#MarketingTitbits – John Lewis, mobile optimisation, Instagram

johnlewis-mobile-instagram-smaller1. John Lewis’ director of comms on upholding the reputation of a loved brand
As one of the UK’s biggest brands, it’s no surprise that John Lewis has a tough task on its hands maintaining the reputation that has been built up over the past 150 years. Communications Director, Peter Cross, has spoken to Marketing Week and reveals his thoughts on the pressure that he faces.

Cross describes the challenge as a ‘privilege’, explaining that working in retail today requires bravery to allow you to stay ahead of the game. He also tells of an annual sales report revealing that at a time of digital evolution, 85% of the brands sales involved the store in some way, showing that roles of different channels are being reshaped to enhance experiences for the modern shopper.

2014 marked a huge 150-year milestone for John Lewis, but what does 2015 hold for the high street giant? To find out, you can click here.

2. 23 reasons why mobile users will abandon your site

Mobile commerce seems to be in a never-ending cycle of growth, with 37% of all retail sales over the Christmas period being completed through a mobile device. However, there are still many ways in which brands are failing to provide the best user experience through these devices, so we’re revealing just some.

Examples of brands that have been caught out for their mistakes include Currys, for the unwelcome appearance of numerous pop-ups, Tesco, who make people’s lives that bit more difficult with their tiny links and Thomas Cook, who wouldn’t appear to make many conversions through mobile whilst pages load at an extremely slow pace.

If you’d like to see the remaining guilty parties, click here.

3. How to build your business on Instagram

After launching a clothing business from the comfort of his own home, Alan Wardle and AnyForty have finally moved into their own offices after 6 years, and declare Instagram as its key marketing tool. But how do you succeed on the photo-sharing app?

Instagram has allowed creative businesses like AnyForty to build a solid customer base that can be constantly updated with new visual content that is fun, exciting and relevant. Alan shares a number of tips, which include scouring for relevant hashtags that could be beneficial to your business, replying back to photos your business is tagged in and always keeping followers up to date by posting fresh content on a regular basis.

To read more about the success of this start-up and how you can do the same, click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Snapchat, Google & TED Talks

snapchat-google-TEDtalks-smaller1. Eight brands experimenting with Snapchat for social marketing
There’s no shortage of people who claim that marketing on Facebook and Twitter is a waste of time and money, but what would they have to say about the latest rise of businesses using Snapchat?

Opinions will always be varied, but it’s no secret that Snapchat can maintain the attention spans of users in ways that other social media platforms could never achieve. The ‘Stories’ feature on the app allows a creative combination of photo and video – here are just a few examples.

Brands like McDonalds, American Eagle, Southampton FC and Sour Patch Kids have all used Snapchat to interact with fans by revealing behind the scenes sneak peeks, giving a glimpse at new collections and running competitions.

If you’d like to see some of the experiments yourself, you can click here.

2. How can you tell if you have a Google penalty?

Have you ever wondered if you’d been penalised by Google in the past? If the answer is yes, then wonder no more. Econsultancy has asked a number of search experts to reveal the signs, so here are a few for you to check your site against.

Some tell of checking flagged messages on Google Webmaster Tools, most often seen as the most straight forward option, but also consider checking for dips in traffic or search rankings. If your website is to steer clear of penalties, it’s important that practices such as link building or the inclusion of thin content are avoided.

To read more tips on how you can protect your website from Google’s penalties, click here.

3. Here’s a TED Talk about sounding smart in a TED Talk

TED Talks are known across the world for delivering engaging speakers who present their ideas and thoughts about any topic possible, with the aim of inspiring people to learn. Such speakers have included Bill Clinton, Stephen Hawking, Jane Goodall, Bill Gates and many more.

Most TED Talks are under 18 minutes long, which could be considered a drag if it wasn’t for the audience being hooked after a few seconds. But, how do they do this? Comedian Will Stephen presents a TED Talk of his own, reiterating the fact that if you sound smart, you could talk about absolutely nothing relatable and still find viewers wanting more.

If you’d like to learn how to control your vocals as a way of engaging listeners, alongside many more tips, you can watch Stephen’s talk by clicking here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Amazon, GIFs and Instagram video

amazon-GIFs-instagram-smaller1. Amazon to take on Google and Microsoft by offering corporate emailThe Wall Street Journal has recently reported on Amazon’s plans to shake up corporate email with the introduction of WorkMail, a cloud-based email service with a $4 per month price tag, rivalling the likes of Gmail and Microsoft Outlook 365.

