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Grab a coffee and enjoy a 10 min read with our June Newsletter!




Help us to help you to support your chosen charity

Sign up to be an Agents Giving Supporter. Do you want to do your bit for charity but struggle to find the time to organise fundraising events?
 
For only £99 pa you can join our supporter scheme and help us to support agents all over the UK with their fundraising efforts. Click here to view the video



Proud supporters of Agents Giving - Dragon Boat Race

As proud supporters of Agents Giving we're delighted to announce the next adrenaline-pumping Dragon Boat Race! 

 

Returning to Fairlop Waters, Chigwell, Essex on Sunday 7th May 2023 by popular demand! 
 
This is the ultimate team event and watersports activity with agents and suppliers alike coming together for fast racing, fundraising, and family fun, with all teams rowing 250m in each of three heats in a bid to reach the final race. This is one of the highlights of the Agents Giving calendar, and this year promises to be bigger and better than ever before!
 
For more information about getting involved or to book a place click here https://agentsgiving.org/event/dragon-boat-race/ 



The 80:20 rule – and why it matters for Facebook

Pareto’s Principle states that 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes. Otherwise known as the 80:20 rule, the principle applies to marketing as much as sociology and economics.

 

Essentially, for every ten campaigns you put into the world, two will generate 80% of the results. Of course, this is an average or a rule of thumb rather than an exact figure.

 

The 80:20 rule might sound like bad news because it implies you won’t get the desired result every time. But understanding the 80:20 can also be empowering; if you’ve tried a few Facebook ads and nothing’s worked, the chances are you could still be successful if you test another handful of ads.

 

Once you identify the highest-performing ads within a group, you can pause the rest. This allows you to plough your resources into the ads that work, potentially snowballing your return.

 

Does this mean you should stop creating new ads once you’ve found a few successful ones? No. Now is the perfect time to begin tweaking your existing ads to create new campaigns alongside your current ones. If you’re paying attention to the data, you’ll soon find even better ways to engage your ideal customers.

 

Over time, this should help you create ads highly attuned to your audience that continue to generate solid profits for your business. New ads also prevent your target demographic from growing blind to your messaging from overexposure.

 

To get started, plan at least ten ads, all with a single goal, such as generating sign-ups or sales. Divide your budget into ten, so you can afford to run them all while comparing the data. Follow the plan above as soon as a couple prove their worth. Good luck!



Easter Competition WIN £250 credit

Enter our Easter Colouring Competition to WIN £250 online credit and a basket full of chocolate eggs!
 
The best coloured poster will be drawn on Tuesday 11th April 2023 at 9am
 
All entries need to be scanned and emailed to customer@briefyourmarket.co.uk detailing your business name and name of the artist.
 
Customers only of nurtur.tech to enter please
 
Click here to download poster



Marketing tips everyone should know

Marketers are forever coming up with novel ways to sell more products or attract new customers, but it’s easy to forget the basic principles that every campaign should focus on at its core. Let’s have a look at these now.

 

Choose your market or niche

 

It sounds obvious, but often business owners are so enthusiastic about what they’re offering that they assume it will appeal to everyone. But unless you’re drawing from a bottomless pit of money, you can’t afford to tailor your campaigns to every demographic going. And frankly, you don’t need to.

 

For many businesses, targeting a niche in the market is more effective and easier on the budget. To do this, think hard about the type of people who actually need your product or service. Pitch your campaigns to appeal to this specific demographic, and you’re more likely to generate better returns.

 

Focus on fulfilling a need

 

Say your niche audience is busy working mums struggling to balance all their responsibilities. How does your product or service help them overcome their biggest fears or the practical problems they face every day? Once you’ve established the pain point, draw your audience’s attention to it and show them the solution.

 

Of course, priorities change over time, so you should constantly research trends in customer behaviour to help you redevelop your offering and remarket accordingly.  

 

Go where your audience is

 

Now you know your audience like the back of your hand, focus on the distribution channels they’re most likely to interact with. For example, younger folk spend much more time on TikTok and Instagram than older generations, who may still prefer browsing a magazine or brochure over whipping out a phone.

 

Likewise, a keen home cook or baker might spend more time reading long-form blog posts and watching demonstration videos on YouTube than scrolling Facebook. The only way to know for sure is by doing your homework and monitoring the data.

 

Choose and schedule content with care

 

Once you’ve decided how to reach your audience, it’s time to create content that means something to them. Before you hit publish, though, consider how each piece fits into your overall marketing plan, its relevance, and the value it provides. Aim for quality and a predictable schedule that doesn’t overwhelm your audience.

