Tag Archives: digital

There is still demand out there from new car buyers

Engaging with up to 600,000 consumers per year across some of the UK’s biggest publishers, TLA is uniquely positioned to monitor consumer behavioural trends.

Antony Neill, Head of Data Insight at TLA, talks through some of the key consumer trends we have observed through our interaction with consumers in the past week.

Five minutes with… TLA Head of Digital Marketing Paul Court

Next up in our Q&A series we have Paul Court, who leads digital execution strategy for our clients across all verticals.

Paul joined TLA just over 18 months ago from Time Out, where he held the position of senior digital marketing manager. Prior to that he was part of an extensive digital acquisition team at lastminute.com. 

Here, he talks about the role of digital marketing at TLA, the passions that drive him and the future of performance marketing.

What is the role of your department at TLA?

The marketing department is the voice of the customer, so we must work to understand customer pain points and connect the most relevant client with that consumer. We work across all channel activity to drive the most effective and cost-efficient results for our clients.

What have been your biggest projects from the first half of 2019?

In the first half of 2019, the biggest project I’ve been working on is a digital transformation project around our proprietary audience platform. We’re building out a best-in-class platform that can connect audiences with client campaigns to deliver performance. I’ve been setting the 5 year vision for the platform and working on a 12 month execution plan to realise that vision.

What area of your work are you most passionate about and why?

I’m most passionate about team progression and enabling all members of the team to progress in their careers. Digital Marketing is a vast landscape and there’s lots of opportunities to find the role that suits you best so working with the team to help identify and pursue that role means that they’re working in the most effective way, which in turn delivers results for the business and for our clients.

What are your predictions for your profession and/or industry?

Digital marketing is constantly evolving, always at a rapid pace so any prediction is difficult. A few things that stick out are:

  • The continuous move to ‘performance’. Marketeers are becoming savvier about where to put their money. With the rise of big platforms in FB, Google etc. performance accountability and execution has never been easier. Traditional display, through programmatic means has operated in an opaque manner for too long and transparency on what any given activity is delivering will continue to be key.
  • The rise of the big platforms has led to data silos and a war around data ownership. Walled Gardens in Google/FB/Amazon etc. mean that cross channel measurement becomes ever more challenging and there’s even more financial pressure on publishers who don’t always have the scale of a big corporate to compete.

How will they impact the way we do things at TLA?

Platform X will be our attempt to solve this industry’s wide problem, bringing performance and accountability whilst appropriately rewarding publisher contribution. It’s an exciting time for the digital marketing ecosystem as people continue to get more au fait with data and the impact it can have on digital execution effectiveness.

Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any books, blogs or websites you would recommend?

I tend to listen to several podcasts to keep up with the latest goings on in marketing – we tend to listen to Ad Age Ad Lib, AdExchanger Talks, The MadTech Podcast by ExchangeWire on a regular basis as well as consuming the latest content from Medium, the Drum and Digiday.

Finally, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in the digital marketing industry?

I have no regrets about getting involved in digital marketing, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest brands and clients across several interesting projects. The piece of advice I’d give to aspiring digital marketeers is to try and get involved in as much as possible. Understanding the whole marketing and data ecosystem gives you a fantastic grounding in wider business performance and will set you up for a fantastic career.

If you’ve got a question for the TLA team or want to know more about what makes us tick, why not get in touch?

TLA features in Northern Tech 100

We have been named in the Northern Tech 100 at the Northern Tech Awards for the second year running.

The table is compiled based on revenue growth over the last three years and is run by technology advisory and investment firm GP Bullhound.

Our inclusion at number 95 is our second award league table for 2019, having appeared at number 306 in the Financial Times’ FT 1000.

Thank you to all our clients, partners and employees for your continued to support. These awards wouldn’t be possible without you.

TLA shortlisted at PMAs for Ford lead gen campaign

We have been shortlisted for Best Lead Generation Campaign at this year’s Performance Marketing Awards (PMAs).

The recognition arrives for our successful campaign on behalf of Ford, working closely with the automotive giant’s media partners Mindshare and GTB.

