Good quality communication is always about the recipient. To reach out to your customers you need to speak their language and tell them what they need to know in a way that they understand. It is tempting as a business owner to talk about ‘our products’ or ‘our solutions’ but people are coming to you because of their desires or their problems. Speaking the language of your customers is essential in making a sale, and as a customer focused marketing agency we can help you to identify how to speak to them in the best way possible for your business.
Using the right pronouns – When selling to your customers as we’ve already said you always need to talk about their problems and needs. Using the words ‘you’, ‘your’ and ‘yours’ makes the sale or product about them instead of being about the company. When you talk about what ‘we’ do, you are excluding the customer from the conversation. It is essential that the customer is included in the conversation by telling them how ‘they’ will benefit. Make it personal to the customer to engage them more effectively.
Use common language – There is a difference between the words you can use to describe a product or service. This difference between the words you choose can either alienate or engage the customer. While both choices of word may be correct, you need to tailor your language to the customer and not to yourself. Remember that your understanding of your business will in most circumstances exceed the customers and you need to speak to them in a manner that they will clearly understand without all your industry background and knowledge. The key is knowing the demographic of your target customer, including their level of education, interests and experiences. This will help you pitch your choice of language and style of how you address them correctly.
Explain everything – While it may be easier for you to refer to things with acronyms or jargon, this is not easier for the customer to understand. A customer may be left confused by jargon which can leave them unsure about the purchase they are making. They will be unlikely to know what HPWB (high pressure water blasting) means, but they will understand that you are cutting the material. When communicating with a customer you should lead with the features and benefits and avoid using industry shorthand and technical terminology and should instead explain everything and why such details matter to them as the end user. It may take longer but this will lead to greater customer understanding, which in turn will culminate in better buy-in and results. A good trick is to imagine you are explaining the information to a child or friend.
Make the decision today and call us here at to discuss your specific requirements , I am sure we can help you and at the end of the day it’s just a phone call !
We would be delighted to listen to your business goals and help you realise them, please get in touch today on 01392 241653 or contact us through our website here, we’d be delighted to have a no obligation chat to see if we can help your business grow.
Tags:communications, content creation, content marketing, customers, email marketing, online marketing, social media strategy, top tips
The question is, when is it time to start thinking about Christmas if you are an entrepreneur, running a business, owner of an online shop or any other enterprise that provides a service, training or goods to the public or other businesses and are be affected by Christmas ?
Some really forward looking people start planning Christmas and all of the logistical necessities that this extra busy time can entail in January, in fact the minute the door is closing on one festive season, the window of opportunity is just beginning to open for the following season of good cheer with its looser wallets and purses.
Some businesses rely so much on Christmas, it would be a complete dereliction to ignore this prime time of the year. It is incredibly important to plan as much of your business activity as possible during this extra busy time of year, especially if you are a company that requires training for its workforce, making sure that all plans are in place in good time can avoid disastrous consequences and lost revenue, not to mention loss of consumer confidence.
Let’s look at some facts that might help put into perspective the very real proposition that the Christmas period is ultimately the only important time of year and all other times are simply rehearsing for it.
At least half of small businesses rely so entirely on this seasonal trading that without it there would be no growth, almost 25% of the entire yearly revenue is taken during the festive trading period.
The average household in Britain spends around £800 at this time of year, this is a conservative estimate. This distils into a figure of around £40 for each present that UK shoppers buy for and on average we all buy 14 or 15 presents, this is in stark contrast to shoppers on the continent who spend around £20 per gift and buy only six or seven gifts each year.
Online shopping has rocketed over the years and peaked in 2017 at an all-time high of around £30 billion, this trend looks set to continue over the coming years with a massive 80% of shoppers in Britain saying that they purchase their gifts online. It is also a fact that 70% of the U.K.’s male population state that they are unlikely to buy gifts in a shop when they can obtain them online.
An incredible £7 billion was spent by shoppers using their mobiles in 2017, bringing into sharp focus the necessity for any forward-looking business to have an online presence that is easy to use and navigate the most up-to-date version possible to make the shopping experience as easy and quick as it can be, those businesses lagging behind the online technology will suffer the consequences as consumers will most certainly make them pay a heavy price by taking their online footfall elsewhere.
