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When Phil Jones walked off the field after Manchester Uniteds defeat to Wolves on Monday night, he patted the badge on his chest while he fought back the tears as the supporters in the Stretford End chanted his name.

He had just completed 90 minutes of Premier League football for the first time since January 2020 something that in the darkest days of his recovery from injury he feared he wouldn't be capable of doing ever again.

Jones' fitness issues first started before he signed for United, when he was still at Blackburn Rovers, and while he bravely battled on with the effects caused by the severe meniscus damage he suffered in his right knee in a game against West Ham in December 2010, it caught up with him after his move to Old Trafford.

During his 11 years at United, he has been sidelined on 22 different occasions with various injuries.

However, he has not let that deter him.

During the first coronavirus-enforced lockdown, he would get up before his children to do extra running and gym work. Consequently, when he returned to training with the rest of the senior squad in 2020, he felt fitter and stronger than ever before.

But then, injury struck again, and he required surgery which ruled him out for the entirety of last season.

Cruelly, his injury record, facial expressions and form have led to the centre-back becoming a figure of ridicule during his United career, so much so, in fact, that he deleted all of his social media accounts in 2017.

That may have spared him all of the abuse he received online, but it did not stop him becoming a scapegoat.

In August 2020, Twitter were forced to apologise to the player after United lodged an official complaint with the social networking service after it posted a picture of the 29-year-old which provoked a stream of abuse.

It hasn't just been faceless fans who have unfairly attacked Jones either. His former team-mate Rio Ferdinand called him a "waste of time" on YouTube back in August.

It is believed that Ferdinand's attack prompted Jones to give a detailed interview on the struggles he has faced in getting back to full fitness.

That dedication and determination to play again also triggered an impassioned defence of Jones by then-United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and it is understood Ferdinand has since been in touch to apologise for his comments.

Sources say Jones has used the setbacks and criticism to drive him on and anyone that has worked with the centre-back will testify to his dedication and perseverance.

After 14 months of rehabilitation, he completed his first full session in August 2021 and was applauded onto the training pitch by his team-mates.

It is understood that he is still regularly one of the first at the training ground, in order to do a longer warm-up in the hope that it will minimise his risk of him suffering a recurrence of his injury issues, while his hard work in the sessions has also been noted.

Furthermore, he is a popular figure around the clubs Carrington training base, with sources crediting Jones with "keeping morale up" during tough times such as these.

Jones first taste of action this season came in September when he played for Neil Woods Under-23s side at Arsenal. Even though it meant a long journey south, he asked to play to boost his attempts to get match fit.

Jones was also given the option to make his own way down to London but he chose to both travel and stay with the rest of the team.

The group were really impressed with how well he integrated himself and he offered advice to several players, including fellow defenders Teden Mengi and Bjorn Hardley.

Jones completed 90 minutes against Arsenal and played another full game seven days later at Leigh Sports Village as United hosted Brighton.

He didn't just ingratiate himself to the Under-23s, though. During United's Champions League trip to El Madrigal in November, he asked permission to go cheer on the Under-19s in their UEFA Youth League clash with their Villarreal counterparts.

He still hadn't featured in a first-team fixture, though, when he travelled to Spain with the senior squad for the Champions League clash with Villarreal before returning to the team hotel for a pre-match meal with the senior squad.

It is this supportive nature, coupled with the dedication and effort he has displayed in training, which has endeared him to Solskjaer's successor, Ralf Rangnick.

Indeed, despite the shock Jones' inclusion caused, the German coach had no qualms about starting the England international in Monday's Premier League clash with Wolves a staggering 712 days after his previous appearance for the club.

I think he did well, Rangnick said at full time. Bearing in mind he hasnt played for two years on that level, you didnt see that in the game. He played as if he had played in the last couple of weeks."

The emotion of what his comeback meant was clear to see on his face when he left the pitch but it also meant a lot to his team-mates.

It is understood David de Gea, Luke Shaw and Scott McTominay all sought Jones out in the dressing room at full-time to pat him on the back, while the fans showed their appreciation too with their vocal backing throughout.

So, what's next for Jones?

He was only drafted back into the team because of the unavailability of both Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof and both are expected to return imminently.

Jones is understandably desperate for game time and a number of clubs are interested in taking him on loan for the remainder of the season, while United are open to offers.

Whatever happens, one can only hope that the most difficult days of Jones' career are finally behind him.

And even if Monday night turns out to be the last time he starts a game at Old Trafford, then it is a moment he can look back on with pride.

United may have lost on the night but playing the full 90 minutes was a victory in itself. Because many doubted it would ever happen again, Jones included.

