Here are some of the top reasons why outsourcing your marketing is better:

Expertise and Experience

Marketing agencies have a team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals who specialise in different areas of marketing. These experts have a deep understanding of the latest marketing trends, techniques, and strategies, and can create effective marketing campaigns that deliver results. With their expertise, you can ensure that your marketing efforts are always up-to-date and effective.

Access to the Latest Marketing Tools and Technologies

Marketing agencies invest heavily in the latest marketing tools and technologies to ensure that their clients receive the best possible results. By outsourcing your marketing to an agency, you gain access to these tools and technologies without having to invest in them yourself. This can help you save a significant amount of money in the long run.

More Time to Focus on Your Core Business

Managing your marketing strategy in-house can be a significant drain on your time and resources. By outsourcing your marketing, you can free up your time and resources to focus on your core business activities. This can help you increase productivity, improve efficiency, and ultimately grow your business. You are not just getting one person, but rather a team of dedicated professionals who take a personal interest in understanding the unique aspects of your business and the challenges it faces. This team is committed to continuous personal development to keep up with the rapidly changing online marketing landscape.

Cost Savings

Outsourcing your marketing can also help you save money in the long run. By partnering with a marketing agency, you can avoid the costs associated with hiring and training new employees, purchasing expensive marketing tools and technologies, and maintaining an in-house marketing team. This can result in significant cost savings for your business. To provide an example, the annual salary of one full-time online marketing employee exceeds the cost of a 12-month SEO contract, which includes reports and training.

Scalability

Marketing agencies can provide a range of services that can be scaled up or down as per your business needs. This means that you can easily adjust your marketing strategy based on the changing market conditions or business objectives without having to invest in new resources or tools. This can help you stay agile and respond quickly to the evolving market demands.

By leveraging the expertise and experience of marketing professionals, accessing the latest marketing tools and technologies, freeing up your time and resources, saving costs, and achieving scalability, you can achieve better marketing results and focus on growing your business. So, consider outsourcing your marketing to a trusted agency like Brighter Directions and take your business to the next level.

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If you have thousands of pounds in your budget for business development this year, you need marketing ROI. You’re faced with a choice – outsource that work to an online marketing agency, or hire a full-time specialised employee who can become an important part of your team and office? When having this discussion it’s important to make a distinction between firing and replacing online marketing staff, or making the decision to hire a new specialised online marketing employee to handle your web presence. If you value growth and marketing ROI, go with the online marketing agency. There isn’t a decision to make at all. Good high level marketing managers/officers are still very much needed to coordinate all marketing efforts, and unless you’re entirely focusing on online marketing, a staff employee will be able to better align offline and online efforts with the sales team.

Marketing agency advantages

Hiring an online marketing agency is also a big advantage if your marketing needs are not particularly extensive. If you are a small company or start-up, then you might not need someone dedicating 40 hours a week to your marketing. Instead, you can engage an agency’s services as and when you need them, allowing you to save money compared with paying a full-time marketing manager.

Consider the following:

• Only one full time online marketing employee annual wage is more than a 12 month SEO contract, including reports and training.
• Instead of one person, you’re getting a dedicated team. A team that not only takes a personal interest in learning your unique business and challenges in and out, but one that values continuous personal development to meet a fast evolving online marketing landscape.
• An online marketing agency can specialise, assembly line style. Do you want one person juggling web development, content creation, SEO, graphic design, social media, customer interaction and online marketing strategy, or do you want a network of uniquely equipped professionals?
  • Online marketing agencies don’t take sick days.
  • Or vacations.
  • Or lose motivation.
  • Or take the last of the coffee without filling it (Is it too much to show some basic human decency?)

If you are looking for a marketing agency who can fulfil all of those needs and requirements then look no further, our expert and knowledgeable team at Brighter Directions can help with social media, PR, content, full marketing strategies and more, contact us today at hello@brighterdirections.co.uk

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Buyer personas are detailed descriptions of each of your target customers/audience. Based on previous customer and consumer research, each buyer persona describes a different fictional buyer who embodies the identified demographics. These are personality traits, income, relationship status, buying behaviours, and motivations of a specific segment. They help you to see your target market/audience as real people, rather than just abstract characteristics.

Why are buyer personas important?

Developing an understanding of who your customers/target audience are and how they behave is essential if you want to create content that reaches and engages this specific cohort. Without this information businesses can easily lose sight of their targets and start to focus on the wrong target audience.

How to write a successful buyer persona

Research methods are a good starting point when looking to build a buyer persona. Customer surveys and case studies can help your business get a good insight into important customer/audience characteristics like demographics and preferences.

Understanding your own products and/or services is vital before you can begin to think about who your customers might be. It is essential that you have a direct, clear idea of your business and what you can offer.

Another factor to help draw success to your buyer persona is thinking about what your desired outcome is, what action do you want your audience to take?

