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How Twitter #Music Plays to the Strengths of Your Digital Marketing Campaign

Dave Bird — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:30:40 +0000

Digital marketing has always thrived best with a little personality thrown into the mix. You can’t expect to keep people engaged without it. So when Twitter launched their brand new music service earlier last week, providing people with a follower-inspired way of listening to music, speculation on how it would change the face of social media began to grow.

‘Grow’ being the operative word. Surely the whole point of using social network sites like Twitter and Facebook is to help generate interest, to cultivate your following and ultimately strengthen the message behind your marketing campaign. Don’t be fooled by Twitter #Music’s true purpose, it isn’t just about idling at your desk, trashing artists you think are rubbish – although we’ll probably be doing this as well – it’s about much more than that.

The Benefits

• Get to Know Your Following

Whether you’re a huge company struggling to find a voice, or a small business crying out to be heard, establishing a connection with your target market can be tricky. Twitter #Music provides users with recommendations based on their friends’ and contacts’ listening habits. With this kind of information at your disposal, establishing those connections should be a whole lot easier.

• Easily Maintained

Music tastes and preferences can spark the same kind of debate as any other kind of opinion, only with much greater universal appeal. Pseudo-philosophical titbits and ironically placed hashtags were all well and good when Twitter first started, but most of us have had enough of that now. Discussion on music is generally ‘on trend’, diverse enough to cater for everyone, and practically infinite – surely enough to keep your online communities happily engaged without too much maintenance.

• SoundCloud

Perhaps the most interesting feature of Twitter #Music will be the future inclusion of SoundCloud, a website that allows users to upload and share audio recordings with other users. This could potentially change the way social media operates entirely, and businesses that utilise it earlier on are more likely to reap the benefits in the long-term. Of course this is only speculation, but the idea of being able to interact with users in a whole new medium beyond the standard 140 character morsel is almost as revolutionary as adding sound to film. Imagine being able to send personalised audio tweets promoting your business to all the smartphone, tablet and desktop owners that make up your collective of followers.

Any Drawbacks?

Early reviews of Twitter #Music have not been so favourable. Perhaps the biggest drawback is the requirement that all users will have to sign up to music provider Spotify beforehand. Without it, they won’t be able to hear any song recommendations in full, only the sample versions. This is a mighty big ask of all your followers, and not only could it prove fruitless, and might also deter people from taking any interest in what you’ve got to say altogether.

Review Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/10005889/Twitter-music-review.html

Find me on Google+ at +Nisha Kaushal

Twitter Turned Seven: How it Happened and What to Expect

Dave Bird — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 13:15:06 +0000

In the event of Twitters seventh birthday I’m taking this opportunity to look back and provide a brief overview of the rise and fall of Twitter. We all now know Twitter to be this global phenomenon that many of us use in our daily lives but it wasn’t always the case…..to think just over seven years ago not a single tweet had been sent!!

hothardware.com

Twitter Turns Seven: How it happened and what to expect

In 2006, the social media landscape was far different than its present form. The preferred method of sharing with
friends the first months of operation, and indeed during the first few years, there was no official support for things like this, it was either through a full-length blog entry or an abbreviated Facebook status update, while tagging pictures was relatively new. The iPhone had not been invented, and smartphones were considered reserved for the business class. Text messaging had exploded, but sharing text-message-sized tidbits had not yet become the norm. Then Twitter happened.

A Look at the Beginning: Twitter Opens to New Users

Twitter was long perceived to be a strong counterweight to Facebook, where longer “notes” and “statuses” were the
norm for sharing. The site marketed itself to its testers as a “micro blog” where people could share up to 140
characters. In April of 2006, the site opened to the public and took tens of thousands of new users. Signups did start off slow, but accelerated as the buzz spread and as media outlets picked up on the Twitter challenge to Facebook’s dominance.

User-Driven Developments: Twitter Matures

During the second year of Twitter’s existence, the site began to go truly viral. While MySpace floundered, Twitter and Facebook became the primary rivals in a race for customer loyalties, affections, and shares of their daily news. Twitter users developed an “@reply” to talk back and forth to each other on the site. Amid popularity, Twitter made it an official feature and made it even more useful.

