Digital Marketing Blog

Budweiser is king of social advertising in Q1

Budweiser proved to be the king of alcohol advertising in Q1 by achieving more than half of total social shares.

The beer company’s 'Brotherhood' ad was shared 2.4 million times compared to 970,000 for little-known vodka brand Neft’s ad, 'Bad Motherf***er'.

According to Unruly’s data, Bud’s advert accounted for 59% of total alcohol ad shares in Q1, despite the fact that it isn’t really the kind of creative one would normally associate with beer ads.

It’s a sickly sweet tale of one man’s relationship with his horse, which is a far cry from the usual light-hearted ads beer companies usually go for, including Bud’s previous “Wassup” efforts.

by David Moth 23 May 2013 11:18am 0 comments

The essential small business website checklist

This checklist is intended to assist small business owners. It outlines the must have elements for your website so you can ensure it has the best chance of succeeding online.

This is the first in a short series which aims primarily to benefit small businesses with regards to their websites and online success. Consequently it might also help if you’re a web designer building small sites for businesses on a budget.

This small business website checklist will be most relevant for small sites or simple ecommerce sites because it’s a general checklist, but it’s amazing how many bigger (and often expensive) websites belonging to large companies fail to adhere to some basic web design fundamentals.

The list below will enable you to quickly check the most fundamental elements are in place on your website and it should take you no longer than 30 minutes to carry out the checks.

by Chris Gilchrist 23 May 2013 10:44am 0 comments

Why your brand needs 'organisation markup'

Google recently released a blog post outlining how Schema.org organisation mark-up can be used as a way for publishers to tell Google which preferred logo they’d like to appear against their search results.

This had previously been available to brands on Google+ but its availability has been extended following a shift in behaviour by the search engines to try and display this information in a completely new way.

by Andrew Isidoro 23 May 2013 10:14am 0 comments

Yahoo and Tumblr: the dangers of speaking too soon

If there’s one thing I’ve learnt over the years from working in digital marketing, it’s that first reactions to tech news stories are rarely accurate.

The time to form an opinion, in my experience, is when the stories ending in question marks die down.

When the Tumblr news broke (Yahoo’s planned acquisition @ $1.1bn) we were predictably flooded by instantaneous musings and misunderstandings around the network and its new owners.

Speculation then moved onto what Yahoo should do with its new toy, with a common concern muted as the nonsensical introduction of spammy ads.

by Steve Richards 23 May 2013 09:36am 0 comments

Should brands comply with new press regulations?

Do you have a website? Is there a way you can put content on it so that it can be seen by the general populous? Congratulations, you're a publisher!

It’s quite a responsibility when you consider the Royal Charter on press regulation currently being debated by the media powerhouses and the upper echelons of Government.

by Danny Chadburn 23 May 2013 09:29am 0 comments

Tapping into the minds of your audience: The psychology of social media

Many digital marketers make a common error from the outset when planning their content marketing campaigns.

The tendency is to think "what shall we give our audience?" when it is just as important to ask "why should they care?"

I am fascinated by the whole psychology of social media: What motivates people to take certain actions, such as overshare the minutiae of their life, or angrily "out" brands on social networks rather than complain directly to them in private, or retweet unproven allegations (and therefore get sued), and so forth?

by Chris Lee 22 May 2013 15:15pm 1 comment

Mobile is almost as popular as desktop for travel research: report

When researching their next holiday or business trip consumers are just as likely to turn to their mobile device as they are to use a laptop, according to new research from JiWire.

However laptops are still by far the most popular device when it comes to actually making a purchase.

The new report into mobile’s role in the travel industry shows that 56% of consumers use their laptop to research travel options, compared to 49% on tablet and 48% on smartphone.

This underlines the fact that travel agents and hotels need to have a mobile optimised site or app to cater for changing consumer behaviours.

by David Moth 22 May 2013 13:37pm 0 comments

A day in the life of UNICEF UK's Head of Digital Engagement

Laila Takeh is Head of Digital Engagement at UNICEF UK, the children’s charity. She kindly agreed to tell us a little bit about her role.

If you’re on the hunt for a new challenge then be sure to check out the hundreds of digital roles on the Econsultancy jobs board.

by Chris Lake 22 May 2013 12:09pm 1 comment

15 ways to optimise your evergreen content strategy

Evergreen content can drive plenty of the right kind of traffic to your website over the long term. It is one of the best returns on your investment into content, as it is a gift that keeps on giving, and should be a key part of your content strategy.

In this article I’m going to try to outline the strategic value of evergreen content, to help you understand exactly what makes something long-lasting, and I shall provide a few pointers on what works (and what doesn’t).

First, let's answer the question. What is evergreen content? Simply put, it is the kind of content that does not grow old quickly. Think about how to guides, and other reference material. Evergreen content is often useful, and it doesn't need to be updated too often.

Let's start by looking at an example...

by Chris Lake 22 May 2013 11:24am 4 comments

Security and fraud concerns are biggest barriers to mobile payment adoption

Much was written about the predicted boom in mobile payments last year, but it still seems to be some way from becoming an every day payment method.

NFC and mobile wallets were all set to become commonplace following a successful trial at the Olympics, but despite the increasing use of contactless bank cards I’m yet to see anyone pay for anything using their mobile phone.

However new research into consumer attitudes suggests that people are slowly edging towards accepting the technology.

A survey of 2,006 consumers by eDigitalResearch found that 39% of respondents had seen a contactless payment point, up from just 15% in May 2012.

by David Moth 22 May 2013 10:34am 2 comments