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Phil Jones: How Man Utd defender overcame two years of injury hell and social media abuse - Goal.com

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via BioMedWire IBN (InvestorBrandNetwork), an innovative corporate communications firm and content distributor, is pleased to announce that it will be collaborating with Dynamic Global Events (DGE) as an official media partner for DGEs premier 2022 life science events. In addition, BioMedWire (BMW), a specialized communications platform for the life sciences sector and one of the 50+ brands forming part of IBN, will also serve as an official media partner for DGEs 2022 events.

Dynamic Global Events has rapidly established itself as a leader in providing leading B2B events for the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. DGEs primary goal is defined by its name to serve the dynamic informational and networking needs of the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, medical device and other allied industries across the life science ecosystem. With a focused team that has 100+ years of collective B2B event experience, DGE has made a significant impact within the life sciences sector through its broad array of live, virtual and hybrid events spanning a diverse range of topics, including Advancing Womens Leadership (AWLC), Virtual Clinical Trials (VCT), Digital Marketing for Life Sciences, Digital Strategies & Innovations for Medical Affairs and Chief Patient Officer Summit.

We are very pleased to be collaborating once again with IBN and BioMedWire, said Elizabeth Stanislaw, MBA, Senior Marketing Manager of Dynamic Global Events. Their widespread syndication network and dozens of trusted brands deliver incredible visibility for our sponsors. Moreover, their multifaceted approach complements our existing strategies to reach larger audiences.

Our team is excited to continue working alongside Dynamic Global Events as we help bring wider awareness to their broad array of exciting and educational events, said Jonathan Keim, Director of Communications. Over the past five years, DGE has gained a well-deserved reputation as an informational leader within the life sciences industry, and we are very excited to be working alongside them to attract further attention to their diverse array of events.

To see DGEs full event line up for 2022, visit: https://dgevents.com/events/

About IBN

IBN(InvestorBrandNetwork) consists of financial brands introduced to the investment public over the course of 15+ years. With IBN, we have amassed a collective audience of millions of social media followers. These The distinctive investor brands aim to fulfill the unique needs of a growing base of Client Partners. IBN will continue to expand our branded network of highly influential properties, leveraging the knowledge and energy of specialized teams of experts to serve our increasingly diversified list of clients.

ThroughBioMedWire(BMW) and its affiliate brands, IBN provides: (1) access to a network of wire solutions viaInvestorWireto reach all target markets, industries and demographics in the most effective manner possible; (2) article and editorial syndication to 5,000+ news outlets; (3) enhanced press release solutions to ensure maximum impact; (4) full-scale distribution to a growing social media audience; (5) a full array of corporate communications solutions; and (6) a total news coverage solution. For more information, please visithttps://www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com

Please see full terms of use and disclaimers on the InvestorBrandNetwork website applicable to all content provided by IBN, wherever published or re-published:http://IBN.fm/Disclaimer

Corporate Communications IBN (InvestorBrandNetwork) Los Angeles, California http://www.InvestorBrandNetwork.com 310.299.1717 Office Editor@InvestorBrandNetwork.com

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IBN and BioMedWire Announce 2nd Year of Collaboration with - GlobeNewswire

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect how we work in 2022, the global market for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) will continue to see an uptick in demand and in emerging trends. The market for UCaaS in 2021 was $28.96 billion and is expected to grow to nearly $70 billion in 2028.

Unified communications is a centralized workplace solution that gathers all modes of communication, such as voice call, messaging/chat, and more, into one software platform to make communication and collaboration easy and accessible.

Also read: Maximizing the Benefits of UCaaS

Your company shares communications infrastructure with other companies, and it requires a stable internet connection at all times, but you may find that the benefits of UCaaS outweigh the drawbacks. The benefits of UC are many, including but not limited to:

As companies continue to adopt UC to unify communications across remote and in-office employees in various time zones in 2022, certain trends will emerge and shape the future of UCaaS.

Also read: Improving Workplace Equity with Unified Communications

AI is playing an increasingly important role in UC. With virtual assistants like Cortana or platforms like Slack, AI-powered bots and tools facilitate employee collaboration by retrieving files. AI in UC also automates processes, such as responding to common customer questions or monitoring system performance.

Moreover, since videoconferencing is becoming more popular, AI is powering new features in UCaaS products, such as speech-to-text transcription, meeting recording, and translation. These AI-backed features are not only beneficial from an accessibility standpoint but also keep records of meetings without the need for a note-taker. 88, for instance, offers AI-powered intelligence from all recorded transactions.

AI ultimately frees up employee time to collaborate face-to-face or virtually and coordinates employees across multiple locations and teams to work towards a common goal.

