How YouTube Cards will Transform Marketing

 

Since the very first video upload in 2005, YouTube has become one of the single largest marketing channels and online communities on the internet. With over 300 hours of video uploaded to the website every single minute, the widespread use of the video platform is known and loved by all and has even launched personalities such as PewDiePie to internet celebrity with over 12 million subscribers.

For any marketer or business professional, YouTube annotations have been a well-known and highly regarded YouTube tool. For those that don’t know, annotations are clickable lines of text that overlay a YouTube video. These are used to drive traffic to various other videos or websites for further marketing and conversion opportunities. YouTube is now getting ready to abolish the text and replace it with “YouTube Cards”. If you missed out on the annotation train, however, not to worry. These new cards will be far more capable and appealing than the previous model, and annotations will still be hanging around for a short while.

Here is why YouTube is swapping out annotations for YouTube cards and how this switch spells great news for business owners everywhere:

The Problem with Annotations
The internet is a wildly interactive place, and YouTube is the pinnacle when it comes to live-action video. The addition of annotations on YouTube allowed the once-passive platform to become more interactive by allowing users to click through from video to video, playlist, or to the author’s pre-approved website. This ultimately proved to be a great tactic to drive interaction, traffic, and ultimately conversions.

The issue that marketers face is that annotations cannot be seen on mobile devices. This becomes a huge problem considering that 50% of content uploaded to YouTube is mobile specific. This means that not only can 50% of the material on YouTube not be branded with this marketing text overlay, but mobile viewers across the world are therefore impossible to convert or funnel. With one quarter of the 1.9 billion mobile internet users accessing the internet strictly from a mobile device, annotations are not looking so sweet to marketers anymore. Luckily, YouTube is now taking the bull by the horns to get this situation sorted out.

YouTube Cards: The Solution to the Annotation Problem
Meet the new YouTube card. YouTube cards are essentially nothing more than annotations that have evolved to become more effective, stylish, and versatile for the marketers who use them; not to mention intriguing to the viewers who see them. As of now, cards will not be wholly replacing annotations until “[cards] can do everything annotations can do today, and more. Until then, we’re looking forward to your feedback on cards, including what you want them to do for you in the future” stated YouTube.

What makes the new YouTube cards so exciting to marketers is the various new features and abilities of the amped up annotations. First, cards will now be visible on mobile devices. This fact alone doubles the number of leads and sales that can possibly be generated from seeing any given video. Additionally, YouTube has added 6 different types of cards for various marketing techniques to be employed. The cards that are currently available for utilization are:

• Merchandise: Images can be added and the creator’s merchandise can be promoted directly from the video.
• Fundraising: Allows video viewers to be linked directly to programs on approved fundraising platforms.
• Fan Funding: This card allows those who employ it to harness the power of the community by allowing appreciative viewers to make monetary donations to keep the page up and going.
• Video / Playlist: Serves as a direct link for viewers to find related videos or playlists associated with the current video.
• Associated Website: Link directly to the creator’s personal or business website. This is truly where mobile visibility plays an enormous role in increasing a business’s bottom line.

YouTube cards will now also display an information tab throughout the duration of the video making the card available at all times instead of appearing at a certain point in the video. These tabs are only able to be placed in the top-right corner as of now, but with the innovations YouTube aims to generate with cards, these will undoubtedly become movable.

YouTube cards are poised to become something much more than annotations could ever be. The previous version of the text was to be used sparingly to avoid becoming a nuisance. Cards, on the other hand, provide a stylish and retractable portal for anything from fundraising, to selling merchandise, to gaining more subscribers. This new form of annotation will take marketing on YouTube to a new level. Optimize your YouTube channel and outfit your uploads with these cards for a sleek new look that will no doubt boost leads and ultimately boost your sales.

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Four Reasons Why Social Media Really Matters

 

Does social media really matter? Is it just there to give all those young people something to do after school? Maybe it is something that no serious business organization would ever take seriously. Right?

Wouldn’t life be much simpler if this was the case? Unfortunately, though, all of us grownups need to take a page from our local group of teens and preteens and jump on board the social media express.
Otherwise, we are going to be standing on the platform waving goodbye to all our competitors as they chug onwards towards success. Because if there is one thing that has been proven, it is that social media sells.

