If you feel like you should be building your email list, getting more active on social media, redoing your website, or that you really should start doing video, you’re not alone. We speak to many business owners who want to do more, or something different and the...
Marketing
The importance of creative projects in business
Last night I watched Tim Minchin, the comedian and musician live. I've been following his work for years, and it didn't disappoint. But what I didn't realise until last week was that Tim had taken a ten year break from comedy, and this is his 'comeback tour'. Ten...
Why small businesses need marketing
Whether your business is flying high, or you are struggling to find your feet in a crowded market, running a small business takes time, energy and commitment. When tackling the never-ending to-do list, marketing is often an area that never seems to get addressed, due...
Understanding your audience to get the edge over the competition
Building on customer profiles Our last post left off at the stage of using customer profiles to understand your target audience’s demographics and professional attributes. Once you have completed this important stage, the next step is to engage with these audiences by...
How to identify your competitors
Do you know who your competitors are? This may seem like a silly question; after all, if you are a high street estate agency, clearly your competitors are the other estate agents located on your town’s high street. However, while this is true, for most businesses...
How to choose the right marketing agency
You’ve decided to tap into the flexibility and expertise of an agency to look after your marketing needs. Great decision – but the next step is to work out which agency is going to be best for you in terms of producing the tangible results for your business that this...
The key to staying inspired by your work and ahead of the competition
Since taking over The Ideal Marketing Company in January 2019, it's fair to say I've been on a steep learning curve. While I have worked in marketing for years, most of my learning and development in my previous senior position at Ideal was around marketing trends and...
Should I outsource my marketing?
For most SME owners, identifying a need to focus on marketing swiftly leads to the in-house vs outsourcing debate. Even within the same industry, no two businesses are the same or employ people with identical skillsets. This means the type of marketing you need and...
How has Covid-19 changed marketing?
A year on from Boris Johnson’s first instruction to ‘stay at home’, we have much to be hopeful for with the vaccine and the plan for a route out of lockdown. However, far from the temporary suspension of normality that many of us originally envisaged, the world that...
Making changes and the importance of challenging what works
Ideal Marketing Company MD Jess Shailes takes a look at how tough decisions can lead to exciting new opportunities. We're no strangers to change at the Ideal Marketing Company. In four years, we’ve had four MDs, been through a change in ownership and removed and...