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#MarketingTitbits – Google+, Black Friday emails, worst

googleplus-emails-adverts-smaller1. Former Google+ designer slams the service for being ‘Facebook lite’
One of Google’s former employees has described Google+ as ‘adrift at sea’, with the social network leaving behind big opportunities and a ‘ton of value on the table’.

Chris Messina believes that Google+ is too similar to rival Facebook, and that they should have embraced the concept of identity by creating connections from the information that is shared online by Google users.

Could Google be slowly moving away from its Google+ brand? Right now, it’s unclear. But watch this space.

To read more about Google+, click here.

2. Black Friday email marketing: eight retail examples

Black Friday seemed to cause mayhem across the UK, both online and in shops. Now that the dust has settled, David Moth from Econsultancy reviews the emails he was receiving in the lead-up to the infamous wallet-emptying weekend.

He found that retailers such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Quicksilver were all keen to start early, sending out emails offering savings across their lines in advance of the big day. When Black Friday arrived, we were bombarded by emails, declaring 10% – 50% off items.

Brands such as House of Fraser and Office decided to steer clear of a generic Black Friday title and simply presented consumers with sale details. In contrast, other retailers, such as River Island, embraced the event to the full, making the deals available online only.

What was your experience of Black Friday?

To read more, click here.

3. The 10 worst ads of 2014

The time of year has finally come – no, it’s not Christmas just yet. Instead, it is time for us to sit back, relax and look over some of the worst ads from the past year. Business Insider has compiled its rankings of the top 10 fails in advertising. Here is a taste.

The top 10 includes some poor taste humour from brands, such as Paddy Power, who were placing bets on the murder trial of athlete Oscar Pistorious, a spot of corporate feminism from Dove and their ‘Patches’ product and a three-minute Scottish travel agent ad, using a series of questionable effects and props.

From cheesy soundtracks to some odd laxative issues, the list doesn’t fail to disappoint in the ‘really?’ department. So, click here if you can cope with seeing some.

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#MarketingTitbits – email investment, Google search update, Facebook algorithms

email-google-facebook-smaller1. Why is email investment falling despite high returns?
Marketers tend to be fond of email marketing due to the high return on investment (ROI) that it yields, so why is spending in this channel decreasing?

According to a census of 1,000 marketers published by Econsultancy, email marketing is only second to SEO when it comes to delivering ROI, with 22% rating the benefits of email as excellent. But over recent years, the survey has found that other marketing channels, such as mobile, are of greater focus to marketers.

To find out more about the barriers to email marketing and how to overcome them, click here.

2. Google updates mobile search snippets

Last month, Google announced its plans to change the way URLs are presented in search results and started to use mobile-friendliness as a ranking tool to promote optimised experiences for users.

Currently only available in the US, URLs will be updated as a reflection of site names instead of domains, but available worldwide is the breadcrumbs update that structures data to help users navigate a site. Website owners are being advised to ensure that their site name and breadcrumbs are accurately displayed, and can do so by using schema.org.

For more on Google’s latest updates, click here.

3. Facebook’s algorithm update: what it means for marketers

With the big mobile algorithm updates from Google dominating conversation on the internet, it’s no surprise that the latest change Facebook has made has been overlooked by some.

A blog post from Facebook outlined how the platform will now prioritise content from your friends over brand pages, seemingly in an attempt to widen the use of paid social reaches. Facebook also wants to encourage brands to generate better content for users that they want to see and interact with. If content is liked, more of a brand’s posts will continue to be distributed higher in a particular user’s news feed.

The update is proving for marketers that engaging and relevant content is more important than ever. If you’d like to know more, click here.

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