The Digital Dose - April edition

30 Apr

Written By Charlotte Cottenham

Your regular dose of no-nonsense digital marketing advice and observations.

Are you wasting money tracking the wrong data?

Tamsin Butt, Digital Marketing Analyst

Third-party cookies are used to track people's activities across websites, allowing businesses to see where customers have come from, what ads have worked and what led to a sale.

But due to new privacy rules and browser changes, the cookie is crumbling. Safari and Firefox already block third-party cookies and Google Chrome is phasing them out by late 2025.

What does this mean for my business?

Without cookies and the correct data, it's difficult to determine how to drive conversions. In other words, you might end up wasting time and money on ads or marketing channels based off incorrect data.

So, what's the solution?

AI is stepping in to bridge the gap by looking at your data (the info you collect from your customers) and figuring out what's working without the need of cookies. AI allows you to track the full customer journey, from first encounters to the final sale.

This isn’t just a workaround - it’s a new era of analytics!

If your reporting still relies on cookie-based attribution, it's time to rethink your approach.

The shift is already happening, and the most adaptive teams will be the ones who stay ahead. Get in touch to find out more.

Are you sick of being ghosted on social media?

Charlotte Cottenham, Social Media Manager

From Instagram’s obsession with aesthetics to LinkedIn’s desperation to tell you about their latest accreditation, each social media platform brings something completely different to the table.

To save your business from being ghosted, it’s important to take the time to consider how you talk to each of these channels.

What will you share with them? How are you sharing that content? Will they even care?

Discover all the answers in our latest blog.

Are you panicking about toxic backlinks?

Dave Patterson, Founder

SEO tools have us believe that Toxic Backlinks are the digital equivalent of Dutch Elm or Oak Dieback disease.

But this isn't exactly true.

Look at the example below from SEMRush, with a HIGH Toxicity score.

What are we going to do?

a. Ring our client and tell them their website is doomed?

b. Frantically seek out Google's infamous 'Disavow' Tool?

c. Hold my heads in my hands and shout "why me?!"

Actually, it's best to go for option "d" and do nothing.

Every website has a portion of 'toxic' links and if you look closely at this distorted graph - only about 10% of the total backlinks are 'toxic'.

If Google hammered every website with toxic backlinks there would be nothing left in the search results!

Oh, and if you're ever contemplating using the disavow tool... I used that once years ago with a well-performing website, and guess what? It took a hit to its ranking as a result.

There's a few occasions when you should be worried about toxic backlinks and other effects from previous dodgy SEO practices, or poor web design.

If you're unsure, get in touch and we will give you an honest appraisal of your situation.

Are you overlooking simple solutions to big problems?

India McLean, Operations Director

No matter the project or the platform, sticky notes are my go-to tool!

Whether they're scattered across a workshop table or flying around a Miro board, they help me make sense of complexity, spot patterns, and bring structure to big ideas.

There’s something about that simple square format that invites quick thinking, honest input, and creative problem-solving. Paper or pixels, they get the job done.

Next time you're tackling a complex project or brainstorming with the team, try using sticky notes!