April fools that we kinda wish were real…

April fools that we kinda wish were real…

April Fools That We Kinda Wish Were Real From 2018

all the April Fools we kinda wished were a reality…

Every year April Fools get more and more ridiculous as they follow the somewhat crazy trends our society seems to create, but every year there are some that we kinda wish were a reality.

We are still heartbroken that April Fools fell on a Sunday meaning we couldn’t pull of some sort of elaborate prank in the office without getting in trouble cos “it’s April Fools man”. Rather, we’ve just had to enjoy the usual gimmickry from leading brands, weighing up our options of ‘to be fooled, or not to be fooled: that is the question’.

As usual, there was a number of crazy and out-there campaigns from top brands. For example, Duolingo, the online language learning platform, showcased their newest range of beers that would help drinkers become bilingual – Brewolingo. Brewed with wheat, hops, water and secret ‘Owlgorithms’. Or like legal specialists First4Lawyers, who announced their newest move offering legal claims against zombie attacks very 2018.

As outrageous some of these campaigns may have seemed, there were a few that really did require a bit of beard stroking as you tried to work out if you were truly being deceived. Resulting in a lengthy thought process that would eventually lead you to the conclusion of “huh, I kinda wish this was real”.

Here are some of our “wish it were real” favourites from April Fools’ Day 2018:

The Lego Hoover

Lego shouted about their revolutionary brick sorting vacuum… gosh, we need that! Not only would that be useful for those of us with Lego loving children, but also at Giant Towers where a Lego fiend keeps playing with the pieces on our Lego wall, resulting in an array of coloured bricks across the lobby every darn day.

The Chocolate Mayonnaise

Heinz cleverly released their campaign a few days early, hitting the Easter trends and leaving people a little dumbfounded at their new product. That product being Chocolate Mayonnaise… yum?

A great addition to any sweet treat, and unfortunately a massive April Fools, much to our disappointment. Who wouldn’t want to smother a digestive biscuit in chocolate mayo? -drools-

Burger King Chocolate Whopper

Burger King

@BurgerKing

the NEW chocolate Whopper. coming soon to your local Burger King. maybe.

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The geniuses behind the best XL Bacon Double Cheeseburger added a brand new burger to their menu for one day only. The “Chocolate Whopper” from Burger King – coming soon to a store near you, or… maybe not.

Again, perfectly timed for Easter weekend where we were all on that Chocolate hype. And, let’s be real here… if it was an actual item on their menu I reckon they’d have quite a few purchases.

Insta Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola ‘launched’ three new flavours of the iconic drink, inspired by the Instagram generation – otherwise known as millennials. This resulted in three flavours, Avocado, Sourdough and Charcoal. (We must have missed the sourdough trend, wth?) Coca-Cola also promised they’d double-up as the ideal accessory for any brunch time social media photo – guaranteed to see the ‘likes’ rolling in.”

We know this is all a joke, but you can’t deny… you’re kinda interested in knowing what a fizzy avocado drink would taste like, right?

Childcare.co.uk – Nappy 999 service

Childcare.co.uk launched a world first with its on-demand Uber-style nappy changing services. The Nappy 999 offers help and refuge when that inevitable poo explosion happens (and parents, you know it will) for just £5 a turn.

We’re sure most of you have faced a hideous nappy or two, or three…. in your lifetime and would have much appreciated a Nappy 999 responder to have been called out. And, if you haven’t experienced it yet, just you wait – you’ll be begging for this April Fools to be a reality.

Virgin Australia – Spin Class

Richard Branson

@richardbranson

It’s great when two Virgin companies work together to come up with a really great idea. Well done to everyone at @VirginAustralia and @VirginActiveOz for introducing the world’s first in flight spin class. Will be touring Australia later this year and can’t wait to join one

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Virgin Australia and Virgin Active supposedly joined forces to launch the world’s first in-flight cycling studio, so you can keep fit on those long journeys.

High on everyone’s list of priorities when commenting on this idea on social media was the lack of shower facilities onboard, and rightly so. We’re so up for the idea, well… we like to have the option (some of us don’t like exercise), just so long as we could shower off the class and enjoy the rest of the flight sweat-free.

Just call us Googz

Google Australia NZ

@googledownunder

After months of sketching, mood boarding, foraging and finger painting with leading designer Josiah Brooks, we’re delighted to unveil our new Aussie logo: https://bit.ly/2pVUMZj  https://twitter.com/JosiahBrooks/status/980237695019499520 

Just call us Googz

We Aussies are a unique lot, on a unique land. Since we arrived in Australia in 2002, our goal has been to build and adapt our products t…

australia.googleblog.com

Jazza@JosiahBrooks

I’m excited to announce that I’ve worked with @googledownunder as their lead designer in their newly announced rebrand: Googz! VIDEO: https://youtu.be/PnTzAGkkoRo  BLOG: https://goo.gl/LJ2f4B 

View image on Twitter
70 people are talking about this

 

 

Australian Google announced a rebrand that’d help rebrand their services and better serve Aussies. Australians and their ever-evolving dialect often call Google ‘Googz’ so after a bit of a “yeah… nah” moment, they decided to partner up and reimagine the brand.

