lcm

Lightning Safety Systems love their website

Wed, 07 May 2025 08:22:38 GMT

We are delighted to partner with Lightning Safety Systems

We have been working with Lightning Safety Systems in Waterlooville for a few years now, and around two years ago developed a new website with their team.

A particularly strong feature of the site is the way the maintenance and updates work. For a modest monthly fee, LSS not only gains secure hosting and technical maintenance such as back ups, but we also make as many changes as they need, whenever they need them.

They often win Industry and service awards - because they are so good at what they do - and MD Dave Green just pings us an email with relevant information and often before the day is out, the Awards area of the site has its proud new entry.

If Dave had time to make the changes himself, it would be really easy for him to log into the content management system in the back of his site, but he's a busy MD so it's easy for him for us to do it. If you're a marketing manager or an adminstrator with a role where you need to support your Directors, and want to be able to update the website yourself, having this easy editing system is a boon.

The lastest news is about Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue services, check it out here: https://www.lfltd.co.uk/changes-to-the-way-hampshire-and-isle-of-wight-fire-and-rescue-respond-to-automatic-fire-alarms

If you'd like a beautiful website, with no more frustration and stress about keeping it up to date, please contact lizz@lcm.co.uk Lizz Clarke will be delighted to help.

The results of a year's marketing consultancy for our client

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Wed, 07 Jun 2023 13:45:33 GMT

Thank you Gaia Rosenberg Colorni

Gaia Rosenberg Colorni is a well-respected Independent Researcher and Evaluator in the arts and culture sector. With an exceptional insight into what customers need, in 2022 she started working in collaboration with Letty Clarke, an Engagement & Public Programmes Curator and Inclusion Specialist, in order to provide the sector with a unique new offer.

LCM MD Lizz Clarke has worked with Gaia and Letty for a year so far, by running regular workshops to help them shape the offer and bring it to market.

Gaia's testimonial may be found on our Marketing Consultancy and Planning page.

Lizz says, "It is such a pleasure working with Gaia and Letty; both are thorough professionals who always do what they say they are going to do, and more. Their progress between sessions is remarkable. I was particularly excited recently when they told me that, using the work they had done with us, they'd helped one of their customers to understand why a more significant investment in a project would bring them benefits that far outweighed the resources they would be using for it, and this considerably increased the revenue they earned. It's all too easy for small businesses to give away much more than they sell, and it doesn't benefit anyone in the long term. I am thrilled that Gaia and Letty are even stronger and more confident, and understand the value of what they do."

The Effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in a niche B2B market

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Wed, 22 Mar 2023 12:57:02 GMT

Those in niche markets sometimes think that potential customers do not search on the web for their type of products and services. However, they probably do...

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most effective marketing strategies for businesses today. It involves optimizing your website so that it appears higher in search engine rankings, leading to increased visibility and more traffic. For niche B2B markets, SEO can be particularly effective because it helps businesses reach their target audience with precision - in fact, the more niche the better. In this blog post, we'll explore why SEO is so effective in a niche B2B market.

Reach your target audience

One of the biggest advantages of SEO is that it helps you reach your target audience with precision. Almost without exception, people will search the Web when looking to buy something. They may not be ready to buy when they first start searching, but they are after information to help them refine their search. With niche B2B markets, it's particularly important to ensure your content is reaching the right people. SEO helps you do that by giving you the opportunity to target specific keywords and phrases used by your target market. So, for example, the Defence market might use particular a particuar term to describe a piece of equipment which is called something different by say the travel industry - so they will each search for a different word. If you are targeting Defence buyers, this knowledge allows you to create content that is specifically tailored to what they are searching for, making it more likely that they will find you.

Cost-effective

SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy since it does not require expensive advertising. Instead, it involves optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine result pages (SERPs) through keyword research, content creation, and link building. This means that your website can show up towards or at the top of search results without you having to spend a large amount of money on advertising.

Build trust and credibility

SEO can help you build trust and credibility with potential customers in a niche B2B market. As your website appears in the top results of search engines, it implies that you are an authority in your field. This can lead to higher levels of trust from potential customers.

Target very specific prospects

SEO can also help businesses target specific demographics within a niche B2B market. This is possible through keyword research, which allows businesses to understand the exact terms and phrases that their target market is using when searching for products or services. By using these keywords in their content, businesses can tailor their messaging to resonate with specific demographics, making it easier to gain their trust and business.

In conclusion, your niche business would probably benefit from SEO

SEO is a highly effective marketing strategy for businesses operating in niche B2B markets. Not only is it cost-effective, but it can help businesses reach their target audience with precision, build trust and credibility, and target specific demographics. With these in mind, businesses can capitalize on the benefits of SEO to achieve their marketing goals, drive growth, and stay ahead of the competition.

How to get started

We're a UK-based team of accessible, friendly experts. We will carry out a free audit of your website within a few days of your initial enquiry. From this, you will find out whether or not SEO is going to work for you. Along with your free audit report, you will receive a quotation for a monthly fee for carrying out your SEO; this will include a monthly report on what's working, and what needs improvement. You can ask as many questions as you need, to ensure you are getting value for money, and we will ask you questions about the results you are achieving.

Please contact our MD Lizz Clarke in the first instance; simply email her at lizz@lcm.co.uk.

Introduction to Pay Per Click Advertising for UK B2B Businesses

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 12:13:30 GMT

As the owner manager of a business trading B2B, you are probably already aware of how to generate leads.

Introduction

Did you know, however, that pay per click (PPC) advertising can help to reach potential customers quickly and efficiently, and could become the number one lead generation tool in your business?

PPC is an online form of advertising in which advertisers (you) only pay when a user clicks on their advertisement. It is an effective way to target specific audiences with a highly specific message at the right time. Let’s take a closer look at how PPC can help your business grow.

How does Pay Per Click Advertising Work?

The most common type of PPC is Google Ads, which shows up at the top and bottom of search results pages when someone searches for something related to your product or service. PPC is available on many other sites, too. When someone clicks on your ad, they are taken directly to your website or landing page. The cost per click is determined by how much competition there is for that particular keyword or phrase; the more competition there is, the more expensive it will be. You can also set daily and total budgets so that you don't go over budget with your campaigns.

Advantages of PPC Advertising

PPC advertising offers numerous advantages for businesses, including increased visibility, and higher conversion rates than other forms of online advertising such as banner ads. PPC certainly adds a new lead generation channel into your business – complementing things you already do, such as networking, telesales and exhibition stands. Additionally, it allows you to target specific audiences based on their location, age, gender, and interests so that you can tailor your messages accordingly. Finally, since you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, it’s a great way to measure ROI as well as test different messages and creative elements on different audiences before investing in a larger campaign.

Trying PPC Advertising for your business

Pay per click (PPC) advertising is an effective tool for UK businesses trading B2B. If you have a profitable company with an established client base and turnover, and are looking to increase visibility and drive sales quickly and efficiently, it is definitely worth adding to your marketing mix. With its ability to target specific audiences based on demographic data and its relatively low risk-reward ratio compared to other types of online ads and marketing, PPC provides a great opportunity for businesses looking to maximize their return on investment while still reaching large numbers of potential customers. If you haven’t yet tried PPC advertising for your business but are interested in doing so in order increase visibility and drive sales growth, consider giving it a try today. There are many professionals out there who can help you.

Here at Logical Creative Marketing (LCM) we offer you an introductory audit of your site, and a report into PPC advertising for your copmany. This is usually free for a relatively simple requirement, or offered at a small cost if the business is more complex, and refundable against future spend.

Initially, please contact Lizz Clarke at lizz@lcm.co.uk or complete our online form .

Should you have a website support contract?

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 15:22:07 GMT

People often tell me they're frustrated with their website support

I was prompted to write this because last week, yet another client told me she was frustrated at how long it takes her web company to make changes to her site. 'Sometimes it can take weeks," she exclaimed, "and it inhibits my attempts to develop my business the way I want to."

A website support contract

My first question is always about the what support the existing supplier has put in place for the client. Whilst the LCM team loves to take over and provide web services to our clients, it's not always in their or our best interests to move it to LCM, when it might just be a lack of understanding of what's available from the incumbent. Most people tell me they don't know what their monthly fee covers, and I have empathy with that. If you are paying a monthly fee and are not sure if you have a service level agreement, then simply ask to see a copy of what you're paying for.

If you're not paying a monthly fee, or a very small one that's probably for hosting, you almost certainly don't have a support contract in place. You need a conversation with the provider to find out if there is a mechanism whereby you can pay them to update the site.

Let's assume you do have support in place. I's important you know what 'update' means. In most cases, it means a standard technical update to ensure all the software, plug-ins etc are the latest versions. It's different from 'amendments', which mean changes to content on your site. It would make sense to find out what your support covers relative to these terms.

Website support service level agreement

Ideally, you will have a full support contract in place, which guarantees certain standards. This might be monthly checks and technical updates, and an agreed number of amendments to the copy on your site guaranteed within a certain timescale.

Ideally your supplier will have a ticketing system, so you can keep track of things between you.

Copy and pictures - what amendments can I expect?

You shouldn't expect your web supplier to write copy for you, or to find photographs and illustrations unless that's part of the service. If it is, then that's fantastic. If not, then you need to make it clear what changes you want, make sure everything is spelt correctly with good grammar, and you probably need to supply pictures. If you have done this, and you have agreed the timescale by when the amendments will be made, then you should expect it to be done on time, 100% correctly.

What if your business needs much more support than this?

It's important to recognise that there are lots of different types of web supplier. Most are very small, with team members highly trained in technology and not focused so much on how a site looks and feels. Others are graphic designers first and foremost, and they have added tech to their skill set Their sites are likely to be much easier on the eye. You very often find partnerships between technical and design professionals which are usually brilliant.

When it comes to support, though, this might well be secondary.

I am very proud of our support provision. Most of our clients find it really easy to update their own sites, but quickly get to the point where they haven't got time and find it easier to leave it to us.

We supply them with necessary regular updates, and a ticketing system for unlimited monthly amendments guaranteed to be made within two working days unless otherwise notified. We also provide a free library of photographs ready-sized to look superb on the site, and we can also provide copywriting services if needed.

If you'd like to know more, simply contact me directly on lizz@lcm.co.uk or complete our online form.

Simple rules to follow when creating visuals for you branding

Mon, 25 Oct 2021 14:04:03 GMT

How to ensure your brand visuals are consistent with your brand identity

When creating visuals for your branding there are key elements and rules that you should follow or at least take into consideration, to ensure that you deliver the right message to your audience.

The purposes of the visuals that are created for your brand, are to:

create an emotional response from your intended audience - think of a country’s flag, school badge or sports team’s crest; all these make people feel something.

to inform people about your brand personality - if it’s neat and minimalist, your brand will be similar; if it’s flamboyant and colourful, that will show what you’re like.

to allude to the service or products that you offer - so, a restaurant’s brand will probably be quite different from a bank, for example.

to unify the many different aspects of your brand through visual clarity and consistency - repetition of the same thing drives it into people’s memories; when you keep changing things, people won’t remember your brand.

All brand visuals should meet and be consistent with the visual identity, and fit within your brand style guidelines (a set of rules, usually on a pdf, which outline how your staff and suppliers must use your brand, and which include typefaces, colours, logo sizes and formats as a minimum) to ensure consistency and a unique brand expression that stands out from the crowd.

To achieve the greatest impact and create visuals that tick all the design credentials, as well as ensuring your brand is readily recognised and remembered, there are a few simple rules that you need to follow.

Simplicity

The key is not to overcrowd information; ensure it is all is legible and delivered cleanly. Unless your intended audience is actively searching and seeking out your brand, the visual information you are delivering has a matter of seconds in which to capture the attention of your intended audience.

It is extremely easy to get carried away and to think you need to throw a lot of information and different design elements into a visual.

Remember, you have limited time to make an impression so keep it simple and make sure the layout, typography choice, imagery and graphics create the sharpness and interest. Your brand style guidelines are the jewel in creating quality visuals.

Contrast

To achieve great visuals that are well designed it is important to take ‘contrast’ into consideration. It is the most effective way to create emphasise and impact.

Contrast can be created in a number of ways and is achieved when two or more elements are total opposites within a visual composition. To ensure maximum impact the difference needs to be strong and obvious. The greater the difference, the easier the visuals will be to take in and follow (when designed correctly).

Visual interest can be achieved by a contrast between large and small elements, classic and contemporary styles, thin and thick lines, cool and warm tones and many more.

Contrast plays a crucial role in the organisation of visual information and for it to work for you and not against you, the contrast must be strong and obvious.

Balance

Creating a sense of balance within your brands visuals is essential to achieving a look that feels premium and is well thought out. Balance is achieved by the weighted distribution of elements on a page. There are many ways to create balance; for example, you can ensure symmetry by using an invisible central line where the weight of the elements sits evenly on each side of the page. If someone presents you with a piece of work, perhaps draw a pencil line down the middle of it, to see if it is symmetrical.

Another is through tension, whereby three quarters of page could be filled with text and imagery and is balanced out by the remaining quarter being left as white (or negative) space. White space nearly always enhances strong designs. Think of a room, packed full of furniture and knick-knacks, as opposed to a room with some empty wall, floor and surface areas. The latter makes it easier to enjoy the space.

Repetition

Consistency is key, and using repetition across all design elements and branded materials will help bring a sense of cohesion to your visuals and can be applied across your brand. Repetition strengthens your visuals by tying together otherwise separate parts. By repeating elements of a design, you immediately create a familiarity and an identity.

The importance of repetition in marketing cannot be underestimated, and will ensure your audience recognises your brand from the visuals you create and repeatedly push before them.

Hierarchy

Hierarchy ensures information is processed in a logical and informative way within a well-designed visual . Hierarchy simply means, what’s the most important element; that which requires most space and weight? It might be a ‘hero’ visual, or headline.

Hierarchy creates visual organisation in a design, and gives the reader an idea of where to begin and finish reading. This can be applied by the distribution of size and colour to emphasise one item over another and draw your audience’s eye to a certain item above others. Without hierarchy it is incredibly difficult to deliver information in an effective way, as your audience is unable to determine the order in which to read.

How can we help?

Branding and corporate identity are a vital marketing component to any organisation – it is not simply a logo or visuals but an ethos and personality that runs throughout a business.

Our approach to develop a compelling brand identity has transformed organisations not only in how they convey themselves to the outside world but to how they operate.

To understand how we might be able to help you create well designed visuals for your branding please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

4 tips to follow when expanding your business into a new market

Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:13:08 GMT

How you can improve your chances of success when growing your business

Expanding your business is a goal for most business owners. However, if you want to expand into a new market, especially in this difficult economy, many business owners are finding it difficult to find the right opportunities. Still, there are several ways to find business growth, even in uncertain times.

In this article, we will share some useful tips for small businesses to help with expanding your business.

1. Determine your goals

When expanding your business, you need to know exactly what you are aiming for. It is important that you are clear with your reasons why you are entering a new market, and why this strategy is a better choice than developing your product or service further. When you are able to articulate the ‘whys’ of your goals, you will start to see how you might attain successful expansion. It is very often a good idea to mine your existing markets before trying new ones, so make sure you are doing this consistently and well, before you take a slightly riskier step. We have worked with many companies, where they haven’t made the most of what they already have before moving into a ‘shiny new area’, thinking it’s going to be easier somehow. It hardly ever is.

Make sure to create measurable and reasonable goals and work on planning both short and long term goals. Some of the questions you need to consider include:

What is the timeframe of launching your products and services to the new market?
Is the new market in its infancy, or is it mature?
What will the expansion contribute to your brand value?
Aside from additional revenue, what will the brand expansion provide?
How much market share are you looking to gain?

When answering these questions, it is important that everyone in your team - from the executives through to marketing and those who make or deliver your services - understand your goals and why you are taking this step. If you don’t, people will make guesses as to what you’re doing; and guesses lead to uncertainty. One of the most common ‘guesses’ we have heard is ‘They are going to sell the company; we are going to get new bosses and we will probably lose our jobs’…and this can be pretty unsettling.

2. What will be the impact on your current business?

Expanding into the new market does not mean abandoning your current business operations. You need to make sure that your business is going to keep growing organically through your existing customers, along with the demands of managing your new market. To ensure that this can be done, you need to review what the new market will mean for your current operations. Consider these questions:

Are your current team members required to split their time between the current business and the expansion?
What experience do you already have in the team that will help with the new market?
Do you need additional support or resources to win in this new market?
Will the expansion require greater leadership demands from you?

Answering these questions will help you know if the expansion is even worth your time.

3. Research the market before expanding your business

Take the time to learn and understand the market where you are expanding. Researching will help you learn the strategic changes and operational execution of the expansion. In short, to understand your new market, you need to understand everything that is included in it from what products or services work and how your competitors are doing.

We have worked with companies who have spent a lot of money before they’ve really thought things through – and there’s not often a second pot of money to call on when things haven’t worked out well.

When researching your new market, make sure to look at customer pain points. Some of the information you may need to look into are:

What are your audience’s problems?
Where are your customers located?
What job or jobs do they need doing?
What are their interests?
How would you define them demographically?
Who are the key competitors in the market? Where are they? How are they marketing themselves?

With good research, you can deliver information that will help you and your team to understand your market expansion . As a result, when you start investing time and money, you will most likely succeed.  

4. Partner with the right people

Expanding your business into a new market can be tricky, time-consuming, and may fail even when you do a lot of things well. The best way to improve your chances of success is to partner with firms who can help you towards market expansion success. The right partners can help you not only with creating the best strategy but also manage a range of other business-related processes like social media and PR relations.

How LCM can help you?

Our approach to developing marketing strategies and ensuring businesses are on course for developing the growth they require has transformed organisations.

To understand how we might be able to help you expand your business into a new market please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

You can increase your revenue through developing your brand

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:23:31 GMT

How branding when developed professionally and used consistently, will play a key role in driving profitable revenue

All businesses want to optimise revenue. Your business strategy will identify ways of driving revenue; your marketing team will generate awareness and leads; your sales team looks at the most effective ways of converting leads to sales, and then your customer service helps to keep customers buying.

Another key factor to consider is your brand.

When your brand is developed professionally and used consistently, it will play a key role in driving profitable revenue.

If you take the big-name players; the larger organisations such as Coca Cola, Apple and Nike; their branding is clear, consistent and treated as arguably their most valuable asset, not as an option that is created by ‘the colouring in department’.

To paraphrase a top executive from Coca Cola, if all their manufacturing and bottling plants were to stop functioning, they would be able to replace them. If, however, all their customers had their memories wiped and they had no knowledge of the brand, their business would cease.

But you are not Coca Cola – how does this affect you? Well, the organisations that dedicate time, effort and budget to their branding build the staying power through developing a stronger and more established connection with their customers.

Developing a strong brand that really matters will ensure that you resonate with your customers and that your branding drives sales and works for your organisation day-in, day-out, being supported by marketing campaigns.

Being identifiable, memorable and more easily understood as an organisation will increase revenue. For that reason, there is no question that it deserves dedicated time, team effort and a budget to ensure your brand is working successfully for your organisation.

Benefits of developing your brand

To understand the true value that brand development has you need to appreciate what it can do for you and what the benefits are. When your brand is cohesive, delivered well and consistent it creates consumer confidence and will always be working away in the background pushing sales without the need to rely on costly marketing campaigns. The brand will be there, front and centre and being noticed; the badge that demonstrates your values.

A consistent brand will ensure unity and cohesion across all collateral and media, whether that is online or via print publications, such as flyers, business cards, brochures . A strong brand that works well will sing professionalism and hit the high notes that your competitors will aspire to reach.

