editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

Facebook is introducing an all-new brand. Here’s why

November 11, 2019 No Comments

One of the world’s most recognizable companies, Facebook has spent almost a year devising a new corporate identity.

Facebook used to be a website. Then it became an app. But even as the company rapidly expanded, it made sense to keep calling it “Facebook.” Then Facebook started buying other companies and apps, like WhatsApp and Instagram. It acquired its own virtual reality division with Oculus. It announced its own cryptocurrency with all sorts of partners in the banking industry. All of a sudden, Facebook stood for a lot more than an app. Yet, awkwardly, it was still the name of an app!

Today, Facebook—the company—has taken a big step in clarifying its identity as a corporation that owns many apps and companies. It’s launching an all-new brand that’s nearly a year in the making. Call it FACEBOOK.

[Image: Facebook]

The key to the new identity is an all-caps logo, which is meant to signify Facebook as a company. Meanwhile, the lowercase “f” logo and “facebook” wordmark will designate the social network’s app and desktop site as it did before. Note that nothing within Facebook’s existing corporate structure is changing as part of this branding announcement. Rather, this is Facebook reestablishing its identity as it becomes a more complicated—and scrutinized—company.

“It’s inspired by this realization that when one hears ‘Facebook,’ they almost automatically think about the Facebook app. [That’s] just a subset of the products and services that are part of the Facebook company,” says Luke Woods, VP of Design at Facebook. “Our hope is with a distinction between the company and app, it will help provide people with a little bit more clarity, clarity that a number of different products they might use that are part of this larger Facebook company.”

As Woods acknowledges, a recent Pew Research poll found that only 29% of respondents knew that WhatsApp and Instagram are actually owned by Facebook. I float that perhaps this was a good approach for users who might be wary of Facebook’s privacy track record. But Woods says that they know people value corporate transparency—and Facebook has conducted some of its own research regarding Facebook’s brands that confirm this. The ambiguity across its many brands and apps been a point of growing concern for Facebook since it acquired the business advertising tool Atlas in 2013. But it wasn’t until 2019 that the company added “from Facebook” to the titles of WhatsApp and Instagram, clarifying their ownership.

[Image: Facebook]

The FACEBOOK identity is meant to finish this brand-defining work. The logo’s characters are familiar but not an actual typeface you know; they were all custom-drawn with assistance from an unnamed external studio. The new logo will sometimes be shortened to a simpler “FB” and appear in place of the “from Facebook” message that features on many of the company’s platforms now.

The logo’s all-caps letterforms, rendered in bold lines, are a confident statement for sure. This is not a company that’s cowering in the face of heightened governmental scrutiny. It is FACEBOOK.

To link together many platforms, the new FACEBOOK logo changes color to match context. On Instagram, it’s a purple gradient. On WhatsApp, it’s a solid lime green. When it’s just the corporate entity, it’s a blue-grey, the graphic design equivalent of a corporate lawyer’s wool suit.

You’ll note the “A” and the “K” each have a quirky curve to them, the “E” and “B” letters are uncommonly wide for the context, and the tracking between letters is verging on too airy by most proportions.

[Image: Facebook]

These idiosyncrasies do have some practical purpose. “With all-caps, it’s really tricky to imbue a lot of emotion and unique characters,” says Zach Stubenvoll, design director. The custom curves and spacing also serve as interventions to ensure that Facebook’s logo doesn’t look like any other word art you might whip up in a Google Doc.

Why didn’t FACEBOOK just rename its corporate entity, instead of going through such a difficult design exercise to distinguish the app from the company through colors and caps?

“Certainly, at the onset of any work we’re doing, we consider a whole host and broad range of possibilities,” says Woods. “We think though, we always have been and always will be Facebook. And it’s very important we’re true to that. And we honor that. That’s not something we’re looking to shy away from.”

By Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is a senior writer at Fast Company who has written about design, technology, and culture for almost 15 years. His work has appeared at Gizmodo, Kotaku, PopMech, PopSci, Esquire, American Photo and Lucky Peach More

Sourced from FastCompany

In News

5 Simple But Effective Ways To Market a Services Business

November 11, 2019 No Comments

By Alma Causey

In the ever-changing world of marketing, businesses are always on the lookout for new, and innovative ways to sell their products to a broader audience. At times, service-centric companies find themselves overlooked in a sea filled with organizations advertising products.

