editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

How to become an Internet Photography Entrepreneur

November 1, 2021 No Comments

Whenever I meet new people and try to tell people what I do, it is difficult. I’m not quite sure how to introduce myself. but upon thinking about it for a little bit longer, The best way I would describe myself as an Internet photography entrepreneur. That is, my passion is using the power of the Internet, and to promote photography and interesting ways.

What is your personal goal?

I think a lot of people want to pursue photography to make their passion their living. But is the end all goal?

if so, then the way to do this is simple. To make a living from your passion and photography, sell either your services or your products online or in person.

And what is the best product or service to sell? I think it has to do with education. Either sell workshops, in person experiences, or teach online zoom workshops.

Or another idea is to develop hard physical products, like haptic industries. Produce and sell camera straps, or other camera accessories.

Create your own website and platform

The easiest first thing you could do is create your own website blog platform. Honestly at this point it’s all the same thing. Go on bluehost.com and install wordpress.org and start with any starter theme and just start posting. and what is the goal blogging? To never stop posting.

To niche or not to niche?

I say just pursue your passion. for example, my passion was street photography, and for over a decade I have blogged on street photography and other things.

I see a simple recipe for success is this: focus 80% of your blog posts on your niche, and allow the other 20% to be other random things on your mind.

Blogging versus vlogging

Also when it comes to blogging, focus at least 80 to 90% of your focus on blog posts. Other 10 to 20% on YouTube vlogs. why? Because ultimately YouTube is not your platform. But YouTube is the second worlds biggest search engine, which is a good way to help you get discovered. And make sure in your YouTube videos to always mention your first and last name in your own personal website or blog.

You are the brand and product

Don’t get suckered into becoming a servant or a slave of another brand. Rather, promote yourself in your own personal brand above everything else. for example, better for Eric Kim to promote Eric Kim than Eric Kim to promote Leica or any other camera brand.

How to get discovered and how to get exposure

A simple way to get discovered is through Google SEO, that is, Google search engine optimization. That is when somebody searches for something on Google they find you. A simple way to do this it’s just think about what information you’re looking for, and write about it.

For example, in the early days I was very interested in how to conquer my own personal fears and street photography, and so I wrote blog post on that. Same thing goes with finding the best cameras for street photography, and then I also blog about that and my own personal experiences.

What is an expert?

An expert is literally somebody with experience. And if you have attempted or tried out something, do you have some sort of level of experience. And therefore anyone with even a tiny bit of experience as an expert.

Do not get intimidated by thinking that you don’t have enough experience. Because no matter how much of a newbie you are, there will always be someone else with less experience than you.

Your own personal raw experiences are king

My greatest advice is just talk about your experiences openly and honestly. Don’t sugar-coat anything. Be extremely raw and opinionated.

And don’t worry about getting hate or critique. If anything, the best measure of success the amount of hate, and negative feedback. Because at least you struck a chord with people. And the cardinal sin of the Internet is this: being boring.

By Eric Kim

In News

8 Do’s and Don’ts of Creating Marketing Videos — with Video Creative Director AJ Muffett

November 1, 2021 No Comments

By Dan Haverty

Videos are powerful tools. They’re engaging, exciting and often make us want to do something. It’s no surprise then that they’re the main event for some of the best content marketing strategies out there.

You’d think that with so many videos circulating on the internet, we’d have a set of fool-proof ways to produce compelling content. But it turns out there’s a lot of misconceptions about what makes for a good video, and we could all use a refresher from the experts.

We got AJ Muffett, Brafton’s Video Creative Director, to give us his take on some of the most popular do’s and don’ts about videography.

1. Do Tell a Story

“Absolutely tell a story!” AJ says. “Why create a video if there’s no story to tell?” Telling a story is what brings the whole thing together. Without a story, videos don’t really have a point, they don’t draw in an audience and they don’t help you achieve your goals.

So how do you do it? “You want to tell a story that relates to your target audience. Don’t just tell a story that you think is interesting — tell a story that they will find interesting.” That might mean presenting a familiar problem right from the get-go, demonstrating potential work-throughs using some flashy graphics, and then topping it off with a way to solve that problem.

Don’t just tell a story that you think is interesting — tell a story that [your audience] will find interesting.

2. Do and Don’t Use a Script

This one can get a little complicated. For some videos you should definitely use a script. Others, not so much. “For animations or voiceover-driven pieces, it’s certainly important to have a script because you don’t want [your interviewees] winging it, and you want to have a clear goal to communicate.”

But if you’re putting together company “about us” videos, testimonials or even case studies, it makes more sense to let your interview subjects speak freely. This lets their passion come out. That’ll make the video feel more authentic, and your audience will relate to it much better.

3. Do Try To Create an Emotional Response

This one’s a no-brainer. “100% yes! Why would you create anything if you weren’t trying to get a response?” Video works best when viewers are engaged and walk away feeling something — that’s what’s going to get them to remember you and buy your product or service down the line.

Of course, not every emotional response is a good one, so you could be walking a fine line here. But as long as you’re evoking the appropriate response in the right way, making your viewers feel something when they watch your video is truly the mark of a successful video. “The worst thing you can have is for someone to watch a video and feel nothing,” AJ says.

4. Do and Don’t Use Stock Footage

There’s another fine line to walk when it comes to using stock footage. For lots of folks, there can be some negative connotations around stock footage. The term may evoke generic images of busy highway flyovers and businesspeople shaking hands.

