Sheila Williams

🚨 New Report Alert 🚨 We partnered with American Express to bring hospitality businesses an in-depth report that uncovers the biggest challenges they're facing and, more importantly, how to overcome them 🎯 👉 Download the full report to learn: - How to use insights to optimise your business - Which tasks you can and should be automating - How to save time training and managing your staff https://lnkd.in/ez9ARRKN Props to the incredible Katie and Liliana for getting this out in the wild in both the UK and Spain. Vamos!

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💈 As was well-publicised last week (thanks Calvin O'Callaghan 😂 ), I attended DTX at the ExCel in London. It was great to see all of the exciting businesses and offerings all in one place, and have some great conversations with the smiley faces on the stands - it feels like it has face-to-face interaction between businesses is something that has been drastically neglected for the last couple of years 🤝 . The highlight, though, was actually a panel discussion I attended, with panellists from Save the Children International, London Marathon Events, World Sailing, Sia Partners and E.ON, themed on 'How to Master Communication to align IT & business strategy'. Whilst I confess that panel discussions aren't usually my thing, there were a few nuggets in this one that really caught my attention - I'll paraphrase some of these below. 💻 "There is a significant call on businesses currently if they want to drive better customer communication and foster strong business relationships, they must meet the customer in their space - The Digital Space." 📋 "There is now a fundemental shift in the roles appearing at the table in the boardroom. We are now seeing new additions in the C-suite with sole foci on the importance of digital. Whether they are there to advocate for digital advancement, or to control what digital tools a business is making use of." For salespeople in digital sectors, this creates a whole new breed of stakeholders for us to engage and appeal to - This means we must adapt and learn the ways of these new powerhouses. 👨‍💼 "Technology should be positioned as another business partner in your conversation." 💸 "Push the benefits of paid discovery & consulting." ⏰ "If you are thinking about it tomorrow, you're already too late. We need to focus on how we meet the demands of tomorrow." And the last one may seem a tad obvious, but; 🙏 "When approaching the board about a request for change in your digital strategy [new CRM, new marketing tools, new sales tools, new ERP] it is essential that you angle your approach toward their specific goals clearly communicate where the value is coming from in their own language." This last point got me thinking about a lot of the conversations we have in the platform consulting space. All too often, even inter-departmentally there is a misalignment in goals but all want the same thing. This highlights to me that our role in the conversation could shift to become one that not only finds and develops a solution to a key challenge, but also helps departments and boards alike identify where the overlaps in their respective goals are, and how a solution like HubSpot can solve for everybody together.

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Talk about a trifecta ... talking about a trifecta ... 🎺 Rory Sadler, CEO at trumpet 🎺 Gareth H., AE at Seven20 Harry Hindess, Account Director at SalesScreen Join them next week to learn about how managers can use data, personalization and motivation to get their teams to end of quarter goal!

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Bit of a request for my network this morning! 🙏 Alchemy Network runs an advertising & marketing technology innovation programme for over 600 marketing teams at the world’s largest brands and agencies across UK, EMEA & North America. We are working on a digital transformation & RFP project for a large global travel business and would love to hear from tech solutions that are innovating in the following areas…..…   💡 DCO 💡 Marketing Effectiveness (especially Attribution & MMM/Econometrics) 💡 Incrementality Testing 💡 Brand Effectiveness/Uplift   If you are interested in finding out more about Alchemy Network, and being considered for part of the RFP process, we'd love to hear from you! 😎 #adtech #martech #digital #innovation

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🚀 Combat Rising PPC Costs! Join Our Free Event on Thursday 🎯 Struggling with soaring CPCs? You're not alone. Here’s the impact many businesses are feeling: ⬆️ CPCs up by 10% ⬆️ Clicks up by 5% ⬆️ Cost per lead up by 25% ⬇️ Conversion rates down by 1% But there’s a way to stay ahead! Together with our partners at Kinase we’ll reveal how the perfect blend of CRO and PPC can transform your digital strategy and give you a competitive edge. Don’t miss out—reserve your spot today! 👉 https://hubs.li/Q02WMGh00 #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy #BusinessGrowth #OnlineAdvertising #MarketingTips #PPC #CRO #ConversionOptimisation #AdWords #PaidSearch

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Key trends shaping email performance in 2024. The DMA (Data & Marketing Association) UK Benchmarking report is now out. And for the first time launched with a summary and context of findings from Ian Gibbs as well as a really interesting panel discussion. ▶ B2B delivery rates have plummeted ▶ Open rates have a 'new normal' average with the impact of Apple's MPP ▶ B2C click rates have increased with utilities showing a significant spike As a member of the research hub for the Email Council, it's great to see this work published - and always nice to see your considerations agreed with by fellow members. To get a copy of the report go to dma(dot)org(dot)uk/research _________ 📧 Email is easy. Great email isn't 🏆 I help double CRM performance for brands (and their agencies) YoY ✔ Follow me to find out how

