What does the 'IoT' mean for Marketers?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the biggest trends in digital technology within the past 5 years. However, discussion of Marketing applications for IoT, has been surprisingly limited. This new infographic from Marketo, gives a nice visual introduction to opportunities for Marketers in different sectors to engage and satisfy the needs of our customers using the IoT. …

With objective-based campaigns, businesses can promote to directly prompt leads and sales

Importance: [rating=4] Recommended link: Twitter announcement on objective-based campaigns You may remember when Twitter started to monetise through offering ads to advertisers, the model was to use paid Promoted Tweets to encourage more followers, but it was lacking a way to directly prompt leads and sales. Then, in 2013 they launched Lead Generation cards that were particularly useful for business-to-business marketing. Now, in a similar move to Facebook's new Call-to-action buttons, Twitter is making it easier to create ads that enable direct clickthrough to a website to meet objectives for leads and sales. The option is not entirely new since this was originally available in a US beta from August last year, but from 21 May 2015 all advertisers worldwide can use this new feature. For example, a retailer can now setup ads to encourage clickthrough to sale using this approach. …

Google shares new research about changes in local search behaviour and how to use extensions to deliver relevant local ads

Importance: [rating=2] Recommended link: Google's preview of new mobile ad extensions Google has responded to changes in users' searching behaviour as more people look for local services using their smartphones. In the introduction to this new feature, Google gives the example of changes in search behaviour... "Google search interest in "near me" has doubled since last year,1 with 80% coming from mobile". Google's research shows that in these 'moments', consumers have heightened expectations for immediacy and relevance — 4 out of 5 say they want search ads to be customized to their city, zip code or immediate surroundings. The new ads shows three or four different businesses for location-related searches like “nearby auto repair.” As the example below shows, each ad unit will feature click-to-call and directions which can be easily followed-up on, for example by calling your…

A new in-depth report on consumer retail purchase behaviour

In 1999 Paco Underhill published Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping. The first edition focused on offline or in store consumer retail behaviour. Although it was updated in 2009 to include online retail behaviour, it was still strongest for offline shopping. This new retail research by Webloyalty and Columnino who specialise in the retail sector compares online and traditional shopping behaviour. We're recommending this in-depth report for retailers since it's a combination of consumer research, secondary research and market forecasting. The consumer research in this report is based on a survey conducted with a UK  nationally representative poll of consumers. 2,068 consumers interviewed during January 2015.

How and when do consumers shop?

The report assesses the well-known consumer buying process: Browsing - Gathering Ideas - Checking Product details & Prices - Leading to buying the product It compare cross-channel behaviour and use of different devices. According to this research, 87% of…

Techniques to create a more customer-focused content plan

As marketers, we know the value of a good online presence. We often talk about the importance of Google and of understanding the algorithms that govern the way businesses appear and are ranked in the Google search results. But we rarely talk about the rules that govern the algorithms themselves. Since it’s inception in 1997, Google has strived to ‘organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful’. From Panda (content) to Penguin (links) and Hummingbird (semantics), algorithm updates are intended to help Google to identify those pieces of content which are most likely to meet the searcher’s needs. All of this culminates in a simple lesson for us all: If you want to be successful online, you need to provide the highest quality, most useful, most relevant content to suit your target audience’s needs. Online…

How agencies and other B2B service businesses can avoid a fatal trap

I've been following Ian Lurie of digital agency Portent, Inc for a few years now, enjoying learning from the type of actionable insights around content marketing, SEO and broader Digital Marketing Strategy that I aspire to. So, I was intrigued to see what One Trick Ponies Get Shot was about - particularly since his new book offers the type of contrarian thinking that is all too rare in our Internet marketing echo-chamber. Certainly packed full of original thinking and advice which can change your approach as this interview shows. Our interview is directly relevant to agencies owners and new biz dev folk, but his analysis will resonate with many and is also relevant for other types of professional B2B service businesses. Thanks for the interview Ian - I like your…

5 ways to connect on a more personal level across your social media platforms

Establishing a successful social media strategy involves more than just posting the right types of updates about a new product or a service, sharing a piece of relevant information, or accumulating followers. Essentially, it all boils down to human connections, the one thing that most marketers overlook when they plan and execute social media strategies. If you want to achieve an effective social media strategy with your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or LinkedIn accounts, make sure that you are able to engage and interact with your target audience. Operative word: target audience. In social media marketing, it is not about the quantity, but the quality. You want your followers to be comprised of people who are actually interested in you, your brand, your product or service, or your business. Being liked or followed by your target niche allows your message…

Maps for reviewing the range of insights tools to improve digital marketing

We love tools for managing digital marketing as I think  many working in marketing today do... When I'm talking at conferences I often see most pens to paper when I'm recommending the many freemium tools to gain insight to improve results from marketing. Sharing advice on selecting and using these tools to get better results from digital marketing was one of the drivers behind setting up Smart Insights and we'll soon be launching a marketplace to feature these tools - get in touch if you'd like to be featured in our new directory. However, the range of tools to gain insight is daunting and this has been highlighted again by the new Gartner Digital Marketing Transit Map - newly updated for Spring 2015. It's a great complement…

...and what are the implications for managing social media?

Every wondered how different brands share Twitter followers... or not? Simply Measured have analysed over 100,000 new followers against the top 10 most 'followed brands'.

As you might expect, there is little overlap between unrelated brands such as Disney and Nike. For related brands, there is more similarity. Burberry Twitter followers also tend to be Louise Vuitton fans which you would expect considering their demographics and affluence, though it's interesting that they like Disney. Looking at Starbucks, they share 16% of their followers with H&M. This is aligned to their core demographics who are aged 18-24 year olds and account for 40% of sales, mirroring H&M's segment which account for 30% of their visitor traffic. So Starbucks now know they share 16% of followers with H&M, their fans are fashion conscious adults and even more…

4 copywriting tips for optimising your product pages

In ecommerce, as in life, there are those who are unsuccessful, those who are successful, and there are those that are exceptionally successful. Given the choice, which one of these three groups would you choose to emulate with your own ecommerce business? There are of course many factors that come into play when determining whether your business becomes the next big thing, or last year’s forgotten disaster – product quality, customer service and price points to name just a few. But how well you handle the product copywriting on your website is one thing that can have a massive impact on how successful your business is. To help ensure that your product descriptions are successful in turning web users into customers, you could do far worse than attempt to emulate the techniques and methods of those online businesses that are already hugely successful. So who…