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

All

Do you specialise in Email Marketing? We want to hear from you!
By:
0

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 solutions.

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 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 Kerry Naumburger on k.naumburger@forumevents.co.uk.

Mar – Email Marketing
April – Digital Printing
May – Social Media
Jun – Brand Monitoring
July – Web Analytics
Aug – Conversion Rate Optimisation
Sept – Digital Signage
Oct – Brochure Printing
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy
Jan 2024 – Content Management
Feb 2024 – Lead Generation & Tracking

Internet users ‘becoming more discerning’ globally
By:
0

New data shows that the typical internet user globally has reduced their average daily internet use by 20 minutes over the past twelve months to 6 hours 37 minutes, equating to a year-on-year reduction of almost 5 percent.

Meltwater and We Are Social’s Digital 2023 report also indicates that time spent on social platforms has increased to more than 2½ hours per day — 40 minutes more than time spent watching broadcast and cable TV.

Analysis of the data suggests that people are looking for more purposeful internet use, with a focus on quality over quantity. The daily usage rate is a return to 2019 levels, before the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on the world’s digital behaviours.

The 465 page report also shows that social platforms are claiming an ever greater share of the world’s search activity. 16- to 34-year-olds are now more likely to visit a social network when looking for information about brands than they are to use a search engine (48 percent vs. 45 percent), and half of the world’s social media users say that they actively visit social platforms to learn more about brands and see their content.

While the rise of TikTok search has already caught the attention of the media, the latest data suggest that Instagram is social media users’ preferred destination when researching things.

The growing importance of social media is reflected in global advertising spend, with investment in social media ads more than doubling since the outbreak of COVID-19,  to reach an estimated US $226 billion in 2022.

Additional headlines in Digital 2023, which looks at social media, internet, mobile and ecommerce trends globally, include:

  • There are 5.16 billion internet users in the world today, and 4.76 billion social media users.
  • Average daily mobile time has increased by seven minutes per day over the past year, and the typical Android user now spends more than five hours per day using their smartphone, however:
  • Computers still account for more than half of the time that people in North America and Europe spend using the internet.
  • Ownership of cryptocurrencies is in decline: the share of internet users who own at least one form of digital currency fell by three percent between July and October.
  • TikTok tops the global list of social media platforms when it comes to time spent per user on Android devices, followed by YouTube and Facebook.

Alexandra Saab Bjertnæs, Chief Strategy Officer at Meltwater said: “”Brands that want to be competitive today need to stay ahead of trends, searching for and identifying them, in order to understand their impact on any given industry. Consumers continue to spend more and more time on social media, and it’s clear that social will play an even more important role in the customer journey as users turn to platforms like TikTok and Instagram to guide their decision-making process. With more than 5 billion internet users today, it’s becoming more crucial than ever that brands deliver relevant, impactful, and purposeful content to capture attention and create value across digital channels.”

Nathan McDonald, Group CEO and co-founder at We Are Social added: “Social media’s influence on how we live our lives continues to grow. From shopping to connecting, entertaining to searching, it’s inextricably linked to our habits both on and offline. It’s interesting to see internet use becoming more discerning – while being online is still incredibly important in our everyday lives, people rightly want to make sure it’s time well spent. Marketers and creators will have to work even harder to attract and retain people’s attention in 2023 – it’s never been more important to understand online culture in order to reach people in a relevant way.”

Marketing industry urged to implement continuous learning cultures
By:
0

The DMA is calling on senior management teams across the UK to introduce continuous learning cultures within their marketing organisations.

This follows today’s publication of findings from our UK-wide pilot into micro-upskilling, revealing it offers additional learner benefits compared to traditional training methods, but it must be spearheaded from the very top to reach its full potential.

In late 2022, around 150 learners across 16 multinational organisations, charities, SMEs, and agencies took part in trialling micro-upskilling over a 6–10-week period. Organisations such as Experian, RSPCA, Golden Charter, Visit Scotland, PETA, and The Dragonfly Agency were involved.