On that note, here are four ways that social media will make a difference for you.

1. Hello, Brand. One of the best uses of social media is building brand recognition. A relatively unheard of business, with a successful social media campaign, can quickly become a household name. Want proof?

Case in Point: Distractify
A month after Distractify launched, it said that it had gained 21 million unique visitors to its site according to Google Analytics. That means that a month into its operation, at least 21 million people had heard of them. In the first month they were operational, they had been shared over four million times on Facebook, where 90 percent of their traffic initiates. All this, and did I mention that when they started they were a three person team?

Without social media, it would not have been anywhere near as easy to get this kind of name recognition. While this particular company was designed with social media in mind, it is still a good example of how proper social media marketing equates to fast and successful brand recognition. (But don’t forget to back up your social media with a good product or service.)

2. Feelin’ Lucky Swag. If I were to tell you that people liked to get free stuff, would I surprise you? I hope not. However, as we all know, nothing in life is free. When it comes to social media, many companies hold competitions and giveaways or respond to customer complaints/compliments with free goods and services. In return, they build their reputation; since many people, when given a free sample, are so pleased that they want to continue using the product and telling friends.

Case in Point: Reconverse
With less than 200 LinkedIn followers, Reconverse decided to test out a new strategy. It created its first status update saying that everyone who liked the update would be entered in a drawing with the winner taking home a prize. Guess what? In less than an hour, they had 100 likes. Then they went viral. And then they started gaining likes and followers from all over the world, who actively engaged with the company, left and right.

Using social media is a good way to broadcast prizes and competitions to the entire world. And the ability to give swag to anyone in the world means it is much more likely that the entire world will be talking about you.

3. For the Love of Google. Because no discussion of social media marketing would be complete without mega-power Google, I present you with reason number three to use social media: Google likes it and so do “Google-ers.”

Go ahead and search for a company. Any company with a social media presence will do. (Though it might be a little vain to search for yourself, but I’ll leave that to you.) Did you notice anything? I did.
Case in Point: Any Company with a Social Media Presence

• When I searched for McDonald’s, its home site was the first result. It’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts were two through four respectively.
• When I searched for Carvel, the third result was its Facebook page, and a link to its Google + page was on the right.

Google ranks social media accounts highly, and if you want to have control over what pops up on Google for you, you are well-advised to give it social media pages to send searchers to.

4. People Search Social Not Google, Too. You don’t need social media because people will find you or your blog when they search Google. Right? Except what if instead they skip the middleman and search Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn instead?

Just as an example of the power of a social media search, up to 2010, Twitter handled 19 billion searches a month, which is 5x as many as Google. However, in order to be found in one of these searches, it is vital to have a profile that can turn up in a search.

It can also be a good idea to use promoted Tweets so that when people are searching Twitter for related topics, you pop up right at the top.

Case in Point: Junk Gypsy
Take Junk Gypsy for an example. It used a series of promoted Tweets, both promotional and friendly and engaging, in order to increase its Twitter presence. In so doing, it gained 1,800 followers and increased engagement by 43%. Junk Gypsy also now has its own show.

Which Platforms to Use
One thing that you will note from the above is the varying tools that each success story used to become successful. Distractify relies heavily on Facebook, Reconverse on LinkedIn, etc. What type of social media platform works for you, is determined by the people you want to attract.

• Is your target audience young kids who want flash? You probably don’t want to focus your energy on LinkedIn.
• Is your target audience more seasoned professionals who mostly use social media as a networking tool? Then maybe you should focus on LinkedIn.

The Point: In a Nutshell
Know your audience, research the various platforms out there, and find a system that works for you. But whatever the system is, make sure it includes social media.

So there you have it. No matter how opposed you are to social media, you still need to embrace it with open arms. And even if you are a strong proponent for these platforms, you should still make sure you are properly utilizing this important marketing tool and spending your time efficiently when you use it.

Besides, if you do a really good job with social media, people like me might talk about you when we discuss success stories. Free advertising—who doesn’t love that?

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Cash-Back Deals Can Drive High-Value Shoppers and More Sales to Your Website

 

 

As U.S. eCommerce sales keep making a steady climb as a percentage of overall retail sales, stores of every size are looking for new ways to attract more customers to their websites — especially lucrative, higher-spending customers. The competition for online shoppers is only going to escalate in the coming years, so maintaining and building on your core audience will be critical to your store’s ongoing survival and success.

