Simon Swan interviews David Edmunson-Bird about teaching Digital Marketing in Higher Education
In this interview Simon Swan talked to David Edmunson-Bird about the opportunities and challenges of teaching Digital Marketing in Higher Education.
David, AKA @Groovegenerator, is a Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing and Enterprise and Associate Director at Manchester Metropolitan University and has worked for leading companies including BT. He has been involved in the teaching and training of Digital Business since 2004 and was active in setting up the BA (Hons) in Digital Media/Marketing and MSc in Digital Marketing, some of the first and best regarded Digital Marketing qualifications in the UK.
Q1. MMU seem to have been an early adopter in grasping the opportunity to create recognised digital qualifications, do you see this as a necessary in helping to drive awareness for MMU and…
Google+ follows Pinterest with a new 'Collections' feature
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Recommended Link: Google Official announcement - Introducing Google+ Collections
With this new feature Google+ seems to be following the popular model of Pinterest boards, where posts can be categorised into topics and interests, to share with family and friends on the same basis as the posts.
You can see the example at the head of this post where we grouped some of our infographics and they appear as 'cards' similar to Pinterest. Google explains 'Collections' this way:
"Every collection is a focused set of posts on a particular topic, providing an easy way for you to organize all the things you’re into. Each collection can be shared publicly, privately, or with a custom set of people. Once you create your first collection, your profile will display a new tab where other people can find and…
Research study tests show brand awareness lift in 12 different sectors
Simulated search experiment research from Google and IposMediaCT reminds us that search ads are not only about driving direct response for lead generation, but that they can also develop brand awareness. By measuring brand metrics and reviewing test Search Results (SERPs) with control groups, the study showed the impact of search ads across 800 consumers.
Ads across 12 vertical sectors were tested and proved that 'search ads' placed their brand at the forefront of a consumer's mind, lifting awareness by an average of 6.6 points.
How search ads lifted awareness
Respondents were asked which brand first came to mind when thinking about a specific category keyword. An average of 14.8% in the Test group named the test brand, while just 8.2% of the…
A tutorial showing how to use the keyword insights now available from Google Search Console and Google Analytics
Earlier this Autumn, as shown in this Smart Insights alert, Google made the step that many SEOs and digital marketers were fearing: the encryption of all organic search traffic. The dreaded (Not Provided) had already been creeping up steadily, but now it's approaching 100% making it impossible to see in the original SEO reporting in analytics which keywords from Google are driving visits and converting.
May 2015 update: Google has now renamed Google Webmaster Tools to Search Console.
Whilst we can argue about the rights and wrongs of this change, it means that we can no longer access organic keyword-level data in our web analytics solutions, such as Google Analytics and Adobe Sitecatalyst. This data is extremely valuable to digital marketers, since it allows us to:
Find…
An example implementation showing the popularity of Live Chat
The Sun newspaper took a step into uncharted territory in August 2013 when it moved its content behind a paywall for the first time.
For Britain's biggest selling daily, it was a hugely important development. In common with newspapers all over the world, the Sun has witnessed a sea change in consumption habits as increasing numbers of readers opt to access content online rather than buying printed editions.
By setting up a paywall and thus requiring readers to pay a subscription, the Sun was securing an important revenue stream for its online version while also emphasising that its journalism has a value.
But if it was a big step for the newspaper itself, it was also a major change for online readers, who were being asked to pay for content that had previously been free to…
Examples of using social media to promote your personal blog
Blogging without social media is now the digital equivalent of stranding yourself on a desert island. To promote yourself effectively and get the results you want, you need to find and connect with people who share similar interests and goals. The best social media strategy entices people to follow the link back to your main blog and check out your main content posted there.
Developing a personal brand using a blog together with social media has a slightly different approach depending on your niche and subject matter. Researching some basics about your target audience is an essential early step, and thankfully each of these social platforms has user-friendly search tools to help you. The essentials to note are average age groups and interests among the followers you want to target as potential blog readers.
Starting up a Personal Blog
The definition of 'personal' has become rather…
