We understand that building a website can be intimidating. There’s a lot to consider. You’re going to be competing with many established, well-designed websites. Every business owner wants their website to ‘stand out’ and there are a lot of components and considerations.

Storytelling may be as ancient as humanity, but it remains an excellent way of creating emotional engagement.

As TikTik consumption is increasing, we spoke to someone with expertise, Cat Anderson, Head of Marketing EMEA at Sprout Social on why B2B startups should bother with TikTok, and how entrepreneurs can work on growing their social presence.

One of a business owner’s main jobs to be done is to find repeatable, reliable and scalable channels to market. If you don’t prove your channel marketing mix quickly enough you’re setting yourself up for failure.  According to the Telegraph, 20% of new ventures fail within their first year, with that stat rising to 60% within the first three years. There are a plethora of reasons for failing, but not being able to reach and sell to your target audience is one of the most common. 

No matter what industry your startup is in, one thing is for sure – you need to be visible online if you want to succeed. And while there are many different ways to achieve this, SEO is undoubtedly one of the most effective. Not only does it help you reach your target audience, but it also offers a host of other benefits that can be crucial for the success of your startup.

Video is one of the most powerful tools that digital marketers have at their disposal. For one, it is an easily digestible format that gives viewers’ eyes a rest from the plethora of text-heavy marketing messages found online. In this sense, it enables target audiences to take a more passive role in the marketing process, merely requiring them to sit back, relax, and be shown why they should buy into a brand’s products or services.

This week an HR Agency owner from Harrogate, Yorkshire is celebrating having found her perfect new team member, after having used TikTok to ensure they would be a good fit for the fun loving team.

In 2004 Lego was all but bankrupt and its target audience, children, had fallen out of love with it. The company faced extinction. Playmobil licked its lips. Fast forward to today and Lego’s revenue has gone from $6.7bn to $55bn Danish krone. It has five stores in London alone, one of the world’s most recognisable logos, and a catalogue of film, game, book and clothing merchandise. Its audience, moreover, now includes adults, whether the adults admit it or not.

The driving force behind any startup's success is connectedness. When you take the time to connect with others, you cultivate trust and encourage loyalty - the two cornerstones of building a successful business that will stand the test of time.

User-Generated Content - it’s the most effective way for communicating with Gen Z and Millennials. This phenomenon hooks us by being inherently genuine and authentic, with each phase of transforming it becomes more and more adapted to 'new reality'. Although, there are now tonnes of different social platforms, UGC always performs in different ways. 

As women’s health brand Elvie recently ‘broke the internet’ with their provocative 2022 campaign normalising women’s incontinence in sport, print marketing and branding experts Solopress have investigated the top five campaigns of the last decade that stirred up the social sphere.

Social media influencers can and regularly do help startups reach new audiences. It’s (mostly) a legitimate form of marketing, with some important caveats relating to disclosure and conflicts of interest. And some influencers get very well paid for doing it. In most cases, they charge a fair fee for introducing startups, new brands and products to new audiences.

As the metaverse becomes the norm, startup brand managers can’t really afford not to embrace 3D brand design for their organisations, it offers businesses a competitive advantage while offering no end of creative possibility in communications.  

In today’s business world, it’s not just what you know but who you know (and who knows you) that matters. In the past, this used to refer to the closed shop of the old boy’s network. Now, thankfully, that’s no longer the case - at least for the most part. One of the key reasons for this is the internet or, more precisely, social network sites and more precisely still – LinkedIn.

A Strategy is a plan that is designed to help you achieve a long-term goal. Which means when ‘thinking strategically’ during your planning process you should have your goals in mind to create a well thought out plan.

Digital marketing is leveraging startups and nonprofits in so many ways. Nowadays, starting new ventures doesn't sound as scary as in the age of yellow pages and TV commercials. Organisations, non-profits, and brands do not need brick and mortar setup but just a foul-proof and sustainable digital marketing strategy to flourish.

The power of loyalty is an often-overlooked concept when building and maintaining a brand. While no one can deny its power, creating loyalty is complex and many businesses struggle to achieve it. Research has proven that the cost of attracting a new customer is as much as five times more than keeping an existing one, so developing trust and loyalty should be an investment every company makes. But how exactly do you create meaningful relationships with your customers that evoke loyalty and secure future sales?

