Mediaboss Marketing

Social media has changed a lot over the last five years and truth be told, thats the understatement of the century.

New platforms have come into the mix. Veteran platforms continue to evolve their algorithms, rules and layouts. There are constantly new things to learn about how to use social media to get the highest coveted asset of all in this space attention.

One thing that never seems to change about social media marketing is the need for something eye-catching. Marketers have argued over whether one-liners beat several paragraphs. Weve talked about the importance of hashtags.

But what also doesnt change, despite the constant ebb and flow of social updates, is the need for the content to compel a fan or follower to stop, look and react.

Social media is a noisy place. Your content is shoved between moving objects (videos) and GIFs (the hottest trend in commenting these days). To capture the attention of the person whos often mindlessly scrolling through the newsfeed, you need something just as catchy.

Does that mean your job is to pump out content thats just as loud? Far from it.

To get someone to stop and engage with your business on social media, you need to create compelling content that promises something in exchange for the persons time. Once YOU know the key takeaway (I cant decide that for you), then you can get to work creating images, videos and more that beg to be engaged with.

And when youre ready to do that, I have 10 tools that you can use to put your message together in a beautiful-looking post thatll stop a scroller in his or her tracks. Lets take a peek.

Im kick-starting this list with a tool thats relatively well-known but often not maximized to its full potential.

Canva is the go-to tool for non-designers because its so easy to use. Yes, you can create some fun social media graphics using its templates, but theres more to it. You can also design advertisements, infographics, brochures and more. Those pieces can be shared on Facebook and Twitter, which means you can get more out of every type of marketing collateral you design even whats meant for offline.

LinkedIn owns SlideShare, so its a natural platform to include on this list because it automatically syncs with one of the largest social media networks used today.

On SlideShare, you can upload your presentations, so they dont gather digital dust sitting on your computer after youve given them. Sharing them with your audience is easy. Simply press a button, and you can distribute them to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

You can also embed your SlideShare presentation on your website using IFrame or WordPress shortcodes (depending on what you use to house your website).

Take your presentation uploads a step further and add your voice overlay to them with SlideSnack.

With this presentation-sharing tool, you can upload past presentations, put your voice to them, and then share them on Facebook or YouTube. You can also embed them on most websites, including those that use WordPress, Blogger, Weebly and more.

Video is the holy grail of social media marketing because it incorporates both visual movement and audio interest. If you have a stellar idea for a video, turn your concept into a reality with PowToon.

You dont have to be a video master to use PowToon. This platform offers several templates to choose from that you can customize and brand according to your business. Then, all you do is plug and play your content and share.

With your video in place, you can use it to promote your business on YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo and just about any social network.

Magisto is another video editor that makes it easy to put together professional-looking and -sounding videos, regardless of your skill level. Once you have your videos uploaded and a theme selected, you can drag and drop scenes and add your logo, captions, music and narration.

The free version is limited but still quite robust. With the commercial version, you get several more features, including the ability to custom-brand your video and use commercially licensed music.

Whats an easy way to get engagement? Ask a question. But sometimes, just asking a single question isnt enough to get a healthy response from your audience. Thats where Typeform comes into play.

Typeform is an easy-to-use quiz builder that lets you ask your audience questions. Use the drag-and-drop builder to put together a variety of styles of questions, including multiple choice, image-based, yes or no answers, short or long text answers and more.

Once you have your quiz created, share the link on any social network to encourage participation in a unique way.You can also embed Typeforms on your website.

Perhaps you want to have a little fun with your audience. Interactive quizzes with results you can instantly share are hotcakes on social media these days. Your company can create one, too, using Playbuzz.

Playbuzz lets you put together a series of tests or questions for your audience. Once the respondent is done answering them, theyll either get their end result (10 out of 10 correct!) or find out a fun fact about themselves (for example, which character youre most like on a TV show).

Its a simple way to engage your followers and make your brand fun. These are also great types of content because they encourage your followers friends to engage with your brand, too.