Well, simply put, marketing a service is no easy feat. The most obvious problem being the lack of physical evidence – how do you promote something that isn’t tangible? How do you convince an individual to invest their time and money in an object that they can’t see or feel? The grey area that lies between selling the invisible is precisely where the great conundrum of the marketing world lies.

However, to make the process of advertising promising and ideas a tad bit easier, we’ve compiled five excellent tips that’ll catapult any service-selling business onto the thrones of success. However, before we get into that, let’s talk about why you need to market a services business differently than your standard run-of-the-mill product business.

Why should you market a services business differently?

Perhaps the most critical mistake service vendors can make is to utilize the same techniques used to advertise businesses with products. If you’re trying to convince a customer to buy your service, the golden word you need to keep in your mind is ‘trust.’

When it comes to marketing a service, consumers need to be assured of the fact that they can rely on you, since a service can’t be returned if it turns out to be faulty. If things go awry, the initial investment that the customer made goes stale, and any chances of fostering a healthy customer-supplier relationship go to waste.

To prevent angry customers from ruining any glimmer for your organization to make it in the services industry, try to instill in your mind the fact that service-based businesses require different marketing strategies.

Moreover, aside from the regular 4P’s of marketing (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion), service-based businesses require 3 additional components, which are People, Physical Evidence, and Process. Keeping in mind the vitality that these principles bear, we’ve compiled five brilliant ways to market a services business, starting off with sending a clear message.

#1. Send a clear marketing message

While coming up with ideas to market a services business, try to be as clear as possible with the message that you’d like to convey. When it comes to selling services, many business owners and marketers find themselves surrounded by an arsenal of ideas and perspectives, which leads them to fail to commit to one.

The most important advice a service-vendor could get is to choose a simple yet clear message to send through a marketing campaign. An essential aspect of your marketing campaign should be to create a vivid experience for any potential consumer.

To indulge an individual in experiencing the service you offer, try creating adverts that highlight how your service works to alleviate pain points, and offer comfort. The primary challenge for you as the service vendor lies in creating a convincing experience that captures the attention of any prospects immediately. Once the message is decided on most service-vendors utilize a variety of marketing techniques to promote their content, which focuses on turning prospects into customers.

The most frequently encountered problems faced by companies range from generating organic traffic to securing the best executive sponsors, as shown below:

Image Source

The ads you send out aren’t the only thing that bears witness to your marketing message. From the way you interact with clients to something as subliminal as the color palette of your website – all of them are key contributors in getting your marketing message across.

#2. Find a way to make your business stand out

To demonstrate what it means to make your service-centric business stand out, let’s consider an example. Imagine a man named X, who’s in dire need of marketing services to promote his content. However, after going through countless websites and testimonials, X proceeds to do the job himself, since nothing he came across had grabbed his attention.

Unfortunately, most customers share the same plight as X, with too many services being marketed in the same boring and predictable way. With that being said, most service-vendors find it challenging to distinguish themselves from their competition, which is when a thorough self-analysis comes in handy.

Service-based businesses should compare themselves with their competitors’ marketing strategies and devise a list of differences that make them stand out the most. Later on, a service-centric organization should base their primary marketing message around what sets them apart from the competition. Using the medium of video can also set you apart, while increasing revenue since many consumers prefer quick videos, instead of reading a brochure.

Image Source

#3. Focus on increasing value for your customers

If you’re a service-vendor, get one thing straight. Your job is to sell value, not price! Unlike product marketers, who compete primarily on price, to market a services business is heavily reliant on value.

While brainstorming for marketing strategies and ideas, try to focus on increasing value for your customers, rather than mindlessly decreasing the price of the service you offer. Moreover, any organization that provides a service cheaper than its competitors is usually considered to be the black sheep of the bunch.

An easy and effective method of increasing value for customers is to bundle two or more services together, which serves as the next best alternative to lowering your price. Most service-centric organizations combine an arsenal of useful features and amp up the value for consumers and treat consumers like actual people instead of a number.

Image Source

The fun thing about increasing value for customers is how creative you can be with it. Furthermore, the way you add value can also help distinguish your organization from the competition. Alternative ways to add value to services include:

Increasing delivery speed.
Providing customers with expert opinion/advice.
Improving the customer care you offer.

