Tag Archives: inbound marketing
Is your business Christmas proofed
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.
Outsourcing for professionalism
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.
Why your business needs to have goals
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.
Why tone of voice is important in your business
So the question we’re often asked is how to create any content with the right tone of voice. So in short these are five top tips to follow…..
1. Use short sentences.
2. Avoid jargon.
3. Write in the active voice.
4. Use personal pronouns.
5. Don’t patronise your reader.
Tone of Voice is very tricky to get right, for example if we work with a recruitment consultants, a garage and a dentist and they all want to sound expert, passionate and innovative, how are we to tell them apart through their tone of voice?
You may want to read our post on the 6 Key elements of a Successful Content Strategy for Small Business Owners and Why do you need a Call to Action both will help guide your business down the right Tone Of Voice.
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.
Your Digital Strategy for 2018
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.
Best Marketing Agency in Exeter
Here at Gleave Media we are honoured to have been named as one of the three best marketing agencies in Exeter.
Three Best Rated is a business recommendation website. It selects what it considers to be the three best businesses within a business category, like marketing agencies, for a given city. They select businesses based on several criteria such as reviews, pricing, value, trust, general excellence and more are independent of the businesses themselves, consequently making this a really valuable award. Their employees check out businesses they are considering listing for their website, at no stage did they contact us so we had no idea of their due diligence on our business. They only informed us afterwards when they selected Gleave Media Ltd as one of their three best.
Three Best Rated® is an American business based in Austin Texas and was created with a simple goal to find you the top 3 local businesses, professionals, restaurants and health care providers in any city. They check business’s reviews, reputation, history, complaints, ratings, satisfaction, nearness, trust, cost, general excellence using a 50-Point Inspection.
So I like to give a big thank you for selecting Gleave Media, we’re honoured to have been chosen and would also like to congratulate the other two Exeter Marketing Agencies who were also selected as well.
Why do you need a call to action?
A common phrase used by marketers is ‘call to action’ or the acronym CTA. Basically this means that after someone has read your content they come to a place in it which has a call to action asking them to do something, be that contact your business or buy the product or service you’re offering.
The key fact is that you want your reader to do something, be that share the post on social media or buy a product, whatever it is your call to action must be compelling. You dont need to write pages of copy for your call to action to work better or worse, it just needs to be compelling and reflect what you business is and stands for – your brand.
If you make your call to action unique great as it will be memorable, if its in your business tone then even better, so if you business is fun then so should your call to action be, if its serious then it follows that your call to action is similarly serious. So our three top tips to make your call to action a winner….
- If your call to action is as simple as BUY NOW excellent but you could take a higher level approach with a prize if the user shares some content as that way they may well discover more content applicable for them – hence this is often used in a retail environment.
- Ensure your call to action is short and 100% clear, as with all content dont waffle or else you risk confusing the viewer.
- Can you offer a deal, buy now and get % off your next order is a common one, or sign up for our newsletter and get offers JUST for newsletter subscribers is also a good one.
Whatever way you choose to go, think differently and look at the potential to try out new ideas to really make your call to action come alive….
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 make it integral to their strategy from the start. If you need help in ensuring your business has the ‘killer’ call to action then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
6 Key Elements of a Successful Content Strategy for Small Business Owners
As a small business, one of the many challenges that you’ll face is how to stand out from the crowd – especially when that crowd includes big names in your industry with huge marketing budgets. One thing you can’t skimp on in order to meet your goals is a solid content strategy for your online presence. With the right elements all working together, you can get more traffic, more attention, and more customer loyalty, without that Big Name budget. Here are the key elements of a successful content strategy to enhance your brand’s presence online:
Website and Storefront
For most small businesses today, an online storefront is a vital part of expanding your sales opportunities. But your website must be more than just a place to sell goods. It is also a place to introduce quality content to your audience. With an excellently maintained website or blog, you can present yourself as an authority in the industry, and build your brand’s identity in a way that will be very clear to the audience. This is the most important aspect of any content strategy, so be sure to focus the most time and energy on having a well-crafted website.
