How do I best promote my new business in the Midlands?

Setting up your own online business can be an exciting time as you try to find the most effective way of promoting it and gaining new customers in the Midlands all within the budget that you have set yourself.  It is worthwhile having a web presence either in the form of a website or a page on one of the social media platforms because this is usually the first port of call for potential customers.

Should you decide to create a website to promote your business you could either use one of the free applications that supply you with a template enabling you to design and create your own website or you can use the services of a web designer and developer. The former will give your website a more professional look and the latter will be able to ensure that the site contains key words that will improve the ranking of your site on search engines. If funds are tight initially then another option would be to concentrate on promoting your business through social media as the costs are minimal, and the maintenance is much easier.

A further way of promoting your new business in the Midlands is to look for local advertising websites that, for a subscription fee will list your business on their pages.

Digital marketing for beginners

Firstly, what is digital marketing and is it an effective strategy for a company wanting to promote their business?

Digital marketing is the advertising of products or brands using electronic devices or the internet. It may involve amongst others text or instant messaging, email, video, apps, digital television and radio. Many companies see it as crucial to their business success and millions of pounds are spent annually on this type of marketing.

Many retailers use digital marketing to see who their customers are and understand their shopping habits. This understanding in turn allows retailers to offer an increasingly individualised shopping experience for their customers, which leads to improved customer loyalty and an increase in sales.

Another sector that uses digital marketing successfully is the government departments in the UK. If the government want to inform the public about a change in the tax system or warn them about a health issue the digital marketing strategy that they use is vital to inform the general public and impart information that is relevant. This has recently been used effectively in the fight against the Corona virus as people have received text messages and TV and radio warnings about the prevalence of the disease and how to keep safe at this time.

Use CRM to boost marketing

Most forward-thinking companies aspire to develop positive relationships with their clients as this often leads to growth in sales and encourages customer loyalty. A CRM system or customer relationship management system helps to make a business marketing campaign more successful by using software that facilitates businesses to expand their customer sales and communication.

Basically, this system helps to centralise, improve and streamline the communications you have with your customers. Client information is kept on a secure database which is easily accessible if needed. The information on the database can be sorted into segmented lists allowing the targeting of specific clients with relevant marketing material and attractive offers and incentives.

The value of a CRM system to the business may also be seen by the way in which it helps to retain customers by reminding you to make contact with them if you have not had contact recently and by tracking their recent purchase history and satisfaction with the products or services they have received.

In order to comply with data privacy requirements, it is vitally important that the system has inbuilt GDPR related functionality. This will ensure that you are completely compliant with the appropriate legal regulations and have the relevant permissions in place.

How to reach out to your customer during the Christmas period

It is important as a business owner that you try and reach out to your customers during the festive period. Sending a simple Christmas card, whether that be physical or a virtual one, can go a long way and ensure that you stay at the forefront of their mind. If you want to go an extra step, why not send them a bottle of wine or a box of chocolates to say thank you for their continues support over the past 12 months. Although present giving may be a little bit harder this year, you could always give them a discount on their bill, especially if it is a small family run business for example, where they will reap the benefits.

Be sure to bear in mind that not all of your customers may share the same religious views and some may not celebrate Christmas, so keep your well wishes short and sweet.

Social media s a great place to spread the festive cheer. Why not do something like offer a different product at a discounted price each day throughout the month of December or send out an advent calendar with a discount code behind each window. These quirky little gifts can really go a long way.

Quotations for web design projects

As a web designer or developer, you will have to be able to quote accurately for projects which you undertake. Most clients need a pretty precise price for a new website or changes to their website before they can agree to the work being carried out especially if they need to check if they have the money within their budget to fund it.

Pricing is not always straight forward and you will need to get an in depth concept of exactly what is required on the website in order for you to work out a price. If the website is going to be similar to another website you have designed then you can take your experience from that one and work out how long it took you and so how much time it is likely to require. The issue comes when the website and has a number of complicated functions that will have to be written in from scratch or complex integrations with other systems. It can be hard to know exactly how long it is going to take to complete the job so pricing can become complex.

It is always advisable to slightly over estimate or put in a contingency budget in case it takes longer than expected.