Perhaps now, more than ever before, B2G marketing is crucial. The government has committed to spending billions of pounds over the coming years in order to ‘level up’ and alleviate somewhat of the financial stress caused the by the ongoing pandemic, meaning there will be government contracts galore – welcome news for business owners around the country.

Businesses need to stay ahead of the game. Whether you market yourself as practical or technologically complex, it is vital that you keep up to data with the latest tech to further your sales.

As brands aim to connect with consumers, they have to stand out among the crowd. With the average consumer seeing up to 10,000 ads a day, brands constantly fight for consumers’ attention with print and digital ads among a slew of other content on social media apps as they scroll — not to mention trying to stand out with unique product design and brand appeal.

Ineffective communication at work has the potential to be extremely damaging to productivity. It opens opportunities for misunderstandings, misinformation and conflict and can turn small problems into big issues.

If the goal is to make your startup a success story, the last thing you want to do is underutilise social media. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and Tiktok present sizable opportunities to grow brand awareness, better customer service, and increase sales.

When it comes to running a successful, customer-focused business, a strong marketing strategy is key.

Strategy isn't always the easiest thing to get your head around. But it is always important. Especially for early-stage founders who are short on time and resources, and the future looks like a vast expanse of shiny opportunities.

Marketing is a key part of any strong business plan, and essential to the growth of your startup – but where do you begin? Firstly, you must decide whether your business will build an in-house team or outsource to an agency is an important decision that affects the future of your company; the source will really impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your marketing campaign, depending on a few key determinants!

As a business owner, you are the captain of your ship. But ensuring your company is consistently moving in the right direction, especially as you start to scale, means you simply cannot do it alone. Sustained success in business needs a talented team of people with the right skills and perspectives to maintain company value.

At the beginning of every year, we see a new range of marketing trends that we should keep an eye on throughout the year. This year is no exception with social media and tools such as AR still growing and developing, here are some top tips on content marketing in 2022.

Increasing numbers of businesses are choosing to make sustainability a top priority. However, many are deploying deceptive tactics which amount to nothing more than a façade of sustainability.

Marketing expert Philip Bacon shares his four-step beginner’s guide to building a successful email marketing campaign.

Building a brand is an essential step to building a startup. Here are the essentials of startup branding you should know in 2022.

As a nation, it’s important for us to raise awareness about the biases that exist, and to take action towards equality. 

A common, yet nice-to-have problem for many start-ups that have just closed a funding round is - where to invest the money?

The more conversations I have with other marketers, the clearer it becomes. It’s hard to do your expert work for yourself. Here’s how to fix it. 

Schneider Electric’s seminar at Sustainability LIVE invited the audience to join its journey to net zero. Ranked as the ‘world’s most sustainable company’ in 2021 by Corporate Knights Global with an overall score of 83.2%, its Energy & Sustainability Director, Barry Hurst, offered advice on how to make your business greener.

What are the signs of HR burnout? Burnout can look different for everyone. For many, it will present in ways that make you feel exhausted and overworked. This could be increased irritability, anxiety, mood swings, a decrease in the quality of work produced, retracting from social events and encounters, fatigue, sensitivity and overall disengagement in work.

Companies need to allocate greater resources to managing risks from Artificial Intelligence (AI) ahead of the introduction of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, a new report from research and advisory firm, Verdantix, says.

Brand licensing is key in helping businesses to generate revenue and increase their commercial value. Licensing allows brand owners to retain control over their intellectual property, such as trade marks, whilst creating a revenue stream and opening up the possibility of entry to new markets and raising consumer awareness and exposure.

Brand awareness has become a crucial component of any business marketing strategy. Some people might think that freelancing doesn’t require as much strategy or organisation, but those with experience in that area would beg to differ.

In the words of Bill Gates, 'Content is king' and this applies for startups. Quality content not only helps to boost awareness and improve SEO, but is also a marketing tool that will start conversations and showcase brand value. It is perhaps one of the most vital tools a business can have, but it’s amazing how many startups still don’t utilise it to its full potential.

