Need help with Digital Marketing in 2021? Opportunities from Staffordshire Business School

Posted on 10th December 2020 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

The pandemic has illustrated how important a good website, good ecomerce offer and good social media are to business. Those that already had these established have been able to keep taking orders and in many cases to pivot their business.

We are now offering again the opportunity for a student placement to assist you with your digital marketing needs. Have a look here at projects completed in 2020 to get an idea of what is possible.

To get our Masters students ready for the industry we have two modules:

‘The Management of a Digital Marketing Project’ – this module will prepare a tri-partite agreement between the student, the academic staff and the organisation as to the focus of the project, existing benchmark measures, what is to be achieved and how to make the project sustainable (so that it can continue after the student leaves). This is carried out between January to March/April
The Work Based Digital Marketing Project – a credit work experience (450 hours) to deliver the project with the organisation concerned. (April to August)

The project can be in any type of organisation e.g. private sector, public sector, charity or a university. It is essential for the work project activity to take place at the premises – many of the projects have been remotely delivered due to COVID.

We have built in flexibility to the work-placement so it could be that you would like a portfolio of tasks to be completed rather than just one main project. Examples could be – creation of a digital marketing strategy, audit and re-launch of social media, budget and investment plan for marketing, devising and implementing a training plan for existing staff.

Below are some of the current students – either reach out to them directly or contact jon.fairburn@staffs.ac.uk

Jessica Bell

I recently completed my bachelors degree in Tourism Management, in which I obtained a First Class honours. I am now studying a masters degree in Digital Marketing.

I am extremely enthusiastic about travelling and understanding different cultures around the world. I decided to take an internship during my gap year where I worked in a prestige country club in South Florida for 7 months and later I worked in a country club in Connecticut for the remaining 5 months. After I completed my degree my manager in Connecticut asked me to go back to work for them for another year in 2019. During my time in America I worked in the front of house as a bartender and server, I worked events, worked on the reception and worked in the office helping to plan events and create content for the clubs website. Aside from working in America, I also have voluntary experience working for the Stone Food and Drink Festival 2018, as well as becoming a student representative for my course.

During my time at university I worked with a number of different softwares including SPSS, Excel, PowerPoint and I also obtained a Microsoft Office Specialist for Word in 2019. I also have experience working with small social media advertising campaigns to build a brand image.

Overall I am strong team player, I have good work ethics and I’m a fast learner that can work independently as well as in a team if needed. Ideally, I would like a placement within events or tourism, but I’m very flexible and I am open to offers.

Further contact details can be found from my LinkedIn profile or email jessica.bell9107@gmail.com

Paige Sinclair

I have recently graduated with a 2:1 in BA (Hons.) Event Management. Previous to that I completed a National Vocational Qualification level 3 in Hospitality supervisor and leadership at Cardiff.

I am currently working as a team member at Staffordshire University Student Union bar. For my volunteer work, I had experience working with Channel 4 and at the Stone Food and Drink Festival.

Before this, I helped out at events that were hosted by the college which includes the chef forum and local MP conference, and at a hospitality competition. The skills that I have are customer service, good at solving problems, have a positive attutude to everything I do, good communication both written and oral, time-management, reliable, and confident talking to new people. I also have computer skills that include Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and confident in using social media. Additionally, I am opened minded and can adapt to new environments as well as willing to learn new things.

Linkedin here or email at paigesinclair97@hotmail.com

Verity Adams

In 2018 I graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science at Keele University. Whilst undertaking my degree, I worked as an IT Intern for a houseware distribution company. After graduation, I started working as a Junior Graphic Designer for Dee Set, a company that focuses on driving growth, market share and ROI to a large range of clients, such as ASDA, Tesco and Wilkinsons. I then quickly progressed into a more senior Graphic Designer role within a Digital Marketing company, BWAR Ltd. I opened my own Digital Marketing business ‘Yello Dog’ in December 2019. To assist me with running my business and further my knowledge and experience of Digital Marketing, I decided to apply for a MSc Digital Marketing Management Degree at Staffordshire University.

My work experience and qualifications have provided me with an extensive and broad skillset. My Computer Science degree has enabled me to understand the technicalities associated with building websites, computer software and assist with many digital trends of today. My role as a Graphic Designer has provided me with an understanding of brand identity, digital marketing and social media. Owning my own business has given me the opportunity to obtain and work with my own clients, identify ways of marketing my own business and manage my own projects and deadlines.

Linkedin profile and email me verity@yellodog.co.uk

Sruthy AB

I have graduated with 1^st class BSc (Hons) Computer Science and 1^st class MBA (Post-grad) degree in HRM and marketing specializations. Due to my keen interest and evolving technologies in Digital marketing and its immediate growth in a new dimension, I am pursuing my 2^nd Master in digital marketing management with Staffordshire University.

I have gained eight years of corporate experience internationally with leading IT companies from leading markets such as Asia (India), Middle East (Dubai) and Europe (UK ) with wide range of expertise in the field of business technologies management, solutions automation (such as ERP/CRM/ED-Tech/E-learning solutions), SAAS model implementation, digital marketing management & content creation, performance analysis, brand management, SEO and corporate website management including email & online marketing, PR & CSR activities promotion and media management etc.

I am currently looking for a project with a reputed organisation that challenges me with my expertise & skills to excel in my career and helps me to gain further experience in digital marketing & management. Moreover, being multilinguistic I am always a great team player and I want to help organizations to grow in the new dimensions of digital marketing and experience its potential. Ideally, I would like a placement within IT sector, but would not mind if it’s an exceptional offer from other fields. Contact information – Sruthy AB | LinkedIn /Email Sruthyab@gmail.com

Sandra Decowska

I have graduated with a BA (Hons) in Tourism Management at Staffordshire University with Upper Second (2:1) and I am now studying an MSc in Digital Marketing Management.

