Facebook matched the pace with the launch of their Q&A service and the bedding in of CEOP, both of which are strategically core. Facebook clocked up record access levels at work here in the UK, moved into top place in India, and no doubt its stickiness will rise even higher as TV networks like the UK's Channel 5 start to embed their top shows into FB's TV on-demand platform. As Google gears up for Social, Facebook is gearing up for Search and Video.

In the mobile space, the acceleration echoes the late 90s' Tipping Point when the web mainstreamed. All brands we spoke with this month now put mobile into the digital plan - even if only at small levels - and media owners are finally seeing mobile as a core platform. Innovation from device manufacturers continued - especially Nokia and Apple - while Blackberry's network came under the long-expected scrutiny by governments across the Middle East and India, no doubt triggering a massive loss of customers along the way.

Read August 2010

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Social media reached out to a new generation and told them to vote. The Electoral Commission used simple digital marketing tactics to reach the right people (youngsters not yet registered), in the right media space (Facebook), with the right offer (one click to register). Simple, brilliant, game-changing.

Secondly, digital analytics came into their own for the first time. Old-style telephone polling and street surveys are over. Instead social media monitoring provided granular insights into every sound-bite and every gesture from the leaders of the three main political parties. Online polls from YouGov have been fighting with new social media monitoring tools, while live social media trackers run alongside TV debates. They’ve given politicians an unprecedented window into their own electability - and like all good marketers, politicians have quickly applied those lessons.

Collating this month’s research and news for you reminded me that the right digital strategy isn’t just about advertising. Digital strategies work throughout the marketing mix - from researching customer insights, to changing brand preference, through building buzz and engagement, sale and ongoing support.

Read April 2010

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The use of the web by UK politicians has been underwhelming. Instead of an Obama-style social media groundswell bringing policy debate into living rooms and bars, the British electorate has had to suffer waves of negative campaigning, an explosion of pointless blogging by anyone running for office, and a focus on Facebook fans or Twitter followers that mistakes raw numbers for engagement. And yet Election 2010 has been the most digital the UK’s ever seen; here’s why...

Reuters’ decision to throw its weight behind a mainstream consumer facing news property is shrewd, strategic and significant.

As we head into election season in the UK, voters want to vote online and every political heavyweight now wants to 'do an Obama', moving their message through social media. Sadly neither voters nor politicians stand any hope of getting their wishes this time around, and while the Obama campaign is a case study in social marketing the Digital Training Academy will be using for years, most of the tweets, blogposts and email spam being thrown at British voters will remain quietly unopened thanks to their wholehearted failure to apply customer insight and engage their audience. Politicians are yet to learn the first rule of social media strategies: it's not how loud you shout, it's how much your audience want to listen!

Read March 2010

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If your colleagues would like copies sent to them directly then we can arrange a guest account through www.DigitalStrategyConsulting.com/digitalbriefings.

As we research other markets and sectors, email me back to let us know what would be interesting for you.

Read the UK sites and audience market focus

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Trends in digital marketing, opportunities and risks in data | Keynote lecture

1. How to use split-run testing to rebuild websites and web marketing
2. Decoding online behaviour to create next generation customer data profiles
3. How to select that next best offer
4. Essential strategies for today’s tough markets
5. How to build smarter learning throughout your organisation

Marketing optimisation workshops are available from the Digital Strategy team in the UK, Europe and North America.

To talk more about these ideas, developing products like this, changing your business, or coaching your management teams contact Digital's Chief Executive Danny Meadows-Klue -
Danny@DigitalStrategyConsulting.com

The mobile channels will dominate this year's switch the way social media did last year. Mobile wars are intensifying with Nokia's Ovi Maps set to decimate TomTom, Blackberry getting Kindle, and Google refocusing on the small screen ahead of a fusion with social media. But mobile isn't just for global giants - every brand needs a mobile digital strategy to reach customers in the right places through the routes they want. Building the technology and platforms is the easy bit; translating customer needs into the right services is way tougher.

Read February 2010

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This should come as a great relief, because it wipes away the 'shiny object' obsession over the latest social media or iPhone app, and replaces it with a dose of sound business logic. Behind the scenes we're finding this in the digital marketing effectiveness audits we run for large brands. Often only small changes in process are needed to unlock much bigger shifts in results.

