It’s been an exciting week here at Earnest. Plenty of pitches, some exciting wins and a flurry of results from our most recent campaign (not to mention Earnest putting on his birthday hat to celebrate turning four years old).
Luckily we left our content fishing line out during the whole escapade and have pulled together the best of the best for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
Warning of the week
The Google algorithm is a strange old beast – no one really can claim to keep up but over the last six months there has been more discussion around how content is now the most important thing when it comes to search. It’s going to be your knowledge that keeps you ahead in the SEO game. This interesting article from exploreB2B looks into how Google Penguin, the algorithm put into place last year, has changed SEO for good. It’s no longer about clever use of keywords to boost your rankings (although this is still important). Guest blogging, quality (not quantity) of content and good old social engagement are the big things search experts are going to have to get their heads around to stay ahead. Interesting stuff.
Infographic of the week
We have never really liked content that talks about itself. ‘The ultimate whitepaper on how to write a great whitepaper’. ‘Not to miss webinar on how to run a webinar’. It all seems a bit strange (and pointless). This infographic, however, bucks the trend. Not only is it beautifully designed but it gets into the nitty gritty of the science behind why infographics have led the content charge over the last two years. Take a look.
Planning lesson of the week
Everyone knows planners love a good buyer persona. They are not just there to bolster the pitch slides (although they do a great job). In a time of increased personalisation and the increasing need to stand out from the crowd, they are the fundamental tool for shaping your marketing strategy to reach the right people, in the right place at the right time. But when they go wrong they can be more harm than good. Eric Whittlake this week gave a review of the common mistakes he has seen made time and time again when it comes to drawing up personas and what we can do to avoid taking our strategy down the wrong road.
Dubious connection of the week.
It’s becoming quite a regular in our weekly roundup, but often a dubious connection can link to an important point. Found through the brilliant BBH Labs twitter feed, this article from Marketing magazine tells the story of one advertising execs (turbulent) journey into the world of becoming a super star DJ – learning ultimately there are some lessons to learn for us marketers from playing Jackson5 and Tina Turner back to back. Know your crowd, be spontaneous, surprise your audience and most of all create a seamless journey for your prospects. Who knew clubbing could be so mind opening?
Good news of the week
Is that nothing is dead. Well, marketing channel wise. A reaction to a recent blog post on the death of email marketing in B2B, this week we argued in our blog post that no channel is useless as long as the message and creative are right for the audience at that time. What us marketers must start with is the context of our message and our recipient and build the channel strategy around that. Liberating really when you think about it – all options are open.
Creative inspiration of the week
There are endless blogs we could reel off that keep our creative juices flowing, but this week a Tumblr showcasing some of the best images from the National Geographic took the biscuit. There are some real gems in there – a personal favourite being a 1966 shot of Neil Armstrong training for his space mission. Go on; delight your eyes for ten minutes or so.
So that was the week that was. Let us know your highlights.