Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events Digital Marketing Solutions Summit | Forum Events

Posts By :

Jack Wynn

‘Dark Social’ most popular in sharing publishing and marketing content…
By:
1

A study from the San Francisco-based digital advertising company, RadiumOne, has revealed that 80 per cent of UK mobile clickbacks evolve via ‘Dark Social’ channels, such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, compared to 23 per cent of content being shared via public social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

The company analysed the actions of 940 million global users – pinpointing the UK’s social content sharing activity – who shared content from sources where RadiumOne’s sharing software is utilised.

European managing director at RadiumOne, Rupert Staines, said: “Dark Social is a big piece of the sharing universe. This interest and intent data source is particularly powerful when it comes to mobile, where the majority of interacting with shared content is occurring. The opportunity for brands is to track, gather and activate these valuable signals to connect their owned and earned media investments with paid media effectiveness.”

RadiumOne’s worldwide figures found that ‘Dark Social’ content sharing is also popular outside the UK, with 84 per cent of all sharing is happening through this medium.

 

ANA: B2B marketers need to ‘step up’ their game in order to succeed…
By:
0

The US-based Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has concluded from their recent research that marketers specialising in the B2B sector have a duty to uphold strong leadership skills and ‘deep’ marketing experience in order to drive brand awareness, customer loyalty and ‘play a key role’ in sales operations.

The online survey, which was conducted in partnership with the market and consumer information group, GFK and represented 237 B2B professionals, found that 39 per cent believe their roles are to ensure that the voice of the customer shapes the business strategy and to bring expert marketing competencies to the table. However, marketers also indicated that they are struggling to be viewed as important and strategic assets; fearing that all efforts made are viewed only as an extension of their companies’ sales divisions.

CEO and president of the ANA, Bob Liodice, said: “Our study shows that B2B marketers have much to offer, but that message is not getting through to the right people within their own organisations. These marketers need to implement growth leadership initiatives, put forth a clear vision of their brands, and develop strategies to remove barriers.”

The survey also found that only 42 per cent hold a position the ‘top management’ board of a company, and 37 per cent of respondents enjoy strong recommendation from senior management. Meanwhile, 35 per cent claim that senior management professionals are highly focused on the product and price; ignoring customer insights.

Read more on the research, including the ANA’s top recommendations, here

Guest Blog, Laura England: Email marketing – here to stay…
By:
0

We have come a long way since Gary Thuerk sent the first mass e-mail in 1978. It might have only reached a few hundred people, but back then, that figure was impressive. Almost 40 years later, we continue to use the same technique to reach customers, staff and stakeholders. Laura England, account executive at technical PR agency, Stone Junction, details its substantial transformation

Advances in SEO, content marketing and sophisticated automation tactics have slowly pushed some traditional techniques into digital obsolescence. Despite this, e-mail marketing continues to remain relevant. Throughout its 40-year life span, the medium has seen some questionable techniques. Nevertheless, a few changes and improvements that come to mind are definitely here to stay.

Responsive design

According to Experian, a large percentage of e-mails are now read on mobile devices – two thirds, to be precise. In fact, the growth in use of mobile phones and tablets is part of the reason e-mail marketing has remained so popular. Without a doubt, most of us understand the importance of responsive design. Despite this, just eleven per cent of commercial e-mail templates are optimised for mobile viewing. If e-mail marketing is part of your marketing strategy, responsive design should be a top priority.

A personal touch

In today’s society, everything is personalised, from TV adverts to Starbucks cups, everything is tailored for you. While personalisation of e-mails certainly isn’t a new phenomenon, we’re finally beginning to see this tactic done well.

E-mail marketing has gained a relatively bad reputation when it comes to personalisation. Even luxury brands have fallen victim to the easy but detrimental mistakes of poor tailoring in their campaigns. While it is true that brands could easily scrap this technique and avoid embarrassing mistakes, according to various studies, e-mails containing personalised elements have transaction rates six times higher than those without. Despite this, less than 30 per cent of brands use this tactic in their campaigns.

Long live the light box

Most of us will have experienced a pop up box on our screens whilst browsing online. Often referred to as a light box, the tactic is a pet hate of some marketers because they consider it a nuisance to the customer. However, using a light box is no different to a call-to-action in your sidebar or including a subscribe option in your e-mails. Perhaps, just a little more direct.

