Pizza Express are embracing chatbots in their social media - how easy was it for us to book a table and what are the implications for other E-commerce sites?
Pizza Express have launched a new chatbot on Facebook Messenger, they state it allows users to book restaurants using Messenger - we wanted to book a table ourselves, with this in mind, we did. Here's how we got on.
The launch followed a trial over Christmas, which was used by 150,000 people, much to the surprise of Pizza Express.
We first tried it on desktop, aiming to book a table for the restaurant near our office in Leeds, UK.
An interesting point to note is there is not much chat involved, you select options - I typed responses to see how well it worked, but also because I felt this was the way to do…
Google will stop accepting new customers for Google Site Search at the start of April, and will turn the product off completely in 2018
You know that search box in the top corner of just about every website you visit? There's a pretty good chance that it's powered by Google site search. This means the site is paying Google to use its excellent search functionality to find relevant results for users. If your site's search uses Google Site Search, then we've got some bad news for you. Google has just announced it will be discontinuing the product, and although it will be fulfilling the contracts it already has it won't be allowing anyone to renew after April 2017. This will mean by 2018 the product will be switched off completely, and anyone using Google Site Search will have their site search function automatically switch to Google's 'Custom Search Engine' (CSE) product. This…
Interactive, creative and innovative emails to inspire your 2017 email marketing.
Email marketing consistently ranks as one of the most effective marketing channels in terms of ROI. But to stand out in a crowded field you need to optimise for device, utilise the latest technology, and have compelling creative. Without any of this crucial trio your email will fall flat.
It's all very well telling marketers they need to use dynamic email with creative designs and attention grabbing copy, but it's very different to actually produce it. Often the best way to get inspiration for your own campaign is to see examples of effective email campaigns that you can draw upon. That's way we're giving you 6 examples of creative and effective dynamic content emails to inspire you in 2017.
1. Knomo - Scalable design for mobile optimization
As you can see from the desktop and mobile versions of this email from Knomo, by…
Consumers are spending most of their time on mobile, but the majority of ad spend still goes to desktop.
It’s 2017, but most marketers still pour their efforts into desktop campaigns first and mobile second. But with up to 65 percent of time online spent on a mobile device, marketers can no longer afford to treat mobile like an advertising afterthought.
Mobile is driving growth in programmatic advertising — which allows marketers to buy ad space based on demographics and location — but desktop spending will exceed mobile for at least all of this year, and possibly into 2018. So while customers have already made the mobile switch, advertisers have yet to catch up.
Once upon a time, it made sense to prioritize desktop campaigns. Until mid-2015, the majority of us accessed the web primarily through our desktop computers. For marketers, fewer formatting options made mobile campaigns less attractive, and because mobile devices don’t support cookies,…
Use these tools to get started with Video Marketing
Videos are all the rage in marketing today – they're not based on heavy files anymore, they're attractive and can help brands to communicate with their audiences. You can use videos for introducing a new product, showing behind the scenes footage, showcasing a promotional event or offering a tutorial aimed at solving a specific problem. Here are 10 tools to help you create short videos and launch your video marketing campaign.
[si_guide_block id="23343" title="Download Expert Member resource – Video and YouTube marketing guide" description="Our guide shows you how to review the full opportunities from video marketing whether you are a company looking to integrate video marketing more into your campaigns or a marketing agency looking to improve your video marketing services. Video examples from across different sectors will inspire ideas of how you can use video marketing to reach and influence…
Small businesses can use video to boost awareness, leads and sales using these 6 tips
Cisco recently predicted that video content will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic this year.
This is the last call for all marketers who until now have avoided video content, convinced that it's just a fad or that creating professional videos takes way too much time, effort and money. Well, here's a piece of good news: video marketing today is within reach of all kinds of companies, including small businesses looking for novel ways to spice up their online marketing activities. How to develop a video marketing strategy that works? Here are 6 key tips to help your small business develop a video marketing strategy.
[si_guide_block id="23343" title="Download Expert member resource – Video Marketing Strategy Guide" description="This guide explains how develop a video marketing strategy structured around the Smart Insights Reach-Act-Convert-Engage framework."/]
1. Know your sector…
Chart of the Day: Utilizing digital to drive consumers into store sees a resurgence with Retailers
Customers are increasingly expecting retailers to give them the convenience of browsing online from where ever they are; in the car, in a bar, from Wichita...you get the idea. This ability to visit a store, find the same products at the same price and take it home at the point of purchase with no waiting or delivery charges, can make or break a consumer's choice to spend their hard earned money. In the last few years, many high street brands are embracing multichannel here in the UK e.g. Argos, Debenhams and Next to name a few but many others aren't.
In this research from RSR Research, we see that while the primary role of digital channels is to sell products,…
Customers now demand personalisation and relevance at every stage of the buying process.
It seems as though every report we read has been written by someone with a different name for the business era that we’re in right now. We’re sticking with Forrester’s 2011 term, the Age of the Customer. However, terms such as the Digital Age, the Social Media Age, the Age of Recommendation, the SMART Age, all seem to be interchangeable.
Whatever we choose to call it though, each name relates to the explosion of technology in society, how it is affecting businesses, and how businesses are being forced to adapt to the new demands of this high-tech era. They refer to the effects that technology, social media, and efficient information exchange are having on product development and marketing. In particular, they refer to a period in which businesses are transitioning to become more agile and customer-obsessed than ever before.
We’ve…
Analysing your customers behaviour using buyer personas to improve your B2B E-commerce strategy
Is your B2B e-commerce strategy stagnating? If so, your buyer personas may be the weak link. A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer that’s created by studying demographics, attitudes and buying patterns. Detailed buyer personas guide everything from product development to marketing decisions, improving your business’s ability to identify, cultivate and convert the best leads into loyal customers. However, companies often get lazy about their buyer personas. When demographics steal the spotlight, businesses overlook the complex motivators, attitudes and behaviors that influence how individuals shop online.
The result: Your business wastes valuable resources investing in leads with a low probability for conversion, while missing out on higher utility leads.
The solution: build a smarter e-commerce strategy through an in-depth understanding of how buyer personas influence B2B…
Chart of the Day: Simple vs complex subject lines
Many email marketers keep their subject lines simple and short, but are these causing recipients to fail to read on?
"Not only does this study suggest that complex language leads to greater email engagement, but it also once again proves the value of testing and optimisation."
~ Nikki Gilliland @ Econsultancy
The Automatic Readability index uses the number of characters to gauge the understandability of a piece of text. And that is what is used to create this rather complicated chart.
The chart shows a steady gradient increase in open% and CTO% as the complexity of the subject line increases. The difference may seem diminutive, but remember that this chart is working on a scale of billions of sends. So it can lead to some significant changes.
Before you start making drastic changes, remember to A/B test your subject lines to see if this appeals to your…
