To ensure you are truly building your brand, and doing your business justice, it’s necessary to identify and explore common misconceptions. It will keep you on the right path, which can help your business thrive in today’s highly competitive market.

Understanding the Terms

Branding, brand awareness, brand-building, and brand recognition are different concepts. They are all parts of the same process that involve creating and strengthening a brand, but they refer to separate actions.

You must understand the difference between each one, because it’s a common misconception that they all mean the same thing:

• Branding: A collection of processes, forming a system, to give your business its own identity, unique from competitors and other businesses.
• Brand-building: The act of building a brand, which can include several tasks or measures, like choosing themes, writing mission statements, and more.
• Brand awareness: Measuring, improving, or understanding the visual profile and performance of your business (brand). The goal is to associate emotions, impressions, and more.
• Brand recognition: The ability or likelihood of the public identifying your brand based on major themes, attributes, and quirks.

With that out of the way, we can take a look at some of the more common misconceptions about creating great brand awareness.

Myth: Building Brand Awareness Is Advertising

As a general rule, advertising is more about encouraging customers to buy a product or subscribe to a service. The outcomes are much more specific and measurable.

Marketing and branding, however, are more about fostering relationships with an audience, who also happen to be potential customers. Brand awareness, in particular, involves connecting experiences, emotions, and other traits with the business through smart marketing campaigns. Advertising can help achieve this, but other than that, it has almost nothing to do with brand awareness.

Myth: It’s All About Aesthetics

When rebranding, misaligned professionals tend to overemphasize visual elements like logos, colors, themes, and font styles. These things do play an important role, helping to strengthen a brand’s visual representation and recognition, but they are not the only part of branding.

A brand encompasses all aspects of a business, from the visual style and representation to the products and experiences delivered. Customer service, mission statements, goals, and unique presentations are all included.

Adjusting how customers interact with or experience aspects of your business is an excellent way to evolve your brand. One example might include placing smart displays strategically throughout a store, to better engage shoppers and capture their interests. It reimagines and restructures the way they interact with a brick-and-mortar location, and evokes various emotions and feelings to make a more memorable visit.

Stop and think about how customers see your brand. That’s the best way to approach the process, whether starting new or repositioning an existing business.

Myth: Brand Awareness Won’t Improve Sales

Perceived value has everything to do with how successful a product or service is. Investopedia defines it as the customers’ evaluation of the merits of a product or service. Can it meet their expectations? Will it solve their problem or improve convenience? How does it compare to the competition and other products on the market?

The higher the perceived value, the higher the demand, and naturally, the greater the sales. It’s also entirely possible for something with a low margin to be considered expensive, thanks to perceived value.

Why does this matter?

Brand awareness directly relates to the perceived value of products and services a company is offering. So the opposite of the myth is true, here. Excellent brand awareness does contribute to higher and better sales. It can also determine whether customers support your business or not.

Myth: Brand Awareness Is Too Much of a Challenge for New Businesses

If brand awareness includes the sentiment surrounding a business and its products, then wouldn’t it be nearly impossible for new businesses to capitalize on? Wouldn’t it be too expensive and too difficult?

The answer is no. In fact, many branding techniques don’t cost money to implement, just time. For instance, did you know that 73% of customers prefer brands with friendly customer service?

Improving your customer service and customer experiences not only defines your brand but also leads to higher recognition and more positive sentiment — and repeat business. It is entirely possible to focus on the aspects of branding that will impact your business most, especially when you’re just starting.

You don’t have to dump inordinate amounts of money into branding or rebranding your business, if you play it smart.

Myth: Branding Is a One-and-Done Event

Branding, and building your brand, isn’t something you do in one long stretch. It’s a continuous movement that evolves throughout the scope of your company’s lifetime. You and your marketing team must continue to shape the narrative, through regular updates, visual changes, product improvements, and much more.

Everything your brand is associated with makes a difference, from your social marketing campaign to the philanthropic impact your company has on the local community.

