organizational culture is not built. However, many entrepreneurs have doubts about how to do this. You should pay attention to, among others on the selection of people for the team, but not only in terms of knowledge, competences and skills. It is also necessary to take into account whether future employees agree with the values on which the company wants to focus. Other important aspects include:

– consistency (between what is said in the company and what happens later),
– specifically formulated standards and expectations,
– skillful listening to employees, using their creativity and talents,
– establishing clear rules, respectfully,
– encouraging employees to discuss (especially about what works for the company and what doesn’t),
– discussing failures and learning from them for the future.

In the era of a pandemic, supporting employees has become even more important in the context of creating organizational culture. They may feel stressed and insecure about the future, and have problems finding work-life balance. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to their mental health and make them feel safe. This shows employees that regardless of the circumstances, they can count on their company and are an important part of it.

Neglecting the individual elements that make up the organizational culture may affect the fate of the company. There is a risk that it will develop too slowly or not at all, and therefore will not be successful. An underdeveloped organizational culture means that employees are not motivated to work, there are also other problems such as avoiding active action, lack of willingness to improve oneself and the entire business, or a negative image of the company outside. Its construction is a long process, which requires finding the golden mean between too rigid approach and giving too much freedom. It is worth spending a lot of time and taking care of every detail to create or redefine the organizational culture. This will facilitate building your position and gaining an advantage over competitive enterprises, as well as creating space for employees to increase their efficiency.

The examples of how different organizational culture can be. When asking about role models, experts often point to companies such as Google, Danone or Apple. Each of them developed their own scheme of action allowing them to achieve successive successes. Entrepreneurs should be aware that the organizational culture largely determines the way their businesses operate, and the management’s approach has a key influence on its shaping.

Why does Google support small and medium enterprises?

According to data from the World Bank, companies from the SME sector constitute as much as 90% of all companies. The same applies to the majority of advertisers, i.e. Google customers, who are currently facing the loss of customers and employees. That’s why Google has decided to help those whose business may suffer the most during an epidemic, as well as those who play such an important role in the market and whose survival is so important.

How does Google support the SME sector?

As part of support for companies in the SME sector, Google provides additional funds for advertising campaigns run in Google Ads (including search, advertising and YouTube, as well as in all types of campaigns). Advertisers who have been running their campaigns on Google in the last 10 months of 12 in 2019 are eligible for the program. Paraphrase-Online.com specialists reports that also newer advertising accounts or campaigns that were conducted in a shorter time and whose expenses oscillated at a higher level can also count on an additional advertising budget.

How to apply for an additional amount of advertising from Google?

You do not need to apply for funds. Google itself qualifies our company and transfers the appropriate amount to our advertising account. Importantly, the amounts received for advertising cannot be transferred to another account, divided or refunded. So, if our company operates in the SME sector, it probably has already received support. We will also receive an email when the funds are credited to your account.

How much advertising money can you get under the program?

The additional amount for the ad is expected to reach all advertisers by July 1. According to Google information, it depends on past Google Ads spending, the country of billing address, and the currency in which the campaign is being run on the Google Ads account. The earned amounts for advertising can fluctuate significantly, but the maximum amount paid will not exceed $ 1,000. Currently, at Paraphrase-Online.com, we monitor the inflows to our clients’ accounts and inform those whose accounts have already appeared. According to our observations, they currently range from around $ 40 to $ 250.

Advertisers can use amounts sent by Google until the end of 2020. Importantly, the unused sum will automatically disappear from the advertising account after December 31 and cannot be restored.

On the other side of the room in the corner sits a mysterious person. Nobody exchanged a word with her and has no idea where she came from. The mysterious guest holds the cards in his hands and performs magic tricks. After a few minutes, someone finally pays attention to him and begins to comment loudly on the show. Gradually, more interested parties appear, and finally half of the participants gather. Many viewers eagerly cheer on the magician and assist him in performing tricks. Guerrilla marketing works in a similar way.

In the described situation, both people finally draw the attention of other participants to the event. The difference is how much they have invested and how they have communicated to achieve the goal. The main assumption of guerrilla marketing is to achieve the best effect, bearing absolutely minimal costs. How to do it?

You can’t enter through the door? Try out the window! Insane guerrilla marketing.

Consumers have become accustomed to being bombarded with advertising messages at every turn. No one is able to process all these stimuli, and above all, they do not have the slightest desire. Defense mechanisms allow the separation of grain from chaff. Recipients only pay attention to messages consistent with their interests, meeting the needs or being so interesting and unconventional that you can not pass by indifferently.

