A roundup of key new features for you to apply in 2013

In October 2012 Google officially retired the old version of Google Analytics meaning that everyone will now use the new version 5 which has been in beta test for around a year. This coincided with a flurry of activity with new features introduced. So it’s a good to time to think about how you’re using Google Analytics to improve the results from your digital marketing. Most businesses will have been using the new version, but users will likely need education or training to understand how to use the new features. It’s also a prompt to check that Google Analytics is set up to tailor analysis and reports specific for your business, more on the details of this in my article next month. In this post, I will summarise the main changes introduced over the last year, so you can check you’re…

Four affiliate marketing experts give their view on key developments in 2012 and their predictions for 2013

With 2012 coming to a close I wanted to look back at the past year. Understanding the changes we have seen helps to outline potential growth areas for 2013. To get a good perspective I asked a number of leading experts in the affiliate marketing field to give me their views on where they see affiliate marketing developing in 2013. A big "thank you" to: Fiona Robertson, Head of Performance at agency LBi; Kevin Edwards, Strategy Director for Affiliate Window; Geno Prussakov, author, consultant, founder and chair of Affiliate Management Days conference Matt Bailey, Commercial Director at Performance Horizon Group

Question 1. What for you has been the biggest development in affiliate marketing in 2012?

Fiona Robertson (FR): The continued progression away from a standalone…

Experiments in reviewing the impact of content types on Edgerank

Along with most commentators on Facebook, I've written extensively about the new Edgerank algorithm in recent weeks. It's clear that many brands have experienced a significant drop in organic reach (although to be fair I'm not the only one who has reported a significant increase in reach since the back-end of November as Facebook appear to have tweaked the algorithm again - see below). There have been myriad opinions expressed. I tend to agree with Jon Loomer's conclusions that viral reach is particularly affected and that even the tiniest "negative feedback" can significantly affect your reach. Recommended Guide: Smarter Facebook Marketing Engage your Fans and use…

These stats prove it!

This video (only a few minutes long) is worth a watch, some great insight into Facebook usage. You can see the clip on Facebook here.

Here are 10 things that I learnt

1. Two thirds of Brits use Facebook 2. It's popular with 1 in 5 of online minutes being spent on the site 3. We average 130 friends, with 30% of all users being over 50 4. 71% of users connect daily - with 67% of 18-34 year olds connecting several times per day 5. 62% of users watch TV whilst on Facebook 6. More 18-34 users can be reached through Facebook than through TV 7. 19 million people use the mobile app, that's 62% 8. 37% ask for brand recommendation via Facebook 9. Where most active midday but tablet usage is higher in the evening 10. 60% of users are…

A review of the digital marketing year

Well, that’s the end of another, interesting but challenging year for marketers to keep up-to-date and work out how to best apply all the innovations. To help review marketing opportunities in 2013, earlier in the month I wrote this review of marketing trends for 2013. Thank you if you voted in the poll or shared the article. If you take a look, there are two clear winners for priorities. What are your personal memories of 2012? Perhaps some of these events will ring a bell? Check out the most important ones in your country. Google’s annual Zeitgeist this year reviewed an aggregation of over one trillion Google searches. YouTube also has a Year in Rewind tailored for your country (http://youtube.com/rewind). All of the main providers of digital marketing platforms have been active…

Five factors to consider to grow your market share in 2013

Affiliate Marketing is an area that doesn’t always get as much focus as some other digital areas, but for people that take the time to embrace it, there are rich rewards available. I thought I would look at some of the key things that should make you think about investing more time or budget in the channel. This graphic shows the range of options it gives you to increase your online footprint across multiple digital media channels.

A £5 billion industry

In 2009, Econsultancy predicted that the industry was worth £4.13bn, and that it would be worth £4.6bn in 2010. The IAB are currently conducting research into the size of the UK industry which is expected to value the industry at £5bn. Within the affiliate market you have a wide…

Techniques for retailers reviewing their email marketing communications

Whether it's online sales for mulitchannel retailers, etailers, big chains or independent stores,  everyone knows the power of using email marketing to prospects and customers to boost profits. Used in conjunction with a sophisticated automated email marketing strategy, and email marketing can work even better for you. In this post I hope to give you some ideas to take your email marketing to the next level through email automation, particularly if you just have a basic enewsletter programme in place.

How to boost your e-commerce through email automation

Email automation tools gives many options to create more targeted, relevant messages as customers interact with a retailer. Split the difference - testing Do you prefer to read your emails over your cornflakes or just before you go home? Do clever subject lines draw you in or do you prefer something a bit simpler? Not everyone has the same…

Ideas on improving content marketing in 2013

I was recently invited to speak at an event for members of the Content Marketing Association discussing trends to consider for 2013. I enjoy learning from other speakers and discussions with the audience at events and since each speaker was focusing on different predictions I thought I’d share the presentations here.

Neil Perkin - Digital Content Trends 2013

First up was Neil Perkin a content marketing commentator who gave his thoughts on Digital Content Trends in 2013. I was particularly interested in his thoughts about subcompact publishing, a concept defined by publishing commentator Craig Mod in article from November 2012. Evidence of this trend can be seen in new compact publications like The Magazine social sites like Branch and Medium launched in August by Twitter’s co-founders. …

The Information Commissioners Christmas Message On Cookies

Importance: [rating=5] Recommended link: ICO 18.12.2012 PDF summarising Enforcement action

Our commentary on the new report

Do you remember back to May 2012 - it seems like ancient history now… At the time most site owners were concerned with becoming compliant with what most referred to as the “cookie law” (technically, the 2011 amendment to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation Act). Many larger companies did respond with the law as we showed in this post reviewing how companies were responding to the law. On 18th December the UK ICO released a “must read” PDF reviewing their enforcement action. These are the main points site owners need to be aware of as I see them. 1. The cookie law is a lower priority for consumers and so the ICO than unwanted marketing communications (mainly junk texts and email spam). 2. Between 25 May and 21 November 2012 the ICO…

Last year I made half a dozen resolutions for 2012 as an email marketer. The basic overall theme was to focus more on relating better to people we serve on their terms, be they clients of the company I work for or subscribers to an email newsletter of any of those clients. I don’t know how you did with your resolutions, but here’s my self-assessment of how I did.

1. Stop talking like a rocket scientist

I’d give myself 7 out of 10 on this one. While like to think I’m naturally talented at putting industry terms and complex ideas into frames of reference which people can understand, I still found myself being lazy at times. Who wants to write out ESP or CTA and so on? I’ll tell you, don't confuse the people who most need to understand what…