The More You Know

When it comes to marketing, branding, advertising, and customer support, the more you know and understand, the better your business will be.

Striving for growth, and always looking to improve and build on what you’ve achieved, goes a long way towards earning you and your venture success. It will also earn you a lot of respect from your customers.

The next time you consider branding or rebranding your business, keep these misconceptions in mind and try to avoid falling into their trap.

This post was written by Eleanor Hecks for the Marketing Fundamentals Team. Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation, email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Tuesdays and Fridays.

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Statista predicts the global trade show market will reach $40 billion by 2023. At the moment, many planned events are virtual connections. While there are advantages to a digital gathering, there are also limitations. It’s hard to make a connection with someone you don’t know when you aren’t face to face.

If your business utilizes conferences to increase brand awareness, start planning now for a return to in-person events. Things will return to old patterns, but expect to see some changes in trade show marketing as well.

How COVID-19 Changed the Trade Show Industry

In early 2020, companies canceled significant exhibitions like Google I/O and Mobile World Congress, leading the way for smaller events to follow suit. Some people expect a vaccinated world will return to what it was in 2019.

However, people have adapted to living a different lifestyle in the last year. They see the cost savings and convenience of Zoom calls and online meetings. Companies may be reluctant to pay for trade show space, travel for employees to man a booth, and many other factors involved in a physical show.

While the traditional convention won’t completely go away, expect to see concessions for those who prefer online conferences. Some of the things you should consider about tradeshow marketing in 2022 include:

1. Focus on the Experience

People will be much choosier about how they spend their time. One thing the pandemic taught us was that time is precious. More people are focusing on family and friends than ever before. They won’t want to waste their time visiting a booth that doesn’t 100% meet their needs.

Customer experience (CX) becomes even more vital to a successful presence. Look for ways to create a sleek, eye-catching space. Make sure you match up vinyl pieces 100% of the time with matched pole magnets. You’ll also save time on setup — even your workers won’t want to waste precious moments.

Pay attention to everything from your headlines to the freebies you give away. Every element of your booth must engage the user and create a stellar CX.

2. Attend More Shows

People are much more aware of large crowds and social distancing. While the world works to get the virus’s emerging strains under control, expect events to remain small. Registration and booth space may be limited.

You might need to attend two shows with fewer attendees to reach the same number of people you could in the past. Save money by planning events back-to-back in nearby cities. Cut down on travel and expenses by combining flights and efforts.

3. Roll With the Times

Be prepared for massive changes when you do return to tradeshows. The American Hotel and Lodging Association’s state of the industry report predicts as many as 500,000 fewer jobs throughout 2022.

People may be frightened and reluctant to return to in-person events. How deep the impact goes depends on how quickly the world distributes the vaccines and how many people get the vaccine.

Know when cancellations can occur. Be prepared to pull out of some trade shows if registrations are low.

4. Seek Out Hybrid Events

Many experts predict hybrid events will be the wave of the future. They can draw more attendees than in-person events. People who otherwise would never go to a particular conference will jump on virtual options and participate.

If your goal with tradeshow marketing is to reach as many people as possible, a hybrid event allows you to stretch your influence to anywhere in the world.

5. Participate in Social Media Marketing

The Digital 2021: Global Overview Report shows a 13% increase in social media users in the past 12 months. At the beginning of January 2021, there were 4.2 billion people active on various platforms. The number will only grow in the coming year.

If you aren’t promoting your presence at trade shows on social, you need to figure out an omnichannel approach. How can you get conference attendees to visit your social media pages? How can you drive your social media followers to information about your booth?

6. Look for Value

Some trade shows attempted to go virtual, but exhibitors saw few advantages to participating. They still paid a fee and had the work of setting up a virtual exhibit. However, they didn’t get the same traction as an in-person event.

If you plan to participate in hybrid trade show marketing, look for ones offering unique opportunities. Perhaps you can send printed materials to registrants matching your target audience profile.

