Sending surveys to your clients and employees is one of the most useful things you can do when determining your marketing strategy.

Exhibitions and trade shows are few and far between at present for obvious reasons. Some have moved to online events to allow for the present situation, while others have postponed their events. However, there are exhibitions being advertised on some of the big venue websites such as the NEC and the ExCeL for later in 2021 and the spring of 2022. I think we can be fairly sure that most will return at some point, so now may be a good time to plan for your next exhibition, or review your previous performances. In this world of ‘new normal’, where digital marketing and online meetings reign supreme, it might be hard to picture ourselves actually erecting a stand and talking to people as they walk close-by. The day will inevitably come when we can do this again, social distancing at first. Then, when the threat of COVID-19 has passed, go back to the ‘old normal’. I have done my fair share of organising and supervising stands for various businesses, at all sorts of venues around the UK. It’s hard work and a sizeable commitment to make for any company. Designing the stand graphics; choosing the site and size; liaising with stand builders; communicating with the event organisers; ordering electricity supply, Wi-Fi, carpet, furniture, food and drink; printing off brochures; purchasing gifts to give away; arranging the staff roster; feeding the staff and keeping them motivated; travel and accommodation; plus more… There is a lot of work involved with organising an exhibition stand. So are they worth all the effort? Well, they can be but really do your research on these events before deciding. If you can, attend as a member of the public first. Things to look out for are: Footfall on each day – sometimes the first day is good, but you may notice a significant drop in attendees on the second or third days. Monitor who is attending – sometimes exhibitors outnumber the general public, you can tell by having a quick look at their badges. If you consistently see exhibitors talking to other exhibitors then this is a bad sign. Check for your competitors, they are there (or not there) for a reason. Talk to business associates and get their opinions. Look for speaking theatres and attend a few to gain an understanding of the content being offered. Are all the seats full? Evaluate the marketing assistance on offer and how the event organisers promote their exhibition. Is their social media content being kept up to date? What deal can they make with you, negotiate a few free extras such as: advertising floor tiles; speaker slots; level upgrades etc. Some other things to be aware of when attending as an exhibitor: Avoid giving away too many corporate gifts. They aren’t cheap to buy and a lot of attendees just go to these events to fill up bags with free gifts to take home. Just have a couple of nice items to give to those showing a genuine interest in your product or services. Be prepared to say no to some people. Don’t do the complete opposite of the above and offer out cheap tat with your logo on. You’ll be seen as miserly and damage your brand by associating it with cheap throwaway products. Definitely don’t fill a bowl with a few sweets and think that’s it, you’ll need more than that! Do not use your smartphone or laptop for browsing the internet or sending emails whilst on the stand. It looks like you are not focused and gives a very bad image of your company. If you have to look at your phone or emails, then leave the stand - making sure one of your colleagues is covering you. Don’t leave the stand unattended – obvious really, but some do this. Hide your coffee cups. Talk. Just talk to people in a natural way. If they want to engage then they will talk back, don’t force it. Only badge scan or log qualified prospects. Just scanning anyone who enters your stand to get the numbers up is a waste of time, and will skew your marketing data. Dress appropriately and in line with your brand image. A corporate fleece, or branded t-shirts for your team can be as effective as suits - depending on your brand. Wear a really, really comfortable pair of shoes…you’ll thank me for this one later 😊 Final thought... Online marketing is extremely effective. However, offline marketing still has an important role to play and is worth considering in your overall marketing strategy. Most sectors are covered very well on the exhibition front, so choose your events wisely. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing Ltd can assist with planning your next exhibition stand, or help with your next marketing project - please give us a call on 07977 000593 , email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk or follow us on social media . [First published on 10th June 2020, revised and updated on 5th July 2021]

So you have some social media business accounts set up, but are you using them correctly? Marketing in most sectors is very competitive. You only have to take a look on LinkedIn , Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media channels to see what businesses are producing online. There is an abundance of quality content out there in accordance with various companies’ digital marketing plans. Having a plan for anything in business is a good idea, and this applies to social media marketing as well. The scattergun approach, as mentioned in a previous post , is unfortunately all too common on social media. You can imagine someone sat at their desk thinking "that video I took on my mobile the other day will be good for marketing" or, "that selfie I took will get a few likes on LinkedIn". That’s great if it fits in with your plan, but if it doesn’t then you could be doing more harm than good. Digital marketing has to have a goal, a purpose to doing it. If what you publish is not part of a bigger plan, then you are likely to send out an off the cuff, confused message, and