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Quad, the content marketing agency:     Blending creative, SEO, social and PR to build expert brands and market leaders.
Quad specialise in optimising webspaces, building profitable audiences and creating the digital platforms that achieve this for our clients.

Quad, the Content Marketing Agency. Blending creative, SEO, social and PR to build expert brands and market leaders.Quad specialise in optimising web spaces, building profitable audiences and creating the digital platforms that achieve this for our clients.

Quad Digital home / Blog / January 2014
Avatar of Lola Olson

by Lola Olson

Optimizing Webspace: Why you should care about bloggers

January 29, 2014 in Blogging , Content Marketing , PR

In our second post on optimizing webspace , we’ll explore earned media and how third party publishers, or bloggers, are a valuable element that can be an aid to your marketing campaign. Before digital, there were two ways to get your brand seen – advertising and PR. The online revolution had given us a third; bloggers. Ignore them at your peril.

Often amateur  – at least at the outset – these writers, critics and reviewers are making careers from what were once hobby blogs. Whether using wit, authority, well-crafted prose or all three, many bloggers have grown their readership to such a level that brands and advertisers having to sit up and take notice.

From humble beginnings, Peter Robinson’s very funny Popjustice has founded a record label, released branded compilations, held branded tours and broken pop news stories. Charlie Lynne’s film blog Ultra Culture has been hailed the UK’s foremost film blog by reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and hosted the national premiere of Spring Breakers. And Jack Monroe, the budget food blogger behind recipe site A Girl Called Jack has earned worldwide media interest and become the face of Sainsbury’s new ad campaign. How’s that for the power of blogging?

When we worked with specialist travel operator Thompson Lakes and Mountains, we saw an opportunity to feed content to not one but two blog audiences. By creating a guide to the company’s most popular destinations inspired by the maps often found in fantasy novels, we reached travel bloggers and the fans of dramas such as The Hobbit and Game of Thrones. In doing this, we spread word of Thompson Lakes and Mountains across multiple channels.

Next in series on optimizing webspace, we’ll discuss the importance of paid media and what piece they are in the overall puzzle and be sure to check out our previous blog in this series on  brand blogging .  f you’d like to discuss with us how you can expand your reach into earned media, get in touch. Talk to us

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Avatar of Lola Olson

by Lola Olson

Optimizing webspace: The benefits of brand blogging

January 21, 2014 in Blogging , Content , Content Marketing , Quad

We talk a lot about optimizing webspace . It’s the practice of going beyond a brand’s site or blog to create an overarching online marketing presence. Any approach that doesn’t encompass every element, from e-commerce to social media, will create an incomplete, confused or broken machine that isn’t ready to take on a well-rounded marketing strategy.

In this series of articles, we’ll break down different parts of webspace, explaining what they mean and why they are important.

Quad Digital Webspace

Owned media has many different aspects and may seem daunting. But it’s also the most accessible and easiest means by which connect to your audience. At the centre of this is your brand’s blog. So what are the benefits of brand blogging?

Why have a blog?

Every client is different. They have different brands, different products, different attitudes and different approaches but most want the same thing: to get their brand known. When they ask if they really need a blog, the answer varies depending on what they are hoping to achieve.

However, a blog can be the heart of a brand’s owned media. It’s the motor that keeps it running. It provides the content that drives individuals back to your website. How can you get involved with social networks, your email databases and other channels without having something to say? For most companies, your website and blog exist to tell the world what you’re about and why they should care. Your site does it on a basic level, but your blog lets you go off on tangents.

What do I blog about?

It’s at this point that some start to worry about what they should blog about especially when, for best SEO results and more, it’s advised you blog at least once a week. While understandable, this anxiety is often misplaced – you’re already an expert in your field so talk about what you do. After all, that’s what your customers are most likely to be interested in.

