editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

How Indoor Air Quality Can Impact Your Productivity

October 22, 2020 No Comments

Indoor Air Quality When first hearing it, you may think that indoor air quality is more of an advertising gimmick than a genuine concern. Or you may think it’s something that happens in some more hazardous areas, not your home, so there is no need to call air quality specialists now.

When first hearing it, you may think that indoor air quality is more of an advertising gimmick than a genuine concern. Or you may think it’s something that happens in some more hazardous areas, not your home, so there is no need to call air quality specialists now. However, there have been official studies conducted by universities and health organizations show that it is a pressing matter indeed.

After all, isn’t the air we breathe the most important thing for sustaining life? But, what studies have shown is that the quality of the air we breathe greatly affects the quality of our life, our thinking, performance, and our bodily functions.

Anyone who goes mountain hiking or camping in the woods will tell you how their thinking and mood immediately improves when they get the first whip of that fresh natural air, free from various pollutants we live with and ignore daily. But, those pollutants are not just outside in the streets, they are inside of our homes.

Indoor Air Quality and Productivity Correlation Research

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is a scientific agency working within the United States Department of Commerce, estimates a loss of around $150 billion in various costs annually. This is for the U.S alone as a result of illness and reduced productivity due to poor indoor air quality.

To make the figures clearer, the same research states that around $93B of that $150B is a loss due to headaches, irritation, fatigue, and similar conditions all coming from what is called the “sick building syndrome”.

The Environmental Protection Agency, which is an independent agency inside the US’ federal government, found that airborne pollutants indoors are, on average, 2 to 5 times higher in concentration than outdoor pollutants. Their studies have shown around 11% increase in workplace productivity after the indoor air was cleared properly.

Another study, this time from the Harvard School of Public Health conducted in 2015, has yielded even more staggering data. It was what is called a “double-blind study”, meaning no information was revealed that could influence the participants until after the study was complete.

They have observed people working in offices with good ventilation and low air pollutant levels and determined that their cognitive functions are twice as higher than in workers who are working in offices with only average levels of those same pollutants.

A Gas Leak In California

There is a documented study from 2015, conducted in Porter Ranch, California after a gas-leak alarm was raised in that area. All schools in a five-mile radius installed air filtration systems in all classrooms and offices after that.

The study used the schools’ standard academic testing information from before the event for the baseline of the experiment. After the new air filtration, the students’ scores significantly improved in that five-mile area. Areas beyond this, that did not change air quality, saw no improvement or any change in this regard.

Worth Its Weight in Fruit

There was another study that focused on fruit pickers in California. It was conducted by the University of California at San Diego, the University of Southern California, and Columbia University. The daily salaries of the fruit pickers were directly determined by how much fruit they picked on that day.

The study compared their daily score with the air quality measures and it was found that they picked, and subsequently earned, significantly less on days when ground-level ozone readings were at the highest. The worse the air got, the less they earned.

Of course, fruits are generally picked outdoors, or at least in glass gardens, but this only supplements the indoor air quality argument. This is because the indoor air is more susceptible to getting polluted because inside of a building there is no wind, drafts, and similar natural air cleansers.

How To Improve Air Quality and Comfort Now?

When talking about air comfort, we are talking about several factors that include:

● Temperature

● Humidity

● Air Movement

Not much we could say about air temperature that isn’t common knowledge. Cold is bad, too warm is also not good. But, thermal discomfort is the #1 complaint in office workplaces and this is because they accommodate larger groups of people, all with different temperature preferences.

One could never satisfy personal, specific, off-normal temperature preferences for each person in a group of people. But, companies can make an effort to meet certified air standards easily available and reachable with the help of several things, like the IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) Monitor, Air Purifiers, personal fans, and similar stuff.

Designing for Clean and Comfortable Air

However, if one would really like to improve air quality in a home or a workplace, one should start thinking about this before the build or during renovations. Many ventilation systems that can solve this problem for good, and they include:

● Call Air Quality Specialist

● 100% outside-air systems

● Underfloor air distribution systems

● Displacement ventilation

● Green Rating Systems (LEED, WELL, etc…)

● Demand-control ventilation (DCV)

If we are talking about extreme climate areas, extremely hot or cold, naturally more complex solutions must be utilized. In these cases, it is recommended to separate the outside air supply system from the cooling or heating systems.

This must be done to conserve the energy needed to maintain the temperature, while still ensuring 100% or the outside air capacity needed for a healthy indoor environment.

Thanks for reading!

By Armondo Mollindeo

Armondo Mollindeo is the founder and owner of Elite Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning which is one of the leading companies in Las Vegas providing licensed services for air conditioning repair, heating, and plumbing.

Sourced from Thrive Global

In News

4 Things Bill Gates Says You Should Expect in 2021 and Beyond

October 22, 2020 No Comments

By Minda Zetlin,

At the GeekWire Summit, the Microsoft founder talked pandemic, climate change, and cement.

The pandemic will get worse before it gets better, and will continue to be a threat at least through 2021. The toughest climate challenge won’t be the cars we drive, but the buildings we build. And even though things seem dire right now, in the big picture, life will continue getting better.