risk boring your audience. I see it every day on social media channels, someone sharing a post with the general message being: "we delivered to another client today". That’s great, but aren’t all suppliers supposed to do that. This is just a fundamental part of doing business. Client requests a product or service - you supply the client with said product or service - client pays you for doing the job. All businesses are doing this! What you should be talking about is how your specialised service provided a unique solution to a major challenge that your client couldn’t overcome themselves, or something similar. Then add in some relevant and interesting details and facts. Social media is a great way to talk to prospects and clients, so give them something interesting to read about. At the same time, tell them how unique your service is, how you provide solutions for complex challenges, what your strengths are, why you are the best choice in your field... Once you have an agreed marketing plan in place, it is better to execute it through your marketing specialist to keep the message consistent. Generally, the marketing message starts getting confused when staff, managers and directors start posting their own content, albeit with the best of intentions. Instead, get them to funnel it through your marketing specialist, let them ensure that the message is on point and the imagery/video content is good enough for marketing purposes. Not low res photos or juddery video clips showing contractors not wearing hard hats or hi vis jackets - this happens a lot and can damage your reputation and brand. Potential clients are going to see and read what you post and the fact is, the vast majority will pass you by without any feedback if something posted online is poor quality or inadvertently highlights errors in your work, processes or systems. So you will never know. Be on social media 100% or not at all. A big turn off for prospects is seeing that a company has a social media account, but was last updated 8 months ago, doesn't look current and gives the appearance that your business is not doing much. Post regularly on a topic that is in line with your digital marketing strategy . Ensure you keep your posts to between 2 and 6 minutes of reading time, and use a good quality image or video. Final Thought… Ultimately, you want to promote your website and not that of the social media channel you are using. For this reason, always write your news item on your website's blog or news page and then share that link on social media. Add a line or two in the post text box to generate initial interest and insert a few relevant hashtags, then post. This way you will drive more traffic from your social media post to your website. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing Ltd can help with your marketing, please give us a call on 01264 336480 , email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk or follow us on social media . [First published on 10th June 2020, revised and updated on 19th May 2021]

Now that the UK lockdown rules are loosening and businesses are looking to start back up and return to pre-lockdown levels, this blog looks at when a business should restart its marketing. So when should you restart your marketing? Well, the honest answer will probably be six to twelve months ago! However, depending on what your situation was during the pandemic will largely answer this question, but I will add in that that it should be restarted a lot sooner than you probably think. Think of your marketing , business development and pipeline as a massive flywheel. This flywheel rotates when you are connecting with your target market, generating leads and converting sales from your pipeline. In a situation where companies have been hesitant to spend money on marketing, these massive 'marketing' flywheels have slowed right down and, in some cases, stopped altogether. Getting a large flywheel on a machine to start moving again takes a huge amount of energy and resources – the same can be said for restarting your marketing. For this reason, restart your marketing sooner than you think it needs to. Start reconnecting with your clients and prospects online and over the phone. Remind them that you survived the lockdown and are open and ready to do business. Revise your marketing plan to take this into account. Start generating qualified leads to place into your pipeline and get the sales coming in to generate revenue. This will all take time, so better to start sooner and invest in your marketing before your competitors do. How you do this is of course up to you, but Social Media is always a good place to start. Make sure your social media channels are filled with up to date content, and your website has been updated recently. A prolonged period of marketing inactivity will likely have adversely affected your SEO , and how you are ranked by search engines such as Google, this will also need to form part of of your marketing plan. Outsourcing your marketing to a reputable marketing agency such as Saltar Marketing can be an easy and convenient way to restart your marketing function or to start afresh. It can be daunting having to start recruiting a marketing team and all the expense and hassle this creates. Often, outsourcing your marketing can be much simpler, easier to manage and more cost-effective. Final thought… In my opinion a business should never give up on its marketing, but it is understandable why some did in the exceptional circumstances that we all experienced over the last year. That said, if your business suspended marketing activity online, it is retrievable; there is always a way to get something done and this is always true in the world of marketing. Stay positive. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing Ltd can help with your next marketing project, please give us a call on 01264 336480 , email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk or follow us on social media .

