Wednesday, June 7, 2017

The best free graphic design software

http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/free-graphic-design-software-8134039

Not everyone has the cash to spend kitting themselves out with the most expensive graphic design software, particularly when starting a new business or embarking on a new career in design. Many will default to Adobe's fantastic Creative Cloud suite of applications, but for those who want to do the groundwork there is a lot of free graphic design software out there that can do the job just as well.

But to save you from doing said groundwork, and to help separate the wheat from the chaff, we've compiled this list and divided it into five sections:

Vector art
Image editing
3D software
Data visualization
Other useful tools

So scroll through this list and try out some of the free applications available to you – you may not need that Adobe subscription after all…

Vector art

01. Vectr

Vectr's online options make it great for live collaboration

Platform: Online, Mac, Windows, Linux, Chromebook

Available both as a browser-based web app and as a stand-alone desktop app, Vectr is a free editor for creating 2D vector graphics. With all the vector features you'd hope for, plus plenty of options for using filters, shadows and fonts, it's versatile enough for day-to-day design tasks such as creating icons, websites, illustrations, logos and more. Particularly useful are its live collaboration and synchronisation options, enabling you to hook up with anyone, anywhere to create in tandem.

02. SVG-Edit

Although SVG-Edit is limited to the SVG format it's surprisingly capable for free graphic design software

Platform: Web Browser

If you're looking to quickly output SVG, or edit an existing SVG file, there are a few online editors that will do the job just as well as Adobe Illustrator. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an open format that allows you to reproduce your Vector drawings programmatically, and one of the nicest projects is SVG-Edit.

This is built entirely on HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript without requiring any server-side processing. So not only can you use it to create and edit documents, but as it's open source you can also download and modify the code – making your own version if you want.

The standard, albeit basic, toolset of every vector-image editor is here, and although it's limited to the SVG format it's surprisingly capable.

03. Inkscape

Free graphic design software Inkscape has very good SVG integration and supports a number of advanced features

Platform: Windows/Linux (Mac possible if you're technically minded)

As with many of the free options available, Inkscape focuses on the SVG format as its primary file format. This highly capable editor has a very good SVG integration, supporting many of the more advanced features that aren't always available in other apps – such as alpha blending, cloned objects, and markers.

Full support for different colour modes means this is a viable alternative to Illustrator for both print and web design, and although the interface is somewhat simpler than Illustrator, it's still possible to achieve extremely sophisticated artwork. Of particular note is the ability to trace bitmap images, support for variable width strokes and native import of Illustrator files.

There are source binaries available for Windows, Linux, and Mac, and compiled versions currently offered for Windows and Linux.

04. Serif DrawPlus Starter Edition

DrawPlus isn't really intended for professionals, but it's got some impressive feature considering it is free graphic design software

Platform: Windows

Although at first sight you might think DrawPlus isn't really intended as an app for professionals, it's actually surprisingly capable, and as it's offered in a free version it muscled its way into our list of free graphic design software. DrawPlus is designed to be intuitive in use, and has a wide range of tools that mirror functionality in Illustrator, but in a more approachable manner.

There are also some nice extra features that are actually implemented in a more user-friendly way than Adobe's software – 3D being a prime example, where you can quickly make an object 3D via extrusion, apply a wide range of 3D styles or draw your own bevel profile that's instantly applied to your object. Similarly there's a collection of brushes and pre-defined templates to get you started working quickly.

The app works happily in CMYK, allowing you to easily output print-ready artwork and it's also capable of working with Pantone colour profiles.

Image editing

05. Krita

Krita has been in development for over 10 years

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Designed with the VFX industry and concept artists, illustrators, matte and texture artists in mind, Krita is a free and open source painting tool that's been in development for over 10 years. It comes with a full set of brushes suitable for all manner of work, and there's a whole host of plugins available, from advanced filters to painting assistants for perspective work, and the latest version boasts features improved graphics tablet suport, OpenGL zooming and a wraparound mode for texture painting.

06. Pixlr

Free graphic design software Pixlr comes with more than 600 effects

Platform: iOS, Android

Pixlr claims to be "the most popular online photo editor in the world", which may have something to do with the fact that it's free graphic design software.

But it also boasts more than 600 effects, overlays, and borders and lets you do all the main things you'd expect from a photo editor, from cropping and re-sizing to removing red-eye and whitening teeth.

