What Kinds of Software Do Banks Use?

October 26, 2020

When you think of a bank, what are the first images that come to mind? A teller at a booth? Security guards? A giant vault? ATM machines? All of these answers could be correct, but there’s more to a bank than meets the eye. The problem with picturing the modern bank is that people are stuck between two distinct ideas. The first is the traditional setting with tellers, offices, and other physical features, and the second is the switch to mobile apps for all of your financial needs. This second perspective of the bank has become a more dominating force.

Why is this image of the bank being a small app on your phone becoming more common in clients’ minds? The simple answer is that digital technology is the future for the financial industry, and it begins with the software that’s being used to help push change and innovation. The most obvious example is your bank’s app, but it goes well beyond just that. Here are some of the different kinds of software and services that banks need to be operational in this new digital finance landscape.

1. Customer Relationship Management

Keeping clients happy and using bank services is one of the top priorities for any legitimate financial institution. With that goal in mind, banks need ways to keep these customers and clients happy, and this is where customer relationship management (CRM) software comes in handy. The main goal of CRM software is to provide customers with features like documentation of records, client-specific offerings, marketing data, and integrated communication services. These are just some of the benefits that CRM software can provide a bank for managing clients. The most important aspect is client retention, so offering personalized sales, deals, and services plays a significant role in how people perceive their financial institution. Using CRM software, banks can effectively manage and improve how they offer their services to their existing customer base, and use the data they collect along the way to enhance their relations based on pattern-recognition and other methods of analysis.

2. Cash Optimization

Cash optimization is likely a term you may not have heard before, but if you work in the financial world, it might sound familiar. When it comes to banks, ATM machines are an essential function of the institution’s abilities, and ATM software helps banks regulate their cash flow. ATMs are often considered a simple machine that you either take out money or put in money, with other features giving you the ability to check on account balances. While those are the primary functions of an ATM for a client, a bank must manage how much money is being bought and ordered for these machines, and keep it within a reasonable limit. Having too much cash in a machine can be because it’s sitting in the machine not being activated within the cash flow, costing the bank money, and not enough cash can lead to insufficient funds for clients needing withdrawals. Optimizing cash using AI systems, forecasting, analytics, and management for cost-saving on cash orders helps banks keep costs down on ATM services for their operational needs, while increasing the effectiveness of these machines for client needs.

3. Trading Platforms

The first purpose of a bank is to hold and protect money for clients. Whether it’s a physical currency that you deposit at an ATM or through a teller, or if it’s digital finances on a bank’s mobile app, your first goal is to trust the bank with your hard-earned money. The second purpose is that banks act as an institution to invest with. Common investing strategies are high-interest savings accounts, government savings plans, and retirement plans, but many people also use stocks/stock trading, as well as forex trading. Banks offer software services and use these services as well to manage your investments through trading platforms. Maximizing the client’s money through trading helps improve the institution’s asset allocation, which is why they implement trading platforms in their software ecosystem.

4. Payment Networks

Purchasing, depositing, and withdrawing can be done through various means. ATMs, cashback through retail card machines, electronic transfer (e-transfer), debit cards, credit cards, lines of credit, Internet banking, and e-commerce payment options are types of payment networks that banks need to offer clients. These payment networks aren’t one individual type of software, but an amalgamation of many into their infrastructure. The use of payment networks allows clients and banks to access funds in more diverse ways, and allows for more access to banking services. Banks use these payment networks to help improve the services for clients, as evidenced by giving them more freedom and providing faster and safer transactions, allowing the bank to access more markets (millennial bank users, first-time bank clients, tech-savvy users, and clients with little access to a physical branch). Payment networks represent a giant leap in the software capabilities of financial institutions for customer use.

5. Information Management

Using CRM software is only one piece of the puzzle for banks and understanding clients’ information. Information management allows institutions to analyze large chunks of data in rapid time to maximize strategies for client-focused needs. Beyond the use of analyzing client data, information management helps organize and adapt strategies for bank operations. Storing data, cycling data, financial planning, and integrating other forms of management software (CRM) is part of the information management network. With all of the digital finance advancements, the need for a comprehensive system to help organize all of this user and institution data is necessary for a well-functioning bank, which is why they use information management systems.

Banking is changing in ways that never seemed possible. We’ve gone from physical assets like gold, to a fiat currency like bills and coins, and the future is showing us that decentralized digital currency could be on the horizon. With all of this rapid change moving us into digital finances, banks need to be able to handle this task, which is why they implement various software solutions. These types of software services and programs help banks maintain their ability to provide clients with services, adapt and scale to new changes, and improve their functionality on a daily basis.

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World Economic Forum (WEF) – Step Two – “Resetting the Future of Work Agenda” – After The Great Reset

October 26, 2020

By Peter Koenig

The WEF gang have just published (October 2020) a so-called White Paper, entitled “Resetting the Future of Work Agenda – in a Post-Covid World” http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_NES_Resetting_FOW_Agenda_2020.pdf

This 31-page document reads like a blueprint on how to “execute” – because an execution it would be – “Covid-19 – The Great Reset” (July 2020), by Klaus Schwab, founder and CEO (since the foundation of the WEF in 1974) and his associate Thierry Malleret. They call “Resetting the Future” a White Paper, meaning it’s not quite a final version. It is a draft of sorts, a trial balloon, to measure people’s reactions. It reads indeed like an executioner’s tale. Many people may not read it – have no awareness of its existence. If they would, they would go up in arms and take up arms to fight this latest Nazi-enterprise, offered to the world by the WEF.

It promises a horrifying future to some 80%-plus of the (surviving) population. George Orwell’s “1984” reads like a benign fantasy, as compared to what the WEF has in mind for humanity.

The time frame is ten years – by 2030 – the UN agenda 2021 – 2030 should be implemented.