Users began re-tweeting each other’s messages instead of posting a concurring thought on the subject, and Twitter
eventually embraced this as well in an official capacity. So, too, were hash tags and trending topics, which were also pioneered by early users. In fact, trending topics today constitute the main selling point of Twitter itself.

The Start-up Goes Mainstream: Say Hello to Barack Obama

During what was arguably one of the most compelling political races of the modern era, American voters nominated
the first major party presidential candidate of colour and then elected him to the presidency with a sweeping majority.It was all done via Facebook and Twitter outreach. In the process, Twitter became a household name. After the election of Barack Obama, the White House, Vice Presidency, State Department, Department of Education and the
Department of Health and Human Services all deployed official Twitter accounts for communication with the American
people.

Celebrities signed up for the service and began offering an unparalleled, personal look into their daily lives. News
anchors and major broadcast networks also joined the network in an official capacity, and Twitter soon rolled out
the “verified account” for official figures of the media, Hollywood, and political sphere. Today, Twitter has become the leading source for news, reviews, and communication between acreage users, their politicians, their news anchors,
and their favorite celebrities.

A Revolution Takes Shape: Twitter Becomes the Voice of the People

From 2009 onwards, Twitter developed a reputation for not only democratizing relations between celebrities,
politicians, and their followers, but between oppressed populations and their government. It was with Twitter that the Iranian “Green Movement” began. It was with Twitter that the “Arab Spring” took shape in the Middle East, toppling dictators and reshaping countries forever.
Twitter Turns Seven: How it happened and what to expect
Twitter now remains either the most-loved social network among democracies, or a symbol of fear and potential
protest in countries where the voice of the people must communicate in new, high-tech ways in order to be heard.

The Future: Applications, Communication, and Revolution

Twitter now competes directly with Facebook and isn’t shy about it. In response to being shut out of the Instagram
service, Twitter developed its own photo filters. The company has developed a news aggregation service, mobile
applications, and an authentication system that directly replicates Facebook’s capabilities. In the future, Twitter will become not only a way to share 140-character thoughts, but also a way to plug into new social platforms, mobile
applications, and communications methods not yet invented or mainstreamed.
These are exciting times and the next seven years of Twitter look to be just a dynamic as the first!

Here’s a video Twitter made to celebrate 7 Years of Twitter

Why ALL Marketers Need Mobile Landing Pages

Dave Bird — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:27:07 +0000

Mobile marketing is becoming increasingly important as the use of smartphones has skyrocketed in recent years, and they can have a huge influence on consumer behaviour. Previously, marketers had to adjust to a shift by customers from print to TV to online media, but now it seems that mobile is the next step. The end of 2011 saw the first time that more smartphones were shipped than desktops, and it is predicted that web usage via mobiles will surpass that of desktop PCs in the next couple of years.

Why Marketers Must Get Mobile Marketing Right

A study by Google found that approximately 89% use their smartphone throughout the day, with 81% using it to browse the internet and 77% used a search engine. They found that 79% of users rely on their smartphones to help with purchasing decisions. This could include gathering product/service information, finding offers and discounts, in-store searches, or to contact the provider. Also, 74% said that they had made a purchase as a result of using a smartphone. Therefore, as much emphasis needs to go on optimising mobile landing pages as well as desktop ones, all on a 4inch screen.

Alongside this information, marketers must also be aware that mobile users behave differently to desktop users and even tablet users – this is why it is best practice to split out campaigns by device to properly optimise. Generally, mobile users are looking to gain information ASAP as they may not need the information straight away, may be out and about/in a hurry, or even multi-tasking. A recent study by Google found that half of mobile search conversions happen within one hour. They also found that 77% of mobile searches happen at home or at work with 17% happening on-the-go. As the mobile is essentially ‘always-on’ for consumers it is important to market to them at the right time along with showing the right content.

