JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, is now a Certified B Corp.
They join a growing community who are leading a global movement that makes business a force for good.
And Bristol is gaining pace, with over 70 companies from Ecologi to Triodos Bank, Too Good To Go, Psychopomp and Sawday’s inspiring change.
JonesMillbank have achieved a score of 94.7, but like all B Corps, certification is just the start of the journey.
“We’re incredibly proud to be a Certified B Corp, which recognises our ethos and all the work we’ve done to date. But we’re excited about how the certification will inspire us and our team to do more” said Russell Jones, Co-Founder at JonesMillbank.
“And there’s a huge opportunity for improvement. With the opening of our new TV and film studio, Nine Tree Studios, we’ll have more space and resources to support Bristol’s community, from internships to pro-bono hire, creative industry support, and event hosting.”
Nine Tree Studios will host this month’s Purpose in Practice event, run by Assembly, featuring Adam Millbank, Co-Founder of JonesMillbank, as guest speaker.
Of the B Corp Certification, Adam said “We’ve always aspired to leave a positive lasting impression on everyone we encounter. It’s been part of our culture throughout our journey. Being part of the B Corp community further amplifies this goal and will ensure the company will always balance its financial goals with true positive purpose”.
JonesMillbank commenced their B Corp journey in November 2019, and part of their certification recognises their support for impactful businesses, including over 50 education institutions and numerous charities and public sector organisations.
For more information and to start your own B Corp journey, visit www.bcorporation.net.
***
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]
We’re all a little bit obsessed with acquisition; it’s drilled into us from birth and stays with us until the day we die. From Pokémon cards and soft toys to clothes, art and tech – we progress through a natural arc of ownership in our lifetime. The truth is, we usually look to upgrade our belongings before we’ve squeezed every bit of value from our existing ones.
And we’re guilty for doing the same in the marketing bubble: often, we prioritise growing eCRM databases before we engage the contacts that are already in reach. But when acquiring a new customer costs five times more than retaining an existing one, there’s a compelling case for making the most of what we already have in front of us (Invesp, 2018).
It’s easy to forget that existing customers are the ones positioned deeper in the sales funnel. These are the contacts who have already experienced your brand in some capacity; they know the role that you can play in their life. Which begs the question: why have my contacts lapsed? Often, customer apathy is the primary reason for inactivity.
An overworked cliché, but a true one nonetheless, is that your database is a flowerbed, and you’re holding the garden hose. So, for dramatic purposes, let’s imagine we’re in the second week of drought. Your flowers are wilted, and the soil? Bone dry. In your absence, your contacts have become idle and unenthused. Any avid gardener knows that chucking buckets of water on a flowerbed in this state will cause the soil to repel it, instead you should sprinkle the surface lightly to encourage gradual absorption. The same applies for your marketing, if you relentlessly continue to push hard sales-led messaging upon your lapsed eCRM contacts, they will only reject it.
Take a more considered approach. Whether it’s a virtual gift card, an email to a live event, or a simple message to say we haven’t heard from you in a while, a softer approach is the most likely to warm inactive customers to your brand, ahead of overt promotion.
If you’re in a position where you have a chunky list of email addresses, and not a lot else, then it’s time to start building. Whether it’s a poll or survey with a gift or promo code for their next order, this is a great opportunity for you to understand how users are interacting with your brand. But first, you need to be sure of your objectives. Do you want to understand how satisfied customers are with your product? Are you trying to establish the customer pain points to optimise your service offering? Knowing the purpose of your research is fundamental and will help you to structure your questions and analytics accordingly.
Once you have constructed and sent your re-engagement email, the next step is analysing the results. Pay attention to any clear patterns and use them to tag specific customers with common themes. In case you’re not convinced, MailChimp research shows that segmented email campaigns have an open rate that is 14.31% higher than unsegmented campaigns.
Using historic data, it becomes possible for brands to track browsing behaviour, purchase history, and previous engagement to tailor communications from specific customer actions. And doing so holds impact. Over 59% of customers claim that personalised content impacts purchase decisions. In the long run, this can help brands to grow stronger relationships with their customers, increase loyalty, and ultimately drive revenue growth. By identifying and segmenting different groups within your database, it becomes possible for brands to fine tune the content within email sends to resonate more clearly with the audience at hand.
