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  • Alphabet Unveils New Cybersecurity Business ‘Chronicle’ to Prevent Cyber Attacks

    Alphabet Unveils New Cybersecurity Business ‘Chronicle’ to Prevent Cyber Attacks

    Alphabet, better known as the parent-concern of the world’s biggest network Google has come up with some great news for business owners! The company has decided to help entrepreneurs deal with cybersecurity issues and safety threats. Business owners will definitely get better opportunities to identify and resolve such issues. If you are planning to deal with security issues, Alphabet’s offering ‘Chronicle’ will prove to be the perfect support system.

    Previously a part of Alphabet’s X Moonshot Group, ‘Chronicle’ happens to be one of the standalone ventures under ‘Alphabet’. Stephen Gillet happens to be the Chief Executive Officer of the new-found company. Let’s take a look at what Chronicle promises to offer:

    The focal points

    Gillet, who used to work for Symantec before joining as Chronicle’s CEO talks about the new venture. According to him, the business will have two crucial and prime components:

    • A security and cyber intelligence platform for companies across the world. That will help companies to deal with their internal data and ensure security in a smart way.
    • The firm reintroduces VirusTotal, which happens to be an anti-malware tool bought by Google in the year 2012.

    Most of the companies suffer because of security negligence. They are completely unaware of the potential threats and also ignore the blind spots. Chronicle aims to eliminate these gaps, identify the pain points, and ensure optimum data security for many ventures across the globe.

    From the CEO’s Desk

    If the statements circulated by Stephen Gillet are anything to go by, Chronicle promises to be the one-stop solution for data security. He further goes on emphasising the importance of Chronicle in the following way:

    1. Improving speed: The venture will make sure your security teams work comprehensively. As a result, both the speed and performance will increase.
    2. Strengthening the impact: Make sure you strengthen your security’s impact. ‘Chronicle’ will add to your strength thus ensuring optimum data security.
    3. Cost-effective: Chronicle aims at identifying security signals and can also help you work on them. These signals were unidentifiable at the beginning, as the identification process is highly expensive.
    4. Investigating attacks: Security attacks can occur anytime. It’s highly imperative to identify the right sources before implementing the quick fixes. Chronicle makes the investigation process easier than ever. You will find the most crucial resources from the existing data systems and infrastructure.

    Chronicle helps you identify the most crucial information from a pool of data. Your existing security tools will speak a lot about your enterprise infrastructure, and that’s where ‘Chronicle’ will help you out.

    The mechanism

    The entire application works on ML and Alphabet’s infrastructure. You will also get the opportunity to analyse your enterprise’s security data. Cloud integration will follow suit, as that will help ‘Chronicle’ grow and scale up with an enterprise. Or else, it might become difficult to manage and handle critical data sets.

    Foreseeing the future

    On that note, it’s high time we take a look at the future. Chronicle is here to stay and will ensure optimum data security and safety for enterprises across the world. You just need to understand how it works and integrate it into the existing infrastructure.

     

     

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Maccabees update, Google chrome app, Facebook’s face recognition and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Maccabees update, Google chrome app, Facebook’s face recognition and more..

     

    1. Maccabees Update: Google Confirms New Core Algorithm Changes

    “We released several minor improvements during this timeframe, part of our regular and routine efforts to improve relevancy,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Journal. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    1. Adobe Campaign to roll out enhanced email functionality

    Adobe wants to make it easier for marketers to reach its email targets with creative messaging. That’s why it’s adding drag-and-drop functionality to Adobe Campaign in early 2018. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Google Chrome app removed from Microsoft Store: Here’s why

    Recently, Google had published a Chrome app on the Windows Store that simply opened up the download page to the actual browser. While Google never intended to bring the actual browser to the Microsoft Store, Microsoft responded yesterday by removing the actual link to the Google app. [Source: TIMES NOW]

    1. Digital publishers cry foul as Google exerts more control over an industry it already dominates

    Google’s latest move to block “intrusive” ads starting February 15 next year has made digital publishers wary and left them wondering how such a unilateral, top-down approach could impact their bottom line. [Source: The Times of India]

    1. Lotame’s prep for GDPR highlights big changes in data management

    As data management platform (DMP) Lotame gears up for compliance with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), some of the far-reaching changes are coming into focus. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Having collected enough unique ‘Indian’ data, Flipkart gears up with ‘AI for India’

    Flipkart is all geared up to double down its work with artificial intelligence technologies, across operations ranging from conversational search, visual similarity, better last-mile delivery, fraud detection, personalisation to warehousing. [Source: The Economic Times]

    1. Facebook is clamping down on posts that shamelessly beg for your engagement

    The social network giant said on 18th December that it will penalize Page owners and people who resort to “engagement bait,” which means posts that encourage users to like, comment or tag people in the comments section in order to gain wider visibility of their content. [Source: TechCrunch]

    1. Facebook’s facial recognition now finds photos you’re untagged in

    Facebook launched a new facial recognition feature called Photo Review that will alert you when your face shows up in newly posted photos so you can tag yourself, leave it be, ask the uploader to take the photo down, or report it to Facebook. [Source: TechCrunch]