Designing Mobile Landing Pages That Convert

Now that we are aware of how vital it is to have well-optimised mobile landing pages, let’s take a look at some of the most important best practices when building mobile landing pages:

Keep It Concise – with such a limited amount of space it is crucial that you get the value of your product/service across in as little text/space as possible.
One Finger Test – make sure that users do not have to pinch or zoom to see your content; they should be able to navigate the mobile landing page with just one finger. Google recommends that the page should be viewable at arm’s length.
Clear Call-To-Action – use large buttons, make them visually stand-out, and easy to click with a thumb!
Click-To-Call – allow users to get in touch in just a click on your phone number.
Short Forms – capture as little data as possible as users are unlikely to fill in forms with too many fields.
Video – users are 64-85% more likely to buy after viewing a relevant video.
Dynamic content – personalise to users’ location, search intent, and anything else you can.
Avoid Flash – this is a big no-no as Flash it generally not support on smartphones.
Get the SEO right – keep URLs and page titles short and minimize the load time.
TEST – never stop testing; this is the golden rule.

Mobile Landing Page Examples

Here are just a few examples of companies using mobile marketing in line with conversion optimisation best practice:

Images sourced from http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62190-12-useful-tips-for-optimising-mobile-landing-pages

Summary

There we have it, if you haven’t realised that you need to be investing in mobile marketing by now then I hope this will make you seriously consider doing so. With a huge amount of consumers using their smartphones on a daily basis, to either make a purchase or gather information prior to a purchase, there is massive marketing potential. Knowing too that mobile users generally want their information ASAP means that marketers need to get the message across much quicker than on desktops and in a smaller space. By continuously optimising mobile landing pages in line with best practice, and testing new ones all the time, we should see a positive return on investment from our efforts. Its emphasised a lot but the biggest take away from this post is to TEST!

Phill Dangerfield
(Digital Marketing Manager)

Case Studies: Social Media at Its Finest

Dave Bird — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:30:17 +0000

Social media is one of the most effective strategies in digital marketing today. Most business owners seem to have trouble understanding how to make it work but when done right, the results are simply amazing. It can lead an immense amount of traffic, help establish a connection with an audience that’s hard to reach, and level the playing field for the little guys.
There’s no scientific formula per se like SEO for getting predictable and positive results from social media. A lot of it has to do with critical thinking, understanding your audience and shockingly, creativity. And what better way to learn how to do social media right than learning from companies that have gotten outstanding results from it.
Here are two case studies that will really open your eyes to what’s possible and inspire you in your own quest to succeed with social media:

Case Study #1: How IBM Created a Voice for Their Company

Many large corporations have a big challenge when it comes to social media. How do you create a voice for such a big corporation without sounding heartless? How can you reach all facets of your audience when you only have one platform? IBM faced the same challenge and decided to do something no other company has done before.
Rather than set up one corporate blog that tries to speak to the general audience, IBM decided to embrace employee blogging. They allowed employees to publish their own content in their own areas of expertise. This helped their audience connect to their company through their employees. It was no longer a big soulless corporation but a real person, a real character behind the other side of the computer.

Source: www.michaelleander.me

While it’s been many years since IBM allowed employee blogging, it’s a social media strategy that has helped give their company a voice. There are now thousands of employee blogs on IBM and many other companies have followed IBM’s ingenious decision, a decision that made their brand come to life in the digital world.
How can small business owners replicate what IBM did? One way is to create multiple authors for Google’s authorship program. Encourage your team to create content through their accounts. Not only will this help your social media presence, it will also help your search engine rankings because the authorship will be setup under one account.

Case Study #2: How Sharpie Increased Their Brand Presence and Loyalty Through Social Media

This case study may be more relatable to small businesses that are looking to increase brand awareness. Sharpie, the permanent marker company wanted to use a social media platform that showcased their product. That’s why they decided to build a presence in Instagram and Twitter. Instagram was perfect because it was all about photos and Twitter served as a great way to deliver a short message centered on a simple product.
Sharpie built their audience on social media by focusing on their customers. They frequently showcased the artwork of their customers and posted case studies of customers that used their product to create something unique. While this helped create a lot of interest and buzz for Sharpie, they didn’t stop there.

They created their own community where users could vote for their favorite creative projects. Users could submit their unique projects, upload how-to tutorials and more. Not only did this engage visitors, it also showcased how Sharpie’s products could be used.
This case study is something that many businesses can model. Whether a product or service is simple or complex, it can be featured with creative case studies. It is also worthwhile to note that Sharpie targeted specific social media platforms that were relevant to them rather than trying to establish a presence in all the major ones.

