Cognition Blog
Unlock a First-Class Employer Brand with the Social Identity Theory
by Emily Johnson on May 15, 2024
The benefits of crafting a distinctive, sought-after employer brand can’t be overlooked - especially in today’s era of tough competition and high employee expectations....
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2 min read
Brand Spotlight: How General Electric Harnesses the Power of Marketing Psychology
by Emily Johnson on May 13, 2024
In this blog, we explore the world of General Electric’s psychology-driven marketing, outlining how they leverage cognitive biases to position themselves as an...
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4 min read
The Overconfidence Effect: What Marketers can learn from Jeff Bezos’ Biggest Mistake
by Olly Forrester on May 1, 2024
Sometimes, even billionaires make mistakes. In 2014, Jeff Bezos had a plan to make Amazon a ‘loveable brand’. He wanted the e-commerce giant to be less Walmart and more...
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2 min read
A Marketer’s Data Dilemma: Why More Isn’t Always Better
by Emily Johnson on April 10, 2024
In today's data-driven marketing landscape, the sheer volume of information available often leaves marketers feeling overwhelmed. According to a 2022 study by Adverity,...
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2 min read
Who Cares Wins: How Values Build Brands
by Dr Peter Hughes on March 28, 2024
There’s been a seismic shift in how brands accumulate equity. Of course, fame still matters but character matters more. In 1899, the American economist Thorstein Veblen...
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4 min read
How to Successfully Engage Out-of-Market B2B Prospects: The Information Gap Theory
by Emily Johnson on March 7, 2024
How many recent B2B marketing strategies have you seen that focus on ‘demand generation’? We’re betting quite a few… It’s no secret how important generating demand has...
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3 min read
Unlocking Marketing Shortcuts: Maximising Efficiency and Impact
by Paul Williams on February 27, 2024
In today's fast-paced digital landscape, marketers are constantly seeking ways to streamline processes, optimise resources, and maximise impact. By understanding and...
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5 min read
The Secret to More Impactful, Standout Messaging for Your Business: The Elaboration Likelihood Model
by Emily Johnson on February 14, 2024
In today’s overly-saturated B2B markets, messaging that truly cuts through the noise couldn’t be more important. But, amongst B2B’s complex customer journeys and...
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3 min read
The Framing Effect: What marketers need to know about this cognitive bias
by Sophie Albert on January 11, 2024
‘The Framing Effect’ is one of the typical cognitive biases which affects how decisions are made based on the way in which information is presented to us. If you have...
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4 min read
How to build a successful 2023 content marketing strategy
by Kerrie Malone on January 10, 2023
It’s been almost thirty years since Bill Gates claimed that, “Content marketing is king” back in 1996, but content marketing is still widely used and highly effective...
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12 min read
Human Psychology and Marketing in 2023
by Dr Peter Hughes on November 29, 2022
It is a function of our narcissism that we always imagine that the technologies we create will reimagine our humanity in significant ways. Of course, technological...
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4 min read
10 Tips For A Successful Lead Generation Strategy
by Tim Witcherley on November 8, 2022
Lead generation is a key objective for marketers. But it is also a difficult and time-consuming task. Surprisingly, only 10% of marketers feel that their lead generation...
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5 min read
The Cognition Brain: The perfect blend of Science and Creativity
by Olly Forrester on September 28, 2022
Psychologist and Cognition Co-Founder, Dr Peter Hughes, explains how our proprietary methodology combines scientific and creative thinking to deliver outstanding...
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4 min read
How to become a smarter digital marketer
by Dan Edwards on September 21, 2022
As marketers, we tend to focus on the creative side of marketing - but the truth is that outstanding campaigns are rarely formed from a sudden strike of inspiration....
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6 min read
How to use digital marketing to generate and nurture leads
by Dan Edwards on September 14, 2022
When you consider all of the digital marketing channels, tools and tactics available to businesses today, crafting a successful digital marketing strategy can seem...
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5 min read
HubSpot INBOUND 2022: What’s New?
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 9, 2022
HubSpot’s annual event was back earlier this month and it almost felt like pre-covid times, with 10,000 people descending on Boston and over 35,000 attending online. DXG...
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3 min read
5 metaverse myths businesses still believe
by Aaron Johal on September 5, 2022
As a relatively new concept, it’s not surprising that there are a number of myths surrounding the metaverse. Many emerging technologies spawn myths that are only...
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6 min read
3 cognitive biases that are destroying your brand
by Dan Edwards on August 24, 2022
We have this compelling idea that we, as business owners and executives, make sensible decisions based on rational thought processes, but this is often far from the...
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3 min read
How can businesses use blockchain in marketing?
by Aaron Johal on August 17, 2022
With Web 3.0 on the horizon, marketers are beginning to realise that there’s much more to blockchain than Bitcoin. While the potential for blockchain was first explored...
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5 min read
Why psychology is so important in marketing
by Dan Edwards on August 10, 2022
Understanding the thought processes of our target customers is an essential step in marketing. By understanding their likes, dislikes, wants and desires, we can gain a...
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3 min read
How can businesses use NFTs?
by Aaron Johal on August 3, 2022
As we make the shift towards Web3, businesses are looking for new opportunities to engage customers - so how can businesses use NFTs to achieve this goal? NFTs may seem...
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4 min read
The metaverse and human psychology
by Sam Beddall on July 27, 2022
Although the question of whether the metaverse is already here is hotly debated, no one can deny its impact or importance when it finally does arrive. Imagine a place...
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4 min read
Cognition named Best Digital Marketing Consultancy
by Lindsey Witcherley on July 21, 2022
Birmingham-based marketing, sales and psychology consultancy Cognition has been named Best Digital Marketing Consultancy at the 2022 Midlands Enterprise Awards. The...
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1 min read
How to get greater ROI on marketing spend
by Dan Edwards on July 19, 2022
Most businesses with lacklustre marketing results consider everything the marketing department does as a cost, and not one with any dependable level of return. Great...
