This month, there have been several updates from the world of Digital Marketing. Microsoft Bing launches ChatGPT, the EU rules that Meta’s ad practices are illegal, Google agrees to pay up in a 12-year-long lawsuit, and Apple ads network could bring new opportunities to marketers worldwide. Meanwhile, Google optimise is set to be removed this year, and Twitter is rolling out keyword ads to advertisers. More details can be found in this article.
Microsoft Bing with ChatGPT reportedly launching in March 2023
Bing has announced the integration of OpenAI’s ChatGPT Chatbot technology, enabling the site to answer search queries with complete sentences rather than just suggesting links and generic search results. Expected to launch towards the end of March 2023, it is intended to give Microsoft that significant edge over Google. It is creating a new level of rivalry between the two search platforms.
Microsoft already has a partnership with OpenAI. Microsoft already utilises Open AIs technology through OpenAI’s cloud services in tools that let users create text, code and imagery using instructions and learning models using internet data.
Microsoft has reportedly drawn a lot of attention to the platform within the tech community, specifically, after they announced that Microsoft was in talks to make a second, tens of billion-dollar investment in the AI business back in October 2022. Although it needs to be clarified whether the current version of GPT will power the service, Microsoft continues to collaborate with OpenAI on ways to integrate GPT into Bing with hopes of improving its user experience.
After Microsoft announced that it supports Open AI’s ChatGPT in BIng and edge browsers, Google retaliated by revealing its language model called “Brad”. However, it didn’t quite go to plan for Google as the AI chatbot gave incorrect answers during live demonstrations. The Bing ChatGPT is not available for everyone yet, and users must join a waiting list to join to use the tool.
You can try it out using the link here: https://www.bing.com/new
After seeing a 10x increase in Microsoft app downloads (according to data.ai.), could this be the beginning of the end for Google’s dominance over the search engine landscape and the start of Microsoft’s takeover?
The European Union ruling could change the faces of Facebook and Instagram’s ad business. After the EU regulators found that Meta had illegally forced users to accept personalised ads, Meta was fined 390 Million Euros.
Meta was fined for using language within their terms of service that implied that users must allow their data to be used for the personalisation of ads or stop using the platforms altogether; users were left with no choice but to accept the terms to continue using the service. Meta has been given three months to outline how it will comply with the ruling. This could result in Meta allowing users to choose whether they want their data to be used for targeted ads; this puts Meta’s ad revenue at risk, putting about 5-7% of it at stake.
People advertising within the EU could be affected. Still, the changes Meta may have to make will potentially impact users in the United States as well, as many companies apply E.U. rules globally because it limits them from being affected within Europe.
Consumers that say Google shared their queries with third parties without permission have finally ended a 12-year-long class action lawsuit. The lawsuit alleged that Google went against the Stored Communications Act, which governs access to records held by internet services in California.
The Customers affected will receive a $23 million payout, which is still under court consideration. Google must also provide added disclosures to consumers about sharing search terms. Privacy has become critical when running a website/ online business. With companies unsure how this will affect the future of advertising, privacy issues are still a hot topic.
You can read the settlement details here to learn more about the case.
Apple is again making waves, but this time it is its ad network getting attention. Apple is now placing greater emphasis on prioritising its services category over its consumer products, focusing on aspects such as search ads and App Store.
Google and other major brands at the top of the search market, such as Amazon, are usually the first places people go; however, these brands have been under severe scrutiny lately from the government and consumers. Google has been dealing with antitrust battles in Europe and the U.S. and the hefty fines accompanying the rulings. Amazon has also suffered lousy press recently with a $1 billion antitrust case in the UK and false advertising surrounding Prime Day.
With both its main competitors under scrutiny, Apple has the opportunity to work its way up the search market. Andrew Lipsman from Insider Intelligence stated, “I can easily imagine a scenario in which Apple grabs 10% of Google’s nearly $150 billion search ad business, which would translate to a $15 billion opportunity”.