Whether or not you decide to use LinkedIn will depend on your digital marketing strategy , and whether this form of social media is beneficial to getting your message out to your target audience. In my opinion, LinkedIn is a crucial social media channel for acquiring high quality B2B contacts; learning about potential clients; and interacting with like-minded people and influencers. Here are a few marketing tips on using LinkedIn that I’ve picked up over the years. I feel these are beneficial to both seasoned and novice users from all industries: 1. Complete your personal profile first: Firstly, if you are going to be on LinkedIn then be on it 100%. Allow potential contacts and clients to get to know you a little better. Let them learn about your experience, business ideas and ethos. Don’t forget to use a background photo, complete your headline, show your education and experience, ask colleagues and former colleagues for recommendations…fill in as much as you can. 2. Choose your profile picture wisely: Some put far too much thought into this, others none at all. Both types are easily identifiable - keep it simple. A nice head and shoulders pose in business wear, works attire, or smart casual is a good idea. I personally prefer colour for profile photos. 3. Set up your company profile: Set your logo in the small square. Then upload a cover image (long narrow band at the top). LinkedIn recommends using 1,128px x 191px; however, you are allowed to reposition your image once uploaded. Try to get a key message placed on a relevant image for more impact. Don’t forget to fill in all the sections, especially: Tagline, Name, Header button linking to your website, Overview, Locations, and community hashtags (you can have 3 of these). 4. Get others involved: Encourage your work colleagues to set up their own profiles on LinkedIn, as well as follow the company profile and to interact with company posts. It is so much better if a company’s employees are onboard with the message being shared on social media. It shows unity and belief in the company culture. Ask staff to assist with posts and seek their opinions on what is topical and relevant in your industry. 5. Be open-minded: A few years ago, debates started popping up all over LinkedIn on what it should be used for. Some felt it was being hijacked by Facebook-type posts that appeared to have nothing to do with business. Comments still surface now on whether someone should have typed this, or shared that. My take on it is you are in control of your feed to a great extent by who you have connections with. If you are of the mind that it should be business only, then you decide where to draw the line. Ultimately, you have the choice to disconnect with someone if you wish or, if you regard them as an important connection, put up with the odd personal post now and again. Personally, I go onto LinkedIn to learn about my business contacts and use it as a great resource for connections and sharing my content. However, sometimes it’s nice to see the odd non-business post as I scroll through my feed. The choice is yours. 6. Getting political: We all have our preferences and politics is definitely one of the most divisive topics to discuss on any forum. There is a saying that goes something like “Never talk about football, religion or politics”, especially in pubs. I think this is a good place to start on social media as well, particularly LinkedIn. I’ll explain myself. Whenever you get onto topics that not just divide opinion, but polarise it, you are in the realms of disagreements or arguments breaking out in public. From a business point of view you have to ask yourself, what am I trying to achieve here with my comments? What are my goals? Those that continually comment on Brexit; state which political party is better; continually argue the rules of lockdown; criticise the track record of the government or opposition, are wasting their time on LinkedIn. Trying to convert someone who is entrenched in their own personal view is folly. You will not change their mind, no more than they will change yours; especially in a public forum where neither side wants to lose face. Yet I see endless streams of typed arguments with offensive language and insults being traded. Absolute waste of time, energy and a potential PR disaster. Are you upsetting a potential big client who read your views? Do you care? You should. Are you damaging your reputation, or that of your business/employer? Are you spending time on something that is entirely unproductive? Did you just alienate 50% of potential clients with your last comment or post? Could you have been building your business or pipeline instead? The questions go on and on and on…My opinion, stay neutral! Spend your time on topics and tasks that are productive. If you really have to write something about politics, then best to keep it evenly balanced. 7. Insulting and swearing at others: Easy one this, don’t swear at people on LinkedIn. Sadly, this seems to be getting worse recently (mostly associated with point #6 above). If you do this, most of those reading it will view you as entirely unprofessional with a limited vocabulary. Would you start ranting and raving with foul language in every sentence during a business meeting or in a business environment? If you do this on LinkedIn or other social media platforms, then you already are. Not good! Keep it pleasant and professional. 8. Connection requests immediately followed by a sales pitch: If you are doing this then you will likely be disconnected quickly. Many are put off if someone asks to connect only to find they just wanted to flog something straight away. Social media is about getting to learn about each other and building relationships. Get to know someone first, don’t just try ramming your pitch down their throat at the first opportunity. 