Jake Hird

Jake is Econsultancy Australia's Director of Research and Education and comes from a background of online commerical research, development and account management, including a considerable amount of time spent with a leading digital agency and top UK digital group.

He takes a keen interest in emerging digital trends and technology and welcomes any new industry insights or thoughts.

What does the future hold for f-commerce?

Yesterday afternoon, I had serious WTF moment as I read an article titled “Facebook has limited future in e-commerce”.

The basis of the piece was more of a news-feature than opinion, founded around a piece of research from Shoppercentric. I really feel that the conclusions that have been drawn seem to be fairly short-sighted.

by Jake Hird 04 March 2011 13:09pm 15 comments

14 brilliant examples of brands using interactive offline advertising

Digital marketing, communications and advertising isn’t now just restricted to the internet, especially as online channels continue to develop and merge into offline ones.

For example, we’re seeing traditional advertising space, such as television and outdoor display evolving into digitally-driven platforms, like connected TV and electric billboards.

Here are 14 truly great examples of where technology acts as the glue between digital and traditional advertising space...

by Jake Hird 18 February 2011 11:12am 1 comment

15 online business models you’ll wish you’d thought of first...

It should come as no surprise that the continuing development of the internet is consistently resulting in significant shifts as to how businesses operate, consumers react and how products are bought.

Naturally, the very fundamental structures of business models are evolving in line with this, becoming far more flexible and innovative than has arguably ever been seen before.

Last year, I explored how the recession was effectively forcing organisations to get smarter and raise their levels of success. This year, I expect to see a greater emergence of innovative and disruptive business models, as well as new companies.

Already, there are lots of sites and services that currently exist, but I'm sure there's plenty more that will appear.

Here are some that have caught my eye recently...

by Jake Hird 31 January 2011 13:09pm 4 comments

20+ stats you might not know about user search behaviour

One of the major trends explored in Econsultany’s new SEO Agencies Buyer’s Guide is that user search behaviour is changing.

In this industry, there’s no shortage of information around how and why marketers are using SEO, but to me, there seems to be a distinct lack of research which looks from the other side of the fence at how we use search as internet users.

Best practice is extremely important, but so is understanding how people are actually using search engines.

So I jumped at the chance to check out some recent research out by Performics and ROI Research, where they had surveyed people’s motivations and behaviour when using search engines. The data is US-based, but in my opinion reflect trends that are globally applicable.

by Jake Hird 11 January 2011 11:54am 20 comments

Expert opinion: What’s ahead for paid search in 2011?

To coincide with the release of Econsultancy’s Paid Search Agencies Buyer’s Guide this week, I’ve been talking to some leading UK search agency experts about what 2011 holds for the sector.

I’ve no doubt that paid search is going to become sexy again – we’ve seen PPC products and technologies emerging such as Google’s location-based ads, Product Listings, Extensions and Sitelinks.

Additionally, Bing and Yahoo! continue to challenge Google, while new opportunities for paid search are becoming apparent, ranging from mobile through to social media.

It looks to be an exciting year ahead for what some marketers regard as a stale channel, despite its effectiveness and accountability. But what do those on the frontline think?

by Jake Hird 25 November 2010 15:46pm 11 comments

20 hilariously offensive domain names

Inspired by Chris Lake’s excellent article, Stupid URLs and how to avoid them, I’ve been digging around the internet to find some truly terrible domain name fails.

Some of ones I’ve listed are totally beyond belief. I’m frankly astounded that their owners didn’t notice the double entendres happening - and there’s loads of others floating around the web too.

As it also happens, there’s a semi-official name for instances like these: SLURLS, coined by a computer programmer called Andy Geldman who’s actually produced a book specifically around this subject.

The list I’ve put together is definitely not for the faint-hearted. With winter gloomily kicking in, this list is intended only as a bit of fun, and nothing too serious. But take this as a warning: if you’re easily offended, don’t read any further...

by Jake Hird 12 November 2010 13:10pm 10 comments

Ten horrifying display ad placements

At a recent roundtable event I attended, a topic that came up briefly was that of the danger of using blind networks to advertise, as this can result in display ads appearing alongside content that can be contradictory - or even damaging - to the brand or product.

Although this wasn’t the topic of the table, which was focused primarily upon the convergence and optimisation of online advertising, it got me thinking about the examples I’ve seen floating around the internet where poor placement has resulted in a cringeworthy visual. (Judging by where the majority of these ads have been seen, advertising on news sites can be a risky business...)

By my own admission, some of the examples I’ve pulled out have been around for a bit, and all are terribly tongue-in-cheek. So consider this a warning: If easily offended, don’t read any further. For those who can appreciate a bit of black humour and can understand the importance of carefully planned and placed media, read on.

by Jake Hird 01 October 2010 11:16am 139 comments

Q&A: Rippll’s Doug Chisholm on location-based mobile marketing

Doug Chisholm is the Managing Director of Rippll, a location-based marketing solutions company, which helps brands to target consumers through portable devices in order to increase brand engagement and response rates.

I caught up with him in an attempt to demystify some of the pressing issues surrounding the eruption of location-based mobile marketing...

by Jake Hird 22 September 2010 10:35am 2 comments

25 brilliant examples of Facebook brand pages

I love to see brands generating innovative, engaging and creative advertising online. Yet, I’m always surprised at how little effort companies put into Facebook from a creative perspective, especially given the noise they make about using the platform and the levels of engagement often put in.

Arguably, Facebook does have a static format that needs changing, but it’s not that difficult – or expensive – to come up with some great landing page manipulation through Facebook Markup Language (FBML)... And some brands are taking advantage of this, to great effect.

Here are a few examples from our How to Create Amazing Facebook Pages guide...

by Jake Hird 18 August 2010 11:55am 114 comments

Where does customer service fit into your digital strategy?

Last week I attended a roundtable about customer service hosted by Foviance to mark the UK’s National Complaints Day.

A recurring theme was how customer service is often overlooked by those in the digital sector, despite being an area which permeates so many parts of an organisation.

Consequently, I began thinking about how companies need to identify and implement different areas of customer service.

by Jake Hird 19 August 2010 14:35pm 9 comments