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Nicole Barbosa

Digital PR Manager

About this Author

Originally from Texas, Nicole moved to the UK in September 2008 to pursue a Masters in Communications from Leeds University. After the programme, Nicole decided to stay in the UK to build a career around PR and communications. From October 2010 until September 2014, Nicole worked at Epiphany Search in Leeds where she helped create the Online PR team. During this time, Nicole worked on behalf of a wide range of clients across a variety of sectors including fashion, financial services, business, travel and consumer technology.

The Future is Voice Activated Breakfast Briefing

Ensuring our clients win in today’s rapidly evolving digital economy is what drives iProspect every day. This means we have to be focused not only on identifying key industry trends, but also on staying ahead of the curve. We recently explored one such trend that is showing no signs of decreasing in importance: voice search. iProspect experts in London spent two months gathering and analysing data from 1,181 UK consumers to create our latest whitepaper, The Future is Voice Activated. At a breakfast briefing hosted by CEO Stefan Bardega on 6 September, we revealed the results of this proprietary study and showed that while voice search is indeed the future, it’s time to join the conversation today. Head of paid search, Scott Abbott, opened with an overview of the study: “We know through our research that 57% of interactions are via a mobile device, compared to only 13% done on connected devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home. So the question is: how can brands personalise targeting and messaging to be relevant, particularly across all demographics?” With 35 to 54-year-olds using voice search as much as 18 to 24-year-olds, it is clear that brands need a wide net as they look to create or expand their voice search strategy. Jack Swayne, chief strategy officer at iProspect UK, explained there are three key implications for brands when it comes to voice search and echoed Scott’s point about personalisation. “The first implication is to embrace the long-tail conversation. If you look at an industry such as travel, a user might have a query such as ‘What is the cheapest flight from Manchester to Las Vegas’ and there is likely to be an ongoing conversation in this search. “This then leads to the need for personalisation. Mobiles are the most personal devices we own and expectations are very high. Brands, where possible, should utilise first-party data to help manage declared intent and match this with the right content. The final implication is making your brand discoverable for voice search. For example, the introduction of semantic or schema mark-up, which is a type of code, can be a quick win that brands can implement today.” The final segment of the morning featured a panel, chaired by our head of product, Caroline Reynolds, who was joined by: Adrian Cutler, global agency director - Bing Mark Mitchell, vice president of agencies - BrightEdge Benjamin Lickfett, head of digital innovation - Diageo Simon Tokumine, senior product manager – Google Search Caroline asked the panellists whether voice search should prompt brands to invest more in the future. From a client perspective, voice search is vital for future strategies, explained Benjamin at Diageo. For the global drinks brand, it is exciting to be able to mirror a user’s language and really get into the insights in a conversational way. The opportunity to frame occasions when people might enjoy a drink at home means the process is driven less by utility driven and more by intuition. Mark from BrightEdge agreed and said that despite 69% of their customers not having a voice search strategy in place, brands should not panic. However, he did raise that in three years when it is projected that 50% of search will come from voice, it will be disappointing if brands are still calling it a ‘voice search strategy’! It is therefore important to build a complementary content infrastructure now. For Simon at Google, voice is very much an additive quality: “When you look at mobile devices, which are now with us in our daily lives more than ever before, brands should think about situations that warrant the use of a mobile and how to leverage voice more as a result.” However, there are still complex tasks, such as researching a holiday, which are easier on a desktop. The final point was on monetisation and what this will look like for brands in the future. Adrian at Bing shared a stat that reinforced the popularity of voice search for certain demographics: 740,000 people in the UK over the age of 65 are using voice search. This definitely demonstrates that voice search is indeed significant, and as most interactions are still happening where search results pages are present, there is existing monetisation to consider. The insight from the panellists and our dedicated iProspect experts highlights that demand for voice search is high. While there are already many opportunities for brands to integrate it into their existing strategies today, brands should also ensure they are prepared for tomorrow because the future is, most definitely, voice activated. For more guidance on preparing for the soon-to-be greatest tech boom in search history, download the full whitepaper here. If you missed the Breakfast Briefing, you can watch it in full below: 0 4 min read

