by Fiona Housiaux | Feb 21, 2020 | News
Well, no one could ever claim that 2019 was boring! It was filled with drama, excitement and frustration for the UK recruitment industry.
We’ve also been extremely busy contributing £38.9 billion to the UK economy, even with all the drama and uncertainty that Brexit has brought, but now what? Are we all feeling confident or is pessimism the order of the day?
Well, the latest data from The Global Recruitment Insights and Data site, which monitors the trends of 2,000 global recruitment agency employees, in agencies of all sizes, highlights that we’re optimistic but cautious in the UK. The figures show that 69% of respondents expect to increase revenue in the year ahead. Although, this is clearly a positive response, when compared with last year’s figures it is notably a 10% drop on 2019. Plus, 52% of respondents are predicting a recession in 2020, compared to just 30% in 2019.
Whilst economic uncertainty is cited as the top macroeconomic challenge for the year by respondents from all the regions globally, it is noteworthy that UK respondents were more likely to cite economic uncertainty as a challenge than respondents from any other region, indicating Brexit might still be playing on all our minds.
So, it seems we are cautiously optimistic which after the drama of the last three years is all we could possibly expect. We know it is likely to be a tough year ahead, but I believe that as always those of us in the recruitment industry will look to new ways of working so that we stay ahead of the game.
by Fiona Housiaux | Jun 21, 2019 | News
On 12th ThinkinCircles, JXT and ContentApp (supported by APSCo) ran our first joint event, Content Safari. The idea behind Content Safari was to take everyone that attended on journey. How to create great content, how to distribute that content and how to measure the effectiveness of that content.
James from ThinkinCircles discussed Storytelling and its importance in a modern marketing strategy. Darren from ContentApp took us on his personal journey while at the same time giving us some great tips on getting your content seen. Andy from JXT enlightened us on how to analyse our content and which data points to measure.
We hope to run another Content Safari event later in the year and possibly some webinars in between.
Thanks to everyone that attended and we look forward to seeing you all again soon.
All the the presentations are below:
ContentApp
Inspire-Recruitment-ContentApp-DarrenWestall-PersonalBrand
JXT
Content Safari (1)
by Fiona Housiaux | May 23, 2019 | News
“Brand storytelling is a great way to get your point of across, differentiate your brand, and work out new ideas. Today, if you want to succeed as an entrepreneur or leader, you also have to be a storyteller.”
– Richard Branson
According to eminent anthropologist Polly Wiessner the human brain is wired for storytelling and it all started as far back as around 400,000 years ago when our ancestors used storytelling, often conducted around a campfire, to inspire, inform, educate and ignite the imagination.
Richard Branson, who just happens to be a great fan of Wiessner’s work, agrees that the power behind the art storytelling is that you are able to craft a compelling story behind a product, service, company or cause.
Actually, Branson goes as far to say, “Regardless of the medium – in person, on social media, through old fashioned letters, on the phone, or via email – there is nothing more effective and affecting than storytelling.”
The power of storytelling is that it really can resonant, provoke and engage with people in a unique way and most importantly can communicate your point of difference to your audience building engagement along the way.
So, why is storytelling effective?
In today’s modern world we are constantly bombarded with information on the numerous platforms that we use to keep us connected and share our thoughts and opinions.
To stand out companies need fresh and inventive ways to connect with consumers and deliver their message, but people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.
You need to be able to cut through the raft of noise online and as the average human processes images 60,000 times faster than text, by using storytelling to create sensory visually stunning messages, brands are able to grab attention and provide detailed solutions to problems and encourage consumers to invest in the brand’s story.
Storytelling is a universal language and can bring people together regardless of any language, religious or political barriers and has the ability to make brands more human, forge loyalty and inspire action and response.
Storytelling also works well in so many different shapes and forms can be told through a variety of media, such as video, animation, interactive stories and even games.
Some stories are read in article and blogs, some are watched on social media or TED Talks and others are listened to in podcast.
by Fiona Housiaux | Apr 25, 2019 | News
When Facebook purchased WhatsApp in 2014 for $19 billion many people raised an eyebrow and a few even thought that Mark Zuckerberg had lost the plot.
After all it was one of the biggest start-up acquisitions for the tech industry ever and for many the massive cost paid just didn’t add up.
But the move has certainly paid off as today WhatsApp is virtually as big as Facebook itself, having tripled in size since Facebook purchased them, with 53 billion messages being sent every single day globally.
