digital apprenticeships

The 5 Basics of Executing an Effective Programmatic Campaign

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Programmatic marketing is an effective way of keeping up with the ever-growing digital climate, reaching highly targeted users online whilst they browse on their devices. Most marketing agencies will tend to include programmatic as part of their strategy, so when looking for a digital marketing apprenticeship it’s good practice to expect programmatic marketing will be included.

So, what is programmatic?

Programmatic marketing is the automated buying of digital media placements online, the placements being purchased through a bidding process, similar to auctioning where the highest bid wins. Campaigns can quickly be optimised or altered, making them a versatile channel. Depending on the DSP (demand side platform) being used to run the campaign, there is likely to be a plethora of third-party data available to tap into, allowing the chosen audience to be highly targeted. Data partnerships can often be integrated into the trading platform to bring in first and second party data which is more valuable than third party data as it isn’t stitched together from multiple sources.

The 5 Basics…

Target audience

Due to the wealth of data available to us online, it’s important we are targeting the users correctly. One way to get a better understanding of target audience is through audience segmentation. This involves refining your audience down to different demographics, online behaviors, interests, location etc. For example, if we were running a campaign for a company that sold women’s perfume, our main target audience could be briefed in as vague as those interested in perfume. At a top level, this can be done through browsing behavior data, targeting those who have historically searched for perfumes online.
However, we can do more with that to ensure each audience subset is targeted relevantly. Segmenting by demographic will allow us to target users with content relevant precisely. A female under the age of 25 is likely browsing for a different perfume to men over the age of 40.
Breaking down further by interests & browsing behavior will allow us to target users who are looking for a perfume for a specific occasion. For example, we could target those who are looking for a day-today perfume to wear, as well as those who are looking for a specific perfume to wear or an occasion. With this in mind, audience segmentation is a great too for reaching the target audience with highly relevant content, making them more likely to engage with the ads which in turn will help to push sales.

Engaging Creatives

In order to ensure users interact with the creatives, it’s important that the content shared is engaging and offers just enough information to push them to click on the ad. Creatives should be concise, not displaying too many products per ad. Due to the majority of traffic driven through programmatic ads being on mobile, the ad formats often run quite small meaning an overcrowded creative can result in key wording and call-to-actions becoming compromised.
The key to a successful creative is to ensure just enough information is shared, including the brand name, the CTA, the image of the SKU, and if relevant the T’s & C’s. To draw upon the previous point of audience segmentation, different creatives can also be pushed to each subset of the audience, in turn increasing the relevancy of the ad for the specific user.

Data

As mentioned, there is a weather of data available online which can be utilised within the audience targeting. Despite this, not all data is created the same and some types of data is more valuable than others. Where possible, it’s best to aim to tap into first and second party data, although there are often restraints here when there isn’t a data partnership in place. So what are the different types of data?
First party data is the most valuable type of data. Acquired by a company directly from the source. This data can be collected from various different places but is often from email sign ups, purchase data and site activity.
Second party data is first party data that has been shared with an outside source. While still valuable, due to it being shared externally the data owner has a right not to disclose all data meaning there can be gaps in what is shared. Despite this, second party data is still a great option to utilise as you are still able to access data which is close to the source. Second party data can be acquired through a data partnership. This means that you have been allowed access to a company’s data often in return for the company collecting the data’s monetary value.
Third party data is data that has been collated from multiple sources and stitched together. This data type is most readily available within the majority of DSP’s and allow you to easily target your preferred audience. Unfortunately, due to being collected from a range of different sources, third party data is often the least valuable type of data. Despite this, the data is still useful to include in campaign where first party data or data partnerships are not in place.

In-App & Sites

When running a programmatic campaign, it’s important to disclose exactly what programmatic is to the client and that your ad will be shown to the target audience wherever they are browsing. For example, a client can be surprised to find their ad was showing on a gaming site when they were promoting a perfume SKU, but you should be able to explain that these campaigns are most often targeted on an audience basis.
Programmatic campaigns can be pushed to a specific whitelist of sites that the client sees relevant to their products, although this can often jeopardise the performance of the campaign when it is over laid with audience targeting too, becoming too granular to serve any ads. This should be voiced with the client before hand and their expectations should be followed as closely as possible.
Overlaying brand-safety targeting is always good practice when running a programmatic campaign. This will blacklist sites & content deemed as inappropriate so that your ads do not run against them.

