Brian Meert's Blog, page 116

Safari Blocks Like-Button Click Tracking on Websites

June 6, 2018
Anne Felicitas

Earlier this week Apple hosted its annual developers event where the company announced a slew of exciting updates to Apple devices. A new Safari update that Craig Federighi, senior vice president of software engineering, introduced may not be so exciting for Facebook. With this new update, Facebook, among other third-parties, can no longer track whether or not users click on engagement buttons and comment fields.

According to Federighi, when users click on any engagement button within a website, such as the like and share buttons, and leave comments in the comment field, they will receive a notification from Safari asking whether or not they want third-parties to track their behaviors. Users can then respond by clicking either “Don’t Allow” or “Allow.”

Craig Federighi introducing the new Safari update.

“We believe that your private data should remain private” was Federighi’s message to the crowd of developers.

Apple’s Safari update comes at a critical time when Facebook faces criticism over its inability to protect user data as evidenced by the Cambridge Analytica Scandal.

This isn’t the first time Apple released a product that stops website tracking. Last year, Apple released Intelligent Tracking Prevention, which dramatically reduces apps’ ability to track website behavior with cookies.

Apple isn’t the only company releasing tracking blockers after Cambridge Analytica. Shortly after the scandal was revealed to the public, Mozilla released Facebook Container, which blocks Facebook from tracking web activity on desktop, and Firefox Focus, a plugin that prevents Facebook from tracking user activity on mobile devices.

With Mozilla and Apple taking action directed against Facebook, who else will follow in these companies’ footsteps?

The post Safari Blocks Like-Button Click Tracking on Websites appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Get Your Cart Abandoners to Finalize Their Purchases

June 5, 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Get Your Cart Abandoners to Finalize Their Purchases
Click To Tweet

We’ve all done it. We get excited about a product we see online, or a cool ad peaks our curiosity so we add the product to our cart…and then we leave before completing the purchase.

Whether it’s because we’re interrupted, want to rethink our financial situation, or decide we need a second opinion, there are various reasons for abandoning our online cart. As advertisers, however, coming across cart abandoners can be frustrating. That’s why we have cart recovery campaigns.

Oracle + Bronto, a leading email marketing provider, offers advice on how to effectively reach cart abandoners and urge them to complete their purchase. The company says 60 percent of its clients use cart recovery programs and see successful results. That being said, according to Forrester Research, approximately 87 percent of shoppers abandon their carts. That percentage results in a revenue loss of $18 million annually.

In a survey distributed to clientele, Oracle + Bronto found that 98 percent of commerce marketers consider cart recovery emails to be a very or somewhat effective email marketing tactic. Clearly, cart recovery emails work. But it takes strategy.

Oracle + Bronto talks about common pitfalls of some cart recovery methods, the key to creating a more robust cart recovery campaign, the reason sending more than one email message is important, and the ways to choose the right cart recovery program.

Common Pitfalls

Common cart recovery pitfalls fall under one major pitfall: the one-size-fits-all tactic. A template with a default message sent to anyone who abandoned their cart lacks personalization. Every customer is different. If they’re treated like any other shopper, they’re not going to respond. Making email messages relevant to each customer, in contrast, makes them feel like you’re giving them special attention.

Don’t send default messages to cart abandoners with pre-built templates that use the same timing, wording, and structure.

“Sophisticated merchants understand that consumer behavior differs based on a variety of factors, including demographics, products and season,” Oracle + Bronto explains in The Essentials of Turning Abandoned Carts into Sales.

As marketing experts have said, personalization is key to customer engagement. You can’t send personalized email messages using default templates.

Create a More Robust Cart Recovery Campaign

Conducting A/B testing cart recovery messages is a key factor in creating an effective cart recovery program. Oracle + Bronto recommends using an app designed specifically for cart recovery because it’s easier on the workflow, and it gives you more control over testing your message and over your incentives and timing.

Oracle + Bronto also recommends filtering by cart totals. Using a product description or SKU informs your message so that it’s more relevant to each shopper.

Handcrafted sheepskin footwear company EMU Australia used Bronto’s Cart Recovery app to send recovery emails. The result was a monthly revenue average of up to $17 per email.

“Personalization plays a key role in an effective email marketing campaign,” Oracle + Bronto says in The Essentials of Turning Abandoned Carts into Sales. “One highly useful incentive in cart recovery campaigns is the coupon offer. But it doesn’t always make sense to offer a coupon on the first abandon trigger, or in some cases, on any message.”

Send More Than One Email Message

Although one cart recovery message makes a big difference, Oracle + Bronto says you shouldn’t stop after just one message if it doesn’t deliver results. While the first message, the company found across its clientele using the Cart Recovery app, can deliver revenue in the $600,000-and-above range, a fourth message can deliver $200,000 and above. That’s still a significant amount, and it should not be taken lightly.

Choose the Right Cart Recovery Program

Last but not least, you want to use a cart recovery program that helps you achieve optimal results, a flexible program that makes A/B testing easier, allows you to incorporate images, and generates messages relevant to each shopper. Bronto’s Cart Recovery app, for instance, adds a touch of personalization and gives you various, flexible options.

“Retailers should be engaging with a cart recovery program that allows them to test these factors to create the most effective campaign for their customer base and the products they sell,” Oracle + Bronto says in The Essentials of Turning Abandoned Carts into Sales.

The next time you’re shopping, and you catch yourself committing cart abandonment, ask yourself this question: What message would bring you back?