9. Pay to reach further: Most of the features on LinkedIn are free, just like other social media channels. LinkedIn also gives you the option to pay to be noticed more by potential clients on their platform. Services offered include Sponsoring your content, Sponsored messaging, simple PPC or CPM Text Ads or Dynamic Ads. Each option has its benefits and which one you choose will depend on your budget and marketing plan. Final thought… The last few years have been uncertain and very challenging for a lot of sectors, and in the UK as a whole. However, through all the arguments and ill will being thrown around, there are good, positive messages pushing through. Ones of hope, camaraderie and being kind. We will never all agree on LinkedIn (would be boring if we did) but being respectful, open-minded and kind are probably good places to start. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing Ltd can help with your next marketing project, please give us a call on 07977 000593 , email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk or follow us on social media . [First published on 28th May 2020, updated for April 2021]

Using an outsourced marketing department is easy and very efficient. It requires just one monthly fee paid to a specialist who takes care of your marketing, giving you peace of mind and time to run your business. This service can be turned on and off like a tap, as and when you need it. Ultimate control and flexibility right there! Saltar Marketing offers this outsourced marketing service to clients in the B2B, B2C, construction , engineering, International and other sectors. These sectors are exciting to work in, but they can be unpredictable at times and very competitive! We know this because we have been there, working in them for years and seeing how they operate from the inside. The point being is that we appreciate how challenging it all is. Using an outsourced marketing department, managed by experienced industry professionals, gives reassurance and flexibility as and when your business dictates. Running your own employed marketing department is usually very costly. You need to employ graphic designers, social media experts, creatives, web specialists, telemarketers and then hire someone to manage it all. You also have to pay for holidays, sick pay, NI contributions, pension contributions; set up a department with IT, desks and more. Large corporations have massive budgets, which allow them to throw money and resources at building huge marketing departments. However, SMEs in similar sectors do not have these resources. They need to maximise the use of everything they have, in order to make budgets work, get noticed and see a quick return on their investment. This is where Saltar Marketing comes in. We know what does and does not work, we also know where to start with a marketing strategy and how to successfully implement it. Final thought... Some businesses will let their sales or admin team take on the marketing function. This is because they believe there will be no extra spending, as they already have staff in the office. As a result, this stretches them even thinner, produces ineffective marketing and affects performance in their main roles. A false economy. It is crucial that marketing is done correctly, by those who know what they are doing. Marketing is more than writing the odd post, sending a pen and mug in the post or handing out the occasional brochure in a scattergun approach. Marketing is about having specific goals in mind and a coherent strategy to achieve them; furthermore, having the appropriate support available in order to implement it all. Saltar Marketing Ltd will help you identify your goals, build your strategy and implement it using the correct marketing mix that will maximise your ROI. And it costs less than you may think! Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing Ltd can help with your next engineering or construction marketing project, please give us a call on 07977 000593 , email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk or follow us on social media .

It might seem unusual to write a marketing blog post on this, but there is good reason to. We at Saltar Marketing, have previously been employed in senior marketing and consultancy roles for various companies and industries over the years – giving valuable inside knowledge and hard-earned experience. One thing that used to pop up now and again was directors or senior managers rejecting the facts or the data and going with nothing else, but a gut feel on an important marketing decision. Now I am not going to say never go with your gut feel occasionally, that is what hard-earned experience over many years gives you now and again – when you are 100% sure you know you are correct. What this blog will discuss is the constant rejection or distrust in data that occurs more often than some business owners might be prepared to admit. A culture of rejection of the facts. In marketing, particularly digital marketing , there is an abundance of figures, data and facts to assist businesses and marketing departments in making day to day decisions, build strategies and compete with their business rivals. If collected correctly, the data does not lie – fact. However, the interpretation of it can be incorrect which is where probably some of the distrust of data from some business owners manifests itself. When you have someone, who is trained, experienced and has correctly worked out what the marketing data means and knowing which direction you are best likely to go in, then generally it can be a safe bet to go with their recommendations. You will also more likely see a much better return on investment (ROI) on your marketing expenditure or strategy when based on cold hard facts. If, for whatever reason, you still cannot decide on a course of action after being presented with the facts and consulting with others, then you will have to go with either a hunch or gut feel as a last resort. The point being made here is, marketing decisions should always be based on carrying out research, checking the numbers and analysing the data. They should be your primary source of intelligence when making important marketing decisions. Only after this could you use more subjective means, if you really cannot