Bi-lingual – fluent in both Polish and English.

Recently, I have experience working as a Planning Distributor at TK Maxx Newcastle-under-Lyme. In this role I am working closely with the planning and distribution team. This role is office based within a very busy, fast-paced environment.

This has taught me a lot of transferable skills such as computing skills, implementation new team strategies, efficiently manage the office duties, dealing with administration, customers and suppliers.

My ideal placement if possible would be within the events, tourism or hospitality industry. However, I am willing to try anything new that may broaden my knowledge and skills.

If you would like to contact me, my details are:

Linkedin or email me sdec2977@gmail.com

Arnold Tembo

I have recently graduated with a BA (Hons) in Business Management. Having grown up in a small family business which sold food and beverages, I have been able to gain insider knowledge of how to run a business successfully. When studying Business Management at university I successfully created a business from scratch working within a small team.

I have previously worked as a Healthcare Assistant and much recently as a Call Handler at an urgent care centre. By working in these positions, I have learned to become a more compassionate person, as I show more kindness and empathy towards other people in my daily life.

I have a passion for Digital Marketing that is why I am pursuing a master’s degree in Digital Marketing Management. The master’s course has taught me how digital marketing strategies can be applied to a business and given me extensive knowledge on different marketing tools. For the last year I have been running a blog on Instagram and WordPress. This experience has made me efficient in creating content that connects with diverse audiences and have gained solid understanding of different media platforms.

I am a highly creative individual on the other hand I am extremely analytical, what separates me from a lot of people is my enormous desire to learn. I am looking for a placement in an organisation that will help me gain further experience and knowledge in Digital Marketing. If you would like to contact me, email me at : tembo.aj@outlook.com

If you wish to take a look at my blog, you can find It on Instagram: arnoldwrites_blog or if you want to take a look at my blog on WordPress: ARNOLD WRITES – BLOG (wordpress.com)

Niamh Beer

Nimah Beer — Niamh Beer – runs her own Etsy shop

I have a BA (Hons) English Literature (2-year fast track) where for my placement I worked with my own small Etsy Business and focused on the importance of Social Media in the online marketplace. Creating my Etsy shop enabled me to learn about SEO as well as the use of their marketing services as well as those which are provided by different social media platforms.

My interest in the sector is within social media as I feel like I understand it well and have been a user for more than a decade. I have used my knowledge of Social Media to run a Twitter account for a small business a family member was starting and help with brand building. This was great experience for me as I was able to learn what went well and what could be improved on. I currently am applying the skills I am learning in my Digital Marketing Management MSc to my own Etsy shop which has seen great improvement. I am experienced in using analytics as well as identifying different demographics, I also have the ability to create Marketing Communications Plans and Global Digital Marketing strategies.

I am a quick learner and am always enthused to learn more in order to further my career. I am looking for a placement which can enable me to enhance my skills and can challenge me. Email me b010250h@student.staffs.ac.uk

Jack Dutton

I currently have a BA Experimental Film Production (First class). My experience ranges from volunteer to paid work, as well for my own interest. My main skills lie in social media and videography, which I have an extensive knowledge of. I have a range of experience creating content whether it is for business or different groups. Primarily this is promotional materials, such as logos, business cards, and videos such as trailers or adverts.

I have a keen interest in Digital Marketing, specifically around content curation and social media management. I am currently undertaking an MSc in Digital Marketing Management. Before starting my course, I have worked with Staffordshire University to introduce prospective students to camera equipment and walkthrough the film courses at the university. In addition, I have worked with Stoke Council to go into schools to deliver presentations around anti-smoking, and then work with groups of students to produce these anti-smoking messages into short films. I also currently hold an FLT licence which I gained whilst working at B&Q .

At present I am looking for a project or work placement that helps me further my experience in digital marketing, in order to develop my skills and pursue a career in the future within the industry.

Contact information: – Email: jackadamdutton@gmail.com

James Gooch

I have recently completed my BSc (Hons) Sound Design in which I obtained a 2:1, this focussed on sound for visual media. I strengthened my skills in digital media, including sound for film, TV and games using tools such as Logic Pro X (Certified Pro), Pro tools ultimate and Adobe Audition and Premiere. I comprehensively studied music production and technology including use of industry standard hardware. Within this time I also improved my skills using Adobe Photoshop and completed my certification as an associate in visual design. I also obtained experience within Microsoft Office, namely Word, PowerPoint and Excel. I also have a lot of experience with virtual meeting rooms such as Microsoft teams.

Within my pursuit of an MSc in Digital Marketing Management I have gained skills and knowledge of content marketing, marketing strategy and planning, SEO, email marketing and social media marketing. I would love to further my experience in all of these aspects of digital marketing specifically SEM gaining hands on experience with PPC and other digital marketing tools.

I have recently been successful acquiring a digital marketing role within a B2B company in which I can further my knowledge and experience in social media, content curation/creation, SEO, website management, visual design and analytics. Within this role I am gaining experience with tools such as Zoho, WordPress and Google analytics.

My experience mostly consists of customer facing roles, this includes seasons abroad with PGL Travel in Spain and France, Customer team member at Coop (ongoing) as well Student Ambassador for Staffordshire University advocating the university on open days as well as with the Unibuddy chat service (ongoing).

Don’t hesitate to connect with me on my LinkedIn

If you would like to discuss how we can benefit each-other please contact me: Gooch.James@hotmail.co.uk

Digital marketing students deliver for business

Posted on 12th August 2020 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

The MSc in Digital Marketing Management was developed to deliver the technical, strategic and organisation skills for this industry. As such the course includes a substantial project with an external client and this work is credited as part of the award. Carrying out a project at the height of the pandemic was even more challenging than usual with everything needing to be done remotely and ongoing changes to adapt to the new situation – so Congratulations to the students below for these excellent projects.

