How to measure your Trade Show Marketing return on investment

Do you know the return on investment of your last radio marketing campaign? How about print media? While it’s easy to track the profitability of your marketing efforts online, accurately tracking your offline marketing ROI is tough. With the right tools and techniques, measuring your trade show ROI is simple Nowhere is this truer than at trade shows. Although many businesses are fully aware that their trade show marketing is profitable, we recently surveyed businesses and marketing managers and found that almost 50% don’t measure the ROI of their trade show activity. Although it’s more difficult to track trade show ROI than it is to measure the ROI of a display advertising or social media marketing campaign, it’s still very possible with the right tools, techniques and metrics.

4 steps to measure your ROI for your Trade Show

In this guide,…

2015 marketing trends lists: Big, safe but dangerous - Don’t let lists limit your thinking!

We’re nearing the end of the 2015 prediction window, where there is the annual glut of big, vague and safe lists of trends we love to read and share. We seem obsessed with lists.

But think of the problem with these lists... Each and every year lists appear to generalise, distort and delete, so by definition they remove what’s relevant to you. They create edges that don’t exist, and so they remove the real value. They can’t help but do that. Any list is written from ‘their’ start point, how likely is that directly applicable by you? So who wants to read generic trend beliefs? Is it adding to the conversation or layering on more noise or jargon? A list will be most often written to match the agenda, PR objectives, knowledge and experience of the writer/seller. Worse,…

Recommendations on the top tips, techniques and tools to reach content marketing excellence in 2015

2014 has certainly been a busy year for content marketing and something that wasn’t a surprise given the research and buzz evident at the start of the year which showed that content marketing was the highest rated marketing priority for marketers. The more recent 2015 marketing trends poll on Smart Insights showed that content marketing is still the top marketing priority for 2015. But as the year has gone on, what have we really learnt about content marketing and the lessons we need to follow in order to execute this particular area of digital marketing effectively? In this post I’ve grouped together some key content marketing themes from 2014 and links to recommended best practice articles and resources from Smart Insights and other sites. Key areas of focus

Understanding content marketing

Before embarking on content marketing for your business, it's…

It’s Christmas Ad Season – but what emotions are leading brands playing on?

Yep, it’s that time of year again, that time when in true festive style we all become a little child-like, eagerly awaiting this year’s fresh batch of Christmas ads to see what beauties lie in store for us.  You know it’s true don’t you?  These Christmas themed ads give us a warm, cosy feeling inside, making us feel a whole range of different emotions right across the spectrum… happiness, nostalgia, thankfulness, warmth, protective, loving…..the list goes on. However, despite watching and experiencing some of the above mentioned emotions, the question that we never stop to consider is simply, why do we react in this way? What, precisely, is it that makes us feel the way we feel when watching these ads, and what is it that makes us want to watch Christmas ads, when we quickly skip over any…

Examples of developing your brand in 2015 by building your Digital Knowledge Centre

SEO technology provider, Searchmetrics, recently released a white paper: SEO Rank Correlations and Ranking Factors 2014 – Google U.S., evaluating factors impacting organic search results and an analysis of search engine algorithms. This post highlights some of the findings for organisations SEO brand strategy. I have condensed the 83 page document into some of the key factors brands need to be aware of. The searchmetrics report provides some good news for brands. Whether an established player or an emerging start-up, brands need to wake up to the opportunities the ever changing search landscape offers. There has been a fundamental shift in the types of brands monopolising the search landscape along with the rapid growth in content marketing, the brands winning this game are the brands that have re-defined their…

Retail store techniques to meet shopper expectations

What are consumers expecting from experiences created by retailers in the UK and USA, and how are retailers satisfying their needs for the ultimate sale?  Consumers in the UK and those across the pond are looking for the best offers, a rewarding in-store experience and a high level of customer, which is what we would expect. It's interesting though that the differences are around stock/production information; 52% of American consumers feel let down compared to 28% in the UK. So what should retailers be offering their consumers, if it's not already in place? The research highlights tactics such as consistency of prices across channels to reinforce trust and displaying real-time information. The full In-store retail report can be accessed from Displaydata. For more on creating in-store digital retail experiences see this post on …

Where to focus to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition

It isn’t always about embracing the newest, shiniest techniques. Instead, the fundamentals of consistency, reliability and credibility are often more important to make an impact with customers. Customers may often cite innovation as one of the must haves, but it’s rarely at the top of the list. In B2B, they want continuity and risk mitigation. That's why web searches, supplier websites, and email remain the primary information sources for the modern business buyer. These are the tools that allow customers to seek out products and services, to learn about the companies that provide them and to ensure they are regularly updated on them. In our recent "Six ways to turbocharge your B2B marketing" webinar - now available on demand - we discussed six ways to ensure you are at the forefront of your B2B customer's mind. For those of you too busy…

Examples showing the value of social proof in boosting email subscriptions

If you’ve ever watched sitcoms, you probably have a good idea what 'canned laughter' is - it’s a track of 'people laughing played in the background' every time there is something funny on the screen. This way TV producers can alter our perception of a particular scene as its perceived to be funnier. It’s not a secret trick psychologists have been silent about, but one of behavioural patterns we all follow intuitively. It’s called social proof, and it can throw a whole new light on your email marketing operations. Social proof is a phenomenon occurring when people undergo a process of decision-making. Our brains are programmed to automatically follow other people’s behaviour. Once we notice a large group of individuals have made certain decisions, it is very likely that we will perceive…

A review of the biggest digital marketing events of 2014

It’s time for us to start writing the history of 2014. This has been a year with its share of growing pains from deploying digital technologies, but also with some remarkable new opportunities emerging from the technologies that connect users to their physical environment and to the human networks that they value. Here is a month by month description of a year that we all helped to shape and one that provides a lot of lessons to take with us into 2015.

January

The ‘internet of things’ came knocking on people’s doors early in the year. On January 13 Google purchased Nest, the makers of very smart home thermostats and smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. Under normal circumstances these might not be considered the sexiest of accessories but Nest’s CEO Tony Fadell…

Practical techniques to increase response to your marketing emails, from copy to layout to product

An effective email is so much more than just finding some pretty images and filling the copy with superlatives and hype words, in the hope that someone will be motivated into action by this. Based on a recent breakfast seminar I’ve pulled together 15 of the best tips for better emails.

Pick images that speak for your email

We’ve all been told an image speaks a thousand words but the skill is picking an image that speaks the right 1000 words! 1. Show your products. An attractive woman or handsome man might make the email look beautiful but if you are selling products, a high quality product image is the better choice. It’s an absolute must in fashion and many retail verticals. Depending on your product showing it in use or context can help too. It helps customer imagine themselves using…