The post How to Get Your Cart Abandoners to Finalize Their Purchases appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Avoid These 8 Email Marketing Mistakes

June 4, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Avoid These 8 Marketing Mistakes. #emailmarketing #advertising #business
Click To Tweet

If you rely on email marketing, you wouldn’t want your emails to go straight into your customers’ trash folder. However, if you’re not doing email marketing correctly, your emails may land exactly in that folder.

Marketo, a company that offers engagement marketing software and solutions, talks about the eight common email marketing mistakes. By recognizing these potential mistakes, you can take extra precautions and implement best practices to make your next email campaign the best it can be.

Mistake #1: Vague Subject Lines

Email marketers often try to use witty or clever subject lines to get clicks. However, subject lines that are clear with no clickbait or ambiguous tricks receive 541 percent more clicks. Here are two examples to give you a better idea of clear and unclear subject lines:

Unclear Subject Line: “It’s finally here!”

Clear Subject Line: “5 Best Practices for Email Marketing Campaigns.”

With the unclear subject line, recipients have no idea what “it” refers to. Sure, it may peak their curiosity and prompt them to open the email, but more likely than not, they’re going to be annoyed that you tried to outsmart them with a clever subject line. The clear subject line, on the other hand, clearly describes what recipients can expect to see in your email.

Marketo suggests the following best practices to avoid vague subject headlines:

Tell your recipients exactly what they’ll get after opening the email.
Include the most important words or numbers, such as “Tips” or “Tricks.”
Focus on all metrics, not just open rate. The best subject line in the world is worthless if it doesn’t result in click throughs.
When in doubt, test it out.

Mistake #2: Bad Sender Reputation

Big email service providers like Gmail consider these several factors when determining whether incoming mail is spam, promotional junk mail, or good-quality emails recipients want to read:

Continuously opened emails
Unique clicks within an email
Multiple clicks within an email
Scrolling
Frequency of overall engagement

To pass spam filters unscathed, Marketo recommends keeping your sender reputation pristine. Factors that influence your reputation include subscriber engagements such as opened emails and clicks; positive and negative engagement signals, hard bounces, placement on a blacklist, and spam complaints. You need to diligently maintain high engagement and prevent negative or low engagement levels to pass spam filters. To do so, you must follow these best practices recommended by Marketo:

Use automated cleaning campaigns to prevent high bounce rates, which lower deliverability and reputation.
Aim for a good sender reputation to maintain a good inboxing rate.
Manage soft bounces, role accounts, and unengaged subscribers.

Mistake #3: Failure to Measure Email Inboxing

One in five emails go to recipients’ junk or spam folders, hard bounce, soft bounce, or don’t even deliver, according to Marketo’s findings. If you’re using campaign metrics that measure emails that are sent, delivered, hard bounced, or soft bounced, you’re not being informed about which emails are going to spam or junk folders because those emails are still considered sent or delivered. If your metrics indicate that nearly 100 percent of your emails were delivered, it could still be that only half didn’t go to spam or junk, and half were actually viewed by the recipient.

To avoid this issue and to receive metrics that accurately portray your emails’ delivery, use measurement tools that provide granular metrics of deliverability performance. You want a tool that shows you inbox placement, sender reputation, spam analysis, and design analysis. Marketo suggests the following best practices to avoid failure to measure email inboxing:

Introduce bounce management campaigns to improve inboxing rates across ISPs.
Measure inboxing across ISPs to help mitigate issues with specific ISPs.
Analyze emails for common spam triggers, whether it’s your copy, images, or HTML.

Mistake #4: No Engagement Segmentation

When you send an email to all of your subscribers, chances are only a small percentage will engage with the email. As a result, ISPs are not as likely to deliver your emails to recipients’ primary inboxes.

To avoid this issue, stagger your sends. To do this, simply send your email to the most engaged subscribers in your database first. After 30 minutes, send the email to the unengaged subscribers. Marketo explains that the ISP will identify the first round of emails’ high engagement levels, which improves your reputation score. As a result, it’s more likely that your second round of emails will reach the main inboxes of your recipients.

Marketo says you can also dedicate separate IP addresses to your email marketing campaigns to improve your reputation score. You can organize them, for example, by subscriber importance, engaged subscribers, and purpose of emails.

Marketo suggests the following best practices to avoid no engagement segmentation:

Consider separating your email campaigns by engagement levels if you are a high-volume sender.
Stagger email campaigns by engagement to increase email inboxing.
Help mitigate business risk by segmenting IP addresses for engagement.

Mistake #5: No Re-Engagement Strategy

Your campaign’s definition of engagement may vary, depending on how often you send emails. When a subscriber’s engagement falls below your campaign’s definition of high engagement, you should have a strategy for re-engaging that subscriber, according to Marketo.

Experian found that re-engagement strategies can deliver 14 times the lift in email-influenced revenue. Not only will these types of strategies help you re-ignite existing customers’ interest in your business, but it will also help you clean up your email lists if you discover customers who aren’t engaging anymore.

Marketo recommends running a reactivation campaign more than once to either spark renewed interest or to give subscribers the opportunity to opt out of your email list. Such an email might contain a heading such as “We Really Miss Hearing From You!” Don’t send a reactivation email only once because you never know when one more email might make all the difference.

Marketo suggests the following best practices for creating a re-engagement strategy:

Use reactivation campaigns to identify those who still want to hear from you and those who don’t.
Build out a series of reactivation emails, not just a single email.