Advertisers using guerrilla techniques strive to surprise the recipient and evoke emotions. The safest option is to create a playful creation. After all, laughter is a positive reaction that will consolidate positive associations with the brand. Many daredevils are also trying to use elements of the environment to form brilliant conclusions. The finished composition makes the audience reflect and stays in their consciousness, even if they are not aware of it. Bolder marketers go all the way and try to shock the recipients by breaking taboos. Sometimes such attempts end in a media scandal, but this does not necessarily mean failure. The seed has been sown, and soaring sales results prove that it’s worth taking the risk.

Guerrilla marketing rules

In guerrilla marketing, you do not need to present in detail the distinguishing features of your offer. It would be inadvisable, because it soothes the message, which must be simple and volatile. The campaign is to generate the widest reach and expand brand awareness. This is the first stage of the sales funnel. Importantly, if you skillfully formulate a message, the recipients will do the rest of the work for you. After all, if you managed to arouse their curiosity and do not know much about you, then they will want to get to know you better. Then you can also gradually reveal more cards. Remember, however, to increase the tension and not to reveal everything you have to offer too quickly. As a result, the interest will be self-driving, and with it you will get the involvement of users.

Mental shortcuts have sprouted around the described phenomenon that would be worth correcting. The articles state that guerrilla marketing is a great solution for companies that have a limited budget but want to generate a large reach and stand out on the market. We are not going to undermine this, but this is not the only solution. It is worth slightly broadening the perspective. Guerrilla activities are also great as a diversification of marketing strategy in wealthier enterprises. Then they will complement the conventional methods and allow paving new routes to reach customers.

It also happens that guerrilla marketing is often seen in the context of offline campaigns. In fact, many outdoor creations have been created because urban space is great in this role. This does not mean, however, that you cannot operate suddenly on the network. Social media, mobile applications and websites are also a great environment to surprise users.

Guerrilla marketing in practice

Netflix has been setting trends in a diverse approach to marketing for years. The American company uses the image of actors, but also does not shun unconventional actions. An example is the installation that stood on the main market in Cracow (Poland). Next to “Erosa bendato”, i.e. the head carved by Igor Mitoraj, a second head was placed, in this case depicting the image of Salvador Dali, who promoted the series “Money Heist / La casa de papel”. According to accounts, the creators only paid $ 69 for 2 weeks of exposure.

In the age of the coronavirus pandemic, everyone repeats like a mantra so as not to leave the house unnecessarily. Streaming platforms turned out to be a blessing at a time when sitting in front of a computer or TV is one of the few forms of entertainment available. What if an almost unlimited database of movies and series is not enough to keep people in check? Netflix has placed posters depicting spoilers from his most popular productions in cities. If you can’t adapt to the rules, you’ll learn what will happen in the next episode.

Noteworthy is the series “The Walking Dead” presents the story of people who are fighting for survival in a world dominated by bloodthirsty zombies. During the promotion of the next season, the creators did not change their clothes and decided to shake the recipients. The promotional campaign used a truck that was splashed with blood and cut off human limbs protruding from the open shed. The whole composition was complemented by the visual identity of the series and information about the release date of new episodes.

Guerrilla marketing in online channels often comes down to responding quickly to user statements. This was the case with the British Virgin Trains line, where Dante’s stages took place. One of the passengers used the toilet but was out of toilet paper. In a gesture of despair he called for help on Twitter. The carrier fished his appeal out of the jungle of fasts and sent a rescue mission. This inconspicuous situation captivated other users who eagerly distributed the publication. As a result, the company could significantly expand its brand awareness while creating a positive image.

When should you use guerrilla marketing?

Guerrilla advertising seems to be interesting and effective. Under the influence of emotions, one can get the illusory impression that this is the only right approach to marketing, and more conventional methods are a melody of the past. However, this is only an illusion resulting from the specifics of the target group. The goal of guerrilla marketing is to create a message that will spread virally. Thus, the most valuable recipients will be active users of social media, eager to flood the internet with an avalanche of comments about original creations. It should be borne in mind, however, that this group includes mainly younger users who love new products and unconventional practices.

On the other hand, there are more conservative consumers who prefer the classic approach to presenting the offer. They want to have black and white what you can offer them and what they will have from it. Fireworks and weirdness don’t matter to them. Therefore, you can not get carried away. The analysis of the target group plays a significant role and will determine the success or failure of the entire campaign. You must have at least a pre-emptive feeling that your concept will appeal to someone besides you, your friends and colleagues.

