Emotions behind Christmas marketing successes

Halloween has come and gone, along with bonfire night and that could only mean one thing…Christmas is coming!

To confirm that, John Lewis released its ever-so-anticipated Christmas advert at 8am on Friday on YouTube and its own website.

Christmas is a make or a break time of the year for all retailers, due to it obviously being their biggest selling opportunity.

From now until the big day, they have to market successfully in order to gain their potential customers and make the profit they’ve been dreaming of all year.

One way they do this is though the iconic Christmas adverts and John Lewis has succeeded in this hugely throughout the years.

This is where content marketing comes as a hidden gem. For the past five years now John Lewis haven’t advertised their own products in Christmas adverts, and this tradition has been kept for this year’s ‘Man on the Moon’ advert.

Watch Holly’s reaction to the new John Lewis advert here

The huge push to digital promotion is also more evident with each passing year.

The videos grip the hearts of the nation by telling a simple yet beautiful story, pulling on emotional strings that remind everyone of what Christmas is all about – family, giving and love.

In turn the emotional, nostalgic feelings that viewers are reminded of create a bond with that story and therefore the brand, tempting them to buy from that particular store more than any other.

Here are a few previous Christmas campaigns that have brought tears to all our eyes. Yet the advert itself hasn’t been a product orientated advert due to the company not showcasing any of their products but told a heart-warming story instead.

Sainsbury’s – Christmas is for sharing

This personally is my all-time favourite Christmas advert. It was released by Sainsburys in association with the Royal British Legion last year. If you didn’t cry or feel one bit of emotion towards this advert then you must have a heart of stone!

Based around the story of WW1 trenches on Christmas day, this film follows the events of the German and English trenches meeting in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day.

John Lewis – Monty the penguin

How could we not feature this one!? The iconic John Lewis Christmas advert of last year which definitely pulled on the heartstrings. This adorable story followed the life of a young boy and his penguin friend who longed for love.

As the days grew closer to Christmas the penguin grew sadder but on Christmas Day the little boy bought his fluffy friend the gift he had been waiting for, a female friend to love.

I won’t ruin this if you haven’t seen it, but the ending where the penguin’s true identity is revealed is where the tears start rolling!

Sainsbury’s – Christmas in a day

This is another beautiful one from Sainsbury’s where they do not showcase their products. This time the video shows real life clips of real families preparing for Christmas and the events that happen on Christmas day itself.

From buying the tree to opening presents, it is light-hearted and shows the humour and happiness of Christmas.

So remember, it’s all about the content!

Juggling Swords is a Scottish content marketing, digital marketing and social media agency. Follow Juggling Swords on Twitter here and LinkedIn here and on Facebook here.

Confessions of a speed networking virgin

By Holly Emerton

Much like speed dating, I knew nothing about this so-called fast paced business ‘game’ and I was very skeptical about how a bunch of grown adults suited and booted, business cards at the ready could make this layout of musical chairs something that could benefit us.

How could it help you in business, yet still be fun and entertaining? I wasn’t sure but I gave it a shot and it was an experience I’ll remember.

Who thought that a bunch of entrepreneurs would be whooping and hollering and rearing to go?

I didn’t, but there they were, shouting like there were no tomorrow, I felt like I was at a football match rather than a formal business networking event. Who knew business could be so much fun?

For those of you who don’t know what speed networking is all about, I’ll give you a brief overview.

Two rows of chairs facing each other (much like the setup of musical chairs), a host with a big voice and a whistle, and lots of business people clenching their business cards ready to go.

Once the whistle was blown the people on the left side would speak about their business, squeezing as much information about what their company does into 60 seconds.

The whistle would be blown a second time, it was now the chance for the people on the right to promote their business.

Then on the third whistle everybody would stand up and move a space to their left and the whole process would repeat.

For me, the process was pretty daunting!

But I went for it, no idea what to expect, what to say or what to do and at the end when I look back, it was pretty cool!

The time was both calming and nerve-racking as on one side I had 60 seconds to talk about what we at Juggling Swords do; who we’ve worked with, how we can help you, previous clients, future goals and anything else that I thought was essential.

On the other hand, for someone like me who had only worked with Juggling Swords for three months and had never taken part in speed networking before, it was only 60 seconds I had to talk!

If you are a small business owner, or part of a business team looking to promote your company, meet new people and possible clients but are not hugely confident to speak up, perhaps speed networking is for you.

Maybe you are fine with the speaking part but want a fun way to interact with other businesses. Great! Then speed networking is for you too!