A brand that truly reflects the organisation’s personality will ultimately give employees more buy in into the mission, values and ethos . When an organisation shows up and knows who they are, unapologetically and authentically, you’ll not only attract the right customer following but the right employees who will be more engaged and passionate about their place of work and want to see it succeed.

How branding impacts on revenue

Branding can impact on revenue in a variety of ways. We know from our own personal experiences that on purchasing a product or a service the experience and relationship that we have during that transaction ultimately paves the way for how much we are prepared to pay, and whether or not we choose to buy again. People develop an emotional attachment to the brands they love; whether it’s the personal values of their hair stylist, or the global operating system they champion (think Apple and Android). Delivering a strong brand image will create consumer confidence and help maintain the loyalty of customers who will spread the word in ways you just can’t buy, and attract like-minded new customers into the flock.

Careful branding will increase customer awareness and ensure you stay at the forefront of your target audiences minds via frequent exposure and establishing a genuine connection. Knowing your values and having a following that buys into those values will give you a niche that other competitors cannot tap into. Your brand will stand alone and be instantly identifiable and be banked in the memories of your target audience.

The importance of branding should never be overlooked. Building a strong brand runs in to all areas of an organisation from the customer experience, the marketing campaign s to the trust and belief of your employees. All of these factors have an impact on revenue and that impact should never be underestimated.

How LCM can help you?

Our approach to develop a compelling brand identity has transformed organisations not only in how they convey themselves to the outside world but to how they operate.

To understand how we might be able to help you increase revenue in your organisation by developing your brand please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

Where to start with a rebrand

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 17:38:31 GMT

How a rebrand can help your business and also maintain customer loyalty

If someone you trusted said to you, “I think we should rebrand”, what would be your first thought? Maybe panic, fear and an overwhelming feeling of not knowing where to even begin? Or perhaps excited but wary about if now is the right time? Or whether the customer following you already have will still be loyal to you after a rebrand?

You are not alone. A rebrand can seem like a mammoth task and one that you may think you just don’t have the time for, but you might be missing a trick. Sure, it is safe to say that there is a great deal of time, effort and dedication that goes into a rebrand, BUT if you take the time and seek the right support, then you will see the benefits and wonder why you didn’t make the move sooner.

Businesses often decide to rebrand for many reasons such as international growth, new management, or an outdated image. Whatever the reason, it's important to create a brand that people will remember.

When you create a customer following, of people who know who you are, and who understand and share your business values, ethos and mission, then they will be invested in your business, and that’s a priceless asset.

The secret is how you go about rebranding and the starting point is…reflection.

Reflection

Branding isn’t simply a logo; it is about an ethos and brand personality that runs through the business. To get a clear understanding of this you need to go back to the very beginning.

You need to ask yourself a number of questions, which look simple, but which in our experience, tease out a wealth of information that you may not be conscious of, such as:

Who are we?
What do we offer to others?
What is it that we’d like to be known for specifically?
What is our objective for rebranding? What do we want to improve by it?

All of these points of reflection are key to really understanding the unique story of your business . Clear and considered answers will feed smoothly into the vision of the brand and as result generate a more genuine and cohesive reach to the consumer. Step one, is all about going back to basics, setting aside any egos and preconceptions, and starting afresh.

Mission, vision and values

Once you’ve conquered the above, you can then think about your mission statement, vision and values. Of course, you may already have these in place, but they are worth going back to and reviewing as part of the rebrand process.

A mission statement gets to the heart of why a company exists rather than the how and is used to explain in one sentence your company’s purpose for being.

Your vision statement is the one where your core values will sit. What are the values and priorities of your company? A vision statement also looks to the future as it incorporates the direction you see the company moving in, so with a rebrand reviewing this is particularly key because if you already have one, it may have now changed depending on your reasons for a rebrand.

It will pay off to really take the time to write these statements down with passion and thought as they represent the cornerstones of your business and will run through your entire rebrand.

Research

To rebrand successfully, you need to understand the demographic you’re already speaking to and really comprehend what has and has not worked.

This can take the form of surveys or focus groups and will really help to position the rebrand in the correct way for maximum impact and delivery and ensure that it is aligned with your intended audience.

Share with your team

Objective opinion is a great thing and as such you should give all company employees the opportunity to tell you what they think of the brand. Anonymously or in an open forum so that thoughts can be shared, and organic conversation and discussions generated.

Excited employees are more likely to be enthusiastic brand ambassadors for the business. So be open and honest and most importantly listen to what staff from all areas of the business have to say, as some may be in customer facing roles and be able to feedback from a customer point of view.

Preparation and rollout

This is where everything will come together and is also where you may seek out a professional branding team to help you if you haven’t already. Remember the right branding team will listen to you, guide you and take a lot of the stress from your shoulders onto their own. Step by step they will lead you through the process with a plan of who will be in charge and who needs to be notified.

Don’t rush and instead set yourself reasonable timelines to follow that will deliver a result that is authentic and genuine. Be honest with your target audience and explain why you are rebranding; your following will appreciate you and your brand even more.

Create timelines and checklists to ensure deadlines are hit on time. Create announcements to generate interest and excitement and most importantly…have fun! A rebrand should be exciting and thought of as a flower blossoming into its fullest potential.

Being deliberate in your intention in terms of the why and how of going about a rebrand will save you time in the future. Please don’t think of a rebrand as a bad sign and a failure. It often means that the company has grown and evolved above and beyond its first vision statement and is ready to reach new heights.

Rebranding offers a great opportunity to strengthen the company’s reach and really solidify it in the eyes of its customer.

How can we help?

If you’re still unsure in which direction to take a rebrand or where to even begin the team at LCM are on hand to help you through the journey. Our approach to develop a compelling brand identity has transformed organisations not only in how they convey themselves to the outside world but to how they operate, and we can transform your business too!

To understand how we might be able to help you please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

Santa Clause the Brand

Fri, 18 Dec 2020 16:08:13 GMT

Santa Claus is quite possibly one of the greatest brands ever created

From a young age we grow up immersed at Christmas in a fairy tale world of elves, reindeers and sleighs, and the ubiquitous image of a man in a red suit squeezing himself down our chimneys. As adults we still get excited about the magic of Christmas, the hope it brings and the joy of being a part of something magical.

We all know who Santa Claus is, where he spends his days and his army of little helpers but just what is it about this jolly old fellow that has got him so famous? Why or how is he known worldwide?

Branding has a lot to do with it! So, sit tight, grab a cup of tea (and a mince pie) and marvel at just how Santa became the icon that he is today…

What is a brand?

To understand how Santa Claus became so well known, we first must understand what a brand actually is.

There are many definitions, but essentially, a brand is a product or a service that takes on an identity by itself. Santa Claus as a brand exists because of his story, the associations we have with him growing up and into adulthood and the continuous narrative that evolves every single year as we store and bank more memories that are tied in with this wonderful Christmas icon.

It is the personality of Santa Claus and all he stands for which is his brand and such a successful brand it is that it transcends across the world, cultures, and demographics.

When we think of Santa Claus, we know immediately who he is, and we know what his values are. We know when to expect him and what he will or won’t deliver (depending on if we’ve been naughty or nice).

So, just what is it that makes Santa Claus the brand so successful?

Identity

It may have been Coca-Cola that transformed Santa into the vision that we see today but nevertheless, our loveable Santa Claus is instantly recognisable.

That warm shade of red is his signature colour and is mirrored (throughout his brand ) in his Santa suit, his sleigh, and those rosy red cheeks. His clothes are always the same and just one glimpse of his Santa hat alone and you know who you’re dealing with.

“Santa” is known worldwide, it’s short, punchy and familiar. His deep, belly laugh when written into words… “Ho, Ho, Ho” could even be classed as his tagline.

His identity and personality shine through of a jolly, happy, warm and generous soul with a wonderful story to tell of living in the North Pole.

Mission

We know, understand, and appreciate what the mission of Santa Claus is. He is tirelessly dedicated to delivering presents and spreading joy around the world. Wanting to make the world a better place, Santa Claus represents goodwill, generosity, and the spirit of giving.

We know and hold dear everything he stands for and we most importantly choose and want to get behind and support him.

Values

‘He’s making a list and checking it twice; gonna find out who’s naughty and nice. Santa Claus is coming to town.’

We all know the song and we all know that long list he has and the hope that we’ve made it onto the nice list. At his very core, we know what Santa Claus’ values are and because of that we know exactly what to expect. His principles and what he values are clear, precise and strong and stand at the very core of his brand.

You’ll often find that a brand which establishes strong, positive values creates an equally as strong customer loyalty by attracting and keeping the right type of consumer for their product or service.

Consistent

Above all, Santa Claus is consistent, we always know what we’re getting, and he never lets us down.

Come rain or shine, he always delivers and is the epitome of reliability . His consistency creates confidence in him as a brand and most importantly we trust him with our hopes, dreams and wishes. We rarely see him in person and at most it’s once a year, but we know that when we do, we can count on him.

A brand is a promise and as such should be dependable. Consumers expect to get the same service provided every single time and Santa Claus…well, he never lets us down.

Association

One of the reasons Santa Claus is so successful is down to the emotional connections that have been built and the positive feelings we associate with him. His brand is tangible and evokes such a positive and warm feeling in his audience.

Most importantly, the brand grows and becomes more deeply engrained over time. The associations increase and evolve as new memories are made, generations are born, and traditions are followed.

Santa Claus is not just seen as a brand but is fully engrained into family life, cultures and generations. A brand that is known globally and is quite simply one of the greatest brands of all time.

“Ho, ho, ho, and Merry Christmas!”

As 2020 comes to a close, with all its up and downs, we hope it’s been one you can take some positives away from. The team at LCM would like to wish all of our clients, partners and suppliers a wonderful festive season, and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

If you are currently making your marketing plans for 2021, then please do get in touch to see how we can help, from a business rebrand for the New Year, to a new website , we can help with all of your marketing needs.

But for now, enjoy the festive season, take time out to relax and enjoy yourselves, and cherish your family and friends.

Reasons why you need to install brand guidelines

Tue, 15 Dec 2020 12:48:29 GMT

It is never too late to think about developing your brand

Whether you already have brand guidelines in place or have launched your business without them, it is never too late to think about developing your brand and creating brand guidelines for your business.

So, what are they?

Brand guidelines are a set of unique tools and rules consisting of your branding elements and how to use them. The guidelines are used by designers, copywriters, and anyone else that might be required to use your brands elements to create marketing tools. Essentially, it’s a toolbox to tap into that sings the song of your brands ethos, values and mission statement.

Brand guidelines are created once a logo, colour palette, brand voice, and a whole heap of other brand elements are established.

And most importantly, never say never! It is important to remember that it is never too late to establish brand guidelines. Whether you’re just starting out or have a business already in full swing, brand guidelines will always help your brand and not hinder when given the correct considerations.

Why are they so important?

Consistency and clarity

Without brand guidelines in place you’re at risk of setting sail without a clear destination. Campaigns, publications, advertisements need and should be consistent in the way your brand is presented to the consumer. A clear set of brand guidelines will ensure focused delivery and help to create a strong brand identity and a sense of cohesion. A focused approach will deliver clarity for not only your customer but for you as well, and as a result confidence in who you are and what you stand for. Which brings us on to…

Reputation and professionalism

When there is repetition, a strong brand identity and cohesion across all of your brand elements it creates a feeling of exclusivity and premium. Even for new businesses it gives a feeling of the brand already having been established with a clear and unique product or service. Your brand will appear reliable and your reputation will grow and build. Strong brand guidelines are the foundation, the tools and the roadmap to maintaining the quality and integrity of your brands image.

Ethos, values and brand personality

Brand guidelines ensure that when it comes to branching out and advertising yourself that your business is able to transition across a variety of different mediums. Your brand elements will be available to deliver any marketing strategy and call to action in a considered, strategic and professional way. Through your brand guidelines, the values of your business, your ethos and your unique brand personality shine through. They are essentially a representation of all your business stands for and the way in which you want to convey yourself to the outside world and how you operate.

What do they consist of?

In order to establish an appropriate set of brand guidelines for your business there is an understanding and process to go through to understand your business demographic. The who, what, why of the type of people that will buy the product or service from you. An understanding of your demographic together with your brand personality, values and mission statement will help in honing down an appropriate colour palette, logo and typography for your business.

Colour palette

The colour choice within your brand guidelines should not be underestimated. They are strong and impactful, and the right or wrong colour choice will have an effect on the type of emotions your customer feels and the experience they have in interacting with you. A well thought out colour palette will give you a set of colour combinations that will transcend across the business and brand, it is where the first subconscious impressions of your business are based.

Typography

Would you like your business to come across as warm, laidback, and approachable? Or professional, direct and bold? Two very different impressions of a business and two brand personalities that can be told through the choice of typography alone. Your logo could be one typography, your marketing material another but together there should be synergy, legibility and a true representation of who you are.

Logo design

Once your logo is designed, there should be clear guidelines in terms of when to use your logo. The minimum or maximum size that the logo should be used. The placement that is required if it is to be consistent and uniform. The colour variations if there are any, and what not to do with the logo. All important considerations and points of understanding once you have a logo under your wing.

Brand tone

Your brand personality will have a certain tone of voice that you would like your customers to feel. The language that is used, the informal or formal approach to writing will all have an impact on the tone that is portrayed. Unity should be paramount across all of your brand guidelines and tone of voice should bring a clear message to your audience of what your brand personality is.

How can LCM help you?

Brand guidelines can sometimes seem a bit of a minefield. It can sometimes even seem a little too much like hard work and need of focused attention that you just aren’t able to commit to.

At LCM we know how to get you started, how to rework elements you might already have in place and how to deliver the most cohesive, unique and clear brand image for your business through considered, professional and consistent brand guidelines.

To understand how we might be able to help you please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

Getting your customer online experience right

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 13:52:28 GMT

Make visiting your website easy, and make it a pleasure

You might wonder why people like us keep saying it is so important to get the customer experience right for visitors to your website? It’s because every day, digital professionals work with companies who, for one reason or another, have not thought about this.

In an online world where there is increasingly less person-to-person contact, your website becomes the face of your business and brand . So, just as in the face-to-face world where customer experience is a huge part of what makes you successful, you want your site to shine brightly as a true representation of the way you care about your customers. The more personalised, well thought out and unique your customer experience is for your visitors, the better placed you are to keep customers loyal, and win new business.

All digital communication must have experience of the user as its main consideration, and this can be boiled down into two key aims:

Make the customer experience easy
Make it a pleasure

Here are a few ways of doing this:

Know your own brand, how it looks and what you stand for

To engage and connect with your audience you need to have a brand identity . If you are not really clear about who you are, how will your ideal customers and how will you be able to resonate with visitors and turn them into purchasers?

The answer is that you won’t - or at least it will be a much more difficult task than if you’d invested time and energy focusing on a clear and unique brand that reflects your product and business personality .

Branding is where you make a memorable impression on your visitors and is part of what sets you apart from others in the market. You want to get this right and your ideal consumers want you to get it right too.

Make it a visual pleasure

The aesthetic of your website requires attention. We are sure you have the most fabulous products, and offer the most caring service, but if it looks boring or messy, your website just won’t back this up and people won’t get far enough to find out. As a result, your calls to action won’t have the desired effective and the uptake is lower than would otherwise have been.

Remember, your website is the forefront of your business presence online. You want it to look sleek, stylish and be easy to navigate. You want to ensure the user experience is positive and encourage consumers to revisit, purchase and spend time browsing what it is you have to offer.

Make it really easy to navigate

The layout of your website should put the user experience first, always. The journey through pages should be seamless and smooth and the number of pages to click to get to where the consumer needs to be should be as few as possible.

It reduces people’s confidence in you when the site is over-complicated, and people can’t find what they want. It also very often means that there are dead pages on your website that have useless content on them, that are out of date and no one has bothered to unpublish them or worst of all, with broken links.

You should ensure that there is prominent contact information on your website as well as a ‘click to call’ facility on the phone number, and email addresses should be ‘live’ – i.e. the site visitor only has to click on it, and an email opens for them automatically. Make it easy.

Your logo should be visible on all pages. Simple yes, but you would be surprised how many people actually miss this.

Make the words and pictures evoke the desire to engage and buy

Even when you feel as though you’re regularly putting content out but receiving little engagement, consumers will be paying attention. Spelling mistakes are a big no-no. Rushed content is also a big no-no. Careful, considered content works.

Remember people are less likely to trust a company that falls short of getting the basic details correct.

The motto is to give extra information so that customers can make a well-informed decision on what you offer. Reviews, pictures, videos, and other additions to your website will make your content more appealing to customers. Highly informative content such as blogs will add value, consumers will be more likely to share with others and in turn your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will improve.

There are various reasons why you might find it hard to get all this right. You might be too close to your business. You might not have time. You might not feel you have the expertise.

In cases like these, a professional content creator will be worth the investment. They will know how to say what your customers want to hear – and they make sure there are no grammatical or spelling errors.

How can LCM help you?

We know how to make it easy and a pleasure to use a website, and we can talk to you about the benefits this can create for your business. From improving the user journey on your website, through working on your brand, to giving regular, easy-to-understand analytic reports, we can help.

P lease get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

Why do so many businesses struggle to make their web content relevant to their site visitors?

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Fri, 09 Oct 2020 17:26:54 GMT

When building your website, there are a lot of important components to consider, and content is one of the most important.

The content on your website is your opportunity to speak to your audience and to portray your brand, values and products or services, but most SME’s seem to struggle with this.

They write what they want to tell people, from their own internal point of view. We have read many sites full of technical jargon; lists of facts and accreditations that mean very little to most buyers.

There is a place for this kind of content, usually in the form of available downloads which are accessible to people who are advanced in the sales process, i.e. they are on the way to purchasing, and want to tick some boxes.

In the first pages, though, you want visitors to be mentally nodding and saying, ‘Yes, this is what I am looking for, I am ready to find out more…’

It is so important to bear in mind relevance and to always ask yourself, “Is my website content relevant to the people who are reading it?”.

Great content that is focused and relevant will inform your audience and provide them with the information they need to take that first initial step to deciding whether your product or service is right for them.

Content should have the aim of increasing visitor interest until they want to engage with you (or buy, if you have an e-commerce site).

To be able to deliver relevant and quality content , you need to be clear on what content is and the different forms that it can take.

So, what is content?

Content refers to any copy or images on your website that your audience will encounter as part of their user experience . This can be written content such as blogs and articles and business information such as opening hours or blurb, perhaps written on your ‘about us’ page.

Graphical content is visual representations that provide instant knowledge, where your user doesn’t need to read and digest text. Graphics can take the form of images, infographics , charts, maps and many more.

Then there is the wonder of video and audio information to consider, where a clickable audio or a video might be the best way of getting engagement with the visitor. So why is providing relevant content so important?

Content should provide value to your target audience

If you and your company are clear on who your target audience is (and with many of our clients - quite large SME’s - this is not always an easy question to answer), then you will be able to find out how to speak to your audience and provide them with content that is of value, content that answers their questions, and content that they will want to engage with and share with others.

Relevant content that provides value for your audience will be useful and informative for them and in turn, should drive results such as higher conversion rates and increased website engagement for you.

Evergreen versus time-sensitive content

You will probably have two types of content on your site, evergreen and time-sensitive.

Relevant evergreen content is information that doesn’t date. When it’s highly relevant, it lasts longer, it has much greater staying power than content that is rushed and not clearly thought-through.

Time-sensitive content is information that has a ‘sell-by’ date. If you’re going to include this, it must be kept up-to-date, as well as being relevant.