And if you're used to using Photoshop, then you'll find Pixlr's user interface easy to pick up quickly, as it's very similar. This free app is available in both iOS and Android varieties.

07. Paint.net

For photo editing, free graphic design software Paint.net is an excellent alternative to Photoshop

Platform: Windows

Paint.net is a Windows-based alternative to the Paint editor that Microsoft shipped with versions of Windows. Don't let that put you off, though, as it's surprisingly capable, useful and free graphic design software.

The focus is on ease of use, and there's a definite tendancy towards photo editing rather than artistic creation. That said, there are a range of special effects available, allowing you to easily create fake perspective, blend and push pixels around the canvas, tile and repeat selections, and so on.

A good range of selection tools, support for layers, and adjustments such as curves and brightness/contrast mean that Paint.net is a great alternative to Photoshop for photo editing, especially if you can do without some of the more recent additions to Photoshop's toolset.

08. Sumopaint

Free graphic design software Sumopaint works in the browser, and requires Adobe Flash to use

Platform: Web browser (requires Adobe Flash Player)

Sumopaint is a highly capable browser-based image editor. All the standard features you'd expect from a desktop tool are present and correct (and by buying the Pro version for $19 you can install a desktop version of the app if you prefer).

You need the Adobe Flash Player to use this tool, so you're not going be using Sumopaint on your iPad. That said, it's lightweight and quick to load, and the free version is very usable.

The standard range of tools and adjustments you'd expect are all included. Brushes, pencils, shapes, text, cloning, gradients, etc are all quickly accessed from the Photoshop-esque floating toolbar. It can also open saved documents from your hard drive, making Sumopaint a perfectly viable option for editing and reediting.

09. GIMP

GIMP is a popular, free graphic design software alternative to Photoshop

Platform: Linux, Windows, Mac

Open-source free graphic design software that debuted on Unix-based platforms, GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program. Today it's available in versions for Linux, Windows, and Mac.

GIMP's interface differs somewhat from Photoshop, but a version of GIMP is available that mimics Adobe's look and feel, making it easier to migrate over if you're ditching Photoshop. The full suite of tools is available here – everything you're accustomed to is within easy reach, including painting tools, colour correction, cloning, selection, and enhancement.

The team that oversees development has worked hard to ensure compatibility too, so you'll be able to work with all the popular file formats without any trouble at all. You'll also find a very capable file manager built in, along similar lines to Adobe's Bridge.

3D software

10. Daz Studio

Normally retailing at $249, 3D software Daz Studio is currently available to download completely free of charge

Platform: Mac, Windows

Daz Studio is a 3D figure customisation, posing and animation tool that enables artists of all skill levels to creating digital art using virtual people, animals, props, vehicles, accessories and environments.

With Daz Studio, you can create custom 3D characters and avatars, design virtual environments, produce graphic design elements and much more. The latest version of Daz Studio 4.5 normally retails at $249 but is currently available to download free of charge.

11. Blender

The superb animation Big Buck Bunny was made using free graphic design software tool Blender

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

If you're serious about 3D but struggling to afford software, then you're in luck. Blender is a free, open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems.

Started by Blender Foundation founder Ton Roosendaal back in 2002, Blender is now largest open source tool for 3D creation. Its makers are constantly working on its development, but you can pretty much do anything 3D related with this software, including modelling, texturing, animation, rendering and compositing.

12. Sculptris

Master the art of digital sculpting with Pixologic's free graphic design software Sculptris

Platform: Mac, Windows

If you're interested in the art of digital sculpting, check out 3D software Sculptris, from Pixologic. Perfect for all skill levels, the software is a great starting point for users new to the discipline and more experienced CG artists will find the software a quick and easy way to realise concepts.

Sculptris is based on Pixologic's ZBrush, the most widely-used digital sculpting application in today's market. So, when you're ready to move on to the next level of detailing, skills learned in Sculptris can be directly translated into ZBrush.

13. Houdini Apprentice

Get to grips with the Houdini graphic design software with this free Apprentice version

Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux

Houdini is a 3D animation and visual effects tool, used widely throughout the media industry for film, broadcast, entertainment and visualisation. And its cheapest version costs just a little under $2000.

But the makers of the programme – Side Effects Software – are a good bunch and, knowing that cost can be an issue, offer an Apprentice version for free. With this you can access all of the features of the full version in order to develop your skills in the software and work on personal projects. The programme is purely for use non-commercial and learning purposes.