Planned business measures in response to COVID-19:

An acceleration of digitized work processes, leading to 84% of all work processes as digital, or virtual / video conferences.
Some 83% of people are planned to work remotely – i.e. no more interaction between colleagues – absolute social distancing, separation of humanity from the human contact.
About 50% of all tasks are planned to be automated – in other words, human input will be drastically diminished, even while remote working.
Accelerate the digitization of upskilling / reskilling (e.g. education technology providers) – 42% of skill upgrading or training for new skills will be digitized, in other words, no human contact – all on computer, Artificial Intelligence (AI), algorithms.
Accelerate the implementation of upskilling / reskilling programs – 35% of skills are planned to be “re-tooled” – i.e. existing skills are planned to be abandoned – declared defunct.
Accelerate ongoing organizational transformations (e.g. restructuring) – 34% of current organizational set-ups are planned to be “restructured’ – or, in other words, existing organizational structures will be declared obsolete – to make space for new sets of organizational frameworks, digital structures that provide utmost control over all activities.
Temporarily reassign workers to different tasks – this is expected to touch 30% of the work force. That also means completely different pay-scales – most probably unlivable wages, which would make the also planned “universal basic salary” or “basic income” – a wage that allows you barely to survive, an obvious need. – But it would make you totally dependent on the system – a digital system, where you have no control whatsoever.
Temporarily reduce workforce – this is projected as affecting 28% of the population. It is an additional unemployment figure, in disguise, as the “temporarily” will never come back to full-time.
Permanently reduce workforce – 13% permanently reduced workforce.
Temporarily increase workforce – 5% – there is no reference to what type of workforce – probably unskilled labor that sooner or later will also be replaced by automation, by AI and robotization of the workplace.
No specific measures implemented – 4% – does that mean, a mere 4% will remain untouched? From the algorithm and AI-directed new work places? – as small and insignificant as the figure is, it sounds like “wishful thinking”, never to be accomplished.
Permanently increase workforce – a mere 1% is projected as “permanently increased workforce”. This is of course not even cosmetics. It is a joke.

This is the state of the affair – of implementation of The Great Reset.
The Great Reset also foresees, a credit scheme, whereby all personal debt would be “forgiven” – against handing over all personal assets to an administrative body or agency – could possibly be the IMF.

So, you would own nothing – and be happy. Because all your necessities will be provided for.
Also, it should not occur to you to disagree with the system, because – by now each one of you has been covid-vaccinated and nano-chipped – so that with 5G and soon to come 6G, your mind can be read and influenced.

Please do not call this conspiracy theory. DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is part of the Pentagon – and has years ago developed the technology. It is just a matter of time to implement it. And Implemented it will be, if We, The People, do not protest — Massive Civil Disobedience is of the order – and that rather sooner than later.

The more we wait with action, the more we sleepwalk into this absolute human disaster.

Human contact is being eviscerated.

This has several advantages for this Nazi-type novel WEF approach to humanity – to controlling humanity – We, The People, cannot rebel, we have no longer cohesion among ourselves, “We, The People”, will be played against each other – and there is an absolute digital control over humanity – executed by a small super elite. We have no access to this digital control – it is way beyond our reach. The idea is, that we will gradually grow into it – those of us who may survive. Within a generation or so, it is expected to become the New Normal.

The “survival angle” is an aspect not mentioned directly either in The Great Reset, or the “Implementation Guide” – i.e. in the White Paper “Resetting the Future of Work Agenda – in a Post-Covid World”.

Bill Gates, the Rockefellers, Kissinger et al, have never even made a secret out of their strong opinion that the world is over-populated and that a sizable amount of people have to be literally eliminated. We are dealing with eugenicists.

A perfect method for decimating the world population, are Bill Gates initiated, and WHO-supported vaccination programs. Scandals of such disastrous and children-killing programs abound in India (in the 1990s), Kenya (2014 forward) and other parts of the world. – See also a very revealing TedTalk by Bill Gates of February 2010, “Innovating to Zero” https://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_innovating_to_zero?language=en,

just about at the time when the “2010 Rockefeller Report” was issued – the very report that has given us so far, the “Lockstep Scenario” – and we are living it. Hardly protesting it – the entire world – 193 UN member countries – has been coopted or coerced into following this abject human rights abuse on a global scale.

What either report, The Great Reset and the “Resetting the Future of Work Agenda” fails to mention is who is going to enforce these draconian new rules? – They are supposedly the same forces which now are being trained for urban warfare and for suppressing riots and social unrest – they are the police and the military.

Part of our People’s Organization of Civil Disobedience, will be on how to focus on and talking to, educating, informing the police and military of what they will be used for by this small elite, and that in the end they are also just human beings, like the rest of us, therefore they better stand up in defense of the people, of humanity. The same needs to be done to teachers and medical personnel – information, the unfettered truth.

That’s the challenge. If we succeed – the game is over. But it’s a long way. Media disinformation is brutal and powerful and hard to contradict for “us”, without any sizable budget for counter-propaganda, and as a group of people, which is ever more divided by the very media. The mandatory wearing masks and social distancing – has already made enemies of what we used to be, colleagues, friends, even within families, this very dictate has managed to create rifts and disaccord.

No fear – but shredding “Resetting the Future of Work Agenda” and the “The Great Reset” literally to pieces – with a human alternative that would do away with organizations like the WEF, and coopeted UN agencies, like WHO, UNICEF, WTO, World Bank, IMF – and maybe even the entire UN system – and incarcerate their leaders, after giving them due process – Nuremberg style.

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About the Author

Peter Koenig is an economist and geopolitical analyst. He is also a water resources and environmental specialist. He worked for over 30 years with the World Bank and the World Health Organization around the world in the fields of environment and water. He lectures at universities in the US, Europe and South America. He writes regularly for online journals such as Global Research; ICH; New Eastern Outlook (NEO) and more. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed – fiction based on facts and on 30 years of World Bank experience around the globe. He is also a co-author of The World Order and Revolution! – Essays from the Resistance.
Peter Koenig is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization.

Growth That Celebrates Inequality

October 25, 2020

https://theconversation.com/inequality-harms-health-and-well-being-of-all-indonesians-not-just-the-poor-76645?fbclid=IwAR258UQ4V0j4M0PYmbhntDgTqSdStJY5Nw403MlkdKFmVuIfSc1C62-ZuUs

By Namira Samir

It is true that digital innovation helps ease problems of access to finance, reducing the literacy divide, among others. And we have heard enough of those tales. It has been in the spotlight for a long time, making us unaware of the beastly character of innovation that, instead of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor, only promotes the concentration of wealth in just a few hands. By concentrating the analysis on Indonesia’s recent transition to an upper-middle-income country, this article shows how this achievement, which is measured by growth and was made possible by innovation, has not been able to address inequality.

Indonesia, much like other developing nations, is celebrating its upgrading to an upper-middle-income economy. Country-level income classifications rely on gross national income (GNI) per capita. Simply put, GNI is the gross domestic product (GDP) plus earnings from foreign sources. While an increase in GNI signifies an improvement in the overall welfare of a country, it does not necessarily mean that growth becomes equal.

