Communication

One of the most vital aspects of leadership is communication. The great business leaders ensure effective and coherent communication with their team. Fluid communications not only demonstrate a strong role model for your team members but allow for better collaboration and a safe environment.

As the leader within a company, you are in the spotlight for your team – a positive and inclusive attitude speaks volumes and is one of the best qualities you can hone regardless of your role. This not only accounts for what you say, but also involves your body language, tone of voice, and acting vigilantly and calm in the current climate. This reassures others that the company is in good hands and is going in the right direction, and, this type of good, confident environment is transferable to productivity and employee engagement across the company.

Resilience

The pandemic has meant that companies have had to adapt to unprecedented changes and do so quickly. By challenging your mindset to be more forward-thinking and resilient in light of new stresses can be very constructive. Some main areas you can ask yourself around this are what does the future look like’, how will it affect me and my team, and what do I need to do to be prepared for that and create a positive outcome. Furthermore, by being resilient, you need to be able to accept there will be setbacks, and be able to move forward despite them.

Remaining focused on the core area of your business is also important, despite there being other potential areas of revenue and growth from other opportunities that have arisen, it’s important to continue to offer the same level of service to your existing market that is expected and valued. This is because although something is successful short-term does not mean it will prove sustainable as the main area of your business long-term and again, being ethical around your delivery is vital to sustainability.

Mentor staff

Giving staff the liberty to make their own decisions and more autonomy in day-to-day tasks is another option to explore, opting to mentor staff rather than directing them can be advantageous and creates an environment of inclusivity and ownership which will only ever aid in business productivity and growth.

Instead of your staff asking what they should do, you can give them the control to choose themselves over how they perform day-to-day tasks – we have used this methodology over the years and personally find it not only enables staff to take accountability but works towards their own CPD and gives them the passion and dedication to explore their own ways of working ore efficiently, which creates a stronger value and outcome for our clients.

The last year has been challenging no doubt for a range of businesses, but as we pass the first quarter of 2021, we’ve noticed a recent change of attitude in businesses looking to grow and move forward. Over the past few months we’ve had an influx of new enquiries of businesses looking to push through challenges and grow their businesses despite the uncertainty of the future with COVID.

If you are looking for a marketing agency that values your business, provides great insight and leadership internally and to our clients with an ethical reputation for quality – and need support across areas such as Content Marketing, PR & Media Relations, Social Media – give us a call and see if our ethos and customer-centric approach aligns with yours, and how we can help you save money and become more efficient across your marketing!

T: 01246 586330
E: marketing@brighterdirections.co.uk

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For those of you that invest in any kind of advertising across social platforms, listen up…

Your new ad center is where you can edit or view the results from any of your ads.  The concept behind the change means that it makes managing all your current and previous ads easier and you can see what is other options there are to make changes and improvements to them.

Within the ad centre tab you will find 4 options –  

• Overview which is where you will see a summary of your recent ad performance, it is also where recommendations are to boost any of your posts that are doing well. 
• All Ads – You will see here all the ads that you have created from your page. You can choose certain ads to look more in detail at, or change things such as your budget etc. Once you have chosen a specific ad you can pause it or if needed delete it.  
• Audiences – Any audience that you have created for your ads is in here. If you chose a specific audience you can see which ads have reached them people and also make any changes needed like age range, locations etc 
• Automation – This is only available if you have created any automated ads. If you have this is where you will find a full list of them as well as a summary of the results. 

The ad centre only works for any ad that you create directly through your page, it will not work on any that you create using the ad manager, so there’s still some troubleshooting to do.

From now on if you chose to use ad manager you will be given the option to change to use the new ad centre as a standard process – so those of you investing in Facebook advertising for the first time will have a much more coherent experience and possibly, better return from your ad spend.

Is the ad centre going to phase out ad manager?

If you are considering utilising Facebook social advertising for your business, we’d love to chat. Contact us via the website for a free consultation.

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Add a Festive Flair to your Branding

By adding Christmas-themed elements into your logo or social media profile photos, this can help keep your brand fresh and updated. However, insure the changes do not negatively impact your brand. The cost of these small adjustments can be justified by the fact these images can be reused each year. Also, feel free to alter any promotional offers or other social media imagery to have a more festive theme.

Holiday themed content

There is no shortage of light topics to write about over Christmas, this can be across your website, social Medias and in your email marketing campaigns. The general rule for content marketing is that only 20% of your content should promote your brand whereas the other 80% should be adding value to your customers lives. There is more leeway in this over the Christmas month, your regular postings can still be valuable however they can have more seasonal appeal. For example, a restaurant could share their chefs favourite holiday dish or a beauty salon could provide discounts for festive treatments.