 

Create a plan – and review it regularly

Even the best-laid plans need the occasional tweaking, so it’s essential to hold onto all the data generated by your marketing efforts – whether they were successful or not. By regularly examining the figures, you’ll start to identify important trends and insights that will help you progress your business in the future.

 

After assessing the data, use it to create a refreshed content marketing strategy you can share with your team so everyone is on the same page.

 

Why not get started right now?



Why every business should use CTAs in email marketing

Why every business should use CTAs in email marketing

 

Email marketing is a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their audience, build relationships, and drive conversions. However, without effective calls to action (CTAs), even the most well-crafted email can fall flat.

 

A call to action is a simple instruction that prompts a potential customer to take a specific action, such as buying a product or service, joining a newsletter, or downloading an eBook. Incorporating CTAs into email marketing campaigns is crucial for maximising engagement and achieving desired results.

 

Still not convinced? Here's why you should never skip CTAs in any campaign:

 

1.     Driving Conversions: The primary goal of any email marketing campaign is to convert subscribers into customers. A compelling CTA serves as a gateway to conversion by guiding recipients towards the desired action. Whether clicking on a link, filling out a form, or making a purchase, a clear and enticing CTA motivates recipients to take that next step, increasing the chances of conversion.

 

2.     Increasing Click-Through Rates: CTAs are essential for boosting click-through rates (CTR) because they encourage readers to engage. A well-placed and attention-grabbing CTA compels customers to click on it, leading them to a landing page or website where they can take further action.

 

3.     Enhancing User Experience: CTAs provide a seamless user experience by directing them towards relevant information or actions. Without a clear CTA, your audience may be confused about what to do next, resulting in disengagement or even unsubscribing from future emails.

 

4.     Fostering Engagement and Interaction: CTAs can catalyse engagement and interaction between businesses and their audience. By encouraging you subscribers to respond, share feedback, or participate in a poll or survey, they create opportunities for meaningful communication. This helps businesses understand their audience better and builds trust and loyalty.

 

5.     Tracking and Analytics: CTAs are invaluable for tracking and analysing email campaign performance. By incorporating unique identifiers or tags into CTAs, you can monitor and measure the effectiveness of different campaigns, variations, or A/B tests. This data allows marketers to make data-driven decisions, refine their strategies, and optimise future campaigns for better results.

 

By harnessing compelling CTAs that resonate with audience and align with campaign objectives, you can achieve your financial goals more easily. So, don't overlook the power of CTAs when crafting your next email campaign.



How to protect your mental health while using social media

How to protect your mental health while using social media

 

Now more than ever, our business and personal lives seem entwined with social media, from Twitter and Facebook to TikTok and Instagram. While these platforms can be a great way to keep in touch with family and friends across the globe and find new clients and customers, they’re also linked to poorer mental health.

 

If you’ve ever found yourself negatively comparing yourself to people online, whether regarding physical appearance, lifestyle, or achievements, you’ll know what we’re talking about. Of course, while it’s natural to want to fit in, social media represents a filtered form of reality that never shows a holistic view of someone’s life, leading us to buy into a warped version of reality.

 

Plenty of studies back up a lot of our intuitive feelings about social media, including the papers: Social Media Use and Its Connection to Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Social Media Use and Mental Health: A Global Analysis. To summarise, the more we use social media, the more depressed, anxious, and addicted we’ll likely get.

 

However, there are ways to protect ourselves while enjoying the sense of connectivity social media brings. For starters, actively using platforms to post content is less likely to cause mental harm than just scrolling or reading other users’ content (Nereim et al., 2020). Here are some other ideas that may help: 

  • Reduce overall usage by setting daily app limits to break the scrolling habit. Or delete them from your phone or tablet so you only use them on your browser.
  • Protect your space by switching off notifications and banning phones at certain times, such as while eating meals or watching television.
  • Communicate face-to-face as often as possible with friends and family who live nearby – studies show that socialising in person actually protects our wellbeing.
  • Avoid platforms that trigger you. For example, if your feed is flooded with images that lower your self-esteem rather than inspire, delete the app!
  • Question what you see. Remind yourself that social content is often skewed to make the poster look good because they want approval. It’s also worth noting that we can feel envious about a lifestyle that wouldn’t suit our personalities anyway – in situations like this, a little self-knowledge can quell the green-eyed monster. 