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🎉 Reflecting on a busy month for us at Staffbase... 👇 🏆 We've been shortlisted for a B2B Marketing Award for Best Omnichannel Programme for our 'This Is Not Your '90s Intranet' campaign. It's the first time we've received this type of recognition for our campaigns. https://lnkd.in/dA3XZhU7 🚀 We landed in the Sifted 50: Germany - a ranking of the 50 German startups with the strongest revenue growth over the past 3 years! https://bit.ly/3NuRirH 📰 We're receiving more media coverage than ever... 🎯 Forbes: "4 Reasons Why It’s Getting Harder To Be A Successful Manager" mentioned our landmark study with the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism https://lnkd.in/d8vXi6Z5 🎯 PRWeek: "61% of employees leave jobs due to poor internal comms" https://staffba.se/PRWeek 🎯 Die Welt: "Die Top-50 beim Umsatz – diese deutschen Unternehmen wachsen am stärksten" https://staffba.se/DieWelt 🎯 Business Punk: "Oh Gott, ich will nicht nach Berlin“ covering our journey as a start up in the former East Germany in an interview with our Founder and CEO, Martin https://lnkd.in/d5Z6gyfn 🎯 HR Brew: "Internal comms is huge for employee retention—but only if you do it well" https://staffba.se/HRBrew 🎯 manager magazin: "Warum das Chemnitzer Start-up Staffbase an die Börse will" about our IPO plans... https://lnkd.in/dHHSPxDy 🚀 Most importantly of all... we're winning great customers all over the world including another of Germany's biggest supermarkets, a major charity in Australia and we're now partnering with seven of the ten biggest automotive manufacturers. We're so excited to working with all of these new customers to achieve success together and up level the whole internal communications sector! 📈 And looking at our plans for 2025... we're just getting started. 📈 There are few things more gratifying than working with great people and then seeing them achieve success. And this team is one of the very best I've had the pleasure of working with... Thank you to my fantastic leaders Fabian Liebig, Lara Dobson, Melanie Bochmann, Athena Koutsonikolas, Dr. Juliane Kiesenbauer, Tee O., Giovanni Picone, Luke Pheasey, Jenny Köhler, Brian Tomlinson, Álvaro Andrés Carrillo and the whole Marketing & Communications team for everything you do each day to make this journey such a fun one! :) #employeecomms #internalcomms #internalcommunications #marketing #b2bmarketing #CMO

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10 Year Achievements Part 1/4 CHANNELS Growth of our most mature Customer Engagement channel over a 10 year period, Email - to almost £500k revenue per month, with many records along the way and a ridiculous amount of learning and implementation - new clients, products, deliverability and segmentation infrastructure, experimentation function (300+ tests per month), new content strategies including a pivot to a customer-centric industry focus 9 Newsletters launches as MVF pivots towards an audience-led and high-quality media approach - scaling to an audience of 100k+ Growing SMS from scratch to a £200k GP channel across multiple sectors and countries Launching Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger as New Conversational Channels in 2024 Taking on co-accountability of an incredible (and massive) Telemarketing function who are, in my opinion, one of the most effective contact centres in the UK

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It's an exciting time for anyone involved in B2B eCommerce, and here’s why:    🚀 As the head of the B2B eCommerce Association eCommerce Association in the UK, I'm witnessing a surge in the sector that's hard to ignore.      In just the last year, the growth of dedicated B2B software, services, agencies, and consultancies has been phenomenal. These aren't newcomers; many have been the industry's best-kept secrets, now finally gaining the recognition they deserve.    Some names that jump to attention:  - OroCommerce - SparkLayer B2B   - Cloudfy     🌍 Global Collaboration, Local Innovation:     What's truly remarkable is the community spirit among tech vendors. There's a powerful movement towards collaboration, not competition, to enhance the B2B landscape. This synergy is not only bridging gaps between platforms but also making it substantially easier for merchants to adopt and integrate new technologies.    🇬🇧 UK Making Waves:     Amidst global players, the UK is carving out its own strong presence with local firms leading the charge. The influx of innovation and expertise from American and European markets complements the home-grown talent, creating a rich ecosystem ripe for exploration and growth.    📈 Why This Matters to You:     If you’re navigating the B2B space, the opportunities to enhance your operations with cutting-edge solutions have never been better. Whatever your involvement in the B2B eCommerce space you should check out the https://b2bea.org and get involved. We are all about community and fostering relationships that drive growth in our industry.    🔗 Stay Tuned for more:     Follow me for the latest updates, links, news and emerging tech.     #b2becommerce #b2b #expert

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🐾 Black Friday Chaos? Not at www.petshop.co.uk 🐾 Here are more customer stories that went to different levels at Wayflyer we rise by lifting others. Thanks to our partners at Wayflyer, we’ve mastered the art of cash flow wizardry! 🧙‍♂️💰 This Black Friday, we're ready to fetch every opportunity without a hitch. #Challenge: Cash flow crunch during peak sales 🐶😬 #Solution: Wayflyer’s cash flow magic 🪄 #Result: Pawsome deals and smooth sailing! 🐾🚀 https://lnkd.in/eBfC9QAW Here’s to a tail-waggingly successful Black Friday! #BlackFriday #Petshop #Wayflyer #CashFlowMagic #BusinessGrowth #Partnership

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A great summary of what trends might lie ahead for #MarketingProcureemnt over the next year. There's a focus on core Procurement issues in Tina Fegent (FCIPS)'s list and I'm seeing a lot more attention on retail media and transparency. In-housing has been around a long time and is big in the USA. it will be very interesting to see if the increased adoption of AI shifts brands to move more creative and production work in house due to the time and cost savings offered.