If you want to step up your business’s buyer personas and go that extra mile and in turn gain a competitive advantage, you should also look into gathering psychographic information. When effectively researched the psychographic data provides a good in-depth insight into why, and how certain buying choices are made.

Need help developing your brand’s exposure/presence?

Get in touch with one of our marketing experts and we’ll happily provide tailored marketing solutions for content, social media, PR or white label.

You can contact us at hello@brighterdirections.co.uk

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Executive presence mainly describes the ability to inspire confidence from your workforce, assuring them that you are the leader for them to follow and that you are fully capable in your position. This trait can come naturally for some people but can also be acquired through improving your current skills by taking important steps.

Here are some ways you can work on applying your own executive presence:

Build communication skills

Being a good leader can mainly come down to having excellent communication skills which is a common trait for those people with executive presence.

This consists of possessing two key attributes which are speaking ability and body language. These are both important in portraying confidence and assertiveness to other people.

Having effective speaking skills comes down to not only what you say but in the way you say it, if the delivery of your words is just right it will be perceived effectively by others. To expand on this, even if you have the most interesting subject to talk about with your audience, it will ultimately be ineffective if not delivered in an engaging way that connects with them.

First impressions are vital when interacting with your workforce and are largely influenced by how body language comes across. Having a positive attitude, good posture and making eye contact all help give off positive signals to others, indicate interest and physically project confidence.

Being authentic

Having good authenticity is a key skill to have as leader, people that come across as real, transparent, and honest in their interactions in turn enhance their own executive presence.

This trait can be achieved by making sure that you act with credibility and your actions correspond with your intentions. Therefore, show yourself as someone who can be trusted and ensure that you act like the leader you believe yourself to be. By focusing on your intentions and being comfortable when addressing people, you can send the right messages to your workforce.

Reacting proactively to situations

When faced with challenges, your reactions to situations that arise are all important in how you are perceived to your workforce.

People who present themselves as calm, collected, well-prepared and in control can help inspire confidence for those that are observing them. Although sometimes whilst looking very busy to others may be misconceived by yourself as indicating your value to an organisation. It does not, it just indicates that there may be a large workload you are tasked with, by reacting positively to stressful situations you can help yourself and enhance your executive presence.

Appearances matter

Visual appearance is one of the factors that makes people build first impressions on you as a leader, therefore it is important that your appearance is appropriate for the setting and company culture.

In addition to this, it should be consistent with other people at a similar level to yourself and portrays a professional image to those observing you. It might seem like a small detail but if your appearance is not suitable to what is expected in the workplace environment, it can distract people from the first impression you want to leave them with.

For more information like this, check out our other Brighter Directions blogs.

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This term has been used to describe the media trend which has seen content creators such as writers, YouTube influencers and TikTok stars build their own successful businesses independently without the help of media companies.

The Content Economy has given creators the chance to monetise their following and looks set to revolutionise the way content engages with audiences over the next decade.

Reflecting on the last year, two technological forces have made it much easier for content creators to build their own independent businesses: monetisation platforms and no-code tools.

Subscriptions have proved to be more effective than traditional ad revenue with platforms such as Substack, Patreon and Revue making it simple for people to subscribe directly to a creator’s work. Alternative platforms such as Teachable and LinkedIn Learning also allow creators to make paid courses for potential consumers to sign up to.

The rise of no-code tools has allowed content creators to break away from media companies which would typically design and develop professional content. Platform apps allow people to create their own websites, produce high quality graphics and edit videos in a way which were not possible in the past. These include Squarespace (website design app), Canva (visual design app) and TikTok.

As the content industry changes, here’s how businesses can adapt to build a larger, and more engaged audience:

Know your audience

As a marketing leader you need to know your audience inside out by making sure you understand what your audience wants from you.

Platforms such as Substack can help you in this aspect as it allows creators to focus on a smaller niche audience of people that are interested in specific work rather than a broader audience which a media company would cater for. These people are willing to pay for that work as the creators know exactly what interests them.

Embrace internal influencer talent

Credibility and affinity mostly come from individual influencers rather than traditional media brands if they consider creating thoughtful content that engages and identifies with the people they are targeting.

Your own internal influencers don’t need to be full-time and can be freelancers who write regularly for your brand. Creating efficient bylines for blogs and earning the trust of your audience. Having an excellent freelance writer is more likely to stay producing content for your brand than the average employee would typically do.

Allowing creative freedom

The tools that are available for people to use means that we can create content at a faster rate than ever before. Allowing your own team to implement their own ideas can prove beneficial to both your brand and themselves.

Make sure there is a strategy and guidelines to follow but allow creativity to come from your individual team members rather than collectively brainstorming for ideas.

If you are looking to develop your content marketing strategy in 2022, we would love the opportunity to support your business, please do reach out to us here at Brighter Directions!

