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Face Emotion Recognizer In 6 Lines of Code

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hatever we feel at heart is understood by our facial expressions. Facial expressions are a vital mode of communication. It is said that any person’s behaviour is controlled by his/her face. Social Media to video chat applications our emotions are tracked everywhere. Medical research has also used them widely. Mainly to understand mental health by analyzing emotions. AI has made this possible. Computer Vision has reached new heights from recognising only faces to decoding face gestures. Face recognition has been in this field for ages but have you ever wondered how interesting it would be to decode facial expressions mainly happy, sad, fear, anger, surprise, neutral, disgust.

In this article, I’ll be discussing how to create a face emotion recognizer using ‘FER’ library from python.

FER library

Facial Expression Recognition with a deep neural network using Tensorflow and Keras libraries implemented in python. Dataset used is from Kaggle competition Challenges in Representation Learning: Facial Expression Recognition Challenge.

Dependencies:

OpenCV 3.2+

Tensorflow 1.7+

Python 3.6+

Installation

pip install fer

Predicting emotions over the static image

from fer import FER
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
img = plt.imread("happy.jpg")
detector = FER(mtcnn=True)
print(detector.detect_emotions(img))
plt.imshow(img)

[OrderedDict([(‘box’, (172, 31, 93, 93)), (’emotions’, {‘angry’: 0.0, ‘disgust’: 0.0, ‘fear’: 0.0, ‘happy’: 1.0, ‘sad’: 0.0, ‘surprise’: 0.0, ‘neutral’: 0.0})])]

<matplotlib.image.AxesImage at 0x1ad9f99fd30>

Detector returns a list containing the Ordered dictionary of bounding box notations where the face is detected and all the 7 emotions in decimals values from 0 to 1. The FER contains the Keras model built with convolutional neural networks and weights saved in HDF5 model. Alternatively, there’s Peltarion API which could be used in the backend in place of Keras model. MTCNN stands for multi cascade convolutional network. It is an advanced technique for detecting faces. If mtcnn=False then by default OpenCV Haar Cascade Classifier is used. Lastly, the detect_emotions() function is called to classify the emotion into ‘happy’, ’sad’, ‘disgust’, ‘anger’, ‘fear’, ‘neutral’ with values for each.

If we wish to only want the emotion with the highest score we can directly do that with top_emotion() function.

emotion, score = detector.top_emotion(img)
print(emotion,score)

happy 1.0

Lets look at other emotions:

img = plt.imread("sad.jpg")
detector = FER()
print(detector.top_emotion(img))
plt.imshow(img)

(‘sad’, 0.91)

Similarly, the rest of the emotions are shown.

(‘angry’, 0.96)

(‘neutral’, 0.88)

(‘surprise’, 0.95)

(‘fear’, 0.92)

The ‘fer’ library has a separate module for analysis of facial emotions in videos. This extracts frames and performs emotion analysis using video.analyze() function over detected faces.

from fer import Video
from fer import FER
video_filename = "D:/python/YouTube.mp4"
video = Video(video_filename)
# Analyze video, displaying the output
detector = FER(mtcnn=True)
video.analyze(detector, display=True)

Storing the emotion and detector face

For detected face bounding boxes is drawn and the emotion having the highest value is shown with brighter text colour than others.

import cv2
from fer import FER
detector = FER(mtcnn=True) 
image = cv2.imread("andrew_ng.jpg")
result = detector.detect_emotions(image)

As discussed above the result list will return bounding box and emotion values which are stored in separate arrays.

bounding_box = result[0]["box"]
emotions = result[0]["emotions"]
Bounding around face is drawn
cv2.rectangle(image,(bounding_box[0], bounding_box[1]),
(bounding_box[0] + bounding_box[2], bounding_box[1] + bounding_box[3]),(0, 155, 255), 2,)

Now the emotion along with scores are highlighted

for idx, (emotion, score) in enumerate(emotions.items()):
    color = (211, 211, 211) if score < 0.01 else (255, 0, 0)
    emotion_score = "{}: {}".format(
          emotion, "{:.2f}".format(score) if score > 0.01 else ""
        )
    cv2.putText(image,emotion_score,
            (bounding_box[0], bounding_box[1] + bounding_box[3] + 30 + idx * 15),cv2.FONT_HERSHEY_SIMPLEX,0.5,color,1,cv2.LINE_AA,)
cv2.imwrite("emotion.jpg", image)

Conclusion

Face emotion detectors with a few lines of code using the fer library is easy to implement and can be integrated with other applications. Robotics has evolved over the years and many bots can now mimic human reactions. Another use case could be online proctored exams where people’s reactions can be tracked and monitored.

The complete code of the above implementation is available at the AIM’s GitHub repository. Please visit this link to find the notebook of this code.

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Sourced from AIM Analytics India Magazine

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What is the future of programmatic media buying?

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By Mike Nutley

Programmatic media buying is on the verge of a new era built on collaboration.

This was the key thread in the panel session on the future of programmatic run in association with digital advertising technology provider PubMatic at The Drum’s Agencies 4 Growth Festival. Watch the fascinating panel here.

Although advertising as a whole has been battered by the pandemic, the use of programmatic media buying continues to increase. At the beginning of October, IAB Europe published its 2020 Attitudes to Programmatic survey, which showed that the number of advertisers spending more than 41% of their display budget through programmatic channels had increased from 55% in 2019 to 77% in 2020. Similarly, the number spending more than 41% of their video advertising budget programmatically grew from 50% in 2019 to 54% in 2020.

