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The Ultimate Guide to Marketing for SMEs

Are you a small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) looking to make a bigger impact in your industry? Then you’ve come to the right place! Marketing is the key to reaching new customers, building brand awareness, and driving growth.

In this ultimate guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know—from social media to email marketing, SEO, and beyond—to help take your business to the next level!

Building a Strong Foundation

Brand identity

Brand identity is what sets your business apart from competitors. It reflects your values, mission, and how customers perceive you. Here are tips and tricks for building a strong brand identity:

Website Design

Your website is often the first impression potential customers have of your business. A well-designed site is crucial to success. Check out these top tips for creating an effective website:

Content Marketing

Content is king. Whether through blogs, videos, or infographics, quality content can drive traffic and boost engagement. Every page on your site should have essential content that adds value. Start here:

Reaching Your Audience

Social Media Marketing

Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn offer fantastic opportunities to connect with potential customers.

If you’re looking for tips to improve your social media marketing, check out these insightful articles:

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to communicate with customers, nurture leads and drive sales. If you’re looking to master email marketing, this guide will help you succeed in 2024:

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO is essential to get right. Ranking higher on search engines can bring in more organic traffic, increasing visibility and lead generation. Implement these top SEO tips to get started:

Lead Generation

Generating high-quality leads is the key to growing your business. Whether you’re using social media, content marketing, or paid advertising, it’s important to be strategic. Learn more in this article:

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising

PPC can drive targeted traffic to your website, but it comes with pros and cons. If you’re wondering whether PPC is right for your business, check out this guide:

Expanding Your Reach

Event Promotion

Hosting events, whether online or in-person, can help engage customers and attract new leads. Learn how to master event promotion with these effective strategies:

Design & Print Work

Don’t underestimate the power of traditional marketing materials like brochures and flyers. Consider these top tips when planning your design and print work:

Black girl in denim sitting at the table with stationery and touching computer screen. Indoor portrait of pretty young woman in headphones with tablet spending time in office.

Staying Ahead of the Curve: Top marketing trends

The marketing world is constantly evolving, so to stay ahead of the game, it’s important to keep an eye on emerging trends and adapt your strategies as needed:

Voice Search

Voice search is rapidly changing how consumers find information online. Optimising for voice search can help your business stay ahead of the curve. Learn more about this emerging trend:

Sustainability Marketing

Consumers are increasingly drawn to brands that prioritise sustainability. Incorporate eco-friendly practices into your marketing strategy to appeal to a growing audience that values responsibility:

Personalised Marketing

Customers respond better to personalised marketing experiences that cater to their individual preferences. Tap into this trend and see how it can benefit your business:

Interactive Content

Interactive content like quizzes, polls, and surveys can engage your audience on a deeper level. Find out how to use interactive content to your advantage:

Key Marketing Dates

Keeping track of key dates and events throughout the year can give your marketing campaigns a significant boost. Here’s a list of unmissable dates to generate buzz:

We hope that our ultimate guide has given you plenty of useful tips to help take your business to the next level. If you would like more expert advice or support, our friendly team is always here and happy to help.

For a free virtual marketing ideas session with marketing experts, call us on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk

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How to master email marketing in 2024

In the digital age, emails remain one of the most powerful tools for direct communication with your audience.

But, users are becoming more selective about the emails they open. In this blog, find out how to create standout email campaigns in 2024:

1) Understanding email marketing today

People expect more from email marketing today, it’s not just a case of typing a quick email and pressing send. Personalisation, relevant content and a great design is needed to catch your audience’s attention and encourage them to read more.

2) Write attention-grabbing subject lines

The subject line is your first and sometimes only chance to engage your audience. We find that clear, concise subject lines that spark people’s interest will encourage people to open your emails and read on. A/B testing can be used to see what works well for your email campaigns.

3) Personalisation

Personalising your emails to deliver more targeted and relevant content works really well. Including their name is a great start, but going beyond this you could segment your email list based on purchase history, location, or behaviour and really personalise your approach and increase engagement.

