20,July, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Eight Steps That Local Business Owners Can Take, Right Away, To Enhance Your Web-Based Marketing

Contact the team at DMS today, either click “Contact Us” or “Call Us“

We asked one of the local Surrey business neighbourhood communities with which we’re a member, what was the most significant area of frustration they faced when it came to their online marketing. The questions and our accompanying recommendations formed the basis for this article and broadly fell into eight topics. 

• How do we increase traffic?
• I’ve A Facebook Page, Do I really need my own website?
• Do I need Google My Business?
• Do I really need social media? 
• What makes a good website?
• How to create fresh content? 
• What are the top steps a business can take to boost it’s digital presence?
• How to boost our email-marketing?

Whether your business has managed to maintain a level of sales or not during much of 2020; it’s fair to say, as a local business owner, you’ll be looking for ways to boost sales. How we do business is going to change, be this as a result of an increased digital presence through to revising your operation and fulfilment model. Innovation is vital. 

Like most things, this doesn’t just happen on it’s own, an effective digital marketing strategy needs to be created and delivered.  Whether you opt to do this yourself or engage a local digital agency to help doesn’t matter; what does, is to take appropriate action.

Furlogh payments and the Bounce Back loan are two critical steps the Govt’s taken to keep the economy going. A reduction in VAT, for some, from 20% to 5%, will, hopefully, help to kickstart those sectors that have also struggled. There are steps that you, as a business owner and entrepreneur, can also take to boost your business that you may have overlooked.

The following is a summary of our recommendations as going into depth would be information overload!  

These are practical online marketing steps, you as a local business owner can take, to position your business to create more leads and sales as people get back out and about post the pandemic.

If you’re pressed for time, we’ve summarised the questions and our recommendations into a 2 minute video, here …

 

How Do We Increase Traffic?

There are two options that you can and should consider together:

• Run paid ads. Paid adverts/PPC on one or more platforms, e.g. Facebook, Google, etc. Paid traffic is more immediate. How people use the platforms varies, and this influences the nature of the ad or ads that run. For example, typically, when someone’s on Google, they’re searching for the who/where/when/why or how.  
• Encourage more natural, organic traffic to your site. This traffic is more of a “slow burn” but does result in a regular flow of visitors over a more sustained period of time. Activities that support organic traffic include, but not limited to, are SEO, social media marketing, reputation marketing, and not to be overlooked, talking to people!
• Both PPC and organic traffic can and, if your finances allow, should be run in parallel, at least for a period of time.
• Like a physical store, an increase in visitors alone doesn’t automatically equate to a like for like increase in sales. Other factors’ll influence whether or not there’s a sale. But, it is a truism, if you have no visitors, you won’t have any sales! A simple rule of thumb, give your visitors what they need and remove barriers that get in the way of completing the desired action.

 

I’ve a Facebook page, Why Do I Need My Own Website?

In one word, Control.

Whether it’s Facebook or any other 3rd party platform provided by someone else; if, however inadvertently, you transgress their T&Cs, you can have your page suspended and removed. Your page is likely to remain unavailable and invisible while you seek clarity and resolution. With your own site, you have full control, and you’re not subject to someone else’s whims that’ll impact your business!

It’s relatively inexpensive to set up and host your own site. The benefits far outweigh the cost.

 

Do I Need Google My Business (GMB)?

GMB is a great resource, particularly for local businesses. To get the most out of it, ensure that it’s set up correctly and optimised. A couple of other benefits:

• Unsurprisingly, Google trusts it’s own products, and this is a significant influence for Google and other search engines use trust as part of their algorithms when assessing where on the Search Results pages to display your website.
• Helps significantly to be found/shown on Google Maps and when people search for a product or service ‘near me’.

There are other benefits, but, if these two aren’t enough, it’s also free!

If you’ve not claimed your free Google listing, click “Google My Business” and you’ll be redirected to Google’s site. Follow the instructions from there.

 

Do I Really Need Social Media?

Yes. As with the earlier aspects, it must be done properly. The key, listen to what’s said and the language used. Recognise also your audience is judging you and your business’s reputation’s at the same time; so, ensure you’re doing yourself justice.

Different platforms attract different audiences, and the behaviour / the way people act on and interact on them is subtly different. Misjudge it and, at best, you’re message is wasted, at worse, it’s misconstrued, and this negatively impacts your brand, product or service.

Social media is a great way to raise the profile of your brand, product or service and to engage with your market. People increasingly are looking for reviews of a business before they’ll buy; what’s said by others and how you respond will say more than the words used. Trust is both being built and destroyed during these interactions. Make sure you’re responding appropriately. A bad review, for example, can be turned around to the betterment of your business; if done correctly. 

 

What Are the Top 3 Things For An Effective Website?

Narrowing this to 3 is a challenge in its own right! But, for simplicity, we recommend: 

• Content needs to be clear, engaging and relevant. Video is a great format to use.
  
• Optimise your website as this will help with your search engine ranking, i.e. how quickly and visible your site is on Google et al. SEO is a key factor in determining where your webpage and website features in the Search Engine Results Page. The majority of people seldom go beyond page 1, so, if you’re not there, you’re invisible.
• It must be mobile-friendly. More and more people are using a mobile or tablet to surf; if you’re site and or features don’t work for users on these devices, you’re also likely to lose leads and sales. A site that’s not mobile-friendly is a negative mark for Google; impacting presence on the Search pages.

 

How To Create Fresh Material?

There are multiple options to go to, for new ideas. A couple of options include:

• Review questions existing customers/clients have asked
• Look at Google Trends
• Go to any search engine, type in a few words and look to see what other terms are automatically shown or, look at the bottom of the page for other terms

 

What Are The Top Actions A Local Business Can Do To Boost its Digital Presence?

