Sales, marketing and procurement Apprenticeships Archives

Email Marketing 101

March 29, 2023March 29, 2023 by Harriet Maxfield

Email Marketing plays a crucial role in any digital markers marketing campaign. It is a great way to nurture your leads as it allows you to communicate with those who are already subscribed to your mailing list, meaning that you are communicating with those already interested in your company. It can also increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your website to ultimately reach your goals.

In 2022, Litmus found that the average ROI (Return On Investment) for email marketing was $36 for every $1 spent. With many different types of emails, you can send to your customers, email marketing is a great way for businesses to reach out to their target audience, It is no surprise that Litmus found that 79% of marketers list email marketing as their top 3 most effective marketing channels.

Getting started with email marketing

Getting started with email marketing is easy but the first thing you must do is work out what you want to achieve from your campaign. Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Convert your audience into leads? Encourage people to sign-up for an event? Establishing your goals is key to a successful email campaign and aligning those goals with your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) means that you can easily measure the success of your campaign as well.

Building a mailing list

When getting started with email campaigns companies will need to bring together a mailing list. A mailing list is a list of people to whom you want to send your email campaign. These are the people who have given consent to receive email marketing from your company. If you do not already have a mailing list you will need to start thinking of any which you can get people to sign-up for your emails. You can do this by:

Putting links/buttons to sign-up forms on email signatures, your website, your social media pages, the end of blog posts, etc.
Making sure that the sign-up form is short and easy to fill in.
Providing sneak peeks of your newsletters, this could be in social media.
Advertising offers only available through email sign-ups.

When building your mailing list you should also consider segmenting your list. You can put your audience into different categories depending on characteristics they may have stated on your email sign-up form, such as location, interests, etc.

Types of email marketing

Another thing to consider is deciding the type of email campaign you will send to your audience. There are countless types of email marketing and the type you choose to send should align with your goals to achieve a successful campaign. Types of email marketing include:

Welcome emails
Newsletters
Company updates
Job advertisements
Promotional

Different technologies

You will need to decide what technology you want to use before getting started with email. There are hundreds of different technologies available to create email campaigns, all of which have different factors which set them apart. You should choose the technologies that will help your company achieve its goals and objectives. Some examples of email marketing technologies include:

HubSpot – a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform which helps marketing teams optimise their email campaigns powered by CRM data.
MailChimp – an email marketing platform used for creating and managing email campaigns. It is best for actionable data insights to improve your strategy.
Moosend – an email marketing automation platform designed to send and manage email campaigns. It is best for creating automation and sending personalised emails.

Why is email marketing important?

There are many reasons why email marketing is important for your business. For starters people use email every day and according to Statista there were over 4 billion email users worldwide in 2020, so it is easy to connect and communicate your messages to your audience. It has many benefits, some of these include:

Boosting other marketing channels.
Keeping your audience engaged with your company.
Cost-effective
Allows for targeted messages
Generates traffic to your website

What makes a successful email campaign?

There are many things that can make an email campaign successful, these can include:

Relevant to your audience – making your email marketing relevant to your audience, whether that be through personalised/targeted content can lead to your audience driving traffic to your website and making purchases.
Engaging subject lines – subject line will be one of the first things your audience sees and this will determine whether or not they will open your email. Making your subject line engaging will help push them to open your email and click on your content.
Clearly defined goals – setting goals means that you know what you want your email campaign to achieve and it can help measure the success of your campaign.
Optimised for mobiles – according to Adobe in 2018 85% of email users use their phone to access emails.
Proofread before sending – by proofreading your email before sending you can check that you have made no errors such as spelling mistakes. Sending test emails allow you to see what your email would look like to your audience and it allows you to test that all links work and go to the right places.

Email marketing regulations

It is important to note that there are rules to email marketing. Since 2018 there have been GDPR regulations introduced that restrict whom you can send emails to. People must have given consent to receive emails from your company, whether that be by signing up for or opting in to email marketing. This means that companies need to be careful when sending email campaigns and make sure that everyone on their mailing list has opted-in to receive and has not unsubscribed.

Email marketing is a great way to connect with your target audience and it is a technique that all digital markers should consider in their marketing strategy as it is easy to do with little cost.

