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19. November 2018 by Katharina Berger

What Digital Marketers Must Know About the New ePrivacy Regulation

The GDPR has come into effect, changing how personal data is stored. Now, the next step is finalizing and implementing the new ePrivacy regulation. For online marketers, the ePrivacy regulation could have more of an impact on what is done to collect data, how it’s collected and stored, and how consent is obtained to collect, store and use the data. For digital marketers anywhere, this could lead to big changes.

What is the ePrivacy Regulation?

The ePrivacy regulation is designed to enable people to decide how they want their online activity data to be used. Instead of choosing this for every website they visit, they’ll make the decision on each internet-enabled device they own. Basically, they’ll be able to make this decision through each browser, not for every website. The idea is to make it easier for everyone to control how their data is used.

When Will the ePrivacy Regulation Start?

The exact start date is not known at this time. It was intended to start alongside the GDPR, but the regulations have not been finalized yet. Experts believe it should be in place within a year of the GDPR being implemented, as the adjustments needed to finalize it could take some time. However, it may not be ready for implementation until late 2019 or early 2020.

How is This Different From the GDPR?

The ePrivacy regulation and the GDPR are both intended to cover the same subject, but the ePrivacy regulation would override the GDPR. GDPR was created on the basis of protecting personal data. The ePrivacy regulation is intended to protect a person’s private life. It focuses more on the end-user instead of the data itself in an effort to protect the user’s privacy the entire time they’re online. Both of these are designed to complement each other and to work together to protect the privacy of anyone who is online.

Who is Impacted by the ePrivacy Regulation?

Like GDPR, the ePrivacy regulation is an EU policy. However, this doesn’t mean that other countries will not be impacted. All digital companies need to be aware of the new regulations, what they handle, and how to comply with them as the policies are focused on EU consumers, not EU businesses. Businesses, no matter the location, will need to comply with the ePrivacy regulation if they have any customers or website visitors in the EU. This means all digital marketing professionals will need to be aware of the ePrivacy regulation.

The Differences in Using Cookies for Advertising

One of the biggest differences is how cookies will be used for advertising. Basically, users will need to give their express consent to have their data used by a website through cookies, software updates, and other means. Right now, companies can block their website from being accessed if the person does not consent to having their data used by the website. This will change, as this is a way to force consumers to allow their data to be used. With the ePrivacy regulation, the consumer will have to be able to give their consent freely, without being coerced into giving it, when they visit a website.

How This Impacts Digital Marketing Professionals

Digital marketing professionals will need to make sure they comply with the new ePrivacy regulation when it goes into effect. Right now, the data collected makes it possible for digital marketing professionals to target their audience anywhere they are online, enables them to target potential customers based on their online behavior, and helps the companies they work with see the impact their digital advertisements are having. This can make a huge difference in how much businesses will spend on advertising online as well as how digital marketing professionals can reach target customers.

How Can Digital Marketers Prepare for ePrivacy Regulations?

Preparation begins with following updated information on the ePrivacy regulation and how it might change before it’s implemented. Digital marketing professionals should make sure they understand exactly what the new ePrivacy regulations entail and what they can do to continue to target consumers, to show relevant data to the businesses they work with, and how they can make sure they are compliant with the regulations.

While the ePrivacy regulations are not in effect yet, understanding what they include and what they will impact is crucial. Digital marketing professionals today should keep a close eye on the ePrivacy regulation as it is finalized and start working on preparations today to ensure they will be compliant to minimize the impact it might have on their business.

22. October 2018 by Janina Winkler

Online Marketing BuzzWords: Omni-Channel

Imagine having a concise brand that reaches out to your customers no matter where they are and encourages them to learn more about you or to make a purchase. Imagine having the ability to reach out online and through a storefront, the ability to get customers interested in your brand, and the ability to encourage repeat purchases. Omni-Channel retailing enables all of this and can help your brand grow.

What is Omni-Channel?

