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Are you a creative thinker

We have an opportunity for a creative individual looking to be part of the team in our award winning professional marketing agency – mc square marketing. Successful individuals will help deliver social media management for our growing number of clients as well as other marketing projects. You will be promoting company brands online and engaging with a target audience to build online relationships with existing and prospective customers of a brand.

watch video and find out more.

 

Applicants must have a good knowledge of how social media channels effectively work and help in business growth. Creative and strategic thinking together with the ability to communicate clearly both online and face to face with clients and team members is essential. Previous experience in delivering social media projects and general marketing campaigns for businesses and/or organisations would be advantageous.

As a potential social media assistant, any successful individual should have an active online profile across key channels such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Other channels you would be aware of should include Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and Blogging.

This position is initially for a part time person working approx 25 – 35 hours a week with the possibility of a full time position within the company in the long term. The hours of work can be flexible to suit childcare and will be office based in Enfield, London.


Internship / Placement

In addition we are also looking for students looking for work experience in the creative marketing industry and want a Placement or Internship, either during school/college holidays and whilst at university/college. If you are interested please also send your CV marked specifically as Internship/Placement.

Applicants should contact Michael Cuschieri via email at mail@https:https://mcsquare.co.uk with a copy of their CV.

It’s not ALL about the BASS! It’s ALL about the PLANNING!

 

Why you should have a Marketing Plan for your business.

Welcome to the latest video in the series of “ADDING VALUE” to business. Our topic today is all about PLANNING!

Your success in 2015 and beyond can be achieved by simply planning your marketing activity for the next 6 or even better 12 months. Investing time in your business now will help you achieve your objectives and sales targets. Find out more in our video on how the little things can make a difference to maximising your potential. watch the video!

Important questions to be asking yourself?

  • What promotional activities should we be considering this year?
  • What worked last year and what needed improving?
  • What “Calendar Events” are important to our business, eg Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s day…….
  • Who is our target customer and where will find them?
  • What products or services can we promote eg New product launch, late night shopping, FREE Parking, FREE gifts, 2 for 1, Special Social Media Management packages….
  • What channels will we use to promote your campaign eg online advertising, Digital marketing, Social media, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Pinterest, Instagram….. leaflet distribution, local or national newspaper and publications?
  • Who will be responsible for delivering any given marketing activity?
  • Have we set deadlines for each proposed activity?

These are just a few considerations and should you require any further help or advice please do get in touch on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or even email or call.

mc square marketing | 020 8367 5659 | www.https:https://mcsquare.co.uk

 

 

The power of Hashtags

Einstein’s Friday Formulas

What exactly are hashtags – #?

The use of the hashtag is now crucial in everyday social media as it has become a search tool. The symbol known as the hashtag is # and is put at the beginning of a word to allow users to search for posts or tweets of a certain topic. Although this has spread to Facebook, it originally started within Twitter as it was used at the end of tweets to highlight the main points, e.g. #Selfie. This search tool is a useful addition to many social media interactions.

However, it is worth noting that you shouldn’t just hashtag anything in your tweets/posts. You should choose the key aspects of what you are discussing or posting about. The more relevant they are, the more they are going to be searched and the more interaction they will provoke. For example, the #2014WorldCup was in trend more so than the #WinterOlympics this summer.

How many should you use?

It is also important the number of hashtags you use. Some recommend to make use of lots, whereas others suggest to only use 1 or 2. As a social media team, we have learnt there are times for both. When it comes to hashtags about business it is better to use as many as you can, covering lots of different aspects of business e.g. #Marketing #Advertising #Entrepreneur #Networking so that when someone searches for any of these your post comes up and whatever point or advertisement you were posting is noticed. Our experience has shown us that 5 or 6 hashtags have been optimal for achieving desired results with social media content (C).

Make the most of Trends (T)

However, when talking about a social trend it is useful to highlight the trend in your hashtags as there will be a specific hashtag which lots of people are looking for and using themselves. When a subject or issue is given a great deal of attention and publicity, the hashtag is universally accepted as representing and relating to that topic. This means the content and opinions of what people are posting can all be found by conducting a search using this word or phrase. We thoroughly recommend that if there is a specific hashtag trending hugely then it is advisable to use that one.

Either way, hashtags are the face of today’s social media and it can really help boost the reach (R) and engagement (E) of your posts and also the interaction from others, which will lead to more followers and likes.