Despite this, Apple filed a new class action lawsuit against itself back in November 2022, claiming that it continued to track users even after disabling tracking in device settings. This
led to the case stating that Apple’s promises about their privacy settings were untrustworthy.
Apple has now stated that its goal is to triple its advertising revenue and has already made some significant steps in the right direction, paving its way with diversified revenue streams. However, Apple’s privacy settings and measurement efforts will continue to affect consumers and marketers.
From the 30th of September, 2023, Google Optimize and Optimize 360 won’t be available to run user experiments and personalisations; however, the ones users have set up already will continue to run until that date. These changes may affect marketers’ ability to conduct A/B testing and optimise their website or app’s user experience.
Google has decided to do this to better serve users by investing in solutions that give customers access to more robust and trustworthy A/B testing capabilities. They made a statement that they want to focus on ways that can improve users’ experience and through improving tools through Google Analytics 4. At the moment, it’s unclear whether this means that Google Optimize’s A/B testing facilities will eventually be available in GA4.
In news from the world of social media marketing, Twitter has introduced a new ad unit called “Search Keywords Ads”, where advertisers can promote sponsored tweets in search results. Giving them the ability to reach further audiences, they can now pay for their tweets to be shown further up the search results page for specific keywords.
This update is similar to the promoted tweets that appear in users’ timelines but allows them to appear in search results. The new update is there to drive conversions to advertisers’ websites, and if users use Twitter Pixel or Conversion API on their websites, it can also maximise their relevance.
Reports have shown that ad spending on Twitter dropped by 71% in December 2022, mainly due to the top advertiser’s reduced spending on social media after Elon Musk took over. The company believes that this update will reinvigorate its ad revenue stream.
Bristol-based web design and brand agency, Squarebird, have evolved a new look for the biggest player in space sector recruitment, EVONA, to better echo their established impact and vision.
EVONA is disrupting the recruitment scene, a consultancy team of space sector specialists with strong beliefs in the progression of knowledge and unlocking the potential of humankind. As they say, it’s in the name: EVO – to evolve, ONA – people.
Telling the true story of space sector recruitment was vital. As all of us use space every day – to navigate, use our phones, and even watch TV – an optical style was needed to rewrite the narrative and open the industry to all.
Working with their existing branding, Squarebird explored the visual limits they wanted to push through style tiles, helping them move towards a clean, dark, space-inspired look. A tone of voice workshop allowed the team to discover the personality of the brand, bringing the notion to existence. The developed visual style was rolled out across the website using a cinematic, aspirational style – perfectly reflective of their vision and ambitions.
“Developing a strong online presence is central to our Marketing strategy as a space company on the forefront of innovation, so there was a lot riding on getting this right. Predictably, Squarebird have delivered an exceptional website that not only stands out amongst the competition, but functions far better than previous versions. The team got our vision very quickly and worked with us to develop a website to be proud of that was close to the brand direction we wanted to move in.
Working with Squarebird has been a great experience; the team are knowledgeable and their skills diverse enough to handle any of the issues developing websites could throw up.” – Adele Fox, Marketing Director at EVONA
From extensive image manipulation, to editing and icon creation, every aspect of the website worked holistically for a cohesive brand experience. The website was brought to life in a collaborative way, ensuring the visuals, and ever-evolving message, aligned with the technical functionalities of the site. Integrating with multiple recruitment and marketing platforms, the website plays a functional role in streamlining their operations and ensuring a platform that better aligns with EVONA’s growth and maturity.
“Having known and followed the EVONA crew since inception, it’s been amazing to grow alongside them, and be a part of their next stage of expansion. From the USA, UK and beyond, EVONA is – and will continue to be – a driving force within the space sector.
It was a pleasure to take their objectives and messaging and create a visual masterpiece to do it justice.” – Nick Bird, Managing Partner at Squarebird
View the full case study here.
You may have seen that UWE Bristol recently ran a 12-week bootcamp for employees of SMEs to study the internationally-recognised DMI Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing.