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Well. £1,500,000? We better get cracking. I’m beyond excited for us to have this support in what we’re doing. The budget will be nice, sure. But it’s not as nice as the conviction shown by those backing us. And then there’s the timing—right when our strategy and product roadmap is coming into clearer focus than ever. Lovely. I was going to put the link to the story in the comments because that’s what you’re supposed to do, apparently. I don’t think anybody really knows any more. While this means a lot to our early customers and our whole business, here’s what we’ll be doing with the marketing slice. We’ll be bringing our new perspective to market by sharing our frameworks and thinking. Exploring ways to connect the problems we know eCommerce teams are feeling with what we’re building. We’ll be investing more in building personal connections and mobilising “our people”. Getting to know our audience and giving them something outside of what we’re selling. We’ll be kicking off more growth experiments, while keeping tabs on how we want to market. That means considering our own customers’ intent rather than being cold SaaS sellers. Appropriateness, always. It’s time to take things to the next level and build a proper marketing engine while we’re at it. Comment “🥱” and maybe I’ll share along the way. You know, out of spite. https://lnkd.in/dbAgxhKw

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Want to know how your Q2 travel stats compare to the market? Of course you do! Well, here is my (slightly later than usual) quarterly analysis of the UK travel search market from April - June 2024. Some destinations are still VERY hot in terms of search demand while others have fallen greatly to some surprise. Have a dig through our quarterly numbers and if you've any comments or questions at all, then I'm very happy to answer them :) https://lnkd.in/esXDqp_6

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🎄Here’s your festive reminder on the run up to peak shopping season… Don’t peak too soon! New Snapchat research on ‘Crimbo Limbo’ (time between Xmas and NY) finds 84% of Brits report shopping just as much, if not more, than on Black Friday and other big sales moments. Snap research found that: - CPMs typically drop post-Christmas, meaning smarter ad spend for you and even better ROI 💰 - Two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennials report that shopping adds to their enjoyment of the season. They lead the pack shopping during this time - 47% prioritise shopping for clothing - Over two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers report using digital platforms more during ‘Crimbo Limbo’ Our advice - don't drop your spend after the last delivery day before Christmas. Reach your audience when they’re most inspired to shop 🛍

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It’s been an exciting week launching Equaliser! 🚀 Thank you for the kind words and well wishes. It’s been wonderful to reconnect with so many of you too. If you’re interested in learning more - check out the article in Prolific North below! #Equaliser #BusinessGrowth #PPC #PaidSearch #Startup #Manchester

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Excited to share our latest success story at Prospect Knight, achieved through our work with Mac Duggal. Shopify Audiences offers unique targeting capabilities thanks to the rich data signals from their platform. These audiences have allowed us to improve campaign performance and have been especially important as traditional ad targeting options, such as Meta interest audiences, have declined in effectiveness over the years. It has become an important tool in our strategy in an era of growing privacy challenges impacting ad targeting. Read more about our collaboration with Mac Duggal in the Shopify case study here: https://lnkd.in/enTstk-G #MetaAds #DigitalMarketing #Shopify #Ecommerce

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Search by Image is marketers secret weapon in the run up to a busy Christmas. Search bids only go up from this week onwards for retailers and many categories hoping to make their year in the golden quarter. Three standout trends as we go into this critical trading period: - Generic search has seen a sizeable increase. - Unique search is 15% of total search. - Traffic is dropping with the introduction of AIOs. It’s an indication the price is still on peoples’ minds and this means that people are shopping product type and categories more. Making it tougher for brands to stand out. This shift from brand searches is exasperated by the increase in shopping ads, the removal of manual bidding strategies, and the slippage of search into social channels. Being able to instantly satisfy inspiration in a busy and blurry shopping environment is an advantage. And, the brands that are leveraging Search by Image to taking this advantage. Searches via Google Lens has jumped from 12 billion searches a month. The number of visual searches has jumped to 20 billion per month across 2024 (partially helped by Circle). There are number of things brands need to do when optimising for search by images - high resolution product images available in multiple angles, make sure logos are clear, include good product details by adding alt text to images, and keep product information up-to-date to optimising Google’s Shopping Grpah. At a time when cut-through and conversions are under great pressure, this is a relatively easy win. Take it. #digitalmarketing #marketing #branding #advertisingandmarketing #searchmarketing Google

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Honored to be featured in The Media Leader UK! 🙌 A big thank you to Jack Benjamin for the great article highlighting how Opt Out Advertising is helping publishers thrive in a privacy-first world. Hope this sparks ideas for others navigating the future of digital advertising with privacy in mind 🛡️ #PrivacyFirst #DigitalAdvertising #TheMediaLeader #OptOut

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