Author: Nicola Hodd

I’ve been asked a few times over recent weeks how to embed a video into marketing emails so I thought I’d share this great article about the advantages of promoting ‘videos’ in email – and some failsafe ways to include them.

Continue reading “Should You Embed Video into Your Emails?” →

This question comes up time and time again as we often associate lead nurturing as a very linear process, whereby we attract and nurture new leads to our business and push them through the funnel from top to bottom. Continue reading “How to nurture new vs. existing leads” →

These very entertaining cockatoo YouTube channels go to show that you don’t need to be a marketing expert to grow your audiences on social. But what they do prove is that consistent, quality, entertaining and relevant content wins. Continue reading “What can we learn from a Cockatoo?” →

I see many ‘listicles’ about why companies should adopt marketing automation and the benefits of it but I really like this one about how to get started. Having worked with many customers on their Pardot implementations, these are top tips that I can absolutely relate to and recommend! The list is full of best practice advice including strategy, set-up, tracking ROI, training and user adoption. All important factors to marketing automation success.

Regardless of which marketing automation platform you use, take a look at these top tips to help get your strategy aligned with business, your ROI proven and your marketing automation program running smoothly.

As with all marketing initiatives, the implementation of marketing automation must be strategy-led to be effective.

We spend much of our valuable time, money and resources acquiring new leads – whether that’s attending events, creating content or running paid advertising campaigns. But do we do enough to convert these leads into paying customers? Continue reading “3 Top Tips to Start Lead Nurturing” →

Due to a data breach back in 2015 which highlighted some serious flaws in their data management, Wetherspoons has just deleted almost all of it’s customer data! It’s a brave move and one that I doubt many other organisations would be willing to take. But their logic for doing so isn’t a bad one – it significantly minimises their risk of a data breach and allows them to focus on other channels that are more successful for them.

This certainly isn’t a strategy for everyone and I would argue that B2B organisations are the least likely to adopt such drastic action. But for a large consumer brand who are targeting the millenial generation, I can see why this is less of an issue when they are more likely to be on Snapchat or Instagram rather than checking their emails.

Wetherspoons is effectively saying our email marketing strategy isn’t working and is susceptible to hackers, what’s the point in persisting with it? Why don’t we invest our energy into something less complicated?

It’s not the first time I’ve heard that GDPR doesn’t necessarily have to be all doom and gloom for businesses. As I witnessed at a recent Pardot User Group, it can also be seen as an opportunity for marketers. It is no doubt an important set of regulations to be aware of and adhere to but if you are already delivering on data collection best practice then you will be part of the way there.

Putting the customer first ensures you build processes that are both fair and relevant for the user. The benefits to your business are paramount with engaged and active prospects who want to receive your communications and who are more likely to become loyal customers.

So our advice? Review the data you already have and what permissions you already hold to contact them. Work out how current prospects are being opted in and consider whether it is a clear enough statement and expresses explicit consent. Next ensure your customers preferences are properly maintained as their interests, requirements and circumstances change over time.

Whilst there is still some ambiguity in the guidance offered on GDPR in the UK by the Information Commissioner’s Office, savvy marketers that understand their customers shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

Siri, Alexa, Einstein – the tech giants are investing heavily and moving fast on Artificial Intelligence but can it be used and applied successfully for normal organisations with modest budgets?

Continue reading “Three Things No One Tells You About Email Marketing and AI” →