If you are interested in enrolling for this September we are putting on virtual course information events – 3.00-4.00pm 1st September register here or
3.00 – 4.00pm 10th September register here

Eerik Beeton carried out a project for The Waterfront Gallery, in Milford Haven, West Wales. This has involved developing the ecommerce offer on the website, creating social media channels Facebook, Instagram and helping to recruit volunteers for the gallery.

Eerik Beeton who carried out a project at the Waterfront Gallery in Milford haven, Pembrokeshire — Eerik Beeton who carried out a project at the Waterfront Gallery in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire

Charlotte Cunningham created a completely new website for Simply Hygiene which is already on the first page of google search due to excellent SEO optimisation. She has also started her own digital marketing company, Sharkey’s Digital Marketing and has also accepted a position as the Marketing Manager for The Aston Care Home group and The Learning College in Stone.

Charlotte has a new marketing job with the Aston Care group in Stone

Craig Holdcroft carried out a project for the Donna Louise Trust developing the website and social media. He has also started his own marketing business, Holdcroft Digital Marketing while at Staffordshire University, completing projects for a number of Micro and SME’s.

Grace Thomson started a student peer blog for the Staffordshire University Careers Studio and this has now been incorporated into the main careers website for the University. The project included providing guidance and training for students across the different faculties in blog writing and social media. The blog has already achieved 23,000 reads in the short time it has been up.

Amber Mottershead carried out her project for Stone Cricket Club providing a new website and turbo charging the social media channels on twitter, instagram and facebook. She now has a new job as marketing and events executive at The Retrofit Academy

Amber is now the marketing and events executive for the Retrofit group

Here’s a short film

If you want to find out more about the course please contact

Paul Dobson (Course leader) or Kat Mitchell or Jon Fairburn

Sign up to our virtual course information event here – 3.00-4.00pm 1st September register here or 3.00 – 4.00pm 10th September register here

Support for micro & SME’s businesses: Survive and Thrive

Posted on 20th May 2020 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

Project leads: e:Prof Jon Fairburn @ProfjonFairburn and e:Kat Taylor @KatTayloruk

There are two parts to the Survive and Thrive project – a series of webinars and 1 to 1 business support. This project aims to support businesses in Staffordshire and the surrounding regions.

The webinars are designed to be interactive and resources to download during the webinars will be made available, as well as examples and the opportunity for chat and questions. If you are unable to attend the webinar then you can watch a recording.

Several of the webinars link to each other and we would encourage you to sign up for all of the webinars.

Practical Hints and Tips for Small and Micro-businesses occurred on Staffordshire Day (May 1st) – Recording here

How to critically assess your business operation and ask really good questions in light of Covid 19 – 2pm May 21st Recording here

How to Create Clear Messaging & Develop Customer Relationships Online – 2pm May 28th Recording here

Strengthening your business and its future prospects: adapting your operations and supply chain management 2pm June 4th Recording here

Are you in the right place? How to connect to the right audience & analyse your performance 2pm June 11th Recording here

E-commerce 1: A fun, no techno-babble guide to having a go with electronic commerce! 2pm 18th June Awaiting editing

E-commerce 2: A detailed navigation of the e-commerce strategy template introduced in the E-Commerce 1 webinar 2pm June 25th Recording here

How to manage your staff and their wellbeing out of the lockdown and beyond 2pm July 2nd Recording here

Introduction to advanced operations for key social media platforms 2pm July 7th Recording here

How to develop & integrate email marketing into your business 2pm July 9th Recording here

Managing change, risk and longevity – what does the future hold? 2pm July 16th

Applications for FREE 1 to 1 business support are NOW CLOSED (All businesses that are due to receive help have been contacted).

CONTACT INFO Prof Jon Fairburn or Kat Taylor

#SurviveandThrive #Staffordshire #Staffsbiz #Businesstips

Preparing for the New Normal – How accommodation providers in France are rethinking and adapting their services and what can we learn from this?

Posted on 15th May 2020 by Kerry Edge

Paul Dobson, Senior LEcturer,Staffordshire Business School

It’s been a challenging, confusing and worrying time for most industries during this current Coronavirus Crisis. But the hospitality sector in particular stands to be one of the hardest hit as it struggles to contemplate how it can continue to trade successfully keeping social distancing in mind, coupled with a rapidly shrinking economy. As part of Staffordshire Business School’s support to organisations I’ve been supporting the local and international hospitality sector and as the French businesses are ahead of us in coming out of lockdown I’ve noted some points to help prepare UK organisations.

After 2 months enduring some of the strictest lockdown controls in Europe, France is slowly opening up its economy and society. And the vast, hugely varied accommodation sector, which historically welcomes visitors across the world, is undergoing a rapid and radical revolution to ensure it can continue to attract customers in these unprecedented times.

The newly forced need to keep distance and natural sense of personal safety has fallen well into the hands of some of the self-catering sector. Private homes and villas, especially those that can offer generous outside space as well as little or no contact with others, have seen a huge demand since the 11^th of May when the French Prime Minister officially declared that travel up to 100km was now permitted. The public, who have been largely “imprisoned” with massively limited scope to be outside their own homes since the middle of March inevitably have an overwhelming desire for a change of scenery. However, this is not a universal permission and policy, and restricted zones still exist across France, and indeed many local governments, even in the less-infected “green regions” are enforcing the continuation of heavy trading restrictions and forced closures of accommodation providers. But where these rules do not apply, the flood gates have opened and demand, all from customers within the 100km radius, has been significant. Also worthy of note is that the average length of stay has seen a dramatic increase for this time of year.