The move suggests that Amazon is looking to expand its services further into the business sector, running as part of Amazon Web Services, which controls technology behind consumer brands like Netflix and Pinterest. The email software will offer encryption features and the ability to only store content in designated countries, also.

To read more into Amazon’s bold move, click here.

2. Making GIFs just got easier with Imgur’s new GIF creation tool

For those who aren’t sure, GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format and is a loosely compressed graphic that can commonly be found on websites, made up of simple shapes and a limited number of colours. And now making your own GIFs is easier than ever.

Imgur is a free image and GIF hosting website and has released a video creation tool which allows users to create looping GIFs from videos found on the likes of YouTube and Vimeo. All you have to do is copy and paste a video link, select your start time and duration between 1 and 15 seconds, and have your GIF come to life.

To see a demonstration and more information on the new tool, you can head to Mashable by clicking here.

3. 12 best branded Instagram videos from January 2015

Instagram has risen up the social media ranks with their video sharing feature over the past year, competing against other top channels such as Vine. Lots of brands are jumping into the scene and Econsultancy have compiled a list of their favourites from last month, so we’re outlining just some!

In the top 12 you will find Samsung showing off their advancements in technology, Mr Porter showcasing possibly all of their product line in 15 seconds and Starbucks, who are expressing their love of coffee. But we doubt the list could be complete without the inclusion of GoPro and Red Bull, as both brands take us to extremes to share their passion for video.

Check out all of the videos by clicking here.

 

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#MarketingTitbits – hashtags, social analytics tools, SEO tips

hashtags-analytics-SEO-smaller1. Use hashtags to generate greater brand engagement
Are hashtags a fad? Their growing popularity has seen them start to overtake the infamous Facebook ‘like’ button for brands looking to drive consumer engagement. Such is growing obsession over hashtag creation for brands, that some are even employing ‘specialists’ in the field. They may seem like clever creations, but if the brand doesn’t generate any actual positive engagement via this process is there any purpose to them?

Take the hashtag #FirstDraftEver for example – it featured on an ad for ‘Avocados from Mexico’ in what was their first appearance at the Super Bowl. It generated 25,000 mentions in the first 24 hours. This may sound impressive, but the problem was that many Tweets didn’t mention the Mexican brand itself. So did it drive brand awareness?

If you’d like to read more about how hashtags can be used to boost your brand, click here.

2. Five tips for picking the right social analytics tool

Have you ever considered the use of a social analytics tool for your business? If you’re in need of help, Econsultancy has created a few tips to help you along the way.

When using social analytics tools, it is important to focus on how business goals can be achieved rather than social goals. Ask yourself questions – what problems can be solved? What price gives your business the best value? These are important considerations that will lead to a successful investment in tech.

To see the full list of tips on social analytics, click here.

3. 32 simple SEO tips for small businesses

SEO can be a complicated concept for many people to grasp, but the good people at Econsultancy have put together a great list of tips, you can be sure to come away with some valuable insights you can implement straight away. We’re outlining just a few!

Firstly, by creating a blog, you can update your site frequently with valuable content that is interesting and engaging for readers, which in turn will build a strong online presence for your business. Another idea would be to take a look at your competitors; see what they are doing in terms of keywords and site optimisation and how you can improve upon them in order to stand out from the crowd and give people a worthwhile user experience.

To find out more about SEO and how your business can improve, you can check out the list of tips by clicking here.

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#MarketingTitbits – writing tips, LinkedIn, marketing fails

writing-linkedin-fails-smaller1. 12 handy tips for writing better web copy
Some people consider writing for the web more difficult than it actually has to be. If you fall into this camp, Econsultancy may be able to help. They have put together some handy tips to keep in your mind when writing web copy.

If you haven’t heard of the inverted pyramid method, you have now! Put simply, include everything an individual would need to know in the opening paragraph. As the reader progresses through the article more in-depth information can then be revealed. It is a common journalist trick to engaging the reader quickly.

Other important factors for better web copy include: knowing your audience, using short paragraphs (in web terms this is a mere one or two sentences) and numbering or bulleting to format and break up chunks of text.

The tips don’t stop there. To see the remaining tips,click here.

2. LinkedIn to let marketers use more of its data to track users

As the biggest business-orientated social networking service, it’s no surprise that LinkedIn is expanding its offerings. The latest development is the introduction of advertising products that allow marketers to track their 300+ million users across the internet, followed by a targeted send of personalised messages to those users.