Omni-channel means using multiple channels to reach out to potential customers and to encourage repeated purchases. It’s an integrated approach to marketing that reaches everywhere to interact with customers. Branding must be consistent across all channels to present a unified approach and to allow the business to be everywhere their customers might be.

Omni-channel retailing combines social media, e-commerce, storefronts, and anything else the customers might expect to see your business in. It allows you to inspire customers to reach out to you, to purchase products no matter where they are or what they’re doing and enables brand recognition by keeping the branding the same everywhere customers might see you.

Example of an Omni-Channel Approach

Omni-channel retailing is not something that’s done all at once. Instead, it’s done in stages to reach out to the customer consistently and get more interaction with the company. An example of how this might work includes the following steps:

The customer makes a purchase online through a major reseller like Amazon. They receive their product with a letter thanking them for their purchase and encouraging them to visit the company’s website.
The customer visits the company’s website where they’re able to see all of the products sold by the company, sign up for the company loyalty program for special savings, and be connected to the company’s social media websites.
The customer adds the company on social media, receiving special discounts and an invitation to check out direct to store shipping. This makes it easier for them to try out the store shipping on the company’s website.
The customer purchases a product and has it shipped to the store, where they’ll pick it up. While there, they receive a coupon for a future purchase and have the chance to see more products in person.
The customer uses the coupon and receives a follow-up email. This encourages them to shop online, visit the store in person, or to check out a special event.

The process continues, with the customer receiving more information about the company, more reasons to connect with the company and to continue to purchase products from the company. They’re receiving information both in person and online across multiple channels, boosting brand recognition and supporting loyalty.

How Can This be Used in an Online Strategy?

Using omni-channel retailing enables you to reach out to customers online and in person. Though your storefront will be a part of your marketing strategy, a lot of the work will be done online. You’ll need to make sure your branding is consistent throughout all channels. You’ll also want to make sure all channels are connected as well so it’s easier for your customers to move between them and find all of the information they’re looking for.

To work properly, there should be the potential to purchase products through multiple channels, not just connect with your company. For instance, they might be able to purchase your products in your store, on Amazon, and via your website. They may be able to have products shipped to their home or schedule a time to pick up the product in your store if that’s more convenient for them. Connecting everything to encourage them to be loyal to your brand is what makes omni-channel retailing so successful.

Potential Drawbacks

Omni-channel retailing does need to be done carefully to work well. If the branding isn’t consistent, it could be confusing for potential customers and could make brand awareness more difficult. Additionally, if customers have trouble getting from one channel to another or aren’t contacted with more information about how to connect with the company, it could discourage them from future purchases. Consistency is the key with omni-channel retailing and helps ensure it works properly to promote your brand.

Brand recognition and encouraging loyalty are crucial today. Omni-channel retailing is the chance to connect all channels your company uses, online and offline, to promote your brand, bring in new customers, and encourage customers to continue shopping with your company for what they need. Learn more about this type of marketing today to find out if it’s the best option for your company.

9. October 2018 by Claudia Rothenhorst

Online Marketing BuzzWords: Freemium

Freemium is a business model in which the base product is offered for free, while the full product and extensions are chargeable. In the case of computer games, it is known as “Free To Play“.

Definition of Freemium

Freemium is an artificial mix of the two words “free” and “premium” and describes a kind of online services where the basic features are available for free. Any additional content or features, which go beyond that basic functionality, are charged. Freemium is a business model that aims to attract customers by first attracting them to a platform through free services and then offering them premium services that contain more functionality and have to be paid for.

Origin of freemium models

Since the commercialization of the Internet in the mid-1990s, the Freemium business model has been a common way of gaining revenue from essentially freely available online services. Early examples are Netscape Communications or in Germany WEB.de. For software products, an analog model is even older and is now very prominent: Adobe Systems Inc. with the free Acrobat Reader to read PDF files. A creation of PDF files is not possible with the software. For this purpose the company offers the paid program Adobe Acrobat.

A large number of services like apps are offered with a Freemium model

Nowadays many services like Pandora, Evernote, Mailchimp, Xing, Spotify, Flickr or Skype use this model. For the most part, the additional paid content addresses fixed root users who are already intensively using the basic offer. The proportion of users willing to pay is usually very low.

Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson described the Freemium model on March 23, 2006 as follows: “Offer your service for free, possibly with commercials or maybe not, effectively win many customers through word of mouth, affiliate, search engine placement, and so on, and then offer additional services or an enhanced version of your service to your customer base for an additional charge. ”

The difference between free and Freemium Software

In general, there hast to be a differentiation between free and fully functioning software on the one hand and free but limitedly usable software on the other. While users of free software receive the complete product, including the rights to view and change the source code, with the Freemium version they only receive an excerpt from the range of services offered by the software and services and never have any rights whatsoever, for example to change the source code or just to see it. The differences between free basic version and paid premium version vary by product.

Area of application

Email-Provider

Some E-mail account providers are building their business model based on the freemium principle on the Internet. They offer free registration of e-mail addresses. The free offer, however, includes only limited storage space. If the user wants to increase his storage volume, he has to pay for it.

Games

The Freemium model is increasingly being used in games where you can buy comfort features, benefits or additional content.

Software

Features: Basic and Premium versions differ in functionality. An example of this is Skype. In the free version, among other group video calls are not available.
Capacity: The full functionality is initially available in the basic version. During use, the usage (eg duration, bandwidth, file size) is measured. After reaching the volume limit, the product can only be used to a limited extent. An example of this is the SQL Server Express. In the Freemium version, the size of databases is limited to 10 GB.
Customer group: The full product is offered free of charge to certain customer groups. An example of this is the Dreamspark model from Microsoft. Selected student groups are offered the software for free.

Hardware

To sell Hardware, the Freemium business model is also used. The provider publishes plans, parts lists and tutorials free of charge, often as free hardware, with the aim of creating an online community that in turn contributes to improving the product (crowdsourcing). Once the necessary attention and needs have been created, the supplier offers kits or finished products based on them. The target group are customers who do not have the time or skill to assemble the product themselves, but want to own it and are prepared to pay for it. Chris Anderson follows this business model with his company DIY Drones and describes it in his book “Free”.

Books

Books are also offered as freemium products. The basic product is the electronic version (audiobook, e-book, website); the bound book represents the premium product. The already mentioned book “Free” by Chris Anderson was marketed in this way. Daniel Shiffman published 2012 “The Nature of Code” as a hardcover book. The e-book can be downloaded for a selectable price between 0 and 50 $ (Pay-What-You-Want). The electronic version in HTML including all sample programs are available online for free. Shiffman funded the initial investment in 2011 through the crowdsourcing platform Kickstarter.com.

Journals & Newspapers

In December 2013, the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) announced that meanwhile 70 newspaper titles in Germany had set up paid content models on their websites. 71 percent of the newspapers rely on the freemium version. Here, the editors decide which content is free and which are made available for a fee. Alternative payment models are the metered model, where a certain number of posts per month can be read for free. All further calls for contributions are subject to a charge.

The Freemium model and Advertising

There are services provided- especially in the are of online games – in which the basic product already offers the complete functionality and is financed by advertising. Users can turn off the impressions for a fee. Even with mobile services for smartphones and tablets, app providers build their business model through in-app purchases on the Freemium model.

Conclusion

The sometimes painful restrictions of the cost free, but not freely usable software has led to terms such as “Expireware”. In contrast to software products, where this model has a negative connotation due to the often unusable software, Internet services on the Freemium model are useful in private or small business environment.

19. September 2018 by Claudia Rothenhorst

Online Marketing BuzzWords: Influencer Marketing

Nowadays, there are so many different types of internet marketing techniques, it can be difficult to figure out what’s going to work, what should be avoided, and what’s going to actually bring in more visitors to a website. Influencer marketing has been around for many years but is starting to be used more for internet marketing as business owners are discovering just how effective it might be. Read below to learn more about influencer marketing and why it might be a great addition to your internet marketing plan.

