Odds are, at some point, you’ve sat through a bad presentation. One with slides overflowing with text that a presenter is reciting verbatim.

This phenomenon is so well known that it has its own name: Death By PowerPoint.

The winces and thousand-yard stares that this phrase causes when uttered shows just how searingly evocative it is - people have been there. But PowerPoint gets a bad rap. 

It’s still the overwhelming market leader where presentation software is concerned and with good...

Step back for a minute and ask how it would feel to be a customer using your apps.

Would it be easy to learn what your app does? Would it be easy to get in contact with you to find out more? Would your after-sales care be a positive experience?

In the digital era, the ability to provide a positive customer experience (CX) is widely regarded as the ‘holy grail’ for companies of all shapes and sizes. A recent eConsultancy survey showed...

As marketing spend hits new highs, CFOs demand greater insight into ROI. With very different measures of value, there are huge opportunities for conflict between marketing and finance.

Where is the common ground? 

With a background as both CMO and CFO for organisations such as eBay, and now CFO for Optimizely, I like to think I’m uniquely placed to understand how best to overcome the natural tension between finance and marketing. 

In fact, consensus is not only possible, it is essential.

CMOs...

From segmentation and targeting to customer community confirmation

Traditionally, marketing always starts with segmentation—a practice of dividing the market into homogenous groups based on their geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioral profiles. Segmentation is typically followed by targeting—a practice of selecting one or more segments that a brand is committed to pursue based on their attractiveness and fit with the brand. Segmentation and targeting are both fundamental aspects of a brand’s...

It’s almost possible to hear the sigh from marketers around the country… as if there isn’t enough to fit into every day, they’re now expected to become a psychology expert too?!

Well, not exactly. But if marketers want to ensure their communications strategies thrive in 2017, they need to know a few things about cognitive biases. These mental tendencies have the potential to pose some of the biggest obstacles to ROI in the next 12 months, and the worse thing is, they can’t even...

(c)iStock.com/Pamela Moore

The start of any year always begins with some sort of review of where you’re at, how you’re doing against your objectives and goals, but most importantly, what your budget will be or where you stand currently.  One of the most expensive parts of the advertising cycle is production, so even though you may be looking at how you’re doing against agreed budgets, you should also pay extra attention to utilising the best of what you have. Here are a few ways to make...

(c)iStock.com/mediaphotos

“Influencer marketing is one of the most promising and underappreciated disciplines in the digital marketing mix” - Brian Solis

Influencer marketing became mainstream in 2016. However, with pure pay to play and short-term campaign practices dominating the conversation, many misconceptions remain in this nascent space. Curious to see how the practice is perceived within leading enterprises around the world, Traackr and TopRank Marketing teamed up to survey 102 brand strategists and...

(c)iStock.com/Yuri_Arcurs

The way in which people consume content has changed dramatically in the past decade. The uptake in mobile media consumption has created a diverse range of platforms, and marketers now have incredible opportunities for reaching target audiences. However, these technological developments have proven to be somewhat of a double-edged sword; people consume content so rapidly and in so many ways, that it can be hard for brands to catch the eye and convey their message.

Because of this difficulty,...

(c)iStock.com/nitsawan

Technology has helped digital marketing come a long way. When it comes to marketing, however, change is the name of the game. In fact, just when you think you’re getting the hang of things, you realise that you may be lagging behind.

The 2016 marketing technology landscape supergraphic unveiled at the MarTech Conference last year lists an overwhelming number of 3,874 marketing solutions representing...

(c)iStock.com/31moonlight31

As spending on digital real estate and marketing grows, businesses must adapt their traditional models to make sure that their investment is worthwhile.

Where that budget should be spent is widely debated but what’s undisputed is that every business, small or large, private or public, needs a website – the most important digital asset of any organisation. And the backend to that website is the content management system (CMS), the unsung hero, where digital content can...

(c)iStock.com/Courtney Keating

I should make it clear that I am a sincere unbeliever when it comes to buzzwords in my industry. Neither is there a ‘jargon agnosticism’ for me; purely an atheism towards the very concept of waffle and piffle that permeates media as a whole.

I take great delight in hearing comprehensive mocking of the way I talk – it’s important to identify our professional flaws, and terms like ‘screen agnosticism’ serve only to confuse the audience into...

(c)iStock.com/mathisworks

The modern marketer’s greatest challenge is using emerging media to lift metrics across multiple platforms. For every opportunity presented by new media channels, marketers must overcome internal resistance and logistical challenges to transition away from traditional platforms.

Digital media constitutes one of the fastest-growing segments of advertising, making it a must for any campaign. Brands must aim to integrate desktop, mobile, tablets, and even...

(c)iStock.com/enisaksoy

Before we make any predictions for the future, let’s examine the lessons of 2016. If the mainstream media’s obsessions match those of the public - which is their job - then privacy became an increasingly important in the last 12 months. Fears over the sovereignty, security and privacy of personal information were rarely out of the news.

The year 2016 taught us that intrusive marketing, Big Brother-style surveillance and irresponsible data losses are big issues with the...

(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/shironosov)

“How do we win more business in 2017?” This question will be rattling around the boardrooms of marketing companies and ad agencies across the world, even as you read this. Throughout January – and beyond – directors, business development teams, and planners will put their heads together to think about the strategies and tactics they need to adapt, adopt, or prune to make the next 12 months...

(c)iStock.com/TimArbaev

Editor’s note: The first part of this two-part article, available here, explained the concept of ConOps – the concept of operations – in a marketing communications program to communicate the quantitative and qualitative system characteristics of the effort to the brand, as well as prospects, clients, and customers. This piece expands on the need to keep marketing efforts simple with various...

(c)iStock.com/tioloco

Marketing budgets continued to rise in 2016, advancing to 12% of company revenue, on average, according to Gartner. This ongoing investment in the profession has left the majority of marketers optimistic about the year ahead. However, with increased spending power comes heightened scrutiny from those holding the purse strings, and an even greater focus on ROI.

So, whether...

(c)iStock.com/thorbjorn66

Huge quantities of data pass through the marketing department. While collaborating with colleagues, ad agencies, agency partners and marketing tech providers, marketers are often required to share confidential information, from strategic presentations to brand images. As flexible working explodes and marketers handle major campaigns from both the office and home, we need to consider how this information is being shared and controlled over time.

Consumer grade platforms such as...

(c)iStock.com/DNY59

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part article on ‘simplicity’ in marketing: the second piece will appear on MarketingTech later this month.

Opinion A question to kick off 2017: have you ever thought how complex marketing has become?

I think about that all the time and attempt to relay to my client base that simple is better. I also emphasize a few of the fundamentals of marketing that need to be followed when developing a marketing communications plan. A tenet that I follow,...

Programmatic is marketing’s biggest buzzword. It’s been discussed and rehashed time and time again; covered by every half respectable marketing publication, blog, and social media page trying to stay relevant. On the one hand, this coverage is warranted because programmatic represents the next big industry shift in communicating with customers. However, it has also brought on a sense of confusion with an underlying tone that programmatic is a complex approach for marketers of the future. The...

(c)iStock/imtmphoto

There’s a big difference between simply being a boss verses being a leader – good leadership has the power to energise, engage and motivate staff to go the extra mile.

In this article, we’ll look at five key things that every good marketing team leader needs in order to fulfil the role.

Think strategically and learn to self-critique

One of the most important parts of leading a marketing team is the ability...