It comes as LinkedIn reveals plans to merge with its latest acquisition, Bizo, a digital marketing group bought in 2014 for a sum of $175m. Brands like Groupon, Lenovo and Salesforce are currently trialling the new product, with Groupon marketing executive Stephan Heller revealing the success that it has brought them.

If you would like to find out more about LinkedIn’s new venture, click here.

3. Five marketing fails

After the unfortunate mistake of the Hull Branch of Krispy Kreme relating their promotional club to the KKK a few weeks back now, PR Week has given us a round up of some top historic marketing fails.

You’ll find some use of mistaken language from not one, but five brands! Named and shamed in these mistakes are Sharwoods, Wang, Honda, Umbro and an Italian mineral water company.

Click here to see how these brands got it wrong.

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#MarketingTitbits – YouTube, LinkedIn, billboard campaigns

youtube-linkedin-billboards-smaller1. YouTube tops the list as favourite digital brand among children
Childwise, a market research company, has published a report highlighting that YouTube was the most popular site for 5 – 16 year olds over a 7-day period following a survey of the age group.

YouTube visits outnumbered the likes of Facebook, Snapchat and Google, and children / teenagers rate the video streaming platform as their favourite website (23%) and favourite app (8%). Amongst the children surveyed, 11-16 year olds were more likely to put video sites and vloggers at the tops of their favourite brand lists, whereas 5-10 year olds preferred social gaming brands.

It was notable that the popularity of Facebook amongst younger audiences continues to deteriorate. Do these findings indicate a changing of the social media guard?

To read more about the survey, click here.

2. How to use LinkedIn’s publishing tool to increase your social reach

Last year, LinkedIn released its publishing tool which allowed users in the US to create and post blogs on the platform. It has now granted publishing power to those outside of the US too, which means LinkedIners in the UK can now benefit from the function. You can add a headline, insert images to support  the blog and header, and copy and paste directly into the text box, which will preserve any links you have. How can you use this to your advantage?

One way of doing this is explained by Matt Owen from Econsultancy. The concept involves multiple people posting different blogs to their own LinkedIn pages, covering a wide range of connections.

For a thorough explanation on how you can make the most of LinkedIn’s publishing tool, just click here.

3. Bruised woman on London billboard heals as people pay attention to her

Canary Wharf in London saw the first in a short series of billboard campaigns surrounding the issue of domestic violence last week. Using facial recognition technology, the ad is designed to catch the eyes of busy passers-by.

The poster promotes a simple message, informing people to look at the bruised face of a woman and watch as the bruises heal when more people pay attention. The campaign was brought together by ad agency WCRS, charity Women’s Aid and the photographer Rankin.

To take a look at the striking adverts, head to Mashable.

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Buyersphere Report 2015: Summary

Buyersphere Report 2015: Summary
In a world where digital technology has given us access to more data than at any point in history, it can be easy for B2B marketers to get lost amongst a never-ending forests of stats and statistics. Add to this the ever expanding lists of ‘how to guides’ and new ‘must have’ marketing channels and you have a recipe for marketing paralysis. If you feel like this, then you might be interested to learn about Base One’s annual Buyersphere Report, a regular survey of B2B buyers within a range of different sized organisations.

Since its inception in 2010, the Buyersphere Report presents readers with results from their survey into business purchases, identifying the behaviour of the most important individual in a business transaction – the buyer. Here’s what we took from the report.

Who takes part?

This year saw 211 businesses of all sizes take part in the survey, covering a wide range of business sectors, varying widely from manufacturing or construction, to retail and hospitality. The majority of respondents were from a management role, while over 50% had been in their current role for more than 5 years and were aged 40 or over.

The purchase

The top purchases were for IT/telecom equipment or systems representing 31% of all purchases, closely followed by transport at 29%, both clearly being required for the business to operate. A representative average of the business purchase was valued at £69k, but as to be expected, the size of the purchase increased with employee numbers – larger companies generally made the larger purchases.

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Decision making

Who exactly was involved in the buying process? Do CEOs call the shots? Well, possibly to the surprise of many, procurement departments were only involved in 12% of all purchases surveyed. But to no surprise, CEOs took the top spot at 38%. The survey also found that the business leader was typically present during the start and end of the process, joined also in the final stages by finance departments, who are less involved through the research process. It highlights the importance of ensuring your value proposition is appealing to all members of the decision making unit.