Indonesia’s GNI per capita as of July 2020 is US$4,050[i], which means, on average, that is every Indonesian citizen’s income before tax. Now we know clearly that this is not the case. As of March 2020, 26.42 million Indonesians live on less than Rp454,652/month[ii]. If we convert that into USD, it is about US$370 per year. These people do not even own 10% of what has been widely celebrated as a new achievement of Indonesia.

There are two important questions to pose: how this happened and what should be done.

To answer the first question, let us start with a fact: as a developing country, Indonesia is in the process of catching up. Its upgrading to the upper-middle-income country was made possible because of two factors: demographic dividend and private consumption.

As mentioned in Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the 21^st Century”[iii], demographic dividend can be an equaliser, since it can further induce economic growth and eventually decrease inequality through reducing inherited wealth by the creation of new jobs and, understandably, the need for new skill sets.

Indonesia is a market economy, but it is also the tenth-biggest market in the world. The country is earning plenty from its demographic composition, which is dominated by those at the productive age – be it from contributing directly to the workforce or through private consumption.

As of June 2020, private consumption contributes 59.4% to Indonesia’s nominal GDP. While it is unrealistic to define Indonesia’s consumption-led growth solely from the 2020 figures, because of the economic contraction due to COVID-19 pushing Indonesia’s GDP into a negative term, if we take a look back at last year’s figure, Indonesia has already ridden consumption-led growth, in which consumption is higher than real GDP.

Constant growth, even as little as 0.5%, might address income inequality (Piketty, 2017). Meanwhile, Indonesia’s growth, while charmingly consistent at around 5% pre-COVID, seemed not to tackle income inequality. The Gini ratio of Indonesia wandered around at 39 to 41 – with no sign of any significant decline. Why?

From the poverty and inequality figures above, we can be confident that the income per capita of Indonesians is rising, but this is by and large only being felt by those who possess enormous private wealth, suit-and-tie workers, or those investing in an industry which witnesses a surge in demand, such as the digital industry.

However, in the process of catching up, the government should have paid attention to using growth as an equaliser by investing in public assets that seek to reduce income inequality and, hence, poverty.

The Indonesian government is gradually increasing public assets in health, education and even housing. Yet, the tale of poverty as a problem of basic needs is ancient. Likewise, the solution to addressing income inequality is not by excessive taxation on the rich and distributing the money to the rest of the population. Something is different in the 21^st century.

Innovation and Inequality

Redistribution of wealth will occur when we address the root causes of inequality. Innovation, while it scales up GNI per capita, might sustain, or even worsen, inequality.

To put this into context, let us consider technological innovation in an entertainment company that we are all familiar with: Netflix. A monthly Netflix subscription in Indonesia would cost roughly US$7.39 (Rp100,000) per month. For you to be able to watch Netflix in the first place, you need an internet connection – and an electronic device, obviously.

Some domestic players are also attempting to offer domestic-level entertainment with a competitive price range. People are attracted to this lifestyle, because it offers comfort and flexibility. You no longer need a TV to watch a movie or to keep up to date with current affairs. But at what cost?

Not only has the source of entertainment switched to an extremely virtual medium, but access to information, too, and buying access to information from reliable channels might influence social mobility. So, it is imperative to ask who can access these sources and who gains from this innovation. Whose wallets are shrinking and whose bank accounts are loaded with cash? As of now, innovation encourages growth but perpetuates inequality.

But that does not mean all innovations produce unfavourable outcomes for reducing inequality. A number of digital companies are working to spread awareness of Indonesia’s development issues. Asumsi.co’s #KerahBiru is an example of digital content which aims to narrate the story of manual labourers, who hardly benefit from the rising GNI per capita. Since they cannot benefit directly from innovation, then having an intermediary can ease the process of social mobility. Although #KerahBiru might have no direct effect on reducing inequality, it sets an example of using innovation to articulate the story of – instead of accumulating growth.

The story of innovation has been primarily focused on the digitalisation of financial services and economic activities which are documented to contribute to inclusive development. It is a good narrative, albeit built on an ugly reality. By continuing to retell the success stories of innovation, our insights are blinded from seeing what innovation has brought and how we should respond so as to prevent the intensification of precarity.

It is hard to know what will work against inequality in the 21^st century, because we are dealing with a fast-changing world that will continue to twist us with unpredictable eventualities. Innovation is inevitable. But when it preserves the imbalance of wealth, the state must interfere. The government needs to recognise the presence of different powers that dominate national-level earnings. As a starter, the government might start incorporating innovation-related resources that can factor development into the definition of public assets.

Once again, our duty is not just to raise pity. Neither is it merely about showing empathy. Rather, it is about making sure that one day, GNI per capita, just like any other growth measure, can at least loosely reflect the welfare of citizens – not only as a collective but as individuals.

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About the Author

Namira Samir is a PhD candidate at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). As a development economist, she uses an interdisciplinary approach and mixed methods to understand poverty and inequalities. Her PhD research focuses on the development geography of Islamic Microfinance in Indonesia.

Reference

[i] https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/new-world-bank-country-classifications-income-level-2020-2021

[ii] https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/07/15/poverty-rate-rises-in-march-as-pandemic-hits-vulnerable-communities.html

[iii] http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/en/capital21c2

How SaaS Companies Can Get Customer Training Right

October 25, 2020

Churn.

This is a word that almost all SaaS companies dread. If you didn’t already know, the term ‘churn’ is used in SaaS circles to describe losing customers.

Depending on the business in consideration, there can be a number of factors behind customer churn. However, as many top industry articles note, one of the most pressing reasons behind customer churn is bad onboarding.

When we talk about onboarding for SaaS customers, the customer training initiative, which is usually aimed at helping the customer with smooth adoption of the SaaS solution, plays an influential role.

The training aspect of the customer onboarding process is the tool that helps customers make the journey from paying for your product to achieving ‘success’ with your product.

In this article, we will be discussing the steps SaaS businesses can follow to create a holistic and engaging training experience that reduces churn and improves the quality of their customer onboarding process.

Let us begin:

Create Training Content Thoughtfully

Unlike physical products, many SaaS products are complex and involve a significant learning curve. If this is the case, your training must reflect that with the training content.

Instead of text based PPT presentations, your training must utilise a combination of text, videos, audio lessons, and infographics to create an entertaining, engaging, and easy to consume training content. Not to forget, the use of multimedia can make it easier to explain (and understand) complex concepts.