Take Nike, for example, a global conglomerate operating in more than 30 major markets: from sports to lifestyle. A track runner from Osaka and a fashion enthusiast from New Mexico will engage with the same brand in two very different ways. While the runner will be most invested in the performance-related benefits of the garments, the influencer will likely be drawn in by aesthetics, limited edition colourways, and exclusive brand collaborations. This can be reflected in granular segment-specific sends, with tweaked products, ranges, visuals, and tone.
This isn’t to say that marketers should forget about scaling mailing lists. Growing your current book of eCRM contacts and delivering content to your existing audience should happen in tandem, in fact, it’s beneficial. When you are making efforts to re-engage existing contacts, and growing a database simultaneously, you can be safe in the knowledge that you’re doing everything in your power to increase acquisition and retention.
When it comes to customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, we’re experts in the field. Drop us a line today to see how we can leverage email to maximise the value from your contacts, no strings attached.
Discover more industry insights and opinions at saintnicks.uk.com/insights
In the current digital era, a successful online presence is essential for any e-commerce business. However, having an online store alone is insufficient. Your e-commerce website needs to be highly ranked in search engine results to draw in potential clients and increase sales. E-commerce SEO can help in this situation. In this article, we’ll examine the best methods for optimising your online store for search engines, which will ultimately boost its exposure and boost sales.
E-commerce search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the website and content of your online store to increase exposure in SERPs (search engine results pages). Your e-commerce website will be more visible to potential clients who are actively looking for the goods or services you provide the higher it ranks in search results. Increased visibility results in more qualified leads, increased organic traffic, and eventually, better sales and revenue.
Any effective SEO plan for e-commerce must start with rigorous keyword research. When a person searches for a certain good or service on search engines like Google, they enter terms and phrases known as keywords. You may begin optimising your website to rank for these particular search queries by choosing the appropriate keywords that are pertinent to your e-commerce firm.
Make a list of prospective keywords associated with your products or sector to start. To obtain information on search traffic, competition, and related keywords, think about utilising tools like Google Keyword Planner, Moz Keyword Explorer, or SEM Rush. Aim for a mix of broad keywords with bigger search volumes, coupled with extremely relevant and particular long-tail keywords.
Not got the time? Check out our affordable SEO packages.
The following stage is to optimise the on-page components of your online store after you’ve created a list of target keywords. When it comes to user experience and search engine rankings, these factors are crucial. The following are a few key on-page components to pay attention to:
For e-commerce enterprises, it’s essential to pay attention to technical SEO aspects in addition to optimising your site’s on-page components. Technical SEO makes sure that web crawlers can successfully access, index, and comprehend your website. The following are some important technical SEO issues for online stores:
When it comes to enhancing e-commerce SEO, content is crucial. High-quality, pertinent, and interesting content not only increases organic traffic to your website but also motivates visitors to browse around and make purchases. To improve e-commerce SEO, some content methods are as follows:
To increase your e-commerce website’s authority and search engine rankings, you must build high-quality backlinks to it. But it’s crucial to concentrate on obtaining natural, pertinent backlinks from reliable sites. Among the tactics for link building that work well are:
For continued optimisation and improvement, regular monitoring and analysis of the results of your e-commerce SEO activities are crucial. Track critical performance indicators like keyword rankings, conversion rates, organic traffic, and bounce rates using programmes like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Key areas to think about include:
Putting into practise efficient e-commerce SEO methods is essential for improving your online store’s exposure, bringing in visitors, and generating sales. We are aware that not every online retailer has the time or knowledge to pull this out. To learn more about how we can help you improve SEO for your e-commerce site, get in touch with us right away.
Want to learn more about SEO? Check out our beginners guide to SEO or sign up for it below!
We are a group of friendly Digital and Tech runners who go for a social jog around Bristol’s wonderful harbour each Wednesday lunchtime at 12.30 from the Lloyd’s amphitheatre. It’s an opportunity to get away from our desks, get some air, and get to know some other people in the tech industry in Bristol.
