Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/252940
48 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 FEBRUARY 2014 CONRAD BUGEJA THERE are various ways by which one can boost a business's growth – a direct way is to increase advertis- ing. This is very effective especially for B2C companies. A recent report by Deloitte on behalf of the Adver- tising Association explains how small UK companies can grow with the potential of investing in good advertising, and that only a few per- centage invest in promotional activ- ities. On the other hand, those who invest experience a rise in sales and growth in their company. There are several means to adver- tise a business being by using tradi- tional or digital marketing methods. Large companies have already start- ed to shift their budgets from tradi- tional to digital, as this is achieving higher revenue and is much more cost effective. The decline occur- ring from every traditional chan- nel – be it TV, print, direct mail, radio and so on – has been dipping from 2012. Companies' traditional advertising budgets are shrinking and are instead shifting to digital platforms. In Malta, we are seeing a lot of companies that are now embracing digital activities including social and online advertising. In fact, 2014 will probably be the year where we will really see a significant shift in Malta to advertise on digital plat- forms. Exploring Digital Marketing A lot of companies are either wea- ry about or ignorant of what digital channels may bring. They are at times afraid to embrace it, avoid it and maybe are not even aware of it. Sometimes businesses in Malta still encompass the idea of direct mail, TV, radio and print. While this is positive and will definitely bring good business, one should also opt to target some budgets towards dig- ital marketing. Why? The benefits are endless. Digital advertising is much cheaper, can be modified as the campaigns are running (to im- prove performance), more targeted and easier to measure. The best platforms to advertise on are those that have a lot of reach, or in other terms, traffic. This means that the adverts are seen by a large number of people. However, reach and mass advertising are charac- teristics that traditional advertising has. While reach is still important, an advantage of digital marketing is of being more targeted – something that traditional advertising lacks. A targeted campaign will focus on an audience that are more likely to become customers. Combine reach with targeted advertising and you have the right ingredients for a cam- paign to obtain an attractive return- on-investment. Digital marketing also brings up opportunities to entertain your cus- tomers and audience instead of just selling your products or services. This can easily be done via social media where one can interact with the company itself or by posting interesting content. All this useful content is seeking to entertain and educate the customer. In return to all this engagement, the customers themselves will create further reach making customers come to you. Studies have shown how mobile and social media are on the rise. These, in addition to search engine optimisation, pay-per-click, opt- in email campaigns and blogging. Maltese businesses should really seek advice to benefit from these opportunities and advertise using digital marketing activities. Conrad Bugeja is a Search Opti- misation Consultant and Pay-Per- Click Consultant at Alert eBusiness Internet Marketing Division – www. alertemarketing.com Information Technology 2014 will probably be the year where we will really see a significant shift in Malta to advertise on digital platforms Boosting your business growth IMAGINE changing an object without even touching it. What Einstein himself dismissed as "spooky action at a distance" is now a fact called quantum entanglement. It's part of the world of quantum mechanics, normally the study of very, very small things. Scientists re- cently uncovered that these quantum effects, which allow completely secure messages and super-fast computers, may reach much fur- ther than previously thought. What if the fundamental entity is not energy or matter, but information? How do we decode this information... this reality? This hypothe- sis, explored by Prof. Vlatko Vedral, challenges our concepts of particles, time, determinism, and of reality itself. In this talk, Vedral will ex- plore his work on quantum physics and how it applies to biology and technology. Professor Vedral is a physicist and Profes- sor of Physics at the University of Oxford and Centre for Quantum Technologies at the Na- tional University of Singapore. Vedral is also a Fellow of Wolfson College known for research of Quantum Information Theory and on the Theory of Entanglement. He has appeared on the Discovery Channel's 'Though the Wormhole', and has written ar- ticles in New Scientist and a book 'Decoding Reality'. Listen to this celebrated scientist on Thurs- day, 13 February, 19:30 (doors open 19:15) at the 2nd Floor, University of Malta Valletta Campus, St Paul's Street. Prof Vedral was brought over by Dr André Xuereb, in associa- tion with GO. Refreshments will be provided by The Farsons Foundation, Walkers Crisps and Doritos Tortillas Chips. Entrance is free but registration is required by emailing andre.xuereb@um.edu.mt Prof. Vlatko Vedral The secret to decoding reality