Free shipping, of course, remains a reliable online deal closer. A growing number of stores are beginning to recognize the benefits that can accrue from customer-friendly return policies. Recently, though, another crowd-pleasing offer has emerged to provide retailers with an additional avenue for increasing both traffic to and revenue on their sites: Cash-back deals.

Cash-back deals generally fall into two categories: pre-defined amounts, which take the form of offers such as “Get $5 cash back on your first purchase at MySite.com;” and percentage offers, i.e., deals along the lines of “Get five percent cash back on your entire purchase.” Pre-defined deals are usually one-time offers designed to spur initial purchases or to move a specific product or product line.

Percentage-off deals, on the other hand, are more likely to be available on multiple purchases. They’re often found via cash-back sites and/or programs, which create cash back by passing along some or all of every retailer commission they receive to the customers making the purchases. These deals are becoming increasingly popular among retailers (and shoppers) because they can:

• Increase site traffic;
• Raise average order sizes; and
• Close more sales.

Nevertheless, some retailers are wary or unsure of the merits of cash-back offers — and of the programs that facilitate them. Let’s, therefore, take a closer look at exactly what these deals and programs can do for your store.

Increase Site Traffic
One of the attractions of online shopping is how easy and convenient it is to hunt for bargains on practically anything you want. Unless you’re searching for a very specific item that’s only available at a single retail outlet, there’s a very good chance that you’re going to try to compare prices and find the best overall deal you possibly can.

Cash-back shoppers are no different — although they may be savvier. While half of today’s consumers want to get cash back whenever they buy something, only about four in 10 currently use cash-back sites to make all of their online purchases. Offering percentage-off deals will help put you on the radar of cash-back fans, allowing you to employ your marketing expertise on a large, diverse group of active shoppers.

For example, when a fashion retailer wanted to promote its summer line, it doubled its commission to a popular cash-back site and bought ad space on it. A beauty store took a similar approach, increasing its site commission and buying banner placements on it. Both retailers saw significant growth in traffic:

• Visits to the fashion retail site went up by more than 250 percent.
• The beauty site’s traffic increased by more than 470 percent.

Your results will vary, of course, depending on your campaign goals, strategy, and budget, but cash-back sites and offers can certainly drive more shoppers to your site. Once there, they’ll be exposed to your offerings and messages, and when they make purchases, you’re assured of additional points of contact through which you can continue to promote your store.

Raise Average Order Sizes
Offering percentage-off cash back on purchases can appeal to consumers on several levels. It’s a savings offer, obviously, so they know it will stretch their budgets. The gratification is delayed, which means they can’t (or, at least presumably, won’t) spend it all immediately. Instead, it gives them something to look forward to, i.e., a future reward for shopping well now. Plus, depending on how much they’re willing to spend, the savings potential can feel virtually limitless — even though they know it isn’t.

The cumulative result is that percentage-off deals often drive bigger cart sizes. In a study of a large retail network, cash-back sites achieved much higher AOV than other sites in the network. The AOV of one of the top cash-back sites was 83 percent higher than non-cash-back sites. Overall, cash-back sites’ AOV were 36 percent higher than the rest.

Cash-back offers can also drive bigger purchases across wide demographics. For instance, the study found that the AOV for menswear cash-back sites exceeded those of other menswear sites by 14 percent. Similarly, the AOV for women’s fashion sites that offered cash-back was 21 percent higher than the AOV for competitors’ sites that didn’t offer cash back. If you want attract high-value shoppers, a cash-back offer.

Close More Sales
A common concern among retailers is that the sales they receive via cash-back sites and programs might generate multiple commission claims because those customers typically interact with a variety of affiliate networks before making their purchases. The study cited above, though, looked at the click paths of various transactions and discovered that 95 percent of retail sales, 96 percent of ticketing sales, and 95 percent of travel sales in the network were single-interaction purchases. In fact, the research showed that, on average, loyalty, reward, and cash-back sites generated the fewest interactions among all of the various affiliate types.