We’re a super friendly bunch and everyone is welcome, whatever aspect of digital and tech you work in and wherever you work.
Our pace is gentle, it normally takes around 30 minutes to do the 5km loop around the harbour. Nobody gets left behind – ever! It’s totally free and we go for a coffee afterwards at the Society café.
Sarson’s has been hard at work creating a fresh brand identity that launched in the spring of 2023, and with this, they’ve enlisted our help yet again for a fresh new website.
The new website design reflects the new style for Sarson with a bold, contemporary, and sleek designs. We’ve also taken a reductive approach to content and wording, which simplifies the overall experience, whilst also bringing freshness and clarity to the design. We’ve used interactive animation, interesting build loads, and a new colour-blocking design scheme To increase engagement levels across the site.
We’ve enjoyed a long-standing relationship with Sarson’s, so it’s been a joy to watch the brand develop and once again collaborate closely with the Sarson’s team on the project.
Even if we do say so ourselves, the result is fantastic! However, don’t just take our word for it; visit the new site and see for yourself.
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Carnsight’s business owner and PR expert Jess Morgan recently had the exciting opportunity to speak at a student networking event for those studying sport business at Ashton Gate (thanks to Sophy Wells for the introduction). Jess seamlessly translated the team’s skills for promoting a business through PR to help those who want to promote themselves as individuals. If that sounds like you, then here’s a summary of the 7 steps to PR yourself that she covered on the day.
As we all hopefully know by now, PR is not all champagne and schmoozing.
Dictionaries like Merriam-Webster will say that PR is “the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm, or institution”. However, at Carnsight, we say that PR is about creating strategies and campaigns to showcase great work and achievements. It’s about getting noticed by the right people, at the right time. So, let’s get you noticed.
Questions of value and motivation are valid – what’s the point in PRing yourself, what benefit does it actually bring? To start, investing in getting your personal brand out there allows you to max out your advantages in a way that you can control and gives you an undeniable competitive advantage. At the end of the day, PRing yourself is not about pretending to be something you’re not. Instead, it’s all about putting your best foot forward, and that’s something we can all do.
Look to the horizon with a future thinking, bigger-picture mindset; set yourself up for the end game and then think about the steps to get there. As with PR, it’s often best to start at the end. Think about what you want to get out of your PR, and create a tangible image of the late-stage achievements you’ll aim for.
Do you want to be considered for a particular position, role, or placement? Get your foot in the door at your dream company? Or achieve something else entirely? Start with that and then you can plot your path to get there.
Leave no stone unturned. We explore more on PR touchpoints in this earlier blog post, but as a quick overview, it’s important to at least consider the followingtouchpoints:
Remember that your communication, presentation, and interactions reflect on you, from the texts you write to the emails you send to every meeting and greeting. From the security guard in the office to the receptionist, to the person getting you a glass of water. In an interview – and every interaction – it’s important to give a good impression.
Our advice: build every bridge you can and remember never to burn them. Even if the connection doesn’t seem as though it will immediately serve you or your current path, it is still valuable to maintain it. Above all else, strive to be consistent and helpful always.
Presentation and first impressions can count for a lot when PRing yourself. Showing yourself on a good day (even if you have to fake it until you make it), and ensuring you have enough substance can be key to acing these factors. Be the best version of yourself and don’t shy away from showcasing what’s unique about you. Lean into your interests and experiences, use images or even videos that you love. Authenticity goes a long way, and it’s usually something people pick up on for the better when its genuine.
Just like PR, it’s about telling a story here as well. Except this one should centre around you. It should put your full self on show – not just the professional bits. Showcase the person behind the achievements, the CV, the experience. Remember the elevator pitch? Nurture the spark and pin down the details of your own until you can pitch yourself in your sleep. It should become an effortless, natural, and genuine skill to do so in a way that is upfront but not boastful or arrogant. Sometimes you have to be your biggest cheerleader, so it’s important to be able to summarise your achievements and proven value in a work environment.