One way you can share content without being overly promotional is through short, helpful videos. You can also use email marketing to share Christmas-specific offers and information, this could even be styled in an advent calendar format. Whatever form of content you decide to use, just make sure the festive themes aren’t too overwhelming and are nicely balanced between promotional and valuable.

Targeting the right audience

Although your advertising budget should be spent mainly on Christmas-themed ads, these should not replace your regular advertising. The best way to control this is by allocating a specific budget to your Christmas advertising for an assigned period. Planning your Christmas advertisements should be in unison will your regular ads, so when the festivities stop, your regular ad scheduling continues. By having both regular and festive advertising happening at the same time, you can target specific keywords and adjust your audience so everyone sees the ad that is most relevant to them.

Gifts

Whether you provide products or a service, you can always talk about gifting in the festive period. It could be a list of gift ideas, the selling of gift cards or promoting your own gift sets, any can be done online or in-store. If you know your audience then make sure your gifting is tailored towards them however if your looking to expand your consumer base, then your gifting should cover a broad range of interests and ages.  

Holiday decor

Finally, you don’t want to neglect creating the right atmosphere for this time of year. While our first point was adding the festive flare into your branding, don’t forget to add it into your business as a whole. This can be done by decorating in-store, presenting festive refreshments to customers or simply offering a gift-wrapping service online. However, it depends on your budget and what would be appropriate to your target audience.

Most of these points can be adapted for different business types and can work on many different marketing channels. There are so many marketing opportunities out there now but it’s all about what is suited to your brand and its customers. If you’re looking for marketing help over the festive period, then please let us know here at Brighter Directions. We offer outsourced services covering PR, Social Media, Content and more. Call our office today on 01246 586 330 to discuss your requirements.

The post Christmas Marketing Ideas appeared first on Brighter Directions.

Taking action on the information you find is what sets social listening apart from social media monitoring which is all about collecting data, allowing you to look back at what has already happened.  Social listening goes beyond numbers and looks at the mood that your social media posts create and how people feel about your brand and your competitors.

The online mood your company creates is also known as social media sentiment; keeping track of this is an important part of social listening. Social listening allows you to recognise a change in sentiment; you can track in real-time positive or negative responses and react accordingly. Interaction with consumers is great when it ends in positive sentiment however when something goes wrong, social listening can help stop PR disasters escalating by recognising the consumer reaction as soon as it happens.

Your customers share information about what they do and don’t like about your brand each and every day, social listening can help you understand this information and utilise it. Not only will people be speaking about your brand, but they’ll also be speaking about your competitors too. You can analyse the market through the eyes of your customers and help seek out opportunities and threats in the industry. Getting to know how people feel about your brand can help you know what is going right with your marketing and product development strategies.

If you care about your customers and their insights then you should be using social listening as a tool in your marketing strategy. If you feel you aren’t getting enough interaction in general, social listening can help you alter your strategy to gain an increase in your interaction numbers.

If you are looking to implement social listening into your marketing strategy but unsure where to start, Brighter Directions is here to help, call our team today to see how we can help on 01246 586330!

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5th September is the selected date as it commemorates the anniversary of the passing away of Mother Teresa who worked tirelessly to overcome poverty, distress and suffering of the poorest in the world.

International Day of Charity serves to enhance and increase social responsibility amongst us all, solidarity and to increase the public’s support for charitable causes. This day is a great opportunity to raise awareness and provide a platform for charity events to take place on a global scale, as well as create influence on how ‘anyone’ can do a little bit…

Everyone knows that community and great causes are very close to our heart at Brighter Directions, and always has been.

We try and ‘dot our bit’ as much as possible to help support charities and causes, whether it’s a pro-bono project or ongoing assistance at cost. Admittedly, they are not huge things, but it is a small way that we can put commerciality aside and use our skills for the greater good of others. It’s not a business decision, it’s a personal one, but one that we are very proud of and committed to continue.

Our team are equally as committed to this ethos as the business – we all ‘donate’ our time and care to support a local cause that helps people into work, through mentoring, guidance and work experience programs – as well as our ‘fun’ annual charity fundraising event.

#dosomethinggood #giveback #feelgood #inspireothers

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It is said to be the fastest-growing language in the UK – with more than 2,800 symbols available to use ranging from the traditional through to more exciting icons such as buildings, animals and scenery.