There is a multitude of avenues to consider, and it’s imperative to prioritise and plan. That being said, five areas to focus on are:

• Ensure that you’ve got a website; one over which you’ve full control, with relevant and informative content. The key, the content should focus on what your audience wants/needs to know. Video as a format works particularly well. Have a clear call to action and remove barriers that impede the sought after action.
• Regularly create and share fresh and engaging content that adds value to your audience. 
• Claim and optimise your Google My Business listing. Remember, it’s free (the listing that is).
• Market your business’s reputation online. We can help if you’d like to take further.
• Automate and leverage technology. There are many tools and software available to the SME market, that helps to level the proverbial playing field. Make as much use of this as you can. It removes the manual processes, can make your operation more efficient and doesn’t necessarily cost the earth. In saving you time, it saves you money and may, help in securing more sales!

 

How To Boost Our Email-Marketing Campaign?

Outbound marketing is an area where it’s easy to come-a-cropper and caution’s needed! Be careful. 

If you don’t know how the list was compiled, you could fall foul of spam laws, resulting in your domain being black-listed and or fines levied. Don’t therefore be tempted to buy a list of emails.  There are ways to run Outbound Marketing campaigns without falling foul of the law.  

It is possible to run cold email campaigns, but you must take several precautionary steps before starting.

Alternatively, run promotions or equivalent, whereby the user provides you with their email address; this is typically referred to as a “single opt-in”. Many mass email-marketing software providers require, as part of their T&Cs, that you have the end user’s permission (at least single opt-in) before you can send any mass-email campaigns on their systems. A more thorough approach, is to make use of the “double opt-in”, which is where you confirm back to the user that they’re happy to continue to receive content from your business.

 

We’ve only touched on a range of topics that you, as a local business owner, should consider when designing and executing your digital marketing strategy. This article is by no means exhaustive, and each area itself could easily be the focus of more significant discussion. 

Digital Marketing Surrey‘s a digital media agency, based in the borough of Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. We work with local businesses just like yours, across London and the Home Counties. We’re a local business too and know full well the issues you’re facing.

If you’re struggling with your digital marketing or need to devise a strategy and need help, get in touch with us today. We’ll set up an initial exploratory, no obligation, discussion to dig a little deeper and outline if and what we can do, to help you and your business.

#internetmarketingservicesnearme

#digitalmarketing

#digitalmarketingagency

#digitalmarketingservicesuk

#digitalmarketingagencyservices

#digitalmarketingnearme

#digitalmarketingstrategyservice

#businessreadiness

29,June, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Get Our Free Digital Marketing & Operations 7 Point Plan

To discuss how we can help your business, click “Contact Us“

• How Ready Is Your Local Business?
• Readiness – Digital Marketing & Operations Checklist – 7 Point Plan
• Timing Is Critical

There’s no doubting it, the first half of 2020 has been tough for many people and many local businesses. Even the large organisations haven’t been immune. Some companies have been able to continue operating, albeit, under slightly different operational terms to the start of the year.

If you’re a small or medium-sized business, chances are, recent events have negatively impacted you. If you’ve been able to re-purpose your products or services, hopefully, that’ll provide you with a continued and additional revenue stream as we move forward. However, if you’ve been treading water, waiting for the general opening up, we’re almost there. As we move through into July and beyond, different sectors of our economy can re-open. With the easing of the lockdown, is your business ready?

Timing, as always, is going to be critical. Take action, within the next 3 to 4 months, maximum, to set yourself up to benefit from what’s coming. Make sure you have a plan. Sit on the sidelines and watch and, you’ll be looking back on this period and regretting not having taken the right action.

How Ready is Your Local Business?

How ready are you and is your business, to embrace the re-opening? Other than stabilising the finances over the last few months, were you able to review your business, your marketing, taken a closer look at what was and wasn’t working, and, for the latter, identify remedial action? If you’re struggling with what you can do and experience, “analysis paralysis”, i.e. lots of options, but you just not sure where to focus your time and resource, read on.  

Whether you did or did not, it doesn’t matter. This article talks to a series of 7 measure you can take to ready your digital marketing and business moving forward. Take the checklist to compare what you have done and if you’ve gaps, plug accordingly. Alternatively, if you’re looking at a nearly blank sheet of paper, you’ll certainly want to read on.

Thankfully, while activity in the non-essential areas may have been quiet and, as a general statement, people are still being paid, there’s a likely pent up demand. Just look at the queues from early in the morning for those stores that opened on mid-June.

Resources are scarce at the best of times, let alone over a period of 3 to 4 months inactivity, where few people are out and about making purchasing decisions.  Are your digital marketing activities and operational processes in a good place to make the most of the easing of the lockdown?

Readiness – Digital Marketing & Operations Checklist – 7 Point Plan

Click on the image below, to be taken to download a fuller copy of our FREE Digital Marketing & Operation 7 Point Checklist.

This cheatsheet sets out in a simple framework, across 7 areas, steps that you can take, right away, to put your business in a great place. Some of the items are free; others are actions that you can take right away and leverage existing material. A summary of the seven topics:

• Google My Business (GMB) – this is a free service provided by Google, where you can promote your business. There are several benefits immediately available:
  • It’s free for one!
  • Claiming your business, tells Google that you’re a genuine business, which will help with organic traffic; i.e. the result of people typing in your product/service into Google vs a Paid Ad.
  • It’s a definite must-have for local businesses as it helps when people are searching for nearby services.

