Small business, big plans: why it’s time to think like a brand

It’s time to get your ducks in a row

Real talk: times are tough. I’m not here to sugar coat it! Challenges are coming at us from all angles right now. We’re emerging from lockdown into an unknown, we’re moving our lives and businesses online, we’re trying to stay safe and we’re bombarded every day with more and more news that is a struggle to process. How do you make your business seen and heard by the right people? How do you ensure you stay relevant? Well, it comes down to your brand. And before you tell me you aren’t a ‘brand’, you’re just a ‘business’, just give me 5 minutes and then tell me what you think!

What is a brand anyway?

Your brand is a collection of things that convey your personality and influence your audience’s perception of your business, either positively or negatively. It encompasses things such as:

• your logo, the colours and fonts you use and your imagery, which are some of the things that make up your visual identity

• how you portray yourself as a person and a business through the way you speak and your written content

• the values and culture of your business

• the experience your customers or clients have when they buy from you or work with you

How do I create a brand?

Well, the good news is, you already have one! The core of your brand is you, because your business was conceived inside your brain. All you need to start thinking like a brand is to define and document what your business is about and what you stand for. The truth is: you will never be able to scale successfully until you have thought bigger and wider than yourself. Imagine where your business could be in 10 years time? If you had a team of 20 people working for you across the globe, what sort of information would they need in to provide your clients or customers with a consistently unforgettable experience?

Time to get your big girl/boy pants on

The first thing on your list is to figure out whether your current branding matches up with who you’re talking to, what you offer and what you’re really about as a business. Do you have a clear vision of where you want to head with your business in the next 5 years, or 10? Are you really clear on what sets your business apart and what your values and culture are about? Asking yourself the right big picture questions will help you clarify your brand strategy. Once you have a strategy, you can get a handle on where your brand is right now and what you need to be doing to have the brand you want in the future. Then you can crack on with some of the documentation you will need in order to scale e.g.

• brand guidelines that set out your logo, how it can and cannot be used, your colour palette, your fonts and other visual devices

• a tone of voice document which sets out the language and style of writing

• a values document that sets out key values that underpin the culture of your business

What if I need to rebrand?

Don’t worry - this is a perfectly normal part of owning a business! As your business grows and scales, what you offer and who you offer it to will naturally evolve. After all, successful businesses are those that adapt to survive. A rebrand can help you align yourself with a different target market, or shift the focus on to different products or services, but it doesn’t have to be an arduous process. Sometimes, a subtle tweak to your logo, strapline or imagery bank can make all the difference. As always, please get in touch if you feel you might be feeling this way about your business. It’s crucial you get your brand strategy spot-on first. This ensures any time, effort or money you invest is well spent and the end result is a business and a brand you are really proud of. If you’d like to get your brand strategy back on track, just hit the button below and book your free 30 minute call.

Turn on, tune in: how to choose the right marketing channels for your business

Analysis paralysis

You’ve got something new to say, but where do you start? Maybe you want to launch a new product or service? Or you’ve decided to niche down your target market? Maybe you’ve made a big change in your business, such as taking on office space, or going completely virtual? If you’ve got something to shout about, how do you know where to start? You need to know you’re going to make the best investment of your time, effort and money. There’s so much choice when it comes to marketing channels these days, with new channels popping up every day (are you on TikTok yet?!) Don’t worry, I have the answer. 

Real talk

It’s actually simpler than you think! And here’s the real secret: all these marketing channels you think you ‘could’ or ‘should’ be using? They don’t really matter. I know, I said it! The underlying problem you’re facing is probably not that you’re faced with too much choice. It’s likely to be one of two things: either you’re not confident in what you’re saying, or who you’re saying it to. The bad news: if either, or both, of those are true for you, then you aren’t in a position to make the most of the channels you OWN. But all is not lost, you can absolutely turn that around!

Let’s talk about control

So here’s the deal: marketing channels can be broken down into three categories: OWNED, EARNED and PAID media. You might have even heard someone in marketing or sales fling these words before. All it really comes down to is the level of control that you have over the content they contain.

• OWNED media includes you (and what comes out of your mouth!), your website, your blog, your social media profiles/accounts, your mobile app, your email and any printed materials you produce. The key here is the content they contain is WITHIN your control.

• EARNED media is that which you ‘earn’. For example word of mouth, referrals, shares or mentions on social media, or customer reviews. You cannot directly control what people are saying about you, but if you’re doing your job well then you can ‘earn’ additional free marketing because other people are doing it for you (This is easily the most powerful form of marketing!)