The DMA’s pilot is an integral part of its wider campaign to move the marketing industry a step closer towards reducing industry-wide skills gaps and talent shortages – to fuel future growth in the UK’s digital economy through continuous staff development.

The main objective was for participating learners to commit as little as one hour a week to flexible, bitesized e-learning and professional development. Following the pilot programme, learners took part in a survey to help the DMA better understand their experiences of micro-upskilling as an alternative learning approach.

There were key benefits identified by talent:

  • 52% of learners felt more engaged with upskilling due to the micro-upskilling pilot
  • 46% developed new skills through micro-upskilling that they wouldn’t have previously been able to
  • 39% of learners stated they found micro-upskilling better than their previous learning experiences
  • 67% believe micro-upskilling has made their organisation more engaged with their skills development

“Direction, support and structure are essential building blocks of a learning culture yet are also the main barriers to professional development,” said Rachel Aldighieri, MD of the DMA. “Our micro-upskilling pilot findings are really encouraging – demonstrating to businesses how they can develop these building blocks to supercharge skills acquisition in the short term, while instilling long-term learning habits across their organisation that benefits the employee and employer.”

A key challenge affecting 60% of learners was finding time to upskill. In addition, 55% also stated they had too many competing priorities. These were the most stated challenges by quite a margin, so senior leaders must bear this in mind when implementing micro-upskilling.

Because of these reasons, 35% managed to do micro-upskilling ‘most weeks’ throughout the pilot, with 39% only able to do it ‘some weeks’. 26% even stated that they were unable to ‘do it very often’.

Evidently, micro-upskilling opportunities are highly desirable to staff – so much so that 90% of learners stated that they would like to continue micro-upskilling with their respective organisations.

Aldighieri explained: “In the current economic climate, financial and time constraints mean that traditional training approaches are harder to implement, yet it is critical that our industry doesn’t neglect skills development and the growth of our teams. Micro-upskilling provides an effective and productive way of investing in our people and, in turn, plugging skills gaps to drive business growth.”

63% of learners stated they would feel more confident and positive about their career if micro-upskilling was permanent at their organisation – 33% would be more likely to stay with them.

Aldighieri added: “The fact that the majority of participating talent mentioned that if micro-upskilling became permanent it would boost their career confidence as well as their organisational loyalty, suggests it has a huge role to play as an alternative learning method in our industry – supporting traditional approaches such as training days.”

Micro-upskilling is clearly an important step in the right direction for facilitating meaningful change, so the DMA will now expand its commitment to it.

“The DMA will now work with our wider community to introduce micro-upskilling as a key element of membership. A pledge will be introduced requesting member organisations to commit an hour a week to all staff’s L&D in our new People Pillar of the DMA Code. We aim to make continuous learning synonymous with the DMA community, so our marketers are regularly enhancing their skillsets and helping to drive responsible business growth,” concluded Aldighieri.

Print and Digital Innovations Summit: Now in it’s 25th successful year – Register today!
By:
0

The Print and Digital Innovations Summit returns this May for its 25th Anniversary where we will continue in our aim to support the print and digital sector with a unique platform to help create long-lasting and mutually beneficial business connections.

10th May 2023
Hilton London Canary Wharf

The Summit is designed to connect senior professionals, like yourselves, with product and service suppliers, for 1-2-1 meetings & networking.

Your place is entirely free of charge and includes: A personalised itinerary of pre-qualified 1-2-1 meetings, the opportunity to network with industry peers during coffee breaks and lunch, the opportunity to attend interactive seminars with topical speakers, a place at the networking evening dinner, overnight accommodation, meals and refreshments throughout the event.

Click here to register!

For further information, feel free to contact us today!

Do you specialise in Lead Generation & Tracking? We want to hear from you!
By:
0

Each month on Digital Marketing Briefing we’re shining the spotlight on different parts of the print and marketing sectors – and in February we’ll be focussing on Lead Generation & Tracking solutions.

