Why is the Yes Campaign Winning on Social Media?

This week on the Webwindows blog, we ask why the Yes campaign is winning the fight for Scottish independence on social media, and what you can learn from it.

Social Media is King

If Webwindows has learned anything crafting extensive web marketing campaigns over the past ten years, it’s that social media is king.  By using social media to your advantage, you are not only gaining access to hundreds of millions of potential customers, but you can take advantage of these sites’ ability to amass specific information, to target said customers with pin point precision.

This is a lesson that both sides of the debate over Scottish independence – the Yes and the Better Together campaigns – have taken to heart, in their bids to sway the people of Scotland to vote for them. But who’s been more effective?

Who’s got the Most Followers on Twitter and Facebook?

Let’s start by looking at raw numbers. According to ITV, the Yes campaign got on Twitter first. By doing so, @YesScotland has managed to amass nearly 80,000 followers since April 2012. Meanwhile, @UK_Together got on Twitter a month later, and as of the time of writing, it has only managed to accrue just over 36,000 followers.

Furthermore, the Yes campaign was first on Facebook as well, and has gathered more than 266,000 likes, whilst its equivalent on the other side has only managed to rack up 188,000 likes at the time of writing. So in the raw numbers stakes, Yes has won, but what does it mean for that bastion of social media success, share-ability.

What Can Shareability Tell Us About the Success of the Yes and Better Together Campaigns?

As it turns out, it may have had a huge impact on shareability. ITV have gone on to show that using the neutral hashtag, #indyref, evidence shows that the two most re-tweeted images had a significant pro-independence bias.

Meanwhile, the third most retweeted image was a graph. Specifically, it was a graph from YouGov showing the first time Yes beat Better Together in the polls, again something that is more likely to have been retweeted by supporters of independence. This brings up a valid point. Yes has gone up, whilst no has gone down, further illustrating the comparative effectiveness of the Yes campaign on social media.

Get on Social Media as Soon As Possible

So what does this tell you? Well, in Webwindows’ opinion, it shows the effectiveness of a well thought out, consistent social media campaign. The earlier you start, the more followers you amass, the more interest you generate in your ad campaign. That is why Yes is edging out Better Together at the time of writing in the polls. 

How to Remove Something from Google

This week, Webwindows wants to help you protect your advertising strategy by letting you know how to remove something from Google.

Respect the Awesome Power of Google

Throughout our ten years of providing effective web marketing solutions to businesses, large and small, across the UK, Webwindows has learned to respect the awesome power of Google. One well optimised ad campaign can dominate your search term’s first page on Google.

Because more people search for the products and services on Google than any other search engine on the planet, this means the site can prove invaluable to your marketing strategy. However, sometimes you will be faced with a user who wants to post negative content about you, and when they do, the power of Google can make sure that these posts do a significant amount of damage to the content marketing element of your ad campaign.

What Will Google Remove?

You need to have a strategy in place to deal with such content, but sometimes the best way to deal with it is just to get the content removed from Google. You can’t get everything removed – Google is too dedicated to free speech for that.

They will remove certain things though. These include national identification numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, images of signature, defamatory statements, copyrighted material etc. The last two are your best bet, but in both cases, you have to be able to prove them.

Use Google Webmaster Tools

Once you’ve determined whether you’ve got a case to have something taken down, it’s time to actually remove it. All you need to do here, is report the content in question via Google’s Webmaster tools.

The Webmaster tool is really easy to use, as long as you have a Gmail account. Just find the tool, follow the instructions, garb the link and explain why you want it removed, then wait to hear back from the search engine. If for some reason they don’t remove it though, it is worth contacting the owner of the actual site with the information damaging your ad campaign – they might be willing to remove the information in question.

Google Can Be a Great Tool for Your Ad Campaign.

What Webwindows wants you to walk away from this blog with this week, is the idea that Google is a great tool you can use to emphasise your ad campaign. But that doesn’t mean that you should let the search engine do any damage. Always remember that Google is a double edged sword. 

Facebook Users More Likely to Self-Censor Post Snowden

With new evidence suggesting that Facebook users are more likely to self-censor post Snowden, Webwindows has seen more clearly than ever the need to tread carefully online.

Facebook’s Strength is it Achilles Heal

Through crafting effective web marketing strategies for companies across the UK for over ten years, Webwindows has seen the damage sites like Facebook can inflict on online marketing campaigns.

Their main strength is their Achilles heel. Sites like Facebook – which has over half a billion users – provide you with access to huge swathes of your target audience. Yet one ill thought out post can damage your reputation with that audience, and sink your entire ad campaign.

America is Self-Censoring itself on Facebook

It seems that individual Facebook users are coming to recognise the double-edged nature of the social media site as well. Specifically, the Guardian reported last week that in light of the Snowden affair, users in America are self-censoring discussions about state surveillance on Facebook.