We reviewed a site recently for a well-loved local firm that had ‘live’ tweets, which is a great feature, until you noticed that the last tweet had been 18 months ago. Their latest news was of a similar vintage. It hurts to see such a super group of people allowing themselves to be compromised in this way. It’s better to take it down altogether than look as if you are no longer relevant in the market.

This is where content planning comes in to play along with content marketing strategies .

If you are sharing blogs surrounding topics of interest that change very little over time, your blogs will continue to be read over and over again and they will continue to work well for your website by driving traffic to it. Blogs that can be easily updated also work well and ensure your website stays up to date, because as you know yourself, you question the provider when you stumble across out of date content.

Creates trust

When website content is relevant, well informed, focused and sharp, it helps you to build trust with your audience. They trust that you have what they need. The way in which content is delivered will provide a certain type of user experience and one that you will want to work wonders in building trust with your particular audience.

Testimonials and reviews for your company’s products or services will provide reassurance and give your target audience insight into others engagement experience with you. It will give new visitors to your website confidence. Their experience will be a positive one and they will more likely visit you again in the future.

How can we help?

Are you unsure how to deliver relevant content on your website? Have you considered a professional copywriter in the past but not quite got to the stage of hiring? Well we can help.

LCM creates copywriting that is engaging and complimentary for your brand . Copywriting is a skill and if it isn’t your forte or you don’t have time, we understand how difficult delivering relevant quality content can be. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more.

eCommerce Websites

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 15:12:26 GMT

Sell your service or products online in a just a few simple steps

The world of eCommerce has grown to new heights and it has never been easier to set up your own fully functioning eCommerce website . If you seek, you shall find - the tools are out there if you know where to find them and how to use them. All it takes is some careful thought, a little pre-planning, and a commitment to spending time on it every day thereafter, for you to create and maintain your very own eCommerce website.

We explain how you can be up and running and selling your own products online in a just a few simple steps…

Research

You might not think it but creating an online business is quicker, more cost effective and more straight forward than ever before. The overwhelm often comes from the wealth of information that is already out there but don’t despair, research is your first port of call.

Research, research, research! Spending a dedicated amount of time at the very beginning will prevent you from having to invest a greater amount of time further down the line trying to correct errors that could have been avoided at the start.

Who is your target audience? What products do they want and need? If you already have products or services to sell, what aspect of these are they interested in? Carrying out best seller searches on popular retail websites will provide you with some solid information on the most popular items already out there. By exploring popular online listings you’ll have a great idea from the outset whether what you have to offer will be in demand. You’ll be able to see what people are doing, and where there are potential gaps. For example, if you want to sell online yoga classes, what can you do that’s different from every other online yoga class? By reading up on what people want from yoga, you can start to differentiate yourself.

Design

You want your online store to reflect your ethos, brand and values. You want to create a feeling when browsing your online shop that mirrors the great experience your customers would have if they were to shop with you in person.

The experience should be a pleasant, user friendly and mobile optimised dream. Your online store needs to feel easy to navigate - from browsing to checkout should be a seamless transaction.

You’ll want to consider incorporating features such as user-generated reviews and FAQs, both of which encourage interaction with existing customers when you have them, as well as helping your potential customers to gather the information they need, and encourage them to make their purchase. If one picture says a thousand words, then several pictures will do more than a whole heap of text that is only padding. Providing your target audience with high quality visuals could be a game-changer for you.

Written and video content

You want to tell you audience succinctly what they want to know, and help them to make decisions. You need to talk on your website using words that people will be searching for, so that the search engines can put those people in touch with you.

It’s a good idea to write plenty of content that tells as well as sells. Give your audience content that teaches them about what you are selling.

This can be seductive text; if you are selling pairs of lovely shoes, or wine, or golf clubs, wax lyrical about them. If it’s Pilates classes, you can encourage them with the benefits they will gain when they learn with you, and give them plenty of evidence for what they will gain if they practice consistently both with you and between sessions.

If you are a great writer, and are setting up on a shoe-string, do this yourself, or find a friend or student to help.

Otherwise, we urge you to employ a professional and experienced web copywriter .

Have video content on your site if at all possible; again, make this educational so it helps people to gain information, and host it on You Tube or another video hosting platform and have a link to it on your site, as there are many other benefits to this too.

Choose your eCommerce Platform

When it comes to your eCommerce platform, you’ll find your choices will fall into one of two categories...hosted and self-hosted. Now this is much more straight forward than you might think and can be broken down into the following:

Hosted

Hosted eCommerce platforms are easier to set up and should you have any problems there will be a customer support team ready to help you out of any sticky situation. In a nutshell they host your online store and will take care of any server maintenance woes you might have whilst also ensuring payment integration and security measures are adhered to.

Self-Hosted

Where hosted eCommerce platforms might hold your hand and show you the way, self-hosted eCommerce platforms let you spread your wings and gives you complete control. This option will require more time investment but give you the benefit of creating your ultimate vision from scratch.

There are pros and cons of choosing either option and you really want to take your time here to figure out the best eCommerce platform for you and your online store. You’ll want to consider elements such as the features they offer, design (you will be limited to design templates offered on hosted platforms), payment integration options and cost.

Marketing your eCommerce website

You have arrived, you look great and you are ready to take on the world. Marketing is where you will need to focus your efforts. Consider how to drive customers to your online store and how to stand out amongst the crowd.

Marketing your online store can take on several different forms and wear many different hats.

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is probably the quickest way of getting business; Google AdWords and remarketing, as well as those of the other search engines are a great place to start.

Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is your new best friend and when optimised to its full potential will see traffic being generated to your online store from search engines. Read our blogs on this subject to give you more information.

Content marketing strategies will ensure the information that you are putting out there is valuable, focused and relevant and will sit hand in hand with SEO.

Social Media is at your fingertips and when utilised correctly will help to market your online store to your ideal customers.

Then, there is email marketing, once set up and you have your tailored list of customers you can keep them up to date with offers, product launches and relevant content that will be of interest to them.

Consider also traditional PR, and gain mentions in online and offline publications that your audience is reading. A well-placed, super-interesting article can transform your business overnight.

Measure Business Performance and continually update

Lastly and not least is knowing how your online store is performing. Measuring the performance of your online store cannot be underestimated or overlooked.

You will have targets that you want to reach and if you don’t have these, you should have. The success of those targets can be measured through monitoring conversion rates to see which marketing strategies are driving paying customers to your online store.

Monitor site traffic to see how many customers are visiting your online store and what their journey is when they get there. Analytics when understood and used correctly, will deliver beneficial and useful statistics to help drive your online business forwards.

So, whether you already have an online store that is not quiet behaving, or you wish you had an online store that showcased your wonderful service or products, we can help you. From design and content, strategy planning and recommendations, all the way through to creation we know what works, the best platforms to use, and how to drive customer behaviour.

Plus, once your site is finished, we will encourage you to monitor your key performance indictors to improve your site’s progress and measure the success of your marketing strategies.

How can LCM help you?

To find out more and discover how we can help you, call 01489 891 870 or email info@lcm.co.uk .

We would love to hear from you!

Understanding SEO...and why it is so important

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 15:39:19 GMT

Increase traffic to your website organically as well as using paid Ads

What is SEO?

SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimisation’. In simple terms, this means using methods to ensure your website is found when people are searching for companies like yours. It includes:

making sure the content of the pages on your website is what the search engines, such as Google and Bing are looking for
making sure search engines see your site as being valuable, such as having other valued sites linking back to your site

When search engines such as Google understand who you are and what you are offering, they can match your website to the words and phrases that your target audience is searching for. It is not ‘potluck’ as to whether your website appears in the top-ranking results, it is in fact the wonders of SEO that increase the visibility and ranking of your site.

So, why is SEO so important?

1. SEO increases traffic

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is as much about search engines as it is about people and understanding the words and phrases that your target audience is searching for online. SEO is still the best way to improve your visibility online , and reach customers that are actively seeking information and services that you provide.

When search engine results are optimised it improves your ranking and in turn boosts the number of people visiting and clicking links on your website. This is in itself a virtuous circle; the more people visit your site, the more valuable a search engine will rank it, and so on. This leads us nicely into our next point…

2. Higher conversion rate

It goes without saying that if you are reaching your target audience organically and they are coming to you for the solution to their problem, the conversion rate from clicking on your website to generating sales has a greater chance of being higher. You are providing the service and products that your audience needs and you are right there with the answers to their problems. It is, of course important that your site makes it very easy for people to find what they want; if they don’t, they will click off, and this will, over time, probably have an adverse effect on your site’s rankings.

3. An inbound marketing strategy

SEO is a much more comfortable way of generating leads and sales in comparison to the traditional outbound marketing we are all familiar with. Inbound marketing strategy with SEO centres all around making it easy for your audience to find you when they want to. It is much less aggressive, sits there quietly in the background and compared to Pay Per Click (PPC) , it’s free! When your target audience is ready, your website will appear like a knight in shining armour ready to save them from their quandary. Telemarketing is still a very valuable form of marketing, and should not be discounted, but with good SEO you have an additional source of leads who are more likely to be ready to buy.

4. Structure and content

SEO links with many other fundamental aspects of your website and helps to organise and structure your website so that the user experience is straight forward and your website easy to navigate and interact with.

SEO also links in with providing and putting out great content as without it, search engines simply will not deem your website worthy of appearing up there with the best of them.

You need SEO as without it, your website will be so far down in search engines it may as well have disappeared into the ether, and all your marketing and branding efforts will land at the door of a competitor’s website whose website is search engine optimised.

Once SEO is up, running and in full working order it will continue to pay dividends for you for many years to come.

How can LCM help you?

We have SEO experts on our team, who work day in, day out to ensure our clients’ onsite SEO, offsite SEO and local SEO is the best it can be (as well as LCM’s site, of course, you may have found us because we are pretty well optimised). We analyse , we research , we understand and most importantly we know how to provide results and boost your website’s visibility .

Telephone 01489 891 870 or email info@lcm.co.uk to have a chat with one of our friendly team and find out more.

Website Management Struggles...and how to overcome them

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 13:57:14 GMT

Avoid website overwhelm with our helpful hints

Do you have a website already out there? One that you maybe set up a couple of years ago? Are you plagued with problems and don’t know where to start to try and fix them? You’re not alone!

It is a common misconception that once a website is created and live, the hard work stops there. In fact, websites require proper maintenance and a regular overview to check everything is working like clockwork.

We’ve said it once and we will say it again, your website is the heart of your online presence. It must look good and be user friendly and work on ALL devices. Which leads us to the first of our website management struggles…

Your website doesn’t look good/work on a mobile

A poor user experience on a mobile will be both frustrating for your audience and damaging to your business. It will hinder everything you are trying to achieve by having an online presence. So many of us are reaching for our mobiles to look at a webpage or search for a service, that it is paramount that your information and messages deliver just as well through PC screen, a mobile device and a tablet.

It might be that your website is past its best and hosted on a platform that isn’t set up for the modern way we scroll and search. Remember, mobile devices have smaller screens, slower data connections and in general lower bandwidths. All points of consideration if you’re having to redesign to ensure mobile optimisation on your website.

Outdated website design

Nothing will make your website stand out for all the wrong reasons, more than an out of date web design. What was acceptable five years ago will not be the most effective design today. Technology moves on quickly and you need to be able to keep up with the pace and move with the times.

A regular review of your website will ensure it is continually working for your audience and not against it. A change in web design might be necessary to better reflect your brand and show you are up there with the best of them.

You don’t have enough content or a strategy to create it

If you don’t have a plan, the content you create won’t flow or lead your audience to the end goal. All the information, images, contact details and services offered may be there on your website but if they are not delivered in a way that that makes the audience journey a straightforward one, you will lose their attention and ultimately lose out.

A content marketing plan and a digital marketing strategy to drive visitors to your website is essential. A well thought through content strategy that gives your audience all the information they need to make a well-informed decision can and will boost enquiries and sales. The better the information, the more likely the visitor will return and if they don’t buy straight away, will buy in the future.

Search Engine Optimisation isn’t working for your website

There is no point having a lovely website if you don’t appear in search results, and no one sees all the fantastic things you have to offer. Your website needs to be visible and the importance of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) cannot be underestimated.

If you have fallen into any of the website management struggles already listed above, then a website redesign might be on the cards. But, before you go any further, it is important to note that a change in website can negatively impact on your SEO and should be carefully managed but if handled correctly, it can boost your SEO strength. Seek guidance to ensure you don’t slip up here - the team at LCM can help from guiding you through the changes that needs to be made to managing a whole website redesign project if that’s what’s needed.

Your competitors use AdWords to drive traffic to their site and you don’t

One of most certain ways of gaining new site visitors is to use AdWords and other forms of Pay Per Click advertising . Are you worried about how much it will cost? Have you tried it and had your fingers burned?

This area of digital marketing has become pretty sophisticated, and it is worth employing a specialist to do it for you. But this must be someone who can demonstrate to you that they will do the work they promise, and that they have a good track record. You need to spend time with them to ensure they set it up effectively and a regular report and call with them to make sure your money is being spent to best effect. Let us know if you wish to talk to us about this.

Analytics – Is website visitor tracking a mystery?

You are live, your SEO is in place, you have AdWords up and running, you have a strategy, updated website and a site that converts well to mobile BUT you’re not sure how many people are actually visiting your website! Without the tools to measure the traffic to your website it is simply ‘sitting pretty’. It is so important to have the know-how to analyse where traffic is being driven from, how your audience is behaving once they arrive at your website and the journey they take when they get there. Analytics will be your new best friend and without it, the user experience of your audience is a guessing game.

How can LCM help you?

If any of the above rings true and you don’t know where to start in managing your website please get in touch with us by calling 01489 891870 or emailing us at info@lcm.co.uk .

We will work with you to find the best possible solutions to the problems you’re having and ensure you have the tools and know how going forward. From website redesign , analytics and the best landing pages in the business to tailoring your client’s user experience through the wonder of AI.

We’ve got you covered!

Websites…would you know where to start?

Mon, 27 Jul 2020 11:07:38 GMT

Here are some important points to consider

Engaging people to create and build or update your website so that it brings real results can seem daunting; we hear how difficult some people have found it, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Creating a website that reflects your brand and vision whilst accomplishing its main purpose whether that be generating sales, marketing your service, or providing advertising can be just a few steps away.

Here we have pulled together important points to consider when thinking about your own website, and briefing a specialist to build it for you.

A Goal

Before you can get stuck into the creative side of building a website it is important to really take some time to consider what the primary purpose of your website is? What is it you’d like to achieve? Is it a product or service that you are delivering to your audience?

To ensure your website reflects your vision and brand you have to start here, and be 100% committed and clear on your overall goal. The day will come when you want to advertise your website on the web, (using Adwords and other pay per click opportunities) and you will need to decide what constitutes a specific goal.

Research

Never underestimate the power of research . Get out there and see what your competitors are doing. What is it they are doing right? What is it they are doing wrong and could do better? Whose website really speaks to you - competitor or just another site you’ve seen - and what elements of it would you like to incorporate into your own? You need to get a feel for what is already out there and understand how you can stand out in the crowd.

Brand and key messages

Your brand is important and encompasses elements that collectively make up your brand identity. If you don’t already have an identity, what will your organisation be called, and what will it look like? Your brand logo will be in prime position and is where visitors to your website will be taken back to the landing page with just one click of a button. Make it memorable and that goes for your business name too.

As well as what sounds good you, you also need to make sure that the .co.uk and .com domains are available for your organisation. You don’t want to put all that effort in to find that the name you have chosen has been taken, and even derivations of it might mean you unintentionally drive traffic to another site as well as your own.

Consistency is key, and taking time to ensure that your brand is coherent and in line with other assets of your business such as social media, business cards, flyers and so on will help to establish your website.

We are sure you have experienced a situation where you click on an ad or a promo email, or respond to an ad offline, only to wonder if you have landed in the right place, because everything looks and sounds different when you get onto the website.

Content

Content, content, content . This is where you can really showcase what you have to offer. You can have a lot of impact on how long visitors stay tuned in to your website by way of delivering information in different forms such as videos, images, taglines and call to actions to name a few.

However, always keep in mind that it is quality over quantity. Prioritize the content you’d like your audience to reach first. Consider where images and infographics could best be utilised and ensure your content drives the customer behaviour you set out in your goal.

Design

It is not just the content and call to actions that drive behaviours but the colours you choose to incorporate into your website. When you look at your brand, make sure you have accent colours which enable you to evoke particular emotions as well as impacting on behaviours, so it is important to spend some time here.

The layout of your website is paramount in ensuring it is easy to navigate and user friendly. Font choice is as important as colour choice and you need to ensure that it is legible and links with your brand. Your website needs to be eye-catching, deliver information clearly and work effectively on both a computer and mobile device.

How can LCM help?

Sound complicated? It doesn’t have to be. We can give you all this and more and ensure you have the right tools at your disposal to measure your website's success .

Each website we build is tailored to your needs to fit in with your brand vision and values - no templates here. And they are SO easy for you to use. Whether you need a ‘brochure’ site, an e-commerce or something more complex, just let us know.

Telephone 01489 891 870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Done a PESTEL analysis recently? Why doing one could be a game changer

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 11:41:29 GMT

Why did hanging out the washing make us think of PESTEL?

Why did hanging out the washing prompt us to bring up the subject of PESTEL analysis? You’ll see from our photo the washing included reusable vegetable bags and face masks.

Whilst thousands of businesses are really suffering right now, those quick off the mark have created great opportunities for themselves.

Reusable vegetable bags came in response to the increasing reduction in the use of plastic bags in supermarkets and other shops; even biodegradable bags create waste and so reusable ones are ideal for the eco-conscious consumer (including Sainsbury’s shoppers where bags are no longer available, good for you Sainsbury’s!). We predict an increasing opportunity here for anyone engaged in creating/marketing/distributing items made from fabric.

And of course, from 24 July this year, face masks will become mandatory in many more places. Here at LCM we started using them some weeks ago, and have stocked up with some pretty ones! We predict most people will have at least 3 masks – one to wear, one in the wash and one in the car/handbag/pocket, like a hanky. Our response is to have about 7 each, using a new mask each day – like knickers!

A PESTEL analysis helps you identify such opportunities in your world.

We recommend doing one quarterly along with your SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats). So, what is a PESTEL analysis ?

Similar to a SWOT, it is a mnemonic as follows:

Political
Economic
Social (including health)
Technology
Environment
Legal

It’s an ideal group meeting , to get key people around the table and look at each area in turn. Ask, what is and what do we foresee happening? For example, p olitically, that could be a threat or an opportunity to our business? e.g. a forthcoming General Election, a country’s devolution, a change of MP in your area, or a new bill going through parliamentary processes before becoming law.

Some areas may be irrelevant to your business, others highly relevant.

When you have identified threats and opportunities, create an action list with specific actions, responsibilities and deadlines clearly identified.

It takes time, and in our experience, the companies who put time into planning are much more likely to attain long-term success. Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

How can LCM help?

Don’t know where to start? Lizz Clarke can facilitate a workshop with you and your team, on this or indeed your whole marketing strategy.

Get in touch by emailing info@lcm.co.uk

Why it's important to consider Research as part of your Marketing

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:24:17 GMT

Having good market insight helps to minimise risks

When starting off a new marketing campaign do you know the answers to questions like; who is my target customer? What new type of customer do I want to attract? What are my competitors doing to attract customers?

All of these questions can be answered with research !

In order to plan a successful marketing campaign, or even create a successful marketing strategy , it’s important to gain market insight to help you identify what your customers and prospects want and how they might view your business to help you identify gaps in your marketing planning.