Data visualization

14. Google Developers

Display real live data with Google Developers

Platform: Web browser

Google chart tools are powerful, simple to use, and free. You can choose from a variety of charts and configure an extensive set of options to perfectly match the look and feel of your website. By connecting your data in real time, Google Developers is the perfect infographic generator for your website.

15. Vizualize

Free graphic design software Vizualize could be the start of how résumés will be portrayed in the future

Platform: Web browser

After the success of our post on an infographic résumé, it was only a matter of time before this infographic résumé generator turned up. You can visualise your resume in one click and also take a look at previous examples. Enabling people to express their professional accomplishments in a simple yet compelling personal visualisation, we think this is the start of something big.

16. Easel.ly

Free graphic design software Easel.ly offers a dozen free templates to start you off

Platform: Web browser

This free web-based infographic tool offers you a dozen free templates to start you off, which are easily customisable.

You get access to a library of things like arrows, shapes and connector lines, and you can customize the text with range of fonts, colours, text styles and sizes. The tool also lets you upload your graphics and position them with one touch.

17. Infogr.am

Customising the data that makes up the infographic takes place in an Excel style spreadsheet

Platform: Web browser

Infogr.am is a great free tool which offers access to a wide variety of graphs, charts and maps as well as the ability to upload pictures and videos to create cool infographics.

Customising the data that makes up the infographic takes place in an Excel style spreadsheet and can easily be edited, watching the software automatically change the look of the infographic to perfectly represent your data. When you're happy with your infographic you can publish it to the Infogram website for all to enjoy and even embed it in to your own website or share it via social media.

18. Visual.ly

Harlem Shake - remember that? Visual.ly is great free graphic design software plus a community for infographics creators

Platform: Web browser

Visual.ly is a community platform for data visualization and infographics set up in 2011. It allows you both to create infographics and get them shared on social media. The website is also able to match those commissioning infographics – including brands, companies and agencies – with its community over more than 35,000 designers.

Other useful tools

19. Prezi

How to create a presentation that will impress - use Prezi's free graphic design software

Platform: Web browser

Prezi is a stylish online presentation creation tool that lets you use images, videos, objects or simple text, and animate them using a wide range of effects. It supports all the major mobile and desktop platforms and allows you to run your presentations as executable files as well.

The finished presentations can also be shared directly from Prezi on all major social networks. Prezi comes both as a free and paid service, but even the free version has all the options you need.

20. Expression Web 4

Expression Web is free graphic design software to download from Microsoft's website

Platform: Windows

If you're a PC user, Microsoft has made its Expression Web 4.0 software free of charge. There's no tech support available for free downloaders but its a pretty powerful alternative to likes of Dreamweaver that won't cost you a penny. In this article, illustrator, artist and graphic designer Stefan Lindblad explains why it offers an alternative worth investigating.

21. Google Fonts

No list of great free graphic design software would be complete without Google Web Fonts

The Google Web Fonts project – renamed Google Fonts – recently did a deal with font service Monotype to make its free fonts available for desktop use. Monotype's SkyFonts software is normally used to rent commercial fonts for short-term use.

But the new deal means you can access desktop versions of hundreds of Google Fonts – previously only available for use as web fonts – via SkyFonts, for as long as you want. You can also find more free fonts right here on Creative Bloq...

22. Behance

With millions of views each month, online creative community Behance is quickly becoming the place to be for artists of all disciplines. It's a fantastic way to see what your peers are up to as well as finding new work and creative inspiration from top web designers and agencies. Find the best ways to get your work noticed on Behance here.

23. WordPress

Create your own portfolio blog with Wordpress's free graphic design software

There are a whole lot of designers who don't have their own blog, but it's a great way to showcase your fantastic work, get recognition in your industry, earn extra income and get new clients.

