Tom Hawkins

I've worked with 50+ investment companies on lead-gen. 90% struggled with passing ad regulations. Here's 3 tips to ensure that your ads pass: 1. FCA - Google Ads to the UK need an FCA number - If you don't have one, run campaigns overseas to English speakers Want an up-to-date list on which countries you're allowed to target? ↳ Message me 'COUNTRY' and I'll send the top-performers over. 2. Ad content - Ads are not allowed to be misleading - Don't advertise any guarantees that you can't fulfill - Your content must be correct to your services/ products 3. Compliance - If you have a compliance team, have them sign ads off - Train them up on the FCA advertising regulations Following the FCA regulations is so important. Use the tips above to keep yourself out of trouble.

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I went from £5 p/h to founding a group of agencies doing £5m this year. A lot of new people following me so reintroducing myself: - I’m 26 - Get to choose where I work/ live/travel - Founded one of the UK’s leading ecom agency groups This is my story ⬇️ Age 14-21: → Lots of sh*tty minimum wage jobs. → 2 years on £5 p/h as a cook. → Then a labourer making £50 per day 🙃. → Had no clear focus and felt lost. → So I went travelling and spent all my ££. → Failed 5 businesses while at uni. → Became a miserable corporate slave. → Well into my overdraft and dead broke. Age 21-23: → Met my co-founder. → Needed a $1000 PayPal loan to start our agency. → Did cold outreach for months to sign our first clients. → Worked for almost nothing, trusted the process. Age 23-27: → Slowly built our reputation as ecom experts and marketers. → Built a team that took 2x agencies to 7 figures and 1x to 6 figures. → Building a holding company to do everything ecom for DTC brands. → Travelling the world, enjoying freedom, and having fun doing what I do. I’m not necessarily the most “talented” or “smartest” in the room. I just don’t give up - even when I have every reason to. That’s what got me where I am today. 📷 - my co-founder and I

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One of the benefits of modernising your B2B Sales team is the ability to use tools like this from Databox I've created a group of almost 300 businesses with B2B sales teams in our ideal sized client of up to 200 employees and a turnover of £10M If you'd like more insight into the 20 benchmarks I've created, let me know and I can send you the link. If you've got HubSpot you can plug your own data in and compare with almost 300 other businesses in your sector. If you've not got HubSpot - think about getting it. This chart is showing the range and median of the number of new customers B2B sales teams are winning each month How does it make you feel?

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Interesting shift in trends this year in our survey. Faye Thomassen will be presenting how marketers see their priorities for the year ahead. Register below. #calltracking #martech #marketingtechnology #marketing #marketinginsights

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Steven Bartlett is a lot of things… Insufferable, maybe. Genius marketer? Absolutely. Recently though, he’s found himself in trouble with the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). They argued that Bartlett is “misleading” his audience after he posted a series of Facebook ads back in February. The issue isn’t with what he said. But rather… what he DIDN’T say. (hint: he has stakes in the brands in question) Here’s what I think: Bartlett is no stranger to influencer marketing. He has spent the last decade building and curating a strong personal brand. → podcasts → TV appearances → social media posts The list goes on… Back in February, Bartlett made a number of posts to his Facebook account. This included ads for the brand ZOE - a health and wellness patch worn on the body. On the surface, it looked like your average bit of influencer marketing. The issue though is that Bartlett isn’t just any influencer. He is a longtime investor in Zoe. The ASA ruling argued that Bartlett didn’t make it clear in his adverts that he had a “commercial relationship” with the brand. Which led to claims that he was “misleading” his audience. You’d think someone on his team would have considered this, especially since this isn’t the first time Bartlett has found himself in this situation. Back in 2022, an audio advert by Bartlett for meal replacement drink Huel was banned after he plugged their latest ice coffee drink on his podcast, The Diary Of A CEO. Again, the issue here was that Bartlett failed to disclose his status as company director, in the advert. And I just want to make it clear - this isn’t a problem exclusive to Barlett. Grace Beverley, another prominent UK influencer/entrepreneur, was also hit with a similar ruling just a few weeks ago. She was ordered to take down a series of TikToks promoting a coat from the brand TALA, a company founded and run by the uk influencer herself. This begs the question: What will the future of Influencer Marketing look like? I think: → Bartlett has been a little unlucky here. His post was clearly labeled as an ad and his investment in the company shows clear confidence in the product - something a lot of influencers lack when it comes to this type of advertising. That being said: → I’m glad ASA are setting this precedent. It’s important for consumers to be aware when a product is being advertised to them by an influencer with a vested interest. The strength of influencer marketing is that it feels organic and separate from traditional advertising mediums. But it can also leave a lot of room for malpractice. It's important that we know when an influencer is genuinely advertising a product they like vs purposefully marketing it to their audience for financial gain. 🤔 But what do you think? Is Bartlett in the wrong? Did he knowingly mislead his audience? Or is ASA overstepping here? And does this potentially change how influencer marketing is going to work, going forward?  