If your tradeshow of choice does not offer the options you need, prepare to find new events. Some groups have met online for longer than others. They’ve perfected online promotions and know how to meet the needs of both attendees and exhibitors.

7. Be Flexible

If 2020 taught marketers anything, it was to be open to new possibilities. As things open back up and trade shows resume, expect the world to look a little different than it did in 2019. Attendees may still wear masks, making communication more difficult. Passing out samples and goods will require separate packaging and attention to detail.

Go into your next event prepared for strict guidelines. At the same time, people still want an emotional connection. They want you to engage them and offer an experience. Look for ways to reach out even in a world where you have to remain at a distance.

This post was written by Eleanor Hecks for the Marketing Fundamentals Team. Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. She was the creative director at a digital marketing agency before becoming a full-time freelance designer. Eleanor lives in Philly with her husband and pup, Bear.

Image credit – Christie’s Photographic Solutions

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation, email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Tuesdays and Fridays.

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Marketing Fundamentals Team

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This is blog post number 598

Image credit:  Christie’s Photographic Solutions

The post What Trade Show Marketing Will Look Like in 2022 appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

As business owners, we are living in uncertain times, many of the business people I have spoken to are apprehensive about the future. In the United Kingdom, the reality of Brexit and all it entails means that business owners, senior management in larger companies and advisory boards of all descriptions are very risk averse. Business uncertainty is not confined to the UK of course, in Germany a recession seems imminent. There area also signs that despite the recent trade truce between the United States and China, both economies are set to become embroiled in a global slowdown within the next two years.

 Business is Risky

The natural human reaction to this uncertainty is to play it safe and be cautious, this approach seems reasonable but can you win with a ‘play it safe’ approach? Just being in business is taking a risk but so is the so called safer option of entrusting your livelihood to a single company as an employee.  In recent times, many household names in the retail sector have gone into administration including Blockbuster, Toys R US, Maplin and Thomas Cook. There are plenty more examples here. 

Bravery in Business

Playing it safe is famously what the directors of Blockbuster did when they turned down the chance  to buy Netflix for a reputed $50 million dollars. It is currently valued at $145 billion and Blockbuster is no more.

It is my recommendation that you are brave and take calculated risks for your business to give it a chance to thrive rather than merely survive. My opinion has not changed in the seven years since I wrote this article, Is your fear of risk taking holding you back? 5 big risk takers to inspire you   

Instead of passively hoping that your business survives a recession, create a proactive strategy that embraces risk and gives your company the chance to thrive in a recession. Be positive and be enthusiastic.

There are always companies that surface on the other side of recession in a better place than when they went into it. What will it take for your company to be one of those? That is what you should do.

If you need any help from a Content Marketing and Social Media perspective, please email me via mike@marketingfundamentals.com  to start the conversation.

Are you ready to embrace risk for your business? Let me know in the comments section below.

If you’ve liked this post you will also like the following posts:

How to Increase LinkedIn Company Page Followers

Why I Stopped Using LinkedIn Sales Navigator

How I Follow Up With LinkedIn Searchers

LinkedIn: How to Approach Leads the Right Way

LinkedIn Storytelling: How to Tell Stories on LinkedIn

My Most Viewed Post on LinkedIn

LinkedIn: Company Page Followers No Longer Viewable

Professional Services: How Do You Build Trust in Your Company ? 5 ways

LinkedIn: Advice For B2B Businesses – Playlist

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

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This is blog post number 534

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The post Risk in Business : Are you Brave Enough? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

This post may contain affiliate links please read our disclosure for more info.

This video is called, LinkedIn LIONs: Should you be One ? By Mike Pitt. If you want to subscribe to our YouTube channel, you can . Mike Pitt is the Founder of Marketing Fundamentals Ltd, a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London.

In this video, Mike Pitt discusses, LinkedIn LIONs: Should you be One ?

This video will be of interest to business owners, B2B marketing managers, Content Marketing professionals, Social Media Managers and others who use Social Media to promote their businesses.

