The Future of Digital Marketing: Five Trends to Leverage a Small Business Opportunity

Jameson General Store was a historical treasure in the small North Carolina Community. Jim Jameson, the owner, had been part of the family legacy over 100 years old. The company had seen bad times, including The Great Depression. However, their hard work and customer loyalty had sustained the company’s success. Even when a neighboring community got its Walmart’s Marketplace Store, their customers remained loyal. Jim did not believe in utilizing online advertising and social media platforms. He believed that these activities were only a fad. Yet, their customers gradually started shopping online because Jameson General Store was limited in its product offerings. In fact, most of the business that Jameson Store lost was not to local competitors, but online sellers. Jim was adamant about resisting the temptation about shopping online. Yet, when he saw his own 10-year-old grandson purchase a difficult item to locate in the area online at significant costs, Jim had to ponder his current marketing strategy with the changing landscape in the nation.Today’s customers can purchase a variety of items online with minimum effort. Given this scenario, brick and mortar companies are fighting to stay alive with the fierce internet competition. According to a 2017 survey conducted by Square and Mercury Analytics looking at 1,164 U.S. business owners, the following observations were made:

96% of Americans with internet access have made an online purchase in their life, 80% in the past month alone.

51% of Americans prefer to shop online.

67% of Millennials and 56% of Gen Xers prefer to shop online rather than in-store.

Millennials and Gen Xers spend nearly 50% as much time shopping online each week (six hours) than their older counterparts (four hours).

51% of seniors have shopped on marketplaces, 66% at large retailer sites, 30% on web stores or independent boutiques, and 44% at category-specific online stores.

Marketing professionals understand the importance of the internet and how to effectively leverage this power. According to Socialmedia.com, 90% of marketers use social media for their businesses. Sadly, many small businesses do not recognize this fact. Many businesses had opted to bury their heads in the sand in hopes that this ‘internet thing’ will go away. It hadn’t!In fact, e-Commerce is growing more than 23% annually; however, 46% of American small businesses do not have a website according to Square and Mercury Analytics research. This article focuses on how small businesses can leverage digital marketing to achieve greater success and enhance their market opportunities.Digital marketing should be a tool that every serious small business should utilize. Digital marketing goes by many names such as e-commerce marketing, online marketing, and internet marketing. Digital marketing can be defined as “the marketing of products or services using digital channels to reach consumers.” The key objective is to promote brands the usage of the internet.Digital marketing extends beyond internet marketing to include channels that do not require the use of the internet. Some digital marketing channels include websites, social media platforms, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, podcasts, and online advertising to name a few. Beyond technology gimmicks, businesses should know their customers and their core competencies. Digital marketing is not a silver bullet. Digital marketing is a tool for the savvy business professional.Catherine Juan, Donnie Greiling, and Catherine Buerkle, authors of Internet Marketing: Start to Finish, suggest that effective digital marketing requires plenty of careful planning. They add, “The heart of getting real traction out of your internet marketing program is to tie marketing and sales data together, with metrics. Track what you’re doing, track the impact, and track the resulting sales.” Looking at the landscape of technology and internet innovation, small businesses should think strategically about the following five digital marketing trends:• Artificial Intelligence – Some people develop elaborate doom-day scenarios of machines to control the world. However, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a way of life in marketing. AI can be defined as ‘the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.’ Voice Activation technology like Amazon’s Echo is bringing AI into public attention. By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their purchases without interacting with a person.• Internet Searching – Buyers are more knowledgeable than ever with access to the internet. In fact, 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making big purchases. Thus, exploring how to utilize search engine optimization and getting your business at the top of searches is an invaluable step.• Mobile Communications – Most Americans have grown accustomed to instant gratification and easy access to technology. Mobile and tablet e-commerce will reach $293B by 2018. Smartphone and tablets are part of this wave of innovation. Mobile will account for 72% of the U.S. digital ad spend by 2019. Marketers recognize that mobile marketing is an untapped business tool.• Social Media – Social media platforms, like Facebook, allows buyers to connect with each other virtually. 65% of business-to-business companies have acquired customers through LinkedIn ads. Marketers realize this value.• Web Content – Good content will attract customers. In fact, customers are more likely to purchase from sellers with good, relevant videos/photos on their website. 52% of marketing professionals globally name the video as the type of content with the best ROI.Faced with the tenants of competition, small businesses need to utilize digital marketing. Some small businesses may be hesitant to explore digital marketing due to their lack of trust and understanding of the internet. Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller, authors of Marketing Management, note “Top firms are comfortable using technology to improve the way they do business with their business-to-business customers.”This article demonstrated that today’s small businesses can utilize digital marketing to enhance their market opportunities. Hopefully, gaining this knowledge will help business owners so that they will not continue to bury their heads in the sand. The internet is here to stay. Pray that you are listening to this message.© 2017 by DD Green

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Opt For Preventive Care To Reduce The Cost of Healthcare

People often do not prioritize their health and visit the hospital or their doctors while detecting some disease-causing symptoms in their bodies. However, preventive care is the best possible way everyone can undertake and cease the risk factors before the symptoms become dangerous and life-threatening. The following article will focus completely on preventive health care and how it helps reduce further costs involved with healthcare.