Reporting

With the right tools in place, you will be able to provide an in-depth report on the campaigns performance. Being able to understand each of the topline metrics available will help to create a story of the campaign performance which can be shared with the client.
Impressions will show you exactly how many users you have been able to reach with your ad.
Clicks show the number of times a user has engaged with the ad and clicked on it.
CTR (clickthrough rate) is a useful metric as it shows the percentage of impressions that resulted in a click. A high CTR suggests that the content was well targeted as the audience engaged with it.
The final CPM achieved at the end of the campaign shows the average amount spent per 1,000 impressions. In this case, a lower CPM than planned shows you were able to reach a higher number of users and were able to achieve efficiencies. A higher CPM than planned suggests that the campaign under delivered and it did not serve out the planned impressions in full.
Though just the top line metrics have been highlighted here, there is a wealth of reporting that can be done on a campaign. Have any additional interests? Trying to pull a campaign report for yourself to discover what metrics you can utilise to report on!

To summarise..

If these 5 basics are kept in mind when executing a programmatic campaign, you’re on track to success. Attention to detail is key to ensure effective delivery of a campaign, so being thorough is a good quality to adopt.
Any additional questions? Feel free to reach out to use via email and we will endeavor to respond to all your apprenticeship or industry queries!

Looking to Break into Cyber Security? A Level 3 Apprenticeship Might Be For You

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Cybersecurity, also referred to as computer security, can be an equally obscure and enticing concept. Cyber security has grown more crucial than ever with the rise of technological advancements and opportunities for occupations using computers, but what exactly is it? And even better, how do you enter the field? Lucky for you, the official Cyber Security Technician apprenticeship was cleared for delivery in 2020, and we’re here to break down everything that you need to know.

What is Cyber Security?

Cyber security is the practice of protecting individuals and organisations against the possibility of a cyber-attack. This involves safeguarding the hardware and operating systems of digitally connected devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and computers, as well as the services accessed through them, from online theft or damage, sometimes known as “cyber threats.” As you might expect, as the internet becomes more effective, more businesses and individuals are storing vast quantities of data online, much of it containing sensitive or confidential information. As a result, the demand for new talent in cyber security is as great as ever, especially given the volume and level of sophistication of cyber threats and malicious behaviour. Individuals and organisations in cyber security are tasked with protecting systems and devices against any unlawful access to computers and network systems.

Requirements & Responsibilities for a Cyber Security Apprentice

The Cyber Security Technician apprenticeship is dedicated to providing apprentices with all of the education and experience necessary to enable them to provide first-line cyber security support to protect stakeholders and their data.  Cyber Security Technicians are individuals who monitor and detect possible threats to security and escalate as appropriate in order to support stakeholder business operations through the application of cyber security procedures and controls, all of which apprentices will learn throughout their course. The apprenticeship will teach you how to process security requests, maintain organisational security and control, and ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of digitally stored information.


So what does this look like day-to-day? In their capacity as employees of a cyber security company, apprentices collaborate with a team while working under supervision, communicating with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including colleagues, customers, and internal and external suppliers, to support a cyber security function, such as a Security Operations Centre or Network Operations Centre. Apprentices are given specific cyber security duties to complete, giving them the chance to learn the various set procedures and standards essential to the position. Patching software, updating software, applying access control, setting up firewalls, and configuring security incident and event management (SIEM) and utilising protection technologies such as Anti-virus, Anti-malware, Anti-spam are some examples of tasks apprentices may be asked to perform.


Though this might sound like a huge responsibility, you may be surprised to find that the average entry requirements for this role is typically a completed level 2 apprenticeship or passed five GCSEs, though additional requirements may be set by individual employers. Level 2 English and Maths will need to be achieved, if not already, before apprentices take the end point assessment (this is the final exam all apprentices have to complete to gain their qualification), however, apprentices are given support and the opportunity to achieve this during their course.

Where Can The Apprenticeship Take You?

