HOUSE KEEPING 2012 has been a busy year, I would probably say one of the busiest I’ve ever had. Its been incredibly rewarding though having made some tough decisions which, as I since found out, lead to the best outcomes. I am now on the way to creating the company I have always wanted, a business that runs like a well oiled machine which can be refined and tinkered with to improve operations and quality for clients. The environment is fantastic with everyone understanding their part in the bigger picture, helping us to become an inspirational digital marketing agency. FIND, ENGAGE, RETAIN Xcite Digital is a Digital Marketing agency that helps Clients to FIND, ENGAGE & RETAIN customers. We FIND through Search and Social, ENGAGE by generation and distribution of unique bespoke content onto multiple platforms (web, social, email, Search etc), and then RETAIN through advocacy and engagement. This allows us to focus on hitting your objectives in a clear defined way that achieves great success because we can see the full campaign cycle, from creating awareness through to commitment. Research allows us to understand how to create the right amount of awareness to your target audience, then by developing engaging web and social platforms we can drive interest, evaluation and finally commitment. When followed up by advocacy and loyalty platforms we can go full cycle by driving referrals and repeat business. Combine the above with award winning IDEAS from a passionate team we always aim to go above and beyond your expectations. APPRENTICE We took in a new apprentice which has proved to be an outstanding decision. It took quite a while to find the right candidate but when we found Nahida we knew immediately she was the right fit. Having someone young in the company really allows you to focus on creating perfect processes that are easy to understand and follow, in turn improving the entire company. This brings in someone full of life, has loads of energy in the office, and keeps us all on our toes! OPERATIONS I really wanted to make 2012 the year we grew up as a company and worked out to realise my dream of being the Digital agency that produces the highest results for clients in the UK. Through my previous support network I was not getting the help I needed so I took on an Operations expert to show us how to grow as a company, improve quality, and be able to track everything. This has been the most important thing I have ever done, it is like building a factory that understands exactly how each machine is operating, how many parts it can produce, and being able to achieve a consistently high level of quality. It seems strange but most companies operate without this understanding in a headless-chicken kind of way. This approach now gives me a handle on everything from our own marketing funnel through to operations and how this has benefited our clients. I can’t express how much this has changed the business and allowed us to become the company we want to be, additionally the company we need to be to achieve our goal. It benefits clients in so many ways, through improved time scales, better results, and most importantly idea generation. Most of the other advantages that came off this were empowering employees and allowing them to grow. They are the experts after all and should be able to drive innovation and results which is now exactly what is happening. CLIENT WINS Surrey County Council Over the past year we had been securing a deal with Surrey County Council to help them deliver marketing campaigns on key topical messages such as helping reduce waste. Kicking off the campaign has been a Social App that promotes key messages and brings in communities to discuss how to solve the burdening problem of what is waste and what is not. In the Night Garden – BBC CBeebies A great new client who some may know as Igglepiggle. The cheers from my niece and nephew were outstanding and and made the client win all the more important. The Campaign is another social app to build new data with their target audience which we find through search, social and email channels. Ubisoft One of the most impressive campaigns we have created so far has been a marketing campaign for one of the worlds leading Games publisher. Through an innovative approach that is relatively unheard of we have created a technique that improves conversion for publishers by around 10-30% per product. Through the UK markets we are aiming to improve sales by around £1 million per year. This is then being rolled out over the EU and US. AWARDS 2012 was a year we started to win significant national awards as a company. I had previously won Young Entrepreneur of the year so to get accolades for my team was a great feeling. We were finalists at the DADI awards for best use of Social Media, eventually losing to one of the UK’s longest standing and most impressive agencies. Conceding defeat was a pleasure, if we can be in the same playground as the Top 5 agencies then I’m happy with that… for now. We were also finalists in the fast growth awards from a company called Wirehive. It’s nice to know our growth is one of the best in the UK. MARRIED From a personal perspective I got married on September 1st to my beautiful wife Emily Walker. She makes me very happy and gives the support I need to run the company the way it should be, with hard work and determination. If it was not for that support running a company would be a very lonely place. WHAT DOES 2012 LOOK LIKE We are already repeating the rewards from creating a scalable business focused on results, so in 2013 I want to build on this and show VALUE in everything we do for clients. One of my biggest issues in the digital industry as a whole is that hardly anyone seems accountable for providing results, they seem to fall back on that they were asked to focus on delivery. In my opinion if you work with a builder, they can build a house, if you work with a digital agency like ours, they show value and create results. Think about what you’re really asking for when you work with a digital agency and how you can prove their answers for yourself before committing. Think about the value you are really getting and keep focused on this!