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Facebook Launches Own Dating Feature Plus New Exciting Add Ons

In the recent F8 2019, Facebook’s 10th Annual Development Conference held last April 30 – May 1, 2019, at San Jose, California, the social media giant has launched its own dating feature. Does this mean Facebook is going full blown Tinder? Technically, not.

The reason behind this latest feature called Secret Crush is the idea brought about by the feedbacks received by Facebook. A number of users see the potential of developing a romantic relationship within their extended circle of friends.

Here’s how it works: You can select up to 9 of your Facebook friends that you are interested with. If your Secret Crush is also into Facebook Dating, they will receive a notification that someone within their pool of friends has assigned them as their secret crush. For instance, your secret crush also added you on their Secret Crush list, the Facebook Dating feature will automatically set-up a match. So what is the difference among other dating apps in the market? Security – your crush will never know or find out if you have a secret crush on him or her if they are not using the feature or if they do not create a list.

So, is that all?

Nope. The good news for social media marketers is that the Facebook Dating feature is just one of the recent updates of the world’s top social media app. The recent announcements do not necessarily focus on dating, in fact, they have also launched various updates that will actually improve user experience and intensify market reach through social media.

Image courtesy of FACEBOOOK

The FB5

Facebook will be launching the new design for the desktop version of their site called the FB5. In the next few months, we may expect a simpler yet sleeker desktop view of our favorite social media site. This also highlights Groups and gives a greater focus on events and stories. This is the perfect opportunity for you to actually explore the chances of reaching out to your target market in a more specific way by creating Group pages apart from your business page. Since the new design creates a more substantial approach on suggesting groups to users, this update can be of great use.

Messenger Updates

The social media site now allows you to create automated tailored experiences that can actually connect your target market with the right person or content for them. There are also new lead generation templates that you can choose from for Messenger ads in which will still be done through Ads Manager. This is essential on building an easier connection among products, brands, influencers and their end users. Although this feature is still under observation, you may want to watch out for the availability soon.

Instagram Updates

Facebook is also stepping up their e-commerce game through Instagram. They have put a new feature called “Shop from Creators” which allow Instagram users to find, select, and purchase products directly through the app itself! With this, users can easily shop their favorite influencer’s look right on the app thus eliminating the hassle of taking a photo and manually browsing different websites to shop an inspired look from Instagram. This feature is currently ongoing testing for a small group of influencers and is expected to be available for the whole Instagram community soon. 

Some other new features like shipping through marketplace and Portal Device Expansion are only available in continental U.S.

As Facebook continues to develop and enhance its capabilities on selling brands online, can your business keep up? Take advantage of these updates and make sure that you are reaching your social media market! Let iManila help you in improving your social media presence! Call us at (02) 490 0000 or email us at [email protected]! Let’s talk!

iManila is now a badged Google Partner!

As one of the leading and most-trusted full-service digital agencies in the country, iManila has reached another milestone by receiving the most-coveted Google Partner Badge!

An achievement both local and global digital agencies go after, receiving a Google Partner Badge is a feat that’s far from easy.

In order to get a Google Partner badge, companies undergo specific skill certifications, must meet Google ad spend requirements and deliver solid overall ad revenue and growth by maintaining and growing their client base.

So how can this benefit you and your company?

By partnering with a Google Partner agency like iManila, you are assured that the people working with you are experts in the field who can run effective Google Ad campaigns for your brand.

iManila is committed to continuously innovating and improving the digital marketing skills and expertise needed to help our clients reach their goals, and this badge is just one of the many testimonies to that commitment.

If you’re looking for an agency to help you manage and run data-driven Google Ad campaigns, you can get in touch with our digital marketing team at iManila.

Call us today at +63 2 490 0000 or email us at [email protected].

iManila’s PISO HOSTING Promo is Now Available!

 

WEB HOSTING SERVICE ~ For you to keep up to the speed in this fast-paced digital world, you need first to have a solid foundation that can provide the availability and stability that you need. Aside from the experience and expertise, one thing must also take in consideration, the expenses. That combination is what makes iManila’s web hosting service the perfect one. With its more than 20 years of experience and expertise in providing reliable internet services, you can count on iManila to provide a 99.95% uptime and availability, day-in, day out.

