Category: Tips and Tools

We know, everything’s gone digital – but has it? Think about it for a moment; while digital marketing and advertising does have its benefits, it’s not everything when it comes to promoting your business, brand, and products.

Ask yourself why many large enterprises, even global brands, shell out millions of pounds each year to appear on roadside billboards. The answer is simple; it works for them. It’s a tried and tested method of getting their name, brand, offer, etc. in front of people in a non-intrusive manner.

One clear advantage is the repetitive nature of such billboards; a person travelling the same route to work each day, for example, will be repeatedly exposed to the advertising, and thus brand familiarity is established at a subliminal level – powerful stuff, and difficult to replicate through online digital ads, which most people tend to ignore.

While your own business may not be a global brand, or you may not have a million-pound marketing budget, you can still take advantage of the basic principle which drives billboard advertising; non-invasive repetitive exposure to your business and brand; here’s how.

1. Outdoor banners

The possibilities are almost limitless; an eye-catching banner strategically positioned in relation to your business location can attract the attention of commuters, pedestrians, and, importantly, those who might be in the vicinity of your business, and hence realistically potential customers.

2. Roll up banners

If your business attends many exhibitions, trade shows or other similar events, then roll up banners are ideal for delivering a consistent, clear message regarding your business and brand. A high-quality roller display can also be used immediately outside your business premises, or internally to promote special offers and discounts, or orientate customers, or simply greet visitors in reception. The possible applications are only limited by your own imagination.

3. Pop up banners

Would your business benefit from a lightweight, portable pop up display banner, which you can position in various locations, either temporarily or permanently? Banner pop up displays give you maximum flexibility, allowing you to change the artwork within the same framework, so you can plan a series of promotional messages using the same unit(s).

You can organise a display advertising schedule, programming which promotional message is displayed in which location, for how long, and measure the results in terms of customer acquisition. With portable pop up banners, you can get your business and your brand in front of people repeatedly in various different locations.

The next time you consider marketing strategies for your business, brainstorm where and how you could deploy such banners in your local area to help boost awareness, build your brand, and grow your business.

Image: Falkenpost 

Whatever the sector in which your business operates and whatever products it offers, you won’t be able to make profit unless you convince people to purchase your product – and you won’t be able to do that unless the customer feels they have a genuine need for that product.

Did you know that according to a Forbes report, most American consumers repeatedly purchase the same 150 items that satisfy more than 85% of their requirements? It’s a similar story across other markets like the UK and Europe, which goes some way to demonstrating just how tough a task your company has to break into people’s buying habits.

To persuade those customers that they truly need what you’re offering, you need to show that you understand those needs. This is the knowledge that will underpin your entire marketing approach. But what do you need to know about your customers, and how can you use this to sell to them more effectively?

Why do your customers need you?

Central to your business’s appeal to its target customers will be its Unique Sales Proposition, or USP. What is the big, big reason that customers will purchase from your firm, rather than a rival?

Your USP isn’t necessarily something that will be preserved in aspic forever – indeed, it may evolve as your business and market change, and you may even have different USPs for different categories of customer.

Nonetheless, it’s important to at least have a sense of what appealingly differentiates your company from the competitor down the road. Does your firm offer a broader range of products than any local rival? Or maybe you’re more price-focused, giving discounts to those who spend a certain minimum amount, or cater to time-pressed customers with services like same-day delivery?

Do you know who your customers are?

It sounds like common sense, but so many businesses don’t seem to fully appreciate that they are better-equipped to attract customers if they actually know their target audience. Don’t just ask who your customers are – including basic demographic information like age – but also exactly what these people are likely to buy, and why they need it.

You can conduct research of your own to answer these questions, including simply talking to your customers about why they are or aren’t buying certain products, as well as what they may need to purchase in the future and what other requirements they have. Knowing the latter may even enable you to envisage and market a product to them that isn’t in their mind yet.

What’s the next step of marketing to these customers?