Those are just some of the predictions Bill Gates made during an hourlong fireside chat at the virtual GeekWire Summit conference last week. Gates answered questions from GeekWire editor-in-chief Todd Bishop on topics ranging from his late father to antitrust action against big tech. (Today’s leaders aren’t making the mistake of neglecting their relationships with government officials, he said, because, “Everybody saw what I did and knows better now.”)

Here’s some of what Gates predicted:

1. The pandemic will get worse before it gets better.

“Between now and the end of the year, things are going to get worse,” Gates said, when asked for a timeline to beat Covid-19. “The model even a few months ago showed that with more people indoors and colder weather, both Europe and the U.S. rebound. And, unfortunately, that proved to be correct. So we can expect an increasing number of cases and deaths over the fall.”

After that, he said, things will improve: “The good news is that better therapeutics — primarily monoclonal antibodies — will start to become available by the end of the year or early next year.” Monoclonal antibodies are made by cloning white blood cells and can be targeted at particular antigens. President Donald Trump received this treatment as part of the cocktail used to defeat his Covid-19 infection. Eli Lilly recently paused its monoclonal antibody trial, but Gates is hoping it will restart soon.

Vaccines are also on their way, he said: “The likelihood is by early next year, two or three of the first six that are in phase three trials right now are likely to get approved. And that starts you on a path toward cutting transmission.”

Gates said he hopes that, with vaccines available, schools will be able to move toward reopening. “Certainly by next fall, I would hope that we could get education back on track,” he said. “So by late 2021, the U.S. could be in much better shape than we are right now.”

Still, he cautioned, the pandemic won’t be truly finished anywhere until it’s defeated everywhere. “We won’t be completely back to normal until we get rid of this virus everywhere in the world,” he said. Gates noted that some nations, such as New Zealand, Australia, and South Korea, quickly contained the virus only to see new infections arrive with visitors from abroad. “So global elimination, with a lot of cooperation, is something we think should be done,” he said.

2. We’ll be better prepared to fight the next pandemic, and some of today’s diseases, too.

One good thing to emerge from the current pandemic is that governments around the world, and the U.S. in particular, are doing a much better job of providing funds for pandemic response, Gates said. Perhaps even more important, the race to stop Covid-19 has accelerated development of RNA vaccines. Traditional vaccines work by infecting the recipient with inert or “dead” pathogens in order to jump-start an immune response. RNA vaccines aren’t entire pathogens but merely their “messenger” RNA, which produces a similar response from the immune system. Because they don’t require the entire pathogen, RNA vaccines are safer to administer, easier to produce, and potentially more versatile.

“That’s a very promising approach, both to shorten the time to create a new vaccine, and to be able to have a generalized factory that could be standing by no matter what disease you’re going after,” Gates said. “We want to use that platform to try and do an HIV vaccine, malaria vaccine, and TB vaccine.”

3. The toughest climate change challenge won’t be cars. It’ll be buildings.

Most people think of fighting climate change in terms of greener energy, such as solar or wind power, and such solutions as driving electric cars. Gates said he supports those initiatives, but that we’re facing a tougher problem when it comes to manufacturing cement and steel. “We don’t have a way of making cement that doesn’t involve substantial emissions,” he said.

That means that, while changes in human behavior to reduce carbon emissions can make a difference, “tech is the only solution,” he said. “Without innovation, there’s no way. Fortunately, innovation — although it’s hard to predict — across about 10 different areas, if we have those innovations, we can do very well.” Gates is already backing Heliogen, a startup exploring ways to use solar power for high-temperature applications such as steel and cement manufacture.

4. If you look at the big picture, things are getting better.

Gates is famously optimistic, and that quality came through when Bishop asked him, “Bill, what gives you hope?”

“Overall, the basic framework is that life is getting better,” Gates said. “Slowly but surely, we’re recognizing how we treat minorities, how we treat women. Slowly but surely, we’re reducing cancer deaths, beginning to understand things like diabetes and Alzheimer’s.” There are setbacks, he acknowledged, and the pandemic is a huge example of that. But, he said, “a hundred years ago, the death rate of children was about 30 percent before the age of 5. There’s nowhere in the world that’s that bad now.” While child mortality is still too high in some places, he added, “Progress will continue to take place. And so, you know, I’m upbeat.”

Feature Image Credit: Bill Gates. Getty Images

By Minda Zetlin,

Co-author, The Geek Gap@MindaZetlin

Sourced from Inc.

In News

Top 10 Reasons to Use Social Networks for Advertising

October 21, 2020 No Comments

By Thomas Glare.

Description: Despite the constant traffic in social media, some businesses still think they are better off not using this amazing and largely low-cost resource for advertisement. We have a few reasons why they might want to reconsider that opinion.

Introduction: Social media platforms are everywhere. If you have a smartphone and Wi-Fi, you have access to everyone you know and everyone they know every second of the day. And, while using it to reconnect with old friends is a pretty solid way to utilize such a versatile medium, it can also be a great resource for marketing.