    1. Brands Can Now Sponsor Snapchat Filters With Animated Messages

    Earlier this month, Snapchat began rolling out animated filters (like a twinkling wreath of holiday lights) that move across the screen when users take a photo or video. Now, the platform is opening up animated filters for advertisers that enable users to snap and share moving graphics. [Source: ADWEEK]

    1. The new consumer behaviors that defined Google’s Year in Search

    This year, people turned to Google Search to discover the secrets of slime and locate solar eclipse glasses, as well as to learn how to help hurricane victims, and support the city of Las Vegas in the wake of October’s mass shooting. [Source: think with Google]

    Expert Opinion:

      Q. 5 things that worked for Zoho in our journey of Entrepreneurship

    The journey of entrepreneurship has been long and struggle some, but we were able to hold firmly, withstand the storms, only to emerge successfully as a company. Here are five things that worked for us in our journey of success.

     

     

    1.  Dogfooding

    Before you launch your products, use them internally. Once you use them for your day-to-day work, you will be able to sort out the issues and anomalies long before the products hit the market. For instance, we cannot use Outlook internally while providing Zoho mail to the outside world. We will have to use the same internally too, so that issues, if any, can be addressed well in advance, instead of waiting for the clients to raise them.

    1. Look beyond academic credentials

    When you look forward to building a start-up, or scale-up the existing one, you will realize that most of the academic environments prepare talent for regimented evaluations in sanitized environments. However, startups are dynamic and look for something beyond the paper degree. They look for learning potential, risk-taking capacity, resilience, and the ability to try again, after being defeated, with an undefeated strength.

    1. Focus on Products that work well together

    The product you build is going to enter a highly cohesive world of interconnectivity. Every customer of yours also uses other products and services, some of which might be of your competitors. Thinking about the customer first, and giving him the highest priority by ensuring that your products and services play in-sync with others will give your company a positive boost. This can be done by sharing data, unifying interfaces, complementing features, and co-ordinating workflows.

    1. Empower your customers

    It is not possible to asses every need of the customer as each customer is unique.  5% of your product features may be not satisfactory for all. So, instead of just enabling them to do X or Y, build your product, or architect your service in such a way that they are empowered to build on top of it.  Give them a room for customization by allowing to add their own coded modules, loose-coupling what you provide with what others provide, or separating design from data so that it can be consumed and repurposed in interesting new ways.

    1. Think long-term about running the marathon, rather than a quick sprint

    There are companies that look for fast money and quick exit, and then there are those that outlive the individuals. Leave a lasting legacy by building value and wealth over the decades. When you keep your needs to a minimum and think long-term about the company’s future, you may not be able to enjoy the quick windfalls and sudden spurts of prosperity. However, you will be able to sustain the storm of struggles and thrive long enough to finally emerge successfully as a brand.

    Patience and perseverance are the two keys when sticking to these points, but they have worked for us effectively and contributed to Zoho’s success.

    Rajendran Dandapani, Business Solutions Evangelist at Zoho Corporation

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Analytics’s new features, Twitter ‘Threads’, Snapchat’s Lens Studio app and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Analytics’s new features, Twitter ‘Threads’, Snapchat’s Lens Studio app and more..

     

    1. Google adds price tracking features to flight search, hotel search and Google Trips

    Google announced it has added features to help you plan your trips, flights and hotel stays for your vacations or business trips. Google is showing new “tips” under the flight search results to show you ways to save money for that trip. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Google Analytics releasing 4 new functions to offer more user-centric insights

    Google Analytics has announced four new features to better measure the customer journey. The new features are user-focused reporting, user explorer, audience reporting and conversion probability. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. AdWords advertisers can use phone numbers & addresses for Google Customer Match targeting

    Google has added more ways for businesses to target their known customers with AdWords campaigns. Google attempts to match phone number and mailing address information with user-provided data in Google accounts. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Facebook ads can now link to brands’ WhatsApp accounts

    Facebook is piecing together the business side of WhatsApp in much the same way it did with Messenger. Now, Facebook is giving businesses a way to kick-start conversations with customers on WhatsApp. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Facebook announces 6-second pre-roll ad test, new mid-roll ad restrictions

    Facebook will begin testing a six-second pre-roll ads hub next year, the company announced on Thursday, confirming earlier reports. Facebook is also introducing new restrictions on when and which publishers and creators can insert mid-roll ads in their videos and changing how its algorithm decides which videos to prioritize in people’s News Feeds. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Twitter’s Launching its Native Tweetstorm Feature, Called ‘Threads’

    Twitter has now officially announced the launch of ‘Threads’, a new, native option which will automatically link your tweets, enabling users to string together longer messages. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Instagram Announces New Option for Users to Follow Specific Hashtags

    Instagram has announced that users will now be able to follow specific hashtags on the platform, in addition to profiles, with posts using those tags appearing in your main feed. The new option expands the potential of Instagram as a discovery engine. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Snapchat’s Lens Studio app opens augmented-reality format to everyone, including self-serve advertisers