That’s not to say that this is return to normal times for these accommodation owners. French hospitality organisations have had a massive increase in questions about sanitation, personal responsibility and uniform industry standards on cleanliness and contact that the UK accommodation businesses will need to be prepared for when lockdown restrictions are relaxed. As of today, these restrictions haven’t been totally clarified in France, and only “best practice” guides from local tourism authorities exist online. Some of the leading booking platforms and websites for this sub sector are advising “safety gaps” between customers of, for example, 24 hours to allow any surfaces to become less likely to cross contaminate in the future. What is apparent from discussions with French hospitality businesses is that there is an increased desire for customers to have “direct online contact” with the service rather than through online booking platforms. This could be a welcome shift in attitude as this not only allows peace of mind for the customer, but also less commissions for the business owner to pay to the booking platforms which have come under much public criticism and scrutiny of late because of their high charges. One of the French businesses I’ve talked to has had an 800% increase in Facebook messages, their analytics has shown an increase in both mobile and desktop visitors to their website and the number of emails has increased by over 200% compared to last year.

The B&B (Chambres d’hote) and Hotel sector have reported an uphill challenge. With a mix of different guests under their roofs, all with potentially varying attitudes to respecting the new government guidelines, this poses a significant threat to their short- and medium-term existence. However, those that can offer genuine space, especially outside, have a clear advantage over those that cannot. Going from one restrictive box to another isn’t likely to be a great draw for the new discerning needs of the Covid-19 era traveller. Forced confinement has brought about a new desire to be out and about in nature, and burn off all those excessive calories consumed since March.

But with the high season fast approaching during which these businesses would traditionally run at maximum occupancy, the reality is that these organisations will be forced to not only give “buffers” in between guests checking out and the next ones checking in, but also run at a lower occupancy to ensure that interaction between different customers is minimized. Therefore “Making Hay whilst the sun shines” will this year inevitably bring about a lower yield, and reduce the vital cashflow which sustains many of these businesses during the quieter months.

An example of changes implemented is the hotelier Tim Bell and Ingrid Boyer in the Auvergne region of Central France. Tim has developed their website to include a link to their Covid-19 guidance on their home page (see https://chabanettes.com/). This is updated on a regular basis and outlines their commitment to client’s safety. He implements rapid alterations to its usual offerings and has created the foundations for business continuity and customer confidence. He has also set up a Facebook forum for like minded accommodation owners in Europe seeking support and advice. Tim collates industry data, statistics and best practice ideas from all over the accommodation sector and share his opinions and advice with the group.

The sector in which he operates is having to rethink more radically about its traditional services to ensure competitivity and customer confidence. This ranges from the provision of catering which is leaning initially more towards a “Room Service” culture to a complete overhaul of the check-in/check-out customer touch points, looking to technology and globally recognised physical safety barriers to reduce risk of viral spread. For an industry which relies heavily on close, personal contact for their reputation and overall experience, keeping a balance between customer satisfaction and safety is proving challenging, but not impossible. Clients now expect a more sterile and distanced world, with supermarkets leading the way in some innovation and rethinking of the customer journey that the hotels are learning from, such as one-way corridors.

Until the world is safely vaccinated against the virus, the accommodation industry will have to adapt quickly and radically to guidelines, legislation and customer fears. History has told us that businesses that do this will have the best chance of survival, and those that don’t not only fear a downturn in business, but also a very visible online reputation for ignoring what is now the number one priority for the 2020 traveller – Safety.

Chatting with chatbots

Posted on 11th May 2020 by keairbailey

Keair Bailey, Msc Digital MArketing Management

Chatbots are the cost-effective way for a business to stay engaged with their customer 24/7, this blog will discuss why businesses should be including them in their next marketing implementation.

On a very simple level, a bot is just a bit of software that can carry out pre-determined actions on its own without being actively controlled. This is discussed in further detail by Neil Patel who describes it as a “wind up toy”, you build it to carry out what you want it to, you wind it up, and then you let it perform the action it was designed for.

The Customer comes first

The first advantage that a business will notice when introducing chatbots to their marketing is the speed in which the bots reply to customer support messages. This is extremely important as its very common for customers to get very frustrated when made to wait for a human over the phone on through a chat. There is no way to accommodate enough human customer support workers for every customer with a query which results in long wait times. TheModernFirm did a study on customers who have had to call in order to reach customer support, these numbers were found:

“67% of customers hang up out of frustration when they can’t reach a real person.
75% of customers think that it takes too long to reach a human being.
72% of callers who reach an automated/recorded phone line will hang up.”

These problems will result in lower customer loyalty and eventually a loss of profits.

Implementation of a chatbot would eradicate these problems, A chatbots response is immediate and a customer can have their query solved in a matter of seconds. Customers are also more likely to reach out for support if they see a ‘Live Chat’ button.

More information

Businesses today put a lot of emphasis on knowing everything about their customer, this is normally done through primary research. Information such as what a customer is buying is available as a company can just look at sales statistics, however, products that a customer is choosing not to buy is harder to work out as there are far more variables involved. The best way to gain this information is straight from the customers their selves, this is made possible by the mighty chatbot. Email doesn’t result in as accurate information due to the back and forth nature, a live chat allows the customer to reply naturally which leads to more accurate information.

Modern Evolution

LearningHub stats show that Chatbots will power 85% of customer service by 2020 and by 2022, chatbots will help businesses save over $8 billion per annum. If these stats stay true, which information is leaning towards, companies who HAVEN’T introduced chatbots into their marketing strategy will be left behind. Customers will simply stop doing business with company’s that require extra steps to get what they want. Together with the cost efficiency of the chatbot, It makes less and less sense to continue to pay a human to do an AI’s job. Speaking of humans, its very common for somebody working customer support to make a ‘human’ error, this could be something as simple as interpreting the meaning of a question slightly wrong which can lead to frustration or a loss of sales from the customer.

They’re taking our jobs!

