Mediaboss Marketing

In the era of Lahren, O'Reilly, Maher and Yiannopoulos, outrage is all the rage. Outrage culture pulls in massive internet traffic, and gets people talking loudly on both sides of the issue. But we've seen it more and more in the world of film marketing in recent times. Just this year we have had the debacle of women-only Wonder Woman screenings, and Beauty and the Beast's "gay moment", resulting in bans and calls for boycotts on both. Because of their sudden divisiveness, everyone was talking about these films, and the idea that going to see them was going to help shut down bigotry was a real, tangible thing. Both of them went on to see huge box office revenue. It's hard to say whether the surge in interest caused the subsequent ticket sales, but it certainly didn't hurt. The question is, though: should we be encouraging outrage culture in film marketing?

It's not like outrage marketing is a new thing. The Moon is Blue, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Ecstasy (which was denounced by no less than the Pope), and The Last Temptation of Christ, all traded on their salacious reputations. The key difference between film marketing then and now is, as you've probably guessed, the internet. Social media virality enables ideas to spread like wildfire, even if they start on the micro scale.

We saw this with Mad Max: Fury Road. A relatively small men's rights blog called Return of Kings declared the film dangerously feminist and called for a boycott. Their minor (if stupidly misogynist) outcry was met with the hammer of overwhelming internet righteousness, and the war cry went up to enter the gates of Valhalla via screenings of Fury Road.

Giphy

Now, I don't know about you, but I love Fury Road. I find it hard to get angry about anything that would make more people see this movie. However, the more I try and look at the situation impartially, the easier it is to worry about the direction outrage marketing is taking us. For three reasons: it increases the divisiveness of ideas and beliefs in the population; it can be used improperly to tank a film; and it allows our beliefs to be tokenistically and cynically used for financial gain.

First off, divisiveness. We already have a polarized society, particularly in America. This past year has shown that more than ever. David Wong at Cracked has written and spoken eloquently on the subject of the city-rural divide in the country, and how transgressive metropolitanism alienates people living outside cities. Outrage marketing can only reinforce that.

In the same way that hearing Beauty and the Beast was banned likely conjured up an image for city-slickers of the typical Neanderthal country-bumpkin, it likely did similar for people living in the more rural parts of America. Hearing the news probably made many think of the worst possible example of a liberal-hipster. They probably thought "How desperate are they to get the gay agenda across that they feel they have to force feed it to our children?" And instead of this "gay moment" opening up a conversation that lead to greater understanding on both sides, it devolved the debate into people shouting at each other on social media, and both sides calling the other out of touch. All this over a "gay moment" that was about as gay as Bruce Willis.

Secondly, outrage marketing can tank a film. Remember A Dog's Purpose? Probably not. It tanked at the US box office. If you do remember it, you remember it as the film that tortured a dog by throwing it in to water to get a realistic drowning scene. Horrific, yes? PETA called for a boycott, Best Friends Animal Society pulled their association, there was mild general outcry.

Except it was a hugely misleading story. Snopes explains it in more detail in their article on the subject, but essentially the dog was fine, just a last minute change spooked him for one take. All safety precautions were properly observed, and the dog was unfazed and unharmed. Of course, the TMZ article that created the uproar had already done its damage. With its reputation in shreds, A Dog's Purpose paddled in and out of American cinemas with little fanfare. Outrage media cuts both ways.

Finally, and most importantly, let's talk about the exploitation of our beliefs. Beauty and the Beast is a great example of this. We've already established that it's "gay moment" was about as mild as dollar-store salsa. In fact, before talk of the "gay moment" entered the headlines, the main debate over the movie was fairly mundane. Will this be better than the original? Is it just a cash-grab remake? Why is there so much auto-tune on Emma Watson's voice?

A lot of people were considering giving it a miss (in as much as it is possible to avoid a Disney movie). But with the "gay moment" in the headlines, suddenly the film became an LGBTQ battleground. If we didn't see it we were potentially helping bigotry, and undermining the cause's wider exposure in one of the country's biggest family taste-makers. By the time we found out how hardly "gay" it was, tickets had already been bought.

Whether the controversy was deliberate or not, advertisers, marketers, and so on, now know for sure that, even with the most token of token sops to a cause, they can galvanize a community and turn them in to box office dollars.