What is Influencer Marketing?

This type of marketing uses influencers to spread the word about a business. Influencers are those who have the ability to get the word out to more people and to encourage them to do something. For instance, they might be used to talk about a new business and to encourage their followers to check out the business online.

Influencers are often people who have a large following of others on social media websites, who people trust, and who have the ability to influence how people act, what they think, and what they might do. Not everyone can be an influencer, though there are many people that might be a good fit for a business that wants to use influencer marketing to help introduce or expand their business.

Why Use Influencer Marketing Today?

Influencer marketing is similar to word-of-mouth advertising as it uses an influencer to tell others about the business or about a certain topic. Just like word-of-mouth advertising, it has been shown to be incredibly effective when it’s done right. It’s useful for a variety of different campaigns a business might be interested in and can help businesses find many new customers. Though it is not a fast way to gain a lot more customers, it can be highly effective for just about any kind of business.

The right influencer can reach many people and turn them into customers.

Businesses can contact people that are influential in their niche and encourage them to promote the business. This is not the same as a celebrity endorsement or similar viral marketing strategies as influencers may not necessarily be celebrities. Instead, they’re someone who has considerable influence in a certain niche topic relevant to the business. This type of marketing is slow to take effect, so it can be used alongside other internet marketing techniques to have the biggest impact on the business.

How Does Influencer Marketing Work?

Basically, the business finds an influencer that’s active in their niche and that they want to work with. They negotiate with the influencer and work to convince the influencer to help promote their business or products. If the influencer agrees, the influencer starts publishing content that encourages their viewers to learn more about the business or products. This does need to be done carefully and done with the right influencer for the best results.

Pros of Using Influencer Marketing Today

Influencer marketing can encourage customers to purchase a product or to follow a certain brand on social media websites, increasing the potential for them to become a customer. In fact, according to recent studies, 45% of female consumers have decided to follow a brand on social media because of something an influencer said. Since 62% of women follow influencers on at least two social media websites, that’s a huge potential for increasing brand awareness and attracting more customers.

What are the Potential Drawbacks to Influencer Marketing?

The main downside is that the content created or used by the influencer has to be crafted very carefully. It has to encourage the viewer to act, such as by following the brand on social media, without sounding like it’s trying to sell the viewer something. It should naturally encourage them to learn more about a brand, not try to convince them to purchase something they might not have considered before. In fact, 37% of women have stopped following an influencer because they posted too much sponsored content. If the content is not created carefully, it could have the opposite of the intended impact.

Influencer marketing may have been around for a while, but it is an incredibly effective way to draw in more customers, increase brand awareness, and encourage more sales. Though can take a while to really produce results, it can be a solid component to an overall internet marketing plan and can help enhance the results of other techniques that are used. To gain more customers and more sales, influencer marketing is definitely one of the top marketing techniques to consider today.

3. September 2018 by Katharina Berger

11 Alternatives to Google You Need to Try

While Google is the top search engine today, it’s not the only option if you need to look something up online. In fact, there are hundreds of different search engines that can be used for general or specific searches and that offer features Google doesn’t offer.

You may want to try a different search engine for more privacy, to find certain types of content, to view uncensored results, or just because you want to try something a little different. Whatever you might be interested in, there’s likely a search engine that’s suitable for you. Try out each of these search engines to see the best of what they have to offer.

Bing

Second in line for the most-used search engine, Bing is a search engine developed by Microsoft. It has been in development since 2009, is known for having excellent add-ons, generates comprehensive search results, and includes an easily accessible search history. The downsides include weak searches with few relevant results in some cases, can be sluggish at times, and it tends to bury news results off the main page.