While the AI in a chatbot can usually accommodate for most requests from a customer, it’s very easy for a chatbot to get stuck if a customer’s query is slightly different to its base algorithms that its been taught. Also, as a chatbot learns from the responses it receives from a customer, it can sometimes make the wrong decision internally due not being able to actually choose which decision it wants to make, it is just following the code. An example of this is a Microsoft chatbot used on Twitter being taught racist and misogynistic responses by customers in less than 24 hours, to avoid this, the chatbot must be optimised properly.

Conclusion

There is an endless supply of advantages when it comes to assessing chatbots, they can save your company money and time, improve your customer relations and customer loyalty and ultimately create a better brand image. Although, an influx of AI and bots makes the whole customer service process very impersonal and cold as suggested by Neil Patel. Neil also suggests that chatbots should most definitely be used in their marketing strategies but the businesses should also be careful as to not “water down” their marketing.

“All good things in moderation”.

How social media helps small businesses to grow

Posted on 2nd April 2020 by Lucy Harvey

Lucy Harvey, BA (hons) Marketing Management student

Are you struggling to get your small business a strong following on social media platforms?

Small businesses are often mistaken for believing that social media marketing doesn’t need to be implemented for their company as they already have a loyal, communal following that are aware of who and what they stand for. However, this mindset is limiting the possible audience in and around the local area who aren’t aware of your business, but require your services, which your competitors could easily steal just by being on social media.

A successful social media campaign will include the following steps, in order to see a growth in traffic and overall sales:

Create a marketing strategy plan and a set of smart objectives
Research your audience, current trends and market place
Post engaging content to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, such as competitions, stories, images, videos and polls
Create a relevant hashtag for your audience to share with their friends and family to establish brand identity
Introduce a reward system – this incentive offers rewards to customers after each visit to eventually receive a free product/service will show an increase of returning and loyal customers. An example of this is Starbucks, offering their audience stars to collect to redeem a free drink.
Engage with your audience regularly to build a strong relationship

Using Google Analytics; your small business can then measure what parts of their social media advertising is working and where they are generating traffic from. This could be an opportunity to be more specific in your advertising, and if it is generating interest from people not in the area, you could consider expanding your business globally if there’s a desire for your product/services elsewhere. Expanding your business will therefore increase revenue which you can then be implemented back into your social media campaigns, to continue to grow your brands reputation positively.

Recent changes in the Google’s algorithm can affect your page ranking and sales

Posted on 16th March 2020 by Kerry Edge

Paul Dobson, Senior Lecturer at Staffordshire Business School

According to a number of reports Google has implemented a substantial search engine algorithm update in January, plus a number of smaller ones in February 2020 … But what does this mean for businesses?

The Google search engine uses a combination of algorithms and numerous ranking signals to deliver webpages ranked by relevance on its search engine results pages (SERPs) and we’ve seen these changes have a direct impact on the Google Analytics results and effectiveness of the customer journey to gain sales for businesses. An example of this, is the page ranking has changed to be more themed based. However, there are ways for businesses to enable their website to be high up in the SERP. These include :-

1. Snippets Dominate More Search Clicks

Google has changed over recent years with the aim to deliver better search results for the reader, examples include providing the answers through featured Snippets which appear above the organic results. For example, I’ve search “how to walk in snow”

For your website to take advantage of this, you need to provide clear answers to commonly asked questions in your website area of interest. These featured Snippets are evaluated and boosted to the top depending on their quality, with the results that 54.68% of clicks from Google come from featured Snippets. There are various ways to create featured snippet at the top of the page but the key ways include :-

Create something better than the current Answer Card / Provide updated information, and Google will prioritise this ‘Freshness’
Take the most frequent People Also Asked questions, listed in the Google search, and create content to match*
Focus on the most frequently asked types of questions: “How”, “Is” and “Why”

2. Keywords no longer work

Trying to pack key words into landing pages is no longer effective. Google is using more natural language and wants to independently rank websites and use them as quality data sources. Your website needs to be written as a natural language rather than trying to pack key words at the top, and consider the long key words that readers may use to find your website. In addition, you need to consider your website as an overall themed area rather than a mixture of items or topics, for example if you’re selling car parts do not include information blogs on other areas such as toys, or if you do include other areas setup robot.txt and sitemap.xml so that Google does not to index them and get confused.

3. Mobile User Experience (UX) affects your ranking and Sales.

On some of the websites that we use for student demonstrations of Customer Experience, (CX) User Experience (UX) and Google Analytics (for example https://aubergedechabanettes.com/ ) we can see up to 80% of the hits to the websites are from smart-mobiles in some weeks. A website that is not mobile compatible will lose customers especially as mobile access is a growing trend. How people find information using their mobile devices is also getting more advanced, so your website must be easy to read, grab people’s attention and then can answer their questions or keep them entertained. If you own a business based at a property such as a Hotel, Restaurant, Bar and Beauty Salon, local SEO is vitally important. Studies show that 4 in 5 consumers conduct local searches on search engines using their mobile devices. Google now allows customers, at a click of a button, to navigate to you, call you or even book directly.

4. Websites Optimize for Voice Search such and Alexa and OK Google

With the growing use of mobile devices and home devices, voice searches are becoming an increasing trend. These searches are not only done on phones, but they can also be performed on home voice assistants such as the Amazon Echo, Samsung Smart TV, Voice Pod, etc.

Questions asked via voice instead of entering search queries are going to make short choppy keywords less relevant and therefore search terms have become more conversational and targeted. This increasing use of voice searches has already had an impact of Google’s algorithms and Artificial Intelligence systems since the search engine needs to do more work to get the relevant information that the user is looking for.

5. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the way forward.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is an important technology behind Google to deliver better search results to its users to create personalized experiences for consumers. The AI has been learning the characteristics of what makes websites of high quality or not, then classifies these web pages and determines their rankings. Therefore, high-quality content is essential for effective SEO strategies. Users want content that is relevant, helpful, and timely, so Google tends to place websites with consistently themed high-quality content with higher search engine rankings.

