We are proud to announce the latest addition to Fusion’s client portfolio; the market leader in the UK’s drainage sector – Lanes Group plc. We will be working with Lanes to provide full-scope search marketing (including both SEO and paid), and managing a site migration and relaunch. 

Work on the Lanes account has been ongoing now since May, and with a few months under our belt we thought now was the perfect time to touch base with the team at Lanes to get some intel on what brought them to Fusion and how they have found the partnership so far.

In 100 words or less, why Fusion Unlimited?

Having identified the need for a new website and digital marketing activities, we undertook a thorough procurement process with Proposal, Reference, Presentation, and Site Visit stages.

Of the 13 proposals submitted, we narrowed down to eight to present. We then evaluated using a pre-determined Scoring Evaluation Matrix and undertook Site Visits with the two highest scoring agencies.

Fusion was the ‘race leader’ from the presentation stage and ultimately came out on top. All six of our key stakeholders were impressed with what was proposed, and more importantly, felt comfortable with and believed in the team. 

Are there any ‘stand-out’ elements to the way things are done at Fusion Unlimited?

One of the things we like most about Fusion is its Best Practice approach. The logic behind what it does is simple and effective. The team has already efficiently tailored our Paid spend to suit the market and our requirement, more so than our other agency ever did. All activity is data driven. We have just signed off two trials which have been suggested, helping us to stay ahead. 

And how is performance looking so far?

In terms of digital marketing (Paid, SEO and Development), we have already seen improvement in performance across all workings and some of the improvements have been easy wins. Our current website has some issues prior to the partnership with Fusion, hence why we’re creating a new one; so Fusion haven’t had it easy. There is always so much going on. They are always pushing forward. We have seen that already. 

How are you finding the communication from the Fusion team, are you happy with the contact you are getting?

Communication is excellent. We receive weekly updates at least, normally getting ad hoc updates in addition. We then get monthly reports, combining our specification with Best Practice. We’ve also just had a meeting in person with the full team – everyone working on the Lanes account. Which was great. One of the things we liked the sounds of early on, was being able to speak to all of the team members direct. We were used to just speaking to our Account Manager with our old agency. Who would funnel information. Speaking to each person individually, who has their own responsibilities and working, is so much more effective.

What’s in store? 

The partnership with Lanes’ is off to a great start and we’re looking forward to continuing our work to support their business goals as we move towards the end of 2023 and onward. With some big changes coming up, the next year is going to have a lot in store and there are some exciting changes fast approaching that you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for. 

Watch this space!

Looking back to August, we saw the rollout of Google’s second core algorithm update of the year. Nearly a month on from the announcement, we’re going to take a recap of what the update included, what changes we’ve seen in the time since, and how this core update impacts brands like yours.

What do we know about Google’s core algorithm update?

Reliable and helpful results are the name of the game here, and that is why Google regularly utilises these core updates to ensure that the content shown to search users is actually relevant to their queries, contains genuinely useful information, and is written by the right people.

What does this mean for brands when an update is rolled out? These updates aren’t designed to target any particular page or website but instead improve the overall quality of search results by ‘judging’ content to a higher standard.

With that in mind, the second core update of 2023 made some updates to how sites are judged for their content, backlink profile, and technical foundation:

• Content – Is your content of sufficient quality? Is your content attributed to professional authors?
• Backlinks – Are there enough external backlinks coming into the site from relevant and authoritative sources?
• Technical foundation – Is all site content crawlable, accessible, and in line with Google’s best practice guidelines?

Impacts of the August 2023 core update

With almost a month under our belts since the start of the core algorithm rollout, the update was a big one but featured less varied volatility in the weeks from start to finish. Where the March 2023 update saw spikes in volatility, a key feature of the August update was a consistently heated period from start to finish.

Mordy Obstein from Semrush said, “When you look at it all together it’s a bit of a mixed bag. From a peak volatility point of view, August was more powerful than the March 2023 Core Update. However, if you look at the increase in rank volatility as compared to the pre-update volatility then the March 2023 Core Update seems more significant. However, even there, as mentioned, more than a few verticals saw more dramatic volatility increases with the most recent update.”

Many brands will be lucky to see minimal impact from the update, however, some of the most significant impacts have been felt within the retail industry for top 3 and top 5 positions, with the finance industry following behind. At the opposite end of the scale, the health niche saw the lowest fluctuations, according to Similarweb’s Shay Harel.

September 2023 Helpful Content update

In addition to the August Core Algorithm update, there is a Helpful Content updated underway in September, expected to be fully rolled out by the end of the month. This update will include some interesting developments for AI content, as well as tightening the rules on third-party content.