• PAID channels are essentially advertising. This encompasses anywhere, like social media, TV, radio or print, where you are paying money in exchange for exposure. This also includes things like Social Media influencer marketing, pay per click advertising and affiliate marketing.

How to get started

The most important place to start is ALWAYS your owned channels, because guess what? They’re the most cost-effective! But before you consider spending money to broadcast your message, you need to know how you’re really talking to and why they need to hear what you’ve got to say. What symptoms do they have? And how does your product or service not just take away the symptom, but solve the underlying problem?

Move over Funnel, meet the Flywheel

Once you have nailed your message, how do you organise your channel activity accordingly? Well, it’s easy once you’ve met The Flywheel! The traditional funnel totally works when you’re planning how to bring in new leads, warm them up and encourage them towards becoming a sale. However, it doesn’t work as well for marketing. Maybe that’s why it should just be called a sales funnel! The Flywheel is different because it takes into account the MOST IMPORTANT part of the process: the bit AFTER you make a sale. The reality is: marketing is no longer a one-way broadcast channel, it’s a two-way CONVERSATION. As I hinted at earlier, if you are nailing your customer experience and encouraging your happy customers in the right way, they will walk around doing a tonne of marketing FOR YOU. Imagine that? Sounds like heaven, right? All you need to do is ensure your OWNED marketing channels are working in harmony at each point of the Flywheel. Think about the emotional temperature of your audience at each stage. Where would they like to hear from you and why? This will help you organise and tailor your content, so that it lands every time.

Need some help?

Last year, after being told they needed to throw a tonne of money at paid social media ads, I helped a client of mine to unleash the power of their email list, saving them time and money, whilst significantly increasing their engagement. If you would like to do something similar, or you need help with messaging, your ideal marketing flywheel or anything in between, please do get in touch. I would love to help you OWN your OWNED channels! Hit the button below to book a free call today.

Choosing an SME email marketing platform? Here's the top 5 things you need to know...

Small business life is tough, no doubt about it! You’re permanently short on time but you need to be 100% sure before you invest in new platforms or systems. And they need to be cost-effective! So how do you choose the best email marketing platform for your small business? Never fear, I am here with the top 5 things you need to know PLUS a little bonus should you wish to sign up with my email marketing platform of choice. You’re so welcome!

Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I will earn a commission. Real talk: I only write and share information about companies that I truly believe in.

Ok, so you might be thinking, why do I need an email marketing system? I’ve got Gmail, or Outlook, thats enough right!? Listen, I feel you! Although it can sound complicated or overwhelming at first, trust me when I say it will be a worthwhile investment for your business and I promise we can keep it simple! There are a million reasons why you need a proper email marketing platform, but let’s keep it to the top 3 for now:

1. Time - even if you only speak to a handful of people on a semi-regular basis, it’s going to save you a tonne of time! Templates are your friend.

2. Data - you’re going to be able to get data back on how many people opened and clicked your emails. Just think of all that insight!

3. Automation - you’re going to be able to set up emails that get to the right people at the right time, without you having to do A THING. Sounds good, right!?

The reality is, email marketing is a no-brainer, no matter what your business offers. So, what are the top five things you need to think about when considering a new email platform, or implementing a new one? Here’s a little checklist I’ve put together especially for you…

1. Integrations - it doesn’t matter what a platform can do if it’s a giant ballache to integrate with your existing systems. Most important ones to assess: does it integrate easily with your website and CRM system? This is key, especially if your website has e-commerce.

2. Functionality - you’re looking for a system that does segmentation, triggered emails, workflows and solid analytics at a minimum. In layman’s terms: 

   -segmentation = the ability to split your audience into different groups, so you can speak to them in different ways

   -triggered emails = emails that can be set up to send as soon your customers do something e.g. buy from you, leave you a review, visit your website etc. Imagine your email platform doing your marketing for you, without you having to life a finger. Ideal!

   -workflows = a sequence of emails sent to customers to encourage a type of behaviour or acknowledge where they are in their purchase journey. For example, a welcome email series to welcome new customers to your business, educate them about your offer and encourage them to find out more about you

   -analytics = numbers you get back from each email you send on how many people opened, clicked, unsubscribes etc. 

3. Interface - is the system easy to use? You’re looking for drag and drop; you do not want to be worrying about HTML! Is the interface intuitive? Does it have a bunch of nice templates you can use without having to create your own? Can you upload your logos, colour palettes and brand imagery easily? Does it walk you through the process in a clear, understandable way?

4. Cost - is it a flat subscription fee per month or does it rise with the number of contacts? Does it have a free basic level that you can sign up for and have a play around with? Are there any hidden extra costs?

