JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, has successfully won a contract with foodora, who are part of Delivery Hero, the world’s leading local delivery platform.

The project is focused on the foodora brand, promoting their culture, history and future through the stories of over a dozen long standing employees.

Filming is taking place across eight European countries including Finland, Norway, Slovakia and Austria.

“International travel was off the cards for so long and it’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to get back in the air again with a new client, exposing our productions and our team to other cultures” said Adam Millbank, Director at JonesMillbank.

“The project is benefiting from us doing what we do best; telling the individual stories of people from different walks of life, heritages and backgrounds with authenticity.”

Russell Jones, Director at JonesMillbank added: “We’re conscious of the environmental impact of all our productions, let alone ones that require multiple flights and cross-border trains. The nature of this project needed a travelling crew and we’ll be offsetting our impact via our friends at Ecologi.”

Delivery Hero operates its service in over 70 countries across Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. 

The company started as a food delivery service in 2011 and today runs its own delivery platform on four continents. Additionally, Delivery Hero is pioneering quick commerce, the next generation of e-commerce, aiming to bring groceries and household goods to customers in under one hour and often in 20 to 30 minutes. 

Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Delivery Hero has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 2017 and is now part of the MDAX stock market index. 

For more information, please visit www.deliveryhero.com.

***

JonesMillbank are a full-service video production company.

They work in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, telling authentic stories for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, IDLES, NHS England, The Royal Mint and Battersea.

jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
[email protected]

JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, has successfully won a contract with University of Southampton to produce their flagship undergraduate campaign video.

The multi-channel campaign will launch ahead of the University’s 2024 recruitment campaign, bolstering and highlighting their existing reputation and global rankings.

JonesMillbank were invited to a competitive pitch for the opportunity, reflecting their growing experience, insight and reputation in the higher education sector. They join existing clients including the University’s of Bristol, Exeter, Winchester and Central Lancashire.

“We’ve worked in the education sector since day one and we absolutely love working with universities; the challenge of engaging and communicating with an ever-changing, dynamic audience is one our strategists and creatives relish” said Russell Jones, Director at JonesMillbank.

“University of Southampton chose us for our bold, creative and impactful concept, and we’re incredibly excited to be given the opportunity to bring it to life.”

University of Southampton is one of the world’s leading universities, placed in the top 100 universities globally in QS World rankings. They are also a founding member of the Russell Group, an organisation of 24 top UK universities committed to maintaining the highest research and teaching standards.

***

JonesMillbank are a full-service video production company.

They work in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, telling authentic stories for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, IDLES, NHS England, The Royal Mint and Battersea.

jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
[email protected]

Bristol-based creative business collective Istoria Group has launched a competition to find a regional, women-owned Micro Business to support as part of its Incubator Hub programme, whereby Istoria Group houses and helps guide fledgling businesses during their initial period of development. The winner will be selected from applications received online, with the launch of the initiative timed to coincide with International Women’s Day 2023.

The lucky winning business will receive rent-free office space for up to four people for a 6-month period at Istoria Group’s Bristol Paintworks HQ, starting 1 June 2023, as well as a free website design and build, a brand critique/refresh and mentorship from the Group’s Chairwoman and Heads of Finance, Marketing and PR.

Lindie Kramers, Chief Marketing Officer for Istoria Group, commented: ‘As a women-owned SME, we’re actively seeking to support another female-founded business in our region. We want to be as inclusive as possible in our search for the right Micro Business and would particularly welcome applications from traditionally under-represented communities in business, whether by age, class or ethnicity, to help promote social mobility and counter current imbalances in opportunity and representation.’

To help target its search, Istoria Group is working with the support two established local organisations – Black South West Network (BSWN) and Babbasa – to help spread the word and make sure new of the competition offer reaches as diverse and inclusive an audience as possible in the region.