Piktochart lets you take survey results, stats and other tidbits of knowledge and turn them into an eye-catching (and scroll-stopping) infographic.

This type of social media content often scares many non-designers because it feels so rich, and thus hard to create. Piktochart simplifies the process by offering you over 600 templates to choose from.

With your template in place, you can add your own text, fonts, colors and logo. When its done, you can share it quickly with built-in social media options. Its fast and easy.

Visme is another tool that lets you put information together in a beautiful way. This platform offers several options for how that information is displayed, including in presentations, infographics, reports, wireframes and more.

Once created, you can share your content on your website, from a URL or on social media.

Podcasting is a huge trend these days, but if youre new to the world of audio content, production can be a roadblock. Podbean changes that by giving you an easy way to create professional podcasts in minutes without high-tech software or equipment.

Once created, you can publish your podcasts to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more. Or you can upload and promote your podcasts with a Podbean paid plan.

At one point, a lack of technological knowledge was a good excuse for not offering stellar social media content. These tools change that.

Once you have your content format in mind images, videos, quizzes, infographics or audio choose the tool that best matches your goals and get to work.

What other tools have you used to create compelling social media content your audience cant wait to consume?

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

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10 tools for creating compelling content for social media - Marketing Land

President Trumps reelection campaign saidTuesdaythat CNN has denied its offer to buy air time for a campaign ad, marking the second time the network has refused to run a pro-Trump campaign spot.

The ad, called Let President Trump Do His Job, accuses the media of attacking our president and briefly displays pictures of news anchors from several news outlets, including CNN anchors Jake Tapper, Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper.

The presidents enemies dont want him to succeed, the ad states. Let President Trump do his job.

One of the many reasons that so many millions of Americans support President Trump is because of their complete mistrust of the mainstream news media, and the presidents refusal to allow their biased filter to interfere with his messages, Trump campaign executive director Michael Glassner said in a statement.

Today, CNN provided further proof that the network earns this mistrust every day by censoring President Trumps message to the American people by blocking our paid campaign ad, he continued. Clearly, the only viewpoint CNN allows on air is CNNS.

A spokesperson for CNN said the network asked for changes to make the ad "factually accurate" and that the Trump campaign declined.

"CNN would accept the ad if the images ofreporters and anchors are removed," a spokesperson said. "Anchors and reporters dont have 'enemies,' as the ad states, but they do hold those in power accountable across the political spectrum and aggressively challenge false and misleading statements and investigate wrong-doing."

Earlier this year, CNN refused to run a Trump campaign ad because it cast the mainstream media as fake news.

Trump and CNN are locked in an increasingly personal feud that has pitted the White House against the networks top on-air talent.

CNNs chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has gained prominencefor his entrenched opposition to Trump.

Acosta has infuriated conservatives, who view him as a grandstander whose chief goal is buildinghis personal brand through viral clips of heated exchanges with White House spokespeople.

At a press conferenceon Monday, Acosta, who was representing the media through the press pool, shouted a question at Trump, who responded: Youre fake news.

Havent you spread a lot of fake news yourself, sir?Acosta shot back.

CNN has run its own ads with footage of anchors lecturing White House officials and talking about whether Trump will be impeached.

The network has attracted criticism for its relentless hostility toward the president. A Harvard study found that CNNs coverage of Trump was negative 93 percent of the time over the course of his first 100 days in office.

CNN's ratings are up, although the networkstill trails rivals Fox News and MSNBC.

- This story was updated at 1:06 p.m.

View original post here:
Trump campaign accuses CNN of censorship - The Hill

A deal between Beijing and the increasingly despotic Erdogan regime in Turkey is raising fears of a new phase of Chinese political influence, in which Chinese soft power is used to persuade foreign governments to allow the same type of pro-Beijing censorship that constricts the Chinese internet in their own countries. After a meeting last week between Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, it was reported that Turkey plans to block anti-China reports from its media and Turkish language websites. This has worried many activists from Chinas persecuted Uighur minority, for whom Turkey has functioned as something of a safe haven after other Asian countries closer to Beijing crumbled in the face of political pressure to crackdown on Uighur refugees within their borders.

