Tagged: bbsdigmarket

How to avoid potential privacy issues that come with using Snapchat

So, we all know that hundreds of companies are using Snapchat to vlog their latest behind the scene moments and newest fashion line, however there are some privacy issues that come with Snapchat that might make you think twice about signing up. Not only Snapchat would face consequences of everyone being worried about these issues and deleting their accounts, but so would all the companies that use Snapchat as a main marketing source.

French (2015) says that the app has full rights in republishing your photos and actually saving them to Snapchat servers. Users are also at high risk of their videos and photos being saved by other users without them knowing (Burnham, 2014), the thought that your pictures and videos could be out there without you knowing is enough to put you off the app for life. It’s also being said that Snapchat are transmitting your location and collected contact information from your address book (Burnham, 2014). It’s not looking too great for Snapchat at the moment, but you don’t necessarily have to stop using the fun platform, I have gathered some simple tips to avoid these issues.

(Source via: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/snapchats-new-scary-privacy-policy-has-left-users-outraged-2015-10-29)

Keeping your snaps and stories friend only is an easy way to ensure your photos and videos aren’t getting in to the wrong hands (Naked Security, 2016). This is easy and some would say obvious, but if people you want to be seeing your snapchats are people you don’t mind saving them, then this lowers your chance of people you don’t know getting hold of them. It’s a default option on snapchat that only your friends will see your snaps, and it is highly recommended you keep it that way. Another way to ensure you are avoiding privacy problems is only snapchatting things you don’t mind being public, there are many people and third party apps that can simply take photos of your snaps without you knowing by pointing another camera at them (Naked Security, 2016). Doing this will make sure nothing you don’t want people to see will be seen.

(Source via: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/08/31/3-tips-for-better-security-and-privacy-on-snapchat/)

Another easy and obvious way to avoid your snapchats being seen by people you don’t want to see them is by keeping your passwords unique and secure (Kenny, 2016). It is so important you don’t give out your password to anybody, even your friend who you trust with all your secrets. This ensures no one is going to be getting on any of your social media, changing your password regularly is a good way to make sure of this, even if you have forgotten you mentioned a password in a passing conversation (Kenny, 2016).

There’s a way you can share Snapchat stories with the whole world through the “Snapchat Live” function, you just have to make sure your comfortable with the whole world seeing what you’re putting on here before you do so (Kenny, 2016). It’s also important you check what applications you have that act as third party apps to Snapchat, you should not trust these apps and it’s best just not to use them at all (Njeri, 2016). These applications can see everything you are doing on the app and have access to all pictures and videos you are sending and saving, so you can even be putting your friends and family at risk.

Furthermore, if you are worried about Snapchat having your location, it is super easy to turn this off in the settings on your phone and this won’t let Snapchat see your location at all. There are filters that many people use via their location being turned on, and it is fun to use them but it isn’t necessarily worth the risk.

Therefore, to make sure you’re not in danger follow these simple tips and everyone can live happily on the application and you don’t have to delete the app all together. This makes it easier for companies to get their stuff out there to as many people as possible, and we don’t want to ruin their fun, do we?

References:

  • Burnham (2014). 5 Ways Snapchat Violated Your Privacy, Security – InformationWeek. [online] InformationWeek. Available at: http://www.informationweek.com/software/social/5-ways-snapchat-violated-your-privacy-security/d/d-id/1251175 [Accessed 6 May 2017].
  • French (2015). Snapchat’s new ‘scary’ privacy policy has left users outraged. [online] Market Watch. Available at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/snapchats-new-scary-privacy-policy-has-left-users-outraged-2015-10-29 [Accessed 6 May 2017].
  • Kenny (2016). Kaspersky Lab official blog. [online] Blog.kaspersky.com. Available at: https://blog.kaspersky.com/snapchat-privacy-security/11151/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].
  • Njeri, K. (2016). Complete Snapchat Privacy and Security Guide to Stay Safe on it | Cyberogism. [online] Cyberogism. Available at: https://cyberogism.com/2017/01/snapchat-privacy-security-guide/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].
  • Varmazis, M. (2016). 3 tips for better security and privacy on Snapchat. [online] Naked Security. Available at: https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2016/08/31/3-tips-for-better-security-and-privacy-on-snapchat/ [Accessed 6 May 2017].

