Category: Marketing

Staying Afloat on a Sea of Uncertainty

We are now several weeks into the lockdown with several more weeks to come. For most businesses there has never been such a period of uncertainty. So rather than dwell on the negatives of the situation, I would like to consider the certainties and how businesses can seize the opportunities to emerge from the lockdown stronger than they were before.

Ten Certainties

  1. The lockdown is not going to last forever. Hopefully by June the restrictions will be eased enough for most businesses to get back to some kind of normality.
  2. There is still a demand for products and services. Just because people can’t go out and are socially distancing themselves doesn’t mean that their wants, needs and desires have changed.
  3. Not everything can be bought online. Personally, I’m waiting for a new carpet to be fitted and, although Amazon may be efficient, laying a carpet is not one of their strong points.
  4. Consumers are currently storing up cash that they cannot spend because there is nothing to spend it on. It will be burning holes in their pockets.
  5. When the lockdown is over there is going to be a massive spending spree as consumers celebrate their freedom with their newly acquired wealth. Happy days!
  6. Many businesses are cutting costs and slashing their marketing budgets to save money in the short term without considering the long term consequences of their actions.
  7. The businesses that are most prepared by continuing to have a presence during the lockdown are the ones that will reap the greatest benefits.
  8. People remember winners and those that are willing to take risks. They quickly forget those that sit back and do nothing.
  9. Marketing is more important than ever during an economic downturn. Marketing = Sales = Success
  10. We are currently in a period of great change and with change comes great opportunity.

Ten Opportunities

  1. Be the brand that people remember. Keep your name in front of existing and prospective customers so that they can see that you are a positive force. 
  2. Take advantage of the fact that your competitors are advertising their services less by advertising your services more. That way you will get a lot more ‘bang for your buck!’ and you’ll be well ahead of the game when all this is over.
  3. Look for new ways of using your skills and experience when interacting with your existing customers and prospects. For example, at Local Pages we’ve used our online directory expertise to create an online Community Hub connecting people with charitable organisations and support groups.
  4. Understand the needs and motivations of your customers and reach out to them in order to solve their problems with warmth and empathy. For example at Local Pages, we’re helping clients overcome cash flow difficulties by offering deferred and weekly affordable payment options.
  5. Rather than spending your advertising pound on selling your products, spend it on creating value in your brand. The reason that Heinz Baked Beans are five times more expensive than a supermarket’s own brand has nothing to do with the contents inside the tin. It’s because Heinz invested in the brand and the brand has become synonymous with reliability and quality. 
  6. Don’t rely on the past.. Who would have thought only a few weeks ago that oil companies would be in a situation (at the time of writing) where they have to pay customers to take oil off their hands. Nothing lasts forever. Consider how your business will need to change in a new world where environmental concerns and social distancing could be the new norm.
  7. Instead of cutting costs, take a look at how you can change your business practices to make them more efficient. By making adjustments now, when you have the time and resources to do it, you can reap huge benefits in cost savings later.
  8. Don’t take your clients for granted. Now is the time to reach out to them, thank them and ask if there is any way you can help them. People buy from people. Looking after your customers when things are bad creates future customer loyalty.
  9. Make it easier for customers to deal with you. Take a hard look at every touchpoint that you have with your customers from their point of view and ask what could be done to improve their experience?  
  10. Consider where in your business you could offer more value. For example, there is a window company that inspects their work after six months to ensure the customer is happy and that there are no problems. This simple service leads to an increase in trust at the point of sale and future recommendations. 

 

If you would like more help and assistance keeping you business afloat in a sea of uncertainty, call the Local Pages team on 0117 9231122 or drop us a line at info@localpages.co.uk

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Case Study: First Year with Local Pages

Little Blue Book Directory: Customer's first year success

“Print marketing is dead…”

If you work in the print advertising industry you are likely to hear this dismissive phrase nearly every day. Whilst it is easy to see why certain businesses come to this conclusion, our recent successes and growing client base of 3,000+ suggests it is anything but!

We first met Nick, who owns Allied Electrical Services Ltd, in April 2017. The meeting was regarding placing an advert in the Chipping Sodbury and Yate region with Local Pages. Whilst Nick was certainly not adverse to print advertising, there was an element of scepticism about its effectiveness in the modern market place.

