19 Jul 2014, by Calum Shepherd
When we embarked on our most recent public sector project, there was a big focus on shifting mindsets towards agile practices and away from traditional approaches to product and software development. I blogged briefly about this personal switch to agile back in February.
So, where are we now? We are approaching our first alpha release, we have begun sharing some early thoughts over on inside.mygov.scot we are on twitter and continue to code like crazy.
As part of our hub and spoke model to content contribution within the team, I went back to an old favourite - URLs.
You can read more over on the mygov.scot blog.
The blog is filling out nicely with content from a wide range of people within our teams - including a post on user research by Paul.
I’m also leading on the release of material supporting people in the delivery of digital public services. You can find this under standards and guidelines.
03 May 2014, by Calum Shepherd
Working in an agile manner, after a history of creating bulky project briefs and requirements to front load work, is a little challenging to say the least. I had a history of attempting to nail long documentation, with the aim of realising as many outcomes and outputs as possible. However, long development times, a lack of flexibility in relation to change and worries about launching too early were always common.
I’m now sketching out ideas on whitewalls, snapping photos of doodles, holding short stand ups and working with product owners who have a real passion for the creations under their guidance. We’re aiming to release frequently and we’re aiming to ensure that anything we do is backed by real, robust user needs - something that Government Digital Service have really been a champion for over the last few years.
It all feels very liberating - in a technical / work kind of way.
If you are interested in finding out more, the web is full of details around various flavours of agile project management methods. Within the division we work through a hybrid approach, utilising DSDM for more robust governance and fuller project documentation, alongside a more Scrum like method for the delivery teams themselves.
Exciting times and more to come.
18 Jan 2014, by Calum Shepherd
I was delighted to talk at the Scottish Borders Tourism Conference, hosting a session titled “Be digital, your customers are”.
Inbound marketing is a hot topic at the moment, along with content marketing. It’s a huge opportunity for small businesses to increase their visibility and convert customers.
- get found
- engage and nurture
- convert
The slides have been made available via VisitScotland, however the Speakerdeck version is the one that was presented on the day.
There are plenty of talks available, including my own, so feel free to go check them out.
View the “Be digital, your customers are” slides from Speakerdeck.
You can also view the slides for other talks on the VisitScotland website.
15 Jan 2014, by Calum Shepherd
Updated: 17/06/2015 (Google Partners Program)
Looking to expand your Google Adwords knowledge? Whether you manage Google Adwords campaigns on a daily basis, or are just learning to learn, a Google Adwords Certification can help. The certification will help with your understanding of paid media terminology, how campaigns work provide a method for you to show potential employers what you can do.
Thus, a lot of people look to the Google Adwords Certification to help with this, as they bundle study guides with certification. To help you with your exams, I’ve listed some Google Adwords Certification study guides that will help get you through both the Fundamental and Advanced Search Advertising exams.
It is possible to pass your Google Adwords exam without the need for physical guides or online revision packages. However if you do need additional help or would like something for your desk, this book is a great starting point - Google AdWords For Dummies book.
So, where do you sit the exam?
Introducing the Google Partners program.
- Google Partner Exams are now free! This means you don’t need to pay for your Adwords exams anymore.
- The new Google Partners website is designed to allow you to revise and sit the exams, all via one portal.
- Resources from 3rd parties tend to be out of date and don’t match the current Google Adwords Interface, nor the exam material. They do still provide value however and will no doubt be updated post launch of Google Partners.
- Google resources are at times a different from the interface, however you can bank on the Google material matching the exam.
In short, things are become a whole lot more clean when it comes to revision resources. Digging around for Google Adwords Certification study guides for your Fundamentals / Advanced Search exams is far less important post Google Partners launch.
##1. Official Google Study Guides
The Google Partners area provides all the initial steps to get you up and running. You will be able to access to seminars, study guides and much more. Essential for you kicking off your Google Adwords Certification study.
##2. Google Adwords Help Centre
The Google Adwords Help Centre help resources for terminology and a run through ranging from basic setup and basics to billing. A strong resource for referencing as opposed to studying for your exam directly.
##3. Google Adwords Interface
The Adwords interface will give you the best exposure possible help for you to pass your exam. You will need a valid Google account alongside a name, address and credit card. Don’t worry, you can remove your card once you are setup.