The catch here is, you can enjoy a year of iManila’s Gold Hosting Package in just ONE PESO. Yes, a single peso can let you experience the best web and email hosting in the Philippines. With 20 GB disk storage space, and 100 GB monthly data transfer, iManila can provide the web hosting service that your business requires.

Transferring hosting server has never been this easy. All you need to do is to avail iManila’s Gold Hosting Package for 24 months and pay your total package cost for two years, amounting to Php 6,001.00 all in one full payment. And that’s it! One peso for your first 12 months.

 

Here’s how you can avail of this exclusive promo in just three (3) easy steps:

1) Order directly online our Gold Hosting Package

       STEP 1. Transfer your domain by typing it in the space given.

       STEP 2. Fill out the form on the next page and make sure to indicate necessary notes if you have one. Also, choose the payment mode available to you. Either Bank deposit, Paypal or Payment Pick-up.

2) Pay your two years (24 months) package cost (amounting to Php 6,001.00) in full.

3) And you can now transfer your hosting to us, with your first 12 months for just one (1) peso.

Note: This applies to hosting transfer only. Any additionals like domain purchase and premium tech support service are considered premium and shall be billed separately.

 

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Sounds a good deal to you?

 

ORDER NOW

 

Promo is extended until October 30, 2017

 

Reminders:       

For those who will pay via PayPal, your account shall be automatically processed after providing your PayPal account details on the next page.

For Bank Deposit, you will see the bank account numbers of iManila where you can deposit your payment. Upon sending your deposit, your account will be processed within 24 hours. You can send your deposit slip via [email protected] or through your created account in this portal. You can also fax it to (02) 634-5139.

For Pickup payment, iManila shall base your billing address on the details you’ve provided on the form. Expect a verification call from us about the date of the pickup and the time and date of account activation.

Mobile-first indexing: Should you worry about your current ranking?

 

From 2015 to 2016, Google has gradually rolled out the Mobilegeddon – a series of updates aimed to index and rank websites that are mobile-friendly. This update prompts most website owners to make sure their websites are responsive to the screen sizes of mobile devices.

With a few things going around the Google SERPs in the past weeks like FRED and other ranking changes, SEO experts have buried again in their desk figuring out what could be done to adapt to these algorithmic changes in the SERP. Until recently, Google confirmed that it is starting to roll out the mobile-first indexing in July.

Mobile-centric Culture

In the past years when the primary device to browse websites are the desktops and laptops, Google crawlers crawl and index websites based on their performance on the desktop. But as the lifestyle of being on-the-go become the new norm, people started to be mobile. The usage of mobile gadgets has increased drastically, especially in terms of personal searches. A year ago, Google announced that 60% of global searches were from mobile devices.

Other vital contributing factors are smartphone cost and internet connectivity. These two supports oxygen to heat up the usage of smartphones. With the continuous evolution of specifications, and rationalization of smartphone and data cost, people are more and more pushed towards mobile.

Mobile-first indexing

To support the increasing activity using mobile, Google has started to be a devout evangelist of better mobile experience. And other evidence of their commitment to this crusade is the release of mobile-first indexing on top of the mobilegeddon in 2015.

Mobile-first indexing is a little different and less disruptive than the mobilegeddon. It aims to prioritized indexing and ranking of websites based on their collective mobile presence. If mobilegeddon prioritized ranking based on mobile-responsiveness, mobile-first focuses on compliance and equivalence.

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Should I get worried about my current ranking?

If you are worried about your current SEO, you might be asking yourself whether that worry is qualified or not, and here’s the answer:

 YES and NO

YES – if you have a mobile version, but don’t deliver as a good as the desktop version

NO – If you are mobile-responsive and delivers valuable content, or with a mobile version that is equally the same with the desktop version.

Another issue that would cross your mind is, will affect my ranking and traffic?

Answer: There might be no great impact on the rankings, but there is in traffic. Remember the premise of having a mobile version which disconnects the user experience when one jumps from desktop to mobile? Well, that one can have a greater impact on traffic.

The bottom-line of mobile-first indexing is to make mobile searches better for all users, and that includes consistent user experience across devices.