Specifically, a new poll from Pew Research Centre, found that 86% of adults in the US were either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ willing to discuss the issue offline, yet only 43% were willing to do so on Facebook. Meanwhile only 41% of respondents were willing to do the same on Twitter, which many see as a more public forum than Facebook.

How likely is the Typical Facebook or Twitter User to Discuss Snowden?

The report shed further light on the issue, saying that: “The typical Facebook user – someone who logs onto the site a few times per day – is half as likely to be willing to have a discussion about the Snowden-NSA issues at a physical public meeting as a non-Facebook user.

Similarly, the typical Twitter user – someone who uses the site a few times per day – is 0.24 times less likely to be willing to share their opinions in the workplace as an internet user who does not use Twitter.”

You Need to Self-Censor on Sites like Facebook and Twitter

This may not directly apply to online marketing – who’s ever going to think that discussing Edward Snowden would help their ad campaign - but it does remind Webwindows of the need to self-censor online. You never know who is going to see a Facebook post, which is why you need to self-censor, so that one ill thought out post doesn’t offend the wrong person, go viral and sink your entire ad campaign.

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Five Tips for Writing Content for Your Blog

This week Webwindows wants to delve further into the world of content marketing, by letting you know about five tips for writing content for your blog.

You Need to Invest in Content Marketing

Through our role as a web marketing firm that has been putting together innovative web marketing strategies for companies of all sizes, Webwindows has come to understand the power of content. Because Google wants to ensure that readers receive relevant information on page one when they search for something, it’s more important than ever that you invest in content marketing to develop an effective online marketing strategy.

One of the most effective ways to generate relevant content, which will aid your wider advertising strategy in taking advantage of Google, is to create a blog. With a blog, you can produce optimised, relevant content, which you can then use to promote your advertising campaign to a loyal readership.

Webwindows Top Five Tips for Blog Content Creation

Yet writing blog content without professional training is nowhere as easy as American cable television would have you believe, especially if you want to get your content ranking on Google. That is why you should always use the following five tips from Webwindows when creating content for your blog…

1)      Write About What You Know: It’s simple really, the best way to generate relevant content that will help your online marketing strategy is to write about things that are actually relevant to your company. For example, if you own and want to promote a gardening company, write about gardening!

2)      Use Your Search Term as Your Guide: Let’s use the gardening analogy again. Say you’re wanting to promote your new landscaping service, generate content by using ‘landscape’ as your guide. Put it into the Google news tab, see if it’s trending on twitter or being talked about on Facebook to discover what people are reading. Then, the content should practically write itself.

3)      Break up the Text: Did you know that the average user spends about 2 seconds on a web page before moving on. You have to catch their attention and break up text, so they can look for what they want. Do what we’ve done for this article and use sub-headings, lists etc. With numbered lists as well, for example, you can then use it as a benchmark to help you generate content.

4)      Repurpose Old Content: If you’re stuck for something to write about, look at what you’ve done before and put a new spin on it. For example, last week we asked what is content marketing, and this week we’re use that as a base to create an article about the best ways to generate content. There’s really no such thing as a new idea anymore, didn’t you know?

5)      Get the Tone of Voice Right: All of this is useless, if you aren’t speaking to your readers on a level that will appeal to them. That is why you need to decide what tone of voice best represents your company, and use this to determine the type of language you use, the style of sentences you write with etc.

What Would Your Customers Like to Read?

Writing content for your blog can be difficult, but not impossible. Webwindows would ultimately advise that you think about what your customers are most likely to read, use that as a benchmark and go from there. 

UK AOP to Initiate Cross-Platform Digital Advertising Study

Webwindows has learned that The UK Association of Online Publishers has initiated a study to determine the effectiveness of cross platform digital advertising.

Webwindows Stays at the Forefront of the Web Marketing Industry

As experts at driving web traffic, Webwindows is the web marketing company that has been offering a unique range of tools to businesses of all sizes for the past ten years. As such, it is our job to stay at the forefront of the web marketing industry.

Part of that job is looking at the new studies that are released in the web marketing field, and using the information they provide to streamline the service our customers receive from Webwindows. That is why this week, we had to bring to your attention the fact that The UK Association of Online Publishers (AOP), has launched a new study to determine the effectiveness of cross digital advertising.

The Study Will Set Out to Analyse Engagement across Platforms

The research, performed in partnership with Omnicom Media Group, will specifically set out to study the level of engagement across desktop, tablet and mobile platforms. It will centre on data from 21 main publishers. These include The Guardian and Telegraph publishing Groups, IPC Media, Haymarket, Dennis Publishing and Incisive Media. The study will also feature a further 100+ UK media brands.

Beginning next month, the research will set out to analyse cross channel ad campaigns for three of the top brands from Omnicom. It will include videos, display ads and other multimedia platforms. Mobile 5 are slated to provide the campaign’s creative content, whilst digital advertising firm Celtra will create a dashboard for keep track of metrics.