Well, the good news is that we are now inviting expressions of interest to form another cohort. The next course is expected to last for 10 weeks (one day per week) and employers are likely to pay no more than £400 in total.
Spaces will be limited. At this stage, if you would like to learn more and record your interest, please email: bootcamps@uwe.ac.uk
ChatGPT has gained a lot of coverage in the news over the past month and for good reason. This new language model chatbot developed by OpenAI has the chance to revolutionise SEO and digital marketing.
ChatGPT’s growth has been phenomenal, hitting 1 million users in just 5 days, (according to Greg Brockman, President and Co-Founder of OpenAI). It’s fascinating to compare this adoption rate to other revolutionary technologies (which you can see below), for example Instagram, took 2.5 months to get to the same user level.
We thought it would be useful to share some of the team’s thoughts on the new software and what our approach will be to using it in 2023. We will cover its full impact on search marketing covering Varn’s 4 key service lines for delivering ‘full service SEO’.
Before we get into its impact on search marketing, let’s provide a bit of background on the software and why it is causing such a stir.
ChatGPT has taken the digital marketing world by storm over the last month and many have started to incorporate it into their content development strategy, using it to contribute to articles and other forms of content be it writing video scripts and coming up with blog ideas.
So what is ChatGPT? Well let’s see what the software has to say for itself….
“ChatGPT is a language model developed by OpenAI that uses deep learning to generate human-like text. It is trained on a large dataset of text and can be fine-tuned for specific tasks such as language translation, question answering, and text summarization. ChatGPT can generate text that is similar to that written by a human and is often used in chatbots and other natural language processing applications.”
As far as Technical SEO goes, ChatGPT could potentially help streamline the process of optimising websites.
One important element of Technical SEO is a website’s navigation. It is important that the navigation makes sense to users and has a clear hierarchy. Historically this has always been something that takes a reasonable amount of time to manually review. However, an advanced machine learning algorithm like GPT should be able to think similarly to a human and predict what a user of a website would expect from the site’s navigation. For example, it is possible that GPT would be able to review your site navigation, and suggest which content should be moved to make more sense from a user and hierarchical point of view. The resulting recommendations are still something that should be manually reviewed by an SEO professional, but it could potentially save a reasonable amount of time.
Another much more dubious technique, (one that we would not recommend), is that people could use ChatGPT for Tech SEO in order to create content related to your target keywords. In order to get a page to rank on Google, it helps to have a decent amount of body copy on the page, copy which is focused on the keywords you want to rank for. Using ChatGPT to generate this content could potentially help to get a site ranking more quickly, whilst making content creation easier for your website admin. However, there are a number of problems with this approach. Firstly, AI generated content goes against Google’s guidelines. This means that if Google were to identify your content as AI generated then they could potentially penalise your rankings.
It’s interesting to note that ChatGPT has been working to add a watermark to its generated content so that AI generated copy can be identified more easily. This watermark would be difficult to remove as it is a statistical pattern that is embedded into individual words or even punctuation marks within the generated content. This watermark is another potential way for Google to recognise that the copy hasn’t been manually produced, which again could lead to penalisation. There is also no guarantee that another user will never be presented with the same AI generated content, thus also leading to potential issues with duplicate content.
When it comes to digital PR and content, the software seems to have a lot of potential applications, but for now at least, human insights, input and creativity will be needed to create content that gets cut through online.
Some of the potential applications when it comes to content assistance include:
The above is not an exhaustive list, but it is an exciting time for those in content marketing and digital as we see more sophisticated AI tools come to market which should get better over time.
It’s vital not to forget that from an SEO perspective, Google states on it’s website that when a user enters a query, their machines search the index for matching pages and return the results they believe are the highest quality and most relevant to the user’s query.
