Digital Marketing

Podcasts: A Marketing Tool On The Rise

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing
Woman using a microphone to record a podcast while reading a notebook

A podcast is a digital series of audio files commonly presented as episodes, which listeners can stream and download using varying platforms. Typically lead by a host or featuring guests, podcasts are an auditory space in which the speakers share topic-focused stories, discussions and news. Often striking thought provoking debates, they provide a unique opportunity for participants to talk about something they’re knowledgeable and passionate about.

One of the main strengths of podcasts is that they are a passive form of media – they are easy to listen to in the car, on a commute or while making dinner. Conversely, visual formats often require your full attention. While initially they may be more engaging, they’re a lot less flexible which often leads to a loss of interest and focus.

The most popular way of accessing a podcast is through a smartphone – as most mobile devices now support mainstream platforms. However, modern desktops, tablets and smart TVs are also suitable, though less optimised for listeners on the go. Some popular podcast apps include Apple podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google podcasts and Stitcher.

Podcasts for business

Though they’re a great way of passing time, podcasts aren’t just another media format- they’re also a great business tool! According to latest findings the global number of podcast listeners has surpassed 400 million and is set to continue rising over the coming years. Furthermore, based on research carried out by Bredin, an impressive average 39% of SME owners listen to podcasts. Over half of those SMEs prefer to listen to business, finance and economics themed shows- presenting a significant figure of likeminded listeners and potential prospects.

Making your own podcast

Before taking the plunge and starting your own podcast series, it is important to establish some basics. Consider who you are making the podcast for – it is sometimes useful to create a customer avatar, which is a detailed profile of your ideal customer. Catering your podcast towards this ideal customer will help to draw in more listeners with a positive impact on your business. Your content really depends upon why you want to make a podcast. Growing your community, building trust with your audience, and using a podcast as a creative outlet are all valid reasons. You need to provide value to a listener, or else there won’t be a point to listening. A successful podcast is a reliable outlet for either information or entertainment- in both cases benefiting the audience.

Tips for getting started

  • Good quality recordings are essential for a good listening experience. Record in a place where there is little or no background noise, and make sure the quality of your microphone is up to par.
  • Editing the audio is important, as it can streamline the podcast and is useful for cutting out any long pauses or stumbles.
  • Upload regularly, so that your audience knows when your content is due and can tune in consistently.
  • Keeping the length of the podcast consistent between episodes is also key, although a difference of a couple of minutes between episodes is acceptable.
  • Don’t script it word for word! While notes and key cards are a great way of keeping on track, a free form episode often sounds more organic and provides an easier, conversation-like listen for your audience.

These things may seem small but presenting your podcast in a professional manner is principal to its success. If you’d like to find out more about podcasts, or require any additional business support, we’d love to help! Get in touch:

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com   T: 01903 688789

Make The Most Of LinkedIn’s Newsletter Feature

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing, Social Media
LinkedIn newsletter page open on a laptop

LinkedIn is an often-overlooked social media platform, but its features are powerful and can connect your business with a large network of potential clients and new opportunities. One such feature is the in-built newsletter service they offer, which has recently been expanded to include newsletters from company pages. Join us as we explore it further, discover it’s benefits and learn to utilise it.

Become a leader in your industry
In a newsletter, you get to touch upon subjects you care about on a regular basis. This gives you a real chance to show off your knowledge and expertise, making you come across as more reliable and building confidence in your business. Apart from boosting your credibility, it is also a great chance to showcase any new or interesting findings and strategies that your business is using, helping you to stand out as a leader in your field.

Improve your audience engagement

All LinkedIn users can subscribe to newsletters, so if your writing is engaging and consistent, they are a great way of interacting with your audience. Target a chosen field and vary the topic to keep the conversation fresh and interesting. To make the most of your content, you need to know your audience and tailor your information. Create news articles with a specific purpose in mind (growing the newsletter, providing support for your clients etc.), and lean into your strengths such as storytelling, infographics, or blogs. When done properly, you can benefit from a regular audience that is more likely to spread the word about your business.

Grow your network
Anyone can discover, read, and share your LinkedIn newsletter, but in order to grow your audience we recommend you give the newsletter a bit of a boost. Inviting your existing network is a great way to get a head start on your subscriber count. Sharing your newsletter with new connections keeps the conversation going after you meet new people at networking events. Finally, posting about your newsletter on LinkedIn and other social platforms, reminds users who may have missed your invitation, as well as exposing additional prospects to your work.

Setting up

  • Make sure to turn on creator mode. You can find it under your profile’s dashboard.
  • Navigate to your homepage, where the usual “create a post” section appears, select the “write article” option and proceed.
  • From the menu selection at the top of the page choose “create a newsletter”.
  • Fill out the required information, create a name and bio for your newsletter.  
  • Upload or write your newsletter article.
  • When you are happy with your content and layout, click “Publish”. A newsletter page will automatically be created within LinkedIn. 

