Mediaboss Marketing

Marketing budgets and business confidence

Marketers have revised their budgets for digital ad spend up by the greatest extent in almost a decadeas they shift priority to more activation-based marketing amid growing economic uncertainty and a murky outlook.

In the IPAs latest quarterly Bellwether survey, covering the second quarter, 32% of respondents said they increased their internet marketing budgets, versus 9% that recorded a fall. That means an overall net balance of 22.7%, up from 16.9% in Q1 and the highest level since the third quarter of 2007.

That growth in internet ad budgets has also helped drive marketing budgets up. Some 28% of the survey panel recorded an upward revision to budgets in the second quarter, compared to 15% that said it had fallen, resulting in a net balance of 13.8% seeing increased budgets.

That was again higher than the 11.8% recorded in the previous quarter and means the majority of marketers have been increasing their budgets for almost five continuous years.

On the surface, the corporate sector seems to be in good health, says Paul Smith, senior economist at IHS Markit. Our headline data shows that underlying budget growth is being sustained at a robust clip, extending a current record sequence of expansion to just short of five years.

Companies report that product demand remains positive, underpinning the expansion of marketing budgets, particularly for use in the digital space.

Search and SEO saw some of the biggest increases, with a net balance of 15.6% of marketers planning to increase spend, the highest level in 2.5 years. Main media advertising also saw a net balance of 9.8%, but this was down from 10.7% in the previous quarter.

Among the sectors to see declines are direct marketing, market research and sales promotions, which saw the biggest net balance reduction at -10.7%, the weakest level since the same quarter seven years ago.

Paul Bainsfair, director general at the IPA, says the figures suggest marketers are seeking out more activation-driven marketing but he warns against brands shifting too much of their spend away from campaigns focused on brand building.

While it is good to see spend up in internet, it is worth remembering that IPA studies have consistently shown that the most effective marketing results from a 60:40 brand building (emotional) to sales activation (rational) ratio, he explains.

While marketing budgets have continued their run of growth, Smith cautions that there are threats on the horizon that will weigh on ad spend growth in the foreseeable future.

Marketers are becoming increasingly concerned about the financial prospects for both their businesses and their industry. While 30% of the survey panel are more optimistic about their own companys financial prospects, more than 20% are less confident meaning a net balance of 9.8%, the lowest level since the end of 2012.

On balance we think the threats to the outlook are real and will weigh on ad spend growth in the foreseeable future.

And perceptions of the wider industry prospects fared even worse. While 14% are more confident, 26% are less so leading to a net balance of -12.6% and marking the second lowest reading in 4.5 years.

Smith says: Brexit and government paralysis were widely noted as key threats to future industry performance and by definition are likely to weigh on marketing budgets over the coming year. Marketers are concerned that the terms of Brexit remain unclear, especially in areas such as regulation and trade, while political uncertainty is seen as adding to fears in the private sector to invest.

While Smith admits it is notoriously difficult to quantify the effects of political uncertainty, what is clearer, he says, is the impact of rising inflation on company costs and household incomes. The IPA has kept its annual ad spend forecast through 2020 the same, but there are suggestions it could lower expectations if the next update from the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts a slowdown.

On balance we think the threats to the outlook are real and will weigh on ad spend growth in the foreseeable future, says Smith.

Higher frequency indicators suggest that private sector consumption is already on the slide, and marketing executives are indicating to us that recent budget expansion has been partly defensive in nature to protect market share and sales in a softening economic environment.

Read more from the original source:
Digital ad budgets see biggest rise in almost 10 years - Marketing Week

The name Ope Banwo certainly rings a bell both in the entertainment and Internet community in Nigeria. This is apart from his primary constituency, which is the legal profession, where he holds a PhD.

Many Nigerians, especially those in the movie and music industries will readily remember his exploits as the founding Managing Director of Dove Media, where he made a strong statement with his activities that Nigerian movies can make mega money if things are done rightly during the production process and distribution.

With an aggressive approach, Dr. Ope Banwo was able to revolutionalise the production and distribution process of the Nigerian movie industry.

After his exploits in the movie industry, Dr. Banwo, who is also a Chattered Accountant, took on the Music Industry with Stingomania Records, combining music label, recording and artistes management in an aggressive way hitherto strange in this clime.

Aside managing and developing budding music stars, the US registered legal practitioner also managed established music and movie stars under the Stingomania management outfit.