The big question is whether Google thinks bot created content is the highest quality, and we would suggest that it probably isn’t yet. Therefore we have a note of caution – be careful of any agency who says they are going to use ChatGPT to get you to the top of Google. They are most likely seeing ChatGPT as a shortcut/cheat to generating content, rather than a legitimate way to create ‘the highest quality content’. This may obviously change in time though.
Under it’s ‘Google Search Essentials’ page, Google states under its ‘Key best practice’:
“While there are many things you can do to improve your site’s SEO, there are a few core practices that can have the most impact on your web content’s ranking and appearance on Google Search.”
The first is ‘Create helpful, reliable, people-first content.’ When expanding on this Google states:
‘Google’s automated ranking systems are designed to present helpful, reliable information that’s primarily created to benefit people, not to gain search engine rankings, in the top Search results.’
Our recommendation if you are involved in Search Marketing, keep up to date with the latest developments and trends emerging with ChatGPT, but importantly spend time making sure you comply with the advice from Google about content which you can find here.
We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Automated Bidding, Smart Shopping, Performance Max. It’s been proven that we can combine a strategic human touch with the power of automation to enhance performance marketing.
Two areas of research needed before running a paid campaign are the keywords you choose to bid on and the messaging you put in your ads. This will determine who sees your ads and the likelihood of them clicking and converting. ChatGPT can be very useful as a starting point for both of these areas. It can offer up fresh ideas in an unbiased way.
Keyword Research
Ad Copy Research
Whilst ChatGPT does provide really high quality content to use for campaigns, it may not be as high quality and personal as a person writing that copy, with a touch of human insight and copywriting flair. As a human, and not an AI, we are able to factor in elements such as USPs, brand knowledge, target demographics and audience that you would want to appeal to in the ad copy. However, ChatGPT is certainly a good starting point for generating ad copy and keyword research.
Data Analytics and Reporting is one of the most important areas of search marketing. If you don’t have adequate reporting setup, you are not able to evaluate how your strategies are performing and which strategies you should push for going forward.
One way a machine learning service like ChatGPT could be useful for Data Analytics is as a provider of information. Not only can you ask GPT questions and get a concise answer, you can also add a correction or modifier to that question after the fact, and GPT is smart enough to understand. For example, here we asked about how to track a certain metric in Looker Studio, and after not being satisfied with the answer, were able to quickly modify our request without retyping the original question.
Varn: How do I track average page views in Looker Studio
GPT: To track average page views in Looker Studio, you will need to use a score card. First, create a blank report from the Looker Studio home screen. Then, use the formula box to type in ‘Views/Sessions’ and save the calculated field. Finally, add the score card to your report. You will then be able to track your average page views.
Varn: No, I meant as a graph
GPT: To create a graph of average page views in Looker Studio, you will need to use a line chart. First, create a blank report from the Looker Studio home screen. Then, use the formula box to type in ‘Views/Sessions’ and save the calculated field. Next, select your metrics and dimensions and add a new chart. Finally, add the line chart to your report. You will then be able to track your average page views in a visual graph format.
This ability for ChatGPT to condense complex information into simple text format allows us to treat the service like a co-pilot when working out tricky problems in analytics software.
Our view is that ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionise the way we approach search marketing, but at the moment it should be seen as a useful place to start to help you to quickly and conveniently curate information. We think it’s critical to remember that whilst ChatGPT is a great tool, (and will only get better), you need to use it as a starting point or springboard for creating content.
The value of excellence in search marketing deliverables, will always come by adding in the human touch.
Having an understanding of your company’s tone of voice, what works with the audience and an in-depth understanding of what you are looking to achieve is essential. This is the human bit that AI and robots simply can’t replicate.
ChatGPT will be unable to grasp the intricacies and nuances of human behaviour and responses. As people we can inherently tap into the very unique asset of our 5 senses, to ensure any AI generated content is then made relevant, engaging and meaningful. Our view is that the human power of creativity, innovative ideas and strategic understanding make content, ads and SEO insights impactful and actionable, and will always trump a ‘cut and paste’ of AI generated content. In addition, we know that for successful long-term SEO strategy, it’s critical to understand your competition and to have a clear strategy. ChatGPT will only be helpful up to a point for this… we liken it to having a football-playing robot. They’ll only be helpful if they are told what team to play on!