With that said, creating content for training SaaS customers requires additional diligence. You must think about the possible support situations that may arise in the future, and address all such situations in your training. This is the only way to make your training truly impactful for your customers. It is also a good idea to add an element of storytelling to your training content.

To create such content, you can employ an elearning authoring tool that allows the creation of engaging and professional grade training content. To find the right authoring software for your needs, it is important to conduct an eLearning authoring tools comparison to find one that offers the features and abilities that are relevant to your specific use case scenario.

Don’t Just Distribute, Track The Results

Creating great training content is just the first step of the process of providing any kind of training. The next step is to master distribution. Thankfully, there are SaaS solutions designed to make your job easier.

Popularly known as learning management systems (LMS), these cloud based solutions allow businesses to store and distribute training content with efficiency. Learning management systems also come loaded with a variety of features designed to make your training experience more engaging.

However, one LMS feature that deserves a special mention is the ability to track learner progress. If done right, tracking learner progress can help you uncover incredible insights that can guide decisions that improve the effectiveness of your training program.

Besides this, with a LMS, you can also provide your customers with on-demand access to the training content even after they have completed the training.

The training material will contain the answers to most of the queries that may arise after the customer starts using your product. When this happens, they can simply look up the relevant information within the LMS, without having to request and wait for support.

This will not just make for a more positive customer experience, it will also take some stress off the shoulders of your support executives.

Communicate Benefits Effectively

This step is often overlooked by companies. However, unless you explain to your customer the importance of the training, along with the exact training outcomes they can expect after investing their time, you will not be able to engage them with your training.

On the other hand, a customer that understands how the training will benefit them and will enable them to make the most of the product they are purchasing will be more interested and invested during the training.

Pay Attention To Feedback

Feedback from your learners will enable you to understand how effectively your customers are able to use your product after going through the training.

Problems identified with this feedback will highlight issues in one of the following two areas:

Your Product: Feedback may reveal that there are certain features of your product that can be designed better. Acting on this feedback usually leads to the roll out of a more user friendly version of your product, and a higher approval of the same among customers.

Think about how you would feel if you suggested a change in a SaaS product that you use and they actually acted on your suggestion. Delighted, right? You can expect a similar reaction from your happy customers.

With that said, the ultimate call to roll out new updates should be taken with utmost diligence.

Your Training Experience: Feedback may also reveal areas where your training is falling short. It is extremely important to pay attention to this feedback because the objective of your training initiative is to create a delightful customer experience. If the customers are finding faults with the training experience itself, it is a pressing issue that must be addressed pronto.

Focus On Creating A Community

Developing a community around your SaaS product is perhaps the most effective marketing tactic you can employ. When done right, this community will not just communicate the credibility and utility of your product, but will also add an element of social learning to your customer training experience.

The community portal can act as a forum where users and trainers can discuss issues and troubleshooting steps.

Another hidden benefit of creating a community is that the association with the community will become an additional reason for customers to stick to your product, further reducing churn.

Conclusion

The importance of customer training in reducing churn and retaining customers is not unknown to any SaaS business. However, many businesses fail to properly implement a training program that actually helps consumers achieve ‘success’ with their product. We hope that the information shared in this article will help you make positive changes to your customer training and onboarding process.

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A Short History of the ‘On Again, Off Again’ Fiscal Stimulus Negotiations

October 25, 2020

by Jack Rasmus

It’s been more than three months since the March-April economic rescue package, called the Cares Act, expired at the end of July. Since then both political parties, Republican and Democrat, have played a ‘hot potato’ bargaining game: i.e. “here’s my offer, the ball’s in your court…Here’s mine, now it’s your turn”. This week the game continues, showing no indication of ending.

Last March’s ‘CARES ACT’ was not a fiscal stimulus. It was instead about ‘mitigation’–meaning the various measures contained in that $2.3 trillion package (actually nearly $3T when the additional $650 billion in business-investor tax cuts are added to the Act) were designed only to put a floor under the collapsing US economy–not to generate a sustained economic recovery. Even the politicians voting for it publicly acknowledged at the time that it was not a stimulus bill, but rather a set of measures designed to buy time–no more than 10-12 weeks at most–until a more serious economic recovery Act could be implemented.

The real fiscal stimulus bill was to follow, designed to pick the economy up off the floor and generate a sustained recovery as the economy reopened. The reopening began in May and gained a little momentum over the summer. But not enough to generate a sustained recovery by itself that was expected by late summer.

In a typical Great Recession trajectory, the reopening over the summer resulted in a roughly two-thirds recovery of lost economic activity by end of July. It was thought by politicians and mainstream economists that, when the reopening crested at two-thirds in July, a subsequent real stimulus bill would follow. The two forces–reopening and fiscal stimulus–would together generate a sustained recovery.

But it just didn’t happen that way. Nor is it to date.

The Democrats in the US House of Representatives presented their version of a fiscal stimulus bill–called the HEROES ACT-in late May. But the Trump administration and the McConnell led Republican majority in the US Senate balked at joining in passing a stimulus bill.

McConnell & friends looked around and it appeared big business and corporations and banks were doing just fine by June–even if small business and working households were not. A few exceptions to big business doing well were the airlines, hotels and some leisure and hospitality industries. But banks and other big corporations were fat with cash. The Federal Reserve had already pumped nearly $3 trillion in virtually free money into the banks. And big corporations had raised trillions of dollars more by selling corporate bonds at record historical levels, at cheapest rates, also made possible by the Federal Reserve. Trillions more were hoarded by borrowing down their credit lines with banks, saving on facilities operations, and temporarily suspending dividends and stock buybacks.

The Democrats in the US House of Representatives presented their version of a fiscal stimulus bill–called the HEROES ACT-in late May. But the Trump administration and the McConnell led Republican majority in the US Senate balked at joining in passing a stimulus bill.

McConnell, Trump and their business constituencies didn’t need more stimulus. Indeed, they didn’t even need the Cares Act. That Act, passed in March, included among its provisions no less than $1.1 trillion in loans for medium and large businesses, along with $650B in tax cuts for the same. But as of this past August, less than $150 billion of that $1.1 trillion had actually been borrowed by big businesses and spent into the economy, and it appears little of the tax cuts resulted in production increases or hiring as well.

So in June, McConnell and the Republican Senate dug in their heels for two months and simply ignored the Democrat House stimulus proposal in the form of their late May passed $3.4 trillion HEROES ACT bill.