The possibilities are really endless. There are many other examples of companies that have succeeded with their own unique social media strategy. You need to remember that social media is all about creating interaction and being innovative.
These are just some of the many social media case studies companies have developed. Webtistic are always thinking of new creative ways to really develop social strategies for clients and case studies such as those above are really inspiring and potentially show what social media can really do for your business.

Google’s NEW Enhanced Campaigns – What You Need To Know!

Dave Bird — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 09:05:30 +0000

Let’s take a look at Google’s latest announcement that will affect the whole of the PPC world – ‘Enhanced Campaigns’. This is a change that will be implemented by mid-2013 and will see your device-separated campaigns converged into one. Google is attempting to simplify the way campaigns are run across different devices but are they really making life easier for PPC Managers around the globe?

What Exactly Is Changing?

Currently, if you are managing PPC accounts in the most logical way then you will have separate campaigns set up to target different devices. So, you will have an individual campaign to target Desktops, one to target Mobile devices, and maybe one to target Tablets. You will then be managing and optimising these campaigns individually.

Now Google is telling us that we will be able to optimise for devices through just a single campaign and that we will have to converge our separate campaigns into one. The issue is that the line between different devices is blurring more and more. We now see tablets that are as powerful as laptops and smartphones that are barely distinguishable from smaller tablets.

Google will be removing a lot of the device targeting in your campaigns but instead you will be able to specify ‘mobile preferred’ ads along with making bid adjustments to suit the device, and even to suit locations or the time of the day. However, Google will be the ultimate decider of which ad is shown so you could find your ‘mobile preferred’ ad being shown to PC users if they deem it the most relevant ad.

For example, a restaurant owner will be able to show a different ad to someone searching at 2pm on a PC at work to someone searching at 7pm on a smartphone half a mile away from the business location. The PC user might require a link to an online order form whereas the smartphone user, who is nearby, might be looking for a click-to-call or restaurant locator.

The Benefits

Simpler Campaign Management

The major benefit we will see from this change is that campaign management should become simpler as there will be no need to set up an individual campaign for each device. It can be difficult to manage segmented campaigns, for example when you may be targeting keywords that are geo-targeted to a location as well as having geo-keywords (i.e. restaurants in derby). These require two separate campaigns themselves as they use different location targeting settings and would then require a mobile and maybe tablet campaign each! An account can get pretty big pretty quickly in cases like these.

Bid Management

You will be able to set bid modifiers for device, location, and time of day. This can be useful as in some contexts users closer to the business location might be a higher priority so you could bid higher for them. Another example could be in terms of a restaurant owner wanting to dominate during particular times of day and therefore could set higher bids during these times.

Enhanced Reporting

There will be advanced reporting of Ad Extensions as these will be able to be used more flexibly. You will be able to choose your Sitelinks and other extensions at a lower level along with choosing which ones to show at particular times of day for example. The reporting will then show you how each individual feature of an extension is working for your campaign.

Any Drawbacks?

Increase in Mobile CPCs

As the ability to advertise across devices will become easier this means that the mobile market will become more competitive and therefore bump up the cost of clicks. This will make it more important than ever to have mobile-friendly sites as well using custom landing pages designed in line with conversion optimisation best practices.

Loss of control

For some expert advertisers, this change could present a loss of control. Where before they had their campaigns set up separately and were able to individually manage their ads, bids, and keywords, they now may find the process less robust and reliable.

Re-organisation of existing accounts

Any existing accounts that have had separate campaigns set up for different devices or locations will have to be re-organised into one single campaign. This could be very time-consuming for some advertisers.

So there you have it, Google will be simplifying our paid search campaigns and in the meantime I’m sure they will see a boost in mobile click revenue from the increased mobile market.

All those advertisers out there who have separate campaigns for each device will be able to breathe a sigh of relief when they can merge it all into one. The increased flexibility of bid management will be exciting to test as we can drill down further into individual user behaviours relating to device, location, time of day, and even ad extensions.

However, we mustn’t forget that the mobile market will be expanding and therefore we all need to be ready and armed with our mobile-optimised sites and landing pages. Also, the future of campaign structures is due to change as it won’t be about structuring by device or location anymore but there may be other aspects to separate out – only time will tell!

Keep an eye out for more on developing best practices for Enhanced Campaigns.