Within China, the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is steadfast on three sacred rights over which it perceives there is very little room for negotiations. These are continued unchallenged rule by the CCP at home; uncompromising defence of Chinese claims to sovereignty and territorial integrity within and without Chinas present borders; and continued economic expansion at home and abroad. Beijing has often sparred diplomatically with other countries and turned the screws on the private sector at home in pursuit of these three rights. It has also long threatened foreign governments and companies if it sees them as somehow challenging any of these core interests; what is new is that China now wishes to export the censorship methods it has perfected at home to foreign audiences whose interest and familiarity with China is very limited.

Of course, Beijing has long wielded control over what its own citizens can see or speak of both online and through media outlets whose output it can control domestically. But in a globalised world China is also the source of much concern from international observers, from the international status of Taiwan and the South China Sea to repression in Tibet and Xinjiang. It has been a source of great irritation to Beijing that media outlets online who are based overseas can contradict the official narrative without penalty. As China has grown stronger it has begun to try and impose a pro-Chinese narrative on media coverage overseas whose target audiences are not Chinese consumers. This overt effort especially targets Chinese dissidents searching for space to hide or places to broadcast from, but it also seeks to undermine foreign resistance to increasingly assertive Chinese territorial demands in places like the South China Sea.

In Turkey, media freedom has all but vanished following the failed coup last year and Erdogans victory in the April referendum. The Turkish media blackout there is only part of an offensive which China is carrying out with the help of autocratic states in the Middle East against Uighurs who have fled overseas. In Egypt, the military authorities have copied the example of Thailands junta and rounded up dozens of Uighurs for deportation back to China. But Uighurs are Turkic-speaking Muslims whose fate has traditionally been championed by Ankara. By muzzling the Turkish press, Beijing has both struck a blow against the international media coverage that Uighur activists have traditionally relied upon to publicise their cause, and made it easier to forcibly return such critics to Chinese soil without arousing much negative publicity.

Some may see the agreement between China and Turkey as constituting a special case; Uighur activists are vulnerable to accusations propagated from Beijing that their organisations are tied to terrorist groups. Some Uighurs have indeed joined international terrorist networks like the Islamic State and carried out attacks overseas which targeted foreigners and not Chinese state facilities (though these have been attacked too). This has made Middle Eastern governments, most whom are not particularly concerned with human rights, happy to be persuaded to fight Beijings battles for it. The terrorism connection has also muted Western and East Asian criticism of China, conditions which cannot be said to applied to issues such as Taiwan, Tibet or historical controversies that Beijing censors such as the Tiananmen Square massacre.

But success in controlling the narrative over its treatment of the Uighurs in Xinjiang is liable to encourage China to try this method of media manipulation in other regions, over other issues. Semi-democratic Malaysia for example, despite a border dispute with China, has cooperated with Beijing in the past, sending Taiwanese and Uighur detainees back to China despite international outcry. It is not hard to imagine Beijing demanding Kuala Lumpur extend its cooperation into the area of media censorship when Malaysia already has some of the toughest media controls in the modern world. This future blackout could be over the fate of Uighurs migrants as in Turkey, or it could be over a different issue entirely, such as corruption within the ruling CCP. Chinese dissidents are already vanishing overseas with the help of foreign governments; it is hard to image they will be keen to publicise the dirty work they carry out on Beijings behalf.

As democracy falters in the West and the rest, international human rights groups and large media conglomerates must remain wary of any emerging pact of censorship between China and the gaggle of autocrats and demagogues currently in vogue. Dictatorships can cooperate internationally to conceal the truth of their actions, as Latin American military regimes did when they joined together to hunt down dissidents in each others countries during Operation Condor. When one country inside such a pact is as powerful as China, such an arrangement would give the CCP almost unprecedented abilities to persecute its own people abroad, engage in bad faith negotiations over territorial disputes and manipulate foreign audiences sentiments in favour of CCP priorities. That is not a future which is good for China or the peoples with whom it is now coming into closer contact with in the 21st century.