WordPress is the most popular platform for blogging, and while it can be a little fiddly to set up, there's lots of helpful information online to get you going. Check out these articles:

24. Dribbble

Dribbble is a great source of inspiration as well as a designer's tool

Dribbble enables designers to share their creations easily, and is a good source of inspiration as well as a great way to promote your own work. Check out this article to find out which designers you should be following on Dribbble.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Interesting Debate Topics

Is animal testing a justified?
Is the death penalty appropriate? Or should it be banned?
Should cell phones be used during class?
Should laptops be allowed in classrooms?
Is global warming an issue?
Is there good reason for the American war on terror?
Does school detention do any good in high schools?
What impact does social networking and social networking sites have on society?
Is euthanasia justified?
Are video games containing violence appropriate for children?
Are single sex schools more effective than co-ed schools?
Is television an effective tool in building the minds of children?
Should jobs be subcontracted into developing countries?
Is cloning animals ethical?
Is the grading system used in high school effective?
Do celebrities get away with more crime than non-celebrities?
Is it justified to develop nuclear energy for commercial use?
Is it effective to censor parts of the media?
Are humans to blame for certain animal extinctions?
Are alternative energy sources effective and justified?
Do school uniforms make school a more effective place to learn?
Is drug testing athletes justified?
Is it appropriate for adolescents to be sentenced to life without parole?
Should high schools provide daycare services for students who have children?

Monday, April 10, 2017

How to Create Effective Marketing Campaigns

by Sam Ashe-Edmunds

Marketing is part science, part art, and it can lead to effective sales strategies.

Marketing includes the upfront research that leads to the development of the communication of a sales message. A marketing campaign starts with learning about your target customer, marketplace and competitors. Using that information, you will choose different types of media and create your advertising and promotions. Start with number crunching, then use that information to create effective communications to boost your sales.

Research

1. Research the marketplace. Determine if there is a need for your product or service, or customers might not want to buy it. Do this by looking for competitors. In addition to finding competitors, examine the differences between their business and yours. Look for a unique aspect about what you sell. For example, there might be many restaurants in your city, but you might be one of only a few that cater to budget-conscious families.

2. Create a demographic profile of your potential customers. List the gender, age, race, location, marital status, parental status and income level of your primary customer and secondary buyers. Conduct customer surveys if you have access to their phone numbers or email addresses. Contact your industry's or profession's trade associations for research they have conducted. Conduct a survey on your website and offer a prize for participation. Limit this to people who have purchased your product online or who use a code on product packaging.

3. Research your competitors to learn their price, selling message and product or service benefits. Compare your business to your competitors.

Product Development

1. Determine if you need to change your product or packaging to better compete in your marketplace. A menswear store might consider adding boys clothing. A hair stylist might benefit from adding facials, manicures and pedicures and becoming a full-service salon.

2. Develop a brand, image or position for your product or service in the marketplace. Your brand might be that you offer low-cost quality or that you provide high-end service. You might offer name brands or focus on servicing what you sell. You can position yourself as the destination of young, hip consumers, or sensible, practical seniors.

3. Price your product to achieve your marketing goals. Once you know what you need to charge to make a profit, determine if you will undercut your competition, sell at a competitive price or price yourself higher. A low price positions you differently than a high price in the eyes of consumers. A low price decreases your profit margin but can help you take market share from higher-priced competitors. A high price might reduce sales but gives you higher margins and might position you as a higher-quality product or service.

Promotion

1. Decide where you will sell your product. Based on your target customer and brand position, your best options might include retail stores, online, in catalogs, through TV offers or with direct mail. Consider your price point and branding when you choose distribution channels. Selling a high-end product at Wal-Mart, for example, sends a mixed message.

2. Develop a public relations campaign to generate free media attention about your product. Send press releases to newspapers, industry trade associations, magazines, websites and radio stations. Write your press releases to focus on the newsworthiness to the public rather than making your communication read like a free ad. If you are a new business, stress that angle in local publications. If you have won awards, play that up. If you are creating jobs in a community, lead with that fact.

3. Create an advertising campaign to send a controlled message to the marketplace. Research different media using each one's media kit. A media kit contains the demographics of the readers, viewers or listeners of a newspaper, magazine, website, TV station or radio station. Using the reader profiles in the media kits, choose media outlets with audience demographics similar to your target customers. In the ads, sell the benefits of your product or service rather than the features. Have a grand opening.

4. Use promotions to generate more brand or product awareness. Create in-store promotions, such as coupons, aisle displays or product sampling. Sponsor events, such as charity balls, auctions or sporting events. Donate products to charities to raffle or auction.

7 Steps to Planning a Successful Promotional Campaign

How to Plan and Execute a Promotional Campaign

Businessmen at computer in startup office — Credit: Thomas Barwick/ Stone/ Getty Images

Marketing

A promotional plan is an important marketing tool when it comes to launching a new service or product or expanding your market reach into new verticals or demographics. When planning a promotional campaign, keep in mind that a successful campaign achieves all of the following desired outcomes and goals:

The question is how do you achieve these outcomes with your campaign? The process is easy, but it takes "planning" time. Here are seven steps that will get your campaign off to the right start.

