Mediaboss Marketing

Image credit: Finally Trending

In the digital world of social media, there are probably new and innovative platforms (or ideas for them) sprouting every other second. While Facebook, Instagram and others reign supreme, there are many others in specialized markets that have already begun garnering their base not only in regards to being the place for everyone to go, but also the entity that accentuates that place for an individual or company. Case in point: new mover Finally Trending is looking to be the go-to guys when it comes to marketing yourself via Twitter. According to them (source), theyve been able to turn their clients into trending topics any product or service in need of promotion has the potential to exceed over 80,000 retweets. In a recent interview with Finally Trending CEO Seth Timlake (via 247HipHopNews), we learned what this new service was all about:

Who is Finally Trending? We are Finally Trending. Its funny how it all began actually, it all started when I got a rush of endorphins as a tweet of mine blew up. It made me want to continue growing a following and create a movement in the eyes of millions of people that spend the majority of the day on their phones. Expanding myself and all my ideas led to the creation of Finally Trending, a social media marketing company whose goal is to promote businesses to talented individuals, and help them spread their message in the eyes of millennials on social media, who empower society as we know it.

What is your goal for Finally Trending? Once I say this everyone will think I am way in over my head, and I have actually had a few people tell me this, but it just drives me even harder. My goal with Finally Trending is to become one of the dominant businesses that basically make the world go around like Amazon, Google. They have shaped our world, and my goal is to have that kind of influence as a company, with a few clicks of a button.

How does Finally trending differ from other social marketing companies? You know there is not that many good ones around. Finally Trending offers real engagements with current, and new followers, and that is something that a lot of the fake smaller companies try to push, but with that type of business plan it will never grow into something more.

Your slogan is no scams. While there are a lot of scam social marketing companies what is it that your company does that others dont do? You dont have to look far to find someone who claims they are a social media influencer or offer promotional services. Finally Trending as a company has a history of working with verified brands, tripling impressions in a week, all the way to making a client trend globally. It is actually quite remarkable what can be accomplished.

You can connect and stay up-to-date with Finally Trending here.

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Moving into the future, businesses need expertise in an ever-increasing array of marketing tools: email marketing, social media marketing, Google Ads, blogging, growth hacking, lead generation, SEO, SEM, etc. Understanding which tools and strategies to use to achieve your business objectives can be difficult. Thats where this book list fits in. This list contains nine books that cover almost every aspect of digital marketing, so you can prepare for your marketing future today.

With all of the constant changes in digital marketing, it can be hard even for experienced business professionals, to keep up.

Digital Marketing for Dummieshighlights the importance of digital marketing and how it can be adapted to get the best return on investment for your time and money.

Digital Marketing for Dummies provides a non-technical, strategy-oriented approach for this.

Written by the CEO and Editorial Director (Ryan Deiss and Russ Henneberry) of DigitalMarketer.com, the book helps readers develop or refine their digital marketing strategies to align with their business goals in the areas of content marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), and online advertising.

If you have wondered why your business needs to Tweet, create YouTube videos, or blog when you have more important things to do, this book will provide the answer with a lot more.

Moving forward in the sharing and on-demand global economy, the world of marketing is changing.

Your business cant rely on the traditional marketing techniques of the past. Customers demand a two-way conversation and with that transparency and accountability. They have more options and less patience with pop-ups and commercials.

They seek diversity in the workplace and in their entertainment,

Marketing 4.0, written by three pioneering marketing gurus, helps business owners understand what the transition for digital marketing means to business owners.

In particular, the book shares how businesses can adapt their marketing to be more inclusive, more social and more flexible in the face of an unpredictable future.

If you are looking for a book to help you wrap your head around the bigger picture going in and how it affects your business, this book might be for you.

The first two books on this list talked about the big picture when it comes to digital marketing.

Digital Sensehelpsbusiness owners tie everything together on a ground-floor level.

Specifically, it helps business owners learn how to create an omnichannel presence

An omnichannel presence is the marketing term for a business that maintains a consistent marketing presence across various channels and devices.

It represents the future of marketing.

Digital Sense helps business owners develop this omnichannel presence using two frameworks designed tohelp businesses align their marketing efforts with their customers in a globally competitive world.

This is already a world filled with screens (TV, smartphones, laptops, tablets, even smart appliances) and the world is going to have a lot more in the next few years.

Mobile technology has affected the culture, economy and global society in a variety of ways.

The cultural and economic changes brought about by mobile technology are more obvious. But understanding the psychological impact of mobile technology, both good and bad is a bit trickier.

