A framework to help you get the best results from marketing tools
You don't need me to tell you that there are a lot of different options when it comes to marketing technology. Just one look at Scott Brinker's infamous martech graphic shows just how bamboozling the 3000+ strong field of marketing tools can be.
With new marketing tools and available to us almost daily, it can be difficult to know where to prioritise your marketing activities to get the most 'bang for your buck'.
As marketers we need to be agile by reacting to new developments to gain an upper hand on the competition, but at the same time, we need to avoid being 'technology magpies' following seductive, shiny new tools which may distract us from working on optimising the most effective channels.
Our CEO Dr Dave Chaffey,…
12 steps to becoming GDPR compliant
On the 25th of May, 2018, the GDPR became law. The multitude of provisions to protect users privacy are a bit of a legal minefield for marketers, who are always hungry to use customer data where ever possible so they can better target customers with propositions. Given its importance, we have shared much advice from legal specialists on the Implications of the GDPR for marketing in UK and Europe.
In this post we're alerting you to the opinion that matters most in the UK - that of the Information Commissioner's Office who is responsible for implementing GDPR in the UK. In this new guidance of implementing the GDPR in the UK the ICO provides more information to help companies become GDPR compliant over the next few months, so make sure to utilise the resources they produce to help your business.
The good news is lawmakers have given businesses a full…
Digital budgets increase in 2016
Good news for digital marketers where they can make the business case for more investment in digital media and technology! Over half of digital marketing departments will see growing budgets this year. Some 55% of organisations will be either increasing both their digital budget along with the overall spend or shifting existing budget to digital, leaving digital with more to play with. Only 11% are decreasing digital budgets, and less than a third are just keeping it the same.
Provided you can prove ROI and justify digital spending, your budget should be fairly safe. The all important analytics will prove crucial here. Make sure to have data to hand to prove things like how much value your customer acquisition strategy is generating when you compare acquisition costs to customer lifetime value. If you're lucky you'll be in the half of digital marketers who see their budget increased…
How marketers can use a range of skills to boost their careers
As digital marketing (and marketing in general) continues to evolve, so does the thinking associated with what makes a modern marketer. There have been numerous posts about T-shaped marketing, the Pi-shaped marketer, growth hacking and even ninja rockstars! (see more silly digital marketing job titles)
Whilst I’m conscious that there are already plenty of marketing buzzwords around, I nevertheless thought it worth exploring another concept: the full-stack marketer.
However, I’d like to use this post to look at the full-stack marketer not as another piece of marketing jargon but more as a mind-set or working philosophy. I don’t believe the full-stack marketer is a substitute for growth hacking, T-shaped or Pi-shaped marketing. Instead, all this thinking should be considered with the same objective in mind: to give marketers a framework and opportunity to grow and develop.
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5 reasons to develop a Skunkworks
As organisations embark on the journey to digital transformation, they may find their organisational structures limit innovation if they are more akin to a company geared to compete and survive in the industrial revolution era.
The problem of digital silos
A common problem in many larger organisations is that given the importance of digital marketing, digital skills are centralised in one or more locations, so creating digital silos. So pockets of digital knowledge become dispersed internally rather than creating a joined up structure with different marketing teams working on marketing activities which integrate digital marketing.
In the long-term, integrating your digital marketing team is an essential requirement for organisations wanting ro re-invent their proposition to a changing digital world, being led by disruptive digital technology and new ways to reach new audiences and new channels.
But at the same time, businesses need to stay agile and review the latest…
Growth Hacker Marketing Report by Ryan Holiday - Book Review covering 4 key areas of focus for Growth Hacking
A little while back Dave Chaffey asked in a Smart Insights post, "What can businesses learn from growth hacking". This post introduced the Growth Hacking approach and how it originated in startup online businesses and explained how more traditional businesses are creating growth hacking roles to support conversion optimisation.
In this post, I'm adding more depth through a review of a Growth Hacking book I've been taking a look at recently. In Growth Hacker Marketing, Ryan Holiday explains more on this new approach which is being applied from the in the marketing departments of the smallest businesses to the largest blue-chip organisations. It prompts questions about how traditional marketing departments operate. According to Google Trends, the rise in searches associated with this new skillset is on the rise, could…
How to use Growth Hacking to get real results
The growth hacking approach (also referred to as ‘agile marketing’ and ‘growth marketing’) has generated a lot of excitement as a dynamic approach to boost awareness, lead generation and conversion.
Sean Ellis, a marketer and entrepreneur who has worked for companies such as Dropbox and Eventbrite, devised the term ‘Growth Hacking’ in 2010. Originating from Silicon Valley, growth hacking has successfully been used to build high-growth companies such as Hotmail, PayPal, Twitter, Airbnb, Instagram and Uber. Ellis says:
“Startups live and die by their ability to drive customer acquisition growth…[they] are under extreme resource constraints and need to figure out how to break through the noise to let their target customers know they have a superior solution for a critical problem…the best growth hacks take advantage of the unique opportunities available in a connected world where digital experiences can spread rapidly.”
Growth hacking is…
Does the age of the employees affect the culture of the company?
The average age of the engineers that built the most powerful rocket ever built in human history, which landed a man on the moon, had an average age of 28. Now the average age of a NASA engineer is 47. I don't want to sound ageist, but it's been a good long while since anyone's been on the moon.
So does the average age of a company's employees say anything about its dynamism? Well, maybe I'm a little biased because I'm still a little wet behind the ears, but I think it might just have something to do with it. The chart below shows innovative companies like Facebook, LinkedIn, Salesforce and Google all having considerable younger median ages than the likes of IBM and Oracle. Don't get me wrong, the latter two are great companies, and probably have a fair…
A 3 layer compliance model you can use to check that you're ready for the GDPR Countdown
When it comes to European data protection, things are changing faster than ever! The countdown has officially started for the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), with this coming into force on 25 May 2018. This will bring in greater protection for consumers, giving them more control over how their personal information is collected, stored, shared and used.
In the UK, the ICO will be stronger in their enforcement of the GDPR, meaning marketers will need to ensure they comply with the laws before the deadline date. What many companies fail to realise is that collecting consumer information for email marketing campaigns in particular is valuable, however it’s easy for this information to be neglected. One area where companies can, and are, abusing the value of data is within their deployment of privacy information…
Does your business need a Head of Growth Hacking?
Have you noticed the emergence of the term “growth hacking” for describing a marketing approach. I did and dismissed it as a fad most relevant for SaaS (Software as a Service) / single product startup businesses. But recently, I’ve noticed some new job descriptions in this area which prompted me to take another look. In particular, I noticed that The Guardian is currently advertising for a Head of Growth Hacking...
“The Guardian is committed to a “digital-first” strategy and in order to support this, we are seeking a Head of Growth Hacking to manage a virtual, cross functional team focused on GNM’s growth hacking plan. This role is responsible for finding innovative ways to accelerate adoption, use, and retention to drive up audiences to the Guardian’s digital product portfolio”.
There are other jobs available too in UK-based startups such as Gumtree, MyBuilder and…