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3 min read
Building brand awareness for Nature’s Feast
by Dan Edwards on July 13, 2022
We were able to secure a number of thought leadership articles, product reviews and reader competitions, as well as significant social media activity. As marketers, we...
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3 min read
HubSpot vs Instapage
by Lucy Hardy on July 6, 2022
Being able to build effective and eye-catching landing pages quickly is one of the most important parts of digital marketing. Choosing the right landing page tool, then,...
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3 min read
HubSpot vs SharpSpring
by Lucy Hardy on July 1, 2022
HubSpot vs SharpSpring comparison for marketing automation: HubSpot offers comprehensive features with a user-friendly interface but at a higher cost. SharpSpring offers...
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5 min read
HubSpot vs Insightly
by Lucy Hardy on June 29, 2022
If you’re in the market for a new CRM and marketing automation tool, you might be confused with how much choice there is – which one is best? Where do you start? In this...
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3 min read
Marginal Returns and the Case for Simplicity in Marketing
by Dr Peter Hughes on June 22, 2022
Any human group, from small teams to large civilisations, requires energy and resources for its maintenance and continuous development. As complexity increases, energy...
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4 min read
What is Web3 and how will it change marketing?
by Aaron Johal on June 15, 2022
In the late 1990s we had the static pages and basic fonts of Web 1.0. In 2005, Web 2.0 introduced a more customisable and interactive internet, powered by social media,...
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4 min read
All the worlds a lab, but men and women are not merely data points.
by Tony Steffert on June 13, 2022
The historian Joseph A. Tainter identified key factors that prove decisive in the collapse of societies. Principal among them was the tendency of societies to grow in...
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2 min read
9 smart lead generation strategies for SaaS businesses
by Dan Edwards on June 8, 2022
The SaaS market is fiercely competitive. According to the latest stats, there are over 25,000 SaaS businesses in the world, with over 7,000 of those belonging to the...
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5 min read
7 reasons to outsource your marketing to an agency
by Nicola Doyle on June 7, 2022
With more people than ever shopping and interacting online, the opportunity for businesses to acquire new customers and skyrocket sales has never been bigger. In order...
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4 min read
HubSpot vs Eloqua
by Lucy Hardy on June 1, 2022
Many platforms reach out to your customers, organise your marketing campaigns and tell you how well you're doing. But which to choose? Here, we compare HubSpot and...
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4 min read
Neuromarketing and Your Buyer's Mind
by Carl Senior on May 30, 2022
How do people make the decision to buy a product or service? What can an understanding of the human brain tell us about effective marketing? How can businesses use...
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5 min read
How to make the most of the metaverse
by Aaron Johal on May 25, 2022
The metaverse is the future, so it is time to get familiar and get it working for your business, reaching new customers and clients. The Metaverse is set to change the...
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4 min read
HubSpot vs Microsoft Dynamics
by Lucy Hardy on May 18, 2022
HubSpot and Microsoft Dynamics both offer fantastic solutions to the CRM needs of growing businesses, but how does each platform perform in a side-by-side comparison?...
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4 min read
How to use GA4 for business
by Aaron Johal on May 11, 2022
The ultimate guide to using Google Analytics 4 effectively, to make the most out of your company data. Companies now have access to more data than ever before. But many...
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5 min read
People buy solutions, not products
by Tim Witcherley on May 9, 2022
Your product is fantastic - if it weren’t you wouldn’t have put effort into creating it, honing it and marketing it, right? But here’s the sticking point. Your product...
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5 min read
HubSpot vs Drupal
by Lucy Hardy on April 27, 2022
Where does CMS Hub win out over Drupal, and where is Drupal leading the field? Here, we take a look at how the two compare. Your website is your shop window, your...
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4 min read
20 Shortcuts to Improve Efficiency
by Lindsey Witcherley on April 20, 2022
Did you know that we lose 64 hours per year by using our mouse instead of keyboard shortcuts? That’s not a typo… (2 wasted seconds / min) x (480 min / workday) x (240...
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5 min read
HubSpot vs Calendly
by Lucy Hardy on April 13, 2022
Here, we take a look at the areas where HubSpot Meeting Scheduler offers a competitive alternative to Calendly, and how the two compare. Long gone are the days of...
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5 min read
Ten Easy Ways to Make Your Business More Efficient
by Lindsey Witcherley on April 8, 2022
Whether it’s hybrid and remote working, paring back and refocusing your efforts or starting again from scratch, the last few years have changed the way we all work – we...
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8 min read
How to have a successful relationship with your marketing agency
by Dan Edwards on March 30, 2022
You’ve got objectives to hit and a business to grow. In order to hit your targets, you need to hire a marketing agency to help with strategy and to execute the tactical...
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5 min read
Looking for a HubSpot Partner Agency?
by Nicola Doyle on March 24, 2022
Whether you’ve been using HubSpot for years or are just starting out on your digital marketing journey, you couldn’t be in safer hands. Its robust CRM system is the core...
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4 min read
Working Smarter Not Harder
by Sam Beddall on March 9, 2022
In 2022, it often feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. Many people feel constantly behind at work, which isn’t good for either...
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5 min read
How to prepare for Apple’s privacy changes
by Aaron Johal on March 2, 2022
In the past year Apple have updated their iOS operating system with new privacy controls designed to limit marketers from tracking iPhone users. Both iOS 14 and iOS 15...
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4 min read
Workpad: A Marketing Support Case Study
by Kate Stanley on February 24, 2022
Getting digital marketing right can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to see why. There are just SO many elements to consider when building a brand and driving sales and...
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4 min read
9 Tips for Productivity and Efficiency From the Experts
by Lindsey Witcherley on February 16, 2022
With advice varying from day to day, we've taken a look at 9 efficiency experts whose productivity tips you can follow to start accomplishing your goals. What makes...
