Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace and many businesses are struggling to keep up.

In recent years, the introduction of 3D printing, intelligent robots and self-driving cars are all facilitating a technological change that is happening at lightning speed all around us. As soon as authorization has been passed, installation occurred, implementation process finishes and users are comfortable using a solution; predictably a shiny new thing appears on the horizon and the process has to start all over again. Bruce Weinelt (Head of Digital Transformation at the World Economic Forum) highlights how industry “is being driven by a staggering range of new technologies that are blurring the boundaries between people, the internet and the physical world. It's a convergence of the digital, physical and biological spheres.”

But what is Digital Transformation?

"Digital Transformation” has had a variety of definitions, some useful, some…

6 simple reasons why you should start to build Influencer Marketing into your Content Marketing strategy

Working in the world of digital is exciting, fast-paced, competitive and always changing. Every year we get presented with new trends and social networks to keep on our radar and brands want to explore new options. It's the nature of our industry. Heck, we even have Facebook support groups to prove it! The last year has been a busy one for me. One filled with lessons and growth, and hundreds of Influencer Marketing campaigns. What I've learnt running Webfluential, an Influencer Marketing Platform, is that teaching someone why they should use your product is better than selling it to them. And what I've learnt about the Influencer Marketing trend, is that many marketers still aren't quite sure how it fits into their overall strategy. When you work on your brand or campaign content strategies - you look…

Discuss and find out the latest news in our new Community feature.

Long time users of Smart Insights, might remember 'Digital Marketing Answers' which was a forum for asking questions which we and other members would answer. It was a great way to find out what you wanted to know and covered questions from how to develop a digital strategy to SEO techniques to recommended qualifications to the best insights or stats sources. It was used regularly by members, so seemed a great way to find out what you wanted to know and to enable sharing of issues not always discussed well. However, the tech we built it in 3 years ago was no longer fit for purpose since it wasn't mobile responsive and it was a bit clunky in places. So we have now relaunched a new members' community - we look forward to answering your questions - Dr…

The opportunities of the GDPR for Digital Marketers, and a preview of the legislation itself (PDF download)

What lies at the heart of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), or EU data law, is that the current level of consumer opt-in consent used in nearly all consumer contact will not be sufficient under the new regulations. It will render data unusable, or there is the prospect of proposed fines running to tens of millions of Euros. Also, the consent terms used when seeking consumers’ permission for the collection and use of their information will have to be far more clearly defined. This article reviews the implications for marketers of the GDPR concluded on 15th December 2015 with the final agreement defined at the Data protection Trilogue negotiations which took place between the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers.

Key components of the GDPR

GDPR covers areas such as personal…

Facebook reactions to roll-out worldwide after testing

Importance: [rating=4] Recommended link: Bloomberg article announcing roll-out and explaining the approval process

What's the change??

You may remember that this change was first mooted back in the early Autumn - Marie Page covered the new alternative Facebook Reactions in her Smart Insights post where she showed how Facebook were testing these different Emojis to supplement Likes. Facebook had tested a 'dislike' button but it was thought that this would generate too much negativity. So, after testing, Facebook Reactions has now been fixed as a Like button alternative that comes in the form of six emoji with the following sentiments: Angry, Sad, Wow, Haha, Yay and Love. This change will have a HUGE impact in terms of the number of online consumer interactions each day, and it will affect Facebook…

Use predictive modeling to give your campaigns an edge over competitors

The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization’s 2015 State of Search Industry Report provides several valuable insights derived from both marketer and agency practices over the past year. The most useful conclusions center on three forms of advertising: paid search, social media, and display media. In general, marketers were more confident in managing paid search advertising efforts in-house, whereas social media advertising was a responsibility better left to outside agencies. This shows how marketers are often more comfortable managing “tried-and-true” tactics as opposed to navigating the more complex and fast-paced landscape of social media advertising. Throughout the report, a continuous theme emerges regarding success in measuring return on investment. For a paid search campaign, it’s a relatively easy task because the data and tools used to properly interpret those data are…

Case studies and best practices for producing truly outstanding content

With the ongoing rise in content marketing, smarter search engines and increased competition within the earned media space, what does it take to really stand out and gain attention? As we start the New Year, now is as good a time as any to aim for a new set of higher standards for the content we’ll be producing in 2016 and onwards. Recently, Rand Fishkin produced an excellent Whiteboard Friday explaining why the creation of ‘reasonably good, unique content’ must die: Rand’s main point was that the days of producing reasonably good, useful, unique content is no longer an acceptable level of quality for those aiming to compete by ranking highly and generate interest in search. Instead, we must set our sights much higher: Source:…

Creating a strategy in a team of one can be a challenge. Here's how to overcome it

In 2016, according to Curata reports that 60% of companies will have an executive who is directly responsible for an overall content marketing strategy. Yet despite the increasing emphasis that is being placed on content, a single executive is the often only resource that is allocated to an organization’s content marketing efforts. Whether you are solely responsible for your company’s content marketing strategy, or part of a compact team, there are approaches you can take and tactics you can adopt to guarantee maximum results with minimum resources, from content creation right through to distribution. This article will show you how you can develop and implement a content marketing strategy on a limited budget. Build trust and authority, develop your brand…

A new whitepaper proposes the Customer Mix as a replacement for the 7 P's marketing mix

Global eCommerce and Multichannel consultancy, Practicology have released a new paper for 2016 putting forward their case that the classic 7 P’s marketing mix needs a fundamental overhaul and in its place, the Customer Mix, or the 6 W’s, should be welcomed which is a more fit for a modern marketing, customer-centric framework. You can download the paper here (no registration required). Let us know your views. Do you think the time is ripe for change, or does the 7Ps still have it's place. Source: Practicology The traditional marketing mix framework was created in the 1960’s, a bygone era when organisations held the power based on the size of the marketing spend and how they controlled the limited range of…

Introducing the 10 C's of Marketing for the modern economy

Marketing models, whether traditional or digital, are useful frameworks to focus planning and strong mechanisms to enable organisations to develop robust marketing plans that stand the test of time. Some are particularly relevant for the new age of Digital Marketing, and few more so than the 10 C's of modern marketing. Designed specifically for digital marketing by Chartered Institute of Marketing examiner Richard Gay and featured in Online marketing: a customer-led approach, it was originally published in 2007.

What is the 10 C's model?

The 10Cs considers each element of an online marketing framework. This could be internal and used to review an organisation’s website and related marketing communications and how they are managed, or it could be used as an external tool to audit competitors activities. The customer is placed in the centre and each element is reviewed to see how…