In July McConnell eventually put forth his proposal, called the ‘HEALS Act’. It totaled $1.5 trillion, but was loaded with ambiguous and onerous language like exempting all businesses from any and all legal claims for negligence for failing to provide safety and health conditions for their workers.

By end of July the only provisions of the Cares Act that provided any semblance of economic stimulus ran out. That was the $500 billion in extra unemployment assistance to workers, the $1200 checks, and the $670 billion in grants and loans (mostly grants) to small businesses. The unemployment, checks and grants amounted to government spending of only $1.2 trillion of the Cares Act’s $3 or so trillion. That $1.2 trillion was, and remains, the only actual spending to hit the economy, since the $1.1 trillion in loans to large-medium corporations has never been actually ‘taken up’ and spent into the economy by business. Ditto for the $650 billion in business tax cuts in the Cares Act. So only a little more than a third of the Cares Act resulted in any economic spending.

That $1.2 trillion, moreover, amounts to barely 5.5% of US GDP. In GDP percentage terms, that’s roughly the size of the 2009 stimulus of $787 billion spent during the previous Great Recession of 2008-09. That $787 billion proved insufficient at the time to generate a prompt recovery from that recession. It took six years just to get back to the level of jobs in 2007 before that recession, for example. But today’s 2020 Great Recession 2.0 is four times deeper in terms of economic contraction compared to 2008-09. And it’s still only an effective 5.5% spending package as contained in the March Cares Act.

A much more aggressive stimulus bill was desperately needed as a follow up as the Cares Act spending ran out at the end of July. The May HEROES ACT was an attempt to provide that follow up actual stimulus but, as noted, McConnell, Trump and Republicans weren’t interested. Their banker and big business constituencies were doing quite well by early-summer. No doubt Trump-McConnell further believed the reopening of the economy, as Covid 19 disappeared, would prove sufficient to lead to a sustained economic recovery.

Of course, history has already proven them wrong.

By late July many sectors of the US economy began to weaken again. And a second, worse wave of Covid 19 hit the economy in July-August, just as the weak Cares Act spending ran out at the end of July. Unemployment claims began to slowly rise again through August and into September. Small businesses began to close, many permanently now, in greater numbers. Large corporations began to announce mass layoffs, more permanent than just furloughs now. Evictions of renters by the millions began to occur. Low income homeowners began to miss mortgage payments. And the much predicted V-shape recovery began to look increasingly like a ‘W-shape’.

But instead of seeing the trend, Trump and McConnell doubled down and refused to negotiate seriously with the Democrat House on its HEROES Act proposal. In early August, House Speaker Pelosi, thinking the Trump administration might bargain in good faith, reduced her proposal from the HEROES Act $3.4 trillion cost by $1.2 trillion. Instead of following up, however, the Trump negotiators, led by Trump’s Staff Secretary, Mark Meadows, abruptly broke off all negotiations–without making a counter offer. What he did leave though was a bad taste in the mouths of Pelosi and Schumer, who now could not trust the Trump team should further negotiations resume. Nor could they trust McConnell and his Republican Senate, who followed Trump and withdrew their prior HEALS ACT $1.5T and refused to consider anything more than $650 billion if brought to the Senate by the Trump-Pelosi negotiators in the future. Moreover, $350B of the $650B was unspent funds left over from the Cares Act. So the net spending increase proposed was only $300B.

Trump had set up Pelosi and then ‘sandbagged’ her, in bargaining parlance. Within 24 hours Trump publicly announced four executive orders as his personal fiscal stimulus offer. But the EOs were no stimulus in fact. Just a diversion of already existing government funds and payroll tax cuts that would have to be repaid in 2021.

Both sides maneuvered in the press thereafter, as the US economy weakened further throughout September and into October–and as the Covid 19 infection rates surged once again. The Virus was not cooperating with economic recovery. And there was no stimulus to assist in that either. Meanwhile, millions more were becoming unemployed–at least 30 to 35 million remained jobless as of mid October. Food deprivation worsened and food lines began emerging again. Rent evictions were now escalating as well. Hundreds of thousands more small businesses were closing their doors, with predictions by the National Federation of Independent Business that millions would fail in coming months–even as bankers, big corporations, and stock and financial markets attained record levels.

Trump then shot himself in the foot by declaring there would be no further negotiations on a stimulus until after the November 3 election. McConnell said that was fine since 20% of his Republicans were against any further stimulus out of concern of its negative impact on the US deficit, which by October hit a record $3.1 trillion for the 2020 fiscal year–the largest in modern history.

Trump had set up Pelosi and then ‘sandbagged’ her, in bargaining parlance. Within 24 hours Trump publicly announced four executive orders as his personal fiscal stimulus offer. But the EOs were no stimulus in fact.

Trump’s walking away from any further negotiations hurt his political chances, since not only were workers, renters, and small businesses being ‘thrown under the bus’, but the announcement had serious negative effects on stock market values. Now big corporations were worried too. So Trump back-tracked and made another bargaining offer.

Which brings us to events of the last 10 days. Trump offered Pelosi-Shumer an $1.8 trillion counter offer–complete with loophole language permitting him to renege on items of his choice. $350B of the $1.8T was just carry over of unspent Cares Act funds. So Trump’s offer last week was the same $1.5T of the July HEALS ACT. But it was an offer he now couldn’t deliver. McConnell in the Senate quickly added he wouldn’t even bring the $1.8T up for a Senate vote because he couldn’t get it passed within his own Republican ranks.

What the $1.8T did achieve was to get the corporate wing of the Democrat party, including its mainstream media arms–MSNBC, CNN, etc.–to raise the pressure on Pelosi to accept Trump’s phony $1.8T offer that he couldn’t deliver. What Trump wanted, and still wants, is just an announcement of a ‘deal’ that he can take credit for as he campaigns across the country before the election. What big business wants is the same, an announcement, not necessarily a deal right now. Stock prices and especially tech sector stocks have begun seriously wavering on news of no stimulus negotiations. An announcement would quell that issue and ensure stock prices remain strong through the election. Even some ‘left’ Democrats like Rho Khanna and Andrew Yang–both from silicon valley–chimed in and demanded Pelosi accept the Trump offer.