See the rest here:
Chinese Censorship Hits the Middle East - Raddington Report (blog)

Oil recyling refinery still hasn't installed anti-smog devices, facing fines by Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality.

After years of dithering, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is finally trying to force a North Portland used-oil recycling refinery, American Petroleum Environmental Services, to construct and install air pollution control equipment at its plant near the Expo Center.

Last December, the agency ordered the plant to install the equipment, known as regenerative thermal oxidizers, by July 25. But when that day rolled around, the pollution control equipment was still not installed. The DEQ started issuing a $1,600 fine for every day that the plant operates without it. As of Friday, Aug. 4, the fines owed for three days of violations totaled $4,800, though none were issued last week, according to DEQ spokesman Matthew Van Sickle.

The company, also known as APES, closed down the North Portland plant from July 30 through Aug. 5, said Joe Stanaway, a company executive.

Until the oxidizers are installed, the DEQ is asking but not requiring the plant to limit its operating hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, but not on weekends.

Illegally removed equipment, no fines

A previous owner of the refinery unlawfully removed the pollution control equipment in 2006, an action the DEQ says was a violation of its air pollution permit. During the last 11 years, the DEQ never issued any fines for the unlawful removal of the equipment.

APES' air pollution permit expired in 2013, but was extended for an indefinite period of time.

DEQ rules allow the agency to extend permits for polluters who are not in compliance with their permits, without giving public notice or holding a public hearing, so long as the polluter files the necessary paperwork. In the case of the APES plant, it didn't matter that the plant had generated hundreds if not thousands of odor complaints from its neighbors since 2000.

The DEQ is preparing a new permit that is expected to go into effect later this year.

Due to a series of blunders, as reported by the Tribune on March 6, the DEQ is only just now enforcing the terms of the old permit. The DEQ made errors in the way it wrote the original permit by omitting important language pertaining to daily operating requirements, and had forgotten to follow up on an inspection in 2011 that revealed the fact that air pollution control equipment was missing. According to an APES report from 2011 that was obtained from the DEQ under a public records request, the oxidizers were removed because they were "not properly functioning" and were causing odors.

The DEQ opted to issue fines recently rather than close down the plant, although it has the authority to do so, according to rules cited by Michael Orman, an air quality manager at the agency.

In a statement provided to the Tribune, the company said it is "working tirelessly to install the Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer that will vastly improve air emissions from the facility. We have invested additional funds and deployed extra resources on this project while remaining dedicated to meeting our commitments to the state and the local community."

The plant's emissions lead to numerous odor complaints from North Portland residents, and its toxic emissions may have made some of the residents sick from a variety of respiratory and other ailments, as the Tribune reported in March.

The DEQ suspects the odors were caused by dangerous chemicals emitted by the plant known as volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, many of which can cause cancer and other types of disease. The thermal oxidizers are designed to destroy VOCs by burning them at extremely high temperatures. But the oxidizers are not capable of destroying other pollutants known to be emitted by the plant, such as heavy metals like chromium, which can also cause cancer, or sulfur dioxide.

Residents say they are weary of being asked to endure continuing delays as they wait for the plant to control its pollution, said Mary Lou Putman, a Hayden Island resident. Complaints on social media from area residents have dropped off this year, possibly due to the fact that the plant has reduced its operations since February.

"I am not anti-business, but I am pro responsible business," Putman said. "APES and their out-of-state investors continue to be in violation of the federal Clean Air Act. Period. They act like it's a game. By not shutting them down immediately for these violations, DEQ continues to pander to polluters. What's wrong with these people?"

Meanwhile, she says the odors still persist. On Sunday morning, she was awakened by what she describes as "toxic emissions."

"At 3:40 a.m. this morning ( Sunday) I was awakened," she said in an email. Her weather vane showed that the odors were coming from the direction of the plant. "And @10:30 a.m. we detected it again."