If you would like to discover more posts about digital marketing click here: Digital Apprenticeships Archives – ApprenticeTips.com

3 Free Digital Marketing Tools Every Marketer Needs 2023

March 28, 2023March 28, 2023 by Tayyibah Power

Digital Marketing, Tools, Digital Marketer, digital marketing tools, tools 2023, free tools, free tools 2023

When starting your career in digital marketing, have you ever thought about tools and software available to use? Free Digital Marketing Tools have evolved in 2023. There are so many options out there from time management tools to SEO guidance which is why its important to take a step back and really decide what works best for you. This blog will provide some useful free tools below to help get you started.

Google Keyword Planner

Understanding which keywords to use when creating different content, for example blogs or google ads can seem like a difficult task. However, Google keyword planner is so easy to use. This free tool allows you to discover many new keywords associated with your business/ industry. It works by and offering estimates of the number of times specific words/ phrases were searched. Usefully, the keyword planner actually tells you how much it costs to target. Overall, this free digital marketing tool is fantastic for all digital marketers who are looking for a keyword planner.

CapCut

Free digital Marketing Tools generally enable creating engaging short-form video content. Since 2022 there has been an increase in the popularity of videos via platforms like TikTok and Instagram. CapCut is a multi-purpose video editor which removes complex editing, so it is essentially the perfect tool for new professionals in the industry. Something that differentiates CapCut from other video editors is you can extract audio. For example take a trending sound from Instagram and import the video into CapCut, click extract audio and then you have an easy way to create perfectly timed transitions.

Canva

An Important tool for a role as a digital marketer is Canva. Canva is basically a source for all your graphic design needs, which is super helpful having this all in one place not to mention convenient. Canva pretty much allows you to create anything from social media content you need to upload, to banners for your new website and it also provides a helpful system of templates to help you incorporate all of this into your outputs.

We all know starting to create content from scratch can seem extremely daunting and this tends to put many new digital marketers in a predicament, knowing tools like this are out there and available free to use by anyone creates so much relief! Because once you know this life gets so much easier. Canva is able to take this to a whole new level by displaying inspiration from various previous creators and the different internal tools and features such as the drag-and-drop feature which makes the experience streamlined.

Summary of Free Digital Marketing Tools

To conclude, a range of free digital marketing tools readily available are so easy to find when you have the web at your finger tips. Don’t be afraid to jump deep in when comes to digital marketing as there are so many useful resources out there that will make your journey as a marketer super easy! It is important to know which ones will help develop your skills, however it is just as easy to find out which ones are best for you by simply trial and error.

These 3 free digital marketing tools will help you to build your best skillset now and in the future as technology advances and trends keep changing. Overall, understanding what tools will drive your development and progression is important for creating successful strategies and campaigns.

If your interested in receiving more tips like theses to easy your mind into the ever growing digital marketing world use the form below to sign up with our eBooks to gain access to limitless information on these specialized areas!

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Dos and Don’t of using Ad Intel

March 17, 2023March 17, 2023 by maisie halliday

Are you looking for the ultimate guide to using Ad intel? This is a great tool for researching the global competitive advertising market for both Ad spend and creatives. But you might find it hard to use the platform. We have come up with Dos and Dont’s help you navigate the way around the platform. Continue reading to find out more!

What is the database?

This a data base that allows you to run selective reports and adds media channels, new dates, brands and spending across the time that is suited. It requires planners, to research and gain exposure on competitors for client requests.

Please see Apprenticetips for more information on using digital tools and overall apprenticeship research. Find at ApprenticeTips.com

DO

Use Ad Intel for in-house planning, buying and media decisions. This will include building in-house reports to understand the competitive market.

Don’t

Another key point is not to share the data, in a raw format – it will lead to it being manipulated in another way.

DO

Also, Feed data into dashboards or reports for client use.

Don’t

Generate reports with any spot level granularity. Including reporting by channel, publication or sharing data outside the business.

DO

But, do use your own login at all times. This is to save copyrights and people taking credit for your work.

Don’t

Lastly don’t, share any data on your own websites without permission.

Why this matters?

These Dos and Don’ts allow you to be the best researcher you can be for your business and solve your client requests. Being a good researcher helps meet business goals and pushes your company to: Better understand your customers, design new business opportunities and identify problem areas.

To use these Dos and Don’ts head onto the Ad Intel website to become a pro at Ad Intel UI UK (nielsen.com)

Conclusion

In summary, we hope this gave a good overview on the sharing guidelines of Ad Intel. By following these tips, you will be showing a better understanding on Ad intel and can take what you have learnt back to your business and show your clients you are a research expert!