#4. Continuously revise your marketing strategy

This point may seem a bit redundant, but analyzing and updating each aspect of a company’s marketing strategy is the first stepping stone to success.

An effective marketing strategy doesn’t revolve around how you’re going to market your service; it delves deep into every nook and cranny of the process. Simply put, a marketing strategy amalgamates the goals you have for your company with the actions you take to achieve them.

Several newly-found businesses make the error of etching their marketing strategy on to stone. As the marketing world around you evolves, your marketing strategy should evolve with it. Try to revise your marketing strategy as much as you can, keeping in mind that the goals you set to achieve are SMART:

Image Source

#5. Work on improving existing client relationships

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of marketing service-based businesses is that the sale isn’t complete at the cash counter. Unlike companies selling products, when marketing services, you’ve got to be there for the long run, which includes delivery and customer support.

A simple tip to keep under your sleeve is to consistently improve existing customer relationships. As a general rule of thumb, consumers that are kept happy over a period of time are the driving force behind a company’s success.

Furthermore, catering to existing clients encourages an organization to expand the services they offer and come up with new programs to entertain them. Improving current consumer relationships also yields more revenue than marketing to new prospects.

So, where do you go from here?

I hope we’ve acquainted you with some stellar marketing tips for your services business.

With that being said, now’s the time to get working on promoting your service, with these brilliant tips making the path to success a little easier!

By Alma Causey

Alma Causey is a Freelance writer by day and sports fan by night. She writes about Fashion and Tech. Live simply, give generously, watch football and a technology lover. She is currently associated with OutlookStudios.com.

Sourced from Jeff Bullas

In News

Learners Are the Driver of Innovation in Education

November 8, 2019 No Comments

Sourced from https://georgecouros.ca

One of the things that I am often asked: ” Is innovation all about technology?” I can understand why I often receive this question because a lot of times when I am sharing some new ideas with a group, it is while I am using technology. But my issue is that I am comfortable with technology and don’t think of it much while I am using it. To me, technology is as much of a factor to the idea of “innovation.” is as a pencil is to writing a book. The pencil, in this case, is a tool you can use, but it has very little to do with the ideas, nor is it the only option in the process.

Innovation in education is about doing “new and better” things, and I have argued that technology can make things worse if we are not thoughtful in the way it is used. In a post I wrote in 2017, I wrote about some of the misconceptions regarding the idea of “Innovation in Education.” This is an excerpt from the post:

Innovation is about how you use technology. Nope…this is incorrect. My belief is that this happens because a lot of technologies that are advertised are deemed innovative, which can be true. But innovation is a way of thinking, not simply the way we use technology. For example, is using a “scantron” to mark multiple choice exams innovative? It is definitely convenient, but does this lead to better learning in the classroom? My answer is that it could actually lead to worse learning, faster. Students do not necessarily become better learners, but better test takers. I am not about absolutes, so if you do a multiple choice exam here and there, I am fine with it, but it is not innovative. Using a SmartBoard; innovative or doing the same thing we were doing before, just “cooler”? There are a million ways that you can use google forms, but the ability to use “google forms” is not innovative’; it is what you do with it that creates the innovative practice in the classroom.

How we think and what we create that is better for our schools is the innovation. Technology can be a part of that process, but it is not necessary. For example, here are some ways that we can be innovative in education in that has nothing to do with technology;

staff professional learning time
how we use spaces, modifying schedules to promote deep learning
shifting thinking from classroom management to classroom leadership
focusing on the health and wellness of our communities
how we use our budgets to serve the needs of our communities
empowering learner voice and choice in learning
ensuring we create opportunities for all students to be successful
amongst a myriad of other things within the realm of education.

None of these ideas focus on “technology,” but technology could be a part of the solution or not. I have discussed this “process of innovation in education” often and shared the following image in “Innovate Inside the Box“:

The “process” is not about the question, “How do we use technology in innovative ways?” That question is not a good starting point. The focus is always on helping the individual learner. Technology can be a part of that, and we can use it in transformational ways, but serving the learner will always be the driver of what we do.