Why do you need an SSL Certificate?

 

The demand for data security these days is increasing as e-commerce sites and social media networks continue to grow at faster rate. You cannot go online completely without having to log in your important details and credentials. From as simple as subscribing to a webinar to as confidential as online shopping and e-banking, a netizen has to log in their credentials. This particular setup has online phishers and hackers drooling.

For some users, sharing information is not a big deal. However, there is a huge portion of the global community who take these matters seriously as incidents of identity theft and malicious activities have gone on the rise.

On the other hand, businesses and organizations who ask for personal information from their users must protect their user’s information by securing their website against online theft. And this challenges most of the online sellers and e-commerce sites regardless of the extent of their daily online transactions. And that is what SSL addresses – data encryption.

What is SSL?

According to GlobalSign.com, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificates are small data files that digitally bind a cryptographic (secretly written) key to an organization’s details. When installed on a web server, it activates the padlock and the https protocol like this:  2017-03-09_105446 and allows secure connections from a web server to a browser.

Different Levels of SSL Validation

Secure Socket Layer certificates vary depending on the level of encryption needed to be implemented on the website. And there are some trust indicators that you can see in the address bar of the browser about SSL certificate of a certain website:

Standard SSLs are classified into two:

 – Domain Validation SLL:

Domain Validation is the basic form of SSL certification which automatically signals the browser that the connection between the server and the browser is secured using SSL certificate, thus a change in the standard HTTP to HTTPS.

EXAMPLE:           2017-03-10_131942    Domain-validation

– Organization Validation SSL:

The organizational SSL Validation is a high assurance SSL certificate that provides instant identity confirmation of the organization owning the website and a stronger SSL protection. It activates a green browser padlock and HTTPS. When you click on the trust indicator padlock, it will reveal the corporate or organization identity of the website owner.

EXAMPLE: Organizational-Validation-Incapsula

Extended validation is the highest level of data encryption of the three. This activates both the padlock, “https” and the green address bar in all major web browsers.

EXAMPLE:  imanila-extended-validation

 

Why do you need to get SSL now?

In line with their mission to promote secured browsing and responsible data protection, Google just recently updated their Chrome browser with a security feature that flags unsecured websites. Yes, you heard that right!

Have you noticed the left-most part of your address bar that indicates whether a site is safe or not? That is exactly what the update is all about. So imagine yourself as a business owner with an unsecured website. Every time audience goes to your website and sees no trust indicator, all your marketing efforts will go to waste.

Why? Because your business bottom-line – which is conversion – is not fulfilled.

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Firefox also moved towards a safer online browsing

It was just a few months back when Google updated their Chrome with security plug-in that flags websites that are not secured. This time, Firefox moved forward with the same goal – to promote a safer online browsing.

Firefox will display a gray lock icon with a red strike-through in the address bar when a login page you’re viewing does not have a secure connection. This is to inform you that if you enter your password it could be stolen by eavesdroppers and attackers.

This is a new feature that is available starting in Firefox version 51. Starting in Firefox version 52, you will also see a warning message when you click inside the login box to enter a username or password.

 

Don’t wait for that moment

Don’t wait for the updates to completely roll-out before moving to HTTPS. The right time to secure your website and your users is now. iManila offers a wide range of web security from SSL Certification (HTTPS) to Malware removal.

SSL (secure socket layer) is all about website security. Give your clients more reason to trust your brand online with iManila’s SSL certifications. With this standard security technology, you’ll be able to provide your market the guarantee they need to feel secure about any transaction they make on your website.

Remember, security is all about trust, and trust means business.

Secure your the website now with iManila. Contact us to learn more.

SMEs Guide: It pays to understand your market online

 

As we all know, marketing is an essential business element from small to large businesses. Marketing is both an art and science because it needs both the critical and the creative part of your brain to be executed well.

Having said that, understanding your audience and how they behave is a crucial element before starting with any marketing activities. And if you are considering digital marketing for this, you need to deepen your understanding by coming up with a buyer persona that specifically and analyze their behavior online.