What are your experiences with hashtags? Have they helped your posts reach a greater audience? Comment below or let us know on our Facebook page here or on our Twitter page here

How content encourages social engagement

Einstein’s Friday Formulas

Social media users view and share many posts everyday but many businesses often struggle to ensure that their content is among them.

Potential customers on social media (be it Twitter or Facebook etc.) are often shown many adverts by companies encouraging them to buy their product or service. The way to make your content and business stand out among all these is through social engagement.

By creating and wording your content in a specific way, you are encouraging your followers to engage with you and ask questions about what it is your business can offer them. Doing so allows you to grab their attention and sustain it as well as listening to what they have to say about your brand. Here are some tips to improve your contents ability to engage:

  • Pictures – Before you begin engaging you must first make your content eye-catching to someone scrolling down their newsfeed. This can be done by including a large, high-quality picture of something that illustrates what you’re trying to say in your post. This grabs the attention of your customers without them even reading a word of your post! This is a great start to making your content noticeable.
  • Examples of successful service – Try to post content that educates your customers about what it is you do. Share examples of successful jobs you’ve completed for customers. This encourages people to comment and ask informed questions about details of your business and gives you a great opportunity to begin interacting with them. This can also be done with screenshots of awards or positive testimonials from satisfied customers. For business pages, Facebook has a review section allowing customers to rate your business out of five stars and write what they thought of your product/service.
  • Tips & Advice – Building on the notion of educating, this next step involves posting content that gives your followers tips and advice about what your company does. This gives them more of an incentive to monitor your content and look out for your updates. The tips must be brief and to the point and illustrated with the use of a relevant picture.
  • Sharing Posts – Customers and other users love it when you share their posts. This action says to them that you want other people to read the same great content that you just read. Not only does this make your followers feel valued but it will encourage them to begin to share YOUR posts. Doing so is great as it will help you reach and hopefully attract a greater number of users than you were previously. It’s also worth commenting on the posts of your followers and asking them relevant questions about what they wrote. This helps start a conversation that will be visible to others who view the same post.   
  • Local news and Events – Make sure you follow local news and events. This is great content to share and publish as it shows that you are aware of what’s going on in your area and that you want others to know about it. Customers are given even more of a reason to follow your posts because they will also be hearing about what’s going on in their community. This is also a great chance to engage with your followers by asking if they are attending a certain event or what they thought about certain news and developments. 
What ideas do you have on social engagement through social media? Let us know on our Facebook page here  or on our Twitter page here

OFFLINE Social Media Channels!

All of your Social Media accounts created – FANTASTIC! Now you can just sit back and let your fan base grow without any further intervention!

Not quite!

Ok…to a certain extent your audience may grow organically just by creating Social Media accounts i.e. by completing your profiles, posting statuses, tweets, blogs etc but there is a lot more that you can do to increase your online presence and start building relationships which could lead to business opportunities.

It’s all about making people aware – if people aren’t informed then they probably won’t have the time to ‘find’ you online and become part of your online community.

Don’t forget your offline channels. As part of your regular marketing mix you should build in your Social Media channels such as Facebook or Twitter name, into you brand touch points. So what do we mean? Well let’s start with your business cards, just think how many of these you give out and if a prospective client has one, they may want to follow you and find out what people are saying about you online. What about your next leaflet or postcard campaign? Visually you could also include the logos as well as actual account names.

Your printed business stationery along with your other forms of contact such as email signatures including your iPhone and iPad, website, online directories, networking groups such as Business Networking International, BNI are all potential touch points to your brand and lead generation tools. So next time you’re getting your business cards, flyers etc reprinted then be sure to factor social media in.

As an additional optional, you will probably have seen QR codes appearing on adverts and leaflets.These are basically a bar code that people can scan which will divert them to a dedicated online page which may be your Facebook, Twitter, Blog or YouTube page or a specific page on your website. If you feel your audience would be receptive to it then put one on.

Other opportunities you could leverage are shop signs, restaurant menu’s, staff clothing, vehicles….really, whatever your product or service, there is always a way of increasing online awareness. The opportunities are endless!

DON’T WASTE THESE OPPORTUNITIES TO PROMOTE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND AIM TO BECOME THE GO TO PERSON FOR KNOWLEDGE AND ADVICE IN YOUR GIVEN INDUSTRY.

Do you have any other tips and suggestions that have worked for your business? Please do share them.

HEROES SELECTION! Websites

Welcome back! Here’s Part 3 of our Heroes Selection of top tips. Please get in touch with any feedback you may have!