Bing is probably best used for local or travel topics, or for image searches. It excels at these types of searches and includes add-ons you can use to make your searches more effective or to give you better results that are more in line with your own interests. Today, it’s included as the default search engine for Windows computers, tablets, and smartphones.

Yahoo

Though it’s only the third most frequently used search engine, it has been around for a long time. In fact, Yahoo was incorporated in 1995, before both Google and Bing. Yahoo is known for having comprehensive results, having more shopping options than other search engines, and for having mobile apps to download and use. The main downside to Yahoo as a search engine is that it’s hard to determine if a search result is an ad or not.

Yahoo is best suited for shopping or as a social platform. Those who are interested in purchasing an item will find more results on Yahoo than they might with other search engines. It also includes directories, news, Yahoo answers, mail, groups, finances, and more.

Ecosia

Ecosia is a search engine partnered with Bing to help plant trees. Basically, when someone searches for something on Ecosia, the money generated from ads they click helps pay for a tree to be planted. Ecosia uses Bing for its searches but does show you how many trees you’ve helped plant whenever you use their search engine.

The pros for Ecosia are that it’s easy to use, that it takes your privacy seriously and that it is used to help the environment. One con is that a tree is planted for around every 45 searches. This means tons of searches need to be done to actually make an impact. However, you do use it regularly for various searches, you can see the impact your searches can have.

DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is a search engine designed for those who are concerned about their privacy online. Though it does generate revenue by using sponsored links, it does not track users. This search engine is based on Yahoo and does deliver fast results for searches. It can be used for just about any basic searches you might want to do that you might want to be kept private for any reason.

The main upside to DuckDuckGo is to be able to search without worrying about user data being sold to third-parties. Instead, it has ads it uses to generate revenue to continue to enable people to use the search engine. It also offers infinite-scrolling so you can just scroll down to see more results. The main downside is that it doesn’t have everything the bigger search engines have. It is, basically, just a search engine. It’s best suited for searches where you’re concerned with your privacy and where you don’t need more features than a basic search.

Qwant

Most search engines track your activity and basic data and sell that information to other companies. Like DuckDuckGo, Qwant is a search engine that’s concerned about your privacy. Also, like DuckDuckGo, Qwant uses ads to make money. However, what sets it apart is that it is a fully-featured search engine.

Qwant is most suitable for any searches where your privacy may be a concern or when you want to make sure your personal data is not sold. It’s also great for music searches. Downsides include being slow to provide search results and that it doesn’t offer a personalized experience since it doesn’t track your activities.

StartPage

StartPage is another search engine designed with privacy in mind. The big difference is that StartPage uses Google for its search results. StartPage is actually a proxy for Google that allows you to do searches on Google, but without the identifying details like your IP address that Google would normally track.

StartPage is excellent for those who want the speed and results from Google but who are worried about their privacy online. It doesn’t track your searches and is incredibly fast. The main downside is that it’s not quite as easy to use for searches as features like auto-completion are not automatically turned on.

CC Search

Dedicated to copyright-free content, CC search is an excellent search engine for those who need any type of content that has been tagged as Creative Commons. It’s mainly used for those who want music, images, or other copyright-free material for websites or creative endeavors.

CC Search is best suited for finding materials with a Creative Commons license. It has the ability to search for blog posts, music, and images. The downside is that, while it does try to only provide results that have a Creative Commons license, the results aren’t guaranteed to be free to use. Anyone using the website should check before using what they find.

Search Encrypt

Designed from the beginning for privacy, Search Encrypt does more than just avoid tracking your searches. It offers auto-delete for your browser history and searches, and it offers encrypted searches. Even if you share a computer, the searches you do will not be seen by anyone else.

Search Encrypt is best used when you are on a shared computer or believe someone else may be using your computer as it enables you to be completely private with your searches. It’s a great option for privacy and offers an auto-delete option as well as encrypted searches. The main cons are that it is a relatively new search engine and that, due to privacy, it doesn’t provide personalized search results.