There are lots of things that you can do to market your products according to your customers’ needs. You could familiarise yourself with what is known as the ‘marketing mix’ – the ‘four Ps’ of product, price, place and promotion, as detailed on the Business Case Studies site.

Once you’ve built up an appreciation of exactly who your customers are and what they need, you might even feel confident enough to launch into a whole new marketing campaign. Update, refresh or expand your business’s social media presence, reconsider the design or content of your firm’s website or explore the retail marketing solutions of an ecommerce marketplace like Groupon to ensure that your brand reaches more of the most relevant people with relatively little cost or effort.

Image: Kaboompics

One of the very best things you can do for your business is hire the right employees. These are the many hands that make light work, the driving force that keeps your business running smoothly and turning a profit. You can have the best business idea in the world but without the right people tackling the day to day tasks your company is never going to be a success. But how can you get, and keep the best workers for your business? Here are some ideas to consider.

Photo: Marc Mueller

Offer Good Employee Benefits

When you offer good employee benefits, you make your company an attractive place to work. One of the main things people will be looking at when considering the job is the wage, so this needs to be fair, but on top of this the benefits are extremely important. These are things like health and life insurance, disability plans, pensions and retirement packages. On top of these, other extras such as a company smartphone, laptop or car could work well depending on the type of workers role. You will need to decide what kinds of things your staff would benefit from in their role and would most want benefit-wise, and then you could provide them as part of your employee package.

 

Set Up a Good Office Space

A good office is beneficial to your company since it will help your workers to feel happy meaning they are more likely to be productive and motivated. You should really put some thought and effort in here since it’s a space that you and your workers will be spending a lot of your time. Light, neutral walls will look clean and make the office look more spacious. Plants will decorate the office and make it look less clinical, and as a bonus research has shown that living plants boost productivity in the workplace. Desks and chairs should be ergonomically designed for comfort, and prevent neck, back, and wrist strain. Equipment such as computers and printers should be up to date and fast to prevent time being lost each day due to waiting around for them to load or due to breakdowns. Make sure the layout works for the space you have, allowing employees to be able to move around easily to do the tasks they need to do.

 

Health, Safety and Legal Issues

As an employer, it’s up to you to follow the law when it comes to your employees. Things must be handled by the book to ensure that everyone is being treated fairly and respectfully. To make things easier, outsourcing to a HR consultancy will ensure everything from hiring to firing, bullying, workplace harassment and so much more is being handled correctly giving you peace of mind. When it comes to health and safety, there are plenty of conferences and events which give information and allow you to brush up on your knowledge. By doing everything correctly you keep your staff happy, they know they are being looked after, and the law is being followed. This means you can avoid things like lawsuits and tribunals which can be bad news for your business.

Provide A Steady and Reliable Workplace

Employees are always going to want consistency, to master and be good at their role they need to know what to expect from it. Most workplaces rely on routines so it shouldn’t be problematic, but ensuring that their workload and role is consistent is something of value to your company. It makes sure that uncertainty and anxiety isn’t created and that things are predictable. This allows workers to stay relaxed and balanced and ready to excel in their role.

Provide Proper Training

Proper training should be given to any employee starting a new job. A lot of the time all that will be needed is a health and safety presentation or a run through of their duties. Other times, training may need to be undertaken on a regular basis to make sure skills are kept up to date- it could even be a legal requirement to do this. However even if training isn’t necessary but something you want to provide, this is something employees will love. It allows them to better themselves and learn something new. Plus it will make employees feel happier and more confident in their role, as well as feel more valued which could lead to increased satisfaction.

How do you get and keep the best employees for your business?

photo: Negative space

There are a lot of challenges present when starting a new business. From the financial issues that are often present to figuring out how to make your product as high quality as possible, it can often be rather overwhelming to deal with. One of the most common things that a lot of companies deal with in the early days is trying to get their customers to care about their business at all. After all, customers often build up pretty strong habits over time so trying to get them to shift their focus to a new business can be a real challenge. Of course, just because something is a challenge doesn’t mean that it’s impossible. Here are three reasons why customers might not care about your business, and how to avoid them.