Nick remembers, “I was certainly sceptical at first. Like any small business, we keep a close eye on our outgoings and marketing and were already spending a large proportion of our carefully managed budget in online advertising”.

“I was aware of the Local Pages, but as I live outside the Chipping Sodbury and Yate delivery area for the edition I was unaware of how well known the book was in the locality”.

Allied Electrical are based in Pucklechurch and provide a friendly and experienced electrical service from replacing a plug socket to a full home rewire.

Nick decided to take out a 6th of a page “Loud & Proud” advert in the Chipping Sodbury & Yate, Little Blue Book edition for 2017/18 which is delivered to approximately 18,000 address across the locality. To ensure that the advertising was worthwhile Nick placed his own trackable phone number into the advert to monitor the calls from the book and provide him with an end of year ROI.

Local Pages has produced some fantastic results for us and have renewed my advertising for a second year”.

Fast forward a year we are now compiling the new Little Blue Book for Chipping Sodbury and Yate 2018/19. Speaking to Nick upon the renewal of his advert, he provided us with this fantastic feedback.

“It was my first year with Local Pages and as a business owner who tracks carefully where our enquiries come from, I was sceptical on whether I would receive a response from print advertising. In fact, Local Pages has produced some fantastic results for us and have renewed my advertising for a second year”.

 

If you are a business owner it is easy to get sucked into thinking that all of your advertising spend should be allocated towards digital mediums. We certainly champion digital marketing and have a team that provides great value, local, digital marketing solutions. However, print advertising is still a valuable tool (especially to the trades) and finding an advertising vehicle that works is essential to this.

Local Pages’ Little Blue Books have been in production for nearly 40 years. We are trusted and well known in the regions we cover. We work closely with our clients and utilise trackable phone numbers and online statistics to ensure that your advert is providing you with a positive ROI.

You can view more about the ROI we have provided for different industries, the demographics of our users and find out more about Local Pages by viewing our media pack.

Interested in placing an advert? Contact us now to discuss an advert placement.

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Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2018

Our Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2018

With 2018 fast approaching we have been exploring New Marketing trends to look out for in 2018.

Here we discuss the 5 trends we believe will be the most influential next year. Let us know your thoughts…

 

 

Augmented Reality 

augmented-reality

Augmented Reality is a fascinating way of enhancing a version of reality, created by overlaying digital information onto an image.  It allows consumers to not simply imagine but actually see potential purchases & designs in ‘real life’, aiding quicker and slicker purchasing.

Brands are quickly jumping on board. IKEA has rolled out an App called Place, which allows customers to preview furniture in their homes before they buy, increasing conversion and customer satisfaction.

This year the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X have also launched with new augmented reality experiences, which will inevitably encourage social media channels to follow suit with new ways of integrating AR onto their platforms.

There is a wide selection of Augmented Reality tools readily available to help businesses achieve 3 main goals:

  1. Streamline and drive sales
  2. Increase engagement
  3. Connect Print & Digital mediums

With Brands finding it difficult to stand out from the crowd, Augmented Reality is being recognised as a powerful tool within the Marketing world.

Here, at Local Pages we can offer iSmart Photo Augmented reality, technology which allows videos and slideshows to appear through your printed adverts. If this is something you would be interested in finding out more about, don’t hesitate click here to get in contact with us today.

 

 

Chatbots 

chatbots

Chatbots are providing customer interface which is instant and can be accessed 24/7, and they are quickly proving to be a successful marketing tool.

The instantaneity of the Chatbots has proven to be popular in a world where customers want issues solved quickly and all answers supplied immediately. These instant messengers save both time and money.

Chatbots also enable businesses the opportunity to customise their own ‘Brand Voice’ and send personalised messages directly to their users/clients, for a truly personable approach, rather than it feeling as though you are conversing with a robot.

In addition, business profitability can also be targeted, with Chatbots providing the opportunity for swift, easy transactions. 47% of consumers have already expressed they would buy directly from a Chatbot (HubSpot, 2017), with 26-36 year olds willing to spend up to £481.15 with a business via a Chatbot interaction (ubisend, 2017).