You can’t deny that Googz sounds pretty cool, and the merch with the new logo on is definitely something we’d like to incorporate into our wardrobes right this second.

Bear Walking Volunteers

And, bringing it back locally, The Wildwood Trust shared a plea for volunteer bear walkers, to help the rescued bears meet and socialise with new people.

We really wish this was real, how cool would that be?! Move over dog walkers, there’s a new bear in town… literally.

We are living in a time where #fakenews is constantly trending, where many look to deceive the public with misinformation and misconceptions of everyday things. But for one day a year, it all seems more than acceptable – and we wouldn’t want to see one of the best times of year for the marketing departments of any business disappear any time soon.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

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The Metrics – What to look at in Google Analytics

The Metrics – What to look at in Google Analytics

The Metrics – What To Look At In Google Analytics?

what to do/look at/click on/not touch in Google Analytics

What metrics should you be looking at in Google Analytics?

If you’re a fully-functioning member of the digital business world then you’ve probably got a website. Having a website is an awesome way to get your message out there to a huge array of people, with platforms like social media able to boost your reach even further. But how do you know if anyone’s actually visiting your website? What metrics should you look at? 

This is where Google Analytics can help. GA is your personal investigative genius, on hand to help you keep track of your business activities, understand what’s working and what isn’t, and learn more about the people that matter most to your success – your customers. Put simply, it’s free online software that gives you data about the people who use your website.

Data might seem daunting but with it you can really push the performance of your site and therefore your profit.

Now that we’ve clarified that Google Analytics is your business’s best friend, it’s time to talk about how to get the most out of it.  There are tons (some might say a metric ton)  of different thing you can look at in GA, and it’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of metrics and graphs, only to resurface three hours later and wonder what happened. Did you take the red or the blue pill?

That’s why we’ve rounded up the key metrics you should start with on your foray into analytics:

1. New/unique visitor conversion

Depending on whether it’s their first time on your site or not, online visitors can behave differently. Understanding how new visitors behave can help you to break down your conversion rates and understand what people are driven to do when they visit your website for the first time. Online users like an easy life; prioritise usability and make your calls to action (CTAs) such as ‘Improve your life today, click here’ as clear as possible.

2. Incoming traffic sources

Understanding where your web traffic comes from can help you determine where to focus your digital marketing efforts for maximum effect. You may find that different types of traffic are more likely to convert, so you can plan how to make the most of this. When it comes to traffic, look for three different types:

  • Direct visitors – these people typed your URL into the search bar.
  • Search visitors – these people clicked on your site based on a search query they entered.
  • Referral visitors – these people came from a different website that had linked to you, such as a blog.
3. Bounce rate

Bounce rate tracks how many people hit your site and then leave straight away, without interacting or exploring any further. As a simplified overview – high bounce rate (close to 100%)  = bad.

A high bounce rate can mean that your landing pages aren’t optimised for conversion, are difficult to navigate, or that visitors aren’t getting the information they were expecting. If your web pages have a high bounce rate, then it can point you in the direction of things to improve.

4. Average session duration

This metric tells you the average length of time someone spends on your website, which can indicate whether or not your site is providing useful, relevant information. The more relevant the content, the more time someone will spend reading in enjoying it – and the longer the session will be.

Look at the correlation between session time and conversions – if people are spending a long time on a page but then not interacting, it may be that the content is confusing, or the next step isn’t clear. Optimise your CTAs and see how it affects your average session duration.  

5. Page views

Page views are defined as the number of pages people view on your website. As a rule, more is better. After all, you probably want people to explore as many pages of your website as possible to find all of your awesome content. If the amount of page views per session is low, look to optimise your CTAs and review your meta data for keyword relevancy.

 

Google Analytics offers a ton of information to business owners looking to understand more about their online presence, and these are just a few of the metrics you can explore.

Want to know more? Well, you’re in luck. Our Intro to Google Analytics course gives you the lowdown on the tools and techniques you need to use GA to your advantage – whether it’s understanding how your customers interact with you or finding out if you’re hitting your goals.  

Remember, all I’m offering you is the truth”

Liz Quinn

Liz Quinn

Digital Creative Manager

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!
How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

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7 things you can do to improve your digital marketing right now

7 things you can do to improve your digital marketing right now

7 Steps To Instant Digital Marketing Success

things you can do RIGHT NOW to improve your digital marketing

With a new year upon us, make it the year that you can make the most of digital.