I shall leave you with a few words of wisdom which I had learnt the hard way from my rookie mistakes:

Have with you a bunch of business cards, take much more than expected because they go quick.

Bring water! You are literally shouting at the person sat right in front of you because the people both sides of you are also shouting! Your voice will get sore and hoarse so a quick sip of water will save you!

Juggling Swords is an Edinburgh-based content marketing and digital marketing agency. To learn more about us, visit our website here, follow us on Twitter here and like us on Facebook here.

Juggling Swords hire Scotland’s 50th digital marketing apprentice

A Scottish digital marketing startup has just taken on Scotland’s 50th digital marketing modern apprenticeship.

Juggling Swords, an Edinburgh-based content marketing and social media agency, hired Holly Emerton – the company’s first fulltime appointment – as part of the Scottish Government–backed scheme.

The digital marketing apprentice was sourced with the help of QA Apprenticeships, the UK’s leading learning and apprenticeship business, working in partnership with the Scottish Government.

Former journalist and content marketing expert John Durrant with his wife, Desiree, a former media sales manager, launched juggling Swords in May last year.

Durrant, CEO of the East Lothian-based company, said: “Juggling Swords is growing quickly and we want to be the best at what we do so it was really important for us that we hire people who are passionate about digital marketing.

“We were pleasantly surprised at just how knowledgeable the candidates that we interviewed were on the subject, but Holly was the shining star in the interviews. With the experience she’ll get at Juggling Swords and the qualification, we’re confident that Holly will be a fantastic addition to our company.

“For Scottish startups like us, and also small businesses, modern apprenticeships are a great option.

“They allow you to take on young people who are driven and eager to progress their careers and it allows them to get the vital practical experience and formal training they need but at the same time, earn a wage.”

Eighteen-year-old Holly was originally planning on starting university this year but changed her mind after finding out about the digital marketing apprenticeship.

As well as the practical experience gained from working with Juggling Swords, Holly will also undertake a formal digital marketing qualification.

She said: “I always had my mind set on going to university but was never really fully convinced due to three aspects; the cost of tuition fees, being afraid of wasting four years of my life on something which could potentially not be my future career and not getting the job I wanted after all my efforts in university.

“So instead I chose to go for a modern apprenticeship and it’s been the best decision I could have made. I am now going to be working for a fantastic, fun company, getting a qualification in digital marketing whilst also getting paid. What more could you ask for?

“I’m so excited for my future with Juggling Swords and I am so happy with my”

Juggling Swords produces and manages digital content and social media for a number of Scottish and international clients including North Berwick artisan gin distiller NB Gin, recently voted the world’s best London Dry Gin.

John Durrant was named as one of the top 20 Scottish entrepreneurs under 30 last year and the company is planning on competing for £100,000 of funding from Scottish Edge later this month.

Juggling Swords was also part of Entrepreneurial Spark – a global business accelerator programme for promising businesses backed by Scottish billionaire Tom Hunter and Stagecoach co-founder Ann Gloag.

How brands are approaching the Rugby World Cup

By Holly Emerton, digital marketing apprentice

With the 2015 Rugby World Cup only three days away we decided to “try” and give you a flavour of how major companies are using the Rugby World Cup to tell their brand stories.

Heineken and the legends

Heineken are RWC partners and have been name-dropping some very famous rugby stars to promote both their beer and the event itself.

The likes of ex-All Black sensation Jonah Lomu and past England captain Will Carling are among major players to star in Heineken content marketing efforts.

Man mountain Lomu was even hidden in an arcade machine set up to promote the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend the official ‘coin toss’ before each match kicks off.

Land Rover and the Webb Ellis Cup

Land Rover have designed and built a ‘Unique Defender’ specially for transporting the Webb Ellis Cup around the UK and Ireland, before the opening ceremony at Twickenham this Friday.

The car has specially designed features such as a bulletproof glass trophy cabinet at the rear, one-of-a-kind ‘Trophy Tour Defender App’ which controls the temperature, lighting and security.

Not only have they built a bespoke car, they have created some fantastic videos focusing on the grass roots of rugby, bringing it back to basics and using the hashtag #WeDealInReal.

Lucozade and the imposters

Lucozade – unashamedly playing the home nations card – have used content marketing to highlight their backing of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales during the Rugby World Cup.

The essence of their digital and social media RWC campaign is that overseas teams have been banned from drinking Lucozade, such is its ability to give players the edge.

Videos show various overseas stars pretending to be home nations players to get their hands on the drink.

Lucozade Sport are promoting the hashtag #HandsOff.

