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President to meet Masoud Barzani in Istanbul

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By Idris Okuducu

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is due to meet the leader of Iraqs Kurdish region in Istanbul on Sunday, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.

The meeting between Erdogan and Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government, was trailed by Erdogans spokesman Ibrahim Kalin on Wednesday.

We have a lot to talk about, he said. Iraq is important for us in all terms -- economically, in terms of border security and in humanitarian and cultural terms.

He went on to cite similar approaches to tackling Daesh and PKK terrorism as ways the two territories could work together.

The Foreign Ministry official was speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

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Turkey's Erdogan to meet Iraqi Kurdish leader - Anadolu Agency

Middle East Eye

Turkey asks German pupils to spy on Erdogan critics, says union Middle East Eye Turkish diplomats in Germany have been accused by a union of urging school pupils from the diaspora to film their teachers and report any critical comments they make about President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Germany's justice ministry has heard claims that ...

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Turkey asks German pupils to spy on Erdogan critics, says union - Middle East Eye

The internet is the perfect forum for small businesses to compete with big brands. Audience reach, social sharing and unlimited sales and marketing opportunities have leveled the playing field between big and small companies. Still, a surprising percentage of small businesses have remained on the sidelines. Either they don't have an online marketing strategy, or the one they're using is inadequate, and therefore unsuccessful. So why are some smaller companies not taking full advantage of this potent and indispensable marketing tool?

According to Kelly Shelton, vice president of marketing at Boostability, an internet services company, here are the three most common and persistent barriers to effective internet utilization.

If you've tried digital marketing and failed, it could be due to any number of reasons:

Related: The 7 Inevitable Stages of Pain Before You Succeed

Giving up too soon is a huge problem, warns Shelton. You have to be patient. Oftentimes, work is begun on behalf of a company in the areas of SEO and social media, but they see no results for six to eightmonths. This is typical and to be expected. But small business owners generally hope to see immediate results. In reality, it almost always takes time.

A solid internet marketing strategy is an all-in proposition, with all the moving parts interconnected. Your content must be optimized for search and ranking, well planned and created, and promoted passionately across multiple channels. Content marketing, social mediaand SEO strategies go hand-in-hand --and represent the long game. It takes time to improve your rankingand to connect with and win over new customers.

Pay-per-click (PPC) and email marketing campaigns might have the fastest, most measurable effect, but without supporting content, you won't be able to sustain the effort. As any savvy virtual marketer will tell you, one-offs are a flash in the pan. Consistent marketing reduces sales cycle times, fills your pipelineand generates repeat business.

It's important for any outside consultant to be straightforward and honest with small business owners, even if it means losing sales, says Shelton. Shady marketers will promise instant resultsand not deliver. This industry is notorious for making promises that cant be kept.

Digital marketing professionals are constantly battling over the essentials of SEO, social mediaand which tactics will get you the most clicks, likes, impressions and shares. Gurus argue about everything from link building to content length to the factors that will create trust the fastest. If experts can't agree, how can small business owners know they're doing the most effective thing? Even when experts agree, Google is constantly refining their algorithmand has been known to change the rules of engagement without warning.

Related: The Most Noteworthy Search Algorithm Updates by Google

Shelton breaks it down. Many experts tend to debate the bigger picture, and give vague advice such as 'write content that people will like.'They can often talk at a general level. Every industry. Most websites. All kinds of blogs. While there are generalities that tend to work in some situations, one size does not fit all in the digital world. Your most effective answer depends on your business, your product and your clientele. Your business may find the most success with Snapchat graphics aimed at millennial consumers or with in-depth, local mobile marketing to snag diners looking for a great burger, or lengthy, data-driven reports for CEOs considering big-ticket contractors.

Know your business and your customers. If you get outside help, make sure they know the specific success factors and key indicators that will drive your companys success.

What small business isn't on a small budget? And if you find an affordable provider, how can you understand what you're getting for the money? Many internet services companies are geared toward a larger clienteleand can charge thousands per month. Thats out of reach for the average small company. Even lower-priced marketing companies come in at wildly different price points for seemingly similar services. It's often hard to separate the intangible value of Our company will craft a content strategy for you from the more tangible Our company will implement a content strategy for you.

As Shelton puts it, It's like dreaming of going to the moon. You can make a plan, but if you don't build a rocket, you aren't going to get there. Make sure what youre paying for includes the rocket.