WHY?iManila-Talk-To-Us-CTA

Because digital marketing revolves greatly on timing and a strong grasp of the online behavior of your audience or market.  That makes experimentation and open-mindedness as entrepreneurial essentials to utilize digital marketing well.

To give a strong understanding of Filipino audience online, below are quick fact check to help you make your first step in digital marketing:

1) OVERVIEW

Philippne-Digital-Overview

2) TIME INVENTORY

Philippine-Online-users-time-spent

You can see in the data presented above by We are social Singapore, that more than half of the country’s population are the internet and mobile users. That is a strong signal that a large chunk of the country can potentially see your online marketing efforts.

With such staggering statistics, one must be out of his or her mind to not utilize such data to his or her market advantage. Formulate a strategic business plan centered around the searching behavior of your market’s niche and voila, watch your following increase by multiple folds. Your market is online. You just have to do an in-depth analysis of the data and from there craft a marketing concept.

Shift in Online Behavior

The truth is, your audience behave a little different online. They can transform into a different person or they completely became their true selves without holding back, and that affects how they gravitate and consume content online.

Experiment, experiment, experiment!

The best way to approach this behavior is by preparing different personas that could relate to your brand. Dissect these personas and their possible behaviors online and do experiments. Release different sets of content to a single persona and do with the other. Check which content earns a better response per persona and compared it all together. The one that emerged as the best content that attracts the majority of your potential personas is what you need to stick to.

The key to understanding your market is going beyond one’s gut feel. What you need to do is to go again the same process of content experimentation until you get the right formula that your market really likes.

***

With the advancement in the world of information technology, the audience behavior continuously evolves that it is hard sometimes for marketers and businesses to keep up.

The process could be a little tedious but the outcomes are very rewarding when done right. Always take in mind that success of your marketing campaign always lie in how well you know your market, especially online.

Office Stories: What Makes a Good Boss?

 

One of the unforgettable things I’ve experienced before embracing the life of a salary man was when I was a marketing intern in an appliance distribution company.

I can vividly remember when I was asked by my OJT supervisor to bring a pile of approval sheets to the Marketing Manager, who apparently was her boss.

As what other interns did, I gleefully took the files, walked down the aisle, and passed by several cubicles before reaching a secluded office at the other end of the aisle. There was no signage on the door. So before I knocked, I asked some employees nearby if that was the office of the marketing manager. The three of them momentarily swallowed their nonexistent saliva before they answered “YES”.

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At that moment, I got the slightest hint that this man behind the door wasn’t the type of boss who had a sunny personality. So with much caution, I knocked twice, opened the door and greeted him.

Boss-with-morning-coffee

No response.

I looked at him. He was so engrossed looking at his computer screen with his eyeglasses on.

He was neither a grumpy old man nor a monster that would eat you alive.

Actually, he was a bit young – in his late thirties perhaps. He looked at me and raised his palm in the air as if telling me: Where are the sheets?

I immediately moved forward to his table and placed the files on his desk. He asked, “Are you a new employee?”.  I immediately told him that I was just an intern. He nodded back and then told me that I can leave.

As you can infer, he could be a typical boss who sat on his desk all afternoon, secluded himself from his subordinates most of the time, and was terrified of him.

You could be right and wrong at the same time.

THE bosses

Bosses are chosen to lead. They are highly capable individuals who are tenured and can speak with authority.

But bosses are human beings too. They are prone to errors and mistakes. And in some cases, they also lose their cool and become temperamental at times. Okay, fine, I get you – probably most of the time.

Being in charge as a head, as a manager or as a boss entails a great responsibility of managing a team. More so, it is an endless challenge to prove their competencies and worth in the organization. That is why people like them are potentially vulnerable to any and all work-related stress you can think of.

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What do Good Bosses do?

Most of us will agree that an effective leader not only helps manage conflict but also supports team members to grow professionally, which can take a lot of time. Some would even argue that a good boss is transparent and owns up to his or her mistakes like what everyone should do. But the most important thing a good manager does is to also regular assess themselves and constantly improve his or her leadership skills.

Below is a helpful infographic from the Headway Capital on how to assess yourself as a leader:

Way-to-becoming-a-good-boss

***

You may get mad at your subordinates or makes a little questionable decision once in your life. But just like what every employee needs to do, evaluating one’s self is the best way to reset yourself to make a fresh start.

