Russell Gould

Well done Instinct Digital and Cassian Scott Stephen Maynard Great traction for the ambitious growth plans at Instinct Digital - “We are delighted to partner with AlbionVC on the next stage of our journey,” said Cassian Scott, CEO.  “Our prestigious clients are fundamental to our success, along with our partners and team who have enabled Instinct to build a product that has the potential to become the benchmark in investment communications and reporting for investors." see Morningstar Synpulse Marouane Bakhtar #fintech #assetmanagement #assetmanagers #investmentmanagers #wealthmanagement #reporting #investors

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CPMs down 4% today 🤔 Now that the Election is over, the cost of delivering your ads to your potential customers might have just got 4% cheaper… This is data from tens of thousands of Triple Whale integrated Shopify stores, your CPMs might look a little different What does this mean for our brands? … Not a whole lot! It’s just interesting Day to day changes in CPM of 4% are actually totally normal, and a lot of the time we actually prefer to pay more for delivery, clicks from Facebook & Instagram users that are more likely to buy. You could get really cheap ad delivery (and clicks) if you only served your ads in India, but unfortunately your sales would take a hit. This is a little reminder that while efficiency is important, the goal is growth (Not CPM, CPC, CPA or ROAS)

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Zero acquisition cost = ZAC Sadly in this day and age ZAC (this is a made up term btw) within most industries is pretty much non-existent (there are very few edge cases). HOWEVER What about if Amazon are paying for your Google ads? Literally the dream if you’re in Ecommerce. Well, it’s not quite as hard as you think. It took us around a year to get Amazon bidding on our ideal bottom of the funnel key terms: Example attached: ”Biotin Supplement” How did we get Amazon to spend their $ on our little brand Amazon FBA brand? ✔️ Top 10 in category ✔️ High conversion rate product (we currently convert at 38%), the average is around 10-15% ✔️ Amazon Choice badge As I mentioned earlier there is no ZAC - we had to fund the original meta ads, Google ads etc. to our listing to drive conversions, which drove repeat customers (improves conv rate). However once you’ve built this flywheel, not only do you rank well organically on Amazon but you COULD end up with Amazon spending their marketing dollars on Google for your product = win win. We’re not 100% sure what triggers Amazon to spend on your product on Google and this is anecdotal to our product, but this is what worked for us!!

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Last touch attribution is like Tesco having doors 👇 Genuinely one of the best analogies i've ever read on the problems of last touch attribution. I think the first time i read it was on 'How Not To Plan' a few years ago, authored by Les Binet and sarah carter and published by the APG. Anyway, fast forward and i also did my IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) effectiveness test in 2023. Learned a ton. Made lots of notes. And then kinda left them there. But if you know me, i like to share everything i learn. So i wrote about how the top 1% brands think about measurement, with practical things that definitely helped me wrap my head around all of it (or at least be less shit about it). And i genuinely had fun with this, because measurement can be fun (what!), or if nothing else it's crucial for us to be actually taken seriously by the wider business, not just other marketers. I'm sending a newsletter about it next week. The measurement piece is already live, but if you subscribe to Salmon Theory, you'll get that, other short sharp pieces, and a chance to access our private group: https://lnkd.in/dcBmJhnZ

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Last week at Substrakt we launched our first Cultural Website Performance Benchmark Report (which you can download via the link in the comments). We looked at the 2023 website traffic data for 76 cultural websites (encompassing over 110 million user sessions). I am doing a couple of webinars over the next two Wednesdays (tomorrow - Weds 8th May at 2pm BST, and next week - Weds 15th May at 11.30am ET / 8.30am PT) to walk through the background to the report, and some of our main findings. Book your place here: https://lnkd.in/eeaHnrun For example, our analysis found that: - On average, mobile devices are now responsible for more than 69% of traffic to cultural websites. However mobile conversion rates are on average 68% lower than desktop traffic. - Cultural homepages are the entry point for just 16% of traffic to cultural websites. - Traffic from email converts at a higher rate than any other source. - Basket abandonment rates on cultural websites are 52% better than other ecommerce sites. - The average value of mobile donations increased by over 70% in 2023. - 'Engagement rates' for cultural websites are 40% lower than other sectors.