Dove and Rudyard Kipling

Dove Men+Care are promoting the celebration of traditional rugby values such as teamwork and camaraderie.

Just like all the others, Dove Men+Care have also created stirring video content.

The flagship video shows the home nations players preparing for matches, accompanied by an homage to Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’.

Dove are using the hashtag #ScrumTogether during the Rugby World Cup.

Juggling Swords is an East Lothian-based content marketing, digital marketing and social media agency. Visit our website here for more information.

A new apprentice and the BBC…

It’s been a while since we updated you on goings-on at Juggling Swords (slapped wrists all round) but things have been VERY busy!

There’s been lots happening with the company but we’ve been so-o-o-o busy working for our lovely clients that we haven’t had time to do anything else.

So, big news. Firstly, we’re expanding and we’re looking for our very first digital marketing apprentice! How exciting is that?!

Yes, working in conjunction with QA Apprenticeships, we’re going to give one awesome young person (that makes us feel very old when we say that) a job at Juggling Swords.

It’s part of the brand new digital marketing apprenticeship programme and we are pretty proud to be involved in a project that will hopefully lead a young’un’ into a brilliant career in digital marketing.

You can see the job ad here and share it with the world. Do you know anyone who fits the bill?

More new clients!

 Our next piece of news is that we have added even more new awesome clients to our list including FINTEC, Knops Beer and The Guards Hotel.

From those three we reckon we could get a job in engineering, enjoy a few quality beers and then relax in a city centre hotel. Sorted!

We’re quite proud of the calibre of companies that we get to work with. Exciting times at Juggling Swords indeed!

A face for the radio…

 The third little nugget of news is that our CEO John Durrant made his first appearance as BBC Radio Scotland’s social media expert on The Kaye Adams Programme this week.

John chewed the fat with Kaye (who likes to dance a lot in the studio) about what was trending on social media and also managed to insult every Harry Potter fan by saying it was a kid’s book.

Despite the Potter slagging, the BBC liked him enough to invite him back and he’ll be in the studio all week at the start of the Edinburgh Festival.

Juggling Swords is a Scottish content marketing and social media agency. Follow Juggling Swords on Twitter here and LinkedIn here and on Facebook here.

Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happ… you know the rest

We’ve been so damn busy creating amazing content and managing social media for our clients recently that we haven’t had time to mark Juggling Swords becoming one-year-old!

The official birthday was actually on May 30^th so it’s taken almost a month to get round to this blog. But our clients come first, so that’s why we’re just getting round to it now. Does that cut it as an excuse? Probably not, but hey-ho.

Now is probably a good time to reflect on our first 12 months as the best wee content marketing agency in Scotland… we’re talking about us, by the way.

The last year has been epic. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve moved offices, we’ve hired, we’ve loved, we’ve lived yada yada. You get the idea. It’s been exciting and scary and a steep learning curve at times but now we’ve found our feet and they feel lovely!

We now have an impressive bank of fantastic clients and we’ve moved into sectors that we’ve never worked in before – alternative medicines and technology recruitment to name but two.

We’ll try to skimp on the self-indulgence here but we will say that it gives you the warm and fuzzies when you go to events or networking evenings and people there have actually heard of you! Self-fives all round!

It might not sound like much to anyone who works for or owns a well-established company but when you start a digital agency from scratch you have to shout pretty loud and fight pretty tough to get your name out there.

It’s a good feeling when it starts to happen.

Getting to one-year-old doesn’t sound like that much of an achievement but when you consider that almost half of UK companies go belly up in their first year, we’re rather chuffed to be going strong at this stage.

So what’s next? Well, the rest of 2015 should see Juggling Swords take on its first digital marketing modern apprentice (watch this space) and conclude deals that will see the agency overseeing content marketing and social media for some very well-known brands (again, watch this space).

Yes, Juggling Swords is pretty pleased with itself and so it should be, it’s done a lot in its short life.

John Durrant is the CEO and founder of Juggling Swords – an Edinburgh-based content marketing agency. Visit the website here for more information.

What it’s like to watch a client flourish

We work with many incredible businesses but there’s one in particular that has been phenomenally exciting to work with over the last few months – NB Gin.

What owners Steve and Vivienne Muir have done over such a short space of time takes our breath away and it’s been fantastic to work with them over some of that journey.

This week NB Gin took a gargantuan step into another market with the launch of NB London Dry Citrus Vodka. It’s a triumph by a couple of entrepreneurs who are simply more tenacious, creative and bold than most other businesses.

From a concept with their micro-distilled gin just a few years ago – which was recently voted the world’s best London Dry Gin – they have gone from strength to strength. They took on the big boys in a crowded market. It was one that they didn’t have a hope in hell of surviving in.