The characteristics of guerrilla marketing mean that it will not always suit brands for which a professional image is a fundamental value. In this case, you need to design the campaign very skillfully so as not to shoot yourself in the knee. After all, we expect from doctors and lawyers that everything will go smoothly and painlessly. As long as the creation does not contradict these assets, it will be successful.

Representatives of professions with significantly lower social responsibility have much more room to show off. Restaurant and club owners, artists, clothing manufacturers – they can indulge. The success of products and services in these categories depends on whether they are fashionable or not. As a consequence, guerrilla activities are a great way to create a unique brand image.

Guerrilla marketing is an attractive and effective formula for brands planning to enter the market firmly and create a lot of noise around them. It can also be used by companies that have become slaves of mediocrity and want to finally break through the glass ceiling. Established enterprises may also be tempted to unconventional actions. In this way, they will make standard communication more attractive and remind the world of their existence. In other words, you can take partisan actions at any stage of the company’s operation. However, you have to understand your recipients perfectly and meet them.

What determines the price at the copywriter?

The rate for the texts depends mainly on three factors:
– Type of texts – the more difficult the topic and the more demanding the query, the higher the price;
– Order volumes – wholesale orders are cheaper;
– Cooperation time – copywriters usually offer more favorable terms to regular contractors.

To the above variables, there are issues of competence, individual financial expectations and scope of responsibilities (some copywriters offer to put content on a blog or graphic design). The valuation is further complicated by the number of possible corrections and even the possibility of issuing an invoice. This thicket of information makes the copywriter’s price list unique and adapted to each writer-bidder.

Contemporary trends on the copywriting market

Until recently it was said that due to the increase in competition the amount converter for 1000 characters will be consistently falling. Meanwhile, the market has not reacted by falling prices to an increasingly large group of SEO copywriters – contrary to expectations, the range of rates increases, and the financial expectations of copywriters have a wide range.

The reason for this gap is that the creation of substantive content is undoubtedly a difficult task. The work of experts never loses value. Some companies do not want to save on their image, so they can afford more expensive copywriters who create fully professional texts.

What rates are we talking about? How are the “price ranges” currently shaped and how much does good content cost?

Copywriting rates

Below are the average rates that you can most often encounter when browsing cooperation offers.
– Blogging articles: from $ 10 to $ 50 for 1000 characters.
– Back-up texts: from $ 3 to $ 18 for 1000 characters.
– Product and category descriptions: from $ 8 to $ 30 for 1000 characters.
– Content per page: from $ 200 to $ 1000 counted as a whole for the project.
– Leaflet texts: from $ 30 to $ 200.
– Naming and advertising slogans: from $ 100 to $ 5000 per project.

As you can see, the amounts vary and it is impossible to define a universal solution that will prove to be profitable. Each company has different needs, which is why the choice of copywriting prices will always depend on financial possibilities and expectations regarding the quality of texts.

Billing for signs or for the whole project?

There is also no ready answer to the question of how to settle accounts with the copywriter. The predetermined cost of the project is convenient and transparent, although it is not easy to get a fixed length of the text – most often it is referred to the target value around which the volume of content oscillates.

As for the characters with spaces, this converter accurately reflects the price due for copywriting, but it can lead to some misunderstandings depending on which fragments are counted (it is not always known whether tags, meta-descriptions, alternative texts are subject to it). For this reason, when establishing cooperation with a copywriter, it is worth making sure that the settlement rules have been established clearly.

Price for copywriting – summary

Talking about money is never easy and comfortable, so it’s even more important to clearly define what elements make up the final price of copywriting.

The range of amounts is wide, so specify your expectations and budget before you set out to find the perfect copywriter. Remember to clearly specify the requirements for the quality of the texts, as well as the scope of responsibilities and the number of possible corrections.

Travel agency advertisement

Due to the very intensive development of tourism, there are more and more travel agencies competing for vacationers. Tourist companies are competing in both the number and quality of travel offers, and at the same time are looking for new opportunities to reach potential customers. Available tours not only present in the form of printouts stuck to the office windows or cavernous catalogs full of beautiful pictures of hotels, palm trees and laughing tourists, but – just like other service providers – they are promoted to the internet. On the Internet, they can reach a huge number of potential customers who are actively looking for available options, loosely browse travel-related websites, or some time ago have already visited the website of a given office and browsed some specific destinations on it.

The possibilities of advertising a travel agency on the web are many, and in this post I will show you how you can do it with Google Ads – using 3 basic types of campaigns in this case.

Google Ads is the most popular advertising system that allows the promotion of products and services on the web using text, product, graphic and video ads. As part of Google Ads, various types of ads are displayed in Google search results, on the Display Network, on YouTube, in Gmail, and in mobile applications.