But AJ tells us that stock footage is actually used in a lot more video content than we realize. “Well-placed, thoughtful stock footage is super useful and super important,” he says. “As long as it’s helping tell the narrative or move the story forward in a positive way, then stock footage is a good tool to add to your repertoire.”

5. Do Keep Your Videos Simple and Concise

You don’t want to make your videos so simple that they’re generic, but you also want to avoid overcomplicating the video and crowding out your message. “If you overcomplicate it by making your scenes too busy or trying to fit too much narration in a short period of time and you lose the actual goal of the video, then you’ve lost the whole point of the video.”

6. Don’t Make Your Videos Too Long

This one is right there alongside keeping your videos concise. Most of us have short attention spans. Very short. One widely cited Microsoft study found that the average attention span is just 8 seconds. Your videos should reflect that reality and get your point across as efficiently as possible.

Plus, it pays to leave some information for viewers to wonder about: “You should leave your audiences wanting more when they leave a video. Enough for them to start a conversation or engage with your website after the fact,” says AJ.

Video works best when viewers are engaged and walk away feeling something.

7. Do Include a Call to Action

Always always always encourage your viewers to do something in your video. At the end of the day, the whole purpose of your video is to get people to do something, whether that’s filling out a form, going to your website or buying your product or service. If you don’t direct them anywhere, then what’s the point of the video?

8. Don’t Expect Immediate Results

Sometimes people push out videos expecting to see tons of clicks and likes pour in right away. That rarely happens, but you definitely should expect something to come from your videos. “Just because you created a video you shouldn’t expect immediate results, but you shouldn’t have just created a video just to create a video. You should’ve created a video with a goal or a purpose in mind that should’ve been part of a larger strategy.”

So there you have it. Expert insight on creating impactful marketing videos from one of our experts. At the end of the day, any one of the above tips will help you pack the most punch with your videos, but incorporating several (or all) of them into your video content strategies might really transform them for the better.

By Dan Haverty

Dan Haverty is a content writer at Brafton. Currently based in Boston, he also spent time living in Ireland and Washington, DC. When he isn’t writing, Dan enjoys reading, cooking and hiking, and he recently became an avid yoga practitioner.

Sourced from Brafton

In News

The One Phrase You Should Never, Ever Use in Your Cover Letter, According to Experts

November 1, 2021 No Comments

By Nakeisha Campbell

You’re in the process of applying for your dream job. You’ve dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s on your resume (after proofreading it 58 times, of course). But now, it’s time to move on to the hard part: writing your cover letter.

Naturally, you want to grab your reader’s attention—ideally without over-decorating the page or sending a 10-page essay. But how do you begin? Is it “Dear” or “Hello?” Is it “Mr.” or “Ms.?” And more importantly, are there certain salutations that should be avoided completely?

We turned to Kelly Piscitelli, Director of People & Experience at Gallery Media Group, for some insight and, as it turns out, there is one particular greeting that could lower your chances of standing out among other applicants: “To Whom It May Concern.”

“It could be seen as a bit lazy to some recruiters and hiring managers,” says Piscitelli. “There are days when I’m looking through hundreds of applications, and if I see a cover letter addressed to me personally, I’m pleasantly surprised and I know that the candidate has done their research. They automatically stand out from the others from the very first impression.”

While there may be some hiring managers that find this standard, non-specific greeting appropriate, this isn’t typically the case—especially if you’re applying to a company that has easily accessible contact information online. According to career experts over at Glassdoor, this is why “To Whom It May Concern’ can “communicate apathy” or be discouraging for some recruiters. So before you consider using a phrase that’s totally generic, do your homework—even if that means spending an extra half hour combing through the company’s website.

“Make sure to scour the job posting carefully for clues, such as the supervisor’s title,” says Piscitelli. “From there you can search the company’s website for employees with that title or do a search on LinkedIn to see if you can find them that way.”

Another smart option? Do some investigating on LinkedIn and make use of your connections. She continued, “You might also search the company’s LinkedIn page. Is the job featured in their posts? Oftentimes a hiring manager will spotlight an open position on their team. Do you have any connections that work at the company you’re applying to? Reach out to them and see if they can give you the name of the hiring manager or recruiter. Or better yet, see if they can facilitate an introduction.”

Monster career expert Vicki Salemi also notes that giving the company a call could lead to results (provided that the application itself doesn’t say “no phone calls,” of course), but prepare for the possibility of speaking to someone from the department in which you’d be working. She said, “If you speak to a receptionist, that person may want to connect you directly to the department rather than provide you with sleuthing information because the receptionist may not know who is looking to fill the job either. If you speak to someone in the department, that person may be able to help you.”

But what if none of these approaches work? Don’t panic. It’s likely that the company you’re applying to is relatively private or has limited information online. And chances are, they know this. So if all else fails, it doesn’t hurt to move on to something that’s more generic, but still shows that you made an effort. Piscitelli says, “If you’re unable to find a specific name, I’d say your best bet would be to tailor your greeting to the supervisor’s title or the department in which you’d be working.”

So, with some help from the experts, we compiled a list of acceptable generic greetings that’ll make your cover letter pop (and, more importantly, that aren’t “To Whom It May Concern”). See below for the best alternatives.

WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD

Dear Hiring Manager
Dear Recruiter
Dear HR Manager
Dear Recruiting Team
Dear [insert title of employee you would report to]
Dear Head of [insert name of department]
Dear [insert name of department] Hiring Team
Dear Human Resources Manager
Dear [insert name of department] Director

Feature Image Credit: Twenty20

By Nakeisha Campbell

Sourced from PureWow

In News

Android Phone Sending To Many Ads? How To Get Rid Of Ads On Any Android Device

October 29, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from News18

One of the many reasons why some smartphone users prefer iOS over Android is the clutter-free experience that Apple offers. Android users have often complained about being bombarded with unwarranted ads while using the phone. These ads at times pop on the lock screen of the device even it’s not being used – most common in Android-based skin from manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, and the likes. While some smartphone manufacturers promote ads from their end, this problem is prevalent even in brands like Samsung where the company does not send out ads from their end. If you are an Android user and have faced similar issues with your device, this could probably be caused by the downloaded apps on your phone.

How to remove ads from the lock screen?

Uninstall app sending out lock screen ads- If you have recently started using lock screens on your phones, chances are that the unwarranted ads are being sent by an app on your device. You can easily check the recently downloaded apps on your device and uninstall them to remove the problem.

– Open the Google Play Store on your smartphone

– Tap on ‘Menu’ and then on ‘My apps & Games’

– Tap on ‘Installed’

– Sort the list on basis of the last used app

– Among the most recently used apps, select the app that has been sending unwarranted ads on your device, and uninstall it.

Additionally, you can the following things in mind to get rid of unwarranted ads

– Always download apps from reputable sources based on the ratings and reviews.

– Make sure that you never give administrator’s right to any app especially.

– Update your device regularly with Android security patches. Keeping tracking for new updates

– Do not download apps that you don’t trust or are published by unknown publishers

As per the Google Play policy, apps listed on Google Play Store must not send any fraudulent ads to the device. Further, ads can only be sent when that particular application is being used. Ads appearing on the apps are considered part of the app and hence they have to adhere to the Google play Policy.

In case you spot any app with inappropriate ads violating the policies, you can report it to the Google Play store

– Go to the Google Play Store on your device

– Go to the Install page of the app

– Tap on ‘More Option’ (three vertical dots) on the top right corner of the screen

– Tap on Flash as inappropriate to report any fraudulent ads sent out by the app

Sourced from News18

In News

The Role of AI and ML in Improving Digital Performance

October 29, 2021 No Comments

By Anil Gupta

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among the top marketing buzzwords we come across in the field of digital marketing. These technologies have already become an integral part of digital marketing and are being leveraged to make campaigns more personable and efficient.

For instance, artificial intelligence can make personalization easy and quick by creating accurate buyer personas. These personas are auto-generated to deliver a holistic audience segmentation, thereby improving the effectiveness of the campaigns. In addition, Netflix, Google, Uber, Spotify, Pinterest, and other apps use machine learning to personalize individual accounts and make relevant recommendations to their users.

The ever-improving algorithms and the exponential growth of data are encouraging business leaders and marketers to use AI, in the form of machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), deep learning, and other technologies. These technologies are helping them improve customer experience and conversions.

A Gartner survey shows that 37% of organizations are applying AI in some form or the other to boost their digital performance.

This post highlights how AI and ML are proving to be game-changers in the digital marketing realm.

1. Offer a Better Understanding of the Audience

Great content starts with knowing the audience well. When a business knows its target audience, the connection feels more natural and relevant. That genuine connection goes a long way in building lasting relationships with customers.

In recent years, AI and ML have opened up a whole new world of possibilities for understanding audience behavior. AI tools and data-driven insights are helping businesses understand who they are reaching, what the customers want and need, when to communicate, and where to reach them.

Artificial intelligence helps marketers instantly define buyer personas. Then, platforms like Socialbakers auto-generate these personas to deliver more holistic audience segmentation in the form of actionable insights. These insights help content marketers share inspiring stories that convert.

Keeping your audience at the centre of your online strategies is critical to business success. AI can help by offering unique audience insights, enabling businesses to deliver an integrated brand experience through relevant content. It also helps in selecting the most trustworthy and effective influencers for the brand.

2. Help with Lead Management

Big data, predictive analytics, and machine learning are being increasingly used in business intelligence these days. Machine learning, with its ability to bring out valuable hidden insights from large data sets, can create tangible value for businesses.

Leads are the driving force for businesses. They are the ones who will soon contribute to the organizational revenue. Hence, business leaders spend a significant amount of time in lead management. ML can be leveraged to improve and scale a firm’s approach to lead management, thereby boosting the bottom line. It helps firms generate better leads, qualify and nurture them, and ultimately monetize them effectively.

For instance, ML can help you create an ideal customer profile (ICP) to reach the best customers. ICP takes a structured look at the demographics and psychographics of an individual and determines their purchase intent and the content that matters to them. Thus, ICP can be used for lead scoring, allowing marketers to prioritize targeted accounts.

ML can also help firms generate more qualified leads from the traffic already coming to the site. For example, check out how Drift, a revenue acceleration platform, uses conversational AI to recognize quality from noise, learn from the conversations, and automatically qualify or disqualify website visitors. These qualifiers help the sales team focus on leads that are ready for conversions.

3. Curate and Create Better Content

AI is changing the game for content marketers. The technology is being used to automatically generate content for simple stories like sports news or stock market updates. AI also allows social channels to customize user new feeds.

But one content field where AI is increasingly applied is content curation. AI algorithms make it easier to collect target audience data to create relevant content at each stage of the marketing funnel.

For instance, the algorithms collect data on what the audience prefers to read, the questions they want answers to, or any specific concerns. Using this data, content marketers can curate and create relevant content that boosts customer experience and ultimately leads to conversions.

