Before joining Staffordshire University she served as a lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire teaching on a variety of, research, subject specific (tourism, hospitality and events industry based), enterprise and management modules to a range of students undertaking their foundation, undergraduate and post graduate qualifications.
Amanda has also lectured in the field of tourism, hospitality and events management in several international destinations including Cambodia and Poland and has also been a visiting scholar and block taught in China at Chongxing University and Xiamen University
Amanda has an extensive commercial background and has experience of the operational side of the industry. Amanda first graduated with an art degree and was an artist for several years, progressing from this she became a client manager helping to build and maintain relationships, and then as an event organiser – planning, organising and delivering numerous art events both nationally and internationally. Amanda firmly believes that we need to preserve the best of our culture and nature for generations to come.
Separate to lecturing, Amanda is a joint CEO and major shareholder of a building environmental controls company that specialises in reducing carbon footprints via environmentally friendly energy management systems in commercial buildings.
Email Marketing is still considered one of the most influential and dominating digital marketing methods (Paulo et al., 2022). In a transformational world, it has often been predicted that email would be the declining digital marketing technique used to communicate with customers. But time after time email is still empowering our customers (Hartemo, 2016) and will continue to do so. In this practical blog, I have provided you with some insights that may just change the way that you manage your email marketing.
In a study conducted by the Digital Marketing Institute, interviewing 200+ global marketing leaders, they found that email marketing regularly stands out for its versatility and flexibility to market almost any product in any industry (Ripton, 2022). Additionally, in 2020, email was found to bring an average of 35% ROI to businesses using it as a form of communication for their audience (Statista, 2020).
Average return-on-investment (ROI) of email marketing campaigns in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2016 to 2020 (Statista, 2020)
Since emerging, email marketing has been an early adopter of innovative digital capabilities. Automation introduced an efficient concept built of predefined rules, personalisation and trigger functionalities, that allowed marketers more time for productivity, avoiding reactive intervention (Mailchimp, 2021). It could be said though that success is based on effective usage. Econsultancy’s annual Email Marketing Industry Census suggests that whilst return on investment is most successful via email marketing, 33% of participants considered their automation skills as ineffective (Murphy, 2018).
In 2021, we saw an increase in marketers using emojis in email content and subject lines. This arguably soon became careless, forgetting the structured readability guidelines (Content Design London, 2020). Similarly, GIFs should be used in the right way to ensure clear context, short load time and expression of brand values (Mullen, 2022).
These findings have shown that it may not be the type of digital marketing methods that you are using, but how you are using those opportunities. Here are 5 top tips to consider to stay competitive when creating an effective email marketing approach.
Stay nimble to the changes that take place. Digital marketing can be a test and development process, so ensure that within your planning, you allow for flexibility, moving with internal and external change. Marketing is heavily influenced by the events within the wider business operations, tune in to that and allow it to shape clarity in your messaging.
If you would benefit from a structure to support this, consider the use of SOSTAC (Smith, 2022) to encourage the strategic stages to be present within your planning.
2 The Customer Counts
Before you are tempted to click that send button, ask yourself, is my message answering the customer’s question? No digital marketing activity will be successful if you don’t first have a clear understanding of your target audience (Vaughan, 2022). Explore who you are trying to sell to, investigating their Wants, Needs, and Desires. You may even want to understand their values and what they deem as important when they are choosing to invest in a brand.
3 Objective Outlook
Remember the end game. What are you trying to achieve? If we do not know what we are trying to achieve, how will we know how to measure success? For tactical support in creating effective objectives, try the 5S model. Providing a systematic approach to setting objectives will ensure that success can be understood.
4 Adaptable Aesthetics
The big question here is, where is your customer consuming their digital content? Put yourself in their shoes and imagine them going about their everyday – what do you see? Based on trends, they are likely to be a part of the 67.1% of the global population accessing information on a mobile device (We Are Social, 2022). Your mobile marketing strategy has never been more important, so ensure that your chosen email platform allows for responsive design.
5 Rule, Review and Refine
Your final task is to be fluid. Understanding your email marketing effectiveness will ensure that you are aware of the success factors and techniques which are encouraging interaction from your audience. Build in regular AB testing, and review periods and ensure that you listen to your customers and refine your approach to suit their needs.