Between 2016 and 2021 Chatbot marketing is expected to grow at a compound rate of 35.2% (Marketsandmarkets, 2017), so expect to see a lot more Chatbots popping onto your screens!

If you are interested in finding out more about Chatbot Marketing for your Website click here to get in contact with us today.

 

 

Videos 

videos

The way in which we consume video is changing. Video is quickly becoming the number one fastest growing Ad format in the world and has been doubling Year on Year. By 2020 it has been estimated video will make up 80% of all online consumer internet traffic, becoming the closest medium you get to a face to face conversation with your target audience (smartinsights.com)

As with Augmented Reality, Video Ad platforms are helping Brands stand out from the crowd, and allowing for a longer and conceivably more emotionally driven connection with their audience.

If you are looking at creating a company Video we can help you design, plan and produce one here at Local Pages.

Social Media is also a great platform, allowing businesses a quick and easy way to upload videos and reach a wider audience. We offer social media management packages to support your social media needs, and ensure you are offering up to date and relevant content to get the most out of your social media advertising.

Click here to get in contact with us today about your Video and Social Media needs.

 

 

Geofencing 

geo-fencing

Marketers have already been seeing the benefits of Geofencing technology, which allows the collection of information from consumer mobile devices. The technology allows marketers to learn a lot about their audience and in turn allows for businesses and services to target customers in ‘real time’ i.e. sending a promotional message to the customer when they are within a 1 mile radius, or have been searching their website.

This form of targeted hyper-local marketing will increasingly grow more popular and influential, especially for smaller, local businesses who want to engage with only the most relevant local shoppers who are most likely to spend.

According to plotprojects.com, the click-through rate of Geofencing notifications on Androids is 13.6%, which by far exceeds that of generic push notifications, which are only 2%. This indicates sending relevant notifications at the most opportune time encourages increased interaction.

We truly believe in the power of local marketing and have seen this first hand. As experts in the local marketing business, we have proven that our specialised local marketing generates more leads creating higher conversion rates. Click here to find out more about all our products & services.

 

 

Personalised Content 

 

personalised-content2

 

 

 

 

We are expecting to see a growth in personalised content within digital Marketing in 2018. Businesses have already begun to see the benefits of personal call to action marketing. StubHub, an online ticket exchange owned by eBay, reported a 42% improvement when users were given a personalized call to action (accountexnetwork.com).

Personalised content is also best used when different content is targeted to different types or groups of visitors based on their behaviour or other factors. Consumers have different intentions when visiting brands online, and having the ability to appeal to a wider range of people by tailoring digital content to personally appeal strengthens engagement with customers and can have a direct impact on website traffic and ongoing engagement.

As it happens, using Personalised Content doesn’t just mean customers are more likely to engage and buy your products they are also willing to pay more for them too! Consumers truly value a great personalised experience. If that means paying a little more, so be it. A survey from the content marketing institute suggests that 77% of customers will recommend, or pay more for a brand that provides a personalised experience. The better and more personal the experience, the greater the customer’s willingness to spend money on it. If the experience feels exclusive enough, customer will be willing to pay exclusive prices (digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk).

To find out how we can help you with Personalised content for your business website click here to talk to one of our team members today.

In summary, Marketing is becoming ever more complicated, strategic, personable, engaged, technologically advanced and altogether essential to businesses both large and small.

With over 200 years of industry experience we are experts in marketing, generating millions of new leads for our customers over the past 38 years. We can offer you advice on all your Marketing needs, so do not hesitate to contact us today for a friendly consultation with one of our team.

We recommend having a peek on https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics . It makes for a really interesting read, highlighting how powerful & effective Marketing tools can be!

 

 

 

 

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How To Brief A Creative Agency

Maybe you’re a growing business looking for an agency to create a marketing campaign? Or you’ve already found one, but their work isn’t delivering the results you were expecting? Either way, you can increase your chances of success next time (or first time) ’round by immersing yourself in the brief-writing process.

 

Learning to put a good brief together is essential. Great briefs inspire the agency to bring your campaign vision to life. Poor ones create ambiguity and stifle creativity. Your brief doesn’t have to be complicated or convoluted, but it does need a few essential ingredients.