Sourced from https://georgecouros.ca

I am a learner, educator, and Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership consultant. I am also the author of “The Innovator’s Mindset”. I believe we need to inspire our kids to follow their passions, while letting them inspire us to do the same. You can contact me at [email protected]

In News

The Secrets of Selling

November 8, 2019 No Comments

By Eugene Gold

Even if you aren’t a salesperson by trade, selling is an essential skill to master.

Selling isn’t a skill that’s only used by those who have “salesperson” as a job title. Everyone is a salesperson, and everything boils down to selling. Whether you are selling your merits in an interview or selling the idea of buying a Ferrari to your spouse, you are always in the midst of trying to convince others of something.

Of course, not everyone knows how to sell, so if you don’t know yet, then you owe it to yourself to learn. After all, if you aren’t selling, you’re being sold to. Everyone, not only people who make sales for a living, can benefit from learning the following secrets of selling.

Know what you’re selling.

Sales can’t be conducted based solely on confidence and charisma. Being a successful salesperson requires knowing the ins and outs of what you’re selling. That means not only knowing why your products or services are the best fit for the customer, but also knowing how the technical minutiae of the product can make their lives easier.

When I sell something, I look to highlight the features of that product. While doing this, I explain to the consumer that there is a problem that only this product can solve. Understanding the product in and out allows you to have a competitive advantage.

Relaying this information to potential customers shows that you are passionate about what you’re selling. Passion signals that you are dedicated and capable of helping should things go wrong. Knowing what you’re selling ensures that those to whom you sell will naturally trust your expertise.

Bring value.

Anyone can offer low prices and minimal risks. In order to master selling, you need to bring more to the table. Differentiate yourself from the competition by bringing value to potential customers. Of course, one easy way to bring value is to offer something that is inherently valuable.

If you are selling something that you can prove makes people’s lives easier, they’ll appreciate it. Personally, I like to use data to show the customer how doing business with me will benefit them. Using customer testimonials is also a great tool because it shows that other people doing business with you are satisfied.

That’s straightforward in some areas where certain products, services and ideas are clearly better than others. Unfortunately, in some other fields, it can be difficult to make your product stand out as valuable.

However, bringing value to those to whom you’re selling doesn’t have to be directly related to what you’re selling. You can bring value to others by finding little ways to make their lives easier while letting them know that you appreciate their consideration.

That can entail anything from letting potential customers try your product for free to bringing an extra cup of coffee to your meeting. Nobody wants to work with a jerk. By letting people see how valuable you consider them, they’ll be more likely to want to buy from you regardless of what you’re selling.

Respect yourself.

No one will buy from you if you don’t respect yourself. Don’t let customers walk over you. If a potential customer doesn’t give you the full courtesy that you deserve, feel free to walk away. After all, do you really want to build a working relationship with someone who treats you poorly?

For example, if you were speaking with a potential client who was constantly checking their cellphone or interrupting your conversation with other things going on around you, this would be a clear indicator that they did not respect my time. Kindly shake their hand and part on good terms; there is no reason to continue the conversation.

It’s also important that you establish early on that you respect your own time. Ask customers to be decisive when working with you, and promise you’ll do the same for them. When customers know that you care about your time, it makes it all the more special when you spend it helping them succeed.

Remember, practice makes perfect.

Of course, the best way to get better at selling is to practice. Luckily, whether selling is part of your job description or not, you should find yourself with plenty of opportunities to utilize the methods described above.

That’s because when you know what you’re selling, bring value to those you’re selling to and respect yourself, you can convince others to buy your goods and services -; and ideas.

Whether you’re trying to cinch a business deal or convince your partner to get married, selling is unavoidable. So, why not master it?

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Eugene Gold

Eugene Gold is the relentlesspreneur, mentor and speaker whose companies were listed on INC. 5000 and Entrepreneur360.

Sourced from Inc.

In News

Three Must-Have Early Innovation Indicators

November 8, 2019 No Comments

By Scott Amyx.

These days, almost every organization claims they are innovating. But innovation means different things to different companies. For some, it’s the dated 2000s mantra to build everything in-house. For others, it’s a potpourri of corporate innovation labs, accelerators, corporate VCs, M&As and strategic partnerships. Others are choosing to outright outsource innovation altogether to big agencies, offshore development shops or venture studios. In this wild west of innovation, how do you know if your innovation is really working? Most projects quietly fade into the background, and the few that make it out produce dismal business results.