Our recommendation is to now let’s carefully watch this space. The search marketing landscape may well evolve and change quickly and with Microsoft reportedly to add ChatGPT to it’s Bing search engine, it’s worth keeping your eyes out for what happens to Bing market share, and Google’s response to this immediate challenge
Finally, if you are interested ChatGPT’s opinion about how it will influence search marketing, this is what it ‘thinks’….
“Its advanced natural language processing capabilities can help businesses to create high-quality, unique content and improve their search engine rankings. Additionally, ChatGPT can also be used to create chatbots that can provide faster and more efficient customer service, helping businesses to improve the user experience and increase customer satisfaction. As the capabilities of ChatGPT continue to evolve, it is likely that we will see even more ways in which it can be used to improve search marketing and other areas of business.”
Built environment-focussed comms agency MPC has revealed an overhaul of its brand identity, name, website and values, as it launches as Meeting Place.
Established in 2006, the business is one of the sector’s most established agencies, working with clients across the built environment to deliver positive change for new developments through planning comms and public relations.
On the back of several recent client wins, the rebrand coincides with record revenues for Meeting Place across its regional offices, a 28% boost in like-for-like revenues over the last six months, and a headcount growth from 26 to 37 over the last year.
According to Meeting Place’s Managing Director, Nikki Davies, the changes underpin a new direction for the business as it sets its sight on growth across streamlined core services – planning communications and public relatio
Meeting Place’s new website outlines how its planning comms team will utilise public affairs, social value and digital campaign experience in an effort to bring communities together to recognise the potential of the built environment.
And combining its sector knowledge with an integrated approach to PR, its public relations team will shape client campaigns to build awareness and understanding
Nikki said: “We’re thrilled with the outcome of our new rebrand, which coincides nicely with a period of growth across our teams, as we start the year on a strong footing
“Our new values – insight, inclusivity and courage – dovetail with our clearly defined mission to use the built environment as a catalyst for positive change; whether that’s environmental, social or economic benefits.
“We believe our streamlined approach of planning comms and PR will serve as a key differentiator in the industry, and one which champions best-practice and delivers for communities, clients and the media alike
“Whether we’re gaining support for a new hospital in East Anglia, homes for first-time buyers in Devon, establishing a housebuilder’s ESG strategy, or driving awareness through PR – we’re on a mission to use the built environment as a force for good.”
Meeting Place’s client roster, which includes Legal & General and Places for People was recently strengthened following several client wins, including Regal London, Longfellow Real Estate and several solar energy providers. Headquartered in Bristol, Meeting Place has staff working remotely in locations across England and Wales following a move to a flexible working model.
The agency’s Regional Director for Midlands, Western & the North, Helen Goral, said: “Having bolstered our public relations, digital and design offering, our expanded teams will be central to the company’s growth targets this year. Across the region, we have seen a significant increase in demand for planning communications expertise and we are working on numerous high-profile projects which have contributed to a 20% like-for-like revenue increase year on year.
“The range and calibre of our recent wins underpin our ability to deliver return on investment and impactful comms for clients. Despite the recent economic situation, we’re still seeing a lot of confidence across the built environment, with our breadth of services allowing us to take a holistic, integrated view of client needs
“It’s incredibly exciting to be starting the year on a high, with record revenues, project wins and a vibrant new brand. We believe the built environment has so much potential as a force for good and we can’t wait to see what 2023 brings.”
For more information on Meeting Place, please visit: www.meeting-place.uk
Just 4 months on from the launch of AgencyUK’s awareness campaign, Our Future Health has surpassed the significant milestone of 150,000 volunteer sign-ups.
Our Future Health aims to become the UK’s largest ever health programme, creating a 5 million strong database of adults to enable new ways to prevent, detect and treat human diseases.
