When we talk about marketing, it is very important to establish the differences between operational marketing and strategic marketing. They are two complementary marketing branches, which must be dealt with in the same strategy, although this is not always the case.

While operational marketing is developed in the short term, as are the marketing actions themselves, strategic marketing occurs in the medium and long time. It is the cornerstone around which our marketing actions will pivot.

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Strategic Marketing: Long-Term Market Opportunities

Strategic marketing is the market knowledge and analysis methodology. That aims to detect market opportunities that allow the company to meet users’. Needs more effectively than the competition.

In other words, strategic marketing seeks to solve the unmet needs of users, taking advantage of the new market opportunities that exist. From this competitive strategy, operational marketing actions will be developed.

Gone are when a new product was designed and launched on the market, even creating the need for users. The current way of functioning of the markets is based on analyzing the users’ needs. And then those products or services are developed to cover them. Thus, those responsible for strategic marketing must detect. These new markets and their attractiveness, study the effects, analyze the competition, and look for the advantage they can obtain against the competition.

How is Strategic Marketing Characterized?

1. Long-term Goals

Its most significant element is the long-term vision. Which forces us to efficiently carry out a series of actions before planning. To coordinate operational and strategic marketing strategies efficiently. Logically, the first thing we need will be a market analysis that allows us to get an idea. Of ​​the economic situation in general and our market in particular. Only then will we discover the unmet needs of users and why they aren’t.

2. Define your Target Audience

We will also have to segment our target audience. We must draw a profile of our services’ ideal user, their needs, challenges, and characteristics. Consumers are the central axis of any marketing strategy, and they are becoming more critical and demanding. Only then will we know who to turn to and know what to offer to study the competition. From the analysis of our rivals, at least the most important ones. We can draw interesting conclusions such as their products and prices.Their strategies, and how we can improve their offer. And take advantage of the differential factor.

3. Design the Strategy

With all the information collected, we can define the marketing strategy that we will carry out. There are many variants: portfolio strategies, functional, segmentation, positioning, growth, customer loyalty …

Within these strategies, some can be complemented. While others are more suitable for a specific moment in the evolution of the product’s life. Thanks to them, we can also define very clear, realistic and achievable objectives or missions that guide our efforts.

4. Decide Missions, Milestones, Objectives to Conquer

Within the coexistence between strategic marketing and operational marketing. We must use all the information we have to plan our campaigns. We have already defined the long and medium-term strategy and the missions or milestones that we want to achieve. Hence, we only have to design short-term -operative- actions to fulfil them.

It is also important that while designing this strategy. We prepare a plan to face any crisis that may be triggered. And remain prepared to act In these situations where marketing can remain key to recovery.

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Quora

Whenever we have questions, we turn to the Internet. All you have to do remain do a Google search to find out what year something happened, where a certain place stay, how a word remain written. But there are more difficult questions to answer and that we need other people to help us. That is why tools like Quora remain born that help us ask experts about specific topics, about doubts that are not available on the Internet to be resolved.

Quora is one of the best websites to ask questions, but it is not the only one. Many Quora alternatives allow us to solve our doubts on the Internet thanks to a large community of people who give us answers.

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What is Quora?

Quora remain a platform specialized in questions. Although it is common for us to ask for help on other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram itself, none remain designed to ask and answer questions. Yes, Quora is a question-and-answer social network born more than ten years ago and whose purpose is for users to know information on any topic. For a little less than five years, Quora has also been available in Spanish, and we can use it to satisfy our curiosity about anything we need.

What Quora allows is to share your knowledge with other Internet users and have information on all the topics you want. Quora remain usually focused on experts in the field and not so that anyone can give their opinion without knowing what remain being discussed.

Quora’s main difference with some of the alternatives that we will see, such as Yahoo! Answers, is that the first is a more serious option. It seeks to remain formal, designed for experts, and not for exchanging information and knowledge.

