Chart of the Week: The majority of marketers find influencer marketing to be an effective strategy, but it doesn’t come without its challenges

Influencer marketing has become a popular tactic for a number of brands, whether they’re using well-known names or micro-influencers. In fact, according to new research from Mediakix, 80% of marketers find influencer marketing to be an effective strategy. Almost half of marketers (45%) said they find influencer marketing effective, with a further 35% saying they find it very effective. In comparison, only 5% said influencer marketing was an ineffective tactic, while15% were neutral on the topic. This suggests that getting your influencer marketing campaign right - finding the right people to work with, promoting the best products or services and having them share content across channels that suit your audience – can help you…

Social communities are the new conversion tools on the market

Social media can be an extremely powerful tool that can affect your conversion rate significantly. Done right, you’ll be hitting your goal conversion rate in no time. However, there are tricks of every trade, social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are not the most effective conversion tools anymore. So how about building your own personal social community? Driving traffic is not enough, you need the right tools to charm those visitors and turn them into customers. [si_quick_block id="49146" title="Digital media options cheatsheet" description="Use our cheatsheet to quickly see how social media platforms have changed over time and a detailed list of their capabilities."] Building your own social community will strengthen the relationship with your existing customers and affect the conversion rate significantly. Ultimately you will have more ways to engage with your customers and relevancy of your conversions.  Check out a few ways the…

Millions are 5G-ready, Facebook disagrees with ACCC recommendations, YouTube will never be "100% safe" for brands, Facebook to improve messaging privacy and new interracial couple emojis announced

This week's news roundup sees concerns raised about privacy when 5G is rolled out, with the Information Commissioner's Office raising concerns about personal data on a faster network. Facebook has also responded to the ACCC's initial recommendations, disagreeing with the suggested extra regulations. Google has admitted that there is very little chance YouTube will ever be totally brand-safe, although it is making changes to its advertising program to try and protect brands' reputations. Mark Zuckerberg has announced controversial changes to messanger apps, with auto-encryption set to be rolled out. Finally, it has been announced that interracial couple emojis will be available this year following a petition by Tinder. Find out more about each of these stories below.  

Millions ready for 5G but is privacy an issue?

Up to 15 million UK…

In the world of startups and small businesses, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about social media handles

We understand that when it comes to business, entrepreneurs want to make the right choice. They are careful about every step of the branding process, even social media handles, so it is no surprise that some people are hesitant to take a business name if the social media handles are taken. In the world of startups and small businesses, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion about social media handles. Many people don’t realize that, like a domain, a social media handle is a way that potential customers can find your business online. However, like domains, you do not always need an exact match social media handle. [si_guide_block id="82119" title="Download our Free Resource – 10 common social media marketing mistakes" description="Avoid the pitfalls that limit engagement with your…

Awareness of smaller retailers is on the up, but winning the high street battle will come down to a niche product offering and a personalized shopping experience

Following countless announcements of high street store closures and a long line of large retailers reporting financial difficulties, new research from Pure360 has revealed that nearly three quarters (72%) of British consumers want the government to do more to back the growth of smaller, independent retailers. The research, which commissioned YouGov to poll a representative sample of GB consumers, found that nearly half (42%) would consider shopping with an independent retailer because they prefer to support smaller operations over a larger retailer. In addition, over one in five shoppers said they like to compare price and product offerings between larger retail brands and independents, before going on to make the final purchase from the smaller retailer. …

Marketing specialists should know how to promote cryptocurrency brands in the periods of high volatility and investor uncertainty

The cryptocurrency market has been volatile from the very beginning, but the last couple of years have been a particularly wild ride for millions of investors around the world. Many have made millions on the big upswings, and yet many have lost large and small investments in the bursting bubbles and sudden market downturns.  Still, marketing specialists should know how to promote cryptocurrency brands in the periods of high volatility and investor uncertainty. To understand how to do it, we should determine the factors that influence the price of digital currency and ways to use them to our advantage. [si_guide_block id="81859" title="Download our Free Resource – 10 digital marketing megatrends 2019" description="This free guide for all members shows how your business can get an edge by reviewing 5 key types of marketing trends and specific…

Nearly 43% of all e-commerce traffic is organic, while just 26% of traffic comes from ads

"We don't need SEO. We use Adwords. It works better for us." I’ve heard this phrase countless times over in the e-commerce space, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Nearly 43% of all e-commerce traffic is organic, while just 26% of traffic comes from ads. If you are focusing on PPC over SEO, you are missing out on a massive chunk of traffic. Plus, as sites at the top of Google get 36.4% of search traffic, your e-commerce SEO strategy needs to be top notch. [si_guide_block id="5750" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Successful SEO guide" description="Our comprehensive guide to Search Engine Optimisation best practices isn't just for SEOs, the clear explanations mean that it can be used by marketers to ask the right questions to…

The style and topic of your blog and social media formulate a story that connects customers to your brand

Your marketing content is a reflection of your brand personality. Just as your colour scheme, visual elements and overall aesthetics communicate what your brand is all about, so does your content. The style and topic of your blog and social media formulate a story that connects customers to your brand – both literally through SEO and figuratively through established sentiment. However, creating top-notch content has always been a challenge for marketers. The demand for great content is extremely high, considering that the average customer views between three to five pieces of content before making the decision to purchase. [si_guide_block id="5651" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Content marketing strategy guide" description="This guide shows you both how to develop a strategy to deploy content across all your online marketing and gives…

People always prefer a brand that keeps them happy and satisfied, so improving your customer experience will be beneficial

‘Satisfaction’ and ‘happiness’ are the two critical factors that keep customers loyal to any brand and should be a be driving factors of your customer experience strategy. People always prefer a brand that keeps them happy and satisfied. Happiness can be achieved when the product or service works perfectly and the customer service offered is exceptional. Customers are also satisfied when a product or service is able to satisfy their exact needs, which means understanding what these are. So, how can you provide a pleasurable experience to your customers so that they remember you and return again and again? Here are five great ways to improve the customer experience offered by your company in 2019: 

1. Leverage the power of artificial intelligence

Gartner has already predicted that by 2020, virtual agents like chatbots will…

Chart of the Week: 36% of people have used visual search and over half say that visual information is more important than text when shopping online

Over a third of people have used or performed a visual search, according to new research from Intent Lab. A total of 36% of survey respondents said they have used visual search, which is the same rate as those who have performed voice searches, showing that search is changing. As well as the rise of visual search, 59% also said that visual information is more important than text, showing that you should be incorporating visuals into all aspects of your marketing strategy.

Mobile is more visual

When it comes to visual search, mobile is the most popular device with 53% saying their smartphone is the main device they use for this…