These days, it seems like everyone has social media accounts. From toddlers to grandparents, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have kept us connected, for better or worse, and allowed us to know everything about everyone. It is even possible to win real money by clicking on an ad or doing a social media quiz.

Marketing in the Age of Social Media

In the past, ad traffic was expensive and could only come from television, radio, and newspapers. Promos run maybe once an hour to as little as once a week, and the target audience was only listeners, watchers, or subscribers. And advertisers hoped their target market was tuned at just the right time, but it was essentially a gamble.

These days, social media advertising has almost overtaken all other forms of marketing. As a matter of fact, when a marketing firm lists their services, if the phrase “social media campaign” isn’t mentioned, a lot of businesses will move on. It isn’t the niche market of ten years ago, but a living, breathing animal of its own.

Your Next Marketing Strategy

White pages do work, and emails are still a heavy hitter in the marketing game. But if you want to get the most eyes on your product or service, you can’t beat the endless traffic of the big three. These social media networks have made a killing based on this knowledge. So, why shouldn’t you?

Here’s how:

1. Ready and Waiting

Your customers are on social media. You want to connect with them. So, like AT&T used to say, “Reach out and touch someone.” They are waiting for you to tell them what you have to offer. Don’t leave them in suspense.

2. Branding

You aren’t just a business but a brand. And your brand is the face of your company. People recognize big brands because they stand out, and there is something special about them. Get your brand out there and introduce yourself!

3. Improving Relationships

Online reviews have replaced comment cards, and access to business owners has become commonplace. Using social media to stay connected with your customers is the best way to know whether your business is doing well, and what to do to fix it if something is wrong. Instantly.

4. A Wider Net

Any social media manager will tell you not to aim at small but launch a large campaign to draw big attention. As far as social media plans go, this is a valid idea. You may inspire new business just because you took a chance on an untapped market for your niche.

5. Low Money Down

Let’s say you are a casino. Your business is to bring in people with money to spend. But how? Free coupons! You put a free coupon for slots free spins on Twitter, and the traffic flows into your site. And you paid next to nothing for it. Social media marketing is the most cost-effective medium for product promotion.

img alt: social media marketing

6. Competition

Everyone has a business out in the world that is trying to take your customers and your dollars. And guess what? They already have a website and tons of followers, subscribers, and valued customers. They aren’t taking your business; you are giving it to them by not having a social media strategy.

7. Loyalty

People like to know who they are buying from. A bad social media brand can kill a business, just because of the owner’s improprieties. But if your customers are aware of your story, and it garners trust and makes you seem like a quality human-being, they instinctively want to support you.

8. Drawing a Bullseye

While you can throw out a huge campaign that blankets the entirety of social media, you can also target specific people, catering to your most fervent customer base only. It is similar to fishing with a bait that only certain fish like. Sure, you will get some outsider nibbles, but you will hook what you came for.

9. Up the Ladder

Along with knowledge of SEO, traffic algorithms have a hand in search engine rankings. The more people visit you, the higher you are on the list when customers search for your business. Typically, the average web surfer will pick one of the top five links when looking for just about anything.

10.Reaching and Grasping

Just like the Internet is global, so is social media. And that means you can now advertise all over the world from one or more platforms with ease and speed. Customers in Estonia can buy your product, receive it, and give you feedback in a matter of days, not months like in the past. It has connected the commerce of the world.

Conclusion

Social media management may seem a little odd to those with old school marketing ideas, and that makes sense. So many advertising fads have come and gone, it can be puzzling if getting an account for your business might just end up as a waste of time. But the upshot is that advertising on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are so quick and easy that you’re actually wasting more time trying to come up with reasons not to. Do you advertise your business on social media? Has it helped your bottom line and customer traffic?

By Thomas Glare

Thomas Glare runs a marketing firm and believes in the power of advertising through social media platforms. He recognizes it as a vital tool in promotional mediums and uses it on a regular basis for his clients to promote his own business interests.

In News

Streamline Your Marketing Plan With 75 Percent Off This Email Platform

October 21, 2020 No Comments

By StackCommerce Team.

Kirim.Email filters out spam, bots, and other drags on your marketing bill.

Online marketing can seem pretty impersonal; everyone has a social media branding plan, but it’s disheartening hoping for even a quick glance from potential customers amid the flood of memes and clickbait.

That’s why it’s more important than ever to maintain the fundamentals of email marketing. Email addresses are like gold to up-and-coming businesses, and those newsletters and messages you send are read on customers’ home turf—making them a lot more likely to respond. Of course, email marketing isn’t without its own hazards. To deal with them, you need a service like Kirim.Email to streamline your plan and weed out any wasted (and potentially harmful) contacts.

The all-in-one tool lets users build a list of subscribers and send an unlimited amount of emails from one central dashboard. Schedule them weekly, daily, or multiple times a day for no extra cost. More importantly, Kirim.Email automatically validates all your addresses, and can detect and delete “zombie” accounts or those that are simply a front to send spam or malware. Not only are these fake addresses potentially harmful, they’re an added drag on the cost of your marketing campaign.