So what happens next, this week? Trump’s negotiator, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Pelosi have begun to talk yet again. Trump wants to announce a deal before the next presidential debate with Joe Biden this Thursday, only 72 hrs away. Today, October 20, Trump reportedly has instructed Mnuchin to increase his offer to $2T. (He even said he’d go higher than $2.2T to get a deal). He knows he’s got nothing to lose, and he knows McConnell’s ‘hard cop’ is there backing him up to stop (or at least change the terms of any tentative deal) for him. Trump gains a campaign message. McConnell blocks any deal. And Pelosi and the Democrats get nothing once again except more negotiations, now with McConnell. It’s a clever ‘double-teaming’ of the Democrats by the Republicans, once again!

Apparently getting wise to Trump-McConnell games, Pelosi on Tuesday said language likely can’t be finalized on a deal until Friday–thus denying Trump the opportunity to claim ‘he got the deal’ in this coming Thursday night final presidential debate with Biden.

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About the Author

Jack Rasmus is author of ’The Scourge of Neoliberalism: US Economic Policy from Reagan to Trump, Clarity Press, January 2020. He blogs at jackrasmus.com and hosts the weekly radio show, Alternative Visions on the Progressive Radio Network on Fridays at 2pm est. His twitter handle is @drjackrasmus.

How the Trump administration is changing American immigration policy

October 23, 2020

In taking on the ‘America First’ policy in his 2016 presidential election campaign, Donald Trump made clear his intention to put the interests of the USA above all others. In the four years since his election, Trump is keeping true to his word. The administration is largely unmoved on – and uninterested in – global conflicts and collaborations. But it isn’t only abroad that this nationalist theme is having an impact. US immigration policy-making is also being shaped by this thinking.

From the outset of his campaign, one of Trump’s flagship immigration policies was to construct a wall along the US border with Mexico. But there are other policies in this area that have been introduced. Some may not necessarily receive the oxygen of publicity as “the Wall”. But all are having an impact. From people arriving at the border to those already living in the US, changes in policy are affecting thousands of lives – and immigration lawyers are struggling to keep up.

A tougher stance on legal immigration applicant numbers

It is tempting to think that the Trump administration is targeting illegal immigration in order to protect American interests. But the truth is that legal immigration is also under the spotlight of the President. The US is now vetting Green Card and non-immigrant visa applicants – placing a focus on whether that individual will require public benefits. Elsewhere, the application process is harder too – with the US expanding the need for face-to-face interviews.

As such, the number of immigrant visa approvals came down from 617,752 in 2016 to 462,422 in 2019. In April 2020, the administration stopped immigration for certain groups of people for a short time due to a “risk to the US labour market” during the post-Covid economic recovery.

Imposing travel bans on immigrants from certain nations

In 2017, the Trump administration introduced travel restrictions on a group of countries where the Muslim population is in the majority. After an initial wave of publicity, that ban is still to be lifted. In fact, the number of affected nations increased from seven to 13 in January 2020. One of the latest additions is Nigeria, which is one of the most heavily-populated countries in Africa.

Ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program

President Obama launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012. It recognises – and attempts to reconciliate – the fact that some younger immigrants had been raised in the US after their parents unlawfully brought them into the country. For people under the age of 31 who are eligible for DACA, it offered the chance of a work permit and a two-year deferral of deportation. But, like other Obama policies, it was quickly a target of Trump reform.

Efforts to end DACA have faced strong legal challenges. Both the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court have ruled that ending it is “unjustified”. DACA’s future and the futures of those it applies to, however, remain uncertain.

The impact of new – and altered – US immigration policies

With the changes made by the Trump administration to US immigration policies, the impact is – first and foremost – felt by the people it affects. From younger immigrants eligible for the DACA to those escaping conflict and hardship around in the world, millions of people turn to the US to provide safe refuge and economic opportunity. The obstacles to this, however, are growing.

On top of the very real human cost, there are other areas in which policy decisions are having a notable impact. The Cato Institute, for example, says the US government stands to lose $60 bn in revenues if DACA is repealed over a 10-year period. The impact on the economy, meanwhile, could be worth up to $215 bn in lost GDP.

Such figures highlight the economic impact of just one immigration policy decision taken by the Trump administration. When applied to other policies too, that economic impact becomes much more pronounced. Of course, there are coherent arguments to be made for that tougher line on immigration. But, in the interests of putting America First, the blanket imposition of restrictions and deportations could prove counter-productive and undermine the ultimate objectives.

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How COVID Has Impacted the Online Gambling Market

October 23, 2020

Online Casino Activity Boosted by COVID

To suppress the effects of COVID, governments across the world have turned to lockdowns, restrictions and other drastic measures that have forced citizens to remain at home. More than ever, people are searching for new forms of entertainment to fight off boredom. With online gambling, there’s been a surge in popularity as people try their luck at online casinos.

People Have Time on Their Hands

COVID-19 has shown the world that the existing business model is vulnerable to pandemics. In this instance, millions of people are restricted to their home and this has harmed the economic prospects of industries that depend on physical attendance, such as hospitality, tourism, film and live entertainment.

With physical businesses damaged by coronavirus, it stands to reason that digital businesses have potentially seen a rise in customers stuck at home and who have free time. In Australia, for example, young men aged from 18 to 34 accounted for 79% of new online gambling accounts in June and July of 2020. The finding was made by the Australian Gambling Research Centre, with Dr Rebecca Jenkinson believing that the trend will remain for as long as people have additional time on their hands.

In the UK, the Gambling Commission revealed there had been an increase in gross gambling yield from £162 million in March 2019 to £186 million in March 2020, when the country first went into lockdown. The data does suggest that there was an initial rise in online gambling among UK players as they sought new ways to be entertained.

Bonus Incentives at Online Casinos

With online casinos, there are often bonuses and promotions to reward players for registering. For example, Spin Casino is offering up to $1000 as a welcome bonus for new players who want to deposit. When players are ready to transfer the funds, they can receive the bonus allowance of their choosing. By giving players the choice, they can stick to a budget they feel comfortable with.

Casino sites don’t just provide one form of bonus. In the example above, the offer is defined as a deposit bonus, which means that players are required to fund their account before they can receive the complimentary credit. However, there can also be no deposit bonuses that don’t require a player to stake any funds before receiving the offer. Typically, this form of bonus comes with higher wagering requirements and would have to be played through more times than a deposit bonus before a withdrawal could be granted.

There can also be game-specific bonuses and one of the most common available would be free spins. These are provided exclusively for slot games and can be included alongside deposit bonuses as part of a larger welcome package. At other times, free spins can be given out in celebration of a new slot being released at the casino. Players might also be fortunate enough to win free spins as one of the top prizes in a promotional event.