If you’d like to know more about becoming an expert in using data driven strategies to lead businesses to success including how to use data to analyse, design and test elaborate customer experience systems in the customer journey to optimise growth, plus learning to work in development environments for Fitbit, Alexa and Google home and mobile devices/smartwatches/ smart home devices as well developing using cloud computing, have a look at our MSc in Customer and Data Analytics.

Author :-

Paul Dobson is a Senior Lecturer at Staffordshire Business School in Digital and Strategic Marketing. He is actively involved in supporting local and EU charities and businesses especially hospitality businesses such as hotels and restaurants. Further details can be seen at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulmddobson/

Ultimate Google Ads Guide for SME’s: 3 steps to increase return on Ads spend

Posted on 14th March 2020 by Eerik Beeton

Eerik Beeton, MSc Digital Marketing Management student

Return on Advertising Spend — Increase return on Ads spend with these 3 steps!

There are a few reasons why your Google Ads might not work as well for your business as it seems to work for your competitors. Make sure you follow these three steps and you’re guaranteed to be more productive with your Google Ads.

Many businesses have struggled to make most out of their digital marketing efforts and have employed strategies where they use an external marketing agency to handle paid digital marketing. I’m here to suggest that outsourcing Pay Per Click and Cost Per Mille (PPC/CPM) is not sensible anymore in the 2020’s. Why would you pay someone else to do what you can do yourself?

To prove this to you, the next three steps in this blog will bring to your attention some issues around outsourcing your Google Ads and how to do it yourself to both save money and increase the effectiveness of your paid ads!

1. Exploit automation, lose that agency and save up to half of the cost

Historically, making your ads has been time-consuming and has required a lot of technical input from marketers to stay in top of the game. Year 2019 was the year of automation, this also changed how PPC works. Now your PPC can be automated with budget diversification and smart audience targeting, making the use of an agency inferior. I’m listing more handy tools throughout this blog so keep reading!

If you buy click-based advertising services (Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), a service provider will usually charge a 10-20% of the ad spend and a minimum monthly fee for their work. If your competitor advertises their services in-house for £300 per month and you outsource this service, then your advertising spend on Google AdWords is £150-200. This gives your competitor 30-50% higher advertising budget and an advantage.

As the average return on advertising pounds spend on google is 1 pound spent, 2 earned, you’re most likely giving your profits away using a marketing agency.

2. Optimise and save up to 69% on your Ads

Understanding you Ad quality score can help you to create better campaigns and improve your digital marketing as a whole.

Poorly optimised Google Ads are a costly mistake, not only are they more expensive but they won’t get your business the leads they are after. Once you get your Ads optimised, your Ad spend can be decreased by 69%.

Maybe the most important part of your Google Ads optimisation is that they need to be eligible for Google auctions. This means that your ads need to focus on a few strange terms like Quality Score, Maximum Bid and Ad rank. Ad rank is influenced by the maximum cost-per-click (CPC) you choose for your ad and your ad’s Quality Score. In the following, I will explain how you can create the best quality score for your ads.

To improve the quality score of your ads, focus on the following 4 strategies

Use keyword planning to increase relevance of your adds by making ad groups based on keywords
Optimise your ads for higher Click-through-Rate (CTR) by using focus keywords and Google Ads extensions, like call to actions and contact options.
Improve the quality of your landing page. This can be achieved by (re)targeting your ad and landing pages using long-tailed keywords or by using Dynamic advertising.
Be patient! Google’s algorithms will take more than a few days to improve the quality score of your Ads and being patient is the key to measure the improvements.

If reading pages of descriptions is not for you, I’ve also included a 4-minute video clip on the strategies for your convenience.

3. Set tracking and retarget customers to get 3x more leads

Retargeting Ads are 76% more likely to be clicked on than regular Display Ads. Therefore, building accurate conversion tracking is important for improving the results of your advertising. This is important as it will show how the customer actually behaved on the site.

Often, micro-conversions, such as referral browsing, shopping cart additions,, are ignored in tracking. However, they are essential metrics that tell about the quality of traffic and enable accurate re-marketing to visitors who completed a specific activity. This can also be used to track the performance of your paid advertising and to make changes accordingly. See the short video below on how to set you tracking!

The importance of setting conversion actions to help your customer tracking is essential; if you’re not sure how to do this here’s a link to a Google Ads article that explains it step by step.

Lastly, understanding the whole customer journey and to assess all the steps is important. By setting tracking and using retargeting can feed into 3 times more leads for your campaigns.

Future-proof your Google Ads revenue

Google has focused heavily on machine learning and keeps finessing the technology in order to deliver helpful and frictionless customer experience. There have been some setbacks in the technology and most of the features are not fully functioning for the SME’s, but this said: – The year 2020 will be the year to look out for improvements in:

Next big things in the early 2020’s

Google has focused heavily on machine learning and keeps finessing the technology in order to deliver helpful and frictionless customer experience. There has been some setbacks in the technology and most of the features are not fully functioning for the SME’s but this said: – The year 2020 will be the year to look out for improvements in:

Responsive search adds: Just give Google 5 headlines and 4 description lines, and they will do the rest.
Google Bumper Ads: use machine learning to create you 6-second ads for your YouTube ads
Maximize lift: is a smart bidding strategy that uses machine learning to determine which users are most likely to be interested in your promotions and drives down your costs of advertising.
Automatic Bidding: Often criticised and wouldn’t be solely relying on this until further improvements are made.

Eerik Beeton

MSc Digital Marketing Management students preparing for placement and connecting with the region

Posted on 3rd March 2020 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

When we started the MSc in Digital Marketing Management (FT and PT available), we were determined that students would get credited work experience working with partners. To set up the placement there is a whole module dedicated to the preparation of the placement (which is three months long). Details of when and how to get involved are on our earlier blog here.