References
Content Design London, . (2020) Emojis, Readability Guidelines. Available at: https://readabilityguidelines.co.uk/images/emojis/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Hartemo, M. (2016) “Email marketing in the era of the empowered consumer,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 10(3), pp. 212–230. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-06-2015-0040.
Mailchimp, . (2021) What is email automation? A beginner’s guide, Mailchimp Marketing Library. Available at: https://mailchimp.com/en-gb/marketing-glossary/email-automation/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Mullen, A. (2022) Email marketing trends in 2022: Examining design, privacy and process, Econsultancy. Available at: https://econsultancy.com/email-marketing-trends-in-2022-examining-design-privacy-and-process/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Murphy, D. (2018) “Silver bullet or Millstone? A review of success factors for implementation of marketing automation,” Cogent Business & Management, 5(1), p. 1546416. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2018.1546416.
Neil Patel, . (2021) A beginner’s guide to A/B testing: Email campaigns that convert, Neil Patel. Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/ab-testing-email-campaigns/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Paulo, M., Miguéis, V.L. and Pereira, I. (2022) “Leveraging email marketing: Using the subject line to anticipate the open rate,” Expert Systems with Applications, 207, p. 117974. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.117974.
Ripton, J. (2022) Why email marketing is still crucial in 2022, DigitalMarketer. Digital Marketer. Available at: https://www.digitalmarketer.com/blog/email-marketing-in-2022/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Smith, P.R. (2022) SOSTAC® official site, PR Smith Marketing. Available at: https://prsmith.org/sostac/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Statista, S. (2020) Roi of e-mail marketing in the UK 2020, Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/283067/return-on-investment-roi-for-email-marketing-in-the-uk/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Vaughan, P. (2022) How to create detailed buyer personas for your business [free persona template], HubSpot Blog. HubSpot. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/buyer-persona-research (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
We Are Social, . (2022) Digital 2022: Another Year of bumper growth, We Are Social UK. Available at: https://wearesocial.com/uk/blog/2022/01/digital-2022-another-year-of-bumper-growth-2/ (Accessed: November 4, 2022).
Despite the lag in the uptake of the scheme due to the pandemic, student numbers have started to pick up significantly and we see a shift in postgraduate numbers from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and other countries. The undergraduate enrolment went up by almost 24.1% from the year 2016/17 and only about 5% from 2019/20 and postgraduate about 13.08% from 2019/20.
The postgraduate increase is mainly because the route is more beneficial because of a shorter time frame to completion compared the undergraduate route. Furthermore, many students prefer to get an undergraduate degree from their own country and then add more value through an international postgraduate degree.
The implications of this influx of international students could be many. On the one hand it would boost the financial benefit for the universities post pandemic . In addition, it will create more employment opportunities at the universities as the student numbers cannot be managed with existing staff. The labour market will benefit as well from the part time work being offered by these students to cater to their living costs. The value addition for the UK economy as planned by the reopening of the Post study work visa regime would be a qualified workforce which would not only contribute but also fill the gap which was created in the workforce post Brexit.
The government needs to ensure that the scheme runs for a few years as cutting it short may result in a negative impact as was the case when the scheme was abolished in 2012.
Given the current cost of living crisis, and as most of these international students have to face significant visa and other costs with their move to the UK. Only time will tell whether the full benefit of the scheme is captured.
Ali Wasim teaches a number of courses in the business school including the Apprenticeship programs CMDA and ODMA.
In the last few years I have been working with colleagues in the University and Citizens Advice North Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent (CANSS) on the causes, experiences and actions against poverty in Stoke on Trent. Early 2022 we produced a study[1] on the cost-of-living crisis and we found that austerity through benefit and public services cuts has been a major cause of increasing poverty. Before the COVID-19 crisis, Stoke-on-Trent was the 14th most deprived district in England (out of 317 districts) and possessed one of the highest rates of people on low pay and with low skills. In 2016, the Money Advice Service ranked Stoke-on-Trent as the 12th in terms of numbers of people in excessive debt.[2] We found that food banks in the district have been overwhelmed with people unable to meet basic living costs.[3]
Food banks now commonly used in Stoke
The recent changes (September 2022) to the fiscal policies involving tax cuts will do little to help, and will in fact intensify poverty. Government cost of living support for benefit claimants (around £650 for UC and ESA claimants)[4] will be nowhere near what is required even to ‘make ends meet.’[5] It seems that the Government are hell bent in punishing the poor as Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is promising more benefit cuts.[6] Work is not a route out of poverty as the Government claims as two-thirds (68%) of working-age adults in poverty live in a household where at least one adult is in work.”