5. Support - no one knows more than us small business owners that good customer service is worth its weight in gold. I highly recommend checking out what support is offered and how - is it via online chat, email, telephone? What resources will you be provided with - training, best practice guidelines, industry trends?
   
   So how does this look in practice? Well, when I was recently looking at changing email systems I reviewed Klaviyo, Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Mailer Lite and Flo Desk. Here’s the results of my investigation…

1. Integrations - the priority for me was integration with my Squarespace website. This needed to be direct, simple and straightforward to implement. I am a big Klaviyo fan but its lack of integration with SquareSpace meant it was a no go. Some of the others required another plug in (like Zapier) to bridge between the two - again a no go for me as I wanted integration to be straightforward. This put Flo Desk at the top of the list straightaway. 

2. Functionality - they all offer similar functionality but for some, the options scaled with the subscription package. I wanted a low cost package where I got access to ALL the functionality, obviously! Again, Flo Desk came out on top. Active Campaign has lots more CRM tools (CRM = Customer Relationship Management) but at present I’m really just looking for email management.

3. Interface - they all look pretty good from the demos I looked at. MailerLite reminded me a lot of Klaviyo, so I was drawn to it’s familiarity. However, Flo Desk blew me away with it’s user experience, literally walking me through my first campaign without me having to think too much about anything. It is RIDICULOUSLY easy to use.

4. Cost - apart from Active Campaign, they all have a free basic option, but most of the subscription costs will then scale with number of contacts, number of emails sent, or addition of more functionality. Yep, you guessed it, Flo Desk is just a flat rate, no matter what. Dreamy.

5. Support - to be fair they all score pretty highly on this - lots of resources, webinars, industry advice etc. All the good stuff you want to ensure your email marketing stays on point.

Whatever you’re looking for in an email marketing system, make sure you have a good think about what’s important in each of these areas for you and your business. And if you’d like to give Flo Desk a try, you can get 50% off if you sign up with this link - enjoy!

Forget the funnel, it's all about the flywheel

We are probably all familiar with the sales and marketing funnel. The idea is that your sales and marketing strategy is like a great big bucket; your marketing activities should be filling the bucket at the top with people who are new to your brand and telling them why they should buy your product. All these activities should gradually then move those people through your customer journey, down the bucket to the sales bit at the bottom where they hit BUY NOW and become your customer. It’s a pretty straightforward way of looking at it and makes perfect sense, right?

Well, the thing is the world of marketing has moved on since the funnel, leaving it a little bit out of date. The key reason why the flywheel works is that it takes into account the biggest shift in marketing over the last 15 years: that your audience are now in charge of your brand. Yes you heard me; your audience are in charge. It doesn’t matter how slick your branding is or how powerful your message, if you don’t deliver a great product or service (or both) your audience now have the power to undo all of this work. With the advent of social media, review culture, and a generally more advertising-savvy audience, your customers are now able to tell you when you’re not doing a good enough job and to vote with their feet, voices and keyboards to spread that message far and wide. Marketing is no longer a one-way broadcast channel, it’s a two-way CONVERSATION. Instead of a linear ourney where the funnel neatly takes your customer from point A (where they know nothing about you) to point B (where they buy your product), the flywheel takes into account that a large chunk of your marketing effort will end up being done by the customers themselves. Well, the happy customers at least!

So why is this important? It’s important because if you don’t listen to your customers, you do so at your peril. Bad reviews not only damage your brand but if you don’t learn from that feedback your business will never move forward. In today’s review culture it’s too easy to chase after five-star reviews and to want to minimise one star reviews, but you can learn a lot more from your unhappy customers about what improvements you need to make. Human beings learn far more from failure than they do from success.

As a Small Business Owner, what can you do? To start with, fill out your own flywheel! Think about which marketing channels you are using at each stage of a customer’s journey with your brand. How do your customers interact with these channels? How do they interact with each other during these times?  If you are a heavy user of two-way marketing channels at any point in your flywheel, make sure you are actively engaging with your customers – happy and unhappy alike. You’ll be amazed how quickly you and your business can move forward, fast! As always, don’t forget you can talk to me too! I love to work with Small Biz Owners about their customers and their marketing activities. Book in a free consultation and let’s chat!

Be interested, not interesting: Social Media marketing tips for SMEs

How to smash Social Media as an SME

At a recent networking event, something that one of the attendees said with reference to networking really hit home with me when you apply it to Social Media. She talked about being INTERESTED in your fellow attendees, ahead of being INTERESTING as a person. You need to ask questions and take the opportunity to learn about those around you. One of the topics at this event happened to be social media and how a lot of us have become a bit passive in our engagement. How many times do we ‘like’ or view, compared to how many times we ‘comment’ or actively ‘share’? It struck me that there was a clear parallel between these two areas; social media is basically a way of networking, but online. As such, it’s even more important to actively participate when you’re online, as people otherwise don’t know you’re there!