6 Dos and Don’ts of using Social Media in Digital Marketing

March 16, 2023March 16, 2023 by Suniya Imran

Millions of businesses around the world are using Social Media now more than ever to reach their target audiences, to connect with their customers and to promote their products/services. We can understand why, because in today’s time, Social Media is constantly evolving and is a massive part of our consumer’s lives. Therefore, a good online presence on Social Networks can quickly help businesses reach the maximum number of users possible whilst also open up different advertising opportunities.

There are thousands of platforms, each with different features and rules, but there are some basic tips and guidelines you can follow to develop a good use of social media in your digital marketing strategy. Even if you aren’t a business owner, if you have a passion for social media and are keen to understand and grow your knowledge of it, this will be a useful read to help you knuckle down on the basics.

We’ve rounded up a list of key do’s and don’ts when using social media as part of your digital marketing strategy and explained why they are important.

1. DO identify your brand voice:

Understanding how you want your brand to be perceived online is important and is determined by how formal or informal you want your online presence to be. This will largely depend on your target audience and what kind of language or tone they would expect. For instance, if you manage social media for a makeup brand which mainly aims to market their products towards younger demographics, then you may decide to use more informal language, fun emoticons and take part in viral trends. However, if you’re managing social media for engineering firm, you may decide to have more educational content and a more professional tone within your content.

2. DON’T use the same content across all social media networks:

Consistent branding and tone of voice across all social media networks is important. However, recycling the same content and using it across all of your brand’s social networks is bad practice. This is because each social media platform is different and as such will have different set of guidelines which are considered ‘best practice’. We suggest using original content and messaging for each platform but keeping a consistent theme throughout. For example, if you are promoting ‘50% off all Beauty lines’ then it could be a good idea to have different product images on your Instagram and Facebook with a slightly different caption.

3. DO capitalise on trends:

The best part about social media is that there is almost always a viral trend or conversation which could be relevant for your brand to join in on. It is important for all businesses to pay attention to trending content which appeals to the audience they’re trying to reach and to take part in it, if possible. Captalising on these trends is key and can help push your content to even more users than usual and prompt them to engage with it.

A good example of a brand capitalising on trends is the popular beauty brand – Fenty Beauty. As a makeup brand, the main aim of their social media strategy is to convince customers to purchase and try their products. A popular type of content on TikTok is tutorials. Fenty Beauty utilise TikTok to post makeup tutorials showcase new products and how they apply and wear throughout the day. This has proven to be an effective content strategy for the brand as they tend to see high levels of engagement and build up a lot of positivity around their products.

4. DON’T use poor spelling and grammar within your content:

Human error is normal. However, it is important to take precautions to avoid your brand putting out content or copy with grammar mistakes and spelling errors because it reduces your credibility and looks unprofessional. To avoid this, it is a good idea to create your social media updates offline first in a document or spreadsheet. That way, you are able to proofread them before posting online for your followers to see. There are numerous tools which could be helpful in automating this process and add that extra layer of protection. For example, Grammarly is a great content marketing tool because it also proofreads your copy but also allows you to set your writing goals based on the type of writing you do, making it a useful tool for copy.

5. DO set objectives:

Going viral on Instagram and TikTok is great for your brand. However, it is important you set out some key short term and long term objectives to understand what your business wants to achieve from your social media strategy. It is good to think ahead and be aware of what you want to do with the engagement you see from your followers.

For example, in terms of potential short term objectives for a clothing brand, you could be having a flash sale and as such, would want to focus on using social media to boost sales. In terms of longer term objectives, as part of your digital marketing strategy you may want to use social media to build up awareness and establish yourself as a credible brand with an engaging online presence.

6. DON’T excessively use Hashtags:

A common misconception about social media platforms, in particular Instagram, is that using a #hastag with each sentence will push your content out more. This could not be further from the truth. Excessive use of #Hashtags is one of the most unprofessional and irritating practices and its worth avoiding. Using appropriate hashtags connects your post to related posts but it should be used, within reason, for this purpose only. Instagram’s algorithm has changed over the years and posts with too many hashtags actually seem to be less favoured by the platform and by audiences.