Instead, they are implementing a tougher claimant regime through the plans to impose benefit sanctions as part of the ‘Way to Work’ initiative to move people quicker off benefits into work.
The time allowed for jobseekers to move to their preferred job is being reduced. Anyone deemed non-compliant will face sanctions and reduced income[8]. Already there has been a quadrupling in the rate of benefit sanctions in Stoke since before the pandemic.[9]
Furthermore there is no guarantee that benefit increases will be in line with inflation leading increasing housing and health poverty. The health of people in Stoke-on-Trent is generally worse than the England average. According to Public Health England, Stoke-on-Trent is one of the 20% most deprived districts/unitary authorities in England and about 24% (12,660) children live in low-income families. Life expectancy for both men and women is lower than the England average.[10]
Victoria Canning from Bristol University and Steve Toombs (Open University) claim that the Government’s policies are the equivalent of social murder. This is due to the excess deaths caused by poverty. They define social murder as “the outcome of deliberate policies that facilitate social, economic and political oppression, and which lead to untimely and ultimately avoidable and preventable deaths. While corporations and wealthy elites will benefit substantively from the decisions made in the mini-budget, some at the bottom of the increasingly disparate economy in Britain will lose their lives as a result.”[11]
David Etherington is Professor of Local and Regional Economic Development in the School of Justice, Security and Sustainability, Staffordshire University. David has been researching welfare reform, poverty and employment relations, including a comparative study of the UK and Danish welfare models. Some of his research has been published in a book in 2020 Austerity, Welfare and Work: Exploring Politics, Geographies and Inequalities, Bristol, Policy Press
During the last two decades, social media and review sites have provided opportunities to city councils, heritage, and tourism destinations to co-create value with citizens and tourists. The online channels facilitate the sharing of information and experiences using different types of content such as texts, photos, videos.
The high level of interactivity and reach of social media platforms may play a critical role in the city branding of Stoke-on-Trent taking into consideration the extensive increase in 1) number of users, (2) content generation and (3) content consumption during the last few years.
The city’s destinations and citizens generated content on social media platforms may influence the city branding which may have a positive impact on the long term societal and economic indicators. As residents of Stoke-on-Trent, we can influence visitors or investors attitude toward the city by collectively engage with social media accounts of its destinations, heritage places, visitor attractions, city centre, businesses, and many others.
The participation and involvement in Stoke-on-Trent city branding may seem complex, and as citizens, we might think that we need to be experts in content creation, photo shooting or video editing to support the city brand image. In fact, we can play a valuable role without being social media or technology experts by following the three steps formula (1) Awareness, (2) Engagement and (3) Co-creation.
Table 1. Percentage of the city population following the official visit the city social media accounts
City Name
Estimated Population
Total number of followers on the official visit the city account on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
Percentage of followers from the total population
Stoke-on-Trent
389,754
18,516
4.75%
Sunderland
343,738
17,702
5,14%
Middlesbrough
390,772
45,696
11,69%
Britain
55,977,178
4,180,597
7.46%
The second step is to engage with the content of these accounts. Engagement behaviors include liking, commenting, and sharing the content. Previous studies have shown that engagement will increase visibility including reach and views that enhance awareness, and most importantly Stoke-on-Trent brand equity, image, word of mouth and loyalty. Further, this step may include rating and reviewing the destinations’ pages on Google or other review sites such as tripadvisor.co.uk. Much research highlighted the importance of these reviews during visitors search for information and before decision-making.
Table 2 highlights that the official visitor’s website of Stoke-on-Trent ‘Visit Stoke’ is effectively performing for the number of organic traffic per month. Further, the number of searches for Stoke on Trent on TripAdvisor is higher than other cities. However, the number of Stoke-on-Trent hashtags on social media platforms is an area for development, and this can be improved by following the third step for city branding.