Phill Dangerfield

(Digital Marketing Manager)

Microsoft’s Socl: A New Marketing Opportunity?

Dave Bird — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:00:08 +0000

With the world of online marketing continuously expanding, businesses and individuals have more opportunities than ever to self-promote. Social media is one of the most common platforms used for marketing purposes, and Microsoft has given social networking fans another option by creating a new website called Socl. This visually explosive social network may be the latest and greatest in marketing and promotions.

Microsoft originally opened the website to strictly college students and Microsoft employees. However, anyone with a Facebook or Microsoft account can now register to use the network. This may be beneficial to those searching for a fresh, untainted marketing outlet. The features offered are comparable to Pinterest, but visitors can invite Facebook friends to use Socl, which integrates the networking aspect of social media.

What is Exactly is Socl?

Socl is essentially a collection of images, but it also includes front-page text, which gives the site an edge over Pinterest. The landing page is bursting with collages that combine the written word with multiple images. Because anyone can find content using the website’s Bing-integrated search option, Socl is a valuable marketing tool. The collection of photos paired with articles or short blurbs provides a visual that can instantly spark interest.

In order to create posts, users take various types of content from the Internet, including pictures, videos and links. The website displays a collage based on these selections. Complex combinations of articles, graphics and backlinks give users a powerful foundation for marketing themselves. Images and links to a company homepage send a strong and immediate message to potential clients.

Socl allows members to create personal profiles as well. This can also be highly beneficial to anyone using the network for marketing purposes. A profile page allows users to assemble an overview of their interests. This may include personal or professional interests. There is also a section that displays personal information, and users can also share which members they are following within the network.

Because Microsoft encourages Socl users to discover and explore interests through its search option, there are no limits for self-promoting. Using key phrases in content will prompt more views, and there are plenty of opportunities for members to find others with shared interests. Connecting with other Socl users means opening the door to loyal customers and increasing the amount of supporters an individual or business has.

When it comes to making connections, Socl provides several opportunities. Users can include hashtags with their content, and posts can be shared between members through the use of Interest Streams. If someone likes a particular post, he or she can comment on it, like it by clicking on an emoticon, or share related content. Users can also follow each other, which opens up even more opportunities for marketing.

Marketing

Microsoft Socl is an eye-catching frenzy of marketing potential. A constant stream of images, articles and videos gives users a unique experience in social networking. The website takes the best of all the current social media platforms and elevates each feature. Users do not even need to sign up in order to view the vast assortment of posts. When it comes to marketing, Socl may be a step ahead of the rest, giving users a speedier, more efficient way to interact and explore a large variety of topics.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Socl. Do you think it will be successful? and can you see it being used as an effective marketing tool?

Jump on Board the Mobile PPC Bandwagon Before it is too Late

Dave Bird — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:00:40 +0000

Mobile is becoming an increasingly powerful force in the world of internet marketing, including the pay-per-click arena. A number of advertisers are still not utilising the mobile market for their paid search efforts, and now more than ever it is time to jump on board the bandwagon.

Why Should I Advertise on Mobile?

Mobile phone providers are creating devices that are more and more intuitive and allowing users to do things quickly through the use of the browsers as well as using Apps. Users are able to shop and purchase through their smartphones with ease and so are beginning to turn to their mobile rather than logging on to a desktop. According to Google more searches will come from Mobiles rather than Desktops in 2013.

It is not only important to get your paid ads on to mobiles but your website must be optimised to be mobile-friendly else you will find that it may not produce a sufficient return. So what should we all be doing to run a successful mobile PPC campaign?

Steps to Take When Running a Mobile PPC Campaign:

Mobile-optimised Landing Pages/Site – it is vital that you send your traffic to a landing page or website that is optimised to work on mobile devices. Even better is to have a specific landing page or site that is purely for mobiles as this will increase the user experience.

Separate Campaign – be sure to create a brand new PPC campaign that is only targeted at Mobile devices. Users behave differently on mobiles than they do desktops and even on tablet devices, so these should always have their own campaign. That way you can understand what does and doesn’t work on each device.