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 Lead Generation & Tracking 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 Kerry Naumburger on k.naumburger@forumevents.co.uk.

Feb – Lead Generation & Tracking
Mar – Email Marketing
April – Digital Printing
May – Social Media
Jun – Brand Monitoring
July – Web Analytics
Aug – Conversion Rate Optimisation
Sept – Digital Signage
Oct – Brochure Printing
Nov – Creative & Design
Dec – Online Strategy
Jan 2024 – Content Management

4 basic tips for strong brand creation
By:
3

By Flavio Andrew do Nascimento Santos/PhDc is Lecturer at Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI)

Creating a brand is a process that can often be painful, and we have the notion that everything good has already been created, and that there is nothing else left for the new brands.

With this feeling of exhaustion, there is a fantastic article written by Jennifer Murtell on the American Marketing Association´s blog, asking the question: Do we really need more brands?[1] In short, there is no clear answer to this question, but facts are facts: over 60% of consumers look for brands they can trust before they look at the price. Therefore, if your brand is your voice, we should build a brand that people can trust.

To do so, here are four simple tips for strong brand creation. And here, a ‘strong brand’ is a brand that people can trust, especially after the pandemic, where trust has a very different meaning. Janet Balis[2], in the 10 Truths About Marketing After the Pandemic, from The Harvard Business Review calls our attention to an important shift: the old truth is that your brand should stand behind great products. The new truth is that your brand should stand behind great values. Creating great value leads to our number 1 tip: it needs to be clear.

1. Clear

Having a clear message is important to build trust. Consumers are making purpose-driven decisions and your message should be clear and as short as possible because the clear ones are the ones that stay in consumers´ minds.

2. Distinct

Consumers have contact with so many different brands every day and with social media, this amount is only growing. Your voice (or brand) needs to be strong, and have a personality, differentiated from the ones in the market. You can start with the cliché question: what am I doing that no one else is doing? If you have this answer, you should make sure that it looks obvious in your brand to the customers.

3. Relevant

Continuing with this idea that ‘consumers are purposefully making decisions’, your brand needs to speak up about the relevance of the product or service. If the consumer values are now different, it is preferred to connect with brands that (at least show) the relevance of their being.

4. Credible

The last tip is a friendly reminder that if you make a promise, your consumers will remember it. Keep in mind that, after the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers are skeptical of the market and the brands, and we, as consumers, curse brands that are not delivering what they promise.

And credibility leads to our EXTRA TIP ✨: be authentic!

Michael Platt is a professor of neuroscience, marketing, and psychology whose research demonstrates how our perception of brands influences our decisions and defends: “we relate to brands in the same way we relate to people”[3]. In these terms, our consumers will know if you are not creating an authentic brand with a credible, relevant, distinct, and clear voice in the middle of all the other brands.

It is important to remember that identity and community are somewhat related to brand creation. Consumers are using one brand over another to show community affiliation and identity connection. This mindset is powerful if your brand creates a sense of community and identification with a purpose that people trust. And, unfortunately, there is no magic to creating a great value brand and a brand that people trust, the only way to do so is by hard-work and consistency in the everyday life of the brand.

Finally, from an educational perspective, there is a role that institutions should play to help companies increase their brand trust, even in societies where we can check that institutions are losing trust over years. Effective communication & transparency are at the center of this relationship among educational institutions, companies & their brands, and consumers.

About The Author

Flavio Andrew do Nascimento Santos/PhDc is Lecturer at Berlin School of Business and Innovation (BSBI)

Flavio has more than 11 years of professional experience in tourism (3 years in management positions) working on diverse hospitality companies, revenue management, tourism agencies, market research, consulting projects, and as a university MBA professor.

[1] https://www.ama.org/marketing-news/does-the-world-really-need-more-brands/

Market research in 2023 – what should we expect?
By:
0

By Frédéric-Charles Petit, founder and CEO, Toluna

2022 has been another turbulent year for businesses around the world. Despite having emotionally moved on from COVID-19, the ripple effects of the pandemic continue to severely impact businesses. Between supply chain disruptions, skyrocketing inflation, political instability, and the war in Europe, it really is a time like no other in our recent history.