Mistake #6: Using Image-Based CTA Buttons

Marketo says using an image-based call-to-action (CTA) button created with HTML and CSS code results in higher open, click-through, and click-to-open rates. Having a CTA coded this way, rather than using a JPEG, ensures that recipients will see the button as the desired image rather than a placeholder that appears if a JPEG doesn’t load properly. Your emails will subsequently look more polished and appealing, encouraging recipients to click your CTA. When using image-based CTA buttons, use an HTML button instead of an image button, which renders when the email hits the inbox.

Mistake #7: No Mobile Optimization

These days, everyone uses their mobile devices to view their emails. Sometimes a recipient will view an email on one device, then complete a purchase on another. According to Marketo, 65 percent of users start a purchase on their smartphone, 25 percent start on a PC or laptop, and 11 percent start on a tablet. If your emails are not optimized for mobile, your campaign will ultimately suffer the consequences.

The key is to make your emails accommodate every screen size. To do this, you should use media queries, a CSS code that determines the screen size where the email displays. The code then adjusts the email to the correct size accordingly.

Marketo also recommends using email templates that are optimized for mobile, using larger font sizes for mobile screens, and placing the CTA at the top so recipients don’t have to scroll down to find it.

Marketo suggests the following best practices for optimizing for mobile:

Prioritize mobile responsiveness.
Think beyond the copy and images. The template is a vehicle to deliver the email results you hope to achieve.

Mistake #8: Bad Testing Decisions

Testing is always a wise decision when it comes to any type of advertising campaign. However, it is possible to make bad testing decisions. You don’t want to unnecessarily spend time on tests that don’t generate statistically significant findings. The following are examples of bad testing decisions:

Sending emails at random times. When A/B testing, Marketo says you should send each test email at the same time. A slight time difference could affect the results and produce inaccurate findings.
Using a small sample size. A small sample size can generate deceivingly desirable results. Increase your size and run your test 2 to 3 times to ensure accurate results.
Using too many variables. Testing too many variables (e.g. copy, images, CTAs) at a time makes it difficult to identify individual declines or improvements for each variable. You should isolate each variable in its own test.

Marketo suggests the following best practices to avoid making bad testing decisions:

Normalize test send times.
Work with a large enough sample size and test more than once to ensure statistical significance.
Isolate tests to a single variable for clean testing.

Conclusion

Before sending your emails to your customers, look at your email strategy and make sure you’re not making any of the aforementioned mistakes. As Marketo points out, the biggest mistake you can make is ignoring these big email marketing mistakes. Make yourself a guide or a checklist, if it helps. Then make the best email campaign out there.

The post Avoid These 8 Email Marketing Mistakes appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

9 Commonly Asked App Developer Questions about GDPR

June 1, 2018
Anna Hubbel

9 Commonly Asked App Developer Questions bout #GDPR. #dataprotection #EU #business
Click To Tweet

What is the General Data Protection Regulation? If your app is available in Europe, you’ll want to know about GDPR. Effective May 25, 2018, the GDPR stipulates the adherence to consistent data protection rules in the EU. Any business or app developer located within the EU or processing the personal data of any user residing in the EU must abide by the data protection rules or face hefty fines.

Here are nine commonly asked app developer questions about the new rules for the EU.

Do Developers Need to Make Changes to Use Facebook Platform Products Under the GDPR?

Apps must prominently display a clear link within the settings, within any privacy policy, or anywhere the app is accessible that directs users to a comprehensible explanation of the following:

How third parties (such as Facebook) may use information from the app and other apps to inform measurement services and targeted ads
How to opt out of said information gathering and use in ad targeting

What Data Does Facebook Collect Via the SDK?

Facebook SDK collects explicit events (e.g. “AddtoCart” or “logPurchase”), implicit events (e.g. integration with Facebook login or the “Like” button), and automatically logged events (e.g. app installs or launches, SDK loading). Automatically logged events can be disabled.

Facebook also logs data pertaining to Facebook app ID, mobile advertiser ID, and metadata from the request (e.g. mobile OS type and version, client IP address, time zone, processor cores, etc.).

What Data Does Facebook Collect Via SDK for Facebook Login?

For Facebook login, SDK collects

App Events: Generic app events, such as app install and app launch and standard logging for metrics such as SDK loading and SDK performance.
Configuration Data: The SDK periodically conducts background requests when a user logs in, automatically managing the lifetime of the access token.
Error Information: For example, the user IDs of logged-in individuals during SDK initialization.
Short-term Data: Some user activity may be measured to manage fraud and abuse, and the data is only kept for a brief amount of time for users who aren’t logged into Facebook.

Do Advertisers Need to Change Their SDK Implementation for App Events Because of GDPR?

Advertisers must provide users with a clear link to a full explanation of how third parties may use any personal information obtained and how users can opt out. Facebook also has a consent guide developers can use for best practices for following GDPR’s requirements.

Do Developers Need Additional Disclosures or Consent to Use Facebook Login and Account Kit?

When developers control the data for Account Kit, they must fulfill the necessary, legal obligations, including possible additional consent for gathering marketing information such as email addresses. If Facebook controls the data, however, it manages personal data according to its Data Policy.

For Facebook Login, Facebook does not collect consent for users’ data processing on behalf of a developer’s business. Developers are thus required to obtain the appropriate consent for such data processing on their own, as Facebook stipulates in its Platform Policy.

Can Developers Still Gather Special Category Data?

Developers are no longer allowed to gather special category data related to sensitive topics like politics or religious beliefs as a result of Facebook’s recent updates to its privacy standards.

Are There Any GDPR-Related Changes to Account Kit?