We were appointed to created a five-month lead generation campaign in August last year with the aim of generating high-quality, in-market leads for its full range of vehicles.

We reached and engaged car buyers in high volumes as they researched their new car purchase and qualified each one digitally and offline to identify the right buyers for Ford.

The campaign generated strong metrics across lead volume, marketing opt-ins and conversion rates (based on follow-up survey data), helping Ford achieve its targets and catching the eye of the PMA judges.

Henry Mitchell, account director at GTB, said: “We set The Lead Agency an ambitious target for the number of leads we required over a five-month period in order to ensure our investment in the lead generation channel would be worthwhile and hit ambitious year end lead targets. The team’s commitment to our goal, flexibility to meet our requirements and support throughout the campaign has been excellent.”

We’re immensely proud of the campaign and pleased to have been nominated at the PMAs. We’ll discover our fate at the ceremony taking place on 30 April at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

The Age of Transparency: How consumer attitudes have changed, and why brands must do the same

From GDPR to social media, the world of information has changed. And so too have consumer attitudes, with increased awareness and interest in data protection, ethical behaviour and transparency.

GDPR, the most recent and highly-publicised change, has perforated the public consciousness as well as the business community. Consumers are now more aware and therefore more cautious over how their data is being used than ever before.

The new regulation was put in place to ensure a higher standard of consumer consent. Yet, despite the heavily publicised lead up, it was reported that 60% of EU businesses were still unprepared for GDPR when it came into effect on 25th May.

However, the shift in consumer attitudes goes far beyond GDPR compliance. Consumers now want and even expect businesses to be transparent about their intentions across the full spectrum of business activities.

Transparency, consent, authenticity and trust are central to affirming all-important long-lasting brand relationships but they remain a challenge for many organisations. A study carried out by measurement and analytics firm Integral Ad Science (IAS) revealed that 56% of senior marketing professionals cite transparency as a key concern in their advertising.

Transparency in marketing

There are many customer touchpoints throughout a consumer’s buying journey. Understanding and improving the points can enhance user and customer journey mapping. Yet, each one brings about greater risks for businesses if their intentions are unclear.

As our head of performance marketing Paul Court argues, “understanding all customer touchpoints and ensuring that compliant and transparent activity is consistently demonstrated will lead to stronger results”.

Social media is a great example with sites such as Instagram and Twitter allowing for direct contact to be made between a consumer and a company. Consumers can even go so far as connecting with company directors (if they so wish), thus demonstrating an even higher level of openness, transparency and cultural awareness.

Transparency in culture

But transparency is not a tactic to help companies attract consumers. Authenticity is key and that must ultimately come from within – a company’s core values and culture.

According to the American Psychological Association’s (APA) 2016 Work and Well-Being Survey, only 51% of respondents feel their values match their employer. Failure to be clear and ethical in business proceedings has a negative effect on staff, leading to decision-making that can damage the external brand image.

A company’s core values should be in harmony with not only their staff but with their consumers’ attitudes, cementing a clear and mutual understanding of honest and ethical proceedings.

Transparency in data

Considering all of this, GDPR should not be viewed as a blocker, but as an opportunity to affirm the relationship between your brand and your consumers. Transparent companies will be able to disclose the fair and ethical reasons behind their regulatory processes, building trust in the process.

Research carried out by Forbes showed that when a company uses data in a relevant way and can be trusted, the customer is more willing to share their data. Offering reassurance and providing customers with the real reasons behind information requests online will therefore nurture the brand-customer relationship.

The assistance of third-party companies in that endeavour, whether that be in lead generation or other parts of the business, must be founded upon responsible and ethical practices. Partners must be committed to putting transparency at the forefront of their business proceedings to ensure that the delicate trust between brand and consumer can be strengthened even further.

To learn more about our transparent approach, read what ASE Global had to say about our GDPR compliant leads.

Life at The Lead Agency: meet developer Liam Moorcroft

Ever wondered what life is like inside one of Europe’s fastest-growing companies?