Sibusiso Tshabalala, Business Support Coordinator, Black South West Network, commented ‘If the Creative Industries were as socio-economically diverse as the wider economy, the sector could provide employment opportunities to an additional 263,200 working-class individuals. However, the lack of diversity in the industry remains a challenge. Fortunately, creative agencies like Istoria Group are working selflessly and consciously to diversify the industry. Initiatives like theirs are particularly crucial in areas like the South West, which lack representation in the creative sector. By supporting minority-led agencies, we can foster the growth of diverse creative content that is relevant and engaging to both the local community and beyond.’

Matt Rogers, Head of Development at Babbasa, added: ‘Many of the young people Babbasa supports are interested in entrepreneurship, and starting their own business is a key way for many young people to access an income that enables them to thrive. We’re pleased to support this fantastic opportunity.’

The winning applicant / business will be selected by a team of five judges:

Sam Rowe, CEO, Istoria Group
Lindie Kramers,
CMO, Istoria Group
Sibusiso Tshabalala,
Business Support Coordinator, BSWN
Matt Rogers, Head of Development, Babbasa
Cecilia Thirlway,
Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship,
Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, University of Bristol

About The Incubator Hub:

The Incubator Hub idea arises out of Istoria Group’s dedication to start-up entrepreneurialism and business mentorship. The Incubator Hub was set up to house and help guide small businesses until they mature and, to date, Istoria Group has successfully helped to grow and ‘hatch’ two Incubator Hub companies: children’s book publishers i am a bookwormhttps://www.iamabookworm.co.uk/ and innovation platform Solverboard, which was purchased in Summer 22 by AIM-listed technology and innovation experts Sopheon (and now rebranded as ‘Acclaim Ideas’) – https://www.sopheon.com/products/acclaimideas

The focus on micro-businesses this time around was inspired by an article on the International Women’s Day’s 2022 website, which noted how often women have a particular gift for spotting opportunity-based gaps in the market for products and services, but how, through lack of capital – which is often generationally-available, gender-biased and slow to adapt to contemporary needs – women often start small, which makes micro-businesses a great area to focus on to aid and encourage new business growth.

Details of Offer:

Istoria Group is offering the competition-winning business free and self-contained office space on the mezzanine level of its Bristol Paintworks HQ for 1-4 people, with dedicated toilets and access to all shared office facilities, from a kitchen to bookable meeting rooms, as well as free electricity and WiFi, for a six-month period from 1 June – 30 November 2023.

Istoria Group is additionally offering mentorship and in-house creative services as follows:

How to Apply:

Applicants can be a business in any market and at any stage of early growth, as long as female-founded and based in Bristol or the South-West region.

The deadline for applications is midnight on Wednesday 19 April 2023 and the simple application form can be found at: www.istoriagroup.com/micro-business-competition-2023

Istoria Group, which last year became a B Corp, says applicants should ideally share at least some of its corporate values, which include the EPIC values (entrepreneurial, personable, intelligent and collaborative), as well as standing for the inclusive and ethical treatment of staff; innovation in business; a strong commitment to sustainability and creative re-use and a commitment to the local Bristol region and economy.

What is a Micro Business?

In the UK, a micro business is defined by Companies House as a business of 1-9 employees, with turnover of less than £632,000 and £316,000 or less on its balance sheet.

 

Having just wrapped up my exit from the agency I founded 12 years ago and moved into the consulting world, I’ve had a little time for reflection recently. As I was recalling some of the clients I’ve worked with over the 25 odd years since I set up my first agency, and how marketing has changed so dramatically in so many ways, and yet in others, nothing’s really changed at all.

Firstly, for younger readers (let’s face it, that’s virtually everyone) lets just set the scene. Yes, we did have colour televisions back then. And no, trains weren’t all steam powered. But, here’s a shocker for you – we used to design on a computer which had an 800MB (that’s MB not GB) hard drive and 16MB of RAM. Then we’d save our work onto a 1.44MB floppy disk and send it via courier to a reprographic studio where they would produce a set of negatives. They would be sent back to us so we could clip the four colour separations to a light box and check the alignment was correct. Then another courier would arrive to deliver them to the printer (or newspaper/magazine in the case of an advert).