However, despite the huge influence of emojis, in business, we need to be acutely conscious of the decisions we make in our marketing and communication efforts, and this case is no different.

There are many of the fun emojis that actually hold very different meanings in different countries and cultures, that companies should be aware of.

This article created today by SKY shows some of these examples, you can read more here.

Unsure about your social marketing strategy? Give us a call…

The post World Emoji Day 2019 – Using for the good of the business appeared first on Brighter Directions.

In marketing, it can be all too easy to discuss and discard some of the ‘softer’ marketing tactics as ‘intangible’. However, in my experience of marketing for the last twenty years, everything is measurable, if you find the right tracker and goal metric!

A superb recent example of the importance of both points (audit and continued impact review) is with one of our clients, a tech company who was spending a significant amount of budget on Google Adwords each month.

After recently taking over their marketing division entirely, we completed a full audit of all their marketing output, including the SEO campaigns. This technical review looked over the previous 12 months campaigns, results, impact and goal conversions as well as comparing campaigns alongside other direct marketing activities and found that some of the campaigns were, in fact, engaging a less profitable audience segment. This ‘update’ reduced the marketing spend from £20k per month to £11k per month.

The success was that the impact (stats/ conversions) did not go down, despite this reduction in spend! In fact the impact increased by +30%– utilising a small segment of the budget on other, more targeted, direct content marketing activities, including social media.

After two weeks, we audited the campaigns again, and assessed against previous campaigns run, but not continued, as well as the intermediate analysis from live campaigns – as a result, we reduced the spend a further 25%, saving a further £3.5k per month!

All in all – this activity saved the company a significant amount of ‘unnecessary’ budget and directed to other, more profitable and impactful marketing activities with some sound intelligence and direction.

One of our true values is the ethos, passion, and dedication we have to our clients – we work on your marketing tactics (and budget management) like it was our own… as true partners and part of your company team.

If you are looking for support across areas such as Content Marketing, PR & Media Relations, Social Media, or generally to assess your Marketing Strategy – give us a call and see if our ethos and customer-centric approach aligns with yours, and how we can help you save money and become more efficient across your marketing!

T: 01246 586330

E: marketing@brighterdirections.co.uk

The post Why measurement & review is vital in marketing appeared first on Brighter Directions.

The concept of CSR also fits well with the concept of ethical marketing, ethical marketing is a philosophy where companies put client benefits in front of, and equal to profit – brands that are ethical tend to care more about creating a strong relationship with their audience through a set of shared values. A standpoint we at Brighter Directions, are extremely passionate about.

Examples of good CSR objectives would be positive initiatives like activism towards political, social and environmental issues. For instance, environmental awareness and our effect on climate change is a big topic in society recently therefore a lot of brands are cutting down the amount of plastic waste their product contains but can also be much softer, such as the way your company values and nurtures clients, has a client-centric approach, or simply offers increased value against your offering.

If you are becoming more conscious of your CSR efforts, you need to consider this is a philosophy which is deeply embedded in your brand along with being an element of your long-term marketing strategy. The continuation of educating and campaigning for these social issues alongside focussing on people over profit will be a wise investment for your brand.

Social Media is a great way to express your ethical morals as a company, every click is another person informed. It can raise your interaction whilst also educating your audience and employees on social responsibility.

If you are looking for help with CSR objectives and implementing ethical marketing into your strategy then (we think) you need a marketing agency that understands that and has a synergy connection with these values – so, if that sounds like you, we’d love to hear from you!

Brighter Directions offer expert, value led outsourced services covering PR (Public Relations), Social Media campaign management and guidance, as well as a host of content related marketing solutions for organisations globally. Call our office today on 01246 586 330 to discuss your requirements.

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There’s little doubt that we need to create cultural and social norms that give women the connections and context they need to succeed in all commercial environments. There are still not enough women in leadership roles (nowhere near enough) however, by networking and conversing with likeminded and driven women, to gain/share advice and learn to avoid the mistakes they made. Networking is a beneficial skill. It improves your ability to not only learn from others experiences but to also discover new passion and spark from fellow professionals.

It’s proven that women are some of the most motivational and positive communicators and influencers. A fact we have appreciated first-hand through the many campaigns we’ve been a part of, such as Women In Sales Awards, Enterprising Women and Women In Business celebrations and the tremendous talent showed year on year emerging from businesses, yet, these are still a minority.