Social Media and Customer Interaction
Social media can’t be ignored in today’s online culture. While your website should be your central hub, social media should be the place where you can interact with customers on a regular basis. Be sure that you are always presenting your brand’s mission and unique personality in your social media presence. Organizations that interact, rather than just post, on social media are far more likely to convert one-time buyers into loyal customers.
Advertising Profiles and Guest Appearances
One thing that many companies overlook online is the power of connecting with other companies. Consumers like knowing that they are buying from experts, and gaining credibility from other sources is a great way to show your expertise. Seek out guest appearances on other blogs, collaborations with popular taste makers, and create profiles on popular advertising sites such as Yelp, to give your audience the sense that you are well-established as a leader in your niche.
These six elements are the key pieces of creating a successful content strategy for small businesses. With a strong website as your central hub, an engaging presence on social media, and other industry leaders lending you credibility through partnerships, you can begin crafting a powerful online presence that keeps your audience coming back.
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 make it integral to their strategy from the start. If you need help in ensuring your business is listed correctly then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Does your business think local?
It should go without saying that its no good having a great product or website if people cant find it, almost pointless in fact.
We’ve written previously about the importance of a Google local listing and it is vital that this is optimised so that your business can be found by local customers. Local information is becoming increasingly important in search engine results pages and Google continues to to show and place importance on mapped and local results wherever possible.
So how does your business fix this?
- First of all if you haven’t already then you need to claim and verify your Google local business listing, ensuring it has the correct details, name, address and opening times are key.
- Then optimise content, keywords and contact details, all useful information for anybody searching, you also need to make sure your contact details across the web are universally consistent.
Finally the ‘icing’ on top is by collecting reviews, and yes this is difficult, you’ll ask far more customers than will give you reviews but do you ask?
Just for the record you can read our Google reviews here and our facebook reviews here both actively collected and always asked for….
Getting your business listing correctly on all search engines shouldn’t be an afterthought – the businesses that succeed will be the ones that make it integral to their strategy from the start. If you need help in ensuring your business is listed correctly then please call us on 01392 241653 or contact us through the website here for a no obligation conversation.
Why Content Marketing is Crucial in 2017
Any amount of research on the current online marketing climate will tell you that content marketing is key when building a website. When it comes to growing a successful business, generating well articulated, accurate, and target content is crucial to drawing in your target customers. Without well written content, you may find your business stagnating in the competitive markets of the modern age. Here are a few tips to help keep your website’s content marketing the center of attention.
Pay attention to your target audience
In recent years, online consumers are less and less likely to spend their time searching through websites to find the information they need. Instead, the majority of internet users rely on search engines, and target specific keywords in order to find the content they are looking for. On top of this, more customers are less likely to stick around through a long article that weighs them down with over the top information. This means that, while a few years ago running a website with pages and pages of information may have been the best way to gain customers, in today’s market that kind of strategy will end up weighing your business down. Instead, it is crucial to invest in concise content for your website.
Content Targeting
When it comes to content for your website, make sure to hone your content in such a way to draw in specific consumers. For example, it is important to present your potential customers with facts about your industry, as well as with concise articles about your methods and any other information pertaining to your field.
With the specificity of search engine results, and the lack of interest modern-day consumers have in spending long amounts of time looking for information, it is imperative to know your audience. Making sure your website ranks for your business type is one of the best ways to ensure constant traffic to your site, and content is one of the main ways to prove to the variety of search engines out there that your site is worth showing their visitors.
Content Influx
Today’s consumers are used to a barrage of daily information, from Facebook feeds to Twitter posts to Emails. The best way to reach out through this information fog is to make sure your website updates with new content regularly. If your website offers no new content for weeks on end, you’re well on your way to losing website traffic, which means less customers. Of course, while keeping your website constantly updated is key to standing out in the information storm of the internet, the quality of your content is as important as the quantity. If your articles are poorly written, or merely rehashed versions of previous content on your site, your customers will notice, as will the search engines.
At the end of the day, creating good content is the key to marketing your business in the modern world. Content is one of the main ways your website gains renown on the internet, and without it you’ll find yourself high and dry wondering where the customers went. However, once your content is of good quality, and your website offers a wide array of regularly updated information, you’re well on your way to thriving in the online business world.
Developing a content 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.