 Yahoo! Answers

A classic and mythical: Yahoo! Answers is a website where you will find an answer to everything you imagine, beyond the usual laughs that we can see if we dive through the web. A huge community remain divided into categories in which you can find answers to anything you can think of, from art and humanities to restaurants or music or businesses. Whatever it is, it’s on Yahoo! Answers. One of the excessive advantages is that you will not need to register to read all the available answers. You will need to record or log in to ask a question and wait for others to answer

Irrespective of whether or not you want to know about something, Yahoo! Answers is a way to discover new things or find answers that will make you have a good time. If you respond to other users and help, you will get points. Users will be able to see which answers are better, give like, etc. It stay one of the alternatives to Quora that you can use, although it remain not so focused on experts but on anyone who can give their opinion, and there remain many “absurd” questions that we will find on this website and that we all already know.

Twitter

At the beginning of this text, Twitter remain not a tool designed to ask questions and answers, but it is usually the best option if you want a quick response to something and if you have a large number of followers. Besides, thanks to the question’s virtualization, you will surely find someone who knows how to tell you what is happening or give you a solution. From book or movie recommendations to questions to find a restaurant, bar, removals

medical

Although it is not the best we can do, we always turn to the Internet when we want to inform ourselves of any disease or pathology. That is why medico remain a fully recommended application that answers your medical questions and one of Quora’s best alternatives if you are looking for answers about health. It is an application for iOS and Android, and it does not have a web version, in which you can access a 24-hour medical chat with health specialists to have immediate answers.

You have unlimited consultation, and you can ask as many times as you want. You can send photographs, analytics, or reports to give more information and help the professional give you the advice you need. The application is free, and you have doctors available at the moment, although there is a paid version that will allow you always to have answers . Psychologists, sexologists, pediatricians, dermatologists, etc.

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A successful content marketing campaign is made up of 3 things: great content, visibility on search engines, and promoting it to the followers. We already know how to create content and making it visible on search engines. Now let’s see the various ways in which the content could be promoted.

The day when your content goes live:You would like to get the word out on the day your content is going live. Here are some ways of doing it:

ο Send newsletters to all in your e-mail list each time your content goes live
ο Send promotional e-mails with landing page. Consider creating an HTML e-mail to promote it to your list
ο Tweet about the post and do it four times in a day. Research on the time when you could get visibility from more prospects.
ο Post it on LinkedIn. It’s a good practice to include a comment to introduce the post. The same could be done on Facebook and other relevant social media platforms.

The week after your content goes live:You could continue to promote the content throughout the week, however don’t overdo it. The social profile pages should have something more in addition to the promotion of your posts.

ο In addition to the above mentioned points to post your content on social media, make sure that each and every +1’s, likes and comments are responded to.
ο Tweet or post at the highest response times on each social network.

Continual Promotional activities: Promotion is not a short term process. It is an ongoing process. And it’s a two-way traffic. The mantra is simple – in order to increase interaction, interact.

ο Create a list of influential tweeters and bloggers in your industry and increase interaction with them.
ο Link to the bloggers.
ο Send an e-mail to high value contact when you create something that might interest them.
ο Ask for tweets to all those you feel that your content might be useful to them and they may like it.
ο Leave comment on other people’s blogs to gain attention from them.

I personally liked the example given at my Content Marketing Institute in one of its posts on an affiliate marketing company called iDevAffilitate (https://www.idevdirect.com) and its being doing a great job by using social media for its [content] marketing. It has managed to create a buzz for itself by engaging customers and prospective customers. A look at the likes in the below given image will say it all:

Summary:

If you want to take the content marketing strategy, also the online marketing strategy wholly to the next level, there are some serious things to consider. Keeping the overall business and marketing goals in the center is the key. Also, it is vital to ensure that everything starting from the concept to the distribution is carried out keeping these goals in mind. Having an adept content marketing team and setting up internal processes will make the task a whole lot smoother.

Watermarking is one of the oldest methods of protecting files. Papermakers from Italy were already practicing watermarking by designing their documents with Greek symbols. They used these symbols to represent their business.

Now, watermarking is one of the most known ways to protect files and photos online. You can use an Add Watermark to PDF Tool which lets you place watermarks and images for files that you want to secure.