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Rumours of the death of Facebook may have been greatly exaggerated - at least as far as brands are concerned. We've all seen commentary around Facebook's inevitable demise, and its transition into the social media equivalent of a retirement home for silver surfers (remember that old cliché?) . Yet it continues to dominate the global social ad market in revenue terms. It's not easy (or always especially helpful) to prise apart Meta's revenue performance. The majority of advertisers simply buy 'Meta', and care more about audience and outcomes than whether their ad appeared on Facebook or Instagram. Nevertheless, given the aforementioned industry narrative, it's important to note Facebook's continuing scale and growth. WARC forecasts suggest that Facebook is on track to earn $100.1bn in advertising revenue in 2024 (+14.9% YoY), making it only the second media brand after Google back in 2020 to exceed $100bn in annual ad revenue. That's compared to the $58.8bn in ad investment set to go to Instagram this year. The gap between the two is closing, but not at the speed many previously expected, and if Meta is successful in its aim of pushing Facebook usage among Gen Z then the platform will likely retain its lead in the social market into the 2030s. Links to WARC Media's new Platform Insights: Facebook report in the comments...

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Remember when Google didn't let you bid on another business's brand name...? Obviously, things have changed a lot over the years, but introducing 5 image search ad formats is pretty wild. If you are CharlieHR, are you bidding on your brand to combat some pretty strong wording (and imagery) from HiBob? What would we do? It's an age-old discussion but in this case we'd likely recommend brand protection as part of a test. CharlieHR can achieve a much lower cost per click for their own brand. With such an aggressive competitor campaign, this is likely necessary, especially if you are a prospective customer and have been recommended CharlieHR, which led to a brand search. You could add negative terms for 'login' which would help to exclude existing customers. Then test and learn with brand on/off and measuring competitor activity 📈 Google, of course, wins either way... 🤑

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".... refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach'. A classic ad slogan that is now over 50 years old (whaaa?). Yet remains remarkably relevant today as our LifeSearch chair Tom Baigrie, Kevin Carr and Karla Edwards vex over barriers and opportunities to grow the protection market with Cameron Roberts. People consume content and engage with brands completely differently to how they did even 5 years ago. Yet parts of our industry have failed to respond and modernise (and, I know having been on the insurer side, it is hard and painful!). I'm purposefully calling on insurers not to dig deep, not to join forces and not to spend merrily in a mahoosive campaign. There are different and refreshing ways to reach the under-protected and under-served. Hats off to those working in ways similar to us, and with us to take (new style) protection to consumers. When they want it, where they want it, how they want it - at point of need, when its relevant to them. #poweredby #protectionmadesimple #protectingpeopleproperly Adam Jones Gavin Maguire Rose Howarth Vina Mistry Rob Onoufriou Martin Sincup Suzy Esson Richard Horner Edward Axon Debbie Kennedy Paula Bertram-Lax Ricky Butler Oli Hills David McCann Ursula Delaney

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For those who saw Jon Evans interview with Scott Galloway this is the perfect riposte to his ‘brand is dead’ claim. In addition to this beautifully evidenced point about the inverse relationship between winning tech and levels of adspend, there are other contradictions in Prof. Galloway’s bold claims that brand and advertising are dead. It’s nice that he acknowledges the role of storytelling in his own life journey but: 💡 What’s the point of good storytelling if you don’t get a chance to tell your story, or people don’t know whose story it is? And - 💡 Great products, game-changing logistics, word of mouth – all these things help create great brands. But what evidence is there that brands with these things wouldn’t do even better with advertising? 💡 People are more likely to warm to brands that make big bold statements that everyone knows everyone has seen. Rolex don’t plaster F1 with ads because people attending races don’t know what watch to buy. They do it to assert the status of those who already bought a Rolex. 💡 Brand advertising makes brands more familiar. People like things more that they know, and trust things more that they know – even if those things are not empirically more likeable or trustworthy. This is why brand marketing academic Byron Sharp talks about ‘physical and mental availability’. All things being equal – more people will buy your product if the can buy it more places. And all things being equal – more people will buy your product if they know about it. Distribution gets you front of face, advertising gets you front of mind. And anyway – what is Scott Galloway and his 12-man personal brand promotion team if not a brand. . ?

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👋🏽Calling on all payment solutions pros: Anyone in my network pro at #payment platforms for medically backed #healthcare solutions for women? This incredible founder needs you. DM me and I’ll Intro you. #paymentsolutions #supportwomeninbusiness #femaleentrepreneurs