4) Send at key times

Make sure you are sending your email campaign at a time that is most likely to reach your audience. This varies by industry and demographics, so it is about getting the right time for your business. A key thing to avoid is clashing with any industry events, or sending at times when no one will be checking their emails.

5) Optimise for mobiles

With the majority of emails now being read on mobile devices, it’s essential that your emails look great and function seamlessly across all devices. This can significantly impact open and click-through rates. By prioritising mobile optimisation, you can effectively reach and engage your audience wherever they are.

6) Engaging content

The era of static emails is behind us. Today, consumers crave interactivity and engagement. This includes interactive elements such as polls, surveys, or clickable buttons to capture attention. It has also been found that interactive content builds a deeper connection with your audience.

7) Review results

Understanding how your email campaigns got on by looking at open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates is essential for refining future campaigns and making sure your audience engages with your emails. But if you get stuck, we are always here to help!

For a free virtual marketing ideas session with marketing experts, call us on 01962 600 147 or email info@tlc-business.co.uk

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#MarketingTitbits – Edible Adverts, Queen Flakes, Design Mistakes

nakd-queen-email1. Nakd erects an edible advert to get customers trying its goodies
This ‘delightfully different’ snack brand created by Natural Balance Foods, set up shop outside London’s Shepherd’s Bush Westfield shopping centre this week with an edible billboard made up of their fruit and nut bars – what a tasty idea!

The main objective for the campaign was to showcase Nakd’s wide range of products available, but to also promote how healthy and convenient they are. The range of snack bars formed the words “Find Your Fave” – encouraging consumers to find and taste their favourite flavour.

Click here to read more about their ‘nutty’ campaign.

2. Queen Flakes, gingerbread loyalty and more as brands celebrate Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth II became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch last week, surpassing the previous 63 years and 7 months record held by Queen Victoria. Her Majesty spent the day in Scotland away from the limelight; however that didn’t stop brands from getting involved.

Kellogg’s caught our attention last week with the creation of special ‘Queen Flakes’, which went on sale at Manchester’s Black Milk Cereal Café. Meanwhile, Billingtons have been baking gingerbread men, supposedly the Queen’s favourite biscuit.

To see how more brands have been celebrating, click here.

3. 7 email newsletter design mistakes to avoid

Sublime-looking emails can be easily created with the help of popular email marketing services; however, even small design errors can have a massive impact on the success of the marketing campaign.

Marketing on mobile devices has been proven to be very successful; however, it can also be very tricky to get right. Email marketing templates are now accessible for brands to use for their campaigns, ensuring that the email looks great on small devices, regardless of the dimensions.

Click here to discover 7 email design mistakes.

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#MarketingTitbits – Gmail, Google, Vine

Gmail-GoogleAuthorship-Instagram-smaller1. Gmail offers unsubscribe link and the world of email marketing comes to an end
If you send emails out to your database on a regular basis, this might be one for you to read. As you may already know, if you receive what feels like millions of sales emails in your inbox each week, it can be really hard and time consuming to unsubscribe.

Many companies will hide the unsubscribe button in reams of small print at the very bottom of the email and you just don’t have the time or the energy to look through it all. However, times have changed if you use Gmail. They have now made it even easier to unsubscribe from emails that you no longer want or need in your inbox.

To read more about how you can unsubscribe or people can unsubscribe from your emails, click here. 

 

2. The value of Google authorship for your content strategy

You may never have heard of Google Authorship before, but if you’re updating your blog or website with regular content, you should be thinking about it.

In basic terms it is Google’s new way of making more credible content appear in people’s searches. Any content that you post to your website will link to your Google+ profile, giving your company a face. This boosts the click-thru rate of the post by up to 150% when it appears in search engine results.

Depending on your AuthorRank you may be eligible for Google Authorship. This looks at things such as how regularly you post, how many people are in your Google+ circles and your authority among other social media channels. To read more and to find out if you’re eligible, click here. 

