On 23rd and 24th February Technology for Marketing and Advertising ran a two day event at Earl’s Court in London. The event is aimed at professionals who are particularly interested in digital marketing. TFM&A have enjoyed phenomenal growth since its launch 10 years ago. Back in 2001 TFM was a niche technology show focusing largely on CRM and Data solutions. With the explosion of digital within the industry, and the strategic addition of the ‘advertising’ arm to the show in 2007, TFM&A’s growth has been unprecedented with visitor numbers growing cumulatively by 107% in the last 3 years alone.

Quba client Infogroup/UK teamed up with TFM&A to propose a dual branded Social Media mash up to promote an online/social experience to run alongside the event. The Mash up page was built by Quba and includes; a real time Twitter feed which pulls in any tweets containing the #tfma hash tag. Integration with Infogroup/UK’s Flikr account to display photos taken and uploaded during the event. Integration with InfogroupUK’s YouTube account to display and promote video interviews recorded on the two days.

During the event, the mash up page was used heavily. A total of 2,280 tweets contating the #tfma hash tag were posted.  People used the tag both to report on their activities at TFM&A and to arrange informal meetups at the event. In addition, the videos and photos were viewed a total of 760 times (you can even see our very own David Sealey getting in on the action).

The Mash up also provided longer term benefits for Infogroup/UK. Their Twitter following increased by over 20% and they recevied 741 additional visits to their website, referred from the Mashup page during the two day event.

Both Infogroup/UK and TFM&A were very satisfied with these results. Lydia Simpson, Marketing Assistant for TFM&A says, “I’ve had a lot of Twitter response from people commenting on how interesting the #tfma twitter feed was to follow, as well as colleagues who didn’t attend the show but loved following the giveaways – although disappointed there wasn’t a video of the dance!”

As InfogroupUK are hoping to use the Mash up solution for future events, Quba included flexibility in the core solution which allows us to quickly adapt and release the platform in the future.

If you would like to find out how Social Media Mashups and Marketing could fit into your businesses strategy, please tweet us or contact David Sealey on 0114 279 7779.

Allow me to introduce myself, I am Jonathan Eaton, New Business Account Executive at Quba. You’re probably wondering who I am and what I do-so here’s a bit of background, some witty banter and a window into my enthusiasm for all that’s fine online.

Born in mid 1980’s Wales to a Canadian father and a Scottish mother I learned quickly I was never going to be a sportsman. I immediately looked for different ways to be creative…I’d always had plenty of interests but it took an old PC and a copy of Theme Park to give me that sense of respect and status I’d always wanted…

Alas, as my careers advisor told me at the time, “this is not a job that is commercially viable”.

On a serious note my miss-spent youth did open my eyes to the creative potential of computers and the internet- and this discovery proved to be hugely important later on.

Having left school I went on to do a Social History degree at the University of Glasgow which involved lots of group discussion and research-playing with data to deliver concise and clear messages. I found quickly that my best skills were understanding and communicating messages both from myself and other people. I became very interested in different methods for communicating, especially online, so I did a Masters in Web Journalism at the University of Sheffield in 2008-9.

What I loved about working in online newsrooms was learning about how you could use a combination of media types to deliver interesting and thought provoking messages. At the Sheffield Star I enjoyed a stint as a multimedia/ video-reporter which gave me access to marketing and media teams at large organisations. Using video as a medium is very revealing and I became very aware of where messages were working well and falling flat….and I’m hoping understanding those errors will help me avoid similar mishaps in the future!

I’ve also learned while working online that new technology and software are here to help-even when bugs, system errors and basic usability leave us fuming like Sir Alex Ferguson in a 2-1 defeat to Man City.. I’ll always try and see a positive like Steve MacClaren would do, though I’m sure things will never get that desperate. With social media booming and the digital revolution set to change our world forever there is plenty to be excited about.

I hope you have found this biopsy informative and maybe even entertaining and I leave you with my promise to everyone who I work with:

I’ll keep my cool in giving you the benefit of my experience, fearless of whatever medium you want to use and always eager to see you succeed.