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Information used in the process

As to be expected, pricing information and technical specs were the most sought-after content available to the buyers. It’s interesting to note that customer testimonials were not as commonly used as company experts or external reports. Does this suggest that the importance of traditional testimonials is diminishing?

Social media

Social media is still a relatively new concept to some people and therefore seems to have very little involvement in the buying process, with half of the businesses surveyed remaining uninfluenced by the channel. If the business chose to use social media as a source of information, they were most likely to use industry-specific forums (26%), over platforms such as LinkedIn (18%) and Twitter (4%). A potential reason for this is because social media lacks the relevant information that is desired by the buyer. Something marketers need to address.

Successful Suppliers

All businesses will have an idea in mind of the supplier that would best suit them and unless they have experience with said supplier, those that offer the best price along with the best product appear to be favoured. Also discovered, was that buyers are more comfortable with suppliers who communicate well – demonstrated by a preference for those that use email extensively, compared to those that didn’t. Does this signal a more reliable supplier?

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The report is very extensive and we are unable to go through it in detail but it makes a very interesting read, particularly for marketers targeting the B2B sector, so if you’d like to see the report in full then head to Base One’s website.

 

 

 

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Have you applied for your Growth Voucher worth up to £2000?

The Growth Voucher scheme was set up by the government last year, which gives businesses the opportunity to receive up to £2000 match funding with the aim of helping SMEs get strategic business advice and support to help them grow.
However, following an extension at the start of this year, the scheme is now drawing to a close, with an application deadline date of 31st March.

As an Accredited Growth Voucher Advisor, we have experienced the benefits the scheme has to offer, so why not see how it could help your business too?

If you would like to find out if your business is eligible to receive up to £2,000 match funding to put towards strategic advice, head to the Growth Vouchers page to complete your application.

Successful applicants will have until 30th June to find an advisor and process the claim.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us on 01962 600147 or email connie@tlc-business.co.uk.

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#MarketingTitbits – content writing, Halifax, learning to code

content-heartbeats-code-smaller1. 17 fantastically useful tools for content writers and bloggers
For content writers and bloggers, writing can often be a stressful and difficult set of skills to master. But with the help of Econsultancy, we can show you some of the best tools to help you along the way.

If you’re someone who struggles with content generation, not to worry, you can check out Portent’sor HubSpot’s topic generators. With these tools you can avoid the hassle of wracking your brain for one or two ideas – you’ll get hundreds! But if you’re looking to improve the quality of your writing, you can use Grammarly, which highlights any fault in grammar, punctuation and spelling, while Unsuck-itwill help you to breakdown business jargon that can often confuse readers.

There are many more useful tools available, so click here to see how your content can get a refresh.

2. Halifax is replacing passwords with your heartbeat

With technology growing and developing at a rapid rate, it’s no surprise that the security of bank accounts is now top of the agenda. Cybersecurity has always been important to the population and now Halifax is looking to develop wristbands that will identify your own unique heartbeat in order to access your account, replacing the humble password.

The trial follows a new service that was launched by the Royal Bank of Scotland in February, which uses fingerprint recognition as a log in method, while Google and Yahoo are developing their ideas for using facial or voice recognition as an alternative.

For a demonstration on the new tech, click here.

3. BBC is giving away 1 million Raspberry Pi computers so kids can learn to code

The BBC has recently revealed its intentions to highlight how learning to code should become a critical component of a child’s education in today’s digital age. Next year, they plan to give away 1 million microcomputers to year 7 pupils.

The Micro Bit is currently being developed and will be a small piece of wearable hardware that will aid in learning coding and programming. Due to the shortage in skills surrounding coding, it’s no surprise that organisations such as Microsoft, Google, Samsung and Code Club are all getting involved.

To find out more on the BBC’s latest initiative, click here.

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We’ve moved!

We are delighted to share with you our good news – we’ve moved!
We’ve loved our time in St Cross, but due to expansion, we have now located to larger offices just on the outskirts of Winchester, in the idyllic countryside location of Owslebury. The area boasts beautiful views and an array of wildlife and we are pleased to say that we have quickly relaxed into our new surroundings. Our neighbours, which include horses, have been most welcoming!

Our new address is as follows:

Unit A2
Belmore Hill Court
Belmore Lane
Owslebury
Winchester
Hampshire
SO21 1JW

If you have any questions in advance of your next visit to TLC Business, please give us a call on 01962 600147.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

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