So, what did Facebook see that others didn’t? Well they predicted that people were changing how they communicate, and that people globally would use personal messaging more and more to build meaningful connections faster.
Today how we all expect to instantly communicate with each other is challenging how we all do business and how our customers expect to communicate with us.
For more and more consumers having a direct and virtually instant means of communicating with a brand is vitally important therefore messaging apps such as WhatsApp have launched a business version.
Today more and more businesses are using messaging apps as an integral part of their marketing communications strategy to build stronger connections with their customers and ultimately grow brand loyalty and engagement.
WhatsApp for Business is a separate version to the personal app, but it does work in a very similar way connecting businesses with their customers instead of connecting people with their family and friends.
Users can create a business profile and can include details such as location, contact details and their web address. They can use the app to communicate with their customers quickly by messaging them and answering questions on matters such as delivery.
When initially launched there were security issues after a fake version of the app was made available to download on the Google Play store. However, since then WhatsApp has made it easier to verify if who you are talking to is indeed the authentic brand:
- Business accounts with a green checkmark badge in its profile have been verified as “an authentic brand” by WhatsApp.
- Business accounts with a grey checkmark badge in its profile have been confirmed to be using a phone number that matches the phone number of the business it claims to be owned and operated by.
- A Business account with a grey question mark badge in its profile, however, indicates that the account hasn’t been confirmed or verified by WhatsApp.
But, does a business really need to use a messaging app?
The answer has to be yes, as consumers increasingly demand instant and personalised answers to their questions and this is hard to provide without using a messaging app.
A recent survey asked why users message businesses and over 64% of people surveyed said it’s because they’re “always messaging anyway.” And over 61% said that messaging is the easiest and most convenient way to contact a business.
And it is the speed, responsiveness and convenience that is making WhatsApp for Business so powerful compared to more traditional communication channels as those surveyed who message businesses say that it provides them with the following:
- Faster response times – over 59%
- Better advice and care – over 50%
- More truthful responses – over 49%
Plus, they are more confident that they’ll get a response or more confident that their issue will be resolved, over 58% of people surveyed felt more confident messaging a business than calling them on the phone. Over 58% felt more confident messaging than filling in a form on a website and over 55% felt more confident messaging than emailing a business.
Messaging clearly draws people and businesses into an ongoing conversation and creates a sense of connection through better customer experiences that can lead to loyalty now and in the future and any business who chooses to ignore it will miss out in the future.
by Fiona Housiaux | Apr 11, 2019 | News
Imagine a world without colour: no, I can’t either.
Colour after all makes the world a truly wonderful thing.
But the power of colour doesn’t stop there as it is known to have a forceful impact on our behaviour and can actually influence our decisions.
In fact, colour can be the sole reason a person decides to purchase a certain product as a study revealed that 93% of buyers said they focus on visual appearance and just under 85% claimed colour was the primary reason when they made a purchase.
So, colour is powerful stuff a fact that has been utilised by designers and advertisers for many years. Even if we don’t know it we are subconsciously programmed to associate certain colours with specific situations and emotions.
Advertising and branding agencies make it their business to create designs with careful use of colour to ensure it sends out a positive subconscious message and focus attention on specific details or even to dictate the emotional response users have to a design.
So, how does each colour influence people?
Red: Instils a sense of urgency and signifies danger, physically stimulates the body by raising blood pressure and heart rate and encourages appetite.
While red can be used to good effect in marketing campaigns such as for store sales or fast food outlets it has to be used carefully as it can evoke strong emotions.
Blue: Blue is a colour preferred by men and is often associated with reliability and trust.
Blue is used by brands wanting to promote trust in their products especially banks, financial institutions and medical companies.
Green: Green is firmly linked with nature and the environment and is associated with health and tranquillity. Often used to relax customers and for marketing environmental issues.
Purple: Purple is commonly associated with luxury, wisdom, royalty, respect and elegance and is frequently used to promote beauty products especially anti-aging products.
Orange: Orange is a dynamic and energetic colour but without the danger associated with red, although it can trigger a sense of caution or anxiety that can draw in impulsive buyers and window shoppers.
Yellow: Yellow reminds us of the sun and makes us feel full of energy. It also signifies playfulness and happiness making it an ideal colour choice for advertising children’s products.
Black: Associated with authority, strength and power the colour black is often used to convey intelligence.
White: Associated with feelings of purity, cleanliness and safety, white space helps spark creativity. Some marketing campaigns use a monochrome design to stand out from the more colourful adverts.
Pink: Pink is associated with femininity and is perceived as young.
Recent Comments