Beyond gaining valuable practical experience and learning from theory in your course as well as on-the-job training, completing the Cyber Security Technician apprenticeship is a valuable job prospect and start to your career. Besides gaining an industry-recognized qualification, apprentices are able to earn a salary throughout their course completion, and the apprenticeship provides various opportunities for career progression beyond the initial role. According to Glassdoor.com, the average salary for an apprentice within Cyber Security in the UK is £25,448, with the average salary for a Cyber Security Specialist reaching as far as £56,655. Completing an apprenticeship in Cyber Security can prove quite lucrative, and even if the financial aspect doesn’t particularly interest you, the skills learned within the apprenticeship are all relatively transferable within the industry, as the course is designed to give apprentices a strong foundation, from which they can launch the rest of their career in whichever direction they please. Popular job choices post-apprenticeship completion include Access control administrator, Cyber security administrator, Incident response technician and Junior information security analyst, among many others.

How Will You Be Examined?

Apprentices will need to complete a knowledge assessment in order to demonstrate that they understand the knowledge covered within the apprenticeship. This assessment(s) entail the knowledge, skills and behaviours assessors would expect a Cyber Security Technician apprentice to possess, given the successful completion of the apprenticeship, such as the key processes, procedures and principles of cyber security, as explored throughout the course. Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, students will be awarded the Level 3 Apprenticeship Qualification as a Cyber Security Technician.

To Conclude…

As you can see, anyone interested in a career in cybersecurity should start with the level 3 Cyber Security Technician apprenticeship. Together with a thorough education in the knowledge and abilities needed for the position, the foundational skills covered in the apprenticeship will open up a wide range of work prospects and financial opportunities, enabling you to enter a field with promising chances for advancement.


If you enjoyed exploring this apprenticeship, or perhaps want to have a look at something new, take a look at some of our Latest Blog Posts.

All images supplied via Pixabay.

Digital Marketing: Tools, Best Practices & Strategies

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Digital Marketing word board

In today’s digital age, businesses must have an online presence to stay competitive. Digital marketing refers to the use of digital channels to promote products or services to potential customers. The goal of digital marketing is to reach as many people as possible through various digital platforms, including social media, search engines, and email.

One of the primary benefits of digital marketing is that it is cost-effective. Compared to traditional advertising methods like television or print, digital marketing channels are much less expensive. Additionally, digital marketing allows businesses to target specific audiences, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

Digital Marketing Tools: A Comprehensive Guide

Digital marketing tools are essential for businesses that want to succeed in the online marketplace. There are many different tools available, each designed to help businesses achieve their marketing goals. In this section, we will explore some of the most popular digital marketing tools and how they can benefit a business.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic. It provides valuable insights into how visitors interact with your website, including information on their behaviour, demographics, and location. With this data, businesses can identify areas of their website that need improvement and adjust their marketing strategies accordingly.

SEMrush

SEMrush is a comprehensive digital marketing tool that offers a range of features, including SEO, PPC, and social media management. With SEMrush, businesses can conduct keyword research, analyse their competitors, and track their rankings on search engines. It also provides insights into social media performance and allows businesses to schedule and publish content on multiple platforms.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that allows businesses to manage multiple social media accounts from a single dashboard. With Hootsuite, businesses can schedule and publish posts, track engagement metrics, and monitor brand mentions. It also offers collaboration features that allow multiple team members to manage social media accounts together.

Mail chimp

Mail chimp is an email marketing tool that enables businesses to design and send email campaigns to their subscribers. With Mail chimp, businesses can create customized templates, segment their audience, and track email performance metrics like open and click-through rates. It also offers integrations with other marketing tools like Shopify and Salesforce.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design tool that allows businesses to create professional-looking graphics and visual content. With Canva, businesses can design social media posts, infographics, and marketing materials like flyers and brochures. It offers a range of templates and design elements, making it easy for even non-designers to create high-quality graphics.

Buffer

Buffer is a social media scheduling tool that allows businesses to schedule and publish posts on multiple platforms. With Buffer, businesses can create a content calendar, schedule posts in advance, and track engagement metrics. It also offers analytics features that provide insights into post performance and audience engagement.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is an advertising platform that allows businesses to create and display ads on Google search results pages. With AdWords, businesses can target specific keywords and audiences, set budgets and bids, and track ad performance metrics like click-through rates and conversion rates. It is an effective way for businesses to reach potential customers who are actively searching for their products or services.