But guess what? They did. NB Gin is now revered around the world. It’s an artisan product, distilled right here in Scotland, by people who put their heart and soul into it.

For us at Juggling Swords, it’s a huge honour to be responsible for their content marketing and social media. When we first started our working relationship with NB Gin it became very obvious very quickly that Steve and Vivienne completely “got” what content marketing is all about.

They are producing not just an artisan drink, but an experience, and they understood from the start that they had to tell a story about that.

They don’t want to shove their product in front of a customer’s face and say, “buy this!” Too many consumer products do this. NB Gin aims to educate, entertain and enlighten people… and now they are doing it with vodka.

They don’t want to talk at people who may be interested in their produce. They want to join in the conversation with them.

For us at Juggling Swords, it’s a pleasure to work alongside a company that sees the huge benefits in marketing itself that way.

This week, we raise a glass or two of NB Gin AND of course, NB London Dry Citrus Vodka, and say thank you for being such awesome clients and here’s to many more highlights in the NB story.

NB Gin and NB Vodka are distilled in North Berwick, Scotland, and are available from Lockett Bros. You can buy it here.

John Durrant is the CEO of Juggling Swords, an Edinburgh-based content marketing and social media agency. Visit the Juggling Swords website here.

How often should I blog?

Ah, now this really is the million-dollar question when it comes to blogging. The answer is… well, there’s not actually a single answer to this question.

The real question you should be asking is, “what posting frequency will suit my business?”

The reality is blogging for business – like much of content marketing – is far from an exact science and there is no one-size-fits-all.

Customer preferences change, digital trends change (about 50 times a day) and, of course, algorithms change so you have to adopt a degree of fluidity in your approach to your blogging.

That applies not just to blogging frequency but also to how and when you promote them and myriad other factors.

High frequency content providers, like BuzzFeed for example, are constantly updating their content and they are, quite frankly, unbelievably good at it.

But this frequency suits their business model. They need huge amounts of traffic every day to satisfy their advertisers… and they get it. BuzzFeed has a global audience of more than 200 million people.

Look at the style of the content they publish also. Most of it is short, sharp and to the point. It gives their fans what they want because BuzzFeed know their readers are ravenous for new content.

Social news and entertainment websites simply have to pump out new content constantly or they will get left behind.

At Juggling Swords, our strategies for our content marketing clients are normally quite different to this because our clients are not social news or entertainment platforms.

BUT… a good content marketing strategy can and should make your brand a sort of content platform. Remember that content marketing makes YOU the publisher.

Our clients’ blogs will normally be longer and more in-depth and the frequency we normally adhere to is two blogs per week but – as we would stress again – there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Think about why you are blogging for your business in the first place. You’re doing it to engage your potential and existing customers through entertaining and/or educational content. You’re building trust.

If you feel that the best strategy to do this is by blogging 10 times a week then great but we would suggest that this may be excessive. Of course, if done right it may work wonders for you.

Slower-paced, more detailed posts can often be far more successful than blogs that lack substance and that are spat out at breakneck pace.

Let your data and analytics guide you on what’s best for you. There’s a lot to be said for trial and error in blogging and content marketing.

So, the short answer is: Blog post frequency differs depending on your business. If you’re selling a product or service, we’d recommend you try two blog posts per week to start and use analytics to shape how you go from there.

John Durrant is the CEO of Edinburgh-based content marketing and social media agency Juggling Swords. Talk to him today about how they can supercharge your content marketing and social media.

Five content marketing myths blown out of the water

Content marketing is buzzing right now but there’s an awful lot of rubbish written and repeated about it.

So let’s set the record straight. Here are five content marketing myths that Juggling Swords would like to blow out of the water. We would have said “five content marketing myths debunked” but how often do you see “five whatever myths debunked”? Headlines matter…

• Content marketing is all about Google rankings

Now before all the SEO experts start getting all excited about Google and its importance, we know. We agree but there’s a big but here (we love big butts).

Content marketing is not a strategy for satisfying Google. It’s a strategy for satisfying your audience.

Of course, the way we execute our content marketing strategy should satisfy Google’s rules. We want Google to find us, obviously. But one of the best ways to become a friend of Google is to become a friend to your audience.

Quality content will be lapped up by your audience and it will help to expand that audience. Google wants to give its users the best results, so if you’re consistently producing and sharing good content, Google will reward you for it.

Keywords and backlinks are very important but content that is shareable on social media can work wonders for your Google rank.