Facebook says there are no GDPR-related changes to Account Kit. The only data Account Kit shares with a developer’s business is basic contact information like email addresses for account ID purposes. Anything beyond that is the business’s responsibility.

How Can Developers Ensure GDPR Compliance When Using Facebook Analytics?

Developers are deemed responsible per Facebook’s Platform Policy and Business Tool Terms to inform users when they are using Facebook measurement tools, such as pixels, SDKs, and APIs to collect and process data. Developers are also responsible for obtaining user consent for such use of these tools. Developers that are the data controller of all data measured through Facebook Analytics must adhere to all data laws and regulations applicable to the jurisdiction of the business’s operations.

Can Businesses Continue to Use Facebook Plugins (e.g. Like Button, Page Plugin) Under GDPR?

Yes, because GDPR does not affect Facebook’s plugin functionalities.

Businesses and developers should continue to stay up-to-date on changes Facebook makes for its platform and all its products to ensure they’re not violating any regulations or policies. In some cases, it may be that the particular business simply cannot advertise on Facebook.

The post 9 Commonly Asked App Developer Questions about GDPR appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

Facebook Reopens App Review

May 31, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Facebook Reopens App Review. #facebook #facebookads #apps
Click To Tweet

It’s back, new, and improved. Facebook announced at its 2018 F8 conference that it is reopening the app review process. The process has been improved to continue offering positive experiences for both app developers and users alike.

The new review process enforces stricter adherence to Facebook’s Platform Policies and makes apps more transparent about how they’re using users’ information.

“Our primary focus is building tools for the ecosystem while creating value for people,” said Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, director of platform partnerships, in a Facebook for Developers blog post. “As such, we’re re-opening our app review with a heightened level of expectations as we’re doubling down on our commitment to transparency and giving people more control over how their data is shared.”

Papamiltiadis said app developers should be familiar with multiple updates to the review process.

Business Verification

App developers must now provide business verification by giving Facebook official business documentation such as utility bills, business licenses, certificates of formation, articles of incorporation, or tax ID numbers. Developers must also sign a supplemental terms contract, which specifies additional security and data collection rules that must be adhered to.

Third-Party Tech Providers

If a business is using an app to serve other businesses as a third-party tech provider, that business must sign an additional tech provider contract. This contract ensures that any data collected is only provided to the client for whom the third-party is working. Additional terms may require signatures if the clientele for whom the data is gathered is a particularly large business.

Papamiltiadis says existing apps are not excluded from the new app review process and will need to go through the new process by August 1, 2018. Developers should expect the process to take several weeks. Early submissions are encouraged.

The post Facebook Reopens App Review appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

10 Must-Try Games and Apps You Need in Your Oculus Go

May 31, 2018
Anne Felicitas

10 Must-Try Games and Apps You Need in Your Oculus Go #VR #oculusgo #gaming
Click To Tweet

Looking through Oculus Go’s app store, you’re suddenly struck by crippling indecision. There are hundreds of apps and games to download, but you don’t know which one to choose. You neither have the time nor the patience to look through all of the reviews, ratings, and previews to determine which app is worth your money.

Fortunately, all in the name of journalism, I spent hours in the world of VR to compile a list of apps and games you should download on Oculus Go.

Games
Drop Dead ($9.99)

Shooting game fans will find all the thrills in Drop Dead. It is reminiscent of your traditional arcade game: two characters guide you through several zombie hordes in an effort to find the evil villain and mad scientist Dr. Monday. The game features power-ups, a variety of weapons and zombie species, and missions.

But you don’t only get entertainment and thrills—you also get comfort. The game offers two modes: Take It Easy, which skips dynamic motion and cutscenes—perfect for those with motion sickness— and Full Experience, which includes cutscenes, storytelling, and dynamic movement. If you’re not prone to motion sickness, choose Full Experience. It’s not the same without it.

Virtual Virtual Reality ($9.99)

Virtual Virtual Reality (V-VR) is an adventure game set in the world of—you guessed it—virtual reality, where humans work for AIs. You play as a “temporary human agent” working for 50 AI clients whose demands verge on the whimsical and hilarious, including coating your client, Butter, with toast and tumbling another client, Tumbleweed, with a vacuum. You enter the client’s world through your VR headset called the virtual labor access point.

The game is the most interactive VR game in Oculus Go. You can pick up things, move objects, and touch characters who react accordingly. The game also has great graphics, humor, and storytelling. As you play the game serving your AI masters, a dystopian narrative unfolds.

Dead & Buried (Free)

If you love zombies and the wild wild west, then Dead & Buried is up your alley. Stepping into the world of gunslingers, zombies, and ghosts, you attempt to survive waves of zombie cowboys using a revolver, which you spin and cock back to reload. Although the game errs on the side of zany rather than spooky, the fast moving hordes are enough to thrill.

For a game that’s free, it has impressive graphics and ambiance, the latter which you can control. If you feel so compelled, you can change the environment to dawn, afternoon, dusk, and night. (My personal favorite is dawn, which blankets the sapphire sky in stars.)

You can play three different games. In one game, you’re in an old saloon where you battle a wave of zombies. The second game, too, allows you to battle a horde but in an alley. Finally, if you’re sick of staving off zombie hordes, you can duel one-on-one with other players.

Note: the video above is a trailer for the Oculus Rift, not Oculus Go. 

Wands ($9.99)

If you’ve always longed to become an expert wizard, now is your chance. Wands is an adventure, fantasy game where you, a wand-wielding wizard, duel several opponents. Set in a world where hooded wizards and masked witches roam the earth, Wands opens in your characters’ lair where you create your wand, choose your spells, and pick your outwear. To duel fellow gamers, you teleport through a magical mirror that takes you to the dueling chamber.

