Branded3's Digital Futures Seminar takes centre stage at The Barbican Centre in London today – and you can follow all the day's talks and insight in our live blog.
Industry experts Patrick Altoft and Tim Grice will be speaking along with our newly-appointed Managing Director David Crawford, Head of Creative & Social Andrew Machin, and Social Media Strategist Georgia Halston.
Here's a run down of today's schedule:
10:00-10:15 - Introduction from David Crawford
10.15-11.00 – The Latest Advanced SEO & Link Strategies, Patrick Altoft – This session will focus on the newest aspects of SEO which are either driving results now or are going to help future-proof your SEO strategy.
11:15 – 12:00 - The Importance of an Integrated SEO Strategy, Tim Grice - Tim will delve into recent Google updates, advising on the many pitfalls companies may encounter.
12:00 – 12:30 - Q&A session
13:15 – 13:45 - Latest Google Algorithm Update
13:45 – 14:30 - Five Digital Trends for 2013, David Crawford - As we approach the end of 2013's first quarter, David will take a look at how the top digital predictions for the year are shaping up and, more importantly, what we need to watch out for and concentrate on over the coming months.
14:45 – 15:15 - You've been invited to the party, Andrew Machin – Why do so many brand social media accounts act so anti-socially? Andy looks at how brands can discover how to build, engage and influence through social platforms.
15.15 – 15.45 – Getting ROI from Social Media, Georgia Halston - Georgia takes a detailed look at why investment in Social Media is a justifiable spend for your business and what return on investment you can achieve from effectively utilising its channels.
15:45 – 16:15 - Q&A session
That's a flavour of the day ahead – and you can join the conversation even if you're not here at the Barbican by using #B3Seminars on Twitter.
Get involved and join the digital debate!
LIVE BLOG
16.20
Subjects being discussed by the Q&A panel so far range from analytics to CRO, highlighting the diverse digital issues facing brands at the moment.
16.06
"Awesome" example of how much money you can really make from social via #B3seminar
— Geoff Newman (@geoffnewman) March 14, 2013
16.00
Georgia's fascinating talk containing hints and tips on the importance of social and how to prove ROI has now finished and it's time for all today's speakers to form a Q&A panel…
15.49
Check out Channel 4?s Scrapbook for a great example of a way a brand can build up a "treasure trove" of data and insight into consumers.
15.45
Georgia – Attribute traffic to a single tweet and Facebook post if you set up your Google Analytics properly and you can work out the financial value of a like.
15.38
Georgia – Make the most of the free social data available on sites like Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. Keep a close eye on what your competitors are up to and use Google Analytics as a social monitoring tool.
15.35
The Branded3 approach…
15.24
Tweets do affect rankings indirectly – Rel. between tweets & links, correlation between social shares & links #B3seminar @georgiahalston
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
15.22
Georgia – Important to remember the SEO benefit of using Google+ properly. Implement authorship. Optimise your G+ title tags. Fill out your profile properly. Make connections with Google+ Communities. Use tools like Circle Count to find authority figures.
15.17
Great party @the_machin via #b3seminars
— Geoff Newman (@geoffnewman) March 14, 2013
15.16
Seen the Dumb Ways To Die video yet? Georgia is talking about the success of the campaign and why it worked so well.
Click here if you haven't watched it yet.
15.14
Georgia has now taken over from Andrew and is addressing the issue of social media ROI and why every business needs social to build awareness and authority.
14.59
What is a 'brand', asks Andrew.
A brand is not a logo. A brand is not a service. A brand is an emotional feeling – that gut feeling that prompts people to engage and interact.
It's not what we as marketers say it is, it's what they the people say it is.
14.56
That @the_machinknows how to put a good slide deck together. #b3seminars
— Mike Jeffs (@Mikerjeffs) March 14, 2013
14.55
Andrew – Make meaningful connections on social media. And be likeable. Think about how likeable you can make a brand.
14.54
Andrew – Just because Facebook offers you new ways to advertise, doesn't mean brands should use them – 33% of people thought that social ads are more annoying than other online ads.
14.52
Andrew – Brands need to market themselves properly on social media because direct marketing can be anti-social.
14.50
Andrew – Social media is the greatest party on earth (for brands). Brands have got the chance to be at that party. Important to remember to act the same way as people do on social media.
14.49
Our Head of Creative & Social Andrew Machin is next up with the intriguingly-named presentation – You've been invited to the party!!