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6 min read
Top 10 Reasons to Outsource Your Digital Marketing
by Tim Witcherley on February 16, 2022
If you’re searching for digital marketing expertise but aren’t sure how to utilise it properly, partnering with a dedicated digital marketing agency will save you both...
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6 min read
3 Agency Values That Will Help Benefit Your Business
by Tim Witcherley on February 14, 2022
Hiring a marketing agency means taking into consideration everything they’re about, from work ethic to company culture. The easiest way to determine whether or not...
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5 min read
Winning Sales Strategies for 2022
by Nicola Doyle on February 9, 2022
They keep companies afloat and help them sustain long-term competitive positions, especially in a crowded market. Ergo, if you want your organisation to succeed, you...
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6 min read
The Metaverse and Marketing – Everything You Need to Know
by Aaron Johal on February 2, 2022
And with companies such as Oculus paving the way for huge strides in technical innovation, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) can only get more popular....
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5 min read
Top 5 Website Best Practices That You Should Follow
by Dan Edwards on January 31, 2022
What makes a good website? Well, there are plenty of factors to consider. Everything from design to user experience counts, along with the various optimisations needed...
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5 min read
Effective Marketing Strategies for 2022
by Tim Witcherley on January 26, 2022
Marketers all over the world are vying for the attention of their audiences. This is an imperative element for successful business endeavours in 2022. We’ve identified...
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6 min read
Psychology Tips for Digital Marketing in 2022
by Dr Peter Hughes on January 24, 2022
There is no longer any excuse if you misinterpret or misuse your marketing data. Marketing is the science of persuasion. Yet many businesses who have failed to get...
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4 min read
HubSpot vs WordPress
by Lucy Hardy on January 19, 2022
As the primary window into what your business offers, where and how it operates, and why it's better than its competitors, you simply don’t exist in the mind of...
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8 min read
The Nominal Group Technique Explained
by Carl Senior on January 14, 2022
“The Nominal Group Technique is a fantastic way to gain clarity in your thinking and empower reticent team members to voice their often extremely valuable ideas and...
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2 min read
Website Best Practices in 2022
by Dan Edwards on January 12, 2022
There are many elements of a good website. Everything from the design to the user experience counts, not to mention the requirements for optimisation to help search...
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4 min read
HubSpot vs Marketo
by Lucy Hardy on January 5, 2022
Marketing automation and lead generation are today’s equivalents to yesterday’s traditional outreach and sales. Most forward-thinking businesses use some form of...
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7 min read
PPC Insights and Tips for 2022 - From an ex-Google Specialist
by Simon Wells on December 29, 2021
Google first launched their PPC service in 2002, and a lot has changed since. The platform's evolution has not slowed, and 2022 can expect to see changes in PPC trends...
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5 min read
HubSpot vs Mailchimp
by Lucy Hardy on December 22, 2021
Despite advancements in digital marketing technology, email marketing remains one of the most widely used and most profitable marketing channels across the globe. In...
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10 min read
9 landing page design mistakes you can fix today to increase conversions
by Simon Jolly on December 18, 2021
Your traffic sources are doing their job, people are clicking through and checking out your landing page, everything is going to plan… but then those people leave...
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8 min read
Death of Google Cookies in 2022 - What does this mean for business?
by Aaron Johal on December 15, 2021
Marketers and advertisers have always been resilient and throughout the years there have been a number of events that have changed the way we advertise. Third-party...
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5 min read
Scale with HubSpot Operations Hub Enterprise in 2022
by Lucy Hardy on December 8, 2021
HubSpot has introduced its Operations Hub Enterprise tier, a solution that comes complete with robust data tools, enhanced integrations and even more flexible automation...
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5 min read
20 Data-backed reasons to personalise your marketing communications
by Karl Jackson on December 1, 2021
First impressions matter – and the moment we feel the person (or business) addressing us is not sincere, or is not providing up with enough attention, we unconsciously...
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3 min read
7 psychological techniques of the most effective marketing strategies
by Tim Witcherley on November 30, 2021
In today’s fast-paced world of business and commerce, developing and maintaining an effective marketing strategy requires experience, dedication, and perhaps a bit of...
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3 min read
HubSpot vs Zendesk
by Lucy Hardy on November 29, 2021
Customer experience is revolutionising Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and proving that experience, not products, are the commodity of the future. Customer...
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7 min read
The McDonald’s formula that will revolutionise your business
by Lindsey Witcherley on November 24, 2021
McDonalds revolutionised the restaurant industry. It was once a single burger restaurant. Now it's chain is worth over $190 Billion and features ninth in the top 10 most...
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8 min read
7 Quick Wins You Can Start to Implement Immediately for Your Business
by Sophie Albert on November 17, 2021
In business, there are many wins for the taking. A win is always welcome as it can give your business a boost and inspire growth. In this article, we’ve identified 7...
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6 min read
HubSpot vs Pardot
by Lucy Hardy on November 10, 2021
Marketing automation is the practice of using software to automate critical marketing activities, including repetitive tasks such as email marketing, social media...
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7 min read
HubSpot vs Zoho
by Lucy Hardy on November 3, 2021
This can, however, be a challenging task when you consider the amount of customer data you need to keep track of to effectively maintain relationships with them. For...
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8 min read
B2B lead generation: 11 crucial strategies to drive sales and grow your business
by Tim Witcherley on October 27, 2021
A study by Gartner discovered that generating business growth is the largest challenge that CEOs currently face. A further study by Prospex.ai – involving more than 750...
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5 min read
Is Neuromarketing relevant for business?
by John Berry on October 21, 2021
Interpreting and predicting buyer behaviour based on their psychological reactions has seemed far fetched. Wiring up people to technologies, such as...
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3 min read
What is Effective Marketing?
by Lindsey Witcherley on October 18, 2021
We live in a social media-driven, vanity metric-obsessed world. Web traffic, Instagram likes, social engagement… all wearing paper crowns as the princes of digital...