The dramatic rise in hybrid working in the UK bought about by the impact of Covid-19 has seen individuals and teams working either partly or fully remotely in line with the ebbs and flows of government restrictions.

Honest question… As a business owner or entrepreneur, how often do look at your to-do list and think 'there’s not enough hours in the day or days in the week'? How often do you say 'I wish I had more help around here?' or find yourself doing tasks that you know could be done by someone else?

Many startups think PR is out of reach for them – they think that they need big budgets for a PR agency, or a little black book of contacts, a huge amount of time or they need to wait until their business is bigger. But in my experience, this isn’t the case – there are ways that start-up businesses can bootstrap their PR whilst achieving great results that help to build their brand, drive sales, help their SEO, create trust triggers and get them talked about by the right people in front of their target audience.

Let’s face it, the internet is a crowded place. When you’re just setting up your new business, one of the first hurdles that entrepreneurs have to overcome is to simply get noticed. Entrepreneurship has risen by 30% in the last couple of years (Financial Times) and 98 new businesses formed every hour during Q1 of 2021 (Business Leader). So, how can you stand out in a saturated marketplace?

Whether you're a startup founder, marketer, or future entrepreneur I want to tell you that 90 percent of startups and young businesses simply don’t survive long-term. Now, where did I come up with that stat? It’s not just something I make up. I’m going to talk a lot in this article about being data-driven in the 'moves' we make as marketers, so know that anytime I throw a number out, it’s researched backed, just like you should be with your marketing.

Gone are the days when good marketing involved only a recognisable logo, a catchy slogan and a TV, radio or print campaign. There’s no doubt the digital world has created huge marketing opportunities - it has never been easier for brands to engage directly with their customer base, and target ads to the people who want to see them.

During the pandemic, as well as baking lots of bread, we socialised online more than ever before. Craving connection, people turned to their favourite platforms to fill the void of IRL interaction, and we witnessed social media return to its original purpose - to connect and build communities. Brands have jumped at the opportunity to use the power of social to get closer to their customers and with one in four saying their favourite brands have strived to build relationships with them in the past six months, it’s clearly paying off. But getting your customers to engage with you, or even notice you, on social media in today’s pay-to-play landscape requires more than just pressing ‘post’.

Brand identity is the core of a company. It englobes the business's values, image, and personality, similar to how people have values, beliefs, and individual traits.

One thing is certain as we head into 2022 - the war for great talent is going to become hotter than ever. There is, however, plenty that you can do to win over great candidates.

Consumer data overwhelmingly points towards the importance of social media to grow an eCommerce business. If you look at the studies, over four billion people on Earth are 'active' social media users.

Connecting the dots between your marketing activities and the rest of your business can change your perception about marketing. Understanding that marketing influences all areas of your business is the key to planning effective marketing activities. 

When speaking to businesses we often hear the phrase, ‘we just use word of mouth’ when people describe how they promote their company. This is amazing! But is it more than just ‘word of mouth’?

To attract and convert more customers, you need to provide them with information, and proof that you’re the best at what you do. Case studies are the perfect solution.

Businesses look to constantly tweak their hiring strategies and recruitment processes to have prolific talents on board. Needless to say, an organisation is as good as the overall competence of its employees. Hence, businesses also go about spending exorbitant amounts of money to market their job vacancies among a larger talent pool. However, be it job seekers or potential customers, they always view businesses in terms of brand value.

If you have a startup located in popular cities, investing in security enhancements is wise. Places abundant with new businesses are witnessing a rise in crime, from night time raids to property damage.

With over 3.7bn social media users worldwide, neglecting the online presence of your business is simply not an option. As we start the new year, brands are looking at ways they can effectively engage their audiences well into 2022.

It’s an exciting time for start-up businesses. During the past 18 months, many – through choice or lack thereof – have grabbed at the opportunity of launching their own business. With so many new businesses emerging, consideration for a strong, meaningful, and lasting brand is crucial.

A marketing strategy is key to a successful company. Whether it’s an established multinational, or a fledgling start up, an effective marketing plan is an essential road map for the business. A strategic plan helps to define marketing aims, keeps an eye on the final objective and defines each step that needs to be taken to reach the desired outcome.

