Advertising and Online Marketing
Google Business
A free and easy-to-use tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google (including searches on Google maps. It will take a few days to register your business as Google sends a postal verification. Once fully registered you are able to access your Google Business account and tools easily via Chrome*. Having Google Business will increase your visibility, as well as offering a review option for clients.
*Chrome is Google’s internet browser tool
Bing Places for Business
A free business listing service similar to Google Business but available to users on Microsoft Edge*. The client reviews are sourced from your Facebook review page.
NB: You are able to replicated your Google Business listing automatically to Bing Places for Business.
*Microsoft Edge is an Internet browser tool
There are a few options on Facebook, your own personal FB page is a starting point to set up any further pages/groups. Facebook for Business is a free Facebook page specifically for your business that enables you to expand your internet presence. More than one person (you can set this up via “Page roles”) can help manage your business or social media, enabling them to also add or edit content. You can post content such as, text, videos, images, events services and products and it also offers additional options to draft, schedule/plan content and an inbox to message and respond to questions.
Clients can leave reviews to your business page and you can take advantage of additional functionality such as a shop, or paid advertising through “boosting” posts – the cost will depend on the demographics and geographical area you select but can be as little as £10, Facebook gives you an idea of the number of “engagements” for the price you pay when setting up a boosted post.
NB: Daily FB is used by 44% of the UK online population. The largest age group using FB is 25-34 year olds
Instagram is a popular social media platform that can serve as a valuable marketing tool for your business. To get the most out of Instagram, use high-quality photos, respond to comments and use hashtags* wisely, keep your hashtags relevant and specific to a topic to reach the right audience. A key aspect for a business on Instagram is for all content to reflect your brand identity, there are many small businesses on Instagram posting content so having a strong and easily identifiable brand will enable you to stand out.
We are only just starting out with Instagram as we have found that unless you use social media alot within your personal life, it’s a steep learning curve and can be very time consuming.
*Hashtags – # – prefix a word or short statement (with no spaces and not too many words!). It’s effectively a label on Instagram that makes it easier for people to find and filter information.
Email Marketing
Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform that helps you manage and talk to your clients, customers, and other interested parties. You can manage mailing lists, create custom email templates, and nurture and automate marketing campaigns. Mailchimp have different packages from a free account to a variety of paid monthly options.
We use Mailchimp because it integrates with our patient management systems – Cliniko and Squarespace Scheduling. We automatically move a clients’ details from Squarespace Scheduling (our appointment booking service) via a Zap* to Mailchimp, where clients are then sent a variety of information and follow-up emails.
*Zap – this is short for a Zapier task. Zapier is a tool (online) that helps you to automate repetitive tasks between two or more applications with no code. https://zapier.com/