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In early May, one of our writers—Susan—attended Confab 2021, a content strategy conference that brings together speakers and people from around the globe who work with content. 

The virtual conference hosted three days of keynotes, presentations and panel discussions that were all about content and featured speakers from The New Yorker, Bank of Canada, Netflix, Dropbox. Shopify and many more. Here are a few key insights and takeaways from some of Susan’s favourite sessions!

One of our favourite things about working in digital marketing is how platforms and tools keep evolving. Over the last few years, Google has put a spotlight on responsive display ads - their default ad format designed for Google's Display Network (GDN). 

Creating a responsive ad requires us to collect and upload brand or campaign assets - including headlines, descriptions, images, logos, and videos - and Google's machine learning will automatically generate and optimize GDN ads. It sounds a bit like magic, but there’s a fair amount of strategy involved in using this tool well. The key to success is understanding how the tool works, and the type of assets that will combine to provide a great-performing campaign that’s a professional reflection of your brand.

These ads are at the core of most campaigns we create for clients, so we thought we’d take a deep dive to help people understand a little more about what they are - and how they can work for you.

Many companies talk about having core values - but in our case, these values are an authentic piece of our identity that we cultivate on a regular basis, not just words or an aspirational goal. Our core values are shared by entire team, and they make a real difference in how we work together every day. They bring out the best in us… and that in turn helps us to produce the very best work for our clients.

Canadian credit unions have attracted a member base nearing 6 million - or 1 in 5 Canadians - and offer a compelling list of benefits, but they face stiff competition. Rapidly growing FinTechs and major banks are looking to get a piece of the lucrative millennial market. 

This piece focuses on creative marketing ideas to attract more customers, improve sales and keep your product offering competitive in today's crowded marketplace.

Schools around the world today that use websites and digital marketing to promote themselves are facing the same problem—they’re not sure how to find their data or what to do with it.

Are website upgrades on your priority list for this year? It’s not too late to make them happen - and small changes can deliver big impact when planned strategically.

To stand out against your competitors, increase conversions, and earn the respect and loyalty of your customers, here are five things you can do to improve your website in 2021.

At a private or independent school, it’s important to provide our board (and our executive team) with the numbers they need to see and understand return on ad spend. Some metrics are simple to understand and the line between investment and success is clear. Others - like assisted conversions - can be misunderstood, but they are a critical piece of the puzzle. 

Let’s explore the fundamentals of assisted conversions, and how you can ensure that your board understands how to make decisions on digital channels, and their role in providing a positive return on ad spend.

We'll try to avoid as many of 2020/2021's most overused words as possible, but it's fair to say that we've been learning some new things lately. The Metric team has been working exclusively from home for over a year - and we've learned a few things along the way about good collaboration and staying connected. Here are five 'connection points' we've established this year.

At a Glance 

Independent schools are becoming more and more competitive, trying to recruit qualified applicants to fill all available slots. Consequently, independent schools are investing more in marketing and branding to get potential applicants' attention. However, many of these schools are still missing out because of one common mistake: failure to align decision-making between the marketing and admissions departments. 

Building alignment–and ultimately, decision-making–between your marketing and admissions departments can help improve student recruitment and retention. Here’s how you can get started on this path today.

Independent schools in North America are fiercely competitive. With more than 34,000 schools in the United States and 2,000 in Canada, staying ahead of the competition requires a unique approach to marketing.

Because of the importance and high price of independent education, parents and older students will often spend months researching the subject. This elongates the customer journey, giving private schools an opportunity to develop a more diverse digital marketing strategy.

At a glance:

• Pay more attention to the middle of the customer journey: Enjoy lower expenses, fewer competitors
• Streamline your approach: Get the right data and insights from marketing campaign results
• Employ omnichannel marketing: Take full advantage of all available channels to maximize your reach

Let's take a closer look at some key fundamentals that can help you build a successful independent school marketing strategy.

Any way you look at it, 2020/21 is going to be a different year for private school recruitment. Remote learning like we’ve seen this year represents a sea of change in the delivery of education. But with students and parents at home on their computers, it also represents an opportunity for private schools to recruit more strategically. Here’s how.

AT A GLANCE:

• Measurement & analytics: Get the right answers with the right data
• Gather data: Integrate analytics with school management software
• Build an agile campaign: Address what parents care about

Learn how your credit union can connect with members online through meaningful digital marketing that’s relevant to what they’re looking for.

The role of emotion, psychology and brand in digital marketing for credit unions

AT A GLANCE:

• What online banking looks like for credit union members
• Building loyalty and trust online
• Inspiring members to engage and respond
• What a strong credit union brand can achieve

Learn how to reach banking customers or credit union members online by staying ahead of them with digital ads as they search for mortgages & more.

AT A GLANCE:

• How many people are online?
• What does reaching a banking customer with a digital ad look like?
• What’s aggregate data and why is it important?
• Building an ecosystem for digital marketing

Learn how to tap the power of data to optimize your school’s marketing strategy, so those already looking for your school can find you easily online.

If “data,” “optimize” and “strategy” sound like buzzwords, don’t be discouraged. They show up in marketing conversations for a good reason. Let’s discuss what they mean.

AT A GLANCE:

• What kind of data are we talking about?
• Optimizing your KPIs, CTAs and ROI
• Strategy is what you do with your data and insights

Millennials are the world’s leading generation. Every year, 82 per cent of babies are born to millennial parents. Find out how to market your independent school to this powerful—and unprecedented—generation.

AT A GLANCE:

• Overview of who millennial parents are
• Millennial parents' habits and catering to them
• Overview of steps to successfully market your independent school to millennial parents