A compilation of notes from the talks at SAScon Beta, held in Manchester in December 2016

2. SAScon Beta – the Speakers
• Amir Malik –Trinity Mirror plc
• Hana Bednarova –Tecmark
• Paul Rourke –PRWD
• Laura Crimmons –Branded 3
• Stephen Locke – Sage
• Neil Walker –Online Ventures Group
• Elizabeth Clarke –Dream Agility
• Lauren Rogers & Ash White – iProspect
• Nilay Oza – Klevu
• Andy Whyte – Tealium
• David Goddard – BBC Worldwide

3. Amir Malik – Programmatic Director, Trinity Mirror plc
• The last two years in the field of programmatic have been described as
a ‘gold rush’
• 80% of traffic is mobile, up 20% on 2015
• It is vital to align revenues with editorial content
• No 3rd party scripts are allowed on Facebook, Google or Amazon

4. Hana Bednarova – Digital PR Manager, Tecmark
Winning Links and Coverage on a Budget
• You don’t need to run huge campaigns or invest thousands to be
successful
• Your only major investments should be time and effort
• The most effective strategies to win links and coverage on a budget:
1. Journalist requests – works both ways, you help them and they
help you
2. React to the news – content is current and on-trend
3. Use data – it is freely available (even try an FOI request)
4. Sell yourself as an expert – internal experts can add something
new or valuable
5. Forward features calendars – you know what is needed and
when, prepare in advance to get quotes and resources
6. Experiment with visuals – try something a bit different

5. Paul Rourke – Founder & CEO, PRWD
The 4 Steps to Digital Transformation
• Investment in Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) can set a business
up for long-term growth
• All companies should be thinking ahead, and not just focussing on the
moment or quarter
• 4 key steps to develop:
1. Strategy and Culture
2. Tools and Technology
3. People and Skills
4. Process and Methodology

6. Laura Crimmons – Communications Director, Branded 3
5 Ingredients for a Successful Digital PR Campaign
• 70% of journalists feel pressure over whether or not an article will be
shared on social media
• Even if you don’t know how it will go viral, think about what makes a
successful viral campaign in the first place (e.g. strategy, visuals, etc)
• The 5 most important aspects of a successful digital PR campaign are:
1. Timing. Give someone a reason to cover the story NOW (e.g.
national events such as elections)
2. Imagery. Think about your target sites and the types of images
they use
3. Copyability. Can a journalist tell the story themselves without
linking to you? If they can, they will
4. Make it human. What does it mean to ME?
5. Emotions. Tap into one or multiple human emotions (anger,
shock, etc)

7. Stephen Locke – Digital Marketing Specialist, Sage
Enterprise SEO at Scale
• Get the basics right at the very beginning of every campaign
• This includes the people working on the campaign and the
technical SEO plans
• The future of search:
• Focus on mobile
• Data science investments will be key
• Capitalise on any insights that Google may offer, even in the
short-term

8. Neil Walker – Technical Director, Online Ventures Group
SEO-Friendly is NOT a Strategy
• If you have a plan, but no way of implementing it, it will fail
• The basics of SEO remain simple: technical work, content and links
• Build a complete SEO strategy including:
• Audience, their buying cycle, how and why they search, site
structure, content
• BEFORE you start work
• Plan your structure – build a list of keywords, group them by theme,
group themes by sections
• Plan a site based on audience and search criteria, not developer
recommendations
• Prioritise the strategy then technical SEO once it is thoroughly planned

9. Elizabeth Clarke – CEO & Co-Founder, Dream Agility
The Perils of Programmatic
• The definition of programmatic SHOULD be:
• “coherent back-end coding to get the best information”
• At present the whole bidding process is complicated and time-
consuming
• The future is to automate the creation of thousands of real-time text
adverts
• There will be no need for re-approval for price changes on ads or the
removal of them when products are out of stock

10. Lauren Rogers & Ash White - iProspect
Rethinking Audiences in Search
• Advertisers are not currently making the most of what is available to
them in terms of tools and audience targeting
• There are various challenges:
• Creating a tailored message
• Ease of implementation
• Inconsistent feature roll-outs
• There are also a number of tactical challenges:
• Understanding the audience in a search context
• Thinking too small
• Setting the right KPIs
• The solutions are to align the audience with business goals – cross
channel thinking, balancing the quality and quantity

11. Nilay Oza – Co-Founder, Klevu
The Future of Search: Conversations & Beyond
• There is an increasing amount of unstructured data
• The future is PHYGICAL – a blend of physical and digital
• Online shopping is going to become natural, not just convenient
• Can you help customers to prepare for the future
• Practical tips:
• Understand the moment, measure discovery, be non-intrusive,
find a balancing act for engagement, personalise the whole
experience
• Similar interfaces (less ‘noise’), exploit insights from the search
box for e-commerce, use engagement touch points (reviews)
• Think about ‘feed forward’ not just feedback. Pre-empt what users are
going to/want to do

12. Andy Whyte – Sales Director, Tealium
Meet the Modern ‘Mad Men’: How Data and
Technology are Empowering Today’s Winners
• Customers expect a relevant, personal experience
• Everyone is happy to provide their data, but people are now unhappy if
that isn’t used to target them correctly
• Every minute the chances of a dropped basket customer drop by 1%
• Attention Optimisation is the best approach today
• Value people and their data – without them you don’t have anything
• Targetting based on on/offline data can increase traffic and sales (e.g.
beacons with push notifications regarding sales and promotions nearby)

13. David Goddard – Global Head of Programmatic Trading, BBC
Worldwide
Premium Programmatic
• Context is the key to everything
• Is a luxury watch more expensive because it was advertised on the BBC?
• What can be automated, will be automated
• Get the right creative, and the right creatives, in the right place