As programmatic grows, the way it’s being managed continues to change. The IAB survey found that the number of advertisers using hybrid models, where brands bring some elements of programmatic buying in-house, supplemented with agency expertise, had doubled since 2019 to almost a third. In-housing of programmatic, meanwhile, fell from 38% of advertisers in 2019 to 20% in 2020.

Speaking on The Drum panel, Richard Kanolik, programmatic lead at Vodafone, put this change down to the growing level of programmatic expertise. Programmatic used to be a “black box” tended by the agency, he said, but now advertisers want more visibility and control of their media buy, and they can hire in the people to deliver that.

But he argued that there’s still a need for agencies to fill in the gaps.

“Advertisers can underestimate what’s required to bring programmatic in house,” he said. “Hence the hybrid model.”

This view was backed up by Chris Camacho, chief performance officer at Mindshare. He pointed out that in-housing involves more than just a deal with a DSP provider.

“You also need to think about the set-up, data, tools and talent,” he said. “It’s not easy, but with the right infrastructure, the right support and the right agency, it can be done. There’s a lot of value to having a guide.”

Lisa Kalyuzhny, senior director, advertising solutions, EMEA at PubMatic agreed that working together is crucial, both across the business and between the business and its agencies.

“It’s about knowing what your strengths are as a brand, and being able to use the people you have on the ground internally as well the agency, and being able to really collaborate. That’s where we’ve seen the most success,” she said.

But brands and agencies working together isn’t the only form of collaboration that’s changing programmatic buying. Kalyuzhny pointed out that the introduction of header bidding revealed to advertisers that they could be using 20 or 30 different partners to buy the same inventory, and they started asking themselves what the benefit was.

“Supply Path Optimisation has become a catchphrase for many different adtech initiatives. At the core, it’s about buyers understanding and optimising supply. To deliver better media buying and selling strategies, the collaborative relationships and understanding of both buyers’ and sellers’ goals are a must have,” she said. “In digital advertising, brands and publishers are ultimately working towards the same goal: creating a transparent programmatic set-up that optimises consumers’ ad experiences and values inventory at a fair price for all.”

Kanolik argued that programmatic’s transparency problems were self-inflicted, the result of an infant industry prioritising technology and innovation at the expense of clarity. But he also said that buy and sell sides know that transparency is crucial to programmatic maturing as a medium, and that awareness is bringing the two sides together.

“For programmatic to evolve into a trusted medium, transparency is key,” he said. “We’re moving towards that, and it will kick off a new era of programmatic advertising.”

To watch the entire panel discussion on the future of programmatic media buying, presented in partnership with PubMatic, click here.

By Mike Nutley

Sourced from The Drum

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The Sponsorships That Win You Diehard Customers Now

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By Kevin Nathanson

Sponsorships and partnerships are evolving to inspire brand loyalty and advocacy.

In 2003, Maya Angelou said, “People will forget the things you do, and people will forget the things you say. But people will never forget how you made them feel.” It has been almost two decades, but it seems that sponsorships and partnerships have started to listen to Maya Angelou. The nature of sponsorships has evolved.

Sponsorships bring brand awareness

At the origin, we have sponsorships, such as when brands pay a large fee to have the naming rights to a given property. Think of MetLife Stadium. There is not much brand alignment if you think about it. What does MetLife have to do with professional football? Not much. But the naming right provides the brand, in this case MetLife, an immense amount of brand awareness. Yet awareness is all the brand gets. So, when looking at the brand marketing funnel — which begins with awareness, and goes to consideration, purchase intention, brand loyalty, and ends with brand advocacy — only getting awareness isn’t ideal.

Partnerships build a deeper connection

Then, we began to see a transition toward traditional partnerships. This is when the marketing world started to heed Maya Angelou’s advice. Like sponsorships, there is typically a large fee involved. With partnerships, however, the consumer engagement occurs more deeply, allowing the brand to receive both awareness and consideration from their partnership. Think of Microsoft and the NFL. Microsoft paid a large fee to be associated with the NFL and is seen by millions of viewers on the side-lines being used by professional coaches and athletes to improve the game of football. Consumers see the brand, and if they believe the brand improves the game they are likely to consider it. This goes a step beyond a normal sponsorship. Microsoft, in tandem with their partnership, launches campaigns to deepen their connection with the consumer. If you haven’t seen Microsoft’s Create Change campaign, you should. It details how Microsoft is used to help young children transition out of the hospital to at-home living, while still getting the attention and care they need. The campaign focuses on NFL player Greg Olsen and his child, and how Microsoft’s technology impacted their lives. This deeper emotional connection, in tandem with the partnership, leaves an impact on consumers.

The future of partnerships: experiential marketing and beyond

Going even further, we are starting to see the emergence of non-traditional partnerships. Unlike their predecessors, non-traditional partnerships have brand alignment and often have no fee involved — or at least the fee is not the focal point of the deal. At their core, there is a value exchange where each brand leverages the other’s IP to raise both of their brands’ value. A unique aspect of non-traditional partnerships is that their cultural relevance unlocks brand loyalty and advocacy. Think of Microsoft and Netflix. More specifically, Microsoft and Stranger Things season three. Stranger Things celebrates unlikely heroes who have the power to change the world but just don’t know it yet. Microsoft’s brand purpose is to help people unlock their potential. The brand alignment is there. Microsoft launched “Camp Nowhere” at all of its stores, offering STEM workshops for children using Microsoft’s technology. If you don’t know “Camp Nowhere,” it was made famous in Stranger Things. This partnership campaign utilized multiple touchpoints, storytelling, and a brand-new event. It elevated both brands’ images and helped kids everywhere feel seen. Consumers wanted to go to Camp Nowhere, watch Stranger Things, and use Microsoft products. It provided Microsoft and Netflix not only with brand awareness and consideration but also with purchase intention, brand loyalty, and brand advocacy.