Having good market insight helps to minimise risks when making key business decisions, here are some examples of where market research can help with your marketing:

1. Identifying your customers

You probably know who your current customers are and have an idea why they want to purchase from you – but do you know the similarities between your customers? Ensuring you’ve carried out some thorough market research and looked at your customer profiles it'll be clear to you who you want to reach out to (your target customers), where you can reach them (your marketing channels), and what they're interested in.

2. Making sure your product or service is still ‘up to scratch’

Carrying out regular market research is a way to check in with your current customers and potential customers to ensure that you are still meeting their needs. Asking for feedback from your customers you can check general customer satisfaction, ask opinions on new products, or even find out why they might leave you – all this valuable feedback can help ensure you are meeting your customer’s needs.

3. Creating relevant marketing materials

If you’re stuck on what images to use in marketing materials or how to word a brand strapline, checking back to your market research can help with these processes to guide you as to how to position your marketing so it’s relevant to the audience you are wanting to attract. For example, knowing whether customers see your product or service as a necessity or as a luxury, or knowing the age range of your customers.

4. Knowing where to advertise

Your market research can help ensure that you are reaching your intended audience in the channels where they’re most likely to see your message.

5. Staying ahead of your competitors

If you can stay ahead of your competitors in terms of knowing your customers’ needs and you can then do a good job at meeting those needs, you've got a better chance of standing out from the competition. As mentioned above, you can use market research to help you identify and then target dissatisfied customers or identify unaddressed customer needs.

6. Keeping up to date with what your competitors are up to

By monitoring your competitors’ movements with market research, you can ensure that you staying competitive in your market in terms of price, product, marketing and even spotting new product or service opportunities.

7. Reacting to market trends

Staying up to date with your industry news, research and market sizes and trends can help you to identify any potential risks you might need to address, such as competitors taking higher market shares or new industry standards.

8. Support business planning

Without market research it may be difficult for you to know if your goals are achievable or even how to achieve them in the first place. Additionally, when making business decisions where you might be making changes to your product or distribution, for example, being able to refer to a market research report for guidance may help with those tricky decisions by telling you things like if you will be able to reach more people who are likely to buy from you, or where to spend your advertising budget.

The better-informed your strategic marketin g decisions, the more likely you are to succeed in achieving your business objectives.

How can LCM help?

Don’t know where to start? Our team acts as your partner to find out what is most important to your targets so you know how to make your marketing as effective as possible. We can help with research services such as commissioning research reports, analysing findings within research reports and mystery shopping.

Get in touch by calling 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Are you making the most of your analytics to boost sales?

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 11:08:57 GMT

Your analytics can provide mission-critical insights

Do you know all of your business numbers? We are not talking your income or profit and loss figures, but your website visitor data and your social media analytics data. These numbers can provide mission-critical insights for growing and adapting your company, but many businesses overlook them, or think that ‘their web people will have it in hand’.

The data behind visits to your website , downloads and uses of your apps, opening of emails and social media engagement can all deliver invaluable information about the behaviour of customers and potential new customers.

You can use analytics to assess your audience’s behaviour, find out what aspects of your business they are most interested in, and adjust your communications to be more customer-centric – after all data-driven marketing is here, and it’s only going to get more important.

Analytics can show which products on your website are being viewed and purchased the most, which content is being shared widely on social media and which is not being read, and can help to shape and drive your whole business forward.

The other key way in which analytics can help to boost sales is by looking at how customers find your site and which pages they come to first on your site. That knowledge helps you to optimise those pages and to adjust your SEO marketing strategy if appropriate.

This kind of knowledge is invaluable when it comes to growing your customer base and acquiring new customers regularly, to provide your business with a strong pipeline, helping to boost potential ongoing sales.

Analytics can also be used to improve the customer experience on your site by showing you where they enter and leave it, what they download or buy, and what they don’t bother with. You can follow their journeys to help adapt and update, improving conversion.

Social media analytics can be used to adapt and adjust your marketing campaign and communications. It’s not just about how many likes you get, but how people are engaging with your content. How often your posts are being shared is an indication of how broadly your brand messaging is reaching new audiences.

If people are engaging more with certain topics, then you can be assured these are the areas which interest your customers so you can adjust your content and communications accordingly, to add value by proving you understand what they want.

Improving the customer journey through your website can increase conversions, while making your content more relevant and shareable, can increase the amount of shares and the amount of people who see it. Both of these actions will lead to more potential sales for your business.

Analytics can be undervalued by businesses, which tend to focus on likes and open rates as a very basic assessment. However, deep analytical data can provide an enormous insight into customers and would-be customers’ behaviour.

How can LCM help?

If you would like to make the best of analytics to help boost sales in your business, but don’t really know where to start, then give us a call at LCM Marketing and we can get our analytics experts to carry out an in-depth assessment and report on all of your business data.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Educate young people with videos of your workplace

Fri, 22 May 2020 08:18:01 GMT

Young people are concerned about their futures and what jobs will be available for them when they leave education. They feel cut off. You can help by working with the charity EBP to interact with them and teach them about your world.

EBP South /Basingstoke Consortium is a local charity with a mission to inspire and prepare young people for the world of work. Our MD Lizz Clarke is one of the charity's Trustees, and is passionate about what they do.

EPB is asking for your help to highlight and explore career opportunities in your business, by producing short videos that could inform and inspire students.

Earlier during Lockdown, the charity setup a YouTube channel to engage and support students across the Hampshire area with online information, for different industries and career paths. The links are being sent out to students from schools:-

https://www.ebpsouth.co.uk/career-support-through-coronavirus

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMvBQ1JIr5dnJNrTDPX6DwA

If you think you could record yourself and produce a short video to inspire and highlight careers in your business, please get in touch to discuss further or use the guidance below to produce and send in your videos to: careersguidance@ebpsouth.co.uk .

Alternatively if you would be prepared to share your experience on a video call as a Q and A session contact EBP directly to organise this.

Guidance for Videos:

If you (or members of your team) are able to record a short video clip about yourself and your career we would be very grateful to receive this. We can put it together, host and deliver it via our YouTube Channel. Please see below for some guidelines:

Individuals can record themselves at home or in the work place answering one or more of the questions below (ideally 3 or more to give an informative insight). EBP suggests 3-4 minutes in total. No specialist skills or video software required, a laptop or computer with a webcam and a free piece of software such as Camera (on windows machines would be fantastic). EBP will come back to you prior to publishing any content to confirm you are happy with the content.

Below is a list of suggested questions you could consider including in your video clip:

Questions for the video

What is your current job and what is the most enjoyable part of it?
How did you get into this career?
How could I get into this career and what qualifications would I need?
What is the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you overcome it?
What has been the most rewarding thing you have achieved in your career?
If you could change anything about your career journey what would it be and why?
What are your top three tips for getting into this career?

Thank you from all EBP's young people for your help and support at this time.

Thanks also to Gerd Almann for the use of your image on this post.

Why your corporate identity is more than just a logo

Thu, 14 May 2020 10:37:30 GMT

Business identity needs to be embedded in the business strategy

When it comes to creating and embedding a brand, the difference between the firms which develop really strong brands, and the firms where the brand remains weak, is a matter of strategy.

The job of building the brand needs to be embedded in the business strategy and is so much more than choosing a pretty logo.

The process starts with identify your DNA; your values, mission, ethos and the way you do things. We advise working across your team to delve into who you really are, because that way you will reflect your integrity in your brand, rather than trying to be something you are not. And (we would say this, but it's true), we strongly recommend having an external brand specialist come and facilitate this for you.

Not only does the brand specialist get the most from everyone - for example making sure everyone's involved - but they also gain a really strong knowledge and feeling for how to interpret who you are, in terms of visual identity and copy.

One of the important things about getting everyone involved, is partly to ensure that the brand is just as much about the quiet, thoughtful team members as it is about the extroverts who find it easy to share, and partly to gain total buy-in to the brand.

You need to ensure that every person lives the brand consistently throughout every aspect of your company. When they are involved in its development from the outset, they are far more likely to feel they belong to it, and vice versa.

The business strategy

A company usually has some kind of business strategy by the time we get involved in developing the brand, and it's important that the brand is embedded throughout the strategy; this means the directors responsible need to champion the brand for their departments such as:

Receptionists, customer service and salespeople need to demonstrate the brand as they are the front line

HR - in recruiting, training and developing the people who can carry the brand forward

Finance & accounts - in the way that customer and supplier interactions happen so that they are consistent with your brand values

Operations - so that products and services are delivered in a way that's integral to the brand

The creative strategy

The business strategy can then be used to develop a creative or brand strategy . This creative strategy will help to ensure that any brand which is developed, including the design and messaging, will clearly represent and benefit your business, and take it forward.

The creative strategy will explain how all of the branding elements, the tone of voice and the messaging will help to drive your business and will include guiding principles to protect and govern your brand.

Getting corporate identity right is paramount to securing a successful future for your business going forward and our dedicated creative team will use their knowledge and expertise to understand your business and create an identity which is you.

Positioning and messaging

With the strategy in place, then it’s time to get creative and develop an identity which will meet all of the strategic objectives. A complete identity will include how you position your business in the marketplace; how you communicate to your key audiences; what your key messages are; how you differentiate from competitors.

All of these elements will need to be considered and captured to develop a positioning and messaging approach for your company. Once we have developed these, it will enable all corporate marketing and branding to be carried out consistently.

Design and branding

Your logo, imagery, corporate colours, font and design style all need to reflect your business personality, appeal to your target audience and help to achieve your business goals. It’s important to spend time to get this right.

The design and style needs to work with the key messaging and positioning – for example, if you are positioning your business as a serious corporate enterprise you probably don’t want to use cartoon-style imagery.

We’ve worked with companies to create new brands, refresh existing ones, and design brand guidelines so that you have a clear, consistent image and the rest of your team understand how to use it.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with selecting imagery or any aspect of building your brand, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

10 things you didn't know about PPC

Fri, 01 May 2020 12:30:48 GMT

Pay Per Click is essential for online marketing campaigns

Pay Per Click is as essential to any online marketing campaign as SEO and content marketing, as a cost effective and very measurable way of getting your products and services in front of customers you can't find any other way, at the exact time when they are in the buying process.

Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the world of PPC:

1. Mobile is the biggest place where people are likely to click on ads

It’s vital that your PPC ads are designed to work on mobile as this is a huge and growing market. If your ad hasn’t been optimised you will be missing out. Make sure the design not only fits on a mobile screen but that your “call to action” buttons are clickable with one finger. You can also create “call me” buttons for phones, where the user just has to click on the button to automatically connect with you. Make the best use of this medium when planning a PPC campaign.

2. Remarketing works to increase conversion

Remarketing ads (where what you searched for, continues to appear on other pages after you searched for it) have been proven to increase conversion rates over time. They are a great way to keep pushing your brand and to serve as a reminder to the customer that they have visited your site once before, so why not take another look.

3. Half of those who click, still want to call

In B2B in particular, a lot of the people who click on an ad will still want to speak to you as well, so make sure you feature your company phone number in the campaign, or use the “click to call” button which works particularly well if people come across your ad while on their mobile phone.

4. The higher your click through rate, the lower the cost

If your ad is receiving a high rate of click-throughs, your overall cost per click will be lower and your ad will be seen as high quality by the online host, improving your reputation going forward and making it more likely for your ad campaigns to be accepted.

5. You need to track the calls as well as the clicks

It’s important to track not only the clicks through from a PPC ad, but also the calls, particularly if you have a “click to call” option on the advert. It will make a big difference to the conversion rates potentially if you measure and track both figures. Getting a return on investment relies on a very strong communications thread between your website and your sales process. Even when it's automated, it needs people to analyse what's happening. In B2B, ROI is very often reliant on good processes and sales people ensuring conversion of leads.

6. Aim for the top three ad spots on the page to generate the most clicks

Even if your SEO is outstanding, paid for clicks very often out-perform organic clicks, so try to get the top three ad spots on the page in your PPC campaign. If you can then use SEO to get the top three organic searches as well, your brand will be in a pretty unassailable position.

7. Using negative keywords can boost your campaign

Adding negative keywords - i.e. words or phrases that prevent your ad from being triggered, can help to target and refine your audience further, making sure your ads don’t get shown to people who would have no interest in seeing them. This can be an important strategy to increase conversion rates.

8. PPC doesn’t get impacted by algorithm changes

While SEO and content can get adversely affected by algorithm changes and updates from the online platforms like Google or Facebook, a PPC campaign won’t be affected and will continue working for you come what may.

9. Many people can’t tell if they are clicking on an ad

Many people using Google and other platforms aren’t very good at telling the difference between a paid for ad and organic search results so while it is easy to assume people don’t click on the adverts, that’s just not the case. And as Search Ads become more and more sophisticated, even those that do know the difference, are caring less about what's an ad and what's organic, as long as it takes us where we want to go.

10. PPC can be carried out on a small advertising budget

With PPC you can advertise no matter how small your budget might be and it’s also very easy to scale the spending up and down as you need to.

PPC is not just carried out on platforms like Google and Bing. Social media channels are also a great place to get your message out to the market. Based on your target audience, one or multiple platforms might be utilised as part of a paid social strategy.

It's important to factor in that someone needs to set up and run your campaign, so remember this when budgeting, whether you use an outside agency or sub contractor, or a paid employee.

How can LCM help?

Here at LCM we offer PPC services across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr. So whether it’s advertising to promote brand awareness, drive conversions or recruit new members to your team, get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

10 easy content ideas to create for your business

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 12:42:28 GMT

There are lots of options for creating content of value

Content marketing is here to stay for the foreseeable future but what does that mean for small to medium-sized businesses? Once you have created your website, blog and general marketing material what else is there?

The good news is there are lots of options for creating content of value to help support your business, whether your goal is to raise awareness, launch a new product or boost overall sales, content can help. Here is a quick rundown of 10 easy content ideas to develop:

1. Infographics
An infographic is simply another way to explain information to customers, using graphics, images and statistics to explain tricky concepts, patterns or findings. So rather than producing a huge long report which no-one will read, you can create a visual version of your information which customers can assess at a glance. There is free software online if you have time to master it, such as Canva. If you aren’t sure how to go about creating an infographic or don't have time, the team at LCM can help.

2. Brochures

A staple for most businesses, brochures still have a role to play in the current digital age, particularly if you make online and interactive versions of them for your website. You don’t need to spend a fortune on print, but a nicely designed brochure on your website which people can flick through virtually can be just as effective. This is meat and drink to the team at LCM so please let us know if we can help.

3. Engaging video

Short videos are ideal for a whole range of communications; think about creating a few which very quickly introduce the company and what you do, which can then be shared across social media channels and hosted on the homepage of your website, as well as on YouTube. Video is an invaluable tool for any business. Links to them can be emailed out as a link to prospects and to help recruit new staff and they don't have to cost the earth to produce. We work with some of the best specialists in this arena so let us know if you need their support.

4. Animation

If you don’t want a traditional video but want to create some interactivity and movement in your content then why not look at using animation – creating a bespoke animated design could make your business stand out from the crowd. There are many great companies who can do this for you, and if you don't have time to find them yourself, we have some great associate companies who would be happy to have an initial chat with you.

5. Landing pages

If you have a specific promotion or offer, just set up a landing page which people can go to for details and to make their enquiry or purchase. Your marketing campaign can drive people to the page via links and adverts. Our team are expert at creating landing pages so let us know if we can help.

6. White papers

Content is a great way to help position your business as an expert so why not carry out a survey or do some desk research on a particular industry issue and produce a white paper on all of the results which you can then use for PR and publish as a valuable asset for customers on your website. White papers are part of our core expertise here at LCM and we would love to help.

7. Leaflets

Another staple for businesses, leaflets have a multiple purpose, whether you give them away at events, have them available for customers to pick up at key contact points, or post them out, they can be an inexpensive piece of content to help promote your services. This is an area of core expertise at LCM so please let us know if we can help.

8. Free giveaways

Giveaways come in many formats from E-books to toolkits, from calculators to cheat sheets. A free giveaway has to be useful, valuable and make them trust that you know what you are talking about so they are more likely to come back to you and spend money the next time they do.

9. Sales emails

Once someone has given you their email in order to download the free giveaway, you need to create a set of sales emails so you can maintain contact and let them know about all of the other products and services you offer. This is a core area of our expertise, so let us know if we can help.

10. Case studies and testimonials

People choose companies through word of mouth or recommendation, so it’s really important to develop testimonials and case studies so prospective customers can hear directly how you have helped other customers in a similar situation. This is part of our core expertise, so let us help.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with producing any content, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

The Four Step Branding Process - Step 4 - How to implement your new brand

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 15:55:00 GMT

Professional and Consistent Branding is Vital

Welcome to the concluding blog in our series looking at the four step branding process and why professional and consistent branding is vital to any successful business. So far, we have looked at brand workshops , developing a brand manual and creating a visual brand identity .

This final fourth step brings together all of the processes carried out in steps one to three, to actually put the newly created brand into practical use by implementing the new messaging and visual identity across all of your business marketing materials.

Digital
Your new visual approach needs to work digitally as well as in print so once the designs are all in place you need to update all of your online presence, which means not only your website but also all your social media platforms, email signatures and anywhere else your brand appears online.

Stationery
If you use headed paper, branded notepads, envelopes or any other stationery then you will need a plan in place to wind down use of the old branded sets and move into the new brand. It may be a gradual change so as not to waste resources, or it may be immediate with old stock taken to recycling.

Marketing collateral
All your business marketing collateral including leaflets, brochures, flyers, printed banners, business cards and any catalogues you might have, will all need to be updated and reprinted in the new branding so you will need to have a budget set aside for this. If you are a new business then you just need to make sure you have versions of the brand visuals to use in different formats as you start to create various marketing materials.

Advertising
Don’t forget, if you have any long running advertising campaigns booked, either online, or in print, you will need to update the artwork and provide a new advert to the publication or website in the revised branding.

Signage
An easy one to overlook once the branding has been updated is any signage which you have on the outside of the building, or on the estate where your business is based such as directional signs. All of these now need to be updated as well.

Legal documents
If you have changed the business name and/or logo then this will all need to be reflected and updated in any legal documents relating to the business.

The very final stage in this four step branding process is to create Brand Guidelines for the business. The guidelines ensure that the visual identity such as colours, fonts and sizes and position of logos, will be consistent throughout all marketing materials. The guidelines mean anyone working on the brand will do so in the same way.

If you would like to speak to our branding experts or book a brand workshop for your business then please do give us a call or send us an email about your requirements today. Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk.

The Four Step Branding Process - Step 3: Developing your brand identity

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 11:23:29 GMT

Translating words into visuals

This series of blog posts is looking at the four step branding process and why professional and consistent branding is vital to any successful business. In the first step, we looked at brand workshops to develop ideas, followed by the second step of creating the brand manual .

This third step takes the process forward by using all of the information gleaned from the workshop and presented in the manual, to actually start developing a visual brand identity for your business to use in the future.

The brand manual in step two , provided the wording for the brand values and mission, giving a clear idea of how the brand should be representing itself and the kinds of words to be used when talking about it.

This third stage is about translating those words into visuals which work in conjunction with the messaging, bringing the whole look and feel of the brand together. If your words shout ‘luxury’, but the images you use are tacky, then the brand identity won’t work.

It’s important to choose colours, imagery and fonts which all reflect the look and feel the brand identity needs to create . If it’s a fun, vibrant identity then go for bright colours, fun fonts and happy images – whereas if you want a serious corporate look, that type of approach won’t work.

The brand workshop in stage one will have thrown out lots of ideas for design and visual brand identity so this stage is to build from there and select the most appropriate visual options, and then try working with them in different environments.

Take the ideas and ask a designer to mock up how they could be used on a website, or a leaflet, and what kind of logo designs could be created using the kinds of colours and imagery that were chosen in the workshop.