Confronted with major disruption after major disruption, brands have been forced to adapt to their ever-changing circumstances—continually adjusting their offering to align with what consumers want and when they want it. And it is only by understanding evolving consumer sentiment and market understanding through research—tech-driven, agile, scalable research—that businesses can truly keep their finger on the pulse.

This year, technology has continued to propel the market research industry, as automation has accelerated innovation within the sector. As we look ahead to 2023, Frédéric-Charles Petit, founder and CEO of leading consumer insights provider, Toluna, shares his thoughts on what we can expect from market research next year….

The age of curation

In 2023, we will see research become fully immersed within business processes so that marketers and researchers within an organization can easily and rapidly generate real-time, accurate insights. To enable this, the key objective will be to create a platform specifically curated for research. To create this next wave of transformation in the market research sector, it will require the strategic combination of technology, audience segmentation, the proper use of data, and the intelligence of the research expert. Only then can we properly embed research into businesses to generate agile, relevant insights at scale.

Data ownership is front and center

Some have suggested that the age of the survey data is over. Well, not quite yet. Opinion has never been more important than it is now, especially at a time when the amount of data revealing attitudes of populations is higher than ever. But understanding ‘why’ is key and asking is the only way to know. Brands will increasingly rely on research to inform their decisions on the products and services they offer. Insights will also advise them on how to market their products to audiences and communicate with them accordingly—through the right medium at the right time.

In 2023, data ownership will become paramount. And not just for regulatory reasons, but because of the power of opinions. With news about many GAFA ring-fencing the access of data, we’ll see first-party data become increasingly important to decision-making. This is where the ability to ask questions and get answers is becoming critical again. It had never ceased to be the case, but it was trendy to say it had. By combining first-party data with consumer insights, brands can understand consumer intentions, behaviors, and attitudes without needing to rely solely on third-party data. And when you combine the two, you have a much greater picture of the the consumer. And whilst automation is vital, it cannot be successful without the right data feeding into it. The powerful strategic combination of technology and data access—curated by insights experts—will prosper the most in 2023.

Accessible, agile research fuels business growth

To make research fully accessible to everyone within an organization, it must be easy to interpret and understand. Thanks to continued innovations in research technology, organizations are not only able to gather more data, but they’re also able to easily analyze it and use those insights to inform strategic business decisions. Because of these continued advancements, brands will be able to fully integrate research into their daily marketing activities.

Through agile, on-demand research that delivers easily digestible data, organizations can better understand the changing sentiments of their consumers, now, and into the future. By doing this, they’ll be able to forge stronger customer relationships and adjust their product or service offerings to better suit their customers’ needs and reinforce the health of their brand.

It’s clear that we operate in a world where strategic five-year plans are less relevant. Organizations cannot plan the same way for the long-term when instability has become the norm; they can only prepare themselves to respond to a quickly changing environment. Rapid advancements in consumer insights technology present a big opportunity to businesses during such a challenging time through the provision of accurate market understanding—quickly and at scale. Although a new year will undoubtedly bring the unexpected, what we know for certain is the power research offers to brands as a strategic tool in growth through the delivery of high-value insights in real-time. And that, more than ever, the power of understanding people’s opinions can help shape the future.

eCommerce Forum: Last chance to register!
By:
0

Don’t forget to claim your complimentary guest pass to the upcoming eCommerce Forum, a much-anticipated annual event where you can meet with a selection of leading suppliers to help with your upcoming plans/projects, for 2023 onwards!

Date & Venue: 7th February 2023 – Hilton London Canary Wharf

This unique event is entirely free of charge – simply reserve your place here.

