Mediaboss Marketing

The need for digital marketers has increased multiple folds. As per LinkedIn, there has been a 63% hike in marketing jobs in the first 6 months of 2021. Marketing continues to remain as part of an elusive club of domains that have stayed resilient towards the unemployment hazards of COVID-19 and possess an unexplored capacity to grow further. As per a statistic, 3,81,000 marketing-related openings were posted within the last year.

However, this is not the digital marketing of old. There has been a paradigm shift in the industry following the onslaught wrought by COVID-19. Marketers are drifting towards newer toolkits, the ones that are full-stack and help them become day-1-job ready.

Upskilling is key to staying relevant in this competitive labour market. The internet is overcrowded with a stream of tutorials available on various platforms for interested learners. But such free-to-access content suits learner-needs only as long as they dont start looking for jobs.

If digital marketers want to be future-ready they must fulfill a list of prerequisites that includes:

Qualified applicants who fulfill the aforementioned requirements are consequently prioritized over the rest of the talent pool by MNCs. The NIIT Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme is a 20-week online course for entrepreneurs and aspiring marketers that aids them in accomplishing this task. This course offers transformative learning with a new-age dimension to it targeting high-value core competencies. Its marquee offerings include, but are not limited to:

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Designed in consultation with industry experts, the Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme builds conceptual, actionable, and cross-applicable expertise in learners with the following resume-enhancing skills.

5 High-Value Digital Marketing Skills for 2021

High-performance teams need cutting-edge knowledge to ward off rivals. With an emphasis on 1:1 mentoring, NIIT employs proven marketing maestros who combine theory with hands-on training to educate learners. The focus remains on the following set of skills that the upcoming generation of marketers should be friendly with.

Search Engine Optimization

Contrary to popular opinion, SEO is not a generalist profile. It involves a substantial amount of technique combined with the nuances of user-friendly content development. The NIIT-faculty disburses key on-page and off-page SEO tactics that improve organic page rank in the search engines, with emphasis on Google. Students pursue a basic-to-advanced roadmap for optimizing website content in conjunction with the latest/expected Google algorithm updates. When the batch shows signs of having developed strong fundamentals the session proceeds to cover the next category of skill-set.

Social Media Management

71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to refer the brand to their close ones. There is only one way to make promotions user-friendly and that is by tapping social media. To do so, we need to sync brand messaging with customer behavior. NIITs course modules on this topic help improve operational knowledge in 3 critical areas:

Learners move towards the next module as they begin showing signs of maturity.

Internet Advertising

People interact with paid-search ads as they directly answer their questions. Businesses that lack the financial backing to push their campaigns online at scale, limit themselves to organic measures. But as the Google AI blog puts it, 89% of the website traffic produced by Google Ads, is not replaced by organic traffic when the ads are paused. Therefore, the rage about lead generation through sponsored ads.

The NIIT Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme makes incumbents confident advertisers by encouraging them to implement, evaluate, and improve paid ad campaigns. Students learn to run outcome-oriented ads to minimize inputs and maximize revenues. Course enrollees are trained in over 12 forms of ads that incumbents should know how to run. These include display ads, PPC, Google Shopping ads, video advertising, social media ads, push notifications, pop-ups, and dynamic remarketing ads.

Content Marketing

Content is considered king in digital marketing as it brings out the unstated side of the brand, helping it establish emotional touchpoints with customers. As per HubSpot, 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. Content is an all-encompassing trait that you can refine over time. In its Jobs on the Rise report (2021) LinkedIn predicts the rise of digital content creators. For this reason, NIIT experts train students in establishing content differentiation, content monitoring tools, design thinking for creativity, and branding.

Lead Generation

Expert mentors at the NIIT Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme throw up hands-on projects simulating real-world scenarios for students. The learning curve includes exercises on how to score leads, process data, and bifurcate prospects as per identifiers like demographics, online behavior, and engagement rates. This deadline-bound project entails learners gaining functional know-how to filter leads through email marketing, social media, and online advertising. Personalized feedback is followed up with case studies that drive home key lessons on how to monetize content marketing and increase ROI.

Begin your Digital Marketing Career on a Strong Footing

The pandemic ran riot in the jobs marketplace. Mass lay-offs translated into fewer job opportunities, lethargic recruitment processes, and increased competition. This led to an urge to upskill particularly in the Indian youth cohort. As per a LinkedIn study, 48% of Gen Z Indians want to reallocate time towards upskilling.