Thanks for reading this blog and if you think there is anything I could help you with please do not hesitate to contact me (jeaton@quba.co.uk) and you can also track me on Twitter (jeaton_Quba)

As a result we are thrilled to introduce our latest partners, Sitecore.

The Sitecore Web Content Management System is built to be a true application platform, giving us the ultimate flexibility in tailoring the system perfectly to the business needs of our clients. Apart from that there are several out-of-the-box features that we particularly loved, such as…

On-page editing

Sitecore offers a range of administration interfaces targeted at a different kinds of users (content authors, editors, marketers, developers, etc, etc…), the most impressive of which being the Page Editor, which allows layouts to be created and content to be authored right on the page while browsing the site as a regular visitor would.

See a video demo of on-page editing (recommended, this is very impressive)

Powerful marketing suite

Sitecore has an immensely powerful Online Marketing Suite that raises the bar in terms of responsiveness to marketing needs. The suite provides integrated analytics, segmentation, and A/B testing, allowing the creation of highly dynamic web experiences that tailor themselves to the visitor in real-time.

Video tour of the Online Marketing Suite

Multi-site, multi-language, multi-brand

A single Sitecore WCM deployment can support as websites as needed, which can share as much or as little branding and content as necessary. Sitecore also has excellent support for muitl-linqual sites, allowing sites to serve as many international markets as necessary.

Complete work-flow and security flexibility

Large scale sites might have many different CMS users in a variety of roles that require the ability to perform different actions on different parts of the site with different approval processes. Sitecore gives you the flexibility to capture all this variety exactly as desired.

Optional modules

There are also a range of optional modules available for quickly adding common functionality to sites including Blogs, Forums, SharePoint integration.

A system powerful enough to match your ambitions

We believe that for those who need to go all-out with their online marketing and need a system powerful enough to match their ambitions, Sitecore is way ahead of the pack. We can’t wait to build many compelling,  powerful, and finely tuned web experiences with Sitecore as the engine.

See more Sitecore video tours

To discuss Sitecore’s partnership with Quba please contact David Sealey on 0114 279 4924.

At Quba, we try to be as environmentally responsible as we possibly can. A year ago we arranged for a company, Recycling Revolution, to start collecting all our cans, glass and plastics.  As you can imagine, getting people to use the correct bins for the correct waste can be pretty tricky, after all it is pretty complicated.  It took dedication to nag, pester, threaten and even confiscate personal bins for weeks at a time where necessary – at times I felt like giving up. 

 But in today’s post I finally got reward for all of my hard work, a certificate that Quba has now saved over 10 carbon tonnes which is equivalent to 4 cars off the road.  Fantastic news!  However it isn’t all good news I’m afraid, unfortunately for my colleagues I now feel that we, as a company, now need to beat this figure over the next year so I will be stepping up the supervision of the bins and the pestering will increase with vigour!  Sorry fellow Qubans….

The closing stages of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. England versus Ireland in the Six Nations. The non-handshake between Wayne Bridge and John Terry. All big sporting events this weekend.

They all pale in comparison, however, to the finals of Quba Pool Season 3 which took place on Friday 26^th February 2010. Could it live up to the excitement of the finale of Season 2?

Rookie entrant Richard Lawrence had already taken the League One title with plenty of games to spare, and was promoted alongside Will Barron. This meant focus was shifted to events at the foot of the table where a battle ensued between Jess Penny and Rachel Williams to avoid the dreaded bottom position. The epic game was finally won on the black by Jess, who was thankful not to finish bottom for the second season in a row, and condemned Rachel to be the proud owner of the “Bottom Award” Trophy. However, all was not lost for Rachel with a final in the Quba Cup still to contest…

Richard Pursehouse, Anna John and Charlie Hill were all promoted to the Championship at the end of Season 2, but had been hovering around the relegation zone for the majority of the season. Richard had already succumbed to relegation, leaving Charlie and Anna battling to stay out of the drop zone. Each had to play in-form Matthew Williams, who himself still had sights on the Championship trophy. In a closely fought game Anna saw off Matthew on the black, heaping the pressure on Charlie to perform. She was unable to defeat Matthew however, going down 8-3, meaning a return League One. This handed the trophy to Matthew, who won the title on goal difference, and was promoted alongside Ben Franklin.