• Financials:
  • This is key. You need to know the value to your business of every client, whether this is as a one-off purchaser or repeat business. 
  • Equally, ensure that your digital marketing budget, what your able to spend, is realistic. Setting an unrealistic spend will result in reduced returns.   

• Market Position
  • Are you clear and more importantly, is your target market, aware of you, knows why they should buy from you, rather than your competitors?

• Digital / Social Media Management
  • Are you actively engaged with your potential market and, critically, listening and then engaging?

• Tech & Processes
  • There is a multitude of tech and systems out there, of varying prices and subscription models, providing most businesses with an excellent way to align the front and back-office activities.
  • Set up a structured approach to follow up and, where possible, maximise the use of technology; this will save you a load of time moving forward.

• Marketing Material
  • Ensure that you have, informative, engaging content, that addresses the questions your dream clients are asking. Don’t be shouting about your product or service. Instead, position your solution that addresses their issue.

• Website
  • At a minimum, you need engaging content, with regular new material added. Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across all your digital assets.
  • Check the load speed of your site and similarly, check the density of the keywords used. There are free resources that will tell you this, e.g. https://gtmetrix.com/ and https://smallseotools.com/keyword-density-checker/ respectively.

Timing Is Critical

Timing. There’s a somewhat unique opportunity as we collectively move forward with the easing of the restrictions that have been in place for much of the year, Now’s a good time to reset and, if you’re serious about your business, position yourself for success.

Unfortunately, there will be some that don’t make it through the next few months, that’s a harsh commercial reality. Their customers, however, are still seeking solutions to their challenges. Set your business up to capitalise on this period, and you will see substantial returns over the next 12 to 18 months. This opportunity is not going to be around for too long, 3 to 6 months, at best. It’s imperative to take action now.

 If you’re serious about your business and would like a copy of our FREE Digital Marketing & Operations 7 Point Checklist.  Click here >> Get Me My Copy << to download the fuller checklist.

All are steps that you and your business can take starting today. Some are FREE and require knowledge and detail you already know; others, are more specific and you’ll most likely need to speak to a local digital media team.  If you’d prefer to discuss further or engage the DMS team directly, to help ready your digital marketing and operations to capitalise on this period, don’t delay, Contact Us today.

 

#easinglockdown #internetmarketingservicesnearme #digitalmarketing #digitalmarketingagency #digitalmarketingservicesuk #digitalmarketingagencyservices #digitalmarketingnearme #digitalmarketingstrategyservice #digitalmarketingtypes #businessreadiness

5,June, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Click Contact Us today to discuss how our services can help your business

The perennial question most SME owners will have, or you’re asking yourself right now, is how to create consistent content? Unfortunately, that’s only part of the equation. This simple question has to be expanded, such that you’re clear how you will create content not just consistently, but that is also informative, engaging and provides your audience with value.  

In addition to creating this consistent and informative material, you’ve to maintain your business and, if you’re not a writer or not too happy putting the proverbial digital pen to paper, to create engaging digital content, this task can appear even more daunting. We’re willing to bet that you’re not one of the lucky ones for whom writing comes easy. If this sounds familiar, read on, we’ve some tips n tricks that will help.  

Quality is Vital for Digital Content

Let’s be clear from the outset, while the frequency of publication is essential – Google et al. are always seeking new content and it’s one of the elements of their search algorithms – quality outweighs frequency, hands-down. There’s little to no point churning out several poor-quality articles a week or month, to maintain a regular rate of publication. From the start, set the expectation with your audience, your team and yourself, to produce excellent content, that adds value to your audience.

Contact us today to discuss how our marketing services can help you and your business.

11 Top Tips:

• Ensure you’re clear on your business’s short and long-term goals, the tactical and strategic objectives. 
• Ensure you’re clear on:
  • your audience
  • their pain points
  • how your product or service solves their challenge
• Prepare your talking points for the month ahead. These must align with either your tactical or strategic goals; and critically, the content must provide value to your audience. People go online to either research or pay for the solution to their query.
• Write your thoughts down rather than trying to keep them in your head; it will never get done otherwise! Use Word, a spreadsheet or an editorial calendar (e.g. FlypChart:) to capture your ideas.  
• Draft your target headlines. A free and useful heading analysis tool is the emotional marketing value heading analyser. This will help you create engaging headers and, in the long run, if your perfect several at the same time, is a great time saver. 
• Identify other activities that will be needed, for example:
  • drafting introductions
  • completing keyword research
  • locating images
  • identifying emerging trends
• Set aside a time slot, either each day or each week, that’s allocated for creating your content. Switch off the inevitable distractions and focus on creating the content. It needn’t all be text; it could just as simply be pictures or audio. The aim, the material needs to resonate with your audience. If your business lends itself to images, use photos and videos rather than text. 
• Identify meaningful goals and related metrics. It’s far easier and more motivating if you’re able to track the outcome of the activity. Parameters to consider are increased engagement, shares, email-subscribers, traffic and leads. Remember, the content should align with and support your business’s goals, both short and long-term.  
• “Writer’s block” – at some point, you’ll encounter the dreaded “writer’s block”. When you do, try to work through it, but if, or when, that itself proves to be a problem, walk away, do something else. Recognise that it’s ok to completely change your focus and come back to it a little later, this is an effective strategy. Just remember, you will need to get back to do the job!  
• If you’re stuck for ideas, look at Google Trends. This shows what’s trending in the market and can be narrowed down at the geographic level if needed.
• Review previous content and determine what can be curated to provide a solution to the present problem. Not only is it saving you money, it’s also a time saver.