This stage is all about finalising the visual concept of the brand, in line with the wording and messaging from the brand manual, so you start to see a really strong, clear brand identity coming through for the business.

It needs to stand out from the crowd but also resonate with your audience and be instantly recognisable , so when people see the brand logo and colours, they know exactly which company it is and what they can expect from you.

Once the brand identity has been decided upon, the business will be ready to move to the fourth and final step in the branding process – which is Brand Implementation. At this stage – which will be the subject of our next blog in more detail – the business will be applying the new brand identity to create new marketing materials, and developing brand guidelines so they are always produced consistently going forward.

The Four Step Branding Process - Step 2: Create your brand manual

Fri, 07 Feb 2020 11:40:28 GMT

Review the outcomes of the brand workshop and pull all your ideas together

In our last blog post we examined the reasons why branding is important to business, and looked at the first step in creating and establishing a new brand: holding a branding workshop to tease out the DNA of the company and discover the building blocks for the visual imagery and brand messaging.

Once the workshop has taken place, the second stage in brand development is to take all of the ideas, colours, messaging and wording which came out of the workshop and use it to create the brand manual.

The brand manual is the guide book which highlights all of the key elements which will go to make up your unique business identity which include:

Brand strapline
DNA and values
Brand mission
Brand promises

1. Brand strapline

The business strapline is one of the most important aspects of business branding. It normally appears with the logo and is how customers identify with the brand. Most world-renowned companies have straplines which are instantly recognisable, such as Nike's – Just Do It. This is a great example of how to enable a customer to relate to the brand emotionally rather than logically.

A good strapline should be simple but effective and needs to appeal to the customer by giving them something they want to aspire for or be part of. It’s important not to try to be too clever or corny – simple is better.

2. Brand DNA

Identifying your brand DNA, which uncovers the business' values, means you can define and shape your organisation and the way you operate. It is the essential backbone for the rest of the branding elements. If you can clearly identify and define what your brand values are, then your staff and your customers will find it much easier to identify with the business, to feel part of it, and have an emotional connection to it.

Values will help to differentiate the business from competitors and should be a clearly visible part of the company branding, published on the website for open transparency. Values should also be upheld – it’s vital that every aspect of the business is delivered in line with them.

3. Brand mission

The brand mission should be short and bold, stating the difference which the company intends to make in the world. It’s aim is to motivate employees and customers and clearly define the purpose of the company.

The brand mission should come out of the work carried out in the branding workshop, pulling together the crux of what the business aims to achieve. It should be clear, ambitious and action-focused to inspire motivation.

4. Brand promises

The brand promises are the final elements which make up the brand manual. These promises outline exactly the experience which every single customer can expect to receive from the business.

The more the company can deliver on these promises, the more the customers will believe in the brand values and trust the company to stay true to its word. Brand promises can help to support and enhance the business reputation and bring the values to life.

Once the branding manual has been created, the business will be ready to move to the third step in the branding process – which is developing the Brand Identity. At this stage – which will be the subject of our next blog in more detail – the business will take the brand manual and start to work on the visual elements of the brand.

The Four Step Branding Process: Step 1 - Why you need a brand workshop

Fri, 24 Jan 2020 08:29:54 GMT

Start with a Brand Workshop

Branding and corporate identity are vital marketing components for all organisations and there is much more to it than just creating a striking logo, albeit that’s a vital component. Branding relates to the corporate personality, or DNA which runs through all aspects of the business.

One of the challenges when starting out with a new business, or when planning a refresh of a brand that has moved on from its beginnings, is where to start. What are the benefits of developing your brand? And how do you go about identifying the DNA and personality, and creating a look, approach, style, colours and marketing messaging?

The benefits of having a consistent and vibrant brand which truly reflects your business can’t be underestimated:

You will differentiate your business, and become more visible in the market place: This will help attract sales enquiries and strengthen sales conversion.
All your marketing material will be consistent, which is the mark of a professional outfit.
You’ll be remembered: Many customers might not be ready to buy immediately, so it’s vital they remember you when the time comes for them to make that purchasing decision.
You will build trust: This will give you an advantage when your competitors don’t project themselves as consistently and as professionally as you do.
You will attract profitable business: Think of the extra you are prepared to pay for a brand you trust.
It helps you employ the right people: Quality people have high standards.
It means you attract the right customers: Those looking for a cheap deal are less likely to waste your time.
It will inform and guide people’s behaviour – staff, customers, suppliers etc.: Customers behave more respectfully when they love a brand.
You’ll create something desirable (e.g. for business sale).
It’s easier to attract media interest when your brand is known and trusted.
Everyone who communicates about your brand can do so in a consistent way.
You have a greater sense of pride and confidence in your business.

So, it’s clearly profitable – now how do you go about it? The process of creating a new brand which is clear, unique and reflects your business personality authentically, can seem very daunting – which is why you need to follow the four-step branding process to guide you through it.

The four steps to developing professional branding, start with step one – have professionals run a brand workshop with you.

Whether you are creating a new brand or refreshing an existing one, taking part in a brand workshop will help to develop a clear, consistent image for you and the rest of your team, which you can then build on to develop guideline and marketing materials.

A brand workshop is generally held across either a whole day or half a day and the aim is to get your key staff members together, with some independent creative input, to tease out the DNA of your brand.

This approach has been proven to help develop a compelling brand identity and clear, consistent messaging, and has transformed hundreds of organisations, not only in how they convey themselves to the outside world but in how they operate.

The workshop will enable you to be creative, explore ideas, and think deeply about messaging and wording with a view to identifying the core areas which are important to the business visually and from an authenticity perspective.

The outcome of the workshop will be identified brand promises, and the DNA needed to create the new brand identity and personality in the next step on the branding journey.

Once the workshop has been held, the business will be ready to move to the second step in the branding process – which is creating the Brand Manual. At this stage – which will be the subject of our next blog in more detail – the business will use all the information gathered in step 1, to create a strapline, brand values, company mission and the brand promises.

If you would like to speak to our branding experts or book a brand workshop for your business then please do give us a call or send us an email about your requirements today.

(NB: As well as getting your marketing right it’s important to stress you need a strong HR approach to ensure your organisation consistently demonstrates brand behaviours, so ask your HR team about your employer brand too.)

Seasons Greetings to all of our clients and partners

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 16:42:22 GMT

The team here at LCM would like to take the opportunity to wish all of our clients, partners and suppliers a wonderful festive season, with all our best wishes to your family and friends.

We have had a wonderful 12 months working with amazing people across many fantastic projects and have been privileged to work with all of you for your business and marketing requirements.

From small one-off projects to ongoing and lasting relationships with clients, we have had a fantastic year and are looking forward to continuing to work with our partners, suppliers and clients into the future.

If you are currently making your marketing plans for 2020, then please do get in touch to see how we can help, from a business rebrand for the New Year, to a new website, we can help with all of your marketing needs.

So once again, enjoy the festive season, take time out to enjoy yourselves and we look forward to working with you all again next year.

The LCM team

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with putting your 2020 marketing plans in place, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Social media strategy

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 15:24:24 GMT

The absolute basics

It’s an online world out there so if your business isn’t on social media, you could find that you’re missing out on potential customers. Social media has opened up endless opportunities for businesses to connect instantly with potential customers on a global level, but it can become overwhelming.

It’s important not to jump in feet first or you could get so swamped with social media content and posting that you will find no time left to actually run your business. Or worse, you will start off well, only to find you run out of ideas and time to post updates on your social media channels after a few months, leaving your business feeds empty and out-of-date.

This is why you need to start with a social media strategy. It helps to ensure that your brand or business are always online and saying the right things for your brand to build and engage with your target audience. The team at LCM can help with every aspect.

Here are a few of the basic things to consider for your social media strategy:

1. Find out which channels your audience uses

There is no point putting lots and lots of photographs of your products on Instagram if your key target audience is more likely to be found on Facebook , so the first thing you need to do is some research to find out where your potential customers are on social media and which channels will reach them most effectively.

2. Create a posting strategy

Once you know which platforms your audience use, you need to create a posting strategy – you need to decide how often you will post, what time of day, and what type of posts you are going to aim for – whether it’s mainly image-based, video or text. You need to decide this for each platform you are operating from as they all work differently.

3. Create a content calendar

Once you have your approach in place you need to come up with a content calendar – this is where you decide on the topic of your posts for each month and plot them on a calendar. That way you always know what topic you should be writing about in advance and you never find yourself stuck for topics.

4. Have social media goals

You need to have an idea of what you want to achieve with your social media strategy – is it a certain number of followers, a certain level of engagement, number of shares etc... so make sure you have goals in place and ways to measure them. Social media needs to have a business purpose for you and not just posts for the sake of it.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with selecting your social media strategy or any aspect of online marketing, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email

info@lcm.co.uk

How to improve the user experience on your business website

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 11:42:49 GMT

Help your customers enjoy their experience

Your business website is a key element in how customers experience your business so if it runs slow and they can’t find what they are looking for straight away, and easily, they are likely to lose interest and go to a competitor website which works better.

The good news is there are some easy tweaks you can make to improve the customer experience on your site to bring people back to your business and enjoying their experience with your website .

Design your site for customers

When you are creating your site you should always design it with your customers in mind. Think about the navigation, the order of the pages, the logical flow of content, and the type of information which your customers will be looking for.

Have a home page which draws them in

Your home page is where many website visitors will start so make sure you include all the vital information on this page – it can be by providing direct links to inner pages but it needs to be easy to navigate and clear for website visitors to follow.

Design with flow in mind

You need to make sure the structure of your site flows so that visitors can move from one section to another easily and in a way that makes sense. The structure should flow and make perfect sense to all visitors.

Clear navigation

Make sure your navigation – the menu at the top of your website – is clear and easy to follow as this is how people will find their way around the site. It should be easy and straight forward and made easy to move between pages and back to the home page.

Obvious contact details

There is nothing more frustrating than finding a website with the perfect service, only to find there is no way to contact the company. Having clear and easy to find contact information makes it easier for your customers to get in touch whether by email, by phone or in writing – as communicating with customers is ultimately the purpose of having a site in the first place.

Links to your social media

Make it easier for customers to connect with you and follow your social media posts by including links to all of your channels on your website – it encourages them to continue researching your company with ease.

There are many ways to improve your customer journey through your website and we always put this as the first and foremost consideration when designing new websites for our customers so if you’d like us to help you, give the team at LCM Marketing a call today.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help to improve the user experience on your website, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email

info@lcm.co.uk

Prepare young people for working life

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 11:40:37 GMT

Become a Skillstree Ambassador

If you love the idea of helping to prepare students aged 4-18 for the world of work, you can become a Skillstree Ambassador.

Skillstree is the business-facing department of EBP South and the Basingstoke Consortium, regional specialists in bringing young people together with business to benefit everyone.

Opportunities include volunteering at events, mentoring students, taking part in 'guess my job' sessions and running mock interviews.

You can find out more here , or by contacting enquiries@ebpsouth.co.uk, or if you are in or near Basingstoke, info@bas-consort.org.uk

How to handle online criticisms and comments

Fri, 18 Oct 2019 09:57:19 GMT

Be positive with all comments.

With so much business carried out online, word of mouth and customer reviews form a vital part of any company’s reputation. After all, checking out other reviews of the business can often sway a decision by a would-be new customer.

So if you are getting nothing but five star glowing reviews, that’s perfect and your business will benefit – but what should you do if you start to get online criticisms or negative comments from people?

At LCM Marketing we can help you with a PR strategy to deal with negative online comments or criticisms and have come up with a few tips to help you protect your business reputation.

Do you know what people are saying about you?

The first step toward protecting your online reputation is to know what is being said about you and to see any reviews which have been given to your business or services. If you aren’t monitoring your reputation, you can’t protect it.

Decide if a response is merited

If you do come across a negative comment or review online then take a deep breath and think about whether it actually merits any kind of response – in some cases responding to it can open a whole can of worms.

You need to check if the concerns are genuine and if they are, then offer an apology and take the conversation offline so you can remedy the issues. You will be showing that you care for you clients without broadcasting all of the issues.

If the comments are from someone who is just trying to be a cyber bully then it might be better to ignore them rather than give them the attention they are seeking. After all, if they are trolling your business for fun, nothing you say will make any difference.

Check out the facts

If a complaint is genuine, then check out all the facts within your records and make sure you have the full picture before responding to them. This will show them that you have taken it seriously and you are looking to remedy the issue.

Decide whether to reply online or offline

You need to decide whether it’s best to respond online or offline which will be dictated by the nature of the complaint and the relationship you had with the client in the first place. If the issue involves confidential information, for example, it has to be offline.

If you do resolve it successfully offline don’t forget to ask them to update their review on your site accordingly.

Always keep your cool

Remember, never respond to a negative comment in anger – take your time to measure your response and always be polite and professional, no matter how the other person reacts. Never lose your temper.

Only respond to legitimate concerns

If someone continues arguing with you and it becomes clear they are just trying to provoke for the sake of it then wrap up the conversation as there is no point continuing with it. You should only spend your time answering legitimate concerns which could lead to improvements in your services.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with handling comments online or your PR strategy, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to choose brand imagery to stand out from the crowd

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 10:28:35 GMT

Be different for a good reason.

When you are planning your brand, either for a new company, product or just to refresh an existing business, imagery is one of the key components to think about to really bring the brand to life and resonate with potential customers.

Once you have your logo, messaging and colour palette chosen, it’s time to look for visuals which will take all of those elements and bring the brand together and create an engaging and attractive approach.

However, choosing the right images can be tricky and if you get it wrong your brand could end up looking tacky, unprofessional, or just a copy of all the other companies working in the same space as you, which is the last thing you want.

So here are a few tips to help you make sure you choose the right brand imagery for your business:

Make sure the images reflect the messaging

It can be so easy to pick an image because it looks nice or is unusual but you need to make sure that the imagery reflects your marketing messaging. It needs to resonate with your potential customers and be relevant to your business and your products.

Make sure any imagery reflects your brand values and how you want to be seen by your customers. Think about the impression the images will create – what kind of reaction are you hoping to get when people see them?

It’s worth doing some market testing before settling on the final versions – try running the imagery and messaging past a focus group of potential customers to assess their reactions and see if they come up with the perceptions of your business that you were looking for.

Engage with emotions

Your brand imagery needs to engage your customers on an emotional level so the pictures you choose need to tell a story. Do they make your audience laugh, reminisce, feel nostalgic? There needs to be a reaction beyond just admiring the image chosen.

If you find an image you like but it doesn’t stir any kind of emotional response then it’s not the right image for your business. You need to be memorable and stand out from the crowd and the way to do that is to engage emotionally and create a connection.

Avoid stock photographs

It is also easy to spot a stock photograph a mile away and they often appear incredibly staged, with little real imagination, so are highly unlikely to engage your customers in any kind of meaningful way. We would always recommend holding your own photo shoot so you have unique imagery for your business, which also belongs to you.

Avoid posed photographs

While we recommend holding your own photoshoot it’s also important to avoid clichés so don’t use pictures of fake posed people in an office situation. The more natural the photographs can be the better.

Make sure you include lots of active photos of people engaged in tasks and looking happy. It’s important to include people in the pictures if you want to engage the emotions of your customers so showing your team in action will work.

By all means opt for concept photography to display a product, but for a business brand you need to be people focussed to engage.

Hopefully these key tips will help you when it comes to choosing brand imagery which helps your business stand out from the crowd. It needs to be authentic, emotional and match with your messaging.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with selecting imagery or any aspect of building your brand, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to spot a news story within your business

Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:47:54 GMT

Developing positive PR

When it comes to identifying news within your business it can be really easy to consider everything you are doing as “just the day job” and not particularly special or interesting – however, to an outsider or someone else in your industry, your way of working could be awe-inspiring.

Spotting a news story comes down to being able to find something which will interest the media, which you could potentially include in a press release out to the local media and the trade press for your industry.

Here are few of the more obvious items which could make a good story:

· Being shortlisted for an award

· Winning an award

· Launching a brand new product or service

· Celebrating a long service award for a team member

· A charity event you are hosting

· A significant company anniversary

· A company merger

· The creation of new jobs in the area

· Any kind of photo opportunity you can create

· Events or training programmes you are offering

· New starters

· Retirement parties

These are all related to things which are happening within your company or your team, which you could use as content for a newsletter, blog and for a press release to help portray your business in a positive way.

There is also another way to get into the news and that’s by becoming the go-to expert in your industry area, so that every time something happens that is related to your industry, the journalists will be on the phone calling you for an interview and a quote.

You can help facilitate this by sharing your views on key talking points in the industry through your blog and by offering thought leadership articles for your key trade press publications. If you can position yourself as an industry leader the news will start to approach you.

As well as looking proactively for positive news stories to share from your business, you should also keep an eye out for anything which has the potential to become a crisis PR issue for you, so that you can resolve it before anyone resorts to going to the media.

Keep an eye out for:

· Any disgruntled employees

· Ongoing disputes between staff

· Negative reviews or comments on your website

· Customer complaints via social media

· Any issues with suppliers or third parties

· General complaint levels within the company

· Issues which the unions are raising

Any of these has the potential to become a much bigger problem if it gets picked up by the mainstream media or if it gets spread far and wide on the social media platforms so keep an eye to the ground so that you can head off a PR crisis before it happens.

At LCM Marketing our team of experts can help you develop a positive PR strategy to generate those news stories, as well as supporting during times of PR crisis so do get in touch with us if you need any help.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

The importance of consistency in company messaging

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:11:04 GMT

Be recognised in an instant.

A key element of any company branding is what you say when you are talking about the business – whether that’s the wording on the website, in a leaflet or how sales people pitch the products in meetings with prospects.

A brand needs to be instantly recognisable but it also needs to create an instant emotional response every time it is seen – and this comes from being consistent and being seen regularly.

They say that most people only notice or recognise an advert after they have seen it at least three to four times. Imagine if each time they saw the advert it said something different – they are highly unlikely to remember it properly.

That’s why it’s important to keep your company’s messaging consistent and authentic. Every interaction your customers have with you should give them the same message and the same impression.

The wording on your website needs to be the same as the messaging in your adverts and brochures so that your brand becomes instantly recognisable not only for its logo and imagery, but also for how it presents itself.

The company messaging also needs to be authentic. If you consistently spread the message that you offer fast customer service, that won’t hold up if your customer service is actually incredibly slow and inefficient. You won’t convince anybody by lying with your messaging.

Company messaging tells the story of your brand. It needs to match your vision, values and everything your business stands for and it can be very hard for a company to develop this effectively which is where specialists like the team at LCM Marketing can help.

One of the key tools which can help to ensure your company messaging remains consistent is a Key Messaging Document or Communications Guide, where all of the wording used to describe the company can be written and explained clearly for staff to follow.

This goes from the company strapline, vision statement, right through to how staff should answer the phone and the best way to address clients in emails. A good key messaging document will help to make life much easier as all communication can be checked against it to keep everything consistent.

It also saves staff from having to reinvent the wheel every time they need to describe the company or a product as they can just use the copy which has already been created in the guide document. If you would like help developing consistent key messaging for your own company you can give the experts at LCM Marketing a call today.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Lizzfest - LCM's 30th birthday bash

Fri, 09 Aug 2019 09:18:07 GMT

A festival to remember

Alfie Ordinary, who was reviewed as one of the top five acts at the Edinburgh Fringe this week, was the headline act at Lizzfest, a party to end all parties celebrating LCM's 30th birthday.

The festival kicked off with award-winning singer-songwriter Megan Linford, one of Hampshire's best and who, with her band, was likened by one guest to Fleetwood Mac.

