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Google AdWords changes the game with enhanced campaigns

Within the last hour Google has announced what is being described by many commentators as one of the most fundamental changes to Adwords in years.

The focus of the change is to enable advertisers to target people at the right time, in the right place, with the right advert and call-to-action. Effectively, the structuring of Adwords campaigns is becoming device independent, removing the ability to have specific mobile, tablet or desktop targeted campaigns.

This is a hugely important update – and mindset change – for any advertiser who is investing in PPC.

Article Connected TV

Twitter’s plan to rule both first and second screens

Twitter’s purchase of social television analytics firm Bluefin Labs, its largest purchase to date, reveals both its interest in connecting the viewers of media, and in gaining some of the revenue currently headed to television advertising.

Though its business model may have seemed quixotic in its early days, Twitter is building a potential case as the network able to reach people based on their most immediate interests.

Article Customer Experience

Why should fashion brands improve their multichannel offerings?

There is little doubt that in recent years the high street is being reshaped by the impact of the growth of e-commerce.

Aurora fashion group, for instance, announced in March 2012 that half of its stores could close due to the fact that 70% of the company’s transactions are now made online.

Article Customer Experience

Arsenal’s long overdue site redesign is a massive improvement

Arsenal FC unveiled a new website this week, giving it a long overdue upgrade that also includes a new mobile optimised version.

An article announcing the redesign states that it came about after extensive research and feedback from supporters.

It is designed to give users “improved access to content providing insight into all aspects of Club life.”

I previously blogged about the poor usability of Premier League websites, highlighting Arsenal as a particularly bad example due to the confusing number of links to different sections across the top and left of the screen. The old homepage also displayed now fewer than seven banner ads.

Article Strategy

You (probably) don’t need a rockstar engineer

If you work in the tech industry, you’ve probably heard somebody lament just how difficult it is to find “good” engineers these days.

Thanks to the booming internet economy and the fat wallets of companies like Google and Facebook, it’s a good time to be a software engineer. There are more jobs than viable candidates, salaries and benefits are high as a result and the best engineers have no shortage of opportunities to work on interesting things.

Article Innovation and Trends

Five examples of social media marketing excellence

To celebrate the launch of our new digital marketing and ecommerce awards, #TheDigitals, I’ve rounded up five brilliant examples of innovation in social media.

To avoid any accusations of bias, these are all examples that fall outside the eligibility period for the current awards, but give an idea of the sort of thing we are looking for.

#TheDigitals are the new awards that recognise the best in digital marketing and ecommerce. Award entries must be submitted online before the deadline March 13, 2013.

Award categories cover both industry and platform specific areas. There are special categories for best new technology, rising star (free to enter) and the overall Grand Prix winner. Further information on categories and entry requirements is available at thedigitalsawards.com

So without further ado, here are the five innovative social campaigns…

Article Social

Seven steps for effective Twitter monitoring

Twitter is Econsultancy’s largest and busiest social channel. At time of writing we have about 125,000 followers there, and are growing consistently.

Keeping an eye on all the activity there and looking for useful opportunities takes up a substantial part of my day, and while there are a number of paid services that can update me and keep me supplied with reports, I also like to check in realtime throughout the day.

I thought I’d quickly run through the various searches I have in place so that you can set up an effective realtime monitoring station…

Article Strategy

Research: 25% of Australian marketers say digital knowledge is poor

Findings from Econsultancy’s annual State of Digital Marketing in Australia report has revealed that the digital skills and knowledge gap is still very present in Australia, with a quarter of respondents saying knowledge of digital within their organisations is “poor” to “very poor”.

Produced in association with Marketing Magazine, the report highlighted the existing barriers and issues facing Australian marketers today.

In particular, it brought to light the problem marketers are having developing the necessary skills needed to maintain an all-round knowledge of each digital offering, due to the fast-paced nature of the industry.

Article Community management

How ASOS uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+

ASOS is streets ahead of the competition in many aspects of ecommerce, so it’s no surprise that it was quick to see the potential in social media marketing.

It has won numerous awards for its social strategy and clocked up millions of fans and followers in the process.

I’ve previously looked at how Walmart and Tesco use the major social networks, so thought it would be useful to shift the focus onto one of the world’s most innovative social brands.

So here is a quick look at how ASOS uses Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+…

Article Social

How to measure brand awareness on Twitter

Following my previous post How to measure brand awareness on Facebook, this week we take a look at Twitter.

Unlike Facebook, there isn’t a built-in analysis tool that does it for you (if you want sparkly graphs and the like then you can always use a social media management tool) but there are a few metrics that you can track yourself to get a feel for your brand awareness levels.

Article Paid search

Research: Digital marketing is quickly coming of age in Australia

Econsultancy’s annual report, the State of Digital Marketing in Australia, produced in association with Marketing Magazine, has found that the industry is continuing to develop at a rapid pace.

Investment in digital remains high, alongside an increased focus on measurement, attribution and channel accountability.

Article Customer Experience

Demographic shifts: a social media marketer’s worst nightmare?

For digital marketers, understanding the audience a platform offers access to is crucial. After all, if you don’t know who you will be reaching, it’s all but impossible to craft messages and experiences that resonate.

The good news: digital channels are generally understood far better than their offline counterparts because users can be tracked far more comprehensively and accurately. The bad news: the make-up of digital channels can change, and sometimes quite rapidly. This is particularly true in social channels, where what’s hot today is not hot tomorrow.

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