 


WHAT?

Set out in straightforward terms and simple language what it is that you are trying to promote. If it’s a product, give as much background information as possible; category performance, competitor products, any research you’ve conducted. Maybe it’s an offer or seasonal campaign, in which case the exact details are vital. Also, what’s worked well in previous campaigns? What hasn’t?

The other “what” is a practical one: the deliverables. What is it that you want to be produced, and in what format(s)?

 


WHY?

Why are you running this campaign? What are the objectives behind it and what would you like it to achieve? Success is best achieved when everyone involved knows what success looks like! So being as precise as possible about the KPIs is vital. We regularly get briefs asking for a campaign to increase sales. But without knowing by how much, how do we know whether it’s worked?

 


WHO?

You may know your customers inside out, but if your relationship with your agency is at an early stage, chances are they won’t.

The agency will want to really get under the skin of your audience, so they will need access to as much information as possible about your customers` demographics, habits, likes, dislikes, relationship with your brand, shoe size. OK, maybe not the last one. But don’t be afraid to include as much info as you have. Particularly consumer insight; you can pop any research documents in the appendix.

Download our FREE Creative Brief Template here.

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WHEN?

Perhaps it’s a little obvious to say, but it’s vital that timings are outlined in the brief. When do you want the campaign to launch and how long do you envisage it running for? The other timescale issue is the response to the brief itself. Recent research from the University of the West Of England found that a major bugbear within agencies is lack of time to respond to briefs. So it’s advisable to plan ahead, and make sure Christmas campaign briefs aren’t sent out in November.

 


HOW?

How much money would you like to spend on this activity? Even if it’s a ballpark or bookended figure (between £x and £x), being upfront about this from the beginning means that the agency can tailor their solution to your budget. It can be tempting to simply ask for a quote, particularly if you’re unsure how much to commit. But this is counterproductive, as your agency won’t be able to propose an appropriate solution without at least an idea of what you’d like to spend. So even a rough figure is crucial.

Good luck with your next campaign!

Did you enjoy this post? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Content Creation: The key to your websites’ success

Every decent website revolves around the same thing: content. A Unique, relevant and up-to date content is highly influential in how successful a website and marketing campaign performs. However, many find that content creation is very challenging and it is one of the most common issues in a business. Often this is due to a lack of time or resources, or simply that people don’t know where to start.

content creation Marketing Website Statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

In order to create content and use it for marketing purposes, a business needs to consider how the content will be shared on their website and various online marketing platforms. It is also important to consider the frequency of content and who the intended audience is. There is a wide range of options for online marketing, such as social media, email marketing, website content and blogs. There is plenty for a business to choose from!

Many studies have been conducted into the effectiveness of having a content strategy. These studies have found that higher levels of content on a site can have an impact on the business’ marketing strategy and overall search engine ranking. These are just some of the benefits of having a steady stream of fresh, targeted content:

  • Increase levels of traffic to a website
  • Increase amount of enquiries/ leads received via website
  • Build up followers on social media
  • Enhance brand awareness
  • Become trusted within your industry by writing content to showcase abilities and knowledge

 

content creation Marketing Website B2B Leads

 

Sounds great! But how do you create content?

Content creation doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Every business has something to talk about, whether it’s a new product or service, an upcoming event, or an opinion on a recent industry related story. Not forgetting the most important (and easiest!) source of unique content; customers!

Creating stories around customers and the services/products they have received is the easiest form of content to write. Start by asking the customers for their feedback. The comments that they provide can be used to as the focus point of your content, and this can be shared throughout all of your marketing activities. After all, word of mouth and referrals are the greatest sales tool!

Our top tip for new content creation is to include as many targeted keywords and phrases as possible. This will help towards search engine rankings and help sites such as Google to understand what the content is about. But remember to keep it natural and don’t stuff keywords in randomly. This could be seen negatively by Google and other search bots.

Once you’ve got some content and keep going! Set yourself a target and allocate some time for putting together more. Try to keep to a regular schedule, even if it’s just a blog post every month. It all helps!

