Don’t despair, help is on hand.

As a busy small business owner, it can be really challenging to proactively market your business on top of all the other demands on your time.

But in the absence of big budgets, little and often (regular, consistent marketing) is the absolute key to gaining traction, building brand awareness and forming a strong foundation for growth. (If you want results, you can’t get away with leaving your marketing until last thing on a Friday afternoon!).

So, this week we’re sharing 5 tried and tested ways to help you make more time for marketing your business:

1. Make a plan:

Not only will you create more time, businesses with a plan in place are 20% more profitable than those without. Having a succinct, targeted marketing plan for your business allows you to focus on core priorities and schedule the less pressing activities for a later date.

Developing a clear, manageable plan will help you feel more in control of your marketing, enabling you to make confident decisions and reduce stress. And it doesn’t have to be complex, a simple marketing plan is better than none at all.

2. Jot down your weekly priorities:

Got your plan in place? Great! Now you need to break it down into actionable tasks that you can power through each week.

Scheduling your marketing activities into a planner will hugely increase the chances of them happening. Whether you like to use an app, online project management tool, wall planner or tear-off desk pad – the logic is the same. What doesn’t get written down won’t get done – fact. (Plus, it’s very motivating to tick items off as you go).

Don’t forget to check out our Resources section if you’d like to access our downloadable weekly planner. Each day is broken down into hourly time blocks to keep you focused.

Use planners to schedule your marketing activities and make them happen!

3. Time your tasks:

If you’re short on time, allocate a rough time estimate to each marketing task you have on your list. It may be a quick 10-minute phone call, a 1-hour networking group you need to attend, or a more time-intensive content planning session.

Start by blocking out the biggest chunks of time you need first; this will give immediate structure to your week. Shorter, 10-30 minutes marketing activities can be then be plugged into windows of free time (either planned or additional pockets of time that crop up). I often work on train journeys to make use of otherwise dead time – quiet, uninterrupted time that’s perfect for planning out blogs or social media content.

4. Work in 90-minute focus blocks

If you need to be more productive in order to free up time for marketing, a top tip shared by Talented Ladies Club is to work in 90-minute focus blocks.

Have you tried it? It really works.

Focus blocks are dedicated, highly productive pockets of time in which you concentrate solely on the task in hand. No tech distractions. No emails. No phone calls or interruptions. You’ll be amazed at how much this will boost your productivity and create free time.

If you think you could be using your time more effectively, handy time tracker apps like Toggl are also great for boosting productivity and winning back your time.

5. Find yourself an accountability partner:

Did you know that you’re a whopping 95% more likely to achieve your goals if you have an accountability partner?

That’s seriously impressive! If you find that you’re dragging your heels with a specific marketing task or bigger project, find yourself an accountability partner and get it done! It might just be a procrastination habit that is holding you back.

Why is having an accountability partner so effective? Because when you’re accountable to someone for something you said you would do, you engage the power of social commitment which dramatically increases your chances of success. Give it a try! I highly recommend it.

Want more small business marketing advice? Join our growing Instagram community for our latest news, marketing tips and small business inspiration!

[Blog illustration by Chloe’s Office].

The post 5 ways to make more time for marketing appeared first on Marketing Vision.

You spend a lot of time carefully creating content but you don’t seem to be getting anywhere? You are not alone!

We know that as a small business owner you have a lot of plates to spin. And that trying to stand out on Instagram (and Facebook) can start to feel like a tedious chore if you’re not getting the audience engagement or growth that you’d like.

So, we asked three of our favourite social media experts to share their top tips for boosting engagement. Tips that you can put into action straight away in your business!

Because with so many brands competing for people’s attention, it’s getting harder and harder to increase engagement (likes, comments, engagement from your Stories, IGTV views and so on) – and we want to help you build a community that supports your business growth.

We asked: How can small businesses successfully increase engagement on Instagram and Facebook?

Here’s what our fantastic experts said:

Boost engagement with Instagram Stories

Joanna Michaels, social media coach and founder of London-based Beyond Social Buzz shared her top tips for creating brilliant Instagram Stories:

If you want to build a loyal and engaged following on Instagram, use Instagram Stories!

Instagram Stories have a unique ability to motivate users to take action. And Instagram is helping brands further boost engagement with their followers by offering a variety of engagement stickers. Add them to your Stories to encourage your followers to chat, answer questions, get to know you better by asking you questions, vote and lots more.

The more engagement you have on your Stories, the higher the visibility given to that particular Story by Instagram’s algorithm. The result? More exposure for your brand!

Joanna Michaels, founder of Beyond Social Buzz

3 top tips for nailing Instagram Stories:

1. Tell great stories: To increase the completion rate on the viewing of your Stories tell a cohesive story – one with a clear beginning, middle and end. Lulu Lemon Stories are a perfect example, so check them out and learn how to keep people watching.