Google blatantly favours the left 👀 Yes Google is a hardline supporter of prioritising the left over right. So open up to getting leftist and always put your target keywords as near to the left as possible across each of your: 🚀 Web page title tags (the metadata headlines that appear in the organic search results) 🚀 Google Ads responsive search headlines (the ad format you need to put 15 headline variations for so Google's AI can work it's magic) 🚀 Landing page headers (the main heading of your landing page content as well as any other relevant sub headers on that same page) Release the pressure on your lead generation and ecommerce targets, by experimenting with one of your hero landing pages (a page your data insights have proven evidence of delivering multiple leads, sales revenue and/or return on investment). Reverse engineer the keywords and search queries that page is currently targeting via Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google Search Console visibility, click and converting keyword/page analysis. When you find the primary golden keyword for your hero page proven to drive the most conversions, sales and return on investment (rather than just based on search volume or traffic), review it's position in the page title tag, Google Ad responsive search ad promoting that landing page and the landing page header. 😍 Is it as near to the left as possible at the start of the headline... giving you the highest possible reach, engagement and conversion rate? If so, marvellously done you are a Leftfield superstar and should enjoy the seminal album, Leftism from 1995 whilst you embark on repeating this process to find opportunities to go as left as possible for EVERY page of your website. Woo yeah! (Oh and round of applause for you if you can spot the album tracks weaved in to this post). 🥺 Is it languishing in the middle... meaning you could move it one or two words closer to the left to potentially DOUBLE your current impact of this page's leads and revenue (we've made this test more times than we can count and if you roll this out across 100s of pages at the same time as adding other golden keyword variations, we've seen it can literally be worth millions in revenue uplift). 😱 Is it stuck at the end on the right (or missing entirely)... meaning you're telling Google you're not relevant to match for that search query and more importantly, you're telling your prospective customers that you're not relevant to what they're looking for. So they may as well not bother clicking and if they do click to your landing page and the header doesn't match to their original search intent, they may as well hit the back button as you don't have what they want!!! Goodbye 👋 Have you tried embracing Leftism to master your PPC & SEO performance? 🤗 Comment below or repost if you know someone who will find this Leftfield tip valuable. https://lnkd.in/ei2p3WDf #SEO #PPC #CRO

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The way we look at website personalisation is very broken. For most people, there's zero strategy for it despite this being the only reliable way I've seen 30%+ uplift, test after test. Most companies don't have a data strategy for collection, processing and access. Most companies have no idea what kind of research to run to learn more about users and categorise them. Most companies don't have a clue what features could or should see personalisation. And most companies don't know how to scale things they find to be good ideas to reach 100s or 1000s of subsegments. If there's one big problem I aim to solve at Webtrends Optimize in 2025, that's it. Expect some lengthy thoughts, strategies, templates, and new tools/features as we figure this thing out and build a way for every user of WTO to provide more relevant experiences to their customers.

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Harry's, a razor brand, increased revenue by 45% in 2021 by joining the Amazon marketplace - but is that enough? Does it work like magic for everyone? Well, not really! I've met so many D2C brand owners who've asked me that very question. I always tell them, ask yourself, "Am I using the marketplace for visibility, or do I want to build my business around it?" Here’s what I propose: - If you can:   1. Drive traffic and scale profitably on your own website 2. ⁠Control your brand experience and own your customer data Then you should keep building your brand using your website. Long-term loyalty comes from direct customer relationships, not just marketplace sales. But if:   1. Your website isn't working as you hoped 2. ⁠You have a product that can compete on a larger stage  Then Amazon can be a great platform to help you grow quickly. Prime eligibility can boost visibility and conversions & FBA can help streamline operations if you struggle with logistics. But remember, Amazon takes a fee, and you could face tough competition from other sellers or from Amazon's own private labels. #D2CBusiness #Amazon #EcommerceStrategy

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Google Plots Break Up of Google Interesting story into today's Daily Telegraph (See: https://lnkd.in/ee-ua9FX) about the US government's potential plan to break up Google. This centres around Google's incursions into the browser and mobile operating systems market. It even features a comment by yours truly (See image below). I'm often a critic of Google, espectially the way they have degraded the original search engine product. But in this case I am coming out in their defence. Essentially, Google's Chrome browser is a much better product than the Internet Explorer product, from Microsoft, that it replaced. In the case of the Android mobile operating system, had it not existed, there would be no serious competition for Apple's iPhone. Both products have created consumer choice is highly competitive markets. If Google is transgressing by utilising both these technologies to bolster their defences in the search market, then market regulation should focus its efforts directly in that area. My personal view is that regulators are always some way behind developments in both technology and markets. Never more so than in the online world. Competition unfolds at lightning speed. Only a year ago the financial markets signalled that Chat GPT would massively weaken the whole position of traditional search engines and Google's market capitalisation with it. Perhaps, in about 5 years time, regulators will shift their attention to breaking up the leaders in AI.