Blaming development bureau

APES officials said the installation was delayed by the city of Portland's Bureau of Development Services, which issues building permits for large and small construction projects. BDS needed to approve a permit for the construction of a concrete pad before installation of the oxidizers could proceed.

But the DEQ blames the company for the delay. It said that on multiple occasions APES "failed to provide Portland BDS with the requested documentation to support or clarify your permit applications in a timely fashion," according to a letter to the company dated Aug. 4.

APES officials said the city, not the company, had dragged its feet.

"Despite working with experienced professionals, the project experienced repeat delays brought on by the city of Portland's ever-changing requests," company executives Joe Stanaway and Mike Mazza said in a July 28 letter to the DEQ. They said the company even offered to pay a city employee overtime to help expedite its application for a permit.

They said APES has taken several additional actions "to get the permits as quickly as possible. DEQ's contention otherwise is incorrect and misguided."

But in a recent statement to the Tribune, company executives said the city caused only a "slight delay."

"We have had a strong partnership with BDS in each phase of needed approvals," they said.

Nevertheless, installation of the oxidizers is now moving forward.

Ross Caron, a BDS spokesman, said the city issued the permit for the concrete pad on July 26, 2017, two days before Stanaway and Mazza sent the letter. Although the company declined to provide an updated timeline for completion of the project to the Tribune, the company said in a July 14 letter to the DEQ that "we anticipate requiring an additional 10 to 12 weeks to obtain city permits and complete installation."

Past violations

The APES plant has a long history of struggling to meet the requirements of city and state building permit codes, starting even before it removed the thermal oxidizers in 2006.

Last fall, the city's Bureau of Development Services notified APES of 21 building code violations at the plant, including some that occurred as far back as 2002. The notice of violations said numerous structural, electrical and plumbing projects at the plant had not been permitted or inspected. In addition, the installation of several storage tanks went ahead without obtaining necessary permits.

Although the permits and inspections do not guarantee the safety of new construction projects, they do ensure that they meet minimum standards laid out in state and local building codes, Caron said. He said the city is working with the company to correct the violations, and has issued no fines.

At plants like APES, safety is a major concern, not just for plant employees but for people in the neighborhood. In July 2009, several of the storage tanks at the plant exploded, according to news reports at the time.

"A huge explosion went off. It was just almost instantaneous. I went over and looked out the window and 20, 30, 40 foot wall of flame out there," Matt Coale, the owner of a neighboring business, told KPTV news.

Freelancer Paul Koberstein can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Pamplin Media Group - APES POLLUTION CONTROL STILL UP IN ... - Portland Tribune

The military governments so-called agreement of truth will likely include a mechanism to oversee media in the name of ensuring the press act responsibly to society by following an imposed code of conduct and professional morality.

The agreement will likely require approval from major political parties before being put into practice. But the same mechanism will also help protect media from interference and threats, ensuring them freedom of the press, Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich said on Monday. Kongcheep, a spokesperson to the junta governments committee on reconciliation building, said that the tool is necessary because media have been manipulated to provide political discourses and biased information in ways that fracture society.

While Kongcheep did not elaborate details regarding the control mechanism, the junta-appointed, now-defunct National Steering Reform Assembly earlier proposed a plan that will allow state authorities to take part in media affairs.

Their proposed media regulation draft bill called for creation of a national media council that would include two government representatives to oversee the media landscape.

Although much opposed by journalists and media professionals, the draft was eventually forwarded to the Cabinet, who will decide on what points of the NRSAs draft they agree with before forwarding it to the National Legislative Assembly to pass into law.

Kongcheeps mechanism could be the juntas latest step to create a body to regulate media with endorsements from political parties and figures.

Since the beginning of this year, the junta government has been drafting an agreement, along with seeking input from political players. The input is never detailed for the public.

Political actors are expected to approve the agreement, which also covers other social and economic issues, as another step to achieve reconciliation. How closely they will be bound to the final agreement is not yet clear.

PHOTO of Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich

Original story here.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30323792

- Phuket Gazette

Link:
Government ramping up its plans to control Thai media - Phuket Gazette