Aside from providing a useful platform to notifying the user of a deal or promotion, the sign-up function through light boxes has been known to expand e-mail lists between five and ten times faster than traditional sign-up fields. For me, that is worth disrupting the browsing experience for a few seconds.

Now, more than ever, e-mail marketing is a tool to be embraced and used to its full potential by marketers. Outliving the likes of affiliate programmes, pop-up ads and classified advertising, there is no doubt that e-mail marketing is here to stay.

Laura England is an account executive at technical PR agency, Stone Junction. The award-winning agency, based in Staffordshire, focuses on public relations and marketing for businesses operating in the technology sector. Laura was appointed the company’s e-mail marketing specialist in 2015.

Industry Spotlight: Leaders in online content show support for EU hate speech Code of Conduct…
By:
0

In the wake of recent terrorist attacks threatening to devastate the safety of Europe, such as in Paris last November as well as Brussels in March this year, the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, YouTube and Twitter have publicly declared their support to a new Code of Conduct established by the European Commission in a bid to instill an aggressive clamp down on hate speech posts.

With implementation of online hate speech policy already discussed in the US earlier this year, where Google and Apple held meetings with government officials to confer on an effective protocol, the European Commission has set clear guidelines with the assistance of the online media companies to take immediate action within a 24 hour time period of being notified of a hate post.

Some of the methods recommended in the Code to handle such content include the consideration of disabling a user’s account; in addition to providing regular training ‘on current societal developments and to exchange views on the potential for further improvement’. The Commission also stresses the importance for media companies to have ‘clear and effective processes’ in place in order to ‘prohibit the promotion of incitement to violence and hateful conduct.’

Head of public policy for Europe at Twitter, Karen White, said in a statement: “Hateful conduct has no place on Twitter and we will continue to tackle this issue head on alongside our partners in industry and civil society. We remain committed to letting the Tweets flow. However, there is a clear distinction between freedom of expression and conduct that incites violence and hate. In tandem with actioning hateful conduct that breaches Twitter’s Rules, we also leverage the platform’s incredible capabilities to empower positive voices, to challenge prejudice and to tackle the deeper root causes of intolerance.”

According to figures released by Twitter, the social media platform has had to suspend 125,000 accounts to date on the grounds of Tweets containing threatening content surrounding terrorism acts.

Read more about the Code here

Campaign Monitor launches email marketing solution for publishers…
By:
0

The email marketing software provider, Campaign Monitor, has launched a specifically for publishers which aims to provide a simple and effective solution to building email marketing campaigns, as well as drive audience engagement and extend subscription lists.

Campaign Monitor for Publishers claims to boast ‘easy-to-use’ integrations such as flexible sign-up forms; a drag and drop tool for a quick and easy way to navigate campaign features; and an email automation tool for publishers to create personalised campaigns. CMO at Campaign Monitor, Kraig Swensrud, said: “Publishers have unique email marketing needs because their audience has expectations for email content, length and frequency that differs from other industries. With more than 10,000 customers in the publishing industry, we have prescribed the best practices and simple do-it-yourself technology to help publishers deliver messages that resonate with their audience.”

Read more about Campaign Monitor for Publishers here

Discovering content the most popular method with consumers…
By:
0

A recent report conducted by the US video platform company, Rapt Media, has found that the majority of consumers prefer to find content themselves, even if the content sent out is personalised to the individual and their preferences.

Surveying 1,000 consumers, the report analysed consumer attitudes to marketing content and revealed that 43 per cent completely reject online ads, and an overall 95 per cent claimed to take some action against receiving ads. Moreover, 67 per cent complained that brands are sending too much content; 55 per cent stating that much of it is not relevant; and 46 per cent claiming that the content information comes across as ‘pushy’.

Read the full report here

Geometry Global Intelligence extends consultancy service to EMEA region…
By:
0

The international brand activation agency, Geometry Global, has rolled out plans to extend its bespoke marketing consultancy service, Geometry Global Intelligence to the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA).

Designed to support and advise marketers on a number of key areas including; the customer journey, market analysis and new product development, the service will launch in France, Italy, Russia, Germany, United Arab Emirates and South Africa after a successful piloted 12 months in the UK. Chief executive of the EMEA region at Geometry Global Intelligence, Pietro Leone, commented: “Media fragmentation has significantly increased the complexity of brands’ ability to invest marketing budget exactly where it is needed to drive growth. Geometry Global Intelligence works with clients to help transform their business performance by identifying efficient and effective solutions using a unique methodology.”