Specialised translation of medical texts contributes to the promotion of goods and services of the corresponding direction in the foreign market. It is just as important as the original text. Because, in case of an error, it can nullify all the efforts of the advertiser, which will radically affect the entire subsequent marketing campaign

Do you ever find yourself alarmed by the stark contrast in ecological attitudes between friends, family and colleagues? For many, net zero targets are a top priority. Others’ mindsets vary, with some making small adjustments to their way of life, and some refusing any personal responsibility.

Once upon a time, public relations tactics were all about crafting a press release, pitching to journalists and building up a great contacts list. While these strategies are still important, today’s always-on world commands us to think more creatively.

Nowadays consumers are gradually becoming less receptive to advertisements. Different sources indicate that 75% of consumers don’t believe advertisements at all.

This week, Startups Magazine spoke to Chris Sims, Managing Director, SoHo (Single/Small Office, Home Office) and Marketing at BT.

Global VC funding broke new ground in the first half of 2021, with a staggering $288bn invested worldwide.

This year, Black Friday is set to take place today November 26th, with Cyber Monday to follow soon afterwards on November 29th. If your company has been ignoring Black Friday up until this point, seeing it as just another American import or a passing e-commerce fad, then there’s a good chance that you’re missing out on the potentially lucrative sales opportunities the event has to offer

As world leaders converge on Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (Cop26), the need for climate action has never been stronger.

The festive season is just around the corner, and many retailers are gearing up for the most important date in their calendar - Black Friday.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, purpose in business matters more than ever. With increasing global pressures, businesses have: “An opportunity, and an obligation, to engage in the urgent needs of our planet” (Mckinsey 2020).

As the dust settles on COP26, which rather predictably failed to fulfil hopes and promises, the obvious question is: what next?

COP26 encouraged people to rethink their impact on the environment and strive towards more conscious consumption. This, coupled with the launch of our November/December issue of the magazine focusing on sustainability and tech for good means it’s the perfect time to round up the top 10 sustainable tech startups of 2021.

In 2020, the UK attracted record levels of investment, maintaining its leading position in European digital health technology research. In terms of global growth, digital health is set to double in the next five years, reaching $350bn.

In the words of Philip Kotler, a marketing author, consultant, and professor: "A good company offers excellent products and services. A great company also offers excellent products and services but also strives to make the world a better place."

You might be surprised at just how many introverts choose to set-up in business for themselves. If you were to believe all of the myths and misconceptions about introverts and introversion, you’d picture us hiding in a corner afraid to say boo to a goose!

Blue Cactus Digital provide digital marketing for startups and brands looking to scale. It loves all things tech, startups, design, sustainability, and ethical marketing. Startups Magazine caught up with Clare Martin, Blue Cactus Digital’s Director and Strategist.

According to data from What Customers Want, 91% of consumers prefer to purchase from small to medium-sized businesses. Why?

Startup businesses ought to grow in size and complexity. The expression of the business founders’ passion to meet a need in the marketplace, should in theory grow as big as possible to meet that need. Unfortunately, for most startups scaling up often leads to failure and is a leading cause of startups not succeeding within the first 10 years.

In 2019, the Telegraph revealed that 20% of new ventures will fail within just 12 months of opening their doors, with that figure climbing to 60% within the first three years.

Every journey that ever began, never came with a prequel of how it is going to be. It is only when we walk past it, do we experience, learn and evolve. The same goes with starting up. You might not have a background, but you have your experience, grit and discipline that keep you moving forward. Being young is a power in itself, but it only benefits when you know what you are doing and how it adds value. 

When high-profile new logos launch, if they hit the headlines it’s usually for the wrong reasons. That’s largely down to a general assumption that “branding” is just about one marque, a frustrating misconception for design teams that spend months—often years—on strategy and iteration.

In 2020 Tinder hit 74 million downloads, Tinder was ranked #2 highest grossing app in the world with $513m in revenue. There were over 66 million users, which consisted of 6.7 million paying subscribers. 

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about branding? Is it just your company’s name? or the logo? Maybe it is the design, colour scheme and packaging?

Getting a new business off the ground is an intensive and time-consuming endeavour that will test even the most resilient of us, which is why so many new companies are established without working systems and processes in place.