 

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8 Essential Branding Tips For Small Businesses

If you think that branding is just something for big businesses with big budgets, think again. Branding is just as important for small businesses, maybe even more so. If you don’t have the budget to hire a big branding agency (and not many small businesses do) here are 8 simple steps you can take to keep your brand in check.

 

  1. Remember – It’s not all about your logo

Your logo is important, but branding is about far more than just that. Your logo is a badge that will represent you to the world, it’ll help distinguish your business from your competitors and it may even help customers to understand what you do. But it’s just one small part of a much bigger picture and even the best logo won’t build a successful brand on its own.

 

  1. Know what you stand for

What values and ideals are at the core of your business? What motivated you to start and what keeps you going? If you’re unsure of where you’re going and why your customers will be even less sure. Keep a list of at least three core values and make sure that any new products, services and marketing campaigns are true to them.

 

  1. Know what value your business provides

Whatever type of business you run, one thing is guaranteed your customers are not interested in just buying your products or your services. What they’re interested in is results. It’s the real life benefits that your products can offer them that will really get them engaged. A lot of businesses make the mistake of focusing on the features of their products and wonder why they’re not getting results. By taking a step back and communicating the benefits they offer you can give customers a really compelling reason to part with their money.

 

  1. Get inside your customers heads

Knowing your customers inside out is crucial. Forget about your taste and your preferences and focus on the people you’re trying to serve. Who are they? What are they looking for? What gets them excited? Keep your focus very narrow to start with; just think about your ideal customer.

Keep this profile in mind whenever you’re planning a new piece of marketing and build it just for them. This will really help to keep your message focused and effective.

 

  1. Keep a close eye on the competition

Identify your closest competitors and make sure you check up on them regularly. Who are they targeting? How are they doing it? What messages are they putting out? Where are they falling short? By doing this you can stay ahead of the game and fill gaps that they’re leaving. Remember, they’re probably watching your every move too.

 

  1. Find something unique to offer

Every business has something unique to offer, but many don’t take the time to identify it and use it to their advantage. Strong brands clearly stand out even in a crowded market. You might sell the same products as everyone else but that doesn’t mean you have to offer exactly the same service. If you’re struggling to find something that makes you stand out, go back to your customers, think about what they need and where your competitors might be falling short.

 

  1. Be consistent

Whatever direction you choose to take your brand in, make sure you’re consistent about it. That means keeping an eye on every tiny detail from how your logo looks, to the colours and fonts you use right through to your website and the kind of language you use when you talk to your customers. All this will build up to give the impression of professional, credible and trustworthy business.

 

  1. Keep it simple

We all lead busy lives and few people have the time to unravel complex messages. Simple, well thought out communication is more likely to get through and be remembered. This applies to your logo, your marketing material, your customer communications – even your business processes.

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Choosing The Right Social Media Platforms

Image Credit: https://edubirdie.com/

 

With so many social media networks available and different people getting excited about different ones, the choice of which social media platforms to choose can be quite overwhelming for busy business owners.

Having been on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for around 7 years – and Google+ and other networks more recently – here’s how I position the main social networks to people who ask.

LinkedIn for substance – this is a social media platform where we can position ourselves and our businesses, describing who we are, what we do, and why people should care, in the many 2,000 character sections in the profile. Then we can add multi-media, status updates and much more to build a rich picture, to attract, engage and nurture business relationships. As the leading business to business network, with over 400m personal profiles and 8.5m company profiles, being on LinkedIn is a logical choice for B2B professionals and businesses. If you and your business have knowledge and expertise then showcase it on LinkedIn using an educational marketing strategy. If you want business customers or business partners look on LinkedIn.

Twitter for Soundbites – 140 characters creates brevity that makes reading and creating Tweets an art form. It’s a quick way to share a thought, a resource, a moment or an emotion. It’s also an incredibly useful source of information. Want to know how a football or rugby game is going? Look on Twitter. What to know who’s influential about a topic? Check the #hashtags on Twitter. Does your business create, or can you curate lots of quick, short messages? If that suits your business schedule and customer relationship style then get active on Twitter.