40% of discerning gift buyers in UK go online as early as August and September looking for festive bargains that will look good for them when handed over on that very important morning in December.
The lesson in this for all businesses is to start capturing those clients as early as possible with Christmas offers and bargains to tempt them in.
The truly smart business manager or entrepreneur will never leave their Christmas planning until November and December when the decorations are going up, the most successful entrepreneurs will have their plans laid in stone and the nets out to capture this most lucrative of times way, way in advance, Certainly by the end of summer Christmas will loom large in their thoughts and absolutely the wheels of their plan will be grinding into motion by the end of September and no later.
Being ready for the logistical demands that the festive period puts on businesses of all sorts it’s not just a case of hiring the extra staff paying for training courses or even ensuring that the extra stock that will be required is indeed available in your warehouse, you have to look Christmas ready, you have to make your clients feel Christmassy the minute they encounter you on any level, be it in person, in the training room or even, and probably more importantly, on your website and in your social media images and messages on your website should truly reflect the fact that Christmas is coming and make your visitors feel the most welcome that they can be.
Now that the summer has gone by and we are all subjected to grey days and drizzly rain a true lift to the spirit of all human beings is to look forward and imagine ourselves in a winter wonderland themed with Father Christmas, Christmas trees, rosy chested Robbins and wondrous winter snowy landscapes, all images that we should be putting out over the Internet.
It really does not matter what you’re selling or what your service is, you will definitely do better and increase spend by your consumer if they feel jolly and nothing creates jolly better than to identify with the jolly, rotund bringer of Christmas himself with his glowing cheeks flowing white hair & beard and his shiny red suit.
making your clients feel good will invariably result in more revenue, this may sound very cynical but if you don’t do it someone else will and that someone else will take the benefit that could’ve been yours.
Not only is the festive season a time for storing away profits to keep you going through the lean times of the year but it is also time for you to free your inner Santa Claus, if you become the embodiment of Christmas and all of the cheer that that brings with it, you will invariably create a feeling in your workplace and in your customers that will definitely set an atmosphere conducive to higher profits.
Tags:christmas, digital marketing, ecommerce, email marketing, inbound marketing, online marketing, website development
Why outsourcing to a marketing company is a no brainer ?
- Feeling lost by the digital marketplace ?
- Need your time to be more productive ?
- Want much less stress in your life ?
- Really need help but can’t afford a new employee full time?
That’s just a tiny few of the many many reasons you should and could talk to us today, there are just so many ways in which Gleave Media can help your company.
From a practical perspective we can do so much for you in the Digital space and our services go far beyond merely writing a few email campaigns for you, our services here are geared to specifically take the marketing workload off your shoulders in every way you can imagine, so we can nail down to driving your business in the right direction generating sales leads and enquiries for your business.
Ask yourself how many more clients you could take on or would win with our marketing strategy help?
Make the decision today and call us here at to discuss your specific requirements , I am sure we can help you and at the end of the day it’s just a phone call !
We would be delighted to listen to your goals and help you realise them, please get in touch today on 01392 241653 or contact us through our website here, we’d be delighted to have a no obligation chat to see if we can help your business grow.
Tags:communications, digital marketing, email marketing, gleavemedia, inbound marketing, online marketing, social media strategy, website development
With the deadline for GDPR fast approaching you still have time to get your business ready and this checklist may help you do just that.
Your current business data
Your business will undoubtably hold data already and the questions to ask is do you know what this data is, i.e. name, address, job title, contact details? Where it came from, i.e. sign up forms, events etc. Why you have this data i.e. marketing, admin? and finally do you share this data with anyone or any other company. This is whats called a data audit and if you’ve not done on then you need to.
Is everyone in the business on board?
The implementation of GDP effects everyone in your business, so everyone needs to be aware of it and what the implications are. This is likely to mean changes are required but how will you know if you don’t bring your employees on board. We are all in some way data collectors so we all need to be a ware of our responsibilities when we collect data from anyone.
What information do you need?
Even business will need a privacy policy that covers what you do with data you collect and a key question to ask in this is what information you need and why you need it, it may well be you need a post code for possible deliveries or a phone number – please don’t ask for information you do not need.