Why Seasonal Feel-Good Content Always Works

With just over six weeks until Christmas Day, the internet and social media are a frenzy with gift roundups, holiday GIFs and the launch of beloved high street adverts. The latter is one of my favourite things about being in the UK at Christmas. As a self-confessed crier at commercials, I look forward to early November when stores unveil their stories that pull at our heartstrings every year. Last Friday we were introduced to Moz, the cuddly monster featured within this year’s John Lewis’ advert, and after the initial viewing, it got me thinking: what is it about quiet soulful music, adorable creatures and an emotional seasonal message that equates to shareable content? Here are my three thoughts on why there will always be room for this type of content: 1. In an otherwise complicated world, people continue to look for a comforting escape I’m sure most people would agree that 2017 has been a rollercoaster of unpredictable ups and downs for millions across the world. Like a good book on a rainy day, there is just something about stumbling across a feel good campaign that makes you feel safe and brings a smile to your face, especially during the holiday season. In my opinion, the Coca-Cola Christmas advert from 2010 is a perfect example of this. Since I was a child, I’ve associated Christmas with the soft drink brand. Whether the advert features polar bears, a jolly Santa or the infamous truck, Coca Cola has been winning at the Christmas game since the 1950s. Their adverts not only pull on the heartstrings but they are also very good at incorporating their product into a one to three-minute story that is relatable and engaging. 2. Music is a global language that speaks volumes for brand sentiment Don’t you just love when a song instantly reminds you of a feeling, particular memory or even an advert? I can’t listen to Lily Allen’s version of ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ without thinking of John Lewis’ ‘The Bear and the Hare’ advert from 2013. The addition of music can definitely uplift and position an advert above others, particularly when an artist collaboration naturally aligns with the brand. According to a 2016 Ofcom report the majority of UK adults (64%) go to YouTube for music which opens up a plethora of opportunities for brands to market their products, engage with relevant audiences and encourage natural sentiment, even outside of the Christmas period. 3. Seasonal content needs to be more than just a stocking filler Brands like John Lewis have been producing memorable adverts for 10 years and just as the online consumer journey has evolved, people now expect a multi-channel experience as oppose to a stand-alone advert. Like the perfect gift, there is the assumption that these adverts will exude both quality and quantity. This then presents a challenge for smaller brands, most likely due to budget constraints and creative resource. Having said this, there is still plenty of opportunity for smaller brands to get a foot in the door of the online Christmas conversation, especially if they promote their USP in a way that is both natural and innovative and choose the right platforms to push out their content. Overall, intelligent content will always win. Here’s the latest John Lewis advert which teaches us that a friend is never far away, especially at Christmas. 0 3 min read

Performance UX Breakfast Briefing

According to iProspect’s UX Performance Index, 99% of brands are losing traffic due to slow loading of mobile pages and three in ten (29%) brands have bigger mobile pages than desktop. When it comes to Performance UX, how can brands know whether they are getting it right? To launch the Index, which examined 401 websites and 307 brands across 14 industries, iProspect hosted our latest Breakfast Briefing on 18 April. The comprehensive research, analysed by our team of data scientists, provides the top digital spenders in the UK with four total scores against key metrics, like PageSpeed, that lead to an optimised user experience. Tom Amies-Cull, COO of iProspect UK & Ireland, opened the breakfast briefing by talking through how for brands to succeed in today's digital economy, it is imperative that the user journey is frictionless and efficient. One key metric that brands should therefore focus on is site speed. iProspect's research found that almost all brands analysed are losing traffic due to slow loading of mobile pages. However, site speed is just one piece of the Performance UX puzzle. By integrating Technical SEO and CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation), two channels that traditionally work in silos, into the wider strategy, brands will offer an improved experience and ultimately, achieve a better ROI across the website. iProspect’s Ben Donaldson, Group Account Director, and Dan Wigley, Group Director of Data and Optimisation, both talked through the fundamentals of the channels and offered valuable insights on how brands can implement the necessary changes for a better user experience. Sophie Wooller, iProspect's Director of Data and Technology Products, talked through the methodology behind our UX Performance Index and the key metrics that fed into the wider research. Our experts gathered 10,000 data points to offer brands a robust roadmap of how their website, across both desktop and mobile, fares within their industry and against competitors. From July, mobile site speed will be included in Google's ranking algorithm, which is why brands need to prioritise Performance UX, particularly brands in the travel sector. iProspect's research found that this sector is leaving nearly £1 billion a year on the table. According to the Index, travel is at the bottom when it comes to offering customers the best overall online user experience. An in-depth look at the UX Performance Index highlights the key metrics that directly affect a brand's score, including: PageSpeed Score – how fast the page loaded, scored against global web averages Performance and Progressive Web Apps – results yielded from an audit combining Tech SEO parameters Accessibility – how user-friendly the page is for impaired users, scored against global averages The event ended with a panel discussion around how brands can future-proof their business through Performance UX. Specialists from iProspect, including Pedro Mona, Executive Director of Platforms and Engineering, were joined by Nic Cumisky, UK Mobile Leader for Google and Rebecca Sentance, Deputy Editor of Search Engine Watch, who moderated the panel. The 15-minute discussion provided a holistic view on the significant impact that Performance UX can have on a business’s bottom line and the direct revenue opportunities that it can provide. Sophie touched on how brands can start with simply aligning internal teams with different objectives to reach this shared goal. She said that this could require a structural change but that the effort behind this will significantly improve the customer experience. Pedro Mona, iProspect’s Executive Director of Platforms and Engineering, echoed insights from Dan and Ben on the need for personalisation and how, like site speed, it affects the customer journey. He explained that although personalisation should be a focus further down the line, it is a key Performance UX element. He continued by saying brands should concentrate on site speed to capture the customer and then by offering an optimised and personalised experience, this is more likely to lead to a conversion. When it comes to prioritising customer experience, Nic from Google confirmed that getting site speed right is imperative and that there is no point in having a beautiful journey if customers can’t get on site. He followed this comment by stating that although businesses have different priorities, if a mobile site takes longer than three seconds to load, more than half of customers who land on your site will bounce away. This will continue to have a greater impact on brands and ultimately, their Performance UX scores. Find out what some of our speakers thought were the key takeaways from the event in this video. For more guidance on Performance UX, download the whitepaper, and if you missed the Breakfast Briefing watch it in full here. 0 4 min read

Nicole Barbosa

About this Author

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