If more brands want to take their target market through the entire marketing funnel, they should listen to Maya Angelou and look for non-traditional partnerships to leave a mark on consumers’ minds, hearts, and wallets.

Feature Image Credit: PeopleImages | Getty Images 

By Kevin Nathanson

MS Sports Management

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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How To Turn Customers Into Fans And Brand Advocates

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By Haseeb Tariq

Think back to the last live concert or sporting event you attended. What made it so magical? Why was it so different from watching the event on TV?

There’s something about being surrounded by hundreds of other screaming fans who love the same thing you do. You can’t help but get caught up in the moment. There’s an energy that comes from being around people who love and support a sports team or musician that you can’t replicate.

The way I see it, brands that have a loyal following online encourage the same type of fandom as major sports teams and musicians. Instead of filling stadiums, they’re filling their social media feeds with news and excitement about the brand and helping to move prospective customers through the marketing funnel.

Why Every Brand Needs Fans

If you can turn customers into fans, you may quickly find that you can increase your revenue without increasing your marketing budget. Fans will do a lot of marketing for you through word-of-mouth campaigns on their own social media platforms. When people genuinely love a brand, they’re often happy to tell everyone they know about it.

Another reason you need fans is that they will continue to return to you again and again. Finding a brand that delivers precisely what you need can be challenging. When a customer finds that magic relationship with a brand that seems to just “get” them, they are more likely to become loyal for the long term.

Finally, it’s easier to sell new products to fans who are already familiar and comfortable doing business with you. Giving your fans exclusive access to new products and product launch events can make them even more likely to want to buy your new products and encourage their friends to do the same thing.

Three Ways To Turn Customers Into Fans And Advocates

So, now comes the hard part: How can you capture your customers’ attention and turn them into fans who will actively advocate for your brand?

It starts by engaging with customers. You’ll need to develop a strategy that actively connects with customers and reaches them on an emotional level. Here are a few ideas to try.

1. Make customers feel appreciated.

Every customer should feel like a VIP when they do business with you. This starts by delivering exceptional service at every single opportunity, from optimizing your website for search engines to having helpful support available via chat or phone when they run into an issue.

You can also make customers feel appreciated by giving them perks and extras. Many companies have loyalty programs that are free and that deliver value to customers regularly. By appreciating your customers through rewards, discounts, promotions and special events, you demonstrate that your relationship is more than just transactional.

2. Give them something to talk about.

Share exciting news, exclusive sneak-peeks and one-time-only discounts with your fans first. Hold special “fans only” shopping events that give them unique access to products. Then, encourage them to spread the word to their networks so their friends can get in on the fun.

Another way to get fans excited is to offer a referral reward for fans who successfully encourage someone from their network to buy your product or service. The reward can be a free product, a discount or cash to use toward their next purchase.

3. Be active on multiple channels.

The more active you are on social media, the more likely you are to reach your fans. You don’t need to be on every channel, but you should be on more than one. Do some testing to figure out where your fans are, and focus your efforts on those channels.

Get creative on each channel by encouraging fans to contribute their own content. For example, ask fans to submit videos of them using your product to your YouTube channel, or to share an image of them using your product in real life in an Instagram story. Immersing your fans in your content makes them an active part of your brand instead of just an observer.

Bottom Line

Getting customers through the marketing funnel is a big undertaking. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your job is done once a customer has successfully transacted. Keeping customers engaged and happy will transform them into fans and brand advocates who will do a lot of marketing work for you by sharing your brand with all their friends. These loyal customers will be essential as your business grows and evolves, so make sure they are a top priority in your marketing strategy.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Haseeb Tariq

Marketing @ Universal Music Group | Disney | Fox TV | Guess – I help fix large revenue retention & growth issues – haseebtariq.com. Read Haseeb Tariq’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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The 9 best freelance jobs you can do from anywhere

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Sourced from Ladders

Many people are interested in becoming a freelancer these days, and it makes sense when you think about the possibilities and freedoms.

For example:

  • You have a flexible schedule that you can dictate.
  • Now you can work from home or wherever you like
  • Your earning potential is up to you and more in your control.
  • You do not have a traditional boss or manager to answer to

Of course, freelancing is not all glamorous and can be tough to initially break into the job market. There are tons of people just like you who have the same interest and desire to work for themselves, and it can get a bit competitive.

But luckily, there are so many categories of freelance jobs you can choose from that any skills you potentially have can become a lucrative way to make money from home.

Below you’ll learn about some of the best freelance jobs that can pay well and freelance job sites that will help you get work much faster.

Best Freelance Jobs From Home

The beauty of freelancing is you can typically work from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Certainly, some freelance or contracting work may require you to meet in person, but mostly it can be done from the comfort of your own home.

This is an attractive feature if you like to make money working alone or find that you do your best work without the distractions of a traditional 9-5.

Below are a few of the best freelance jobs that are not only in demand but can pay well.

1. Digital marketing

Digital marketing is a top in-demand set of skills because every company needs marketing and an online presence.

You can be a generalist. That means you do it all in digital marketing, or you can focus on specific areas like social media, paid advertising, email, etc.

Although I do digital marketing full-time, I used to do quite a bit of freelancing and contract work in various digital marketing focus areas. Plus, the more experience and track record you have, the more money you can make.