This is where understanding each platform and what works is important. Research how many hashtags are appropriate to include in posts on different social media platforms and use this information to influence your decision. Opting for less but niche hashtags instead of several generic ones is that it will be more likely to help you reach your desired audience and will result in more exposure.

Conclusion:

To conclude, we hope this gave you some insight into 6 do’s and don’ts when using social media in digital marketing. Incorporating social media into your digital marketing strategy is key for a successful online presence and will help you boost this in a productive and effective way.

Pursuing a Digital Marketing Level 3 Apprenticeship would introduce you to the basics of using Social Media as part of a digital marketing strategy and also help you kick-start your career within the industry that is constantly growing.

More information on this apprenticeship can be found here. Alternatively, check out our range of useful articles and blog posts here to find a suitable Digital apprenticeship for you.

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Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

March 3, 2023March 3, 2023 by Faye Peirce

Image that displays the Digital Marketing Apprenticeship title. This stays inline with the style guide

The primary role of a digital marketer is to define, design, build and implement digital campaigns across a variety of online and social media platforms to drive customer acquisition, customer engagement and customer retention.

If this sounds like something that you would like to be a part of, then read on below to understand what this Digital Marketing Apprenticeship course will consist of!

What skills you will learn along the way of this Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

Within this apprenticeship, there are many skills that you will learn and can apply to your job role and use to boost your career in digital marketing. These skills include:

Logical and creative thinking skills
Analytical and problem solving skills
Ability to work independently and to take responsibility
Can use own initiative
A thorough and organised approach
Ability to work with a range of internal and external people
Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of situations
Maintain productive, professional and secure working environment

What competencies you will need to reach in the portfolio

A big part of this apprenticeship is completing your portfolio. This will need to consist of projects which you have completed in your job role and hit the competencies laid out in the occupational brief document. A breakdown of these competencies are:

Written communication
Research
Technologies
Data:
Customer service
Problem solving
Analysis
Implementation
Applies at least two of the following specialist areas: search marketing, search engine optimisation, email marketing, web analytics and metrics, mobile apps and Pay-Per-Click
Uses digital tools effectively
Digital analytics
Interprets and follows:
- latest developments in digital media technologies and trends
- marketing briefs and plans
- company defined ‘customer standards’ or industry good practice for marketing
- company, team or client approaches to continuous integration
Can operate effectively in their own business’s, their customers’ and the industry’s environments

These competencies will need to be reached in order to make your way into the gateway process which is discussed below.

What you will learn from each module in the Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

As explained in the occupational brief, there are three modules that will be completed throughout this level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship. These include; Principles of Coding (for Level 3 Digital Marketer Apprenticeship), Marketing Principles (for Level Digital Marketer Apprenticeship) and Digital Marketing Business Principles (for Level Digital Marketer Apprenticeship).

For the Principles of coding module, you will learn to:

Understands the principles of coding
- Understands and has an appreciation of logic
- Understands, has an awareness of and recognises languages such as HTML / Java
- Understands the compatibility of code on different platforms
- Understands the components involved to make the Web work

For the Marketing Principles module, you will learn to:

Understands and can apply basic marketing principles
Understands the role of customer relationship marketing
Understands how teams work effectively to deliver digital marketing campaigns and can deliver accordingly
Understands and can apply the customer lifecycle
Understands the main components of Digital and Social Media Strategies

For the Digital Marketing Business Principles module, you will learn to:

Understands the principles of all of the following specialist areas: search marketing, search engine optimisation and Pay-Per-Click, e mail marketing, web analytics and metrics, mobile apps and understands how these can work together
Understands the similarities and differences, including positives and negatives, of all the major digital and social media platforms
Understands and responds to the business environment and business issues related to digital marketing and customer needs
Understands and follows digital etiquette
Understands how digital platforms integrate into the working environment
Understands and follows the required security levels necessary to protect data across digital and social media platforms

What is involved in the EPA

As discussed in the assessment plan, the EPA is completed in the last few months of the apprenticeship. It is based on:

The portfolio – produced towards the end of the apprenticeship, containing evidence from real work projects which have been completed during the apprenticeship, usually towards the end, and which, taken together, cover the totality of the standard, and which is assessed as part of the end point assessment
A project – giving the apprentice the opportunity to undertake a business-related project over a one-week period away from the day to day workplace
An employer reference
And a structured interview with an assessor – exploring what has been produced in the portfolio and the project as well as looking at how it has been produced

To get to this EPA process, you must have gone through the gateway process, which involves completing your portfolio so it is at 100%, completing all assessments that will take place, having a completed employer reference and having your OTJ hours at 100% or above. Once these are all completed and have been submitted, you will be able to go through gateway and into the EPA process.