If it’s Too Much

If all this is too much and you know, despite all your best intentions, that you’re not really going to do this, don’t beat yourself up. Far better to recognise this early on and take the appropriate steps – if you’re a small business, this will typically be by engaging an external party and if you’re a medium-sized firm, hiring in or expanding your digital marketing team or working with an online marketing agency. One word of caution, while you can readily outsource the creation of content, you are the expert. It’s your knowledge that’s central to your business. A by-product of creating quality material is to establish or reinforce you as an authority in your market with your target audience. Thinking that you can delegate the creation of quality, value-adding content to someone who does not have your level of expertise is doing your audience and your business a disservice. 

Whether your business is London or the Home Counties based, the team at DMS work with many local businesses like yours. We’re data-driven and strive to deliver digital marketing solutions that have a strong ROI for your business. 

Get in touch today. Visit us at https://www.digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk/contact-us or email: info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk

 

#contentmarketingagencylondon #b2bcontentmarketing #contentmarketingstrategy #contentmarketingtools #videocontentmarketing #contentmarketingplan  #digitalcontent  #contentmarketingagency

 

29,May, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Is your business the same as the majority of others, or, better placed, with the minority?

Click Contact Us today to discuss our how content marketing service can help your business.

• What’s the purpose of content marketing?
• 7 point checklist to create & deliver an effective content marketing plan
• Typical business content marketing goals
• Tangible examples of content marketing
• Immediate steps you can take

According to a recent study from the Content Advertising And Marketing Institute (CMI), as well as MarketingProfs, some 63% of companies do not have a documented online content advertising and marketing strategy. It’s not surprising then, that those businesses who DO have an approach, are achieving results. If your business falls into the 63%, read on. If you’re one of the 37%, that’s great to hear. Read on as there may be some useful reminders … 

What’s the purpose of content marketing?

In essence, there are two primary goals:

• brand awareness – be this establishing, raising or reinforcing
• target market – know your audience and understand their challenges 

 

A Simple 7 Point Checklist to Create and Deliver An Effective Content Marketing Plan: 

• Set out your high-level digital content marketing objectives. Focus on specific and measurable results:
  • From your business’s perspective
  • From your buyer’s perspective
• Define your target audience or audiences
  • If you have multiple audiences, repeat the steps for each group.
• Identify your audience’s critical pain point and how your product or service will directly alleviate or resolve it
• Define the content to you will use per audience group
• Very clearly, state the BENEFIT your audience will derive in purchasing your product/service
• Know your KPIs
• Track, track and track your customer’s digital journey.

Typical web content marketing goals from a business’s perspective include:

• Securing an increase in high-quality leads
• Driving more traffic to your digital profile(s), e.g. website and other digital assets
• Authority in your market – in turn attracting more traffic
• Sharing of informative and valuable content 

These should not be looked at in isolation but as part of a wider and interconnected activity. Whether you’re writing your content or have someone in your team who’s managing your online presence or have engaged an external search marketing company, it’s important to ensure your integrate your web activity. Ultimately, from a commercial perspective, all activities must be contributing to securing a solid Return On Investment (ROI) and by default, improving profits. If the ROIs low or negative, appropriate decisions can be taken to address and resolve. Remember to monitor the changes.

This does, of course, require the availability of the underlying metrics, also referred to as KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Therefore it’s vital you as an SME owner, know your numbers!

Some tangible examples of goals, be this over a month, quarter or year:

• an increase in leads generally and specifically, high-quality leads
• an improvement with traffic to your key web pages
• a lower bounce rate or “drop-out’ before the visitor has taken the desired action
• an increase in engagement on social platforms – e.g. mentions, shares, likes, interaction
• request to participate in specific market events
• improved sales and, if appropriate, life-time value of your customers

Immediate steps to take:

• Build up a profile of the demographics of your ideal client/customer, your visitors, email clients and social media fans
• Analytics
  • Internet 
  • Social network 
  • Email/customer analytics
• Research and verify your customer’s primary pain points. 

Remember, your website isn’t about you; it should not be a vanity project! Your website, your digital assets should demonstrate how your product or service addresses or resolves your client’s/customer’s primary need. The challenge will vary depending on whether the item to be purchased is essential or a nice to have. A burst water pipe requires an immediate fix, whereas a new item of clothing is more discretionary. Consequently, the nature of the copy used and its presentation within your content marketing will differ.

Google, Yahoo et al. are all moving further into better understanding our intent and the language used. Content and context are and will be increasingly important for all content shared online. 

We’re a web agency marketing company, specialised in working with small and medium-sized local businesses, across the Home Counties and London, to help with website marketing. Our goal is to take the strain away from you, at least on the digital marketing front, giving you your time back to focus on your business and do those things you want to do.  

Contact us today to talk further about developing or implementing an effective integrated online content marketing strategy for your business.

To discuss further, contact us on: info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk

  

 

18,May, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Can Your Business Afford to Ignore Internet Marketing?

• Ensure You Have Clear Goals & Methods
• How To Encourage Engagement
• Do Keyword Research

As an SME business, every penny counts; budgets need careful allocation, and most importantly, your money needs to be working hard for you and your business.

In the worse case, you don’t know! In which case, as a first step, you need to take a closer look at the KPIs. A better position, it could be improved, and you’re looking for ways to make it more cost-effective. 

One of the best approaches to improve cost-effectiveness is to identify what existing material can be re-purposed and curated. If you’re not re-purposing and curating your existing content, is there a reason? Would you benefit from assistance?

At the best of times, an effective content marketing plan will help you grow your brand’s recognition, bring in new clients and drive revenue, while helping to reinforce brand commitment, conversions and growth.  

