Chart of the Day: New experiment on outbound links shows their impact
A lot of discussion of SEO is around the right type of backlinks, links into a site, and rightly so given their continued importance to ranking. But what about links out from a site, do they have an impact? These are discussed less often, but can have an impact as the chart from this experiment by Reboot Online shows.
The experiment involved purchasing 10 new domains which mentioned the niche term "Phylandocic". Each article mentioned 2 authoritative, related websites. On 5 of the websites, mentions are in plain text whilst on the other 5 sites, they are hyperlinked. The domains were all registered at the same time to remove any domain age influence. All domains contained 10 random but pronounceable characters and all domains were confirmed as having 0 search volume produced in Google. All sites were co-hosted to minimise any…
Virgin Holidays Case Study: How to use virtual reality to show off your product
Particularly relevant for travel retailers, virtual reality provides an opportunity to showcase their product in a way that was previously impossible. Perhaps it's the best new technology for the sector since the jet engine! This first example shows how can now take your customers under the sea, to the top of mountains and onto the sunniest of beaches without them having to leave the branch, as this 360° video from Qantas shows.
The Virgin Reality initiative
Many travel brands have started experimenting with using VR to let customers 'try before they buy', and have done so by creating 360° videos which viewers can pan around. We've got to admit, they're pretty darn cool, and a lot of fun. But technically, they aren't virtual reality. Virtual reality means being able to look around the virtual world…
With the news that social influencers being a big hit with hard-to-reach men online, recent research suggests that brand ambassadors and ongoing relationships with brand ambassadors are the most effective forms of influencer marketing.
The study was conducted online with 1,753 influencers and 102 marketers, by Tapinfluence and Altmeter and investigated marketers impressions of influencer marketing and discussed how they are using it.
Ongoing ambassadorships and product reviews are the most effective forms of influencer marketing, as ranked by marketers. Only Less than 11% believe affiliate marketing links are effective, whilst many marketers are also using brand ambassadors for mentions of event coverage, relationships are crucial to the long term success of this form of marketing.
The study also found that only 50% think sponsored content is the most effective form of influencer marketing, yet almost 82% use sponsored content, whilst 52.5% use brand…
'Rich Cards' to feature in SERPs for new verticals
Importance: [rating=4] For Marketers working for restaurants and e-learning sites
Recommended Source: Google Webmasters Blog
Back in May 2016, Google announced the launch of 'Rich Cards' - a new way Google displays content in certain SERPs that is a lot more visual and mobile-friendly than traditional text SERPs. These differ from the already common 'rich snippets' in that, well, they were 'richer'- that is they feature even more visual content.
Rich cards were only available to a select few verticals when they originally launched. Just two in fact: Recipes and Movies. But now Google have announced they will be expanding the new content medium to more verticals, these being local restaurants and online courses.
Non-specific local restaurant related SERPs, like 'Best Restaurants in Toronto' etc. now will feature rich cards which display the search results…
Chart of the Day: iOS captures 45% of US Smartphone market in Q3 2016, but Android leads with 51% of users
Us marketers are used to hearing our ilk banging on about the need to optimize for mobile. If you are thinking about going that step further with mobile marketing and developing your own mobile app, you'll want to know which mobile operating system you should build your app for. The latest third quarter results from the US market point to a more or less equal divide between Android and iOS operating systems, with a slightly larger market share going to Android but iOS capturing a healthy 45% of the market.
This shows the immense popularity of Apple's iPhone, which tends to be purchased by higher income demographics and thus visitors using them tend to have higher average order values than visitors using other devices. The chart is also interesting in showing how the market is almost…
Marketing Automation works best when you are constantly innovating
You, yes you. You're that marketing manager that is using your automation platform to do all your basic tasks. But you're not using it for anything else. Why? I don't know. There are so many elements of marketing automation you could be using, I imagine you don't know where to start. So I'm going to tell you where to start.
Marketing automation isn't going to take your job anytime soon.
My favourite expression from the unaware marketer is "oh but marketing automation will put me out of a job". I can assure you, used correctly, it will not. However, if you continue to use a marketing automation platform like a brain, that is to say only use 10% of it, you could be out of a job for not producing the results you anticipated from your MA platform.
It amazed me in the recent…
3 of the most important marketing trends shaping the travel sector in 2017
It is estimated that during 2016, total retail travel sales across the globe will reach $22.049 trillion, up 6.0% from the previous year. According to Statista, by 2019, the online travel industry is forecasted to grow to 762 billion U.S. dollars.
Today, the majority of people use different websites during the travel purchase journey, either to find information about a destination, read reviews or to book travel online. August 2016 research published by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) found that 76% of UK internet users had booked holidays digitally in the past 12 months. In the US, Emarketer estimates that 52% of travel bookers use online platforms to make their bookings. That makes digital marketing techniques like SEO, UX and Social Media Marketing absolutely critical to success in the travel industry. Keeping up with the…
The key trends all Travel Marketers should be aware of
2016. What a year. We've had Brexit, Trump and all manner of celebrity fatalities. It just makes you want to jet off somewhere nice and forget about your troubles for a week or two doesn't it?
Well, I'm sure the same can be set for travel marketers. In the UK the falling pound has smashed margins and raised prices for holidaymakers heading abroad, whilst for marketers promoting European destinations the disturbing spate of terrorist attacks this summer may have encouraged some holidaymakers to stay at home.
But take a step back and you'll be surprised to hear the picture is actually looking rather good for travel marketers, despite the challenges. Tourist numbers have increased in 2016 by over 3%, and 33% of travelers say they will be willing to spend more on a holiday this year than they were last year. What's more, 49% of…
Chart of the Day: 74% of Black Friday weekend consumers are planning to shop on the big day.
Black Friday is finally here, whether you love it or hate it, there is one undeniable fact - Consumers spend big during this period.
Consumers in America are buzzing to see the deals online and high street retailers have on offer during the biggest shopping weekend of the year. An estimated 137.4 million people are considering hitting the shops this weekend, that's 59% of the population.
While there is plenty of competition for consumers attention across the whole weekend, the days with the highest potential for your business is on Black Friday and Saturday. With most Black Fridays sales lasting from Thanksgiving (Thursday) to Cyber Monday (and beyond), which day will drive the most sales for you? An annual survey from the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics shows that less than half are planning to shop…
Retail Industry is set to spend a record 15 billion on digital ads this year
The retail industry spends more on digital ads than any other vertical. It outstripped automotive, travel, financial services, pharma and media this year. It is predicted to smash it's 2015 record of spending $13 billion on digital ads by $2 billion, racking up an impressive $16 billion in digital ad spend this year.
That's the good news. The even better news is that these trends are only getting started. e-marketers 2016 predictions forecast digital spending increasing still further to a massive 23 billion by 2020, as you can see from the chart below.
Separate data from CMO survey also confirms this big shift to digital. Their data shows consistent double digital rises in digital ad spend since 2012. This is showing no sign of…