2. Writing

Probably one of the more popular freelance jobs is writing.

Again, this can be a pretty broad category, but getting paid to write can be quite lucrative as you build your portfolio.

You can make money from being a blogger or starting your own blog, a copywriter, or an editor/proofreader. Although it can be competitive, there is no shortage of writing work out there.

Similar to digital marketing, looking for quality design work is a much-needed area for most businesses today.

Small businesses, start-ups, solo entrepreneurs, and enterprise organizations have numerous areas where quality design work is necessary.

It could be as simple as creating logos and social media banners to create various display ads, even designing a new website’s layout.

But being a freelance designer can also be areas like UX/UI design where you help create layouts and interfaces of products. Or, if you are a talented illustrator, there can be needs for your artistic creations too.

4. Data Entry

Although less glamorous than some of the other freelance jobs, data entry is still an in-demand job that many organizations like to outsource.

So if you are fast with a keyboard, don’t mind crunching numbers, and are highly organized — then data entry could be decent work for you.

It might not pay the highest at first, but the better you get and the bigger data jobs, the more lucrative it can be. Plus, it’s a great way for you to test the freelance world to see if you like working from home.

5. Online Teaching

Are you incredibly knowledgeable about certain subjects? Do you have previous experience teaching others? Then becoming an online teacher in a freelance capacity can be for you.

It may require a college degree and teaching experience in a specific subject, but you can help tutor anyone from anywhere with the internet.

Popular categories would be teaching a language, math, and science — but it can be anything!

6. Virtual Assistant

As digital work began to grow, so did the industry of being a virtual assistant. It’s easy for many entrepreneurs or small business owners to get bogged down by daily tasks that aren’t that important.

If you like doing administrative work and learning, then a great freelance job for you could be becoming a virtual assistant.

The tasks you might do include calendar management, researching, bookings, emailing, organizing, and customer support.

7. Translator

Do you speak and write fluently in other languages? Even if you are fluent in just one other language, you can make some good money as a translator.

Many businesses have global offices and offer products or services worldwide. And because of that, they will need their information in other languages.

You might help translate ebooks, websites, blog posts, brochures, presentations, legal documents, books, and more.

Common languages would be Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian — but there may be a need for any language you might be an expert in too.

8. Web Developer or Programmer

The digital transformation era has opened the doors for tons of freelance jobs, especially in web development and programming.

If you have expertise in coding languages like HTML/CSS, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Javascript, Python, and other categories — you can make some good money as a freelancer.

Pending the programming languages you know, you might be working on websites, apps for iOS or Android, and even unique software projects.

9. Customer Service

One of the last freelance job categories I’m including is working in customer service.

While retail businesses and certain offices will require you to be in person, there is still plenty of customer service or support roles you can do from home.

Additionally, it might be a bit less flexible with your schedule, as you will need to be by your computer or phone during specific business hours.

But if you thrive on helping others and looking for decent pay, a customer service freelance job could be perfect for you.

Freelance Job Sites To Find Work

Naturally, as you get started with freelancing, you can find work on your own. Meaning, you create your own website, start networking on social media, and begin engaging where your targets that may need to hire your skills would hangout.

But if you need money now and want to get to work a bit quicker, you may want to apply to some gigs listed on freelance job sites. There are tons of remote job boards and sites where businesses are looking for contractors to help with projects.

While there will be some competition from other freelancers, it’s a great way to get some work and build a working relationship.

So, what are some of the best freelance job sites to find work?

Upwork

Probably one of the most popular destinations for freelance jobs is UpWork. I’ve personally hired people from this website a few times, and if I were to explore freelance work full-time, this would be a place I’d list my services.

The more experience you are, and the better delivery you have with clients, the more discoverable you’ll be, and the more money you can make. You might not make a living income right away, but tons of people are doing amazing on UpWork and doing it full-time.

Fiverr

Another well-known name in the freelance marketplace is Fiverr, a great website to get your feet wet if you are exploring. This job site might have the most extensive freelance work categories, which goes beyond most websites’ traditional avenues.

However, Fiverr tends to offer services and work for cheap.

While some gigs you might be able to charge a decent amount, most businesses or individuals are looking to hire for much lower prices. And there are plenty of people willing to do the work for meager costs.

This is more of a place you stay active to get some work or hone in on your freelance skills. But you might want to move on to other job listings on this list.

FlexJobs

One of my favorite online destinations to find quality freelance jobs is the website FlexJobs. This job board has been around for quite a while but provides you with the resources you need to succeed.

You’ll find flexible work from home jobs and freelance gigs in tons of categories, you’ll have access to company research, and tons of great guides to improve your freelance career.

The one difference here is to access the great freelance jobs; you’ll have to sign-up for their paid platform.

They have a few paid tiers you can choose from, with their cheapest being about $15 per month. Totally worth it to find the best freelance work. Learn more and sign-up for FlexJobs here.

Freelancer

If you aren’t sure about signing up for a paid platform yet or want to look beyond sites like Upwork, then Freelancer might be a good option for you. With this website, you can create your free profile and start browsing jobs that look interesting to you.

You can create filters based on the work you are looking for, so you are instantly alerted of new gigs.

Here is the difference on this site: when you find a job you like, you actually place a bid on the work. Essentially, you pitch the job lister why you are the best fit, and then if they select you, you’ll start your work and get paid.

Craigslist

Oddly enough, looking at Craigslist can also lead you to find some freelance jobs.

Pending where you live and your surrounding cities, the opportunity for finding work in your niche might be more challenging than others.