Also read: The Impact of AI on Unified Communications

More companies will seek UCaaS as a cloud-based solution to their communication and collaboration needs as opposed to an on-premise UC solution. UCaaS saves the company money and supports mobile work and work from home. Its also scalable and more secure. Growing SMBs and widespread enterprises alike will increasingly turn to cloud-based UC in the form of UCaaS.

Given the increasing popularity of cloud-based UCaaS platforms, expect to see a proportional gain in popularity for software-defined area-networking (SD-WAN). UCaaS and SD-WAN make a power couple for securely accommodating increased cloud traffic to mitigate delayed or distorted image/sound, dropped calls, and other issues that arise as a result of overburdened bandwidth. An SD-WAN scans cloud traffic and automatically fixes problems, allowing for a consistently optimal UCaaS user-experience. It also makes the network more secure by segmenting cloud traffic by application.

UCaaS not only has internal applications between employees but also external applications as well. UCaaS has been increasingly leveraged to build and enhance relationships between companies and their customers.

Contact Centers as a Service (CCaaS) is a specific application of UC that provides a one-stop hub for communication with customers via bot, live chat, social media, text messages, and mobile apps. It makes companies easily and securely accessible to rectify customer issues and ensures consistent customer experiences across communication channels. RingCentral, for example, is a UCaaS solution that integrates a contact center.

CCaaS incorporates and informs data from internal and external systems, such as CRM tools, to generate business intelligence about sales KPIs, customer behavior, and more. Data from interactions within CCaaS, in turn, inform the exchange of information between employees and teams within UCaaS.

UC platforms allow employees to collaborate using a wide variety of tools, devices, and systems across ever-growing networks. While this affords workers great flexibility, it also presents more opportunities for hackers. The increasingly ubiquitous BYOD and work-from-home models underscore a continued and growing demand for security in UC platforms to address security risks and vulnerabilities, such as teleconference hacking or data breaches when exchanging information via voice, chat, etc. This particularly affects companies working within the healthcare industry who need to remain HIPAA compliant. UCaaS vendors will respond in turn with increased security features geared toward certain industries in order to address the ever-changing security landscape.

Nextiva is one UCaaS provider in particular that meets high security standards, including ISO/IEC 27001 certification.

Virtualization more generally is the practice of turning computer storage, servers, and other network hardware virtual, making them easier to maintain and deploy across a dispersed network of devices. Virtualization is an emerging trend in UC that allows IT teams to build networks on the cloud from selected components needed for carrying out company goals, whether thats teleconferencing, file sharing and storage, or instant messaging. Building a private network on the cloud cuts operating costs and makes it easier for employees to connect from any device.

Also read: 7 Trends in Enterprise Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC)

Since work-from-home is here to stay, UC will remain a must-have in mobile workplaces that coordinate employees across multiple locations, time zones, and devices. UC facilitates and improves internal as well as external communication, leading to increased customer satisfaction. It may also make a difference in cultivating a safe, supportive company culture.

UC trends to watch out for in 2022 reflect what companies value in a UC solution: automation, flexibility, and security. The trends also reflect companies increasingly employee-centric approach to accommodate how and where they prefer to work with their colleagues towards common business goals in the new year.

Read next: Top UCaaS Providers & Companies for 2021

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6 New Trends Shaping the Future of Unified Communications (UC) - EnterpriseNetworkingPlanet

Content marketing continues to be one of the most powerful methods for driving targeted traffic and winning over new customers and it shows no signs of slowing down in 2022.

In fact, new strategies seem to emerge every year, empowering more content producers to create more compelling and engaging content.

Traffic generation is only one of the many perks of content marketing, though. For new and growing brands, content can be a way to put themselves on the map. Were talking about brand awareness.

Heres how to use content marketing to drum up visibility for your brand and even attract new customers in the process.

Brand awareness refers to the level at which consumers are familiar with your brand, goods, or services.

There are varying degrees of brand awareness, from simply having encountered a brands product to knowing and remembering a brand by name.

For new brands, simply getting their foot in the door is a starting point to acquiring more customers and increasing their visibility over time.

Ive worked with many clients who have launched new brands and arent sure where to start when it comes to their brand awareness strategy. I always relay that brand awareness plays a role in search (meaning, Google search) and vice versa.

In that way, brand awareness is not at all removed from SEO.

Think about how social media trends influence users awareness of certain brands. We saw this with fidget spinners, which made their debut on social. Then, users flocked to Google in search of these toys.

Thus, we saw searches for fidget spinners increase and then quickly decrease once fidget spinners fell out of vogue.

