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Stuart O'Brien

PODCAST: The digital marketing landscape in 2020
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In the latest podcast from Search Laboratory, founder Ian Harris is joined by Rob Marsden, Head of SEO and Pete Whitmarsh, Head of Paid Media, to discuss the role of artificial intelligence and machine learning over the past year and where they expect this trend to go in the year ahead.

They also delve into the effects of voice search and the rise of Marketplaces on SEO and PPC, and the future of data collection and protection for marketers.

Check out the full podcast here: https://www.searchlaboratory.com/2020/01/what-does-2020-hold-for-digital-marketing/

eTailing Summit returns this summer – registration open!
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Registration is now open for this summer’s eTailing Summit – Register for your complimentary guest pass today!

What can I expect?

Taking place on July 7th at the Hilton London Canary Wharf, the eTailing Summit allows senior ecommerce professionals to share forward-thinking ideas, meet new partners and discover new ways to underpin their strategies.

It’s entirely FREE for you to attend and your complimentary guest pass includes:

  • A bespoke itinerary of pre-arranged meetings with product and service providers who match your requirements and upcoming projects
  • Access to a series of seminars by industry thought-leaders
  • Networking with like-minded peers
  • Complimentary lunch and refreshments

How Do I Get Involved?

We have just 60 guest passes available, so register your free place today!

Join 60 other senior marketing professionals this summer
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The Digital Marketing Solutions Summit is taking place this summer and we’d love you to join us as our guest!

12 May – Hilton London Canary Wharf

This complimentary guest pass will give you the opportunity to meet with suppliers based on your own unique requirements and upcoming projects, attend a series of seminars and network with like-minded senior marketing professionals. Lunch and refreshments are complimentary.

Unlock your guest pass here and join representatives from:

Advanced Diesel Engineering 

Ambassadors Theatre Group

Audible

Blackbird 

Bondi Sands

Bouygues Energies & Services UK

British Arab Commercial Bank

Care UK

Carnival UK

ClientEarth

Conde Nast 

Corinthia London

Cyber Smart 

DTB Sports & Events 

Dufry

Four Seasons UK Collection

Funkin Cocktails

Great British Chefs 

H Club London

Hyde New Homes

Jordan’s Dorset Ryvita

Judopay

JustGiving 

Legal & General Investment Management 

LifeSearch

LV=

Oxfam

Prospect Magazine

Pwc 

Raremark

Sandaire

Simply Business

Stadium

Steak & Co

Swift Direct Blinds 

Telereal Trillium

Ten Lifestyle Group

University of Sunderland London

University of West London

Weight Watchers 

WSP

Yarmouth Stores Ltd & Kirklands 

Confirm your complimentary guest pass here or contact me today to find out more.

Businesses not making most of digitally native Gen Zs
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Around one in four (26%) of Generation Z workers say their company isn’t doing enough to attract the younger generation.

That’s according the Digital Natives Report from Advanced, which also reveals that 20% say a lack of diversity and multi-generation experience will hold their company back from modernising its key processes or systems.

In addition, 31% don’t think their company gives the younger generation a voice when it comes to technology adoption.

The report is based on an independent survey commissioned to explore the attitudes of over 1,000 UK senior business decision makers across multiple generations.

The report says that as a new cohort of people – Generation Z – enters the workforce, organisations are increasingly required to accommodate the demands for modern technology, flexible working and a digital environment. These younger workers have been inherently familiar with the internet and technology from a young age, are tipped to be the innovators in the workplace, and are prepared to challenge the technical status quo.

As much as 42% of Generation Z workers would like to see Business Intelligence (BI) in their daily working lives followed by the Internet of Things (40%), Robotic Process Automation (30%) and Artificial Intelligence (26%). Interestingly, 80% of them would be happy to work alongside robotic technology if it meant less manual processes.

