Kevin Gibbons

Changing consumers, challenging times

As consumers, we are all extraordinarily powerful these days. The wonderful web offers us the chance to hunt out the very best bargains, to research our purchases thoroughly and to read up on what other consumers have to say about products.

It's an excellent time to be a shopper and service user, but for retailers and service providers this presents many new challenges. Some businesses have embraced the way the web has transformed their customer base but others have been slow in catching up.

by Kevin Gibbons 23 June 2009 14:45pm 0 comments

Five of my favourite Twitter fails

I love Twitter; I love the way it allows news, opinions and political unrest to zip around the world in a matter of minutes.

When that aeroplane successfully landed in the Hudson, the very first mention of it online came not through a major news provider but through Janis Krums twittering. He said: "There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy."

Crazy indeed. However, whatever Twitter's potential for spreading news and views fast, it is undeniably equally good at spreading bitching, scandal and rumour.

by Kevin Gibbons 15 June 2009 11:10am 2 comments

Why not selling online can damage your brand

Despite the considerable economic doom and gloom, the online marketing industry still has va va voom, as a new forecast from Verdict Research illustrates.

The company admits that pesky recession is finally starting to hurt web retailers and growth in online spending has slowed, but it predicts that by 2013, online sales in the UK will reach £31.2bn, forecasting spending of £20.9bn this year alone.

by Kevin Gibbons 08 June 2009 12:13pm 7 comments

Pitching products through the podcast platform

Hello Econsulters. This week I want to explore an online marketing tactic that does not necessarily work for everyone but which can be highly successful: podcasting.

Now, believe me when I say that this is not for every company. Not all industries lend themselves to podcasting, some are simply not interesting enough for people to go to the effort of downloading and listening to sector-specific audio.

However, some creative thinking can allow a higher number of firms than you may think to engage with their site visitors in this innovative way.

by Kevin Gibbons 01 June 2009 14:04pm 1 comment

Marketing: when the government gets it oh-so wrong

Last week I explored the ways in which the government succeeds at its online marketing, but even then I had to admit that these bursts of brilliance are few and far between.

Unfortunately, sometimes our leaders and public servants just get the whole thing so very wrong. Here are a few of their worst offences but please feel free to add your own. It is like bad call centre experiences, everyone has a story!

Governement family planning advice

by Kevin Gibbons 26 May 2009 10:04am 2 comments

Does the government get online marketing?

The government is not having the best of weeks, what with all the Hobnobs, moats and dog food controversy, so I decided to give our not-so-esteemed leaders a break and concentrate on what they can sometimes get just right: using the web to communicate with citizens.

by Kevin Gibbons 20 May 2009 11:19am 5 comments

Ten terrible terms used in online marketing

The best and worst thing about being present at the dawn of the internet is watching the new language that has been developed to cope with it.

With the news that 'noob' may be about to make it into the dictionary, I gave some thought to the language we online marketers are responsible for and, I have to admit, we have created our fair share of terrible terminology. We also routinely use some horrible generic marketing terms.

by Kevin Gibbons 19 May 2009 10:02am 7 comments

Creating competent paid search copy

I was discussing the contents of a client's paid search adverts recently and discovered to my amazement that my customer did not consider the ad text to be particularly important.

She asserted the adverts were simply functional and that there was such little space to play with anyway that it did not really matter what the content was, people would click on it or they would not.

by Kevin Gibbons 05 May 2009 11:57am 3 comments

How to be good in the world of SEO

The Internet Advertising Bureau UK recently developed a set of good practice principles for online promotions, to ensure companies that collect and use data for behavioural advertising do so ethically.

by Kevin Gibbons 27 April 2009 12:09pm 5 comments

Working words: How to write for SEO

I often fill these pages with rants about what not to do when writing copy for search engine optimisation (SEO) and for a web audience.

However, it struck me recently that I have not spent much time exploring best practice in SEO copywriting and how to ensure your content is as fit for purpose as possible.

I am going to remedy that today. Please comment if you have any questions or additions.

by Kevin Gibbons 21 April 2009 09:45am 20 comments