KitKat has been grabbing the national press headlines this week with the announcement that it will be selling bespoke hand made £14 KitKats from its website and selected John Lewis stores in the run up to Christmas. Chocolate fans will be able to choose from 1,500 flavour combinations. They will be asked to choose their […]
Whether or not you are into Horse Racing there is an undeniable buzz in the air in Prestbury, Cheltenham and Gloucestershire as The Festival approaches. The statistics surrounding the Cheltenham Festival are quite staggering, here are just a few:
The economic benefit to the county is estimated at around £100 million
In 2016 236,472 pints of Guinness were consumed on the course
£2.3 million is taken out of cash machines in the town
Approximately 10,000 Irish racing fans come to the Festival
134,600 travel through the town’s train station
20,000 bottle of champagne are served at the racecourse
1 ton of beef is eaten on the course
The shuttle buses from the town centre to the course make 80,000 journeys
A typical jockey will consume no more than 1,500 calories in a day
The race meeting is also a focal point for Marketing of all kinds. For over a week now the betting companies have been promoting their Festival offers and there will be all kinds of stunts from them during the week to get their brand in front of the racegoers. The picture that accompanies this blog is of the giant Hollywood style Paddy Power sign put up on Cleeve Hill overlooking the course in 2010. Local pubs go to great lengths to promote their racing breakfasts. The local council offers free parking in its car parks to tempt shoppers into the town centre during the lull when the punters are at the racecourse and the Business Improvement District runs a competition for the best racing themed window.
Aside from the direct economic impact, what is the value to the town of being “put on the map” by this event? It is very difficult to estimate this, but a campaign to raise this level of name and brand awareness of Cheltenham would most certainly cost millions.
In the ten years of running Prestbury Marketing we cannot recall receiving an enquiry from a business or business person whilst they were visiting Prestbury for the racing, but maybe this year will be the year? If you or your business need help with your marketing or PR then feel free to get in touch.
Hornsea School and Language College in East Yorkshire was recently “rebranded” on Google as Hornsea Prison & Hell on Earth. The temporary change perhaps unsurprisingly attracting national headlines. Behind this enterprising prank is a lesson for all businesses of the importance of claiming your Google My Business page. This page is what produces the box […]
To say we live in interesting times is an understatement. Uncertainty around the world of politics, our relationship with Europe and the economy are occupying our minds daily (if not hourly). Combine this with the fact that despite all the labour saving tools at our disposal (both domestically and in our businesses) we all seem […]
Pizza Hut has launched a bold new TV advertising campaign (watch the advert here) with the ambitious aim of “owning” the UK pizza delivery market in 2019. An audacious aim perhaps, but you have to admire the advert – well you don’t “have to”, but it undeniably has a lot going for it. The campaign […]
As one year draws to a close and another is just about to start, it is a good time to try and look forward to the next year and reflect on likely changes over the next 12 months and how these may impact on your marketing and priorities. In this blog we look at some […]
So you have decided that the time is right to recruit your first marketing person? Maybe the amount of marketing that your organisation undertakes has grown to a point where you consider you would be better off having a dedicated person. But you are not sure what to do next? Well here are our top […]
It has been a busy week in the world of social media, as Jenny Jervis outlines in this week’s update. Instagram Stat-attack Instagram Stories have now reached 300 million daily active users, which is up from 250 million for in June 2017. This platform continues to grow at a rapid pace and provides great opportunities for […]
This is the first in a series of regular updates from Jenny Jervis on what’s new or interesting in the world of social media.
The Internet of things
The Internet of Things is big news for social media marketers due to the increase of devices that will be hooked up to the web. Its forecast that by 2020, more than 1.3 billion home devices, 3.5 billion in-car devices, and 411 million wearable devices will be connected to the net. Customers will have access to social media everywhere they go, anytime and anywhere. Not just on their mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. But on smart devices that they can wear on them or use in the vehicles. If you’re not on or thinking about social media for your business, now is the time to get in check so you’re not left behind.
Bitesize videos for social media
People’s brains process images faster than text. Videos are the fastest, most efficient, and most enjoyable way for people to consume information, no longer than 60 seconds (which could be considered too long!). Create videos that can be watched and understood in silence as well as with audio, as not everyone will opt to watch the whole video, or click for sound.