What does it take for a company to use email marketing effectively?

Email Marketing is a form of direct marketing, it is the process of companies sending mail digitally and is a common way for companies to get through to their customers by promoting their products and services. This blog will explore how companies can effectively use email marketing to communicate with their customers and will discuss where companies have gone wrong and where they have effectively used this platform.

BuzzFeed is a company who use email as a marketing strategy, it’s suggested that this platform is one of the top 5 or 6 referrers of traffic to their website each month (Beashel, 2015). These figures suggest that BuzzFeed are doing something right when it comes to email marketing. The company suggest that their email marketing is so effective because of their large mailing list, over the past few years they have become more vigilant in making sure that consumers are seeing the email marketing subscription sign up more frequently throughout their site (Beashel, 2015). However, when browsing a website it can be seen as annoying to be constantly asked for your email for a subscription, so maybe this isn’t the best way to go about increasing your mailing list. Although BuzzFeed can be annoying when asking for your email to sign up to their newsletter, they do also ask what you’re interested in before signing you up. This is a great way to keep your subscribers interested and to increase your website traffic.


(Source via: https://www.buzzfeed.com/tools/email)

Uber uses email marketing to inform customers of new promotions and deals, it’s suggested that the simplicity of their emails is what makes people love them (HubSpot, 2016). The first thing a customer will see when looking at an email, is the subject and Uber keeps it short and sweet, which is said to be perfect for subscribers who are quickly skimming the email (Target Marketing, 2015). There is a fine line between short and sweet and boring when it comes to receiving a marketing email, I’m sure everyone has received them at some point and they definitely need colour and an essence of fun to make you want to read them. However, Uber use their signature colours and geometric patterns to liven up their emails. Not only does Uber use simplicity to create their email campaigns, but they also use punchy language to give their consumers a sense of urgency and this stirs them in to action (Moth, 2014).

(Source via: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list#sm.001kj47phi3ife610mq1w8ane2ior)

Groupon use email marketing to show customers their new deals, in 2014 they gave customers a chance to win $5,000,000 in Groupon dollars and they promoted it by sending out am email consisting of a big red button. This idea excited subscribers at first, they were in for a chance for winning loads of freebies, however, the excitement quickly faded when most of the customers were obviously told, bluntly ‘sorry, you didn’t score’. It’s suggested that the majority of people who were disappointed by the big red button felt undervalued by this marketing campaign and if anything, felt put off by Groupon (Simply compelling, 2015). This is a fine example of how an email sent to promote your business needs to appear appealing to everyone, or there will be a large amount of people disappointed and if anything, it is bad publicity. Groupon have showed that effective email marketing needs to consist of targeting a majority of their subscribers, to excite and appeal to everyone.

So, now I have discussed some do’s and don’ts when it comes to email marketing you can now create the best marketing emails ever. It’s so important that the whole of your audience find your emails appealing, to ensure they don’t unsubscribe as this will lose traffic on your website, and eventually profit. The content is obviously one of the most important parts to email marketing, and keeping it simple enough for the reader to not get bored but exciting enough too is tricky but vital. The mailing list is also a big part of email marketing, and not nagging customers to join is just as important as the content, because if you have no one to email then the content wouldn’t matter any way.

References

  • Beashel, (2015). How BuzzFeed uses email marketing to drive growth. [online] Campaignmonitor.com. Available at: https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/customers/2015/04/buzzfeed-email-marketing/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
  • HubSpot, (2016). 15 of the Best Email Marketing Campaign Examples You’ve Ever Seen. [online] Blog.hubspot.com. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list#sm.001kj47phi3ife610mq1w8ane2ior [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
  • Moth, (2014). Email marketing CTA design: five good vs. six bad examples. [online] Econsultancy. Available at: https://econsultancy.com/blog/64997-email-marketing-cta-design-five-good-vs-six-bad-examples/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
  • Simply Compelling, (2015). Examples of email marketing gone wrong – Simply Compelling. [online] Simply Compelling. Available at: http://simplycompelling.com/email-marketing/examples-of-email-marketing-gone-wrong/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].
  • Target Marketing, (2015). Uber Gets an A+. [online] Target Marketing. Available at: http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/uber-gets/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].