Comprend's Web Management Report 2015

Comprend's Web Management Report 2015 Digital trends in 2015 Staffan Lindgren - Managing Partner Analytics, content strategy, social media and digital annual reports are all different sides to the same corporate communications coin. All of these elements are interconnected and should combine to create the best digital presence possible. What s more, these things work together to increase ROI and, if done correctly, create a path towards successful corporate communications. The movement towards digital and away from traditional communication channels can be a lot to comprehend. Which is why we have surveyed 100 Web Managers to uncover what priorities and challenges 2015 has in store. We ll also give our key insights on what these results mean for corporate communications. We call it the Web Management Survey. Let s explore the results. Key challenges according to Web Managers... SEO, Social media engagement, strategy & implementation. Refining metrics for our digital communications strategy. Further develop a responsive website. Our biggest challenge is finding good content. Time, money, resources. Transparency in social media. Input from: 100 respondents 84 companies 11 countries 53% are included in the FT Europe 500 1

Content Strategy: know your goals 76%.. of respondents don t have a documented content strategy Content marketing has been increasing over the past several years. However, 76% of respondents don t have a documented strategy. Of the 100 Web Managers we surveyed, 47% plan to start working with content marketing this year. 24% 62% 38% 38% 53% 47% 47% 76% 76% Are currently working with content marketing Plan to start in 2015 Don t have a content strategy in 2015 Here s why you should document your content strategy: 1. To know where the goal post is Without a detailed system for measuring success, you have no reference point for judging the effectiveness of your content. 2. To know what interests your readers The strategy means you are able to ine-tune your offering to provide readers more of what is interesting to them. 3. To be organised and consistent A good strategy tells who is responsible for what and when they need to complete it. 4. To prove its worth As with any business function, ROI is important. The strategy allows you to present solid, factual results. 2

Follow Kerstin: Mynewsdesk s unique content campaign Digital is at the core of Mynewsdesk s business, so it s no surprise that they re doing some very interesting things with digital content. They recently launched a ground-breaking content campaign that follows an 82 year old s irst steps into the digital era. The campaign News and content occur and evolve in real-time. Despite this, people still communicate through obsolete methods with signiicant delay between the event and the reader. With the Mynewsdesk Now campaign, the company set out to accomplish three goals. To inspire, educate and encourage more people to embrace the rapidly increasing demand for swift communications; to show how clients can utilise their newsrooms to work with their content in an updated and informed manner; and to highlight an important social issue. Meet Kerstin: Kerstin, 82, was Mynewsdesk's muse. The company documented as Kerstin took her irst steps into the digital era. She had never been online before, so this was an entirely new experience for her. In this campaign, she explored something that many individuals take for granted - the internet. Solution: Under the Mynewsdesk Now site, a PR team followed Kerstin and her activities over 5 days. The content displayed how news and stories can be reported in real-time via a Mynewsdesk newsroom. Digital alienation: Why is it relevant? Digital alienation exists across multiple generations, not least amongst the elderly. It s a global phenomenon and is often overlooked by main stream media. That said, it is an issue that has not yet been highlighted by a digital communications company. Mynewsdesk took the opportunity to highlight this important issue while also strengthening its goal to include everyone in the digital era. The site: The "Mynewsdesk Now site was the campaign s home. It showed Kerstin s activities and data - mirroring a Mynewsdesk newsroom. The site also featured ambassadors who were leaders in the ield of communication, a FAQ section to answer the why and how, as well as featured a 30-day Mynewsdesk trial. The site showcased all the ways a Mynewsdesk newsroom can be utilised. The results so far Has reached more than 200 million individuals. 3 Has been picked up by news outlets such as The Daily Mirror, The Washington Post, Business Insider, as well as several Chinese news outlets.

Here s what Sofia had to say about the campaign 1. How did the Follow Kerstin campaign come to exist? The Follow Kerstin campaign came to existence because, as digital communication pioneers, we want to strive to include everyone in the digital era. We also wanted to come up with a unique way to show how our product can be used. The campaign gave us a unique opportunity to highlight an important social issue, while also creating interesting and relevant content that its with our product. 2. What were the goals of this content? There were three main goals of this campaign. The irst was branding, where we wanted to present ourselves as thought leaders within the communication industry. Secondly, we wanted to show our customers how they can use our Newsroom as a content hub. Lastly, we wanted to highlight a social issue that we, as a digital company, feel strongly about. 3. How do you gauge if your content is successful? The metrics we used to gauge the success of this campaign were mostly media mentions and social media signups (follows, likes, etc.) The more people that were sharing the campaign via social media, the more people would be exposed to our brand and the issue at hand. The main KPI for this was to measure how many leads or new customers visited the campaign site at some time during the sign up process. 4. What are your challenges with content marketing and how do you overcome them? Our biggest challenges are time and resources - probably like many other companies. I do think, however, that limited resources can encourage creativity and motivate us to ind unique solutions that we probably wouldn t have found if we had unlimited resources. Sofia s Tips: Try to think new and different! And strengthen your communications with video content. The production does not have to be expensive and complicated. Most important, choose a good topic that stands out and makes people involved, but is still somehow associated with your product. 4

Social Media: make it worth the while 0/100.. respondents are fully happy with their social media activities We often ind there is a disconnect between old school and new school corporate communicators. In order to feel satisied with their activities, those managing social media accounts must have the freedom to post with the tone and speed the platform requires. This can be diicult for old school communicators to handle. It means not only giving up some control of messaging, but also opening a dialogue - which some feel is risky Content Some may say that corporate content is not suitable for social media. But, Twitter accounts with IR content have an average of 40% more followers than an account without IR content. And, Twitter accounts with CSR content have an average of 70% more followers.* Consistency Sporadic social media posting will never give you meaningful results. Being consistent in your posting is essential to building meaningful engagement, gaining trust and improving public opinion. Transparency Being transparent is no longer an option. So, embrace it. Social media means there is a constant dialogue around your business. Isn t it better to be part of the conversation? 5