According to a BCG study, 73% of respondents believed that measuring innovation is important. After all, successfully commercializing a new product or service requires an effective innovation process to vet the best ideas, properly allocate resources and measure outcomes. Yet only 43% of businesses measure innovation. Even more disappointing, of those that do measure, 59% indicated that their metrics for innovation were ineffective.

Measuring innovation is so critical that major consultancies like BCG and McKinsey have developed their own set of metrics.

In a recent study, the researchers conducted a thorough literature review on innovation indicators. They identified 82 indicators used in evaluating innovation. Of those, 26 indicators were identified in the early stages of the innovation process: 16 in the definition phase and 10 in the concept phase. This is useful, as the early stages have the greatest risk and asymmetric information. The study does provide the caveat that more research is needed to identify additional early-stage innovation indicators.

In order to produce a successful breakthrough product or service, organizations need a high-quality innovation process. It’s important to note that the innovation process, especially in the early stages, often does not have concrete values. Hence, there are more qualitative indicators than quantitative indicators.

Here are three early-stage indicators to consider in your innovation process.

1. Percentage Of Workforce Trained In Innovation

Your culture has a lot to do with innovation. Does your culture foster innovation? What percentage of your leaders are trained in creativity innovation and innovative methods and tools? Note that the study didn’t state IT professionals trained in software development or project management. It’s easy to carelessly throw around terms like Agile and design-thinking and declare that your teams are fully knowledgeable about innovation.

Do your employees know how to systematically and continuously generate profound innovations in scale? Do your managers understand the complexity of finding the optimal blend and levels of input, output and process constraints for maximum innovation? Does your innovation team understand why it’s dangerous to start with standard business requirements gathering? Does your team know how to facilitate discussions, not for consensus but for divergent thinking?

2. Dedicated Talent Resource To Innovation

Can you become a concert pianist by taking a lesson or two? Similarly, innovation is a skill that’s mastered over time. The amount of time managers spend on innovation compared to their regular job is a key indicator of success. Many businesses partially allocate resources. Employees have to split their time between their regular day job and multiple projects, resulting in part-timers doing part-time innovation. Innovation requires dedicated resources doing innovation on a full-time basis over an extended period of time to sharpen their skills and experience. If successfully structured and supported, they build competence and knowledge over time, which in turn increases their ability to turn know-how into implementation to realize business objectives.

3. Level Of Commitment To R&D

In some organizations, innovation is treated as skunkworks – but without dedicated resource allocation or the adequate budget and time needed to discover, experiment, fail and repeat until radical innovation is realized.

If your organization is relying on traditional project management and product development KPIs and OKRs (objectives and key results), your performance measurement for innovation may not be effective. Consider incorporating some or all of these early-stage indicators to increase the quality of your innovation process.

By Scott Amyx

Managing Partner at Amyx Ventures, TEDx, Top Global Innovation Keynote Speaker, Forbes, Singularity U. Smart City Accelerator, SXSW.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

Steve Jobs Used the 30 Percent Rule to Bring Apple Back From the Dead (It’ll Work for You, Too)

November 7, 2019 No Comments

By Justin Bariso

By focusing on the best of the best, Jobs transformed Apple into one of the most valuable companies in the world.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the company was in dire straits. Once known as a major innovator, it was suffering from severe mismanagement and lack of focus. Apple had built its reputation on simplicity and quality, but it was now working on a plethora of products, many of which were lackluster at best.

Jobs immediately began working to change this. Within a decade, the company would be transformed.

I recently discovered an interview Jobs gave over 20 years ago, just shortly after he’d been rehired by Apple. In it, he reveals one of the secrets that would lead to Apple’s future success:

We examined the future product roadmap … and what we found was that 30 percent of them were incredibly good. And about 70 percent of them were either pretty good, or things that we didn’t really need to be doing. Businesses we didn’t really need to be in. And so, we’ve pared a lot of that back, so we could focus the same amount of original resource even more on what was remaining–and add a few new things in.

So, the resources that we’re investing are equal or greater than we have been, but it’s on fewer things so we’re going to do a better job at them I think.

Jobs’s advice is about more than simple focus–it’s a simple way to apply emotional intelligence into your everyday life.