When it comes to quality, the content of the video matters more than video quality or format.
Why Use Instagram Stories?
If you’re already publishing photos and videos on Instagram, great. Adding Instagram stories to your content will help you get more visibility and provide more for viewers to consume.
When people open Instagram, the first things they see above their news feed are Instagram stories created by the accounts they follow.
Stories are up to 20 second long, or you can ‘go live’ which allows you up to 60 minutes. Boomerang videos are 5 second videos repeated on a loop with no sound.
Verified Instagram accounts (typically celeb accounts) and those with over 10,000 followers can add links to their video that allows viewers to ‘swipe up’ for more information, taking them to a specific webpage.
You can also add Location and #Hashtag stickers to your Instagram story. Both of which are ‘tappable’. Great for brands promoting a specific location such as a local branch. It can also be good for directing viewers to a branded hashtag or one that you’re actively creating content for.
Two-Person Instagram Live Video: What you need to know
Not breaking news as this was announced last month, but Instagram has rolled out a feature that allows you to invite another person to your Instagram Live videos. To invite someone to join your video, they must be watching. At the moment you can only invite one guest at a time, however you can change the guest throughout the live feed.
Great for gathering opinions, feedback, knowledge sharing with colleagues, Q&As, product showcasing etc in a natural way.
Instagram polls: What you need to know
Launched a couple of months ago, you can now add a poll to your Instagram Story. Great for asking questions of followers and gathering opinions, real time. You can ask any question of your audience with 2 possible outcomes, up to 26 characters (for each option).
Just like an insta-story, the poll and its results will disappear after 24 hours. It’s important not to overuse the poll function as you don’t want to dilute responses from your audience.
IN TEST: Instagram stories cross posting with Facebook stories
Instagram has begun testing the ability to push photos and videos created in Instagram to Facebook Stories and Insta-Stories simultaneously. This feature is expected to be rolled out outside of the US shortly. Annoyingly at the moment, it’s not planned to work in reverse, ie Facebook to Instagram.
NEW: Shopping on Instagram
Instagram is testing the ability for brands and retailers to sell products directly on the platform with deeper Shopify integration called Shopping on Instagram. More news soon.
Making some sense of Facebook algorithms
You might be finding that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out on Facebook and be seen by the people you want to see your business updates. Consider this, the average Facebook user has more than 500 friends and likes 150 or more pages. Couple that with Facebooks complex algorithm… and it’s no wonder you may not be getting found.
Understanding the algorithm may help.
Engagement, engagement, engagement… The number-one factor when it comes to Facebook algorithms is engagement (likes, clicks, shares, check-ins and reviews). If the algorithm sees lots of people engaging with your post, then the algorithm will show the post to more people. Engagement is ranked: At the bottom of the pile is negative feedback (“hide this post, hide all posts, report, spam, unlike page”), followed by likes. The Holy Grail is shares, reviews and check-ins! This is where you should be focussing your efforts with Facebook. Facebook algorithms also give priority to video.
Facebook cover videos on your business page
We all know that consumers are engaging with video content, we mentioned it above. If you have a Facebook business page, you can add a video to your cover, which will stay right at the top of your Facebook page until you decide to change it. Currently, cover videos are only available on Facebook Pages and not private profiles, so worth making the best use of it now!
Facebook ad news
Facebook are planning to tighten restrictions on advertiser content, proof of authenticity, and industry-wide standards and best practices. Nothing has been rolled out as yet, but when it does, there will be tighter restrictions to follow when creating ads.
Facebook Messenger: Lite
Facebook is expanding the lightweight, stand-alone version of its Messenger app users in the U.S., UK, Ireland, and Canada.
Messenger Lite is data-saving and allows users to stay connected regardless of device or quality of internet connectivity. They are hoping this will encourage users to use the app rather than switching to SMS, iMessage, or Whatsapp.
‘Save for later’ function
Twitter have announced plans to launch a new bookmarking tool that will save tweets for later reading. They haven’t said when this will be rolled out, but have said it will be ‘soon’.