Social Media Case: Maersk Maersk s social media engagement is enough to make even the trendiest brand jealous. In a traditionally old school industry, Maersk has managed to make a name for itself as a maverick of social media engagement. Proving at the end of the day - if done right - social media is nothing to be scared of. Four things you can learn from Maersk: 1. Think bigger than products focus on brand values like innovation; feature inspiring employees; or highlight the company s history. Focusing on a product limits your ability to excel on social media. 2. Use employees Maersk Line leverages the expertise of its employees to create thought leaders in the industry. Not only does this provide rich content for Maersk Line s digital presence, but also shows a behind-the-scenes look at what it is like to be a Maersk employee. 3. Be open Maersk is as open and honest as possible on social media. The company shares both positive and negative stories about itself. 4. Move away from sales Maersk doesn t focus its strategy on selling. Rather, it uses social media to increase engagement with customers and to leverage employee expertise to create value. 6

Digital annual reports: time to improve 52%.. don t offer a fully digital annual report So, we ve already talked about how important engaging content is. That, coupled with the fact that your annual report is arguably the best storytelling opportunity you will get all year, it makes sense to capitalise on this by creating a great digital annual report. However, 52% of Web Managers do not have a fully digital annual report and only 3% plan on creating one this year. 3% plan on creating one this year Here s why you need a fully digital annual report - not just a static PDF of the print version. 1. Leverage Reports that are built for the open web are fully shareable and indexed by Google, meaning it's easier to leverage the report to attract a wider audience. 2. User Experience Fully digital annual reports offer readers an experience that PDFs simply can t compete with. Digital reports are fully responsive and enable the reader to expand topics of interest on a click - without being overwhelmed by information that is uninteresting to them. 3. Results Designing it for the open web means you are better able to track the report s analytics and prove its worth to senior managers. 7

BBVA: 128% increase by going digital BBVA s digital annual report raises the bar by pushing conventional boundaries. Why? As a pioneer of digital banking, BBVA recently took another important step in its journey towards digital transformation. The company wanted to enhance and improve its annual report by putting digital irst and using the medium to make the content come to life. With the BBVA in 2014 Executive Summary, Comprend created a unique digital experience, taking into account each reader s needs and interest levels. The result was a 128% increase in page views from last year's annual report. What did they do? 1. Created a fully bespoke digital report, moving away from a one-size-fits-all template The beneit: Allowed BBVA to have full creative freedom and lexibility - deviating away from the cookie-cutter approach of identical reports, regardless of medium. 2. Highlighted interesting topics with elements like video and content driven pages The beneit: Allowed for a better reader experience and attracted a wider audience. Engaging with a wider audience meant the report was also more likely to be shared via social media. 3. Leveraged the capabilities of the open web The beneit: The site is fully responsive - catering to the needs of today s reader. BBVA is also able to track the report s traic and analytics to demonstrate ROI. 8

Analytics: the last piece to the puzzle 85%.. plan to be using analytics & KPIs by the end of 2015 As much as we wish there was a magic formula for digital strategy, no such thing exists (yet). The closest thing we can come to this magic formula is analytics which becomes the inal piece of the digital trifecta. We see that an increasing number of Web Managers will be tapping into the power of analytics this year. 51% are currently using KPIs and an additional 34% plan to start in 2015, meaning a total of 85% of respondents plan to be working with KPIs in 2015. % Web Managers working with KPIs 100 75 50 25 0 2014 2015 2016 * * Expected growth Produce it Produce useful, valuable or educational content to viewers. Aim to deliver information that makes your buyer more intelligent. Stay away from a hard-sell. Promote it Promote and distribute content so it reaches the audience. After all, what s the point of producing great content if no one will see it? Social media channels, paid content distribution and earned content distribution are useful ways to promote content. Analyse it Review the analytics to understand if the content is interesting to your audience and to determine if it is accomplishing your business goals. This can help to ine tune and improve your content. 9

Do you work with KPIs on your corporate website? 24% 37% 34% 2014 2015 51% 39% 15% Yes No No, but plan to Our survey results show that KPIs and digital analytics are clearly increasing in importance amongst corporate communication professionals. Which makes sense. The rise of KPIs has made it easier for us to understand if we are doing the right things with our digital activities. However, KPIs, metrics and web analytics in general can be a diicult topic to get a grasp on. So, we ve come up with a little quiz to determine your level of analytics knowledge. 10

CC Except where otherwise noted, content in this report is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Photography Ulf Bodin, Patrik Göthe, DTTSP, News Øresund - John Wessman, Start-up Stock Photos, Israel Sundseth and MyNewsDesk Comprend.com/webranking Contact Helena Wennergren Phil Marchant Comprend.com/contact For more information about Webranking and the Web management report: Head of Marketing +46 70 971 12 10 helena.wennergren@ comprend.com Managing Director UK +44 203 700 5554 phil.marchant@ comprend.com ITALY, SWITZERLAND AND AUSTRIA PORTUGAL, SPAIN AND FRANCE Caroline Becker +39 02 36 75 4126 Miguel Cruz de Oliveira caroline.becker@ lundquist.it +351 919 935 833 miguel.cruz.de.oliveira@ comprend.com

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