In fact, the evidence shows that a reliable, high-value cash-back offer can increase sales and AOV. In the fashion and beauty store examples discussed earlier, the fashion site saw its sales double, and sales at the beauty site grew by 168 percent. Furthermore, when FreeShipping.com enhanced its ongoing cash-back offer in July 2014 , doubling the subscriber payout to 10 percent, the move benefited program retailers and subscribers alike. Within three months:

• Subscribers who visited retailers through the program site completed orders with those retailers 45 percent more often than they did at the five percent cash-back level;
• The average number of daily purchases made through the site increased 65 percent; and
• The subscribers’ AOV increased 11 percent.

Done right, a cash-back offer can clearly pay dividends for online retailers of any size. It can expand your audience and send desirable, knowledgeable, active consumers to your site; increase the average order size among your customers; and help you close more sales. In your quest for a growing share of the online retail market, those are the sorts of advantages that can make a significant difference.

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Leaders Go First

 

We have all had the unenviable experience of dealing with leaders who lack integrity and, at the very least, it can be frustrating and more likely demoralizing. There again, great leaders have the ability to inspire us, and nothing is more inspiring than a leader who walks their talk.

In 2005, I was invited to speak at a global sales conference. I don’t often get the opportunity to do last-minute gigs, but that is exactly what this was. An executive I was mentoring at the time had apparently been speaking with someone they knew at this company and found out that their speaker had bailed. My client recommended me.

The gig was going to be taking place at the end of the week, and I had a rather unusual opening in my schedule. There seemed to be a synchronicity that made it work, so when the call came, I took the opportunity. Because I didn’t have my usual prep time, I only knew the most basic of information about this company and that it was a global sales conference.

Arriving at the venue that morning, I have to tell you, I was expecting a considerably larger group. But no matter. I was introduced to the global sales team leaders, who each ran their own division in different countries. I was also introduced to the CEO, a man by the name of Graham Kill. Graham clearly had the poise of a leader, while at the same time the people around him seemed to have an obvious respect for who he was as an individual. Graham seemed both grounded and approachable, and I took an instant liking to him.

As I finished my presentation, Graham approached me and thanked me; then he asked if I would like to join the team for dinner that night. I was honored, and I replied that I would. Entering the restaurant, I was motioned by Graham to sit next to him. After a day of team-building exercises, my morning presentation, and the first sips of wine, everyone was in a great mood, making for a dinner that was lots of fun for all. During dinner, Graham and I got to know each other a little better. He and I got into some meaty discussions about a range of subjects including our thoughts about leadership in general and personal leadership styles. I clearly remember a point of real rapport came as we both spoke of how the foundation of great leadership was reliant upon self-knowledge and the necessity to lead one’s self.

Graham, being a true leader, had done some self-inquiry. However, as a quality leader, he understood that there’s always another level of depth. He began to inquire about the strategies and processes I offered. We spoke about how I could come in and work with his C-suite executives, and how I have worked with companies who were discovering the power of Vulnerable Leadership in generating Fierce Loyalty in their own teams.

Even though he can be very playful, Graham is the CEO of a multi-national organization. As such, he’s a fairly cool, calm, and collected kind of guy, with a James Bond-esque demeanor. In his calm but nonetheless warm manner, he began to inquire whether I did this kind of work one-on-one or only with teams. I shared with him that I have an exclusive and extremely intensive process where I work one-on-one with a leader. This process is called The Personal Excellence Architecture for Leaders. It requires that individual to be with me exclusively, without interruption of any kind, for up to twenty-four hours straight. The process demands a level of open vulnerability that most people, let alone leaders, are unfamiliar with. Following that initial process, there is a further six months of mentoring and coaching for integration.

As you can imagine, that level of intensity alone is enough to sort out those who are genuinely committed from those who are merely interested. It clearly shows which true leaders are all about action and which are just interested—“the tire kickers” who will have a myriad of reasons why they can’t do it. Within a week, I received a call from Graham saying, “Let’s do this thing.” Within a month, we had set up to meet on neutral ground on his way back from some other destination and go through his PEAL (Personal Excellence Architecture for Leaders).

I, of course, won’t go into the specifics of the process, and I can’t share what Graham discovered. However, what I can tell you is that Graham became both deeply aware and extremely mindful of the beliefs and thought processes he had been having and the behaviors he had been doing that were either limiting or expanding him: the things that were either creating distance and disengagement or connection and engagement with others. And now he had the tools to focus on and use to move toward the latter.