While professional online programs are becoming popular for training incumbents in on-demand competencies, there are limited options that guarantee students a relevant job.

The NIIT Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme offers placement assurance* to students with a stipulated CTC threshold. NIIT is an established higher education institution with a 40-year legacy and tie-ups with over 1000 corporate partners across India. In the financial year ending 2020, it achieved the feat of placing over 9000 students across industries through its professional programs.

The program coordinators manage an end-to-end student lifecycle that ensures each candidate is well-groomed for interviews. Their initiatives include but are not limited to:

The Full Stack Digital Marketing Programme is a value proposition for anyone looking for a promising start to their marketing career. Apply now and leverage the global NIIT alumni network that is 35 million strong and growing.

*Terms & Conditions Applied

About NIIT

NIIT is a leading Skills and Talent Development Corporation that is building a workforce pool for global industry requirements. It ranks among the world's leading training companies owing to its vast and comprehensive array of talent development programs. With a footprint in over 30 countries, NIIT offers training and development solutions to Individuals, Enterprises, and Institutions. NIIT incubated, StackRoute, as a digital transformation partner for corporates to build multi-skilled full stack developers at scale.

Disclaimer: Content Produced by NIIT

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5 Digital Marketing Skills to make you a Hot Commodity in 2021 - Times of India

Every brand is comprised of many moving parts: visual assets like logos and colors, audio assets, packaging and design, brand image, brand values, and the size and stature of the brand in the marketplace. All of these brand assets influence how customers think and feel about a brand. Ultimately, those thoughts and feelings will translate into sales, reputation, and the brand's overall health and longevity.

All of the components of a brand are used for building brand value. Marketers and brand specialists should pay attention to the brand value created. What is brand value, exactly? It's also referred to as brand equity, which is how you measure the qualitative (e.g., brand loyalty, brand recognition, etc.) and quantitative (e.g. market share, profit margin, etc.) values of a brand.

Here's a closer look at brand equity, the role it plays in your marketing and brand management, and how to grow your brand's equity.

Table of Contents:

What is Brand Equity?

What is equity? Equity in terms of a business is the value of a business if all the business's assets were liquidated and all the debts were paid off. It's the byproduct of assets minus liabilities.

So, what is brand equity in marketing? Just like business equity, your brand builds value, too. This value is determined by a brand's customers and how they have experienced your brand. If they have positive perceptions of your brand, then your brand equity is positive, too, and vice-versa.

So, brand equity can simply be defined as a brand's value.

We can narrow this definition further by including customer-based brand equity (CBBE). CBBE attributes a brand's success based on its customers' sentiments and perceptions of that brand.

When you have high brand equity, you can justify higher prices for your product, increase your stock price, and potentially spend less on marketing. Things like positive word-of-mouth, online reviews, and customer loyalty can help you continue growing your brand naturally.

Why Does Brand Equity Matter?

The benefits of customer-based brand equity are hard to ignore. High brand equity can lead to:

What's more, your brand's attempts to expand its product line may prove to be more fruitful. For example, pen maker Bic became well-known for inexpensive, no-frills pens that work reliably. As a result, the company was able to expand its offering to include razors and lighters, both of which maintain the reliable, no-frills image. Other pen companies may have found such a move to be out of reach since the products are so diverse. Bic's success would have been much harder to come by without solid brand equity.

At its heart, equity in a brand builds up a loyal customer base that will continue to bring in revenue. It's about creating a brand that people prefer over another, even if means spending more or going out of their way for something.

When you have this level of commitment from your customers, you can take advantage of all the benefits that positive brand equity brings.

How Brand Credibility Affects Brand Equity

Brand credibility is a key part of building brand equity. People favor and value brands they can trust. They don't want to be left on the hook for a faulty product or an overcharge. They don't want to do business with a company that closes its doors without warning.

When a brand builds enough credibility, it can leverage this perception to grow the business. Credible brands have a greater chance of building more loyal customer relationships. They may become more resilient in a crisis as customers shift to businesses that offer reliability and predictability. You might even be able to charge more for your products or services.

How to Create Brand Credibility

Sometimes, brand credibility comes from tenure in the industry. But for brands that haven't been around for years, there are other ways to build credibility.