That’s hardly all the service does, though. Build your own landing page directly through Kirim.Email, with full functionality and access to thousands of graphics, photos, and other assets; set up surveys through Google Forms or Google Sheets and incorporate them directly into the list with a third-party add-on. And do it all with no coding required. Kirim.Email integrates seamlessly with popular web platforms like WordPress and Facebook, allowing users to focus on what’s really important: the message you want to send to and the connection you want to make with customers.

By StackCommerce Team.

Sourced from PC

In News

Marketers misunderstand the two tasks of online advertising

October 21, 2020 No Comments

By Grace Kite.

Confusion over the twin functions of digital advertising could lead marketers into flawed decision making, especially when ads used to signpost customer journeys are treated as if they can generate demand.

This year Facebook is 15 and Google is 21, but as advertising channels for big brands, neither has emerged from the troublesome teenage phase into a fully effective adulthood.

It’s because marketers are often not using these and other online channels appropriately. Online ads perform two distinct tasks that need two different decision-making processes, but many marketing departments only use one.

The first task is the one that marketers are most comfortable with because it is the same task that’s done by offline ads. If seeing a compelling picture on Facebook is similar to seeing a poster on the street, and watching a video on YouTube is similar to watching one on TV, then it’s clear, an online ad is just like an offline one. It’s an investment into generating demand and producing future sales.

The second task is less familiar to marketers, albeit equally important for sales. It’s the role of online ads as signposts for ecommerce businesses. This task is the online equivalent of the name above the high street front door, the lights that stay on inside, the shelf-space and even the entry in the Yellow Pages. The task is to help people who are already on their way to a website arrive safely. It isn’t an investment into future sales, but a cost of current transactions.

The two tasks can lead to flawed decision making when ads that mainly perform the second task are treated as if they perform the first. It can lead businesses to treat signposts as if they were substitutes for true investments into future sales and, in some cases, waste money shepherding sales that were going to arrive anyway.

Making sense of the macro data

The existence of the second task explains the matching trajectories in the chart below. In it, online advertising’s share of budgets (black line) and the ecommerce share of retail (grey bars) have been growing in parallel for as far back as the data is available.

At least part of the explanation is that some online advertising is a cost of carrying out ecommerce. Businesses that want to sell on the internet need to be visible there.

Ah, but correlation is not causation, a sceptic might argue. The chart fits other explanations too. For example, both ecommerce and online advertising rely on the same technologies, so of course they grow together. Or perhaps ecommerce and online advertising are both superior to their offline versions and people have simply begun to use them both more over time.

These alternative arguments break down in the reaction to Covid-19. So far this year, both ecommerce percent and online advertising percent have increased in lockstep at a time when decision making has clearly been about keeping businesses going rather than making bets on new technologies.

The reason is that during Covid-19, decisions about the two tasks of online advertising have been different. Offline budgets have fallen because, as is typical in a recession, businesses find it hard to invest into future sales when survival today is under threat. But, as the chart below shows, many types of online advertising are enjoying maintained or even increased budgets.

Some of this change in the media mix is driven by lockdowns and reduced available reach from channels like out-of-home and events, but some is also because more and more people are shopping online, and that makes the second task more important.

In a recession, businesses cut down on advertising, but they don’t close the shop. They keep the lights on offline and they remain visible online too.

Counting everyone that walks past the signpost

More important for marketers’ day-to-day decision making is the way that the two tasks manifest in decision making tools. My team and I use charts, like the one below, to help make things clearer for clients. It shows the case of search engine marketing carried out by a semi-fictional, but typical advertiser.

In the chart, the proportion of total sales driven by search ads is around three times bigger in Google’s attribution tool than it is in our econometric modelling. The reason is that in two thirds of customer journeys that involve a search click, the ad didn’t actually generate the sale, it acted as a signpost, helping someone who had already made their decision to complete their purchase.

Some more sophisticated advertisers are aware of this distinction, but others treat all of the signposted sales as if they were generated by the signpost rather than the price cut, TV ad, or good weather day that prompted the customer decision. They calculate return on investment figures that are too high, and costs per acquisition that are too cheap, and they believe, sometimes wrongly, that switching off signposting would be disastrous.

Using signposts properly

We advise clients to make the comparison above for all online channels and test limited switch-offs. The test and learn should be focused on ads that mainly perform the signposting task rather than the demand building task, so that they don’t damage incremental sales, but do reveal how important each signpost actually is.

There is still a lot to learn in this area, but the above chart is typical of our limited experience. The online ads that are most often an investment into future sales are those that target new rather than existing customers and reach rather than engagement. They typically have richer creative, particularly video, and they highlight newer or less well-known products.

At the other end of the scale we typically see text only ads for the advertiser’s own brand, social that targets clicks and generic search for well-known product lines.

Sometimes the test and learn reveals that the signposting task wasn’t necessary, as in the left panel of the chart below. This advertiser had strong SEO and competitors weren’t buying their own brand terms. Switching off core brand PPC didn’t affect sales at all.