    Snapchat’s Lenses have largely been responsible for popularizing augmented reality. On Thursday, Snapchat launched Lens Studio, a desktop app for Mac and Windows that anyone can use to create augmented-reality Lenses that can be applied to photos and videos shared on Snapchat. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Advertisers plan to increase mobile ad spend in 2018 despite ad fraud concerns [Study]

    A new survey suggests that marketers will continue to increase ad spend on mobile despite the expectation that a fairly significant percentage of that spend will go to fraud. The results showed that 69 percent of respondents believe that at least 20 percent of their in-app mobile ad spend is subject to fraud. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Facebook Releases Annual Trends Report, Showing Topics with Biggest Increases in Mention Volume

    Facebook has published an annual trends report, utilizing the same methodology as their monthly updates, and shining a light on the key subjects which have seen significant increases in mention volume over the past 12 months. The report includes findings across seven categories – Beauty & Fashion, Commerce, Culture, Entertainment, Food & Drink, Mind & Body, and Technology – with detailed insights for each. [Source: Social Media Today]

    Expert Opinion:

    1. Drive genuine engagements through emotions

    Consumers’ emotions have a strong impact on brand loyalty. Creating strong emotional connections with consumers can help brands in gaining loyal set of users for a long time. Also, humans have a natural tendency of wanting to be loyal and they can survive only in loyal groups, as suggested by learnings in humanities and biology. Brands can leverage on this very human need and get some loyal set of audiences for their brand.

    In spite of knowing the importance of creating emotional engagements with the customers, we often see a disconnect between the executives and consumers on how well organisations make emotional connections with their audiences. As per Capgemini Digital Transformation Institute survey, 80% of executives say their brand understands the emotional needs of their users. However, only 15% consumers say that the brands put in efforts to emotionally bond with them.

    Various factors foster loyalty amongst the users, with honesty and trust having the greatest influence. Other factors include price competitiveness, promotions, customer service, etc. Brands that work on engaging with the consumers emotionally and create a strong bond are sure to enjoy a plethora of benefits that these set of users provide. Emotionally engaged consumers tend to spend more, promote brands they are loyal to and enjoy giving back to a brand.

    Brands can focus on the below aspects to engage emotionally with their consumers.

    – Respect – to gain consumer respect and trust, brands need to go beyond usual transactions and develop relationships with their users by showing respect to their needs and concerns in a variety of ways like responding to queries in real time, using consumer feedback to improve their future experience with the brand, working on reducing the wait time for addressing their concerns, etc. If you, as a brand, will do what you say will do, it will promote honesty, trust and integrity.

    – Reciprocate – create reciprocal relationships with the customers. Customers enjoy giving as much as receiving. Information shared by them should be used by the marketers. Also, a customer complaint should be acknowledged and responded upon promptly. When your customers complete milestones, thank them and appreciate their loyalty. This will build a two-way relationship with your customers, which they will appreciate, and which will thrive loyalty for a longer period.

    – Recognise – it is important to know your customers well and understand their unique needs. Understanding them and what they care about, what they want, how they behave can help in creating meaningful experiences for them in the future.

    – Reward – brands need to focus on creating experiences that can help them promote long-term relationship with their users. Provide timely rewards to the loyal customers. The rewards can be monetary, special offers and experiences or something that can make their transactions easier. Rewards are a great way to connect with your customers and gain their loyalty.

    Along with devising ways to emotionally connect with the users, it is also essential to measure and optimize the relationship on a timely basis.

    With the rising competition, it becomes crucial for brands to know their customers at a human level. They need to be aware about their behaviour, changing needs and desires. With this in mind, marketers can work on creating meaningful experiences that drive emotional engagement and help brands secure a sustainable and long-term loyalty from their users.

    – Advit V Sahdev, Head of Marketing, Infibeam Inc

     

  • How to improve the customer journey through analytics?

    How to improve the customer journey through analytics?

    In a data-driven world, it will be a sin not to utilise the powerful feature to know about the preferences and pain points of your customers. It may happen that your customers will be using only one or two modules of the product you are promoting online. It really helps to know what the customer is using and what he is not using. This helps improve customer advocacy and decrease churn for your brand.

    Some ways in which you can use data and analytics to ensure better level of marketing to your customers would include :–

    1. Be mindful of the objective of the analytics exercise
    Your team needs to be on the same page about why they need to analyse the analytics. Some key goals to achieve would include –

    1. Bring down customer churn
    2. Improve engagement
    3. Craft better personas for more personalised marketing
    4. Drive a much better user experience for your brand website

    This will help you narrow down what you are looking for in the analytics tool and, in turn, give you a direction of how you should be using it.

    2. Use the correct data
    With the vast variety and velocity in the sources of data, marketers are finding it challenging to know which data to use for tracking which metric. Adding to the complexity is the presence of unstructured data such as the ones found on social media platforms.

