Marketing Advice for Small Businesses- AMA

[Chaza2k17]

I run an end-to-end marketing and communications consultancy dedicated to driving revenue growth for small businesses. Based in Kent, I specialise in event management, sales campaigns, digital marketing, social media and customer retention strategies. I’ve worked with huge corporate tech companies all the way down to scrappy start ups, and I’m now offering my services to small businesses. Happy to lend some advice to Mums. AMA!

How did you get started in consultancy? I have worked in marketing for close to 20 years, and feel like this might be a route I'd like to take one day.

What do you think is the most effective way of marketing? I've just started a sleep consultancy business and apart from spending £1000 on google ads in the last month, I don't think I know how else to put myself out there!

Hi! I’m hearing more and more women say this, I really recommend you explore it. I was made redundant (male boss, denied my FWR etc) and it genuinely felt like it was my time. There’s the flexibility element which appealed to me (although have to say I’m working more hours now than I have in a long time, but it’s so much more rewarding!), and then there’s the fact I can be my own boss. I have built up a good network of people who are likely to need freelance support (I’ve worked for tech startups for the last 5 years) which is important because I heavily rely on referrals. I wrote a business plan, mapped out my target market, mapped out my offering, built a website and started promoting my services. Good luck!

I think there are a number of things you could try, but ultimately you want to build up a few solid clients who will recommend you and provide positive reviews - really important in your line of work I think.

A few other ideas;

• Not ideal but as you are starting out you could do introductory offers, or use promo campaigns like Black Friday to increase interest.
• Local advertising - sounds basic but it’s effective! Health centres, GPs, local supermarkets! Anywhere mums go and are likely to see you ads (just use a basic template and printing on canva)
• A basic website (Squarespace) but somewhere you can add your client references and some success stories! Have you got any friends or relatives who could use first?
• Social media - are you comfortable on video - could share some free advice with a call to action to speak to you for more info.
• Set up business pages on google / socials too!

Try this first before blowing all your budget on paid ads

Thanks! How involved do you get in, say, the events and social media? Do you literally run them for clients or are you more involved in the strategy?

More so the strategy - I set processes up for the client, set up social channels, identify good events, build out strategic plans that the client then “owns” and can scale once the project has ended. I do also offer more tactical support and would attend their events if needed (for extra cost).

What is your experience before you started consulting?

• Bachelors Degree in Marketing, Advertising and PR
• 2 years in charity sector as PA to Director of Comms
• 3 years as event manager at a big corporate tech company - I also did some PM and client marketing roles
• Senior Marketing role at 4 early stage tech companies across 5 years
• 1 baby boy + 2 redundancies!

• Social media - are you comfortable on video - could share some free advice with a call to action to speak to you for more info.

Is that what this thread is, OP? Free advice with a view to generating some queries via the messaging tool?

I have just started a website. Monthly subscription model. I’m really struggling with how to get the word out though… Most of my would-be users are on Facebook and Instagram, but I’m really not sure how best to publicise. Most of the groups these people are in ban ads. I think I’d probably do best by paying for some reviews like an influencer or someone but have no idea how to find them either! Any advice? 😁

Have you found it hard to switch from big corporates to small businesses?

That's just a suggestion for people to try, not a veiled ad

Well yes exactly but I wouldn’t expect to get many referrals from MN, but similar idea with business forums on social media (although so many are flooded with spam accounts now). Would work better for B2C / D2C businesses like sleep consulting, for example!

Precisely ❤️

Hi! What industry / service are you selling? Have you looked at what your competitors or similar successful sellers are doing? Have you really researched your target market, do you know the exact type of person who is going to want to buy your product and commit to paying for it on a monthly basis? Understanding your target market is really important so that you can engage with the right influencers and not waste your money, in my opinion. It’s hard to say without knowing more about your service but having solid presence on social, using video (what about TikTok?), upload customer testimonials and positive reviews to your site, and look out for collaborations with other brands that appeal to your target audience. And you’ve just started right, so be kind to yourself, it takes time but staying consistent with your messaging and keep pushing your brand across as many channels, word of mouth etc

Yes 🤣 coming from a corporate company where most things have a documented process that works (albeit with multiple layers of sign off), to companies starting from a scratch with no clue! But generally nicer, more relaxed environment, less arsey management. Small businesses need employees with experience in big companies to help them scale, IMO.

What is the best and cheapest way to start a website for someone isn't tech savvy?

Love this. I actually run a pretty successful small retail business and to add my two pennies worth my marketing tips are:

1. set up a mailing list and send regular mails. Follow some of the email specialists on Insta (I like Katie Farrell) for their free advice.

2 Get as comfortable as you can with talking/videos on Instagram (or TikTok if your target market is in there). I’ve built a lovely community from being chatty and approachable (not salesy) on Insta.

Try Squarespace - you have to pay monthly to keep the site running but it’s not hugely expensive. And there are loads of nice templates you can use! Also Canva is great for designing easy images, logos etc. Again not expensive

Is it possible to make the videos etc without appearing in them. I know people will be face to face to use the service but for a couple reasons people aren’t keen to be the “face” of the business.

Absolutely. You could use stock videos (look at Unsplash for free footage or Shutterstock for more options that you pay for) and you could use a voiceover over the top, or simple animation? Trial and error too - no wrong answers, give something a try and see if it resonates with your audience

Depends on the type of video and market and your way to put a spin on it, I’m not a marketer but do video editing for content creators, voice over standard stock footage is often a bit of a dud views wise.

Hi, I posted earlier today and was just checking back while dinner's cooking to see if Chaza2k17 or anyone else has replied to my question about marketing ideas for units. I am therefore really surprised to see my post has been deleted! Not sure why as I am a genuine Mum whose side hustle is renting out units - I am a sole trader, not a business, just a regular mum who would like some support and assistance. I'm not sure how to contact Mumsnet HQ so posting here again to ask the reason why my reply/question was deleted? Had a quick look through the guidelines and none the wiser. If someone from Mumsnet HQ could message me privately that would be appreciated - all I wanted was some help with advertising / marketing.

I found that paying attention to bing seo helped bring in more traffic than I expected. It's not just about Google...some people still use Bing, especially on desktop or through built-in search bars.

I added keywords and made sure my site loaded fast, plus sorted out the basics like meta titles and descriptions. Was surprised how quickly it made a difference.