Thanks to the wide possibilities offered by Google Ads, promotion of a travel agency on the Internet is a very effective move, because with ads you can reach a huge number of Internet users regardless of whether they are already at the search stage or will plan them only after some time.

So how do you choose the right type of promotion and prepare effective online travel agency advertising?

As always, the best answer to this question is: “It depends.” Well, everything will depend, among others on the budget, campaign coverage and marketing goal. With all Google Ads assets available, the following types of ads can be used:

Text ads on the Search Network:

Text ads are displayed in response to keywords entered in the search engine. In this way, a travel agency can advertise its offer based on:

– chosen destination, e.g. vacation in Greece, vacation in Japan, trip to Brazil,
– type of vacation, e.g. Italy all-inclusive vacation, Spain vacation by plane,
– vacation / purchase time, e.g. Portugal last minute, Philippines summer 2020,
– preferred activity / facilities, e.g. Dubai vacation hotel with pool,
– specific travel agency

There are many options for choosing keywords. It all depends on the preferences, offer and budget of the advertiser. When using text ads, it should be remembered that both the keywords and the content of the ads should always be up-to-date – you should avoid displaying outdated offers at all costs, e.g. already started stays or seasonal options that have expired.

Due to the fact that ads on the search network are displayed to people who are actively looking for specific options, it is necessary to present in their content the most important advantages of the offer. In the case of offices with a wide range of trips, this may require a lot of work and very frequent content updates, and regular keyword substitution, but it is worth ensuring the highest quality of the campaign, as any and general slogans may not bring the expected effect.

Display ads on the Display Network:

Image ads are displayed to Internet users who spend their time outside the search engine, i.e. browse other websites. Thanks to the wide possibilities of targeting banner ads, travel agencies have the opportunity to present their offer not only to those who search for specific search terms, but also to Internet users who visit, for example, holiday and travel websites (associated in the Google advertising network). In this way, beautiful and encouraging banners to visit a given destination can be targeted, among others to people:

– of a certain gender and age group, e.g. women aged 35-54, if it turns out that they most often use SPA holiday offers,
– which browse specific sites where they are looking for promotions on flights and hotels,
– who visit sites related to tourism in the broad sense, e.g. accommodation, diving, amusement parks and even car rental,
– of which (thanks to their online behavior) it is known that they are interested in travel, e.g. they like traveling with family or are beach lovers, etc.

As part of the advertising network, you can also use remarketing. Remarketing is an option that allows displaying image ads to those who have already visited the advertiser’s website some time ago and viewed the holiday offer, e.g. for the previous year.

As far as technically possible, remarketing also allows you to return with advertising to people who have already used the offer of a travel agency, e.g. made online reservations, as well as to those who started this process but did not finalize it. Properly prepared banners, especially those offering a small discount or other convenience, can effectively encourage Internet users to re-purchase or finalize it.

Advertising banners, just like in the case of text ads, should be regularly updated and ensure that the prices / dates / destinations presented on them are always up to date.

YouTube video ads:

More and more Internet users are looking not only for textual opinions about places they go to and travel agencies they use, but as part of research, they are just using YouTube and videos placed in its depths. The video has it in itself that it reveals slightly more details than a photo that has probably been properly processed. What’s more, recently popular vloggers and other travelers are happy to share tips on places worth visiting, present the best pubs in a given location, or advise you on what to take with you wherever you go.

That is why travel agencies are increasingly appearing on YouTube.

They run their own channels there, on which they regularly insert new, juicy advertising spots and use the most popular ad formats available there, namely:

– True View in Stream – short advertising films displayed before, during or after the movies watched by Internet users. Clicking on such a spot allows you to go to the advertiser’s channel or website to obtain detailed information about the offer,
– True View Discovery – advertising banners displayed above the suggestions of subsequent videos or in Youtube search results. Clicking on such a banner allows you to display an advertising movie.

Video ads on YouTube are displayed to Internet users in almost the same way as banners are targeted on the Display Network – based on demographic data, audience interests, topic of films or URLs of specific channels or videos. They usually complement the search engine campaign or the one from the Display Network. They are great as remarketing ads, so that people who were already behind the office’s website, encourage them to book their vacation not only with the content of the advertisement, but also a real example of what a vacation might look like in a given place.

Travel agency advertisement – summary

Of course, the three types of campaigns described above are not the only way to promote a travel agency on the Internet – there are plenty of options, and Facebook ads are suitable for separate entries in this context.