New players aren’t the only ones to benefit from being at an online casino, and many brands want to reward users for their loyalty. For instance, there are systems where users can generate points for every real-money wager that they stake. By earning points, these can determine where they place in the loyalty scheme. The players who rise to the higher ranks can receive a combination of the bonus offers discussed above. Coincidentally, Spin Palace has a loyalty club with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum levels for players to target.

Hollywood Comes to Casinos

Hollywood has taken a significant hit from coronavirus, which has caused hundreds of productions to shut down and enforced numerous delays. After the eventual August release of Tenet struggled in cinemas, this spooked the major Hollywood studios. In response, several highly anticipated movies have been delayed until 2021, including the forthcoming James Bond entry, No Time to Die. However, streaming services like Netflix aren’t the only places to offer cinematic experiences, with some casino sites maintaining video slot collections that are themed on hit TV shows and iconic movie franchises.

From Swedish headquarters and studios across the world, NetEnt produces one of the largest ranges of video slots with Hollywood themes. Amid these times, players have been given access to an officially licensed version of Narcos, which is a Netflix show based on the Colombian drug trade of the late ‘80s and features Pablo Escobar, as portrayed by Wagner Moura. NetEnt also has the rights to Vikings, which blurs the lines of fact and fiction in this retelling of the tales of the blood-thirsty Norsemen.

NetEnt hasn’t just focused on box sets and has also developed several video slots from the silver screen. One example is Conan, which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the fearsome barbarian in a Golden Globe-winning release from 1982. The Swedish software developer has also produced several horror-themed slots, such as Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, Dracula and The Phantom’s Curse. However, it’s not all tension, with NetEnt having released Jumanji based on the 1995 movie that featured a magical board game.

Operating out of the UK, Microgaming has risen to become one of the most active developers of branded online casino content. Thus far, several enormous franchises have appeared among the newest Microgaming slots, including HBO’s global hit Game of Thrones. Alternative, fans of dinosaurs can instead look to Jurassic Park or Jurassic World for their Hollywood fix. Meanwhile, some of the other branded slot releases have included Bridesmaids, Terminator 2, Lara Croft: Temples & Tombs, Hitman, Tarzan and The Phantom of the Opera.

Playtech is another UK provider with a proven pedigree at securing elite-level Hollywood agreements. One of the most prominent examples has been Playtech’s long-term deal with Warner Bros and DC Comics. This has enabled Playtech to release jackpot slots based on Justice League, Suicide Squad, Man of Steel, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. For a casino player who also enjoys superheroes, such titles would be a welcome sight in their library of gaming options.

Casino Sites Were Primed for Online Usage

With COVID impacting the way companies do business, some have had to adapt by introducing new technological measures to ensure they can operate online. However, online casino sites have been ready the entire time, with their entire service offering available in the digital realm. For years now, online casinos have been developed with mobile compatibility as a priority. As a result, players can switch at ease between gaming on their laptop, tablet or smartphone.

Online casinos have also been required to address digital security. Quite simply, it’s not acceptable for any site to operate without being encrypted. Players are instantly informed by their browser when a site is operating without encryption and will be warned not to supply financial details or personal information. Those two elements are crucial for processing player registrations and casino sites have prepared by acquiring cutting-edge encryption and certificates from trusted specialists in digital security. The upsurge in online gambling amid COVID is something that the majority of casino operators were ready to welcome.

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Reasons for Applying for a Pre-Settlement Loan

October 22, 2020

While you are waiting for a settlement to go through, you might have other costs that need to be met that you cannot wait for. Due to this, some people may look to take out a pre-settlement loan, that they will then repay once their settlement is finalized.

Some issues that led to the settlement, such as any injury, may cause ongoing suffering if not dealt with immediately. As part of making peace with the incident and moving forward with their lives, some individuals may wish to resolve the problems that they have had since the circumstances occurred as quickly as possible.

Paying for Medical Bills

Depending on the injuries you received, you may have a large number of medical bills that need to be paid off sooner rather than later, which settlement loans may help with. For those who have ongoing medical problems relating to the incident, you may be wondering ‘can you get more than one pre-settlement loan?’ This can be possible, depending on the issues and other information you provide on the application. For those who do not have a financial plan, or money put aside, this can make a big difference in resolving both short and long term injury problems.

Repairing a Vehicle

For some who are waiting for their settlement, a pre-settlement loan may allow for the repairing of a vehicle that was damaged in the offending incident. This is particularly important for those who require their vehicle back up and running for school runs in the station wagon, or to get to or from a place of employment in their van – the use of a vehicle can be essential for some people.

Some repairs can be overly expensive – more than is in a person’s saving account. Individuals may wish to use their settlement money to pay for the repairs, however, are unable to do so until they receive the money. In this scenario, a pre-settlement loan would allow for the repairs to take place.

Lost Wages

With the average salary at the beginning of 2020 falling at around $957 per week, this can be a lot of money lost over time if you cannot work due to injuries. For a family to still be able to pay their rent and bills, money from other sources may be needed. Similarly, to the above points, the claimant may be expecting to use their settlement money to fund themselves until they can return to employment. In the interim, while they wait for the settlement money to clear, a pre-settlement loan can help to ensure all bills are still paid. Stopping extra financial problems can help lift some of the burden when you cannot work.

Applying for a pre-settlement loan will depend entirely on your situation, and the severity of your claim. Needing a loan does not mean you have failed financially. Instead, it can simply help you until you are back on your feet.

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Online Casino Profitability in Canada: Expenses vs. Earnings

October 22, 2020

It is no secret that the online casino industry is booming on a global scale. The market for online casinos is experiencing significant expansion in a range of countries such as Canada, which allows operators to move in and cater to the demand. If the sheer number of virtual offerings is not enough to go by, financial analysts have estimated that the global industry is worth billions of dollars. The complexity of this business model has left many suspicious individuals wondering how the industry makes money and is so lucrative. Here are some of the main expenses and earnings that affect the profit margins of a Canadian online casino.

Expenses

What many skeptics fail to realize is that running an online casino requires operators to pay hefty fees and shoulder significant expenses. From the moment an online casino is pitched, potential operators need to pay certain fees and charges to ensure that the casino is abiding by the rules, will be able to maintain its market share, can afford to update the offering as often as possible, and is by the means to pay the skilled workers required to provide a seamless gaming experience.

