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How Walmart, Best Buy and others are marketing Black Friday deals online

Thanksgiving is traditionally a time for spending time with the family, eating too much and frantically shopping for bargains online.

A recent Nielsen survey found that almost half (46%) of US shoppers plan to shop online on Black Friday while Adobe has predicted that ecommerce sales will total £1.6bn as people log on for bargains the day after Thanksgiving.

This is on top of the online shopping that will be done on Thanksgiving itself, which is predicted is reach $1.1bn.

Unsurprisingly ecommerce sites have already begun promoting Black Friday deals to try and keep up with the competition and capture those holiday dollars.

With that in mind, here’s a look at how six major retailers are marketing Black Friday deals on their homepages…

Can StreetHub help local retailers get in on the click-and-collect boom?

New research shows that one-in-five (19%) multichannel sales now comes from click-and-collect, up from 13% in the same period in 2012.

The figures are taken from sales data in Q3 2013 and show the importance of offering a click-and-collect service in the run up to Christmas.

Halfords and Argos have already proven the impact that the service can have on online sales, so it’s no wonder that small retailers also want to get in on the act.

A new service called StreetHub aims to make this possible in north London by creating ‘click-and-collect network of local boutiques with the best of design and fashion’.

Coca-Cola’s storytelling: three lessons on content marketing and creativity

Last year, Coca-Cola launched the Journey website as its own media outlet, using an editorial, image-heavy format.

Fuelled by the brand’s Content 2020 plan, the redesign was described as ‘the most ambitious rethink of Coca-Cola’s web properties’ since it launched the first website in 1995.

The company has gone from being declared ‘creatively bankrupt’ by a chief exec in 2004 to being named Creative Marketer of the Year at Cannes in 2013.

Seven interesting social media campaigns from November

As we approach the end of the penultimate month of 2013 it’s time to round up some of the most interesting and noteworthy social campaigns we’ve seen in the past 30 days or so.

This time it includes efforts from MTV, Red Bull, Manchester City, Sony and ASOS.

If you’ve spotted any other decent social campaigns in November please flag them up in the comments…

Search and ecommerce in Russia [infographic]

According to our recent Digital Landscape Report, Russia has the highest number of internet users in Europe, and represents a potential growth market for ecommerce. 

In addition, just under half of Russia’s 61m web users are buying online, though a mistrust of the finance industry means that cash on delivery is the prevelant payment method. 

There are barriers though, such as mistrust of retailers, and the risk of parcels going AWOL due to the number of people living in communal apartments. 

However, as our report, and this two part infographic from Search Laboratory shows, there are many opportunitues. 

Why marketers think email can become even more efficient

Marketers that feel there is just not enough time to spend on email marketing, you may be slightly comforted to know that you are not alone.

The bid to keep up with the evolving nature of email marketing is a challenge many organisations are struggling with, according to marketers that attended Econsultancy’s Festival of Marketing.

Several senior client-side marketers gathered together for Digital Cream during the Festival, where email marketing, among other topics, was discussed at great lengths.

The general consensus? Emaiil has great potential to become even more efficient than it already is. It’s just going to take skills, buy-in and time that many do not have… yet.

While these discussions were under the Chatham House Rules, the insights gleaned have been pulled together to create the new Email Marketing Trends Briefing published this week by Econsultancy in association with Pure360.

The trends briefing, which is free for registered users, also contains some best practice tips, market data and case studies.

Mobile and the arts: where to start?

For some arts organisations, the array of platforms and devices in digital is bewildering.

For small organisations, perhaps a theatre group, how is awareness and ultimately ticket sales to be improved? Beyond this, the prospect of actually engaging and collaborating via digital media can be daunting or perhaps feel like a pipe dream.

And for large arts organisations, how easy is it to compete with big brands, or big online-first non-profits such as the Khan Academy, when it comes to education and engagement online? Is a multi-pronged mobile strategy, featuring a number of apps and a responsive website, the best approach?

Lots of questions! In this post I’m framing a talk I gave for IT4ARTS last week, at the Barbican. I’ve given some background and fleshed out the challenge for the arts, in digital and on mobile.

I’ve also reviewed a number of mobile apps, looking in particular at the Tate, and there are also some references and jumping-off points to talks by those working and innovating at museums and galleries.

Should Amazon ditch its unverified reviews?

Consumer reviews are very valuable, both for the sites displaying them and the customers using them to help with their purchase decisions. 

However, the credibility of reviews has come under attack over the past couple of years, with lots of examples  there are plenty of examples of brands that have been caught out. 

As it stands, online customers tend to trust reviews more than most sources, except recommendations from family and friends, but that could change. 

Reevoo has just published a plea to Amazon, asking for the online retail giant to ditch all but its verified reviews.

So, should Amazon heed this plea? 

How American Airlines developed its approach to social customer service

American Airlines’ approach to social has undergone a huge period of transition in the past few years.

The evolution came thanks to a new strategy that was aimed at developing social as a responsive, efficient customer service channel.

At Socialbakers’ Engage NYC event today American Airlines’ social communications analyst Katy Phillips described how and why the company’s approach to social had developed since 2011.

Up until two years ago American’s social channels were handled in partnership with a PR firm, however it was felt that in order to properly resolve customer service queries social needed to handled exclusively in-house.

How small businesses can make the most of Twitter

“If there’s one thing you have if you run a small business, it’s time. If there’s one thing you probably don’t have, it’s money.”

I have to credit the above statement to Will Critchlow, it condenses what I’m about to discuss in a simplified way.

Essentially social media costs nothing but can be a fairly time consuming practice depending on how many platforms you choose to use. Social media is also the key way for a small business to develop awareness, raise its profile, gauge its market and interact with existing and future customers. 

As a small business you’re in a great position to start exploiting social media for all its worth.

As the UK is celebrating its first Small Business Saturday on 7th December 2013, here I present the first in a series of posts that will take a look at each individual social media platform, and highlight how your small business can wring the best out of each one. 

Let’s begin with Twitter.

Top 20 most shared video ads of 2013

It’s late November, so we’re comfortably past the point where people are no longer agitated that ‘best of the year’ lists are starting to appear already.

In fact I’ve already got my ‘Best Korean Pop Albums’ and ‘Favourite Men’s Health Straplines (abs category)’ lists all lined up and ready to go. In a listicle heavy year, this Winter will be the ultimate in year-end countdown meltdown, or Listageddon as I’m pushing for the late November period to be renamed.

Hot off the presses today (I’m sure there’s a more up-to-date cliche then that) and towering above the rest is Unruly with its Top 20 most shared ads of 2013.

This one’s good because it’s based on fact, not the opinion of some feckless pundit.

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