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What is Preventive Care?

Preventive health care or prophylaxis involves the measures that people consider for preventing any diseases. The form of healthcare includes utilizing medical services or precautions that fight against the potential health crisis. It is the most important step that people can adopt in better management of their health.

Several factors such as genetic predisposition, lifestyle, environmental factors, and disease agents affect people’s health. Hence, everyone must undergo periodic health check-ups and screening tests from the doctors.

People opt for preventive health care for maintaining better health, and eliminating the disease becomes serious. Preventive care in conjunction with medicines will save a patient from health breakdown and save money from future expenses, especially if the patient is suffering from a chronic disease.

What are the Preventative Care Services?

Here are some of the examples of preventive health care services, along with their frequencies. ·

Annual Check-up (1 per calendar year): During the annual check-up, the doctor or Primary Care Provider (PCP) checks all areas of a person’s health, including physical and psychological. Examining the patients in detail helps in detecting any health care concerns in the early stages.

· Flu Shot (1 per year): Most health plans include flu shots and protect the patients from all strains of flu viruses.

· Mammogram (1 calendar year, after the patient attains the age of 40 years): Patients over the age of 40 must undergo routine x-rays of breast tissues and check for signs of cancer and other abnormalities. Some health plans might cover the costs of 3D imaging. ·

Colonoscopy (usually once in every decade after the age of 50) for detecting colon cancer.

· Vaccinations, including boosters for such as measles, rubella, polio, etc. administered during childhood.

Preventive health care helps keep people productive and active, enabling them to earn well during their senior years. Studies show that approximately 35% of people have to consider early retirement, even before they are financially ready. Opting for affordable, preventive care helps in reducing the numbers.

Why Should Patients Opt for Preventive Care?

Access to preventive health care helped reduce healthcare costs among Americans, as the physicians can prevent or treat the disease before the patient needs emergency room (ER) care. Almost one-third of costs in America include hospital care, which is undoubtedly very expensive. In 2010, 21.4% of adults paid at least a visit to the emergency room, which reduced to 18.6% in 2017. Adults not having affordable access to preventive care are more likely to pay a couple of visits to the emergency room.

Statistics show that 7% of the adults in the age group of 18-64 paid visits to the ER in 2014, as they had no other option, regardless of their health insurance status. About 77% of Americans went to the emergency rooms due to complications in their health, including those whose doctors advised them for emergency room care. Approximately 15.4% of uninsured adults in 2014 are more likely to use the emergency room, as they lacked other providers.

Undoubtedly, the cost of ER care for uninsured patients was extremely high. Hospitals provide care, even if the patient fails to provide fees for their services. As hospitals must recover the cost, they shift to Medicaid and health insurance premiums, which increases the healthcare cost for everyone.

Impact of Preventive Care Cost on Health Care Costs

Chronic diseases are the major leading cause of death among people, either preventable or manageable with regular visits to health care. These include:

· Heart diseases

· Cancer

· Stroke and

· Chronic lower respiratory diseases

Poor nutrition and obesity are the leading cause of heart disease and stroke. Genetics and smoking lead to lung cancer, which is the most common type of cancer. Obesity also risks several other forms of cancer.

Treating these chronic diseases is expensive, even before they reach emergency room status. Approximately 90% of the 3.5 trillion USD includes health care expenditures for people suffering psychological problems and chronic diseases. Patients who never went for preventative care or did not have any prescription coverage failed to afford the treatments, screenings, regular check-ups, and medications that would manage the underlying conditions of the disease. Instead, they head up to the emergency rooms with cases of strokes, heart attacks, and other complications.

However, with regular access to affordable, preventive care, the patients were more likely to discover and manage their chronic conditions. Doing so lowers the chances of visiting the emergency rooms and investing more into expensive treatments for those diseases, which passed regular management. With the decrease in the expenditure for treatments, the overall healthcare cost also decreases for everyone, as the hospitals no longer try to cover the treatment cost of the uninsured patients.

When and What Preventive Health Care is the Most Suitable?

A patient’s primary health care provider will help him or her coordinate the most suitable shots and tests. While analyzing the beneficial shots, the health care provider will consider certain aspects such as family history, age, sex, current health status, and several other factors.

Conclusion

Preventive health care often covers 100% of health plans and offers the patients several benefits both in cost and health. However, if the patient experiences doubts or are in dilemmas about the things covered and tests conducted, he or she must communicate with the physician at the earliest.

Everyone knows, “health is wealth.” If a patient is healthy, he or she will perform the best. However, it is also important to adopt a healthy lifestyle, reducing the risk factors and saving the patients from spending money on medicines.