decide either way. Some reading this may say “you are explaining the obvious”, and hopefully that is the response, because it means you are making sound decisions based on the facts. Others though will be thinking something along the lines of, “what a load of nonsense, that gut feel must be right - I can’t run my business on numbers”. All that can be said to that is check your marketing analytics tools. There is a whole host of information made available to your business with numerous metrics, KPIs and trends to monitor, and use to your advantage. A lot of it is free. Other tools will give you a good insight into how many potential clients are finding your business online and how. All the major social media channels have a good range of analytics tools to aid you with knowing which content and posts are popular and who is engaging with it. Plus, there are numerous other tools and dashboards out there to help you – far too many to list here. Final thought… Next time a member of your sales team, staff or senior management comes to you with a marketing list of things they think will work, thank them, and then ask them to give you the stats or facts as to why and how they know it will work. Hopefully, they will have already done their research and be armed with the data and projected ROI to wow you into agreeing with them or looking into it further. Or they may just try to convince you because they had that gut feel and you should just go for it because others have and its working for them. You decide which is the better way of making marketing decisions. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing can assist with your marketing, please give us a call on 01264 336480 or 07977 000593 or email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk

We are starting the week off with a blog on contingency planning and what role marketing can play in this important area of any business strategy. Contingency planning should be worked into any business strategy because we cannot see into the future. If we had a crystal ball then contingency would not be necessary, but none of us have that luxury. When planning, we need to account for the unexpected, being blindsided, that something that you were completely unaware of happening – but just did! These are some of the reasons why we must carry out contingency planning. However, there are many multi-million-pound turnover companies not making such plans. I have worked for several businesses over the years, with decent turnovers, who seem to rely on the same repeat business or client relationships month after month, year after year. That is great, if only all businesses could rely on such a 'guaranteed income'. But some of these businesses were guilty of falling into a common trap – complacency. Products and services selling well to the same clients creates a warm, cosy relationship with them. They get used to using your business and how you work, and you get used to their money. Picture a £5m t/o company where around 80% of its income comes from the same 4 or 5 clients. Now imagine what happens in a downturn or when one, two or more of these 'critical' clients fall on hard times or worse, go bust and the orders or tender opportunities dry up. Or they feel they are being taken for granted and seek out a competitor of yours for a better deal. Then your business must go looking for other clients or shed jobs or assets to cut costs, losing valuable knowledge and experience in the process. In business, there is no such thing as 'guaranteed income'. So where does marketing help with contingency planning? Using marketing as part of your contingency planning helps cushion these blows. If you are not complacent and do not stick with a few regular clients, then you would have already grown your pipeline from previous and ongoing marketing campaigns. So, if you lose a client, then converting your pipeline becomes even more important - but at least you have that option and have already completed a lot of the hard work. If you have no or little lead pipeline, because you have no marketing function to speak of, then you have a massive mountain to climb and few options but to make drastic and swift changes to your marketing or business plan. Either way, making important strategic decisions in a hurry and under immense stress may lead to making further wrong choices. Therefore, it is so important to maintain an active marketing function within your business. With a well thought out marketing strategy with plans, tactics and goals all laid out, with accountability made clear to the teams who work with you. Ensure your marketing team works closely with any sales team members and on an equal footing. Your marketing plan and ultimately your lead pipeline becomes your contingency, an insurance policy if you like. Serving a purpose at difficult times of the year and cushioning your business from all the unknowns that threaten to disrupt it. Marketing is an “annoying expense” to some businesses; they see it as “expensive” and something that someone in the sales team or the admin department can take on alongside their already busy workload. What happens in these all too common scenarios is the marketing becomes secondary to everything. No one takes accountability for it and when it is done, then it is usually sub-standard, ineffective and does more damage than good to their brand. Final thought… Give the same level of authority and importance to your marketing function that you do to everything else in your business. Use professionals to carry out those duties and issue accountability to them. Work your digital marketing strategy into your business strategy and when the next downturn, or unexpected bolt out of the blue occurs, you will be ready and, in a position to give you and your business the best chance to recover and move forward. Phil Chilton ACIM DipCAM Managing Director, Saltar Marketing Ltd. To find out how Saltar Marketing can assist with your marketing, please give us a call on 01264 336480 or 07977 000593 or email enquiries@saltarmarketing.co.uk