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Before the global pandemic, social media was being labelled as an addiction to millennials. The media was filled with ‘social media detox’ tips, telling consumers it is bad for their mental and physical health and is to blame for the depression rates rising. However, in 2020 everything changed for social media (just one of the many ways Covid-19 has affected society). This was the year we all turned back to technology rather than ‘detoxing’ to stay up-to-date with current events, be entertained, and most importantly, keep connected to our friends and family.

During the early days of the pandemic, we utilised social media for the quickest source of information as TV broadcasts and newspapers could not compare with the speed news can spread in the online world. The demand for information on anything to do with Coronavirus was unprecedented to what the media had seen before. Social media not only got the latest news stories out the quickest, but they were also the most accessible.

With the national lockdowns and restrictions altering our lives drastically, we sought entertainment from social media more than ever trying to fill all our newly found spare time. There were booms in fitness trends, recipes, home improvement videos, crafting, dancing, and anything else to escape from the doom and gloom of the pandemic. This not only gave us the feeling of being united but helped reduce the sense of loneliness from being isolated. More people were finding their voice on social media, including a demographic that had not been the main consumer before, the elderly.

Throughout 2020 there was a huge growth in the 70 to 90 demographic on social platforms. All around the world, older generations were signing up and creating accounts to be able to communicate with their friends and family. Likewise, companies and brands that were not based online and some who did not use social media were now being pressured into creating an online presence to compete with those who had already captured their audience.

As our lives completely moved to be through computer screens, we as consumers searched for the feeling of the ‘real world’ online. We want to see real people with real lives to who we want to connect. This has led to the biggest increase in influencer marketing on social media. We seek inspiration for everything through these influencers as we want to feel a part of a community and find the socialisation that we now lack in person.

A reason influencer marketing is becoming more successful is due to the ability of the influencer to communicate with their audience through likes, replying to comments, Instagram lives, Q&A stories, etc. Through these outlets, they can establish and build relationships with their followers.

Brands need to acknowledge the changes 2020 has bought to the social media landscape and ensure they create community management and develop a strategy that incorporates having dialogues with their customers online. They must organise their values and develop a brand personality that their audience can relate to.

As people are not currently able to visit stores and experience customer service, they need to form that relationship elsewhere. By brands showing support for issues around the world that they believe in, it helps to make a positive impact on growing their personality and thus making them more attractive to the consumer. Utilising tools such as Facebook and Instagram lives makes the brand more authentic and personable and not just an online company. The ‘new normal’ for social media means that brands have to learn to embrace this new social aspect of the online community and develop their own personality.

If you are unsure how to increase engagement with your audience, why not start with our three top tips?

1. Create a content plan for your social media to post once or twice a week. Posting consistently is key. Ensure you including captions, graphics, and relevant hashtags in your plan. Then you don’t have to worry about planning a post last minute.
2. Arrange a Q&A session with your audience on your Facebook or Instagram story. Decide on a topic, for example, a new launch or customer service, and ask your audience for questions. Prepare your answers beforehand and post as a story or host a Facebook or Instagram live.
3. Organise a competition or giveaway. This is a great way to increase your followers, your engagement, and appeal to a wider audience. You can either host this as an individual or team up with another brand or influencer.

If you would like to hear more about how to develop your social media and engage your audience, we’d love to help. Contact us via socialmedia@brighterdirections.co.uk to discuss your business.

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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.

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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

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Meet Angie…

Angie first started working with Brighter Directions on a freelance/ contracted role back in 2013 where she provided creative expertise to a range of our clients, and our love for her has grown from there – we simply will not let her away from our little claws now!

Angie is a true creative Queen, she is not only graphic and creatively design experienced and trained, but she’s also a fabulous qualified and experience illustration, fine art and is also a painter and photographer too – a very rare quality in design she bridges the gap between modern creatives and traditional standards!

Her role;

Angie runs the creative division for Brighter Directions, she not only manages hundreds of our client creative and visual brand campaigns, but also supervises and mentors our newest designer Diana, who loves working with Angie under her creative leadership and skill.

About Angie;

Angie is a very sweet, nurturing and genuine person with a ‘wicked’ sense of humor and a laugh that makes the office stop dead. She is always the first to offer out hugs when needed and often makes us laugh with her little giggles from the creative corner of the office!

Outside of work, she now resides between our offices in Chesterfield and Scotland… (you read right, she moved for love!), in her beautiful country home with Stephen and her kitties who often plaque her life with fun (ruined carpets) and laughter.

Some things you may not know…

Angie is a genuine and incredibly creative person who often surprises us all with how she takes our scraps of drawings and notes and turns them into branded perfection!

As well as keeping busy with work, Angie is also incredibly passionate about charity, Cancer Research who she works with all over the country with her partner to create fundraising inclusive events such as Halloween walks, fun-runs and more. (She’s also amazing at baking cakes!)

In her spare time she is often found out enjoying the countryside or with a hot cup of chocolate (or coffee, crikey this girl loves her coffee!) in front of a warm fire…. bliss!

You can read more about Angie on our MEET THE TEAM PAGE – as well as learning about our other incredible team.

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