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.

Nine ways to #fail at digital marketing

There’s no shortage of information telling online marketers what they should be doing. After all, everyone wants to be at the top of their game and best practice stuff really helps – but I rarely ever see a list of some of the DON’Ts.

So I made one. It should hopefully help you continue to steer clear of the online marketing taboos... If you are doing any of this, then shame on you.

by Jake Hird 23 March 2010 11:05am 11 comments

Work in Human Resources? Know digital? Think again...

Earlier this week, Econsultancy’s UK Research Director explored the increasingly apparent permeation of digital within different organisational disciplines.

Following a recent roundtable event held by Econsultancy, one of the areas where we have found this to be more obvious than most is within Human Resources.

by Jake Hird 11 March 2010 15:08pm 2 comments

Social media ROI: The best of British opinion

I recently wrote a post where I revisited a number of social media statistics, which attracted a lot of attention. Among all of the feedback one trend stood out: people need more information about return on investment from social media. So I’ve decided to bat a few things around, as it’s quite a complex subject.

We've written extensively about social media ROI in the past, and have also highlighted some social media engagement metrics that should help you. And now, I’ve gathered various opinions from some of the British heavyweights in social media, as everybody has different thoughts about this particular area.

by Jake Hird 02 March 2010 09:14am 4 comments

20+ mind-blowing social media statistics revisited

It’s around six months since I last threw out some truly mindboggling pieces of data surrounding social media. So, what’s happened between then and now?

I try to put as much information as I can into Econsultancy’s Social Media Statistics, which is part of our Stats Compendium (a truly awesome resource) but I find it’s always interesting to go back and review the old against the new.

So, I’ve collected as much as I can from my previous insane snippets of data and benchmarked it against the here and now, alongside rooting out some new stuff for you to mull over.

by Jake Hird 29 January 2010 10:07am 72 comments

Family Guy tips for producing great SEO-ready content

Mnemonics implies that two of three fundamental principles of memory are association and imagination. This post may be re-wording some things that people know, but I personally find it’s always easier to recall quirky pointers when working, rather than trawling my brain for dull information.

I’m quite a fan of Family Guy, I’ve no shame in admitting it. I also quite like search, although it’s not always as amusing and sometimes less socially acceptable to say so.

So, in a moment of madness, and I realise that I might be pushing things a little bit here, I’ve taken the time to slam the two together and tried to use a few episode titles to demonstrate how to produce great SEO-ready content.

The actual episodes might be different from the points I’m making, but hopefully the association will stick between the two. So, whenever you’re watching Peter Griffin’s antics on TV, you’ll suddenly begin thinking of SERPs...

by Jake Hird 27 January 2010 11:53am 6 comments

Q&A: Cisco's Zoe Sands talks about mobile marketing

A lot of coverage has been given to mobile phones recently, especially with Google’s Nexus One looming, the ongoing battle of platforms and the continuing onslaught of the iPhone.

I’ve already opined that although 2010 “won’t exactly be the year of mobile, but it will be a big year for mobile”, so with this in mind, marketers need to be thinking about what kind of options are open to them in this rapidly developing area.

But understanding and navigating mobile marketing can be a bit of a minefield. I caught up with Zoe Sands from Cisco to discuss the various issues within this often complex area.

by Jake Hird 05 January 2010 13:29pm 1 comment

Eight cool social media infographics

Yesterday I noticed quite cool infographic being passed around online. Made by the guys at Trendstream, it maps social media access and involvement around the world.

I love infographics. I think they’re a smart, creative way of displaying data in a way that’s easy to understand and is engaging. I’ve also noticed that they seem to be becoming more common, permeating not only technical subjects, where they seem to have originated from, but other areas, such as mainstream media, design and of course, the internet.

So, inspired by the newest of social media infographics, I thought it might be useful to collect some of the better examples in one place as a source of inspiration and information. Links to the actual graphics are in the headline titles.

by Jake Hird 16 December 2009 10:16am 17 comments

End of Year Analysis: 2009 roundup and 2010 predictions

It seems that time of year again, where suddenly end-of year roundups begin appearing and predictions are being made as to what’s going to happen across 2010, some reasonable, some rather far-fetched.

I’ve no shame in saying that I’m going to jump on the future-gazing bandwagon, but in all fairness I’m also going to look at my previous thoughts about the direction of the digital marketing landscape to see if anything actually came true.

by Jake Hird 15 December 2009 12:11pm 10 comments

Viral video excellence: 10 examples of big brand action

What makes a great viral video? This is a problem I’ve been coming up against recently, especially as there’s always the simple risk that when trying to do anything viral: it will either work or it won’t.

This is something I’m going to try and explore across a couple of blog posts in the next month or so, as the subject is so huge and complex, but a good starting point seems to be to showcase some of the best examples of viral advertising that currently exist.

by Jake Hird 16 November 2009 12:44pm 8 comments

10 steps to help you become a social media ninja

Agile and precise, packed with skills of stealth, quick reactions, passion, and specialist tactics for whatever the circumstances demand. This generally sums up what people imagine ninjas to be all about and, in digital marketing, everyone wants to be one, in one form or another.

But what pointers do you need to follow to train yourself to engage in the ongoing battleground of social media?

by Jake Hird 30 September 2009 10:57am 14 comments