It is however a wonder that, after a recoil, he resurfaced in the relatively new internet marketing arena in the Nigerian space.

Though a lawyer and chartered accountant, he has been championing the cause of internet marketing in a nation where many only go online for social media interactions.

The recent upsurge in the number of Nigerians taking to online marketing and raking in impressive income, in all modesty, is partly due to the aggressiveness with which Dr. Banwo approached his latest love, online marketing. This is the approach he has always used for everything he has been involved in! Though many Nigerians, especially those who have attended his Internet marketing classes in parts of the country, are aware of his impressive exploits in online marketing, Dr. Banwo recently achieved a major feat when he came up with a revolutionary software that has lately redefined Mobile App creation, MOBIMATIC.

Aside the creation of this software, done in conjunction with another Nigerian, he had a product launch on JV Zoo with MOBIMATIC, making a whopping N158,670,000 (One hundred and Fifty Eight Million, Six Hundred and Seventy Thousand Maura) during a five day launch. That has continued to dominate discussions when its comes to first time product launch on JV Zoo.

Intent on giving Nigerians, especially, youths, an opportunity to exploit the several opportunities and the mega money available in online marketing and mobile app sector online, Dr Banwo, in this interview, talks about the MOBIMATIC software, why he is hosting an executive presentation of the software and mobile apps built with it in Nigeria and how Nigerian youths can take advantage of it to better their lives and start living their dreams. He also delved into how the internet provides an answer into the youth unemployment crisis in the country. Excerpts

What is Mobimatic?

Mobimatic is a revolutionary mobile app development and business platform.

With Mobimatic you have a robust mobile app Software that makes it Super easy to build Apps for Business while providing tons of cool Features to make building awesome apps as easy as Drag and Drop.

Mobimatic also provides great Mobile App business setup to enable you earn from the Mobile App Business.

At the moment, hundreds of businesses and Mobile App Agencies across 50 countries use Mobimatic to greatly reduce the time and cost it takes to build high performance Apps.

From drag-and-drop development to app store submission, publishing a mobile app for businesses has become very easy with all the tools you need within reach.

What makes Mobimatic unique

The different features added to the Mobimatic software makes building a mobile app a unique experience.

From the social features that allows you to add a realtime Chat, or allow user posts sharing and comments in just a Click to setting up Loyalty Cards and Discount and Coupons and Scratch cards for Business.

Aside these, Mobimatic also allows you to have beautifully displayed images, videos, feeds and Podcast easily, while you can also build a native ecommerce in mobimatic or display Products from third party ecommerce solutions Setting up sever functions like Radio, Job Portal Click to Call, Contest and much more becomes integrated. With Mobimatic, you can now say goodbye to building different app per Platform.

With a Single click you can build apps across platforms that look and feel and above all, perform amazingly.

The Mobimatic Product Launch Miracle

From all indications, the five day launch of the Mobimatic Software on JV Zoo was a miracle. A miracle many established launchers have never had in their careers.

As a first time product launcher on JV Zoo, I was not expecting to have a six figure launch especially a huge six figure launch, raking in over $430,000 that translated to N158,670,000 over a five day period. We however achieved this.

The Mobimatic Miracle is a function of both doing the right things as well as having the right product. The Mobimatic software is indeed a revolutionary one that allows a total novice to build a mobile app in minutes. You do not need any technical background to build a mobile app you can sell up to $3000 to third parties for their businesses.

Of course such a great opportunity cannot be overlooked by any forward looking person. That, I think, is one of the reasons the launch was so successful and has made the software to continue to be in high demand. Why the Executive Presentation in Lagos, Nigeria?

Now this is the important aspect. I must confess that I am not the first or only Nigerian involved in internet marketing or product development and launch online. There are others who have been doing well with online marketing or product development. The difference, however is my resolve to empower Nigerians, especially youths based in Nigeria to take advantage of what the internet offers. I have been in the forefront of preaching the gospel of internet business in the country for about four years now and I must confess that a lot of young Nigerians are beginning to wake up to the reality that they can rescue themselves from poverty and joblessness by embracing these opportunities.

For me, the Mobimatic software provides Nigerians businesses and youths a great opportunity to move to the next level.

As a business, either small scale or a large enterprise, you do not need a big budget to get an amazingly working mobile app to reach both existing and prospective customer. While any youth in Nigeria, with an eye of doing things for himself and improving his life can take advantage of this software by simply identifying a need and filling the gap with a mobile app he can build with Mobimatic.