Noelle Burville then performed a series of her own compositions on a a stringed folk instrument called a hammered Dulcimer, which mesmerised the growing crowd of clients and contacts from over the years.

Then came the wonderful Alfie Ordinary who is not only an incredibly accomplished DJ, but also a glittering cabaret dancer and singer. He performed, and joined in with the crowded dance floor, finally being carried aloft in a victory lap around the festival by star-struck guests.

The evening went far into the night with a Silent Disco manned by the talented @asaHolbrook of #Alleventsolutions, who also provided the sound and lighting rig.

The guest list was illustrious, with Jan Ward CBE of Corrotherm, Helen Somerset How MBE, now back at the Rainbow Centre in Fareham, and Maureen Frost, Chief Executive of the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce amongst them.
LCM Founder and MD Lizz Clarke said, 'Thank you to everyone who came to help us celebrate 30 years of joy and success. Every business has its challenges and we have had our's, but we have the most superb clients and some of the most talented people in the marketing profession have worked and are working with us. I am hugely grateful."

Lizzfest was orchestrated by @kissinggateevents led by the superb Tessa Bush.

10 things you need to include in your creative strategy

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 05:46:15 GMT

Be objective, be honest, be bold

Having a brand which clearly represents your business is vital to your business success and the backbone to any successful brand is an effective creative strategy which outlines how the creative aspects help to achieve business objectives.

A good creative strategy takes the experiential elements of your company, such as the branding and tone of voice and explains exactly how they will help to meet your business objectives and drive your business forward.

Here are 10 elements to include in your company creative strategy:

Your business story

You need to have your vision, mission and key messaging all created and developed to accurately tell your business story in a way that is authentic and will engage with your customers. This will then be used as the overall guiding hand when it comes to creating and developing any marketing material. Your business story needs to outline who you are, what you stand for and why you are different.

Your business objectives

You need to know what your business objectives are so that you can make sure your creative strategy supports them – so have your business objectives outlined at the very beginning of your creative strategy to make it crystal clear exactly what you need to achieve and why.

Your marketing objectives

Now that you have your business objectives you need to outline the marketing objectives that go alongside them – these are specifically for the marketing team and will then help to guide exactly which creative approach you need to adopt and when.

Your target audience and channels

You need to know the target audience in order to make sure your marketing messages reach the right people at the right time – you need to know which marketing channels will reach them successfully so that you can place your marketing messages appropriately.

Your budget

You need to know how much budget you can allocate to creative work and what you will need to deliver the strategy. There is no point developing a clear and effective strategy if you don’t have the budget to make it happen.

Good communication

It’s all too easy to get caught up in creating beautiful imagery and coming up with clever headlines but it’s important not to forget the main aim of a creative strategy is to communicate with your customers and potential customers – to achieve a business goal. So never lose sight of what your brand is trying to communicate.

Market research

It’s always wise to test an idea in a controlled way before launching it to the public so make sure you include opportunities for market research and message testing within your creative strategy.

Imagery

Make sure you do some research before deciding on a creative approach to imagery within your strategy – you need to make sure any images you choose are appropriate, match your values and will have long-term appeal. It’s always worth paying a little more to get original images rather than opting for stock photography which could have been used in many places already.

Consistent approach

Make sure your creative strategy is implemented consistently across all marketing campaigns – after all, if you keep changing your messages and image then your brand won’t be memorable, it will just become confusing.

Expert help

If developing a creative strategy feels like a lot of hard work – it is – why not outsource it to a marketing agency like LCM Marketing – who can also implement all of the creative work for you as well.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

The importance of the right brand positioning

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 12:45:44 GMT

When the right brand positioning is in place for your business it will help to drive everything else forward naturally – paving the way for your marketing approach, your services and your business reputation clearly. Get it wrong and your customers will never trust you.

Having a strong brand position provides a lot of advantages to your company whereas a weak positioning approach creates a weak firm and customers will spot this immediately and seek to take their business elsewhere.

Here are just a few reasons why the right brand positioning is important to your business:

Increased competitive edge

Positioning your brand marks your business out as a specialist, an expert, or a territory leader and puts you ahead of the competition immediately. By adopting a strong position and sticking with it consistently across all of your marketing materials, your business reputation will be greatly strengthened, and your competitors won’t stand a chance.

Stronger market focus

Positioning your business in a certain way means you will need to focus all of your attention and services into that position. Being laser focused in one area helps to enhance your reputation as an expert which can increase your value to prospective customers.

Support increased pricing

Positioning your firm against the competition will help you decide what new services to offer and how they’re priced. Are you a higher-priced boutique accounting firm or a no-frills, low-cost provider? Which new services and pricing support that positioning?

Clearer communication

Having a strong position makes it much easier to develop clear and concise communication throughout all of your branding and marketing materials. With a laser sharp focus in one direction, your business communication will be precise and effective as well.

Easier sales message

Having a strong position makes it much easier to develop clear sales tools and arguments and gives the business clear visibility above all of the other competitors in the market place, making your company instantly recognisable.

Having a clear, focused brand positioning approach helps to drive your marketing, improve your communication and can enhance your business reputation as experts in the field. If you’d like expert help to get the brand positioning right, then why not speak to a branding agency like LCM who can help develop your positioning for you?

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Best tools to monitor your business reputation online

Thu, 04 Jul 2019 13:31:53 GMT

With so much business being carried out online and customers having the ability to discuss their experiences in forums, via reviews and on social media, it has never been more important for a business to know what people are saying about it online.

Fortunately there are now many useful tools which you can use to monitor your business reputation online. Knowing what people are saying can help you to counteract any negative or unfounded comments, and also take action by changing a product or service which people are unhappy with.

Here is a quick round-up of some of the best tools for tracking your online business reputation, but if you’d like any help with monitoring your reputation the team here at LCM Marketing would also be happy to assist.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a great free tool which you can set up for yourself. To monitor your business reputation, try setting one up using your company name as the search term. You will then receive daily email notifications every time your business name is mentioned by someone online.

Social Mention

Social Mention is a great tool for tracking what people are saying about your business on social media. It tracks more than 80 social media platforms including all of the major ones such as Twitter and Facebook.

It doesn’t just tell you where or when you are mentioned but also looks at whether the mentions are positive or negative, how many people are talking about your brand and if people are talking about you repeatedly.

SentiOne

SentiOne gives you historical mentions as well as current ones online and you can use it to track your brand but also other keywords or your social profiles. It searches thousands of websites to find mentions but you can filter keywords and results to help narrow the information down.

Review Push

This tool provides an online method to manage and monitor reviews of your business where they appear on social media and review sites. You get to see all the reviews in one place and you can respond to them directly through the platform.

Meltwater

Meltwater started life as a press cutting service but now it has grown into a large monitoring tool. It includes press monitoring and social media monitoring, with real time analysis of all mentions.

While you can search yourself for your brand name or company name, the chances are you won’t find every mention of your business, which is why tools like those highlighted here can be worth investing in – and some are free.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Five Ways Research Can Help Improve Your Marketing Success

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 18:52:11 GMT

Research, Plan & Measure

Research is an essential tool when it comes to planning the most effective marketing campaigns and keeping your business one step ahead of the competition. When you are planning growth and are considering strategies such as launching into new markets, or selling more in your existing markets for example, research gives you the information you need to make confident decisions.

Here are five ways market research can help make your marketing more successful:

Better understanding of brand perception

Market research helps you find out exactly what customers and prospects think of your brand and how they perceive it compared with your competitors. The results might surprise you and challenge assumptions that you had, giving you new insights to make brand improvements.

Research could explore a number of areas around brand perception, via a questionnaire, interviews or a survey carried out among your customers. For in-depth feedback you could potentially hold a focus group to find out what a select group of sample customers really think.

Topics could include: how aware they are of your brand, what traits they associate with your brand, how customers compare you to your competition, what kind of perceptions the brand gives them about your products and pricing.

Understanding the brand perception will help you to improve marketing literature and assets to better meet customer needs.

Improved knowledge about your customer

How well do you really know and understand your customers? The more you know, the easier it is to target relevant communications and materials to them, and the more effective your marketing is likely to be.

A market research survey or questionnaire can find out all sorts of valuable insights, for example, it can give details of age, demographic, family status, educational background, hobbies, media consumption, type of job, income etc.

All of this information can help create a strong picture of what your target customer looks like, enabling your marketing and communication to be targeted far more precisely.

Proper effectiveness measurement for campaigns

There is no point stressing over a marketing strategy and tearing your hair out to implement it all if you don’t then measure the effectiveness. Research is the key to finding out what impact your marketing campaign had on would-be customers and how effective the messaging was.

Market research can gather specific information from customers about key aspects of your marketing so you could find out how they react to the tone, the messages, the images, and then you will have a really good idea of what needs to change and what works well.

New Business Development Planning

When you have growth plans for your business, market research is invaluable to work out where new market opportunities might be and to spot areas for potential expansion. You can also use it to test new products prior to an official launch, to test market reaction and so on.

Research can provide information about the potential size of a new market, key competitors within it, the demographics of the new audience and the major suppliers within the area. This type of information can help a new business plan become based in reality rather than guesswork.

The data gathered will also then be invaluable when generating a market strategy to begin targeting the potential new audience with marketing and communication materials.

New product audience insights

When developing a new product it’s hard to know if you are on the right lines for your potential audience which is where research such as a focus group, is really invaluable. You can get feedback on the look and feel of the product, the name, the features and even the packaging, all before you commit to an expensive launch.

This research is invaluable if you are developing a new product for a new market and don’t have any former data to compare with. Focus groups allow for in-depth data to be gathered on the product, providing an invaluable insight into how consumers might react once it reaches the market.

Research allows you to go away and make changes and improvements to the product so that when you are ready to launch it to the market you know the product stands the best chance of being well-received.

From learning more about your audience, to testing products and potential new markets, research has a great role to play in helping to shape and improve your marketing activity. Feedback from customers can produce amazing insights which you might not have thought about, taking your marketing in completely different but effective directions.

Research should be an integral part of every marketing strategy.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Social Media made easy

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Whatsapp

Social media strategy made simple

As a business owner, trying to keep up with the various social media channels and creating regular, original content for all of them, can become overwhelming. Not to mention being a part-time job in itself. When this happens, social media often gets put on the “too hard to do” pile and falls by the way side.

That’s why your company needs a social media strategy. A social media strategy will help you become more effective at using social media as a business networking tool that delivers results.

What is a social media strategy?

A social media strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. At a basic level, a social media strategy is a statement which outlines the goals and target outcomes you want to achieve by using social media. It should work hand in hand with any other communications strategy you have. Despite often being treated as one, social media is not a silo.

The strategy is the starting point – it outlines why you want to use social media and what you want to achieve. The strategy defines your target audience and identifies the social media channels they are most likely to use on a regular basis.

Once you have this pinned down for your business, creating targeted content for those channels becomes the clear priority. This formulates the plan that will support you to achieve your goals. Strategy first, plan second.

Here are some key areas where a social media strategy can help support your business:

Broaden your audience reach

More and more people use social media on-the-go as part of their daily lives. They buy products from their mobile devices, book appointments, buy event tickets – the list goes on. By using social media strategically, you can make sure your business is always in sight when your would-be customers are online.

Social media is an integral part of most people’s daily routines nowadays. Your business could well be missing out on a huge slice of potential customers if you are not regularly engaging on the social media channels most relevant to them.

More targeted advertising options

Virtually all of the mainstream social medial platforms offer advertising. Thanks to the analytics available behind the platforms, it is possible to pinpoint and target online adverts to a very specific group of people.

Using social media means that you can target key prospects and would-be customers through highly focussed, targeted advertising, rather than paying money for a print ad and hoping your prospective clients see it.

You also have the ability to accurately measure the success of your ads, and to change them if they aren’t working as effectively as you planned. Social media advertising is far more targeted and flexible than any offline ad campaign could ever be.

Gain a competitive edge

If your competitor is online and you are not, or you are just posting on an ad-hoc basis for the sake of appearing to be engaged with the channels, you are losing out. A company using social media strategically, as an effective online networking system, will have a clear marketing advantage.

With a social media strategy, you will know if your campaigns are working, reaching the right people and having a positive impact on your business reputation. Simply posting ad-hoc content for the sake of appearing active, is not an effective use of social media or your time.

A robust, defined social media strategy that aligns to your business goals and forms part of your overall communication strategy, will give your business a distinct competitive edge.

Be visible to your customers

Your customers are highly likely to be using social media every single day. So, when you use it strategically to enable them to connect with your business easily, and provide them with valuable content, it’s a great way to get your brand in front of them more frequently.

With more and more people accessing the internet through their mobile phones, applying a strategic approach to social media will help to ensure your company is seen in the right places to reach your customers more easily, every time they are online.

Be more prepared

Having a social media strategy in place will help you to be more prepared if the worst should happen and your business reputation starts to be attacked online. When you are in control of your social media presence, you will know what is being said about your business all the time and can have a plan in place in case of a negative attack.

How can LCM help?

Here at LCM Marketing we can help you to develop a social media strategy for your business to make sure your brand is always online and engaging with your target audience in the most effective way. From sharing news to running online promotions, we can help make sure social media is a key part of your marketing mix.

If you need any help with social media strategy development, call our team of experts today.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

75th Anniversary of D-Day in Portsmouth

Tue, 21 May 2019 07:28:16 GMT

The 75th anniversary of D-Day is approaching and Portsmouth will be the focus of national commemorations. Here, the city council let's you know what's happening.

On Wednesday 5 June, Portsmouth will host a major international event to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day and pay tribute to veterans.

The event, which is organised by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of HM Government, is for invited guests, including D-Day veterans and heads of state.

The national event will mark the start of five days of commemorations and reflection, and then revival-themed events in the city, centred on the seafront and the D-Day Story, organised by the city council. The full event programme can be found at www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/d-day-75 .

The city council's corporate communications department says: "While we will do all we can to keep disruption to a minimum and Portsmouth will be open for business as usual throughout, an event on the scale of the national commemorations means the city will be busier than usual. So we will be encouraging people to plan their journeys into and around Portsmouth, allow extra time, and walk, cycle or use public transport wherever possible, especially on Wednesday 5 June.

"We will keep you informed on any update to the arrangements for the commemorations which may impact on your organisation as they are finalised. You can also keep up-to-date with arrangements on our website www.portsmouth.gov.uk/d-day75 , where you can also sign-up for email updates.

"This is an important opportunity for the city to mark its vital role in helping to launch the D-Day landings, particularly as the events of 1944 are passing from living memory into history. We hope you enjoy the programme of events, and would like to thank you for your patience and understanding during this period."

Why outsourcing your marketing will boost your business

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 10:16:41 GMT

Starting and running a business is an exciting time and you might be tempted to try to do everything yourself. However, there are some aspects of running a company when it really does pay to enlist an expert to help you.

Accounting, HR and Marketing are all specialist areas which – if done well – will be the difference between your business thriving or failing. After all, your people, your finances and spreading the word of what you do, are the three key foundation stones for any successful business.

Many people are tempted to try marketing for themselves, making the mistake of thinking it’s easy. The trouble with marketing is that it’s not a one-off piece of work. In order to see results you need to be marketing consistently and in a way that appeals to your audience.

Effective marketing takes time

From developing your marketing strategy, deciding on the business brand and identity, setting up all the social media and other associated marketing channels, through to creating the messages, content and materials – marketing really is a job in itself.

That’s why outsourcing your business marketing to an expert can make all the difference.

Firstly, you get all your time back to focus on running the business and taking care of your clients.

Secondly, marketing experts are just that – experts in their field. Marketing changes dramatically and regularly. You need someone in your corner who understands how every aspect - from advertising, to PR, from social media to printed leaflets - will work best for your business.

Marketing shouldn’t be an after-thought

When you consider that marketing can make a significant difference to your business’ success, it makes sense to trust it to a professional with years of experience. When you try and fit it in around all your other activities, marketing is at risk of becoming an after-thought rather than a key business activity.

If you are serious about making your business a success, it’s critical that you can focus on the daily running of the business. Bringing in professional help for the fundamental areas will help you achieve your goals.

Don’t spend hours rushing around trying to keep up with Facebook posts, creating videos and worrying about advertising artwork. Outsource to a marketing professional like LCM Marketing, who will work with you to develop a coherent strategy and marketing approach, which they will then deliver successfully, leaving you free to focus on other things.

You wouldn’t try to fix your own car if you are not mechanically trained or try to repair a leaking pipe if you are not a plumber. Marketing your business deserves the same professional respect, so outsource it to an expert.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with any aspect of building your brand, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. Using guided questions, we will find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

5 tips for improving customer online experience

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:25:01 GMT

Make your visitor want to come back

All modern businesses need an online presence nowadays and customer service should be at the heart of every online interaction, just as it should be when dealing offline. Whether you are designing a new website, or creating an online sales funnel, user experience needs to be at the heart of it.

There is no point creating a really flashy looking website to sell a product, if the end user finds it impossible to navigate their way through to the sales page. Websites should help to improve customer experience, not cause them problems.

Here are five tips for improving your customer online experience:

Make sure your site works properly on mobiles

People used to browse the internet on computers but nowadays they are far more likely to be looking at your site via their mobile phone or tablet, so make sure your website is adaptable and works effectively on all devices.

You need to make sure your website works on everything from a mobile phone screen to a widescreen TV using a remote control so make sure your website adapts properly and doesn’t just shrink to fit the screen.

It’s important that all buttons and navigation can be seen on a small screen; after all, if you want people to “click here” they need to be able to do exactly that. If your site doesn’t work properly your customer will get frustrated very quickly and will leave.

Make the most of customer reviews

Shoppers are more and more distrusting of traditional marketing and advertising messages, preferring to get recommendations from other people who have used the products, which is why customer reviews are so important for improving your own customer experience.

Making it really easy for would-be customers to check out what past customers have said about you creates a spirit of openness and honesty, and adds an authenticity to your website which competitors might not have.

Set up a system for customers to leave live reviews on your page so that new and prospective customers can find out easily what other people think about your products and services.

Use live chat facilities if you have the resources to engage

One of the advantages of online shopping is you can avoid the nosy shop assistant, however, it’s great to have an option to ask questions if you need to, so offer a live chat service on your website to help customers if they need it.

It allows online customers to enjoy browsing in peace but to know there is somewhere to turn to if they need any advice or have any questions about specific areas of products or services. However, if you can't man the live chat, it's best not to have it.

You'll notice we don't always have a live chat on our site, but we do have pop ups to engage with you, our reader, to make sure you know we want to engage with you.

Offer free product shipping if at all possible

If your online business includes products, then offering free shipping is a great way to improve the customer experience which you are delivering. Free shipping can help encourage customers to go through with a sale rather than abandon a shopping cart – but make sure it is feasible for your business to cover this cost.

Track online behaviour to create relevant messaging

Use tracking software to assess user behaviour on your website and then personalise offers and marketing messages to make them even more relevant to your potential customers. This type of tracking can tailor communication to the shopper’s particular needs, helping with retention and loyalty.

These are just a few ways to improve the experience which a customer has when visiting your website but there are many more. It’s vital to constantly assess the performance of your website and the behaviour of visitors coming to it, which is relatively easy thanks to today’s analytics and tracking software.

If you’d like to talk to us for strategic advice for improving the user experience on your business website, please do get in touch.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to create a winning award entry

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 03:50:42 GMT

Boost team morale and client confidence

How to create a winning award entry

There is nothing quite like winning an award to bring a boost to your team and your business, and having a string of accolades listed on your website can give existing and potential clients added confidence in your credibility and professionalism. Many of our clients have won new work because they have won a regional business award, a trade accolade or even a prestigious Queen's Award.