Thats where The Smarter Screencomes in.

Written by a behavioral economist, the book helps readers understand the complicated world of brains using mobile technology. For example, the book explores why people value shopping on mobile devices more than in the store or why humans remember things when its displayed on a screen.

Using the information in the book, the author of The Smarter Screen hopes to help businesses design mobile technology to help them better realize their objectives and those of their customers.

Mobile Marketingis also concerned with designing mobile technology for the best customer experience.

The difference is how.

In Mobile Marketing, digital marketing expert Daniel Rowles wants readers to upgrade their definition of mobile technology.

Mobile technology isnt all about cell phones and apps. Its a spectrum of devices and services including wearables, mobile payment systems, location-based advertising, virtual reality and more.

Rowles contends that businesses are just starting to tap into the vast potential of the mobile economy and provides strategies (along with case studies) showing how businessescan tap into this expanded concept of marketing technology and use it to drive profits now and in the future.

Businesses that take the lead in marketing will have a competitive advantage over the status quo still stuck in the traditional marketing mindset.

This list has looked at the psychology and technology behind the mobile economy.

Taplooks at the data breadcrumbs we leave while using mobile technology.

The amount and type of data has been a source of controversy with some consumers believing they are giving away too much of their personal information. On the other hand, businesses benefit when consumers share information, such as web clicks, page views and other data helping businesses offer more personalized services.

It also saves businesses money, time and effort that would have been wasted on ill-suited marketing campaigns.

Tap argues that there is a happy medium between offering privacy and participation in the mobile economy. Using research conducted around the world, professor and author Anindya Ghose shares why he believes businesses can achieve this healthy balance of privacy plus utility for consumers.

Ghose also shares the nine primary forces that impact a customers decision to buy. He then provides strategies and recommendations to help businesses adapt their mobile technology to address these forces.

Heather LeFevre worked hard as an advertising and marketing strategist and it paid off. She grew an impressive resume completing behind-the-scenes work for some of the largest brands, including Burger King, Emirate Airlines, Phillips and Pampers.

LeFevre wanted more, though. She wanted more insight into the ultimate question every marketer, advertiser, communications professional or public relations professional has about marketing: How do I get into my customers brain?

Brain Surfingwas the answer.

LeFevre literally went around the world to find the answer to the ultimate marketing question. Before you think this is a book about another marketing guru spouting a few marketing tips, think again.

The author did more than go around the world to pick up a few insights. She tracked down the top marketing strategists and lived in their homes as she learned from them.

Her book is a travel log, marketing advice guide and invitation to take your marketing to a deeper level so you can reach more people than you ever imagined.

What is one big gripe about marketing on social media? They dont see a return on investment.

Many business owners still arent able to connect the dots between their Tweets, pins, posts and updates and their business objectives. As a result, many businesses undermine their own efforts at social media.

Analytics to Actionwas written to help with this problem.

In the book, author Tim Cigelske helps business owners better understand the numbers that appear on their social media accounts.

Cigelske, the current director of social media for Marquette University, shares the principles, strategies and resources he used throughout his career and his current role as manager of a social media team with 30 people and 50 social media accounts.

Throughout Analytics to Action, Cigelske helps readers figure out how social media goals can help them reach business goals, which statistics to look out for, and how to combine all of this data into a consistent and reliable process that leads to success.

As businesses are learning, traditional sales methods are no longer working like they once did.

Cold calling, getting your name in the Yellow Pages, disruptive advertising and billboards are becoming a thing of the past as smart consumers are learning how to dodge and weave communication they arent interested in.

Consumers are using ad blockers, online reviews, social media and more to skip past these old sales methods and find the products and services that fit them.

If your organization is looking to adapt its sales strategies to the modern world of Twitter, Facebook, blogs and YouTube, The Conversion Codemay be the thing that helps you do it.

Written by Chris Smith, a sales coach who raised two million dollars in revenue for the company he founded, The Conversion Code shares the tips, strategies and techniques Smith along the way.

The book covers lead generation starting where your customers are (online) and guides readers through the steps to convert their maybe or no into a yes.

As the books on this list prove, the world of marketing will face a complex and unpredictable future. Social media channels will rise and decline in popularity. Marketing strategies will come in and out of vogue. Trends will come and go. As a business owner, it is your job to steer your business through these marketing decisions. At the end of the day, these decisions pale in comparison to the marketing principles which never change:

Stick to these basic marketing principles and your business will build a marketing foundation, no matter how unpredictable the future turns out to be.