The North Face uses an AI-powered technology like IBM Watson that recreates shopping experiences. The AI tool uses cognitive computing that brings the online and in-store experiences closer together.

Besides, machine learning feeds content strategies by discovering fresh research-based content ideas, identifying the top-performing topic clusters, showing the most relevant keywords in a specific niche.

For instance, Google Analytics and SEMrush operate on machine-learning algorithms that are useful in keyword research and discovery, and content distribution. In addition, these tools can discover industry trends and show you ways to rank higher in SERP.

AI and ML-enabled tools improve the overall reception and performance of online content. In addition, the tools allow marketers to offer relevant and personalized digital experiences that positively influence engagement.

4. Help with Competitive Search Engine Ranking

Search engines are already using AI-enabled algorithms to deliver the most relevant SERP results. These algorithms rely on AI to understand the context of the content and spot irrelevant keywords. No wonder SEOs are constantly striving to understand these algorithms and coming up with strategies to create contextual, conceptual, and accurate content.

The placement of your business in the SERPs can make or break your online reputation and performance. AI technologies make it easier to create compelling content that answers the target audience’s queries, keywords, and phrases.

SEO isn’t a day’s job. It’s challenging, and the results of one’s efforts can only be seen after months. Fortunately, AI-based SEO tools help alleviate this stress. SEO optimization tools like Moz, WooRank, BrightEdge, and MarketMuse heavily rely on AI to offer SEO solutions like:

Keyword research
Search terms to make the content more relevant
Link-building opportunities
Trending topics
Optimum content length
User intent and more.

Tools like Alli AI can instantly optimize your website regardless of the CMS and your web development expertise. The platform performs a site-wide content and SEO audit, automatically optimizes the content, and resolves duplicate content issues. All this makes it easier for content creators to avoid poor-performing content and boost their online ranking.

5. Improve Page Speed

Google has put an exact value on fast user experience by including page speed as one of its ranking signals. That’s why boosting page speed is one of the top priorities for all businesses, especially ecommerce firms. As a result, Webmasters take all sorts of measures to improve page speed.

For instance, WordPress site owners may speed up WordPress by optimizing background processes, keeping the WP site updated, using a content delivery network (CDN), or using faster plugins. Of course, they also use various tools like Page Speed Insights, load time testers, and CMS plugins for the purpose. But now, there’s another ML-powered solution available for boosting the page speed – the Page Forecasting Model.

This model predicts user behaviour using machine learning and predicts the next page visitors will click on in real-time. This allows Webmasters to preload the page in the background, thus improving the overall experience.

The algorithm is trained with historical data from Google Analytics.

For instance, user patterns like going from home page to category page or product page to the shopping cart are recognized, understood, and included in update algorithms. If the user behaves similarly, the algorithm is automatically prepared with the next page.

However, the prediction accuracy is dependent on the amount of data available to train the algorithm and the website structure. So, the models will vary according to these factors. For instance, if yours is an ecommerce website that combines industry news with product pages, it’s better to use two or more models that can predict the behaviour per section.

6. Automate Website Analytics Process

Web analytics isn’t new. Businesses have been assessing user behaviour and tracking key performance metrics since the mid-’90s. But thanks to AI and machine learning, web analytics tools now have robust capabilities that allow businesses to automate the process. These tools can offer auto-generated reports and on-demand insights that feed marketing strategies.

Within a single visit to a webpage, each user generates hundreds of data points like the time spent on a page, the browser details, its location, and others. It is practically impossible to analyse all this data manually. AI and ML make such analysis faster and accurate by speeding up the data processing.

AI-based tools can help you track each visitor’s online behaviour, understand user journeys, and how customers move through the marketing funnel. They also point out issues, if any.

Let’s say you have a blog post that gets a lot of traffic, but visitors just read the post and leave without taking action like subscribing to your newsletter or sharing your post on social media. AI-based tools can flag such issues, allowing you to take the necessary corrective action like adding internal links or improving your CTA.

Google Analytics (insights section), Adobe Analytics, and Kissmetrics are among the top web analytics tools that help firms see patterns in customer behaviour and predict future trends.

7. Improve Site Navigation

Site navigation is another critical area in digital performance where AI and ML can help is site navigation. Though it may sound negligible, the importance of having organized and easy-to-follow navigation cannot be ignored. Well-planned navigation improves the visit duration, reduces the bounce rate, and boosts user experience. It also enhances the overall aesthetic appeal of the website design.

AI can help Webmasters create a user-friendly website structure that’s easy to navigate. AI-powered chatbots can guide users through the pages and help them find what they are looking for within the first few clicks. This significantly improves the user experience and sends good signals to search engines, indicating that your content is useful and relevant.

Thus, Google and other search engines will rank your page higher than any other website offering similar content.

8. Design Better Websites

AI applications can improve the usability and experience of a website by enhancing the site’s appearance, strengthening its search abilities, managing inventory better, and improving interaction with website visitors. No wonder a growing number of designers and developers are moving towards AI-based design practices.

AI is slowly becoming an indispensable part of modern web design and development. Take the field of artificial design intelligence (ADI) systems, for instance. ADI has triggered a sudden shift in the way web designing is done. It allows designers to combine applications into the website for better user experience and functionality.

Check out The Grid website platform that automatically adapts its design to highlight the content. The platform uses ML and constraint-based design and flow-based programming to dynamically adapt the website design to the content.