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8 min read
How to choose the right marketing agency (and the cost of getting it wrong)
by Tim Witcherley on October 13, 2021
According to HubSpot and in light of the pandemic, the majority of business leaders are agreeing that digital marketing is “now more important than ever.” As more and...
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5 min read
Should your business integrate its ERP and CRM systems?
by Lucy Hardy on October 6, 2021
These days, more businesses of all scopes and sizes are beginning to realise the benefits of having customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource...
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4 min read
Implementing a CRM system within your business: 6 tips for success
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 29, 2021
Utilising a customer relationship management (CRM) platform can be one of the best decisions for your business, regardless of its size. Specifically, the right CRM...
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4 min read
The 10 biggest website mistakes and how to avoid them
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 28, 2021
Your website is crucial for the success of your business, yet it is all too easily forgotten in the day to day running of an organisation. Content errors, lack of...
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9 min read
Why every marketing agency should have a scientific board
by Olly Forrester on September 22, 2021
But it is in the gathering of data where things start to fall apart. In fact, most of the time, things start to fall apart prior to gathering data. When data and...
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2 min read
HubSpot vs. Google Analytics: Which is right for your business?
by Dan Edwards on September 15, 2021
Looking to take your digital inbound marketing to the next level? If so, then you'll need as much insight as you can get into your website traffic, conversions, leads,...
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4 min read
CRM Systems: When are they right for your business?
by Tim Witcherley on September 6, 2021
No matter what industry your business is in, properly managing relationships with your customers is vital. From tracking customer data and contact information to keeping...
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4 min read
Data dilemma: What’s the best way for digital marketers to gather in-depth data?
by Georgia Alexandrou on September 3, 2021
Central to the role of the modern-day marketer is the need to collect customer-based data such as attitudes to a particular brand, product, or service. As marketers,...
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7 min read
How to create a messaging framework and simplify your communications
by Olly Forrester on September 1, 2021
Creating a brand messaging framework and taking the time to position your business correctly within your market is one of the most overlooked tasks in marketing. Often,...
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5 min read
What is EEG and what can it offer to market and consumer research?
by Georgia Alexandrou on August 13, 2021
Cognition has partnered with Aston University to develop a neuromarketing toolkit, with the goal to understand and measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns with...
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4 min read
How to create a technical SEO strategy
by Aaron Johal on August 10, 2021
Search engine optimisation is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your digital goals. According to BrightEdge, SEO brings in 1000% more traffic than organic...
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8 min read
Archive, optimise, repurpose? What to do with your old website content
by Olly Forrester on July 22, 2021
The world is constantly changing, which means content needs to be regularly updated to keep it relevant. Especially in technical areas, where software updates or...
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6 min read
How to create personas at pace (and make them super useful)
by Amy Rowe on July 21, 2021
The creation of marketing personas is the bread and butter of marketers – but just how useful is it? Too often, it becomes a box ticking exercise with digital marketers...
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3 min read
5 things you need to know about HubSpot’s new Operations Hub
by Olly Forrester on May 7, 2021
Get up to speed on HubSpot’s latest addition to its expanding CRM platform. As Diamond HubSpot Partners, we get pretty excited when Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah...
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4 min read
“We doubled our turnover thanks to Cognition”: A testimonial from Sparc Systems
by David Buckley on April 28, 2021
Looking back, it’s surprising just how much we did not know about marketing, market development and brand awareness. Sparc Systems had come a long way with our products....
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2 min read
4 compelling reasons to invest in a CRM platform
by Dan Edwards on April 20, 2021
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems allow you to manage your interactions with current and potential customers. They offer analytical tools and record...
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2 min read
54 Sales Statistics to Help You Sell More in 2021
by Tim Witcherley on March 8, 2021
Sales is often seen as a subjective art – reliant on the personal talents, charms and luck of individuals. We all know the The Wolf of Wall Street stereotype, but the...
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11 min read
Cognition co-founds DXG – one of the world’s largest HubSpot Partner Groups
by Lindsey Witcherley on February 22, 2021
Cognition has joined forces with three other leading HubSpot agencies to form DXG – one of the largest HubSpot Partner Groups in the world and an international...
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4 min read
The Science of Storytelling
by Richard Newman on January 13, 2021
Storytelling has been a buzz word in business for many years, but few understand it or do it well. When used correctly storytelling can propel your company forwards, by...
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2 min read
What is social proof and how can you leverage it in digital marketing?
by Sam Beddall on December 15, 2020
Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people imitate the actions and behaviour of others in a given situation. It is the result of a hardwired...
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4 min read
10 PPC trends you can’t ignore in 2021
by Simon Wells on December 1, 2020
PPC is as fluent and dynamic as it ever has been. The best practices from a couple of years ago may not be the best practices today as the industry evolves to get better...
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4 min read
Why digital marketing fails
by Dan Edwards on November 23, 2020
The marketing world is a demanding, ever-changing environment. Businesses not only have to keep up with current trends and industry developments, but also stay ahead of...
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4 min read
4 Key SEO Trends to Follow in 2021
by Aaron Johal on November 16, 2020
SEO is an important facet of digital marketing in any year, but in 2020 – when more people are buying and browsing online than ever – it has become absolutely critical...
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3 min read
Cognition partners with Aston University to trial new marketing technology
by Dr Peter Hughes on November 9, 2020
Cognition has been awarded a groundbreaking Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Aston University. We have partnered with Aston University to trial electroencephalography...
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2 min read
What can you learn from playing computer games?
by Carl Senior on October 23, 2020
In today's age of total social immersion and rolling lockdowns, how can you ensure that your company keeps on benefiting from electronic media? It is argued that with...
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6 min read
11 Simple Steps to Effective Webinars
by Lindsey Witcherley on October 12, 2020
With the new norm, and specifically with the COVID-19 pandemic being a shadow over 2020, it’s a proven fact that webinars are far safer, and more economical to plan, set...