Conclusion

As you can see, this level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship is an excellent starting point for anyone looking to pursue a career in Marketing. The skills that are covered in this apprenticeship will open a wide range of job opportunities and you will gain deep knowledge from each module so that you can apply this to future job roles.

Further Resources

To learn more about Digital Marketing Apprenticeships, follow the links to the below resources:

Digital Marketing Level 3 Apprenticeship | QA

Why start your career with a Digital Marketing apprenticeship… – Bing video

What’s involved in a Digital Marketer apprenticeship

January 27, 2023January 27, 2023 by Rita Jno-Baptiste

Level 3 Digital Marketer Apprenticeship

ApprenticeTips.com

Level 3 Apprenticeship Digital Marketer – What You Need To Know

As a digital marketer, you’ll be focussed on driving brand awareness and increasing brand reach through focussed digital campaigns and monitoring social interaction and to get there you should consider an apprenticeship!

But what are the main components to ensuring apprenticeship success in this highly competitive industry? Well….

Digital marketing spelling out digital marketing on tiles — Digital Marketing

Digital Marketer Apprenticeship: Lets Break it Down – 4 Key Elements

Undertaking this apprenticeship in Digital Marketer means that you embark upon a 2 year, structured programme which will incorporate 4 elements; Summative Portfolio; Synoptic Project; Employee Reference; Interview. Taking each turn below we break down the requirement and expectation of each section.

1.Summative Portfolio

is a collection of real-life projects, displaying the application of all the knowledge, skills and behaviours set out in the standard. You’ll be required to demonstrate a variety of competencies which include:

Written communication – highlight your ability to connect with a range of audiences
Research – analysing/interpreting data to inform decision on long- and short-term digital campaigns and strategies
Technologies – can confidently use different digital tool across different social platforms
Data- Monitor and analysis data that provides useful and helpful insight
Customer Service: can respond efficiently and effectively to queries across online and social platforms
Problem-solving: can demonstrate structured techniques to problems and can establish adequate resolutions
Analysis – ability to create and understand basic dashboards
Implementation – can design and implement campaigns across various digital platforms
Specialist areas – can demonstrate expertises in areas such as search Marketing, SEO, email etc
Digital tools – can demonstrate effective usage of tools across campaigns
Interpret and Follows – follows latest digital trends, can follow marketing plans, understands good industry standards and practices

Looks a scary list, but don’t worry as your manager and training provider will be on hand to help your through and make sure you hit all the required skills. Boom!

2. Synoptic Project

This is your opportunity to shine. Here you’ll be tested on your knowledge, behaviours and competencies against a set project carried out in a controlled environment. You’ll not expected to hit all the Knowledge, skills and behaviours, aim to touch on some of the important elements. The reason you are required to do this is to ensure there is consistency across all your work increasing the accuracy of the final assessment mark – can’t be a bad thing!

3. Employer Reference

This gives the assessor your manager’s perspective on how you have performed in the workplace and how you have demonstrated your learning to your everyday tasks and behaviours – might be a good idea to bring in gifts to your manager 😊.

4. Interview

Finally, after all the above has been done and dusted you’ll have your professional interview, but don’t fret! This is an opportunity to wow the assessor, provide further information and to discuss the evidence supplied in more details. Top Tip: Prepare – read through your summative portfolio, go over your synoptic project and swot up on the employee reference.

After completion of the interview, you can sit back and await your result.

What’s Next For A Digital Marketer?

Apprenticeships provides a solid foundation for the role that you have studied. It offers significant opportunities for career advancement and further studies. Upon completion, apprentices can register:

On The independent Register of IT Technicians, providing recognition of their competence in applying technical skills in a business environment whilst signing up to a professional code of conduct and behaviours.

Join as an Affiliate (Professional) member of the CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing).

Series of marketing words that are used as a digital marketer within marketing — Digital Marketing Terms

Last But Not Least

Tthere was a lot of information there. But if working in Digital Marketing as a Digital Marketer is what you’re after then hopefully the above gives you a snapshot of what’s involved. We’ll shortly be adding this L3 apprenticeship to our ApprenticeTip.com portfolio but until then search our website for all apprenticeship opportunities and be sure to sign up to our newsletter so you’ll be first to know when we go live.

