This collection of essays is dedicated to reviewing, exploring, and reporting state-of-the-art virtual world and marketing issues in the broadest sense. It provides a readable, non-technical publication which offers a comprehensive presentation of marketing issues, trends, data, and likely developments in the virtual world. Readers will learn about analysis of the virtual ego, services, the concept of ethics, and virtual experiential marketing, among other pressing topics.

Sparrow provides companies contemplating a virtual world presence with a practical guide to the law as it applies to this medium. The contents cover legal terms and conditions governing participation in virtual worlds, protecting intellectual property rights in virtual worlds, marketing and promotion, and more.

Top Web marketing consultant Michael Tasner has written the definitive practical guide to driving maximum value from next-generation Web, online, mobile, and social marketing. Drawing from his innovative marketing techniques, Tasner has written the first book on Web 3.0 marketing. Tasner helps marketers, entrepreneurs, and managers move beyond hype and high-level strategy to proven tactics and successful ground-level execution. You’ll discover which new marketing technologies deliver the best results and which hardly ever pay for themselves...how to use virtual collaboration to accomplish marketing projects faster and at lower cost...how to build realistic, practical action plans for the next three months, six months, and twelve months. Whatever you sell, wherever you compete, no matter how large or small your company is, this book will help you build leads, traffic, sales, market share--and profits! Capitalizing on the new “content marketing” The megashift from blogging to microblogging--and what it means to you A world run by smartphones: iPhones, BlackBerrys, and beyond Reaching a billion cellphone users: SMS, MMS, mobile ads, voice broadcasts, and more Plurk? UStream? Joost? Tumblr? iGoogle? Profiting from the sites and tools you may never have heard of Your Web marketing 360-degree review Systematically optimizing everything you’re already doing online

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has become more sophisticated and widespread. Consumers embrace it for gaming and entertainment. New industries are using it to showcase their products and services, with VR experiences becoming more immersive and realistic than ever. Where does VR fit into your marketing strategy? How can your brand use it to leave a lasting impression on users? And how can your brand utilize VR to interact with your target market to improve consumer engagement and loyalty? The Reality of Virtuality is both practitioner-oriented and evidence-based, showing marketing managers in the B2C and B2B sectors how to design a compelling VR marketing strategy and leverage it for their brand. It discusses how to select the appropriate VR type dependent on resources, technology, and audience. It shows how to align the VR experience with marketing objectives and how to create a purpose-driven VR experience to ensure it is engaging and meaningful. Lastly, it shows how to incorporate VR into the consumer journey, ways to reach consumers before the VR experience, and the long-lasting effects after it. The authors use examples, references, and industry expert opinions throughout, giving marketers a solid foundation for their VR endeavours.

The second edition of this vital text integrates theory, research, and application to orient readers to the latest thinking about the role of social media in crisis communication. Specific crisis arenas such as health, corporate, nonprofit, religious, political, and disaster are examined in depth, along with social media platforms and newer technology. Social Media and Crisis Communication, Second Edition provides a fresh look at the role of visual communication in social media and a more global review of social media and crisis communication literature. With an enhanced focus on the ethics section, a short communication overview piece, and case studies for each area of application, it is practical for use in a variety of learning settings. A must-read for scholars, advanced students, and practitioners who wish to stay on the leading edge of research, this book will appeal to those in public relations, strategic communications, corporate communications, government and NGO communications, and emergency and disaster response.

The business world today is changing enormously due to many factors that affect every element of the business cycle worldwide. From globalization to recession, in addition to other environmental forces, companies today face numerous challenges that have a great impact on business. Among the factors that are affecting the current way business is conducted are the emergence of marketing tools including the internet, internet of things (IoT), virtual reality, mobile applications, social media, electronic word of mouth (eWoM), artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and more that have a great impact not only on customers but also on companies. It is imperative for businesses to embrace the utilization of these tools in order to expand their customer base and provide unique, successful consumer experiences. The Handbook of Research on IoT, Digital Transformation, and the Future of Global Marketing provides comprehensive coverage of current global marketing trends related to the use of technology. The book links the industry with academia by providing useful insights on how to improve businesses’ ability to create and customize customer value and loyalty. Covering topics including e-commerce, mobile marketing, website development, and phygital customer experiences, this book is essential for marketers, brand managers, advertisers, IT consultants and specialists, customer relations officers, managers, practitioners, business owners, marketing and business associations, students, researchers, and academicians interested in incorporating the latest technologies and marketing strategies into their businesses and studies.

ONLINE MARKETING – CAN YOUR SMALL BUSINESS AFFORD TO BE WITHOUT IT? Traditional advertising doesn’t always work these days – and it’s expensive. People screen out TV ads, magazine ads, and billboards. Instead they’re spending time on Facebook, watching YouTube, reading and writing blogs, listening to podcasts and flicking through Twitter. As a small business owner, how do you get the word out about your product or service? By going where your market is. And that’s online. This book explains in a straightforward, easy-to-follow style all there is to know about promoting small businesses, online covering all the major online tools available including: Websites Search engine marketing Email marketing Blogging Podcasts Online video Social networks e.g. Facebook and MySpace Virtual worlds e.g. Second Life Social bookmarking It will show readers how to use each medium to their best effect on a limited marketing budget, if not for free!