James Swann Digital Marketing

Do you need to join an online marketing course to get the right tools for your business? For anyone who grew up in the last twenty years or so, digital or online marketing is just another thing that happens. Yet for the rest of us (those with a few more wrinkles) it’s still a major phenomenon that has changed the way businesses of all shapes and sizes go about publicising their goods and services to potential customers locally or in the wider world.

Despite online marketing having been around since the nineteen nineties (arguably earlier) there are still many small and medium sized companies that are out of touch with the digital world and who require guidance in order to make full use of advertising and selling online. Unsurprisingly this has seen the emergence of many new digital agencies specialising in online and wider forms of digital marketing, such as marketing through mobile phone apps and interactive media.

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How 3D printing works

How does 3D printing work? Have you heard abut 3D printing technologies? There are lots of things you could print. We have already been printed a few things already, like a duck, a Salford ambition sign and a butterfly clip!

Recent improvements and falling prices of 3D printers meant that the technology is more accessible to everyone. . 3D printing works by a layer-by-layer creation of physical objects based on digital files that of their design. Nowadays, 3D printing technologies have become an affordable and viable tool for business and consumers. So, how can 3D printing transform online retailing?

Retailers can sell blueprint design plans that consumers can purchase on the web and print at home or at 3D print shops. 3d printing has become very popular and industry in its own right since the world’s first 3D print shop opened in Zurich in 2012.  Since then more pops up opened in Munich and Vienna in 2014. These shops have begun to offer bespoke final prints and designs can be adapted to improve and modify functionality. Also, electronically transmitting digital design printing have no tax costs. Nike has marketing its first athletic shoe with 3D-printed components to download and templates for shoes that can be printed out overnight. Besides industry and business, 3D scanning and printing can be used for educational purposes in schools and universities. Teachers and students can creatively combine engineering, maths, design process and history. 3D printing is also starting to revolutionise manufacturing in a wide range of industries.

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What is a Raspberry Pi? #PUPRU

A number of technology innovations have been recently enabled through Raspberry Pi. What is Raspberry Pi?

In a nutshell, it is a low cost, credit-card sized computer that you can plug into a computer monitor or TV, and use standard keyboard and mouse to work with it.

These Raspberry Pi devices are enabling people of all ages to explore computing, and learn programming in languages like Scratch and Python. They can do many things that you can do with a traditional computer, such as browsing the internet, play high-definition video, make spreadsheets, word-processing, and play games. Originally, they were designed to be used in education for creative teaching and learning.

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How do beacons work?

Have you heard about beacons? How do beacons work? Beacons are one of many technologies that Salford Business School’s PUPRU is working with. If you don’t know by now what #PUPRU is, you can read about it here. The #PUPRU team are a group from the Centre for Digital Business with a focus on researching the use of emerging and disruptive technologies in business. Disruptive technology is defined as:

… new digital goods and services that revolutionise, change and disrupt accepted methods of performing business activities and transactions …

We have all been exposed to disruptive technologies, but perhaps not been aware. All disruptive technologies have potential to be the next big thing, creating significant opportunity, as with past disrupters like the Internet, smart phones and Google. You may not see the relevance, but unforeseen digital disruption drastically impacts business revenues. For example, GAME group closed 277 stores in the UK and Ireland in 2012 when consumer habits changed and more people began downloading their games. EE’s 2015 third quarter results showed a 10.3% collapse in voice minute revenue as customers moved to VOIP communication apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and WeChat. Desktop PCs and laptop sales declined by 9.5% in 2015 with increased global demand for tablets and smart phones. It is no longer necessary for you to own desktop PC devices when there are cheaper mobile alternatives, offering mobility and additional functionality. A new service could disrupt an existing business and is a strong motivator to rethink IT strategy and align it with business strategy. This is where #PUPRU comes in and looks to engage with organisations investigating the use of emerging disruptive technologies in their strategies.

Now – to beacons – what are they?

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Ignited Magazine – Issue 2

With the release of the second issue of Salford Business School’s Ignited magazine, the most frequent question that I have been asked is simply, “Why?”

“Why?” is such a provocative question and on so many levels.

This alone is reason enough to respond. The underlying assumption in these enquiries is that everything should be solely digital. A view that, on the surface, appears justified. The Centre for Digital Business recently produced practical advice for SMEs in the form of a “Going Digital” report and the School has been shortlisted in the UK Blog Awards as well as the European Search Awards and the Digital Leaders 100.