That explains why I have decided to present the software on Sunday the 23rd of July at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos to the Nigerian audience. Starting from 4pm, we shall be presenting this wave making software and six apps that have been made with it. There will also be testimonials from other users across the globe who are taking in thousands of dollars using Mobimatic to build mobile apps.

The lunch, where the presentation with be made is free but CEOs, Directors, Product Managers and all that other executives willing to attend will have to text their names and their organisations to these numbers: 08076244694 or 08068148300. This will confirm their attendance and also enable us reserve their seats. The confirmation text has to be done latest by Saturday July 22.

First internet summit

We have several initiatives that we have started because I love to innovate. We did the first internet summit last year, the African Internet Business Summit, which took place in November and soon, I will be launching the first internet school in Africa American Internet Business School in Lagos. It is the equivalent of Lagos Business School but for internet businesses where people can go online and learn different aspects of internet business like how to do social media marketing, reputation management on the internet; customer management, how to sell products and services on the internet. People can get certification in these different areas. Many of the companies employing people to manage their social media or sell online do not have trained people so we are setting up that school to provide capacity-building for individuals as well as companies on internet business-related subjects. We are partnering with foreign professionals who are experts in this field to provide the curriculum, the training etc and then we put it online and people can register as students and take courses and get certified.

Awards

To encourage internet businesses in Nigeria, Afrinet instituted two awards. We feel that one of the ways to develop internet business in Africa is to start to recognise people who are doing great in internet business. So we are organising the first dot.com awards in Africa, the Nigeria dot.com awards. The idea is to honour people in different areas of internet business like the best bank online, best newspaper online etc. We will bring together internet business professionals from within and outside Nigeria to do research online to get us the best in different categories like entertainment blog, news blog, best newspaper, best internet service provider, best insurance company online etc., about 25 categories. We will then narrow down to the best four or five in each category and the public will vote.

Two Awards

There are two awards in each category one is called Viewers Choice. Here, the candidate with the most votes from the public wins regardless of whether he is number one in terms of visit or not. In other words, the person that the public voted as number one based on their experience. Then there is the Practitioners Choice award i.e by the African Academy of Internet Business People. They will critically look at all the finalists and pick the best based on criteria we will give them. They will also come up with their own winner, so each category will have two winners. Of course, it is possible for one person to win both awards but one will be based strictly on voting from the public while the other will be based on technical evaluation by the technical crew.

Free Training

We also organise periodic trainings for youths. I did a freelancing course at Ajah, Lagos for unemployed youths because I believe that government should focus more on training the youths. If you can provide training that will cost little or even free training like I did, and the average person can learn how to do freelancing online, they can get to the point where they can be making $500 to $600 monthly in less than six months. So they dont need to apply for jobs.

There is this man I trained at our summit last year, now, he is making more than $4,000 $5,000 on the average every month, just doing proofreading online for people all over the world. So rather than complaining and waiting for government to create jobs, people can go online now and get jobs from all over the world. Today, you can stay here and get clients from Bangladesh, Australia etc., so you can employ yourself with minimal training at minimal cost to the government. Government should focus more on training people to be self-employed online. I feel that is one of the biggest solutions to unemployment among the youths because anybody can go to a cybercaf and learn how to do legitimate business. Anybody can get a laptop and employ himself; they dont need to go complaining about President Muhamadu Buhari and unemployment in the country just because they have submitted applications everywhere for non-existent jobs. If they can take three or six months to learn legitimate businesses online, they can be liberated and that has motivated me as I see people who have been unemployed for four, five years starting to earn their first $100 online.

I am not saying that people will become millionaires overnight, that is a myth, you have to work hard to get there but I believe that the average person can become self-employed and can make N50,000 to N80,000 a month within three months of learning this business. That is why I am committed to internet business capacity-building in Nigeria. I feel the Press can point attention to this area, organise free seminars.

It is not all about making money for me because I believe that as you grow, our business will also grow and that is why I do a monthly free training.

Continued here:
Ope Banwo returns with a Bang! Launches Wonder Mobile App Building Software in Lagos - Daily Post Nigeria

Sacramento Bee

California takes on Trump again on internet privacy rules Sacramento Bee It would force internet providers to get permission to sell or share private data such as a customer's web browsing history and personal identifying information with third parties, which could use the information for targeted ads and other marketing ... and more »

Originally posted here:
California takes on Trump again on internet privacy rules - Sacramento Bee

Customer reviews often frustrate small business owners. Manta's latest resource offers actionable tips for taking control of reviews and turning online feedback into a powerful marketing tool.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (PRWEB) July 18, 2017

Manta, one of the largest online resources dedicated to small business, today released a new white paper entitled "How to Harness the Marketing Power of Online Reviews." The white paper outlines how small business owners can engage customers who actively share online reviews, how to solicit more positive reviews, and how to approach negative reviews.