Today, we have several entrants in this space that are taking AI in web design to a whole new level. Brands like Adobe, Firedrop, Bookmark, Wix, Tailor Brands, and many others are leading the segment and leveraging the capabilities of AI in web design. In addition, most of these ADI platforms can learn and offer suggestions for optimizing the website for better user experience and SEO performance.

The Way Forward

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are proving to be awesome technologies when it comes to improving a firm’s digital performance. However, it is essential to remember that these ML models are only as good as the data that’s used to train them. Therefore, it’s critical to ensure that your marketing team has access to high-quality and accurate data.

So, before applying these technologies to your digital efforts, there are specific steps that you need to take.

Set up tags to track and capture on-site user behaviour.
House all the data from different sources in one central place like Google BigQuery, a Big Data analytics platform.
Invest in data deduplication to eliminate duplicate copies of repeating data from multiple sources.

Once your data is in place, you will be in a great position to start deploying AI and ML for boosting your digital performance. In addition, the information shared above will prove to be useful as you start building machine learning solutions for improving your business’s online presence.

By Anil Gupta

Anil is the CEO & Co-Founder of Multidots, one of the top WordPress development agencies on the planet. He is a technopreneur with over 13 years of experience coding, thinking, and leading the business with mind and people with heart. He and his team are seasoned in delivering secure and feature-reach WordPress services for businesses big and small.

Sourced from readwrite

In News

What would it take for advertisers to leave Facebook?

October 29, 2021 No Comments

By Jeremy Goldman

The question: What would it take for advertisers to give Facebook the boot? The answer isn’t as inspiring as one might think.

The findings: Advertisers on the whole are sticking with the platform—but there’s still a split between who will stay and who might go.

Performance marketers like mobile app advertisers, for example, use Facebook predominantly to drive app installs. Facing aggressive revenue targets and typically operating under the radar as brands, those companies are less likely to take part in advertiser initiatives like brand safety boycotts.
That’s more likely to happen among bigger, institutional brands, such as Coca-Cola, Nike, and Procter & Gamble, which have more of a stake in how consumers perceive them. These highly visible brands are often looking for brand exposure, which allows them to shift spending to other channels—since the top of the funnel offers more advertising options.

The marketer’s point of view: While Facebook has issues, it’s important to remember some companies have performed well by relying on the company’s ad ecosystem.

Some of the advertisers eMarketer spoke with have indicated that they’re diversifying into different channels in order to ensure they aren’t overly dependent on the Facebook ecosystem.
“I think there is something to be said for the CPM [cost-per-thousand] increase. It’s much more expensive than it was last year. There’s no question there,” said Avi Ben-Zvi, vice president of paid social at Tinuiti.
But rising CPMs only account for a fraction of his increased Facebook spend year over year, Ben-Zvi added. He said he’s seen a major increase in investment for mid-funnel consideration campaigns on Facebook that are designed to fuel the bottom of the funnel.

Our analysts weigh in:

“Facebook has weathered multiple scandals and headwinds in the past and continued to grow, indicating that advertisers will continue to spend on Facebook despite negative public perception,” said Jasmine Enberg, eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence. “What’s different this time is that Facebook is facing a real potential threat to its ad business.”
“Brand safety is a noble concern and something that many major companies think seriously about, but when it comes to their ad expenditures, the bottom line often ends up being more important,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence. “If ad performance were to start suffering, advertisers will look to other media. But brand safety concerns alone aren’t going to drive most advertisers away.”
“Measurement and attribution problems are causing performance declines for advertisers, especially ones focused on the lower funnel,” said Audrey Schomer, eMarketer senior analyst at Insider Intelligence. Schomer sees that advertisers are confused by a lack of clarity regarding what’s causing performance to go down: Is targeting particularly challenged by iOS users opting out of tracking? “That could be having some impact on performance, though most advertisers I’ve spoken with believe it’s primarily an attribution problem,” Schomer said.

By the numbers: Even in light of the whistle-blower news, our upcoming Facebook ad revenue forecast won’t be making any big downward adjustments.

Facebook’s net ad revenues for 2023 will actually be higher than previously forecast, but growth will be a little bit slower.
“The biggest thing that’ll come out of the whistle-blower revelations and platform outage is that advertisers will look to diversify their spending more,” said Nazmul Islam, forecasting analyst at Insider Intelligence. “While you won’t see a big drop in Facebook spending overall, you might see a bit more growth in the other social platforms that benefited from last year’s Facebook ad boycott.”

By Jeremy Goldman

Sourced from eMarketer

In News

Twitter Debuts New Ad Features, Revamped Algorithm Ahead of Ecommerce Push

October 28, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from News18

Twitter is positioning itself to eventually allow brands to sell products through the service by first improving on its ability to show users relevant ads and increasing the likelihood they will click the ad.

Twitter on Tuesday rolled out new ad features and revamped the algorithm that decides which ads users see, as part of an effort to lay the groundwork to launch future ecommerce features, the social networking company told Reuters. The new features come as Twitter is pushing to grow its performance advertising business, a strategy that aims to quickly generate sales, and constituted just 15 percent of Twitter’s business last year. The effort could help Twitter reach its goal of doubling annual revenue by 2023.

The San Francisco-based company is positioning itself to eventually allow brands to sell products through the service by first improving on its ability to show users relevant ads and increasing the likelihood they will click the ad. “Performance ads are a very large opportunity … that’s relatively untapped for us,” said Kamara Benjamin, group product manager at Twitter, in an interview. “Ultimately, this is going to lead to people installing apps, visiting websites and finding products that meet their needs.”