So there is no doubt that entering and winning awards should be included as a vital role in your organisation’s PR planning, but sometimes the actual process of finding the right awards to enter, and then completing the entry, can become incredibly time consuming.

If you are serious about winning relevant awards to help boost your business then it might help to work with a professional marketing company such as the team at LCM – we work with many businesses to create winning award entries. At the time of writing we have 100% success at getting clients onto the published shortlist, and very often they have gone on to win. Here are the steps you need to think about:

1. Develop an annual awards plan

The first step is to carry out some research within your industry, and if relevant your region, to find out which awards are around and might be relevant to your business. You can then narrow those down to work out which are the most appropriate and which you have the best chance of winning.

You also need to think about which award will bring you the most benefit in terms of your PR and Marketing. Once you have carried out the research, you need to move to mapping out the details about each award you have chosen.

You need to know the deadline dates, submission requirements, entry fees and how long it might take you to put the submission together. That way you can map out all the important dates into your awards plan.

2. Manage and implement the awards plan

Once the plan has been created, the next step is to implement it, which starts with carefully reading all of the entry requirements for the awards. If there are any workshops or guidance provided by the awards organisers, then it’s good to take advantage of these resources.

Once you have all the information, you need to start writing the award entry and collecting all of the evidence or supporting material, which should be presented in a professional manner and in line with all of the entry requirements. You will also need to organise payment of the entry fee in this stage if one applies.

3. Planning attendance at the awards

Obviously a big part of the plan will be to attend the awards ceremony as a great business networking opportunity, so the next stage is to make sure you book a table and sufficient places for the awards event.

You might also need to organise transport to take your staff to and from the venue potentially and if it’s a black tie event, all those attending will need notice and time to prepare their outfits in time.

4. Make the most of the PR opportunities

Once the award submission has been sent off the next phase is to maximise the PR potential from it. If you are shortlisted then you can make use of that to create a press announcement and upload the news onto your website. Clearly if you win, you need to maximise press exposure as far as possible.

You can send a press release to your local media, local business news and to any relevant industry publications for the industry in which you work. One of our cold storage industry clients won the South Coast Small Business of the Year in 2017, and one of its trade publications featured the win on its front cover. Local radio and TV might be interested if it’s a particularly prestigious award, such as The Queen’s Award (one of our clients won The Queen’s Award for Innovation in April 2018).

As you can see, winning an award can have many advantages, from giving your staff and business a boost, to making your company more attractive to prospects, so it’s important to get it right. If you need any help writing an award entry for your business then please do get in touch with us here at LCM.

Call us on 01489 891870 or email lizz@lcm.co.uk and let's chat. We look forward to hearing from you.

PPC for your business - a few things you need to know

Tue, 29 Jan 2019 20:57:07 GMT

Keywords ensure your ads reach your target audience

PPC stands for Pay Per Click and this is a paid-for way of using search engine results to drive traffic to your website instead of relying on organic search results.

If that still sounds like gobbledygook to you, then think of it like traditional media, where there is editorial, which is written by a journalist and is unbiased (which is like organic search engine results) and paid adverts (which is like PPC). The organic results when you search for something online, are those without any note next to them, and the paid are the results you normally see at the top and bottom of a Google search page, marked “sponsored”.

The adverts work by charging you every time someone clicks on your advert through to wherever it is linked to - usually a landing page on your website. If you have a really good PPC set up, and a very relevant, well-thought-through website, it will be a great investment, because the traffic coming to your site will be converting into paying customers. So if a click costs, say £25 but it is bringing you a sale worth £150 in profit to you, you are getting a great return. Here are some key reasons to consider PPC:

Customers are likely to click on your ad

Because PPC is based on key words, it ensures your advert appears to people searching for what you are offering and generally, because the adverts are relevant to them, people searching online don’t mind and are very likely to click on the advert rather than ignore it, because it fits their needs.

It helps you get in front of the right customers

As an advertiser, using PPC allows you to ensure your advert is only seen by people it is relevant to – by using keywords only people looking for what you have to offer will actually see the advert so it’s a very targeted approach.

Google rewards you the better your ad works

The more your ad works, the greater number of click-throughs you get, and the lower your costs will be from Google – it’s a real win-win all round.

PPC is incredibly flexible

If you set up an ad campaign on Google or Facebook or anywhere else online, and it doesn’t get the results you are looking for, it is very easy to go in and change the wording, change the call to action or adjust the audience you want to see it - unlike a print ad which goes out just once and is permanent. You can also stop any time you like, or adjust when it appears. So if you are not able to respond to customer visits at a weekend, for example, you can set it so they don't appear during those hours.

You can use PPC for different reasons

Your pay per click advert can be set up to encourage people to call you, send you an email, book for an event or simply to like your business page – there are many different options when you set up a PPC campaign and you can also have more than one running at the same time.

How can LCM help?

If you would like to speak to our PPC campaign experts at LCM, to see if this is the right approach to take for your business, then please do give us a call. We will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to use video for your brand in 2019

Annette@lcm.co.uk (Annette Moran) — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 13:23:14 GMT

It's a wrap!

Video as a medium is continuing to grow in popularity among marketers and that’s not going to stop in 2019. Why do many people shy away from it? Are they thinking it is difficult to produce? Too expensive? Or simply just from not knowing what to film and why?

So here are some quick ideas for you:

Start with your objective - what specific value does this video have to bring to your business or organisation? This does not have to be monetary, but it helps if you make it specific, measurable, attainable, resourced and time-phased (SMART)
Then think of what you want the video viewer to THINK, FEEL and/or DO as a result of watching it
Then work out what messaging will enable you to do that
Then write a draft 'script' or 'storyboard' for the video
At this point, bring in a video specialist if the ROI warrants it, or create your video yourself.

If that's all too difficult, then how about trying one of these ideas? Here are a few different ways you can use video to support your brand this year:

Create a recorded 'thank you' video, which you can email out to customers who order from you. How will that make them feel?
Record a corporate introduction to your business and your values to put up on your website home page. What will this make them think?
Use animation to create a demonstration of how to use one of your products. What will this enable them to do?
Record customers giving you testimonials to put up on your website. How will that make them feel?
Create instructional video how-to guides for your key top selling products. What will this encourage them to do?
Film interviews with key members of staff about working for the company. How will this make them feel?

These are all examples of short pre-recorded videos which you can produce inexpensively and easily to help promote your company’s marketing effort.

If you believe what you have is really camera-worthy, you could also use live video in your marketing:

Use the Facebook Live video to broadcast live from your HQ or from an event. One of our clients did a quick video of one of their team 'having that Friday feeling' as he ran joyfully singing through the factory
Use Skype to live video chat with customers to say thank you at Christmas or a company anniversary
Live stream a question and answer session to promote you as industry experts
Live stream an interview with a thought leader from your industry

There are plenty of ways to use video to add value to your customers’ experience of working with you, from providing easy to watch how-to guides for your products, through to personalised thank you videos which you can send by email.

Video is a very valuable part of the marketing mix so make sure you include it into your marketing plans for this year and with Facebook Live and Skype it doesn’t have to be expensive to get your message out there creatively, and to the right audience.

How can LCM help?

If you're short on time or 'marketing juice' and would like professional input and advice from the marketing experts here at LCM on how video could help drive your business forward, then please do get in touch. We will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Planning your Marketing for 2019

Annette@lcm.co.uk (Annette Moran) — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 12:14:40 GMT

Our trend predictions.

As digital and content marketing dominated 2018, here are some useful thoughts for you as you plan your marketing spend for 2019/20 financial year.

While there is no doubt that all things digital and content-focused will continue to be vital, there are a few key elements which you must include in 2019.

What's trusted three times more than anything you say? Authentic user-generated content

While content marketing has led the way in 2018, web users are more and more savvy, particularly when it comes to the millennial generation. They are far more likely to believe content generated by product or service users, than that put out by the company itself.

So make sure you offer opportunities for users of your services and products, to leave comments and reviews of your business online wherever possible, and make sure you display these on your website.

A positive user review will be trusted three times more than corporate content, so make sure you don’t miss out on this vital addition to your market.

Voice Search

While marketers worth their salt are familiar with SEO and how to make sure their website appears on Google, the rise and rise of voice activated systems such as Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant, new skills will be required.

As more people use voice activated assistants to search the internet, marketers in 2019 are going to need to learn how to adapt SEO to ensure their website is the one which, say, Siri or Alexa returns with. The key issue is that a search on a computer, tablet or phone will return pages of results, whereas a voice assistant will only send back a few suggestions. How do you make sure your business is one of them?

Chatbots

Chatbots are a great way for brands to improve their customer service levels without having to spend a fortune on a customer service centre – they are able to provide data much more quickly than people and can be personalised for customers. Chatbots are also easily integrated with websites, apps and social media and can be used to gather marketing information and data.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Both these technologies help your customer to be fully engaged with your brand and offer great chances to improve the customer experience. They can be used to raise brand awareness as well as encouraging people to buy products.

Social Media for business

It used to be that social media was just used to keep in touch with friends and family but recent years has seen a shift as it becomes a daily part of everyone’s life, providing serious business opportunities.

It’s important to know how to vary your content for all of the different platforms where your potential customers are hanging out. Social trends including video and influencers can’t be ignored if you want to succeed in modern marketing.

How can LCM help?

If you are planning your 2019 marketing strategy and would like the help of an external specialist marketing agency, please get in touch with us at LCM, and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

SEO Checklist

Annette@lcm.co.uk (Annette Moran) — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 15:09:06 GMT

8 actions to help people find your website.

Building a brand new website is a big step and you (and people like us) work hard to get it right. It's great if people already know you and can find it.

But all that work is reduced in effectiveness if new visitors can't find it. These are people who you'd probably never come across if they didn't come across you.

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is one of the main keys to having a successful website which people can find easily. It can be critical to finding new customers, and therefore to giving your business a real competitive edge over other businesses in your space. The goal is to appear high in the Google and other search engine rankings, for people who are looking for what you do - and if geography matters in your world - in your location.

There are a number of key things you can do to improve your SEO for 2019 - the following is current information and it may change depending on search engines changing the way they work:

Make sure your website is optimised to be mobile friendly as Google checks this – you need your website to be truly responsive as the majority of people access websites on the move, on their mobile devices nowadays so it makes sense for your customers too. ( Our websit e , for example, is automatically optimised for mobiles, tablets and PC's, so it doesn't matter how you are reading this blog, it looks right, doesn't it?)
Create a Google My Business listing – it’s free and easy to do and will really help enhance your search results in your location.
- Ask your customers to leave Google ratings on your Google My Business page
- Post regular information on this page too
Optimise your content – make sure all of your content is unique – avoid any kind of duplication across web pages and try to ensure each page has around 300 – 500 words of relevant copy for Google to be able to search it successfully.
Allow customers to leave reviews – set up options for customers to leave reviews and testimonials of your business.
Make sure every page of your website has a unique title
Make sure every page of your website has meta descriptions completed as this is what appears under your page title when people search for you, and is helpful to searchers.
Make sure your name, address and phone number appear consistently on every page of your website
Add your business to local listing sites which are relevant to your industry

These are just a few simple techniques which you can adopt for your business to help boost your SEO in 2019 – the key one is always to have new, fresh and unique content being added regularly to your site, to ensure it is selected as up-to-date and relevant by Google.

Adding new content, perhaps through a regular blog, helps to keep your website higher up in the search rankings and also gives you an opportunity to showcase your skills and knowledge with your customers.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with getting ahead with SEO, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Five Marketing tactics to undertake in January

Mon, 07 Jan 2019 15:10:35 GMT

This could really make the difference.

Five marketing tactics to undertake in January

January is the perfect time to reboot your marketing efforts, to get your owner-managed, growing business on the right track for a successful year to come. But it can be difficult to know which tactics to use, and which will work best for your company’s needs. This is exactly when the team at LCM Marketing can prove invaluable.

We work in marketing for owner-managers and partners across a variety of industries every day, week, month and year, so we have a good understanding of which tactics will work for which situations, and we are very aware of those which are just passing trends. Here are five of the key marketing approaches you should definitely be taking during January:

Focus on authentic, valuable content

The trend for your customers to value content and an authentic voice rather than any kind of paid for advertising, is not going away and will only grow more true in 2019. Now is the time to develop your content plan for the year, to make sure you have plenty of material to share with your customers, offering them a meaningful experience and valuable relationship with your firm.

Be creative to stand out from the crowd

In this day and age lots of your competitors will be churning out the same sort of thing as each other, and so tactics become familiar and boring very quickly and customers become blind to them. For 2019 you need to do something different to stand out from the crowd – work with a creative marketing agency - it's our job to help generate new and engaging ideas.

Work on your business internally

This third point might sound like it doesn’t relate to marketing, but you should never forget that your staff are key marketers and brand ambassadors for your business. It's vital that you keep your team engaged, happy and empowered, whether they are employees, distributors or both. So make sure they see your marketing messages before the rest of the world and they'll be more ready and willing to go out there and do a great job of marketing your business for you.

Adapt your communications to suit your customers

The way we communicate with each other changes almost daily, so while it can feel overwhelming trying to work out which is the best social media or best app or whatever it might be, it is important to know how your customers like to be communicated with, and to adapt your strategy to make sure you reach them.

Focus on customer service and authenticity

With so many processes becoming automated and machine-led, it can become increasingly difficult to actually interact with a real person. Make your business stand out by ensuring your customer service always has an authentic human feel about it as well. We have all experienced the frustration of not being able to reach a real person on the phone – make sure your customers don’t feel the same about you.

These are just five key areas of marketing which you should be incorporating into your plan for 2019 but if you need professional advice or support, please do get in touch with the team here at LCM Marketing.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with marketing your growth business, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Reviewing your marketing for 2019?

Thu, 03 Jan 2019 14:35:43 GMT

A few questions to ask when you're looking for a new agency

Now it's 2019, please accept our wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year, whatever your plans may be.

If those plans include a new marketing strategy, a new website, a digital campaign or a decision to outsource your marketing, then how do you decide which agency to call?

A recommendation from a trusted source is very valuable - but before you jump in make sure you ask the person who's made the recommendation some questions about how they use the agency.

What they find valuable is quite likely to be different from what your business needs, and we agencies all work differently. Here are a few good questions, hopefully pretty open because our aim is to be helpful. Please feel free to add your own in our comments section:

What is the agency particularly good at?

What are their weaker areas?

How do they handle it when things are not quite how you wanted them?

Do you have to push them to finish work, or are they good at getting you to move things forward if you're letting things slide?

Do you always deal with the same person, or are there lots of changes of personnel?

Do they report back to you, or do you have to ask them for progress reports?

Wishing everyone a great 2019!

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with your marketing strategy, a new AI website, branding or digital marketing, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Want to make a difference to a young person's whole life?

lizz@lcm.co.uk (Lizz Clarke) — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 09:57:29 GMT

Charity EBP South makes it eminently possible

Some of you will know that I have been a trustee at EBP South for a number of years. EBP stands for Education Business Partnership, and our mission is to inspire and prepare young people (aged 4-18) for the world of work.

We do this by working closely with education establishments and businesses on a whole range of mutually-beneficial activities.

EBP South is encouraging experienced workers to make a New Year’s Resolution to volunteer for an activity which will make a significant difference to a young person's life. No matter what your job role or job title, your experience is invaluable.

Opportunities include in-school activities, 'guess my job', interview skills, mock interviews, speed networking and on-going mentoring. You can support EBP South in our mission by making another important connection between education and business; to help students broaden their horizons to reach their future potential.

From EBP's latest newsletter, here's a quote from Emily, a Business Volunteer, who said “It was lovely to be a part of the Friday [event] at Purbrook. Thank you for being so welcoming and organised. The lesson plans and props were amazing. As a volunteer it was a huge help to be able to walk into something well thought out and structured.”

To find out more, register your interest visit www.ebpsouth.co.uk/Pages/Category/volunteer-with-us. And add something hugely rewarding to your 2019.

How to create an authentic tone of voice for your content

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:40:33 GMT

One of the key issues which can make the difference between customers trusting your company or not – is the authenticity of your messaging.

It needs to reflect your business values and your mission in the world.

You need to make sure your written tone of voice ‘sounds’ like you. Maintaining your unique tone of voice across all of your messaging whether that’s in marketing materials, packaging, branding, PR and customer experience,really sets you apart.

If your business has no consistent approach it will be hard for customers to relate and trust it.

Think for example of the words on your website, leaflets, posters, giveaways, signage; the way your sales people talk. If you audited everything that sells and talks about your business, would it ‘sound’ like your brand?

At LCM our expert writers craft beautifully-written copy to complement your brand. We have experience writing white papers, brochures and leaflets for many different businesses.

Your organisation needs a unique, consistent tone of voice. It’s a subtle part of your brand. Our expertise is to capture that tone of voice in writing, so that when people read what you’re saying, it measures up to the real you and your values.

Establishing a tone of voice in the first place is the tricky part and it can be an incredibly difficult thing to do for your own business. You need to look at what you stand for, how you want to be perceived and how you want to position yourself in the market place.

At LCM we can work with you to establish your tone of voice to make sure it works fully for the business. We listen to who you really are, and to what your customers want to hear.

We’ll spend time with you to make sure that the copy we write demonstrates a depth of understanding of your organisation and the same personal flair you and your team deliver when you’re face-to-face in your market.

Getting your tone of voice right from the beginning and ensuring it is authentic to your business is the key to underpinning a successful brand and marketing campaign for your company. Without it, your messaging will become confused and sound conflicting.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with creating a tone of voice, and developing written content that rings true, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to create an effective PR crisis plan

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:39:08 GMT

With the rate social media can spread news nowadays; a PR crisis can escalate for more quickly and far more widely than a company might anticipate. Bad news attracts attention, so if your company suffers a PR crisis it’s important to get a handle on it quickly and effectively.

As much as businesses use social media to spread positive messages and attract new customers, a negative issue can be spread equally quickly, destroying reputation and sparking fear among consumers – a damaged reputation can mean the end of a business in some cases.

Fast and effective PR crisis management

This is why it’s really important to have an effective PR crisis plan in place before anything goes wrong. Here at LCM Marketing, we can help to develop crisis PR plans for our clients, providing that peace of mind for when things go wrong.

Here is our quick guide to what you need to do to create an effective crisis PR plan for your business:

Carry out a risk assessment

Have a look at the issue at hand to make sure you don’t either overreact or under-react to it. Assess the threat it could make to your business and the potential for damage to your reputation.

Make sure you have all the facts

The key to responding effectively is to make sure you have all the facts. A PR crisis can often spark from inaccurate information, speculation and rumours which are not true. So make sure you have all the facts and figures which can counteract the issue to hand.

Identify your press spokesman

You need to have someone available to speak to the press and deal with inquiries – at LCM we can take that on for you, to give you some breathing space. But it’s important you have someone who can be the face of the response. Make sure they are professional and able to cope with the media.

Work with any other affected parties

If your business is being linked with another company or third party as part of the crisis, it’s important to work together and present a united front before reaction. If you both start to say different things, it could worsen the issue.

Keep records of the enquiries

Have somebody keep records of all press enquiries which come in, and the responses which are given, to ensure consistency and to make sure everyone is on the same page. It can also be useful for lessons learned and assessments once the crisis is over.

Handling a PR crisis takes a special set of skills, so if your business doesn’t feel it has those in-house – or indeed you don’t want to be completely distracted by the crisis – it is always wise to seek professional help, rather than risk your reputation and your business operation.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with setting up, or handling a PR crisis, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

5 steps to planning the perfect press launch

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:37:53 GMT

One of our clients, FiftySeven Finance*, has just launched its new business, so we thought it would be useful to write some tips, on asking the press to support the launch of a new product or service. Press coverage can be a great way for a business to enhance its reputation, and raise awareness among its target audience, without spending a fortune on advertising.

