Livelink attends Google Engage: Box of Tricks

I had the pleasure of attending this year’s Google Engage Box of tricks event at Marylebone One. Apart from being lavished with free goodies, free drinks and food from around the world, it was also a really insightful day, with a lot to learn about how agencies should approach digital marketing with their clients and also new features coming out of Google in 2013.

Probably one of the most exciting things announced at the event was the introduction of Universal Analytics next year. This is pretty much the biggest advancement Google analytics has had since its inception and will allow you to track consumers more than ever, with it going as far as tracking even in-store purchases. It will be exciting to see this rolled out next year, as I’m sure it will shake a lot of things up for digital marketers so definitely something to keep an eye out for.

Another interesting point learnt from the day was that YouTube users spend around 2 hours watching videos each week.  This figure is quite surprising, especially as the average time spent on a website hardly exceeds 5 minutes. This shows how YouTube and video in general can be a powerful tool for engagement and with the introduction of skipable ads, marketers only have to pay for customers who actually are interested in what you are showing them. A good example of how powerful video can be is from the Dollar Shave Club. The cost to make the video was a few thousand pounds yet the feedback was astonishing, with over 7million plays and 16,000 orders taken in. when you compare this type of exposure to TV advertising, which could cost millions for one campaign, Video really is something that businesses could look at within their marketing strategies.

Mobile was another point strongly emphasised by the Google Reps, and it is something that businesses should be implementing if they haven’t already. Current digital trends show that mobile is only increasing and it is predicted that it could even overtake desktop traffic by the end of 2014 in some industries. One point highlighted on the day was that 40% of consumers abandon a website on mobile if the page takes more than 3 seconds to load; therefore it is important to remember that if you are going to do mobile, to make sure you do it well and the key is to make it thumb friendly!

Overall, the day provided some great tips and advice for agencies and digital strategies to consider for next year. Exciting times are coming for online marketing in 2013.