If promoters know that outrage marketing will work, they will use it. We as consumers have to be discerning, and if we're voting with our box office dollars then we have to vote for films that pay more than lip service to our ideals. Is it like Wonder Woman, where if a female-led, female-directed, female-gaze enabling movie succeeds it will lead to more of the same? Great! Vote away. Or is it a "gay moment" less gay than the Mariana Trench? Maybe save your money.

Have a happy blockbuster season!

Original post:
FILM | Outrage marketing, should we be encouraging it? - Popdust

Since the launch of the internet, brands have been taking their businesses online and utilizing the many benefits that online marketing has for them. As the Internet grew, more and more brands have started to take it upon themselves to promote their content on the internet to attract more customers and increase their revenue. Today, it is possible to run an entire business on the internet without having to rent office space or employing even a single employee. When it comes to driving traffic to your presence on the internet, which we all know is the secret ingredient to online success, brands, companies and website owners often finds that it is one of the most difficult tasks. Not only do you have to drive traffic to your online properties, but you also have to consider the authority your brand has on the internet.

While still relatively new to small businesses and website owners, the interest companies have in influencer marketing has increased by approximately 900% since 2013. Media Kix reports that around 80% of internet marketers report influencer marketing as an effective strategy for boosting their online businesses to new levels. They also report that as much as 84% of all internet marketers are already using influencer marketing in some way either to promote their own brands or their customers brands. These statistics are solid proof that thousands of brands are already using influencer marketing and that they are seeing good results from it. If you are not currently utilizing this marketing method and struggling to determine how you can use it to the advantage of your own brand dont worry. With so many companies using influencer marketing, you have one significant benefit you can learn from the ones that have succeeded to ensure your first campaign is also successful. Lets take a look at seven top social media influencers to get a better idea of how influencer marketing might benefit your business and, of course, what you could do to launch an effective campaign.

Dr. Mikhail Varshavski was born in Russia and is currently a third-year medical resident. Most people know him simply as Dr. Mike. He is quite active on Instagram, with a following that reaches of 1.9 million. Dr. Mikes Instagram account quickly grew from just posting photos with himself as the main object while he was working and while he was at the gym. He also frequently posts pictures of himself with his dog. He often talks about healthy lifestyle choices and encourages his followers to adopt these lifestyle choices. Dr. Mike is also popular on SnapChat and Twitter.

Jake Paul started out on Vine with just a couple of videos, which quickly went viral and generated him more than 17 million followers to date. Today, Jakes videos are still very popular on Vine, but he has also gained acknowledgment on Musically, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Vine. His videos have been viewed over four billion times and he has also become an actor thanks to his videos. Thanks to his stardom, Jake was also able to start his own venture, TeamDom. Today, many big brands like Universal Studios, Beats, and Coca-Cola are relying on Jake Paul as their influencer. He is also considered to be one of the top social media influencers on the internet.

Furious Pete is another icon on social media and is often used by top brands to promote a variety of items, including workout programs and supplements. Furious Pete survived both cancer and anorexia, and, today, he is one of the most popular bodybuilders on the internet. He has more than five million subscribers on his YouTube channel and has started his own line of clothing, as well as a series of supplements tailored toward the fitness needs of his followers. Pete also hosts a television show in Germany and is often sponsored by different brands, which he then endorses in his videos.

Kristina Bazan was able to utilize social media as a way to become famous within the fashion niche and, today, she is the spokeswoman at LOreal Paris thanks to her influence on social media. Kristina has also launched her own fashion blog, Kayture, and was able to hire a team of people to work with her. She is often hired by high-end brands, including Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Guess. Kristina has more than 2.4 million Instagram followers and is also active on other social networks.

When it comes to online marketing and running a business online, Neil Patel has become the go-to guy. He started out assisting local companies with SEO, but, today, he is one of the most famous people in the internet marketing and online business niches. He is an expert in various fields, as well as the co-founder of Hello Bar, Crazy Egg, and many other ventures. Neil is often used as an influencer by Viacom, GM, HP, Amazon and many other companies. Hes Facebook follower count is reaching close to one million and he has over 250,000 followers on Twitter, and he is active on many other social media platforms as well.

Jennifer Selter has worked hard on growing her following on social media. She started out as a front desk clerk at her local gym, but, today, she boasts with over 11 million Instagram followers, as well as millions of followers on her other accounts. She went viral due to a booty-boosting fitness program that she developed, but she is quite popular in the fitness niche today not only amongst those who would like to boost their booty. Jennifer is also used by many companies as an influencer and, thanks to her current success, she is now planning a line of her very own workout clothes.

Paloma is based in Houston, Texas. She started out with a simple interior designing blog about 10 years ago. Her blog quickly took off and attracted the attention of numerous magazines. In addition to publications and magazines approaching her, many high-end home brands, including One Kings Lane and Kitchen Aid, also started to use Paloma as an influencer for their marketing campaigns. Paloma has over 70,000 followers on Instagram and over 180,000 followers on Pinterest and

Social media influencers are using a lot of different techniques to help put the products and services of their clients in front of potential customers. Many of these social media influencers have seen a lot of successful results when it comes to promoting content to their followers and you can definitely learn a thing or two from them. These social media influencers weve featured here are some of the best and will help you come up with an idea of how you can utilize this marketing method to grow your own business but, dont let these be the limit of your creativity.

Read next: FinTech cross-border payments platform opens London office in Brexit opportunity

Original post:
Top 7 social media influencers who are killing it - TNW

Zhonglian News provides companies with professional advertorial marketing solutions

BEIJING, June 29, 2017 -- In the Internet+ era, advertorial marketing has created many sales miracles for company promotion. To this end, lots of companies work with famous agencies for advertorial planning in order to save marketing cost and maximize benefit. Zhonglian News, with solid reputation and professional advertorial marketing service, helps companies improve brand influence and provides publication and writing services of advertorials and news releases.

Relying on its strong Internet media resources and promotion and planning team, Zhonglian News offers Internet brand integrated marketing and news advertorial marketing solutions to listed and growing companies, in order to build comprehensive marketing services! Zhonglian News aims to gain maximized Internet media marketing effect with minimal cost through Internet technologies and operational strategies, thus helps companies promote news coverage, brand influence, social awareness and business opportunities in a short period of time. Zhonglian News wins market and customer recognition with the targeted, efficient, professional and low-cost reputation, and expands Internet channels to realize Internet marketing value!

Adhering to the core values of teamwork, openness and inclusiveness, persistence and innovation, customer-centered, and gratitude and sharing, Zhonglian News keeps the attitude of sincere, professional and devoted service, to build itself into the No. 1 brand of Internet media marketing! In the era of social media, we are committed to becoming an authoritative and influential partner of companies in their effort to build Internet image and brand strategy!

New Study Could End Insulin Dependence Of Type-1 Diabetics

Infertility in men could point to more serious health problems later in life

Electrically stimulating your brain can boost memory but here's one reason it doesn't always work

Fainting and the summer heat: Warmer days can make you swoon, so be prepared

Why bad moods are good for you: the surprising benefits of sadness

Here's why 'cool' offices don't always make for a happier workforce

Four myths about diabetes debunked

What are 'fasting' diets and do they help you lose weight?

Placebos work even when patients know what they are

See original here:
Zhonglian News provides companies with professional advertorial marketing solutions - EconoTimes

This kind of sets a new bar for content marketing on the Internet.

As of 29 June, a new documentary about the SEO industry from digital marketing firm Ignite Visibility is ranking on page one for a Google search for 'SEO', which is likely the best possible outcome as far as SEOs are concerned.

SEO: The Movie certainly includes a whos who of the search industry Wizard of Moz Rand Fishkin, former SEO consultant Jill Whalen, Pubcon chief executive Brett Tabke and Pushfire chief executive Rae Hoffman, to name a few and has nearly 80,000 views in 10 days. All that for a budget of around $15,000.

John Lincoln, chief executive of Ignite Visibility, said the documentary provides a historical overview of the industry for anyone looking to learn about SEO or get into the industry:

SEO was the original way to do Internet marketing. The two first ways [were] really SEO first and then it was PPC because they were doing ads on these search enginesand after that, email. So what this documentary does is it traces the first way you could ever do Internet marketing. Before that, you were putting your website on a business card. What happened in the early days, these search engines were so unsophisticated and just a few people figured out how to game them. Through this practice, [these affiliates were] making millionshuge moneyand the early players really developed Internet marketing as a trade. And theres all this exciting stuff that goes along [with it]there were parties that occurred where people felt like they were rock stars, almost like a Wolf of Wall Street thing[a lot of people] dont realize how much of that was going on, so we tell the history that nobody really knows of one of the first digital marketing practices to explain how it evolved and show today its a 100% legit, very important part of the digital marketing mix and the biggest way that most online businesses drive traffic to their websites.

Lincoln said he always wanted to do something big on SEO, but wasnt sure what format it would take until he realized video is the fastest-growing content channel on the Internet.

I was sitting at homewatching a skateboard documentary and kind of taking a look at that and thought, This is really good I could do something like this and started thinking about this, Lincoln said. That was October 2016.

From there, Lincoln said he had lunch with his two business partners and one of them thought it was an amazing idea and one said it was a stupid idea and I said, I dont care Im going to do it.

Thats when he created an outline and contacted search publication Search Engine Land and got chief content officer Danny Sullivan involved. The Search Engine Land team helped determine who to interview and facilitate said interviews and, five months later, Lincoln hired video editor Dan Liffick.

I wanted to make sure we did it rightand I knew if I didnt have Danny Sullivan involved, it wouldnt be a movie, Lincoln said.

The documentary is the first such effort from Ignite Visibility, but Lincoln has created plenty of other educational videos.

I think I put interesting stuff in there [I tried] to make it fun and exciting and jazz up an industry that people dont think is [exciting], Lincoln said. I just think this kind of sets a new bar for content marketing on the Internet. Everyone is constantly trying to develop the next piece of content that will reverberate. This will be key to our business success moving forward to attract attention online and I hope inspires other people to create cool stuff, too.

Ignite Visibility is using #SEOMovie to promote the video and has also tapped into the SEOs it featured to get the word out.

Its pretty much organicwith quite a bit of influencer marketing, Lincoln said. Every influencer in the industry is in the movie and helped promote [it].

As for whats next, Lincoln said not to rule out SEO: The Sequel, but Ive also had some people in the industry who want to see PPC: The Movie.

Ignite Visibility has 40 employees and is based in San Diego.

Excerpt from:
The story behind SEO: The Movie - The Drum

One of the vulnerabilities built into the heart of every business owner is the tendency to believe fast-talking internet marketing gurus and slick, hyper-polished sales gurus.

Its not that these gurus are so great at selling; its just that what theyre promising is so attractive to you. They know what your need isto grow your business. They know your need is strong, even all-consuming. Its easy for them to take advantage of your need as they pitch their method or serviceeven if it has no chance of increasing your revenue. Heres what you need to know so you dont fall prey to their pitches.

When my husband and I ran an ad agency in Silicon Valley years ago, we had a competitor who was the perfect example of the slick marketing guy. He could convince his clients to spend incredible amounts of moneyon things that were never going to work. He did quite a lot of work for publishers of trade magazines. Publishers were easy marks for him, because most publishers had started out as advertising salespeople and moved up. They were good at selling. No offense to any salesperson reading this, but salespeople are suckers for a good pitch. Its a professional admiration situation. When we meet someone who is good at what we do, we want to spend time with them, and learn from them.

This slick agency guy would produce expensive, oversized, glossy, gorgeous brochures aimed at media buyers (agency people who bought ad space for their clients).

He told his client that the oversized brochure was too big to file on purpose. He would explain that because the brochure was too big to file, it would stay on the media buyers desk, where she would be constantly reminded of the publishers publication. The client bought that concept, and the brochures were produced.

In the real world, media buyers received these oversized pieces, looked at them briefly, realized they couldnt be filed, and then threw them away. I know that because I was a media buyer, and also because I had interviewed scores of media buyers for my trade publishing clients. They all said the same thing: If its too big to file, it goes in the trash.

The slick guys always know how to do one thing wellmake the client feel good about himself. It is the easiest sales job in the world.

In todays market, its quite common for a clever website designer to create a look that he thinks the client will likerather than what the clients customer likes or needs. The resulting site is a navigation nightmare for the serious buyer. Unnecessary Flash animation. Non-searchable catalogs, where the images are scanned in from the printed catalog (dont laugh, every industry has these). Hard-to-follow pathways to the individual products and the shopping cart.

Next time one of these design guys makes you drool because of the cool factor, remember that Google is one of the busiest sites in the world, and theres really nothing cool about it, from a designers point of view. Cool doesnt sell. It gets in the way of buying.

The myth perpetuated by most sales gurus is that you are in control of the sale. Theyll give you all sorts of advice about how to manipulate the customer into buying.

Their basic premise is deeply flawed. When a customer comes into a store, whos in charge? Whos got the money? Who can walk out at any moment, if he doesnt see what he wants, or the salesperson frustrates or irritates him?

Obviously, the buyer is in control of the buying process. No amount of clever manipulationwhich buyers are wise to, anywaywill change this basic fact. Besides, its rudeand its the fastest way to lose the trust of the buyer, who will then go out of his way to avoid you in the future.