With this in mind, adopting a holistic content marketing strategy has the potential to increase Search visibility and drive organic traffic to your site. The more users are aware of your brand, the more they will search for you on Google.

Likewise, using SEO to your advantage is one way to drive brand awareness. You may not yet have name recognition, but you can use non-branded search terms to drive users to your website.

For example, say you just launched a new invoicing SaaS for business owners. Even though your brand name may not have Google searches yet, you can target terms like small business invoicing software or how to create a business invoice to attract users to your website.

Then, they will have their first encounter with your new brand.

All of the above means that content marketing is essential to influence your organic traffic and drum up brand awareness.

Your content strategy should be at least two-fold in terms of creating content that gets your brand name out across platforms and in driving organic traffic to your site.

Content marketing can help your brand:

These are just a few of the many benefits of content marketing for brand visibility.

Now, lets dive into how to make your content work for you and turn your brand into a household name.

As an SEO content strategist, Im a huge fan of creating content that serves multiple purposes. With this in mind, the following strategies will not only help your brand awareness efforts but potentially increase your visibility and traffic on other platforms.

Before you ever type a word of content, you should determine your target market and the ideal audience you want to reach with your brand.

Without this step, you risk creating the wrong type of content on the wrong platforms for the wrong audience and wasting your time in the process.

Fortunately, market research has become far easier now that we have many tools at our disposal. My favorite is Google Forms, which you can use to survey potential audiences and gauge their interest in brands like yours.

Heres how to conduct quick and easy market research:

Create Google Form with the following questions:

Then, use your social channels, existing email list, network, and other communities you have access to.

Survey people in your potential audience. Aim to get 10+ responses.

Tally up the most common responses from your survey.

Finally, use the insights to inform your brand message and who your ideal customers may be.

Over time, I recommend using tools like Google Analytics to track real performance and better hone in on who is engaging with your content.

In the meantime, however, an initial survey will help ensure you are operating based on audience input, not your own assumptions.

In order to stand out in your market, you need to define something unique that your brand brings to the marketplace.

This may be a more efficient way to solve a customer problem, a more affordable solution, better customer service, or a range of what we call unique selling points.

Your unique selling proposition (USP) is a statement that highlights your brands key selling points and frames them in a way that communicates value to your target audience.

For example, its too general to say you are a marketer who offers marketing services. A USP such as, X Agency offers bespoke digital marketing services to help brands grow with scale, precision, and confidence. This is where the real gold is.

Your USP will become the foundation of all of your marketing efforts. It will be what sets you apart in the marketplace, attracts your ideal customer, and defines why consumers should buy from you.

At this stage, very few people may know about your brand, particularly on a brand-name basis. This is where you can use non-branded search to your advantage in order to drive traffic to your website.

Maybe you have a local clothing boutique that just opened in Seattle. While people may not be aware of your storefront yet unless they happen to walk by you can still use SEO to drive traffic both online and off. In this case, some terms to target may be:

You can then optimize your website content web pages, primarily according to these search terms. If done well, you can drive new users to your website and even your local listings (like Google Business Profiles).

Getting your foot in the door as a new startup or business often requires forming close partnerships with other business owners. Never underestimate the power of referrals and word-of-mouth marketing.

While in-person networking will certainly serve these interests, your content marketing can as well. Here are a few ways to use content to build industry partnerships:

The benefits of forging these partnerships are plenty. For one, you can create a wide network of referrals for your business. Second, you can bank on the authority and reach of other businesses to share your content.

This is an activity that should be ongoing as long as you want to drive more brand awareness.

If you have a new business, chances are your website lacks the authority to really push your content to the top of the Google search results.

This has much to do with the age of your domain, your backlink history, and how much optimized content you have on your site.

Fortunately, you can use other websites authority and influence to boost your own. Heres how this works:

Guest posting, as this is called, is particularly helpful if you have a very small audience. With guest posting, you can get more eyes on your experience, content, and, eventually, brand.

Similar to the above, you can use influencer marketing to reach a wider audience. This is particularly common for ecommerce brands, which engage with influencers to share and promote their products.

Find influencers in your industry who may be interested in shouting out your brand. This may be in exchange for free products or other incentives. If they accept, this can be a good way to grow your following.

The success of your content marketing relies on using data to drive your content. The publish and pray method hardly works as a true strategy. Hence why we begin your content plan with audience research.

There are many tools you can use to help you interpret user data and use this to inform your content strategy. Some of these tools include:

I suggest monitoring these tools on a weekly basis to see how your platforms are currently performing, what content is driving the most awareness of your brand, and how users are engaging with content on your website.

