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Marketing for virtual business events

07/07/202007/02/2020 by scmarketing

We’ve all had to adapt significantly during these last few months, none more so than the networking and events industry.

In the past, we’ve talked about networking events being a really powerful place for small businesses to grow. So, as we went into lockdown you could have been forgiven for having a moment of panic about how you were going to cope without those vital networking opportunities and face to face connections.

Well, I think we can all agree that we’ve adapted somewhat. During this time, we’re sure you, like many other businesses have attended and benefited from the talks webinars and virtual events such as the fantastic accounting event – The Virtual Summit and the recent London Festival of Architecture. What they now have in common is an event that people worldwide can take part in – not just those in London.

So, the question is, do we see these virtual events continuing? If so, how do we get the message out there more widely when we’re doing our marketing so that attendance skyrockets?

Tips for marketing your own webinar

What virtual events have given businesses and networking groups is potential of a wider reach.

We love a networking group and have spent many a great session at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) events with other amazing members.

We’ve all become much more adept to conducting business with colleagues and clients via screen. So as more and more of us look to create our own webinars as a way of talking about products and services, here’s a few tips to remember when setting up your virtual event.

Be clear on the event details

As with anything you are promoting, be clear about what your event is about. Just like any other marketing you want to be targeting the right people to attend to ensure that you have quality leads.

Promote on all digital marketing channels available

Promoting the event through all channels available to you is essential. So, from social media through to email marketing, obvious presence on the homepage of your website and reminding colleagues to all share details of the event to their network.

Create a marketing tool box

If you have other speakers on your panel then make sure they have marketing information from you. It’s one of those things you can easily overlook but it’s key to encourage people to share the relevant information. It also ensures that your event has a consistent look and feel. Make sure your panellists have the following:

Share the specific event details so that everyone is saying the same thing
Make sure all involved have the right website address for registering so they can share to their contacts. You can also ask them to use a specific trackable link
Event images / videos – keep consistent. Ask people to use the images you supply
Share the relevant social handles and hashtags to promote the event

Our client Symphony was a speaker at The Virtual Summit and the organisers provided a suite of images to use, sized per social channel as well as links. This meant that well over 40 speakers and their companies had the ability to share to their own networks at the touch of a button. This could be one of the key reasons that led to the event having over 14,000 registrations and over 4,000 tuning into our client’s session.

Segment email marketing lists

If you’re sending out email marketing, then remember to segment your lists so you know the different target groups and demographics. You can then personalise information sent so that by being targeted you are likely to encourage more sign ups.

Partner up

If you’re not too good with technology and think that working in partnership would be better for you then why not look at what networking groups such as LCCI have been doing. We’re proud members and had the privilege of running a session on growing your business through online lead generation. Therefore, perhaps you can approach a local business or join a networking group and see about getting your business on their fixtures of upcoming webinars.

Virtual events – the new norm?

Let’s address the elephant in the room, we don’t think this is the death knoll for physical events. We can safely say that the need for face to face contact and engagement still exists. However, we do see a shift occurring.

At exhibitions there’s often many streams of different talks happening simultaneously. So, you really have to pick and choose carefully. So, will we start to see seminars with more recordings being offered post event? This is a great way for marketing to continue after the doors have closed. By having information in a gated area, you can gather contact details to add to your database for ongoing communication.

However, this must not impact the numbers attending an event. So, there’s still a need for those exclusive happenings at summits and exhibitions such as the keynote speaker whose presentation won’t be available unless you attend.

Extend the reach of your business

We’ve talked about how a virtual event can help extend the reach further. This is the same for digital marketing. With 81% people conducting online searches for products and services, if you don’t already have a website now is the time to reach potential customers and clients. The website is at the centre of your online marketing strategy. This is something you own so that all your marketing can lead back to your website.

If you’re hosting a webinar a website is where you want to be holding all the details for it. By pushing all communication back to your website it helps with search engine optimisation (SEO) and will help boost your rankings in online search engine results.

We’re a digital marketing agency in Croydon, if you have any queries let’s chat further. Book a consultation.

5 questions to ask your web design company

07/08/202006/17/2020 by scmarketing

Now is a great time to be updating your website to improve your online presence and make sure you’re ticking all the boxes for what your leads and clients are looking to find.

So, we’ve compiled 5 questions on what you need to ask your web design company when you look to take that step and update your website.

1. CMS

Ask your web designers about a Content Management System (CMS) website such as WordPress. This means that once the website is built, and with a little training, you can manage the upload of content yourself. Basically, you want to have control to be able to add content once your website has been created.