Third-party content 

This update to the guidance cracks down on the hosting of third-party content on main part of a website or on a subdomain. The purpose of this is usually to utilise the domain rating of the host site to improve ranking. This update means that websites hosting third-party content on their sites will be penalised.

AI content guidelines

Previously Google Helpful Content guidance on AI has stressed the prioritisation of human-written content over any AI-generated content, however, the September update has seen a key change in the wording of the guidance. Where the guidelines previously stated that content should be “written by people, for people” now just highlights that content should simply be “written for people”.

Has your site been hit?

If you feel that your site has been hit by either of these updates, it can be hard to know where to start to recover performance. It’s important to know that a hit doesn’t necessarily indicate wrong-doing on your part and your pages might be in great shape. Google stresses that a decrease in performance doesn’t have to mean there is anything to fix.

That being said, Google has offered some suggestions to think about when handling a knock from an algorithm update.

If you are in need of some expert support to help you navigate the impacts of these updates, the team at Fusion Unlimited can offer guidance and help assess where improvements could be made in line with Google’s recommendations.

Don’t feel like you are stuck in the dark, get in touch today and we can support your site’s recovery.

As of July 1^st, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) will take over from Universal Analytics (UA) as Google’s primary analytics service. If you haven’t set up the latest generation of web analytics yet then we recommend acting fast and getting your website data migrated. If you are unsure where to start, get in touch and we can help get you off the ground.

*Touch wood* The transition to GA4 has been relatively straightforward for most brands. Google’s wizard that pops up on Universal Analytics does a fairly good job of simplifying the transition process, however it can’t go far beyond the basics.

So, we have put together a list of some of the most common challenges and questions appearing for those setting up GA4 and offer advice on how to solve them.

GA4 Challenges

Without further ado, here at the common GA4 challenges and their workarounds: 

1. Understanding New Concepts

While we still have access to some of the core metrics we’re all used to from UA, GA4 presents some new concepts to grapple with. Understanding exactly what has changed and how the new concepts work will mean you can reap the benefits of the new system more effectively. Examples include:

• GA becomes entirely event driven, and sessions in the classic sense don’t exist anymore. Instead, a session should be viewed as a group of events attributed to one user.
• Goals no longer exist, and are replaced with conversions. Conversions are configured by defining custom events, then setting these events as conversions.
• Whilst bounce rate still exists, it is joined by engaged sessions. An engaged session is one where a user has a “meaningful” engagement, and the threshold for defining bounce rate is lowered. This appears to be a positive move – instead of measuring a perceived negative (amount of people leaving the site after viewing one page), we can now also measure a positive (did the user engage in a meaningful way, even if on one page).

2. How to Create Events in GA4

• Click events, which can be found in the property column.
• Click ‘Create Event’.
• Select the event to modify or create a new one in the ‘Custom Events’ table.
• Adjust the conditions and parameters as needed.
• Click Save.

What is an event?

In GA, an event offers you the means of measuring a specific interaction or occurrence on your website. For example, you might set up an event that identifies when a visitor to your site has viewed a confirmation page, such as after the successful submission of a contact form, or when a visitor successfully completes a purchase. They could also be as simple as tracking when a page is loaded in the browser.

You can also use events to track and measure system behaviour, for example if an app crashes.

3. How to Set Up Conversions in GA4

All conversions are events but not all events are conversions. In GA4, you will set up conversions the same way you set up events (see above), but what defines a conversion is that they should be measurements of site performance.

Some example of goals include: 

• Complete purchases
• Contact form leads
• Newsletter sign ups

After you have followed the steps to create an event, setting it up as a conversion is really simple. You go to the conversions option in admin and you should find your new event listed here (don’t worry if it’s not there immediately, sometimes it can take a short while to appear). Using the slider, mark it as a conversion and you are good to go!

4. Transferring Reporting

For many brands, Google’s Looker Studio is the preferred choice of reporting dashboard to visualise analytics data and make it accessible to different stakeholders.

Recreating like-for-like Universal Analytics reports in a GA4 format isn’t the most straightforward thing in Looker Studio, and one particular challenge that has cropped up is with blended data. In many instances, blending data simply doesn’t function as intended, and many marketers have taken to utilising Supermetrics as a workaround – or to exporting data into Google Sheets and doing a custom data blend.

Ensure you’ve identified the key differences between UA and GA4, made considerations around how your reports will transfer over to GA4, and have a plan in place to quickly get your reporting started so you never lose control of the wheel.