The game has one of the best graphics Oculus Go games can offer. Although not in the level of Resident Evil 8 for PS4s, Wands’ graphics is impressive for a $10 app.

Although entertaining, Wands requires expertise—it’s not a game for Oculus newbies. It requires skills and good memory when using the controls, which requires numerous complicated maneuvers. Also, you must know how to fight multiple opponents on your own. If you like your games complex, try this one.

Entertainment
Netflix (Free with an Account)

Can you watch movies from the big screen without paying 13 dollars at the theater? With the Netflix app, you can.

Netflix allows you to watch all of your Netflix shows and movies from a theater screen in a virtual home. It doesn’t matter the time of the day: as soon as your movie plays, the lights in your high-tech and meticulously decorated house turn off so you can enjoy your movie without annoying glares.

Affected the Manor ($2.99)

Affected the Manor mimics a horror maze you may visit at Universal Studios or your local Halloween fair. Functioning as a walk-through and not as a game, you explore the dilapidated, dark halls of the manor, looking at creepy 1920s black-and-white photographs and watching in horror as portraits crumble to something more sinister, furniture float in the air, and creepy children appear and disappear from your field of vision.

Although the anticipation of jump scares leaves you trembling in your seat, the graphics themselves are mediocre, certainly not as impressive as V-VR, Dead & Buried, or Wands. Nonetheless, the creepy experience makes Affected the Manor worth a try.

The Missed Spaceflight (Free)

The Missed Spaceflight is a brief two-minute experience that simulates a space-shuttle launch. Like most of the experiences in Oculus Go, the journey unfolds through the first person perspective: you are one of the astronauts, lying back in your seat and watching out the window as the craft propels you from earth to space.

While V-VR and Dead & Buried rate an 8 out of 10 in graphics, The Missed Spaceflight scores a 10 out of to 10. The graphics is as good as it can get, glimpsing into the future of what Oculus Go games could be.

Education
Titans of Space PLUS ($4.99)

For many of us, space travel is as probable as sprouting gills—but Titans of Space PLUS offers an experience that’s close enough.

This 60-minute experience (30 if you choose the short tour) takes you on a trip around the solar system. As you stop by each planet, the app presents interesting facts you likely have never known before, such as the planet’s distance from the sun and its size. Titans of Space is a fun and educational experience for anyone curious about our solar system.

Mondly: Learning Languages in VR ($4.99)

Planning to take a trip to France? Japan? How about Germany? If you want to learn a few phrases in those countries, you can do so with Mondly. This educational experience offers 30 languages, including Portuguese, Arabic, and Thai, and places you in a handful of situations where you would need to speak the foreign language you want to learn. For example, you can enter a situation in a hotel room, a train, a taxi, or a restaurant. The app then allows you to listen to the pronunciation of the phrases shown in the screen and mimic them using your microphone.

Ocean Rift ($9.99)

The ocean is filled with mysteries and unexplored territories. Ocean Rift gives you the opportunity to dive deep into our world’s oceans and watch sea creatures go about their daily lives.

Using your controller’s touch pad to swim, you explore 12 different habitats including coral reefs, shipwrecks, and lagoons. You can also choose between 11 sea creatures to meet including dolphins, sharks, turtles, orcas, sea snakes, rays, and even dinosaurs!

The Oculus Go store offers pages upon pages of games and apps you can download. But if you suddenly find yourself crippled with indecision, give one of these apps a try.

The post 10 Must-Try Games and Apps You Need in Your Oculus Go appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

What Does Snapchat’s Contract Say When You Sign Up for an Account?

May 30, 2018
Anna Hubbel

Did you read Snapchat's terms when signing up for an account? Didn't think so. #snapchat #socialmedia
Click To Tweet

You’ve finally given in and hopped into the Snapchat bandwagon. You’re in for a treat filled with spontaneous fun, crazy face filters, and awesome augmented reality.

When you sign up for a Snapchat account, as with other platforms, you are presented with a Terms of Service contract you are expected to comply with. But let’s be honest: most of us don’t read the nitty gritty details of these kinds of contracts. Oftentimes, it’s because they are just so long. However, their content is important; you should know what you’re agreeing to so it doesn’t become a problem later on.

What follows is a reader-friendly summary of Snap’s Terms of Service agreement for US-residing users.

You Must Be At Least 13 Years Old

To use Snapchat, you must be at least 13 years old, and you must agree and comply to the Terms of Service.

You Can Access all of Snap’s Features

Snap Inc. grants you a personal, worldwide, royalty free, non-assignable, non-exclusive, revocable, and non-sublicensable license to access and use all services related to the Snapchat app. Snap also grants access to updates, new features, and other benefits associated with the app to users who agree to the terms.

Additionally, Snap specifies that users are not to modify, sell, or lease any services associated with the Snapchat app unless given permission to do so.

Snapchat Can Use Your Content without Paying You

This information is very important because it details the rights you give Snap upon agreeing to its Terms and setting up an account. Essentially, you are giving Snap and its affiliates license to use any content you produce for the sole purpose of operating, developing, providing, promoting, and improving Snapchat services, as well as for research and development of new services or features.

The rights you give Snap also goes a little deeper than the aforementioned. You give the company “a perpetual license to create derivative works from, promote, exhibit, broadcast, syndicate, sublicense, publicly perform, and publicly display Public Content in any form and in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed).” Any public content you appear in or generate is also subject to Snap’s, its partners’, and other affiliates’ unrestricted right to use without any compensation to you.