Firstly these are not ‘hacks’ or ‘cheats’, instead, these are suggestions for things that you could do RIGHT NOW, literally the minute you finish reading this blog. Legitimate things that will improve elements of your digital marketing. If you are a new business or are just taking your first steps online, this information will be invaluable for you.

UTMs

UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module, but unfortunately, this is not a way to track sea urchins as they… urch(?) their way across the undersea internet cables. Rather, is a bit of code that is attached to a URL that can be paired with analytics tools to track performance. You might notice them sometimes when clicking on ads. A long series of characters at the end of a website url.

UTMs allow you to see where your traffic is coming from, whether that be tracking which post on social media led people to buy or fill in a contact form, or which ‘buy now’ button on your site has the highest click rate.

These are a great way to monitor the effectiveness of, and improve your digital marketing campaigns, by tracking what works and building upon that to grow future campaigns.

UTMs can look pretty long and clunky once you’ve included all the information that’ll inform you of where the traffic has come from. But fear not, most UTM builders come with URL shorteners or you can use programmes like Goo.gl or Bitly without affecting the info.

 

Update your social bios

Your social media bios are some of the first things your audience will see when looking at your profile. Make it snazzy and make them love what you’re all about with those few, select words, that describe how good you are and what you do.

Keeping these up to date is important in keeping your audience on their toes. Use it to notify them of new things you’re doing and maybe even tailor it to the time of year or content you’ve recently released. It’s your chance to capture their attention, promote your brand and give a taste of your ToV.

Remember, different platforms have different character allowances. Twitter and Facebook allow just less than 200 characters, whereas Linkedin will allow around 2000 characters. Make sure each bio is written slightly differently, tailored to the type of audience on each platform and to what actions you’d like them to take.

Set up GMB

We’ve written before about the importance of utilising local search. One of the best ways to do this is to set up your Google My Business account (As well as Bing’s version, Bing Places for Business, incase they use this search engine). The main purpose of this listing is to help customers find and interact with your business. It helps to improve your SEO and ranking, and is a listing that is optimised for mobile users too. See more about setting it up and the benefits in our Local SEO blog. It takes less than half an hour to get this bad boy set up, so why not do it right now?

Compress your website images

Compressing the images you put on your website can help increase the loading speed which will positively benefit your digital marketing efforts in multiple ways. There are many speed checkers out there, we like to use Google’s TestMySite.

Don’t compress them to the point where the quality is compromised, but know that that website speed is a contributing factor towards your SEO. Half of web users expect a site to load within 2 seconds or less, they tend to abandon the site if it hasn’t loaded within 3 seconds. Unnecessarily large images can negatively affect the speed of your site. For example, if you have image buttons, compress them slightly. These do not need to be high res! Your product images should be of good quality, but that random picture of a duck hidden in your ‘about us’ page probably could do with compressing.

Add client testimonial feedback to your website

Got any client testimonials laying around? Well grab them quick and pop them on your website. Whether that be a video or a quote, testimonials can instil a sense of confidence within potential customers when looking to buy your products or services. If you aren’t able to create a section to put these testimonials on your website, you can place them on your Google My Business through the dashboard.

If you aren’t collecting testimonials, then build this into your follow up process. It’s always good to get feedback, and gives your customers the opportunity to share opinions that may help you to improve your service.

Test hashtags on social to see which resonates with your audience

Adding hashtags to your campaigns can drive engagement. Whether that be #digitalmarketing or #officecat. Using hashtags means you can join in the conversation that the rest of the web are having, even giving you the opportunity to share information and opinions on things people might not even be searching for.

Have a play around with a couple of new and different hashtags on Instagram and Twitter. Make sure they’re relevant to your content, but see which drive more engagement and have a look at integrating this into your social strategies from now on. Use tools such as Hashtagify to analyse the hashtags popularity, trends and correlations.

When using hashtags, consider your brand and ToV. If you’re a fairly formal brand, then hashtags like #wtf and #icanteven probably aren’t for you.

Use answer the public to see what type of q’s your audience are asking

Spend some time looking at Answer The Public to see the types of things your audience are searching for. Use this as inspiration and list out five blog/content ideas that’ll enable you to answer the things you’ve seen.

Content marketing is all about creating things that people will find interesting and adds value to wider conversation. Content that answers queries you’ve found in Answer the Public should be useful and engaging, and can result in page views and shares of your content online.


Now you’ve done these, watch your digital marketing flourish and return you with actionable insights for the next campaign! If you’ve still got a spare moment, why not check out our top recommended e-learning platforms to help your understanding of digital.

