We’re excited to announce the launch of our new website for Nebula Design (www.nebula.design)! This brand refresh serves as a comprehensive resource for businesses and other agencies. Whether you’re looking to fortify your online presence or exploring service packages for your clients, we’ve got you and/or your clients covered.
Compared to the old website, the newly launched website focuses more on content delivery that reflects our new services and enables us to showcase our expertise in various services, including:
Web Design, Development, Digital Marketing, Website Security, Maintenance & Website Hosting
“We are thrilled to launch our new website, which reflects our commitment to providing our clients with the best possible digital solutions,” David Pottrell, Head of Digital. “The new website is designed to be informative and user-friendly, allowing potential clients to learn more about our services and how we can help them achieve their online goals.”
Over the years, we’ve also seen an increase in other agencies requesting support around website security and maintenance for their clients. This is one of the reasons we’ve began marketing our WordPress maintenance packages towards other agencies as well as clients.
We invite businesses and fellow agencies in Bristol to explore our new website. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss any digital or website needs you may have.
Mentor Digital is delighted to announce an expansion of our Digital Marketing services and the launch of a newly designed section of our website to showcase our new and improved offering across SEO, PPC and analytics.
Since adding ex-Google Strategist Dan Watt to our ranks as Digital Marketing Director last year, we have seen fantastic growth in both the amount and scope of digital marketing projects that we are working on for our clients.
Whilst delivering best-in-class, SEO optimised websites in Umbraco has been part of Mentor Digital’s offering for many years, our expanded offering sees us providing expertise across the entire digital marketing spectrum. Our services now include:
Paid media: including media planning and forecasting, campaign auditing and campaign build and management across paid search, paid social, video and display.
SEO: including website auditing, technical SEO, content strategy and production, inbound marketing and SEO migration consultancy.
Analytics: including Google Analytics 4 auditing and setup, Google Tag Manager auditing and tracking implementation and bespoke, real-time Looker Studio reporting dashboards.
We’re excited about what the year ahead will hold for our digital marketing team and our clients alike as we continue to expand our portfolio of work. If you would like a no obligation appraisal of the current SEO performance of your website, or an expert assessment of whether you could be spending your digital media budget more effectively, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Dan and his team.
Bristol-based CRM agency Flourish has just turned 20 – and it’s got a fresh new perspective.
As the agency prepares for life beyond its teens, it’s taken stock of the last two decades. Born in Bristol, Flourish quickly established itself as a go-to for direct mail campaigns, winning the likes of Sky, The National Lottery and Chelsea Building Society while still in its infancy. Flourish has since built on that direct marketing heritage, working across multiple channels and industries – and crucially, at all points of the customer journey. At the heart of its success is a belief that every journey – no matter how small – is just as important as the destination. That there is adventure in every journey.
And so, Adventure in Every Journey is born. A fresh proposition for an agency long obsessed with forging lasting relationships and creating meaningful customer journeys.
Executive Creative Director Kim Martin explains how they got there, “We’ve worked with so many incredible brands over the years, in so many industries and channels. No matter what we did and who we did it for the thing that ties them all together is our ability to drive people to take an action. With changes in the market and the increased reliance on first party and zero party data it feels like the right time to formalise our offering. Adventure in Every Journey does that perfectly.”
He adds, “When you’re obsessed with customer journeys, how you get where you’re going is just as important as the end destination”.
Flourish will also launch a refreshed brand to reflect their new positioning and prepare for a new era.
The transformation comes hot on the heels of a remarkable 2023 for Flourish, having seen notable growth and achievements. In the last 18 months, the agency has won numerous clients, including Nissan, Pai skincare and Wonderbly, and seen their usual scope of work expand into channels like TV for both Hey!Broadband and Crisis.
They’ve also welcomed a growing roster of green businesses – EV.Energy, ecoegg and Artemis to name a few.
“The agency’s 20th birthday is a massive milestone for us” said Managing Director Ian Reeves. “We’ve grown up a lot in the last couple decades, and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve become. I’m excited for the future too – with big ambitions to expand globally while changing the industry for the better alongside partners like Email Marketing Consortium, and as part of the Harbour Group.
If you’d like to find out more about Flourish Customer Journey Marketing, or would like to meet the team please get in touch with [email protected].
Bristol-based communications and marketing firm Purplefish has become employee owned. Joanna Randall, who formed the award-winning business in 2012. has sold 100% of shares to the new trust.
The Living Wage business, located in Bristol’s creative business community at Paintworks, was awarded B Corporation certification two years ago and becomes the first PR agency in Bristol to make the transition to employee ownership.
As part of the transition, a new board has been appointed and Joanna Randall will remain an active executive board director of the business which sees associate director Lucy McKerron promoted to the role of managing director. They are joined by two employee trustee directors, senior account manager Jonathan Adams and account manager Zoë Fawcett.