5. Understanding the Exploration Tab

Exploration reports in GA4 offer you a way to create custom detailed analyses of your data and performance so you can really get down to the nitty gritty details of what goes on within your site or app. 

With a range of custom templates you can choose to visualise your data and with a vast variety of filters and segments to help ensure you are getting the exact detail and insight you are looking for, explorations are invaluable for brands wanting to really get up close and personal with their data.

When logged into GA4, you can find the exploration tab to the left. Here you will be presented with the option to start a new blank exploration or choose a template to get you off the ground. 

There is loads to learn within the exploration tool and one of the best things we can recommend is allocating some time to have a look around and get familiar with exactly what’s on offer and the potential you can tap into. 

The GA4 Deadline in Fast Approaching 

Google will be saying goodbye to Universal Analytics and welcoming in Google Analytics 4 on the 1st of July, and it’s imperative that you get set up and start tracking before then. If you are still having difficulty with GA4 and could use some support from industry experts, the Fusion Unlimited team can offer you support and training to help you get the ball rolling. Don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Through years of experience providing marketing support to some of the UK’s best and biggest brands, we have come to understand which strategies really work to meet performance marketing objectives. One thing is clear – for ambitious brands, a multi-channel strategy is essential. It gives audiences the opportunity to engage with your brand at a higher level, enabling you to cast a wide net and cultivate leads throughout the marketing funnel.

What some brands overlook in today’s day and age, though, is that ‘multi-channel’ is not limited to digital. The lines between digital and traditional are blurred, and so we contrast ‘standard digital’ activity with ‘programmatic digital’ – where programmatic includes OOH media. Programmatic and offline media strategies can play a vital role in the consumer purchasing journey, and without an active presence in these channels, you could be missing out on touchpoints that ultimately lead to sales.

That’s why this blog will explain some of the simple concepts behind programmatic digital and offline media services – and how they could complement your standard digital activity.

At Fusion, we’ve provided these services to major brands for 20+ years, and even have a 12-year standing relationship with our largest offline media client.

What Is Programmatic Marketing?

Programmatic Marketing is the perfect complement to a standard digital strategy. It bolsters and supports the campaigns you are already running, making for a robust and well-rounded digital approach. With programmatic marketing and advertising, you can maximise brand visibility through using a range of automated advertising platforms.

These channels all use Geographic, Demographic, and Interest/Keyword targeting to ensure there is no wastage and only your target audience see and hear your ads, similar to the way paid search and social works.

Programmatic Marketing targets Mobile Ad ID (MAID), which is a random sequence of symbols found within a mobile device’s operating system. This ID is shared with servers of used apps which remembers user’s choices and tracks customer journeys.

MAID tracks data such as geolocation, frequently used apps, and language, allowing advertisers to build specific audience segments based on interest and activity; for example, if someone frequently visits a certain shopping centre or listens to a specific genre of music.

Whilst cookies are session-based, MAID is persistent, meaning it can ultimately lead to more reliable data which can feed into future targeting. 

Out of Home Media

The programmatic offering doesn’t end there. It also encompasses Out of Home media, which sees ads displayed via large-scale posters, bus shelter ads, and phone kiosk ads – as well as those in the London Underground, train stations, airports, gyms, service stations, soft play areas, leisure facilities, supermarkets, and shopping centres.

What does this mean? It allows us to run highly targeted digital Out of Home campaigns. This method minimises paper wastage and removes the strict timings and costly production charges associated with traditional Out of Home – primarily from printing and posting. 

Digital Out of Home enables you to deliver your messaging to huge audiences in high footfall and high dwell time areas – meaning you can run large-scale campaigns via impactful platforms, and at a level of quality that really stands out. You can also tie mobile campaigns into this mix, and run contextual campaigns that, for example, say ‘Hello Leeds’ to your customers, change depending on the current weather, or even a nearby sports event.

Campaigns can be executed nationwide, regionally, or focused on specific towns and cities – making them flexible and focused on your target market. Crucially, through an integrated campaign strategy you can deliver a multi-touchpoint strategy by targeting users who have been in the vicinity of a digital out-of-home ad with a follow-up mobile ad. This is the pinnacle of offline marketing in the modern day.

Our Offline Services

Here at Fusion, we can go a step beyond digital. Our services also include offline media such as newspapers, magazines, door drops, radio, and standard Out of Home advertising platforms – such as vinyl and paste format bus advertisements.