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How is AI going to change performance marketing? Jon Quinton at Overdrive Digital Ltd explains how it already has. But a balance is needed to steer the machine learning and AI. #performancemarketing #ppc #facebookads

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Why are media owners so quiet on the real v fake ad debate? Commercially, they are the most impacted surely? Let’s put aside the real v fake debate for this particular thread (so boring 😴). Has anyone from the likes of Global, JCDecaux UK, Clear Channel UK, Ocean Outdoor weighed in from a media POV and their stance on fake ads? I’ve been somewhat critical of these traditional media agencies who I believe lack innovation in this space (aside from a few that are forward thinking BUILDHOLLYWOOD, Global Street Art) and the silence from the big 4 on this topic is deafening. I've worked with a lot of great media people and there are some great minds out there. If a few of them put their brains together, there is plenty of things that they could do: 1. I believe that the ASA don’t have remit for fake ads. Lobby them to fix that. 2. Get a label warning onto fake ads. Similar to when social media made influencers put #ad on promoted posts. 3. Usage rights / Intellectual property - everything from London buses to Big Ben to 48 sheet locations have them. If brands or individuals had to pay, that would change things. And media owners would also get a new revenue stream. Media owners. Slide into my DMs and I'll help solve this conundrum for you.

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Healthcare marketers, we've just unlocked the PPC data you've been waiting for... Our latest analysis breaks down performance by medical specialty, and trust me, it's eye-opening: 🚀 One specialty is smashing a 10.96% click-through rate. (Hint: it's not cosmetic surgery) 🤔 Why are some 'competitive' fields struggling to convert? 🧠 Mental health ads are getting clicks, but not conversions. The reason might surprise you. Plus, we've uncovered how NHS waiting lists are reshaping the private healthcare landscape. Ready to see where you stand? Check the link in comments below ⬇️ #healthcaremarketing #PPC #patientengagment #datanerd

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Don't miss next week's ShortTermRentalz webinar on; Data session – Squeezing the pips – maximising peak period business. Join us and sponsors Key Data & Lodgify next Tuesday 11 June, 4pm BST Register now >>> https://lnkd.in/e8adP43p Ahead of a peak summer season for bookings, this data-driven session will dive into the current trends and booking behaviours from a global perspective. As well as being high season, the impact of large-scale sporting and entertainment events, plus the upcoming general elections in many countries, will require accommodation providers to prepare accordingly in terms of pricing and rates, and we will also get the latest on search and booking trends for the rest of the peak period. You will learn: - What the data is showing us and what can we do about it - Current booking behaviour and how it is pacing for the summer - How to price accordingly and optimise your rates to maximise revenue opportunities during peak periods - The impact of “disruptions” e.g. sporting events and general elections and how to be prepared for them - Search trends i.e. what people are searching for on OTAs Speakers: - Sally Henry, Vice President of Business Development, EMEA, Key Data - James Begley, VP of Global Sales, Lodgify

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It's wonderful to see our #trainstation #posters providing invaluable exposure for Cancer Research UK (CRUK) #charity #brandawareness at #penzance For help with your #marketingplans and exciting #media options to fit all budgets... Email- [email protected] #advertising #dooh #outdoormedia #print #promotionalmerchandise #creativedesign

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How much does it cost to get in front of patients these days? 🔍   This is a question we often face at Medico, so we decided to crunch the numbers and establish some true industry benchmarks for direct-to-patient advertising metrics. 📊 Massive thanks to Danny and the paid media team who painstakingly analysed thousands of data points to develop these insights. More info on our methodology and how we plan to further segment the results by speciality area in the article link in the comments. Hope you find the benchmarks useful. How do your search campaigns stack up in comparison? Are you surprised by the results? 📈 #healthcareppc #healthcareadvertising #patientacquisition #patientengagement #industrybenchmarks

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You off to brightonSEO? Let's connect and talk geek stuff 🤝 🤓 Keen to understand how people are implementing the latest #AI tools into their workflows and what Google SGE means for the future of #SEO #ChatGPT #Claude #Llama #Mistral #Perplexity #NotebookLM #BrightonSEO