Serious thought and consideration needs to be put in to the creation of a successful website. If not, then a poorly considered website could actually do nothing but harm a business by creating the wrong perception of the service/product that is to be received! 

There are a large number of factors that need to be thought-out when creating an effective website, some specific to the type of industry being communicated about! However see below for a few top tips on points to consider.

 

  • “Now where on earth do I find…… ?” – there is nothing more infuriating than trying to navigate through a website and feel like you’re being sent in to a never-ending spiral of impertinent information! You must ensure that your website is easy to navigate and does not put off a potential customer and make them leave your site in sheer frustration!
  • APPEARANCE – obviously thought around what a website looks is a huge topic to discuss. A few key elements to consider, in my opinion, are that your website needs to reflect your company, it’s brand and at the same time look appealing and professional. This could be the first impression a potential customer has of your business so make it count! In addition make sure there is a call to action!
  • CONTENT – we all know of websites where designers have got carried away with the use of garish, flashing graphics! The content of web pages need to be carefully considered and perhaps used appropriately. Consider regularly updating the text to keep visitors engaged or perhaps using multimedia to create some amusement. The use of ‘Key Words’ in your text content is vital if you are to be found on Google and other search engines. Our advice – use a copywriter to develop the content around key words researched through Google. Make sure you include words that are actually being searched for and not what you ‘think’ is being searched!

So if you plan on creating a new web page or perhaps spruce up an existing one, it is worth considering the points above.

 

There are numerous other elements to consider aswell as those highlighted but please do let us know your experiences of what works and what doesn’t work for you and your business.

HEROES SELECTION! Design

Here is the second of our Heroes hints and tips…do let us know your thoughts!

DESIGN

When it comes to the design of your marketing materials, whether this is internet based or printed materials, all businesses need to ensure a few objectives are considered and built in to the end results for the plan to effective.

AIDA is a widely used acronym that is used throughout the marketing world which focuses attention on the desired outcome.

A – Attention or Awareness. To attract the attention of the customer.

I – Interest. Raise the customers interest by communicating advantages and benefits.

D – Desire. The customer will want/need the product/service.

A – Action. The customer will take action/purchase.

With this acronym in mind you will want to ask yourself some questions about your marketing materials design and content to achieve such goals, for example:

  • Is there a clear benefit to the customer?
  • Who is the target audience for the material

As E. St Elmo Lewis (American advertising and sales pioneer) stated:

The mission of an advertisement is to attract a reader, so that he will look at the advertisement and start to read it; then to interest him, so that he will continue to read it; then to convince him, so that when he has read it he will believe it. If an advertisement contains these three qualities of success, it is a successful advertisement.

HEROES SELECTION! Email Marketing

The HEROES SELECTION are a series of hints and tips on how to achieve more business. Over the coming weeks we’ll give you this essential information to unwrap!

To begin with here’s the first of our HEROES…enjoy!

EMAIL MARKETING

Isn’t email somewhat dated given the explosion of the use of Social Media?! Absolutely not!

Email marketing works and there are a huge number of surveys that have concluded as such. For example, the recent Digital Marketing Outlook Survey from the Society of Digital Agencies revealed that 70% of brand marketers planned to invest in email marketing.

I’m not going to throw a load of figures at you but to summarise, as long as constructed in the appropriate way, then email marketing can work because it can be targeted, it builds relationships and can drive direct sales. 

There are a number of things to consider when building an email campaign but here are a few points to get you started: 

  • PRIORITY 1! Don’t just try and sell on your first email to any prospect! Give valuable information, advice and tips so you build your reputation and credibility. Build that relationship for the long term.
  • Now get personal…Build that relationship – by personalising your email to the recipient will increase both the amount that the email is read and, if pertinent, the click through rate.
  • Which day of the week?! May sound a little crazy but it’s been concluded that the best days of the week to send out such communications are Tuesdays and Wednesdays! (see Smart Insights) “WHY?” – I hear you ask! Well, it’s all to do with the proximity to the weekend! Midweek and people are more likely to be receptive to such emails. This may of course depend on who your target audience is aswell!
  • Be consistent! As long as your audience have signed up to regular newsletters then ensure that your newsletters are standardized with their look and feel as this will strengthen the brand awareness. In addition make sure the email is distributed at the same time and day, regularly.

So there’s some food for thought to get you started! 

Please add your comment and links to any stories related to Email Marketing – perhaps you had a successful campaign for your business, do let us know. If you need help then also drop us a question.