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is an SEO tool that allows businesses to analyse their website’s backlink profile and track their rankings on search engines. It offers a range of features, including keyword research, site audits, and competitor analysis. With Ahrefs, businesses can identify opportunities to improve their SEO performance and stay ahead of their competitors.

smart insights essential digital marketing tools
smart insights essential digital marketing tools

Digital Marketing Best Practices

In addition to using digital marketing tools, businesses must also follow best practices to achieve their marketing goals. Below are some best practices that every business should consider when implementing a digital marketing strategy:

Define Your Goals and KPIs

Before starting any digital marketing campaign, businesses must define their goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). This will help them track their progress and determine whether their campaigns are successful. Some common goals and KPIs include website traffic, conversion rates, social media engagement, and email open rates.

Know Your Audience

To create effective digital marketing campaigns, businesses must know their audience. This includes understanding their demographics, interests, and online behaviours. By knowing their audience, businesses can tailor their marketing messages to resonate with them and increase the likelihood of conversions.

Create High-Quality Content

Content is king in digital marketing. Businesses must create high-quality content that provides value to their audience. This can include blog posts, videos, social media posts, and email newsletters. High-quality content can help businesses establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry and build trust with their audience.

Use Multiple Channels

To reach as many people as possible, businesses should use multiple digital marketing channels. This can include social media, search engines, email, and display advertising. By using multiple channels, businesses can reach potential customers at different stages of the buying journey and increase the likelihood of conversions.

Test and Optimise

Digital marketing is an iterative process. Businesses must constantly test and optimise their campaigns to improve their performance. This can include A/B testing different ad creatives, optimising landing pages, and tweaking email subject lines. By testing and optimising their campaigns, businesses can identify areas of improvement and increase their ROI (return on investment).

Digital Marketing Strategies

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is the process of optimising a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By ranking higher in search results, businesses can attract more organic traffic to their website. Some common SEO strategies include optimising on-page elements like title tags and meta descriptions, creating high-quality content, and building back-links.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC advertising involves placing ads on search engine results pages, social media platforms, and other websites. Furthermore Advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad. This can be an effective way to drive traffic to a website and generate leads. Some popular PPC platforms include Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook Ads.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing involves using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote a business’s products or services. By posting engaging content and interacting with followers, businesses can build a loyal following and increase brand awareness.

Email Marketing

Email marketing involves sending promotional messages to a list of subscribers. This can include newsletters, promotional offers, and product updates. By nurturing leads through email, businesses can increase the likelihood of conversions.

Content Marketing

Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable content to attract and retain a target audience. This can include blog posts, videos, infographics, and whitepapers. By providing value to their audience, businesses can build trust and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.

Conclusion

As an aspiring digital marketing apprentice, it’s important to understand the various tools and strategies available to businesses in the digital marketing landscape. By familiarising yourself with the best practices and tools outlined in this article, you can develop the skills and knowledge necessary to help businesses improve their online presence, attract more leads, and ultimately drive conversions. Whether you’re interested in SEO, PPC advertising, social media marketing, or email marketing, there are many exciting opportunities available in the world of digital marketing. With dedication and hard work, you can become a skilled digital marketing professional and make a meaningful impact in the industry.

Was this useful? Download our free digital marketing EPA ebook here

Digital marketing word board
Digital marketing word board

What’s involved in a Digital Marketer apprenticeship

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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.

5 Free Digital Marketing Tools Every Marketer Needs

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Hands typing on a laptop

When starting your career in digital marketing, there are a number of tools and software available to use that can feel overwhelming. From time management to SEO guidance there are many tools to help you develop in your role. With my experience being a digital marketer, I have gathered some free tools below to help get you started. 

Canva

An essential tool for a role as a digital marketer, is Canva, a one-stop shop for all your graphic design needs. Canva allows you to create anything from social media content to website banners and even provides templates to help you do so. Beginning to create content independently can seem intimidating and starting is often the hardest part. But Canva is able to take this difficulty away showing inspiration from previous creators and the drag-and-drop feature makes the experience seamless. 

Google Keyword Planner

Knowing which keywords to target when creating SEO content, such as google ads, blogs, or product pages can seem like an impossible task. However, Google keyword planner is happy to help. This free tool allows you to discover new keywords related to your business or industry and offers estimates of the number of times they were searched. Lastly, the keyword planner also tells you how much it costs to target them. This free digital marketing tool is fantastic for all digital marketers who are looking for short and long-tail keywords. 