Want to know who’s already booked to attend? Here are just a few you’ll see:

Company Job Title
Amnesty International
Badiani 1932
Cult Mia UK
David Lloyd Leisure Plc
Gorgeous Retail Group
Grenade
Grenade
Grenade
J Rosenthal & Sons Ltd
Kraft Heinz
lights4fun
London Grow Ltd
McQueens Dairies
OnBuy.com
ONU Designer Wear
Open For Vintage
Oskia Skincare
Oskia Skincare
Ottobock Healthcare
REFY Beauty
REFY Beauty
Vibrant Foods
Water Aid
WaterAid		 Digital Engagement Manager
Head of Ecommerce & Digital Marketing
E-commerce manager
Head of Digital Product
E-commerce Manager
International E-commerce Exec
eCommerce Manager
SEO & Affiliate Executive
Head of eCommerce and Marketplace
Omnichannel Lead, eCommerce International
Head of Ecommerce
COO
Head of Brand and Marketing
Ecommerce manager
Head of Ecommerce
Digital Marketing Manager
Marketing Executive
E-commerce Manager
Marketing Manager
Head of Marketing
Head of Merchandising
Senior Ecommerce Manager
Supporter Exploration and Influencing Lead
Digital Marketing and Product Lead

In addition to a working day of business meetings with suppliers & networking, you will get the latest insights and advice on trends in the sector via a series of seminar sessions.

Lunch & refreshments throughout are also included.

Register today to start networking with these professionals. Alternatively, contact us today to find out more.

The year of impactful work: Redefining priorities for marketers
By:
0

By Esther Flammer, Chief Marketing Officer at Wrike  

Current economic uncertainty means that many businesses and consumers are struggling with reduced budgets. With global growth expected to slow down even more in 2023, it’s never been more important to connect with the right audiences and stand out from competitors.

At the same time, the pace of work has increased significantly, as businesses have had to quickly adapt to seismic market and economic shifts and reduced spending has been met with higher expectations. For marketing teams, the pressure to deliver is higher than ever, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be calming down any time soon. This has shed light on numerous productivity challenges that have affected the industry for decades, including the need to prioritise innovative strategies that get in front of buyers and do high-value, results-driven work that maximises ROI while still getting pulled in too many directions by work that isn’t tracked or measured.

Recent research from Wrike found that the total cost of wasted time for marketing teams is around $59 million per year, significantly higher than other departments. The average marketing professional is wasting 16 hours per week on miscellaneous work. This equates to 820 hours, or 103 working days per year. This staggeringly high figure goes to show that business leaders must find a better, more efficient way for marketing teams to work.

In order to excel in this current period of economic uncertainty, marketing teams must find a way to maximise their most precious resource – time. Only then can they boost productivity, deliver better results, and produce their most meaningful work.

Marketing and the Dark Matter of Work

Research from CERN revealed that we can only see about 5% of matter in the universe, with the other 95% flying under the radar as ‘dark matter’. This can also be said about much of the work we carry out today. Many of the activities we undertake and the interactions we have are never captured, tracked, or measured against a specific goal.

The very nature of a marketing professional’s job is exacerbating the problem. The need to constantly move at pace, producing and using reams of data alongside a never-ending list of applications can be challenging. When a task isn’t managed in one single platform it can create Dark Matter. Whether it is trying to find notes from the latest creative huddle or missed messages about editing work which were shared over email, Dark Matter is everywhere.

As marketing teams get busier –  taking on more projects per year (11 large-scale) – and with the number of messages increasing to 301 each day, this Dark Matter is beginning to have serious repercussions, and not just in terms of a lack of productivity. In fact, 80% of marketing professionals are experiencing burnout. This human cost of the Dark Matter of Work is sadly unsurprising. Many marketing teams are feeling the stress of trying to navigate broken workflows, which leads to misalignment, missed deadlines, duplicate work, and stalled projects.

Delivering impactful work

Working in synchrony is key for marketers to eliminate wasted time and tackle feelings of burnout. It’s important that every team has the ability to collaborate effectively cross-functionally and cross-departmentally, without silos and within a single source of truth. Teams also need access to tools that increase visibility into the work taking place and allow them to automate time consuming, mundane tasks like approval processes. This leaves more time and space for creative thinking and the ability to focus on delivering what really matters – brand consistency, customer experience, and maximised ROI.