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3 min read
[VIDEO] How to deliver successful webinars
by Simon Jolly on October 5, 2020
Delivering a webinar which engages, converts, delivers value, and acts as a lead generation tool relies on a number of key factors. This includes having a robust...
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1 min read
Do you have an empathy mindset in the workplace?
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 29, 2020
Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, whether at work, whether at home… You never know what’s going on in someone else’s life. Always be mindful of this – and have...
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5 min read
Is your brain stopping you from growing your business?
by Sam Beddall on September 17, 2020
You know your business, right? You’ve worked in the industry for 20 years. You know what your customer wants and how to give it to them. Even so, sales have been falling...
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3 min read
The Secrets of Marketing Effectiveness
by Dr Peter Hughes on September 11, 2020
In a post-pandemic world, the pressure to achieve ROI from marketing budgets is greater than ever. That’s why we’ve put together this guide on marketing effectiveness....
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1 min read
Effective Marketing for Membership Organisations
by John Berry on September 1, 2020
“Business is all about relationships…. How well you build them determines how well they build your business.” – Brad Sugars Socially distancing is not a great for...
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1 min read
Digital Marketing Strategy and Business Recovery
by Dr Peter Hughes on July 29, 2020
The principles of building an effective digital marketing strategy are disarmingly simple: Identify the problem you want digital marketing to solve (e.g. number of web...
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2 min read
Creating buyer personas for your business
by Amy Rowe on July 10, 2020
No business is all things to all men, as the adage goes (almost). Your products are geared towards solving very specific problems – whether that’s cut price earpods for...
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3 min read
Data, Debt and Mental Health
by Dr Peter Hughes on July 2, 2020
The debt burden on economies, businesses and individuals has increased dramatically during the pandemic. The effects of this burden on people’s financial and mental...
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2 min read
How marketing can mitigate the risk of Covid-19
by Dr Peter Hughes on June 25, 2020
Every business faces the same question: How do I maximise commercial opportunity while minimising risk? In normal times this calculation is, at best, an imperfect one....
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1 min read
Trunki, Dragons’ Den and a Troop of Chimpanzees
by Dr Peter Hughes on June 16, 2020
In one of the most famous episodes of Dragons’ Den, Rob Law was humiliated by the Dragons after Theo Paphitis broke a strap hook on the Trunki ride-on suitcase. Before...
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3 min read
The Trunki story: Succeeding in business against all the odds
by Dr Peter Hughes on June 11, 2020
Defying the odds in life and business is easy to say but extremely hard to do. What makes it so difficult is that we are often paralysed by the Fear-Habit cycle....
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4 min read
HubSpot’s CMS Hub is perfect for growing businesses
by Dan Edwards on May 21, 2020
Leading growth platform HubSpot has just launched CMS Hub, a content management system that scales in line with business growth and takes the pain out of managing...
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2 min read
How the Right CRM System can Help Grow your Business
by Tim Witcherley on May 19, 2020
The customer is everything. It is the relationships your business enjoys with its customers that determines its success. Customers generate sales, give focus to product...
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3 min read
Seven Steps To Writing Online Copy That Converts
by Amy Rowe on April 21, 2020
Content is a crowded market. With brands like John Lewis and Nike now competing for your attention against established media broadcasters such as Sky and BBC – it has...
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6 min read
How To Create A Content Marketing Plan That Works
by Sam Beddall on April 16, 2020
The goal of content marketing is to educate, inform and persuade our ideal audience that your brand is the best. In order to do this we create and share relevant...
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8 min read
5 ways to support your team when working remotely
by Sam Beddall on March 26, 2020
With social isolation in full swing, the viability of remote working as a tool for business productivity is being tested at scale. Leaders everywhere have had to put...
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4 min read
How To Improve Productivity In Online Meetings
by Sophie Albert on March 24, 2020
Account Director Sophie Easthope has first hand experience managing clients in multiple time-zones and is well-equipped to advise on how to keep video calls just as...
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3 min read
Crazy Conversations: How They Destroy Businesses
by Dr Peter Hughes on March 5, 2020
We know when we’re in the middle of one. We struggle to find a way out. We get so frustrated we don’t even know how it started. In the end, it reaches the point when we...
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2 min read
Triple hire for Birmingham marketing, sales and psychology consultancy
by John Berry on November 26, 2019
Cognition has won 12 new clients since January, which has led to revenue growth of more than £1m and a major recruitment drive. Cognition has won 12 new clients since...
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1 min read
Business leaders spill the beans on the secrets of their success
by Tim Witcherley on November 20, 2019
More than 80 delegates gathered in Birmingham to hear insider tips of fast business growth at a one-day event hosted by Cognition and BGF. We recently welcomed business...
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2 min read
Now one of largest HubSpot Diamond Partners in EMEA
by Tim Witcherley on October 15, 2019
As one of the early adopters of sales and marketing software provider HubSpot, we are proud to announce that we have reached the highest level of accreditation for a...
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2 min read
Going for growth – mind over matter?
by Gurinder on October 15, 2019
For many entrepreneurs, the time comes when they want to up the ante and scale their business to realise its potential. Yet, of the six million SME businesses in the UK,...
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3 min read
Intern diaries: My time at Cognition
by Dan Hyslop on September 17, 2019
My name is Dan, I’m 21 and I have just graduated from Nottingham Trent University where I studied Business Management and Marketing. After graduating in late July, my...
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2 min read
Personalisation for Membership Organisations: The Next Digital Curve
by John Berry on July 9, 2019
Personalisation in an analogue world is when the owner of your local Indian Restaurant greets you at the door and says, ‘Hello Mr Berry, would you like the chicken...
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2 min read
How to Sell and Implement Software Using the Human Brain
by Dr Peter Hughes on July 2, 2019
According to the CHAOS Report, between 2011 and 2015 just 28.8% of software implementations were considered successful, with the highest failure rate linked to the most...