LinkedIn LIONs

LinkedIn L.I.O.N.S are Linked In Open Networkers; these are a group of LinkedIn users who are willing to connect with almost anyone on the platform.  The management team at LinkedIn prefer you to only connect with people you already know. However, this can prove to be very restrictive for those trying to build their network. L.I.O.N.S  take a different approach. Should you become one? Watch the video  to hear my thoughts.

LinkedIn Reach and Engagement

If your objective is to increase your audience on LinkedIn, there are some other methods to consider that I discuss in this post, LinkedIn: 6 Ways to Increase Your Reach.

When you have watched the video, I’d be happy to hear your views.

Have you joined a LIONs group? Let me know in the comments section below. If this is the first time you have heard of it, let me know that in the comments section.

If you’ve liked this post you will also like the following posts:

Quora For Business – Course Updated

How to Increase LinkedIn Company Page Followers

How I Follow Up With LinkedIn Searchers

LinkedIn: How to Approach Leads the Right Way

LinkedIn Storytelling: How to Tell Stories on LinkedIn

My Most Viewed Post on LinkedIn

LinkedIn: Company Page Followers No Longer Viewable

Professional Services: How Do You Build Trust in Your Company ? 5 ways

LinkedIn: Advice For B2B Businesses – Playlist

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

Follow Mike on Twitter 

Subscribe to

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow Mike on Pinterest

Web Hosting Special Offer

This is video number 274 and blog post number 515.

Lion image credit – https://senecaparkzoo.org/animal-page…

The post LinkedIn LIONs: Should you be One ? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

This video is called, How to Use Telegram For New Business By Mike Pitt. If you want to subscribe to our YouTube channel, you can . Mike Pitt is the Founder of Marketing Fundamentals Ltd, a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London.

This post may contain affiliate links please read our disclosure for more info.

In this video, Mike Pitt discusses, How to Use Telegram For New Business.

This video will be of interest to business owners, B2B marketing managers, Content Marketing professionals, Social Media Managers and others who use Social Media and Apps to promote their businesses.

Telegram For New Business

Telegram is an instant messaging service, it’s biggest competitor is WhatsApp. You are probably very aware of  of WhatsApp, WhatsApp has 1.5 billion monthly active users. In contrast, Telegram has only 200 million monthly active users; despite this lower user base, Telegram has a few advantages over WhatsApp. In this video,  I explain what some of these advantages are and how to use Telegram For New Business.

Lead Generation

Telegram appeals to a certain segment of business customers, In my own personal experience, Telegram has proven popular with cryptocurrency and tech communities.  B2B Lead generation efforts can prove particularly effective when you are amongst the first to utilise a non-mainstream platform. This is the opportunity presented by Telegram, I explore this opportunity more in the video.

Do you use Telegram? Have you tried to find new business opportunities there? Let me know in the comments section below. If this is the first time you have heard of it, let me know that in the comments section.

If you’ve liked this post you will also like the following posts:

Quora For Business – Course Updated

How to Increase LinkedIn Company Page Followers

How I Follow Up With LinkedIn Searchers

LinkedIn: How to Approach Leads the Right Way

LinkedIn Storytelling: How to Tell Stories on LinkedIn

My Most Viewed Post on LinkedIn

LinkedIn: Company Page Followers No Longer Viewable

Professional Services: How Do You Build Trust in Your Company ? 5 ways

LinkedIn: Advice For B2B Businesses – Playlist

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

Follow Mike on Twitter 

Subscribe to

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow Mike on Pinterest

Web Hosting Special Offer

This is video number 272 and blog post number 513.

The post How to Use Telegram For New Business – Part 1 appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

For B2B services businesses, one of the key benefits of Content Marketing is the ability to reach international markets. In this digital age, it is possible to create Content without borders that can resonate with potential customers overseas. Potential customers need to be able to understand your language of course.

What is content without borders? I would define content without borders as content that address themes and challenges that are relevant for an international audience, as well as your domestic market.