There was no such thing as digital marketing – no SEO, PPC, social media etc. – so you could be forgiven for thinking that everything is now totally and utterly different. And in some ways, of course, you’d be right. The Internet, social media and a million different marketing technology solutions have revolutionised the way we do things.

Our ability to track what we do, and use data to measure results and optimise performance, is probably the biggest shift from when I started.

But in other ways – i.e. the fundamental principles of marketing – things really never change. And I think that, as marketers in a digital age, we sometimes need reminding of the basics. We’re very quick to jump on new and shiny things but, occasionally, we’re just as quick to forget the fundamentals.

Ignoring my pet subject of ‘content marketing’ and when it was invented – I’m pretty sure people have been doing it for a very long time before digital came along – here are a few quick examples to get you thinking…

1) Right message, right audience, right channel, right time

It’s not rocket science… break down your audience into segments or personas and understand what makes them tick. Identify the right messages for each target group, and present it to that audience via a channel they actually use at the best time.

Back in the days before digital, how did we put together a marketing strategy? Well here’s what we didn’t do… start with a list of popular magazines, newspapers, radio and TV stations, throw in some outdoor advertising close to busy roads, and scatter the budget evenly between them (please tell me that’s not how you did it!).

But essentially that’s exactly what some companies do with the digital channels that are available today. Just because we have more ‘cool stuff’ available to us, doesn’t mean we have to use it all!

I visited a potential new client a while back, and the MD asked me, “You’ve had a look at our social media – can you tell us why our Facebook page isn’t performing well?” To which I replied, “Only if you can tell me why you have a Facebook page in the first place!”

2) Blinded by technology

The advancement of technology is relentless. But, again, just because they’ve built it, doesn’t mean you have to find a way to use it! Over the years I’ve witnessed a repeating theme of companies embracing new technology because they saw something cool, got over excited and didn’t properly evaluate their actual requirements, and what benefit they would derive from the tech.

In other words, they didn’t have a requirement and then go out and find the technology that would help them achieve their goals. Instead they reverse engineered ways they could use the technology they’d been blinded by. In many instances this resulted in them tying up time and money delivering ‘nice to have’ functions at the expense of ‘must have’ functions.

Back in the day, I had clients wanting a website at a time when literally none of their target audience would have had access to the Internet, but they didn’t have the budget to advertise in a newspaper supplement that would be read by several hundred thousand of their exact targets.

I’ve met several companies recently who have signed up to one of the all-singing, all-dancing inbound marketing software solutions or social media planning/scheduling tools at substantial cost to their business, only to realise that the platform relies on content to feed the entire process – something they’d overlooked completely – so they find themselves grinding to a halt.

3) Authentic communications

One of my first clients owned a massive multi-storey department store in a pretty dodgy part of town which sold everything under the sun, from furniture to clothes and any other random job lots he’d picked up from the back of a lorry, I suspect.

Yet he was determined that his advertising presented a different image . His ads set an expectation of something closer to Harrods than Poundland. His definition of marketing was basically a technique he could use to con people into visiting his store who would never, ever normally shop there.

Because of this he was attracting customers, but totally the wrong type. Footfall wasn’t converting into sales – possibly because they were too busy trying to keep one eye on their cars to make sure they were still parked outside and had all four wheels intact.

Today is no different. Marketers have never been under so much pressure to deliver numbers: traffic to the website, more likes or followers on social media, and so on. There are so many tricks and techniques for getting those numbers, but traffic for traffic’s sake can actually do more harm than good.

At a time when authenticity (especially in the context of social and influencer marketing) is on everyone’s lips, it’s never been more important to understand your brand, and what it actually is, rather than what you’d like it to be, and carefully match your communications to your audience. You’ve worked so hard to get them to interact in some way with you – don’t let them down.