A poor website

There was a time when your website was more of a vague addition to your business rather than one of its central pillars. However, the rise of the internet over the last decade means that a business without a well-designed website is pretty much doomed from the start. If customers arrive at your website and it’s ugly, badly designed, and difficult to navigate, most of them aren’t going to have the patience to put up with it. One of the very best things that you can do in order to make sure that your website is a high quality as possible is to make sure that you’re using a good CMS and to work with a dedicated web designer. Building an Umbraco website yourself can be something of a challenge so using an outside company can be incredibly useful. Not only that but it means that you’re in a position to focus on other aspects of your business as a whole.

Amateurish branding

Branding is one of the most important parts of any business when it comes to bringing in customers. Because of the sheer number of businesses around in the modern age, customers have been forced to see things on a fundamentally shallow level in order to avoid feeling completely overwhelmed. Because of that, if your branding seems amateurish or low quality then that’s going to have a marked impact on how and potential customers see your business as a whole. Again, the best option is to get some outside help. Working with a freelance design company means that you can ensure that your vision for your branding stays intact while also making sure that it’s as professional as possible. You should make sure that your branding is both eye catching, and reflective of your business as a whole without being over the top. Elegance and simplicity go much further can branding that is loud and intrusive.

Customers are creatures of habit, and if you really want to shift their attention away from what’s familiar and towards your business, then you’ve got to be able to wow them. Whatever methods you use to market your business to new customers, you need to make sure that you’re making as a big a splash as possible.

 

Unless you are an absolute pro when it comes to bootlegging, you will have probably found out that starting your own business comes with a few costs. In fact, it comes with a lot of costs because, well, it is not a cheap challenge to take on. Sure, you went down the entrepreneur-slash-solopreneur route with every intention of becoming a financial success, but that isn’t a guarantee. It may be that external variables saw you have to take out more loans than you perhaps wanted or success is just taking longer than the two years you had planned for.

Don’t worry, you are not alone. Tens of thousands of business file for bankruptcy each and every month. We know this isn’t exactly what you wanted to hear but, hopefully, the severity of this situation will make you realize that you are willing to do everything you can to avoid your business following suit.

Luckily for you, it is not too late. No matter how much financial woe you may be in, there are some tried and tested tips and tricks that can help you keep your business out of financial trouble.

No More Of The Unnecessary

In the same way, people get into financial trouble when their spending exceeds their income, business will suffer the same fate if they don’t check their expenses. That is why you need to cut out any unnecessary expenses that are doing more harm than good to your operation. The best way to do this is to go through any recurring expenses and strike them off they are failing to add value. That means if you can do a client lunch at a quaint little side street cafe instead of that upmarket restaurant, then do that. If you can get away with a small delivery van instead of an artic lorry, then head down that route. Could you operate from a shared office space? All of these will have a huge impact on your operating costs and see your survival rate improve.

All Your Debts In one Place

Staying on top of your financial situation, especially when you have debts, is one of the best ways to stay afloat, and that is easily achieved by consolidating your debts. What route you go down on this front is up to you, but if you can, we strongly recommend you look at homeowner loans for debt consolidation as a means of getting the best interest rates possible. What this will do is allow you to swap all your existing loans – big and small – for one loan payment, making it much easier to manage and much more financially friendly. This could be achieved by longer payment durations or even a reduced monthly payment. Just remember, this is only a good idea if you are paying less interest.

Negotiate With All Of Your Creditors

Another way you can approach your debt issue is to approach your creditors and strike up a better repayment agreement. This could mean extending the timeframe in which you need to pay them back or even the amount of debt, both of which could save you a small fortune and get your business back into the black. This could mean asking them to reduce the interest rates so that you can pay them back faster. Whatever would help you best, make sure you are selling it in a way that benefits them and you could help your business out no end.

Photo: Rawpixel