Other key findings from the report include:

  • Nearly twice as many Generation Z workers see chatbots in their daily working lives compared to the over 55s. Artificial Intelligence is the most used technology among Generation Z, at 40% – much higher than the over 55s at 28%
  • 64% of Generation Z think a robot would be better at decision making than their boss if it had access to the right business intelligence. 39% of the over 55s agree
  • 40% of Generation Z say one of the most important attributes for a business leader in the digital era is to ensure their leadership team is diverse enough to bring a mix of skills and experience. 46% of the over 55s agree.

Gordon Wilson, CEO at Advanced, said: “It’s this enormous appetite for new technology, along with their innate digital skills, that will help propel businesses into the digital era. In fact, Generation Z is arguably the silver bullet for helping organisations successfully meet the growing pressure to be digital-by-default.

“Like it or not, digital transformation is essential for business growth so our report’s findings will come as blow to many business leaders who are clearly failing to accommodate five generations of workers that each have varying levels of technology knowledge.

“Leaders must embrace the younger generation as a priority – and that means being open to change and a different way of doing things. What’s more, they mustn’t underestimate what this new generation can achieve or pigeonhole them into uninspiring roles. Rather, they need to create roles based on their skills, knowledge and talents.”

Visit here for the full Digital Natives Report.

IAB Rearc initiative to ‘harmonise privacy, personalisation and community’
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The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) has called on the entire marketing-media ecosystem to “rearc” digital marketing to harmonise privacy, personalisation and community.

Speaking to 1,200+ senior digital media and technology industry executives at it’s Annual Leadership Meeting, IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg asked industry leaders from the brand, agency, publisher, platform, and technology industries to join together and change the arc of digital marketing “to at last put consumers in the safe, sane, exciting center of everything we do.”

Project Rearc will bring together IAB, IAB Tech Lab, governmental, and other industry/consumer organizations with the goal of creating standards of behavior, codes of conduct, legal agreements, and enabling technologies to address consumer demands for personalization, and privacy.

Top executives, including Alysia Borsa, Chief Business and Data Officer at Meredith Corporation; Steve Katelman, EVP Strategic Partnerships at Omnicom Media Group, and David Spector, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ThirdLove, immediately joined the call for collaboration.

“The fact that 81 percent of consumers want brands to get to know them well enough to know when to approach them and when not, yet 73 percent of consumers say their concerns over data privacy are growing is not a contradiction,” said Rothenberg. “Rather, it is perfectly consistent with ‘the eternal quest of human beings to be valued as individuals, within the context of living in families, communities, and cultures.’”

The IAB says billions of dollars are at stake. Econometric research by John Deighton (Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration Emeritus at Harvard Business School) unveiled at the conference shows that the elimination of digital marketing personalization would mean a loss of $32-$39 billion in ad revenue on the Open Web by 2025, “with more than 90% of those revenues shifting to walled gardens.”

IAB’s announcement comes in the immediate wake of Google Chrome announcing it will phase out third-party cookies, as well as the first month of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) being underway.

IAB and IAB Tech Lab have begun convening member-company business and technical teams to draft requirements and consider approaches to support the industry and manage consumer privacy, safety, identity, and other needs in the post-cookie digital marketing supply chain.

“The cookie’s death can lead to a better future for digital media globally. It’s an opportunity to change the practices, controls, and value surrounding personal data to favor consumers. IAB and IAB Tech Lab have already been hard at work, engaging our members to define practical solutions,” said Dennis Buchheim, EVP and General Manager, IAB Tech Lab. “In the coming year, Tech Lab will undertake one of its most comprehensive initiatives to create technical standards, guidelines, and potentially a compliance program to support members – and consumers.”

Meet with the UK’s leading marketing solution providers this May
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Have you secured your complimentary guest pass to attend the Digital Marketing Solutions Summit – You’ll be joining 60 of your marketing industry peers!

12 May – Hilton London Canary Wharf

Register here for your complimentary pass, which includes an itinerary of 1-2-1 meetings with budget-saving suppliers, access to insightful seminars, networking opportunities, plus lunch and refreshments.