Is a website revamp or digital marketing part of your marketing plan for the year? Let iManila help you achieve the website that works for your company and achievable digital marketing activities to pumped-up your year marketing direction. Call us at (02) 490-0000 or send your inquiry at [email protected].

 

Source:

  • marketingprofs.com

 

Google SERP ranking: How long does it take to rank on Page 1?

 

How long does it take to make my website rank on top of Google?

When you’re working for a Digital Marketing agency (imanila.ph), this is the SEO million-dollar question and the most crucial. Do you overpromise? Or try your hardest to not look incompetent in front of the client.

For a million SEO dollars, what is your final answer?

IT DEPENDS! And that’s the truth!

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There is no 100% proven effective method to rank on top of Google SERP in no time – unless you’re cloaking in the dark and doing BLACK SEO, then you ‘might’. What most SEO guys and gurus do is just to follow SEO’s best practices.

In a recent case study published by Ahrefs , only 5.7% of their sampled pages from 2 million random keywords (potentially 20,000,000 unique pages) made it to the 1st page of Google’s SERP (Search Engine Results Page) – and those were the “lucky” ones optimizing for low-volume keywords.

Take note of the words “lucky” and “low-volume”. And the remaining 95%? Not even close.

To put it in a little more perspective, 5.7% of 20,000,000 is 1,140,000. Only 1,140,000 pages will rank in Google’s Page 1 SERP in one calendar year.

Take a moment to let that sink in. We know what you are thinking.

SEO is dead!!

On the contrary, it is very much alive and kicking. As a matter of fact, those who are reaping the benefits of ranking on the first page of Google are experiencing a 5% increase in their web traffic on a monthly basis.

Going back on track, the issues-at-hand discussed that the realities surrounding SEO are more of the duration and domain authority that websites undergo or must obtain before even having a shot of getting on the Page 1 SERP.

So what are the realities that we are looking at? To help us dig into these realities, Ahrefs’ case study analyzed two million random keywords in their database as a sample and analyze their rankings based on the keywords they used, the age of the web pages, and their respective domain ratings.

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Below are their key takeaways:

  • How old are the top-ranking pages?

For starters, Ahrefs identified how old the current top-ranking pages are.

They took 2 million random keywords and pulled data on the Top10 ranking pages for each of them. Which resulted in this graph:

websites-age-of-page-days

For those holding up a #1 spot in Google’s SERP, their average age falls somewhere in between 500 – 950 days or 1.36 to 2.60 years old.

Those at the #10 spot averaged at a peak at 650 days or 1.78 years old.

So the next thing they wanted to know is what percentage of pages at each ranking position were less than 1-year-old:

ahrefs-website-ages-since-publication

percentage-of-young-pages

For the #1 spot, only 1% of the sampled pages or an estimated 200,000 unique pages were less than a year old.

While those lingering at the #10 spot, were just a little above 4% or at least an estimated 800,000 unique pages weren’t even old enough to celebrate their 1st anniversary on the web.

Comparing that to the potential sample of 20,000,000 unique pages, clearly, this doesn’t look too promising, right? The SERP is clearly dominated by “old” pages.

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  • How long does it take for a page to rank?

They tracked the position history of each page for any keyword it’s ranked for. Which resulted in this graph:

ranking-performance-by-DR

Only 5.7% of all studied pages ranked in the Top 10 search results within 1 year for at least 1 keyword.

Pages from websites with a high Domain Rating (DR) performed way better than those with a low DR. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise because Ahrefs’ Domain Rating metric (shows the strength of a website’s backlink profile) correlates well with Google rankings.

They then zoomed into this 5.7 % of “lucky” pages to see how quickly they got from nowhere to the Top10.

The majority of them managed to achieve that in approximately 61 to 182 days.

lucky-pages-by-DR-2

SUMMARY:

We all know how powerful SEO can be in time, but doing it is not a breakthrough that can happen overnight. This study is not definitive, but this shines a huge light into the most common question of clients: How long does it take to make my website rank on top of Google?