Step 1: Assess Marketing Communication Opportunities

It's important in this first step to examine and understand the needs of your target market. Who is your message going out to? Current users, influencers among individuals, decision-makers, groups, or the general public?

Step 2: What Communication Channels Will You Use?

In the first step of planning, you should have defined the markets, products, and environments. This information will assist you in deciding which communication channels will be most beneficial. Will you use personal communication channels such as face to face meeting, telephone contact, or perhaps a personal sales presentation?

Or will the nonpersonal communication such as newspapers, magazines, or direct mail work better?

Step 3: Determine Your Objectives

Keep in mind that your objectives in a promotional campaign are slightly different from your marketing campaign. Promotional objectives should be stated in terms of long or short-term behaviours by people who have been exposed to your promotional communication.

These objectives must be clearly stated, measurable, and appropriate to the phase of market development.

Step 4: Determine Your Promotion Mix

This is where you will need to allocate resources to sales promotion, advertising, publicity, and, of course, personal selling. Don't skimp on either of these areas. You must create an awareness among your buyers in order for your promotional campaign to succeed. A well-rounded promotion will use all these methods in some capacity.

Step 5: Develop Your Promotional Message

This is the time that you will need to sit down with your team and focus on the content, appeal, structure, format, and source of the message. Keep in mind in promotional campaigns appeal and execution always work together.

Step 6: Develop the Promotion Budget

This is the exciting part. You must now determine the total promotion budget. This involves determining cost breakdowns per territory and promotional mix elements. Take some time to break down allocations and determine the affordability, percent of sales, and competitive parity. By breaking down these costs, you will get a better idea on gauging the success potential of your campaign.

Step 7: Determine Campaign Effectiveness

After marketing communications are assigned, the promotional plan must be formally defined in a written document.

In this document, you should include situation analysis, copy platform, timetables for effective integration of promotional elements with elements in your marketing mix. You will also need to determine how you will measure the effectiveness once it is implemented. How did the actual performance measure up to planned objectives? You'll need to gather this information by asking your target market whether they recognized or recall specific advertising messages, what they remember about the message, how they felt about the message, and if their attitudes toward the company were affected by the message.

look at these two links for further help

https://prezi.com/umcdx3hxwfti/unit-329-brand-development/?webgl=0

https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/best-marketing-campaigns-2016/

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Ethics and Legalities in Digital Marketing

Rules of the Game:

I believe that marketing of brand within social media is a positive step for the end users and public. However, we need a lot to do to make the vision perfect. Here are few recommendations to ensure your social media marketing remains ethical.

1. KYA – Know Your Audience:

Before embarking on any social marketing drive, make sure that you:

Know about your audience, their preferences, interests and choices
Have a complete demographic and psycho-graphic overview

This will help you refine your target audience and also facilitate in developing anti-spam mechanism. In addition, it will allow you to segment the audience and send over relevant messages that will drive engagement; the ultimate goal.

2. Stay Away from Biases:

Businesses and marketers need to stay away from (negative) political, religious, ethnic, or any cultural bias that could be termed as controversial. A slight mistake can lead to a big PR disaster and loss of your job (as marketer). We have seen that many top social media managers got fired for just one wrong tweet.

3. Never Compromise On Privacy:

Privacy is a very sensitive domain as it is top concern of the internet generation. If you are doing some marketing via social media, make sure you do not violate privacy rules. Some companies extract Facebook and LinkedIn data to build their email campaigns. This is a cutting-edge sword and requires attention to core concerns. Just a promise of not spamming might not be enough, you need to give unsubscribe option with every message you deliver. To read more about ethical email marketing.

4. Be Transparent:

If you are endorsing some product, idea or personality; you need to disclose why you are endorsing it. Mentioning your relationship with that particular product, non-profit entity, brand or political entity in your campaign, handle, or bio is essential.

5. Speak Truth:

If you have some interest or affiliation in something being discussed, you need to politely communicate your affiliation. It does not require that you explain your interests but tell as to why are you supporting a particular thing. Another important element here is to be true to yourself as well as the audience.

6. Think Before You Tweet:

Internet if flooded with unauthentic information pieces, which has made the marketer’s job more complicated. Therefore, always verify what you share before sending it out for prospects. Any factual error may lead to embarrassment and negative perception of the brand.