The Digital Training Academy team are seeing the same trends, but also removing ROI risks by getting the right capability in place. Their focus is giving teams the edge with competitive training that targets weakness in a rival's strategy.

And in terms of channels, mobile marketing and engagement is finally everywhere; it will dominate our digests this year.

Read January 2010

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Government policy made headlines with a storm around the Digital Economy Bill and the 50p broadband tax that got the green light in the UK's pre-budget report. Linked to this is the way regulators will play a much bigger role in 2010 - the first spotlight will be on the MS/Yahoo tie-up and the second on privacy. Facebook's lead on safety (giving kids a special "panic" button) is a shrewd move in delivering what's needed, and here in the UK we've been helping the Information Commissioner's Office develop the thinking around what's needed for the hundreds of thousands of small firms now routinely using personal data.

You'll find lots more ideas to fuel your strategy in the news, research and data we've written up below. Click on the links for 50 full stories, forward around to colleagues, and let me know if you need more of the background as you develop your own 2010 digital strategy.

Read December 2009

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This month's news was dominated by the changing relationships between publishers and search engines and that's another theme we're expecting will characterise next year. A related issue is the Murdoch-led quest to charge for online content, and wider concerns about the business models for web media. There's also a sea change to the mobile web from a fixed web, and in Western Europe, the US and many parts of Asia, mobile should be a core element in the 2010 plan.

This month's country focus is Italy, and for all the headlines there are full details on click through.

Read November 2009

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To help brands and their agencies get more from their budgets, The Digital Training Academy has opened up a couple of its online classrooms for the first time. As a client or partner, you can now access additional resources in Social Media, Mobile and Relationship Marketing.

Marketing spend on the high street might be flat, but the switch to the web is clear - and it's also coming with the call for tighter ROI and strong analytics. P&G are among many brands pushing for greater accountability in web advertising, and the growth of online behavioural advertising seems unstoppable. In this month's interview the mastermind marketing Microsoft's Bing search tool takes us behind the scenes on a new way to search and the country focus is on Spain.

If you're a client of the Digital Strategy group and your colleagues would like our research, simply forward this link and we'll do the rest: http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/digitalbriefings.

Read October 2009

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Size isn't everything. That's the conclusion of the largest study of web ad effectiveness so far. Bigger may be better in general, but location on the page has a strong impact. Ad units embedded inside the editorial have a stronger impact on readers which means web marketers need to pay more attention to their media planning and placement on the page.

Yet again, having the right digital strategy means more than simply being online. For over 5 years our Digital Media Planning Academy has coached planners why "right consumer, right environment, right time and right mindset" are all key for getting the best value from a media buy, and this research of 3.9m people confirms why the attention to detail is key.

Here in the UK, online ad spend overtook TV advertising exactly to the month we'd predicted a few years back. At 23.5% of all UK adspend it's risen about 5% year on year, but is rising about 20% vs the UK advertising industry average (which suffered a massive fall of over 15% in the same period).

This month our national focus turns on China, where Baidu continues to top the charts - but with figures a big leap up from when we were last in Shanghai. As the centre of the web economy continues shifting east, look out for Chinese tech start-ups heading into Europe and a shift in web development with China taking over from India as the coding engine room for many agencies.

If you're a client of Digital and your colleagues would like our research, simply forward this link: http://www.digitalstrategyconsulting.com/digitalbriefings.

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So Google could have micropayments for newspaper content live within a year? That will grab the attention of newspaper owners everywhere. It will seem like this could save the newspaper and magazine industry; the most unexpected life-raft, from the most unusual lifeboat.

As direct marketing moves from telephone and email to mobile, many people are concerned about how they can opt-out from being called. In the UK, all reputable companies screen their list of phone numbers against the special list of people who have opted-out of the process. That’s managed by the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), who also manage opt-outs of home phone numbers here in the UK.

The Telephone Preference Service can accept the registration of mobile telephone numbers, however it is important to note that this will prevent the receipt of marketing voice calls but not SMS (text) messages. If you wish to stop receiving SMS marketing messages, please send an 'opt-out' request to the company involved.

www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps