NEWS

News, Insights & Opinions
Newcastle marketing jobs: Marketing account executive @ Podium
Newcastle marketing jobs: Marketing account executive @ Podium
|Steve Maybury
Newcastle-based search marketing agency Podium has an outstanding opportunity for an enthusiastic, talented and creative marketing executive to work as part of its growing team. The successful candidate will be required to work across a range of different clients in a variety of industry sectors. We are busy, so you’ll need to hit the ground running and be able to generate interesting, informative social media and website content. This would include written, graphical and video content for social media. The majority of your time will be devoted to social media... Read more...
6 common SEO misconceptions
6 common SEO misconceptions
|Emma Thompson
At Podium we receive valuable market research every time we attend a networking event or new business meeting, and the recent North East expo was great for getting a feel for how Newcastle businesses view SEO. It’s less and less common for us to have to explain what ‘search engine optimisation’ is, which is both helpful and, well, sometimes, not very helpful. In some cases, search has an unfortunately spammy reputation, since a number of companies have experienced poorly managed SEO campaigns. Or, even worse, outdated or misleading ideas of... Read more...
[POSITION FILLED] Podium is hiring – social media recruitment
[POSITION FILLED] Podium is hiring – social media recruitment
|Podium
This role has now been filled. Thank you to those of you who applied. Account executive: social media & online content Full time, salary dependent on experience Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle-based search marketing agency Podium has an outstanding opportunity for an enthusiastic, talented and creative communicator to work as part of its growing team. The successful candidate will be required to work across a range of different clients in a variety of industry sectors. We are busy, so you’ll need to hit the ground running and be able to generate interesting,... Read more...
We’re on the Podium
We’re on the Podium
|Emma Thompson
We don’t usually sing our own praises, since we have so many impressive clients to ‘shout’ about all the time. However, we do some interesting things, too, and sometimes they turn out really awesome. Sometimes. Emma attempts a Guinness world record Last weekend, I was part of an attempt at making the largest human shamrock. Thought that would be a no-brainer: how many ‘human shamrocks’ have you seen? No, we didn’t get enough people for a Guinness World record – just 287 people short of the world record, which stands... Read more...
Podium’s client shortlisted for North East Business Awards
Podium’s client shortlisted for North East Business Awards
|Emma Thompson
Podium’s long-standing client, Newcastle Clinic, has been nominated for the Services Award in the North East Business Awards. The award category fits the clinic perfectly, as it offers a differentiated service to regional patients: it houses an open MRI scanner, which serves claustrophobic patients as well as large or overweight patients who wouldn’t fit in a traditional scanner. Newcastle Clinic’s customer service is unrivalled in its sector, with minimal wait times, supportive and knowledgeable staff, and a welcoming, comfortable reception. Utilising client reviews that have poured in through the Newcastle... Read more...
Maintaining Google rankings when launching your new website
Maintaining Google rankings when launching your new website
|Podium
Launching a new website is an exciting process. It’s a process that should refresh and revitalise the image of your company, improve the customer journey and most importantly, it should develop your business. But what happens when it’s done wrong? The enquiries stop coming in, the transactions stop and your traffic falls off a cliff. Disaster. What should have been an exciting time for your business has potentially destroyed it. Why? There are a whole host of reasons why this happens but simply put, if the transfer to a new... Read more...
Social media campaigns: inform, educate, entertain… and engage
Social media campaigns: inform, educate, entertain… and engage
|Steve Maybury
When the BBC was founded by Lord Reith in 1922, it aimed to inform, educate and entertain the British public. These three concepts provided the foundation stones for public service broadcasting, and to some degree or other, it has continued to this day: it remains part of the BBC’s current mission statement. It’s a sensible ambition for all media content – whether you’re writing a blog or news article, recording a Youtube video, writing a tweet or just making a Facebook post, if it can be one of entertaining, informative... Read more...
Case study: digital marketing versus print advertising
Case study: digital marketing versus print advertising
|Emma Thompson
There are some business professionals out there who aren't yet convinced of the value of social media marketing. (Too) many still rely on traditional advertising techniques or believe that social media is not helpful for business. We recently had the opportunity to demonstrate the value of social media marketing in comparison to traditional print advertising. And the numbers speak for themselves. After only one week of Podium’s strategic social media use, the web traffic increased by 40%. This is in comparison to the statistics from the entire month following the... Read more...
Upcoming Google Penguin update could influence search results
Upcoming Google Penguin update could influence search results
|Emma Thompson
Google is set to reveal an update to its algorithm that will make Google Penguin react in real-time. The Google Penguin algorithm was first released in 2012 in order to ensure that sites are following the Google Webmaster Guidelines. It introduced a variety of punitive measures for sites using ‘black hat’ or spammy SEO techniques. This meant that the quantity of links linking to a website no longer mattered as much as the quality of those links. An update to the algorithm is predicted to happen within the next month... Read more...
[POSITION FILLED] We are hiring (again): talented writer sought...