According to a research study compiled by Coschedule: Companies that release 16+ blog site posts a month get as much as 3.5 X website traffic as those that release 0-4 messages a month. Content advertising generates 3X much more leads per pound invested. Digital content advertising and marketing:

• Costs c.62% much less than conventional advertising; 
• Approx. 61% of online customers purchased after reviewing referrals from a blog site 
• Content advertising approaches transform 6X much more typically than other advertising techniques.

Ensure Your Have Clear Goals and Methods

Ensure your objectives are clear and realistic; this will assist you as well as your group in making vital choices as you further refine your marketing material. The wrong message, to the wrong audience at the wrong time, only results in wasted spend.  

A common goal is to get people to visit your website or blog site and, as a minimum, sign up to an offer in exchange for their email address; this may be with an introductory discount or e-book. Once you have their email and they’ve agreed to receive further material from you, you’re able to start to build a relationship with those who’ve shown a level of interest with your products/services.

The idea is that a consumer, when aware of a brand name, mission or goal, finds it attractive enough, to complete a purchase. An effective content advertising and marketing strategy have two things in mind: your brand’s voice and the target market. If, for example, you’re attempting to reach younger customers, one method is through the social media sites they’re on and using punchy language. 

As an example, Harry’s, a firm that offers razors; generates a digital publication that includes topics such as fathering and design, as well as much more. Tools like Google Analytics assist in identifying which material is most popular with your audience, who’s reviewing what, where and when. 

Blog sites like Harry’s self-styled magazine and email newsletters are commonly the core of any content advertising strategy. But ingenious brand names have gone a lot further, tapping right into influencers on Instagram, use of Facebook Messenger, running podcasts, publishing physical publications, generating video clip collections and so on. 

An essential exercise at the start of launching your web content strategy is to focus on a couple of the leading networks and branch off later.

How to Encourage Engagement?

Fast forward a month; you’ve created and finalised your content marketing strategy, you’ve great content in the pipeline, you’ve started to blog, at least 3 times a week, have plans to create a bi-monthly newsletter and have an idea for a series of video clips. 

Exactly how do you make certain individuals see your web content? You can produce great web content; however, like the typical tree that drops its seeds in the forest, if no one reviews it, does it matter? An email e-newsletter is a great way to distribute the material and seek feedback. Pose questions and challenge or encourage your readers to respond.

While you develop your email list, you can advertise on social media sites (paid), as well as adding additional, evergreen content, that anchors the content of your business web site.

Do Keyword Research

Remember to do effective keyword research and capitalise on search engine optimisation (SEO) to ensure your web content promotes itself. Don’t keyword stuff, keep things proportional. There are free tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner that give an insight to the sort of terms others are using; however, recognise this is only giving you part of the picture, it isn’t giving you any of the really informative information, such as, which terms are really driving your target market, those with buying intent or the level of potential conversion. It’s easy to spend money, make sure it’s on those elements that will deliver an ROI. Are you confident that you know which terms are bringing customers to your site and more importantly, your competitors? Digital Marketing Surrey is data-driven, we can show you, those terms that have buyers intent and are more likely to bring conversions. 

When you initially begin, ensure that the material you’re committed to generating is something you and also your group can take care of and maintain. Whether it’s one blog post a week or more posts each month or merely one durable email e-newsletter each quarter, ensure you carry out regularly on schedule.

Digital Marketing Surrey (DMS) is a west London digital marketing agency, based in the borough of Kingston Upon Thames, SY, specialising in providing digital solutions for small and medium sized local businesses.   

To discuss how the DMS team can help you with your b2b or b2c content martketing in digital marketing, contact us today:

Email: info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk or click on Contact Us.

#contentmarketingagency #contentmarketingagencylondon #b2bcontentmarketing #contentmarketingstrategy

28,April, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

Effective & Simple Steps For SME Owners Across London & The Home Counties

Click Contact Us Today, To Discuss How We Can Help.

Or Email:
Info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk

Struggling with whether or how to continue your digital marketing in the current climate? The following 9 top tips will help you.

• Summary of the 9 Top Tips
• Recognise Things Have Changed
• Communicate
• Provide Value
• Running Paid Ads
• Ad Copy & Extensions
• SEO
• Optimise For Multiple Channels
• Track Website Data
• Recognise When You Need Help

The phrase, “May you live in interesting times”, often attributed to being an interpretation of a traditional Chinese curse, but believed to be from an analysis of a speech in the late-19th-century, by Joseph Chamberlain, couldn’t be more true today. We’re unquestionably living in uncertain and unprecedented times, at least in modern memory, where there are challenges to both our personal and business lives. However, this shouldn’t mean that things have to stop, instead, for now at least, we need to do things differently. The way we conduct our business, how we communicate with our teams, our customers, our family and friends needs to be adjusted. It’s not business as usual. There will be a new norm. 

Whether your company has briefly stopped all business, has chosen or been encouraged to work remotely, how you approach your digital marketing presence will have changed in reaction to this present health crisis.

Whether you’re managing your own online marketing activity or you’ve engaged a digital marketing company, the following’s a list of 9 tips, for how SME business owners across London and the Home Counties can continue to market their products or services.

9 Top Tips – The Summary:

1. Recognise that things are different for your clients – advise your clients that you’re there for them. You “have their backs”.
2. Communicate – if you’ve changed what you’re doing or when, inform your customers. Keep messaging, clear, concise and accurate.
3. Provide Value – this was never truer than now.
4. Running Paid Advertising – check any running paid ads – click-through rates (CTRs) may have changed, and not for the better!
5. Copy / Extensions – make sure your ad copy and any extensions are appropriate. It’s sensitive to people concerns.
6. SEO – consider allocating resource to review/enhance your on and off-page material.
7. Optimise for multiple channels – ensure you’re able to engage with your market, consistently across each digital platform.
8. Collect Data – who’s visiting, where they go, what they do. This will inform your ROI.
9. Recognise when you need help – no business is an island. When you need help, ask for it.