Ads promoting downloads for mobile games and other apps, which are a major type of ad on social media sites, will now allow users to initiate the download without leaving the Twitter app, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday. Previously, users had to leave Twitter to download other apps. Twitter added it is working on new tools to let companies run ads to find customers who are more likely to make in-app purchases.

Slide-show ads that feature multiple products can now send users to different websites when they click the ad, whereas previously brands could only choose one destination. This increased the number of clicks by 25 percent on ad campaigns that set a goal of driving website visits, the company said.

Twitter also improved the advertising algorithm, showing the ads to a larger pool of people at the beginning of the campaign so it can better gauge user interest, Benjamin said. Those algorithm improvements led to a 36% increase in ad campaigns that achieved at least five downloads during the time period that the ad ran on Twitter, the company said.

Sourced from News18

In Uncategorized

Here’s Why Your iPhone Stops Charging at 80%

October 28, 2021 No Comments

By Keyede Erinfolami

Does your iPhone stop charging at 80%? We’ll explain why it does that and how to fix it.

Aside from broken screens, charging issues are the most common problems that iPhone users face with their devices. This is understandable because the battery in your iPhone—or any smartphone, for that matter—is one of the few components that degrades naturally over time. Time does its thing, and iPhone batteries aren’t exempt from that.

Although, if you’ve noticed that your iPhone won’t charge past 80%, don’t assume that it’s time to get it replaced. There are a few reasons why that happens, and most of them have easy fixes. Keep reading to find out why your iPhone stops charging at 80%, and what you can do to fix it.

If your iPhone only stops charging at 80% sometimes, it’s most likely due to a feature Apple implemented to extend the life of your iPhone battery. Apple introduced a battery optimization feature in iOS 13 that slows down how your iPhone charging, and even holds it at 80% to prevent over stressing the battery.

That’s why your phone sometimes charges, but then stops at 80%.

Most of us try to keep our phones as charged as possible, but as it turns out, this can be detrimental to your iPhone’s battery.

For starters, charging to and maintaining a full charge is more demanding on lithium batteries in smartphones, shortening their lifespan. Not to mention that over charging your phone overnight causes the battery to heat up, which reduces its overall lifespan.

How to Turn Off Optimized Charging on Your iPhone

If you’re running iOS 13, the Optimized Battery Charging feature on your iPhone will be enabled by default. If you’d rather have your phone charge to 100%, you can easily disable this feature in the battery settings.

To turn off Optimized Battery Charging, go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health and toggle off Optimized Battery Charging. You’ll see two options: Turn Off Until Tomorrow or Turn Off (permanently). Choose whichever one you prefer.

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Maximize Your Battery Power

Understanding what affects the lifespan of your iPhone battery is the first step towards making it last longer! By keeping the charging tips from this article in mind and using high-quality iPhone chargers, you’ll give your battery the longest life possible.

By Keyede Erinfolami

Sourced from MUO

In News

Is It Too Late to Start Podcasting as a Marketing Strategy?

October 28, 2021 No Comments

By Timothy Carter

Do you listen to podcasts on a regular basis? If the answer is no, you’re part of a shrinking minority. The majority of Americans (and listeners in developed countries around the world) listen to podcasts at least occasionally, with many listeners tuning into their favourite shows every day.

The sheer popularity of podcasting has led millions of savvy marketers to try and tap the channel for marketing opportunities. Sometimes, they start a podcast on behalf of their business, interviewing people connected to the industry and talking about new products. Other times, they use it as a content marketing channel to promote and popularize their brand’s archive of content.

Either way, the income potential is impressive, to say the least. Moreover, with a sizable podcast listening audience, you could get millions of additional visitors to your site – and new fans for your brand.

But here’s the thing – podcasting is an environment that’s already saturated with hosts and content creators. And there’s no guarantee podcasting will continue growing as it has in the past decade.

So is it too late to begin podcasting as a marketing strategy for your start-up?

Why Podcasting?

Why podcasting? What makes this strategy so unique and desirable in the first place?

Ease of entry. The simplest podcasts are simply casual conversations between two people who know each other. Even more complex setups aren’t especially demanding. With any computer, a decent microphone, and a bit of free time on your hand, you can create and upload a podcast of your own. This makes the cost low and the barrier to entry basically non-existent. Because the upside is so significant, this makes the return on investment (ROI) potential for a podcast ridiculously good.
Potential audience size. There are hundreds of millions of people listening to podcasts on a regular basis. If you can manage to tap even a small sliver of that audience, you’ll have a robust listenership to whom you can market your business.
Flexibility and topic possibilities. There aren’t really any rules about what you can and can’t podcast. Likewise, you’re not limited by any regulations or platform requirements (for the most part). That means you can talk and operate however you choose.
Potential scale. If you have a successful podcast and a loyal audience, you can quickly scale up your efforts without spending more money. You have the potential to snowball your audience from very small to very large without fundamentally changing your core operations, meaning you can keep making more money indefinitely without spending more.
Content diversification advantages. Podcasting is an excellent tool for content diversification. Content marketing strategies often centre on written content; this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you want to see better results and reach more people, it’s essential to incorporate mediums like video marketing, image development, and audio streams like podcasting.
Podcast networking and interviews. Podcasts are also advantageous because they make it easy to connect with other podcasters. If your show starts getting attention, you might have the option to do interviews with other known podcasters in your niche; the cross-marketing potential is almost unlimited.
Connection to other channels. Most people also don’t podcast in a vacuum. As a marketing channel, podcasting can connect to almost any other marketing or advertising channel you can think of; it has tremendous synergy with written content, email marketing, social media marketing, and more.