Every industry has its fads. In the marketing industry, relationship consultants have tried to convince CEOs that the key to successfully marketing and selling is to build a relationship with the customer.

The problem is, its the seller who wants the relationship. Buyers dont start interacting with sellers because they want a relationship. Relationships are what you have with your family and friends, not salespeople.

When buyers go to a seller, they want the seller to do what he is supposed to do: provide products or services in a professional, helpful way. In other words, they just want to buy a car from someone who is honest and helpful. They dont want the car salesman showing up for dinner.

Of course, there are complex business services where the seller and the buyer interact for a long time. Yes, you could call this a relationship. Yes, it is possible to make friends with your vendors. But assuming theres a desire for a relationship on the part of the buyer is not realistic. It permits the seller to feel as if he has more power than he really does.

Webcast, July 6th: Advanced SEO Site Auditing

Long-term interactions between buyers and sellers are much more about the performance of the seller than any kind of relationship. As long as the seller is performing to the customers satisfaction, the customer will want to continue interacting. As soon as the seller starts to slip, the customer will look elsewhere.

Can you create a loyal customer? Do you think that a customer will stay loyal to you, no matter what? Think again. You cant control customer loyalty. But you can control your organizations behavior towards customers. If your behavior pleases your customers, they will stay loyal. Theres no need to create a special loyalty program when youre successfully meeting customer needs.

There are some bright guys who have learned how to sell content on the Web. They sell other things, too, but educational content is their specialty. They have developed an infomercial-type approach, complete with testimonials, video, and a sense of urgency and scarcity. They make good use of affiliate marketing programs, compelling landing pages, hurts-less pricing techniques (only 12 monthly payments of $197.99), and other tried-and-true late-night-TV techniques. They do make money.

All well and good, if you are selling something similar to what they are selling, and if you follow their techniques to the letter. The problem is, their methods may not be right for your product/service and your customers. It could be the exact opposite of what will actually work.

As I am typing this, social media is all the rage. Its the Latest Greatest. The latest greatest gurus scream that you must be there, wherever there is. And, in fact, social media (or the latest hot marketing channel) definitely could have a rightful place in your marketing mix. It might even be the most successful way for you to get the word out and interact with your customers.

Social media may also be a colossal waste of money, no matter how much time and effort you put into it, if your customers simply arent there or you arent using the media in a way that works for them. You cant afford to guess about this. You dont want to risk your marketing budget and opportunity window because youre guessing. You need to know.

My mantra about social media is, Ask not what social media can do for you; ask your customers what they want you to do for them, using social media.

There is no question that social media is changing the way companies interact with customers. I think it is profound; companies used to be the dog wagging the customer tail, and now customer-created content is becoming the customer dog wagging the company tail.

It is likely that you will find a way to monetize social media, given the new tools that are emerging and taking hold. However, if you start with the customer, and find out how they want you to utilize it, you will be supporting their efforts to buy your products and services. They will reward you for doing that. If you jump into it because it is sexy or everybodys doing it, youll end up with more regrets than revenue.

Ive watched dozens of latest greatest fads come marching down Main Street, band blaring. Most of them continued marching, right out of town, never to be seen again. Only a few have stayed and become part of the commercial community.

How can you know, ahead of time, what will work for your customers? What will pay, and what wont?

Your customers will answer these questions for you, if you ask them correctly.

The takeaway:

Your potential buyers may or may not respond to the latest marketing techniques. You can spend your entire budget thrashing around in the dark, trying this, and then that. You can go out of business using the most up-to-date marketing methods. Many companies do just that.

Or, you can make the entire process straightforward, by understanding what your customers need and how they want to buy it, then putting those things in front of them. You will eliminate the uncertainty and guesswork. You will make a series of informed decisions that lead to increased revenue. And, you will sleep better at night, because what you are doing will make sense.

This article originally appeared on the Digital Revolution Show and has been republished with permission.

Kristin Zhivago is the president and co-founder of Cloud Potential, a company dedicated to helping companies gain an unfair advantage in the midst of the digital revolution. She and Joe Mckenna, CEO, started Cloud Potential in 2014. Prior to co-founding Cloud Potential, Zhivago was a revenue coach to Viewfullprofile

Continued here:
Proceed With CautionMyths Perpetuated By Internet Marketing Gurus - Business 2 Community