4) The power of recommendations and Influencer Marketing

Recommendations and reviews weren’t invented for the Internet. Testimonials have always been powerful in marketing. Before the Internet, if you needed a plumber, or the roof fixing, what did you do? You may have used a directory like Yellow Pages, but you’d probably also ask around. Has a neighbour, friend or family member used someone that they can recommend? Building in testimonials and proactively driving recommendations and referrals has always been one of the first things I’ve tried to introduce into my clients’ marketing material.

Back in 1994 we engaged a well-known cricketer to be a brand ambassador for a client. He turned up at events, and we produced a range of marketing material which featured him and the client’s product in ways that felt less like an advert and more educational. We leveraged his large fan base and trusted position to introduce our client’s product to a wider audience and make it instantly credible by association. Sound familiar?

5) Tell your story

Another buzzword hijacked by digital/content marketing in recent years is ‘storytelling’. I read an article last week in a reputable marketing publication, which started with this sentence: ‘Brand storytelling is gaining momentum in the marketing world, and with good reason.’

The same article then went on to define brand storytelling as: “Using a narrative to connect your brand to customers, with a focus on linking what you stand for to the values you share with your customers.”

Um… correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that marketing principle isn’t just starting to ‘gain momentum’ in 2018!

So, a quarter of a century on, has marketing itself actually changed, or do we just have new and evolving tools available to us?

And do they always help us to do our jobs better, or are they sometimes a distraction that stop us doing the simple things well?

Everyone is now aware that the best way to stand out online is through digital marketing. Businesses are looking for the newest search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques as we enter 2023.

The most important SEO components are still in place. Your starting point should still be keywords, SEO backlinks, meta tags, and organic content marketing.

We’ll talk about five SEO trends you should include in your continuing marketing plan. To find out more about them and how they may help your business, keep reading:

1. Knowledge, authority, and trustworthiness are the driving forces behind SEO trends

Do you know about Google’s EAT? It reflects how Google evaluates the information on your page. The days of creating a website and using unethical SEO methods to rank in search results are long gone.

Google now expects your website content to demonstrate your subject-matter expertise. In blogs and other written and visual content, it searches for authoritative voices. Finally, it wants to make sure you can be trusted to deliver the good or service you promise.

Although EAT is not brand-new, it is evolving into a potent tool for promoting trustworthy websites.

2. Increase Content

In SEO trends, long-form content is reemerging. People seek out informative and interesting content of high calibre. Provide useful information on your website if you want visitors to stay there longer.

Strong writers that can write about your products, services, and industry news should be part of your business SEO strategy. Make sure the content is simple to share on social media and via email.

3. Get Filming Content

The popularity of video is growing. Many entrepreneurs are using the camera to promote their brands today. That is a fantastic business SEO strategy that will develop further.

In several marketing sectors, video advertising is taking the place of television advertising. Also, there are social networking and streaming services with business plans where you can monetise your video output.

4. Improve Your Experience Using Mobile

Around 3.7 billion people will use smartphones to access the internet by 2025. Websites must be responsive to mobile devices and mobile-friendly. Following SEO trends involves replicating the user experience that users have on desktops and laptops.

To assist businesses in evaluating the effectiveness of their business SEO, Google provides a mobile usability report.

5. Get used to AI

The way we communicate online is changing as a result of artificial intelligence. If you want to enhance interaction with your digital marketing, you’ll need it for business SEO.

Examining the following AI SEO trends will help you achieve better results:

All three contribute to strengthening connections with present and potential clients. Business SEO should employ AI to enhance their outcomes, much like search engines do.

Get the New Year Started Properly!

You’ll be well on your way to a successful new year if you implement these SEO trends. Keep in mind that consistency is crucial. Keep your website and social media current by providing new information often.

Do you want to learn more about SEO?  Check out the services BrisTechTonic Bristol SEO Company has to offer.

The number of start-ups, consultancies, and platforms that help companies on their ESG journeys has increased dramatically in recent years.

Determining which service is best for you as an SME can be extremely overwhelming if you don’t have a committed team to focus on these challenges. Big issues like environmental issues, governance factors and inclusion and diversity can take up lots of time.