Developer Liam Moorcroft joined The Lead Agency in November last year and has made a great start within the business.   Here, Liam explains what drew him to TLA and what excites him about his role in the Engagement team.

What appealed to you about joining TLA?

They offer career progression, which is important to me. There was the potential for opportunities that I’ve never had before and, when I came into meet the team, it was clear that they were willing to help me progress. It was also about being able to gain a position in a bigger company.

And finally, there’s the office. When I came in for the interview, I was blown away by the vast views of Liverpool. I knew immediately I wanted to work here.

What can you tell us about your role?

The development team is split into two teams, the engagement team and the platform team. My team, the engagement team, create all the websites and front-facing sites that customers interact with.

My role varies day-to-day due to new features or add-ons that stakeholders may have asked for. Every few weeks we carry out work to maintain the websites to ensure they’re as user-friendly as possible.

What aspects of your role are you most passionate about?

I think discovering new technology is really important to me and it’s what I enjoy most within my role. As a developer, you can’t stand still- you have to keep up to date with new technology as it is always changing. The team I work with are great and make the projects that we work on even more enjoyable.

What can you tell us about your work that would be of interest to developers who are ready for a new challenge?

I think the technology is the big one – if you’re intrigued and enjoy experimenting with new software and technology and being able to do that on a daily basis, then this is the place for you! I guess that’s what continues to appeal to me about this role – the idea of constantly being involved with new technology, being able to research and explore whilst constantly being challenged to find improvements.

We are always asking ourselves, “how can we make this page faster?”, “how can we make this page more user-friendly?”. We are always trying to think of new and improved ways of making the user’s journey through the site better. If those sorts of challenges excite you, then this sort of role is definitely for you.

What else can you tell us about life at TLA?

I think the office and the aesthetics of it make it a great place to be. We’ve got 360⁰ views of Liverpool from our office floor and it just makes it a really pleasant environment to work in.

The bar is pretty cool too. On a Friday, we have a check-in where we grab a drink and discuss whatwe’ve been working on throughout the week. It’s good to hear about what everyone else is up to in the office as we are normally working within our own smaller teams day-to-day. That’s great because it creates a togetherness and a fun teamworking environment.

What’s it like working with the rest of the team?

What I have found working here is that everyone is super friendly and helpful. As a whole, and within my team, everyone is willing to support each other. The general attitude is that there is no such thing as a dumb question and this really gets the best performance out of you as it encourages us to take on a challenge and not be afraid to make a mistake.

I think that’s what helped me to get off on the front foot when I first started at TLA. I had quite a few gaps in my knowledge and I had to learn a lot quite quickly, but everyone was supportive and patient with me, which has helped me to get to where I am today.

To view our latest developer jobs in Liverpool, visit our careers page.

Justin Thorne joins TLA to lead digital team

As we continue to extend reach within each of our verticals and improve the efficiency of our lead generation processes, we have appointed Justin Thorne as our new head of digital.

Justin (left) has joined us from neuromarketing company Lab, where he had spent three years and was responsible for leading its performance marketing teams. Prior to that role, he held senior marketing positions at Kenshoo and SmartFocus.

At TLA, Thorne will lead a team of digital channel specialists, UX designers and CRO specialists in creating intent and technology-led, lead generation campaigns.

His focus will be on developing strategies that help us connect with and nurture in-market consumers within automotive, property and education.

Justin’s arrival follows the appointment of Antony Neill as performance manager, who joined us from a technology business within the Bibby Line Group earlier this year.

Commenting on their arrivals, TLA’s CEO Anton Hanley said: “We continuously look for ways to improve the services we provide to clients and consumers, which includes recruiting people who can bring something special to our team. Justin and Antony have a wealth of relevant experience in marketing roles; but more importantly, they have the skills, enthusiasm and ideas to implement positive change within the business.

“Justin will help us extend our market reach, so that we connect with more of our clients’ potential customers at different stages of their buying journey; while Antony will drive performance improvements across each stage of our process to ensure the leads we provide are of the highest quality.”

Our growth is set to continue with a number of other exciting vacancies now live within our careers section