SEO graphic concept on a desktop computer.
SEO Search Engine Optimization Internet Digital Concept

Unsplash

Understanding licensing rules and adhering to them is a key part of digital marketing to ensure you avoid any copyright claims against you. Unsplash is a website that holds over 1,000,000 royalty-free images; that you can download for free. Not only are the images royalty free but they are also high quality, and you can download them in small, medium, and large file sizes. Using stock images is a great way to advance your social media and website content to create engaging content. 

In comparison to other image-sourcing websites, Unsplash comes out on top largely because of the price. Other sites such as Shutterstock and Adobe Stock, are much higher in price and limit the number of downloads each user can have, not forgetting to mention the images can be of much lower quality. Overall, with my experience, I believe that Unsplash is an essential tool for a digital marketing professional. 

CapCut

Creating engaging short-form video content is a crucial part of a digital marketing role. Due to the increase in the popularity of video due to platforms like TikTok and Instagram. CapCut is a multi-purpose video editor that takes away the complex process of editing, so is the perfect tool for up-and-coming professionals. Something that sets CapCut apart from other video editors is that you can extract audio. Take a trending sound from Instagram and import the video into CapCut, simply click extract audio and here you have a cheat sheet to create perfectly timed transitions and effects. 

Notion

Digital marketers don’t like to be confined to boxes and are free-thinking, multi-faceted individuals. As a digital marketer whether you are in a company or as an agent, it is a holistic role that requires you to juggle various campaigns and projects. Notion is a simple but complex software used by many industry professionals to help organise notes and knowledge. Planning and organising are important factors in a digital marketing career and Notion can improve efficiency and productivity within various roles.

Also, you can customise your notion dashboard to suit any style of working, whether that be creative or methodical. Simply import your notes and to-do lists and from here you can begin to create your Notion dashboard.

Conclusion of Free Digital Marketing Tools

With a range of free digital marketing tools readily available it is crucial to know which ones will help develop your skills. These 5 free digital marketing tools will help you to achieve your best now and in the future as software advances and trends change. To conclude, knowing what tools will aid your development and progression is key to creating successful strategies and campaigns.

Make sure to follow us on socials @apprenticetips to stay up to date with all the current digital marketing trends and advancements.

Key KPIs that all marketers should know about.

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Firstly, what do we mean by KPIs?

Key Performance Indicators are something that all marketers should know about, as these metrics can take your business to the next level. To keep it simple, Key KPIs support you to come up with strategic plans, operational improvement and reaching targets for your business.

Examples of Key KPIs that can influence your business

Sales focused KPIs:

  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This KPI represents the total amount of money that a customer is expected to spend on your products over the entire business relationship.
  • Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): This KPI represents the total sales and marketing cost required to land a new customer. By comparing CPA to CLV, businesses can measure the effectiveness of their customer acquisition efforts

Traffic focused KPIs:

  • Social Media Traffic: This KPI similarly tracks the views, follows, likes, retweets, shares, or other measurable interactions between customers and the company’s social media profiles.
  • Clickthrough Rate (CTR): This KPI measures the number of specific clicks that are performed on social post or email distributions. For example, certain programs may track how many customers opened a social post or email distribution, clicked on a link, and followed through with a sale.
  • Bounce Rate: This KPI calculates the percentage of visits to a web page, where users don’t interact and immediately exit the web page. This can be a good indicator to work out if your home page is engaging enough to keep users interacting on site.

Email Marketing Campaign KPIs:

  • Email OR (Open Rate): This KPI highlights how many users have opened your targeted email, compared to those who have not interacted. If the OR was poor, a business may look to improve their subject line and pre header for example to entice users to open their email next time.
  • Email UOR (Unique Open Rate): Your unique open rate tracks the number of individual users who open your email. The difference between OR and UOR, is if one of your customers opens the same email three times, it only counts as one unique open so this can seen as a more accurate approach
  • Email Delivery Rate: Email deliverability rate tracks the number of emails successfully sent to a recipient’s inbox.

What KPIs you should select:

For example, if you’re running a brand campaign one of your key objectives would be reach and awareness which relates to the traffic KPIs listed above. This is because if you want users to be aware of your content, you will need to work out how to achieve Social Media Traffic, CTR and a low bounce rate.