Book Photo via Shutterstock

Read the rest here:
Digital Marketing and Your Small Business: 9 Books to Spark Your Upgrade - Small Business Trends

A white paper on the State of Digital Marketing in the Philippines was presented by GetCRaft, Southeast Asias premier content marketing network last July 26 in Square One, Bonifacio Technological Center, BGC. The market inquiry brings together data and insights culled from a survey conducted in 2017 of marketers across major cities in the Philippines, involving 150 respondents managers, directors, vice presidents and C-level marketers from brands and agencies representing various industries. The report seeks to deliver impartial digital and content marketing industry snapshots and ideas on pushing these findings forward. The goal is to inform readers about the current state of digital and content marketing in the Philippines, identify pain points among marketers, and explore solutions. Here are the highlights of the study:

The total Philippine population is 104 million, 69 million of whom are Internet users, and 69 million are active social media users. Mobile subscriptions number 129.4 million, while active mobile social users are 59 million. On device usage: 88 percent use any type of mobile phone; 61 percent utilize smart phones; 39 percent and 25 percent avail of laptop or computer and tablet, respectively. Average daily use: 9 hours on the Internet via personal computer or tablet; 3 hours and 36 minutes on the Internet via mobile phone; 4 hours and 17 minutes on social media using any device; and 2 hours and 30 minutes on television.

Social media continues to dominate, but content marketing, influencer marketing, and sponsored content are on the rise. Brands view social media both paid and organic as the most effective digital channel for marketing, due to the high number of active users, the enormous amount of time users spend using the channel, and cost efficiency. Social media in the Philippines are used for searching and purchasing products or services by nearly a third of the population, with Facebook as the priority medium.

Shayne Garcia, managing director of iProspect, shares, No one can underestimate the power of social media in the Philippines; this is where we interact with customers, respond to their inquiries and even get real-time feedback about product quality. As consumers are deepening more and more their footprint on social, so should marketers.

Three channels content marketing, influencer marketing, and sponsored content are not far behind social media on marketers priority lists. Companies and brands that want to succeed in social media marketing should understand that one of its critical pillars is content. Pao Pena, chief experience officer at Dentsu Jayme Syfu, believes, Many brands are jumping on influencers as a source of content, primarily because we are selling them as paid media and sometimes without proper guidance on whether they truly add value to the marketing mix.

Marketers spend 21.5 percent of their budget on digital. The drivers behind this growth are mostly demographic: increasing consumerism, an emerging middle class, and rapid mobile youth penetration. Digital marketing will be buoyed by improved technological infrastructure, Internet penetration and broadband speed. Increase in knowledge will also positively impact growth. As marketers better understand the models that allow them to best hit their targets, digital channels will increasingly be viewed as more cost-effective, encouraging brands and agencies to spend more on digital.

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Mobile marketing is expected to reign, with content marketing and customer experience as the next promising areas. Marketers are putting priority on how customers experience their brands throughout the customer journey. Rightly so, as customer experience is critical in either strengthening or weakening purchasing intent, engagement, brand loyalty and brand advocacy. There are many ways for marketers to improve customer experience, including using automation tools, data-powered customization, and prioritizing mobile.

The growing audience of mobile makes it an ideal platform for brands to engage customers through intensified content marketing and enhanced customer experience. But consuming content is only one of three digital behaviors active mobile users engage in. They are also content creators and curators, which presents an opportunity for brands to co-create content with their customers. Emphasis on content places the onus on marketers to ensure high-quality material that targets the right audiences in the right spots. This highlights the need for personalization or the ability of brands and messages to adapt to consumers. Such ability is crucial not only in creating and publishing content but also in improving customer experience.

Budget restraint is a top digital challenge. Even as the value of digital marketing in the Philippines grows, nearly three out of five marketers say they have difficulty in getting financing for their digital campaigns. And besides funding, they lack skills and resources, proper tracking or measurements methods, and digital marketing tools. As there is no one-size-fits-all formula for return on investment (ROI), marketers often struggle to justify their budget requests. This issue highlights the need to solidify key performance indicators. Without ROI tracking, no ROI can be demonstrated, and without ROI, no budget request is justified. Budget restraints prevent companies from hiring the right people and, therefore, from getting strategies right. Skills shortfall is aggravated by the fact that innovation is at a pace unmatched by learning curves and skills available in the market. Carlo Ople, vice president for digital marketing strategy of PLDT-Smart, states, To unlock digital spend, marketers need to stop pushing campaign budgets, and instead propose new analytics-driven business.

