Category — Blog

By Doug Sheard

Pinterest is generating a massive media buzz as it breaks into the UK social market. Early reviews are that it’s fun and easy to use and, with marketers working on ways to optimise it for their brands, I’ve even heard the term Pinfluence bandied around recently!

So why is the Head of Affiliates talking about this newbie to the social scene? The interesting (and yes, I’m leaving the “Pinteresting” behind here…) aspect is how an affiliate helped to monetise the site as it grew in the U.S. The affiliate in question is Skimlinks, who worked with Pinterest until recently. [Read more →]

By Gareth Owen

1. What do you call Princess Zelda in stockings and suspenders?

Link Bait

2.What type of music events do SEOs like to go to?

Heavy Meta gigs

3. What’s an SEO’s favourite Deodorant?

Lynx [Read more →]

 By Duncan Parry, Search Engine Watch

One of the drivers of the growth of the digital industry has been the low barriers to entry in the industry. Anybody can start learning PPC from the Google site, or reading about SEO or other channels on sites like Search Engine Watch. That’s been a fundamental part of the industry’s rapid, vibrant growth.

But low barriers to entry have created another problem – the scammer.

Since the early days of the industry, people have fallen foul of the “too good to be true” approaches to PPC. After presenting at SES London, I was again approached by somebody who was paying a set fee to an “agency” and receiving no sales and no transparent reporting.

Here are some of the approaches you should be suspicious of when looking to outsource PPC. [Read more →]

By Shamsul Chowdhury, New York office

 We made an interesting paid search discovery whilst admiring our Managing Director’s cable knit sweater.  He disclosed that the garment was from Scotch & Soda, a store in Soho that also sells their clothing through other retailers. So, we decided to search the brand and check out what else they had. 

The result was interesting:

[Read more →]

By Kate Bath

With re-targeting now a standard on every planners media strategy, I have to ask the question as to whether or not this is just another form of media that picks the low hanging fruit (and picks it by apple bobbing, the most irritating way to try and get an apple into your mouth).

The concept is simple… a consumer comes onto the website, leaves the website without purchasing and is then remarketed to in the hope that they are ‘inspired’ or engaged enough to re-visit the site and purchase.

Re-targeting is now a common DR sell into clients and as one would expect, they are lapping it up. The question in my mind is twofold: [Read more →]

By Peter Wood, The Wall

So I’ve had this inkling for a while. It goes a little something like this…

What your friends like does not have a massive impact on your purchasing decisions

I know, I know… it’s a hugely outspoken thing to say. After all, Facebook have dictated to everyone in the marketing world that people are hugely influenced by what their friends eat, wear, listen to and watch. Sponsored stories; the advertising function Facebook advertisers use to tell people what their friends have liked, is supposed to be hugely powerful to anyone who wants to believe it.

[Read more →]

By John Barham

EU bailouts. Stagnating political action. UK unemployment at a 17 year high. 2012 is not looking good for those recently out of university who want to grab themselves a rung on the job ladder. However there is a growing industry in the UK that is screaming out for educated, talented individuals who are looking to start their careers. Digital marketing is huge, yet I can’t imagine it appearing on the radar of many non-marketing graduates. There is an industry right under your nose every time you use the internet to search or visit social sites. PPC (Pay per Click) is just one of the many disciplines that sits under the umbrella of digital marketing and, like the other channels, it continues to grow in the UK and other markets.

[Read more →]

By Peter Wood

The STEAK Social team was invited to speak at the Enterprise Ireland Retailer Solutions CEO Forum at East Point in Dublin. Enterprise Ireland help promote the export of Irish business globally. STEAK have been charged with helping to establish Enterprise Ireland clients in the social space over the past 18 months.   

[Read more →]

By Adrian Goodsell

I attended the first IAB Social Media Debate of 2012 yesterday afternoon. It was also the first since STEAK joined the IAB’s Social Media Council. The motion was as follows:

‘The online marketing industry is too easily distracted by the latest ‘shiny technical object’, reducing its effectiveness and ability to achieve results’  

[Read more →]

By Adrian Goodsell, The Wall, 30th January 2012

Looking for a huge numbers of fans? Can’t wait a second longer? Then read on, this blog post is for you…

1. Buy your fans
This is definitely the easiest way to guarantee a following fast; decide how many ‘fans’ you want then simply go to any dodgy-looking site (probably via a Facebook ad) take your wallet out (remember to stick your head in the sand) et voila, success! But wait a second; by definition once you directly pay for a relationship what does that relationship become? What does it really mean? There’s a very obvious analogy here, one that doesn’t involve any love at all…

  [Read more →]