Again, these media formats can be added to your performance digital campaigns to give support to a specific town/city, region, or indeed nationwide. With the right combination of digital strategy, programmatic, and offline advertisements, you can ensure that your brand is seen in all the right places and by all the right people. But it’s not just about being seen, it’s about the collective impact of creating multiple opportunities for your audience to engage with your brand; feeding the funnel right the way through.

Branch Out with Fusion Unlimited

Brand fame is built by reaching communities and we can help you create the perfect blend of media to construct and deploy a full-funnel, multi-touchpoint strategy to do just that.

These formats are made accountable by trackable impression, circulation, and coverage data – so you still get a comprehensive view of your performance at every level. We work to industry benchmarks, and then strive to beat them so we can drive the best quality campaigns and awareness for our clients.

At Fusion, we are uniquely positioned as a digital media agency born from traditional offline media and have 25+ years’ of buying experience and a wealth of excellent relationships in the industry, which our clients reap the benefits of – from outstanding service, to highly competitive rates.

With long-standing clients of over 12 years in these areas, we are proud to say we know our stuff. Take a look at our out of home work with Thistles Shopping Centre as a starting point.

Why not tap into one of your undiscovered audiences today and get in touch.

Affiliate marketing is a powerful tool to have in the revenue-driving arsenal of any UK brand. Via a robust, targeted affiliate strategy, publishers can reap the rewards associated with promoting products or services to new (sometimes lesser-known) audiences. Through affiliates, brands can grow sales and awareness, bring in leads, and build relationships with publishers that receive a fair commission.

A performance-based advertising method that is mutually beneficial, affiliate marketing is a must-have for brands new and established – and it fits a range of business models from e-commerce to SaaS.

Understanding the Affiliate Landscape

If you’re just getting started on your affiliate journey, there are two types of organisations to be aware of that are integral to the success and deployment of a successful strategy.

1. An Affilliate Network

Affilliate networks such as Awin, Skimlinks, and Amazon Associates, connect brands with affiliate marketers. They serve as the middle man; taking the heavy lifting out of building relationships and enabling brands to access their audiences quickly by having pre-existing relationships built out with publishers.

At Fusion Unlimited, we work with the UK’s leading affiliate networks at a range of different levels:

• Our Kickstarter programme involves a shorter term agreement with key affiliate networks and no inflated costs from them for management. We amplify this approach with our 20 years of Affiliate Management experience to deliver incredible results at entry level prices.
• Our Bespoke programme does what it says; it develops a more unique programme offering to clients, gaining more one on one relationships with affiliates resulting in the highest quality leads and sales. Often seeing us engaging with a private network solution, such as Partnerize to deliver the programme. 

2. Affiliate Publisher Sites

The publishers that brands can access via an affiliate network can be absolutely crucial to the success of campaigns, and the potential to access commercially relevant audiences through this medium is enormous.

This relationship is highly desirable for publishers too, as building relationships with brands can prove extremely time consuming and is not particularly scaleable for small to medium-sized businesses.

So, if you’re keen to open up a new sales channel and begin on your affiliate marketing journey, where should you start?

How Could Affiliate Marketing Serve Your Business & Brand?

Affiliate marketing can be a powerful and cost-effective marketing tool when implemented properly, but it requires the right strategy and affiliate partners. It has quickly become a staple of the marketing mix for major UK brands, and the channel is highly investible given its conversion-oriented nature.

In fact, this channel itself can deliver a ROAS or CPA that is around two to three times stronger than other paid media channels; forming a key part of a well-rounded strategy.

Unlock the potential in Affiliate Marketing with Fusion Unlimited  

For brands small and large, there are a wealth of conversion opportunities to jump on by deploying a strong affiliate marketing programme. At Fusion Unlimited, we’ve been deploying affililate strategies for almost 20 years, and have a tailored set of programmes to help businesses of differing sizes and budgets:

• Our Kickstarter programme is a great way to get into the affiliate space, the Kickstarter programme is specialised to help small businesses dodge high setup fees and get the ball rolling.
• Our Traditional programme is designed for more established brands, and provides a familiar approach to affiliate marketing. This programme helps brand see quicker returns and accelerated growth. Compared to the Kickstarter programme, this package involves slightly higher set up costs and will likely carry a monthly access fee and commission override.
• Our Bespoke programme helps businesses that have plateaued or that are struggling to grow. It utilises private network technology and advanced tools that aren’t available to traditional affiliate networks. Private networks offer a more detailed view of your affiliate programme with better control to help identify opportunities and support growth.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss how we can support you with the next step in your business’ affiliate marketing journey.