In other cases, the signposting job is revealed to be critical. In the right panel, the switch-off revealed that without a presence in generic search for these keywords, even a customer who had already decided to buy could be diverted and fail to arrive safely.

In our past projects, this kind of guided test and learn has helped clients to use their online channels more effectively and avoid wastage in the performance budget. It’s also generated an additional return on investment benefit when advertisers re-invest the money saved into their best performing, demand generating channels.

It’s the best that current adtech and econometrics can do, but it’s still quite clumsy. Trial and error is rarely the best way to make plans.

The future is in collaboration between marketers, analysts and other departments in the advertiser’s organisation. Experts in sales channel management and merchandising have the skills to make decisions about spending on physical signposts, call centres and high street shops. Their expertise must be relevant here.

Time will tell, but my bet is that the fully mature, fully effective role for online advertising will be very different to the adolescent one we are familiar with today.

By Grace Kite

Sourced from www.marketingweek.com

In Uncategorized

Brand of the Day: Redesigning MasterClass

October 20, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Print

MasterClass has always been a powerhouse when it comes to online learning, setting itself apart from its competitors with a list of instructors including Frank Gehry, Spike Lee, Anna Wintour, Shonda Rhimes, Margaret Atwood, Annie Leibovitz, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch, Serena Williams, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and many, many others.

Launched in 2015, the company has now rolled out a new identity created by New York City-based branding studio Gretel.

“We came on board to help the brand and marketing mirror the elevated offering and motivate subscribers to see the potential and the value in a subscription,” Gretel Executive Creative Director Ryan Moore says. “The system we’ve created together is dynamic, accessible and built for further iteration.”

The identity sought to reflect MasterClass’ vibrant and bold instructors, while channeling the cinematic and the sophisticated. All told, it’s a marked departure from the company’s former brandmark:

As David Schriber, MasterClass’ CMO says, “It’s not about a new design, it’s about an evolution. MasterClass has moved into mainstream culture, and the brand’s transition from product to household name has never been more apparent than in the past year. We wanted to create a contemporary identity connected to culture that each member and instructor could own along with us.”

As for some specifics of the work:

One highlight of the new brand identity and, most notably, in the new logo, is the use of the underscore. This simple line is reinforced throughout the reimagined platform and conveys the white space that’s up to the member to complete—a blank space to be filled, a new skill to be learned, the potential and possibility of today.

MasterClass is a portfolio of individual classes taught by a diverse set of instructors. To illustrate this, each instructor now has their own unique visual identity, including logo, font and colourway, that will bring their personal style to the comprehensive MasterClass branding. This element of the redesign also reinforces the notion that members and instructors can be a part of a new way of learning through the MasterClass ecosystem, while still maintaining their individuality and interests.

See how Gretel brought more of the new identity to life below.

Sourced from Print

In News

How Display Advertising Works

October 20, 2020 No Comments

By Ritika Pradhan.

It’s been almost 26 years since the first display ad flashed across a screen. If the topic seems overdone to you, then you’re mistaken. Display advertising is an old kin of online marketing, but it’s not at all like it used to be.

In a post-cookie world, display advertising must be fast changing to keep up with innovations and creative resurgence. Ask marketers who know their game, and they will tell you that display advertising is here to stay and flourish.

Display Ads vs Native Ads

This has been an ongoing debate for a long time. Many marketers believe that native ads are an end to display advertising. Others believe that the old banner ad is a better way to garner attention.

Native ads — as the name suggests — are native to a publisher’s environment. Unlike, display advertising which stands out, the ad content for native ads tends to blend in with its surrounding content.

Native ads are non-intrusive and therefore effective when you want to educate your customers. But, when the objective is to build brand awareness or to retarget customers display ads win the game hands-down

Display Advertising: Then & Now

The first display ad appeared on the internet on October 24, 1994. This is what the ad looked like:

This ad was a promotion for AT&T internet. One look at this display ad and it’s clear that things have progressed for this channel of online marketing in the last 26 years.

Time and again, you’ve probably witnessed many people write off display ads as part of their marketing strategy. Especially since the online marketers best friend – third party cookies — bid us a goodbye. The AdTech world thought that was the final nail in the coffin for display and native advertising.

But statistics, talk otherwise. A user in the US sees an average of 63 display ads in a day and the digital ad spends are only rising year-over-year. So why are so many people questioning the future of display advertising? Let’s find out!

The Future of Display Advertising

What is the future of this channel of advertising? Is it dead? Google’s Display Network is the largest in the world, with 90% reach across all internet users. In fact, if you target well, your ads could appear across 2 million+ websites and 650,000+ mobile apps. That’s a lot of exposure!

Of course, this comes with its own challenges or should we call them opportunities?

Ad Blockers: Are They the Real Enemies?

Not according to Hubspot! A report by Hubspot claims that most people block display ads because they are annoying or intrusive. So it’s actually not the ad blockers, but bad ads that are the real enemies.

Do Low Click Through Rates Mean an End to Display Advertising?

The question has changed in recent times. Once upon a time, display advertising boosted CTR as high as 44%. But in recent years, the objective of this mode has changed. Now, it’s considered a brand tool, which is why a better measure of effectiveness would be impressions and reach. So if generating brand awareness — communicating your brand messaging — is your objective then use the right metrics to measure it.