Information will be collected from millions of volunteers across the UK to create one of the most detailed pictures of public health we’ve ever had.
By analysing this data, researchers hope to unlock new ways to detect diseases at an earlier stage and identify demographics that are most at risk.
Volunteers are asked to complete a consent form and a health and lifestyle questionnaire before arranging an appointment to collect a small blood sample, where they can receive feedback on aspects of their health, including blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
AgencyUK have been working with Our Future Health since their public launch, planning and executing targeted marketing campaigns in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield and London aimed at raising brand awareness among the general public. The campaigns leverage creative and messaging that references specific health challenges most commonly faced by the population in each region.
They have been activated across multiple digital channels including social and advertising, as well as out of home with the aim of reaching a broad audience across a range of demographics. Out of home placements have included public transport, print and digital posters.
“We are really pleased with early results of the AgencyUK campaign, and we are seeing great levels of engagement across the various formats and platforms. The out of home executions have been high-impact and well targeted in support of our regional hubs. All of this has been delivered at pace and always with an eye on our next location. AgencyUK has added a lot of value to our communications activity as well as being a really decent bunch of people to work with,” says Peter Wilson, Strategic Communications Lead, Our Future Health UK.
“We are delighted to have been part of hitting the first milestone and that the programme is on track for building one of the largest health databases in the world, but we are just at the beginning and there remains a lot to do. Maintaining a high level of national exposure over the period and using creativity to maintain the public interest will be the challenge, but it’s one we’re prepared for,” says Amy Mansourpour, Director, AgencyUK.
The impressive milestone comes just 6 months on from the programme piloting in four Boots pharmacies, and two months since the first regional hub was opened in Leeds.
Since then, hubs have opened in Birmingham, Bradford, Huddersfield, London and Manchester, with national expansion into more areas in local Boots pharmacies planned this year.
For more information on the programme, including how you can volunteer to take part yourself, go to www.ourfuturehealth.org.uk.
Read the full article here…
Neil Berry – Head of Development at Proctor + Stevenson
What does a back-end developer do?
The core of my work as a Back-End Developer, is of course writing code using the framework or language for the task or project. But there’s more to it than that.
On any given day, I might be building out a feature to an established application or altering how something works to provide better value to our clients. I may be investigating a scenario that is leading to undesired outcomes on the application and then proposing a solution to the team or client.
Or sometimes I’m tasked with thinking about how best to address a business need with an established system – either using a solution Proctors has previously created in a new context or using something entirely new.
Solutions we work with at Proctors are based on Drupal, Symfony or AWS and across the lifecycle of a project, a back-end developer will work closely with all parts of Proctors Technology.
There are also times when we’ll work directly with our clients to understand their needs or demo how progress is going.
Watch video here.
What does a typical day look like at P+S?
A typical day is a good mix of collaboration and focus time. That can be in the office or remote, thanks to our hybrid flexible working policy.
Usually, we’ll have a brief check in with the project team we’re working with. Then there’s either a follow up with some team members to discuss a specific aspect of the work, or I’m head down working on a feature until lunch.
If I’m in the office, I’ll join everyone in the canteen – especially if it’s a pop-up lunch day or (even better) one of our monthly pre-paid lunches. If I’m at home, I may take a long lunch and go for a run or catch up with friends.
My afternoons vary depending on the day. Sometimes I dive back into working on a feature, or sometimes there’s an internal workshop or meeting with a client to talk through a piece of work.
It could also be that the day is set aside for planning and estimating forthcoming work, or training. This is in support of the training roadmaps that are set out based on the goals discussed with the leadership team.
Working with clients
We work with marketing departments across various industries. And while most have similar needs, they all face unique challenges. It’s up to the development team to craft bespoke solutions that work for them.
We have some complex systems that require varying skillsets and experience so working as a team and sharing knowledge can be crucial. In some cases, we find a solution we’ve used in one project that might lend itself well to another. This is why it’s important to build simplicity and flexibility into our solutions to help us manage time efficiently, rather than starting from zero each and every time.