Charlotte Cunningham is working with Valentine Clays in Fenton. The placement will be focusing on a strategic digital marketing plan and improving their SEO performance of their main website, along creating website content for their sub-companies LoveClay and Art in Clay.

Eerik Beeton will be completing his placement with a Staffordshire local IT Company, CoRE Educational Ltd. During his placement Eerik will improve the SEO performance of the company’s e-commerce site selling refurbished IT.

Lewis Copeland is working with Hilton Garden Inn in Hanley on behalf of RBH Hospitality Management. The placement is focussed on developing and implementing a strategic social media plan for the opening of the new hotel.

Charlotte Gooding will be completing her project placement with City Stage Crews Ltd. The project will focus on implementing a digital marketing strategy due to the business currently not having one including creating a website for the business.

Sohnia Butt will be undertaking a project at The Mitchell Arts Centre in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. The project will focus around the social media marketing, email marketing and website revamp to increase sales with their target audience

Amber Mottershead will be completing her placement in her current employment at Stone Cricket Club. The placement will focus on developing and implementing an improved digital marketing strategy. This will include building a new website, monitoring the Google Analytics, developing a clear and consistent brand identity and managing multiple social media channels.

Grace Thomson will be completing her placement with Staffordshire University in the Careers Team. Grace is focusing on implementing a social media strategy with an aim of increasing brand awareness. Grace is also working on increasing website traffic.

Leah Mahon will be completing her project placement at creative recruitment agency, The Candidate in Manchester. The project is focused on creating a content marketing/SEO and social media strategy to increase reach, particularly with client audiences.

Daniel O’Sullivan is now working for Port Vale Football Club he will be developing the strategic direction of the markerting plan.

Craig Holdcroft, will be completing his placement with The Donna Louise Trust, a charitable organisation located in Stoke On Trent. The initial plan will be to extend the digital reach of the charity with the aim to grow followers and charity engagement within the Staffordshire and South Cheshire area.

Craig Holdcroft who will be working with the Donna Louise Trust — Craig Holdcroft

Keair Bailey will be developing the website and social media content for PeakMyRun

Jordan Hubble will be working with the Staffordshire University Student Union

Sophie Lawrence is working with Stoke City Football Club. The placement will entail content creation and SEO to display the impact and raise awareness of the Premier League Primary Stars Project.

More to be added as the placements are confirmed.

All of these students and course tutors Prof Jon Fairburn @ProfJonFairburn and Kat Taylor @kattayloruk will be attending the Digital City Festival in Manchester on Thursday 12th March if anyone wants to connect there.
#DCF2020

Need help with Digital Marketing in 2020?

Posted on 27th November 2019 by Prof. Jon Fairburn

The MSc in Digital Marketing Management is one of our awards to meet the changing demands of industry. Marketing is going through a fundamental change with ever more marketing carried out online – a major consequence of this is the incredibly detailed data that is generated which leads to data driven policy.

The marketing industry is booming, examples from our partners include, Synectics Solutions in Newcastle under Lyme, Don’t Panic who organise many digital award nights and conferences or alumni who have set up businesses such as Jill Quick, or Louise Holland

To get our Masters students ready for the industry we have two modules:

‘The Management of a Digital Marketing Project’ – this module will prepare a tri-partite agreement between the student, the academic staff and the organisation as to the focus of the project, existing benchmark measures, what is to be achieved and how to make the project sustainable (so that it can continue after the student leaves). This is carried out between January to March/April
The Work Based Digital Marketing Project – a credit work experience (450 hours) to deliver the project with the organisation concerned. (April to August)

The project can be in any type of organisation e.g. private sector, public sector, charity or a university. It is desirable but not essential for the work project activity to take place at the premises, or it could be a mix with some days in the company and some work off site.

As the module is part of the course then paid remuneration is not required. However, we would expect travel expenses and any other identified costs of the project to be paid – these can be discussed and agreed before the placement starts.

Below are profiles of some of the students on the course so reach out direct to them if you are interested or if you want to discuss it with a staff memebr contact Jon Fairburn 01782 294094 jon.fairburn@staffs.ac.uk

Alex Bedford

I have a lot of experience developing and leading teams to achieve results. This is proven through a history of achievement working with Active Lives Education, Cheshire Football Association, Birmingham County Football Association, Walsall Local Authority, Sported UK, Sports Across Staffordshire, and The Football Association.

I have a keen interest in Digital Marketing. I am pursuing a Master’s degree in Digital Marketing Management. I have experience in creating and managing marketing and communication strategies and also have experience in website management, email and text marketing, social media management, content curation, and online paid advertising.

I currently run a business called Active Lives Education however am looking for a project that helps me gain further experience in digital marketing, to develop my skills and develop a career or business in this field.

Contact information – Linkedin profile email alex.bedford@activeliveseducation.co.uk mob 07468583274

Amber Mottershead

I hold a foundation degree of science in Film and Television Production and have recently graduated from my BA degree in Events Management (2 year fast track) which I gained a 2:1 in. I have a large work experience portfolio from volunteering to paid work. For 4 years I was a manager of a Children’s play centre then moving onto the cash manager of B&M. I now work as an Events Assistant at Moddershall Oaks. For my volunteer work I have experience of working for the likes of Channel 4, Woman of the Year and Stone Food and Drink Festival. I have also worked several corporate events such as the Hotel Marketing Conference and Land Rover.

I have skills within Web design, as well as using all social media platforms for brand building. I also have quite a good understanding with photoshop and other computer software that may be needed, I am a quick learner and can pick up things fairly quickly.

Ideally, I would like a placement within a sector that holds Events, but I would be open to offers.