So, ask your website designer and developer what access you will have and if it can be a CMS website. If you go to a web developer, you are likely to have the website handed to you after completion to handle yourself and manage the day to day upload of content into the future.

If you work with a digital marketing agency you can ask them to quote for services once the website is live such as Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and content marketing such as writing blogs and handling Social Media channels.

2. Be responsive and optimised

Make sure your website is responsive. What do we mean by that? It means websites can change structure depending on what device you are viewing it on. For example this means when you look at a website on your mobile phone you can view it as you would on a PC.

Google certainly ranks a website if it is mobile friendly so it will help you in search. With 60% of searches made on a mobile device, being mobile friendly is not a nice to have, it’s essential.

You also should be aware of Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags and H1/H2 headings. A web designer can provide you with simple training on this once your website has been developed. But, as it’s being developed, they should have already implemented these on the content and images already uploaded for you.

3. Integration

Sales and marketing go hand in hand. A website is at the core of your inbound marketing campaign as any marketing you do you want to lead your prospects back to your website.

So, make sure that your professional web design has the same consistency look and feel as any other sales and marketing you conduct. Therefore, there needs to be cohesion between email marketing, social media, Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, marketing automation and CRM. You need to align channels so that your clients and prospects have a smooth sales journey.

4. Be secure and compliant

Most CMS provide modules to allow you to back up and to make safe against hackers. Unfortunately, with web robots (automated programs) checking thousands of websites a second for weaknesses to exploit the owner it’s important to do as much as you can to make your website safe. Talk through the options with your web developer such as the SSL certificate and captcha forms for your website.

Ensure you have a privacy policy in your footer. This can be transferred from your current site but if your site is old, you may not have this up to date. So, ask your web developer if they have a template you can use. They should have an example template to hand to help you.

5. Talk design

Don’t be afraid to talk about how you want the website to look. While you are employing an expert, the look and feel of the website still needs to fit with your brand vision. Choose to work with a web designer or agency that you feel understands your company goals and what you want to achieve from the site. It needs to be tailored to you.

Your web developer needs to be a collaborative partner. Here’s some pointers to remember when you talk through the design. It’s not just about the site looking good but about practical needs to ensure a well optimised website.

Be image led: Ensure that images will be incorporated into your design. If you need new imagery, you may need to agree up front whether you need to pay extra or if images are included in your quote.
Don’t be afraid of white space on your website. It aids site navigation and is easy on the eye.
Add bold calls to action buttons throughout the website.
Agree up front the site navigation. Ensure that it’s easy for visitors to move around the site.

Ask your web developer to create a wire frame of the design. This way, after you have had your initial discussions, the designer will create a mock up allowing you to see the overall look of the homepage and a typical page on the website.

Website design Croydon

Improving your website can help user experience and, in turn, generate more quality leads. By creating a website and content tailored to your audience will help you with your overall inbound marketing strategy. If you’re embarking on a new website or looking to refresh your current one, hopefully these tips have given you some steer to help you create a fantastic experience for your clients and prospects.

Smart Cow Marketing is a web developer in Croydon, London. Our expertise in website design and development means we can provide you with a brand-new bespoke website or provide advice on ways to update your current site.

Get in touch to talk about your web design requirements.

Your inbound marketing guide for accounting firms

06/21/202106/11/2020 by scmarketing

Inbound marketing is focused on lead generation to attract quality clients from qualified leads interested in your accounting services.

An inbound marketing strategy is about building brand awareness and trust through thought leadership content. Certainly, in the current COVID-19 situation it’s about sharing insightful content that will help your potential customers.

Adding context to your marketing activity that’s relevant to your audience is key to success.

Inbound marketing strategy for accountants

We recommend that you take time to understand who you are selling to. An accounting practice will know from experience who their main clients are. Therefore, create an imaginary persona based on this. What are the challenges that your target audience faces? Empathise with their requirements and personalise your content.

It’s all about appealing to your relevant prospects to reach those quality leads interested in your accounting services.

Think of your overarching message and USP – why should someone come to your accounting firm as opposed to another? What are you offering that’s different and make is specific to your target audience?

Download The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing to help you create your marketing strategy.

What does inbound marketing include?

There’s no one size fits all to inbound marketing, even for an accountancy practice.

There’s a number of inbound marketing tactics that a digital agency will draw on to create a strategy to generate traffic for your accounting firm. Here’s an overview of digital marketing tools.