Jenny Jervis – Marketing Consultant
You can find out more about the Social Media Marketing services that we offer here
It was with more than a little sadness we heard on Wednesday of the decision to stop publishing The Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen as daily newspapers and instead to publish them as a weekly paper. Now to put this into context I am of a generation that I still recall as a child rushing down to the Post Office in Churchdown to buy my copy of the now long gone “Pink Un” to catch that day’s football results. So to me at least this does feel like something of an end of an era.
The decision will not have come as a huge surprise to many. In many areas, local newspapers have had to make this switch quite a number of years ago. Indeed it is testament to the quality of the Echo and Citizen product that they have been able to last as long as they have. So what has led to this decision? The single biggest factor has been the explosion of mobile devices and use of social media and consumption of news through this channel. There is a touch of irony that the success of www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk and @GlosLiveOnline with its 18.1k followers will have hastened this move. I cannot have been the only person receiving it through my letterbox, to feel that I have pretty much read all the stories by the time I get my copy. The papers home delivery service will also cease at the same time.
I would like to pay homage though to the way the announcement was made which seemed pretty much a textbook case of a well co-ordinated exercise of this nature, that focussed strongly on the positives as the Group saw them.
The decline is circulation of newspapers has seen a corresponding fall in revenues. Whilst this has been compensated to some extent by diversification into digital offerings, it hasn’t fully. Research by Enders Analysis, the media research firm has shown that for every £154 in print revenue lost, newspapers only gained £5 on the digital side. The same research organisation predicts that from the heady heights of 2011 national newspaper advertising revenues will fall from £1.5 billion to £533 million by 2019.
It is not just a decline in readers though that has prompted advertisers to move their advertising spend. For some years now businesses have been increasingly wanting to be able to prove the worth of every pound of marketing spend (often referred to as Return on Investment). Digital forms of marketing have a huge advantage in this regard and are not reliant on the human error involved in tracking offline marketing. Thanks to tools like Google Analytics and goal setting, firms can measure the number of people driven to their website by online activity, the extent of engagement with the site and actions taken.
So when is this all happening and what will the new product look like? The last daily editions of The Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen will come out on Saturday 7th October. Probably a good one to advertise in as the circulation is likely to be much higher than normal as people buy the last copy for posterity. The edition is also likely to be kept by some and is bound to find its way into time capsules all over the county. The first weekly edition of both papers is due to come out on Thursday 12th October. Predicted print runs of each of the new weeklies are a minimum of 12,500 each for The Citizen and the Gloucestershire Echo (this compares with 7,000 each day for the Citizen and just under 7,000 for the Echo). The combined readership is predicted to be 31,000.
The new weekly papers will have 86 pages, plus a 64 page Property Supplement, 20 page Motors section and a Business Section. There will also continue to be a GL Weekend Magazine of some 64 pages. The weekly will adopt a campaigning and community stance, as key daily news will be featured on www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk . Early indications are that the increased print run and anticipated increase in readership will lead to price increases compared with those currently paid for the same size advert in each title. How will businesses react to this? It remains to be seen, but some will undoubtedly adopt a “wait and see approach” to see how the titles perform against predictions. Certain day of the week sensitive ads may go elsewhere and for certain crowded categories the fact that their adverts are guaranteed to clash with those of their competitors will be less welcome.
To coincide with the move to weekly, Trinity Mirror is looking to put more emphasis on its own digital marketing product range and the group are holding two breakfast events in the county this week. This will not be easy though, as this market is already relatively crowded with a wide range of providers.
We wish Trinity Mirror all the best with the new weekly titles, as we consider press still to have a part to play in many firms marketing calendars, albeit a reduced part. Hopefully whilst this is the end of one era, it will be the beginning of another.
Darren Stevens – Managing Director – Prestbury Marketing
Research shows that the average person sees 5,000 advertising messages a day (compared with 2,000 a day 30 years ago). If you need help with deciding where your marketing should go, then speak to us.
The Challenges of Managing a Marketer When You Are Not a Marketer – And How to Overcome Them12th September 2024 - 9:40 amRunning a successful business requires bringing in diverse talent with expertise in various fields, and marketing is definitely no exception. For many business owners or managers, however, managing a marketer can be daunting, especially when marketing isn’t your forte. From understanding technical jargon to setting realistic expectations, navigating this relationship can be tricky. In this […]