As a PR consultancy, we’ve been trying to work through this landscape for our own activities, as well as aiding our clients through the same process. We want to share what we’ve discovered thus far.

When it comes to ESG and sustainability PR, it’s of paramount importance for your communications around these topics to be founded on genuine data and concrete commitments.

ESG for SMEs

ESG strategies are still in their beginnings for the majority of businesses. Using data from an ESG survey or materiality assessment, or setting up sustainability software can be a challenge without professional help.

It’s key to research the top ESG platforms for SMEs, learn what each one offers and consider what you should think about when making your choice. There isn’t a fix that works for everyone. Engaging a specialist firm to create an ESG roadmap may be the appropriate first step for larger SMEs with a complex supply chain or stakeholder network.

Becoming a sustainable business

Choosing to invest in a platform in your ESG strategy, such as those covered here, can have clear benefits for your company in a number of ways, including data collecting, improving sustainability reporting standards, risk management, sustainability education, staff engagement, and many more.

It is difficult to classify these platforms, as they offer various services. This is a quickly changing and dynamic market, with everything from employee participation to carbon footprint estimates, and product surplus distribution to sustainability issues.

Discover a selection of sustainability software providers and ESG platforms that may benefit your ESG operations below.

Spherics

A startup situated in Bristol, Spherics, assists SMEs in comprehending their supply chains’ and their own carbon emissions. The application uses what is referred to as a “spend analysis” to establish your carbon impact and interfaces with the accounting software used by businesses.

This procedure is appropriate for smaller companies to follow and complies with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It might be difficult to manage the necessary data collection without a committed sustainability staff. Therefore, it’s essential to use an automated system like Spherics to construct a footprint and access recommendations for emissions reductions.

Data collection is paramount to be able to have the right conversations about sustainability with your stakeholders.

Ecologi

Ecologi began as a platform dedicated to assisting individuals in making a positive effect on the environment. Ecologi customers may do their part to protect the environment by using carbon reduction strategies and encouraging tree planting.

Since then, the company has developed and is now able to provide both global corporations and small and medium-sized companies with solutions. A Climate Positive Workforce solution, which aims to involve employees in carbon reduction, is an option for businesses.

Ecologi also introduced Ecologi Zero this year, which is designed specifically for small and medium-sized companies. The platform, like Spherics, enables data collecting, interfaces with accounting software used by companies, and helps carbon footprint creation and development. The technology, which is presently under beta testing, will be compliant with industry-leading standards for carbon reporting and target-setting.

Additionally, Ecologi Zero will work to keep expenses down for SMEs by offering a free option.

Giki Zero

Giki, which stands for “Get informed, know your impact,” strongly emphasises knowledge in all of its offerings. Displaying your individual carbon emissions and offering advice can help you perform better and achieve your personal and professional ESG goals. The main platform has been created to support change on a smaller scale for customers.

Giki Zero Pro is all about increasing employee engagement for businesses. Additionally, this sustainability software creates statistics that companies may utilise to show their dedication to ethical environmental policies. This website demonstrates that ESG good practices do not have to be dull or reserved for senior management by using behavioural insights from study findings to ensure the sustainability journey for employees is interesting and enjoyable.

Eevery

With the use of the data platform, Eevery, small businesses can be given the tools they need to enhance their performance in governance, economics, and the environment.

The creators of Eevery recognised that while SMEs are frequently dedicated to enhancing their ESG efficiency, they frequently lack the capacity and ability to comprehend intricate frameworks like the GRI standards or the EU Taxonomy.

Users then enter non-financial information regarding their ESG performance and influence on Eevery. After that, they get templates, advice on where to make improvements, a reporting dashboard, and other things.

Neighbourly

The main principle behind Neighbourly is that local transformation leads to global change. Companies can join Neighbourly and offer money, employee time, or surplus items. Then, these resources are directed toward the areas of the neighbourhood that most urgently require them.