That’s the short version! Now to expand on each of the items above:

Now more than ever, it’s vital to recognise that it’s not BAU for anyone. 

Many organisations, small and large alike, are seeking financial assistance to assist with covering payroll, costs, and pay debts. There are many who’ve been required to close, have lost a substantial percentage of customers, have decreased to skeleton teams and/or a 100% remote workforce. And if you’re like me, while working from home, we’re now also homeschooling the kids.

In unprecedented times like these, it’s vital to recognise that it’s OKAY to strike the pause button on advertising non-urgent matters. Think about moving your focus to ways in which your service can assist current customers amid this health crisis. Regardless of a cutback in businesses that can remain open right now, it is encouraging to see lots of substantial firms advertise their items while recognising the effect that COVID-19 is triggering on our everyday lives.

If you’ve not done so already, devise a top-level strategy, with realistic goals and KPIs to measure effectiveness. Adjust as necessary as this will also help to maintain momentum.

However this pandemic is impacting your business or industry, in general, be sure to share announcements with your clients. This keeps you agile and maintains momentum. One of the benefits small and medium-sized companies have to offer to their clients, over the larger organisations, is their agility and ability to adjust quickly to changing demands.

A simple email or social media post will advise clients that you have their backs and that your company values a lot more than just its bottom line.

Ask your customers how they are, what assistance you might be able to offer.

Have you changed what you do or when? There have been several examples given by the News statations, of companies re-purposing their operation to focus on the production of PPE equipment and clothing. This wasn’t something that they’d produced previously. Still, the material they have enables the creation of these items. As a result, their business is open, working all their regular hours and some extended times.

Equally, if your hours of operation have changed, let your customers know that you’re still open, how and when they can contact you. In addition, to letting people know when they contact your business, you’re able to update your description to offer more information regarding any additional safety measures you are taking or if there are changes in services. Update your Google My Business profile to reflect the changes in hours and/or description.

There are multiple methods to inform your customers of these changes; you could pin a banner to your website, send an email, or put a post on social media platforms. Consider engaging a local marketing agency who offers social media services. Alerting consumers of your business’ existing tweaks of processes will relieve any anxiety they may have, and inform them of any limitations in services before them getting on the phone and making an enquiry.

A handy tip: if you are providing items that are flying off the proverbial shelf, make sure you have sufficient stock to meet demand. To stop this, you can temporarily exclude these items from your shopping campaigns; that way, you are not at threat of showing an ad for an item that you no longer have. For brick-and-mortar services, adjusting your strategy might imply minimal spending plans or pausing particular campaigns. This was a strategy recently adopted by the supermarkets to bring a level of control to matters.

The goal here is to help you adjust your messaging accordingly so you can continue purposeful, quality interaction with your audience and stand firm with your customers. As always, but particularly now, communication should be kept clear, concise and accurate.

During the current climate, buyers, whether as consumers or on behalf of their business, are being more cautious. That’s probably unlikely to end one the current challenges have passed. 

This will make it harder for some business to secure sales. However, it does create an opportunity. Think about those things, that to you, might seem to be very obvious or not particularly important, but which, to someone else, actually is a great insight or something that they do could do themselves. 

In the current climate, differentiate which of your products/services are fundamental essentials and which are more discretionary. It’s more vital than ever to understand the distinction and align your marketing messages accordingly. You don’t want to be the only service of your sector trying to sell when everyone else is providing support.

An excellent example is when major supermarkets limited items, prioritising delivery slots and setting aside particular opening hours for the elderly and keyworkers. This is a less convincing, but more subtle method of selling your services or product. 

Alternatively, think about creating and telling a story and building relationships with both existing and potential clients. Do this deliberately. Aim to create content about your products or services, set the story so that it engages the reader, or viewer (if using video) and they become vested in your business. This will help when they’re choosing from whom to buy. Building trust is critical.

Thankfully, the power of the internet and technology has helped to put the word out and share one’s story. Mix things up a little in how you communicate, try to do things differently, bring in humour, the goal is to stand apart from your competitors, even when allowing for social distancing. 

This pandemic is a good pointer that it’s much simpler and less expensive to market to existing clients versus getting new customers. The critical question here is, “What else can you do to help your existing clients?”

• Can you offer extra service or products? 
• Can you speed up your delivery, perhaps for an additional cost? 
• Can you provide more with a bulk discount? 
• Can you partner with another business to improve your product and services? 

Individuals want to feel like you’re treating them with respect, offering solutions that help address their challenges will enhance client loyalty. No one is going to ignore COVID-19 in a hurry. It will be talked about for years to come and individuals will have stories to outline brand names, experiences, and possibly your customer support – make sure it’s for positive reasons!

Let’s by no means overlook what’s going on, on the homefront, whether that’s trying to work from home, at the same time as homeschooling the kids and all the other usual more mundane home activities. Striking that balance between home and work can be tough at the best of times and particularly so, now. That’s the bad news! The excellent news is that this is also a distinct chance that comes perhaps once in a lifetime. Consider it as an opportunity to buy Google or Facebook ads when others are cutting their advertising budgets or, maybe, to raise the profile of your business and associated products or services.

Now is the time to start of increase, not reduce your marketing efforts. Focus resource on either essential services/products or building brand awareness. This is how you can gain a competitive advantage in the months and years to come. Trade conventions are not a choice with the current constraints; however, there are multiple tools readily accessible to us all, even on our phones, to raise awareness of our business and brand.