Fifty-seven percent of marketers are unsure about how digital marketing drives business objectives. Lack of clarity about the role digital marketing plays in a business highlights the need to intensify education and training among brands. These efforts must involve not only those in the boardroom but the entire marketing team and other teams they work with. Difficulties in gauging digital performance could mean that marketers are measuring too many, too few, or incorrect metrics. Business transformation is key in adapting to the changes of today. However, many are still grappling due to the lack of a seamless strategic view, says Eduardo Mapa Jr., founder of Castle by the River.

Videos lead the way in content marketing. As Filipinos spend more time on social media than on watching television, they are also increasingly watching videos from mobile screens. Global Webb index reports YouTube as the second most active media platform at 56 percent, topped only by Facebook. Of all Filipino netizens, 28 percent watch videos online daily, 21 percent weekly and 19 percent monthly. A clear factor driving online video consumption growth is the rise of mobile in the Philippines with 57 percent of the population watching videos online using mobile phones.

Content marketing is mostly used for awareness. Jonass de los Reyes says, This awareness measure on content marketing is clearly an indicator of the changing mindsets of marketers today who are slowly maturing and understanding the role of digital and content marketing in their overall strategy and marketing plans. He believes this will eventually shift and the goal of content marketing will be more for influencing consideration and evaluation, because this is where its strengths lie.

Skills and resources gaps are top content marketing challenges. Crafting quality content consistently requires not just the right mix of resources but also strategic planning. What many fail to realize is that content marketing is a long-term commitment to build brand reputation, trust, loyalty, and so forth. And to build this, the costs are not cheap, says Patrick Searle, group CEO and co-founder at GetCRAFT.

Most brands do content marketing in-house. The benefits of running content marketing in-house are obvious: It gives brands maximum control, limits back-and-forth movement within the team, and provides employees with opportunities to continuously learn.

* * *

Email bongosorio@gmail.com for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.

More here:
Where are we in digital marketing? - Philippine Star

Israels communications minister, Ayoub Kara, is moving forward with a plan to ban Qatari state-funded broadcaster Al Jazeera throughout the country.

According to Al Jazeera, the plan would revoke the credentials of all journalists working for the broadcasters Arabic and English credentials, shut down its cable and satellite transmissions, and evict staff from their Jerusalem headquarters. Kara would need approval from the Knesset to move forward with some elements of the plan.

All journalists working within Israel must be accredited by the government, and both civilian and military authorities have wide latitude to censor print and broadcast publications, according to the US State Department. Its unclear whether Israeli authorities will order access to Al Jazeeras web content cut off, though just weeks ago the Knesset approved a law allowing the censorship of content deemed criminal or tied to terror groups.

We have based our decision on the move by Sunni Arab states to close the Al Jazeera offices and prohibiting their work, Kara said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously threatened Al Jazeera over its coverage of violence and security measures at the Temple Mount-Noble Sanctuary compound. One of two police investigations against Netanyahu, both of which appear to be nearing indictments, concerns allegations he secretly held negotiations with an Israeli paper in exchange for good coverage.

In the past few years, Sunni Arab states have accused Qatar of funding extremist groups like al-Qaeda, Hamas and Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, though the Qatari government insists it is being scapegoated. Theres some evidence foreign hackers, possibly from the UAE, have deliberately sought to inflame tensions by posting fake articles to the Qatari foreign ministrys web sites.

Months ago, the same governments accusing Qatar of funding terror put in place a regional trade blockade on its land and sea borders, a move enthusiastically backed by President Donald Trump, though said blockade does not seem to be working.

The Committee to Protect Journalists urged Israel to abandon the plan to block the network, with Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour issuing a statement saying Censoring Al-Jazeera or closing its offices will not bring stability to the region, but it would put Israel firmly in the camp of some of the regions worst enemies of press freedom.

Regimes that want to control power will almost always go after two targetsthe media and the foreigners, the American University in Beiruts Rami Khouri told Al Jazeera. Everybody goes after the media.

As the Guardian noted, Al Jazeera has faced crackdowns in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain, with the latter four countries blocking its channel and affiliate sites.

[Al Jazeera]

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Israel Will Ban Al Jazeera and Censor Its Cable and Satellite Transmissions, Comms Ministry Says - Gizmodo

Beijing appeared to have doubled down on its crackdown of the internet in China, with news emerging that over the weekend, Apple pulled several virtual private network (VPN) services from the local version of the App Store.

Multiple VPN service providers, affected by the decision, slammed the move online, calling it a "dangerous precedent" set by Apple, which governments in other countries may follow.

VPN service providers received notification from Apple on July 29 that their apps were removed from the China App Store for including "content that is illegal" in the mainland, according to a screenshot posted by ExpressVPN.