Working across technology, property and leisure sectors across the South West, nationally and internationally, the business joins the ranks of a growing number of UK businesses making the move to employee ownership.
As an employee-owned business, the team will have greater input into the running of the business and its future, benefiting from a share of the profits.
The company is also celebrating a clutch of new client wins in recent months including experience business Yuup and agency collective firm Istoria.
The move is celebrated with a new website for the business which reflects the value of harnessing emerging and generative AI technologies while maintaining a human-centric approach to communications and marketing.
Commenting on the move, Randall said: “This is a really exciting time for the business. As a sole owner and shareholder it can often be an isolated role so I’m really looking forward to being part of the new management team in defining our future direction.
“I believe our traditional business structures are becoming outdated where companies are run for the sole benefit of owners and shareholders – employee ownership offers a more authentic way of running a business where commercial growth is still a focus but the benefits can be shared more equitably.”
New managing director Lucy McKerron said of her new role and the future direction for Purplefish: “I’m incredibly excited to be stepping into the role of Managing Director here a Purplefish, an agency I’ve come to know so well and love in the last two years since joining the team. The business is perfectly aligned with my personal values of integrity, creativity, and compassion, providing rewarding work for both myself and the wider team – something which will only be emphasised as we move into our EOT model.
“I’m looking forward to continuing to innovate as a business, both for our existing and new clients as we grow and evolve. We’re committed to leaning into the opportunities emerging technologies can bring while maintaining our human-centric approach to creativity, our connection to the issues that matter, while continuing to help our clients stand out and thrive.”
The human touch has returned as a top prospecting priority due to digital lead generation marketing automation overload, a major new survey of UK new business and agency leaders has revealed.
The seventh annual UK New Business Barometer by specialist new business consultancy jfdi and strategic insight agency Opinium found that 88% of respondents used management connections to prospect, with 44% citing this a top strategy.
Another 68% said they asked clients for referrals and 67% formed alliances and partnerships. The report said the change is likely driven by email overload and an explosion of pushed content in an over-supplied agency market.
Camilla Honey, CEO at jfdi, said:
“In our challenging new business market, competitive edge is everything and it’s interesting to see the human touch is overriding overwhelming digitally-based automated approaches. AI watch out!”
The survey, which included responses by several Bristol Creative Industries members, also found that ideas that deliver, are practical and affordable are winning pitches. Ir revealed that in the current difficult economic environment, the proportion of respondents saying they commonly win projects because of ideas that are deliverable, practical and affordable rose eight points to 33%.
Another trend highlighted by the study was that only around 50% of the ideas and recommendations presented in pitches are executed, which jfdi said confirmed winning pitches requires more than answering the brief.
When asked about the reasons for winning pitches, 73% said relevant and expertise was important, a figure that was 6% up on last year. Another 69% said it was due to good chemistry.
For unsuccessful pitches, more than two fifths (43%) of respondents reported client withdrawal of budget as the most common reason for not winning a pitch. This was up up 10% on the 2023 study despite having been broadly stable for the past six years.
Other reasons include “rarely given a reason” (41%), “economic uncertainty”, (33%); “ideas not deemed affordable” (20%), and “agencies failed to demonstrate relevant expertise/capability” (18%).
The cost of losing pitches escalates exponentially by size of agency, the study revealed, with every agency spends more annually on losing pitches than they do on winning ones.
The report showed small agencies are spending on average £86,000, medium agencies spending £350,000, and large agencies are spending £1.4m on losing pitches.
“This shows how a marginal gain in conversion can feed down to the bottom line with more budget available to spend elsewhere in the business,” the study said.
The study warned of a “ticking stress bomb”, with 70% of new business practitioners reporting their role becoming more stressful over the last 12 months. The report said “this worrying trend signals the need to ensure mental health welfare and wellbeing in this space”.
Josh Glendinning, research director and partner at Opinium, said:
“The New Business Barometer’s unparalleled insight shows how the pressures of a tough economic environment are cascading through the marketing industry. Clients are demanding more than ever during the pitch process but finding it more difficult to provide concrete assurances to agencies that work will be commissioned.”
Additional findings in the report included:
For a full summary of the report, email [email protected]
Don’t lose sight of your new business pipeline
10 top tips for getting the pitch over the line
How to prospect for new business without losing your soul
How creative businesses can write the perfect positioning statement
Mental health in the workplace: Why we need a culture change
Podcast: Wellbeing tips for small agency owners
Mental health for agency owners
Greetings from the mysterious world of search engine optimisation (SEO), where achieving online presence might resemble trying to find a needle in a digital haystack. But do not worry! With the help of my beginner-friendly SEO copywriting ideas, your website will rise in the search results faster than you can say “Google it.”