Additionally, agreeing to Snap’s Terms gives the company the right to review or delete your content for any reason, such as a breach of the Terms contract. You also agree to allow Snap and third-party affiliates to deliver advertisements to you.

Snap Is Not Responsible for Content That Violates Terms

Although Snap says it does its best to review content, it cannot guarantee that content you come across on the Snapchat app will always be appropriate and in compliance with its Terms of Service. Any such content is the sole responsibility of the users or publishers who created it, so Snap must not be held responsible.

Companies Can Use Your Information

There are three categories of information Snap says it collects:

Information you choose to give Snap
Information Snap gets when you use its services
Information Snap gets from third parties

Snap explains in its Privacy Policy that it uses your information to create and improve its products and services. Additionally, Snap explains how companies may use some of your information on the Snapchat app to analyze and track data to inform advertising campaigns and you can control your data.

You Must Respect Other Users’ Rights

Snap says agreeing to its Terms means you agree to respect other users’ rights. Disrespect of those rights includes actions or behaviors that are the following:

Violation or infringement on someone else’s rights of publicity, privacy, copyright, trademark, or other intellectual-property right
Bullying, harassment, or intimidation
Defamation
Spam or solicitation
Use of others’ branding, logos, designs, photographs, videos, or any other materials used on Snapchat
Copying, archiving, downloading, uploading, distributing, syndicating, broadcasting, performing, displaying, making available, or otherwise using any of Snapchat’s services or content other than those that comply with the Terms
Use of Snapchat, any Snapchat tools, or any Snapchat content for any commercial purposes without Snap’s consent.

If you suspect someone has infringed upon a copyright you own, you should fill out Snap’s online form or send a notice to the following address:

Snap Inc.

Attn: Copyright Agent

63 Market Street

Venice, CA 90291

email: copyright@snap.com

The notice must comply with the requirements stipulated by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3).

You Must Not Do Harmful Activities on Snapchat

By agreeing to its Terms, you agree to keep the platform safe for other users by agreeing to the following rules:

You will not use Snapchat’s services for any purpose that is illegal or prohibited in Snap’s Terms.
You will not use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper, or other automated means or interface to access Snapchat’s Services or extract other users’ information.
You will not use or develop any third-party applications that interact with Snapchat’s services or other users’ content or information without Snap’s written consent.
You will not use Snapchat’s services in a way that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect, or inhibit other users from fully enjoying the app, or that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the functioning of the app’s Services.
You will not use or attempt to use other users’ accounts, usernames, or passwords without their permission.
You will not solicit login credentials from another user.
You will not post content that contains or links to pornography, graphic violence, threats, hate speech, or incitements to violence.
You will not upload viruses or other malicious code or otherwise compromise the security of the services.
You will not attempt to circumvent any content-filtering techniques Snapchat employs or attempt to access areas or features of the Services that you are not authorized to access.
You will not probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of Snapchat’s services or any system or network.
You will not encourage or promote any activity that violates Snap’s Terms.

You’re Responsible for Protecting Your Account

You are responsible for enacting responsible practices to keep your account secure, such as creating a strong password. Common sense is expected of you, as well as adherence to the following rules:

You will not create more than one account for yourself.
You will not create another account if Snap has already disabled your account, unless you have the company’s written permission to do so.
You will not buy, sell, rent, or lease access to your Snapchat account, Snaps, a Snapchat username, or a friend’s link without Snap’s written permission.
You will not share your password.
You will not log in or attempt to access Snapchat’s Services through unauthorized third-party applications or clients.

You Can Opt Out of Data Storage

You can opt out of using Memories, a data storage feature, in your settings or set a passcode for access if you so choose. Your Memories content may be subject to deletion if Snap decides to terminate your account due to a violation of its Terms. Snap also recommends keeping a backup copy of your Memories content if it becomes unavailable for any reason.

You Are Responsible for Data Charges

Any data or mobile charges from using Snapchat are your responsibility, not Snap’s. Any questions about such charges should be directed to your service provider prior to setting up your Snapchat account.

Snapchat Is Not Responsible for Third-Party Terms

If you use any services provided through the Snapchat app by a third party, Snap is not responsible for that party’s terms of service, which your activity with their third-party services may be subject to.

Snapchat Can Terminate Terms at Any Time

Snap reserves the right to modify or terminate any of its Terms, products, or services at any time without advance notice.

Indemnity

By agreeing to Snap’s Terms of Service, you indemnify, defend, and not hold responsible Snap Inc. and all affiliates “from and against any and all complaints, charges, claims, damages, losses, costs, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees) due to, arising out of, or relating in any way to: (a) your access to or use of the Services; (b) your content; and (c) your breach of these Terms.”

Snapchat Can’t Guarantee No Data Loss

Snap, although it will do its best to prevent them, does not guarantee that its Snapchat services will always be free of annoyances, disruptions, damages, or loss of data.

You Must Settle Any Disputes through Binding Individual Arbitration

By agreeing to Snap’s Terms of Service, you’re agreeing to settle any disputes through binding individual arbitration, and the disputes must be litigated exclusively in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Additionally, excluding instances where they must adhere to US federal law, Snap’s Terms of Service and any claims or disputes are governed by California laws.

Snapchat Can Severe Unenforceable Terms

Snap will sever any provision detailed in its Terms determined to be unenforceable. Anything that is severed will not affect any other provisions.

