We are happy to announce that First Insurance has joined Gravytrain this December.

First Insurance not only offers a wide range of great value motor, home and commercial insurance products to their customers, but also offer amazing discounts off car insurance for students -the better their grades, the better discounts they’ll receive!

We will be running their social media campaign to spread the word about First Insurance and the incredible discounts they offer to students with good grades. The campaign aims to bring a huge boost their presence online, and drive their core audience to their new website.

We are always ecstatic about having new clients joining us at Gravytrain. If you want to find out more about any of our SEO, PPC, Social Media packages or Web Design and Development services, please contact our Business Development Executive, Alex Moran, on 0203 582 6870.

Last week, Facebook introduced some new changes on their social networking site. A few days later, Google+ made their social media accounts available to the general public. Could this be the start of a real social media battle?

Even though Google have denied that they are in direct competition with Facebook, everyone who has both these social networking accounts can see how similar they are to each other and how there’s always going to be some rivalry (let’s not forget Facebook’s association with Bing instead of Google).

Last week, Mashable ran a poll and just fewer than 35% of the 5,346 people who voted said that they hated the new Facebook! People also vented their anger and confusion using Twitter which then saw #NewFacebook trending.

However, we all know, from past Facebook changes that users will moan about the updates for a little while but then just accept the new changes and forget all about the old Facebook, allowing the social networking site to retain its users and continue growing.

Facebook has now reached over 800 million users whilst Google+ is also growing at a very quick rate, and has over 43 million users. Although the number is not as impressive as Facebook’s numbers just yet, we have to remember that Google+ is only 3 months old and has only this week become available to all people, rather than invite only.

With Google+ now open to the public, we are wondering if Google’s real time search would make a comeback after Twitter and Google failed to agree on terms so that Google could keep Twitter’s real time tweets in their results.

However, it seems that they are still at loggerheads with each other rather than working together. Bing renewed their contract with Twitter earlier this month to have real time results in their search engine, but who actually chooses Bing over Google when it’s not their default browser setting?

I have to admit that I’m one of the people that complained about the new Facebook changes and contributed to the discussion on Twitter, but still found myself using Facebook. Facebook is still the social network that most of my friends are using which makes using it much more interesting than Google+, where nothing is really going on in my circles yet. However, if I find that more people I know start using Google+ more I may get weaned off Facebook. It’s just what happened to my Myspace account, once everyone I cared about joined Facebook, my Myspace got deleted.

At the end of the day, people are going to choose and use a social networking site where they can actually be social with other people, rather than choose a networking site purely based on how great the user interface is.

We’re not sure if people are ready to ditch Facebook for Google+ just yet. Do you have a preferred social media account?

Like most people in SEO, I spend a fair amount of time reading industry blogs, to see what people are currently talking about in the world of online marketing and looking out for the next big thing in SEO, such as Google+.

A couple of months ago you couldn’t move for posts about Google+, with everyone talking about its rivalry with Facebook, its sudden influx of 20 million users and hundreds of debates about how it was going to completely change the game! But now when I look around SEOMoz, Econsultancy, Search Engine Land and the rest I see barely a few mentions of this ‘revolutionary’ new social network.

To be fair, I am no better than the rest, when Google+ first came out I was straight on it and published 2 or 3 posts about how it could topple Facebook, change the way we connect online and add a huge new element to SEO, but now I am paying about as much attention to it as I am to AOL.

The fact of the matter is, so far we have seen little to no impact on SEO by Google+, and although it has 20 million+ users I haven’t seen a fresh update from any of my circles in weeks! Meanwhile, Facebook continues to roll out new features, such as the subscribe button, and both Facebook and Twitter are still much better places to interact with friends, fans and customers.

So where do we go from here?

A couple of months ago everyone was discussing how Google was becoming much more social and how we need to adapt to that and move away from traditional SEO tactics. However, in the last month there has been very little impact from Google+ and Google have not renewed their deal with Twitter, effectively losing some of their social element, rather than increasing it.

So should we just forget about Google+ and social networks altogether? Well no, social is obviously still very important for online marketing, with Twitter and Facebook being excellent mediums for creating brand awareness, customer interaction and content distribution, but I do think it is fair to say that the initial hype over Google+ was a bit much and that, although a move into social is good, abandoning traditional SEO tactics in favour of a social only approach might be a bit too presumptuous.

One of the biggest and best insurance events of the year, the Broker Expo South 2011, is fast approaching, and our very own Kevin Taylor is set to be one of the speakers. With over 25 years experience in and around the insurance and marketing industries, Kevin is well equipped to deliver a fantastic presentation to all who will attend.

The event will take place on the 15th September at Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey. Kevin’s presentation, “Making the Most of Social Media”, will focus on how businesses can benefit from using social media, and how they can maximise the potential of platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and of course now, Google+.

Social media has exponentially expanded over recent years, and it only looks likely to grow further. Kevin’s presentation will be crucial to all those who are excited, and curious, about the use of social media in relation to business and insurance. Social media is a way in which a business can increase avenues of communication and assemble online communities. All of which are absolutely vital to businesses building and maintaining an online presence and keeping up to date with rapidly evolving technology.

Kevin’s presentation will be one of four expert-led workshop sessions. The workshops are designed to improve each attendee’s understanding of each of the topics, which include regulation, diversifying revenues, social media and entrepreneurial thinking. The workshops are also intended to captivate the minds of those in attendance and provide each person with valuable information to take away and apply to their own brands and organisations. This is just one of the many reasons why this is an event you should have penned into your diary.

The event will also include fantastic networking opportunities. This has always been an effective way to spread the word about your own business, or indeed meet invaluable contacts for the future. There is also an extensive range of exhibitors set to attend this year, including the likes of AXA Insurance and LV=.

If you are looking for some expert tips and advice, and a wonderful opportunity to meet friendly faces from in and around the industry, then you will need to make sure you attend this year’s Broker Expo South. We are very much looking forward to seeing you there!

In recent times, social media has captured the majority of the limelight compared to other channels such as email and search, in terms of digital marketing channels. Marketers love writing and talking about social media, as it’s fast growing, exciting and less money is actually spent on it. We have also seen that in the last couple of years, social media is gaining more importance in Google’s ranking algorithm.

However, according to a study by a Pew Internet survey conducted in May 2011 and results released this week, the proportion of people in the USA using social networking services is 65%, whereas 92% of internet users send email and use search engines. These figures remind us that even though social media is important, we shouldn’t let social become too much of a distraction.

Compared to less than 5 years ago, when only around 20% of adult internet users in the USA were tweeting and liking, 65% is actually a good figure and a tremendous growth, which undoubtedly cannot be ignored. However, when it comes to established, continued usage, social media is still not yet up to the same level as email and search.

Usage of search and email is also astonishingly consistent across demographic categories. For example –
96% of those aged between 18-29 use search engines and 87% of those who are 65 and older use search engines too. 94% of internet users in the 18-29 category use email while 87% of those in the 65+ group also use email.

Usage is also consistent through socioeconomic categories as 90% of those earning $30,000 per annum use search engines and 98% of those earning $75,000+ per year also use search engines, which isn’t significantly higher.

Some people may think that email is dying, however we can see from the survey results this is not true. Many organisations are still undecided about social media and can see emails as a vital part of their business as they use it every day.

Even though there’s a buzz around social networking sites, mainly because they are seen as “the new kid on the block”, search and email should not be forgotten. At the moment search and email can be seen as currently the two most reliable digital marketing channels. Saying this, all three channels have unique attributes and if they are all integrated in a marketing campaign, this can lead to a successful campaign.