In combination, and with other activities, this is an impressive footprint in the world of digital business for any Business School.

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Sophie Iredale

Yesterday, I found out that I was shortlisted for The Drums prestigious Women In Search Award 2016 (#WomenInSearch)! The Women in Search Award is a celebration of women in the field of search marketing, particularly those who have demonstrated expertise, creativity and innovation.

What is Search Marketing? In its simplest form, Search marketing is a form of digital marketing that aims to improve the visibility of a website or digital profile, such as a social media page, within a search engines results pages. The overall aim is to improve web page ranking and drive targeted traffic back to a webpage or profile. A variety of techniques, tactics, tools and strategies are utilised in the process. For more insight into Search Marketing, in particular search engine optimisation, visit this page.

The Drum said the initiative also aims to highlight the “gender imbalance in the search marketing industry and to showcase and celebrate the opportunity for women in the sector”.

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Professor David Spicer

Salford Business School Academics show innovation and insight in business thinking.

I am delighted to be able to introduce you to the second issue of the Salford Business School (#SalfordBSchool) magazine Ignited. Having recently joined the School I had done my research before I joined as Dean. I knew that Salford has a great reputation for innovation in applied, industry focused programmes and research. When I arrived, I was delighted to find out just how much great work was being done here at Salford that I wasn’t yet aware of. This magazine showcases some of the best in thinking and research here at Salford. I’ll highlight just some of the articles below.

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Alex Fenton, Producer of the Creative Entrepreneur event

How can a business school teach entrepreneurship? Can you learn how to develop a business model or a marketing plan from a book? Meeting and hearing from successful international entrepreneurs sharing their real life stories, gaining feedback on ideas and establishing new links are all great ways to learn about entrepreneurship and grow your network.

At Salford we recognise the importance of strong links with industry. They help us keep our teaching relevant to the real world and mean we can offer great opportunities to help our students to get employment-ready.

Our Creative Entrepreneur event is a key example of this in practice. At the event, held annually at our state of the art campus at MediaCityUK, individuals from partner organisations volunteer their time and share their experience with students at the University of Salford.

At the latest event, on 25th of November 2015, we welcomed over 40 guest speakers who delivered an exciting programme of master-classes, panel sessions and installations to inspire, inform and entertain over 460 attendees. These were a combination of local businesses, University staff, students and local colleges. Several of our courses and modules were present, creating great opportunities for our students. Read on to find out more about key points from the event and what happened.

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Northern Digital Awards

Salford Business School and The Candidate Ltd have been short-listed by the Northern Digital Awards 2016. This recognition in the category of “Digital Marketing Campaign – Third Sector” is for the success with student recruitment to the free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) which is part of an international collaboration developing Digital and Social Media Marketing masters course (JEMSS project).

The objective of the iversity.org hosted course was to create an online campaign to promote a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Digital and Social Media Marketing to global digital marketing enthusiasts and attract 3,000 student sign-ups.

As the course development is co-funded with support from the European Commission, MOOC promotion activity must deliver agreed EU objectives. This included the dissemination activity from 4 European partner universities: University of National & World Economy (Bulgaria), City College (Greece), Kaunas Technical University (Lithuania) and University of Lodz (Poland). All digital marketing communications were managed by England’s Salford Business School (lead partner) and The Candidate Ltd – both part of the Northern Powerhouse.

Why was this digital marketing campaign short-listed by the Northern Digitals Awards?

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Dr Aleksej Heinze

A Digital marketing strategy is critical for organisations operating in markets with high Internet penetration.

However, one of the challenges in digital marketing is that it is based on communications using technologies where hardly a week goes by without a search engine ranking algorithm update or a social network update. Keeping track of the technical changes alone becomes a major task and then there is the need to work out how these changes affect an individual organisation and ultimately its business model.

No organisation wants to follow in Blockbuster’s footsteps and have to close due to not keeping up with the latest technological offerings and how the changes impact on their customers. Researching and teaching digital marketing over the last 10 years has shown that whilst there is change there are also a number of constants.

As we discuss on our Digital Marketing Strategy course, the success of a digital marketing strategy is always dependent on its implementation. How do organisations go about developing and implementing their long term (from 3 to 5 year) plans in such a fast paced and constantly changing environment?

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