And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

“College student becomes digital marketer”.

January 20, 2023 by Devya Joshi

By Devya Joshi

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Path to show that you can take many career paths to reach your dream job/destination.

Sometimes, when you are going down a career path, you might end up changing your mind or becoming unsure of what you want to do. There have been many people who have felt that way at one point or another. It could be at college/sixth form or a different point in their life. You can figure out what career you want and how to achieve your career goals, whether you are thinking of how to be a digital marketer or any other career. Within this blog, I would like to share with you a story of one peer that I knew from school who had changed their minds about their career paths and what they did after. Do continue so that you have some more ways to be inspired in your career. Always remember there is help available to you, in both your career and personal life. To respect their privacy and gender identification, I have kept their identity anonymous and will be referring to them as ‘they’.

Their background

People in college who are focusing and figuring out what they want. Apprenticeships may be useful to them.

My peer who was a year older than me had dropped out of college. They had an interest in teaching and had picked teacher training as a course in their college. This is because they thought the idea of watching someone you taught grow and that having extra holidays during half term would be give a better work-life balance. However, when they were studying teacher training, my peer realised that teaching was not what they expected and had not found a starting salary that appealed to them, when searching for teacher assistant jobs as a starting point.

Career prospects

Whilst my peer felt lost and was contemplating what they wanted to do in their career. I too was thinking about career prospects. First, I searched online for digital marketing apprenticeships, as a viable career option. I knew it would be a blend of creativity and being analytical. Some of the creative aspects would be in making content and coming up with new ideas that would attract audiences to a service/product. A few of the analytical aspects would be to analyse data from reports for different channels. E.g. Viewing Snapchat analytics to see the type of audiences that had clicked on an ad, the number of views, impressions etc.

My peer spoke to me and told me that they were unsure of their options after dropping out of college, as they no longer wanted to teach. We spoke to each other, and I informed them that digital marketing apprenticeships were available. Even though, they had not studied digital marketing in school, from the conversation, they were able to see that digital marketing had a higher scope for them. They realised that they would be able to take different career paths, as there were so many options within digital marketing. Also, there were many transferable skills that they had learnt from their teaching training which were: problem-solving, handling conflict, managing others, planning, and organising, communication etc. Additionally, working from home and hybrid working is a common occurrence in digital marketing, so they would have work-life-balance.

Their journey to digital marketing

With my recommendation, they checked out available apprenticeships for digital marketing and were able to start one at a creative agency called OLIVER. They started making content/ ads for clients to promote their services to intended target audience. Like other apprenticeships, which ‘Apprentice Now offers’ such as: Level 4 Data Analyst; Level 3 Infrastructure technician; Level 3 Network engineer; Level 4 Software Developer and Level 4 Software Tester, there is a structure that is followed. The structure is that that apprentices complete a portfolio, so they have a reference for all the work they are proud of and to showcase their skills, knowledge, and ability. Then, there is the synoptic project where apprentices will be given a brief and they need to complete the tasks set in the brief. An example would be: Making a marketing strategy plan for a client, creating content following the brief requirements, analysing/reflecting on the work done and presenting to clients in the form of a deck. The last part would be an interview, where you communicate what you did in your role, discuss your portfolio and synoptic project with your assessors.

My peer completed the assessment requirements and finished their digital marketing apprenticeship. They were promoted within the team and are enjoying their career.

If you would like your story to be like this, where you find your way to a career you will love and that will resonate with your values and beliefs, then do try digital marketing apprenticeships.

Apprentice Now is preparing to open opportunities for Digital Marketing within their apprenticeships so keep a look out…

There’s more career support on LinkedIn.

See helpful tweets from us, where we answer your live questions too!

How to use social media trends to your advantage

January 16, 2023January 16, 2023 by Ibi Keita

Social media has become an essential tool for businesses of all sizes and industries. Not only can it be used to connect with customers and promote products or services, but it can also provide valuable insights into industry trends and consumer behavior. By keeping an eye on social media trends, businesses can improve their marketing strategies, product development, and overall operations.

a mobile phone screen with various social media apps — New trends can be found across all social media

Where to start

One way that businesses can use social media trends to improve their operations is by monitoring customer sentiment. Social media platforms provide an unprecedented level of access to customer feedback, and businesses can use this data to gain insights into what their customers are saying about their products or services. By monitoring sentiment on social media platforms, businesses can identify areas where they need to improve and make changes accordingly.