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You don’t have to be in CRO to have an impact on conversion rate. I think a lot of people like to ‘stay in their lane’ when it comes to working on sites. I believe that whilst it is important to have clear roles and responsibilities across a site, I also think that SEO and PPC teams can help to improve conversion rate (and probably the performance of their own channels) by answering one specific question: What do I want users to do once they’re on this page? For example: 👉 Do you want them to convert? 👉 Do you want your page to prompt a follow up search/action? If so, what is it? …you get the picture. Once you have the answer to that, make sure your page satisfies it. For example, a few years ago I worked on the SEO strategy for a food intolerance brand. Our main conversion point was a PDP but we also built landing pages for specific intolerances. Originally these were in the form of blog posts with multiple posts targeting the same terms - we cleaned these up and consolidated content but that’s for another post. Back to the landing pages. We classified these as more “mid funnel” pages. Our theory was that if someone searches for a specific intolerance, they may be looking for more information but they may also be tempted to have their intolerance diagnosed. So we tested the theory. We briefed the concept of a module to be added to these pages which allowed users to add an intolerance test to their basket. The challenge was making this module functional without being too pushy. After some back and forth, the module went live. And those pages? They started driving conversions. We’re not talking huge amounts. The typical range was 0.5% to 1%. But the big win was that instead of relying on a PDP for conversions, we suddenly had more diversity in conversion sources. And that was huge. All from a theory on user journey, derived from search intent. TL;DR - if you’re in SEO, ask yourself that question about your pages and tweak accordingly. Happy Tuesday ✌️ #seo #cro

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MARKETERS: I have questions. Cookie questions. 🍪 1. How much do you love (on a scale of 1 to 10) having to opt in or out of these consent forms on every website you visit? 2. Is this what a truly compliant consent looks like? (See image) The first freaking line is: "If you consent, we and our 825 partners can store and access personal information on your device..." Now I didn't learn copywriting directly from Ogilvy or Schwartz but I'm pretty sure that's NOT super compelling copy. But I also know that Moz's mama didn't raise no dummies so what is happening here? Is this what truly compliant consent looks like? 3. Does the much exaggerated imminent death of the cookie mean we won't have to opt in or out of these things anymore? 😅 4. How do we make it stop? 😆

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2023 Inclusive Media Buying and Planning - Nationals Award Winner 🏆 The winner for Inclusive Media Buying and Planning - Nationals went to MG OMD, OMG UNITE, and OmniGov, LLC for their impactful campaign for NHS Blood and Transplant. In 2022, the NHS faced a growing challenge: Sickle Cell disease, the fastest-growing genetic disorder in the UK, which disproportionately affects people of Black heritage. The need for blood donations rose dramatically, with 250 donations required daily to treat the illness, up from 150 five years prior. NHS Blood & Transplant (NHSBT) urgently needed to recruit more Black heritage donors, who are more likely to possess rare blood subtypes essential for life-saving transfusions. ➡️ Head to https://lnkd.in/eqius-hR to learn more, submit your entries, or nominate someone! #MEFA #MediaForAll #DiversityAndInclusion #Media #Advertising #Awards

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AI isn't good for everything. Case in point incoming... I've avoided Suno so far, but fell down a rabbit hole last night messing about asking it to write songs about PPC, SEO and digital marketing (for jokes, obvs) At one point I got it into my head that it could have a go at doing a version of Robert Wyatt's classic 'Shipbuilding' but an SEO-influenced version called 'Link Building' (I know, and I am sorry, but it's done now) This was the result - it was nowhere near what I wanted (or expected) but it was charming and funny enough to share the result here. Let's see if you end up humming it all weekend. Thankfully AI ain't taking over individual creativity just yet https://lnkd.in/e-bqJQz7 #seo #backlinks #webmasters #linkfarms #seoaudit

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Bing Ads are sunsetting manual CPC bid strategy and defaulting to enhanced CPC as of 30th April. If you're keen to keep your CPC below a certain level, your base bids will still be honoured. Don’t usually see Bing make a move like this before Google! Interesting

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9 years of SEO for 100s of clients has taught me this... The easy part is finding optimisations. The hard part = 🎯  Prioritising work against wider business goals 🙏  Getting buy-in from the leadership team 👨‍🏫  Educating stakeholders on modern SEO 💰  Securing enough budget to get results 📈  Measurement/tracking to show ROI Knowing what optimisations to make is the tip of the iceberg. Actioning them in a busy organisation with limited resources is the hard part. A great SEO strategy will factor in these five key things. Explaining clearly how some seemingly random optimisations will improve traffic and get results. This helps the wider company see the value and benefit to them. And everyone gets behind and supports your suggestions. Without this, your SEO efforts will fail.

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