If anything, you’ll definitely find some under the table jobs if you need some quick cash and want to earn some money.

But when you go to Craigslist, you can search for the “Gigs” section on the homepage and pick by category or click into the general section of it and see any job postings.

Always do your due diligence with Craigslist and ask important questions before blindly accepting any work.

Remote Job Sites

So the above are more tailored for freelance work and contracting jobs, but you can also find some of these mixed in remote job boards.

Many remote sites’ positions are for full-time work, but it’s also a great place to find some freelance jobs.

Remote.co

This remote job board has been around for some time, and I’ve used it myself to find some work in the past. On Remote.co, you’ll find tons of categories like online data entry jobs, marketing, writing, accounting, design, customer service, developer, and more.

WeWorkRemotely

Another remote job site I’ve used often is WeWorkRemotely. You can browse through all the categories as well for different open jobs and work. Or you can even select their contract work category to find the best freelance and part-time jobs.

Remotive.io

Lastly, I’ll mention Remotive, which has quickly become a popular destination looking for legit online jobs and their next full-time career working from home.

However, you’ll also find some contract and freelance jobs scattered on the job board in various categories. It’s always good to have some additional options to find work!

Beware of Freelance Job Scams

While there are plenty of awesome freelance jobs out there, you have to be aware of potential scams too. Since working from home and remote jobs are so popular, there naturally are people ready to take advantage of that.

While it is possible to make money while you sleep if the listing promises you that there is little to no work involved, be immediately skeptical.

Many people will try to sell you the dream when it comes to freelance jobs or working from home.

But don’t fall for it!

Additionally, do not send money to anyone to get started and avoid giving personal information like your social security number (that’s a great way to become an identity theft victim). If an organization mentions you need to buy things from them to get started, that’s also a red flag.

That said, don’t be afraid to dive into freelancing!

There are plenty of legit jobs, it can be a great way to make extra money, or you can even pursue freelancing full-time. So, what are you waiting for?!

This article originally appeared in InvestedWallet.

Sourced from Ladders

 

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Video Advertising Trends Going Into 2021

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By Linden Ryan Skeens.

A new era of video advertising has arrived, and it’s shaking up the marketing world. With advances in smartphones, tablets and streaming services, the use of video for advertising has evolved well beyond the confines of cable TV. That’s because many people are changing their video viewing habits. According to Deloitte, 80% of U.S. consumers are now paying for streaming video service, up from 73% before the Covid-19 pandemic began. Additionally, as of last year, 78% of people watch videos online each week, and 55% say they watch them daily.

Mobile phones in particular have gotten bigger, faster and more conducive to video advertising. Today, businesses have the opportunity to serve personalized video messaging right into the hands of consumers like never before. Not only that, but it has proven to be effective. Viewers reportedly retain 95% of a message when they watch it through video.

In more than 15 years working in the digital landscape, I have seen video grow by leaps and bounds. Internet speeds have had a lot to do with this, but so has the growth of content. It was mostly larger brands and companies that came to my company for video advertising five to seven years ago, and now it is much more varied. Today, we run video campaigns for political campaigns, fitness brands, coffee brands, small charities and more.

What’s On The Horizon For Video

Statista defines video advertising as “all ad formats within web- or app-based video players.” This includes the video ads that show before, during or after a streaming video, as well as the text- or image-based ads that appear over a video. Think about the last time you watched a YouTube video, for example. The video ads you saw before, during and after the video, and the banner-like overlay that showed up while you watched, are all considered video advertising.

Using ad spending as an indicator, video advertising will likely continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Video ad spending in the U.S. increased from $8.92 billion in 2017 to $10.18 billion in 2019. That number is expected to reach as high as $12.66 billion by 2024.

What’s driving that growth? Mobile. In 2017, mobile made up about 35% of that $8.92 billion in ad spending, with the rest going to desktop. The prediction for 2024 is that mobile will account for about 73% of video ad spending. This is probably largely due to the previously mentioned advancements in mobile technology, the rollout of 5G and ever-growing mobile usage.

U.S. adults spend an average of three hours and 43 minutes on their phones each day. By 2021, they may be spending 100 of those minutes consuming video. The number of mobile internet users is expected to grow to 295 million by 2023. The sheer volume of mobile users, combined with the time spent consuming video while on mobile, makes video advertising an essential part of any marketing campaign.

While data on social media video ads isn’t included in Statista’s video advertising data, the numbers elsewhere are impressive. Social network video ad spending is predicted to jump from $5.65 billion in 2017 to $14.89 billion in 2021. That’s just in the U.S. One of the biggest advantages of social media is its global nature, with billions of active users worldwide. Considering the massive reach of social media, the breakneck growth of social video advertising is unlikely to slow.

Social networking growth has brought a new method for video advertising with it as well — vertical video. Although the majority of users still prefer to watch videos horizontally, the way they are using social media on their smartphones is creating a need for advertisers to display video content vertically.

Tips For Getting Started Or Increasing Your Use Of Video

If you’re interested in getting into video advertising or increasing your use of video, here are a few things to keep in mind.

First, start by creating a detailed plan for what you want your video to accomplish. Just like any marketing campaign, your video advertising campaign should have clearly defined goals. Who is your target audience, and what do you want them to do? Is the video meant to attract new visitors, convert visitors to leads or close prospects?

Next, decide what type of marketing video works best for achieving those goals. Demonstration videos are great for showcasing products or services. You can use a brand video to share your company’s mission or vision. Educational, how-to or explainer videos help customers better understand how your product or service can benefit them. Whichever type you choose, keep your video conversational, actionable and measurable.