The Premier League standings had mostly been decided, with Jamie Jones and Rob Wilmott having finished in the bottom two positions, and condemned to Championship pool. The big question was whether Mick Harper-Jones could defeat Darren Bristow in the title decider, and remove Darren’s vice like grip on the trophy. The tension was palpable in a game which that down to the wire, but was ultimately won by Darren on the black. He therefore retains the Premier League trophy, making it a hat-trick of successes.

The centre piece of the evening was the final of the 9 Ball Quba Cup, which was contested between Richard Lawrence, who had beaten Geoff Howse in the semi final, and Rachel, who had previously despatched Darren. A typically exciting game eventually saw Rachel victorious, granting her the bitter sweet experience of accepting both the Quba Cup and Bottom Award trophies.

The final league standings can be viewed at http://www.freeonlineleague.com/league/qubapool, and the cup bracket can be seen via http://www.i-tourney.com/lite/aebe3fbcfb.

All these services are free, so why not start a league or cup in your own company? Just make sure you’re ready for the banter…

Following a recent visit to TFM&A (Technology for Marketing and Advertising), an annual marketing event which focuses on Technology, it was evident from the amount of video production companies present, that video is becoming a very popular  and in-expensive method of grabbing the attention of website visitors.

If you’re interested in seeing how this works check out our client Infogroup/UK’s website (http://www.infouk.com) as they have an intro video on their homepage as well as an instructional video on the search page which demonstrates how to make the most of their advanced Lead Generation search facility.

Working with a video production company to produce your video(s) is very straight forward and usually involves the following steps:

1. Choose an actor you would like to present your video (you can even do it yourself)
2. The production company will work on a script based on what you would like to say
3. The production company will shoot the video and prepare the output file
4. Your web agency will implement the video on your site

If you would like to discuss how video could benefit your website, please do not hesitate to contact us.

If you’re interested to know more about TFM&A, you might like to check out the Social Media Mash up page we built for Infogroup/UK and TFM&A at http://www.infouk.com/tfma.  The mash up proved extremely popular during the event and was used for networking, competitions as well as providing access to video interviews from exhibitors and delegates who attended the event.  If you take a look at all the video gallery, you might even spot Quba’s very own Business Development Director, Dave Sealey, explaining why he was there (http://www.infouk.com/tfma/videos/).

I would put myself in the 90%. At school I did pretty well with creative writing and got good grades in both my English O levels – remember those? Back then creative writing seemed to come easy, but over the years I think we lose this skill. Maybe because at work most of our written communication has a specific aim or goal such as preparing a proposal which usually has a structure and objective to work towards. Anyway that’s why I think most of the prolific blog writers within Quba tend to be younger as they’re fresh from education and haven’t yet conformed to the constraints of business writing. I realise this is a pretty poor excuse but I’m sticking with it.

So I’m going back to school to try and learn what it is that makes for a good, no great blog post. I started my research with the some of our more expert Quban bloggers. Here are their top tips:

Rebecca:

• The blogs that really stand out to me are those that also have a personality and a human side, those that surprise people and give unexpected insights into the person behind the blog as well as clear information, those are the best to me.
• I think it’s important to choose appealing images and clear diagrams.
• When people give away things (such as white papers) for free, and offer intelligent, clear comment on them, that’s also good! I also find step by step “how to’s” are very useful.

Findings: get personal, break your text up with images and provide constructive comment and advice.

Nick:

• Have something original to say
• Do your homework – Get a feel for the landscape you’re entering into, see if anyone is already saying what you want to say, and check your facts.
• Avoid the wall of text –Whether through decorative images, block quotes, or just slitting up paragraphs, give the reader some kind of visual relief.
• Invest time – Crafting a quality blog post takes time, don’t rush.

Findings: Be original, do your research, break your text up and be prepared to invest time.