    We recommend that you need to focus on extracting high-quality data and get a broader view of the overall customer journey, to make the best use of analytics.

    3. Track the right metric at the right time
    Instead of going for a generic dashboard that presents all the data visualisation in one report, opt for a narrower approach so that you can cancel the clutter and concentrate on those numbers and figures that really matter to you. This will also provide one more advantage of giving custom slice-and-dice of numbers in near real-time so that patterns can be uncovered quickly and management decisions can be taken swiftly.

    4. Pick only the most apt visualization method
    With recent advancement in big data, the amount of solutions now available to a marketer to visualise data is humongous. As a marketer, it is important not to be swayed by the sheer number of choices. Instead, focus on your marketing goal, be clear about what you need to track, and then select an appropriate data visualisation tool that serves your specific analytics goal exclusively.

    Our suggestion – do not go for a solution that provides fancy and bright coloured charts and visualisation. Instead opt for a simple, noise-free tool that lets you narrate your story through numbers in a more compelling manner.

    Influential CMOs across the world are fast embracing analytics in driving competitive edge. Today, no marketer can afford to shy away from analytics and hope to run his campaign successfully. With the above steps in mind, you can effectively utilise the power of analytics to build engagement with customers and provide them with a great experience in all milestones of the customer journey.

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google AdWords’ testing automated ad suggestions, WhatsApp’s new business tools, LinkedIn’s new ad network and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google AdWords’ testing automated ad suggestions, WhatsApp’s new business tools, LinkedIn’s new ad network and more..

    1. Google My Business now lets businesses edit their listings directly in search results

    Google has announced they are now fully launching the ability for businesses to quickly edit their Google My Business local listing directly in the Google search results. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Facebook Tests a New Option to Cross-Post Instagram Stories to Facebook

    While Facebook has seen major success with Instagram Stories, which is now at 250 million daily users, they’ve yet to report any official user numbers on Facebook Stories. Facebook Stories could still become a more significant element, if they just made a few tweaks. And now, they’re trying out their latest ‘tweak’, with some users seeing an option to share their Instagram Story direct to Facebook. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Google Data Studio adds third-party data connectors from Supermetrics and others

    Google introduced a beta for third-party connectors. Supermetrics is among the launch partners. Users will find the new options in the Data Studio Community Connectors Gallery. The native connection enables data from the 20-plus marketing platforms Supermetrics connects with, such as Bing Ads, DoubleClick, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Twitter Ads and Yahoo Gemini, to be brought into Data Studio seamlessly. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Google AdWords’ automated ad suggestions test is getting a reboot

    Earlier this year, Google launched a beta test that automatically launched machine-generated ads in a small set of AdWords accounts. The lack of control in that test wasn’t particularly well-received. Now, Google is giving it another shot, with some adjustments aimed at addressing advertiser concerns. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. WhatsApp Announces New Business Tools, Paid Enterprise Options

    WhatsApp is taking its next steps towards monetization, with the hugely popular messaging app announcing a range of new features designed to better facilitate business use. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. LinkedIn opens new ad network to sell Sponsored Content ads on others’ apps, sites

    The company is rolling out a new ad network called LinkedIn Audience Network. Unlike the old, fairly traditional ad network, however, the new one centers around LinkedIn’s flagship Sponsored Content ad format and skews towards syndicating that native ad primarily across mobile apps. It also resembles Facebook’s ad network, from carrying the same name to needing to address advertiser concerns over transparency and control. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Google rolling out support for AMP landing page in AdWords search campaigns globally

    In May, Google announced it was running a beta test with advertisers to test driving traffic from mobile search ads to AMP landing pages. On Thursday, the company said all advertisers will be able to point mobile search ads to AMP landing pages beginning in two weeks. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. YouTube Broadens Access to Live-Streaming, Adds New Streaming Tools

    YouTube’s upping their live-stream game again, adding a range of new features, most of which are geared towards gamers and gaming content, but which offer more general utility either way. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Instagram starts testing Facebook’s app-like Canvas ads within Stories feed

    Facebook is bringing its most creative ad format to its most creative app. Over a year after Facebook said it would extend its Canvas ad format to Instagram, the photo-and-video app has started testing Canvas ads within people’s Stories feeds. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Google Analytics adds feature to unify users to Google AMP Cache pages & non-AMP pages

    Google’s new AMP Client ID API, coupled with Google Analytics, allows pages that are partially served on Google platforms like search and partially on site owner domains to communicate with each other. Google Analytics can understand if a user on your non-AMP pages had ever visited an AMP page displayed by Google. When true, Google Analytics can help you understand user behavior across these two page types as a single cohesive experience. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    Expert Opinion:

    1. Automation of marketing campaigns for the new-age customers

    Automation is no longer a fancy buzzword and has become an important part of the new-age marketers’ life. Automation can be utilised for creating impactful marketing campaigns that provide higher conversions and engagement with the consumers. Automation of campaigns allows marketers to set up various paths for connecting and following up with quality leads basis their actions and behaviour. It can help marketers save a lot of time and focus on developing robust strategies for the growth of the business. As per Marketing Automation Usage Statistics, on an average, 49% of companies are presently using marketing automation, with more than half of B2B companies (55%) adopting the technology for their marketing needs. Also, 91% of the most successful users believe that automation is very important for the overall success of their marketing across channels.

