My predictions on 11 marketing trends for 2011

I'm was early in reviewing marketing trends for 2011 since I presented my predictions on the latest developments at the IDM/DMA North Annual Conference in October 2010. You can view my presentation at the end of this post.

2011 update - predictions in key areas of Internet marketing

Since this post has been popular and we've been learning from what others have been saying as we enter 2011, we've also created a series of posts giving our recommendations on strategies you could consider for your 2011 marketing. To make them more useful we give links through to other recommendations and where you can get started. We have top tactics for 2011 for: Social media recommendations Natural search marketing tactics Paid search marketing recommendations Email marketing predictions Web analytics predictions I also updated the presentation embedded at the end of the post for a talk I gave…

Our review of a recent Logitech content strategist job description illustrating 8 requirements for a solid content strategy

Value: [rating=3] Our commentary: Developing and refining content strategy will be an important part of improving digital marketing strategy for many organisations in 2011. This job description for a content strategist in a large company helps show us the key aspects of content strategy. Marketing implications: The requirements for this job summarises the essence of a sound content strategy: 1. Senior management must understand the importance of content strategy to invest in good quality resources with high-profile roles 2. Content must be of exceptional quality to be most effective - the job descriptions says: "useful, compelling and meaningful" 3. Involves a strategy for syndication - not limited to companies own site 4. Blends improving customer experience, customer engagement and SEO 5. Requires an editorial calendar to manage creation of content 6. Content quality improved through a continuous process applying analytics and customer…

What are the options for embedding video in email?

Value: [rating=4] Our commentary : With video becoming more widespread across the web and test showing it's effective for conversion, I'm being asked increasingly whether there are any good technologies for embed video in email. While there have been claims to do this in the past, none of the solutions I've seen are reliable enough. This review by Campaign Monitor explains the options well. Please let me know if you know of any other tools. Marketing implications : The evaluation shows that since Javascript is disabled in most email clients, embedding Flash, QuickTime or Windows Media really isn't an option. So you have to fall back on animated gifs if you want a reliable approach and these are becoming more popular. This report from Smith Harmon has some good examples of Animated Gifs in email. Recommended link: Tools to embed video in email -…

ASA regulations now cover websites and company-controlled social media presences

Value: [rating=5] Our commentary: The UK Advertising Standard Authority (ASA) has announced an extended remit to their CAP code guideance according to this useful summary from digital law specialists Pinsent Mason. The announcement explains that the regulations now cover: "Advertisements and other marketing communications by or from companies, organisations or sole traders on their own websites, or in other non-paid-for space online under their control, that are directly connected with the supply or transfer of goods, services, opportunities and gifts, or which consist of direct solicitations of donations as part of their own fund-raising activities". Marketing implications: The main points to note are: 1. Communications on your website will be subject to the standard ASA regulations which aim to control efforts to "mislead, harm or offend" and in particular communications about "alcoholic drinks, health and beauty claims, children, medicines, financial products, environmental claims,…

Techniques to engage your audience through Facebook pages

Value: [rating=4] Our commentary: H&M has amassed millions of fans of their Facebook presence. I think many companies can learn from the approach used for their online presence. In fact, you could argue that their Facebook page is more important and more effective than their main website which has been heavily criticised for its recent launch.

Marketing implications: This article from Mind Jumpers shows you that to get the best results from Facebook suggests you need to: 1. Experiment to learn the best way to interact with your Facebook audience. This article from Mind Jumpers shows how H&M "Amuse, Involve and Help" 2. "Make It Simple" to interact - their main tab on Facebook links through different methods of engaging their audience on their main site. This is lo-fi but effective. 3. Tailor international brands to the…

The showdown... or is it?

Value: [rating=4] Our commentary: A slightly different format to usual as I am interested more in hearing people's experiences and thoughts in this post. The recommended link below will take you to a discussion group for news businesses which has some really interesting comments around which channel provides a better ROI (Facebook or Google PPC). I found this article interesting for a number of reasons both from a personal & professional standpoint as advertising within social networks is both quite new & controversial. Before I give my opinion on the matter (next week) it would be great if you could participate by leaving your comments / experience with Facebook advertising vs Google Paid search below. I'd be interested in your thoughts on any of these: Reach gained Brand perception / building Your experience with both systems What were your motivations to use Facebook Did you drive people to a fan page or your website? How…

My thoughts on planning your Christmas/New Year marketing campaigns

Value: [rating=5] Our commentary: I would imagine most of you are cursing me at this moment in time and I cannot say I blame you, I mean, blogging about Christmas in October!! It shouldn't be allowed! Unfortunately as marketers we need to be focussing on Christmas and New Year activity & campaigns now. Every year we see the number of online sales for businesses grow and despite Global recessions my current bet is that the online sales figure will do the same again this year! Timely preparation is key, not only for Christmas sales but also to free up time during November / December for focus to be put towards the start of a new year without the distractions of Christmas campaigns. Below I have outlined  a top level view on what you should start…

Optimising your Alt text copy and style for different email clients

Value: [rating=4] Our commentary : A real nitty gritty piece of best practice advice for improving email marketing by changing the way you use image Alt text. Following the advice here won't transform your email marketing, but it should boost response and there is also some interesting data on the most popular email clients you should be testing against: Marketing implications : You probably know that careful tailoring of the Alt tag can help your messages stand out where images is are blocked. This post from Campaign monitor gives some best practice tips on using the Alt tag There are a couple of tips here about using shorter Alt text and styling of Alt text which is needed in some clients such as Yahoo! Mail, iPhone and Outlook 2007/2010. Recommended link: Popularity of different email clients and…

A liveblogging summary from ECMOD 2010

Online, Kevin is best known as @minethatdata, his moniker showing his passion for getting the most from your customer and sales data. I has worked at some of the biggest multichannel retailers in the world including Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer, and  Lands' End using an analytical driven approach to improve profitability. I was pleased to be in the audience at the ECMOD Conference to learn from Kevin as he explained his consulting approach of multichannel forensics which he has applied over 50 companies in the last 3 years covering 1 billion purchase transactions!

Challenges of catalogue marketing

On a positive note  he revealed that on average c40% of customers should return over time to buy again, the Internet hasn't changed this greatly. Instead, acquisition is the biggest challenge for majority of his clients - it's becoming harder to acquire new customers through time, e.g. mailing lists are now…

A presentation to ECMOD October 2010 London by Dave Chaffey

This workshop covered the customisation needed for Google Analytics to tailor it to a specific business. I have shared it here to help other businesses and agencies get the most from Google Analytics. If you have any questions on Google Analytics please ask them via the comments or contact us. The workshop was structured in 6 areas from basic to more advanced and I aimed to include some of the latest developments like weighted sort, Adwords beta and some advanced hacks like segmented funnels and custom variables for Ecommerce linking to advice by other web analytics specialists elsewhere on the web. Thanks if you're included here!

1.Working Smarter with reports

Advanced filter/weighted sort Pivot tables Analytics Intelligence

2.Advanced segments

Medium dimensions Time period dimensions Value metrics

3. Dashboards and custom reports

RACE Digital Marketing Framework Time-based custom reports Value and engagement custom reports

4. Marketing campaigns

Campaign tracking for email Campaign tracking for social Adwords funnel and Match…