14.43
Time for another quick break and the chance for some more informal Q&As with the Branded3 team…
14.25
Love the use of Dave Brailsford's marginal gains for digital marketing #B3seminar
— Jacqui Keep (@KeepJacqui) March 14, 2013
14.20
@branded_3: Paid, owned, earned. @davecrawford explains how our media can be segregated at the #B3Seminar
— Branded3 (@Branded_3) March 14, 2013
14.16
David – Think strategically about how you use a piece of content. Re-using content is permitted, continual replication is not.
14.09
David – Ways to engage your brand ambassadors: Rate your fans. Use exclusivity. Pamper them.
14.08
David – Customers are real people. The importance of finding what makes them tick cannot be understated. Find out where they are and identify opportunities to engage with them. Get under their skin so you can understand them.
14.06
David – Don't forget your customers. These are tough times and customers are becoming more shrewd and more cost conscious. Do your research – find ways to improve the performance of your website all the time.
14.02
David – Ambassadors are the new brand managers – 80% of people try new things based on friends' suggestions. Use ambassadors to help to spread your message.
14.01
David is delivering some interesting stats on the exciting mobile opportunities available in 2013, including:
- 96% of smartphone users have researched a product/service on their phones
- 94% of smartphone users have searched for local information on their phone
13.54
David – There is no search engine manipulation any more. Marketers need to grasp this from the start of the conversation to the end.
13.53
Up next is David Crawford and he's Branded3?s newly-appointed Managing Director. He has picked out five digital trends for 2013.
13.46
Patrick – Make sure your site is clean – don't have duplicate content, audit your links, keep an eye on what's going on in your sector and build natural links. Make your link profile safe and then figure out how to move forward.
13.42
Patrick – When the next Penguin update comes out, I suspect it will be aggressive.
13.39
Tim – Google are reviewing links manually. They have a team of people looking into this. They are manually looking for link networks – and if you manually look for manipulative links, they are not difficult to find.
13.35
talking about the latest Google updates at #B3seminars
— Mollie At Genie(@MollieAtGenie) March 14, 2013
13.32
The afternoon session is under way with Patrick and Tim discussing the latest Google algorithm update and here's an interesting snippet so far.
Patrick – Google don't want people ranking if they let down their customers.
12.35
Plenty of the members of the audience are taking advantage of the chance to quiz Patrick and Tim.
Still to come today – David Crawford outlines five digital trends for this year, Andrew Machin offers plenty of helpful advice on building an engaging social media strategy and Georgia Halston tackles the issue of social media ROI.
12.27
Q – How do you approach a link audit? How do you assess whether a link is good or bad?
Tim – Get link data from multiple sources. Use a big data set. Classifying a link can be difficult, but if it looks like it's purely for SEO value then it's not going to pass a manual link check.
12.23
Feel free to tweet us your #SEO question using the #B3Seminars hashtag
— Branded3 (@Branded_3) March 14, 2013
12.21
Time for a mini Q&A with Patrick and Tim from audience members:
Q – When is it best to request an email as email capture is important for our business?
Patrick – When somebody is doing something on the site. Offer something of real value for free (download a whitepaper etc) as a way of capturing an email.
12.18
Tim's closing summary sums it up perfectly – "If you have no assets, you have no SEO strategy!"
12.17
Links = Page 1 but Engagement = Position 1…. #B3seminar
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
12.14
Tim – "Don't chase the algorithm, work on what's real."
12.11
Tim – "The right influencers make good content, great! A lack of promotion can hamper even the best piece of content."
12.07
What justifies a link?
Tim – "Relevant. Great metrics. High traffic. Socially active. Target audience."
12.06
To read more from Tim, check out his article in the latest .net magazine.
12.03
#linkbuilding *Why not* produce high quality content your users would actually want to click through on? #B3seminar from @tim_grice
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
12.03
Tim – "Find out who is sharing, commentating on and linking to your content. It's not about just getting a link – look at the bigger picture. Make real relationships that can help you in future content seeding."
12.00
Tim – "It's quality, not quantity of content that's important. There has to be a purpose behind the content you create. Make content that is useful."
11.58
Another great nugget of #SEO knowledge from @timgrice – If you don't have to content, create it! #B3Seminars
— Branded3 (@Branded_3) March 14, 2013
11.56
Tim – "If you don't have content, create it! Publish something useful and tell people about it. What about building links that users might actually use? What about building links that sends traffic and users to a website? There's no reason why you shouldn't be trying to do this."
11.50
Tim – "The more informed SEO is, the better the results will be."