Of course, if you’re prone to mental health issues, it makes sense to take a particularly cautious approach to the online world, perhaps limiting its usage while undergoing any form of treatment.

 

Unfortunately, potentially harmful content can also make its way onto these vast platforms, so we all need to play our part by reporting inappropriate images and posts that are especially dangerous to young or vulnerable users.

 

By using social media sensibility and responsibly, we can shield ourselves and others from its worst effects while using it as a tool to fuel our businesses and enrich our social lives.



How to leverage website traffic to grow your business

How to leverage website traffic to grow your business

 

Most companies operate online to some extent. While social media offers ways for business owners to reach new clients or customers, they ultimately own the data you collect – leaving you vulnerable to changes that negatively affect your visibility.

 

On the other hand, websites are akin to private real estate, allowing you to interact with your audience on your terms. However, just like owning a shop on the high street, you’ll only make a sale if you can get people through the door.

 

Once the customers are inside, you need to make a good first impression – not by talking about yourself, but by instantly showing them you have what they desire. Your homepage’s headline is a great way to achieve this. Focus on reflecting your visitor’s core question, need, or concern in language they understand. Then show them the solution.

 

Of course, to get the best results, you need a healthy amount of ‘qualified traffic’. That is, your website should turn the heads of your target audience, not random people your product or service isn’t designed to serve.

 

Creating highly relevant content and robust SEO practises will ensure you’ll reach the right niche organically through search engines and word-of-mouth referrals as people begin to discuss and share your content.

 

Once your website is primed for conversion, you can boost your traffic with a mixture of paid marketing (think Facebook and Ad Words) and social media, as well as through the organic methods mentioned above.

 

But how much traffic do you actually need to reach your goals?

 

It depends – on your overall outgoings, the revenue you need to operate at a profit, how much each customer is worth on average, and how well your website converts visitors to leads and then customers.

 

Once you have this data in hand, you can reverse engineer the figures to calculate how many visitors you should aim for each month. The higher quality traffic your website attracts and the better it converts, the fewer visitors you’ll require.

 

Overall, multi-channel marketing can boost long-term traffic, conversion rates, and revenue by drawing in warm leads across various platforms. And, of course, you can always continue to nurture your relationship with your customers by incentivising them to join your email list – something you can do effectively from your website.



Should businesses use Customer Mail?

Should businesses use Customer Mail?

 

Did you know that 71% of consumers trust the marketing materials they receive through Customer Mail (CM) or that 85% of people open commercial mail, and 65% keep it for future reference?*

 

In today’s digital landscape, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways to build relationships with customers – often as effective as more ‘modern’ methods. It’s not an either-or choice; 43% of CM results in customers going online or beginning the buying journey, proving that you can use one method to complement another.

 

However, that doesn’t mean your business should resort to bog-standard templates, dry and uninspiring content, or generic offers just because you’re falling back on a traditional marketing method. Far from it!

 

Today, the average consumer is regularly bombarded with information from media, online platforms, inboxes and letterboxes. To get noticed, your marketing should focus on adding value to your customers in a way they’re happy and even excited to engage with.

 

For example, your marketing team could create materials written in your brand’s voice, even if the subject is rather dull, such as updated terms and conditions. When you’re using CM to boost customer engagement CM, you should also consider:

  • Using quality, beautifully designed packing to build excitement during the ‘unboxing process’
  • Showing customers how key information benefits them directly and why they should act on it now
  • Personalising the experience using first names and data from purchasing habits (think bespoke vouchers for favourite products)
  • Highlighting essential information with clear headlines and emboldening contact details
  • Making your customers feel as valued and special as possible

Creating high-quality marketing campaigns that improve customer satisfaction enhances your company’s reputation and boosts your revenue; people are four times more likely to pay a higher price for a product or service if they expect a premium experience.** What would that mean for your business?

 

*Data based on a report by Marketreach and Accenture

** According to Forrester’s Customer Experience Index



The 2023 Agents Giving Summer Ball at Epsom Downs Racecourse

The 2023 Agents Giving Summer Ball at Epsom Downs Racecourse

 
Agents Giving Summer Ball, Headline Sponsor Callwell will once again present to you The Strictly Agents Dancing Competition for our Charity Summer Ball and Fundraising Champion Awards at the famous Epsom Downs Racecourse on Friday 14th July 2023.
 
Click here for more information and to meet this year's dancers https://agentsgiving.org/event/strictly-agents-dancing-charity-ball-2023/