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1 min read
What Membership Organisations Don't Know About Digital Marketing
by John Berry on June 26, 2019
Digital marketing is moving at a bewildering rate. The Martech 5000 analysis now reports that 7,040 new digital marketing technologies are now available for...
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2 min read
Cognition and HubSpot Run Successful Joint Event
by Tim Witcherley on May 30, 2019
More than 60 delegates attended an event hosted by Cognition at the iconic Cube Building in Birmingham, featuring speakers from Cognition, HubSpot and an entrepreneur...
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3 min read
HubSpot Event Offers Inbound Marketing Tricks from the Experts
by Amy Rowe on May 1, 2019
HubSpot experts will be offering digital marketers tips and tricks to generate and close inbound leads at a new one-day event, hosted by Cognition. UPDATE: This event...
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2 min read
Digital Marketing in 8 Seconds
by Dr Peter Hughes on April 4, 2019
We used to laugh at the attention span of a goldfish, widely accepted to be 9 seconds at best. We’re not laughing anymore. One of the reasons is a study published by...
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2 min read
Technology, Psychology and The Future of Digital Transformation
by Dr Peter Hughes on February 28, 2019
Digital Transformation is not a matter of choice: it’s a matter of survival. As one of the UK’s leading digital marketing agencies, we have undertaken digital...
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1 min read
The Tougher the Challenge, the Sweeter the Success
by Sophie Albert on February 18, 2019
I didn’t want to run today - firstly because it was windy and I knew it would be a b*tch of a run, and secondly because I actually just wanted to sit in my PJs, watch...
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3 min read
Sell me this pen - you useless piece of $%*@!
by Dean Enon on February 6, 2019
Interviews, Inquisitions and the power of social media It’s an age-old tactic, “sell me this pen” but it was brought to more widespread attention in the film, Wolf of...
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2 min read
The Numbers That Make Or Break Your Marketing And Sales Funnel
by Tim Witcherley on November 23, 2018
There are many variants to the marketing and sales funnel, and they all share a linear progression from first contact to close and beyond into renewals and referrals....
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3 min read
A Day In The Life Of A Charity Sorter
by Martin Ward on November 13, 2018
Bags, box sets and bric-a-brac: a day in the life of a charity sorter. Here at Cognition, we are making efforts to give back to the city we now call home since...
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2 min read
Achieving True Engagement In Membership Organisations
by John Berry on October 16, 2018
A staggering 6,829 new marketing technologies (apps, online platforms, social channels) have been launched between 2011 and 2018, with more new technologies appearing in...
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1 min read
Managing Digital Strategies In Membership Organisations
by John Berry on October 12, 2018
Delivering great marketing plans that include events, conferences, PR, newsletters and all that we now know as “the marketing mix”, is bread and butter for most...
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2 min read
Demand generation: the art of getting your brand noticed
by Chloe McHugh on September 25, 2018
In 2018, digital marketing is a complex term encompassing a huge variety of tactics and strategies, so it can be difficult knowing where to start when putting together...
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3 min read
Marketing challenges in manufacturing explained
by Martin Ward on September 20, 2018
Manufacturing is enjoying a rosy period of economic growth in 2018 – but experts are cautious as uncertainty around Brexit continues. A new report from the EEF...
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3 min read
Common mistakes companies make in HubSpot
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 11, 2018
HubSpot has been around since 2006 and Cognition has been an agency partner for much of that time. We have watched the company grow, seen incredible technical...
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7 min read
HubSpot and the Automation of Luxury Brands
by Dr Peter Hughes on August 13, 2018
The link between luxury and status is accepted universally: the more money you have, the more you can spend on buying things which are of little productive value but...
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3 min read
Leads, sales and how to do marketing in August
by Dr Peter Hughes on August 1, 2018
August, for many it’s just written off. But it needn't be. However, if you’re looking to boost sales, you will have to face these three pressing challenges: In most...
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2 min read
Technology businesses - how much to spend on marketing to compete?
by John Berry on July 26, 2018
According to a Deloitte survey published in the Wall Street Journal in 2017 interviewing some 424 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs), tech software and biotech companies...
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3 min read
Why manufacturers need to rethink their Brexit marketing strategy
by Nicola Doyle on July 17, 2018
As debate about the type of Brexit deal the UK should negotiate continues, concerns around the future of UK manufacturing have started to increase.At the start of last...
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3 min read
GDPR - the importance of trust and transparency
by Sam Beddall on May 10, 2018
In the eyes of the average person today, the word data is at once emblematic of our most private secrets, and the currency of a criminal underworld of Bondesque...
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5 min read
Royals “Trumped” in bromance brand-off
by Dean Enon on April 27, 2018
“Bros” are in the news this week. Not ‘80’s pop sensations Matt and Luke (and Craig…) but royalty in all its forms. Prince Harry has asked brother William to do him the...
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2 min read
The Social Responsibility for Brands
by Martin Ward on March 14, 2018
Today social responsibility is everywhere and we have come to expect big brands to embrace our values too. From the recent scandal involving allegations of sexual...
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3 min read
What can businesses “takeaway” from the #KFCCrisis?
by Chloe McHugh on February 23, 2018
Disaster struck earlier this week when delivery problems meant that the UK couldn’t get its kentucky fried chicken fix. The BBC reported that around half the fast food...
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3 min read
How virtual reality can bring your marketing campaigns to life
by Lucy Hardy on January 10, 2018
Oculus Rift, Google Cardboard, and HTC Vive. What do they have in common? They are different virtual reality (VR) headsets that have the potential to change the way you...
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4 min read
HubSpot Update: New Business Benefits
by Simon Taylor on January 4, 2018
HubSpot has announced some exciting new product updates that will change the way websites are built using the COS system. But what is HubSpot COS and why should you...