Once you have your goals and messaging down, it’s time to create your video. Depending on your budget, you can enlist the help of video professionals to produce your video and bring your vision to life. If you are on a tighter budget, there are many resources online to help you create your own videos. The same mobile devices that you aim to advertise on can create some pretty amazing videos. There’s even data suggesting that video production quality isn’t as important to viewers as content that fits their interests and passions.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, get your video out there. Share your video ad with the world, and be sure to track its performance. Monitor views, reach, click-through rates and conversion rates closely. The only way you can find out whether your video ads work is to get them in front of an audience.

Final Thoughts

Sight, sound and motion have been unleashed in a way that no one could have imagined just 10 years ago. The golden age of video is upon us, and it looks as though video advertising is poised to become a marketing juggernaut. In today’s increasingly digital world, video advertising will likely continue to be an important part of marketing plans well into the future.

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Linden Ryan Skeens

CEO of Thumbvista, a mobile advertising company based in North Carolina serving clients from all over the world. Read Linden Ryan Skeens’ full executive profile here

Sourced from Forbes

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How to Make Money on Instagram From Home

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The unprecedented effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic can’t be understated. In the United States alone, the economy shrank by about 32% between the months of April and June as governments imposed lockdowns and multiple business sectors (including healthcare) cut back on spending to attempt to weather any challenges.

Unfortunately, many establishments have had to cut a significant amount of costs to cope – and labour is definitely among them. To push through the uncertainty and continue to make a living in a time where social distancing becomes the new norm and physical meetings are discouraged for health and safety reasons, knowing your way around the internet has become a necessity.

eCommerce sales in particular have seen sharp increases during the peak lockdown months. eCommerce sales rose by 49% in April, with online groceries, electronics, and book sales leading the way. It isn’t just necessities people are buying – it seems like leisure items to cope are in high demand as well.

Identify the key opportunities

This is where opportunity knocks. Everyone is online, limiting their movements, and looking for ways to make their time both more productive (remote work is quickly becoming part of the “new normal,” whether companies are ready or not) and more fun (Nintendo reported a whopping 400% increase in earnings for the first quarter because of the pandemic).

So regardless of if you’re running your own business or just looking to earn some extra income to help pass the time, the market is there: now it’s just a matter of finding a way to tap into it.

That’s where Instagram comes in. Social media usage has increased overall due to the pandemic, but it’s Instagram that has scored the greatest growth in that area: total time spent on the platform is expected to grow by 14% this year, or more than 3 minutes of additional time per user per day. If you want to be seen, Instagram is the place to go – and to earn.

Here are the various ways to monetize your time spent on social media and link up with others on Instagram who might just need exactly what you can offer.

1. Bring the spirit of entrepreneurship online

Instagram has been a great boon for entrepreneurs, online sellers, and businesses pivoting to digital channels to improve sustainability during the pandemic. Instagram itself has acknowledged this, and laid out a brief primer on how to get started:

  • On the most basic level, communicate all details about your brand with the posts you make on your Feed. The former will be the backbone of your Instagram content, so share important announcements, product details, and address frequently asked questions for prospective customers.
Bring-the-Spirit-of-Entrepreneurship-Online-Make-Money-on-Instagram
  • Utilize Instagram’s built-in eCommerce tools to support your business. By connecting your Instagram account to your business’ official Facebook catalogue, you can apply for Instagram Shopping features. Once approved, this will allow you to tag products in feed posts (up to five per image) and Stories (one sticker per Story), which immediately allows customers to see the name of each item, its corresponding price, and a direct link to purchase via your catalogue.

Our tip? If you’re one person or a small business, eschew the formalities and be your authentic self. Don’t be afraid to share more personal details with your audience. They understand more than ever the importance of sales for small businesses and individual entrepreneurs, and being a bit more open with your story online can translate into loyal customers who believe in you not just because of your products, but because of the care behind them.

2. Share your creative resources

For those whose skill sets lie in creative fields, then you may have already been on Instagram or any similarly visual-heavy social media platform. You can leverage your digital know-how and create services that will allow you to partner with others trying to build their own presence online, too.

This can include:

  • Selling photo editing and graphic design to individuals and brands for use on their social networks and websites. This is prevalent in the realm of influencer marketing communities on Instagram, wherein influencers and photographers create and share their signature photo editing presets for apps to assist others in emulating their desired aesthetics.
  • Providing detailed tutorials and sharing snippets of them online. With the pandemic bringing everyone into their homes and urging them to try new hobbies or hone their skills, any knowledge you have in this department has the potential to greatly benefit others around you. Share some useful tips and tricks for your chosen hobby on your Instagram feed, and once you build enough interest, start adding links to a full package (or even a mentoring session) available for purchase. If the quality of your content is good enough, people will be buying – so present them in an easy-to-understand and appealing way.

3. Try out affiliate marketing

The sharp increase in eCommerce use amidst the coronavirus pandemic means affiliate marketing had the chance to take off in a big way—and it did. For the unfamiliar, affiliate marketing is when organizations or individuals partner with a specific eCommerce brand to receive a commission if they refer their own audience to purchase the brand’s items. Think of the codes you see some Instagram users provide when posting photos of sporting goods from their favoured brands.

You can distinguish affiliate marketing from the more common sponsored posts you see on Instagram by the inclusion of certain discount codes or links in a post or bio. While sponsored posts may see brands provide products for an influencer to use or post about, affiliate marketing is more performance-based: affiliates get a commission based on the number of clicks or sales they get from referring users to the partner website.