What to do first with inbound marketing

Your website is at the core of your business, it’s your shop window. So, a review of your current site is a key first step to take.
Think of the keywords you want your accounting firm to be found for. If your expertise lies in outsourcing services such as bookkeeping, payroll and VAT returns, then make sure you have content that answers questions for your potential clients covering these topics.
Make sure your website is easy to navigate. A lot of websites these days are Content Managed Systems (CMS) so you can generally make quick fix updates yourself. If you have trouble updating anything then get in touch with a digital marketing agency that manages web design and development. We offer free consultations and can provide a proposal based on your requirements.
Have you completed your Google My Business page? It’s free to do and is the ultimate directory to be on providing quality links back to your website.
An ongoing content marketing plan is also key. This will help position your accounting firm as a thought leader in the sector. So, think of adding a blog to your website or more up to date articles as this provides great new content for a website. Having already implemented your keyword research, including relevant phrases in your new blogs will help search engines find your practice.

Working with an inbound marketing agency in Surrey

As a digital agency for accountants, we would look at your business, understand your objectives to then tailor an inbound marketing campaign for your firm encompassing the tactics that are right for your goals.

Why not contact us for a FREE consultation? If you’re looking to grow your business, talk us through your current position, where you would like to be, your target audience and objectives and we can work on a proposal for you.

In the meantime, Download The Beginner’s Guide to Generating Inbound Leads.

Why you should work on your content marketing strategy

05/06/202106/05/2020 by scmarketing

In the last couple of months, we’ve placed a focus on the importance of maintaining presence online during this time of uncertainty and change. The reason being is as we move into the easing of lockdown and ongoing gentle reintroduction of getting back to ‘normal’, firms that have maintained visibility from the start will have kept their existing clients informed, helped to build awareness with prospects and potentially gained warm leads.

But, if you haven’t been able to keep up your marketing activity whether social media marketing or regular blogs, distributing email marketing or running a google ads campaign, it’s not too late to start. But, now is the crucial time to work on your content marketing plan.

Ramp up marketing activity

With the easing of lockdown gradually taking place, more people are returning to work as non-essential shops will begin to open, sports will start to return (albeit behind closed doors), people are beginning to step out of hibernation so to speak. But throughout this time, potential customers have been looking and listening to what’s out there, ready to jump at opportunities that they have put on hold.

For those of you who have continued digital marketing for your business, carry on and ramp it up. Perhaps explore other avenues to extend reach further such as creating an ebook of your core products or services with tips and advice, or send out that email that you’ve put on hold and create that video to share on social media.

Content marketing tips with SEO at the core

If you fall into the camp of not being able to do any content marketing during this time, then pick up your digital marketing plan now, it’s not too late.

Here’s our top SEO tips on what you could do as part of your online marketing strategy to help give your visibility in search engine rankings a boost. But note this is a long-term strategy so once you start, you need to continue working on SEO to reap the benefits when we truly are back to ‘normal’.

1. Be targeted

Review your website, especially your homepage. Are you telling your target audience exactly what they want to hear about when they reach your website? A little market research can help you hone your messaging.

2. Be relevant

Refresh any out of date content throughout your website. In the back of your mind always think about what your target audience searches for online and make sure you include those keywords in content. But make sure it fits. Search engines know when you’ve just added words for the sake of it.

3. Fix broken links on your website

This can impact your search rankings so make sure all links are working. And, add more where necessary to help ease of navigation.

4. Calls to action

Add eye catching buttons with calls to action that will encourage engagement and ‘action’.

5. Now write some blogs!

Regularly uploading content relevant to your target audience is a great way to keep content on your website fresh and search engines interested! Search engines want to return the best results to someone searching, so it has to be relevant.

If you already have social channels but have stopped posting, now is the time to get back to it. Tell people you’ve just added a new blog to your website. Remind people of your core services and products. There’s a lot of activity out there so you need to be in the mix to start to be heard.

This is just a quick summary for those who need to pick up on marketing activity. If you start implementing this now, it will help place you in much better position than waiting until life is ‘back to normal’.

Free resources

We’re a digital marketing and content marketing agency in Croydon and we have the following resources you can draw on if you need any help.

Free website review

Find out how to improve your website’s performance.

Free digital marketing consultation

Our Free Consultation should be between 15 and 30 minutes. The goal is to provide you with thoughts on how to start an effective marketing campaign and for us both to see if it would benefit your firm. No obligation at all, we just want the best for you.