Generate Positive Press

Positive media coverage in trusted publications makes your brand look good by extension. Think of it as the publication's endorsement of your brand, even if it doesn't explicitly recommend you. Your name is associated with other credible people, companies, and sources, and that's not something that just any brand can achieve.

Positive press starts with connecting with the right people - journalists, bloggers, and influencers, for example. You want to partner with people who have real influence and can move your brand story further. The right people will not only get you in front of the right audience to increase brand awareness but also share your story in a way that's impactful.

Create and Share Quality Content

The internet enables every brand to become a publisher. Nowadays, you no longer have to wait for a book deal or connect with high-profile publications to create and share valuable content.

Even though the bar is lower, it's still worthwhile for brands to create their own content to share with an audience. Content helps to position your brand as a thought leader and an authority in your space. It can also help improve your SEO and help people find you via online search, which gives you more opportunities to grow your audience.

Types of content to consider include:

Content is a great way to establish your brand's core values, influence consumer perception, reinforce your brand promise, and support your brand purpose. Establish an emotional connection with your target market and show what makes you different from other brands.

Be Transparent - Consistently

Transparency gives your target audience a clear look at your brand values. What are brand values, exactly? Think of it as your set of brand beliefs, the ones your brand lives by. It's a way for people to get to know the real you.

For example, Zappos.com has become the gold standard for customer service. Its customers favor the no-hassle return policy and the solution-oriented representatives. In fact, the longest customer service call took an impressive 10 hours and 51 minutes, proving that the company does anything and everything to make its customers happy.

But what happens if Zappos' customer service contact information suddenly disappeared from its website? Or the company charged for a return shipment, or tell you your time is up and you still haven't reached a resolution? None of these things would be on brand, and credibility would suffer.

When brands make and break promises, their image is tarnished. It's hard for the brand to re-establish its customers' sense of trust. That's why consistency is just as important as transparency.

Everything from a brand's policies to its blog articles to its merchandise should be in alignment. Together, these play an important part in how brands earn customer trust.

Listen to Your Customers

When building brand credibility, what you hear is just as important as what you say. While you're excited to talk about your brand to earn consumer trust, it's equally important to listen to what your customers are saying about your brand.

For example, branding juggernaut Coca-Cola caught a lot of flack when it introduced New Coke in 1985. The new recipe was the company's response to a slowly dipping market share and the subsequent belief that consumers' tastes were changing. But after customers expressed extreme dissatisfaction, the company increased its credibility by listening and bringing back the original formula, slightly rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. Had the company ignored the warnings of its fans, the outcome might have looked much different.

Hear about your customers' experiences. Accept their compliments. Acknowledge their complaints and work with them on a resolution. This can be as simple as replying to comments and DMs on social media or as thorough as managing your online reputation.

Your customers are going to talk about your brand, regardless of whether you are part of the conversation. The best thing you can do to build credibility is to take their conversations seriously. Social media monitoring tools and services can help you stay in touch with what's being said so you can decide what to do next.

3 Steps for Building Brand Equity

There's an old saying in marketing that companies don't build brands, customers do. While there's a lot of truth to this, building brand equity still takes proactivity and thought. You can influence your customers' perceptions of your brand based on your own priorities in managing your brand.

Keller's customer-based brand equity model illustrates how a company builds a strong brand foundation and works upward to create brand 'resonance,' where customers can actively identify with and advocate for a brand.

This brand equity pyramid provides a great starting point for companies to start building brand equity. Let's start from the ground up:

Step 1: Establish a Brand Identity

Who are you as a company? What do you stand for? What do you do better than anyone else? Why should people choose you?

These are just a few of the questions that can help to shape your brand identity. Your brand identity is its personality, tone of voice, audience, and the way it looks and functions to customers.

Creating your brand's identity is the first step in developing awareness, which will later grow sales, loyalty, and advocacy.

Step 2: Communicate Brand Meaning through Products

Next up: How do you want your customers to feel and think when using your products? What image should they associate with your brand?

In Keller's customer-based brand equity model, brand meaning includes both performance and imagery. Nike is a great example of how a brand communicates meaning through its products. Their advertising and marketing focus largely on athletes in training or playing sports, not necessarily the products themselves. In the customer's mind, though, we tend to think of high-quality products that perform well under pressure.

