Frequently Asked Questions.
What would you like to know?
When speaking to prospective clients, they obviously have questions to ask. Below, we've included the answers to some of the queries and concerns we hear most often.
What is content marketing?
A dictionary-style definition is “the creation and sharing of material that aims to create interest in a brand, product or service without explicitly promoting it”.
This definition isn’t taken from one particular source but merges a few definitions out there. The issue is this doesn’t really explain what this looks like from a brand’s point of view.
So, let’s take it back to basics.
Essentially, it’s very self-explanatory. It’s using content as part of your marketing. The key point is that there’s no direct sales pitch included. It’s about building up brand awareness and brand equity in a way that results in sales in the long run from both new and existing customers.
Lots of brands use blogs, podcasts and newsletters as part of their content marketing strategy. But it can also include infographics, quizzes, webinars and so much more.
To learn more about content marketing, check out our blog.
Will marketing eat up all of our budget?
Whether it's a bad experience, stereotypes or misunderstanding, many people think marketing is a vacuous hole which needs filling with money.
But that's not the case.
Ok, ok, of course we would say that!
The first thing to say is that there is no guaranteed ROI with any form of marketing. And if a marketing agency is guaranteeing ROI, this should be a major red flag!
Having said that, if you apply proven marketing principles, understand your audience and inject some creativity into your marketing activity, you can certainly boost your chances of seeing a positive return on investment.
The reasons why people think marketing eats up all of your money vary. But normally, it's one of these...
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They have used the services of someone with little to no experience.
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They haven't given it enough time to make an impact.
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They don't understand why their money is being spent the way it is.
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The results of their spend are not obvious.
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An unexpected external event had an impact (i.e. the COVID-19 pandemic).
With experience across a range of sectors, we understand and appreciate the concerns SMEs have when looking to appoint a marketing agency. That's why Communicate is one of our five core values. The good the bad and the ugly, we communicate openly with all of our clients to ensure their concerns are mitigated and they understand the reasons behind what we're doing.
How much should we spend on marketing?
Unfortunately, this is a bit like the how long is a piece of string question. There's no set amount.
Luckily, there are options to suit all budgets out there. If you're starting out and budgets are very limited, look to Fiverr or similar sites to help you out. Be careful though, more often than not, you get what you pay for. So, if you can afford to use an experienced freelancer or marketing agency, we would recommend doing so.
With regards to ourselves, our smallest packages generally start at around £500 per month or £6,000 annually.
If you're someway below that but would still like some advice, we'd be more than happy to have a coffee some time and give you some pointers if we're available.
However, if you're not quite at that budget, but reasonably close, lets have a chat and see if there is a way we could work something. Even if it means postponing the start of the work a little bit to accrue a larger budget.
For those who have a budget of that size or larger, please get in touch. We can then arrange a no-obligation meeting where we can discuss the various options available to you.
Which social media platforms should we be on?
Often, people think they should be on all platforms. But that's not the case.
You should only be on the ones relevant to your brand and your audience.
If you're already across all platforms, check out your analytics to see where you're getting the best bang for your buck. Then focus your attention on these platforms.
However, if you're currently dominating one platform and trying to decide how you should expand, this handy data from We Are Social highlights which other platforms your audience is likely to be using.
If you're just starting out though, we'd recommend creating a customer persona, using data, which can then help you identify which platforms should be your priority.
It can be very difficult for Social Media Marketing Companies in the UK to choose which platforms to be on, but getting this right can have huge returns.