Just be sure to find programs related to industries experiencing unexpected booms during the pandemic, to be on the safe side. These industries include gifts and occasions, home and garden, health and fitness, food and drink, and beauty brands. Note the seasons, too – surprisingly, despite overall cost-cutting measures to save money at home, consumers aren’t expecting to spend any less this year during special holiday events like Christmas and Black Friday, so timing your affiliate marketing promotions right becomes a factor as well.

4. Find freelance clients

The pandemic has accelerated the need for businesses to take measures and undergo digital transformation, lest they get left behind and stagnate from the lack of revenue brought by decreased foot traffic and tighter regulations. If you’re a digital marketer in need of extra support, this could be the perfect time to seek out freelance clients to support any other income you might be earning.

You can easily use Instagram to build your online portfolio (or direct traffic to an existing one, if you already have a website or blog). This means putting the services you want to sell to others into practice and optimizing your Instagram profile to support it.

Here are some tips for solidifying your Instagram marketing:

  • Use relevant keywords in your Instagram bio to assist search engines. Add a touch of whimsy and customization as well by using different fonts, adding special characters, or even inserting some emojis to direct the eye to key information.
  • Write engaging Instagram captions aimed directly at reeling in your target demographic – appeal to emotion, use call-to-action phrases in each post, format them well (and keep them on the lengthy side), and remember to include hashtags for 12.6% more engagement than posts without them.
  • Share social proof with user-generated content, especially positive client testimonials. Do you have any happy customers willing to share their feedback? Make special feature posts detailing the specific services they availed, how you’ve helped them, and how they’ve been able to support you in return with the work they offered.

Final thoughts

Instagram has the potential to be an effective source of income for anyone seeking new opportunities this year. The catch? Now that everyone else is online – buying online, communicating online, and working online – so are your competitors, equally vying for customers’ attention and finding their own stride with monetizing their Instagram presence.

That’s why brand-building should be a core aspect to consider, regardless of whichever path you choose to make money on Instagram. Take the time to brainstorm and plan out even the most basic foundations of your online brand – the visuals – since that’s precisely what Instagram excels at showcasing. Photo editing and graphic design tools like Canva, Instasize, and more are free to download and user-friendly, created by experts who know what works visually and what doesn’t.

Ultimately, keeping your health and safety a priority by limiting movement as the world slowly transitions into a post-pandemic state doesn’t need to come at the expense of losing all the ways you can make a living. Keep your eyes out, get creative with all the tools available to you, and come out even stronger for it.

By

Denise Langenegger is part of the team at Instasize – a content creating tool kit for anyone editing photos and online content on mobile. 

Sourced from Jeffbullas.com

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WordPress: A Platform for Successful SEO

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Sourced from The Southern Maryland Chronicle

There is no sense in launching an online project if it cannot worthily engage in competition in its dedicated niche. Therefore, digital promotion is one of the key things to consider when creating an online product. If you want to get a good position in the search engine rankings, then you need to take the SEO side of the project seriously.

Fortunately, using WordPress gives you an edge as this CMS takes care of the basic SEO optimization from the outset. This is one of the many other reasons why many project managers, site owners, and webmasters give preference to the WordPress content management system.

How to Make Your WordPress Project Perform the Best?

There are some things you can do to take your WordPress SEO to the next level. Before creating your promotion strategy, make sure that your WP site has been professionally developed by the beetroot.co team or another qualified company.

  1. Install WordPress SEO plugins;
  2. Choose one of the SEO-friendly themes;
  3. Turn on the visibility of your site for search engines;
  4. Set up your permalink structure;
  5. Add meta tags;
  6. Optimize images.

Let’s go through this list step by step so that you have an idea of how it works and what you should do on your end.

1. Install WordPress SEO Plugins

WordPress already has some solid SEO features built-in. But you can take it to the next level by using dedicated SEO plugins. The best SEO plugin on the market is Yoast SEO. With this solution, you can perfectly optimize every page. The plugin also has a built-in analytics solution based on the latest algorithm updates. You can even create an XML sitemap and add schema mark-up to your site in a couple of clicks.

2. Choose Among SEO-friendly Themes

What is essential for SEO of your site? One of the key parameters taken into account during ranking is the time users spend on a site. Thus, the theme of your website is crucial. It does not matter which kind of a platform you have got – an online store, business site, or even an art gallery, you will find a suitable theme among those offered by WordPress.

The design influences not only how appealing your site will be for the target audience. The better it is designed, the easier it is for users to find the information they are looking for. In its turn, this will make your visitors fulfil the desired action and decrease the chances they just leave your website. With a low bounce rate, the search engine will better rank your platform.

3. Turn on the Visibility of Your Site for Search Engines

WordPress has a built-in setting that will hide your site from search engines. It can be useful when you are just creating your site; it will prohibit ranking it for this time. If you’ve applied a few tips from our list but haven’t seen an improvement in your site’s rankings, this setting may be the reason.

4. Set up Your Permalink Structure

When you first install WordPress on your site page, the posts may have a strange URL structure. This default structure is not the best choice for your SEO efforts. The more search-engine-friendly URL structure is the post-name setting. By switching to this setting, you can include the title of your post or page and even a keyword in the link. If you make these changes later, you will have to redirect the old URLs. You can do this with the Change Permalink Helper plugin. Just enter your older URLs, and they will be redirected to your updated URLs.

5. Add Meta Tags

Google does not clearly state how meta tags influence the ranking of a particular resource. However, they definitely influence the appeal of your site in the search results. If you have got a WordPress-based site, you can install one of the plugins mentioned above and easily add the meta tags. Those who are not prone to do this manually can make use of automatic functions that get the required information for the automatic creation of meta tags.