Influence is power and power can be gained through asking questions and participation in senior situations. Research shows that men are the loudest in the business meetings, men ask the most questions and men are confident with their communication. In comparison, findings show that women, regardless if more qualified, knowledgeable or experienced across a subject matter, are the ones that take a back seat, and this needs to change.

Women are born communicators. Some insights state that women are more emotional, but instead of this being a negative statement, we need to realise that’s logically the reason why we find it easier to converse at multiple levels, and the ‘emotional’ part of our communication style is used to gain authority and influence, such as inviting others for contribution, using empathy to solidify relationships with colleagues, clients and stakeholders, and bridging the gap between commercial strategy and the people that drive those agendas forward. All of which are significant senior skills.

I’m often asked why we promote ‘women’ so much as an organisation – we are founded by a woman, we are a female-dominated team, we are passionate about the development of women in senior roles, not only across our own organisation but as a wider goal – why?

The answer is simple, because we believe that women (and men) are capable of amazing work, we just don’t shout about it enough, or have the confidence to elevate each other, and quite frankly, we don’t have enough peer support through c-suite to drive this strategy.

One of my many mantras is ‘building others up doesn’t dampen your own success” and this statement is incredibly ardent for women in business.

I was incredibly lucky, that throughout my corporate career, in a very male-dominated environment, I had tremendous backing from incredible female (and male) leaders, manages and colleagues who worked together to achieve common goals and support one another, both in the commercial role and to drive my career progression. A methodology I hope that I have carried through to my business and one that I’m passionate about continuing to push across my industry.

International Women’s Day shouldn’t be about bashing men, (although I admit, sometimes they deserve it!), or putting stoke on the fire to the ‘poor women’ topic – it should be about celebrating diversity and understanding that women do have different challenges and experiences across their careers, but the key is being aware of those and inspiring the females in your organisation to excel and rise, which is as simple as recognising this fact and putting equality at the heart of a business, in reality, it should be an easy fix… but the figures still speak for themselves.

So, instead of the traditional ‘women are great’ posts that will no doubt flood our timelines this week, let’s celebrate by recognising and appreciating the superb women we have across our businesses – shout about how and why they are great, what their achievements have been, what its meant to the business and bottom line – and why we, as business owners are better businesses culturally and financially as a result of being a diverse organisation.

Claire Curzon

MD – Brighter Directions

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Employee appreciation has been around forever in reality, (as some of us older ones will recall), we grew up in an environment of work where we compliment those who have done well, recognise hard-work with a social pint after work, and local businesses give out bonuses for company growth – but has this methodology changed over the years?

Global brand Apple recently announced the biggest trend of 2018 was self-care, and this trend is expected to follow into 2019. Self-care is now seen as an essential part of life and not just a luxury; studies also show the link between mental wellbeing and job performance. This is this is why corporate wellness is such a fast-growing industry with HR and wellness professionals have put together strategies to keep employees happy and healthy.

But are they a minority nowadays, and something that only corporates and larger brands are committed to? We think not…and nor should it be.

To us, who proudly boast our ‘family ethos, ‘caring nature’ and ‘team at the heart of everything we do’, these terms aren’t simply marketing gimmicks and words on a website – they are the values in which we operate.

Well-being of a team isn’t as simple as it was back in the day. Additional thought should be put into new challenges affecting our population, such as financial constraints on a difficult economy, family frustrations as work is both harder to come by, and more necessary, and burnout and stress have become much more apparent in the world of work, at least since I started my career. I’m not saying there weren’t stressful situations when I was c-suite management, because of cause there was, however, I notice that my team also carry ownership and a much stronger investment in how we do business, nurture clients and do the best job that they and we can, and that in turn is obviously going to impact stress levels.

It’s important to let staff take time out to relax and recharge.

Personally, I couldn’t run a  business where I didn’t care about my team, and their well-being, both personally and at work.

There are several ways to do this, depending on your business model, and the people you have within your team. There isn’t a right way to be conscious or implement well-being structures in an organisation, it can be as simple as celebrating pancake day and cooking/ sitting together eating and catching up, NOT about work (as we most certainly will be next week!), through to profit bonus and creating better work environments and cultures, which undoubtedly, all contribute towards a nicer place to work.

Today is a great day to assess your current culture, and how you support your team on the whole. This day shouldn’t just be a day to celebrate; it should be an ongoing methodology of progress to do better.

Lastly, thank you to all my amazing team who every-day does such a tremendous job supporting our clients, and each other – you are awesome!

Claire Curzon – MD, Brighter Directions

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