Additional Terms and Final Terms

Snap says it reserves the right to add new Terms that new or existing services may dictate are needed. Additionally, the company stipulates that these Terms of Service are to be adhered to in full and that the transfer of your rights or obligations under them is not permitted without Snap’s consent.

If you’re an advertiser, there are additional policies created specifically for Snapchat Ads to keep the platform fun and safe for all users.

The post What Does Snapchat’s Contract Say When You Sign Up for an Account? appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Ethically Steal Competitors’ Customers

May, 29 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Ethically Steal Competitors' Customers #business #marketingstrategy #advertising
Click To Tweet

As if attracting new customers for your business wasn’t hard enough, you also have to worry about losing customers to your competition. Getting customers to switch from your competition without appearing desperate makes it even more challenging.

Targeting your competitors’ customers—convincing them that your business is better than those other guys’s—takes a lot of careful strategies. You want to prove that your product or service is better, and you want to do it while still preserving your ethical integrity. Extensive research is the best way to do this. As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Here are various ways to ethically steal your competitors’ customers.

Identify Your Key Competitors

Who’s offering a product or service similar to yours? How successful or well known are they across social networks?

For example, we all know Coca-Cola and Pepsi are big rivals, as are Verizon and AT&T, Google and Amazon, Instagram and Snapchat. That’s not to say you only have one major competitor; there are likely multiple rivals you need to watch out for. Identify which ones present the biggest challenge to your business and which ones have customers you want in your target audience.

Research Your Competitors’ Customer Base

Look at the customers who are responding to or interacting with your competition’s social media ads and posts. For example, look at who’s commenting on a Facebook or Instagram ad, who’s using hashtags relevant to your competition, or who’s sharing your competition’s content. Take note of the kind of content that appears to generate the most engagement because this will inform you about what attracts your target customers.

Interview the Competitor’s Customers

As you gather more and more information about your competitors’ customers, you can reach out to them for interviews about their customer experience with your rivals. Keep the interviews brief but thorough enough to obtain useful information for your campaign. For instance, learn what it is they like or dislike about your competition or what they want to see more or less of. This is also a good opportunity to demonstrate your business’s excellent customer service. You can even offer a discount or free sample of your product or service as an incentive.

Analyze Your Competitors’ Ad Designs and Performance

After you’ve examined the customer engagement levels of your competition’s marketing content, you should analyze which ad designs and formats perform the best for your rivals. Perhaps your target audience engages more with video demos than with photos or graphics. Or maybe certain color schemes generate more interest than others. Record your findings in a document or spreadsheet to inform your own campaigns.

Offer a Solution Your Competitors Don’t Have

When writing ad copy or creating video marketing messages, we’re always told to communicate to customers how a product or service presents a solution to a problem. If you’re targeting your competitors’ audience, you take that idea a step further: present a solution to a problem that your rival’s product or service doesn’t provide.

For example, while both Gillette and Dollar Shave Club offer a solution to unwanted body and facial hair, Dollar Shave Club offers a slew of other products in addition to razors, such as shave butter, and delivers them straight to your door for one very reasonable price. In this case, the brand is offering the solutions of pre- and post-shave products for skin conditioning and a low price to address problems Gillette does not strongly promote in its campaigns.

Offer Better Customer Service

Research the various customer services your rivals provide and explore ways you can offer even better customer service. For example, if your competitor doesn’t use Facebook Messenger to communicate with its customers, expand your customer service to incorporate Messenger bots. Your target audience may find the speed and convenience of your Messenger bots in addressing their customer needs to be just the thing to sway them over to your business. Even if your product or service is equal in value to that of your competition, excellent customer service can bring the balance in your favor.

Photo Courtesy of Messenger Developer Blog
Use Information Facebook Provides to Your Advantage

Facebook tries to make its platform as transparent as possible for users. Part of that effort includes providing information about business’s advertisements. When you see a competitor’s ad in News Feed, if you select the three dots at the top right corner of the ad, you will see the option that reads “Why am I seeing this?” Selecting that option allows you to see a brief summary of the advertiser’s target demographic. You can use this information to inform your own audience targeting.

You can also use Facebook’s interest-based targeting when making Facebook ads to see if your competitor is listed as an interest you want to target. By selecting your rival in this list, your ad will target customers who are interested in your competition.

Use YouTube Ads to Disrupt Competitors’ Videos

If you choose to use YouTube in your marketing strategy, through careful targeting and compelling video creation, you can disrupt your competitor’s videos. All you need to do is make a memorable and stunning TrueView video ad and target your ad to reach anyone who searches for videos by your competitor. When someone starts to watch a video by your rival, your ad will play first.

With all this newly-gained knowledge about reaching your rival’s customer base, before you dive deep into your marketing strategy, you should keep in mind that product comparison might not be the best strategy for your campaign.

The post How to Ethically Steal Competitors’ Customers appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Increase Post Engagement on Twitter

May 28, 2018
Anna Hubbel

How to Increase Post Engagement on Twitter. #socialmediastrategy #socialmediamarketing #socialmediahacks
Click To Tweet

Sometimes you post a Tweet that brings in all kinds of engagement, mentions, retweets, likes, the works. Other times, you post a Tweet that falls flat. No one seems interested. How can you create Tweets that are engaging every time and not just some of the time? To increase your engagement on Twitter, you’ll want to adhere to the following best practices.

Schedule Tweets to Post Frequently

Tweets, on average, have a lifespan of 18 minutes. This means, in order to keep users engaged, you need to tweet at a consistent frequency. To ensure you tweet frequently without over-tweeting, schedule Tweets using a scheduling tool like Hootsuite. WIth a scheduling tool, you can schedule Tweets, observe whether they’re generating engagement, make lists of users you want to stay in tune with, and create streams to stay up-to-date, all in one convenient dashboard.