The following summer, Graham brought us to Europe to work with his executive leadership team, who were flown in from their different countries. This would be my opportunity to see the true level of integration Graham had applied around those he was leading. In the lead-up months before, Graham and I had discussed the outcomes he was looking for. Right at the top of the list was something so many leaders in his position face challenges with: silos.

As a company grows, it’s natural to go from everyone wearing multiple hats and communicating about everything, to the development of departments and teams. As exciting as this can be, one of the most common challenges is that internal departments become adversarial, in essence building silos around themselves. As a result, departments stop communicating with each other. Graham had made it crystal clear that he wanted me to find a way to pull the silos down and open up fluid communication between departments and the leaders that ran them.

As we set up that morning, Graham and I took some time to sit and catch up. He asked me, “What can I do to assist so that this training will have the best possible outcome?” My answer was short and to the point: Leaders go first! So when asked to be vulnerable and open up, leaders go first and lead by example.
Without hesitatio
n, Graham agreed to do so, and then did it. In doing so, he assisted me in creating the safety needed for his executive team to embrace the power of vulnerable leadership. People began opening up about the challenges they faced with their teams, with each other, and most importantly, with themselves. However, it should be noted that this was not about finger-pointing at others or even self-berating. This was about vulnerability and sincere accountability.

So when a team member was struggling with another team member’s way of being or leadership style, instead of making the other person wrong, the first person voiced it as their own challenge, a challenge that they themselves were responsible for resolving.

At the end of the five-day retreat, not only were the silos down, but each person felt they genuinely knew the other members of the team. And it went further. Certain members of the team who had simply resigned themselves to the idea they would never get along with another particular team member found themselves connecting so deeply with that person that they felt like this was someone they trusted, respected, and even considered a friend.

Caring, Compassion and Vulnerability
As I said earlier, the capacity for genuine caring, compassion, and vulnerability will define the leaders of tomorrow. As much as one of the major roles of a leader is to inspire and motivate people, that inspiration will wear off faster than a fake tan in a bubble bath if the leader hasn’t had the courage to go through—and continue to go through—a process of self-inquiry. In other words, they must be willing to look under their 
own hoods. By virtue of that, it was Graham’s willingness to get comfortable being uncomfortable as leader and step forward into the power of vulnerability with me, and then his team, that made the training we did a raving success, every bit as much as my leadership of the group.
 
Why? Because genuine courage is contagious.

Key Point To Remember In Training Others:

• Great leaders go first. They bypass “interested” and go straight to “committed.”
• Vulnerability and accountability are best friends
• Get comfortable being uncomfortable
• Self-knowledge is the cornerstone of emotionally intelligent leadership
• Commit to becoming brilliant at working out why you are actually upset about any given situation. (Alternatively, get help in learning how to do so.)
• Emotionally intelligent leaders don’t play the blame game, nor do they let rambling, negative self-talk take control of their minds.
• Make finding your drivers, motives, and moods an adventure.
• Courage is not only inspiring, it’s contagious.

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5 Steps to Improve the Quality of Your Content

 

 

To stay relevant in any industry, you have to create and distribute content as often as possible. But how much is too much, when it comes to delivering your words of wisdom to your audience?

These days, there is a very fine line between any type of method of self-promotion conducted online and the purest form of spam, if you want to send out content regularly without offending any spam haters. Naturally, you should do your best not to cross this line. At the same time, you also have to monitor and improve the quality of the ideas that you’re generously sharing with your public.

The biggest issue with quantity is the poor quality. Run-of-the-mill, inaccurate or poorly written content will only jeopardize your good name in your industry, making your readers question your capabilities and reliability.

Quality vs. Quantity: Which One Should You Sacrifice?
Researching, writing, editing and posting every piece of content takes time. Every single step involved in this process is extremely important and should not be eliminated or compressed to preserve your resources. According to a post on Business to Community, brands that produce more content have a greater chance of making their voice heard and establishing a deeper connection with their fans, followers, evangelists and other important groups of people.