• Content marketing is all about digital

Everybody gets so wrapped up in digital marketing that they forget that online is not the universe, even if it does feel like it sometimes.

You probably want the bulk of your marketing efforts to be digital, but if it’s your only focus you could be missing out on a huge audience.

Ever thought about producing a special publication or a report that’s relevant in some way to your industry? No? Well you should. Tangible content marketing strategies can be an extremely effective way to target another audience that you might not necessarily get to otherwise.

• Content marketing is the latest fad and will pass

Well that’s the stupidest damn thing we ever heard! Content marketing has been around for decades, centuries even. The revered Michelin Guide could be the greatest piece of content marketing ever devised and that was in 1900!

The tyre manufacturer needed to create more demand for cars so that they could sell more tyres. So they launched the Michelin Guide to showcase the best restaurants and hotels in France to motorists and created more demand for cars… and their tyres! Can we get a “voila”?!

• Content marketing is only for big businesses

Oh no, no, no. Content marketing is absolutely ripe for small and medium-sized businesses as well as large corporations. Why? Because no matter how big or small you are, it’s vital now that you are talking to your customers AND potential customers.

Content marketing allows you to do it in a way that talks WITH your customers and not AT them, like some traditional forms of marketing do.

Take blogs for example. A well-written, informative and entertaining blog is way more cost-effective than a traditional advert, regardless of the medium.

Not only that, it helps your potential customers to trust you, and once people trust your brand, they buy from you and, as research proves, stay with you for the long haul.

• My business is too boring for content marketing

If you think your business is too dull to engage an audience through content marketing, you’re not thinking outside the box. Maybe it’s you that’s too dull!

Let’s say you own a company that makes shoelaces (no idea why that cropped up as an example but let’s roll with it). Shoelaces are pretty dull, yes, but content marketing isn’t about creating blogs and videos about the product you sell all the time.

It’s about engaging an audience who might buy your shoelaces with something that they find entertaining. Do that and there is a good chance they’ll buy shoelaces from you when the time comes.

Wow, that was a terrible analogy. Does anyone actually buy shoelaces these days? You get the idea though.

John Durrant is the CEO of content marketing and social media agency Juggling Swords. Talk to him today about how they can supercharge your content marketing and social media.

Five easy ways to supercharge your social media marketing

Social media marketing feels like a bit of a minefield for businesses who haven’t used it before but there are actually lots of simple, practical steps you can take to give your engagement a kick up the behind.

If you run an SME or you have been given the unenviable task of knocking your company’s social media into shape, here are five easy-ish steps you can take.

And here’s our pre-election pledge (seeing as everyone’s doing them), we will keep this blog jargon-free! You’re welcome…

Use quality content!

For those of you who know us, you’ll know how much we bang on about using quality content but it’s absolutely vital.

Good content is the lifeblood of your social media marketing, whether it’s your own or stuff that you’re sharing.

Quality, relevant and regular content – such as blogs – can work wonders for your effort.

Once you’ve created this awesome content on your website, now you can use your social media platforms to drive traffic to your site and start building that trust factor.

Boost your posts and use ads

The goal for us is always to get our clients’ content being shared organically (without paying money to Facebook or Twitter) but the reality is now that paid content is an integral part of your social media strategy that you should seriously think about.

Paying to get your social media in front of a bigger audience is a great way to connect with more potential customers outside of your network. You can also target the audience that you want to see your content.

Post and tweet every day

One of the biggest mistakes that companies make with their social media is not using it enough. Tweeting or posting once a day about your big discounts is pointless.

Every company and every social media platform requires a different frequency of posting but as a rule of thumb we would recommend at least six tweets per day, two Facebook posts and at least one Instagram post.

Be warned, this might be radically different for your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to social media and you have to look at the data over a process of trial and error.

Talk to your network!

Would you walk into a crowded room, shove your product in someone’s face and shout, “Buy this!” No, you wouldn’t. So don’t do it on social media. Talk to your followers and fans. Don’t try to sell to them all the time.

If they comment or respond to you, make sure you reply. They’ll love you for it. It’s a social network after all. The best bit? This builds trust and eventually they will buy more from you.

Competitions and promotions are awesome

We always say this is a no-brainer for businesses. If you have product to spare that you can use for promotions, then run giveaways and competitions on your social media.

There’s a million ways to do it and they are awesome for increasing your social media reach. There are quite a few rules around promotions on social media though, so just make sure you don’t break any of them… or at least don’t get caught!

John Durrant is the founder and CEO of Juggling Swords – an Edinburgh-based content marketing agency. Contact him today to see how he can help your business.