    While automation of campaigns has proven to generate enhanced returns and revenues for a lot of companies, there are a lot of other key benefits provided by automation of marketing campaigns including:

    – Reduced lead time

    – Enhanced campaign effectiveness

    – Expanded reach to a wider audience

    – Better understanding of the potential customers

    – Personalised interactions with the consumers

    If marketers take into account the evolving needs of prospective customers, their behaviour and interactions across different channels and challenges faced by them at various touch points, they can design relevant and efficient strategies for their automated campaigns and grow their revenues substantially.  As per the Benchmarking Report on Marketing automation by B2Bmarketing.net and Circle Research, post one year of automation usage, 32% marketers claimed to see increased revenues. Those using the technology for more than two years saw 40% growth in the revenues.

    The ultimate goal for every marketer is personalization and the ability to have one-one conversation with their users. Automation is the only way to have the right conversation with your users at the right time. It can be a valuable tool to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing campaigns and stay ahead of the competition.

    – Jaswant Singh, Country Managing Director – ad:tech, iMedia and Mobile Media Summits.

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Adsense’s User First beta program, change in AdWords ad rotation settings, YouTube’s redesigned app and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Adsense’s User First beta program, change in AdWords ad rotation settings, YouTube’s redesigned app and more..

    1. Google local pack tests displaying website mentions matching your query

    Google is testing displaying in the local pack results if the local website returns the keywords you searched for on their website. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Adobe adds email features in Campaign, releases survey vouching for the channel’s robust health

    The marketing tech giant is out with a new survey showing email’s enduring appeal across generations, as well as some updated features to email in its Marketing Cloud’s Campaign tool. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Google launches AdSense User First beta to test if fewer ads & better targeting can make more money for publishers

    The goal at this stage is to test new ways for publishers to make more revenue with fewer, hopefully more effective, ads and reward publishers who prioritize the user experience. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. AdWords ad rotation settings to get trimmed: Optimize or don’t

    Google announced a slight change to the ad rotation settings in AdWords. There will soon be just two options: “Optimize: Prefer best performing ads” and the not-so-subtly named “Do not optimize: Rotate ads indefinitely.” [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. YouTube Announces App Redesign, New Logo

    After first announcing a test of their new desktop layout and features back in May, YouTube’s now rolling the changes out to all users, while also updating their mobile app to better align with the new desktop experience. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Google debuts giant new look for Local Inventory Ad product search in Knowledge Panels

    Last May, Google introduced the ability to find out if a local retailer had specific products in stock right from the knowledge panel listing for the retailer. Now, it’s dedicating a whole lot more real estate to the feature. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Instagram starts putting Stories, but not Story ads, on its website

    The majority of people who use Instagram’s app every day check out its Stories feed. Now the Facebook-owned photo-and-video-sharing service is extending its Snapchat clone to its online audience. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Instagram Adds Variable Format Support to Multi-Image Posts

    Instagram has announced that users can now choose landscape and portrait formats when sharing multiple photos and videos in one post. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Twitter’s MoPub adds third-party viewability measurement thru Moat, Integral Ad Science

    Brands increasingly want to know that the ads they paid for had a chance to be seen, even on the small screen. So Twitter-owned mobile ad exchange MoPub is joining the roster of ad sellers enabling brands to independently measure their ads’ viewability. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Google Shopping gets top spot impression share & product diagnostics reporting

    Each year, Google rolls out several new features ahead of the holidays for retail advertisers. This year’s updates have started coming out. The company introduced a new metric and new reporting for Shopping campaign advertisers — only in the new AdWords interface. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    Expert Opinion:

    – Digital Transformation is the key to sustained growth and brand relevance among consumers

    Digital as a medium, channel is evolving fast and impacting the business of brands, products and services across industries. It is bringing about a paradigm shift in the traditional value chain and compelling brands to rethink their strategy.

    Brand owners and CEOs around the world are focusing on integrating digital in main stream business processes besides just only communication and marketing. Innovation is critical here to have competitive advantage, continue attracting new customers and retain existing ones. Digital transformation, while a technology initiative, is showing potential to change ways of doing business and is considered as the fuel for economic growth. Businesses can look at a range of benefits from this transformation including enhanced brand/customer experience & engagement, creating efficiency in existing business processes & operations, accelerated product development, all of which leading to better growth, sustenance and profitability.

    As per IDC CIO Agenda 2017 Predictions, by 2018, 45% of CIOs will shift primary focus from physical to digital and move away from BPM and optimization to deliver scale, predictability and speed. Also, two-thirds of the CEOs of Global 2000 companies are expected to have digital transformation at the core of their corporate strategy by the end of 2017.