At the moment, marketing leaders don’t have visibility into 45% of work taking place. In response to this, 97% of marketing professionals said a single source of truth would reduce stress for them and their colleagues. So, what’s the solution? This is where collaborative work management platforms come in.

Collaborative work management platforms ensure that individuals are aware of exactly what they are contributing to a project, meaning fewer mistakes, greater consistency, and a shared knowledge of what others are working on. This creates an environment in which creative thinking is encouraged from start to finish – which will ultimately enable marketers to create more impactful work.

One company already witnessing the benefits of these technologies is AVEVA. Over 20,000 enterprises in over 100 countries rely on AVEVA to help them deliver life’s essentials: safe and reliable energy, food, medicines, infrastructure and more. By connecting people with trusted information and AI-enriched insights, AVEVA enables teams to engineer efficiently and optimise operations, driving growth and sustainability. However, with the company going through a significant merger the leadership team urgently needed to work out how to consolidate multiple project teams, tools and processes. This is why the marketing function decided to implement a collaborative work management solution.

Implementing a collaborative work management solution has enabled AVEVA to centralise multiple project teams, tools, and processes, while bringing together employees in one easy-to-use platform. By helping to boost visibility across marketing teams and the other departments they work with, this technology has been key to building better brand consistency and improving results. Since onboarding, the organisation has grown from 248 to 505 users and collaborates on approximately 1,000 tasks in the platform each month.

With a looming recession, marketing teams cannot afford to fall victim to the Dark Matter of Work. In order to be successful, they need to gain greater visibility and better integrate applications. It is only then that they will truly understand the work being done across an organisation and streamline it. By implementing these changes, marketers will have time back to focus on work that drives ROI.

Survey says marketers ‘remain defiantly creative’ in the face of recession
By:
0

Marketers feel more under pressure than ever to show their worth, with 84% agreeing that proving ROI has become more important as budgets are scrutinised and businesses tighten the purse strings.

That’s according to Optimizely, which surveyed 100 in-house marketing professionals across the UK and found that despite anticipated financial constraints, almost two thirds (63%) of marketers are determined to be even more creative in 2023 with half of those surveyed (50%) also looking to take more risks as we head into the new year.

Optimizely’s research also looked at the role of marketing in navigating economic uncertainty and how to market most effectively when budgets are cut.

Key findings include:

  • An overwhelming majority of marketers (91%) believe that it is important to invest more in marketing during a recession – with over half (55%) strongly agreeing with this statement.
  • Three quarters (76%) also believe that customer experience will remain an ‘essential’ part of their marketing strategy in the year ahead despite the uncertainty — more than any other factor.
  • Over half (55%) also believe that personalisation technology will be an essential element in their plans for reaching consumers during the tough times ahead.
  • Seven in ten (70%) marketers in the UK believe that their ability to experiment is being restricted as Britain enters what is anticipated to be its longest period of recession since the 2008 financial crisis.

Commenting on the findings, Optimizely’s CMO, Shafqat Islam said: “The bleak economic outlook undoubtedly puts marketers under more pressure to deliver more business outcomes under increased scrutiny h in 2023. But while cutbacks are being made, using data and insight to experiment and learn about customers will continue to play a vital role in brand growth.

“To limit creativity and experimentation at a time of economic hardship is a short-sighted approach based on the fallacy that experimentation does not provide ROI because it includes an element of ‘failure’. Rather, experimenting helps teams to fail fast, enabling them to quickly learn what does and doesn’t work in the new economic landscape. There are no failures, just learnings.”

“The right experimentation strategy helps marketers decide which creative ideas are, and aren’t, worth pursuing. This informed, creative strategy — combined with a personalised approach — will provide the backbone for marketers’ success in 2023, no matter what happens with the UK economy.”