For Marketing Fundamentals Ltd, this means that we are happy to work internationally with companies and organisations in the English speaking world. Since 2010, we have worked with over 100 companies around the world as clients and advertising partners.

It would not be possible for us to speculatively travel to other English speaking countries in the hope of meeting new prospects and receiving new enquiries. Fortunately, we don’t have to.

Our content acts as a catalyst for international trade and we receive enquiries and project briefs from abroad.

Content Without Borders

Are you consciously creating content without borders for your business? Your Google Analytics report will show you where visitors to your company website are located.

For those of you with a YouTube channel, YouTube also provides similar data.

There may be some limitations related to your area of expertise. For example, differences in legislation and required knowledge mean that it would not be possible for a law firm based in London, United Kingdom to work directly with clients in New York.

To do so, they would need a local office and locally trained staff but in other industries there are no such barriers. Are you taking advantage of the international opportunities in your niche?

We are happy to receive enquiries from international countries; send us your Content Marketing and Social Media project requirements and we will set up a time to discuss.

We look forward to helping you achieve your objectives.

Do you have a Content Marketing or Social Media project that we can help you with? Use this  email address to send us details.

It has taken us a while to find the right email partner but we believe that Constant Contact has the flexibility to meet our email needs and yours too.

If you’ve liked this post you will also like the following posts:

How to Increase LinkedIn Company Page Followers

Why Your Business Needs Email 

How I Follow Up With LinkedIn Searchers

Google+ is Dead (You Must do This!)

LinkedIn: How to Approach Leads the Right Way

LinkedIn Storytelling: How to Tell Stories on LinkedIn

My Most Viewed Post on LinkedIn

LinkedIn: Company Page Followers No Longer Viewable

Professional Services: How Do You Fill Your Sales Funnel?

Professional Services: How Do You Build Trust in Your Company ? 5 ways

LinkedIn: Advice For B2B Businesses – Playlist

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

Follow Mike on Twitter 

Subscribe to

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow Mike on Pinterest

Web Hosting Special Offer

This is blog post number 493.

Image credit: https://freebcomnotes.blogspot.com/

The post Content Without Borders: Do you Have an International Audience? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Image Credit: Audible.com

This post may contain affiliate links please read our disclosure for more info.

Listen to my audiobook for free here

This video is called, How to Listen to my Audiobook For Free By Mike Pitt.   . Mike Pitt is the Founder of Marketing Fundamentals Ltd, which is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London.

In this video, Mike Pitt explains how to listen to his audiobook for free. The title of his audiobook is How to TurboCharge Your Business With a Blog.

This video will be of interest to business owners, B2B marketing managers, Content Marketing professionals, Social Media Managers and others who use Content Marketing and Social Media to promote their B2B business. It will also be interesting to anyone who already listens to audiobooks. Thanks for watching and reading.

Listen to my Audiobook For Free

In 2012, I wrote a book entitled, How to TurboCharge Your Business With a Blog. Those of you who are subscribers of the channel, followers of my Twitter account or regular visitors to this website will already know this information. For those of you who are new, in 2015 I also released an audiobook . The audiobook is here, if you sign up for a free trial with Audible you can listen to my audiobook for free. There will be absolutely no charge. I am just scrolling down the Amazon page now, I have 32 reviews and I am just looking at the Amazon Bestseller Ranking and I am currently No 1 in ‘Marketing and Sales’ and No.2 in ‘Small Business and Entrepreneurship’ and number 76 in Advertising. So you can listen to this audiobook. I worked with an American radio presenter and narrator called Jerry Zimmerman and he has a very interesting voice. He brings the storytelling within the book and the lessons learned to live. You can appreciate his voice when you listen to my audiobook and as I said earlier, it’s currently free with an Audible trial.