Why Should You Include Display Advertising In Your Marketing Mix?

Many would vouch for the effectiveness of display ads for creating brand awareness and, subsequently, getting clicks and conversions from people who might not be aware of your brand. The secret sauce is knowing the right users and targeting them at the right time and on the right website.

In the post-third party cookie world, many marketers are proving their metal by experimenting with contextual advertising and people-based targeting. Moreover, with the rise in consumption of mobile and video based content, display advertising helps make the most of newly evolving programmatic environments.

Learn How Display Advertising Works

If you want to know more about this powerful marketing tool works, how it is bought and sold (including in a programmatic environment), and how to set up a display advertising campaign using Google Ads, then check out our Digital Marketing Nanodegree program.

The program comes with an in-depth module on display ads and a hands-on project in which you will evaluate a display advertising campaign on the basis of the targeting strategy, creative used, and the results of the campaign. Plus, you’ll provide recommendations on how to improve the campaign.

By Ritika Pradhan

Ritika is the Brand Communications Manager at Udacity and is passionate about bringing inspirational student stories to light. When not talking to the amazing Udacity students, she can be found reading an article or watching a video on the internet. Other posts by Ritika Pradhan

Sourced from UDACITY

In News

New SMBs in the Digital Business Surroundings – Finding Your Way to Online Clients

October 20, 2020 No Comments

By Liam Collins.

Small businesses that are rising to prominence in the digital surroundings are exposed to various business challenges. Their owners need to be active and present in various channels of online communication, but they mustn’t neglect their core business tasks.

In other words, being visible in the digital surroundings always needs to bring additional value to a business.

Since online business rules are constantly changing, SMB-owners should keep their eye on those innovations to ensure their constant growth.

Choose your digital pathway

When you’re starting your digital business endeavour, it’s important to know what you’re in for.

Do you want to generate a higher number of leads? If the answer is positive, you might think about focusing on Facebook. It’s the most widespread social network with people of all generations and backgrounds. After launching a Facebook business page, you should learn a thing or two about using Facebook for business purposes.

Is your goal to start selling products or services immediately? In that case, Instagram is a better option. Since you can sell products via this network, and it’s generally based on photos, stories, and videos, Instagram is a perfect choice for businesses that need a quick and efficient promotion while selling products along the way.

Business owners working in the B2B-niche might want to be more exposed to other businesses. In that case, LinkedIn is the best starting point. You’ll be able to follow companies that you want to work with, plus you’ll connect with various business individuals, as well.

This is only the tip of an iceberg in terms of different digital pathways available to SMB-owners.

Bring a mobile strategy

We don’t have to tell you that this is the age of mobiles. If you just look around when you’re in a café, on a train or in the park, you’ll see that everybody’s using their mobiles.

Therefore, taking mobile users into account when joining the business playground is a must.

As explained by design experts from a web design company in Houston, SMB-owners can adapt their websites to mobile users from day one. If you go with a responsive design, your website will adapt to the device it is begin accessed from. As the number of website visitors is growing, you’ll consider launching a mobile app, as well. This is usually recommended for e-commerce business owners.

When bringing a mobile policy, it’s vital to understand how content affects website visitors. If your website is “heavy” and bulky, it might take too much time to load. So, optimize your photos for your website and avoid keeping videos on the server. Instead of that, launch a YouTube channel and post your business videos there. Then you can add those links to your website.

Support user-generated content

Reviews, comments, testimonials, and case studies are all welcome when you’re building your brand in the online community.

People on the Internet are getting more careful in terms of recommendations and content. Therefore, genuine reviews, generated by their fellow humans are precious.

So, let your visitors leave their comments below your blog posts. Asking them to register beforehand would yield two benefits at the same time: you’ll be able to control the content of the comments, thus eliminating inadequate ones, plus, you’ll populate your email list that way.

Additionally, allow your buyers or previous customers to leave their reviews and testimonials. Each of these people should either leave their real name or the name of their company. That way, you’ll add to the credibility of these features.

Another beneficial element for SMBs in the digital environment is case studies. These stories will show your future clients what you’ve done for your previous clients. If you’re not adept at writing, think about hiring copywriters or other writing professionals and let them write compelling stories with your accurate inputs.

Promote yourself on Google

Social media promotion is one thing, but promotion on Google is something different.

Being able to present yourself on the largest global search engine is a privilege. However, it’s vital to use this privilege in the right way.

For starters, register to the Google My Business listing. When somebody enters your business name in Google, they’ll be able to see the key information about it on the right side of the screen. This includes your location on Google Maps, your physical address, phone number, website address, and any other information that you add to Google My Business. Also, your clients can leave their reviews and comments about your services, as well as photos.

On the one hand, you confirm to your potential clients that you’re an existing, credible business. On the other hand, they can see other clients’ experiences with your brand here, as well. After that, they can either proceed to your website or your social media accounts.