The platform enhances transparency and aids ESG reporting in addition to ensuring donations and support get directly to communities in need. The specific results of the involvement, such as the number of meals donated, the amount of CO2 associated with avoided food waste, or the number of volunteer hours provided, are fed into ESG data tools by the Neighbourly web platform. The portal offers public case studies in addition to statistics, allowing businesses to showcase their influence.

YouDoo

Another startup is prioritising local action is YouDoo. Six areas are used to break down sustainable living into manageable steps: voice, food, use less, travel, home, and money.

While the platform is focused on individual actions to progress towards a more sustainable world, there are lots of tips and approaches that can be used in business ESG strategy too. By spotlighting local projects, suppliers and opportunities to get involved, YouDoo also helps keep value and investment in the local community.

Couch to Carbon Zero

The team behind the Couch to Carbon Zero, Every One of Us, wants to empower employees and assist organisations in creating a workforce that is climate-positive rather than serving as a provider of sustainability software or ESG data. Like some of the other platforms on this list, they offer a fund to promote neighbourhood grassroots initiatives.

Getting started with your ESG strategy

ESG data, sustainability research and reporting, and platforms for responsible business operations are much more than just financial data and ESG disclosures. There are several methods for smaller businesses to obtain accessible support for your strategy, whether you’re striving for net zero or seeking to reopen the dialogue about sustainability with coworkers, it’s possible.

Problem 

HTML rendering in email clients is widely inconsistent. This is due to various factors including the level of support for different HTML and CSS features, how different email clients handle unsupported features and even how they embed the HTML email message within the email client user interface. In addition to the email-specific factors, there are cross-browser compatibility considerations that must be taken into account. In fact, this goes beyond web browsers because the Outlook Windows and Windows Mail desktop apps still use Microsoft Word as a rendering engine – and not a web browser engine! 

Setting the right goals 

Consistent HTML rendering across email clients and presenting your brand message in an identical way regardless of the email client used to view it is not a bad thought, but given the factors listed above it is not an attainable goal. 

A more achievable and impactful goal is sending emails that are consistently usable, accessible and at minimum presentable and responsive while communicating the same message without sacrificing the brand image. At Flourish we believe this approach is more effective in achieving our clients’ ultimate goals from their CRM communications.  

Approach 

Ensuring the recipient can access and consume the contents of the email and interact with it (where applicable) whilst ensuring the email remains presentable across all relevant email clients is a big technical challenge.  

Accessibility 

Building HTML emails that are accessible to as many people (disabled or not) as possible is a major goal for all emails we build. The target audience here is literally everyone. This includes people who need to use assistive technology to access the content and those who use it to make the consumption of content a lot easier. It includes who need to rely on software to translate the content and those who must use alternative input devices to navigate. 

With this mindset we write code that heroes the content semantically and visually. We collaboratively work with our designers to ensure a high level of readability, sufficient colour contrast and sensible dark mode choices. 

Progressive enhancement 

This is why we take a progressive enhancement approach in which we first build the HTML email with the minimum needed to render semi-consistently across email clients and a big focus on keeping the content accessible. Then we progressively enhance that minimum baseline HTML with fancier nice-to-have features. These features are implemented in a way that if not rendered by the email client, they would not break that baseline HTML. 

In some cases, we may have multiple levels of progressive enhancements. For example, a coloured gradient can be rendered as a solid colour in some email clients, a static background image in some or from a programmatically generated image with CSS.  

The above example revolves around aesthetics only – which can be important to maintain the sender’s brand image. However, there are also cases where multiple levels of progressive enhancements are needed to ensure the email’s contents remain accessible and useful to the recipient. Due to the limited feature detection techniques in email land, this is when we utilise email client targeting techniques to fine-tune rendering with greater care for specific email clients that are relevant to the sender’s audience. Making data-backed decisions here can essentially guide our team to focus on what is important to our clients’ unique audiences. 