If you believe that SEO is merely a fancy Silicon Valley acronym, let’s take a closer look. Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the process of making your website as appealing to search engines (such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo) as well as to actual customers who are actually looking for your services. In this sense, copywriting refers to crafting content for your website that not only educates visitors but also persuades them and helps it rank well. Putting the two together? You’ve just turned into a copywriting pro at SEO.
You must first familiarise yourself with keywords. Your potential clients are typing these little jewels into search engines. Keywords are the road map to your wealth of material, regardless of whether your audience is searching for SEO experts or the greatest vegan restaurant in Bristol (hint, hint). However, it goes beyond simply packing them across your website like candy. The secret to drawing both humans and Google bots to your writing is to skillfully include them into your text.
Do some study on keywords before you go out. Determine the terms and expressions that best describe your company’s offerings and the queries of your target market. To choose your perfect keywords, use resources such as Google Keyword Planner or ask yours truly on a discovery call.
Your writing should sound human (which it should), but it should also have the technical polish that attracts the attention of search engines. This entails producing interesting, pertinent, and educational content that seamlessly integrates your keywords. Don’t fill your text with keywords; this isn’t 2005.
Consider the structure of your website as the backbone that holds everything together. Not only do headings and subheadings (H1s, H2s, H3s, oh my!) help readers easily scan your content, but they also serve as indicators to search engines regarding the order in which your information is presented. Your headline gig is your main heading; it should be attention-grabbing and contain your core keyword.
Make thoughtful use of headers to help readers and search engines navigate your material. Every heading ought to be pertinent and contain keywords without being repetitive. The secret is to get search bots and readers both to stay on your page for the duration of the presentation.
Let’s use some linking strategies to take your company to new heights next. Similar to your website’s hidden passageways and trapdoors, internal and external links direct users to helpful material and demonstrate to search engines that you are a well-respected authority in your industry.
Maintaining visitor engagement and building authority are two benefits of a strong linking strategy. In order to maintain readers’ interest for longer, provide internal links throughout your text and link to reliable websites (hey, credibility!).
Stale bread? No thanks. The content of your website is no different. Maintain it current, unique, and new. Both search engines and people enjoy fresh content. Thus, you can maintain a healthy and strong rating by periodically updating your blog or sprinkling case studies across it.
Similar to your favourite soap opera, regular publishing will keep viewers interested. To make sure you’re always offering up the tastiest, most delicious digital material, create a content schedule.
Nobody wants to converse into a void on a digital device. You’re having a conversation rather than just crawling into the void when you use SEO copywriting. Thus, become an expert in SEO-friendly copywriting by making sure your material is readable, valuable to your audience, and scannable. Bold writing, bullet points, and brief paragraphs can draw attention to your pearls of wisdom.
Now that you have the map, it’s time to set off on your journey to reach Search Mountain’s summit. When creating a blog article highlighting the best Bristolian jewels or a ‘About’ page that extols your virtues, keep in mind to carefully consider the keywords you use and the structure you develop. If you are in need of a specialist to guide the way and unlock the infinite possibilities of your website, a discovery call is just a click away. Forward and upward to the highest point in sight!
We initially developed our own Abandoned Cart module back in 2019 after researching and testing various that were available. From our tests the modules lacked certain features or didn’t work how our clients would want the module to, and also how we expect the module to work.
The first version of the website was developed and installed on a number of our clients websites, generating them additional revenue that would have been lost without the module.
As the OpenCart platform has progressed and new versions launched we finally switched to using the latest most stable version of 3.0 in 2022 for our ecommerce web design projects, with the new version also included a new code structure which meant our bespoke abandoned cart module would no longer work with any new website that we built.
So, as we continue to upgrade existing ecommerce web design clients and provide ecommerce websites to new web design clients we set about upgrading our abandoned cart module to work with the newer version of OpenCart. The upgraded version was a good opportunity to simplify, streamline and improve the module to benefit our own clients and a wider audience.
Continue reading this article at https://www.eckhomedia.co.uk/our-abandoned-cart-module-upgraded-for-opencart-version-3/
Independent brand consultancy Mr B & Friends is officially open for business in London. The new location in the capital is the company’s second site as it eyes further growth this year.
Founded by CEO Simon Barbato in 2006, Mr B & Friends specialise in three core competencies: brand strategy, brand communications and employee experience. Today the agency works globally with clients including The LEGO Group, InterContinental Hotels Group, Convatec and Britvic, as well as UK based brands including OVO Energy, Persimmon Homes, Canada Life and Principality Building Society
Following a period of sustained growth that included the acquisition of SME focused branding studio FutureKings, Mr B & Friends London is a natural extension of the agency proposition. Headed up by Simon, and Executive Creative Director, Steve Anderson, the first client for the London office has been signed.