Consent
For the data you hold and plan to use do you have permission to use this data, this will include things like how you got consent and did this include consent to use in the way you wish to do so. Also if you got consent through a simple form that the owner must be able to withdraw consent in a similar way, certainly it should be an easy process and no more difficult than how it was gained in the first place.
Unauthorised Loss of Data
Every business will need a procedure in place that covers the potential loss of data you hold, so you need to make yourself aware of what you need to do and what timescales are in place to fulfill this requirement. It is worth mentioning that the penalties can be unlimited by the Information Commissioners Office if you have a loss of data and you do not have a plan for managing this.
Getting your business facing these challenges and have them working for you shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that have a clear plan in place. If you need help in ensuring your business has the right tone of voice then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Also if you need help with a GDPR documentation we can recommend Herbert Ball LLP and you can visit their website here.
Tags:communications, content marketing, customers, digital marketing, email marketing, GDPR, online marketing, social media strategy, top tips
Every business needs to have goals. Without goals, you will carry on as you are and will fall into bad habits that can cost you money in the long run, here at Gleave Media we work with digital goals so we can clearly share with our customers what we are aiming to achieve and map the route we take to achieve them. But why does your business need goals and what happens if you dont have any?
Increased inefficiencies
Without clearly defined goals your business will suffer from increased inefficiencies. Setting business goals can help you by allowing you to constantly review systems and see how they can be improved, but without them, things will carry on as they are and become more lax over time. Businesses without goals often end up with increased inefficiencies, simply because they are not working towards improving their systems.
Decreased income
Without goals in place, it is common for businesses to suffer from decreased income. When there are no goals there is no drive to maximise sales, upsell and find new customers because there is no clear reward for doing so. Where goals are not in place it is common for businesses and employees to settle with what they get and not use initiative to maximise opportunities. With sales goals and targets to work towards, however, there is a constant motivation to work towards this.
Stifled growth
Expanding or growing a business is an expensive and complicated process that simply will not happen if you do not have it as a goal to do so. For many small and medium enterprises that have not set goals to grow and expand, this is the factor that eventually defeats them. Businesses need to be able to grow to meet demand or they will have to turn work away and will get a bad reputation for doing so, which in turn will harm business. Without goals in place, the only result is stifled growth.
So why set Digital Marketing goals?
We always aim to set clear goals as we believe they are vital in any business because it sets the direction and focus that we are working towards and ideally for the company to increase sales and grow trade. Setting goals can be difficult from the subjective position of an owner, where we come in is that we can help you to look objectively at your business and determine how these digital marketing goals can help you to expand and grow.
Getting your business facing these challenges and have them working for you shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that know their tone of voice and ensure it is used across all communication. If you need help in ensuring your business has the right tone of voice then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Tags:communications, content creation, customers, digital marketing, ecommerce, email marketing, gleavemedia, inbound marketing, online marketing
In 2018 your business needs a digital marketing strategy and this needs to constantly evolve if you hope to stay ahead of your competition, we have a wealth of experience in managing this and developing new strategies for customers as their businesses evolve . As alot of it involves staying on top of current marketing trends and keeping your website and social media profiles properly updated their are also some key issues to be aware of, so here are a few things that you can do that will help your business work better online.
Consistent tone of voice across all social channels
A customer should be able to recognize your business through the look of the business and how you ‘speak’ online, if you want one of the best examples ‘Just Do It’ is one of the simplest, most recognisable slogans of all time – a line Nike has used for the past 15 years – what is your business tone?
Multiple Devices are here to stay
Now more than ever your strategy needs to focus away from only how your business features on a computer screen, to how it features on mobiles, tablets. So your digital marketing strategy should cater to that with ads scaled to fit mobile devices and webpages that can be viewed easily on any device. Mobile ads should even take priority over television and radio ads, especially if you’re targeting a younger demographic.
Time to automate your Content Marketing
There area a multitude of tools that marketers can use to publish content across multiple social media platforms and these tools have evolved to allow you to create and publish content automatically with the push of a button. Social media is even more important than ever in 2018, and the ability to quickly post content to a wider audience will help you stay ahead of your competition.