Mobile-Specific Adverts – mobile PPC has its own set of rules when creating ad copy and optimising. It should include mobile-relevant call-to-actions (i.e. Call Now!) and utilise ‘click to call’ so that a user can make a call to you with one click. You can include offers with the ad that do not use up the character limit or even include your seller ratings alongside the ad, which can improve click-through rates and conversion rates. These things are important to remember because fewer ads are shown on mobiles than desktop searches, so you need to get your point across well and quickly.

Test, test and test again – the mobile market works differently than what you may have experienced with desktops so it is really important to keep testing ad copy, call-to-actions, extensions, landing pages, and bidding.

This is just a brief overview of why the time is now to get involved in PPC on mobile devices. We could go into stats and figures about the growing trends of mobile PPC but I thought it best to keep this simple and straightforward as an introductory piece.

Use the steps above to delve into mobile marketing and start making money from it before your competitors beat you to the punch!

Thanks for reading.

Phill Dangerfield

Digital Marketing Manager

Schema and Microdata as part of SEO

Dave Bird — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 09:00:01 +0000

Schema and microdata are tags that SEO consultants, content creators and webmasters can use to markup website pages in certain ways that assist search engines to better comprehend the relevance of information on page. The major search engines can also use the tags to provide richer search results, helping in their never ending goal to provide the most relevant search results to individual users.

Schema and microdata certainly have the ability to become an increasingly necessary part of SEO and many believe those that are already using the shared structured markup vocabulary may already be outranking other websites in competitive market niches.

One of the most visible benefits of including schema tags are the improved eye-catching rich snippets subsequently served up by search engines. These enhanced snippets offer attention-grabbing, colourful results that far better describe web page content by including images, stylised text, review stars and links. A vast improvement on the old text-based snippets.

Another example of the usefulness of schema data is so a web page may be included in the search filter display on the left side bar of many Google search result pages. Google offers dedicated search modes for food recipe schema records for example. This allows users to further filter search results by attribute values. Web pages that are not making use of structured data tagging would be left out of these results altogether.

We will certainly be including Schema and microdata analysis as part of our competitor analysis for our clients and recommending opportunities to include Schema and microdata markup when necessary for improved exposure in the search results.

Written by Dr Simon Griffin – Head of Digital Marketing, Webtistic – Follow me on twitter @WebtisticSi

What has 2013 got in store for SEO?

Dave Bird — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 09:00:03 +0000

I am sure you will agree, 2012 has been one of the most eventful years for changes in SEO. With over 35 Google algorithm updates, tweeks and changes listed on SEO Moz we have certainly been kept very busy. It’s been challenging, however we at Webtistic keep our finger firmly on the pulse and have adapted Digital Marketing strategies to suit our client’s individual needs.

So what do we think will happen in 2013? What follows is our short summary of what we think will influence our adapting strategies next year:

Mobile is growing fast

With the advent of 4G and sales of tablets and smart phones far exceeding expectations, the mobile market really is going to be bigger than ever next year. With 4G offering speeds, that in many cases are far faster than Wi-Fi connections, smart phones will come into their own. We are already seeing a steady increase in search traffic from mobile devices and this will only continue to rise in 2013.

Is your website mobile friendly? Is your Adwords campaign targeting mobile? It needs to be.

The Google Disavow tool

The impact of using the shiny new tool released by Google in 2012 has still to be fully realised. We expect that case studies will be released in 2013 that illustrate its usefulness. Watch this space for our case study!

Google will no doubt be crunching the data gleaned from the tool in 2013 and creating a black-list of poor quality sites that could further feed there algorithm updates. This will have the effect of devaluing certain links even more – Effectively weeding out more low quality thin content websites, in their continuing goal to return the highest quality relevant results to users.

Its not just SEO anymore – A compliment of Digital Marketing strategies is the requirement

The impact of numerous algorithm changes has also increased awareness of SEO for many businesses. What was once considered an afterthought is now very much a necessary part of the business plan for successful companies.

This means SEO will be an increasing entry into so many different disciplines under the digital marketing umbrella. We predict that 2013 will see SEO become even more sought after but at the same time there will be a growing understanding of what is required meaning “SEO Agencies” utilising, automated, outsourced, low quality out of date techniques will become a thing of the past.

“Not Provided” stated in referral data will continue to grow

Google told us back in 2011 that keyword referral data would no longer be available for search queries undertaken by users signed into Google. This has resulted in data being returned as “Not Provided”. This last year, Firefox 14 and iOS6 followed suit, meaning that in 2013 less and less keyword referral data will be available.

