The festive selling period is now well and truly underway and Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner. But don't panic - even if you've left your marketing planning out in the cold, there's still time to make the most of your Christmas sales!Be present in the right placesConsumer interaction with brands and products are typically quite complex. We live in a fast moving, communication-led world with information and conversations possible in a variety of ways across multi...

If the first bite is taken with the eye, then high quality food photography that tells your brand's story, should be at the heart of your marketing campaign. To get the most out of your food photography it really is worth spending time to clearly define your brief and think carefully about where and how your images will be used.What type of food photography do I need?Before commissioning a photographer, think about the different types of images you may need. As a minimum we would sugges...

Social media is supposed to be free, right? Isn't good social media simply creating engaging content and watching it go viral? Why then would you want to pay for social media advertising?What is social media advertising?Social media advertising comes in many forms. There are three main types of advertising:boosting a specific post digital display advertising remarketingBoosting a postOn a crowded platform with a lot of accounts making a lot of 'noise', boosting a p...

So you’ve launched your brand spanking new website and it's received fantastic feedback. But does a website have a 'shelf life' and if so, when should you start thinking about developing a new one?Let’s be SMART about itIn principle, the success of a website can be measured against its intended purpose. Was it developed to attract new customers? Is it an eCommerce site that needs to deliver a specific ROI? Maybe it adds credibility to your business or service? Or perhaps it's purely...

It's a question that we're asked a lot and the answer is unequivocally 'yes!'. Our client data tells us that yes, people do click on Google Ads. But don’t just take our word for it: when AdWords first launched in 2000 it had 350 advertisers, now there are estimated to be over 1 million advertisers spending tens of billions of dollars in ad revenue. 1 million advertisers certainly must think they’re onto something! People often have a 'Marmite approach' to Ads – they either love ...

As you scale up your food and drink operation, have you thought about how you will manage your food waste?Often, the food and drink businesses we support and help grow have either just scaled up their operations, or are at the point of doing so. As manufacturing grows so too can food waste volumes. Somerset based, waste equipment and processing experts, PRM Waste Systems, have written a superb guest blog for us, detailing the management of food waste and ways to reduce the amount that enter...

“Social media isn’t rocket science and we’ve got a graduate who’s a dab hand with Instagram.” Sound familiar? It's true, social media isn’t rocket science! However, like all marketing activities, it is truly effective when utilised as part of a wider strategy. Whilst the office junior may have a great following on Snapchat or perhaps even be an emerging YouTube star, running, managing and growing social media channels for a business requires planning, quality content and t...

Outsourcing your digital marketing could be a huge benefit to your business – it could supercharge growth, save you time and money, plus allow you to get a better return on your marketing investment. But before you take the plunge, here’s six things to consider... 1. Your budget The first step is to work out how much budget you have available for outsourcing your digital marketing. Before you decide, read this blog! 2. Your goals Every outsourced marketing team worth their salt will ask ...

1) Are you an experienced Digital Marketer? 2) Are you looking to join a fantastic company and help grow the business? 3) Do you want to develop your career within a forward-thinking and creative agency?Due to continued client success and increasing demand, we’re looking for an experienced Digital Marketer to join our team. You will be part of a fantastic, creative team working with new and existing clients to increase their ROI. The successful candidate will be able to demonstra...

There are many things that can stand between a good marketing campaign and growing your business. Here's a few common reasons (and their solutions) that marketing fails. Lack of in-house knowledge and skills Over half (57%) of businesses say they don’t have the right people in their team to manage successful marketing campaigns. Solution: Try outsourcing – it's more cost effective and you can access a wider range of skills. Bad branding You could have the best marketing campaign in the ...

Just getting started with online marketing for your business? Many of the best marketing tools are free or offer a free version or trial. Here’s 16 helpful marketing tools that won’t cost you a thing... Content marketing 1. Google Trends Find out what people are searching for so you can create content on trending topics. Also helpful for working out which term to use – for example searches for "blogging" are dropping but searches for "content marketing" are on the rise. 2. Buzz Sumo U...

Are your marketing efforts non-existent, ad-hoc or just not going as planned? Here’s ten signs you should use outsourced marketing... 1. You want to grow Planning for business growth? Outsourcing your marketing can help you get where you want to be quicker, with less overheads than employing full time staff to cover all marketing specialisms.   2. You’re not doing any marketing activity If you’re not doing any marketing activity at all, you might be surprised how much of a difference ...

Wondering how much you should spend on marketing your business? In short, there’s no definitive answer. It’s often recommended that you spend 10% of your turnover on marketing if you're planning for growth. Here’s what that would look like for businesses with a...Turnover of £120,000 = £12,000 marketing budget Turnover of £500,000 = £50,000 marketing budget Turnover of £3,000,000 = £300,000 marketing budgetIn reality, the 10% figure is far from gospel. If you search the...

New privacy regulations are coming in next year and many companies are unprepared. The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) will come into force on May 25th 2018. Although it might seem a long way off, the new regulations are much more involved than current UK Data Protection Act rules, so there’s lots for businesses to do in preparation. Although it's unlikely, those who don't comply could be hit with huge fines – up to 20 million euros or 4% of turnover, whichever is higher. Who is...

Wondering if outsourcing your marketing could be right for your company? There's numerous upsides, especially for small and medium sized businesses. Here's ten benefits of outsourced marketing... 1. No long-term commitment One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing your marketing is that there's no long term commitment. Most firms operate on short or rolling contracts, so you can try out marketing activity without committing long term. 2. Removes risk of investing in marketing As there's no ...

If you’ve been wondering whether outsourced marketing could work for your business, read this guide to outsourcing your marketing. What is outsourced marketing? Outsourced marketing is exactly as it sounds – outsourcing your business marketing activity to a third party. An outsourced marketing team can be used in addition to an in-house team, or it could replace the need for in-house staff entirely. Why outsource marketing activity? There's numerous reasons to outsource your marketing, b...