2. Make use of apps: To make your Stories more engaging, check out the following apps:

• Unfold: Offers customisable templates and helps to maintain brand aesthetics
• Canva: Enables you to create branded Stories templates and even custom fonts
• InShot video editor: A photo and video editing app that will help to adjust your video to fit Instagram Stories

3. Include a clear ‘call-to-action’: Don’t forget about a clear call-to-action – give a direct instruction for what you’d like people to do next. E.g., ‘Swipe up to download’. And remember that Instagram users scroll through their feeds very quickly, so keep your headline and copy clear. And be sure to let users know straight away what they’ll get if they swipe up/click on the link in the bio.

Tell your story with video (and keep things fun!)

Helen Perry, social media content creator and founder of Not About The Kids shared her top tips on video and the importance of keeping things fun:

Helen Perry, founder of Not About The Kids

Include video content

Even short video clips are often more engaging than still images. If you are nervous about trying this (especially speaking to camera), I recommend experimenting in Stories format – either on Instagram or Facebook. What’s the worst that can happen? It’ll be gone again in 24 hours.

And remember, your footage can be very short – just a few seconds long. But when you are thinking about how to tell any story, consider how you can incorporate video.

Keep things fun and light

Generally, people open their social media apps to be entertained or distracted. So, try and think about how you can make your content fun, funny, light, casual and even…ordinary.

Use relaxed photography and video, and then make great use of all of the brilliant apps available to make your content as accessible as possible. From brilliant photo and film editing on VSCO and InShot to classy Stories templates at Unfold.

Use hashtags and targeted ad campaigns

Isil Simsek, social media consultant and founder of boutique agency Social Thyme shared her tops tips on hashtags and targeted ads:

Isil Simsek, founder of Social Thyme

Don’t post and go on Instagram!

If you want to generate engagement on Instagram, don’t just post and go! When you publish a post, stay on the platform and engage with your audience by liking and commenting on their posts. Search your key hashtags and go on the recent posts to like and comment on them. As they are recent posts, it’s very likely that those people are still on the platform and they will check out your profile and reciprocate. Take 5-10 minutes before and after publishing your content to connect with your audience.

Use Facebook & Instagram ads for targeted campaigns

Don’t waste your money by boosting Facebook posts. Boosting a post has a place, but it’s not strategic and you don’t have most of the options Facebook gives you in Business Manager. By boosting a post every time Facebook tells you your content is performing well and throwing £10 at it (hoping it sticks!), will not bring you any results.

The Business Manager gives you more strategic tools so you can target your audience based on their interests, lifestyle, searches and many other factors so you actually only hand out a ‘leaflet’ to those who are more likely to buy from you.

The beauty of Facebook and Instagram ads is that you don’t have to spend a large sum of money only to find out nobody is interested. You can see how your ad campaign is performing and react accordingly. If, after a couple of days it isn’t working, simply turn your ads off and change your strategy – test different creatives, copy and offers to find what resonates most with your audience.

Helpful resources

If you’d like to find out more about how our social media experts could help your small business, you can work with them in a number of ways. Our top picks:

• Sign up to Not About The Kids mailing list to access a growing treasure trove of free resources that will help you communicate beautifully on social media (plus keep up-to-date with expert tips, tricks and upcoming events)
• If you’re London-based, attend a Beyond Social Buzz course or training to help you use social media more confidently
• Book in for a Power Hour with Social Thyme and get all your social media questions answered

Thank you to each of our social media experts for so generously sharing their knowledge and insights with us!

Want to know more? Join our growing Instagram community for our latest new, marketing tips and small business inspiration! We look forward to meeting you.

The post How to increase Instagram and Facebook engagement appeared first on Marketing Vision.

Whether it be for a networking event, formal presentation, a casual coffee meet-up or inclusion in your marketing communications, being able to tell your business story in a succinct and engaging way will prove invaluable.

You will be asked time over about your business and the products or services that you offer. And as your front PR-person, it is vital that you can confidently give a concise response, being careful to include your key selling points in a persuasive way (that doesn’t sound rehearsed!).

Perfecting your elevator pitch

Have you ever been unprepared with a snappy response when someone has asked you about your business? Perhaps you blurted out a long, rambling answer and missed your chance to start a meaningful conversation? What a wasted opportunity to promote your products or services!

So how do you create your perfect business pitch (also often referred to as an ‘elevator pitch’)? It’s actually pretty simple. Dedicate some quiet time to jotting down 1-2 sentences in response to each of the following questions.

1. What do you do?
2. What problem do you solve?
3. How is your product or service unique?
4. How can you help me?

If you keep each of your answers brief, your business story will total to around 60 seconds. Using this technique, you can be confident that you have included your key selling points plus comfortably be able to deliver an engaging and memorable introduction to your business at any time.

A working example

Let’s look at an example of how this pitch development process might look for an organic farm offering home-delivered fruit and vegetable boxes.