3. Has Instagram killed Vine?

Instagram is one of the most widely used image based social media channels in the world. Instagram has roughly 130million users against Vine’s 13 million users.

13 million users is nothing to be sniffed at and if your target audience falls within the typical Vine demographic, it could be the place for you. However, with the strength of Instagram clear and growing by the day, as a marketer where should you spend your time Vine or Instagra? To read more about the Instagram vs. Vine debate, click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Google+, Black Friday emails, worst

googleplus-emails-adverts-smaller1. Former Google+ designer slams the service for being ‘Facebook lite’
One of Google’s former employees has described Google+ as ‘adrift at sea’, with the social network leaving behind big opportunities and a ‘ton of value on the table’.

Chris Messina believes that Google+ is too similar to rival Facebook, and that they should have embraced the concept of identity by creating connections from the information that is shared online by Google users.

Could Google be slowly moving away from its Google+ brand? Right now, it’s unclear. But watch this space.

To read more about Google+, click here.

2. Black Friday email marketing: eight retail examples

Black Friday seemed to cause mayhem across the UK, both online and in shops. Now that the dust has settled, David Moth from Econsultancy reviews the emails he was receiving in the lead-up to the infamous wallet-emptying weekend.

He found that retailers such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Quicksilver were all keen to start early, sending out emails offering savings across their lines in advance of the big day. When Black Friday arrived, we were bombarded by emails, declaring 10% – 50% off items.

Brands such as House of Fraser and Office decided to steer clear of a generic Black Friday title and simply presented consumers with sale details. In contrast, other retailers, such as River Island, embraced the event to the full, making the deals available online only.

What was your experience of Black Friday?

To read more, click here.

3. The 10 worst ads of 2014

The time of year has finally come – no, it’s not Christmas just yet. Instead, it is time for us to sit back, relax and look over some of the worst ads from the past year. Business Insider has compiled its rankings of the top 10 fails in advertising. Here is a taste.

The top 10 includes some poor taste humour from brands, such as Paddy Power, who were placing bets on the murder trial of athlete Oscar Pistorious, a spot of corporate feminism from Dove and their ‘Patches’ product and a three-minute Scottish travel agent ad, using a series of questionable effects and props.

From cheesy soundtracks to some odd laxative issues, the list doesn’t fail to disappoint in the ‘really?’ department. So, click here if you can cope with seeing some.

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#MarketingTitbits – Amazon, GIFs and Instagram video

amazon-GIFs-instagram-smaller1. Amazon to take on Google and Microsoft by offering corporate emailThe Wall Street Journal has recently reported on Amazon’s plans to shake up corporate email with the introduction of WorkMail, a cloud-based email service with a $4 per month price tag, rivalling the likes of Gmail and Microsoft Outlook 365.

The move suggests that Amazon is looking to expand its services further into the business sector, running as part of Amazon Web Services, which controls technology behind consumer brands like Netflix and Pinterest. The email software will offer encryption features and the ability to only store content in designated countries, also.

To read more into Amazon’s bold move, click here.

2. Making GIFs just got easier with Imgur’s new GIF creation tool

For those who aren’t sure, GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format and is a loosely compressed graphic that can commonly be found on websites, made up of simple shapes and a limited number of colours. And now making your own GIFs is easier than ever.

Imgur is a free image and GIF hosting website and has released a video creation tool which allows users to create looping GIFs from videos found on the likes of YouTube and Vimeo. All you have to do is copy and paste a video link, select your start time and duration between 1 and 15 seconds, and have your GIF come to life.

To see a demonstration and more information on the new tool, you can head to Mashable by clicking here.

3. 12 best branded Instagram videos from January 2015

Instagram has risen up the social media ranks with their video sharing feature over the past year, competing against other top channels such as Vine. Lots of brands are jumping into the scene and Econsultancy have compiled a list of their favourites from last month, so we’re outlining just some!