Why “Too Late” Is a Concern

So why are people concerned that it might be “too late” to get into the podcast game? Are these advantages going to disappear?

Not exactly, but there are some serious threats:

Podcasts as a fad. Podcasts have experienced a meteoric rise in popularity, growing from relatively obscure to a staple of modern existence. But, is this growth going to continue? Is it going to remain consistent from here on out? Or was this explosive growth just a temporary fad? If the latter case is true, podcasts could be in store for shrinking popularity in the near-term future.
Early risers. Some podcasts benefitted from being ahead of the curve. Many of today’s most popular shows are ones that started before podcasts were a popular forum. Without the benefit of riding that initial wave of popularity, it could be harder to build a sufficient audience.
Established competition. There are millions of successful podcasts out there, and millions more unsuccessful and struggling ones. So if you want to earn customer trust and new business, you’ll have your work cut out for you. In addition, you’ll be competing with people worldwide, many of whom will have more experience and bigger existing audiences. In this view, the podcasting world is too saturated to be a reasonable marketing opportunity.
Marketing and consumer fatigue. Using podcasting for marketing and advertising could also be problematic. Because marketing is so common in podcasting, many listeners are growing fatigued of the dense and transparent promotional activity. Pushing your product or business too much could actively turn people away.

Uniquely Defining Your Podcast

You can get around some of the biggest problems with entering podcasting now by uniquely defining your podcast – creating something truly original that stands apart from your competitors.

Here are just some of the ways you can do it:

Topic novelty. Choose to cover a topic that no one has covered before, or a topic that has been neglected by the most popular authorities in the space. It’s challenging to find something that’s not already been done to death, but if you can find something, you’ll have an easy way to stand out.
Niche demographic targeting. You can also cover a topic for a niche demographic – one that isn’t being reached by current podcasters. For example, you could specialize in targeting teenagers or retirees, rather than middle-aged adults.
Entertainment value. Using a unique tone of voice or adopting a sarcastic style could help you make your podcast as entertaining as it is informative. If there’s a unique character to the show or something entertaining about it that’s truly original, you’ll be in a much better position to attract new listeners.
Genre innovation. You can also try experimenting with podcasting as a genre. Many people go into podcasting with interviews, monologues, or dramatic readings. But maybe you could try something else entirely – and tap into a market that’s been hitherto undiscovered.

Is It Truly Too Late?

So what’s the bottom line here. Is it really too late to start a podcast?

If you haven’t jumped into podcasting yet, you’ve missed the initial surge of the medium’s popularity. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about that. But it’s not truly too late to take advantage of podcasting as a marketing channel, as long as you:

Know what you’re getting into. Make sure you know what you’re about to face. Who are the biggest competitors in this niche? Who are your target demographics, and what’s most important to them? How much will it cost to keep your podcast operational, and do you stand to make enough money to cover those costs?
Find a way to be different. Making your podcast both valuable and unique can be tricky – especially when you’re facing literally millions of competitors. So you have to find a way to be different, whether it’s in the topics you’re covering or the way you’re covering the topics — if you want to be successful, change it up.
Minimize your spending and reliance. Since you can create simple remote setups for voice recording, it shouldn’t be hard to minimize your spending in the early days of your podcast’s development. It’s also a good idea to diversify your marketing approaches, so you’re never too reliant on one channel or approach.

Podcasting remains one of the most accessible and cost-efficient content marketing strategies around. As long as you have a solid plan and a flexible mindset, you should be able to get it to work for your brand.

Feature Image Credit: George Milton; pexels

By Timothy Carter

Chief Revenue Officer

Timothy Carter is the Chief Revenue Officer of the Seattle digital marketing agency SEO.co, DEV.co & PPC.co. He has spent more than 20 years in the world of SEO and digital marketing leading, building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams. When he’s not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach — preferably in Hawaii with a cup of Kona coffee. Follow him on Twitter @TimothyCarter

Sourced from readwrite

In News

The Future of Retail

October 27, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from The Atlantic

These trends are reshaping how retail businesses serve their customers, and local shops are poised to win big over larger competitors.

The retail industry is rethinking every detail of the shopping experience, redefining not only how we shop and sell, but the incredible advantages that local, independent retailers have right now. The boutique on your town’s main drag, the shoppable post that appears in your social media feed, and the marketing email sending you to an online store may all come from the same retailer. And that retailer is fundamentally different than it was a year ago.

The rise of the local, independent shop is the future of the retail industry.

To help retailers identify and lean into those strengths and strategies, Square teamed up with Wakefield Research and surveyed 1,000 consumers and 500 retail owners and managers about the retail industry challenges and trends that capture where they’re headed in 2021. What it found was eye-opening: The who, what, where, and why behind our shopping experience is going through a metamorphosis, revealing a big opportunity for local retailers to make a name for themselves and beat larger competitors.

Square analysed the survey results, gathered insights from its retail experts, and interviewed leading creative retailers to identify the top retail trends for local businesses to explore this year. All data cited below comes from the survey results. For a more in-depth look at these 2021 retail industry trends, download the full report.

1. Retailers are taking on larger players by moving online

Independent retailers can connect with customers locally, and gain exponential reach by selling online in addition to maintaining their local presence. Today, shoppers make 43 percent of their monthly retail purchases online, and retailers are meeting those needs, with 88 percent now selling online.