Their study clearly shows the following key points:

  • 95% of newly published pages don’t get to the Top 10 results of Google’s 1st page within a year.
  • The top 5.7% SEO performing website who are dubbed as “lucky ones” made it to the 1st page within 2 to 6 months and that’s for low-volume keywords.
  • Domain authority is an undeniable factor in ranking.

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To all hardworking websites who have made it to the first page, good job!

Those who didn’t make it, yet working hard to breakthrough, you are almost there! Don’t stop!

To those who are still thinking whether they’ll invest in SEO, re-evaluate your thoughts.

To those who are still demanding to be on top in no time, wake up! SEO is a persistent project that only gets better over time, especially if you hire one of the best SEO guys in the Philippines to do the job for you.

Source:

Jollibee Valentine Series: A content that delivers

 

The Philippine social media scene was taken by a storm of reactions as one of the most popular food chains released a series of ads in lieu of Valentine’s Day tomorrow. Jollibee has taken the heart of many once again with their all new Jollibee Valentine Series.

Some liked it, some had their hearts broken, and some even to a lighter “meme” approach to express their sentiments.

With all these mixed emotions and voices that users posted and shared in the past days, one thing is for sure – Jollibee delivered more than what it was supposed to.

This milestone in Philippine advertising proved that content truly delivered when they are done precisely and artistically. The question now is: How can other brands recreate, or maybe even top, Jollibee’s campaign?

The answer to this question varies. Here’s why:

For a brand that has witnessed generations of diners come and go, Jollibee has basically a solid foundation in terms of knowing exactly what its market profile is. The brand has been part of the different phases of a customer’s life such as parties, celebrations, meetups, dates, desperations, and probably even heartaches.

The point here is, Jollibee is few meters ahead in terms of market domination and profiling hence, their ability to pull some stories from their experiences.

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For start-up brands, breakthroughs are very rare especially in terms of marketing virality. You can start by profiling your market step by step. Know them little by little until you get the bigger picture of who they really are. Knowing them well is the initial step in creating the content that they’ll most likely engage with, the one that really appeals to them.

It’s similar to how you try to learn everything about your significant other that getting the “perfect” gift for them becomes second nature to you.

The human emotion is a complex yet beautiful side of humanity. No matter how rational a person is, a dominant emotion – in some cases – overrides the most rational thoughts.

Human emotions are like test tubes of delicate and potentially destructive chemicals in a laboratory. There are vitriols, dopamines, oxytocins, and adrenalines – of which one cannot be mixed with another one without carefully getting the right proportion.

Jollibee has carefully picked the right emotion for each of its Valentine videos. The core emotion served as the binder and reference point of the content. From words, to shot lists, and down to the acting of the cast – all of these speaks to the core emotion of the entire concept of the content.

For start-ups, this process can be achieved by creating content with different emotional inclinations. Releasing it alternately on different channels can give you data where you can draw your conclusion – as to which one works well with your market.

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Admit it or not, we love something that we can fully relate to. Not just on the basis of what we felt when watching but more of the identifying ourselves as part of that content. How did Jollibee achieve that? By tackling social realities.

How many Filipinos have suffered a loss of a family member, a parent, or a spouse perhaps? And not being with the person you love in one of the most celebrated events of the year will definitely bring tears to your eyes.

How about being trapped in a “best friend zone”? How frustrating can it get for someone not to get the one he loves despite being close to her?

Oh wait, did I forget about our crushes? Every one of us has experienced a phase in our lives when we felt that piercing strike of cupid’s arrow.

These realities are what people gravitate towards. It is like speaking in behalf of those who cannot directly express themselves in their most heartbreaking, depressing, and even to the happiest times.

For start-up brands, these can be achieved by stringent observation of your market’s psyche. Frankly, this kind of approach can be achieved when the brand matures, or when the brand has identified its market and their common psyche. Because getting the right social reality to incorporate to your content takes a lot of years to perfect.

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Content is, and always be the best marketing asset until this age. The channels may have changed but the market is resilient. The best way to make content viral and successful is to always make your audience/market the center of your communications – not your firm or the people running it.

Do you want to know how to kickstart a good social media marketing? Contact Us at (02) 490-0000 or email us at [email protected].