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3 min read
Wise-up to Video Content
by Karl Jackson on December 7, 2017
Video is no longer an "up and coming" marketing tool. It is in fact pivotal to today's marketing strategies as it helps to build relationships between you and your...
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1 min read
Black Friday – marketing phenomenon or self-fulfilling prophecy
by Dean Enon on November 23, 2017
Whatever the origins of Black Friday may be, and there are a number of explanations behind it from stock-market chancers trying to hike the price of gold to retailers...
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4 min read
Sparkling Tips to Season Your Marketing
by Chloe McHugh on October 25, 2017
Boo. Bang. And Ho Ho Ho! What do these three phrases have in common? They represent seasonal holidays that offer great opportunities for you to boost your marketing...
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3 min read
Want to be heard? Make some NOISE
by Dean Enon on October 10, 2017
Just because you want the whole world to know about it, it doesn't mean the whole world wants to hear about it - or cares, quite frankly. For example: You are about to...
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3 min read
Supercharge your business – hot HubSpot updates
by Lindsey Witcherley on September 29, 2017
HubSpot has unveiled some hot new features and tools this week at the annual INBOUND event in Boston. And here are the details shared by our on-the-spot Cognition team....
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2 min read
10 years in the blink of an iPhone
by Julie Kilburn on September 27, 2017
An iPod. A Phone. And an Internet Connector. When Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs revealed the iPhone, he showed us a device that was to change the world. Here, Julie Kilburn...
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0 min read
4 SEO Basics Every Marketing Agency Should Know
by Richard Brennan on September 12, 2017
The Google Algorithm is like the wind … we can’t see it but we can see what it affects. SEO agency specialists are like “digital weathermen” – frantically keeping up to...
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4 min read
Creating content to get shared
by Simon Jolly on August 22, 2017
Value occurs with online content when it gets seen, shared and connected to an audience. It’s fair to say we are spending less time searching terms on Google. We still...
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4 min read
The Anatomy of a Lead Generating Website
by Michael Hadjipourou on August 7, 2017
Your website is the most important tool you have for converting your visitors into customers. Businesses invest in driving traffic to their sites but, unless your pages...
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3 min read
How Elisa Live saw a 68.6% rise in Amazon sales
by Lindsey Witcherley on July 31, 2017
How does a Finnish company enter the UK market from a standing start and over the first three months witness: A 68.6% increase in Amazon sales rankings A leap from two...
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5 min read
Six Stages of Content Marketing Success [Guide]
by Chloe McHugh on July 25, 2017
Gone are the days of flyers through letterboxes and carrier pigeons. Today, it’s all about content marketing. Savvy consumers and business leaders have become immune to...
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3 min read
How Marketing Agencies Burn Your Cash
by Dr Peter Hughes on April 10, 2017
You can’t keep burning cash on marketing that doesn’t deliver sales. When it comes to marketing, the principal difference between large, global corporations and...
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2 min read
Discover how to reap the business benefits of inbound marketing
by Michael Hadjipourou on March 2, 2017
Traditional, outbound marketing is a method companies would use to seek out prospects and interrupt them in their journey as a potential buyer. However, as these buyers...
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3 min read
Building brand awareness in the digital age
by Simon Jolly on January 23, 2017
Branding today It’s increasingly difficult to build and reach new audiences without a solid content and social media strategy in place. In fact, 70% of marketers say...
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4 min read
5 Steps to Building an Effective Marketing Strategy
by Tim Witcherley on January 19, 2017
Businesses hire marketing agencies to achieve commercial objectives. They do this in the belief they are hiring expertise that can deliver results they would be...
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3 min read
COS and effect on the new Cognition website
by Aaron Johal on December 7, 2016
Content personalised to every user. Automatically adapts to all screen sizes. Simple to design and build. The all-in-one inbound marketing software HubSpot has, for...
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2 min read
Be Mobile First or Risk Being Google Last
by Aaron Johal on November 28, 2016
Here’s the lowdown on major indexing change You may (or may not) have heard about Google’s “Mobile First” indexing and you may (or may not) be wondering what it is. If...
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2 min read
Don’t get spooked by your marketing this Halloween
by Chloe McHugh on October 27, 2016
The marketing landscape is rapidly changing. Traditional, interruptive marketing (cold calling, eshots, display banners, advertising) is nowhere near as effective as it...
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6 min read
Discover how you can Create a Successful Marketing Strategy
by Tim Witcherley on September 23, 2016
Sir Alan Sugar doesn’t like marketing. He describes a marketing budget as money he’s “p****d up a wall”. Sir Alan’s views are held by many of the businesses we meet for...
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1 min read
Steps to a Winning Export Market Entry Strategy
by John Berry on September 15, 2016
In my last blog, ‘Selling into Europe – First Steps’, we set out the need for core market intelligence to establish the key market data on paper. I suggested buying an...
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2 min read
Disruptive Start-Ups: Threat or Opportunity for Agri-Tech
by John Berry on August 30, 2016
There is a pipeline of spectacular technological developments that are shaping up to transform the Ag-Tech sector. In other industries, who would have predicted even...
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1 min read
Selling into Europe – first steps
by John Berry on August 12, 2016
Selling into Europe – first steps Do you want to sell to 508 million European customers? If Yes, what next….? In my last blog (Get a European Base – Fast!), I introduced...
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2 min read
Why Marketing Agencies Over-Promise and Under-Deliver
by Tim Witcherley on August 10, 2016
Why Marketing Agencies Over-Promise and Under-Deliver In any commercial transaction, there are two parties: a buyer and a seller. When things go wrong, which they...
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3 min read
Get a European base – FAST!
by John Berry on July 26, 2016
Get a European base – FAST! So the Brexit architects (Johnson, Gove, Farage etal) have taken to the hills or rather surprisingly, in Boris' case, travelling the world...
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2 min read
What does Brexit mean for business?
by Tim Witcherley on July 6, 2016
With the UK’s volatile financial markets plunged into uncertainty, the Brexit fallout has well and truly begun. The process of leaving the EU will take time, and there...