7. Imagine the Impact:

If you are sharing some information through your social channel which has been acquired from a third party source, give clear disclaimers to avoid suspicions of conflict of interest. Moreover; be very careful about your tweets and retweets. Public perception matters a lot. For instance, you might retweet something a politician has said in order to spread the news but some may view it as your support for that person. This can be very tricky for your brand.

Conclusion:

Finally, if you do the campaigns with a documented marketing strategy, it can save you from many troubles. Probably the best way to avoid any misconception is to map your content and have a content calendar. Moreover, a strict monitoring mechanism has to be installed to ensure compliance with the code of conduct.

http://www.business2community.com/social-media/7-fundamental-ethics-social-media-marketing-01571504#adth2mSzRrheHEuT.99

Why does ethics come into it?

This is a grey area but marketers have a responsibility to act ethically.

Of course, there is a difference between illegal activity and unethical activity. Responsible brands are unlikely to be acting illegally as marketers should be familiar with privacy legislation. It is the unethical activities which have the potential to really damage brands.

Marketers know that a brand’s success is built on consumer trust and so delivering on its promise is key. If a brand fails to act ethically, whether this is done accidentally or deliberately, this trust is undermined.

In the past, we have seen brands acting unethically over their claims or trying to be something they are not, harming their brands For example, the companies that provided the popular game app, Angry Birds, and the ‘Brightest Flashlight Free’ app have been using these apps to track users’ movements 24/7 and passing this information along to other companies. Acting as mini tracking devices, these apps collect information about where people travel throughout the day. As it is unreasonable to expect consumers to know they’re being spied upon, these app companies can be said to be acting unethically, and should their actions become public knowledge, it would undermine brand trust and dramatically reduce downloads.

But who owns the data?

Our every movement in the digital world leaves a trail that can be tracked. Various permission may well be given by consumers when first signing up to websites and apps, but these permissions are often without the consumer’s active knowledge as companies hide what data they are collating and for what purpose. For example, permission for companies to re-use family photos and videos that have been posted onto networks, such as Facebook, may well be buried in the T&C’s.

So all the while people are using a platform, data is being collected by the brand and being used to make a better product. Would consumers consider it morally acceptable if they found their personal details and images elsewhere on the web without having given explicit permission? Again, many consumers would see this as overstepping the ethical line.

The moral dilemma

A moral dilemma reigns. The Internet is meant to be free from control and a force for good where ideas and information can be freely exchanged . But who defines when something is ‘a force for good’ and when it’s okay for information to be ‘freely exchanged’? Large tech companies are dominating Internet activity and whilst generally perceived to be benign, they are increasingly deciding what Internet freedom should look like. Taking a closer look at the following examples shows that their actions are not always ethical.

• Google’s “don’t be evil” motto seems to mean that if Google does it, it’s for the common good. This is despite accusations of monopolistic practices in search and being criticised for spying on consumers to sell advertising. Google appears to want to define what is ‘good’.
• Facebook “helps you connect and share with the people in your life”. Another way of looking at this is that it is a giant marketing platform for collecting data on people’s lives and then selling this to advertisers.
• Unethical sites have tapped into Facebook to help them disseminate ‘fake news.’ This ‘news’ is so realistic, and targeted at people who have the propensity to believe it, that there are concerns it may have influenced the way people voted in the U.S election.
• Twitter claims to help you to “get in-the-moment updates on the things that interest you” and yet they aren’t transparent about how users’ data is sold on to advertisers.

If the world’s largest tech companies are not transparent in their marketing activities this highlights the scale of the moral dilemma today’s marketers must navigate.

Navigating the moral tightrope

It’s an exciting time to use digital tools as they are changing fast, but by ignoring the ethical dimension marketers are in danger of undermining brand trust. On the horizon, we can see which will measure peoples’ emotional response to ads through facial recognition. To do this, consumers must grant the platform access to their webcams, adding another dimension to the moral maze.

The arrival of big data means that there will be even more data available requiring more powerful tools. So, now’s the time for marketers to obtain clarity around what is and isn’t ethical. There are currently few guidelines around the ‘rights and wrongs’ in the world of digital marketing. Perhaps it’s time for companies to introduce an ethical marketing handbook, making it clear what is and isn’t acceptable in the online world? By considering the brand damage that could be done by acting unethically, this should be incentive enough for marketers to review their own and their companies’ moral compasses!