Why Proctor + Stevenson?
Proctor + Stevenson is more than a company people work for; it has a real sense of community. There’s a strong support network so if you ever need to talk to someone, there will always be someone to listen. On top of that, P+S have some great initiatives. From our weekly Wednesday quiz nights to our Friday socials and even pop-up lunches, there’s always something fun going on to get involved with.
There are also plenty of charity fundraising events and other community projects we get involved with which is fantastic. And we host the annual South West Design and Digital Student Awards which is a great way for students to kickstart their career in the industry.
And it goes further than doing good for people, we also have a number of initiatives surrounding our sustainability, and we’re currently working towards our B-corp certification.
These are just a few of the ways Proctor + Stevenson works to be a positive environment for employees and clients alike. Everyone is incredibly friendly and always happy to help each other out, it’s genuinely a really welcoming community of people.
If you’re interested in working with us at Proctor + Stevenson, check out our careers page to see if any of our opportunities suit you.
Getting traction online can be tricky without the right approach, but with a bit of creative thinking, generating online awareness can be done for even the most seemingly ‘stuffy’ brands.
Digital PR is very important when it comes to SEO, links are crucial to the algorithm for Google, and other metrics like social mentions and branded mentions are great for building your brand online.
Digital PR and creative content outreach is one of the key pillars of Varn’s full service approach to SEO, and covers a wide range of tactics and strategies around research and competitor analysis, content creation, and digital PR/link building.
Here we take a closer look at digital PR and why it is crucial if you weren’t your business to succeed online and your website to rank well in search engines.
There are a few key differences between digital PR and traditional PR even though they are often two complimentary channels.
Digital PR is a term which typically applies to more online activities and covers but is not limited to the following:
Traditional PR can often work as a stand-alone push and in many instances targets traditional media like print and television advertisements and placements. The ways that you measure success are also more apparent than with traditional PR.
Whereas a television campaign or print media advert may have reached a certain target demographic, tracking the actual numbers of people that saw it can be difficult and tracking the revenue impact is often even more challenging.
Whilst the tracking and right KPIs need to be set up in advance, measuring success is often easier with digital PR.
Brand mentions social media interactions and link coverage are all easier to track and set key performance indicators against. Other follow-on metrics can also be used like ranking increases when looking at SEO and the potential increased revenue impact from these increases in SERP performance.
Once you have content to reach out with (be it survey data, products, commentary or infographics) it is time to put together the target publication list. We work with the client to understand their ideal placements and tie it in with data on sites that we know move the needle when it comes to SEO value.
Before we start with the outreach, we ensure we have a list of ideal target rankings that we want to improve. You need to drive the right keywords to the right pages, which is why developing a proper keyword map is crucial, this is typically done as part of the Technical SEO onboarding process in the form of an audit.
Once we have developed the list we work through it in our quality control process then start with the outreach. Leveraging a tool like Buzzstream is great as you can scale the outreach and gain better insights into how each campaign is performing.
After that comes the outreach, email scheduling software helps you greatly scale up the efforts, from that we can then get a more targeted plan together to get placements on sites depending on the individual publications content guidelines and tone of writing.
After the outreach, we report on the links attained and over time are able to measure the impact on rankings. If we are working on an ongoing campaign, then these reports are more regular and can help build up a better picture when it comes to the digital PR impact on SEO in terms of rankings.
The diagram below shows one of the key differences in the method of outreach for digital and traditional PR. Whereas with traditional PR you want to get the content in front of the right audience straight away, with digital PR you are just as concerned with getting coverage on high-authority websites and increasing your rankings within Google. This way you are able to interact with potential customers when they are browsing content, but more importantly when they are seeking out relevant services that you want to rank for.
