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Article Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)

Six creative examples of product videos to inspire your own efforts

Product videos are a very effective online sales tool as they give a better view of the item and help to answer any queries the customer might have.

We’ve previously blogged a number of case studies from retailers that have boosted conversions by as much as 160% by using product videos, so the potential impact of the feature shouldn’t be ignored.

But the precise use of video will differ depending on what you’re trying to sell, as clothing retailers will obviously have a different sales pitch to a software vendor. So with this in mind here are six examples of businesses that got creative with their product videos.

And to find out more about how to get creative with marketing, come to Econsultancy’s Punch event. Curated by Creative Review, Punch showcases the best of insight-driven creative and forms part of our week-long Festival of Marketing extravaganza.

Article Customer Experience

10 inspiring uses of mobile in retail

Mobile is growing and forward-thinking retailers are looking at ways to use mobile to increase sales, bring customers into stores, or to enhance the experience when people are shopping.

I’ve rounded up ten great examples of mobile use in retail from around the world.

Mobile commerce sites are an obvious one but there are plenty of other ways to use mobile, such as to take payments, help customers navigate stores, and more…

Article Community management

Twitter competitions: how to make the most of your promotions

Competitions on Twitter can be a great way for brands to increase followers, boost engagement and raise awareness of campaigns.

But are you playing by the rules and making the most of your promotions?

Article

QR codes: the good, the bad and the ugly (reprise)

QR codes, though a potentially useful device in the marketer’s armoury, have been undermined by overuse and downright bad execution.

While they can be used effectively, it’s generally easier to find bad and terrible examples of QR code marketing, normally the result of poor placement, or landing pages that just don’t work on mobile.

So, it’s a mixed bag, as the examples below demonstrate…

Article Ecommerce

The five types of mobile-assisted shoppers [infographic]

Showrooming is a growing concern for bricks and mortar retailers, and there is plenty of debate about the best ways to combat this challenge.

Some would suggest matching prices, but this isn’t a realistic long-term strategy. Sure, some of the bigger stores can afford to price match Amazon in the holiday season, but they too have business costs that pureplays don’t.

A better idea is to provide the best possible customer experience for mobile users, and to make the most of the advantages that stores have over online.

These advantages include being able to get products straight away, the service at the store, and so on.

In its report on showrooming, Columbia Business School (read our interview with the authors) identified five types of people using mobile for shopping.

A better idea is to provide the best possible customer experience for mobile users, and to make the most of the advantages that stores have over online.

These advantages include being able to get products straight away, the service at the store, and so on.

Article Customer Experience

The digital beauty of GDS (Government Digital Service)

In a few weeks we will be celebrating marketing at the world’s first Festival of Marketing. In line with our Modern Marketing Manifesto we believe that now is an exciting time to be in marketing. The events that make up the Festival (Jump, Crunch, Punch, Funnel) cover different aspects of marketing. But perhaps the unifying […]

Article Social

Kraft on Facebook: tried and tested content marketing

From A1 Steak Sauce to Easy Cheese, from Maxwell House to Vegemite, Kraft is a behemoth.

And in the food and drink sectors, content marketing seems to be a cinch. Pushing people to recipes and adding some fun around holidays, seasons, special edition products and family lifestyle are all the order of the day.

I’m just going to picture a few of the Kraft brands here, fairly simply, but go and check them out.

Article Digital Advertising

Marketing automation: how it works and why it’s important for modern marketers

Marketing automation is a powerful tool for brands as it allows them to create a rich profile of their audience and use targeted marketing messages to help drive conversions.

In order for automation to work effectively data must be turned into insights that help to create strong customer lifetime value models and optimise marketing messages.

Digital channels provide new and valuable sources of data and customer insight that can be acted upon in real time.

This is one of the central themes in our new Modern Marketing Manifesto, which forms the basis of the upcoming Festival of Marketing. The Festival begins on October 8 and includes a number of exciting events that will help marketers get to grips with new trends and disciplines.

So to find out more about how businesses can better understand marketing automation, I spoke to Oracle’s EMEA marketing director Sylvia Jensen…

Article Content marketing

How Google could fix the press release

The press release, the original tool of the PR pro, is broken.

It happened in stages. First there came email, prior to which press releases had been faxed or posted to editors, the laboriousness of the task forcing PR people to choose their targets with appropriate care and attention.

But with email, you can grab a list and not think twice about bunging it out to all and sundry. The result was laziness leading to abuse.

Then came the SEO industry. The press release’s power for generating link juice was spotted. Stick a press release on a wire and regardless of its quality or newsworthiness, its content and links will get replicated across the web, even on some authoritative domains.

Once again, the result was laziness leading to abuse.

Article Data and Analytics

Why mobile apps and in-store wi-fi are central to B&Q’s omnichannel retail strategy

One of the outcomes of the consumer move towards ecommerce and digital technologies is that traditional ‘big box’ retailers have had to adapt in order to survive.

Many businesses that once relied on giant retail warehouses have needed to downsize their physical properties and move towards an omnichannel retail model that integrates digital and offline sales channels.

To find out more about B&Q’s strategy I spoke to director of omnichannel Michael Durbridge, who will also be speaking at Econsultancy’s JUMP event on October 9.

Article Social

Facebook accounts for 41% of social ad budgets vs. 18% on LinkedIn

Social media is a complicated landscape with several established and emerging social networks vying for our attention.

Yet the one constant in recent years has been that Facebook remains the undisputed king of social in terms of active users and time spent on-site – for the time being at least.

And this is reflected in the fact that on average businesses spend 41% of their social advertising budget on Facebook, compared to 18% on LinkedIn and 17% on Twitter.

But the split is even more extreme when looking at responses from agency staff, who claim that Facebook accounts for more than half (53%) of their clients’ budgets.

Article Data and Analytics

Five surprising digital data nuggets from the UK

Our Internet Statistics Compendium has seen another bumper update this month, collecting the best freely available data from across the digital spectrum across our easy-to-explore ISC documents.

Perhaps the biggest news on the digital media front in August was the release of the hugely comprehensive Communications Market Report 2013 from Ofcom.

We look at a good proportion of the report in our latest update, but I wanted to collect several of the findings here – some of which may be surprising, even to those with the keenest eyes on the UK’s digital scene.

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