SearX

Opensource and designed with privacy in mind, SearX is a great alternative to Google and other top search engines. The results it provides are obtained from several different search engines and are designed to be unbiased. It is also easy to customize and offers special features that enable you to get better search results whenever you use it.

SearX is suitable for a wide variety of searches and used by those who want better, unbiased results. It uses a variety of search engines to find results and is easily customizable. It is open source so anyone can view the source and add their own contributions. It also allows searchers to view their search under certain subtopics, including news or social media.

Boardreader

Forums are a huge way for internet users to connect with others to discuss a topic. Yet, those who are new to the topic might not know where to find a good forum to check out or how to find the information they’re looking for in these forums. Boardreader is a search engine specifically for searching through the forums online.

Boardreader is best suited for those who want to find information written by average people on forums and messaging boards. It is easy to use and offers an advanced search feature to make it easier for you to find what you need on a specific forum or on any forum about the subject you’re interested in. The content in the search results, however, may not be accurate because it is written by the average person, not necessarily by professionals.

Gibiru

Censorship may be a concern when searching for certain topics or information. Gibiru helps to minimize censorship and privacy issues when searching online. It does not save search queries and records are deleted after a search is done.

Gibiru is often used for searches where censorship of the topic is expected or possible. It makes searching for uncensored information easy and offers more privacy during searches. The main downside is that it can be complicated to set up as it is used by downloading a Firefox plugin so it can use a proxy for all searches.

Many alternatives to Google exist today. Whether you’re looking for more privacy, for a way to find certain types of content or just something new to try, all of these search engines might be a good choice. Try a new search engine today to see what a difference it can make in what you can find and how relevant your results might be.

23. July 2018 by Janina Winkler

Online Marketing BuzzWords: Micro-Moments

When the internet became part of our daily lives and Google became a search market leader, consumers changed the way they made buying decisions. After all, a quick trip into a local mall or shopping center is enough to see how online shopping has affected the retail environment.

More changes are coming, and in this blogpost, you’ll learn how smartphone dependency and consumer intent are once again changing the marketing landscape.

How Consumers’ Journeys Have Changed

Previously, when someone wanted to make a significant purchase, they may have taken several days to research before making a decision. This process, being relatively static, took substantial determination and organization, but today’s consumer journey is different.

It consists of multiple decision-making points, and, for marketers, it’s about being in the right place at the right time, with the right content for the user. These intent-driven, real-time points are a crucial way to increase leads and build sales.

What Is a Micro-Moment?

A micro-moment is a time in a person’s life where they quickly look something up and make a snap decision based on the information they find. If your company’s site pops up at the right moment and gives a buyer what they want, your brand has performed a successful customer engagement. Maybe they’ll bookmark your page for later, send a link in a text message, or watch a video.

Websites are seeing more mobile sessions, but they’re becoming shorter. As a business owner, it’s your job to anticipate visitors and be there when they need products or information. While it’s easy to stuff a site with keywords to give it the appearance of value, that’s not enough.

To succeed, your site must be valuable and useful at the right moment to meet the customer’s needs. Mobile device users are busy, and they need service right away. When your checkout process is fast and easy, it’s easy to give buyers what they want. Buyers’ methods have changed, and as an online marketer, it’s important to keep pace with those changes.

What You’ll Need to Capitalize on Micro-Moments

Successful marketers cover all their bases. To succeed, you may need:

A site with unbiased reviews
A popular channel on YouTube
Online how-tos
Product pages

Obviously, each of your products will need to look at micro-moments and consumer intent differently. You’ll need to anticipate customers’ thought processes; it’s all about thinking ahead. People won’t stick to a single platform when performing due diligence. They may look something up on a phone, move to a tablet, and complete the process on a work computer.

Consider that carefully, and ensure that your site helps them by easing the transition between platforms or staying at the top of the SERPs.

If you want to learn more about Online Marketing Buzz Words, make sure to check out our other articles!