The list for 2020 has an obvious theme, but not everything we wrote had Covid-19 in the headline. There’s the usual fascination with Google and Facebook product development, innovation in China, user experience, and new technology such as augmented reality.
So, here’s the list. Just click through from the headlines if you want to read more.
25. Instagram SEO: nine tips for boosting your visibility (paywall)
Many people – especially those just starting out with a business or presence on Instagram – may be wondering how they can go about increasing their visibility, both within the app and also on external channels like Google. Is there such a thing as SEO for Instagram? Rebecca Sentance investigates.
24. Preparing for Google’s Page Experience update: what should marketers do between now and May 2021? (paywall)
In May 2020, Google revealed it had a new ranking signal dubbed ‘Page Experience’, which would “provide a holistic picture of the quality of a user’s experience on a web page”, using a set of metrics known as Core Web Vitals along with some other measures of user experience.
Later in the year, Google announced that this ranking factor would come into force from May 2021. Rebecca Sentance caught up with some search experts to find out how marketers can prepare.
23. Facebook Shops rollout is a big moment for social commerce
Rolled out in May 2020 across Facebook and Instagram, Shops allows businesses to create digital storefronts where they can host ‘catalogues’ of their products, with links to purchase the product either on the retailer’s website or directly within the social platform.
22. Being a digitally savvy CMO: how to use search data to set strategy
Digital transformation consultant and experienced marketing director Pascal Moyon shares his approach to search analysis and strategy for digital businesses.
21. Novel coronavirus outbreak: how Clorox and Lysol are using rapid-response marketing (paywall)
Our first piece of Covid-19 coverage was back on 4th February, looking at how Clorox and Lysol responded with their content and SEO efforts.
20. How the influencer marketing industry is adapting to coronavirus
Back in April 2020, many influencer marketing campaigns had been halted or completely cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Nikki Gilliland looks into the detail and how the industry has adapted since.
19. What will shape social media marketing in the second half of 2020? (paywall)
With so much change in the early part of 2020, we wrote some trends pieces predicting how the second half of the year would play out. In this one, Nikki Gilliland look at social media.
18. How will the new Google Analytics change how marketers approach measurement? (paywall)
Google’s core Analytics product received a significant upgrade with the release of Google Analytics 4. What does it have to offer marketers, and how will it change the way we approach measurement and attribution?
17. Eight examples of in-store technology innovations for the Covid-19 era (paywall)
As retailers began to turn to technology to solve the challenges presented by Covid-19, we collected eight examples of tech innovations that are being used to improve the in-store shopping experience.
Results from our March survey of marketers, in partnership with Marketing Week.
15. How the fitness industry is responding to coronavirus with digital push
At the end of March, Nikki Gilliland looked at one of the industries impacted most heavily by the pandemic.
14. How social media platforms are helping small businesses amid Covid-19
With companies of all sizes under threat due to the impact of coronavirus, social platforms introduced new features to help small businesses survive through the pandemic. In May, Nikki Gilliland shared more on what platforms are doing, and how the new features work.
13. Five key psychological principles of UX & UI design
Badly-designed UX doesn’t just cause app abandonment. It’s also been proven to damage your overall brand, making users less likely to engage with you in the future. How can you avoid this? By considering the science and psychology behind your product’s UX and UI design.
12. Seven Chinese ecommerce companies you should know about (other than Alibaba and JD.com) (paywall)
Rebecca Sentance rounds up some of the players in Chinese ecommerce other than Alibaba and JD.com that are worth paying attention to. Some are up-and-comers to keep an eye on, while others are veterans who have been around since the early days of Chinese ecommerce and have evolved with the times.
11. How coronavirus is impacting sales & marketing in the automotive industry
In April, Lizzy Hillier looked at how the situation was unfolding, and how automotive brands were responding.
10. Coronavirus: how travel and hospitality brands should respond (paywall)
Back in March, Patricio Robles shared seven tips for travel and hospitality brands as they tried to weather the coronavirus storm.
9. How brands are encouraging social distancing
Nikki Gilliland shares how we started to see brands attempting to find creative ways to spread the message of social distancing.
8. How is coronavirus impacting the financial sector – and how are brands responding? (paywall)
A look at the financial sector’s response to coronavirus back in April 2020.
7. Ashley Friedlein’s marketing & digital trends for 2020 to 2030 (paywall)
Every year, Ashley Friedlein picks out the digital and marketing trends and developments which he believes will shape the industry and digital/marketing planning and thinking in the year ahead. Without knowing what was in store for 2020, Friedlein set out his 10-year view.
6. Content is king in Covid-19 world as brands make themselves useful
Back in April, Patricio Robles shared four examples of brands using the Covid-19 crisis as an opportunity to bolster their content marketing.
5. How Nike is striking the right tone with its response to Covid-19
What it says on the tin: Nikki Gilliland looks at how Nike has balanced brand purpose and inspiration with its marketing response to Covid-19, and what we can take away from the brand’s success.
4. 7 factors that will shape ecommerce in the second half of 2020 (sponsored by Coveo)
As ecommerce went from ‘high-priority’ for most retail businesses to ‘the priority’, consultant Dan Barker laid out some of the trends and preoccupations that looked set to dominate retailers’ concerns in the second half of the year in this fantastically in-depth piece.
3. 14 examples of augmented reality brand experiences
AR seems to be enduringly fascinating to the marketing audience. Its power is obvious, despite the fact that its implementation outside of social media is currently often expensive and clunky. Here, Nikki Gilliland rounds up some intriguing examples.
2. Coronavirus email comms: do’s and don’ts
In March, consumers received email on a level unseen since GDPR as brands and businesses raced to reassure them over the unfolding situation. Rebecca Sentance offered some advice.
1. Stats roundup: coronavirus impact on marketing, ecommerce & advertising
Lizzy Hillier has been collating findings from research studies across marketing, ecommerce and advertising since the pandemic hit the UK. The roundup is now 15,000 words long and shows how the industry has changed in the last year.
That’s your lot. Please do explore Econsultancy’s reports and training, and we’ll see you in 2021.
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