Thank You

If you wanted to cancel your trial within the 30 days,  you could do that and you would not be charged. This is a way of me offering additional value and a thank you to those people who have subscribed to me on the YouTube channel, who follow me on Twitter and who post comments on the blog posts on this site. In fact, this is for everybody within the community. I know a lot of people cannot find time to read books so this is a solution that is easy to consume on your morning commute or when you are completing errands in your local vicinity.  I hope that you take action, listen to my audiobook and give me your feedback.

If you’ve liked this post you will also like the following posts:

Should Your Book Also be an Audiobook?

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LinkedIn: How to Approach Leads the Right Way

Professional Services: How Do You Build Trust in Your Company ? 5 ways

LinkedIn: Advice For B2B Businesses – Playlist

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

Follow Mike on Twitter 

Subscribe to

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow Mike on Pinterest

Web Hosting Special Offer

This is video number 246 and blog post number 479.

The post How to Listen to my Audiobook For Free appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Image credit: https://www.nepallegalservice.com

Last month we started working with a new company. When I say new, I mean brand new. The founder was completing his ‘gardening leave’ from his previous role when we initially met last year and his new company website was yet to be found by Google’s search spiders. In no uncertain terms, we were going to have to start from zero. The founder had a lot of senior business experience but this was to be the first time he would run his own company.

In Business to Business circles, a lot of value is placed on a company’s reputation; contributory factors to the building of this reputation are the experience of key personnel, longevity of the business and the communications material that are produced by the company.

Can a New Company Benefit From Content Marketing?

Last month we started to implement our agreed strategy for the founder and the results were almost immediate. Please note, Content Marketing takes time to work. I have articulated my thoughts on how long you should allow in this article, How Long Does Content Marketing Take to Work? 

After starting from zero we are steadily building up relevant traffic to his website and generating leads and enquiries. Our client has been pleasantly surprised by the progress we have made so far. Please note that we have not used any paid media channels; no promoted tweets, no LinkedIn advertising, no Facebook ads – just unique content and Social Media distribution.

So, the answer to the question posed in the blog title is yes. Even brand new small companies, often with less than 5 employees, can benefit from Content Marketing if it is well executed. Would you like our help in creating and implementing a successful Content Marketing strategy for your business? Email us or call us to set up the first meeting, the details are below.

 B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best regards,

Mike Pitt

Founder, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

Subscribe to

Follow us on LinkedIn

Online courses:

How to TurboCharge Your Business with a Blog
Meet Edgar Social Media Management
TurboCharge Your Twitter Presence
Quora For Business

Follow Mike on Twitter

This is blog post post number 446.

The post Can a New Company Benefit from Content Marketing? appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Hello everyone. Growing a robust business is not easy. There are no guarantees or magic formulas but there are actions that you can take that will make your success more likely. How do you get your business into the fast lane? Everyone wants their business to be in the fast lane to success but usually they are not putting the work in to achieve that. Below are 6 ways to get you there.

 6 ways to grow your business faster

1. Content
Ensure that you have good web hosting from the outset. Be a content creator. Creating original blog content drives traffic to your website and generates leads and customers. Not surely precisely how to do this? Click here . Ensure that content is SEO optimised. This will ensure that you are more ‘findable’ by search engines and will increase organic traffic to your site.

2. Webinars & Podcasts
Give your community real chances to connect with you – using webinars and hosting a podcast are both excellent ways of doing this. One of our favourite quotes is the following from Mark Twain, “People do business with those they know, like and trust.”. It is very true – allow your audience the opportunity to build up trust in you.

3. Build a Great Team
You will not get your business in the fast lane all by yourself. Recognise where you need help and recruit based on character and build the level of expertise in the team. Do not hire clones of yourself with the same skill set.

4. Stage Wonderful Events
We are sure that you have attended one of those routine conferences that completely lacks enthusiasm and energy. You should take the opportunity to stage and appear at events and ensure that your event or your presence at a event gets people talking for the right reasons. This area represents such a great opportunity to make an impact because so many people are currently getting it wrong.