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This week has highlighted some concerning marketing mishaps. Samsung's '6 months free Persil' promotion turned out to be both very limited in quantity and not entirely free. Also today a BBC report revealed that only 2 out of the top 45 computer games comply with regulations on 'Loot Boxes,' a form of in-game purchase with uncertain random rewards, that is in effect gambling. I want to emphasise the importance of industry self-regulation. Failure to adhere to the sensible provisions of the codes could prompt heavy handed government intervention, leading to detrimental consequences for all of us. A stark example is the complete ban on cigarette advertising due to non-compliance and failure of the social media giants to sort out inappropriate content has led to Australia banning under 16's from access to all of them ( in 2025) To my fellow marketers, I implore you to understand and respect the laws and codes and for those of you in the Games industry it is beyond time for a thorough review of how you handle in game purchases of loot box before a potential total ban come into effect. Stay informed, stay compliant, and ensure ethical practices in your marketing activities. Sources: - Samsung Promotion Ruling: [Link] - BBC Report on Loot Boxes: [Link]

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“Your role, if you do it well, should be the deputy CEO,” suggested Sion Lewis, CEO of Ciphr, a UK-based software start-up. The CMOs at our London Lunch Huddle jotted this down with trepidation. Their self-examination was instantaneous. I had questions. Many questions. Does this only apply to CMOs at start-ups? Sion's directive is particularly relevant to start-up CMOs. If you aren’t helping to drive strategy, you’re relegated to marketing tactician. As a former CMO (currently CEO of Boardwave) Phill Robinson put it, "One of the biggest mistakes I’ve seen CMOs make is not getting involved early in the strategic planning process. If you don’t have a seat at the table from the beginning, you’ll end up executing someone else’s vision." Should all B2B CMOs aspire to be the unofficial deputy CEO? Yes. I’m not suggesting this will be easy for CMOs, particularly at big companies with a C-Suite stocked with a CEO, COO, Chief-of-Staff, CHRO, CTO, and Chief Product Officer. But it’s definitely worth a shot. Explained Amanda Jobbins, currently the CMO of Vodafone Business, "To make an impact, the CMO must be in sync with the CEO's vision. It’s not just about reporting to them; it’s about co-creating the company's direction."  Can a CMO be successful but not be the unofficial deputy CEO? Maybe. Let’s take a scenario in which the CEO has a chief strategist who is solely focused on the long-term direction of the company. In that case, the CMO must befriend the strategist and create a strong working relationship. This can be done by knowing more about the customer than anyone else in the organization. That requires regular conversations with customers, ongoing market research, setting up and owning Customer Advisory Boards, building customer communities, and hopefully, being an executive sponsor of a few high-profile customers.  What CEO behavior suggests you’re on the path to being the unofficial deputy CEO? It’s often a progression. First, the CEO asks you to write their speeches. Then, you're the CEO's first call before Board Meetings. Then you're presenting GTM plans to the board. Then the CEO asks you to run a non-marketing initiative. As Amanda Jobbins shared, "If you're only responsible for marketing, it’s easy to be sidelined. You need to take on cross-functional roles—like partnerships or business development—so you’re seen as a business leader, not just a marketer."  Is this the future of the CMO role? If yes, it’s a bright one. You, the CMO, have a secure seat at the table. You “own” strategy. Your purview is broader than marketing. Your CEO depends on you for ongoing guidance and to help drive the business forward. Fellow C-suite members see you as a peer. Getting there won’t be easy. This is why we’ll be focused on the Future of the CMO role at our CMO Super Huddle on November 8th, 2024, in Palo Alto. Bring your curiosity. And your penguin hats. If you’re a B2B marketing leader and can join us, DM me for a discount code. 

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I am now (almost!) an SME on fractional hiring within #digitalcommerce, having had another superstar on the FOD fractional series, Mr Michael Barker. In the latest FODcast short, yours truly sits down with Michael, a seasoned CTO within digital, to discuss the growing trend of mid-market companies opting for fractional roles over full-time C-level hires. It was without doubt insightful, delving into why businesses are turning to specialised talent to navigate the fast-paced digital landscape, the challenges of integrating fractional leaders, and the crucial role of effective communication in successful system design. We even had some historical battle based analogies, thrown in for good measure! On a serious note, some key takeaways were; 🔴 Shift Towards Fractional Roles: Mid-market companies are increasingly opting for fractional executive roles to gain specialised talent and maintain agility in the fast-paced digital landscape. 🔴 Impact of Tech and Effective Communication: The discussion highlights the influence of technological advancements on leadership and the significance of collaborative communication 🔴 Integration Challenges: Companies face cultural and integration challenges when hiring fractional leaders, with a growing focus on teaching over doing. Thanks again to Michael Barker for sparing the time to divulge your views and secrets! Links to the episode below. #digitaltransformation #fractional #cto #digitalcommerce #hiring

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