Facebook for Family and Friends – and it’s also great for businesses and brands who sell to consumers. It’s also good for local businesses, especially ones where casual, friendly, person to person relationships are a big part of the business essence. If you and your business offer products or services aimed at consumers then you should definitely be present and active on Facebook. If you can create a community feel and involve people in your Facebook activity then you’re onto a winner.

Google+ for SEO – although the Google+ community is not as far reaching as Facebook or Twitter, or as business oriented as LinkedIn, I’ve still found it’s very good for getting status updates indexed because it’s a Google network. So, if you want to appear in search results pages then put status updates including keywords into Google+ with links to your website landing pages or blog articles, and build a power group who will share them on a reciprocal basis.

Many other social media networks exist, such as Instagram and Pinterest, and content network such as YouTube, Slideshare and Periscope. It’s worth having a presence on all networks, even if most are passive place-holders and sign-posts to your primary network.

And I’d say there are three factors to bear in mind when choosing which network(s) to use.

  1. Where are your ideal customers or your target audience if you want referrals or partners?
    Go where your current customers are, because the likelihood is that there will be similar people who are not yet customers on that network. And consider specific audiences such as partners, suppliers, introducers, media, investors etc. as they may be on a different network to your customers.
  2. What type of content do you want to share? If your content is visual then you have a more difficult choice. If it is primarily written then LinkedIn is best.
    If you can make your content visual as pictures and images then check Instagram and Pinterest, if infographics and presentations then look at Slideshare and LinkedIn, or if video then it’s YouTube and Periscope. Having said that, all networks have become much more visual. When a picture says more than a thousand words it’s worth finding a theme about your business that you can show visually. Then choose a network that allows you to really showcase that content, and encourage people to share and distribute it for you.
  3. What type of conversation do you want to have? Chatty and informal or considered and professional?
    If you want to be chatty then Twitter and Facebook are good. If you want to have a more serious business discussion then LinkedIn is better. Each network has an etiquette, and we risk looking out of place if our behaviour is inappropriate.
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Why Bother With A Sales Process

If you put the phrase “sales process” into the source of all wisdom which is Google, you will get a whole load of smartly titled materials pop up. Anything from the 7 steps of the sales process explained, 5 crucial sales process step to a bunch of serious looking diagrams. When you look it up on Wikipedia it throws this smart sounding sentence at you: “A sales process is an approach to selling a product or service. The sales process has been approached from the point of view of an engineering discipline”.

Whilst I do not doubt that reading many of these articles, examples, case studies and e-books will help improve your sales revenue I doubt that you have the time or inclination to do so. After all sales just happen don’t they? It’s all about common sense, a good product, sound reputation and a bit of luck, isn’t it?

I agree that many of the above elements are important to make sales happen (not so sure about the luck bit though). However, having a sales process can really help make sure that you keep repeating all these good strategies that help you win business and take out elements that have not worked in the past. In fact here is a whole list of things for which it can be useful:

  • It can help you train new team members faster
  • Measuring results become a lot easier
  • Productivity can be improved by cutting out unnecessary fluff
  • Additional touches can be added to improve conversion rate
  • It can really improve your customer retention

So the reason you should bother with a sales process is that it takes away the trial and error element of sales and helps you systemise all that in your experience has brought in sales in the past to make sure they happen more often.

Even more important is the potential to improve your customer retention. As most customers leave due to indifference, not ensuring that you demonstrate the value you offer leaves them to decide on price alone. Couple this with the fact that up selling is much easier than selling to a new prospect and you can see how important it is to have an after sale plan.

To get your sales process up and running consider the following:

  • Write down all steps you take between first engaging with a prospect to making a sale and ongoing communication with your clients
  • Emphasise the actions you take and consider writing scripts, list of actions and written communications which can be repeated
  • Write it with another, new member of your team point of view in mind
  • Get someone else to read through and comment on how easy it is to follow

So, to summarise, developing as sales process for your business is well worth the effort as it will definitely make a difference to your conversion and retention rates. Follow my suggested steps to help you make a start and develop it further based on your unique process. Most importantly, make sure you and your team follow the process once designed consistently to see the benefit.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for your business in terms of sales process?