Knowing how to tell your audiences that you exist is very important. And informing them what you do and how they can benefit from it is even more relevant. That’s why we suggest that you set your goals first and then start targeting clients and business partners in line with those goals.

Also, encourage your existing clients, as well as those who stop using your services, to share their experiences with you. This feedback will help you improve your work and direct your business to more efficient operability.

Finally, use free options offered by Google, social media, and other digital channels to promote your business.

By Liam Collins.

Liam Collins is a tech pundit and Web enthusiast working at TuiSpace.com. He spends most of his time reading and writing about the current affairs in the world of information technology. When he isn’t working, he likes going for long bike rides and walks in nature.

In News

The Basics Of CBD Marketing Vs. CBD Branding

October 19, 2020 No Comments

By Alex Bider.

Building a CBD business in 2020 and beyond is a challenge that more and more entrepreneurs are answering. CBD marketing is tricky because of the laws and restrictions put in place by both the government and marketing platforms such as Facebook and Google.

CBD branding is equally as delicate — it’s important to differentiate your company from others, but you must do so without creating brand assets that could violate guidelines, laws or regulations (both state and federal).

Those are just a few of the complications that come with putting a CBD business together. If you think you’re up for the challenge (or better yet, if you’ve already answered the call), this guide will help you navigate the basics of CBD branding and marketing.

I’m passionate about helping CBD brands succeed. In leading a marketing agency, I’m always ready to help CBD brands navigate the mess of restrictions when it comes to marketing and selling CBD products. Based on my experience here are the basics that CBD brands should consider.

What Is CBD?

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the main parts or components of the marijuana plant. However, unlike its psychoactive and hallucinogenic cousin THC, CBD does not cause any kind of “high.” There is a large amount of anecdotal evidence that suggests CBD could have a myriad of health benefits, which we seem to still be skimming the surface of as more scientific research is needed. Although it is early days in terms of CBD for medical use, many people find it beneficial for treating many different ailments.

Current Laws And Regulations

The legality of selling and marketing CBD products is difficult to nail down. The official word from the Food and Drug Administration is that legality depends on how the product is packaged, branded and marketed. For example, CBD cannot be packaged or branded in a way that could be construed as appealing to minors, and cannot be sold as part of food products.

When it comes to platform-specific regulations, most of the big players like Facebook and Google simply do not currently allow CBD advertisements.

The Difference Between CBD Marketing And CBD Branding

Marketing is the art and science of telling a company’s story to the right audience in the most effective way possible. Branding is the practice of building that story along with the company’s assets, such as logos, business cards, webpages and so on. When broken down into those simple terms, it seems fairly clear that this isn’t a chicken-and-egg situation. It’s important to have strong branding for your CBD company before you put a lot of effort into marketing.

Questions To Ask Before Getting Started

Before getting into either branding or marketing, it’s important to know the answers to a number of questions. These include:

• Who will be your main target audience (i.e., age, geographic location, etc.)?

• What main problems does your audience hope to resolve with CBD?

• Will you target existing CBD users or those who may be interested in CBD?

• Where will you sell your products, and what are the laws and regulations there?

Answering these questions is important to your success because without the answers you’d essentially be shooting in the dark. Once you have a clear picture of who your ideal customers are, why they’ll be interested in your products and any relevant regulations, you’ll be ready to start building your brand.

CBD Branding

Modern CBD brands would be wise to move away from the association with cannabis and “getting high.” For one thing, CBD has nothing to do with getting high; for another, that notion may turn off some people who would otherwise use CBD products. In my experience, CBD branding is done best when it appears soft, accepting and comfortable.

This makes a lot of sense; after all, many people have turned to CBD to soothe pain and anxiety. So, how can you use your branding to share your company’s unique message with the world?

CBD Marketing Basics

Once you have your brand assets figured out, it will be time to find ways to share them with your ideal customers. Your branding may need to include:

• Brand positioning (who you are and what you do and why)

• Brand promises (what you’ll deliver to your customers)

• Brand assets (e.g., colours and fonts, stationery and business cards, designs or images, and internal templates and standard operating procedures)

An easy and free way to start marketing your brand is by creating your social media accounts. Make sure they use the same name (or if that’s not possible, similar/linked names) and employ your brand assets to their fullest potential. You can market CBD organically on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, so picking two out of those three may be a good way to begin.

Focus On Branding First

While CBD marketing and branding are both important, building a strong brand will ensure that you get the most out of the money you put into marketing.

Feature Image Credit: GETTY

By Alex Bider.

Alex Bider is the CEO and Senior Internet Marketing Consultant at 2Marketing.com. Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Sourced from Forbes

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Graphic design apps are now as fundamental as Excel — here’s how non-designers get up to speed

October 19, 2020 No Comments

By ALEXIS ONG .

In today’s digital landscape, it’s critical to understand why design matters beyond the realm of the creative department. After all, marketing, branding, sales, business collaborations, and partnerships all hinge on the strength of a company’s branding and its consistency.

