Book review: Optimize - How to attract and engage more customers, by integrating SEO, Social media and content marketing by Lee Odden
We read a lot of new marketing books at Smart Insights since we like our advice to include different perspectives and we enjoy seeing how different writers explain what works and what doesn’t. We have had a few requests that distilled reviews of books would be useful and it would be useful to hear more from the authors. So here we are.
I’ve started our series of reviews with this book by Lee Odden since Lee will be talking at our next webcast on Creative Content content marketing and I thought it would be a good way of introducing Lee if you don’t know his acclaimed TopRank online marketing blog already.
You can register free for the webcast …
Key issues to consider for the process of using animation to support a marketing campaign
So, your company has decided to introduce animation into your marketing arsenal, but you haven’t got a clue how to start going about the process. Maybe you have an idea for a character, or a sense of the personality you want your brand to share with the public, but how do you get those concepts to become visual, moving, engaging characters, scenes and stories ready to be shared?
With animation, there are many styles to choose from, but only 3 main types. There’s the traditional 2D style (hand drawn on paper or digitally), the ever-popular 3D animation and finally stop motion (or frame-by-frame) animation.
Depending on the actual medium used for each, or combination of mediums, styles and techniques - the possibilities are nearly endless. For our sake, we will focus on 3D animation as the example type/medium…
Campaign example: Tesco's #FindtheEggs campaign
It's nearly Easter, so the perfect time for online campaign to drive footfall into stores competing for shoppers big pre-holiday shop.
We thought Tesco's #FindtheEggs campaign was nicely planned and executed, so worth sharing. Here's what we liked:
1. It's a mashup with purpose -using Google Maps
2. It's personalised - you're encouraged to search by postcode.
3. It's easy - needed to encourage sale
4. It's time-limited to encourage action
5. It helps build the email list
6. It's viral
So we found it "remarkable"! It's likely not being pushed online, maybe as part of a test,…
The value of setting, meeting and changing subscriber expectations
If at first you don't succeed, lower your expectations... It's the secret to a happy life.
And one of the (seemingly hundreds) of secrets to email marketing success is guiding and accounting for subscriber expectations.
A problem here is that marketers and customers are not always on the same page.
A recent survey by RegReady, for example, found that 80% of consumers felt very strongly that making a purchase does not constitute permission to market to them via email. Yet 47% of marketers were sending emails to purchasers without this permission.
Marketers and consumers are "digitally different". Research by ExactTarget discovered, for example, that 61% of marketers follow at least one brand on Twitter, but only 12% of consumers do so.
We live in a different world and our understanding of consumers is…
Which features do all the best landing pages share?
First impressions are particularly important online - you have only seconds to get your message across. Research from Nature suggested that people form an impression of a site in just 50 milliseconds.
There are many practical actions you can take that influence the effectiveness of landing pages which I have summarised before in a previous post giving examples of best practice for landing pages. The relevance of the headline, prominence of call-to-action and points of resolution plus many other factors are all important. But, if you're running a project to drive more leads or sales from landing pages it's worth taking a step back to think about the fundamentals that will drive better results. Otherwise you can be a victim of Meek Tweaking, which is one of the main limiting factors for making large improvements.
To think through…
Pinterest releases new analytics service for verified businesses
Value/Importance: [rating=3]
Recommended link: Pinterest blog announcement about Pinterest Web Analytics
Our commentary on Pinterest Analytics
Until today Pinterest, like Twitter, has been weak at providing insights to marketers about which content is popular for their company pages. It didn’t have the equivalent of the Facebook or LinkedIn Page Insights for example.
Instead companies have used tools like Pinreach, Pinfluencer and Reachli (formerly Pinerly) to find out which boards and pins were popular and who was influential in sharing content.
How to use the new Pinterest Analytics
It’s good to see Pinterest Analytics isn’t a pre-announcement and it’s available from today. I have just set ours up. Here’s how:
Step 1. Setup a verified Pinterest business account as we explained when these were introduced in November 2012.
Step 2. to the New Look - top right
Step 3. Select Analytics from the company menu - again top…
Track what turns your visitors on (or off) with Event Tracking in Google Analytics
Events Goals (Google help page) are a relatively unheralded feature which I thought would be useful to "flag up", since it can helps marketers report on key marketing outcomes related to conversion and campaign tracking which are often missed in my experience.
I hope some of the 17 examples I cover in this post will help you report better on which features and messages site visitors are interacting with.
These interactions are measured using Event tracking (Google Help Page) that can then be connected to the Goals features in Google Analytics (read my post on Setting Goals in Google Analytics if you're unfamiliar with this).
Event Goals are a relatively new feature (introduced in April 2011). Judging by many analytics setups I review where Event tracking or Event Goals aren't used, the technique isn't so well known by non analytics specialists.…
Ideas for using Google+ Hangouts for business
I said the same thing about mobile phones, fifteen years ago, but I really believe Google Hangouts really are the future. In this article you will learn what a Google Hangout is, how it works, and how you can put it to use. They have been around for a little while but there is something in the zeitgeist at the moment because everyone seems to be talking about them and now through them!
I blame Spielberg for his press stunt when he did a Hangout with an actor from his new film Lincoln in 2012 - it was broadcast on the ABC SuperSign in New Yorks Times Square, as well as online of course.
What is a Google Hangout on air?
So, if you took the time to watch the above video, you will have more of an idea of what a…
I think the way in which site design style evolves on the web is fascinating . Any site visitor can tell within a second or two when a site appears dated, and if it is, then it's immediately damaging to the brand. Getting the relationship off on the wrong foot.
Whether a site design is effective naturally depends on the ability of the designers at a web design agency to select a modern design style with interactive design elements.
That's why all marketers need to keep in touch with rationale behind the latest design styles and why I was keen to talk to a Twitter contact, Jim Callender of Callender Creates, a web design agency whose client portfolio showcases current design styles well.
As a freelancer, Jim has worked on many high profile site such as the Times Online redesign, eBay, Royal Mail, Travelbag, Expedia, Halifax and Audi. Awarded 'Digital Freelancer of the…
5 tips to help create the perfect web design brief
Writing the perfect brief may not be a wholly realistic goal, but you can go a long way to ensuring the success of your new (or refreshed) website by aiming for just this.
The aim is to create a brief that is as comprehensive and informative as possible to elicit accurate estimates / proposals and ultimately a brilliant website. There will probably still be a couple of questions coming back from who ever you've sent the brief to – but the first step in creating a great website (one that meets its objectives) is writing a comprehensive, actionable brief. This post explains best practices around creating a website design brief to support a new site redesign brief template I have developed for Smart Insights.
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