Optimise for the unhappy path 

When viewing a HTML email, there are two distinct states. The first is when the message is displayed with all external resources such as images and web fonts – which is what everyone optimises for. However, we don’t believe it is enough to solely rely on the happy path, so we pay attention to the second state: when a user disables the download of external resources. This can involve styling the alternative text for images appropriately which would typically be hidden and ensuring the content remains as accessible as possible. 

Forfeiting control, intelligently 

Due to the limited support of many HTML and CSS features in email, it is not always possible to control how things are rendered in all situations. For example, it is not possible to render dark mode styles in some email clients that have auto dark mode conversions such as Gmail. This does not mean we simply forfeit full control. Instead, we make intelligent choices to ensure the email still renders well in dark mode. This may involve collaborating with designers to tweak some colours and use images that render well in both light and dark modes. 

Performance 

Unlike the web, performance, in relation to rendering and page load time, is not a widely discussed topic in email. On a normal web page when displaying a single image, it is possible to provide the browser with several versions of the same image for different screen sizes and display densities. You can explicitly tell the browser which version to use for which environment, or you can provide it with the information needed for it to pick the appropriate version on its own. This way the user doesn’t download a 4K quality image when they are on a display incapable of displaying the image at that quality. 

This is not possible in most major email clients. This is why a balance between performance and quality is needed and may take additional considerations in email. Defaulting to retina quality images (suitable for high density pixel display) is a common practice. It is vital that images are properly compressed and are saved in the most appropriate format for the image type. 

When a single high-quality image is used for all environments and screen sizes, image rendering can be slow in some cases. This can potentially cause vertical content layout shifts. We can enhance the image loading experience by telling the browser to maintain the aspect ratio of the image even before it loads. This approach does not break the responsiveness of the email. 

About the Author: 

Hussein Alhammad is Lead Developer at Flourish and a founding member of the Email Markup Consortium (EMC), a community-led group of industry professionals working to improve the email experience for everyone. For Hussein, developing is not a profession but an art form and he’s passionate about pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with code. 

Need help ensuring your emails are reaching the right audience, with the right message, at the right time? Get in touch with the friendly experts at Flourish Customer Journey Marketing.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of raising a website’s visibility and position in search engine results pages (SERPs). Several factors influence how well a website performs in search engine results, but three main factors—on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO—are viewed as being the most important.

On Page SEO

Enhancing a website’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags for search engines is known as on-page SEO. On-page SEO is to make a website’s content relevant, beneficial, and understandable for both users and search engines. This entails making the website’s content keyword-optimised, user-friendly, and simple to navigate, as well as making sure that it runs swiftly on mobile devices.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to factors such as the quantity and quality of links pointing to a website, its social media presence, and its reputation online that are out of the website’s control. By building links, off-page SEO seeks to increase the website’s visibility and authority in the eyes of search engines. To do this, you need to build reputable backlinks from other websites, market on social media, and build a strong online reputation through user reviews and referrals.

Technical SEO

Technical aspects of a website that may affect its visibility and positioning in search engine results pages are referred to as “technical SEO.” This includes topics like website architecture, security, and performance. Technical SEO seeks to make sure that a website is free of any errors or issues that could negatively affect its visibility and ranking as well as that it is easy for search engines to crawl and index. Making the website’s code and structure more effective, making sure it is swift and responsive, and making sure it is secure from viruses or hacking attempts are all examples of this.

To Summarise

In conclusion, the three fundamental types of SEO are technical, on-page, and off-page. Using on-page SEO, the website’s content is enhanced, making it more user- and search engine-friendly. Off-page SEO raises visibility and authority by constructing backlinks and engaging in social media marketing. A website’s technical optimisation helps make it error-free and straightforward for search engines to crawl and index. This is done with the help of technical SEO.

It’s crucial to remember that SEO requires ongoing work and cannot be finished once and then neglected. To maintain and improve a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages, it’s critical to continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve that website’s SEO performance. It’s also essential to keep up with the most recent trends and algorithms if you want to compete in the search engine results pages. Best practises for SEO are constantly evolving.