I like to call it the 30 percent rule.

Why you need the 30 percent rule

We live in an age of distraction. Never-ending notifications, instantaneous communication, and easy access to endless information. Fear of missing out moves us motivates us to try to do everything that our minds and hearts desire.

But as you move from one shiny object to another, you’ll slowly discover a fundamental truth:

You can’t do everything.

And if you try, you won’t do anything well.

Jobs knew this. He walked into Apple in 1997, the company he’d co-founded and was ousted from over a decade earlier, and he saw chaos. He saw disunity. He saw lack of direction.

The total had become less than the sum of its parts.

To combat this, Jobs made priority number one the shrinking of Apple’s product line–and ensuring that whatever the company made, it made extremely well.

The result was one of the most remarkable turnarounds in business history. The iPod. The iPhone. The iPad. New and improved computer design. Retail stores that looked like something out of the future.

By focusing on the 30 percent, the best of the best, Apple rebuilt its reputation for creating simple, clean, beautiful products that are a joy to use. The company continues to excel today based on the philosophy it developed under Jobs’s leadership.

How to make the 30 percent rule work for you

It’s easy to find things that are fun and interesting to work on. But don’t forget that every task, every project, takes a specific amount of resources. Whether you’re a solopreneur or a CEO, those resources are limited.

So, you have to ask yourself:

Am I making the best use of my resources?
Am I focused on the 30 percent–that is, making the best of the best?
Or am I wasting time on distractions?

It takes deep thinking to answer these questions properly. So make sure you schedule time throughout the week, month, and year to take a step back and analyze your situation as objectively as possible. Don’t leave this up to chance; make an appointment in your calendar and mark it with high priority.

Then, once you answer those questions, make the necessary adjustments. It will probably mean giving up things you’re kind of interested in, or things you’re kind of doing well.

It may mean turning down meetings.

Missing out on opportunities.

And making tough choices.

Because remember, no one can do it all.

But if you think things through, choose wisely, and work hard–you can do it right.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images. Steve Jobs.

By Justin Bariso

Sourced from Inc.

In Uncategorized

Five tips on how to listen to your customers

November 7, 2019 No Comments

By Jay Woodruff

Advice from three masters of social listening

Three masters of social listening offer advice on how to glean insights from key constituents.

1. Be Agile

Behavioral data doesn’t inspire people. Dig into the why behind the numbers using an agile research approach. Survey responses and real customer stories restore a necessary human element to your quantitative data. —Christine Rimer, senior vice president, SurveyMonkey

2. Embrace the Negative

There are thousands of things you could do to improve customer experience. Negative feedback helps you prioritize the major pain points on that list. It’s critical to pay attention to the people you’re not delighting. —CR

3. Enlist Your Customers

Involve your customers in the development of your product. Ask them specific questions about all facets of the design—you will get amazingly detailed and helpful ideas. Then celebrate your customers’ input when the product comes out! Everyone wins. —Amanda Hesser, cofounder and CEO, Food52

4. Get Real

As research has evolved over the years, our consumers have more ways to share and connect than ever. Most brands can head to their Instagram pages or retail sites and get real-time, candid feedback. —Leslie Miller, director of marketing, ice cream North America, Unilever

5. Do Your Research

We wanted to understand from vegans and vegetarians how they snack, and they told us they ate a lot of healthy things. When we actually went to their homes, in addition to healthy food, we found indulgences like chips and ice cream. —LM

Feature Image Credit: artishokcs/iStock; MaksimYremenko/iStock

By Jay Woodruff

Noted expert on nicotine gum chewing and Hawkeye wrestling fan, Jay Woodruff is a contributing editor at Fast Company. After helping launch the quarterly DoubleTake, he joined Esquire and later held senior editorial positions at Entertainment Weekly and oversaw digital at Maxim, Blender and Stuff More

Sourced from Fast Company

In News

Mozilla Firefox 70 Turns The Tables And Now You Can Track What is Tracking You

November 7, 2019 No Comments

By Vishal Mathur

Mozilla says Enhanced Tracking Protection feature in Firefox browsers has blocked more than 450 billion tracking requests since July.