    – Alokedeep Singh, Head of Ecommerce and Digital, Titan Company Limited

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s enhancements for ads, Facebook’s new in-app 360 photos, LinkedIn’s native videos for all users and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s enhancements for ads, Facebook’s new in-app 360 photos, LinkedIn’s native videos for all users and more..

    1. Google announces AMP speed and viewability enhancements for ads

    Google’s AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) group announced enhancements to ads served in AMP. Specifically, the project has entered phase two of its three-phase plan for supporting comprehensive advertising functionality in AMP. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Facebook’s Adding Publisher Logos to News Links to Reduce the Reach of Misleading Content

    As part of their ongoing efforts to combat fake and misleading content on their platform, Facebook has announced the latest option to better inform users – the addition of publisher logos next to links in Trending and Search. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. IAB releases its first ‘Podcast Playbook’ guide for marketers

    The podcast has taken another step toward becoming just another marketing channel, with the release today of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)’s first buyer’s guide for podcast advertising. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. LinkedIn’s Rolling Out Native Video to All Users

    LinkedIn has now announced that all users will soon be able to post video to the platform, moving in-line with the broader video content shift. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Facebook now lets you take 360 photos in-app, use them as Cover Photos

    Facebook has been a big supporter of 360-degree photos and video, adding support for the immersive media formats early on Facebook itself. Now, the social tech company is adding support for capturing 360-degree photos right within the Facebook app itself. [Source: TechCrunch]

    1. Walmart offering voice shopping via Google Assistant and Home

    Google and Walmart have announced a partnership to bring Walmart voice shopping to the Google Assistant and Google Home. Free delivery will also be available through Google Express, which is changing its pricing structure. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Google making renewed effort to help news publishers drive more subscriptions

    Google has always been treated by the news industry as a kind of frenemy. Many news organizations have a tortured history with Google, including some who’ve successfully lobbied against Google in Europe. Yet for roughly a decade Google has been trying to help publishers make more money while continuing to try and serve users and its own commercial interests. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. WhatsApp adds new coloured text-based Status, brings it to desktop as well

    WhatsApp has announced the coloured text-based Status updates for its users. The feature is similar to how it works on Facebook, where users can add a coloured background when uploading a text based status update. [Source: Indian Express]

    1. Google auto-playing video previews in search results carousel on Android

    Google announced they have added video previews to the video carousel that shows up in the search results. Currently, this only occurs when you are using the Google app for Android or using Chrome on Android. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Google May Lose Trademark Rights to Its Own Name, Here’s Why

    A trademark lawsuit before the Supreme Court alleges the word “Google” has become too generic, and is therefore no longer eligible for trademark protection. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    Expert Opinion:

    1. Data driven Personalization is the key to effective digital marketing campaigns

    Personalization in marketing has been the most talked about topic recently and is quickly gaining popularity as an effective marketing tool for brands. Technology has enabled consumption of content at a personal level. The consumer preference is often revealed voluntarily and sometime with incentives. And the same technology has enabled recording & analyzing those preferences, quirks, behaviours, moods, mood swings, for most touch points. With new technologies and advances in the digital marketing field, the possibilities of personalizing marketing communication and campaigns are also expanding. According to a recent study conducted by PWC’s Digital Services group, 94% of senior-level executives believe delivering personalization is critical or important to reaching customers.

    Amongst the clutter of each touch point, if we believe that personalized communication is the only way to gain that fleeting moment of attention, then data driven personalization is the only medium which can help achieve that objective and thereby make Marketing dollar more effective.

    Personalization helps you understand your consumers well which enables you to assist them in providing a seamless customer journey, and helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors. Having said that Every data point recorded doesn’t and will never create a ‘conversion’ or a result that has a monetary value attached to it. But every data point is a building block in the path to the holy grail of personalization where we have true one to one communication and continuous optimization basis behaviour or preferences that are revealed

    Some of the benefits you can reap from data driven personalized digital marketing campaigns are:

    – Drive conversions and increase sales

    – Build long-term and stronger relationships with customers

    – Significant boost in customer engagement

    – Improved customer experience

    – Better customer retention

    – Increased customer loyalty

    Brands need to cautiously use customer data and understand their preferences. This will assist the brand in designing effective marketing strategies that can promote positive communication with their consumers. This, in turn, can help them with improved conversions.

    In a landscape where customer touch points are competing with each other to get customer attention, it is imperative for a marketer to measure the success of each such points of contact Quantifying results of a marketing intervention & then connecting it to business levers is hence a necessity for the marketer to function effectively

    With the rising popularity of digital media and the customers’ inclination towards using multiple devices, the scope of data driven personalization is not limited to selection of the Target Audience or the point of contact or the relevance of the communication – it has to cover the entire life-cycle of a marketing intervention to provide a flawless experience across multiple devices/ touch points.

    Econsultancy’s Internet Statistics Compendium suggests that programmatic and personalization experiences which emphasize on customers could provide anywhere from 2x to 14x more incremental revenue per visitor (RPV) compared to traditional optimization efforts that focus mainly on cosmetic changes.