You’ll join fellow senior marketing professionals who share your goals and challenges. They include executives from:

ABTA
Advanced Diesel Engineering
Ambassadors Theatre Group
Audible
Blackbird
Bondi Sands
Bouygues Energies & Services UK
Care UK
Carnival UK
Conde Nast
Corinthia London
Cyber Smart
Dufry
Four Seasons UK Collection
FTA
Great British Chefs
Jordan’s Dorset Ryvita
JustGiving
L&Q
LifeSearch
LV=
Oxfam
Prospect Magazine
Pwc
Raremark
Saga Services
Simply Business
Sky UK
Stadium
Swatch Group
Swift Direct Blinds
University of Sunderland London
University of West London
Weight Watchers
WSP
Yarmouth Stores Ltd & Kirklands

Would you like to join them? Ensure you claim your guest pass here!

Print & Digital Innovations Summit: have you secured your place?
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This November the Print & Digital Innovations Summit will once again allow senior print and marketing professionals to meet with innovative and competitive suppliers to the industry – don’t miss out!

12 November – Hilton London Canary Wharf

It is entirely free for print and marketing professionals to attend and, as our guest, you will be provided with a bespoke itinerary of pre-arranged, face-to-face meetings with suppliers who match your requirements and upcoming projects.

During the course of the event, you can also attend insightful and inspirational seminars from industry thought-leaders. And there are plenty of opportunities to network with like-minded peers who share your challenges.

Lunch and refreshments are also included with your free ticket. Simply register your place here.

To find out more about attending, contact Remi Vince on 01992 374064 / r.vince@forumevents.co.uk.

If you’re a supplier to the sector, contact James Howe on 01992 374067 / j.howe@forumevents.co.uk to find out about the range of event partner packages.

Do you specialise in Email Marketing solutions? We want to hear from you!
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Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in March we’ll be focussing on Email Marketing.

It’s all part of our ‘Recommended’ editorial feature, designed to help marketing industry professionals find the best products and services available today.

So, if you specialise in Email Marketing solutions and would like to be included as part of this exciting new shop window, we’d love to hear from you – for more info, contact James Howe on j.howe@forumevents.co.uk.

Here are the areas we’ll be covering, month by month:

Mar – Email Marketing
Apr – Digital Printing
May – Social Media
Jun – Brand Monitoring
Jul – Web Analytics
Aug – Conversion Rate Optimisation
Sep – Digital Signage
Oct – Brochure Printing
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy

Half of small marketing businesses predicting Q1 growth
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Two in five small business leaders (39%) predict growth by 31 March – the highest level for 18 months, according to new research from Hitachi Capital Business Finance.

By industry sector, this quarter sees a rise in growth outlook registered across the board in all but two sectors, with a significant upturn of growth projections in real estate (49%), IT and telecoms (49%), legal (47%) and media (46%). 

In recent weeks, there has been widespread speculation on the likely impact of Brexit on the UK business community. The new data suggests smaller businesses are more likely to see uncertainty as an opportunity. Seasonal businesses, those that live with change and the need to adapt on a regular basis, are more likely to predict growth for the months ahead (40%). Also, small firms that invest in their technology assets are more likely to foresee opportunities to adapt and grow (47%).

Regionally, small businesses in the East (43%) join London (47%) and the North West (45%) as having the most businesses with a positive outlook for the months ahead. Over the last 12-months, there has been a significant upturn in growth predictions in London (rising from 36% to 47%), the South West (from 29% to 38%) East (28% to 43%). In contrast, small enterprises in Wales and Scotland were the least likely to predict growth.

Interestingly, older businesses (those that have been trading the longest) demonstrate the biggest surge in growth outlook, suggesting a willingness to adapt to change. The ‘confidence gap’ between younger and mature businesses shows clear signs of closing. 

