Using a bottom-up model to guide your analysis, you can gather amazing insights from the data you already possess
The key to data analytics lies in asking the right questions, but success can often hinge on the person who is asking those questions.
Traditionally, organizations have analyzed their businesses from the perspective of the boardroom, approaching problems from the top down. But in trying to address how to best use their data to solve problems without first understanding the data itself, errors of human bias and oversimplification of the issue may occur. Consequently, company leaders may invest time, money, and resources into technology and products that don’t deliver on expectations. Just because a software package comes with a flashy dashboard and a colorful knack for highlighting correlated relationships doesn’t mean it’s all that great at proving the causal ones.
But there’s no turning…
Mobile Marketing Trends And Tools You Can't Miss
Mobile marketing has had an incredible run, far exceeding the expectations of its pioneers with exponential increases in sales for those that use it well.
2016 marks a year where several trends that have had merely tacit relationships to each other in the past - such as social media, video ads, mobile apps and mobile pay - now have the potential to be fully integrated to increase exposure and drive up sales. Here's a crash course in important mobile marketing developments you can expect to see in 2016.
With 40% of all online purchases currently taking place on cell phones and 66% of opted in consumers having completed a purchase because they received a text message from the brand, if you're not fully taking advantage of SMS marketing, you can bet someone else is (Source).
Here are some trends and tools to enhance your…
These productivity and copywriting tools can help you take your content marketing to the next level
In a year in which content will reign supreme, it’s very important to differentiate yourself from tons of the material that is getting uploaded on the Internet every single hour. It’s important, but it is also very difficult. Your content has to shine, it has to entice, and it has to be beautiful.
Now, when we say beautiful we don’t mean it as an invite to go out there and b-dazzle pieces of paper, charts and diagrams. One example of 'beautiful content' is well-researched and organized content that has a structure and a flow. Another example is richly illustrated content that speaks to visual learners; every writer who’s worked on content for an infographic knows that visuals can do wonders in getting the material to really shine. A page of content completely devoid of grammatical and…
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16 Mar 2016
7 success factors for managing charity websites
Balancing the interests of diverse audiences of a charity site is a real challenge, magnified by the diverse communications needs of different teams within a charity. Given these diverse needs, it's no surprise that many charity websites struggle to communicate effectively and encourage interaction with different audiences. I have seen some truly compelling charity websites which we feature in the new Smart Insights guide to website best practice for Not-for-Profits and charities, but there are many more that don't, some with lack of focus shown by a confusing carousel or slider on the home page.
In this post, I take a look at some of the common challenges that charities need to recognise before embarking on redesigns to improve effectiveness.
Management barriers for effective charity websites
Some of the key barriers to success that I have seen when working in NfP organisations are:
1. Lack of clear aims. Gaining a…
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14 Mar 2016
Non-profits need to use big data and mobile to present clear messages in 2016
2015 has seen charities gaining increased confidence to streamline, simplify and even surprise. With increasing demands from an ever increasingly digital savvy audience, standing still has not been an option.
The larger charities are capitalising on ever more sophisticated opportunities gained from insights and improved team working and systems. The best of the medium to small size charity websites are finding cost-effective ways to improve experience such as featuring user-generated content.
There are a host of encouraging trends in the sector, but these ones stand out to me due to their take up across the sector and positive impact are:
1. Clarity of message
It would seem that many charities have pared down their offering on key pages to focus on core content and calls to action.…
15 techniques to grow your email subscribers
It's often easy to neglect your email list when there's a push to grow fans and followers on the social networks. But it's worth working on boosting email subscriptions too since email subscribers often have a strong level of trust in your content and brand. It's also easier to target them more easily with relevant offers based on their preferences and past behaviour. It’s often your email subscribers who convert to sale at a much higher rate than other sources of web traffic; they are most likely a significant segment of your buyers.
It makes sense to focus on getting sign-ups to an email list. "Traffic" is less useful unless you're confident of the source and that you can convert it, to something. Email traffic is a strong source of warm traffic.
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Google's new Autotrack library enables additional tracking of site visitor interactions
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Recommended link: Google Analytics announcement about the Autorack plug-in
If you've been involved with customising Google Analytics for different businesses, you will know there are some oddities which make it difficult to track some on-site user interactions which are helpful to know. For example, how do you track clicks out to other sites or outbound form fills. These deficiencies have been around ever since the service was purchased from Urchin. However, there have been workarounds available as plug-ins which we have used on Smart Insights and when helping customise other sites.
Google's new Autotrack plugin library for the first time provides a quality, Google Authorised library providing a simple way to record 'clicks out' as events and also has some great new features which effectively mean it is '6 plug-ins in one'
Here's a quick run down of what's available in the…
Use these highly actionable tips to give your customer acquisition a huge boost this year
Today, consumers expect brands to have personalities — just like people. They demand that companies break the fourth wall and find ways to authentically connect, whether through personalization or engaging with them in real time at the right moment across channels.
The desire for authentic, personal brand interaction isn’t going anywhere. As you enter the new year, it’s wise to keep in mind the effects this consumer mindset has on your customer acquisition strategy. Here are the five digital marketing trends I see as the most imperative for customer acquisition and growth in 2016.
1. Online video consumption is king.
The 18-to-24 age group is becoming harder and harder to reach through traditional channels such as television. Between the second quarters of 2011 and 2015, television viewing by this age group dropped by nearly eight hours per week.…
6 simple reasons why you should start to build Influencer Marketing into your Content Marketing strategy
Working in the world of digital is exciting, fast-paced, competitive and always changing. Every year we get presented with new trends and social networks to keep on our radar and brands want to explore new options. It's the nature of our industry. Heck, we even have Facebook support groups to prove it!
The last year has been a busy one for me. One filled with lessons and growth, and hundreds of Influencer Marketing campaigns. What I've learnt running Webfluential, an Influencer Marketing Platform, is that teaching someone why they should use your product is better than selling it to them. And what I've learnt about the Influencer Marketing trend, is that many marketers still aren't quite sure how it fits into their overall strategy.
When you work on your brand or campaign content strategies - you look…
Creating a strategy in a team of one can be a challenge. Here's how to overcome it
In 2016, according to Curata reports that 60% of companies will have an executive who is directly responsible for an overall content marketing strategy. Yet despite the increasing emphasis that is being placed on content, a single executive is the often only resource that is allocated to an organization’s content marketing efforts.
Whether you are solely responsible for your company’s content marketing strategy, or part of a compact team, there are approaches you can take and tactics you can adopt to guarantee maximum results with minimum resources, from content creation right through to distribution. This article will show you how you can develop and implement a content marketing strategy on a limited budget.
Build trust and authority, develop your brand…