"How to Harness the Marketing Power of Online Reviews" aims to educate small business owners on the best ways to engage with their local communities and current customers while building their online reputations to acquire new business. As the white paper explains, small business owners must first understand the importance of online reviews, which are key to both optimizing search engine results and convincing prospective customers to patronize your business once they find it online. Only then can they move onto accumulating new reviews, promoting positive reviews, and turning negative reviews into opportunities to positively interact with customers.

"Online reviews are the most important form of customer feedback available to any business," said Dario Ambrosini, COO of Manta. "Customers are turning to the internet for recommendations. Google and Bing have taken notice, and businesses with more reviews will see better search engine results. Once small businesses realize this, they will see the value of online reviews, make a concerted effort to engage customers this way, and capture new business as a result."

"How to Harness the Marketing Power of Online Reviews" provides small business owners with actionable recommendations for taking control of online reviews, including:

Download Manta's full white paper here to learn more about how small businesses can leverage online reviews to boost their digital presence and increase customer acquisition.

About Manta Manta, an online resource for small businesses, educates, supports and empowers small business owners to succeed and grow on their own terms. Manta provides its small business members with the education and marketing tools they need to reach local customers and grow their businesses. More than 2.6 million small business members use Manta's simple and effective solutions.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/07/prweb14516532.htm

See the rest here:
New Manta White Paper Delivers Best Practices for Managing Online Reviews - Benzinga

Business A struggling e-commerce and start-up community says it has become nearly impossible to build a sustainable business.

Interruptions in online connectivity may have cost the Kashmir valley 7,000 IT jobs. Credit: Reuters

Srinagar: For Zeeshan Mir, a young entrepreneur who runs an online marketing startup thatprovides photography and graphic solutions to other business units, frequent internet shutdownshas hit his business, which is dependent on uninterrupted online connectivity.

Shutting down of mobile internet limits me to a mere fraction of the audience that I usually have on days when mobile data works, says Mir. Its a shame how in these times of technological advancement, we are deprived of even basic internet access which is vital for our businesses to survive.

Iqra Ahmad, another young entrepreneur and owner of Tulpalav, an online clothing store, is also troubled by the frequent internet bans, which has heavily disrupted her online business start-up.

While the rest of the states have developed tremendously in the last couple of decades, from 2G to 3G to 4G high speed internet, we are deprived of even basic internet facilities here, she says with disappointment, adding that her entire business, which runs online, revolves around uninterrupted internet connectivity. From product display to product query to payment and delivery details, all of that happens online through social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, she says. Smooth internet connection is very essential for my online business work.

Ahmadsays frequent internet blockades not only impact her business, preventing her from reaching out to customers, but it also strains her small team of workers who find themselves out of work every time online connectivity is snapped by the authorities. This unpredictability and uncertainty of routine internet bans gets me back to square one apart from other business losses, she says. It makes me worry about my livelihood and that of my workers.

Whenever theres an internet ban, my sales go down by 50% as our customers cant order food via our online application, says Furqan Qureshi, another young entrepreneur who runs KartFood, an online home delivery application thathas tied up with many restaurants and fast food joints in Srinagar as a home delivery solution. Because of these frequent bans I have not been able to expand and employ more delivery boys, he says. My start-up is suffering.

Co-working spaces havealso been hit. Tabish Habib, a 27-year-old entrepreneur who runs ThinkPod, Kashmirs first and only co-working space and business incubator, says while businesses across the globe are moving towards digitised revolution, Kashmir is going backwards given the frequently enforced internet blockades thathamper ventures like hers. In a world filled with digital communication modules, enforcing a digital blackout doesnt make sense, she says. Students, businesses people, travelers and tourists all of them suffer due to these frequent internet blackouts.

She says the internet is the backbone of IT companies, e-commerce websites and individuals working remotely. For a co-working space, internet connectivity is not only the first preference for marketing and communication but also as a service to people who take spaces for their offices here, she says. As it is the economic resources are bleak in Kashmir and this digital blackout is going to make it worse with each passing day.