Estimated monthly organic traffic to official tourism site
Estimated search traffic on TripAdvisor per month
Stoke-on-Trent
479K
13K
176
42,786
2,400K
Sunderland
887K
28K
167
26,902
1,100K
Middlesbrough
492K
15K
190
5,354
1,000K
The third step is to co-create content with the destinations, heritage, museums, and visitor attractions at Stoke-on-Trent. This step includes visiting these places and creating content such as images, videos or texts highlighting your experience and feelings, followed by sharing the content on your personal social media platforms while tagging the place and mentioning the related hashtags such as #stokeontrent #stoke #MyStokeStory #wearestoke #visitMAC #Smithfieldtoke #potteriesmuseum #LoveStoke #WhatsOnStoke #PoweringUpStoke #StokeIsOnTheUp #welovestoke. Further, you can develop a specific social media page or blog dedicated to showcase the best places to visit in Stoke-on-Trent including all the news, events and activities that may happen during the year. A good example is the Instagram named @welovestoke or the news and media page named @Babababoon.
During the last week of September, and during the welcome week at Staffordshire University, we have used the #stokeontrent along other Hashtags on Twitter. The photo below of the word frequency explains how we have influenced the #stokeontrent including the activities happening around the city and the Twitter accounts that they are using or re-tweeting with the #stokeontrent. For example, words such as students, amazing, appealing and Hashtags such as #staffsexperience and #proudtobestaffs were combined frequently with #stokeontrent. This is an example of a strategic use of Hashtags and how it may be beneficial for the city branding when it is searched online.
Stoke word cloud
During the same week, the Twitter accounts in the figure below have used the #stokeontrent frequently. This represents an opportunity for other citizens to join and use the #stokeontrent strategically enhancing the reputation and supporting the vision of the City Council to transform the city into one of the region’s most important cultural destinations.
She is currently undertaking her PhD in business and management at the University of Wolverhampton, focusing on the use of critical diversity management studies to understand inequalities in leadership positions.
Her research was recognized by the European Academy of Management (EURAM) Doctoral Colloquium 2022 in Switzerland as her PhD project was shortlisted for the responsible research award and for the best paper award. Similarly, her work on the power of business elites in UK biomedical firms was accepted at the European Group of Organisation Studies (EGOS) in Vienna in 2022. She is a published co-author on subjects associated with sustainability, leadership, and entrepreneurship in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Sustainability.
She holds an MBA with distinction and PGCert in academic practice from the University of Wolverhampton and she is a member of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). She is recognised as Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and possesses three years of teaching experience in further and higher education in the UK. Prior to starting her career in academia, she was an environmental engineer with more than four years’ experience in leading environmental consultancy projects in the public and private sector.
Her specialist knowledge has enabled her to participate in a consultancy project to understand businesses in Walsall and their approach to Diversity and Inclusion practices in the workplace from employee and employer’s perspectives. Working as a research assistant, the project was commissioned by Walsall for All and DWP and is managed by the Black Country Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with its partner the University of Wolverhampton. Further to that, she has also helped in developing a grant proposal that was submitted to the Newton fund titled ‘Green Recovery of the Women Workforce in Tourism After Covid-19 Outbreak: The Case of Turkey’.
She holds Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in International Business from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. She possesses five years of corporate experience and extensive experience teaching Business and Management modules. She is working with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education, Nigeria to design Ibibio language teaching materials for Schools.
Before joining Staffordshire University, she has served in an academic position at Global Banking School, University of Law, Nottingham Trent University and University of Bradford. She is a member of British Academy of Management (BAM) and Academy of International Business (AIB).
She has presented her research in international and national conferences. She is a proficient user of NVIVO. Her interdisciplinary research interests are internalisation strategy, cross-cultural studies, knowledge transfer, alliances, and joint venture in the African context and emerging market.
Some of you might be moving to a new city when starting university. I moved to Stoke-on-Trent several years ago, and since then, I have discovered that Stoke-on-Trent and its surrounding areas are home to some of the friendliest people I have met and have a lot to offer, whether you are up for a nice meal, shopping trip, an amazing hiking trip or day trip elsewhere:
Our campus is a vibrant place and has several coffee shops, bars and restaurants. Head to SqueezeBox, Ember Lounge, Pavillion, or new Catalyst Bistro for some great coffee, tea or food. If you want to venture outside of campus:
c. The neighbouring town of Newcastle-under-Lyme (if you are not fan of walking, bus number 25 will take you directly from the campus to Newcastle), there are a number of nice coffee shops and restaurants, cinema, mini golf course, bowling alley and escape rooms. Newcastle-under-Lyme is also a home to New Vic theatre.
d. Festival Park is another great place to venture to – it has range of shops, restaurants, cinema, bowling alley, mini golf course, ski centre, and a waterpark.
e. Famous Alton Towers theme park is short journey away from Stoke-on-Trent. There are number of theme events on during the different times of the year at Alton Towers (such as Octoberfest or Scarefest, which takes place during Halloween). Besides the rides, Alton Towers have water park, mini golf course and a spa. Additionally, did you know that Staffordshire University runs a degree in partnership with Alton Towers Resort? If you decide to visit the Alton Towers, you are likely to meet a fellow Staffordshire University student!