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1 min read
Why Route to Growth is the only route to growth.
by Dr Peter Hughes on June 15, 2016
Every business needs growth and every marketing agency is expected to deliver it. Few of them do. Why? One of the main reasons is they mistake luck for judgement. This...
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3 min read
What Every Marketing Professional Needs to Know About Optimism
by Tim Witcherley on June 10, 2016
Optimism would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic. Over the last half-century, much of popular psychology has extolled the benefits of an optimistic outlook. From curing...
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3 min read
3 tips for optimising your manufacturing company’s website
by Simon Jolly on March 9, 2016
Digital marketing is, in relative terms, a recent introduction to the manufacturing industry – albeit one that’s growing in importance all the time. However, some...
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2 min read
5 Ways to Make Social Media Work in Manufacturing
by Tim Witcherley on February 29, 2016
Despite the evidence of its effectiveness, only 7% of manufacturers use social media proactively. This is because: Many manufacturers believe social media is more...
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2 min read
How your brain helps and hinders your brand
by Tim Witcherley on February 22, 2016
Fertile brands are brands that multiply. From the biggest brands to the smallest, they all use the same logic and are driven by the same impulses. The reason for this is...
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3 min read
Introducing...the new Return on Impression (ROI)
by Tim Witcherley on January 22, 2016
An increasing number of organisations are investing more time in developing and generating content capable of driving business leads. However, in their haste to deliver...
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2 min read
Marketing intelligence that unlocks your sales potential
by Tim Witcherley on December 1, 2015
For 17 years, we’ve enabled businesses to generate positive, quantifiable change in sales volumes and profit margins, thanks to our Marketing Intelligence. We’re one of...
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1 min read
What makes some SMEs more successful than others?
by Tim Witcherley on November 12, 2015
Have you ever stopped to consider what makes market leaders more successful than their competitors? Yes, of course it’s because they’re more successful overall, but what...
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1 min read
Interruption marketing vs permission-based marketing
by Tim Witcherley on November 12, 2015
Marketing has gradually seen a progressive shift away from intrusive, interruption methods towards permission-based marketing. In recent years this has culminated in...
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4 min read
Why the B2B future is marketing automation
by Lindsey Witcherley on November 12, 2015
With 63% of companies that use marketing automation outperforming their competitors (The Lenskold Group) and 79% of the top businesses using marketing automation for...
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2 min read
4 reasons SMEs do not invest in marketing
by Tim Witcherley on October 22, 2015
With the average SME only achieving 39% of its planning marketing activity, business owners need to remind themselves marketing is key to achieving better margins and...
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2 min read
10 Things you can do today to avoid making bad business decisions
by Tim Witcherley on October 11, 2015
In the non-corporate sector, key commercial decisions are made either by owner/managers or small Boards of Directors with wide-ranging responsibilities beyond the narrow...
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3 min read
Opportunity and risk: the future of the software industry
by Tim Witcherley on August 10, 2015
When a sector is buoyant and at the forefront of technological innovation and commercial investment, the human brain tends to maximise the opportunity and minimise the...
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1 min read
Food delisting: Why the future of food manufacturing is customer-centric
by Tim Witcherley on July 20, 2015
If there was ever a need for food manufacturers to develop a customer-centric approach to developing and marketing their products, it’s now. While the process of...
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2 min read
4 steps to ensure you have the right customers
by Lindsey Witcherley on April 2, 2015
For an effective growth strategy, you need to have the right customers in the right sectors, locations and businesses. This doesn’t just mean identifying people who need...
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3 min read
[Ask Me Anything] What are buyer personas (and why should you care)?
by Richard Brennan on February 5, 2015
If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ll have probably noticed by now that there’s one phrase we often refer to and that’s ‘buyer personas’. But what are they and...
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3 min read
What you can expect from our Route to Growth discovery sessions
by Tim Witcherley on January 16, 2015
In the 16 years we’ve been helping medium-sized companies use marketing to help achieve business growth, we’ve found that one of the mistakes firms often make is...
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2 min read
How the right marketing can improve your chances of getting financing
by Tim Witcherley on January 9, 2015
Want to improve your attractiveness to lenders and investors? Convince them that you can deliver on your growth objectives? That your business has long-term growth...
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3 min read
SME marketing: Measure, review, refine
by Lindsey Witcherley on December 22, 2014
It’s all very well having a well designed website offering excellent user experience and a targeted marketing strategy to match. But if you don’t have the right tools in...
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4 min read
Ten scaringly brilliant marketing statistics
by Tim Witcherley on October 31, 2014
Trick or treat? Want to give your prospects and customers content they actually want to consume this Halloween? Here are ten reasons why you need to get into the spirit...
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2 min read
How the right creative helps you win business
by Simon Jolly on October 14, 2014
In a face-to-face situation, you can establish chemistry and build a relationship with a prospect. Salespeople can demonstrate their authority and establish credibility...
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2 min read
How to brand a new product or service to win the right business
by Simon Jolly on October 2, 2014
When you’re preparing to launch a new product it’s natural to think about new branding to reflect your investment in development and aspirations for success. The key is...
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3 min read
Why you should outsource your marketing: 3 benefits
by Tim Witcherley on August 21, 2014
Nobody knows your organisation, product or service better than you. This is one of the reasons why outsourcing your marketing can be such a tricky decision to make. Why...
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3 min read
6 secrets to choosing a marketing agency
by Tim Witcherley on August 12, 2014
We often refer to the agency/client relationship as being like a marriage – it needs the right chemistry and the right give-and-take to work properly and deliver...
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5 min read
7 tips for dealing with the media (from a former journalist)
by Dr Peter Hughes on July 30, 2014
So, you’re the company spokesperson. Big deal, I hear you say. Well, actually, yes it is, especially if the media have set their sights on speaking to you for their next...
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4 min read