1. “We are an award-winning organic fruit and vegetable farm delivering only the freshest of produce to homes around the UK 
   [What do you do?].
2. We deliver seasonal, organic goods directly to your door – putting fresh fruit and vegetables on the family table at an affordable price [What problem do you solve?].
3. Our great-tasting, organic produce is grown at regional farms throughout the UK helping us to keep the food miles low, support local farmers and create local employment. We are 20-30% cheaper than the supermarkets and offer our customers convenient 1-hour delivery slots [How is your product/service different?].
4. Our customers love the convenience of having fresh, seasonal products delivered directly to their door. We are passionate about supporting healthy food choices whilst saving our customers both time and money” [How can you help me?].

Practice makes perfect

Once you are happy with your responses to these key questions, practice saying them out loud. Keep refining them. Practice in front of a mirror, a friend or family member until you are comfortable with your pitch.

It’s important that the response doesn’t sound rehearsed so be careful not to be too rigid when you are talking (or look like you are trying to recall all the points that you want to include!). But don’t worry, the more you practice, the more natural you will sound.

Have you got a question about how to successfully pitch your business? Find us over on Instagram or drop us a line through our website – we’d love to hear from you.

The post How to introduce your business in 60 seconds appeared first on Marketing Vision.

Of course. Who doesn’t want to grow their customer base?

Right. But research shows that 80% of your future profits will come from just 20% of your existing customers.

That means that your strongest source of revenue is in fact, likely sitting right under your nose.

And not only that, these customers are easier to engage with because people are far more responsive to brands they’re already familiar with.

Source: www.retentionscience.com

Positive brand experiences drive growth

So, while you should of course keep building your audience – it’s crucial that your marketing strategy also includes a strong brand loyalty component. A targeted plan of actions that keep customers coming back for more and create raving fans who happily spread the word about you.

Think about the last time you were really impressed by a business or brand. You probably went on to buy more from them, and more than likely told friends and family about your positive experience.

To build profitable brand loyalty into your business, you need to consciously cultivate a ‘wow’ factor. Deliver more than you promised and provide additional, unexpected value. Going that extra mile really will keep people coming back and get them talking about you.

And in our current uncertain climate, brand loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals are more important than ever for driving business growth.

Source: www.retentionscience.com

Brand loyalty boosts profitability

So, how can you nurture profitable brand loyalty in your business?

We’ve picked out 11 of our favourite (simple!) tried and tested ways to get you started:

1. Offer outstanding customer service at every touch point, always go that extra mile
2. Regularly chat with your customers on social media – be friendly and engaging
3. Be generous and include free samples of new products with orders
4. Send a personalised, hand-written thank you note
5. Start a reward or loyalty scheme (or friend referral programme)
6. Email existing customers an advance preview of new product/service launches (and maybe a cheeky discount too!)
7. If you’re a service provider, check in with clients to see how they’re getting on – be helpful
8. Ask customers for their opinion on new products/services that you’re developing
9. Tell your customers how their feedback was implemented – people love to feel  involved
10. Provide a surprise upgrade or bonus for free
11. Pop a postcard with a special discount code in with product orders

Brands who are nailing the wow factor

The beauty of being a small business is that you can make up your own rules. You can be agile, flexible and delight customers in unexpected ways that help you build loyalty and stand out from the crowd.

Lots of brands are doing amazing things in this area, but here are three that we think are nailing it right now:

Patch Plants:

Online houseplant delivery business Patch Plants offer a fantastic friend referral programme: Refer a friend, and both of you get a free plant when your friend places their first order (over £50).

This is the icing on the cake when you’ve browsed through their website packed with helpful plant advice, tips and guidance to help you choose the right plants for you. Search categories like ‘Unkillable indoor plants’ are also awesome and add a welcome touch of humour!

A definite 10 out 10 on the customer experience wow factor.

And how did I hear about Patch Plants? Through a friend sharing how brilliant they are on Instagram.

Scrubbingtons:

Foam-tastic kid’s washing products brand Scrubbingtons, never fail to impress.

Not only are their products and customer service outstanding, they also offer a free rewards programme. Customers collect points each time they buy products, these can then be redeemed against future purchases once they reach a certain value. A simple yet effective way to build brand loyalty. And I think quite unexpected for a small business.

‘It’s our way of saying a big “thanks” for being such an outstanding customer!’ Nicely done Scrubbingtons!

Full marks.

Evolve Beauty:

Organic skincare brand Evolve Beauty recently offered customers a super-sized product for the price of a regular one. What a fabulous and timely bonus!

120ml for the price of 60ml on some of their beauty favourites. Such a kind gesture to help their customers enjoy some self-care during this turbulent time.

Evolve Beauty always offer gorgeous products, amazing customer service and prompt delivery. This added generosity fits their brand perfectly.

Top work.

Do you have a brand loyalty question? Perhaps you’re looking to create something unique for your own business. Get in touch – we’re always happy to help.

Want more small business marketing advice? Join our growing Instagram community for our latest news, marketing tips and small business inspiration!

[Blog illustrations by the super-talented and all-round awesome Chloe’s Office].

The post Brand loyalty: 11 simple ways to boost profitability appeared first on Marketing Vision.