Alton Towers attraction
Stoke-on-Trent has a rich potteries heritage. Gladstone Potteries Museum or World of Wedgewood are the places to visit if you are interested in pottery. Even if you are not interested in pottery, I would highly recommend visiting Middleport Pottery, not least so because of its stunning location or fantastic view over the canal, or Emma Bridgewater factory in Hanley for an afternoon tea or giving a go at decorating pottery. Additionally, British Ceramics Biennial is fantastic event to visit (and to support your fellow Staffordshire University colleagues whose work is exhibited during the Biennial)!
Stoke-on-Trent is a great place for those interested in running or hiking. Stoke-on-Trent hosts weekly parkruns at two locations: Trentham Gardens (and admissions to Gardens is free at the time of parkrun), and Hanley Park. In addition, there is also the Wammy park run in neighbouring Newcastle-under-Lyme. Additionally, University has its own running group (and range of other organised sport activities) – keep an eye on Sport at Staffs on Twitter for any announcements.
For the keen runners, Stoke-on-Trent hosts annual Potters ‘Arf half-marathon. The challenging route (Stoke-on-Trent is a hilly place!) is open for walking or running and it takes you through various neighbourhoods of Stoke. The race finishes with the infamous Heartbreak Hill, which leads you back to the city centre. The atmosphere at the race is absolutely fantastic – lot of residents stand on the streets or in front of their houses to support walkers/runners!
If you are interested in walking or hiking, Stoke-on-Trent is in a close proximity to several stunning walking or hiking location. Staffordshire University has its own nature reserve in case you want to stay on campus. Trentham Gardens or even Hanley Park in Stoke-on-Trent, or Knypersley Reservoir, Tittesworth Reservoir, and Rudyard Lake, in the close proximity of Stoke-on-Trent are all great locations for walking. Additionally, Stoke-on-Trent is in the close proximity to the Peak District for all interested in hiking, canoeing and other outdoor activities. If you are unsure of how to find great hiking trails, check out Walk the Moorlands group or keep an eye on Staffordshire Moorlands Walking Festival. If you like hiking, Staffordshire has its own Staffordshire 3 Peaks Challenge you can do!
Hanley Park is right next to the campus – a regular park Run and other events are held there
Stoke-on-Trent is well-linked to other cities in the UK. You are short train journey(s) away from Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Chester, beaches of Wales, or even London. Don’t forget to get your RailCard to get some discounts on your train journeys.
Staffordshire University has a range of unique business courses, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Whether you are interested in business management, innovation, entrepreneurship, finance, visitor attraction and resort management, or digital marketing, you will be taught by a team of friendly academics and practitioners, who will go an extra mile to support you in your academic journey and beyond.
All of our courses will provide you with a strong theoretical foundations, focus on application of the theory to real-life problems and discussion of contemporary issues, in order to prepare you for your future career. More information about our business courses is available on our website or you can visit one of our open days to find out more about what we have to offer.
Here’s a pick of some of the great events available if you are joining us at Staffordshire University this Autumn, places still available. There’s also a list of venues and other information sources at the end for more events
WHO have set an annual mean target of 5 ugm3 for Particulates (PM2.5) and WHO states “Exceedance of the air quality guideline levels is associated with important risks to public health”.
What has been the government’s response? As it happens the Environment Bill is going through Parliament and they are currently out to consultation on what the targets should be – their suggestion a target of 10 ugm3 by 2040!Note the consultation closes 27th June
So, they propose a target that is twice the WHO standard to be met in a generation. Why does air pollution have such a low priority in Britain? In part because there has been a marked political reluctance to change policy and behaviours – failures include:
a. Deregulation of buses outside London which led to a steep fall in bus use.
b. The lack of cheap, reliable and extensive mass transport in most cities outside London.
c. A failure to develop active transport including dedicated integrated cycle lanes in towns and cities
d. Failure to regulate or ban wood burning stoves which now account for 40% of PM2.5 emissions and which continue to grow in use.
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