The real value is assigning budgets and getting some campaigns live. Google regularly provide vouchers of around $50 to new customers via email to get people up and running, so look out for these in the days after activation. The Adwords Coupon page is also useful and currently has £75 free for a £25 spend (Confirmed live Jan 2014).
##4. Google YouTube Adwords Playlist
Various videos on anything and everything Adwords. You can find a specific playlist for all the introductory videos for adwords via the link below.
##5. Other Websites
Please note, these are additional resources that are pretty out of date. However they do provide a bit more context for you if you have additional study time available.
I would also recommend downloading the free uCertify trial, as they do offer an extremely robust package with a decent number of questions available for free.
Good luck and let me know how you get on with your Google Adwords study!
10 Oct 2013, by Calum Shepherd
I had the pleasure of attending the Jump digital marketing event in London yesterday, as part of the E-Consultancy Festival of Marketing. Jump is all about creating a joined up consumer experience. Talks ranged from user experience to psychology and its impact on digital marketing, a real mix of extremely interesting and thought provoking topics.
##Up close and personal, engaging your target audience anytime, anywhere
Expedia
- Made an early and accelerated move to mobile via an acquisition. The team worked relatively independently of the main organisation in a separate physical location (San Francisco). The result? They moved quickly and freely in many instances from their central head office in Seattle - driving forward their mobile offering in a relatively short period of team.
- Expedia identified early on that responsive design wasn’t the best choice or their objectives, as they felt the ability to create unique experiences for difference screensizes / and usage enviroments trumped all other considerations.
- Positioning mobile prominently was important for them, integrating it in with internal KPIs and offering unique deals to consumers.
- TV campaigns are built around their mobile offering, with dedicated ads produced to highlight unique functionality and features.
- Optimisation does not live on traditional search channels anymore. A focus needs to be paid to presentation within mobile app stores. This includes icons, descriptions, reviews and driving downloads.
##More channels, more opportunities, delivering personalised service in a digital world
American Express
- Some huge partnerships for American Express over the last couple of years. A fascinating take away from the Facebook partnership; the majority of card holders who synced their details with Facebook had actually opted out of email communication from the organisation.
- Their newest TripAdvisor partnership involves checking payment histories to confirm reviews are by people who have actually stayed at the venue - extremely interesting review trust indicator.
- Others partnerships included Xbox Live (Game progress / rewards) and Twitter (Tweet to buy, Tweet for discount).
- Cultural change within the organisation a big focus, with importance placed upon people using the digital platforms the organisation is trying to drive forward. Others important areas included revisiting internal guidelines, throwing away job titles for brainstorming, simplifying processes and encouraging a start up ethos operating under the company philosophy.
##How to improve conversion
Redeye
- Statistics galore from this white paper overview. Due to the amount of statistics and the presentation being publicly available in the near future, I’ll refrain from sharing specific stats, but will however hopefully update this post with a link once available.
- Most common (and important) testing is A/B - with the least common (but still important) being personalisation. Specific tests within A/B that proved to be quick wins included modifying CTA buttons and descriptive text.
- A critical consideration for organisations planning to kick start testing in this area is to define testing roles and to prioritise.
- Need justification for carrying out UX experiments? Get someone in front of a camera and give them some key tasks to perform on your website. It may well be the best justification you will ever have for senior management to take note and listen.
- download PDF
##Using social media to engagement customers and maximise promotions
Yo Sushi!
- An interesting presentation from a brand keen to be presented as fun and vibrant - focusing on buzz building as the primary mechanic.
- Customer service is a critical part of their social presence, resolving complaints on the channel of the customers choice, in turn seeing some great online feedback.
- Using social as a source of insights about their customers, collecting and passing on feedback for various areas of the business to improve the way they operate. This included things like new store opening.
- An engaging campaign involved visiting offices with Sushi at the request of workers - in costume and with plenty of food!
The above is a tiny account of the event, as Jump spanned the entire day (with the Festival of Marketing on all week). To wrap up, I thought I would include a video from the final psychology session, describing “social proof”.
You can find out more about Jump on the Festival of Marketing Website.