Step outside of your echo chamber and get some inspiration. Consider what others are sharing, gauge what works and what doesn’t. Borrowed interest, for example, can do a large part of the work for you. As defined by The Next Wave, “borrowed interest is the intentional association of an unrelated theme, event or image with a product, service or subject being presented, to attract attention otherwise not anticipated”. Consult a diverse range of sources to give you inspiration, from professional arenas like LinkedIn to trending content on TikTok.
Last but certainly not least, let’s run over the things you need to get right to form a good foundation. Like we said, first impressions can make all the difference, so it’s important to get your basics right from the ground up.
This means no typos, and no mistakes. Proof it, print it, and proof it again. Ask for that second opinion, re-read your email, scan over that document before you share it. Small mistakes may seem small and inconsequential but that can be costly, so always try to minimise the risk.
It’s also worth investing the time and resources you have on hand into creating a professional looking photo. Jump over to our article here to cover off all of the do’s and don’ts of good headshots.
Elsewhere, strong opinions are fine, but avoid anything too controversial. Remember you’re representing your professional self here too. Check over your old social media presence, because employers will too, and these days they know what to look for.
You can’t step through a door you haven’t first opened. PRing yourself is about being proactive, considered and genuine. Remember these 7 steps to PR yourself, like how starting at your end point often makes for a clearer way forward. Think ahead, keep the above in mind, and be confident in your ability to PR yourself
Istoria Group, the Bristol-based collective of creative agencies, has announced two new Group-level appointments. Silka Mitchell is the new Group Creative Director, whilst Bryn Isaac has been named Group Financial Director.
Istoria Group, which became a B Corp last autumn, is comprised of exhibition and events specialists Ignition, known for being sustainable pioneers and as recipients of The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development 2020-25; hospitality and retail designers Phoenix Wharf, known for their work for regional operators such as Yeo Valley, The Bristol Loaf, Better Food and Spicer + Cole, as well as for national retailer SpaceNK and Apprentice winner Harpreet Kaur – and purposeful digital transformation experts Tiny Spark, whose virtual exhibit expertise during the pandemic helped Istoria Group survive the period’s challenging business conditions.
Silka Mitchell
‘Creative Director at Group level was an important role to fill and it was proving difficult to find the right candidate’, Sam Rowe, Istoria Group’s CEO commented. ‘We were delighted therefore to be introduced to Silka Mitchell, who brings not only top London agency experience as a former Director of both Brinkworth and Neu Architects, but also broad international experience, delivering projects in the commercial and public realms across Europe, Western Asia and China. Silka is German-born and has lived and worked in both Germany and in the UK. Her languages and multi-disciplinary, cross-sector experience will bring fresh energy and a new level of design sophistication to our studio.’
‘My ambition is to help Istoria Group grow and develop an even stronger 3D identity’ Silka Mitchell commented, ‘becoming known for creative originality and excellence. I look forward to unlocking further potential from the talented studio and to bringing in the next generation of talent to complement my vision. I further hope to instil creative leadership, inspiration and motivation and improve processes and the working environment through creative intervention and dialogue. I’m really excited to be working with a business with such a wealth of knowledge, strong ethics and a truly sustainable ethos.’
Bryn Isaac
New Group Financial Director Bryn Isaac is Bristol-born and bred and brings great expertise in and knowledge of regional markets and business to his role. Bryn joins Istoria Group after 8 years as Financial Director of We Are Fearless, an integrated marketing agency specialising in sports, culture and music sponsorship and partnerships. He has also worked with both start-up and group-owned agencies previously, including TBWA/Worldhealth, Momentum Worldwide and Given London. For Istoria Group, Bryn will provide the financial lead within the business across all the agencies in the Group and will manage financial planning covering both opportunity and risk.
‘I aim to use my experience of young and dynamic businesses to update processes and modernise systems at Istoria Group to help all parts of the business become more efficient and productive’ Bryn Isaac commented. ‘I’m looking forward to working alongside the leadership team to plan future strategic business growth, both operationally within the internal team and externally as the business grows in size.’