In summary, a LinkedIn newsletter is a fantastic, free tool for any business – it is a regular space to show the advancements your company has made and share the knowledge you have gathered from your experience. High quality, consistent content will grow the audience for your newsletter and by extension your company – leading to new customers and clients. For something so easy to set up, it is a worthwhile investment for any SME looking to grow.

If you’d like to find out more about LinkedIn’s features, need help setting up your newsletter or require any other business support, get in touch!

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com   T: 01903 688789

How To Perfect Your LinkedIn Profile

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing, Social Media
Classic LinkedIn logo on a white background

Every social media platform is different; some emphasise visuals, some provide you with daily news, while others exist solely as a way of keeping in touch. As a business owner it is vital to nurture all your networking spaces, and most importantly learn how to use them right! Often the first line of contact for prospective clients and established connections are our business socials, and these should be straight forward, on brand and active, but there is one platform that users still find more intimidating than others…

LinkedIn is one of the most overlooked networking tools, with the common misconception being that it is only used as a ‘formality’ or because it makes you seem more professional. However, with a few simple changes to your profile it can become a powerful ally to you and your business.

Choose an appropriate profile image

Your profile picture will likely be the first thing noticed by visiting users, and as we know, first impressions matter! If the profile is set up for your business, it is advised you use your logo as the image; it helps to keep your branding uniform and recognisable as well as boosting the profiles credibility. However, if you’re setting up your personal profile, it’s best to use a clear and recognisable photo of yourself. The image should be recent and of good quality, with a more professional tone and work or image appropriate clothing. Stay clear of selfies and filters and aim for your face to take up around 60% of the frame (don’t forget to smile!).

LinkedIn profiles also include the background photo, a great opportunity to use an attention-grabbing image in line with your branding. You could use an image that depicts your profession, the name of your brand or an image that reflects your business. It is also a great place to showcase some of your work e.g., your creations, achievements or products.

Make the most of your headline

While your current employment/field of work is the focus of the headline, passions, goals and a little extra elaboration on what you do or hope to achieve can also help to bring personalisation and attention to your profile. If you offer multiple services or wish to add more about yourself, try separating with a vertical bar (|). Don’t get carried away, for more in-depth content utilise the about section later on.

Tell your story

Your LinkedIn summary is your chance to impress, introduce your business and tell your own story, when done right it can be a gateway to exciting opportunities and new connections. It doesn’t have to be just a long list of qualifications, in fact personalised writing and anecdotes on how you’ve ended up in your profession help to improve readability and add creative flair to your summary. Achievements, your employment history and skills are all important factors which benefit from an engaging presentation, so think of creative ways to showcase them. If it is a summary meant for your business, delve deeper into the history of your brand, how you got here, where it originated as well as future goals and values. If you’re unsure of what to include follow this structure as a basic rule of thumb:

  • Introduction – who are you/ what do you do?
  • A little history – how did you get to where you are now?
  • Achievements and goals – what are your passions/ what are you proud of/ hopes for the future?
  • A call to action- contact information/ website/ upcoming events

Ultimately, remember that LinkedIn is a unique platform which caters to businesses and business professionals. It differs from socials such as Facebook and Instagram as its focus is providing an online space for finding work, marketing, as well as connecting with business partners. Whichever field of work you’re in, it’s a useful tool to have under your belt! If you’d like to find out more about perfecting your social media or require any other business support, we’d love to help. Get in touch:

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com   T: 01903 688789

Driving Traffic To Your Website

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing
Different shades of blue cogs with different SEO symbols

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Are you a new business looking for ways to attract visitors to your website? Or perhaps your website is simply no longer grabbing the attention like it used to. Not to worry! It won’t happen overnight but there are many things you can do to help your website drive traffic. While it’s good to cover all bases it’s important to start at the beginning and understand the basics, which is why we’ve divided the subject into three core structures.

Understanding SEO

SEO is the process designed to enhance the position of a web page from search results. SEO’s use bot crawlers, which work by indexing the website information found online. The information is automatically processed and categorised accordingly, displaying sites in an order of relevance established by the bot.