How you communicate your products can support your brand's meaning. Include influencers, social media, and SEO in the mix to get your products in front of the right people to start building awareness.

Step 3: Grow Your Relationships through Brand Response

Once you've established your brand's identity and are conveying its meaning through awareness campaigns, customers will have a chance to react and respond. In Keller's model, this phase includes judgment and feelings-how people will perceive your brand.

Brands can influence this phase by connecting with customers on a personal level, taking stock of their feedback and becoming part of conversations. You can also initiate conversations and spur engagement by building communities, hosting live events, providing good customer service, and making people feel part of the brand you're building.

As you build relationships, your brand equity will start to grow as you gain more loyal customers. The more advocates you create, the more people you can get in front of that will potentially do the same!

Let's start building your brand equity strategy. Get in touch today to learn more!

Excerpt from:
Brand Equity: What it is and how to build it - Marketscreener.com

Piers Morgan previously led criticism of Emma Raducanu. Conrad Williams. Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images/Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Piers Morgan has claimed teenage US open star Emma Raducanu took his advice to win.

Morgan previously criticized Raducanu for retiring from Wimbledon on medical grounds.

"I've been totally vindicated. She took my advice and won," Morgan said in a tweet.

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Former breakfast TV host Piers Morgan has claimed that his advice played a part in British teenage star Emma Raducanu's historic win at the US Open over the weekend.

Raducanu won the final of the US Open on Saturday becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since 1977. Earlier this year, however, Morgan led social media criticism of the 18-year-old after she retired from a knockout game at Wimbledon following breathing difficulties on the advice of medical professionals.

Wimbledon was Raducanu's first grand slam tournament.

Following Raducanu's US Open win, British journalist Leanne Prescott rehashed Morgan's critical comments of the teenager: "A bad day for Piers Morgan means a huge win for mankind. Maybe people should try a little more to encourage young talents instead of dragging them down."

To which Morgan responded: "A bad day? I've been totally vindicated. She took my advice and won."

Morgan continued to associate himself with Raducanu's win in a separate tweet: "Imagine if @EmmaRaducanu had taken Twitter's advice & carried on 'bravely' and 'heroically' quitting and losing thank God she's made of tougher stuff & realised that winners don't quit & have to learn how to handle the pressure. That's why she's Champion today. Congrats Emma."

In an Instagram statement following her early retirement from Wimbledon, Raducanu said she had felt "dizzy" at the end of the first set of the game and was told not to continue after going off the court for medical support. The 18-year-old was also publicly criticized by seven-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroewho said the occasion appeared to be a "little bit too much" for her.

Story continues

In a press conference following her historic US open win, Radacanu said she "zoned" into her tennis and didn't pay any attention to the press surrounding her Wimbledon exit.

"I think the biggest triumph for me is how I managed to not think about absolutely anything else but my game plan and execute," she said. "I didn't really think of anything other than what was going on on the tennis court, so all the outside stuff I just completely zoned in and focused on my craft and when I was on the tennis court it was just business as usual."

Read the original article on Insider

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Piers Morgan claims US Open star Emma Raducanu 'took his advice and won' after he slammed her Wimbledon exit - Yahoo News

Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley should be investigated and immediately relieved of his duties and court-martialed if he secretly negotiated with his Chinese counterpart.

It should be investigated immediately, today, he should be questioned under oath, if not with a polygraph test, whether it happened. If it happened, he should be immediately relieved of his duties and court-martialed, the Kentucky Republican said on Fox News Fox & Friends.

You have to find out if its true, Paul said. This is innuendo and rumor and propaganda, perhaps. But, if it is true, he absolutely immediately needs to be removed.

A new book, Peril, by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, says Milley phoned his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng, on Oct. 30 just prior to the general election to warn him that then-President Donald Trump might create a military conflict with the communist nation.

The authors allege a second phone call was made on Jan. 8 just two days after the incursion of the Capitol in which Milley assured Li the United States would not attack China.

The book, excerpted in The Washington Post, also said Milley told Li he would warn him in advance of any American attack.

Gen. Li, you and I have known each other for five years. If were going to attack, Im going to call you ahead of time. Its not going to be a surprise, Milley said, as reported in the excerpt.

The senator was extremely critical of Milleys alleged actions.

And he needs to be asked, did you call the Chinese government in defiance to your commands? Did you warn them or insinuate to them that the president might attack them? Thats incredibly dangerous to the country, to the world and, if true, treasonous, Paul said.