Dave:

• It needs to be new, interesting, relevant or different
• You should follow the inverted triangle style of writing, conclusion at the beginning, evidence at the end.

Findings: Be different and use the triangle!

Next I looked for inspiration from Neil Patel who has developed a great piece of software called Crazy Egg that we use as part of our suite of usability tools. He has a fabulous blog writing style. His blog article on How to write a blog post provides some more advanced tips and suggestions on how to create a blog that is not just good but great.

The best bits in a nutshell are:

• Write as if you are having a conversation with your readers – talk to your readers not at them.
• Don’t ‘wing’ it unless you are a natural writer. Have the structure for your blog in mind so you have an idea of the start, the main body and the conclusion.
• The first thing to do is to come up with a powerful title that will hook readers into your blog. Try one of these 5 Surefire Headline Formulas.
• Your first paragraph should continue the impact of your title to further engage your readers. It’s important to sound conversational from the start.
• Make your conclusion short, to the point and meaningful. If you want to encourage comments on your blog then it makes sense to leave your conclusion open for example by asking a question.

For me the most important ingredient for creating a great blog article is to write about something that you are interested in or even genuinely passionate about then the rest will follow.

Bounce rate matters

Consider a medium sized website that gets 5,000 visitors a month. Their bounce rate is 40%.

Sounds OK?

Nope! It means that they are loosing 2,000 visitors a month or 66 visitors a day. If we now assume that the conversion rate is 2% then the business is loosing 40 leads/sales a month or 480 a year.

How to reduce your bounce rate

To be clear, the bounce rate is a stat you want to go down not up. Bounce rate is measured as people who visit a page on your website and then leave without going further. For me it is a measure of landing page relevance, i.e. how closely the page matches the user’s expectations.

Firstly you need to identify your biggest problem pages. Go to Content > Top Landing pages and then use the advanced filter to select all of the pages with a bounce rate higher than the average:

You now have a list of the problem pages that you can begin fixing. I notice that on Quba’s report that most of the pages are blog articles. The next step is to critically review the blog post templates along with the content. As Business Development Director I now have a task that’s easy to complete and I can set a goal of what I want to reduce the content by.

Improve my landing pages

What am I going to do to reduce the bounce rate for these landing pages? A good question and one that I wouldn’t want to answer with any more than these suggestions:

1. Make the content easier to read by adding an introductory paragraph, bullet points and sub-headings
2. Remove any external links in the content and put these at the bottom of the report
3. Ensure that every blog post has a next steps section for readers to click further into the site

In my next blog post I’ll report back on how these efforts have effected the bounce rate.

Next steps

• Contact David Sealey at Quba to discuss improving your website: Contact details
• Read more posts by David Sealey on website analytics: Analytics Posts
• Visit the Quba website to find out more about what we do: Quba

A man and his son were traveling to town with their donkey. The man rode the donkey as his son walked at the animal’s side. Before long they came across an old woman who said to the man “How selfish of you to ride that beast while your young son walks,” so the man climbed down and allowed his son to ride the donkey. Further down the road they came across a couple who said to the son “It’s disgraceful that a young man like you would ride while is father tires his old legs,” so the father climbed up behind his son, and the two of them rode the donkey together. Further down the road they came across a young woman who said to them “How awful of you to put the weight of the two of you on that poor donkey,” so the man and his son climbed down from the donkey and the three of them continued towards town on foot. Further down the road they came across an old man, who laughed at the sight of them and said “How silly the three of you look walking together side-by-side down the road, surely one of your should save your legs,” so the man and his son cut down a pole, tied to it the donkey’s feet, raised the pole to their shoulders and carried the donkey the rest of the journey into town.

— That’s what happens when you try to please everybody

This is the second time I’ve used one of Aesop’s Fables on this blog (check out the first). I considered tacking on a point about the importance of not trying to make your web site all things to all people, but really I just wanted to share this wonderful story.

[Side note: - A more common form of the story has the man and his son lose their grip on the pole and drop the donkey into a stream, where he drowns. I prefer the more subtle ending.]