Licensing

There are several reputable authority bodies in the world right now. Some of these organizations operate mainly in their jurisdiction and others, such as the Malta Gaming Authority and Curacao Licensing authorities, cater to more operators that offer their online casinos to a host of countries. The fee for these licenses is quite hefty, ranging from one thousand to almost three thousand euros. The licensing fee is not a once-off payment and has to be paid annually to the relevant Authority. There are also extra costs involved depending on the class of license that is required.

Marketing

For an online casino site to attract a lot of traffic and engage with potential new members, operators need to employ a marketing agency or permanent staff that specialize in the effective advertisement and marketing of the casino and it’s offering. The costs to employ a full-time team for this is significant which is why most online casinos employ agencies that work on specific projects at a fraction of the cost.

Maintenance

This expense is similar to the marketing one. For a site to function optimally and have features that are worth advertising, the site has to be maintained. Besides the software updates and improvements that need to be made to an online offering to ensure that it is on par with market standards, sites also offer value-added services such as 24/7 customer support via chat. This means that the site needs to be able to provide this functionality seamlessly.

Earnings

Considering the numerous expenses that running an online casino entails, it seems nearly impossible that casinos are making any profits at all. That being said, here are the ways that online operators cover their expenses and still manage to make a decent profit.

House Edge

The house edge is often referred to as the only legal way for casino management to manipulate the system. The reason for this manipulation is that the casino needs to make a profit on each game to sustain itself. There is a formula in place that calculates the percentage that the house pockets across various titles and on each bet. Operators are required to share this information with all members.

Memberships

Another key way that casinos make money is through loyalty programs and paid memberships on the site. There is a slight cost in running these kinds of facilities but the profits far outweigh the expenses. Paid Memberships boats a range of exciting features such as exclusive offers and promotions.

Conclusion

Although there are already many online casino offerings on the market, new operators will likely continue to pop up to cater to the global demand of virtual gaming locations.

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How to Promote a Brand on Social Media in the Post-Influencer Era

October 22, 2020

The era of the social media influencer may not be over, but it often seems like it’s on the way out. Increasingly, people appear to be growing blind to social media personalities who often seem to post nothing but paid content. Research suggests that the social media influencers with the largest follower counts have suffered most of all from this trend and now have poorer engagement rates than ever.

In short, if most of your brand’s social media strategy involves paying influencers to mention your company to their followers, that’s quickly going to become a money pit with little in the way of returns to show for your investments.

This article will discuss ways to promote your brand on social media that don’t involve simply paying high-status influencers to talk about your products. We’ll also avoid discussing social networks’ built-in advertising options. If you’re in an industry in which paid social media promotions are available, you already know how to do that. However, many of the entrepreneurs who want to promote their brands on social media run vape shops like V2 Cigs UK or CBD brands and aren’t allowed to amplify their social media content in that way. In this article, we’ll focus how to get the best possible results with your social media content using organic reach alone.

Post About Current Events

When there’s a newsworthy event happening that’s relevant to your brand, it can be very effective to post something about that event on social media. When an event is noteworthy enough, people take to the Internet to share their thoughts on it. They search for social media posts about that event, and when they find interesting content, they share it and comment on it. Posting about current events, therefore, gives you a decent chance of getting attention that you wouldn’t get otherwise. People who aren’t specifically searching for your brand can still be exposed to it simply because they’re searching for content about the current events that you’ve discussed in your posts.

Don’t Ignore Influencers Completely

Although this article began by bemoaning the “death” of the social media influencer, it’s actually very unlikely that influencer marketing will die completely unless the landscape of social media changes substantially. As recent events like the Fyre Festival debacle show, though, the complete lack of authenticity among the mega-influencers has become obvious to many social media users. As long as the influencers are getting paid, they don’t even bother to vet the brands they’re advertising.

With that being said, working with “micro influencers” – social media users who have smaller collections of followers and whose content is generally seen as more authentic and less ad driven – can still be worth the investment. There a great hack that involves using software to grow your instagram, read this: Instagram Automation: How to Do It Right!

Before working with an influencer, you should take some time to study that person’s content and see how followers engage with it. Does that person post worthwhile content between the paid placements? Do followers interact with the paid placements, or do they ignore them? Before working with an influencer, you need to be reasonably certain that people will not ignore the placement and that the influencer is a good fit for your brand.

Use the Platforms that Your Targets Use

Consider your target audience as it relates to the demographics of the different social networks. Facebook and Twitter, for instance, are now the old guard of social media. Their core user bases are aging. Many younger people have said that they only have Facebook accounts because it’s expected of them. Platforms like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram are the ones that younger people are actually using and engaging with. If you want to connect with your target customer base, you need to be on the platforms that they use. If the people who use a given social media platform aren’t likely to be interested in what you’re selling, don’t focus your efforts on that platform.

Optimize the Content for the Platform

Cross posting the exact same content on every platform might be the worst thing that you can do when marketing your brand on social media. If you’re not optimizing your content for the platform and its user base, it’s going to be ignored at best. At worst, mediocre tossed-off social media content will reflect poorly on your brand.

You can use the same idea as the nucleus of a post that will appear on multiple social media platforms. Instead of constructing just one piece of content and posting it everywhere, though, optimize the content for each of the platforms on which you intend to post it.

Full-length blog posts, for example, generally belong on your own website only. If you’re a Twitter user, you’ve probably seen how people will sometimes post longer content as images to get around Twitter’s text length limitations. That’s an interesting strategy for posting longer-form content, but if you use that strategy all of the time, people will start to ignore it because nobody uses Twitter to read essays.

Each social media platform has its own set of best practices that you’ll need to implement if you want to reach the most people possible. If you want to reach people on Instagram, you’ll need to use high-quality original photography. Content on Twitter should be short and to the point. Content on Facebook often needs a punchy headline to get attention. Refine your strategy continually as you see which of your posts receive the most engagement. You can get a Tweepi’s service to grow your Twitter account.

Encourage Your Audience to Take Part

A large part of marketing a brand on social media effectively in 2020 is realizing that every social media user is effectively an influencer within his or her own personal sphere. Why recruit a total stranger to promote your brand, then, when you could be recruiting your own customers? Encourage your customers to share testimonials and post pictures of themselves using your products. Make sure that they use a specific hashtag when posting, so you can track and amplify the content. To give people an incentive to take part, give products away each month to random people who participate in the promotion.

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