Finally…

Any strategy for internet marketing must include SEO. By focusing on the three main SEO areas, website owners can improve their website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages as well as draw in more relevant visitors. With the right strategy and persistent effort, SEO could help to increase website traffic, leads, and ultimately money.

 

Want to learn more about SEO? Check out the services BrisTechTonic, a Bristol SEO Company, has to offer.

 

Like many businesses, Stuff has been through a lot of changes over the last couple of years. And this has led us to carefully consider the best way forward for the agency.

We’ve seen a shift in the way clients work with creative agencies, with an increased demand for creative support and expertise and a reduced desire for account management.

That’s why we’ve restructured and gone back to our roots as a creatively owned and creatively led studio.

Our clients still get the great service they are used to, but they’ll be dealing directly with the people that ‘do’.

We believe this creates stronger relationships, which leads to better work and ultimately, better value.

Our ethos is simple – We get creative stuff done.

Our friendly team of hard working specialists use our creative and strategic skills to help brands shine brighter and make our clients’ lives easier.

 

We work across the three core areas behind all successful brand communications – strategy, development and delivery.

Whether we’re creating a new brand from scratch, refreshing an existing one or delivering tactical campaigns and assets, our pragmatic approach provides realistic solutions with minimum fuss.

You can find out more by visiting our new website – https://wearestuff.studio/

Mr B & Friends has created a future-focused new brand and website for digital learning provider, Sponge.

Sponge provides workplace learning for companies across the globe. They had a strong reputation in the industry for highly creative, cutting-edge bespoke learning content but, following a series of acquisitions, they needed a way to combine a broader range of product and service offerings. Sponge were looking for one compelling proposition that would resonate with a diverse audience set whilst retaining their strong brand positioning. Following a series of acquisitions to grow their portfolio of products, the company was poised for growth and needed a strong proposition to take them to the next stage.

Mr B & Friends conducted research with customers and colleagues to understand the true benefit that Sponge delivered. From here, the agency created an Organising Thought of ‘Unforgettable learning’. Combining an understanding of the way that humans absorb information, with data science and excellence in technology delivery, Sponge engages learners in a way that makes the subject stick.

The brand has been brought to life through a new identity that combines the magic of Sponge’s creative solutions with the logic of intelligence and use of learning science to optimise learning. This emerges through the colour palette – warm, earthy tones for logic, fused with vibrant colours for magic and ever-changing shapes that collide for unexpected effect.

Nathan Crosby, Associate Creative Director at Mr B & Friends, says, “The combination of magic with logic were at the crux of our creative approach. Sponge offers more than a learning platform – they use innate understanding of how humans learn with engaging solutions. We wanted to make sure this balance of cleverness and creativity was apparent.”

The website has a straightforward, easy to navigate interface. Key benefits are called out with opportunities to learn more at intervals throughout. Relatable examples from big name brands demonstrate expertise and impact without intimidating.

In addition to providing a dynamic new brand for customers, the transformation has also become a focal point to bring together the global Sponge team, providing them with one purpose and a unified culture.

Gareth Atkinson, Associate Strategy Director at Mr B & Friends says, “From our first contact with the team at Sponge we could see the value in their category leading approach. Combining creative excellence and learning science, with the support of technology innovation, delivers the holy grail of learning. The one thing their clients need; learning that works. Cutting through the noise and jargon of the category with a clear and relatable promise, positioning Sponge for their next phase of growth as a brand-led business. It was a delight to work with such a focused and ambitious team to help them bring their vision to life.”

Olivia Haywood, Chief Marketing Officer at Sponge says, “Throughout this process, we were determined to make a clear statement to the industry that, even as Sponge grows, our core ambition of creating innovative and visionary workplace learning is stronger than ever. From the start, Mr B & Friends were fellow visionaries: we just clicked. They were true strategic partners, guiding our decisions with creative integrity to ensure we never strayed from this path and, ultimately, delivering a great result.”