CHANNEL REMIX

Throughout my years on the planet, I have watched the world go from analogue to digital (yes I am old enough to remember life before the internet and mobile phones!). I have watched the digital revolution unfold in front of my eyes. In the field of marketing, this has meant that our channel mix has literally exploded in the last couple of decades. There are so many options available to us that it can often be quite daunting to know where to start. The great thing about social media is that it is an instant two-way channel. You have the opportunity to get to know your audience at a one to one level and understand what they want, without having to invest much time or money.

GET STARTED WITH SOCIAL

So where do to start? First things first: a reality check. Social is probably not going to drive you a tonne of sales. I’m sorry, I hate to put a downer on this, but it’s just not. Think of Social Media as sitting at the very top of your funnel. It’s about brand awareness but it’s also about giving your brand personality and showing your audience what you stand for. It’s about conversation. After all, why are your audience there in the first place? I don’t go on Instagram to buy products, I go on it to look at nice pictures and chat to my friends. Remember it is SOCIAL media. This leads into point number 2 which is…  Who are your audience? Where do they live? What do they do? What motivates them? Think about your target audience - you can use your existing customers as a starting point. If you’re literally just setting up shop, then ask your friends, your neighbours, anyone: who would buy your product or service? Once you have some working theories about the key attributes of your audience, then ask yourself where they are active online. Let’s say you’re an interior design business - do your target audience scroll through Instagram drinking in pictures of lush room layouts? Do they dreamily craft their ideal home on a Pinterest board? Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and think about why they use social media and what they do when they are on there. This gives you direction in terms of which platforms to prioritise and what your messaging will be.

GET THE BASICS RIGHT

Whichever platforms you are using, it’s a good idea to ensure that you have the basics covered before you embark on a big social push. Consider the value of setting up separate business accounts, so that your bio or profile can feature a short description of your business and a link to your website. You can then use your company logo as your profile picture. A word to the wise though, not all logos work in a square format, so you might need a submark of your logo or a different format. Ensure your account type is set to ‘Business’ - this will open up different options in terms of advertising and analytics (especially on Instagram). As always, check that you have up to date contact details on your profiles such as your email address, location and phone number (if you are happy to share it). If you already have a good following on your personal accounts, you can then use your personal account to share your business content and drive your audience to business accounts.

FOLLOW YOUR PEOPLE

Once you have set up an accounts, get following. For instance, if you are a B2B service provider, you’re probably going to be doubling down on LinkedIn, so find the companies you are targeting and follow them. Follow industry leaders and publications, follow thought leaders, speakers at conferences, follow anyone and everyone that has an interest in your field. Another important exercise is to think about related fields. Let’s say you’re a personal trainer - how does that link into other areas? You could search for hashtags such as ‘wellness’ or ‘wellbeing’ or ‘self-care’ and find people blogging on these topics to follow. 

GET CHATTING

The next step is to get chatting. Don’t worry too much about posting anything yourself - initially you could keep this fairly brief and just introduce yourself and your business, to help new followers understand what you’re about. Really the most important thing you can do is start understanding your audience and what they are posting, sharing and engaging with. What trends can you see coming through from everyone you’re following? When people post, make some time to ask questions and reply when you get a response from someone. This is an opportunity to show some of your personality, as well as get feedback from real people on what they care about.

CONTENT WITH CONTEXT

Next stop is to get writing, snapping, videoing and to start producing relevant content based on what you’ve learned. Think about what is going to add value to your audience’s lives. What are the key questions trending right now? What problems can you help other people solve? Try not to think of each piece of content as a lead generation tool because your audience will see through it in a heartbeat. Don’t forget you can re-use and repurpose content too - a change of image or a cutting  down a large blog post into bitesize chunks can make it work across other platforms and save you a tonne of work. Build yourself a content calendar for the next couple of months and schedule writing, reviewing and posting on certain days so that you keep your commitment to it. Remember to go for quality over quantity - you’ll see much higher engagement from your audience. Don’t worry too much about fine tuning, especially when you’re starting out, they key thing is to try stuff and see what works. You could even run a few little tests or polls to see what seems to resonate with people, and best of all you can ask your audience for feedback right then and there. More to come on content strategy and production in a future post, but for now, just try being INTERESTED and see what happens…