Facebook rolling out 'Clear History' tool, Twitter blocks Chinese state-backed accounts, YouTube removing chat function, New LinkedIn Live guide, Twitter's new video ad bid and Facebook's new movie ad tools

This week has seen Facebook finally announce the rollout of its 'Clear History' tool, which will enable users to have more control over their off-site data. While it is only available in select locations, for now, the tool will soon be available to all Facebook users - but what impact will this have on advertisers? Twitter has announced that it has blocked a number of accounts that were found to be backed by the Chinese state in the wake of growing tensions between protestors and police in Hong Kong, with Facebook following suit. YouTube has announced that its chat function will no longer be available from next month, with more focus being put on public comments and YouTube stories. LinkedIn has released a new…

Leverage your company’s content marketing strategy with evergreen articles to drive more traffic to your blog

Your company’s blog is a powerful tool that is not correctly being utilized if it lacks evergreen content. Most people are unaware that the majority of blog posts fall under two main categories, evergreen content being one of them. With that said, your current company articles do fall under either of the two, you just do not know it. When unaware of the purpose of the content you create, it is impossible to know how to use it to your benefit. [si_guide_block id="85104" title="Download our Free Resource – Top 10 common content marketing mistakes" description="Our free content marketing mistakes guide reveals the most common mistakes, but more importantly, what to do about them. It highlights auditing tools, strategy recommendations and examples."/] Learning how to write evergreen blog content that will rank on Google is essential to leveraging your digital…

Only a minority of users tend to go beyond the basics and utilize some of the more advanced features of Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a very powerful analytics tool that’s widely used in marketing departments around the world, with approximately 85% market share across all web traffic analysis tools. However, despite being ubiquitous across the industry, only a minority of users tend to go beyond the basics and utilize some of the more advanced features of the platform. If you feel you may not be making the most of the tools available in Google Analytics then read on, as we’ll look at a few of the more intermediate and advanced features to help add even more meaningful data to your marketing reports. [si_guide_block id="71497" title="Download our Free Resource – Google Analytics Fast Start - 10 mistakes to avoid" description="This guide in the Smart Insights ‘Fast Start’ series gives you a checklist of…

Chart of the week: Only 2% of marketers have integrated all processes throughout their marketing funnel.

Creating a funnel that ticks all the boxes is a vital part of marketing. Your funnel should attract, nurture, qualify and convert, leading customers through to the checkout as seamlessly as possible in order to get the best conversion rates. Unfortunately, few funnels are completely perfect. Most of us will find that our marketing funnel isn’t performing as well as we might like, with at least one section causing issues at any one time. While you can work to deal with these problem areas, it’s unlikely that all the issues will be solved. More often than not, this friction between sections of the funnel is caused by how integrated all your process are. Poor integration will naturally slow other process and see your overall results impacted. Currently, according…

Privacy is a top concern for people online, despite the fact that many want more personalized experiences from brands.

With the constant decline of network television and print media, marketing strategy is shifting to the digital space. This has also seen increased competition in the new medium, forcing marketers to look for ways to personalize content to break through the noise and get to individual consumers. While this approach might enrich the customer experience, there is always the risk of companies having too much information about our personal affairs. It is even more dangerous when we are poorly informed about the specific types of data collected about us or how these companies use the data. [si_guide_block id="99357" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – GDPR and ePrivacy briefing for marketing professionals" description="In this report we cover the latest examples and discussion on both of these regulations which seeks to improve transparency and the effectiveness of data…

IGTV is taking off, allowing marketers to engage new audiences with video content. But what are the mistakes you should avoid?

Video marketing is perhaps the best type of online marketing currently available to brands, influencers, and other active internet users. What could be more effective than video marketing though? Maybe video marketing combined with social media, which is what Instagram's IGTV feature is. Here are the five most common IGTV marketing mistakes that both brands and influencers make and how you can avoid them.

The future of IGTV

First, let's talk about the future of IGTV. Why is it so important? For starters, IGTV is the reason Instagram is now a major competitor to both Snapchat and YouTube. In fact, it has already beat Snapchat at its own game, but YouTube is still the most popular video platform. IGTV doesn't have a …

NAP consistency is one of the most significant factors of local SEO, so how should you ensure your NAP listings are correct and optimized?

As a business owner, you should know the challenges that come with local SEO. Moreover, Google turns the spotlight on displaying search results for location-based searches and takes the location information on each business website and through other websites to serve those search results. That’s where NAP (this stands for Name, Address, Phone number) comes into play. According to Moz, NAP consistency is one of the most significant factors of local SEO. [si_guide_block id="35519" title="Download our Individual Member Resource – Managing SEO playbook" description="This guide is for marketing and digital marketing managers who need to manage Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), either through agencies, consultants or company specialists or through their own efforts."/] Unfortunately, many businesses neglect the importance of having consistent NAP information, assuming that search…

ASA bans first ads under new gender stereotyping rules, Facebook seeks to eradicate hate speech and misinformation, zero-click searches surpass 50% of total Google searches and online 'brand safety' remains a cause for concern

This week's roundup is a mixed bag full of important developments from across the marketing spectrum. First up, we'll take a look at the ads which have taken the prized accolade of being the first to fall foul of the UK Advertising Standards Authority's new, and much stricter, rules around gender stereotyping. Facebook's efforts to clamp down on dangerous, inappropriate and offensive content is also showing little sign of slowing, but recent announcements have done little to reduce the pressure on the firm. We're also looking at an interesting study for search marketers, as Q2 saw more than 50% of Google searches start and end without a click-through, making it the first-ever quarter in which the majority of Google searches…

An introduction to the what, why and how of digital transformation covering examples and 5 key challenges to overcome

We’re working in an era where the development of technology exceeds companies' capabilities to manage the challenges created by the technology. New platforms, apps and tools are emerging daily and as they do, customers, prosumers and keyboard warriors are adopting the technology, talking about businesses and brands, sharing feedback and pinning images of what they’ve bought. Marketers and brands have lost control forever. On a regular basis we witness well-known companies managing customer conversations very publicly. And it’s not always positive. Some businesses have made a full transformation to digital. They embraced 'new media' at an early stage, listened to customers and have digital strategies fully integrated within their businesses. Examples include RS Components who realised that they needed to create their own customer community and created Idea Spark, a forum for engineers to…

Advertisers are turning their attention toward their ad creative, which is quickly becoming the driver for financial performance

Facebook is changing the game for advertisers. In recent years, the social network has focused on improving its optimization algorithm and native advertising tools, which have allowed smaller companies to compete without having to invest in third-party ad tech. Automation features like auto bidding, auto placement and auto audiences have simplified the media buying and bidding process, so advertisers can spend less time doing intraday bid and budget changes. Instead, advertisers are turning their attention toward their ad creative, which is quickly becoming the driver for financial performance. They need to quickly solve problems like creative fatigue and audience saturation with fresh, high-performing creative or else their campaigns will fall flat. [si_quick_block id="142509" title="How to increase your Facebook followers" description="Learn six greats ways you can grow your Facebook page's following, from…