When you are first starting out, its nearly impossible to know which platforms and which types of content will resonate most with your target audience.

Truly, you will need to diversify your content strategy to see which strategies have the most impact on your particular brand.

Really, your content should serve the purpose of communicating your values as a business. This relates back to your USP, as defined in Step 2.

Then, you can use different types of content to engage your audience:

Over time, your analytics will reflect which types of content users engage with most. This will give you direction on what content to publish most often, and which types to nix from your content strategy.

Sentiment analysis uses machine learning to essentially listen to conversations users are having online and determine how people are talking about your brand. This can be highly valuable, as it allows you to see whether your brand is being portrayed in a positive light (or not).

More than that, it gives you the opportunity to own the narrative. Tools like Brandwatch may empower you to see what has people buzzing, but your content will be what shapes the conversation over time.

The new age of consumer intelligence has allowed many brands to get ahead of the curve, shift the perspective, and drum up more awareness online.

Based on your audience research, data analytics, and social listening insights, you may now know what to publish but actually getting the content out there is a different story. Building brand awareness is often a fragile time where messaging and consistency really make the difference.

If you are lax on your publishing schedule, you may miss out on opportunities to drum up brand awareness. If you are inconsistent in your messaging, you may confuse your audience about what your brand is about.

Establishing a publishing schedule with outlined topics and dates will help keep you accountable for creating content on a regular basis. Plus, you will have a record of what youve published already so you dont duplicate your efforts in the future.

Its tempting to try and be the sole voice regarding your brand, but you should be present in non-branded conversations as well.

The goal here is to keep your finger on the pulse of whats happening in your industry, not just your business. The more youre able to talk shop with your audience, the more chances you give them to encounter your brand.

Once your content is out there, you give your audience many opportunities to come across your brand. But you can just as easily fall off their radar. This is where the follow-up matters.

This may include:

Dont let users encounter your brand once and then never see you again. A robust content marketing strategy engages users at multiple touchpoints and grows this engagement into a relationship that can evolve into a paying customer.

When many business owners think of brand awareness, they think of publishing content on social media and hoping users take notice. But your content strategy can be much more, well, strategic, when you use insights to your advantage.

Audience research, keyword research, competitor analysis, and website analytics can all be used to inform your content strategy. That way, you are sure to reach the right users with the right content at the right time and keep your brand top of mind until they are ready to buy.

More resources:

Featured Image: Natasa Adzic/Shutterstock

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12 Ways To Use Content Marketing To Build Brand Awareness - Search Engine Journal

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Gift Club today announced the launch of their exclusive vendor / supplier directory and the first industry networking app, The Hub by The Gift Club.

The Gift Clubs business directory currently lists over 50 approved suppliers from 23 different countries who provide products and services to companies looking for solutions in Customer or Employee Loyalty and Incentive programs, Employee Rewards and Gift Card sales & Distribution. Brands, Retailers and HR professionals can visit http://www.the-gift-club.com to view the list or contact info@the-gift-club.com to be introduced directly, saving time with the procurement process.

The Hub is a new community app that complements The Gift Clubs purpose: it is a piece of social community technology, for people with specific interests in the above industries to meet each other and build professional opportunities around the world.

The app also showcases industry news, offers learning resources and hosts a list of global industry events and is available to download on iOS and Android. For more information visit http://www.the-gift-club.com

Hadie Perkas, Founder of The Gift Club and The Hub and Women In Incentives 2021 winner, says, This is a hugely important time for both the Retail and HR industries and their supply chain of vendors and suppliers. They have experienced a seismic shift during the pandemic and we want to provide both professional communities with partnerships, networking and conversation opportunities as one community. END

About The Gift Club: The Gift Club was formed in 2020 and is marketed globally as a comprehensive media, communications and PR solution for companies associated with the Gift Card, Loyalty, Rewards markets. As a membership organisation, The Gift Club offers members a combination of marketing solutions to promote their services and products across different channels so they can be Heard, be Seen and be Found more easily and globally. The Gift Clubs audience is in the 1000s with new business partnerships being created all the time. To find out how to join The Gift Club or register your interest in one of our suppliers, contact Hadie@the-gift-club.com or visit http://www.the-gift-club.com

Notes to Editors:

The Hub is a community app and has been developed by third party technology company, Disciple Media

The app launched on 29th November 2021

Download information:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-hub-by-the-gift-club/id1592279073

Google: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.disciplemedia.giftclub

Web: thehub.the-gift-club.com

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The Gift Club Launches Exclusive Business Directory and the FIRST Networking App for the Global Loyalty, Rewards and Gift Card Industries - Business...