Should Milley be court-martialed if he made the China calls as described?

Yes: 99% (824 Votes)

No: 1% (5 Votes)

Milleys reported actions could end up triggering a war, he noted.

If we have a general calling China and saying, Our president is liable to unleash nuclear weapons on you or unleash an attack on you, that makes any kind of accidental war even more likely by him ginning up the game. Its a terrible thing, very dangerous, but just by defying the chain of command it gets outside of what we have as a constitutional republic, Paul said.

Those phone calls, per the book, were never mentioned to Trump, whose mental state, Milley believed, had declined in the aftermath of the presidential election.

Hence the need, in Milleys view, to prevent the president from taking military action.

Toward that end, the book says Milley made a phone call to the admiral in charge of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to suggest postponing any additional military exercises in the region.

He also requested senior officers swear an oath again, per the book that his involvement be required should Trump give an order to launch nuclear weapons during his final days in office.

For his part, Milley already under fire for last months hasty and deadly U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan has denied any claims his actions undermined civilian control of the military.

General Milley continues to act and advise within his authority in the lawful tradition of civilian control of the military and his oath to the Constitution, Army Col. David Butler, Milleys spokesman, said in a Wednesday statement reported in the Military Times.

Brett Davis, who earned a bachelors degree in journalism from Western Washington University, has written for newspapers, public policy organizations, a major humanitarian institution and a software company. Brett lives in Federal Way, Washington, just south of Seattle.

Brett Davis, who earned a bachelors degree in journalism from Western Washington University, has written for newspapers, public policy organizations, a major humanitarian institution and a software company. Brett lives in Federal Way, Washington, just south of Seattle.

Excerpt from:
Rand Paul Calls for Gen. Milley to Be 'Immediately' Court ...

Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is one of former President Donald Trump's most loyal followers in the Senate.

Paul has repeatedly amplified the former President's lies regarding the pandemic that's killed over 600 thousand Americans, virulently defended Trump throughout his first impeachment.

Even after a mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection spurred by Trump's election lies, Paul continued to entertain the fantasy that widespread fraud stole the 2020 election from Trump.

Paul said:

Though the Senator called Trump's lies "irresponsible" in the days immediately following the riots, Paul remains loyal to Trump and voted against a bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection, despite broad concessions allowing Republicans an equal number of committee appointees and subpoena power.

A book detailing the final months of the Trump administration, Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, reported that Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, General Mark Milley, called Chinese government officials on at least two occasions, including one immediately after the Capitol siege. Milley was growing fearful that then-President Trump was gearing up for a war with China to fight off losing a second term.

The calls, made without Trump's knowledge, were to assure to Chinese officials that the American government was stable and that a U.S. attack on their government was not imminent. Having lost faith in Trump's so-called leadership, Milley even went so far as to assure the government that he'd warn them if the U.S. was mounting an attack on China.

Paul railed against the report in comments to the conservative Fox News network.

Watch below

Rand Paul, without a shred of irony: "We have elections. We can't have generals overturning elections." https://t.co/6IrvbUHlgE

Paul said:

Given the Senator's continued support for Trump and the Republican party, who literally sought to overturn an election, people were amazed at his comments.

Cant have generals taking the election-overturning jobs from hard working senators, can we now? https://t.co/DFOI9HzENs

Always the masters of projection. Always. https://t.co/kkU66XUxJo

We can't have Generals overturning elections...that's what we have Republicans for. #LOLGOP https://t.co/IL9anwafWe

How does Rand Paul feel about *presidents* overturning elections? https://t.co/mjhO0t5ReY

Given that Trump's refusal to concede the election threatened the stability of global government, people disagreed that Milley was somehow overturning an election.

not only irony but completely false - Milley did no such thing .. in fact all he did was make sure everybody follow https://t.co/5eWF1UNK3Q

not only irony but completely false - Milley did no such thing .. in fact all he did was make sure everybody follow https://t.co/5eWF1UNK3Q

Uh...how exactly did Mark Milley "overturn an election" by creating a contingency plan for if a lame-duck president https://t.co/eCEF25BFCq

Paul joins a chorus of other Republican lawmakers calling for Milley's removal.

The rest is here:
Rand Paul Accuses Mark Milley of Overturning Election with China Call - Second Nexus