‘I am delighted that Bryn has joined us as Finance Director’ Sam Rowe added. ‘Bryn’s relevant knowledge and experience are vital as we continue our ambitious plans to grow and develop sustainable creative solutions for clients. As a B Corp, our ambition is to grow in the right way – with the right clients and the right team in place. These two new senior appointments are a huge leap in the right direction.’
When setting out to understand a little more about a brand, a visit to the company website is nearly always the first port-of-call for stakeholders. Often dubbed as the ‘shop window’ to an organisation, a website should clearly communicate your brand’s raison d’être, offer a clear user path, and most importantly, outline your company offerings in the best possible light. And while the process of delivering a gleaming new website is often an exciting one, the launch is only the beginning.
To guarantee that your website performs to its best ability, and to stay relevant among your site visitors, it’s crucial to view your website as an ongoing project. It’s not simply a question of UX/CX updates; reviewing CRO, your goal completion, tackling outdated content, dead backlinks, and poor SEO are all contributing factors to a poor online experience for customers, which can be detrimental to your sales drive and to your brand. The good news is that these are all easily avoidable consequences, assuming you tend to your site with care. To keep your website ticking over nicely, we’ve compiled our top 6 areas of focus for web optimisation…
You should always maintain clear strategic direction with your interface, mapping out the best possible user journeys. Without directing visitors to the right areas on your website, you’ll encourage high exit rates, U-turns, or rage clicks (Hotjar, 2022). Not only does this risk conversions or other goal completions, but it can devalue the brand that you’ve worked so hard to build. Put yourself in your users’ shoes and try to experience your website with a fresh pair of eyes. Is it hard to find key information about your brand? Does the site make checkouts, downloads and forms as easy as possible? Could you improve legibility?
Websites don’t just end at launch; they need to be maintained, optimised and tested. Having the correct analytics tools to visualise quantitative and qualitative data is important, but only when you are tracking the metrics relevant to your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to quantitative analytics platforms, but the key metrics that marketers should be tracking are:
While quantitative research is useful in identifying data patterns and numerical trends, it’s important for marketers to understand users’ attitudes, beliefs, and motivations. This is where qualitative data can help fill in the gaps to make more informed decisions with your quantitative data. Popular qualitative research methods include:
By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, it becomes much easier to understand your customer experience. Ultimately, this helps to highlight pain points and identify the content that resonates most with your brand’s audience.
A great way to ensure you’re optimising your website is by running A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) across variants. Before implementing significant updates, you might want to consider running an A/B test to justify your decision making. Netflix leads by example in this area. Unique to every user, they pool together data to produce a final homepage outcome based on behaviour and preferences. Todd Yellin, Vice President of Product at Netflix, confirms that the brand runs 250 A/B tests each year to test the different versions of the design. These tests also consider the ways in which users search for films and programs on the app (Wired, 2018). With a highly detailed level of tracking and various testing in place, Netflix’s success is entirely reliant upon data. Regularly implementing the variations from the results optimises the user experience.
It’s not uncommon for users to arrive at a website only to be deterred by complex language, over-stimulating features, or a lack of useful information. These websites tend to garner large drop off rates, with marketers left trying to figure out where they slipped up. This nearly always occurs when a website is built without a defined content strategy in place. Markets are ever-changing, and branded websites should reflect this. To stay top of mind, content needs to be relevant, useful, and findable. Marketers need to audit and refresh existing content on an ongoing basis, factoring in current trends and wider business objectives.
SEO is often an afterthought when it comes to website builds. This is usually down to the fact that organic search rankings can take time to bear fruit in contrast to paid activity. But with 53.3% of all website traffic acquired through organic search, SEO should be a core consideration during, and after, a website build.Regular SEO activity can elevate your brand and take you to the top of search engines, surpassing your competition. The key to successful performance and conversion of your website is a content strategy that considers a user-friendly experience, with digestible information for both the user as well as search engines. (Search Engine Journal, 2022).
Whilst they are undoubtedly two separate entities, marketers should make sure their SEO and PPC strategies are aligned, and both have high prominence on their marketing agenda and budgets. On average, 5-10% of your revenue should be spent on SEO activity. (Search Engine Land, 2022).
Read more about our top tips to optimise your organic search in our blog here.