Percentage of businesses predicting growth to 31 March by age of business (how many years it has been trading)

 Less than 5 years5-10 years10-20 years20-35 years35+ years
Q1 202045%36%38%34%37%
Q4 201945%38%34%24%26%
Q1 201949%34%33%30%30%

Gavin Wraith-Carter, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance said: “As the UK economy enters a new chapter, the latest findings from our quarterly tracking research suggest that UK small businesses are starting a new year, a new decade and a new economic era with a positive outlook. What is heartening is the diversity of this confidence, which spans regions, sectors and older businesses modernising.“At Hitachi Capital Business Finance we are producing a new series of training and support guides to help small business manage their enterprises through the Brexit transition period. In addition, our smart funding solutions give small businesses greater flexibility in the way they manage their cashflow and help their enterprises through seasonal highs and lows. The UK economy is going through a period of uncertainty – at Hitachi Capital Business Finance we are helping small businesses to live with uncertainty and to see it as an opportunity to innovate and grow.”

Additional Tables Percentage of businesses predicting growth to 31 March by sector

Percentage of businesses predicting growth to 31 March by sector

 Q1 2020 Net % that predict growthQ4 2019 Net % that predict growthQ3 2019 Net % that predict growth Q2 2019 Net % that predict growth
Finance & accounting49%47%48%33%
Real estate49%43%32%45%
Retail31%39%34%40%
Manufacturing44%39%30%38%
Media & marketing46%38%37%36%
Hospitality & leisure33%37%27%29%
IT & telecoms49%36%41%38%
Construction33%32%26%31%
Legal47%30%44%41%
Transport & distribution34%29%27%25%
Agriculture29%25%32%27%

Net percentage of businesses predicting growth – results over time

 % that predict net growth (significant or modest/organic) 
Q3 201836%
Q4 201836%
Q1 201936%
Q2 201934%
Q3 201935%
Q4 201936%
Q1 202039%

Percentage of businesses predicting growth by region

 Q1 2020%that predict growthQ1 2019%that predict growth
London 47%36%
North West45%44%
North East44%51%
East43%28%
Yorkshire /Humber39%35%
South West38%29%
East Midlands38%42%
West Midlands34%35%
South East34%40%
Wales30%30%
Scotland30%31%

Instagram ‘attracting a larger audience than Facebook’ among brands
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Instagram has a larger audience and nearly 20X more interactions than Facebook among top 50 brand profiles, according to Socialbakers’ new Q4 2019 Trends Report.

Key insights from the report include Instagram overtaking Facebook in audience size, the relative decline in engagement during the holiday season, the popularity of vertical videos, the dominance of women among fans and followers, growing ad spend, and the continuing explosion of influencer marketing. 

“The writing has been on the wall for some time, but now it’s official. When it comes to the top 50 biggest brand profiles, Instagram has a larger audience than Facebook,” said Yuval Ben-Itzhak CEO, Socialbakers. “That development was not a surprise. What was unexpected in Q4 2019, however, was the relative decline in engagement during the holiday season. This is a warning sign that brands require a deeper understanding of which types of content their audiences find compelling, and an agile method to get that content in front of them.”

The key findings of the Q4 2019 Trends report include:

·         For the first time globally, Instagram surpassed Facebook in audience size – but for the top UK brand profiles, Facebook still has a marginally bigger audience, but greater engagement is found on Instagram

·         Despite efforts to attract consumers during the holiday period, post interactions for both Instagram and Facebook were lower in Q4 2019 than Q4 2018

·         Women make up the majority of fans and followers of brand pages on Instagram and Facebook, representing over half (56.4%) of the audience engaging with brands

·         Whilst 70% of videos on Facebook brand pages are shot horizontally, viewers are more likely to complete a vertical video than horizontal (29.9% vs. 22.2% respectively)

·         Ad spend on Instagram Stories increased by 40% over the last year, and by 91% over the last two years. Meanwhile, in the UK, brands are still posting more to the Instagram News Feed

·         The number of influencers using #Ad exploded by 90.5% in Q4 2019

·         The Services category (including lawyers, accounting services and IT services) found a 66.7% jump in engagement

Based on the top 50 biggest brand profiles worldwide, there was a notable change in Q4 2019. For the first time, the total audience on Instagram surpassed the total audience size on Facebook. Additionally, the total interactions on Instagram were nearly 20 times larger than those on Facebook. So, even though the top 50 brands published more posts on Facebook, the engagement on those posts didn’t reach the numbers that Instagram was able to achieve.