McDonalds Canada is a great example of this, as can be seen in the fast food giant’s behind-the-scenes feature showing how burgers are photographed, hosted on . By being completely transparent about the dark art of food styling, the brand has taken something it knows intimately and created positive, engaging content that keeps its consumers interested and informed. The video has earned more than 9.5 million views.

When we worked with Formula Wine (website currently out of commission), we knew we could take their expertise and put a fresh spin on it. Proving that wine can be just as enjoyable an ingredient as it is something to be drunk on its own, we worked with some of the best bars in London to showcase a selection wine-based cocktails, creating recipe cards people could follow at home.

This is just one example of how we’ve used a brand’s existing know-how and worked with others to create useful content . Updating your blog once a week may seem daunting, but you already have the knowledge and expertise to share with your customers. We’re here help bring it out. Talk to Quad on or email us at .

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Avatar of Lola Olson

by Lola Olson

Useful Content Drives Sharing

January 16, 2014 in Blogging , Content Creation , Content Marketing , Infographics

When our clients commission us to create content for them, our first goal is to create useful content that provides value to the viewer. Last year, IBM demonstrated this idea by creating adverts that doubled as benches in urban areas .

The best approach in content marketing is one that keeps in mind not only the objectives of the brand who wants potential customers to know about them, but also one that takes the viewer into consideration. Sometimes companies are so concerned with ‘viral’ content that they forget what makes content go viral in the first place.

A by Chadwick Martin Bailey found that 72% of the people they polled shared content because they found it interesting or entertaining. But does it really take a genius to sort out that thought-provoking or entertaining (and sometimes both) content motivates people to share? The key then is combining the two.

What’s so successful about IBM’s approach is that they are not only changing the typical interaction that happens between an advert and its viewer, but they’re also providing something of value to the viewer. Sure, it’s just a bench. But it’s enough that it gets individuals interacting with it.

That’s the approach that Quad consistently takes with content. We seek to combine entertaining with thought-provoking or usefulness to create content with value. During our campaign with PropertyWide, we utilised their expertise to create an engaging infographic that compared the average rent prices in cities across the UK:

Both The Independent and Economic Voice, among many other publishers, found the content useful for their audiences, and the information appealed to multiple audiences from finance blogs like Savvy Scott to student publications like TopUniverse.com.

Experience has taught us that the best rule for creating content that effectively spreads your brand message is to understand what makes people share. Highly effective content marketing involves making either thought-provoking or entertaining content. And if you can combine both, you have the best both worlds.

We’re a London based content marketing agency that can help you optimise your webspace . If you’re interested, get in touch !

Tags: 1 Comment »

Avatar of Ben Dickens

by Ben Dickens

Happy New Year from Quad

January 6, 2014 in Quad

The year gone by was an interesting 12 months for Quad as a content marketing agency. For one thing, we worked on our core proposition; building profitable audiences for brands. For another, the team here pulled out the stops to deliver excellent work for clients including Expedia, TUI and Wimbledon Studios, all of who have shown their faith in us by continuing the relationship into 2014 and beyond.

And we’re truly excited about what lies ahead too. We grew our development team in 2013, making it one that could deliver best in class products meeting any client’s needs, and will continue to grow it in 2014. We’ve also made new strategic and creative appointments, giving clients an even stronger in-house skillset to draw upon.

Over the next few months there’ll be a number of updates to the www.quaddigital.co.uk site, better showcasing the work we’re doing and success we’re delivering for clients. You’ll also be able to see how we’re expanding our original concept of optimizing webspace and what it could mean for your business.

This year will also be Quad’s first as a member of the Content Marketing Association . The CMA does great things to promote the industry and we are proud to become a part of it. What’s more, we’re looking forward to the opportunities for new business, networking and knowledge sharing it brings.

All in all, we’re convinced 2014 is going to be a big year for both content marketing and us.

If you’d like to talk to us about how Quad can help you, get in touch on or email us at . In the meantime however, Happy New Year from us all! We hope to hear from you soon.

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