Econsultancy’s top 25 blog posts of 2016

1. Jack Simpson proved a hit with his roundup of 14 jaw-dropping examples of data visualization.

Are they jaw-dropping? You be the judge. Personally, I suspect our readers are simply attracted to the prospect of a light read.

Complaints on a postcard, please.

2. Artificial intelligence was arguably the trend of 2016. For those getting their heads around machine learning, here are 15 examples of AI in marketing.

3. Ashley Friedlein’s annual digital marketing and ecommerce trends posts are always popular. His thoughts at the top of 2016 provoked a lot of interest.

Now, you get the privilege of looking back to see if Ashley was right.

4. Next on the list is a little bit of pop media studies from our APAC correspondent, Jeff Rajeck. He asked, “Why do Chinese websites look so busy?”

5. In the travel sector? Here’s a handy collection of 10 great travel marketing campaigns.

6. Live streaming on social media was another big trend of 2016. Facebook arguably had most success – here are 10 brands that pioneered Facebook Live.

7. As social media matures, so does user generated content. UGC is playing a bigger role in ecommerce and marketing.

If you don’t believe me, see these 10 examples of UGC campaigns.

8. Next up is a bumper of a listicle if ever I saw one. 30 brands with excellent social media strategies.

9. The first of our guest writers comes in at number nine. It’s Greg Randall with his strident views on why ecommerce retailers should never place products on the homepage.

10. There’s another guest writer making up the top 10. Duraid Shaihob argues that Expedia is one of the best sites at converting visitors into customers.

His extensive article is actually split into two. Both are well worth a read.

11. At the beginning of 2016, Google killed its PPC ads that sat on the right hand side of the search engine results page on desktop.

Jack Simpson asked a slew of experts how marketers should respond.

12. More analysis of news next, as Patricio Robles predicted how Instagram’s newly introduced video view count could boost branded video.

13. Campaign roundups proved pretty popular on the blog in 2016. Here’s a collection of 10 great sports digital marketing campaigns.

14. Back in 2014, David Moth looked at the emerging trend of mega menus. In 2016, we revisited the trend to see how mega menus had moved on.

15. Two meaty subjects up next. Retail and digital transformation.

This articles takes a comprehensive look at six of the most iconic retailers and their digital transformation journeys.

16. Mobile triumphed in 2016, eclipsing desktop for importance, with Google recognising this in its rankings.

Midway through the year, we drew on a number of Google resources, including its developer guides, to bring you 23 mobile UX mistakes that Google doesn’t like.

17. Carlsberg gained plenty of well-deserved plaudits for its newsroom approach to PR and content back in 2015.

For tonnes more detail and examples, read Carlsberg: Probably the best content strategy in 2015.

18. What is location-based advertising? Jack Simpson gives us the lowdown.

19. Duck Duck Go had a big year in 2015, with Rand Fishkin earmarking the search engine as one to watch in 2016.

Jack picked up on this theme and gave us 14 reasons to pay attention to Duck Duck Go.

20. Ikea is one the most creative advertisers out there. The company has also been responsible for many an innovative marketing campaign.

Here are 10 examples of great Ikea marketing creative.

21. Another guest writer now, and perhaps the most controversial article we have published this year.

In Why the brand as publishers trend is utter nonsense, Mark Higginson argues that brands are wasting their time creating content which brings unpredictable and underwhelming results.

Many have fought the corner of content marketing in the comments on this article, which are an equally interesting read. Your thoughts?

22. We took a look at Google’s page quality guidelines (those that quality raters use to inform their judgement) and picked out 12 practical content tips.

23. One of our esteemed research team comes in at number 23. Lynette Saunders looks at some Econsultancy research in her article Digital transformation in the retail sector (challenges and opportunities).

24. More data visualization examples from Nikki Gilliland, our new writer who joined in 2016. Check out 15 wondrous examples or head to Nikki’s other articles to read more on retail, beauty, mobile, social and campaigns.