On the other hand, you may be running a specific Email Marketing Campaign and your goal could be to ensure that your EM (email) is delivered to all targeted users. Once you have a clear understanding of your Email Delivery Rate, you can then set realistic goals across the board for your EM campaign. This could be looking deeper in OR and UOR and setting realistic targets.

Conclusion

You should now have a much broader understanding on how KPIs help your business to understand if the strategy is working or may need tweaking. We can also agree that without KPIs, businesses cannot find what is working well and which process requires improvement. Therefore, it’s also clear that having structed KPIs can motivate your employees. This is because by setting targets and measuring progress, KPIs can help to keep employees focused and motivated.

If you’d like to learn more about Digital Marketing, take a look at the Digital Marketing Level 3 Apprenticeship to take your knowledge to the next level!

This WordPress SEO Plug-In is a MUST for Digital Marketing Apprentices

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Search engine optimisation may seem like a daunting task for many digital marketing apprentices that have a lack of experience with web design or WordPress. However, it isn’t as scary as it may seem thanks to this invaluable free plug-in for WordPress which guides you in your SEO endeavours with its easy-to-use interface and informative tips and tricks. Here’s why Yoast SEO is an absolute must-have for digital marketing apprenticeships looking to navigate the SEO space.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimisation and it is the process of improving aspects of your website to increase its visibility in the rankings of search engine results pages, with the outcome leading to more traffic to your site and build your reputation in your industry. Search engines use bots to crawl pages on the web and collect information about them before sorting them into an index, which are then analysed by algorithms based on factors such as keyword density and readability to determine the order in which pages should appear in the search results for a given query. SEO gives you the ability to make improvements to your website to help increase your websites reputation in that index and in turn push your website higher up in the search rankings.

Diagram of a webpage with highlighted content labelled with the relevant SEO technique.
Altering aspects of your webpage will help boost your ranking in search engine results.

What is Yoast SEO?

Yoast SEO is a free to install plug-in for WordPress which simplifies the processes of SEO considerably, making it an effective tool for new digital marketers to understand the fundamentals. Once installed, it is automatically applied to all of the previous webpages on your website, providing them with two scores, a SEO score and a readability score. Further inspection of these will show that Yoast provides detailed criteria that your page needs to meet in order to improve on its scores. These analysis results provide you with easy solutions and guidance on how to effortlessly improve your SEO score. Yoast also acts as a tool to apply other changes to your webpage which you may not have been able to previously, such as the meta description that appears underneath the webpage title on search engine results pages.

Yoast SEO analysis results showing several areas for improvement.
Image: Bluehost Inc.

5 aspects of SEO Yoast will help you improve on

Keywords

Keywords are specific terms which generalise the ideas and topics of what your content is about. These are an integral part to improve search engine rankings as search terms will often contain keywords that relate to the webpages they are looking for. Using Yoast’s editor, you can set a focus keyword that appears regularly in your page content to be pushed into search queries with the same keyword more frequently.

Meta descriptions

A meta description is a short summary of what the contents of the page is about. This appears underneath the title of the page in search engine results page and can be filled with important keywords and search phrases to help improve visibility. This can be done with the help of Yoast’s editor, even informing you on the perfect number of words you should use for it for the best results.

Inbound and outbound links

This refers to hyperlinks that take users to other pages on your website (inbound) and hyperlinks that take users to webpages on different websites (outbound) respectively. These are extremely important for SEO as it helps link your page to other relevant pieces of information on the web which will be analysed by bots and will result in your page ranking higher on search results. Yoast provides guidance on the recommended number of each type of link in webpages.

Images

Yoast can help make your images as rich in information as possible to help your images appear in Google Images searches. Making sure all of the images you have used include relevant captions and alternative descriptions can make them more likely to appear higher up in image searches that share similar terms.

Text readability

Finally, Yoast’s dedicated readability score provides insights on par with professional copywriters about the readability of your webpage. Yoast will inform you on how to utilise headings more effectively, how to alter sentence length and vocabulary to improve readability and so much more. All of this is confined in a dedicated analysis to ensure that your page is as user-friendly as possible to keep readers engaged for longer periods of time.

Conclusion

The 5 criteria I just mentioned are just a small portion of what Yoast SEO can help you to improve on within all of your webpages. It’s incredibly user friendly interface and simplistic approach to SEO makes it a powerful tool for any digital marketing  apprentice to have in their arsenal. The best part is there’s no catch, it’s completely free and you can go and install it for your website right now. Click here to find out how to add Yoast to your WordPress suite now.