If you would like to follow my LinkedIn, this can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-mottershead-ba48b1166/ or email me Amber1210@live.co.uk

Or if you’d like to have a look at some of my volunteer work you can find this on Instagram: @amottevents

Lewis Copeland

I have recently graduated from my BA Events Management (2 Year Accelerated) in which I achieved a first-class honours. I have previous work experience as a bar supervisor for three years as well as voluntary work experience with Channel 4, The Stone Food and Drink Festival as well as being a student representative for my course.

I currently work for The Student Hub at Staffordshire University as a Digital Marketing Ambassador. In this role I manage multiple platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) as well as improving the overall engagement and reach of the platforms.

I am able to use social media platforms to build and uphold brand image. I have experience in using analytics to improve the reach of posts as well as identifying demographics which not be being reached and making steps to target them.

Ideally I would like a placement in tourism, events or hospitality but I am open to offers.

If you would like to connect with me, my LinkedIn is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lewis-copeland-10268515b/ or Email me at: lewis_copeland@hotmail.com

Sophie Lawrence

I have recently graduated with a First-Class BA (Hons) Degree in Events Management and have now started studying MSc Digital Marketing Management. I have a large work experience portfolio from both paid and volunteer work. I have been a chef for the past three years at The Orange Tree Bar and Grill, I also hold a range of customer service skills which I have been able to develop by working at a bar and on a hotel reception. To broaden by experience in events management I have volunteered at numerous events such as Woman of the Year 2018, Stone Food and Drink Festival and The Royal Oak Gin festival.

I have skills in web design, brand building and analytics, I can also use all forms of social media and some computer software which may be required. I am a reliable team player who learns quickly, I enjoy expressing my creativity when carrying out jobs and ensuring all tasks are completed to the best of my ability.

If possible, I would like to find a placement within the events, tourism or hospitality sector although I am open to other opportunities.

Please find me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-lawrence-05367414a/) or email me (sophielouiselawrence@gmail.com) if you are interested in my expertise.

Charlotte Gooding

I have recently graduated with a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Events Management and am now currently studying MSc Digital Marketing Management. I have a wide work experience portfolio varying from paid work to voluntary. Over the last three years I have been a bar staff member for Stonegate pubs working for Walkabout until it closed down in April this year and now Yates Newcastle-under-Lyme. Within my role at Yates I tend to work on the bar and occasionally the kitchen, but recently I have taken on the role to be more involved in the social media for the business. To help to widen my knowledge of events and volunteers I volunteered for the Stone Food and Drink Festival in 2017/18.

My main stills revolve around social media and helping to design promotional material. I am a reliable person with work ethic and put all my effort into anything that I do.

My ideal placement if possible would be within the events, tourism or hospitality industry. However, I am willing to try anything new that may broaden my knowledge and skills

Please find me on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-gooding-66867314a/) or email me (charlottegooding@live.co.uk) if you would like to contact me.

Aaron Shaw

I recently graduated from Staffordshire University with a 2:1 BA (Hons) degree in Business management and I’m now studying an MSc in Digital Marketing Management. I am a team leader at the Staffordshire University Students’ Union. This role requires excellent communication skills, the ability to delegate tasks to the team I am managing and making sure the venue (LRV and Verve) is running as smoothly as possible. This has taught me a multitude of transferable skills within customer service as I have developed my interpersonal and leadership skills. This is reflected within my dedication to the Staffordshire Stallions American Football as a team player and a defensive captain.

I’m currently looking for a digital marketing placement for my work based digital marketing project. This will give me a chance to utilise the skills and knowledge that I have learnt within my masters and apply it to a professional environment. Any opportunity to be able to get this experience would enable me to further my employability.

My degree has given me an insight into a variety of different aspects within Business Management. This has given me fundamental knowledge on topics that also relate to the MSc in Digital Marketing Management. I have extended my academic skills and abilities by studying into a specialised area of Business. An MSc has enabled me to have a greater understanding of analytics, search engine optimisation and the ability to design a global digital marketing strategy.

If you would like to contact me, my details are;

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/aaron-shaw-ba20a3150

Email – aaronjamesshaw1994@hotmail.co.uk

Leah Mahon

I have graduated with a BA (Hons) Journalism and I am now studying my MSc in Digital Marketing Management. Throughout university, I worked as a venue member for Staffordshire University’s Student’s Union in front and back of house customer service roles and as a Student Ambassador. These roles have instilled me with strong interpersonal skills and self-organisation through working in these multifaceted positions.

I have experience working as a Trainee Journalist at The Sentinel newspaper and Staffs Live, where I was responsible for researching and writing feature and news content for print and online publication. I utilised my qualifications in Reporting and Shorthand at 100WPM from the National Council of Training for Journalists, ensuring accuracy and time management.

I am an experienced CRM Marketing Assistant, where I was responsible for curating content for email marketing campaigns and market research. Studying Digital Marketing has developed my knowledge within integral marketing theories, brand development and content curation/SEO. I am now implementing this in the creation of my own lifestyle blog, The Wordsmith.

I am interested in opportunities in the content marketing sector, and I am open to writing diverse content in an array of industries.

My contact details are:

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-mahon-b15627121/

Email – leah_mahon@outlook.com

Grace Hague

If you are a business owner and you are looking for a driven, creative and hardworking individual that has a keen interest in digital marketing, SEO and business development…then look no further!

I am currently looking for a placement within an organisation that will help me gain further knowledge and experience in the digital marketing field.

I have recently graduated from Staffordshire University with a 2:1 in Tourism Management. My main interests lie in SEO, content curation, analytics and brand building through social media.

I have consolidated experience working in fast-paced environments, working in a team, customer engagement and I have the desire to learn and help businesses grow!

So, what are you waiting for? Get in touch via LinkedIn or email!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-hague-12846b10a/

Email: Grace_Hague@mail.com