Top performing websites don’t just need to look good, they need to be functional too. Ongoing website maintenance is required to keep your website running. This can be achieved by making sure your website is safe and secure, and that links and tools aren’t broken. It may seem simple but often brands focus on the launch of a new website and forget to check in on performance once it’s live. Some CMS updates can be relatively straight forward, but you’ll benefit from an experienced digital team to manage, monitor and prevent or react to any technical issues your website may encounter.
As a fully integrated agency, we build sites that talk the talk and walk the walk – from design to optimisation. If you’re looking to take your website to the next level, drop us a line today – we’d love to have a chat.
Discover more industry insights and opinions at saintnicks.uk.com/insights
What qualities should an app design company have? For every client, the response is different. It takes dedication, time, and talent to turn your concept into reality. Take into account the following advice to locate the ideal match for your objectives:
A reputable mobile app development company should have an extensive and detailed portfolio that showcases their expertise. You can evaluate a company’s design objectives and execution by looking at its previous projects. You can tell if they are compatible with the goals of your project by carefully analysing their portfolio.
For any reputable app design company, effective communication techniques are crucial. They should be able to offer insightful commentary and feedback while you should be able to communicate your needs and expectations effectively. A successful partnership requires a relaxed atmosphere and frank communication. Without good communication, the enterprise can face serious difficulties.
In addition to a portfolio, references from clients can shed light on an agency’s work ethics and prior experiences. Examine their former clientele and gauge how satisfied they were with them. This study will help us comprehend the agency’s dependability and expertise.
Identify the goals that you want your app to achieve. While some companies offer a more thorough strategy that encompasses the full development process, others offer aesthetics and visual design as their primary areas of expertise. Select a company that shares your requirements and vision.
Define your expectations and the needs of the project in a clear brief. Even if a firm has experience working with difficult design briefs, your project may have special requirements. Make sure the organisation has the resources, expertise, and knowledge to meet your unique requirements.
Think about the agency’s project management methodology. While some companies may use freelance designers or divide up jobs among their team, others may offer a more personalised service with a single point of contact. Select a company whose procedures fit your criteria.
While selecting the ideal app design company may seem difficult, it is essential for the success of your project. To find the perfect fit, do extensive study and thoroughly consider your options.
It is impossible to exaggerate the value of expert site design. Visitors to websites today make an impression about them in under a second, and 38% of them will quit if they don’t find the page visually appealing. If you try to build your website on your own, it can turn up poorly and fail to hold your audience’s transitory attention. For this reason, hiring a web design expert has become crucial for business owners. Let’s look at the benefits of employing a web design company as a top priority.
A professional web design firm can construct a website that is especially suited to your company and its particular needs because they have years of experience in the field. While there’s a chance that your marketing staff has some web development experience, it’s doubtful that they have the same level of experience and industry knowledge as a dedicated web design specialist. A well-designed website is an essential marketing tool that supports your sales and marketing objectives throughout time.
A web design company is knowledgeable about how to build a website that not only complies with design standards but also performs exceptionally well in SEO. Your website can gain more customers and outperform rivals on different search engines, including Google, by improving search engine rankings. A web design agency can help you achieve your goals if you want to create leads from several nations or target various languages. For foreign companies looking to compete on a global basis, this is especially important.
According to research, 47% of visitors will abandon a page that takes longer than two seconds to load. Customers increasingly expect rapid results in the fast-paced digital environment. A skilled site designer is essential in this situation. Even if your website has many features and high-resolution photos, they can make sure it stays lightweight and quick. Amateur or inexperienced developers lack the knowledge necessary to successfully optimise loading speed.
Numerous web design firms offer continuous monthly maintenance and assistance, sparing you the trouble of managing website downtime and the potential loss of clients or sales. These services also maintain your website current with the newest design fads and SEO guidelines that search engines like Google are always implementing.
In conclusion, consulting a web design expert is essential to the achievement of your website. They are equipped with the knowledge and expertise required to develop a highly functional and aesthetically pleasing website that supports your company’s goals. Contact us right away if you’re looking for a web design company in the UK. We are excited to make your ideas a reality and support the growth of your company in the digital sphere.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information