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Why all businesses need a website in 2016

How many times a day do you go on the internet? We bet that the amount of time you spend online has significantly increased over the past few years, right? The explosion of the online world has been felt across all industries and now almost everyone has a smartphone, tablet or some form of device that enables them to access the internet at any time, in any location. The internet is full of huge opportunities, but it also opens up the market to a high number of competitors for the services you provide. You need to be on top form to fight off the competition, but even with these technological advances, a lot of business still DON’T have the number one tool; a website which delivers results.

Does your business have a great website? If not, why not? We commonly hear the excuse that a business “doesn’t think it’s a worthwhile investment” or that it’s simply not worth the money. Well then here are our top reasons as to why it could be the best investment your business will make.

  1. Do you want to attract new customers and increase sales?
    If you are trying to run a successful business, then we hope the answer to this question is a loud YES. To do this you need somewhere to direct potential customers to and a container to hold all of the information about your products/ services. Think of it as an online brochure with the ability to reach a global audience without the hard work of manually posting one through every door! Without a decent website that appeals to your target market, they will simply move onto one of your competitors.
  1. How do you market your business?
    The internet isn’t all about having your own website, of course this is the first (and biggest) step, but you need to get out there and promote it online. Social media, email marketing, blog there’s a vast variety of online marketing tools available out there, but these all need to point back to a website. There’s no point tweeting about your fantastic new product, if you can’t include a link for someone to read more information about it.
  2. Who are you?
    We all know that the best way of securing new business is via word of mouth, but since the internet became such a huge thing, an extra step was added to this; Google. It’s pretty common for someone to Google a company name to check them out before deciding whether to make contact or not. If you haven’t got a website, how will they find you or how to contact you?

Convinced yet? If not, just try Googling some of your products or services and see just how many of your competitors have a website.

Websites don’t have to be a burden to your business, with the right website developer; it can be a simple and stress-free process that leaves you with an efficient, appealing online sales tool that helps to drive your business development.

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Keeping Your Data Up-To-Date

The Importance of Data

Data is the driver of so much in this day and age but businesses often struggle to know where to start with data collection, management and usage. Done well, it leads to significant increases in revenue, profit and customer retention. Let’s take a look at some examples of where data can make a big difference to a small business.

Car Garage

A customer brings their car in to a small local garage for 2 new tyres because they have seen a deal advertised in the local paper which is what they typically rely on for generating business but its low margin being so competitive.

When will that garage contact that customer next and about what? Often the answer is never because the data that will drive contact with that customer has not been captured anywhere electronically. For example, capturing when is their MOT and service is next due along with a mobile number and email address (customer name and address are a given!) would allow them to go for that work when the time comes and in a cost effective manner by text / email (or mail). Collecting this simple data allows that garage to better influence that customer’s decision on where to get the work done therefore increasing their revenue and profit, meaning their advertisement to capture new customers generates so much more than just one job.

Gardening Business

I was recently talking to a friend that runs gardening business and he said he was doing another flyer drop in the local area, he said his work had dried up. I asked him about the customers he had done work for in the past and when he last spoke to them about whether they would like any work doing. The challenge was, he had very little data. He had some names and phone numbers in his mobile amongst all his other contacts but couldn’t show me a list of customers, what work he had done for them and when. Keeping a simple spreadsheet or even paper diary with a record of each job carried out, for which customer and the date, perhaps with the cost of the work would have made the world of difference to him. It would have allowed him to generate work from an existing customer base by targeting those that had work this time last year or had not had any work done for a while rather than having to go for new customers which is costly and time consuming.

Top 10 Tips

  1. Make some time to decide what data will be of use to you e.g. last job date, next contact date
  2. Don’t put it off – the sooner you start capturing data it the sooner you can use it to your advantage
  3. Review any existing data capture processes what quantity and quality of data are your staff capturing
  4. Measure success regularly daily, weekly or monthly
  5. Set out a plan for how and when you will contact current customers, previous customers and prospective customers
  6. Ensure data you capture allows you to follow the plan
  7. Follow through on the plan and measure success
  8. Find a method that keeps it simple manual diary, spreadsheet, other software.
  9. There are lots of very cost effective and sometimes free solutions which are ready made, search the internet
  10. Get some help if it all seems too much.
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