The importance of marketing

By Laura Gomez Pedrosa of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

Your workdays may be very fast paced, with too many tasks to try and accomplish in too few hours.

Especially if you are a small business owner or self-employed, you may not be able to find the time to promote your products of services while you are trying your best to keep up with what’s already on your plate!

It can be easy to overlook the importance of marketing, but this should not be underestimated. After all, the conundrum of “too much work and not enough time” is a luxury problem!

If you are able to bring even more clients on board or sell more products, then your business will be able to expand, grow in reach and of course profitability. So, let’s be honest – who doesn’t want that?

It is important to think about HOW you want to market your business. There is certainly no denying the power of the internet, where you can quickly reach new audiences and a lot of options are free as well. This makes digital marketing a cost-effective and efficient way of promoting your business.

It is also important to think about WHAT you are selling. How is your brand perceived by someone who has never heard of your business before?

The marketing strategy that works best for you is very much dependent on what kind of business you run and what you want to achieve. For many organisations, the main goal will be to increase profits by improving sales, conversions or reach, so how do you manage this?

Improve your website and Google ranking

One very important aspect of digital marketing is having a good website, and following best practice to increase your chances of being found on Google and other search engines. Most people don’t scroll further than the first page of Google so this is where you ideally will want to be.

There are many ways to improve your website and increase your chances of being found, which are known as ‘ranking factors’.

Pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is another way of increasing your reach. This can be done via placing adverts on Google which come up first when searching for a specific keyword or phrase, meaning you will be seen first before all others.

To find out more about SEO, ranking factors and PPC, you can attend our two-part FREE Maximising Your Online Presence workshop on 19th & 20th May, delivered by SEO Traffic Lab.

Click here to find out more and to register.

Branding and implementing a new strategy

There are a lot of stories of new marketing efforts returning little to no results. This leads companies to question the validity of their products or service. But what if it isn’t the product? But rather the perception of how it’s seen and heard?

The perception of your brand is just as important as what you are actually selling or delivering. It is good to take stock of your brand and how it comes across to your audience on a regular basis.

Simple things can go far! For instance having a professional logo, a good-looking website and consistent messaging across your marketing outputs will yield better results than not ticking these boxes.

On 5th & 6th May Oliver Taylor of Horizon Brand Consultants will deliver a FREE workshop to explore what branding is and why it is vital. Click here to find out more and to register.

Green Marketing

Sustainability is on the rise, and it is no surprise that many organisations are jumping on the green bandwagon. While being environmentally conscious is not only good for the environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR) can also help increase your brand’s credibility and deliver a more powerful message than your competitors.

Making your business and marketing more eco-friendly has never been so important, but it’s also never been easier for SMEs. Green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, sustainable packaging, as well as modifying advertising.

Join Rachael Hunt, Creative Marketing Manager at Visual Print and Design, for a FREE webinar on 26th May to find out more about sustainable marketing. Click here to find out more and to register.