[POSITION FILLED] We are hiring (again): talented writer sought...
|Steve Maybury
Position now filled - sorry! However, we are a growing agency and genuinely do keep interesting CVs on file, so if you want to send your details in to us for consideration in the future, please feel free.   Account executive: online content & social media Full time, salary dependent on experience Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne We have a new graduate position available. An outstanding opportunity for an enthusiastic and talented communicator to work within a growing digital marketing agency. The successful candidate will be required to hit the ground running and... Read more...
Majority of web traffic now via mobile devices
Majority of web traffic now via mobile devices
|Steve Maybury
It's now more crucial than ever to make sure your business' website is offering smartphone users the best possible experience, after new industry figures showed mobile devices such as smartphones are now the most popular method of getting online. Smartphones are now responsible for a third of internet access, up from 23% in 2014, according to Ofcom’s 2015 Communications Data Report. Laptops, meanwhile, have dropped from 40% of online connections in 2014 to 30% in 2015. The surge in popularity has been attributed to the take-off of 4G networks, meaning... Read more...
Newcastle digital marketing agency Podium recruits three
Newcastle digital marketing agency Podium recruits three
|Steve Maybury
Newcastle-based digital marketing agency Podium has appointed three new staff as part of an ambitious growth and business development programme. Podium, based at Regent Centre, Gosforth, has appointed Graeme Miller as account director and Iwona Soroka as account executive. Newcastle University student Faye Ripley has joined on a 10-week summer internship. Graeme is a business adviser with almost 20 years’ experience working with North East businesses across a number of sectors. He has previously worked for Go Digital Newcastle, Sky, the Care Quality Commission and Business Link. He joins Podium... Read more...
We're hiring: senior account exec, full time POSITION FILLED
We're hiring: senior account exec, full time POSITION FILLED
|Steve Maybury
Senior account executive: online content and social media Full time, salary dependent on experience Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne An outstanding opportunity for an enthusiastic and talented communicator to work within a small but growing digital marketing agency. The successful candidate will be required to hit the ground running and be able to confidently handle a large number of client accounts, focusing on online content, social media accounts and other digital marketing. Degree in a marketing-related discipline preferred. Non-graduates with at least two years’ agency experience will be considered. The ideal candidate must... Read more...
Are you really on page one of Google? - SEO blog
Are you really on page one of Google? - SEO blog
|Steve Maybury
Everybody wants their company to be on page one of Google. And now, thanks to Google’s tailored searches, everyone thinks they are. Simply put, Google will look at your search history and tailor search results so you get the websites it thinks you’re looking for. So, if you visit your own website a lot (and you really ought to be), then it will feature higher in SEO terms than, say, your rivals’ sites. This is great if you’re a consumer, as it means you spend less time trawling through results... Read more...
NationalRail.com on the right track with Podium
NationalRail.com on the right track with Podium
|Podium
Podium has delivered the successful re-launch of train ticket sales website nationalrail.com, securing large revenue increases in its first two months. The nationalrail.com website has been owned and operated by Chester-le-Track Ltd for over ten years, but operated with an outdated site that had limited earning potential. Podium supplied a complete rebrand for the site, along with technical SEO work, ongoing news and blog content, a social media presence and on-site advertising to create an additional revenue stream. The site, built by Union Room – now cleaner-looking, fully responsive and... Read more...
The effect of Dragons Den on Website Traffic! Watch Live!
The effect of Dragons Den on Website Traffic! Watch Live!
|Podium
It has always fascinated me when watching Dragons’ Den that companies do not ensure their website is ready for a huge influx of traffic. Without fail, every single time I go on a pitching company’s website, it crashes. As long as the idea is good, regardless of whether the dragons invest, it’s an amazing platform to showcase your product and drive huge awareness in your brand. So why don’t companies plan ahead? I was delighted when I found out that one of our clients would be pitching to the dragons... Read more...
Podium helps Northern Bootcamp reach 13,000+ people with social media competition
Podium helps Northern Bootcamp reach 13,000+ people with social media competition
|Steve Maybury
The beauty of social media for businesses is that it enables companies to communicate directly with their audiences. News, opinions, product launches, statements videos and images can all be sent straight to interested users in a strategic, targeted way. However, in most cases, the number one aim is to achieve audience engagement – that is, having people ‘favouriting’, forwarding and responding to your content. This is why it’s crucial to keep updates interesting, entertaining, informative and frequent. Podium client Northern Bootcamp, which runs residential weight loss boot camps in Northumberland,... Read more...
Introducing Podium
Introducing Podium
|Podium
Introducing Podium, the new name for BIM Creative. After nearly three years of helping our clients stand out more, on search engines, on social media and in the press, we want to stand out more ourselves. So we have changed our name to Podium, because everything we do is about making our clients be seen, be heard, and stand out from the crowd. Legally, we have the same bank details, the same company number and the same VAT number… and of course, we are still pink! However, our emails are... Read more...