Email marketing has always felt like a gift for a business of any size. We will explore the benefits of email marketing for small businesses in just a moment, but done well, with an estimated ROI of 40:1 it can support all marketing campaigns. I sometimes have the discussion with small business owners as to whether email marketing is still valid, or has social media taken over? In truth it does come down a little bit to your target audience and of course how you use this powerful tool. Statistica released a report in November 2022 which advised there were 333.2 billion emails sent worldwide in ..read more

The social media marketing landscape continues to change and evolve at a fast moving pace, keeping up with the changes sometimes feels like a job in itself.  When I meet with a new client for the first time one of the first questions we will explore is which social media network is right for their business.  For some the social media landscape is a daunting one with the digital landscape telling you that you should be in Facebook, Instagram, Tick Tok, LinkedIn and more.  The answer to the question however as to which network is a simple one – where does your audie ..read more

January has the feeling of a fresh start and a new beginning. With many of us making resolutions or setting intentions to be different or make changes, it is an ideal time of year for many small business owners to plan for the year ahead. I talk alot about marketing strategy planning because it is the start point of any marketing activity. In this blog I wanted to share a different framework that we can use to help us gather our thoughts and craft impactful marketing campaigns that will engage with our customers. Philip Kotler, is considered to be the father of modern marketing and one of the ..read more

There are lots of exciting things on the horizon for 2024 and in our blog we wanted to share what we consider our 6 top small business marketing trends for 2024. I was really fortunate in October this year to attend a webinar run by the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) at Henley Business School, that not only shared some of their latest research on the forthcoming trends in the world of marketing, but we also heard from some amazing industry leading speakers. Combining the insight gathered from this day with what we are seeing in the world of marketing on a day to day basis, below we sum ..read more

This year has been a good but an eventful one. I continue to be grateful that we work with some inspirational small business owners who are awesome at what they do and feel fortunate to have also worked on some exciting projects across the year. At time of writing we are finishing the marketing planning cycle for many of our clients. I love this time of year and this process as it helps us as a team to reflect, celebrate our successes and ensure we start the new year with renewed energy, focus and purpose. In the wider, macro environment things have also been eventful in 2023. We have sadly se ..read more

In today’s digital world your website is your virtual shop front that enables your customers to find out more about your business, purchase products or engage with your services.  There are often key reasons why small business owners may choose to review their website, declining visitor numbers, slow website or broken pages are some key ones.  Once we have completed our marketing immersion session (or marketing strategy), one of the first projects we often work on is the website.  We work with the client to draft the project brief and then enlist the support of on ..read more

Holidays are coming . . . . holidays are coming . . . In my network this week, there seems to be a huge focus on the idea of reflection and taking a moment to consider success. It can be so easy I think to always be looking forward and planning for the next campaign or project, but in reality, how often do we take stock and reward our achievements? Now with 2024 just around the corner, you could argue that this will happen as part of the natural planning cycle, but I urge you to take a moment and consider what five things that have achieved in September. The evaluation and reflection part of t ..read more

September always has that back to school feeling and a sense of new beginnings. As we return from our summer adventures, refreshed, it feels like the right time to re-focus on our small businesses with renewed energy. This year with the media talking about the impact of an economic downturn it feels like now, more than ever we should take the time to reset your marketing strategy and keep our small businesses front of mind with our customers. With this in mind, we wanted to share five steps to help you to reset your marketing strategy this autumn. Regardless of what sector you are working in w ..read more

This is the first in our blog series where we plan to share marketing tips with a particular industry or sector in mind. The first focus is on boutique hotel marketing strategies, which include self-catering accommodation, glamping sites and small guest houses. The hotel and accommodation sector has changed hugely over recent years with the introduction of Air BnB, more people seeking co-working spaces in a post-COVID world, increased focus on a sustainable approach and personalisation being key trends to watch out for. In a post-COVID world with no travel restrictions in place, we are startin ..read more

Faced with an ever-changing digital landscape, investing time in building an online audience is important for any small business owner. But building the right audience is key. With this in mind, many small business owners often ask us, “How can I grow my social media audience?” Our survey also reflected this question at the beginning of the year. We talk a lot about building your marketing strategy, knowing what you wish to achieve and defining your audience, so for the purpose of this blog, I am going to assume you know the answers to these questions. If you don’t or need some help getting st ..read more