To make sure it works, you need to plan and think through your press launch beforehand, otherwise you could end up either with no coverage, or appearing in the media less positively than you anticipated.

Here at LCM, we help clients with press launches, and handle media enquiries associated with a new launch. We either garner press interest through sending publications a press release and following up afterwards, or by holding a physical press launch, where we invite the media to an event where they can see products, and meet those working for the organisation.

Here are our five steps to planning the perfect press launch for your business:

Understand your audience

You need to make sure you know exactly which media will be interested in your product or service launch. The best way to do this is to find out what newspapers, magazines your audience reads, and what kind of things the publications write about. You also need to think about the kind of social media the audience engages with. That way you can focus on journalists and feeds where there is going to be interest and engagement.

Have a clear news angle

While your product or service is really important to you – the press needs a compelling angle to make it into a story. You need to be able to show quickly and easily, why it’s newsworthy and why they should be interested. Think ‘news’, not selling. A journalist reports objectively on events, he or she is not there to sell for you. You need to tell the story behind the launch and make sure there is a clear, interesting news approach to attract the media to the launch event.

Provide for the media

While planning your launch, try to anticipate what the media will need and aim to meet those needs. For example, think about the timing so your launch isn’t in the middle of their print deadline, or clashing with another much larger event that might pull them away.

Make sure you have information which they can take away and use in their story including facts and figures and quotes from the company – put together a press pack to send or give them. You also need to provide competent spokespeople to be interviewed. Make sure the spokespeople are carefully briefed, especially if you are looking at broadcast media. If they need a little media training, make sure they get some.

Think visually

Both the mainstream and online media rely heavily on images, so the more you can make your launch image-focused the better. Provide stills and video which the media can use, as well as the opportunity for them to take their own photographs and videos if you are having a physical launch. Think about the venue and the backdrop you are providing to make sure you can show your product or service in the best possible light for photography.

Offer an exclusive incentive

If you have a particular magazine or trade newspaper you really want to get into, and then think about offering them an exclusive extra to encourage them to cover the story. Think about something they could do, such as an interview with the CEO, or a free trial of your product, and offer it to them ahead of everyone else.

A press launch should be supported with social media activities and other marketing plans as well, rather than used as a stand-alone approach. That way, there will be a consistent message to help your brand stand out from the crowd and reach your audience in numerous ways.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with working with the media, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

* www.57finance.co.uk is a consultancy; privately-owned, independent and specialising in business finance and banking. The founders, Alison Trant and Jeremy Richards, both have long-standing experience in helping SME and Corporate entities secure the right type of funding for their specific needs.

Making the most of infographics for your customers

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:35:59 GMT

One of the newest pieces in the marketing armoury, but an increasingly valuable one, is the infographic. An infographic is basically a visual means of displaying complex information such as facts, figures and statistics.

As consumers increasingly want to digest information quickly and easily, images and information make great bed fellows. A well thought-out and expertly designed infographic will work across any media and will engage audiences.

With so much data and information out there, it can be challenging to summarise a lot of information into an easy-to-digest format for customers – which is what makes infographics ideal – they are a mix of copy, design and analysis, creating an easy-to-understand piece of communication.

If you have lots of complicated information to present, an infographic can be a really simple way to do it. They are easy to share across social media and on your website, making them really valuable marketing tools.

Nowadays, infographics can also be interactive, allowing the customer to take a journey through the data you are presenting, providing a really powerful marketing tool to add to your content portfolio.

Here at LCM Marketing we work with our clients to develop useful and meaningful infographics which can help to convey complex messages, in a simple, visual and attractive way to their customers.

Here are seven key reasons why you should make the most of infographics:

People like them

People love easy-to-digest information which is presented attractively and they are far more likely to remember compelling facts and figures when they are featured graphically.

People are visual

The saying ‘a picture paints a thousand words’ comes to mind when talking about infographics. They enable customers to take in data far more quickly by scanning it visually than by having to read through an essay.

Sharing options

If people like an infographic they are far more likely to share it with their friends and contacts on social media than if the post was purely text-heavy.

Brand recognition

You can brand your infographic with your company name, logo, colour palette and fonts, so the more it is shared, the more brand awareness and recognition it creates for you, for free.

Boosts website traffic

You can link your infographic back to your website so people are more likely to click through and explore your site because they found the infographic of value.

Boosts SEO

If your infographic is widely shared it will help to boost your website SEO results, boosting your site’s ranking on the search engines.

Portrays you as the expert

A key benefit of an infographic is that you need to give quite a bit of thought to the content before the infographic is created, and discover the right data and information to be included – this can then help to position your company as an expert in your particular industry area.

Infographics can be a really good addition to your content marketing strategy, providing a creative way to display complex information for your customers and positioning your brand as a thought leader.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How your choice of brand colours can impact a customer’s impression

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:35:04 GMT

When working on a new brand, one of the most important aspects is choosing the colours to portray the desired impression for your customers and prospective customers. Colour has a huge impact on the perception your brand creates. Certain colours have strong correlations to aspects in life. For example, an earthy green is associated with nature and the environment, while clean, cool blue is most commonly associated with healthcare companies, a darker blue with professional services. Make sure you don’t choose a colour which could create subliminal confusion. You need to choose colours which create a unique impression of your business, and provide a colour palette which is varied enough to enable you to create interesting marketing materials which stand out fin the contexts you work in. This can include websites, exhibition stands, packaging, document covers, brochures, posters and advertisements.

Choose a neutral base colour

You need a basic neutral colour to start with, which you can then work from. Think about whether you want to use warm colours, in which case your base colour could be brown, beige, gold or black. If you prefer cooler colours then your options would be silver, white, grey or ivory colours as the basic option. Your base colour needs to work across your logo, imagery and any branding materials which you want to create so you need to choose it carefully. Do some research, look at colour combinations which other brands in your industry are using and see what works and what your eye is drawn to.

Choose two pop out main colours

The next colours which you need to choose are two colours which will grab your audience and will be the main attractions in your colour palette. Go for two more vibrant colours which work well together even if they clash. Think about how you want your brand to be seen and represented. Think about what kind of moods the colours generate and how you want people to perceive your company. Do you want to be seen as cool and calming or bright and vibrant? Look for inspiration in magazines, look at other brands you respect and value and explore colours in a fun way to see what appeals to your senses – if it appeals to you the chances are it will appeal to your customers’ senses as well. Create a mood board of these ideas, so you can look at them as a whole.

Choose your call to action colour

You need another colour which stands out from your other choices to use on digital and print materials when you are creating specific call to action buttons or panels. This is the colour you want to inspire your customers to take action and contact you. This colour should stand out from your brand choices while still complementing them – perhaps an opposite colour to your pop colours would work well. You should only ever use it on the call to action elements of your marketing materials so customers can recognise it. Choosing your brand colours should be a fun, creative experience allowing you the chance to play with colours which reflect the mood and image which you want to create for your business. It’s important that your colours match your messaging so if you want to be seen as serious and corporate, bright yellows and oranges probably won’t work. Colour choices create an important impression among your customers and would-be customers so it’s an important factor to consider when creating your new branding. How can LCM help? If you’d like help with selecting imagery or any aspect of building your brand, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

How to choose brand imagery to stand out from the crowd

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:33:40 GMT

When you are developing your brand, either for a new company, product or reinvigorating an existing brand, imagery is one of the key components to bring the brand to life and resonate with potential customers.

Once you have chosen your logo, typefaces, messaging and colour palette , it’s time to look for visuals which will take all of those elements and bring the brand together to create an engaging and eye-catching approach.

However, choosing the right images can be tricky, and if you get it wrong, your brand could end up looking tacky, unprofessional, or just a copy of all the other companies working in the same space as you, which is the last thing you want.

So here are a few tips to help you make sure you choose the right brand imagery for your business:

Make sure the images reflect the messaging

It can be so easy to pick an image because it looks nice or is unusual, but you need to make sure that the imagery reflects your marketing messaging. It needs to resonate with your potential customers and be relevant to your business and your products.

Make sure your imagery reflects your brand values and how you want to be seen by your customers. Think about the impression the images will create – what kind of reaction are you hoping to get when people see them?

It’s worth doing some market testing before settling on the final versions. Try running the imagery and messaging past a focus group of customers to assess their reactions and see if they come up with the perceptions of your business that you were looking for.

Engage with emotions

Avoid stock photographs

One of the key facets when choosing imagery is that you want to stand out from the crowd and for this reason we would recommend avoiding stock photographs. You can guarantee that someone else in a business similar to yours will also be using them. The image we have selected to accompany this blog is designed to make you feel happy and calm, for example. (Let us know if it works!)

It is also easy to spot a stock photograph a mile away and some are spot on. Others appear incredibly staged, with little real imagination, so are highly unlikely to engage your customers in any kind of meaningful way. We would recommend holding your own photo shoot if you have the budget, so you have unique imagery for your business. Brief a professional photographer by including the end result you want to achieve – i.e. how you want to make your audience feel, or react. Don’t be too prescriptive; it dampens professional creativity. The intellectual property will belong to you, providing the photographer agrees to this in writing and you have paid fairly for it.

Avoid posed photographs

While we recommend holding your own photoshoot it’s also important to avoid clichés, so don’t use pictures of fake posed people in an office situation. The more natural the photographs can be the better.

By all means opt for concept photography to display a product; for a business brand it’s probably best to stay people-focused to engage.

Hopefully these key tips will help you when it comes to choosing brand imagery which helps your business stand out from the crowd. It needs to be authentic, emotional and match with your messaging.

How can LCM help?

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

7 steps to creating a marketing plan that works

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:29:32 GMT

7 steps to creating a marketing plan that works

Here at Logical Creative Marketing we regularly work with clients who have little or no in-house marketing expertise, which is why they find us valuable – to give them professional marketing knowledge, expertise and experience.

When working with clients who need strategic marketing help, as well as the more practical, tactical aspects of a campaign, we will always spend time working to develop an effective marketing plan for the business.

Many businesses try to jump straight into marketing tactics, thinking design and creative, before outlining the business targets which the marketing will help to support and achieve. This is the wrong way round.

It’s important that any investment in marketing work leads to increased revenue and leads for your business, so you need to identify the business goals first, to make sure the marketing is tailored to fit in with those.

Here are our seven steps to creating a marketing plan which really works:

Know exactly what to expect, and how much it costs

When you work with experts to develop a marketing plan, you need to know exactly what your expectations are – in other words what are the business goals which you want your marketing to achieve? Is it an increase of 50% in sales, is it a product launch, is it to break into a new market place?

It’s important to be really clear what you expect the marketing to help your business achieve and then set a realistic budget for that. It’s not going to work if you want to reach an extra 5 million customers but you only have £500 to spend on advertising. It needs to be realistic and affordable for the plan to work.

Optimise the management time you spend on marketing

Ideally you need to spend more management time developing the business strategy and plan, than you do on the marketing execution. Management time should be spent working with your team or your agency, to develop a plan which relates to the business goals, and once it has been agreed, it should be run without too much management input.

Management time should be spent signing off and approving final versions of marketing materials and choosing from concept options, not niggling over every single detail – leave that to the marketing experts.

Reduce risk through access to information gained during appropriate levels of research

One of the key aspects to marketing which many companies miss out, is the research phase. This is particularly important if you are planning to target a new audience, or launch a new product to the market.

The more time is spent on research into the market and the audience, to ensure that all marketing materials are tailored correctly, the better the outcome and results will be for your business. Reducing the risks in introducing new products, or going after new audiences can be dramatically reduced by an effective research-based marketing approach.

Be clear on where to focus your efforts and resources

Once the research is in place it’s going to make it much easier to develop a plan that works and shows exactly where you need to focus marketing effort and resources. Unless you have researched your audience thoroughly, how can you possibly know which marketing channels will reach them the best? For example, it’s no good spending a fortune on a television advertising campaign without the research which shows that’s where you’ll find your audience.

Having a research-backed plan will really help to pinpoint the focus of the campaign to reach the audience and communicate with them in the most effective way possible.

Make better-informed decisions

Once you have your business targets and budget set, and you have the research carried out, it makes it much easier to make informed decisions about which marketing approach to take when it comes down to the campaign tactics.

Your work leading up to now will help you create a plan using the right social media and traditional media channels as well as guiding you to make the right decisions when it comes to packaging, branding and price point for your products, which will all then appeal to the audience you are targeting.

Build a marketing team to drive revenue in your organisation

Whether you decide marketing is significant enough to employ an in-house team or whether you out source your marketing to an agency like LCM, effectively making us your marketing team, you will have the right experts to hand to help you deliver the plan and drive revenue and leads.

Know how effectively your investment in marketing is driving revenue throughout your organisation

The final aspect to a marketing plan which works effectively, is measuring the success. This links right back to identifying your business targets up front. You also need to measure whether or not those targets are achieved as a result of the marketing plan.

So ensuring measurement methods are included within the plan is a vital aspect. Again, this is an area which many people forget. They get carried away with creating the tactical aspects, without giving the strategic side enough thought.

If you need any help with strategic marketing planning, please do give us a call at LCM marketing and we’d be more than happy to have a chat.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Positioning your brand to attract the right customers

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:27:43 GMT

Before you start creating designs, logos and websites for your business, it’s really important to take a step back and make sure you have got your positioning right. The first step for any new business, or new product/service, is a strategic look at its positioning.

What is positioning?

Positioning means considering where in the market you want your brand or product to sit, so that will reach the right customers. For example, are you positioning your business as a luxury, high end expensive product for women, or is it a cheap, everyday product which young men would use? These two examples would require a very different approach to brand and logo design, how you write the content and how you promote the product.

For this to work, you need to know exactly who your customers are. If they are consumers find out what age they are, what their interests are, and where they would go to buy their products regularly. If they are business purchasers, there may be more than one person involved, so get researching. Once you know them inside out, you can make sure you position your brand to reach them.

Positioning will have an impact on your brand design, how it is packaged, where you place your products to sell them and also the price point which you go for. It will affect the way you talk about and describe your product in your marketing materials.

If you are not sure how to approach positioning your brand or company yourself then our marketing experts here at LCM will work with you to help you make sure your brand or business is positioned in the right way to attract the right customers.

Why is positioning important?

If you don’t get the positioning right you could end up trying to sell your product or business to the wrong audience, who just won’t be interested in buying it, and then you will be left with lots of stock and no orders potentially. It sounds so fundamental – surely people don’t get this wrong? You would be surprised just how much marketing money is wasted because companies don’t know this information.

The positioning helps your brand or company to stand above your competitors in the minds of all your customers. Good positioning and subsequently effective branding will work to give you a unique impression across the market place.

Customers will recognise your brand and understand immediately what it stands for and why they want to buy from you, just from the way you have positioned your business or products.

What is involved?

Positioning covers all aspects of the product, not just the design. You will need to develop positioning statements which define the audience and how the brand should be perceived and received by them.

Then the design, statements and positioning concepts will all work together to make your product stand out and appeal to the right customers to generate positive leads and a pipeline of successful sales.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with positioning your brand correctly, please do get in touch with us at LCM Marketing and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

5 ways to use video for your business

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 12:23:45 GMT

With video becoming increasingly popular on social media, and YouTube becoming one of the number one search engines for consumers it’s no wonder that businesses are jumping on board and looking at the best way to use video to reach their customers.

Video is fast becoming the first choice for getting a message out there, particularly across the social media channels, but if they are not done right they can end up looking tacky and do more damage than good.

It’s important to give a lot of consideration to a video before jumping in and filming. You need to identify the objectives first. We can’t state this strongly enough. Decide: ‘how are we going to measure whether the video worked or not’? It may not be easy to measure, but at least start with an idea of what success looks like.

You also need to identify the audience. Sounds obvious, but there are millions of videos out there that don’t ever see the light of day because no one thought ‘who needs to see this? who will it help?’

Once you know what the video must achieve, and who needs to engage with it, then create a storyboard to outline what will happen in the video – if all of this sounds too technical than our team at LCM Marketing can help.

Once the storyboard is right and the script has been created, you can actually start on the filming side and putting the video together. It’s important that everything in a business video is high quality – sound, images and the quality of the content itself.

One of the most important aspects is making sure the video is branded so that it is instantly recognisable as being from your company. Any messaging used in the video should also be consistent with messaging used in other printed or digital marketing material.

But what can you actually use video fro in a business? Here are five different ways of using video to help promote your company

Showcase a new product

Video is an incredibly positive way to actually show and describe a new product to great effect. You can incorporate aspects of the manufacturing, how to use it, and really accentuate all of the unique features of your product, by using video. You can also combine footage with animation, for example, to show working parts.

A “How-To” video

Giving instructions via video is great for customers – even better if you can link it to your product or business. So if you sell self-moulded industrial earplugs, for example, (as did one of our clients), you can create a how-to video explaining how to fit them safely into the ears. These can be created to supplement or take the place of printed manuals for products.

Customer testimonials

Written testimonials are quite often used – so think of the impact if you are able to record customers and clients providing great testimonials. It’s so much better. You can even ask customers to upload videos of themselves using your products, onto your website to make them even more authentic.

Have a YouTube channel

Don’t just upload videos straight onto your website. Set up a company YouTube channel and then store all your videos here and link through to the website. Firstly it will save lots of storage space on your site and secondly it provides another way for potential customers to find your business online.

Create a corporate welcome video

Why not record a quick introduction to your business and what you do, welcoming visitors to your website personally. This corporate style video will put a face and personality to an otherwise anonymous business.

If you would like to explore ways in which videos could help your business then please do get in touch with us at LCM Marketing.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk

Quick guide to developing your corporate identity

Tue, 11 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

For every business a corporate identity is a vital component for success and it is far more than just creating a pretty looking logo. There needs to be brand and positioning strategy based on business values before the creative process even begins.

Define your business values first

Your corporate identity needs to reflect your business ethos, values and mission so all of these elements need to have been clearly defined and developed as the first part of creating the identity.

Identify who your customers are

It’s important that you have identified who your key customers are and how you want to position your product strategically, before you look at design work. In that way, when you come to create your identity you will know exactly who you need it to resonate with.

The corporate identity is ultimately what draws people to buy from you and what makes your brand stand out from you competitors so it’s important to get it right, and for the visual work to make the right impact.

Use your audience insights

Your strategic work will have given you some insight into what your audience will relate to, for example, if your products are aimed at 16 – 24 year old men then the brand and look and feel will be very different from a product whose main customer is 50 – 60 year old women, for example.

It needs to be very clear who your corporate identity is aiming to attract, otherwise your customers will become confused and your business name and reputation will become muddied and unclear for anyone thinking of buying from you.

Design the corporate identity visuals

Once you have your strategic brand positioning in place, then you can look to engage an agency like us at LCM to design and create the corporate identity you need to take your business forward.

A creative team will take all of the positioning elements and then use the most appropriate colours, fonts and styles to develop a visual corporate identity. The overall identity you’re your business will then include the logo, style, key messaging, straplines and also a corporate brand guideline document.

That way you can protect your corporate identity and ensure that your new design elements are always used the right way, no matter who is using them and no matter what kind of marketing materials are being created.

The corporate identity needs to work across multiple levels, both digitally and in print, so whether the logo and designs are used on the website, in advertising or on a large poster, they are all correct and consistent.

Getting your corporate identity right is vital for getting your business noticed by the right customers who are interested in buying your products or using your services. If you get it wrong you will just blend into the background so it’s one area where employing the services of a professional marketing agency could be the difference between success and failure.

Telephone 01489 891870 or email info@lcm.co.uk