?? The Evoluted Excerpt: January 2024
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Award-winning web design, development and marketing services. Create with purpose; build with agility; grow at scale. ??
How do, tech titans - welcome to our first Evoluted Excerpt of 2024!
For the uninitiated, our format is a rapid roundup of the key industry news and the standout resources our team have produced over the previous month - basically as quick and painless as a flu jab but hopefully slightly more enjoyable.
??? This month's digital news roundup
There's been unexpected good news for marketers, as the latest IPA Bellwether report reveals the biggest rise in marketing budgets for a decade, and consumer confidence hit a two-year high.
Working in marketing and wanting to use this to justify signoff from your superiors on increasing spend? We recommend sending them the links above along with this:
But of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and for marketers this positivity is balanced out by the news that they'll now have to pay to access analytics on X, as Elon Musk pivoted his clown car towards another pothole on the road to rendering the site completely unusable.
The platform's analytics feature has been basically broken since summer, sparking reports then that it would soon be shoved behind a paywall. It will be interesting to see whether brands - especially small businesses - vote with their feet in abandoning X as part of their marketing strategy given the difficulty of analysing performance.
And Shopify have announced the launch of Shopify Magic, a suite of generative AI tools it says will enable small businesses to punch above their weight. It includes support creating product pictures or making them look more professional, as well as AI assistants to improve users' productivity, workflows and decision-making within the platform.
?? Resources and Guides
The Big 'Un: Callin' out for a hero banner ??
It's gotta be strong (performing) and it's gotta be fast (loading) - but how do you decide which type of banner is best for your website? It's a big decision: hero banners are a crucial engagement-driver and first impression-maker when users land on your site.
In this post, our Front-End Developer Liam Wilson shares the results of a test we ran for one client's site* which analysed 10,000 visits to prove their banner needed changing, and walks us through when each type of banner may or may not be suitable.
* (The client isn't Beats by Dre, unfortunately - don't get your hopes up)
领英推荐
Google Business Profiles: Six mistakes to avoid ?
We took a bit of a break over Christmas so this one's only just making its way into the Excerpt - but this is an excellent guide from our SEO Specialist Shamsa K. about easy ways to improve your Google Business Profile performance. The platform can be a great driver of local leads so it's worth checking your listing avoids the pitfalls she's highlighted here.
HTML is easy, right? Wrong ??
Our Technical Team Lead Andy Carter delivered a very well-received talk at January's Front End Sheffield challenging the idea that HTML is straightforward by analysing common issues on major brands' websites. His conclusion: HTML might be easy, but mastering it is difficult.
Creative content to outclimb mountainous competition ???
Yes, it's a climbing retailer pun - Brands & Agencies went behind-the-scenes of our marketing project with Sea to Summit for their "Collaboration Corner" series to explore how our team leveraged influencer content and our proximity to the Peak District to drive product demand across multiple channels and give our client a visual advantage over their rivals. There were some useful learnings for future projects, too.
Turns out cleaning paella spills out of a tent is harder than you’d think! We may also have been better off taking more of Sea to Summit’s warm-weather clothes in our product selection - the Peak District is always at least five degrees colder than the city centre…?
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About Evoluted:
We're a full-service agency specialising in digital transformation for ambitious ecommerce brands. With specialist teams across Web Design, Development, SEO, Paid Media and Content Marketing, we help companies to Create, Build and Grow all under one roof.
If you need expert digital support, let's work together.
It's fantastic to see such comprehensive insights in one place! ?? "The only way to do great work is to love what you do," as Steve Jobs once said. Your dedication to providing value in marketing, design, and development shines through. ?? Speaking of planting seeds of knowledge, we're gearing up for a sponsorship opportunity related to the Guinness World Record of Tree Planting. It could be a unique venture for brands looking to grow their impact. More details here: https://bit.ly/TreeGuinnessWorldRecord ??
?? "Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." - Steve Jobs ? Just read your latest Evoluted Excerpt for 2024, and it's packed with insightful gems! ?? It's fantastic to see ManyMangoes diving into such a broad range of topics, from Shopify to the nuances of effective hero banners. Subscribed and eagerly awaiting more! ??????