Another way that businesses can use social media trends to improve their operations is by identifying new opportunities. Social media platforms are constantly evolving, and new features and functionalities are added regularly. By keeping an eye on new developments, businesses can identify new opportunities to reach their target audience or improve their products or services. For example, the rise of video content on social media platforms has led to an increase in the use of video in marketing campaigns, which can be a powerful way to reach and engage with customers.

Social media trends can also be used to improve business marketing strategies. Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat are all popular among younger audiences, and businesses can use these platforms to reach these audiences with targeted marketing campaigns. Additionally, social media analytics tools can be used to track the performance of marketing campaigns and identify which strategies are most effective.

Stay up to date

hand pointing with pen to social media analytics page — Social media analytics

Businesses can also use social media trends to improve their products and services. By monitoring conversations on social media platforms, businesses can identify areas where their products or services are falling short or where there is a gap in the market. This information can then be used to inform product development or to identify opportunities to expand into new markets.

Social media trends can also be used to improve customer service. Many customers now turn to social media platforms to voice their complaints or ask for help. By monitoring social media platforms, businesses can identify issues and respond to them quickly, preventing negative sentiment from spreading.

However, it is important to keep in mind that social media trends are constantly evolving, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Businesses need to be proactive in monitoring and adapting to these trends in order to stay ahead of the curve. This requires dedicating resources to social media monitoring, such as hiring a social media specialist or investing in analytics tools.

In conclusion, social media trends can be a valuable tool for businesses looking to improve their operations, marketing strategies, products, and services. By keeping an eye on social media trends, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer sentiment, identify new opportunities, and make data-driven decisions. However, businesses need to be proactive in monitoring and adapting to these trends in order to stay ahead of the curve. With the right approach, social media can be an invaluable resource for businesses looking to improve their bottom line.

Head to ApprentceTips.com to find more useful articles, and apply to our level 3 marketing apprenticeship to kick start your career.

Dos and don’ts in email marketing

December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Mollie Elson

Are you working on an email marketing campaign and have no idea where to start? Or maybe you’ve done lots of email marketing before, but the campaigns have never been very successful? I’ve collated a list of do’s and don’ts especially for you, to help you utilise and optimise email marketing as a channel for your overall marketing strategy.

Do send emails at certain times

My first piece of advice would be to think about the times you’re sending these emails. It really does affect the performance of your email marketing campaign depending on what day or time of day you send an email out to the world. Research has shown that Tuesdays are the best day to send an email to receive the highest open rates, followed shortly by Thursdays.

Thinking more specifically into the time of day, 10am is a really great time to engage most audiences, as the majority of people are beginning their work days and are shown to be open and receptive to email marketing at this time of the morning. However, after lunch at around 2pm, engagement spikes again for emails.

Using this knowledge could really help increase open rates for your campaigns, and ultimately, lead to an increase in site traffic. Consequently, site traffic will result in higher click through rates and conversion, encouraging more customers to the point of purchase or completing whatever the call to action is for your campaign.

Don’t over-send

It’s extremely important that within your weekly marketing plans, you aren’t scheduling emails to be sent repeatedly every day or more than three times a week.

This is especially crucial if your company has lots of different marketing teams and products or services. There should be complete clarity and alignment between all teams in the company to avoid bombarding customers with hundreds of emails as this will lead to a lack of interest and could lead to them unsubscribing completely.

Do personalise content

If possible, personalising content is always a great way to engage your audience, as it makes customers feel a lot less like just another number, and can really help them feel valued by your company.

Whether this is by using the customer’s name in the opening of the email, or just focusing on what you know about them (e.g. age, gender, likes, interests), to make the email less generic.

Another brilliant way to keep this personalisation throughout the customer journey, is by then personalising the landing page to be specific, depending on what email the person clicks through on. For example, if someone is being targeted by a clothing company who knows they’re female and particularly interested in shoes, when they click through on the email, they could be taken directly to the shoes section of their website or even land them directly back into their shopping cart to persuade them to purchase.

This is a strategy called ‘Abandoned Basket’ emails where an existing customer who may have added a product to their basket, hasn’t gone through with the purchase. A specific email can then be sent to retarget that customer, as they clearly had a high ITP (intent to purchase), making them good people to go after.