As many retailers are changing their business models, going online increases the odds of success. In fact, among retailers selling online, 58 percent of their revenue comes from online sales. The first move to sell on a new channel underscores the importance of retailers using digital tools to continue to innovate. “That is the tipping point where you really need to run the operations of your business digitally,” says David Rusenko, head of e-commerce at Square.

2. Blending online and in-store shopping creates more meaningful experiences

Despite the mass move to e-commerce, over nine in 10 consumers still crave the thrill of shopping inside a physical store. Of those shoppers, nearly half say they miss browsing and getting out of the house, while two in five say they miss instantly getting the item they bought.

Even though retailers are digitizing their operations, it’s not an all-or-nothing approach. “We’re seeing that online experiences are less of a replacement for in-person interactions, but more of a complement to them,” says Megan Karande, product marketing manager for Square for Retail. Customers still want to experience the joy of walking into a store and finding the exact item they want on the shelf, or discovering a product completely serendipitously.

Local retailers have a clear advantage here and can engage customers at every step of the in-store experience while also connecting it to their online presence. Whether it’s revamping the in-store and curb side pickup experience or rethinking the store layout, the physical store isn’t going away, and in-store engagement strategies will only become more valuable this year.

3. Same-day delivery can give local retailers an edge over big-box stores

Nearly three out of four shoppers prefer delivery over pickup when shopping online. However, only 37 percent of retailers are offering same-day delivery. While shipping delays and supply-chain issues are more common now, local businesses have an opportunity to get products out faster than big e-commerce players by offering same-day delivery.

Local retailers are closer to customers and can set up the necessary systems to get products to them faster, leading to more sales. “What often happens is that when you start to offer something like same-day delivery, it encourages larger basket sizes,” says Rusenko.

4. Social selling and e-commerce go hand in hand, and it’s giving local retailers a clear advantage

Local retailers have a more authentic understanding of and appreciation for their communities, and can therefore connect with local customers better than national competitors. Whether it’s through a fully shoppable store or flash sales, social selling is made possible by e-commerce tools, helping local retailers reach more customers at a time when people are even more glued to their devices.

And selling on social media is working. Shoppers who buy items online purchased an average of eight products from social media sites every month, and 43 percent of retailers who sell on social media say that half or more of their revenue comes from social media sales.

If you’re interested in trying out social selling, see how Square can quickly help you get started, using the products you already rely on.

5. Virtual experiences are bridging the gap between the online and offline parts of a store

As customers get more comfortable buying through social media, it also opens up a whole new way to interact through those platforms. Enter, the rise of virtual experiences. Over one in three retailers are going to invest in livestream shopping this year, while 35 percent are also going to implement virtual-reality shopping.

These investments can lead to richer experiences for customers and more informed purchase decisions. And they’re more accessible than you might think.

How are retailers engaging customers virtually? One way is through livestreaming, which is when products are shared with customers over live video. It can be as simple as using a tablet to show customers what’s in store through a virtual shopping appointment, or by using social media to showcase the new stock that just arrived.

Virtual reality is another strategy that retailers are using to help customers experience products before adding them to their carts. As consumers now need more options to safely try on and try out items before buying, virtual-reality technology can be an effective way to improve the overall try-before-you-buy experience.

6. The borders between industries are blurring

The pandemic not only sparked business pivots, it fast-tracked the industry mashups that were already taking place. For instance, some restaurants are selling branded merchandise, and some retailers are offering digital services. And nearly three out of five shoppers say that they’re likely to buy from retailers and restaurants that are selling different items from what they typically sell.

“We’re seeing that the defined, straight vertical lines of your retail business versus your restaurant versus your services business are all blurring,” says Rusenko. “You’re seeing restaurants selling groceries (which are a typical retail offering) or retail businesses selling services like online cooking classes or Zoom calls and so on.”

7. Retailers are stepping up to the plate with community initiatives

Communities breathe life into local businesses, and both customers and owners recognize that harmony.

Retailers are deepening their connections to the areas they call home through a variety of ways. Seventy-seven percent of retailers are planning on participating in more community initiatives this year, with around one in three retailers saying they’re going to partner with local businesses”, provide supplies for local events, and support minority-owned businesses.

8. A real-time view into store inventory is opening up new possibilities

From selling on social media to launching an online store, retailers are experimenting with multiple ways of meeting the evolving needs of customers. This new omnichannel landscape is thrilling, and retailers are realizing that having a handle on inventory is the only way they can continue to sell across different channels.

Over half of retailers say inventory management is harder because of the pandemic. Not only have consumer needs changed, but supply-chain issues are slowing down the ordering process, making it harder to pinpoint the exact amount of inventory you need and when, and then passing that information along to customers.

To combat the increased complexity, 74 percent of retailers are planning on investing in real-time inventory management software to get more precise about their stock. In fact, over one in three retailers interested in real-time inventory software are already using it in their businesses. This is a key moment for retailers to invest in inventory software or upgrade what they currently use to meet the changing needs of their business.

Local retailers are tapping into the qualities that make them unique, reworking them, and using them to their advantage as consumer needs flip. The future of retail lies in the power of local businesses.

To incorporate these retail industry trends into your business, it all starts with digitizing your operations, and then you can try out new ways of selling. When you find an approach that fits, you can give customers exactly what they need and yourself the room to try new things. When you get to that space, where you can pull the levers that work for your store, your future is wide open.

Sourced from The Atlantic