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Chart of the Day: 39% of marketers don't think their organization's marketing strategy is effective

Having already looked at top priorities in organizations, marketing and sales priorities and challenges, it is now time to address whether above all else marketers feel marketing is effective. Seems ridiculous to think that marketers think marketing is not effective. Almost a whopping 4 in 10 (39%) of respondents believe that their organization's marketing strategy is not effective. This might be due to them not using and utilizing the correct marketing model that suits their business objectives and goals. You also need to integrate a variety of platforms to gain a wider audience reach, using just one model might not be effective.

Do you feel that your organization's marketing strategy is effective?

One respondent commented: The most disruptive force to affect my job in the next 3-5 years is the lack…

Marrying logic and magic pushes campaigns beyond the marketing noise

Today’s savvy consumers require authentic connections at precise points in the buying cycle. Brands that fail to consistently hit that mark will struggle to keep up. Instead of adding value, they end up just creating a busier, more confusing market. Finding these key points of connection requires you to get serious about data.

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Nevertheless, data without a vision is like a bad teacher just quoting the textbook: It’s all there, but there’s no meaningful connection. Additionally, bad data costs the typical company up to a fifth of its revenue each year. It takes a human vision…

Unless you have been marooned on a desert island, chances are you know what Artificial Intelligence (AI) is and have experienced the benefits of machine learning is having on customer experience and business operations

Despite being around for decades, AI is currently one of the most popular topics in business with Gartner predicting that by 2020 AI will be a top five investment priority for more than 20%  of CIOs. Join Joey Moore, Director of Product Marketing and Greg Moore, Manager for Personalisation and Campaign Strategy of Episerver for a practical webinar on The 3 key ways to improve the customer journey. AI is currently closing the gap between detecting patterns from large data sets and predicting intent (a role traditionally reserved for human marketers and merchandizers). AI-powered technologies are replacing the manual work traditionally completed by merchandizers to make product recommendations and marketers to make ad spend decisions. For…

The best digital marketing tips from 2017 at the 3XE conference

The 3XE Search – Digital Marketing Conference, was one out of a series of three educational conferences focused on different aspects of digital marketing. The event took place at Croke Park, Dublin, home to Gaelic Athletic Association, it provided an eye-catching and functional venue for the conference. Focusing specifically on Search marketing the day consisted of presentations from leading digital professionals from all over the world, broken up with selected workshops on how to plan and implement your digital marketing campaigns. The 3XE Digital series has grown massively over the last few years and has become a must-attend event for digital marketers. With a total of 15 presentations covering all elements of Search, the expert advice we picked up was second to none. A key theme throughout the day was the changing way in which consumers use search and the introduction of…

Most of these companies are dominating online, but where is all their traffic coming from?

Digital marketers, web specialists, and online-business owners alike have been seeking out digital solutions to serve their marketing needs for a long time now. Today, I’ll be diving into how some of the top marketing SaaS companies drive online growth. Specifically, I’ll be examining their sources of traffic. What makes this study interesting is that it will challenge each company's product offering. Each of the 100 companies that I included falls into a certain category such as SEO, social media, content marketing, web analytics, etc. Are these companies “eating their own dog food” or do they talk a big game about the benefits of their product without leveraging the “benefits” themselves?

Let’s break down how the study was done

First, I set out to collect 100 websites that fall into the marketing SaaS company category. Using both Alexa and Similar Web…

Real change management requires more than just changing behavior — it’s dependent upon the critical process of changing the work environment to foster this behavior

At one time or another most companies will be challenged with overcoming a period of slow sales and growth. When companies are operating in a deficit the effects on its people as well as the business as a whole can be dramatic. Fear of redundancy, wage cuts and simply having to do more with less are all common challenges for employees that can lead to high levels of stress and anxiety. This physical and psychological trauma can prove to be especially problematic as employees operating at capacity for unhealthy periods of time become burnt-out affecting their ability to make good decisions. Mistakes can lead to tensions between teams, bringing people into regular conflict and contributing towards…

What are the next big changes to digital that will affect digital marketing strategies in 2018?

Recently on behalf of Smart Insights, I gazed into the crystal ball to forecast some marketing and branding trends for 2018. In this article, I am going to concentrate on five digital aspects which I believe will, in some way or other, affect just about everyone next year.

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To being with, as this chart by Smart Insights, in collaboration with TFM, demonstrates, more businesses than ever are putting digital transformation programmes in place. Yet still, according to Smart Insights, some 50% of businesses don't have an integrated Digital Marketing Strategy. For more trends covering how to integrate digital media and technology to increase the contribution of digital marketing…

Social media is more popular but less effective than PPC for B2B companies

If you're a B2B marketer wondering how to get ahead in the digital arena, you might be frustrated with the lack of statistics available about B2B marketing. While the web is rife with stats on the latest B2C trends, B2B marketers often struggle to find data which can influence their digital strategies. Bubblegum Search have created an infographic that highlights some of the most vital B2B statistics in 2017 and has some fantastic insights which can translate into actionable strategies for B2B marketers. Let's look at three important takeaways that demonstrate key gaps and opportunities in B2B marketing.

1. Twitter is an effective platform for 55% of B2B marketers

51% also report that they have great success with YouTube, and even Instagram is proving effective in generating B2B interactions. LinkedIn just takes the lead with 66% reporting success, which isn't…

Interview: Roberto Abbondio, Managing Director of Eurostar

We spoke to Roberto Abbondio, MD New Digital Business of Eurostar, to find out how they plan, optimize and manage their digital transformation and long-term marketing strategy. Roberto is one of many senior keynote speakers at Digistrategy 2017, London on December 14th.  Roberto joined Eurostar in 2017. As MD New Digital Business, he is in charge of strategic projects aimed at engaging the customer with innovative and relevant ancillary propositions. Roberto joined from Cathay Pacific where he served as Managing Director Cathay Pacific Holidays in Hong Kong, leading its transition to a modern digitalised one-stop shop for the airline. Prior to that he was part of the start-up of Hostelbookers.com and he worked for Expedia as Business Development Director for their b2b division, based in Paris. In his early career, after his Political Economics degree at Bocconi in Milan, Roberto covered various roles at British Airways,…

Seven predictions to act on for your future marketing plans

The start of 2018 is in sight, So, it’s the start of seasonal predictions about the forthcoming year’s marketing and branding trends. In this article, I gaze into the crystal ball to make seven predictions relating to 2018’s marketing trends. These cover trends in audience engagement, branding and advertising. For more coverage of digital marketing, see Dave Chaffey’s Marketing trends 2018 article .

Prediction 1: Personalisation gets even more savvy

Marketers have long understood that consumers are preoccupied with one question: “what’s in it for me”?  Accordingly, personalization through the use of big data has become one of sales and marketing’s important campaign considerations. [caption id="attachment_96564" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Stub Hub lists all my favourite artists and venues first[/caption] For example, StubHub, an online ticket exchange operated by eBay, reported a 42% improvement with a personalized call…