5 Online Video Editors without Watermarks

With video sharing at an all-time high across all social media platforms, using an online video editor makes your life easy. For example, the YouTube Platform alone uploads millions of videos a week. The right tool can give you a competitive edge. Thus, finding an editor with no watermarks is your best ally to promote your business with video content. After all, watermarks distract viewers when it comes to branding. Need an online video editor with no watermarks? Take a look at the top choices below.

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Factors to Weigh When Selecting an Online Video Editor
With so many video editors online, it can be overwhelming to pick just one. Though most of them share the same purpose of crafting stunning videos, they are not created equal. Even online video editor tools share different characteristics. Here are some factors you must weigh when selecting a digital solution:

Some online video editors are free to use with no watermarks. This is your best bet when you have a limited budget. However, others require a fee so you can remove the watermark. Most editors also offer tiered rates that provide more features the higher the level. Thus, when choosing an editing tool, you must assess your budget and your purpose. All of this will tell you how much you can afford to spend.

The Price
Online video makers come with a broad range of features, from hundreds of transitions to funky animation. The key is finding the tool that you feel comfortable working with. If you have computer memory issues, then pick an editor with cloud-based storage help. Similarly, having access to templates and footage will be helpful for newbies. Most of all, finding a tool with “no watermark” is a priority

The User Interface
Some digital tools are quite complicated. There’s a learning curve, so you need to study first before feeling at ease to use the tool. If you’re new to this field, finding a video maker with an easy user interface works best. Consequently, this means you don’t have to spend hours editing. With drag and drop features and a few clicks of the mouse, you will enjoy the finished product in a matter of minutes.

The Objectives
If you intend to create video ads for your business, then access to a business suit with professional themes works best. When releasing short video commercials, you definitely cannot choose an online video editor with watermarks. It will confuse your target market because they may end up thinking you’re advertising some other product.

Top 5 Video Solutions With NO Watermarks
If you need to create ads, tutorials, explainers, and other videos with no watermark fret not. These top five solutions assure you can create stunning works of art without other people’s branding. Let’s get started.

Promo.com
This lives up to its name by helping you promote your brand well on social media and anywhere else. It offers free to use with no distracting watermarks. Even the basic package comes with lots of templates and free music that assures you can create with ease. If you want to enjoy more features, you can pay for an affordable upgrade. This tool assures you can access:

Thousands of pre-designed templates
Millions of stock video clips and photos
Extensive copyright-free music
Ability to do voice-overs
Animation, effects, transition
Background, colors, fonts
Moreover, if you feel unsure about what to do, 24/7 live chat support is ready to offer assistance anytime. You can actually chat with a real-life customer service agent and not some random bot.

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Movie Maker Online
The biggest perk of Movie Maker Online is there are no registration requirements. Just hop onto the site and start editing. There’s no need to download on your PC and install. Most of all, it is free to use, and your final product will have no site labels or watermarks.

This online video editor lets you upload your photos and footage with ease. Moreover, you can add effects, transitions, and music. Best of all, other than editing videos, this tool allows you to:

Edit photos
Make animations
Create collages
Craft slideshows
Make GIFs
WeVideo
If you want to upload stuff from your phone gallery and have the final edited output within seconds, WeVideo is a great ally. It is compatible with android and iOS mobile. Moreover, it also works with your PC without downloading it. It provides a cloud-based storage system that offers unlimited saves.

In addition, WeVideo allows you to upload and edit any file format. You can swiftly edit, no matter where you are, and immediately share on your site or social media profiles. This allows you to enjoy these perks:

Free stock photos
Extensive video clips
Free music
Various effects
Hippo Video
Try Hippo, another online video editor with no watermark. This tool means you don’t have to download any software. As long as you have internet access, you can edit in the virtual world. This tool allows you to import and export any files from the following:

Gmail
Google Suite
Google Drive
Other cloud-based storage apps
This solution has everything to satisfy your needs. Enjoy its library packed with clips, photos, effects, and music. You can trim, cut, blur, add emojis, or include callout options. Moreover, you will enjoy using templates for whatever you want to create. Best of all, Hippo Video allows you to narrate using the mic tool.

VSCD Free Video Editor
This wonderful tool has no download, no ads, and no watermarks. Just download this software from its site, and you can begin editing. However, your device must meet certain specifications so the app will run.

From there, you can edit all types of file formats and enjoy super effects. With your mouse, you can readily alter images and footage. It also comes with a chroma key that helps you adjust color. Moreover, it has an excellent audio editor for the best sound equalization and volume correction.

The Final Wrap Up
With so many online video editors, it can be overwhelming to choose just one. However, it is okay to have a few editors in your marketing tool kit. And a digital solution with no watermark works best because it will help solidify your branding. Remember, the right tool plays a crucial part in ensuring you edit and share high-quality video content that makes an impact.

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