What is Watermarking?

Watermarking is the act of placing a text or a logo on a document. Centuries ago, a watermark could only be seen if the paper is held high facing the light, or if the paper is still wet. Back in those days, papers were watermarked while they were wet, hence the term watermark.

A watermark is easy to apply to documents of different file types and is used mainly to protect these documents. By putting a logo or a text in the file, you’re making people know that you own the rights to a specific document. Watermarking a document sends the message that the file content cannot be used or replicate without proper authorization.

Another use of watermarking a document is to promote and market your brand by letting others know that you own the file. This is because the watermark itself usually represents the owner of the document or the copyright. If not a simple symbol, the watermark can be as intricate as a patterned design or copyright logos. Having complex designs gives more protection to the document.

What an Effective Watermark Does in the Online World

There are several reasons why documents are watermarked these days. Watermark is one of the trusted ways to secure files that contain proprietary and highly confidential information.

You can protect your documents from online thieves by making an effective watermark design. If you want to copyright a document, you make an effective watermark by placing a symbol atop the image or a document. It sends a message to the online audience that the file cannot be used or altered without the owner’s permission. An effective watermark prevents virtual thieves from using your files without your consent.

A watermark may also be used in categorizing a document. It indicates the current state of a document with watermarks such as “Void,” “Draft,” or “Original.” Having these labels ensures your files are handled properly, organizing these by classification as you finish your work.

It can also be a reminder to the receiver of the file to treat the document with utmost confidentiality by simply watermarking it with “Confidential.” This way, the recipient is expected to be more careful with the file by not leaving their device unattended. You can personalize a watermark to include the recipient’s details.

Watermarking is also used for marketing purposes. Just like an artist signs his or her work, putting a digital watermark in your work increases brand awareness. Whenever you permit netizens to share your work, your brand will always be part of the art they share. Using watermark as a branding tactic promotes marketing your work to a broader audience if your work goes viral.

Aside from the marketing use of a watermark, it also helps limit the replication of the document. Netizens may take ownership of a file without a watermark by simply downloading or taking a screenshot of the file. Protection with a it also makes it easier for the copyright holder to prove ownership if the watermark represents the owner.

The watermark identifies your ownership and can help determine the unauthorized distribution of the file, even if your file is shared or replicated without your consent. A watermarked file can track where the leak is coming from by following the recipient. This also makes netizens more careful with the document they share for fear they might be traced back to them.

If you are selling your documents online, watermarking your work is an intelligent way to keep your files secure. It enables potential buyers to view your work while preventing thieves from stealing or altering your work.

You can also watermark the photos and files you upload online. Uploading files online does not permit online audiences to reuse your photos. Therefore, watermarking photos that are near and dear to you can protect the things you find sentimental that you share in the digital world.

When is a Watermark Ineffective?

Having a watermark is not enough to protect your file. There are other factors to guarantee its effectiveness. First, a visible design plays a role in preventing unauthorized use. A less visible watermark is not that effective as it can be easily removed or edited. Hence, it’s best to use a it with a semi-transparent design covering a big part of the file.

The positioning of the watermark is also a factor in a watermark’s effectiveness. If a watermark is small and placed in a plain area of your file, it may be quickly taken out by those who want to take your document. Online pirates remove watermarks in documents they believe they can make appear like a whole file. Small watermarks can be easily cropped and photoshopped out of the file. Placing the watermark in a complex or detailed part of the document makes it difficult for virtual thieves to keep your document intact.

Conclusion

Watermarking has been used for centuries by those aiming to promote their businesses and market their brand. In the digital world, where document theft is rampant, it has been deemed as one of the most effective ways to secure files posted online.

To effectively secure your files, choose to watermark the subject of your file. You can also opt to watermark a huge portion of your file to protect the watermark from being cropped out of the file. To retain the quality, use a semi-transparent design so the original file is still visible.

Stealing photos online can be as simple as saving the file and redistributing it. As much as we hope to make the online world safe from file thieves, we have to be smarter in posting and protecting our files.