In the top 12 you will find Samsung showing off their advancements in technology, Mr Porter showcasing possibly all of their product line in 15 seconds and Starbucks, who are expressing their love of coffee. But we doubt the list could be complete without the inclusion of GoPro and Red Bull, as both brands take us to extremes to share their passion for video.

Check out all of the videos by clicking here.

 

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#MarketingTitbits – email investment, Google search update, Facebook algorithms

email-google-facebook-smaller1. Why is email investment falling despite high returns?
Marketers tend to be fond of email marketing due to the high return on investment (ROI) that it yields, so why is spending in this channel decreasing?

According to a census of 1,000 marketers published by Econsultancy, email marketing is only second to SEO when it comes to delivering ROI, with 22% rating the benefits of email as excellent. But over recent years, the survey has found that other marketing channels, such as mobile, are of greater focus to marketers.

To find out more about the barriers to email marketing and how to overcome them, click here.

2. Google updates mobile search snippets

Last month, Google announced its plans to change the way URLs are presented in search results and started to use mobile-friendliness as a ranking tool to promote optimised experiences for users.

Currently only available in the US, URLs will be updated as a reflection of site names instead of domains, but available worldwide is the breadcrumbs update that structures data to help users navigate a site. Website owners are being advised to ensure that their site name and breadcrumbs are accurately displayed, and can do so by using schema.org.

For more on Google’s latest updates, click here.

3. Facebook’s algorithm update: what it means for marketers

With the big mobile algorithm updates from Google dominating conversation on the internet, it’s no surprise that the latest change Facebook has made has been overlooked by some.

A blog post from Facebook outlined how the platform will now prioritise content from your friends over brand pages, seemingly in an attempt to widen the use of paid social reaches. Facebook also wants to encourage brands to generate better content for users that they want to see and interact with. If content is liked, more of a brand’s posts will continue to be distributed higher in a particular user’s news feed.

The update is proving for marketers that engaging and relevant content is more important than ever. If you’d like to know more, click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Google Analytics, Virgin’s vacation policy, email marketing

analytics-vacations-emails-smaller1. Seven Google Analytics tips for beginnersGoogle Analytics is an invaluable tool for businesses to use to understand their websites and its engagement with visitors. The level of insight it can provide is staggering; however, for those unfamiliar with it, it can be slightly daunting when you first visit the page. Luckily we have some tips to help you plough your way through and make the most of this useful tool.

Setting goals around session duration, pages viewed per session and customer events is a great place to start. You can also receive email alerts just so you don’t miss a thing that happens on your site. And don’t forget to connect to your AdWords account!

To find more tips click here.

2. Virgin’s Unlimited Vacation policy: PR ploy or new employment paradigm?

Richard Branson is known to be an innovative, forward-thinking and publicity savvy business leader but last week he took things to a new level with the idea of unlimited vacations.  Although this may seem like a dream situation for employees it also raises some interesting questions about how to make it practical.

On one hand it empowers employees with the flexibility to holiday whenever they wish, which potentially makes for a happier work force. Equally, it demonstrates Virgin’s trust in their staff. However, it also raises lots of questions around the practicalities of the initiative and the stress the rest of the team are placed under when a key team member is away.

So is this just another clever publicity stunt, designed to get people talking about the Virgin brand, or is it an example of an enlightened employer looking to do the best for his employees? For more information on the unlimited vacation, click here.

3. Why is email seen as the poor relation in digital marketing?

Since the email was created in 1972 by Raymond Tomlinson, it has been a vital tool used by marketers to reach out and engage with their customers and target audience. But as ‘digital marketing’ becomes ever more complex, questions are being asked about how effective email marketing is for companies?

According to a recent Email Marketing Industry Census from Econsultancy, the percentage of organisations that are sending over 1m emails has increased from 15% to 22% in the last 5 years but the survey showed that average annual e-marketing spends had stayed fairly static at £5,000. The survey indicated there is a perception that e-marketing is a cheap, but low value marketing tool and not particularly valued as highly as other digital marketing channels. However, when analysing the ROI from e-marketing, the survey found some surprising results.

To find out more, click here.

 

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