Look for a marketing company that offers you a detailed, comprehensive plan covering all the bases. Content strategy is useless without aggressive implementation. Ask a lot of questions to be sure you know what real value you're getting for your investment.

Related: 5 Tips for Finding the Best Digital Marketing Agency for Your Business

It's a brave new world of marketing. People don't pull out the yellow pages and check for the quarter page ads any more, and they haven't for a long time. Instead, they research companies online and can learn everything -- sometimes more than you want them to know. An effective marketing company will produce and promote great content, tell you what to expect in plain language, explain the metrics so you can see the results, and take the time to understand your company, your productsand your customers.

On the internet, your small company can appear just as professional and attractive as the much bigger players in your industry. If you have been sitting this one out, youve waited too long. Its time to jump in with both feet.

Ben Simkin is the founder of BusinessNET, a leading Online Marketing Firm that to-date has increased clients' sales by over $1.45 billion. BusinessNET provide end-to-end marketing and sales services to established companies worldwide.

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3 Reasons Why Small Businesses Crash and Burn Online - Entrepreneur

If you think teens and young adults are doing the same things on social media that Baby Boomers are doing, or that Gen Xer's experiences in social are the same as Millennial's you're mistaken. That's the key takeaway from new Sprout Social data.

"Social media holds great promise for reaching your audience since multiple generations are now reliably all in the same place," said Scott Brandt, CMO of Sprout Social. "The effort doesn't end there for brands, however. The data shows that while these people of all different ages may be reachable via the same platform, they can use it in drastically different ways. Strategies should be adjusted to support individual customer needs, and brands that don't talk to their customers-directly or via social media-won't see the best possible results."

Researchers looked at how the difference demographics are engaging through social, and found that Millennials are more likely to turn to social specifically to engage with a brand. Other demographics are more likely to make a call or an email, for example. But, both Millennials and Gen Xers are about 2x more likely than Boomers to follow brands via social media. Other interesting findings from the report include:

43% of those polled are using Facebook, making it the most popular social network 1 in 10 social messages get a response from a brand Gen Xers are 2x more likely to unfollow a brand because of the brand saying something offensive.

Tags: Social marketing, social marketing trends, social media trends, Sprout Social

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Report IDs differences in how people use social - BizReport

At The Drum's Predictions Breakfast, I was interested to hear how 2017 is going to be the year social takes its rightful place at high table of digital marketing.

Im normally suspicious about 'years of anything' being proclaimed, but after I saw some fantastic presentations on the use of social data and about how a complex ecosystem of tools has evolved around the discipline I had become a convert.

The biggest area of growth seems to be around influencer marketing with the smart money moving from celebs to micro influencers as the centre of this world. And of course tech and agencies are growing up around this sector as well. We really are seeing a lot of growth in the requirement for staffing in this market already in 2017.

As we are all well aware, organic reach and effectiveness continue to diminish and most brands are increasingly have to pay to deliver the strongest results. Even organic posts which do perform well need fantastic content and more often than not, that will need funding as well.

So it's becoming clear that brands need to put the social channel at the heart of their marketing. Its also become clear that they need to do it well and to do it well is going to cost. No longer can social be seen as something you can do on the cheap. There's nothing more off-putting to a prospective customer than untended or abandoned Twitter or Facebook accounts.

Sadly, when we look at the data we gathered for the seventh edition of our Propel Digital Salary and Industry Insights Report, we see that this is not a view that is prevalent across the board. Social media salaries remain below the average marketing salaries at all levels. This suggests that businesses are still to be convinced that effective social media marketing influences the bottom line enough to increase remuneration.

We found that the average mid-level salary came in at 35,583. Compare that with a general marketing role at 40,296, email marketing at 38,688 or SEO at 39,422 and you can see that social staff are getting a raw deal.

We see the same patterns at junior level where the average social salary is 25,379. A general marketing role is 27,376, email is 27,419 and SEO is 27,038.

So we can see a disconnect here. We know brands want to invest more in social. We know that social marketing is growing as a medium as brands move away from traditional display. Surely it should follow that if social is an integral part of your marketing strategy then you should pay to get that expertise?

Melina Jacovou is chief executive and co-founder of Propel. The Propel Digital Salary and Industry Insights Report combines internal salary data with over 1300 respondents to a survey carried out over three months in 2016.

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It's time to take social media seriously and that means paying higher salaries - The Drum