5. Email Strategy
Social Media did not kill off email. It should be working in conjunction with email. For many businesses the fast lane to larger revenues is an effective email strategy. Monthly newsletters will not suffice. Build the relationship with your audience by emailing once a week if appropriate. Construct email auto responder sequences  for people who join your mailing list. If this is difficult for your existing team to manage – bring in experts to execute this for you. It is very important.

6. Video
Video is extremely effective when well executed and from a SEO point of view it is easier to get a video onto Google’s first page of search results than with text only. There are a number of easily accessible options available including YouTube, Instagram and Vine. It is time for you to start using video effectively.

Great execution is key with all of these approaches. In our travels and conversations we have found that lots of people seem to know the right strategy but fail to execute. If that is you – it’s time for you to make that change now. You will also need money.

If you like this post, you will also like,  Simple way to find out who unfollows on Instagram.

We hope this information has been useful to you. If you’d like to talk to us about getting your business into the fast lane give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

Note – The car featured in the foreground is a Lamborghini Reventón – Photo credit – Mike Pitt, Marketing Fundamentals Ltd

The post How do you get Your Business into the Fast Lane? 6 Ways appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.

Vine vs Instagram

1. Longevity

Whilst this is admittedly a minor issue as far as Internet technology is concerned and is less important than user numbers, it does have some relevance to potential advertisers. Vine, launched on January 24th 2013 has the edge here. Although Instagram has been around since October 2010, it has only been possible to post videos on the platform since June 20th 2013. This means that Vine users are more familiar with the format and may therefore be more receptive to short creative marketing videos.

2. User numbers

Instagram is the clear winner in this category, with over 150 million active users although most of these users were acquired before video was introduced and owe more to its origins as a photo sharing platform. Vine has 40 million users.

3. Activity

Things begin to look a little worse for Vine in this category. Whilst you would naturally expect more active users to translate into more activity, it is not a linear function as far as tweets are concerned. Instagram has a 6 to 1 lead over Vine in terms of tweets, compared to a user number ratio of roughly 3.75. However, these figures do not tell the whole story as outlined in the next section.

4. Functionality

Vine videos are more visible in the Twitter community owing to the fact that they are previewed in the iPhone and Android Twitter apps. This means that all users need to do to view the content is to tap on the Vine video preview in Twitter. Whilst Instagram content can be tweeted, the lack of a visual preview means that it has less immediate impact.

5. Format

Vine videos are limited to 6 seconds whereas Instagram ones can be up to 15 seconds in length. There is no clear winner in this category but the different lengths mean that one platform may be more suitable than the other for different marketing techniques. If, for example, you wish to create a more conventional advertisement for distribution online, Instagram’s longer format will probably be the best choice. On the other hand, the 6-second format that Vine employs has encouraged advertisers to be more creative and there are many excellent examples of how it can be used to great effect.

6. Making a choice

Now you know a little more about what each platform has to offer, you should be in a better position to make an informed decision when planning new online video marketing campaigns. It is important to remember that whichever platform you choose, you need to have a team in place to answer the consumer enquiries that your promotional clip generates.

The following summary may be of some help if you need a quick reference when making a final decision.

Winners

• Longevity – Vine
• User numbers – Instagram
• Activity – Instagram
• Functionality – Vine
• Format – a draw

Whilst I have attempted to remain objective throughout this review, please bear in mind that personal preferences always influence one’s opinions and your experiences with these platforms are unlikely to be identical to mine. In closing, I firmly believe that both are useful weapons to keep in your marketing arsenal.

This guest post was written by Juliet Martin who is an Instagram user by preference. She also writes on behalf of Regus, a global provider of flexible office spaces and business solutions.

Do you want to incorporate Vine or Instagram into your Content Marketing strategy? Give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com to start the conversation.

We hope you have found this information useful. You may also like this, Is it time to Vine?  and Which Brands are Winning on Vine? – 5 Brands that ‘Do it For The Vine’

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

The post Vine versus Instagram Video – Which should you use and why? Guest post appeared first on Marketing Fundamentals.