39 internet shutdowns and counting

Following Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wanis killing in July last year, internet services were snapped for about four months in Kashmir, which meant over 2,920 hours without access, according tothe website internetshutdowns.in, which tracks incidents of internet shutdowns across India.

According to the figures compiled by the website, internet services in Jammu and Kashmirhave been shut down for a total of 39 times from 2012 till present. Online connectivity was snapped three times in 2012, five times each in 2013, 2014 and 2015, ten times in 2016 and, so far, 11 times this year.For over five months, from July 9 to November 19, 2016, mobile internet was also banned, and pre-paid mobile services were suspended until January 27.

Both mobile and broadband internet services have been shut down ten times from April to July 13 alone. The latest internet ban was enforced in the Valley by the authorities on July 12 when mobile internet was cut following the killing of three militants in Redbug in Budgam district.

Earlier in May, a month after authorities blocked 22 social media sites and mobile data services in the state, David Kaye, the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Michel Forst, the special rapporteur on human rights defenders, condemned the restrictions on the internet and social media services in Jammu and Kashmir. The restrictions had a disproportionate impact on the fundamental rights of everyone in Kashmir, he said, adding that the restrictions had the character of collective punishment.

According to areportby Brookings Institution, India has recorded more days of internet shutdown than Iraq or Pakistan. The report also estimates Rs 6,458 crore business losses to India due to the internet shutdowns over the past year or so, which is the highest harm caused to one country globally due to internet shutdowns.

Most of these disruptions are being carried out by state government agencies, often under the terms of broad legal powers such as Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure derived from 19th century British Raj era provisions meant to empower police units and district administration officials to enforce curfew and confiscate property, wrote Apar Gupta, a lawyer, and Raman Jit Singh Chima, Policy Director with Access Now, in an Indian Express column last year, adding that the trend of shutdown orders by state government agencies undermines the division of power between the union and the states. When responding to protests or other public developments, many police officials and district administrators across India are making it part of their standard operating procedure to use this vague legal provision to issue orders to telecom providers to suspend mobile internet access across districts, and sometimes the entire state.

Business losses

Banning of internet has a huge impact on our work, says Farooq Kuthoo, the secretary general of Travel Agents Association of Kashmir. These days our entire work is dependent on internet and when the government blocks the internet, our business suffers 100% losses.

Kuthoo says he himself works on a business-to-business model as they make bookings online from other travel companies, hotels and business establishments. When internet is blocked we never get to know what happened to our bookings and other dealings, he says. And there is no alternative to know about the status as everything is online. He says most of their customers outside the state prefer to book their tickets online, which is easiest for them. But when we cant access our website when internet is banned, all bookings get cancelled which results into losses for us.

Kuthoo says if internet blockades continue to be enforced more frequently, their business might as well shutdown. About a 1000 registered travel agents work in this field in Kashmir and many more work in unorganised sector. If net continues to be banned frequently like it has been, we are going to entirely lose our business, he says, adding that they have also brought their concerns over frequent internet bans to the notice of the government but nothing has been done to address their concerns. Of late we feel the government is helpless and least bothered about our losses due to these internet shutdowns, he says. How can we do business when internet is shut down ten times in a week?

Last year, according to a report published in a local daily, out of the 14,000 local youth employed in the IT sector in the Valley, an estimated 7,000 people lost their jobs due to the frequent internet shutdowns imposed after Wanis killing.

The Supreme Court considers internet access a basic right thatgovernment is trampling with every passing day in Kashmir, says advocate Maroof Khan. Here in our state this right is denied every now and then as the government puts a gag on the internet access in the name of security.

The internet works here according to the will and whims of government, says Khan, adding that it isstrangethat the government authorities at times allow internet access in one area and block it in other areas. It has also been observed here that sometimes net is gagged in one district and other district is allowed to have internet access. These frequent internet gag orders border on hooliganism.

How can the government year after year cite security reasons to gag internet? he asks. They wont work towards improving the security scenario here but they will continue to gag internet.

Majid Maqbool is a journalist and editor based inSrinagar, Kashmir.

Categories: Business, e-commerce, Economy, Featured, Government, Politics

Tagged as: Burhan Wani, Internet bans, Internet connectivity, Internet shutdowns, Kashmir internet ban, Kashmir Valley, Kashmir violence, online connectivity, Valley internet ban

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Frequent Internet Bans Are Slowly Choking Kashmir's Online Businesses - The Wire