It is essential to remain on top of how shifting markets may impact your paid search and paid social accounts, from altering click and impression volumes to changing expenses. Paid ads reflect the market, it’s not the market itself. If someone’s promoting expensive watches and the search trends for these items have dramatically reduced, leads and sales are likely to follow suit. Know your numbers, be this number of visitors, price per click, per impression, per lead, per conversion, etc. Your budget and associated costs will change accordingly. It’s vital to stay on top of your CTRs (click-through rates) and any/ all CTAs (call to actions). If you’re working with a web marketing agency, speak to the team managing your account to obtain a current report as to your PPC services.

At this point, if you do have to lower your budget, consider briefly suspending non-essential campaigns and focus ad spend on branded terms due to the higher quality traffic they naturally receive. For those SMEs that have tight yearly spending plans, the reallocation of ad invest towards more effective marketing campaigns could be vital to their success

In addition to updating your profile, it is worthwhile to update your advertisement copy and extensions to show any modifications. This is specifically crucial if you have any callout extensions mentioning your company hours. There has been a lot that has taken place as a direct or indirect outcome of COVID-19.

The tone of your copy is critical. Misjudge it, and you could, unintentionally, come across as unaware or ignorant. 

The present crisis has affected people on an individual level and globally, so the risk of unintentionally coming off as insensitive and even exploitative is higher than ever today. With social networks communication at a peak, one little error could have far-reaching and long-term negative consequences for your business.

With that in mind, change unimportant propositions like “more dog walks” or “more diners in your premises” to something more neutral, like “more leads,” or more prompts, like “more web based orders.” Reword inappropraite CTAs, like “join now” for facilities that are closed.

Use words to reinforce the security of your audience, such as: 

• contact-free, virtual, remote, at home, downloadable, shipment, online. 

Don’t forget to examine your automated emails or set up posts for importance and appropriateness.

Everybody is having to make adjustments right now and settling into new rhythms. You won’t (and should not) make the above changes to all of your copy unilaterally. Start with top-trafficked content and brand-new content moving forward. Develop a spreadsheet of the changes you make so you can monitor what to change back when things begin to settle.

Things will go back to regular sooner or later. A new normal, however a normal nonetheless. This virus may be a brand-new era, and your messaging and deals may change, but your copywriting standards need to be the same. You are still supplying information, including worth, and communicating to your audience that you are in tune with their requirements.

Some will have, opt of choice or necessity, paused or decreased online marketing with PPC, be this Google, Facebook Ads or other and moved that spending over to SEO. With this method, they can make enhancements to their organic rankings that will help them surpass their rivals when the pandemic is over. If you have turned off ads and you can manage to continue to buy marketing, then I’d highly advise reallocating that spending plan to enhancing your search rankings. A competent digital agency will be able to provide you with SEO services.

Some enhancements can be made to both on and off-page aspects of your website. Now is a great time to review these, to assess how well they’re working. Unlike PPC, the changes made to your website, or other digital platforms will remain long after they’re made – and as long as they’re relevant. They don’t end when the paid campaign stops. Ensuring your site has been optimised will help with organic traffic and your presence on the search results page.

If you have a brick-and-mortar organisation where you’re no longer able to see customers/patients in-person, then see if you’re able to generate revenue or generate leads or set consultations through other methods. For instance, can you change your delivery techniques during this pandemic: Lawyers/Accountants can use virtual meetings instead of in-person consultations and the same goes for financial consultants, as well as other professionals and specialists.

A business that typically offer in-person services, should consider promoting products rather than their services, considering that they can’t see individuals in-person; one such example is spas. Other organisations might be able to provide discounts for payment up-front. For example, could your business provide a “bond” where consumers can pay £75 to get £100 worth of your product/service in the future when the activity resumes?

The beauty of social media during this pandemic is its ability to develop sociability through digital platforms. A change in regular, work settings and social distancing has been difficult for lots of people. We can and will continue to interact with each other with the aid of the internet.

With more of us spending considerably more time online and the various digital platforms, your business must be able to engage and interact accordingly. Ensure that you’re speaking with one voice, giving a clear message across each of these “touchpoints” with your company.

Selling does not always mean aggressive emails. Being active on your social networks platforms will subconsciously remind individuals of your brand and let them know you exist if they need your business. Likewise, it’s easier to promote your service naturally as you aren’t straight out asking people to buy from you. If, for example, they see your product and services on Twitter, it’s their choice whether to get in touch.

• Visitors: 

 Your website may be the best thing since sliced bread, but, some visitors will simply come and go, with little to no engagement. Track the bounce rate, where they arrive and exit. Find a means by which to engage these visitors, either when on your website (chat-bots are a good example) or offer a free, useful e-book, which is available when they share their email. You can then start to build up a relationship.

• To Determine What’s Working or Not

It can be a challenge to determine what exactly is going on when people visit your site. With the appropriate data, you’ll be able to make informed decisions about your key metrics. Without the data, it’s very much speculation; you won’t know where to focus resources and scale to get the best ROI. 

It’s all well and good to recognise and be aware of your customers’ challenges, but what about your business? Don’t overlook it!

It’s easy to get caught up in the current melee, but you must keep in mind that your customers will still exist beyond the current challenges: how you treat them in the meantime will really make a difference. This ties into the peak-end rule theory the idea that we only keep in mind the most extreme feelings we experienced in a particular scenario rather than all the pleasant and negative emotions in between.

Identify where you need help and reach out to those who can help. People respond to requests for support.