Google Chrome is fast becoming the most popular browser in the UK, iOS and Android are dominating the smartphone market, this will certainly result in a growth of “not provided” in results. By the end of 2013 it is likely that over half of keyword referral data will not be available for the majority of businesses.

Personalised Search takes hold

Returning personalised search results has always been important to Google as they strive to improve the quality and the relevancy of content for users. In early 2012, the launch of the Venice update to improve triggering of local results coupled with further integration of Google+ into the SERPs, resulted in a big leap forward to achieving Google’s goals.

Again, 2013 will see this impact grow, as more users sign up to Google services and make use of searching on mobile devices. The search results returned for one person will continue to be personalised and different for each individual.

We are prepared for more challenges ahead in 2013, however we are confident that we always respond to changes and deliver the highest quality bespoke digital marketing strategies for our clients by keeping a close eye on our results and the digital marketing community.

Wishing you a happy, healthy & prosperous 2013

Written by Dr Simon Griffin – Head of Digital Marketing, Webtistic – Follow me on twitter @WebtisticSi

My Predicted Social Media Trends for 2013

Dave Bird — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 09:30:08 +0000

Social media has been growing rapidly over the past years and 2012 highlighted the importance of social media for the growth of many businesses. Many customers are spending an increasing amount of time on social media platforms. So it’s important for businesses to realise this and to engage their customers and tap into these channels to stay up-to-date with any changes. Here is an overview of a few trends in 2012 and also a look into emerging trends in 2013.

Overview of Trends in 2012

Marketing Strategy

At the end of 2011 an emphasis was put on social media and strategy. It had become apparent that social media was growing quickly and the best way for businesses to stay on top was to incorporate social media into their marketing strategies. It was no good just having a Twitter account, but to plan and truly integrate the various channels and platforms together to create a coherent and effective marketing strategy. Utilising social media in this way has helped businesses to realise their potential customer reach and create new innovative methods to interact with their customers and potential customers. The U.S Presidential Elections this year was a good example of showing the growing influence of social media and illustrated real power social media can have.

Growth of Multimedia Social Platforms

As social media grew so did its uses. This year saw new social platforms emerge and existing platforms really started to flourish. It saw the growth of multimedia platforms such as Pinterest, Google+, Instagram and YouTube. This brought about a whole new dimension for some businesses, as it allowed them to reach out and express messages visually.

Real Time Marketing

As well as including social media in marketing strategies, 2012 saw the rise of improved customer service. Improved customer relations is always a winner, allowing your branch of customers to see you interacting and replying is a great way of showing you care as well as staying on trend. Even showing negative comments, if handled correctly, are a good way to build up a rapport with customers and show how reactive a business is to their customers.

Overview of Trends in 2012

• Smobile marketing (Social media mobile) was a trend that appeared this year and in my opinion it will boom in 2013. As social activity on mobiles has grown at a rapid rate, intelligent smobile advertising strategies are key for 2013. Facebook and Twitter are already using strategies like promotional tweets and sponsored stories to allow companies to be at the forefront of their customer base.

•Google have incorporated it into their algorithms and emphasised it long enough, content is king. This year will see the growth of quality content strategies which will offer an increasing amount of compelling content. Companies like Coca Cola and Oreo have created good content strategies allowing them to triumph.

•As social media grows so does the amount of public data available. Big brands are realising this and are taking advantage by tapping into where their customers are. This will show brands targeted information, allow them to create better products and give accurate predictions (e.g. future elections, weather, what food they like etc)

So although inevitable, it seems as though social media is developing and growing not only in size and depth but in sophistication and methods used. It has become a lot more in-depth and intelligent which in turn will mean that businesses and organisations will also have to keep up with it. Gone are the simple days of a straight forward SEO strategy based on keywords now is the generation of strategies, content and methods integrating to give a richer and complete marketing presence. Social media strategy has become a key part of many businesses and their marketing efforts and I feel that this will continue to grow and the level of importance will increase in the future. Over the next four months I will be keeping an eye on these trends with a follow up piece to see if these trends have taken off and to identify any other emerging trends. Thank you for reading, keep an eye out for my next instalment in 2013!

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year