Many SEO-boosting strategies have been established over the years, however there is a staple checklist every business should follow:

  • Improve website speed- Statistics show that the speed of your website has a direct affect on how high your site ranks on a search engines page. The better your loading speed, the higher you climb on the main page. Make sure to optimise image formats, remove irrelevant 3rd party scripts, update site plugins, and perform general site maintenance on a regular basis. It can do wonders for speeding up a website.
  • Improve site visit duration- The amount of time spent on your website by existing visitors plays a major role in how much a search engine will ‘like’ your website and thus how well it will appear in search results. If your website is unattractive or too hard to navigate it can significantly lower the visit duration. Some good methods for boosting visit durations are embedding videos within your home page, including more interactive site features, and improving readability.
  • Improve your keywords- Keywords help to categorise your content and bring relevant traffic to your website. When used correctly, they improve visibility and suggest your website to target audiences searching within a pertinent field. Do your research and establish what type of client you would like to visit your site, your strategy, and the targeting keywords that will help to get them there.

Providing Quality Content

It may seem obvious to include content on the list of must haves, however the downfall of many websites is simply lack of quality content. No, we’re not just talking about the stuff that is permanently embedded in your website, we’re talking about fresh, regular, and quality content that can link back to your page. Whether it’s a weekly blog, a newsletter or podcast every piece of content you put out should have a link bringing the reader back to your site. The more site links lead back to you- the stronger the rankings of your website. Finally, don’t forget about video formatting! As mentioned earlier, embedding videos in your website can increase the duration of the site visit, but that’s not the only thing making them beneficial. Video format has statistically proven to have higher information retention than written format, which is why video marketing has become so successful among businesses. Don’t cut out written content completely but balance it out with other formats to provide alternative ways of tuning in!

Social Media Marketing

You most likely already have an account or two with the top social media platforms, but are you using them right? It’s not just as simple as posting every now and then. It’s important to keep the profiles alive, active, and regular and crack down the best places to reach your target audience. Becoming part of online communities, lists and pages can be a great way of gaining credibility as well as extending reach to preestablished and categorised groups. It also allows for interactions and gives you the opportunity to engage with your audiences.

There are many ways in which you can use social media to your advantage, from hashtagging to sharing content linking back to your page, it’s one of the best, free forms of advertising available. You don’t need to join them all but establishing where your audience hangs out online should give you a good idea as to where you too should be.

If you’d like to find out more about driving traffic to your website or would like to discuss outsourcing those tasks, get in touch. We would love to answer any of your questions and discuss your needs!

makeithappen.. E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com T: 01903 688789

Have You Thought About Sending A Newsletter?

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support, Digital Marketing
laptop and mobile illustration with envelopes on the background of the map of the world

If customer engagement is first on your agenda, you’re probably already set up on the top social platforms for your business. But there’s another format you might be overlooking. An e-mail newsletter is a simple yet effective way to maintain regular communication with your prospects and customers, which allows you to send out relevant content, event schedules, updates, and promotional offers. Whether you send out a bitesize blog or weekly news, it’s a valuable tool to have under your belt.

Creating website traffic

Your site visitors will rarely come from a direct browser search. Unless your company is known on a global scale, most of your visitors will originate from a previous call to action, a social media link or a referral. Once you have taken the plunge and designed your newsletter, it is important that the content is mostly taken from your business website and guides the reader to your domain with a simple call to action.

Improving customer relations

An e-newsletter is a sure way of giving your customer and prospect relationships a solid boost. It not only creates an opportunity to hold the readers undivided attention while presenting your prepared content, but also provides the feeling of exclusivity for them. Personalised touches such as using a first name, or a signature sign off, can be a subtle but effective way of establishing a growing bond.

Establishing credibility

One of the most crucial factors behind establishing a successful audience is trust. Your subscriber has taken the first step in trusting your company with its contact information, and now it’s up to you to provide relevant and beneficial content. Incorporate seasonal topics, current trends or newsworthy updates but always keep it on brand to avoid disassociation from your audience.

Consistency over quantity

Your newsletter doesn’t have to be super long, in fact bitesize newsletters often perform better. A regular send out is what really counts! Just like social media posts, your newsletter can either be scheduled or sent out manually following a designated day and time. If you’re unsure of the frequency at which you should be sending out your newsletter, the best people to ask are your own customers! Set up a poll or a questionnaire and find out what your target audience wants to see. Remember that consistency reaps more benefits than an overload of emails which are more likely to end up in the spam folder. Find the right balance and start a routine with your subscribers.

Get planning

As it stands, a newsletter can be a fantastic marketing tool for your business, all you need is a plan and regular content to help you hit your targets. Make sure your template design is clear and on brand and keep things current. Don’t forget that an eye-catching title and straight to the point subject line can often be the deciding factor behind your open rates. Remember to make the most of newsletter analytics and keep monitoring your open/ click through rates for that real time feedback.

If you’d like to find out more about e-newsletters or require any business support, get in touch. We run a weekly newsletter ourselves and have first-hand experience in promoting a small business. We would love to answer any of your questions and discuss your ideas, we’re looking forward to hearing from you.

E: makeithappen@mbsmih.com T: 01903 688789.