The last few months have been a challenge to say the least, if we can help even slightly by shedding some light on your digital questions, you can rely on us for a monthly dose of marketing insight.

In this time of uncertainty, a lot of us will have access to a rare thing called spare time… This is perfect for learning and personal development, that’s where we come in. The Pit Stop is just one of the many ways we are continuing to support our clients and educate businesses on how digital can help you in this period and set you up for the future.

• How do I encourage active communication throughout my team during remote working?
• What is the difference between market research and marketing research?
• Why should recruiters be using their website as a lead gen tool?
• What is a backlink?
• Can Apteve integrate with my PIM?

How do I encourage active communication throughout my team during remote working?

Emily Sharples, Project Manager

Having daily stand ups with your team is a great way to keep progress on track and allow everyone to raise any concerns they have each day. It normally works best to have these in the morning at the same time each day with a set agenda to kick off the day;

• What you did yesterday
• What you’re doing today
• Any issues that can be forecasted

Keep it short and brief allowing additional questions to be raised outside of the standup meaning it doesn’t eat into people’s time. Do this over conferencing tools such as Teams or Skype, ensuring everyone is involved with something to say.

What is the difference between market research and marketing research?

Stephanie Tabah, Client Strategy Manager

Simply put: market research is finding out who your audience is and marketing research is discovering how to reach them. You must first know who your audience is before you can work out how to target them using both online and offline channels.

We all know users take a multi channel path to purchase, yet many brands apply the same strategy to all channels. Analyse all your available channels individually and make informed decisions using research and data to ensure your marketing efforts will resonate with the right audience at the right stage of the funnel.

Why should recruiters be using their website as a lead gen tool?

Sarah Toms, Head of Sales

Your website has the capacity to be your most powerful lead gen tool. Gaining more high quality leads, if utilised correctly.

Put it this way, you write a well researched blog for your website, an MD at a large firm reads it and becomes interested in your brand, he goes on to read more, then he approaches you because you showed you understand his industry. And just like that, your website did the hard work for you.

Look at Charlton Morris for example, their content heavy approach is a clear example of recruitment utilising their website as a lead gen tool.

What is a backlink?

Nathan Roberts, SEO Manager

Backlinks are an SEO ranking factor, essentially any link that points to your website from another website is known as a backlink. 

The benefit of having other websites pointing back to your own is all about gaining better search performance on Google.

Backlinks show Google that you are the authority on a specific subject matter, and that other sites are associating themselves with yours. As such the more quality backlinks you have, typically the better your website will perform within Google and if you have bad websites linking to you, Google will penalise you for it.

Can Apteve integrate with my PIM?

Nick Earling, Head of Project Management

Apteve can integrate with any API.

As it is our own CMS, we can bespoke code custom integrations. We can integrate with any PIM (Product Information Management) system to pull product data through to your website.

These can be used for brochure sites, to direct users where to purchase or we can build eCommerce functionality in too, which allows users to purchase on site.

Digital is more important now than ever, so don’t be afraid to ask for some help. Despite what’s going on in the world, we continue to provide the same level of support and expertise for all businesses that want to learn and embrace digital strategies.

Remember, to ask us your digital questions simply get in touch or check out our social media, we’re always on hand to provide a short, sharp and clear answer.