David Moth

How the top 10 US retailers use Pinterest

Pinterest is no longer the darling of the social media world, but its relationship with brands has become cosier recently with the launch of its business pages and new updates that enable companies to show product information on their pins.

The power of Pinterest as a tool for driving traffic and sales is an issue we’ve investigated extensively on the blog, as well publishing a Best Practice Guide on the subject.

However some brands remain unconvinced and either don’t have an account on the social network or give their pages limited attention.

So to find out who is yet to jump on the bandwagon, here is a look at how the top 10 US retailers use Pinterest...

by David Moth 21 May 2013 14:18pm 1 comment

Just 15% of consumers believe it pays to be loyal to brands

Only 15% of British consumers believe strongly that it pays to be loyal to their favourite brands, according to a new survey by Epsilon.

However if brands can offer what consumers want – which half of respondents identified as being value and quality in the products or services they are offered – they have a good chance of encouraging customers to remain loyal.

The research, which was conducted among 419 British respondents, also shows that the recession appears to have made UK shoppers more frugal.

More than half (57%) of respondents said that they will shop around to find the best deal and just (15%) are prepared to pay the premium for luxury products and new-to-market products.

Looking at what drives repeat purchases, just over a quarter (28%) of British customers see rewards programmes as an incentive to secure their loyalty.

by David Moth 21 May 2013 11:14am 0 comments

Six brands that have been busy experimenting with Google Hangouts

We’ve been keen exponents of Google Hangouts for some time here at Econsultancy as they’re a great way of sharing content and promoting our brand.

In recent weeks we’ve hosted several Hangouts as part of our preparations for Integrated Marketing Week which has helped us to identify and iron out a few bugs with the system.

Our head of social Matt Owen has become something of an expert on Hangouts as a result and yesterday blogged his tips for hosting a successful event.

Currently I feel that Hangouts are one of the few reasons for bothering with G+ as user interaction with brand updates is generally extremely low.

And on the same theme, here are six examples of other brands that have been experimenting with Google Hangouts...

by David Moth 21 May 2013 11:51am 0 comments

Organic posts are most popular social tactic but paid ads are more successful: report

Despite the marketing potential that exists in social networks there has always been an element of doubt over the efficacy of buying social ads.

Some of the most convincing arguments against social ads are that people don’t want to be sold to while they’re socialising and that you can’t always trust the validity of personal data on networks like Facebook.

In fact our own head of social Matt Owen recently blogged about the problems he encountered with gauging the success of Promoted Posts due to poor targeting tools and fake profiles.

But a new report from Kenshoo shows that although organic posts (such as maintaining a branded Facebook page) are the most popular social tactic, paid ads actually proved to be the most successful approach.

by David Moth 20 May 2013 12:16pm 0 comments

11 ways to improve the navigation on your mobile site

Navigation is central to the mobile user experience as visitors want to be able to find what they’re looking for or browse your wares with little fuss.

If they have to struggle with confusing menu options and numerous barriers then they’ll become frustrated and jump ship to one of your competitors.

A new report investigating consumer opinions of mobile commerce has found that there is still a perception that the mobile web offers a poor user experience.

More than a third (37%) of respondents in the EPiServer survey agreed that many mobile websites are difficult to navigate, an increase from 32% in 2011.

With this in mind, here are 11 tips for improving mobile web navigation...

by David Moth 20 May 2013 11:05am 15 comments

This week's finest digital marketing infographic

It’s that time again when we present the finest digital marketing infographic we’ve seen this week and I’m pleased to say that this time round the winner is a friend of mine.

This infographic was created by our very own Matt Owen to summarise some of the findings from the new Econsultancy/Adobe Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing titled ‘From Content Management to Customer Experience Management’.

The report, based on a global survey of more than 1,000 respondents, is devoted to the topic of web content management (WCM), an area which is becoming a focal point for companies wishing to deliver a truly seamless multichannel customer experience.

by David Moth 17 May 2013 11:46am 2 comments

10 interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week

Here are some of the most interesting digital marketing stats we've seen this week.

Stats include ecommerce in the Middle East, multiscreening, online spending in China, email marketing, mobile in emerging markets and digital budgets in APAC.

For more digital marketing stats, check out our Internet Statistics Compendium.

by David Moth 17 May 2013 10:52am 2 comments

How BMW uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

Over the past few months I've been looking at how different global brands make use of the main social networks, but so far I've neglected the auto industry.

I've rectified that this week by turning the spotlight on BMW, which as it turns out has a surprisingly strong Facebook presence.

This post follows on from similar articles focusing on brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, Red Bull, Microsoft and Ikea.

And without further ado, here's a quick look at how BMW uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+...

by David Moth 16 May 2013 11:15am 3 comments

Apps, HTML5 and m-commerce among key mobile challenges facing businesses: report

The consumer shift to using mobile devices has been one of the most important trends for businesses to get to grips with in recent years and it proved to be a popular topic at Econsultancy’s Digital Cream London event.

The key themes and findings from the roundtable discussions have been published today in our free-to-access Mobile Experience Trends Briefing, sponsored by IBM Tealeaf.

Alongside details of the trends that emerged from the event, the briefing includes best practice tips, case studies and market data.

A separate report highlighted the scale of the challenge facing businesses, as despite the massive growth in mobile traffic almost half (45%) of companies still don’t have a mobile-optimised site or app.

by David Moth 15 May 2013 12:10pm 1 comment

How ecommerce site Firebox made the move to responsive design

Gifts and gadgets e-tailer Firebox recently underwent a major site redesign as it joined the steady trickle of ecommerce players that have adopted responsive design.

Responsive design is generally seen as the best way of delivering a consistent user experience as the size and usability of internet enabled devices becomes ever more diverse, yet it’s notable that smaller retailers have been much quicker to embrace the technology than big name brands.

So to find out more about why Firebox went responsive and the processes involved in making the move, I spoke to creative director Aaron Buckley...

by David Moth 15 May 2013 11:04am 10 comments