    In the rapidly growing digital age, brands who thrive on user insights and data to drive customer engagement and sales for the businesses are sure to stand out in the future.

    – Manish Dureja, Managing Director, JetPrivilege

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google testing new lightweight version of search for slow speed networks, AdWords Universal App Campaigns take over, Facebook’s selling in-stream-only video ads and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google testing new lightweight version of search for slow speed networks, AdWords Universal App Campaigns take over, Facebook’s selling in-stream-only video ads and more..

    1. Google is testing a new lightweight search app for slow internet networks

    Google is testing a new lightweight version of their search app in Indonesia and maybe India, to see how they can speed up their search services in locations where internet speeds are on the slower side. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Facebook Adds New Branded Content Tools to Better Facilitate Influencer Marketing

    With influencer marketing on the rise, Facebook’s adding some new tools to make it easier for businesses to get the most out of their influencer collaboration efforts – while also providing transparency in the process. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Facebook will penalize fake videos in latest news feed algorithm update

    Facebook’s news feed algorithm will start penalizing photo posts that mimic video thumbnails — play button and all — as well as video posts that solely feature a static image. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. AdWords app-install campaigns to sunset as Universal App Campaigns take over

    The company is moving all app-install ads under the umbrella of UAC. Google said that as of October 16, all app-install campaigns will run as UAC ads. All current app-install campaigns will stop running on November 15; so developers and publishers need to convert their campaigns accordingly. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Report: ‘Asset tracking’ now a primary use case for indoor location and beacons

    Proximity and beacon data platform Unacast has released its Q2 Proximity.Directory report. The report goes beyond marketing use cases to look at how proximity sensors are being deployed for “asset tracking” (people and places) across industries such as healthcare, logistics, manufacturing and others (marijuana is one of the featured categories). [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Facebook Updates News Feed Layout to Improve On-Platform Engagement

    Facebook has announced an update to their News Feed layout which will help cater to common user concerns and make the Facebook process easier and more clear-cut. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Dynamic Search Ads pilot in Bing Ads now open to all US advertisers

    Bing Ads’ testing of Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) is expanding to and now available to US advertisers. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Pinterest Adds Pinch to Zoom, Updated Visual Search

    As Pinterest works to evolve its visual search options, they’re also looking to put more emphasis on their search tools and functions, in line with user demand. Their latest advances on this front see them introducing pinch to zoom, already a common function on many other sites, and moving the visual search button to make it more prominent. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Facebook offers in-stream-only video ad buys as it looks to rival YouTube, TV

    Facebook has started selling video ads that will only appear in videos that people watch on its social network or across its ad network of third-party sites and apps. In other words, video-hungry advertisers can finally buy video ads from Facebook that will only run in the same context as the ads they buy from YouTube, Hulu and TV networks — in-stream video ads that people will be more likely to watch, and watch with the sound on. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Google Questions and Answers for local businesses now available For Android

    Google has launched a new feature for businesses within Google Maps to answer commonly asked questions from prospects and customers directly over their Android devices. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    Expert Opinion:

    1. How will brands benefit from micro-influencers?

    Influencer marketing is one of the widely used marketing strategies by brands worldwide. However, rather than using celebrities and influential personalities, a lot of brands are shifting the focus towards micro-influencers. At Videocon, we have had a lot of success in boosting sales with micro-influencers.

    Micro-influencers, who are local people with smaller but relevant and loyal set of audience, prove to be a better medium to reach the correct set of target audience while achieving better results for brands. Also, since micro-influencers have a more valued and trusted set of followers, the brands can achieve long-term results. Studies suggest that 94% of consumers consider micro-influencers highly knowledgeable and 82% consumers follow a micro-influencer’s recommendation.

    Contrary to the higher costs involved for campaigns with celebrities and influential personalities, micro-influencers also lower the overall costs of the marketing campaigns and provide the flexibility to engage with multiple influencers for a single campaign. It is observed that the users with 1000-4000 followers showcase 4.5% engagement while the ones with more followers showcase lesser engagement.

    With so many benefits and better engagement, micro-influencers should be an important part of your digital marketing strategy.

    – Shikher Gupta, Head – Brand and Digital Marketing, Videocon.

  • 3 Ways You Can Achieve Better Results By Leveraging AI

    3 Ways You Can Achieve Better Results By Leveraging AI

    With Artificial Intelligence emerging as the need of the hour for every organisation, enterprise owners need to tap into the right sources for leveraging this innovative technology! If you own a venture and want it to be driven by AI, it’s imperative to embrace analytics and personalise experiences. Let’s find out how data and analytics can help you make the most of Artificial Intelligence!

    The role of data

    Irrespective of the sector you are operating in, Big data happens to be a force to reckon with. From e-commerce owners to service industry professionals, every business entity is relying on Big Data and data analytics. Marketers have huge amounts of data at their disposal. They can tap into these data sources and leverage them to gain crucial insights into consumer behaviour.