Please ensure that you share useful content
As important as it is to come up with your own content, you shouldn’t hesitate to share other people’s content if you find it useful and interesting. This is a great way to share links back to your own content and reach a wider audience, especially if you stick to content that is relevant to your own company. You should read out post Social Media and the rule of Two Thirds for more helpful advice on getting this right.
These are just a few things that you can do to stay on top of digital marketing trends during the coming year. As simple as they may seem, they won’t help you if you don’t put in the proper effort. Always work to keep your website and social media profiles updated, and pay close attention to your competition. Digital marketing changes quickly, and you want to make sure you aren’t left behind.
More than ever in 2018 developing a digital strategy for your business shouldn’t be just an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that make it integral to their business growth from the start. Now the sales bit, if you need help in creating your digital strategy for your business then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Tags:digital marketing, email marketing, facebook, Google, inbound marketing, online marketing, Pay Per Click, PPC, seo, social media, social media strategy, top tips
The customer relationship management system or CRM is a powerful tool for managing all aspects of the customer experience. As a business concern starting out, one of the most important investments that you can make is in a CRM system capable of managing customer profiles, determining how best the business delivers on its promises and rewarding customer loyalty for continued support and advocacy in terms of referrals and additional business.
The CRM however is not the end all to be all with respect to your management of the customer relationship. The information contained within the CRM is useless if not used in an effective way for you to make process improvements or deliver on the expectations that your customers have of you and the business. Here is a look at what is beyond the CRM and what you should do to better manage information and make it work to your advantage as a new or emerging business owner.
What should a CRM Should Drive My Business to Do
CRMs represent a dynamic tool that can integrate various functions and processes within the business. This integration allows different departments and disciplines to communicate with one another and provide support to customers, the critical lifeblood of any organization. Through the full utilization of the CRM and all its functions, both as a data mining tool and as a interactive communication hub, you can develop a way to involve, engage and fully meet the needs of your customer. This helps distinguish you from our competitors and put you in position to grow at a potential unseen.
Understand that CRM relates to an aspect of the customer relationship but does not take place of the physical aspect of the customer experience. If you do not follow-up on the information being provided to you, whether it is an answer to an inquiry by a customer, a request for information, a follow-up call on a complaint, etc. you miss an opportunity to meet the expectations of the customer. Such a missed opportunity could prove a detriment to you down the road, particularly if you are a business who depends on its reputation and word of mouth as an aspect of your marketing and outreach. The more you humanize the customer experience beyond the CRM, the better you will be at retaining long lasting customer relationships.
[activecampaign form=11]
Tags:communications, CRM, customers, digital marketing, email marketing, social media strategy, top tips, training
Creating a clear digital plan can have clear benefits for any business no matter what size, indeed we know from experience that small and growing business usually gain significant benefits when they create a digital plan as it gives the business real focus and engagement opportunities for everyone in that business to get on board with. In fact its fair to say that in the current business climate especially post BREXIT, we believe that a business not having a digital plan effectively means not having a plan at all.
So how do you go about creating a digital plan and seeing the benefits for your business? These are our top tips….
When you create a Digital Plan you undoubtedly will find that you dont need to change your business, you just need to empower your employees to engage with your business and your customers and this is likely to be through smartphones or tablets in a way that suits the customer and prospects not you and your business, so if you supply football memorabilia then you need to be active on Saturday’s when games are played and in the evening as that is when potential customers will also be active on social media and more receptive to your message.
So work together with your team, ask them who is confident on instagram or facebook for example and you’ll find a champion wanting to take the production of this on and manage the day to day updates after you give your plan as to who/what/why and when you want to engage your customers. Don’t forget you may need to invest in the right tools for them to do the job, a new smartphone maybe even a private company facebook group to pull together the management of all this.
We know that all small businesses need people who understand the digital world we know live in and who can see the potential of technology and then convert this into real business growth. For some that will mean looking towards young people, our those digital experts who seem to naturally possess those skills that means it all comes really easily to them. Also you may have some other staff members keen to get involved, whichever way you turn as a business you need to invest in and nurture that talent as they will help your business grow.Now is the time to ensure that, no matter what the size of your business, you can make the most of digital technology and its benefits.