6. Optimize Images

Your site won’t be interesting if there are no pictures and videos. Thanks to the features of the CMS, WordPress-based sites allow adding as many images as you want. However, adding them is not sufficient. You need to optimize the images and videos. First of all, it is necessary to add descriptions of images and alt tags. Also, make sure that the pictures are loading fast. Otherwise, you should compress them. There are a lot of WordPress plugins that can help cope with this task easily.

We have listed not all the steps you need to take for a successful SEO. In general, having a site foresees permanent work with it. If you choose a platform that does not create any complications, this is a great investment in the future. WordPress is the choice you will be grateful for many years in the future.

Sourced from The Southern Maryland Chronicle

 

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11 Original Ways To Leverage Influencer Marketing For Maximum Impact

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Sourced from Forbes

Although influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon, it seems to evolve more quickly than other forms of marketing and advertising. As more and more creators enter the market, intent on becoming paid influencers, smart brands and the agencies they work with know that effectively partnering with an influencer takes more than just a large number of followers.

The key is to leverage the organic influence of the right people to create deeper engagement between their followers and your brand, and countless variables will affect your strategy. Here, 11 members of Forbes Agency Council look at some of the most original iterations of influencer marketing that brands can use to stand out to target audiences in unique and memorable ways.

1. Technical Subject Matter Experts As Influencers

For companies targeting technical audiences, influencers are smart, experienced engineers and other technical subject matter experts who routinely comment on industry trends and technical challenges with their unique points of view. Partner with these pundits, who are often found associated with industry groups or publications. Another option is to create your own influencer within company ranks. – Wendy Covey, TREW Marketing

2. Podcast Host Endorsements

Host endorsements on podcasts are a great form of influencer marketing. The most recent audience studies show that at least one in three Americans listened to a podcast in the month prior. Marketers and advertisers are taking notice of the host’s (influencer’s) unique ability to not only provide reach, but also connection and economic results. It’s an “opt-in” channel where show hosts have listeners’ undivided attention and trust. – Kurt Kaufer, Ad Results Media

3. Shoppable Influencer Content

Influencer marketing started as an awareness tactic, but the industry has truly matured. We’ve seen that influencers tell compelling stories that not only drive awareness, but can also generate purchase intent. And now, with click-to-cart companies such as SmartCommerce and new features in Instagram, influencer content can be shoppable, allowing consumers to go from interest to cart in just a single click. – Maria Sipka, Linqia

4. Influencer Marketing Efforts Tied To A Cause

Tie your influencer marketing efforts to a cause. Microsoft’s #MakeWhatsNext campaign, for example, encourages young girls to pursue careers in STEM. On International Women’s Day, the brand teamed up with National Geographic to feature photos of women scientists that generated millions of likes and spurred significant engagement. – Scott Baradell, Idea Grove

5. Influencer Content As Paid Social Ads

We’ve seen a huge rise in using influencer content as paid social ads for remarketing audiences in the last 30, 60 or 90 days. This allows companies to avoid ad fatigue and leverage unique influencer content to build credibility, trust and desire for the product or service. – Brian Meert, AdvertiseMint

6. Turning Employees Into Influencers

A highly original form of influencer marketing is taking someone that works for you and making that person an influencer. We have clients that sell beauty products. Instead of paying someone on the outside, they’ve showcased their own people using the products. As they acquire a following, the company has an in-house influencer already on payroll. Better still, this is a repeatable step. – Danny Star, Website Depot

7. Brand Ambassadors Programs

Brand ambassadors programs as a type of influencer marketing sound more impactful and authentic to audiences who look at brand ambassadors as people with an emotional attachment to the brand, and adore it to an extent that they are ready to promote it. With an emphasis on brand ambassadors programs, consumers feel like owners of the brand and become fully engaged with it. – Elissar Hajj Zarwi, Comma Hub

8. Invitation-Only Facebook Groups

An innovative form of influencer marketing consists of private and invitation-only online Facebook groups sponsored by the marketer to create the sense of a safe and exclusive space for members of a community united by a shared interest to bond with each other. You need to request and be approved by the marketer to join the group. Once inside, the influencers keep the conversation alive with questions and participation that inspire others to engage. – Abigail Hirschhorn, Human Intelligence | H.I.

9. The Rise Of TikTok Influencers

TikTok is the wild west of influencer marketing and a fertile ground for brands to test and learn with branded TikTok videos. Compared to other platforms, the number of brands activating TikTok campaigns is relatively low, so your brand may be the first in your category to become established on the platform. Now is a great time to take advantage of the light-hearted content native to the platform. – Corbett Drummey, Popular Pays

10. Influencer Marketing On Instagram

Influencer marketing on Instagram is what I see as the most undervalued, high-return investment a business or brand can make. Pairing with the right influencer for your brand can not only generate sales and new customers, but also exponentially grow your business. An Instagram influencer’s loyal community of followers will try any product or service the influencer pushes as long as it aligns. – Tony Pec, Y Not You Media

11. Influencer Takeovers Of Brands’ Social Media

Having an influencer take over a brand’s social media channel can be a powerful collaboration that gives a brand instant credibility and reaches a new market. From fashion labels having celebrity DJs livestream on their channels to a celebrity providing an online edit of a magazine’s feed, this form of marketing is becoming more impactful by the minute. – Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR

Sourced from Forbes

Successful PR, media strategy, creative and advertising executives from Forbes Agency Council share trends and tips

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