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!
How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

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Utilising local SEO

Utilising local SEO

Utilising Local SEO For Your Benefit

how to be found locally using search and directories

Marketing your business online involves a never-ending list of tasks, so why not start small and target your local area first?

Let’s start by explaining what we mean by ‘local’. We’re talking about businesses with a shop such as a bike shop or art gallery. But this doesn’t exclude businesses with a service area that go out to meet their customers, such as a plumber.

These are businesses that sell their products or services to people who live nearby and even people that are visiting from further afield. For example, a potential customer might live far away but is in your town on holiday looking to hire a bike from a shop during her stay.

Local SEO is a targeted and effective way of marketing your business online. It helps businesses to promote their products and services to local customers by generating traffic from location-based search. It allows you to be seen by customers on their terms.

One of the top reasons for local search is finding a specific business, the second most common reason is finding a product or service. Whilst some search for a specific business’ name, others don’t have one in mind when they start typing into that search bar. There is no better time to connect with a potential customer through local SEO than when they really need you.

Someone looking to buy in a specific location is usually ready to pull out their wallet – this sets you up to be their go-to shop if easily found in search results. Local directory marketing has a high conversion rate too, you’re likely to convert 1 in 2 leads into a customer. How amazing does that sound?

How do I do it?

It helps to have your website optimised to appear in search results for your specific products and services already.

Now, make sure your website contains your location details. If you have a shop you should include your address and maybe even an interactive map so customers can get directions to you. Also, include your telephone number and accurate working hours. If you have a service area business, make sure your website explains the areas you serve and how people can best get in touch with you.

Businesses need to be ready to be seen by searchers using any device, so make sure your website is optimised for mobile as well as desktop. Customers are often on the go when looking for local services, using there mobile to access your site. Having a clear, easy to read site is great for mobile users and the search engines that crawl your site looking for information.

List your business on local search listings such as Google My Business and Bing Places. These are nice and simple to set up and, depending on the browser you customer uses, will show up when a customer searches for your business.

The key to local directories and search is consistency. Make sure the same details and business name is published each time. You can update your listing at any time. There are so many directories you can sign up to, it’s worth keeping track of which you are part of with a spreadsheet or list so you don’t lose track when it comes to updating them.

Want to improve your websites chance of ranking in local search? Content is key. Write some articles about your services or products, include local aspects where you can. For example, if you run a camping business, write an article of the best camping spots in your area.

With more local information added to your website, search engines will start to recognise its relevance to local searchers. Your chances of appearing in the local results may start to increase.

Next thing to note is local advertising. On search engines you can bid to show your ad when people type in specific search terms. You can then limit these ads to people in certain locations or within specific distances from your business. The same is possible with targeting ads on social media platforms.

what-is-seo?So, to recap, the three things you need to do to take advantage of local SEO?
– Keep your local listings updated
– Add quality, relevant content to your website
– Have a mobile friendly site that is easily readable by both your audience and search engines
Learn to do it yourself with our SEO courses.
Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!
How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website From Facebook, Google & LinkedIn making what seems crazy complicated, nice and easy!How To Add Pixels To Your Website From Facebook, Google & LinkedIn making what seems crazy complicated, nice and easy!Adding tracking pixels...

Kent B2B – November

Kent B2B – November

We’re back from another awesome day at the Kent B2B at the Historic Dockyard Chatham.

The networking event, hosted in Medway by Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce, was a great day out of the office for the teams at Giant Campus and Sleeping Giant Media.

The day started with an introduction from Jo James, Chief Executive Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. Followed by our very own Luke Quilter, telling the tale of the #DiningRoomStartup and the journey that has led us to become who we are today.

Just before we enjoyed some lunch, we got to hear from Adrian Cole, from Frameless Glass Curtains, talking about growing a business during a recession. There were loads of amazing, fascinating speakers throughout the day.

We really enjoyed talking about our story, meeting new faces and seeing some of the old. We love seeing local businesses flourish. We were even treated to a cheeky glass of bubbly by Quinn Estates, fancy!

SGM at Kent B2B

There were some pretty awesome pitches, with loads of creativity floating about the rooms all day. We were surrounded by growing businesses and the history of old businesses all day at the Dockyard.

Massive thanks to the guys at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce for yet another amazing B2B. We can’t wait till the next one.

To hear more about what we do, click the logos below to get in touch.

giant campus main logo

Amber Vellacott

Amber Vellacott

Content Marketing Lead

Follow us on social media for blog updates and more kick-ass learning content to grow your digital skills!
How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website (Facebook, LinkedIn & Google)

How To Add Pixels To Your Website From Facebook, Google & LinkedIn making what seems crazy complicated, nice and easy!How To Add Pixels To Your Website From Facebook, Google & LinkedIn making what seems crazy complicated, nice and easy!Adding tracking pixels...