Developing a digital plan shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that make it integral to their strategy from the start. Now the sales bit, if you need help in creating your digital plan please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Tags:communications, Digital Strategy, email marketing, gleavemedia, inbound marketing, online marketing, social media strategy, top tips
With the continual change of advanced phone technology, websites are in effect continually going from desktop browsers to tablets and mobile phones. This means that your website needs to change to suit the distinctive screen sizes and be cross browser perfect with the plethora of mobile gadgets now available in the business sector. The experience that a mobile client receives is so critical in your business and if you’re in any doubt then this article clarifies why you ought to make your site responsive / mobile friendly.
Higher Ranking in Google Search
Beginning April 2015, Google began offering giving preference to sites that are mobile friendly or have a mobile friendly version of their site, according to Google’s Webmaster Blog:
“When it comes to search on mobile devices, users should get the most relevant and timely results, no matter if the information lives on mobile-friendly web pages or apps. As more people use mobile devices to access the internet, our algorithms have to adapt to these usage patterns. In the past, we’ve made updates to ensure a site is configured properly and viewable on modern devices.”
Other internet search engines share a similar view with the inclination to favour mobile friendly websites. Yahoo and Bing for example have followed a similar path to Google requiring that you offer a mobile friendly / responsive website and if any any doubt then Google offer a free tool in which you can test your website mobile friendliness here https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
Various Screen Sizes
The primary reason for any website ought to be to serve up what the user needs and how the user wishes to view your website on a device of their choice. The massive development of smart phones and tablet devices means that websites need to adjust to a variety of screen sizes accordingly. This is called Responsive Design and is utilized to get the website information used on any portable device by removing the irrelevant parts of the site and just concentrating on the essential viewpoints. Advanced website design must make conformities for various sorts of screens including mobile telephones, tablets, portable workstations, desktops, projectors and even window display and each screen needs the special components taking into account their use and in view of their usefulness to your business.
W3CSchools says that “RWD remains for Responsive Web Design; RWD can convey site pages in variable sizes; RWD is an absolute necessity for tablets and cell phones.”
Concentrate on essential features
Bigger buttons, bigger text dimension and a configuration upgraded for a portable screen are perfect in giving the best site experience to a mobile friendly client. Different components which are given need is component dispersing, particularly for things such as connections, popups, catches and even drop down records. The general purpose of this is to guarantee that the end client concentrates on precisely what they need and not the extravagant components of your site which are displayed to desktop clients.
Whatever your website need we can help identify and then help your business reach its customers on any device so that you can concentrate on managing and growing your business, to find out more please contact the team either through the website here or call us on 01392 241653.
Tags:communications, email marketing, facebook, inbound marketing, mobile, online marketing, social media, website development
For most Small Businesses the management of people is way down the list when compared to the other parts of the business operation, for example, revenue and sales which outweigh everything else. Notwithstanding, staff administration is a significant cost for small business as well as concentrating on different business functions as this is all important to drive business development.
There can be no doubt that any small business need good people to help them function correctly but what else is preventing Growth for Small Businesses?
As an entrepreneur you will be confronted with an awesome number of things to do to develop your business! It is likely that you will disregard a few while concentrating on others that maybe you might be more OK with performing, so what are the other areas that you need to be on top off? These are likely to include some of all of the following;
- Understanding your Customer Market – who are they and where are they, is your business positioned correctly to reach this customer?
- Satisfactory Planning – do you have a plan, is it written down anywhere and do all your staff have a buy in?
- Overseeing Cash Flow – the old adage cash is king is never more relevant these days, do you have a handle on your business cash flow?
- Working a Marketing and Sales Process – do you even have a sales process, who is the first point of contact for any potential customer?
- Focused on Marketing Campaigns and Programs – this is where we come in and can help your business focus on its customers with digital campaigns that directly reach out to them.
And now the sales message, if your small business needs help focusing its marketing activity and needs a clear defined plan then why not call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation chat, what have you for to loose?
Tags:communications, devon, email marketing, gleavemedia, inbound marketing, online marketing, website development