5 Steps to Take to Improve the Quality of Your Content
At the same time, if you were to choose between quantity and quality, you should always choose the latter. Lowering the bar for content quality is never a winning strategy in the long run. On the contrary, this counterproductive tactic can only affect your brand’s reputation and impact your marketing goals. If you’re striving to improve the quality of your web writing, here are five easy steps that could help you reach your target.

1. Refine Your Definition of Quality Content. What does the concept of “quality content” actually mean to you? Naturally, when it comes to defining this term, you think about compelling writing that sells, sells and then sells some more. But undoubtedly, this interpretation is a bit vague. When in need of a more detailed explanation, go back to your previous content analysis and extract the numbers that interest you the most (shares, conversions, number of views and so on). This will help you differentiate high-quality content pieces from the ones that have performed poorly. What are the attributes of your written masterpieces? What kind of message do they convey? What is the writing tone? What topics are covered? What kind of calls to action are included? Use the answers to these questions to perfect your definition of quality content and come up with a series of guidelines meant to improve your writing. To make sure that everything goes as planned in the long term, don’t forget to audit the overall performance of your web content on a regular basis.
2. Do Your Homework and Do Not Neglect the Tiny Details. Research is the key to success in any field of activity; therefore, always try to find out everything there is to know about a certain topic of interest before putting pen to paper. As Content Marketing Institute indicates, a clear insight into a high-interest matter, correlated with in-depth keyword research and an understanding of your audience and main competitors can help you raise the quality of your content pieces virtually instantly. Also, no matter how little time you have, don’t overlook the aspects that you may be tempted to think of as insignificant details, such as distributing keyword terms across your web content, tweaking those long paragraphs or tightening a title to amplify its power of seduction.
3. Monitor and Support the Efforts of Your Content Creators. Raising the quality of the web content that you publish regularly is no easy task. As a matter of fact, this process involves several important steps, like having an editor look over your content, scheduling with editorial calendars and brainstorming topics with your team. Quality content involves teamwork at its finest. A word of advice here: don’t look at your content marketing as the last thing to do on your marketing agenda! According to Hubspot, a proactive attitude and proper planning can help you motivate and educate your contributors and lay the foundation for a stronger, more successful content team.
4. Emphasize Quality over Quantity. Some business owners are far from being consistent. They stick to a tiresome, predictable and unsuccessful one-post-per-month routine and wonder why they constantly fail to achieve their objectives. Others fall into a different kind of trap: they are unable to filter, prioritize and materialize their ideas. At the end of the day, they “infoxicate” their followers with dozens of tweets, at least ten Facebook posts and a plethora of poorly written blog entries every single day. In reality, both extremes can be dangerous, so it would be best to take the middle course. To make matters even more complicated, some businesses blog every day (or vlog, or photograph) – through some content medium – and never spam or over post. So the question is this: how often should you actually post on social media platforms without annoying the people who follow you? Although there is no exact formula that you can apply to come up with an accurate answer to this question, you can get an idea of how often your audience would like to hear from you by taking a closer look at the infographic published by Buffer. According to this source, 5 posts on Pinterest, 3 tweets, 2 Facebook posts and 3 Google+ can become the main ingredients of your own customizable recipe for success that you can apply when it comes to distributing your content through social networking websites.
5. Try to See (and Write Down) Things from Your Readers’ Perspective. Need another great piece of advice to elevate the quality of your writing? Cultivate your empathy. Brands that stay self-centered have minimal odds of survival in overly competitive markets where companies basically fight for the same pairs of eyeballs. As Advertising Age points out, businesses that won’t stop talking about themselves are running in circles without getting any closer to their most ambitious goals. The same goes for companies that automatically try to force feed their readers with the same kind of content, over and over again. Would you eat the same meal three times a day, every single day? After the first week, you would practically be begging for a change of menu. When it comes to crafting content, keep in mind that location and timing are everything. Also, invest in research that will highlight the likes, dislikes, needs and expectations of your targeted audience. By putting your prospects exactly where they belong, in the center of their unique online experiences, you can elaborate higher-quality content that manages to establish an emotional connection with your readers.

Can Quality and Quantity Be Considered the Perfect Halves of the Same Whole?
In an ideal world, quantity and quality should be a part of the same picture. But sometimes reality slaps any business owner in the face, reminding him that staffing shortages, an overcrowded schedule and budget limitations stand in the way of content creation efforts. In this context, should you lower your quality standards and publish recycled content as often as possible hoping that your readers won’t notice or should you take the time you need to produce, edit and deliver truly amazing written materials?