Mozilla has just made a massive move in the web browser space, as it is in a hotly contested competition with Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge browsers and Vivaldi. Mozilla has released Firefox 70, and it is all about privacy and frugality. The most interesting bit is that it lets you track online trackers who have been attempting to track you. The tables have turned, quite clearly. And that isn’t the only thing Firefox 70 is all about. The new Firefox 70 is available for download for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS platforms.

“But now with growing threats to your privacy, it’s clear that you need more visibility into how you’re being tracked online so you can better combat it. That’s why today we’re introducing a new feature that offers you a free report outlining the number of third-party and social media trackers blocked automatically by the Firefox browser with Enhanced Tracking Protection,” says Dave Camp, Senior Vice President of Firefox at Mozilla. There is a new Enhanced Tracking Protection report that tells you how many times Firefox 70 has blocked a tracker attempting to use cookies to keep a track of your web browsing activities. “It prevents third-party trackers from building a profile of you based on your online activity. Now, you’ll see the number of cross-site and social media trackers, fingerprinters and cryptominers we blocked on your behalf,” says Camp.

Firefox is also blocking as many as 10 billion trackers every day, says Mozilla. The new Firefox 70 will also have a personalised privacy protection report for you based on your settings, web browsing activity, the trackers that were blocked, possible data breaches of your saved logins on online services and enhanced tracking protection.

Firefox 70 also gets a new password manager, called Lockwise. During the test phase, it was called Lockbox, and this links to your Mozilla account to secure the login credentials for the web services you use, and syncs them across the Firefox browsers you may be using on Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

Mozilla has also made changes under the hood which make it more frugal to run as well. The new reduced power consumption stats include 37 percent lesser resource usage when playing a video on a web page, and page load speeds are increased by as much as 22 percent.

By Vishal Mathur

Sourced from Tech NEWS18

In News

How native advertising amplifies content among B2B advertisers’ target audiences

November 6, 2019 No Comments

By Laura Bakopolus Goldstone.

B2B thought leadership needs to be supported by sponsored content

You probably engage with sponsored content several times each day and don’t even realize it — which means it’s working as intended.

Sponsored content uses native advertising to deliver companies’ content to their intended audiences on platforms where they are already engaged. Over the last few years, native advertising has cut through the noise of a seemingly saturated digital ad industry.

While all ads promote a visual representation of a brand with some corresponding message, native advertising takes the ad a step further by amplifying thought leadership in a place where the reader is actively going to seek out new information. Instead of the advertiser pushing ads onto audiences, ads are placed within publications audience members already visit and enjoy, increasing the likelihood that the ad will resonate with the reader.

It’s no surprise that sponsored content through native advertising yields an increase in brand affinity and purchase intent. As a proven way to resonate with audiences, sponsored content could be the answer B2B advertisers have been seeking.

A primer in native advertising, content’s best complement

Sponsored content is backed by native advertising, which is a form of digital advertising that places paid ads within the format of a webpage, mimicking its style and user experience. Native ads are clearly labeled “sponsored” or “paid,” but because their subject matter tends to align with that of the article on the page, audience members tend not to mind that they are reading ads — a feat the digital advertising industry has always sought to achieve.

Instead of simply being glossed over, the text on the ad is highly likely to be read — not just seen. Because native ads are placed within an article, the reader has already read several lines before his eyes reach the ad. Therefore, the reader is already in the habit of reading lines from left to right and the native ad’s headline fits right into that pattern. In fact, reading a native advertisement yields 308 times more consumer attention than processing image content, resulting in increased brand recall and a higher likelihood that the brand’s message will resonate with the reader.

Native advertising is extremely valuable to B2B marketers because it supports thought leadership. It takes a content asset that has been strategically crafted with the target audience in mind and it creates a figurehead for that asset in the form of a native advertisement. That ad is then placed in front of viewers in places they prefer to engage, increasing the likelihood of a positive experience with the brand.

In essence, native is more about the content than just brand awareness. It is about an idea resonating with someone more than it is about a brand’s graphic looking appealing. And when we connect over an idea rather than a look, the connection is more meaningful and more likely to last.

If content is king, then native advertising is the megaphone that amplifies its message to the masses.