A Game Changer for the Web Marketing Industry

AOP’s managing director, Tim Cain commented on the study. Cain started off by suggesting that this was the first cross-device project of this magnitude, which implies that its results will be a game changer for the web marketing industry.

Cain went on to say:  “One of the biggest challenges for advertising at the moment is working out how to reach consumers across devices, and what’s lacking is how those different devices and the combination of them can create the best consumer response from a brand advertising point of view.”

Webwindows Believes this Study Could Provide Vital Information

In Webwindows opinion, Cain makes a valid point. This study could provide vital information on how advertisers can reach consumers across devices. This will provide key data that will allow firms such as Webwindows to develop even more effective advertising campaigns for their clients. 

The Times Experiences Surge in Circulation Figures

Recent data suggests that The Times has experienced a surge in circulation figures, further proving to Webwindows why it’s an effective paper to advertise with.

Newspapers Are an Essential Element of Any Advertising Strategy

When you’ve been crafting innovative web marketing strategies for a range of firms for over a decade, like Webwindows has, you know what works for an advertising strategy.

That is why we always advise that you include newspaper advertisements as part of your marketing plan. Their readers put stock into them, as they build a relationship of trust with their chosen publication as a source of news and editorial content. That trust ensures that they will take any advertisement you place in said publication seriously.

But which newspaper to go with? There are so many, and they each have their advantages and disadvantages. Circulation – how many people read it – is often the best indicator. This is quite frankly, because the more readers a paper has, the more people will see your advertisement.

The Times Grows its Circulation Figures

This is why we highly suggest The Times as a newspaper to publish with. New data from ABC suggests that the publication’s circulation grew to reach 393,530, year on year in June. It was the best performing publication amongst the UK’s major papers.

How Did the Other Newspapers Fare With Circulation?

How did the other newspapers fair when it comes to circulation? The Guardian came in second place, with circulation figures of 185,313, whilst the Sunday Times performed the best out of the Sunday newspapers. The Sunday Times clinched circulation figures of 815,759.

When it comes to the fastest growing newspaper website, this prize was handed to the Coventry Telegraph with 92,047 unique visitors. This was a massive 304% rise. Meanwhile the Mail Online continued its dominance by scoring 10,912,083 unique users per day. This was an impressive rise of 35%. The Mail Online was followed by the Guardian, website, which experienced a 17% rise. They registered 5,718,502 unique visitors.

In Webwindows Opinion, the Numbers Speak for Themselves

So in Webwindows opinion, the numbers here speak for themselves. The Times continues to be regarded as a trusted source of news, which is backed up by its rise in circulation figures. That is why it always wise to advertise with The Times.

With 11 Million Daily Users, Mail Online Stays on Top

ABC figures have proved the continuing popularity of the Mail Online, as Webwindows has learned it received 11 million visitors per day in May.

Webwindows Will Help You Craft a Killer Web Marketing Strategy

Are you looking for a web marketing firm with a range of key service offered by no other agency? If so, Webwindows – the web marketing expert – is here to help you craft a killer web marketing strategy, sure to lift your bottom line.

We’ve been in this game – offering web marketing expertise to businesses big and small – for over a decade now. We’ve increasingly learned that if you want your web advertising strategy to pack the most punch, you need to advertise on a site that attracts attention.

How Many People are visiting the Mail Online?

And the platform that attracts the most attention continues to be the Mail Online. ABC figures for May have revealed that whilst all major UK newspapers racked up year-on-year growth, the Mail Online continued its streak as most popular online news source.

The figures revealed that the platform racked up 11 million users user’s per day, only slightly down from its best ever performance in January 2014.  In that month, 11.8 million people used the website per day. Furthermore, figures show that back in April, 4.7 million unique browsers in the UK visited the site per day. A total of 6.3 million more, did so from the rest of the world.

Which Other UK Newspaper Sites Are Racking Up More Users?

Meanwhile, figures showed that the title of UK’s fastest growing newspaper site went to Metro. The site registered a rise of 204% year-on-year to reach 1.2 million users every day. This comes following news from Metro, released last March, suggesting its website wold be merged with the Mail Online. This hasn’t happened yet.

Meanwhile, the honour of second fastest growing national newspaper site was handed to The Mirror. It racked up an increase of 97.5% year-on-year, meaning that that it now receives 2.5 million unique browsers every day. Experts have suggested that this rise could have originated from the fact that since August 2013, The Sun, its main competitor, has been behind a paywall.

Online News Sites Are More Popular Than Ever

What these figures should show you, in Webwindows opinion, is the growing power of online news sites. Across the board, they are racking up more visitors by the day, meaning they are more effective than ever, as forums to use for your online advertising strategy.