Quantity is a key factor that you should consider while creating and setting up your content strategy. If you want your writing to appear in search engine results, attract more visitors and perform better online, you have to churn out web content on a regular basis. But at the same time, you should be willing to sacrifice quantity for the sake of quality at any given point in time. High-quality content is the reason why your prospects are landing on your page in the first place; this is also your strong point allowing you to build credibility and trust, two invaluable assets that define your position in your market. Why choose between quality and quantity when you can have both in the very same package with a cherry on top? By hiring a team of professional writers you could prevent any potential quality and frequency issues and surprise your readers with fresh writing that is easy to read, informative, educational and entertaining at the same time.

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A Budding New Role for the Internet of Everything

 

Even vegetables can be smart in the Internet of Everything (IoE). Amid the massive growth of connected devices expected between now and 2020, a small but increasing number of sensor technologies are being put to agricultural or horticultural use.

Stroll through the leafy boulevards of Mollet del Vallès in Catalunya, Spain, for example, and what you may not realize is that the health of the trees around you is being monitored through a smart system installed by the Spanish public sector services firm Urbaser.

In Avilés, northern Spain, a similar system allows Urbaser technicians to take ultrasound ‘x-rays’ of tree trunks to check the plants are well. Spotting early signs of rot or other problems is not just important for the health of the plants.

If undetected, a rotten tree could break or fall and potentially hurt people nearby, particularly in an urban setting. A similar problem can occur when a tree becomes too top-heavy for its roots, so that it becomes more likely to topple over in high winds.

An Australian firm called ENSPEC has come up with a smart sensor system designed to overcome just this issue.

Its Treesensor system is “the only method available to measure root-plate stability using natural wind forces, scientifically,” according to Craig Hallam, managing director.

“Treesensor is designed to read accelerometers,” he explains. “The data is stored on memory cards then uploaded to Treesensor in the cloud. There is also a software version to load on computers. It allows the arborist to determine if a tree is within the limits of stability.”

These arboriculture applications are still in their infancy. In agriculture, though, the use of wireless sensor technology is already popular.

Sol Chip, which makes power systems for IoE devices, says: “The use of sensors helps to monitor nutrients in the soil, humidity, temperature, density of weeds, and factors affecting production.”
The application of technology to farming has even led to the rise of new disciplines such as precision agriculture, where crop growth is carefully monitored and controlled through the use of satellite imaging and sensors.

This transition from ‘green digits‘ to ‘green digital’ in agriculture is credited with helping to get young people back into farming. Rural youngsters are returning to farmsteads because of the intellectual challenges arising from the use of new technologies.

Another big area for IoE in agriculture is traceability systems. To date, RF identity tagging has been most extensively used to track livestock, but recently the Indian government has been studying the possibility of introducing a tracking system for mangoes.

‘Mangonet‘, as it is being named, is designed to help India circumvent a European ban on mango imports that was introduced in May 2014 because of fruit fly infestations.

Indian farmers resorted to technology to control the outbreak in their crops, logging field notes on iPads and introducing a pest surveillance system called HortiSAP (for Horticulture Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project), developed by the Indian National Centre for Integrated Pest Management.
Even so, nowadays you don’t need to take a trip to India, or even to your local farm, if you want to see plants benefiting from network technology. With Parrot‘s Flower Power sensor system you can offer a dose of IoE to your floral friends at home.

“Flower Power monitors the four parameters that are crucial for your plant’s health: sunlight, soil moisture, ambient temperature and fertilizer levels, parameters people cannot really verify by themselves,” says Parrot’s PR director, Vanessa Loury.

“Via this application, you’ll be able to associate the sensor to the plant you’d like to monitor, out of a library of 8000 plants, trees, and vegetables. This means the sensor will know exactly what your plant requires to grow.”

Loury says Flower Power was originally designed for “rookie gardeners, expert gardeners, or involuntary perpetual plant killers,” but the company now wants to “make precision agriculture and horticulture accessible to everyone.”

Whether it is in the field, roadside, or living room, what is clear is that the trend for Internet-connected plants is set to blossom.

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