Don’t make it too long

Keeping your emails concise but still detailed enough to be relevant is a skill for this form of marketing.

Often, customers will be quickly put off by a long email, and won’t even bother reading it, meaning their engagement is minimal and the email was useless in getting them to go to your company’s website.

When writing an email, ensure it’s around 200 words – this may sound like very few, but according to research it’s always best to keep them as short as possible for the greatest chance of engagement.

Do measure success

Lastly, no matter how well your campaigns perform, it’s vital you keep track of their success.

The most important KPIs (key performance indicators) for an email marketing campaign are:

Open rates
Click through rates
Conversion rates
Bounce rates
Unsubscribe rates

You must analyse all of these and can even compare your emails against one another, in order to understand what ones are driving the most engagement among your target audience, and why this may be.

Conclusion

So, emails are one of the most effective forms of marketing when they are done right!

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Top 3 Tips for the ‘Implementation’ Competency

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022 by Ciara Smith

Have you just been introduced to the concept of the Summative Portfolio? Or are you part-way through your apprenticeship looking for some competency advice? Well look no further! This blog provides you with some great top 3 tips for the ‘implementation’ competency and will be your go-to resource when completing your portfolio.

Firstly, what is the ‘Summative Portfolio’?

The Summative Portfolio is a documented piece of work completed over the course of an 18-month Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship. Within this portfolio, there are a list of technical competencies required to tick off, supported by a variety of evidence to showcase completion. The portfolio itself is one out of four assessment methods used to measure the overall performance of the apprentice. The other three methods are the synoptic project, employer reference, and interview. These four together contribute to the overall End Point Assessment (EPA) where a final grade will be granted based on the above factors.

image showing ideal work desk set up with the help of the top 3 tips for the 'implementation' competency

What is the ‘Implementation’ Competency?

A part of the portfolio that many people struggle with is ticking off the Implementation competency. As per the occupational brief, to achieve a minimum of a pass, you ‘must be able to build and implement campaigns across at least 3 different digital media, including social media platforms’.

The different digital medias, and some accompanying digital campaign examples are:

PPC – Google Ads, search PPC
Display – Google Ads, display/video
SEO – On page SEO keyword research
Email – Email marketing newsletter campaign
Social – Paid Social ads e.g. Facebook
Affiliate – Affiliate marketing
Mobile Apps – Mobile app development

You wouldn’t be the first (or last) person to think that the above sounds complicated! So, let me introduce you to my Top 3 Tips for the ‘Implementation’ Competency: Creating a Plan, Job Shadowing, and End to End Responsibility.

My Top 3 Tips for the ‘Implementation’ Competency

Tip 1 – Create a Plan

This is one of the most important things to do from the offset – plan. It’s vital you have a framework in place to work towards. A good plan will consist of input from yourself, your line manager, and your coach. An especially great way to initiate this is by having a meeting with all three parties together. You should talk about what will be possible in your current role, the time it will take to complete the implementations and, if required, possible scope to shadow other teams (advice in Tip 2). Not only will creating a plan keep you on track overall, but it will also help to utilise your time effectively, as it will be time to submit before you realise!

Tip 2 – Job Shadowing

If your current role is limited in meeting a variety of implementations, then you will need to work with colleagues elsewhere to achieve these campaigns. Firstly, establish which implementations are outstanding and ask your manager to identify a team or colleague who can help. Then, ask your line manager to send an email outlining exactly what is needed from the other team to assist and arrange a convenient time for you to spend in their presence. This can be done face to face or remotely through tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Loom.

Tip 3 – End to End Responsibility

A key part to the implementation competency is demonstrating that you have managed a campaign from beginning to end. During this process you may identify some gaps to fill e.g. working with the team that is responsible for XYZ. To evidence this end-to-end involvement, you must have screenshots in your portfolio with annotations explaining this step-by-step process. A great way to navigate this is by keeping a folder of screenshots, or by adding them to your portfolio document in chronological order, later coming back to write up the annotations.

Conclusion

Hopefully you are now crystal clear with what the Implementation competency requires and have taken on board my 3 top tips. But don’t worry if you’re still a bit confused; it takes time to fully understand what is expected. A great further read is this guide to a successful portfolio which provides detail about the portfolio and provides some additional tips.

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