Choosing the right partner

Marketers see value in running sponsored content through social networks and other experienced publishers. However, they may find themselves going up against walled gardens that are hard to scale or report on; as such, brands should inquire about scaling and analytics capabilities prior to deploying native ads with a tech vendor. If reaching your audience at scale and knowing how well your campaigns ran are important factors in understanding how native advertising fuels your business goals, then these two elements may be key differentiators when choosing the best technology company to deploy your sponsored content.

If your technology vendor offers both, native advertising can also be paired with display advertising to enhance engagement and achieve more than 18 percent higher lift in purchase intent, 9 percent lift in brand affinity, and 200 percent more visual focus as editorial headlines. Utilizing both forms of advertising can provide a stronger approach than only leveraging one.

Advertisers may also find that diversifying their media plan will strengthen their offering by providing them with a customized, best-of-breed option. Complementing existing native advertising efforts with other sponsored content solutions can contribute to a well-rounded ad campaign that will expand the reach of your most valuable content among your highest valued business audience members.

By supporting existing campaigns with sponsored content, B2B advertisers can position themselves as thought leaders among their target business audiences while increasing the likelihood of resonating on a deeper level and improving brand affinity. Implementing this approach will put B2B advertisers in front of their customers in a more positive light and will likely fuel longer term relationships, thus improving business outcomes for all involved.

By Laura Bakopolus Goldstone

Manager of content marketing, AdDaptive Intelligence

Sourced from DIGIDAY

In News

71% of Instagram Influencers Don’t Call Themselves That

November 6, 2019 No Comments

By Sandeep Rathore

If you’re struggling to spot Instagram influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns, then it’s time to change your approach. This is because most influencers have had it with the term ‘influencers’.

Creator or Influencer?

According to The 2019 Influencer Survey, 71% of Instagram influencers don’t actually call themselves influencers. Only 29% of Instagram celebrities give themselves the title of ‘influencer’.

Small Business owners with a limited budget often collaborate with micro Instagram influencers. And it goes with saying that the success of any influencer marketing campaign largely depends on finding the right Instagram influencers.

If you know what Instagram influencers call themselves, it will be easier for you to spot them. So, the next time, you should look beyond the ‘influencer’ title.

What do Instagram Influencers Call Themselves?

The survey states that the maximum number (34%) of influencers (with more than 25,000 followers) refer themselves as a ‘creator’. And 17% of Instagram influencers call themselves a ‘content creator’, while 11% of influencers label themselves as a ‘brand ambassador’.

Only 29% of influencers add the title influencers in their Instagram bios.

Are You am Instagram Creator or Influencer? — Image Source: Influencer-Agency

The finding of the survey implies that you should first search for Instagram creators if you want to reach a large pool of influencers. Then, you can look for the title ‘influencer’ to find influencers for your influencer marketing campaign.

Why Are There More Creators Than Influencers?

Modern Marketing Guru, Seth Godin, once said, “Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left.” His words ring absolutely true.

Now, when more and more companies are putting ‘content’ in the center of their marketing strategies, Instagram influencers cannot attract brands if they don’t create quality content consistently.

Dave Leusink, the co-founder of Influencer Agency, says, “The creators that we represent are selected for the quality of their creativity. Someone from a reality show can quickly get 100,000 followers and call themselves an influencer, but the quality of their content often falls short of what we’re looking for.”

“The best paying brands only want to be presented with high-quality content. Creating relevant and engaging content costs blood, sweat and tears, and is a far cry from the content of short-lived reality stars who only post selfies. It’s not surprising that major influencers prefer to call themselves (content) creators,” He adds.

How to Find Instagram Influencers

Instagram is one of the most popular influencer marketing platforms. To leverage the true power of Instagram influencer marketing, you will have to find the right Instagram influencers for your campaigns.

Here are some proven ways:

Use tools like NInjaOutreach, Upfluence, HYPR, etc.
Search influencer directory like Izea
Scan general hashtags relevant to your industry
Search Google for relevant keyword(s) along with “site:instagram.com”

When you are making a list of Instagram influencers, you should always include those who have engagement on their posts and create quality, unique content consistently.

The Survey

The survey included 1,700 influencers on Instagram with 25,000 followers or more. All influencers who participated in the survey were 18 years or older. The influencer survey was conducted in September 2019. If you want to access the full survey, you can click here.

Feature Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

By Sandeep Rathore

Sourced from Small Business Trends