Learn more about the Level 3 Digital Marketing apprenticeship.

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A guide to the End Point Assessment for your Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship

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Are you starting or currently undertaking a Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship? Unsure how the End-Point Assessment works? Look no further!

Overview

Once you have completed your training and passed your Level 3 Marketing Principles Certification, Level 3 Principles of Coding Certification and Google Analytics Individual Qualification, you are ready to start your End-Point Assessment (EPA).

The EPA takes place in the final few months of your apprenticeship, using four assessment methods:

PortfolioEmployer Reference
This will be an accumulation of everything you have accomplished in your job so far. A chance to show the knowledge and competency you have gained through the apprenticeship and how you apply this in your work. Your real work project overviews will include performance reports, customer service and feedback.Your line manager will provide some information on how they think you are performing at work and the progression you have made. This will include how you apply your knowledge and behaviours whilst undertaking tasks within your role.
Synoptic ProjectInterview
You will be given a pre-defined project set to show a selection of your knowledge, skills and behaviours. You will be given 4 days to complete this task. This is a chance to show you are consistent in your work and that you have an understanding of specific digital marketing areas that may not be included in your day-to-day role but you have learnt in the apprenticeship.This is an opportunity to gather any other information or evidence to support your knowledge and competency shown in your Portfolio and Synoptic Project. This allows you to expand and define your work to the assessor, this will include your EPA work and workplace tasks.

The EPA gives the assessor a cumulative overview of your performance against the specified standards, allowing them to make a judgement on if you have met or exceeded the standards. Using a variety of assessment methods ensures that the assessment of your work is a reflection of your performance and the quality of the work you produce for your company using the skills and knowledge you have gained whilst undertaking this apprenticeship.

Grading and Results

Following the completion of your End Point Assessment, the grading will take place by an independent assessor. Who will accumulate your submitted work before the interview and will partially assess. The interview will allow the assessor to explore your portfolio and synoptic project in more detail, validate and test your knowledge. After the interview the assessor will come to a final conclusion for your grade. You will be awarded with a single grade of; Pass, Merit or Distinction.

The criteria that the assessment and grading is made from is the below 3 points:

  • The What: What you have shown you are able to do
  • The How: How your work has been carried out
  • The With Whom: Who you have worked with, the internal and external work relationships you have built

If you have met the minimum expected criteria you will be awarded a Pass. To receive a Merit your work must have a number of dimensions that shows you work significantly above the minimum criteria. For a Distinction grade, the quality of all your work must be significantly above the minimum criteria.

Summary

In conclusion, if you are thinking about undertaking a Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship or have already started, your EPA will happen in the end months of your apprenticeship once you have passed the required exams. You will be focusing on your knowledge, competency and behaviours, aiming to be significantly above the expected criteria to gain a Pass, Merit or Distinction. If you want to find out more information about the different stages of the Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship, please take a look at the blogs section of Apprentice Tips.

This is a great apprenticeship to undertake, it provides you with all the skills and knowledge you need to excel in your role and career as long as you apply yourself. Please be mindful that each apprenticeship will be based upon how the company your work is ran, you may not always be placed in the department you wish for but you may have the option to rotate. Make sure to research which company and apprenticeship would work best for you. Good luck and enjoy!

Skills A Digital Marketer Needs

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Digital Marketing

The primary role of a digital marketer is to define, design build and implement digital campaigns across a number of different platforms, in hopes to create maximum noise for your business or organisation. What makes the ideal digital marketer? Well, we have collected the key skills required to create the best possible candidate for this role.

The skills required to become an innovating Digital Marketer

  • Logical and creative thinking skills
  • Analytical and Problem Solving Skills
  • Ability to work independently and to take responsibility
  • Ability to communication in various situations

1. Logical & Creative Thinking Skills

One of the more predominant skills to have as a digital marketing guru. Having the ability to breakdown analytical data and understanding the figures such as an email marketing campaign on Mailchimp. A digital marketer must suggest reasons a campaign may have succeeded/underperformed by using an open-minded approach and suggesting things which have not been mentioned before. This will allow you to stand out within your role. The ability to solve-problems with a well organised plan of action will deliver the best results in regards to your marketing campaigns.

