Fines for companies breaking anti-spam rules reach new highs
The Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) has the power to issue fines of up to £400,000 to companies that fail to comply with data handling and antispam law and it’s a power that they’re increasingly willing to wield.
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Since 2015, The ICO has issued fines of over £8.7 million to UK organizations that have broken the rules.
104 separate…
If all that is between you and influencer marketing is knowing where to begin, then read on...
It seems like just yesterday that we were packing up 2016 and placing our bets on what 2017 had in store, and here we are preparing for 2018 – scary, huh?
Once we muster the ability to look beyond the horror of how fast 2017 has been and gone, we’re actually left with an abundance of excitement. The reason for this excitement is that we no longer deem it necessary to sell the benefits or lecture brands on why they should be doing influencer marketing. Nor do we need to, or want to, shout the same old stats on the ROI of influencer marketing ’til we’re blue in the face – 2017 has been a year where many pennies have dropped.
With all this said, brands are yearning to learn exactly what they need to do…
Chart of the day: Most marketers are not using Bandit, a CRO testing method.
Most marketers are doing A/B testing, whilst Multivariate testing and Bandit testing, are less used.
What are the differences between each method?
A/B testing involves testing two versions of a page. There is a challenger and a control (usually the original page if you’re testing a different version against an existing page). Visitors are randomly assigned a version. Tests usually continue until a page (or version) is statistically (and significantly) better than the other.
Multivariate testing (MVT) is very similar to A/B testing but involves testing more than two versions
Bandit is similar to MVT except, increased traffic is sent to the most successful option, rather than sending equal numbers of visitors to each version. This allows you…
4 behaviours that set top-performing marketers apart
Earlier this year the Harvard Business Review published a research paper that set out the top behaviours of the most successful CEOs. With many business leaders failing in their roles (from 2000 to 2013 25% of the Fortune 500 chief executives who left their firms were forced out) the authors conducted a study based on research conducted over 10 years with a database of 17,000 C-suite executives - including more than 2,000 CEOs - which covers all major industry sectors and a full range of company sizes.
It’s a fascinating article based on some really interesting research, revealing that one of the major reasons for CEO failure is that there’s a disconnect between what boards of directors think makes for an ideal CEO and what actually leads to high performance.
After reading the article it occurred to me that many of the problems, causes and behaviours…
Chart of the Day: Smart digital home assistants are the fastest-growing consumer tech with shipments to surpass 50 million in 2018
With many individuals and families starting 2018 with a new personal digital home assistant in their lives, this research highlights the likely future popularity of these new devices:
The research shows that in 2017, the Amazon Echo devices were the most popular, but with Google Home devices already accounting for around a quarter of sales; an impressive start since they weren't available throughout the year.
The prediction considers all the available options from the more established Amazon Echo variants, Google Home assistants, plus Apple's anticipated Home Pod and the Microsoft phone. Although the report is titled 'smart speakers' this is a bit of misnomer since Amazon recently released the Amazon Echo Show which still has speakers true, but is an Echo with…
Chart of the day: Female Instagrammers are about 30% more likely to be interested in beauty products
Instagram has increasingly become one of the key platforms for interactions and engagement. Due to its visual nature, Instagram has become a popular platform for the beauty industry. These beauty brands are now using micro-influencers to expand their organic reach.
According to Global Web Index compared to the average female internet user, female Instagrammers are about 30% more likely to be interested in beauty products. Over a quarter of these Instagrammers have followed a new brand/company in the last month or visited a brand’s Instagram page.
According to one source brands on Instagram can organically reach 100% of their followers per post, while brands on Facebook typically only reach 2% of their followers. This means Instagram also has the highest conversion rate from browser to shopper of any social network. If you are in the beauty…
Here’s how to attract more brand ambassadors and let your customers do the marketing for you
Many people — even professional marketers — confuse brand ambassador and influencer marketing. Although they share many traits, they are fundamentally different approaches and require different strategies to scale.
Influencers are paid, spokespeople. They create content for a short period of time on a contract, then often remove the content from their social media feeds after the contract ends.
Influencers have their uses, but for long-term impact, brand ambassadors offer superior ROI. Unlike influencers, brand ambassadors are unpaid customers. Their genuine love for a company and its products inspires them to share their passion, driving sales through word of mouth.
Any successful marketing strategy is worth continued investment. Brand ambassador programs are no different.
During test phases, marketers should not be concerned about scale — only evidence that a program works. Once the program proves effective, however, scale becomes a…
4 areas where leaders can effectively manage the chaos
Project managers are faced with an ever-changing landscape of new technology, media outlets, and remote workforces.
Some people end up in very static careers. They do the exact same tasks for 30 years, because the job itself barely changes. For better or worse, project managers don’t fall into that group of professionals.
Project managers face constant changes that they must respond to. The nature of their job, technology they use and compliance requirements can change on any given day with little notice.
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A lot of major changes have shaken the career in 2017. Here are some of the biggest things project managers must prepare for in 2018 and beyond.
Agile management is expanding into new fields
Agile management has been the cornerstone of…
Acquiring an existing website is much less work than creating one from scratch; how can marketing managers ensure their success online?
Web businesses are certainly an attractive proposition for business owners and marketing managers looking to take on a new brand. One thing’s for sure – it’s much easier to acquire a website than it is to purchase a traditional business, what with staff, leases, and so on. When you buy a website that already has a name for itself, perhaps even a following, the effort required to publicize it comes right down.
Find a website that already has some strong backlinks, traffic, and a popular niche, and you’ll be well on your way to running a lucrative business which, with a smart marketing strategy, will draw in customers and earn money in far less time than a brand new website.
First things first: what customers are looking for
When you’re scouting for a…
Chart of the Day: Email marketing techniques used
Automation platforms are a big commitment
Why do I say commitment? It's not just a product, it's a game changer, like a car or house. Would you buy a 5 bedroom house when you have no idea what you would use those rooms for? When you view the house, you start planning on what each room would look like. The same reasoning extends to marketing automation. You should have an idea of how you are going to use all the functionality.
While I'm on a roll with my housing metaphors, you wouldn't buy a 2 story house if you couldn't climb the stairs. Again, why invest in a marketing automation platform when you don't have a CRM or can't connect with Application Programming Interface (API).
What techniques are used with Automation platforms?
In the chart, we can see…