It’s no longer enough to have a couple of graphic designers to shoulder the burden of this responsibility. In the social media age, a truly successful brand needs seamless harmony across different platforms, whether it’s in traditional advertising, communications, or customer service. It’s not just about engaging aesthetics, but ensuring that anyone who needs to work with the brand image can do so quickly and effectively. Not only does it save time and money, but everyone can stay on the same page with a greater sense of productivity.

We spoke with Adobe’s Principal Solutions Consultant, Bart Van de Wiele, who helps companies navigate rapidly-changing digital media through Adobe’s formidable suite of creative solutions. With a long background in graphic design, years of experience in software training, and a deep knowledge of the Adobe ecosystem, Van de Wiele is well-equipped to explain why basic design tools are a must-have resource for everybody.

Design is for everyone

You’d be surprised at how often non-designers could use design to make their jobs more effective.

“Imagine you’re a business manager, and you have an idea of how you think you can improve a certain business process internally,” says Van de Wiele. “And imagine that you’re gathering a meeting and you need 15-20 minutes to quickly convey your point — and then all of a sudden, you think of a better way to visualize your idea. You have access to an infinite amount of images that can help you support an idea or a metaphor — anything that you might have in your head.”

In reality, a business manager or marketer might not have access to a brand’s most up-to-date logo or color palette, and a graphic designer won’t always be available to help. Even something like proper typography could make a difference in bringing confidence and polish to a new proposal.

Citing a survey by Forrester, Van de Wiele believes that creativity should be a critical part of any business philosophy. “More than 82% of the people, the decision-makers, the executives that they interviewed, believe that a company can gain larger business benefits, like revenue growth or market share, if the employees have a more creative mindset,” he tells TNW.

Creativity isn’t just about developing a business’s logo or graphics — but about finding better and more effective ways to help non-designers succeed.

Getting started

Creativity can be a daunting task, especially for those who lack experience. For Van de Wiele, Adobe offers a convenient way for non-designers to get their feet wet — newcomers can start with a free Adobe ID to access services like Adobe Spark for building social media graphics or start collaborating with existing designers.

“The actual designer can create a dedicated library for you,” he explains. “Imagine you’re in marketing. What I can do is create a library of product shoots, brand colors, brand styles, maybe the logos, the icons, or anything else you might need.” And no need to worry about non-designers tampering with precious files — you can set read-only access to an up-to-date database without risk of altering or removing the files.

“It’s a bit like following a Spotify playlist,” Van de Wiele explains. “If you like it, you have to subscribe to it. If the owner of the playlist adds a few extra songs, you’ll see that reflected on the updated playlist.”

You can also apply your new Adobe library to Office 365 — a handy feature for people working in PowerPoint and Word who want an exact match for paragraph styles, company colors, and text properties.

The next step up is Adobe Spark, a free solution with premium features. Van de Wiele describes it as an all-round tool to create anything you might need — webpages, video, social media graphics — with minimal fuss. Besides providing preset graphics dimensions for online platforms and built-in collaboration tools for marketers and entrepreneurs, Spark is, according to Van de Wiele, “easier than Powerpoint.” All you need to know is how to move text around, and place and crop images.

Not only does this streamline workflow by improving accessibility, but it also empowers all non-designers in the company to do simple design-related work on their own.

Smarter searching

Finding the right image is a critical part of good design, but finding it painlessly is another story. As visual imagery is such a powerful part of media today, Adobe Stock has developed more intuitive tools to improve its search functions.

“It doesn’t matter how big your stock imagery database is,” Van de Wiele points out. “If I type in a word — guitar, surfer, dog under an umbrella, whatever — if that returns me 5 million hits, how is that going to help me?”

Adobe Stock allows you to click on elements of a photo — like a dog or umbrella — and reposition them as you need. Being able to move the dog to the right of the frame and search for photos with a similar composition is a simple but revolutionary step towards better efficiency.

“You’re sketching up your idea, basically,” he says. “That is really going to shorten the production time that you have, or that you need in order to accomplish something like that. And that’s just available to everyone.”

All roads lead to Photoshop

Van de Wiele also encourages everyone to try Photoshop, but to start with the basics.

“First learn how to crop, resize an image, those basic things,” he suggests. He also recommends getting to know Camera Raw, “a filter in Photoshop which gives you access to basically any image optimization feature to give your pictures a professional look.”

With 18 years of experience under his belt, Van de Wiele observes that while technologies have changed our methods of design, “what has not changed is how a designer is briefed on an assignment, how work is sent for review, and how design assets are shared and stored.”

Adobe’s integrated ecosystem drags outdated briefing processes and resource management into the 21st century. “For design, specifically, 40% of the creative leads that we’ve spoken to in the past have told us that outdated workflows are slowing down their core processes,” he says. Providing greater accessibility and usability for non-designers creates immediate material benefits for employees.

Bringing non-designers in sync with design work streamlines our ability to tell better visual stories. “Basically, you have to look at graphic design as something that’s not a product on its own, but something that emphasizes your message,” Van de Wiele says. “It’s a means to help you communicate and get your message across. And that’s the thing, it basically all comes down to communication.”

Feature Image Credit: Moose

By ALEXIS ONG

Sourced from TNW