As the UK moves forward from lockdown restrictions many businesses are starting to capitalise on the resurging economy, growing their businesses to increase profit they may have lost out on over the past year. Additionally, one in five Brits are planning to start a business by the end of 2021, making the current market extremely competitive.

A blog is a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group that is written in an informal or conversational style.

Working at Thrasio, one of the fastest-growing acquirers of Amazon third-party FBA brands, you learn how Amazon sellers can adapt their offering and remain competitive as consumers return to the high street.

As control over the pandemic increases, businesses and their customers balance optimism with curiosity about just what 'normal' will look like going forward. If you’re a startup, taking critical next steps may involve reassessing your marketing strategy. After all, it is indeed a changed world. It only makes sense that your marketing plan could use some adjusting.

As a small business owner, PR should be considered as a crucial part of your business strategy. Despite our obsession with social media and the glut of information that we consume daily, nothing can take away from the feeling of certitude that traditional press channels provide us. Be it in the form of news, business features or a founder profile piece, if it has the press’s seal of approval, it positively influences the way audiences respond to that piece of news.

When restrictions on travel and working together took hold on the world, it forced events and campaigns (which are essential to marketing) to frantically be reshuffled and moved online where possible. Sales strategies and marketing plans had to be reorganised to adapt to the new normal of the marketing world.

As a digital marketeer, data is king and the cost of ineffective data can be detrimental not only to the success of your campaigns. Still, it could also alienate or deter your audiences. Having incomplete, ineffective, or redundant data can lead you to making bad marketing decisions, causing business-altering mistakes.

Launching a business can be one of the most exciting yet nerve-racking decisions we can make. Once we've taken the leap, nothing says ‘venturing out into the unknown’ more than that common question: “What are you doing about marketing?”

Over the last year or so, as trade shows and retail outlets have closed and footfall in the physical world declined, digital marketing has become a critical way to reach an audience for any product or service that a start-up may be launching or growing, and especially so if you are D2C and want a direct connection with your customers.

The commercialisation of your brand through licensing, can help maximise the potential of your trade marks, and is key to generating business revenue and increasing commercial value.

An effective SEO strategy doesn't always mean you have to work hard, but it always requires you to work smart. Whether you just launched a website or your website's SEO needs a different approach, there is always room to improve regardless of the business type, size, or industry. SEO expert at UENI, Matt Reevy, shares 7 handy online marketing tips to help you upgrade your website's SEO and help boost your business.

A major part in delivering a successful campaign is to ensure you have the right people behind your brand. By having the best individuals to represent your product or service, the better engagement you’ll have with consumers. When it comes to creating your ideal team, there are some important factors to consider. From personality, knowledge, skills, attitude to experience. If you can tick all of these, then the greater impact your campaign will have.

Apple announced big updates for iCloud and iOS 15 at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference this June, with a particular focus on privacy and data tracking. Newly unveiled features from the tech giant include the ability for users to load remote content privately without disclosing their IP, as well as using 'burner' email accounts to sign up for email offers.

Startups are looking to make their mark in the busy online world as everyone competes to be more visible to their audiences. Traditional PR is an essential part of the strategy to manage online reputation, brand awareness and promotion of a business but have you thought about combining this with SEO to level up your presence? Businesses often separate PR and SEO, but why? Blending PR and SEO together achieves better results as PR promotes the brand and SEO concentrates on ranking and traffic.

Marketing is a pivotal area of functionality for all businesses and brands. While the ultimate objective of every business is to drive sales and profits, marketing is a means to it. Marketing takes a business among people, attracts the target audience, and endorses products and services to influence call-to-action and buying.

If you have ever replied to a ‘what was the number one song on the day you were born?’ viral post, taken a personality quiz without checking the terms and conditions or just accepted a friend request from a stranger then you could have opened yourself up to fraud.

More people than ever before are using their smartphones to browse the internet - 90% of the world’s internet population in fact! As such, it is essential that start-ups are equipped to deal with the demand by optimising their websites for mobile and developing apps to help reach and engage with customers more effectively. 

When launching their business, entrepreneurs get very excited at the prospects of finding clients, but also anxious about how to do it. While there are many priorities for them in terms of business operations, building up the right teams, or maintaining their cash flow, organic marketing isn’t one that should be neglected or postponed.