For the top UK brand profiles Facebook still has a marginally bigger audience. However, while brands are posting roughly the same amount of content to Facebook and Instagram, they are seeing significantly more engagement on Instagram. The lesson here is that UK brands need to focus on their Instagram strategy as by splitting their content between both platforms they are likely leaving interactions on the table. 

Engagement: A surprising drop in interactions

In the UK the industries that are seeing the most engagement across Facebook and Instagram are ecommerce, fashion and retail. The data shows that ecommerce brands are really leveraging the potential of Facebook, whilst Fashion brands are running the show on Instagram. 

Despite attempts to attract consumers during the holiday season, the relative post interactions for both Instagram and Facebook were lower in Q4 2019 than a year ago. This was true even among the most successful industries on social media. Fashion, the top industry on Instagram, decreased by 19.4%, while the top industry on Facebook, Ecommerce, decreased by 9.6% versus Q3 2019. This may indicate that brands need to get smarter about the content they post, and focus on top quality content in smaller volumes to increase engagement.

However, one interesting success story in Q4 engagement is the Services category. It achieved a 66.7% jump in engagement on Instagram compared to Q3 2019. On Facebook, Services finished fourth with 7.6% of total interactions after not making the top eight in the previous quarter. Services is a wide-ranging category that includes lawyers, accounting services, hairdressers, car repairs, IT services, conference and event organisers, and weight loss courses.

Format: Vertical videos pull viewers in

Marketers often wonder whether viewers prefer videos that were shot horizontally or those that were shot vertically. Currently, about 70% of videos on Facebook brand pages are shot horizontally. But according to Q4 data from those Facebook brand pages, vertical videos perform better than horizontal videos across the board. For videos shorter than 30 seconds (which is the most popular video length), vertical videos were completed by viewers 29.9% of the time, while horizontal videos were completed 22.2% of the time. 

Demographics: Women are dominant on social media

According to the Q4 2019 data, women make up the majority of fans and followers of brand pages on both Instagram and Facebook. On Instagram, 58% of brand page followers were female, comprising the majority of every age demographic. On Facebook, women made up 56.7% of the total audience of page fans, although there were slightly more men in the 18-24 age demographic. Women are also the largest group of people mentioning and interacting with brand pages in the prime marketing demographic of 25-34. Overall, women represented 56.4% of the audience engaging with brands in Q4 2019.

Ad spend: Instagram rises but Facebook remains the leader

As in past quarters, ad spend on Instagram Stories continues its rapid growth, although Facebook Feed remains the leader with 58.3% of total ad spend. For the first time, Instagram Stories reached 10% of ad spend in the second half of 2019. Overall, the spend on Instagram Stories increased by 40% over the last year, and by 91% over the last two years.

In the UK the data shows that brands are still posting more to the News Feed. Since Stories are proving to be a highly engaging content format globally, perhaps UK brands need to up their game on Stories. 

Other ad spend trends include the rise of Instagram Explore and Facebook Marketplace as a destination for advertising dollars. In its first five months, the percentage of ad spend on Instagram Explore grew to 1.32%. And over the last year, ad spend on Facebook Marketplace grew from 0.72% in December 2018 to 1.31% at the end of 2019, an increase of more than 80%.

Influencer marketing: No sign of slowing down

One trend that remains unchanged is the skyrocketing growth of influencer marketing. In Q4 2019, the number of influencers using #Ad or the local language version in their posts exploded by 90.5%. For the third straight quarter, the top Instagram brand profile in the world associated with influencers was Walmart, which had 854 mentions from 619 influencers in Q4 2019. Other profiles with successful influencer partnerships included Daniel Wellington, iDeal Of Sweden, and FashionNova.com.

The complete Q4 2019 Social Media Trends Report with supporting graphics is now available for free download.