Steve joined the Mr B & Friends team after his agency FutureKings was acquired. Prior to that, he previously held the role of Group Creative Director at Smith & Milton, transforming brands including AXA, L&G and Warburtons. Earlier in his career Steve worked on global brands alongside Simon at Light & Coley.
Client Director, Rachel Dean, and Associate Strategy Director, Liam Smith will join in spearheading Mr B & Friends London, delivering brand expertise and outstanding client service across the business.
With more than 15 years’ agency experience, Rachel has successfully managed the delivery of numerous brand, comms and digital projects. Ranging from global leaders, such as GSK and Lloyds Bank, to start up challengers, such as The Evewell and Snaffling Pig, Rachel is skilled in working with clients in both B2B and B2C markets.
Liam joined Mr B & Friends in Bristol in 2016. He’s adept at brand development, campaign planning and employee experience strategy. With over a decade under his belt, Liam has worked with a variety of brands including Microsoft, IHG and Canada Life.
To mark the opening of the London office, the agency is hosting a sold out Employee Experience Masterclass at The Groucho Club in Soho on 29th February.
Steve says, “Mr B & Friends has already achieved an impressive reputation for delivering value for clients in all sectors through creative excellence and solid client relationships. I’m excited to be continuing to build that ambition further with our new, London-based office. We have an incredibly strong team and will be pooling our collective expertise to grow the agency’s capability on a wider scale.”
Simon says, “We’re delighted to be opening Mr B & Friends London. We’ve seen continued growth for the agency family over the last few years and with an increasing number of enquiries from organisations based around the capital it makes sense for us to continue our expansion here. The London team will be ensuring we deliver the same high level of brand strategy expertise and extraordinary creative that our clients have come to expect.”
With London up and running the agency will continue to pursue plans to open a US base in late 2024.
In order to comply with new legislation surrounding rising expectations with user privacy, Google is now moving towards degrading cookies and shifting measurement and tracking to aggregation models instead. To support this shift to cookieless tracking, Google is now rolling out Consent Mode V2, offering more granular control of data tracking to businesses.
Consent Mode V2 is a feature that enables Google to model for gaps in conversions when people decline cookies on a site. It works by communicating the consent status of a user and automatically updating Google Tags accordingly.
Google has recently revealed that on average, Consent Mode V2 recovers around 50% of ad-click-to-conversion journeys lost due to users declining cookie requests on websites.
If you are primarily using Google ads, you must have the new consent mode implemented to allow for lost conversion modelling and compliance simplification. If you do not have Consent Mode V2 implemented by March 6th 2024, your Ads may no longer be eligible to show in the EEA.
If you’re primarily using Google Analytics for conversion tracking, Consent Mode will still simplify compliance for optional GA4 functions (like remarketing) prior to consent. If requiring consent for Analytics, Consent Mode will allow modelling for lost conversions and pre-enable customers for GA cookieless mode.
In order for the Consent Mode V2 to know what data to send to Google, you need a cookie banner on your site. A cookie banner is also needed to comply with GDPR regulations requiring you to share how you use, handle and process user data on your site.
Besides, a cookie banner is a great way to build trust with your website visitors – by improving user experience, protecting user privacy, and ensuring compliance with global privacy regulations, all while maintaining the ability to collect valuable data – which can help increase your website’s performance.
In order to stay compliant when serving ads, and to ensure that their ads remain eligible, You need to integrate a Consent Management Platform (CMP) into your site.
Step 1: Update Your Google Tag Management Setup
If you’re using GTM, you’ll need to update your container to include the Consent Mode API. This involves adding a new tag configuration for Consent Mode that sets the default consent state for analytics and ads (e.g., analytics_storage: ‘denied’, ad_storage: ‘denied’).
Update your Consent Management Platform (CMP):
You must be using a Google certified CMP. A list of approved CMPs can be found here.
Not using Google Tag Manager or need support in implementing Enhanced Consent Mode V2?
Varn is here to support you if needed. Get in touch today to see how we can support your change over to the new system. Implement the change now to ensure your ads stay live.
Summary
Google Consent Mode v2 is designed with the future in mind, offering a framework that is adaptable to evolving privacy laws and regulations. By allowing businesses to easily adjust their data collection strategies as new laws come into effect, Google provides a proactive tool for maintaining compliance and protecting user privacy. Implementing Google Consent Mode is a proactive step towards respecting user privacy while maintaining legislative compliance.
Talisman Sparro have completed the rebrand of Vertree, a global carbon finance consultancy. Vertree work with corporates, institutions, investors, governments and project developers to provide access to carbon markets and make impactful investments that deliver value and contribute to global climate and sustainability goals.
The programme of work involved extensive stakeholder engagement, strategy, messaging development and a new visual identity. The new positioning sets Vertree up for sustained growth, aligning the internal team behind a clear strategy whilst the new identity provides a broader, more flexible suite of assets giving the brand an authentic but distinctive look and feel.
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