2. Analytical & Problem Solving Skills

A digital marketer will work closely to Google analytics. Set tasks such as site performance, traffic and organic growth reports can be viewed within google analytics. Depending on the data on display, it is the marketers duty to evaluate this data. If any problems were to come forward, this would mean that the digital marketer would take this into their own hand, being able to solve the problem using initiative.

3. Ability to work independently & take responsibility

The marketing department is always going to change and this is because of external factors such as trends. It is a digital marketers duty to pay close attention to these trends and find ways to implement these into their own work. This is a huge liability but, a responsibility which displays leadership, initiative and awareness. This will definitely impress your marketing manager!

4. Ability to communicate in various situations

Communication is a key skill in which we all know the predominance of however, being able to master communication in various situations is a skill in itself. Some days it is all sunshine and rainbows but, other days may not be as electrifying within the marketing department. Work load maybe getting the better of you and you may feel glued to your seat for hours. Maybe a hostile bug has crashed your site or a hacker has crashed your Instagram page. In a situation like this, it is vital to remain composed.

An Overview

With the right skills in place, digital marketing can be made easy for all!

These key skills will be further sharpened and developed over time during your digital marketing course so do not feel overwhelmed and remember that patience is key and the key is needed for success and success cannot be rushed therefore you must be patient.

Any questions or quires which you may have regarding digital marketing apprenticeships, feel free to head over to our LinkedIn or Twitter page and join the discussion, by giving us a message or you can simply view our blog relating to digital marketing. We hope to hear from you soon!

Email marketing best practice to drive results

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What is email marketing? 

Put simply, email marketing refers to the process of targeting your audience and customers through email to reach specific business objectives. 

Email marketing is a crucial element of the marketing mix; it enables you to:

  • Build and nurture contacts through personalised engagement.
  • Increase brand awareness by promoting your company’s products and services
  • Boost conversions and revenue by providing relevant and valuable information to customers to reach their goal.

How to build your email marketing strategy

The following steps outline an effective email marketing strategy to drive results:

Establish your audience: In order to ensure your email is effective and relevant you must first define your audience. Do some research and find out what your audience wants. This will then enable you to tailor your email campaign to the audience demand. 

Set your goals and objective: After establishing your audience, the other key component of an effective marketing strategy is defining your goals and objectives. For example, it could be to increase email recipient engagement (open rates, 

Grow your mailing list – this can be done in a variety of ways such as:

  • Create unique email content – emails must be informative and valuable increasing the likelihood that recipients will open and forward them to their connections. 
  • Encourage subscribers to forward your emails – add an ‘Email to a Friend’ and ‘Subscribe’ call to action/button on the emails to gain access to recipients’ networks to expand the mailing list. 
  • Create a lead-generation offer – promote a gated lead-generation offer, such as a free ebook, on a landing page that asks visitors to provide their email and opt-in to the mailing list to download it.
  • Promote lead-generation offer on social media – create a social campaign to promote a free resource that asks followers to opt-in to the mailing list. 

Choose your email campaign type: It is important to remember that certain types may suit  a particular audience segment. Examples of email campaigns types are as follows:

  • Welcome email: Initial email welcoming the new subscriber to the mailing list. This will provide an opportunity to educate the user on your brand.
  • Monthly newsletter.
  • Blog or content promotion.
  • Increase website traffic campaign: linking to relevant resources for a certain audience segment.
  • Re-engagement campaign: emailing segment of audience who haven’t opened an email in 6 months with refreshed content. 

Stick to an email schedule which matches with your target audience – for example, for B2B recipients emails sent Monday-Friday, only early morning and lunch times have the highest open rates. 

Track email campaigns: in order to measure the success of the email performance conduct a monthly audit using KPIs such as clickthrough rate, conversion rate, bounce rate, list growth rate, email sharing/forwarding rate, overall ROI, open rate and unsubscribe rate

Optimise your email performance with an a/b test (split test): is a marketing experiment where you split your audience to test a number of variations of an email to determine which performs better. 

Personalisition: where possible, it is vital to personalise your response, for example, using the person’s first name. This will ensure the email recipient  feels valued and inspiring greater brand loyalty

Conclusion

In order to ensure campaign success you must establish an email marketing strategy. Setting your target audience, establishing your goals and setting a mailing list growth strategy will ensure strong email engagement KPIs. So, why get creative and start building your email marketing campaign!

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