    The crucial ways

    If you want to incorporate AI and gain actionable insights, it is imperative to do it in the right way. Here’s how data analytics can help you win the game!

    1. Think real, think customers

    You have to study consumer behaviour and understand what they want. That’s the key to gaining information about their preferences and choices. Develop a crystal clear picture of your consumers’ behavioural patterns. It is crucial to get a real and authentic idea, and not just rely on data points.

    1. Predictive analytics

    If descriptive analytics was the first step, effective predictions would turn out to be the next significant move. Try delving deep into historical data as that will help you in this context. You can develop some ideas about consumers who opt for discounted products, as well as the group of consumers who won’t. It will be helpful in determining product prices and marketing strategies.

    1. Prescriptive analysis and decision-making

    It’s not just enough to analyse. You have to take positive decisions. That’s what prescriptive analysis is all about. With 10% of enterprises embracing this technology, it’s time to adopt it and make smart decisions.

    Final thoughts

    Now, you know how data analytics can help you leverage AI to get the best results. Product developers and venture owners can rely on data sets thus creating personalised experiences for the target audience. That’s the power of data analytics and its role in implementing AI strategies.

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s upgraded Adwords mobile extensions, Facebook’s video hub ‘Watch’, Pinterest’s new promoted videos and more..

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s upgraded Adwords mobile extensions, Facebook’s video hub ‘Watch’, Pinterest’s new promoted videos and more..

    1. Google updating site category exclusion options for Google Display Network campaigns

    Google is refining the options it gives advertisers for excluding categories of sites from their display network campaigns on the Google Display Network. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. LinkedIn adds analytics, audience management & media buying solutions to its partner program

    LinkedIn added 19 more integrations and three new categories — Marketing Analytics, Audience Management and Media Buying — to its three-year-old Marketing Partner program. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Facebook Announces New News Feed Update to Further Restrict Spammers

    Facebook’s continuing to expand its efforts to restrict the reach of spam and misleading content, announcing yet another News Feed algorithm change, this time solely focused on a practice called ‘cloaking’. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. AdWords mobile extensions get major upgrades with tappable sitelinks & more visible content

    Google AdWords extensions are more powerful than ever, and they just got another major mobile upgrade. Mobile sitelinks are becoming interactive, while callouts and structured snippets are gaining more real estate. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Google Outlines Problematic Ad Types in New Report, as a Precursor to Chrome Ad Blocker

    Google has launched tools like their Ad Experience report, which provides data on how the ads on your site fare in regards to the Coalition’s recommendations. Google also says that they’re reviewing sites daily and recording videos of poor ad experiences so they can include further visual guides within the Ad Experience report to help advertisers update their sites in-line with user expectations. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Twitter uses Foursquare, Nielsen to show impact of ads on offline store visits, sales

    Twitter wants you to know that its ads work — offline. To demonstrate Twitter ads impact real-world behavior, the company tapped Foursquare and Nielsen to show how telco campaigns on Twitter produced a meaningful effect on store visitation and sales. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]

    1. Facebook debuts Watch, its home for original shows

    Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will begin rolling out a revamped version of its existing home for videos that caters to the original, episodic shows Facebook has been licensing to make people think of it as a digital video service on par with YouTube, Netflix and Hulu. [Source: Marketing Land]

    1. Pinterest Rolls Out Promoted Video to All Advertisers

    A year after Pinterest first started testing promoted video, the platform’s now opening the option to all advertisers, giving brands a new way to connect with the Pinterest audience. [Source: Social Media Today]

    1. Bing Ads now shows potential conversion impact with budget suggestions

    Bing Ads advertisers that have the Universal Event Tag (UET) implemented may now see estimated conversion impact when looking at budget suggestions in their accounts. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    1. Facebook looks to clean up Audience Network with higher standard for counting clicks

    After appraising Audience Network publishers’ ad placements last year and this year offering advertisers more control over where their ads are placed within the ad network, Facebook is now instituting a higher standard when charging for clicks on brands’ ads. [Source: Marketing Land]

    Expert Opinion:

    1. Improved customer experiences can reap long term benefits for brands

    Customer experience is one of the most important factors affecting the overall revenue generation of a brand. Despite understanding the importance, marketers often seem to lack a robust customer experience strategy for their brands.

    The latest study done by Salesforce suggests that 75% of users expect a consistent experience wherever they interact with brands and 64% of users demand immediate interaction. Customers expect a proactive approach and personalised experiences from companies.

     

    Enhanced customer experience can benefit the brands with:

    – increased preference from customers to purchase your offerings

    – brand loyalty with higher chances of repurchasing

    – improved customer retention

    – stronger word-of-mouth publicity

    Although no proven theories suggest the impact of customer experience on revenue, marketers believe that it plays a significant role in increasing the ROI and improving the overall performance of a company.

    With the rapid rate of digital innovations and varied experiences provided by various brands, it becomes crucial for marketers to work on building a strong customer experience strategy in order to gain their customers’ trust and flourish their businesses.

    – Sai Narayan, Associate Director & Head of Marketing, Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com

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