When it comes to measuring success with digital PR, the following metrics are great to have within your reporting toolkit:
All of the above are great ways to measure the success of campaigns, of course the ultimate aim is to build revenue and grow the business in a profitable way, but with more top of the funnel activities like digital PR having the above metrics to benchmark against is a great way to show the value of campaigns to clients and senior management.
Digital PR is a great way to create noise in your industry whilst also benefiting your SEO, at Varn our approach to digital PR is as transparent as it is effective. We always report on campaigns, and some get amazing results, others a slightly more muted, but we are always up front with performance.
Some of our favourite case studies include the Thought Clothing Black Friday survey push and the Festival Bag from Paper Bag Co. These are examples of two great digital PR tactics:
The above tactics are great for getting a large hit of links from news relevant sites and also consistent links to support your SEO over the long run.
Digital PR is a growing industry and is a very important part of a strong ongoing SEO strategy. If you would like to learn more about digital PR and the benefits it could bring to your business then get in touch with a member of the Varn team.
We have put together campaigns in the past which have driven great results for clients both in terms of coverage and impact on SEO. Our campaigns are set up with performance in mind, which is why we are trusted to deliver on our promises.
Count is a collaborative data tool that aims to go beyond insights and bring data into decision-making.
Count’s previously simple SQL notebook had evolved into something unique. They approached Fiasco Design with the challenge to bring their brand in-line with their vision for an ambitious platform that could transform how product teams make data-driven decisions.
Too often data platforms are branded for a technically-minded (often male) audience. Count wanted to turn this on its head. The design challenge therefore was to help reposition the brand by creating a visual identity that would open up the complex world of data analysis.
Fiasco’s identity for Count draws on the ‘aha’ moment when data insight can totally change the perspective on a problem or solution. It’s the concept of seeing something familiar but in a completely new light.
Overlapping shapes emulate the process of bringing different data sets and perspectives together. Much like Count itself, it’s about bringing together information in a way that presents the whole picture and allows teams to make more empowered decisions.
The new identity needed to work seamlessly across marketing communications, as well as the platform itself. Online, a set of styles and elements were developed to weave the brand into the product, creating a more seamless customer experience.
“The Fiasco team were fantastic to work with. We gave them a tough brief and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. They worked with us side-by-side through the brand process and then helped us deliver vision in digital form.” – Ollie Hughes, CEO, Count.
You can view the full case study here.
Working with Ben The Illustrator, Fiasco created an interactive glossary of terms to make the world of theatre more accessible to people from different backgrounds.
Developed as part of The Hub, The Old Vic Theatre offers free digital learning resources designed to welcome anyone of any age, experience or ability, into the world of theatre. Playing a key role is an “interactive glossary” of theatre-related terms, created by Fiasco Design.
The educational microsite aims to debunk the jargon often associated with theatre. Setting the experience on a stage, visitors are guided through an animated performance that explores the different roles, responsibilities and inner-workings of the theatre. Exploring the site, visitors learn about the many different people who help to run the theatre on a day-to-day basis. Visitors can watch and explore at their own pace, scrubbing back and forth to discover, revisit and learn.
“We want viewers to feel like they’ve stepped into our world and discovered something new and unexpected on their own terms.” Magid Elbushra, Digital Content Producer, The Old Vic Theatre.
“It was a pleasure to collaborate with Ben The Illustrator and The Old Vic on this microsite. Right from the start we were aligned on a more experiential approach, turning the passive action of watching into something active, engaging and fun.” Mike Frost, Digital Lead, Fiasco Design.
The colours are inspired by The Old Vic’s interior: opulent shades of reds and gold contrast a suite of deep and electric blues. The aim was to capture the atmospheric qualities of stage lighting by splitting the colour into ‘light’ and ‘dark’ themes, which mimic theatrical lighting effects.
“I’m very proud of what we collaborated on, it was a pleasure to work with the Fiasco team and will always state that setting the whole experience on-stage with the lit/unlit approach was a stroke of Fiasco genius!” Ben O’Brien – Ben the Illustrator.
You can view the project case study on Fiasco’s site here.
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