11.49
SEO Marketing NOT Manipulation #b3seminars
— Geoff Newman (@geoffnewman) March 14, 2013
11.48
Tim – "Every link has to be there for a reason. Everything needs to be integrated."
11.47
Tim – "SEO can't be about manipulation any more. It's about marketing and bringing SEO strategy in line with marketing strategy. Links have to tie into real-world marketing."
11.44
Tim is currently giving a revealing insight into the Google Webspam team and how they operate.
11.41
Importance of integrated strategy from @tim_grice not just another *trend* #B3seminar @branded_3
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
11.40
Standalone SEO = Bad = Unnatural. Must be Integrated. #b3seminars
— Geoff Newman (@geoffnewman) March 14, 2013
11.40
Most SEO success stories happen by accident. Integrate your strategies! #B3seminar
— Daisy Miers (@DaisyMiers) March 14, 2013
11.39
The Barbican is a lovely venue…
11.33
Next up is Tim Grice. Tim is Branded3?s Head of Search and he oversees campaigns for a host of well-known UK brands.
11.32
#B3Seminars link strategy advice nugget – make links natural, not appear natural
— Elly Kelly (@elly_kellyO2C) March 14, 2013
11.18
Patrick is now answering questions from audience members following the end of his presentation. Time for some refreshments!
11.15
Solid start from @patrickaltoft rounding up first preso #B3seminar @branded_3
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
11.13
Some recommended reading from Patrick: One click – Jeff Bezos. Good to Great – Jim Collins.
11.11
A quote from Matt Cutts on a potential launch in #SEO is explained by @patrickaltoft at the #B3Seminars
— Branded3 (@Branded_3) March 14, 2013
11.04
UGC – Shoppers who read customer Q&A's convert 45% more often #B3seminar, still @patrickaltoft @branded_3
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
11.03
Patrick – "Build trust around your brand to improve conversion rates. Have great usability or you're going to struggle to get people to convert and to use the site in general. Check conversation rates for different web browsers every month."
10.59
Second screen blogging and tweeting before Patrick took to the stage…
10.55
Attribution modelling – content strategy = assisted conv. Add to metrics if not already done so #B3seminar from @patrickaltoft @branded_3
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
10.54
Patrick – "Make your site memorable – 40% of ecommerce transactions are carried out within 24 hours of the first visit to a site."
10.42
Make your destination pages + primary to be better than your competitors says @patrickaltoft #B3seminar
— Brad Roberts (@Gosh_Brad) March 14, 2013
10.42
Patrick – "Do people love your site? 'Love' is hard to quantify, but companies need to put measures in place to improve a site."
10.35
Patrick – "If you have bad links in your link profile, you have to take action TODAY. Get them down or Google will give you a penalty."
10.31
Brilliant advice from #b3seminars just focus on NATURAL links by creating great content.
— Geoff Newman (@geoffnewman) March 14, 2013
10.30
Patrick – "If you don't have the best site, you don't deserve to rank first in Google. Link building alone is not enough. Make better landing pages. Make your website better. Takes time but worth it."
10.26
Patrick – "SEO campaigns are far easier if you work closely with PR departments."
10.23
Patrick – "Integrate real-world marketing with your link strategy. It's key that businesses start using what they do offline and in their marketing strategy in their link strategy."
10.20
Patrick is stressing the importance of content strategy – both in terms of on site and off site.
"When you release a new page or piece of content, would your MD or PR department tweet about it? If not, don't do it."
10.14
After a short intro from David Crawford, Patrick Altoft's talk has just started.
Patrick – "Strategies aren't evolving quick enough to keep up with Google changes. It's more challenging than ever before for small and big brands."
10.07
The stage is set, not long now….
10.05
It's a full house here with a real diverse range of people here…
10.02
Looking forward to the digital futures talk today! #B3Seminars
— Elly Kelly (@elly_kellyO2C) March 14, 2013
09.59
First up, it's Branded3?s new Managing Director David Crawford in a few minutes. David has previously worked brands such as Bentley, HSBC and American Airlines and is a respected Digital and Marketing Specialist.
09.54
We'll be bringing you nuggets of wisdom from our panel of speakers as well as Twitter reaction to what the likes of Tim Grice and Patrick Altoft have to say today. Should be an interesting next few hours!!!
09.49
Good morning from the Barbican Centre, which provides a fantastic setting for today's Branded3's Digital Futures Seminar. The talks are due to get under way shortly and we'll be bringing you a flavour of the type of insight our experts possess in the digital industry.
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