Influencers are revving up marketing campaigns’ engines in new and connective ways

Just look at Glossier, the skin care and makeup line that built its entire brand by engaging with everyday influencers on social media — no traditional marketing necessary. But let's dig deeper. While influencers can play a part in successful marketing campaigns, it is not only the influencers with the largest social followings who get the job done.

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It’s common to think that more followers mean more opportunities for exposure, but research shows the opposite to be true, favoring micro-influencers with smaller followings instead. Think about it — the lower influencer-to-followers ratio allows the influencer to give more…

Numbers and data are no longer a daunting task — they’ve now become an integral part of a company’s operations.

 

The issue is most companies are only given the basic facts of their data without the what’s, how’s, and why’s that are driving the analytics.

 

Jaywing, a British data-based digital agency, found that brands across the board are failing to take advantage of marketing technology innovations, including how data can lead to larger explanations of how their audiences consume. Further, the agency’s 2017 Data-Driven Marketing Report found that 23 percent of marketers rate data science and analytics as the least important marketing skill.

 

By contrast, the…

More and more businesses are embracing the concept of big data versus treating it like just another buzz-phrase.

Once heralded as “the next big thing,” adoption of big data analytics is at an all-time high with no signs of slowing down anytime soon. With big data and business analytics software projected to reach nearly $200 billion in revenue by 2019, it's clear that the business world's decision to bet on data has paid off so far. So, what's the catalyst for such rapid adoption in the first place? After all, not all data is created equal and the need for massive numbers varies from company to company. According to a 2017 big data survey conducted by NewVantage, the top reasons for big data initiatives include decreasing expenses, exploring innovation opportunities and launching new products and services: Although big data…

How to optimize your marketing and media priorities for the year ahead

Smart Insights have launched their first 'playbook' in response to our members' feedback.

[si_guide_block id="98899" title="Download Premium Resource – Paid Media and Digital Advertising Playbook" description="A playbook to help you identify the steps you can take to ensure your integrated paid media investments are successful. This paid media planning guide will provide marketers with a structured approach to paid media planning to help exploit these opportunities while managing the risks."/]

What is a playbook?

Complex sports, such as rugby, cricket, and American football, often involve a huge amount of strategy and so it’s not unusual to find that the coaches in charge have a set of tried and trusted guides comprising the plans, strategies, and tactics to counter different scenarios that arise within a game. In American football they call these guides ‘playbooks’ and they include detailed notes, diagrams, and methods…

While AdWords and Facebook both work on a PPC (pay-per-click) basis, that’s pretty much where the comparison ends.

If your business uses paid search, then you’re no doubt familiar with Google’s AdWords platform. But if you’re thinking about dabbling in Facebooks ads, then there are a few crucial differences that you should know about.

[si_guide_block id="53829" title="Download Premium Member Resource – Facebook Advertising guide" description="Brands can still set up Facebook Pages and enjoy some organic exposure free of charge, but as a platform, Facebook is now very much “pay to play”."/]

Many advertisers make the mistake of seeing Facebook ads and AdWords in a binary, one-or-the-other sort of way, which is really a case of comparing apples and oranges; each platform has its own benefits and drawbacks, and if you exclude one of them from your marketing mix, then you’re missing out.

The targeting

The key difference between AdWords and Facebook is the way you…

How UK retailers can stand out in the Black Friday American crowd

Black Friday is no longer a frenzy that only takes place in North America. British consumers have embraced the phenomenon with open arms, and sales topped a record £5.8 billion over the four days between Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2016. This was an increase of 15% on 2015 numbers, and this year numbers are expected to be even bigger. However, some retailers in the UK have not been as quick to capitalize on the shopping extravaganza, even as sales continue to grow year on year. This has been great news for US ecommerce giant Amazon. The conglomerate sold 7.4m items in the UK last year at the expense of British business and is expected to expand…

What is influencer marketing and how can it benefit your company?

Back in October, Onalytica published a white paper appropriately named ‘The Definitive Practical Guide to Influencer Relationship Management’. The white paper defines what influencer relationship management is and practically, how you can make it work. Influencer marketing is often mistaken for what we refer to as influencer advertising; paying high-profile individuals with a large following for product placements and social media mentions. As the title of the white paper suggests, we view true influencer marketing as a relationship building exercise. In this post, we’re going to take you through exactly what influencer marketing is and why every brand should be doing it. We’ve even got an infographic visually summarising all of the glorious information below.

Let’s elaborate - what is influencer marketing?

As we’ve already touched on briefly, the influencer industry is…

Frameworks for measuring social media effectiveness

I am fortunate in that I get to spend a lot of time with clients on a daily basis and my current portfolio includes 86 agencies. One increasingly frequent topic of discussion at meetings is measurement, ROI and social media in particular. *For more guidance on social selling, check out our quick win, What is Social Selling and Why is it effective?, which includes detailed advice and activities on the B2B social selling platform LinkedIn. It will help you locate, connect and engage with mre if the right type of people and how to turn them into paying clients.* Amongst clients across varying sectors I see a lot of focus on owned channels, and I believe the potential of big data enabled by social media is often underutilized. What’s more, with in-house teams growing their own capabilities, agencies will need…

When is the best day and time to send an email to suit your target audience?

When most email marketers consider how time relates to their efforts, they’re quick to focus on what hour is best to blast their communications. While deploying emails at an unfavorable time can certainly lead to lower engagement levels, many other time-related variables should also be considered — audience demographics, life milestones, the price of the service or offering that’s being marketed, and more. With a deeper awareness of the issues in play, you can use the “time factor” to your advantage and better set up your campaigns for success.

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Timing Is…

Tracking tools are tricky and require a lot of attention, in spite of analytical thinking. To avoid gray hair, follow these step-by-step instructions to success.

Collecting and analyzing data is one of the many important keys to setting up a beneficial promotional campaign. No one wants to leave money on the table in the form of online platforms. It is crucial for every business to know what they are paying. Since many purchasers decide on a product over days, weeks or even months during the customer buying cycle , it's important to understand attribution of media which influence purchase (or leads). Google defines conversion windows as follows: A conversion window is the period of time after a customer clicks your ad during which a conversion, such as a purchase, is recorded in AdWords. In AdWords, you can edit the conversion window setting for any of the webpage, import, in-app action, or phone call conversions you're tracking.

Synchronization of Facebook and…