Connect with Influencers

Connecting with influencers who have a high social-authority ranking (users who have a large, authentic following) is a good way to reach other users who may be interested in your business. Because influencers who tweet about topics relevant to your business have a good reputation with their followers, following these influencers, mentioning them in Tweets, and retweeting or liking their content is a smart social media strategy. To find active and authentic Twitter influencers, use Followerwonk, a site that allows you to search for and identify key influencers in your topic and audience of interest.

Use Trending Hashtags

There’s always a new hashtag dominating Twitter. Search for and identify trending hashtags that users are using. If there’s a way to relate a trending hashtag to your business, use the hashtag in your Tweets while it is still popular. This will make your Tweet more likely to appear in the feeds and search results of users who have used or interacted with that hashtag.

Everyday, Twitter features trending Tweets.
Respond Promptly to Mentions and Retweets

Because users’ interest is fleeting, when they do engage with your Tweets, you need to respond as quickly as possible. Immediacy is a virtue in social media marketing so respond promptly to mentions and retweets. Doing so will improve your customer relationships and keep users interested.

Include Compelling Images in Tweets

Visuals are always a surefire way to get users interested. Users tend to pause mid-scroll to look at the image in their feed. To get them to look at it longer and like or retweet your post, you need to make the image captivating. The image should also clearly and quickly communicate your message. Infographics and images with quotes often perform well on Twitter.

Post Compelling Videos

Professional, high-quality videos with a unique and interesting hook are also a great way to boost user engagement. But avoid posting videos that are too salesy. Demos, inspirational messages, and success stories are some good examples of videos to post.

Share Links and Shortened Links

According to Blog 2 Social, you can triple your retweets by sharing links on Twitter. Using shortened links, in addition, makes Tweets containing links look more attractive and less spammy. By including links in your Tweets, you can both increase engagement and direct traffic to your website.

Repurpose High-Quality Content

You can repurpose content that performed well in the past, as long as it’s something you created originally and haven’t shared on a different Twitter account. Of course, don’t retweet the post so soon after originally tweeting it.

Incorporate Humor with GIFs and Memes

Twitter users love GIFs and memes. They’re the icing on the cake of a witty Tweet. Keep your followers laughing and liking your Tweets by sharing humorous GIFs and memes. (But try to keep it professional to preserve the integrity of your business.)

Users often post memes on Twitter.
Tweet at Optimal Times throughout the Day

Here are the best times to tweet according to Blog 2 Social:

Morning: 8 a.m.–10 a.m.
Midday: 11 a.m.–1 p.m.
After work: 4 p.m.–7 p.m.

Because your specific audience may be more engaged during times not listed above, you need to become familiar with your audience to determine the most effective time to tweet.

Be Clear and Use CTAs

Nothing is more frustrating than a Tweet users can’t understand. Use direct, clear language to share your message. Also, don’t be afraid to use call-to-actions like “please retweet” or “follow us.” Sometimes users need a clear invitation to engage with your Tweets.

Ask Questions

If you’re having a difficult time reading your audience, sometimes all you have to do is ask for feedback. Twitter users have opinions, and they’re not afraid to share them. Questions can also be useful in starting conversations about trending topics.

Use Emojis

Twitter says using cute emojis in Tweets is a fun way to engage with other users. Use emojis to convey an emotion or to simply punctuate your message. Experiment with different emojis and see if any in particular prompts more engagement over another.

Use Promoted Tweets

If you’re interested in a Twitter campaign, using promoted Tweets can help you reach your target audience. The best part is you only pay if users engage with your content: Tweets that users see but not interact with are free.

Promoted Tweets, such as this, help increase engagement.
Make Announcements

You can use Twitter as a digital billboard where you can post announcements for your business. However, you should only tweet announcements that users want to know about. For instance, if you own an ice cream shop, and you just added a new flavor to your menu, you could announce the new flavor, creatively, with images or video, in a Tweet.

After following these best tweeting practices, if you’re lucky, you may also get some users to save your Tweets.

The post How to Increase Post Engagement on Twitter appeared first on AdvertiseMint.

How to Add Partners to Your Pinterest Account

May 27, 2018
Anna Hubbel

You’ve decided to incorporate Pinterest into your digital advertising strategy. Congratulations! The pin platform is a fun and creative tool for reaching potential customers using primarily visual elements.

To optimize your Pinterest marketing experience, you need a business profile. This way, you can enjoy the full benefits of Pinterest Analytics to inform your advertising strategy. Once you have a business profile, you can proceed to add ad accounts and put out stellar ads.

If you’re new to Pinterest advertising, it’s highly recommended that you partner with a digital advertising agency or an experienced specialist to give you the best bang for your buck. You can add these people to your ad account as admins, giving them the ability to create and edit ads. If you have more than one person who will be responsible for different tasks, you can add multiple people to the account.

In order to add people to your Pinterest ad account, each person you add must have an email associated with their own Pinterest business profile.

Here’s How
Step 1: Go to your ads manager on Pinterest. Click the dropdown on the top right. Select “View all” under the “Shared with me” tab.

Step 2: Select “Add people to this account.”

Step 3: Enter the business profile information of the people you want to add. Use commas if adding more than one person. Select “Search.” In the search results, select the person or partner you want to add and you’re done!

The post How to Add Partners to Your Pinterest Account appeared first on AdvertiseMint.