What we learnt in April

April flew by almost as fast as Kanye lost 9m followers last week (i.e: very). And we can’t quite believe it’s already May. It really was an exciting month for us digital fanatics, as we saw beer-pulling Wetherspoons shut down all their social channels and the GDPR ball well and truly started rolling. At the Imperial Leisure Centre, April was all about learning new things, both work-related and… not so much.

Let the influencers do the leg-work

Most agencies in our industry have experienced the best and worst of influencer marketing. Most of the time, the content is high-quality, timely and does the intended job to perfection. Other times, the influencer is demanding, posts inappropriate content and falls off the face of the Earth as soon as something needs doing. But some companies have turned the process on its head - with amazing results.

At Ernie Ball - a world-renowned guitar strings maker - famous names like Kirk Hammett, Keith Richards and Jimmy Page have happily endorsed their products for free. This just goes to show that influencer marketing has to go deeper than asking a popular person to promote a brand.

When a company has an established heritage and incredible product quality, the brand can turn into an experience in itself. That’s when the mahoosive influencers like sports stars and musicians will ask to collaborate for free.

Nothing quite like your own

Being in the industry means that we all automatically analyse every piece of advertising and marketing we see on the streets, TV and social media. It comes with the job description. After reviewing content from an agency that previously held the retainer for a client, we’ve realised that other agencies' work doesn’t always meet our standards. Of course, nothing was necessarily wrong with it - it just didn’t feel right. It served as a good reminder that we have a signature style at Imperial Leisure and anything outside of this style is like wearing damp socks - uncomfortable.

HTML is <strong>fun</strong>

Recently, some of our staff delved into the wonderful world of HTML for the first time - and it was an instant hit. Typing a markup language is like being part of a secret society with its own symbols and signs. Is there anything quite as satisfying as including or removing elements and attributes like a hacker? Probably, yes. But it still feels amazing to see a line of code become a perfectly centred video.

All aboard the Twitter carousel

Hitting engagement rate targets on Twitter is no walk in the park, especially with so many variables out there. When content, copy, time of posting and good old human behaviour come into play, it can be a challenge to make a single tweet stop a scroller in their tracks. That’s when image carousels come in. As engagement rates are calculated based on clicks divided by impressions, getting a Twitter user to tap - even once - on any element of the tweet can help to boost engagement rate. Using carousel images appeals to people’s curiosity and this, paired with enticing copy, has worked a treat to increase engagement rates.

Measurements are important - especially where Aperol Spritz is involved

When we were hit with the #WarmestDayOfTheYear in April (with heady heights of 21 degrees), we learned quite a few hard truths. People new to Aperol Spritz (yes, they exist) found out that the fizzy summer tipple packs a bigger punch than expected. Others found that following the precise ratio of fruity Aperol, refreshing soda water and subtly lethal champers was paramount to avoid upsetting each other with a weak spritzer. There’s nothing worse than a dose of fizzy water.

Table tennis, ping-pong or ‘wiff-waff’?

For our team outing in April, we decided to mix two of the things we’re best at: having a lovely post-work drink and chaotically running between tables, shouting and hitting things. In short, we played ping pong. Of course, we tried to be like the other office teams, politely hitting the fluorescent pink ball in a doubles game as the rest of the team quietly observed, drink in hand. We tried, and we failed. Cut to the whole team sprinting around the table, playing with multiple balls, laughing and knocking drinks flying. It was a night to remember. If only we could.

Employee of the month

This month, a member of our team showed incredible progress and exceeded targets on countless occasions. Not only did he stop chewing the team’s scarves and jackets, he also mastered the “shake” command within a few days. We can’t wait to see him use it to make a confident impression at the next board meeting. Well done, Buzz. Keep up the good work.