Summary:

1.  Recognise that things are different for your clients – advise your clients that you’re there for them. You “have their backs”.
2. Communicate – if you’ve changed what you’re doing or when, inform your customers. Keep messaging, clear, concise and accurate.
3. Provide Value – is the 
4. Check Any Running Paid Ads – Click-Through Rates (CTRs) may have changed, and not for the better!
5. Copy / Extensions – make sure your ad copy is appropriate. It’s sensitive to people concerns.
6. SEO – consider allocating resource to review/enhance your on and off-page material.
7. Optimise for multiple channels
8. Collect Data
9. Recognise when you need help

This pandemic will pass, business will continue, albeit, probably in a new normal. We all need to ensure that we’re engaging with and providing value to our existing and potential clients.

If We Can Help You, Please Don’t Hesitate To Contact Us
Email: info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk

#digitalmarketingforsme #digitalmarketingbenefits

5,March, 2020 By Tanya Smythe

13 Proven Content Marketing Strategies for Business

Frustrated with your digital marketing? Convinced it should and can be more effective; with a better ROI?

Every organisation, regardless of size, product and service, needs a proven, reliable and effective internet marketing strategy. Small business face a particular challenge of balancing scarce resources, especially allocating funds. A business owner who has to wear many hats, often out of necessity. Unfortunately, over time, this is a false economy; effort is better invested growing the company and not, getting by with the host of other activities that have to be done just to deliver the services and products. Outsource these tasks, it will provide a return on investment.

• 8 services offered by online agency and 
• 5 steps you can action, right away

Online tools and software, make promoting your brand, product or service far easier in 2020, enabling the smaller business an opportunity to compete with their larger competitors. 

With more than a decade’s experience, we will improve the ROI for your small-to-midsize organisation (SMEs). To maximise 2020, here are 8 web-based marketing services for small companies. If you’d like to talk with a local marketing business company before continuing reading, please email us at info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk. 

8 Services an Online Agency can offer

1. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – a core element to being visible online. There are both “on-page” and “off-page” factors to manage. 
2. Digital marketing blueprint – determining an end to end strategy and plan to improve your online assets. 
3. Competitor analysis – an insight as to how your competitors are attracting visitors, paid adverts and market opportunities. 
4. Social media marketing – managing how you interact and engage with the client and potential customers. There are many platforms; some more relevant than others. It’s vital to provide material that your audience will perceive as of value., Try now to shout about how good you or your products/services are; this is badly received. 
5. Email marketing management – build your own email list, don’t be tempted to buy one.   
6. PPC / Paid Adverts – Facebook and Google are the main sites, both have their benefits.  
7. Your website: There are many aspects, from technical architecture, to the copy and user experience. You must have total control of your digital assets. Don’t depend on a third-party platform, because of your break their T&Cs, and you can find yourself shut out, either on a temporary or permanent basis.  
8. Integrated Marketing: integrating these services and providing a full approach.  

Internet marketing services can enable your firm, just recognise; there’s more to using the tools and techniques for creating sales opportunities. Those using the software need to know what they’re doing! The DMS team provides the skills and tools to enhance your web-based marketing. Our techniques and approach are designed to grow your digital presence in a safe and trustworthy manner.

Contact us via: info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk

5 steps that you can take to improve your presence:

1. Google My Business: Is critical for a local business. Ensure you’ve claimed your free Google My Business page. It’s simple and quick. There are two options, enter your physical address or mark it to show that your services are delivered, select, “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their locations.”  When people search for your products or services either “near me” or in an area, you’ll show. 
2. Guest blogging: is a great way to build links. Find websites that provide a complementary service or product and determine if they host guest posts. If they do, write an article, aim for 1500 words. This is key to boost your website’s page ranking, in turn, influencing new leads. Be aware, some links are better than others!
3. SEO: There are on and off-page components. 3 simple, but quick and easy steps you can take to address the on-page, are: 
   1. target keywords: don’t over-optimise / keyword stuff your content. Target a keyword density of less than 5%. 
   2. structure your content appropriately. Think of a book, it’ll have a main heading sand subheadings. 
4. “Black Hat SEO” – don’t be drawn into using such an approach. These can and do cause significant problems, especially if Google et al. decide such steps have been implemented. Worse case, you’re website’s essentially removed from the search results pages and any potential leads, lost. 
5. Website: Build or have your own site built. Don’t be tempted to either skip this and use a 3rd party platform or one of the many services offering you the ability to set a site up in next to no time. Initially, it’ll get you up and running, however, shortly after, you’ll realise your hands are tied, and there are things that you want to do, but can’t. Invest a little more up-front, and have a site built for which you have full control. Additionally:
   1. make sure the site’s mobile and user-friendly., is clear and simple to use. Ensure that you’re clear and inform clients / potential customers how to contact you.  
   2. Page load speed is essential. People’s patience is limited and visitors expect site sites to load quickly. If it doesn’t, the risk is, they go elsewhere. There are free, online sites to test your site’s loading speed. 
   3. SEO: check the content of your website, ensure there’s no keyword stuffing and the content’s appropriately structured. For “off-page”, check from where links are coming to your site. 
6. Platforms (e.g. Instagram, Facebook; etc.): know your audience and the places they go when online. Put your content in the correct location. If you use lots of pictures, consider Instagram or Pinterest. Equally, if most of your users are on Facebook, that’s where to invest time and energy. Regardless of the platform, as long as it’s where your’ potential customers are, it will drive traffic and generate new leads. 

Digital marketing is a vital service tool for business all over the world. Take the next step and contact us today, via info@digitalmarketingsurrey.co.uk to discuss what you’d like to achieve.

#effectivecontentmarketingstrategies

#provencontentmarketing

#contentmarketingtechniques