VPNs let users in China bypass the country's famous "Great Firewall" that heavily restricts internet access to foreign sites. It also allows for privacy by hiding browsing activities from internet service providers.

Manjunath Bhat, a research director at Gartner, told CNBC that a VPN could circumvent government censorship.

"VPN creates a private tunnel between you (the user) and the service you want to consume," Bhat said, explaining that such a connection escapes government censorship, hiding a user's true origin. It also encrypts communications so that users can be confident others aren't reading their information when connected to public internet services.

Data on GreatFire.org, a site that monitors censorship activity in the mainland, showed 167 of the top 1000 domains are blocked in China. Those include YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google and Instagram among others.

Golden Frog said its VyprVPN service is still accessible in China, despite the app's removal from the App Store. ExpressVPN said users can stay connected to the open internet with the company's apps for Windows, Mac, Android and other platforms.

Apple has recently stepped up business efforts in China. Earlier this month, the company announced the appointment of Isabel Ge Mahe in a new role of vice president and managing director of Greater China to provide leadership and coordination across Apple's China-based team. Apple is also setting up its first data center in the mainland by partnering with a local company, in order to comply with tougher cybersecurity laws in China.

In a blog post, ExpressVPN said it was "disappointed" with Apple's decision. It "represents the most drastic measure the Chinese government has taken to block the use of VPNs to date, and we are troubled to see Apple aiding China's censorship efforts," the post read.

Golden Frog also said in a blog post that it was "extremely disappointed" in Apple's decision. It added, "If Apple views accessibility as a human right, we would hope Apple will likewise recognize internet access as a human right (the UN has even ruled it as such) and would choose human rights over profits."

The move was also criticized by others, including U.S. whistle-blower Edward Snowden in a tweet.

"Earlier this year China's (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) announced that all developers offering VPNs must obtain a license from the government," an Apple spokesperson told CNBC. "We have been required to remove some VPN apps in China that do not meet the new regulations. These apps remain available in all other markets where they do business."

On Tuesday, during Apple's earnings call, CEO Tim Cook added, "We would obviously rather not remove the apps, but like we do in other countries we follow the law wherever we do business. We strongly believe participating in markets and bringing benefits to customers is in the best interest of the folks there and in other countries as well."

Apple's decision to remove the apps comes at a time when businesses and individuals inside the mainland are finding it harder to connect to the so-called open internet outside China via VPN. A business executive told CNBC that connecting through VPN in cities like Hangzhou is becoming far more difficult, as compared to bigger places such as Beijing and Shanghai. People using an international SIM card or apps downloaded from App Stores outside China are still able to use VPNs on the mainland, according to the executive.

Some of the remaining VPN companies that have yet to face Beijing's crackdown could end up collaborating with the authorities, according to Martin Johnson (a pseudonym) from GreatFire.org. He told CNBC that some of those companies may hand over user data when requested and be allowed to operate without restrictions. "Those that protect their users security will be removed."

Johnson added, "Apple is now an integral part of China's censorship apparatus, helping the government expand it's control to a global scale."

To be sure, Apple's removal of those apps is not the first time Beijing's cyber regulators have gone after VPN providers. Recent reports said two popular providers GreenVPN and Haibei VPN stopped their services following a notice from the regulators. In fact, a number of VPN apps are still available on the local App Store as of Monday.

In January, the MIIT embarked on a 14-month campaign to "clean up" China's internet connections by March 31, 2018. In a notice, the ministry said that, while China's internet access service market is facing "a rare opportunity for development," there are also signs of "disorderly development" needing to be rectified.

Among other services, the move also affected VPNs: The Ministry said those connections cannot be created without the approval of the relevant telecommunications authorities.

State-owned news outlet Global Times reported that a spokesperson for MIIT said at a press conference last week that foreign companies or multinational corporations that need to use VPN for business purposes could rent special lines from telecom providers that legally provide such services.

Previously, the Ministry had denied a Bloomberg report that it ordered major telco operators China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom to block individuals' access to all VPNs by February 1, 2018.

Johnson said the authorities would "prefer to divide users such that businesses can continue to access the global internet, while ordinary users can only access the filtered internet."

"The Chinese government does not care at all about freedom of speech, but they do care very much about economic growth and China's economy continues to be very dependent on the outside world. Apple should use this leverage and stand up for the principle. Sadly they don't," he said.

CNBC's Barry Huang contributed to this report.

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Apple removes VPN apps in China as Beijing doubles down on censorship - CNBC