What does a Small Business need from their website?

"Business Link has seen a dramatic rise of enquiries and support offered to individuals considering starting a business. 29%* more 'pre-start' individuals have had help from the Service in the South East in the last six months compared with the same time period last year. Over 14,800 individuals have been supported with information and advice since April 2009."

SEEDA

Typically, as individuals face the realities of redundancy brought about by a recession, many turn their thoughts towards setting up their own business.

Many of these new businesses start off in the smallest possible way - a one-man-band offering services, products or expertise in their particular field.

However small your business, there are key considerations that need to be addressed to ensure the success of the business, and these considerations need to include the way in which you market yourself to your future customers.

This article is aimed at giving the new business, no matter how small, some idea of the best ways of marketing themselves on the internet.

WHAT DOES A SMALL BUSINESS NEED FROM THEIR WEBSITE?

Any business looking to increase their customer base and market themselves effectively needs a website. This is not a luxury any more; it is a necessity. Even if you are a one-man-band, you don't need to market yourself as such. Customers have faith in businesses that appear to have credentials, a successful trading history, happy customers and a proven track record. If you look as though you set up your business yesterday with a budget of £5, there is not escaping the fact that you will be perceived as a "here-today, gone-tomorrow" business, no matter how well qualified you are as a supplier.

There is no doubting that some individuals can just about get away with presenting a business card that has clearly been generated by a slot machine, but if you are serious about your business, do you simply want to "get away" with the cheapest possible forms of advertising?

Your website could be the best investment you make, and it really need not cost the earth. However, it is essential that you think carefully about what it is that you want to achieve through your website.

1. What is your business?

2. Who is your target market?

3. What is unique about you, your products or services and therefore..

4. Why would a customer come to you as opposed to one of your competitors?

5. How do you want to be perceived?

6. What do you want your website to do for you? Generate enquiries? Sell something?

Your business plan will provide most of these answers, but if you don't have a business plan, then you really need to make sure you know the answers to the above questions so that you understand fully what it is that you are trying to achieve through your business in the first place.

Having clear objectives, you then need to think about the key ingredients necessary to make a successful website.

The following are our suggestions:

1. Aesthetics.

Please don't go for the cheapest website solution you can find. A poorly designed site can have a seriously detrimental effect on your business. This is your shop front and the first impression that a potential customer could have of you and your company. As it is, on average, 98% of all website visitors will leave your site without bothering to contact you. Don't increase your statistic to 100%! The way in which you want your business to be perceived will have an impact on the way your site should be designed. A professionally designed site will make your job so much easier.

2. Work.

Make your website do some work. At the very least, visitors should be encouraged to contact you, so you can start to collect some data for future marketing. Offer website visitors something in exchange for their email address and name. Have an area on your homepage where you can feature a special offer or a new product - something that will ignite the interest of your customers.

3. Engage.

These days, your website is not enough. Social Media has exploded in recent months, and one of the new key words in internet marketing is "engagement". You need to engage with your customers in every way possible, and social media (sites like Twitter and Facebook) now allows you to do this in ways not previously possible. A blog also allows you to communicate with your customers in a direct, personal and informative way that keeps you uppermost in their minds. You website, then, should encourage potential customers to follow you in the world of social media, so that you can spread your message and engage.

4. Find.

A professional will ensure that your website is built to comply with latest standards. Having a well constructed site is part of the process of ensuring that your website can be found in the major search engines. But that is one part. There are many facets in successful search engine promotion - key words, relevant content, back-links, using social media, accessibility....a potential mine field for the new business. In the near future, both video and audio are going to play in increasingly important role in your successful on-line marketing, so yet another consideration!

5. AIDA

Keep it simple. Stick to the principles of successful marketing and make them work on your website:

A - Attention. Make sure your website grabs the attentions of your customer within 8 seconds.

I - Interest. Focus the landing page (usually your homepage) content so that it creates real interest.

D - Desire. Make the site visitor want to contact you.

A - Action. Always make the Call to Action easy to find. If you want customers to call you, ensure your phone number is very visible. If you want them to email you, have the simplest of forms on every page.

A lot to take in, but it can be achieved.

We, at Argent Ram Media, have developed SESOME - Search Engine and Social Media-ready websites that are ideal for small and start-up businesses. With a limited budget, you need to know that you will have a website that will work for you in the most effective way possible.

Have a look at our Sesome website - http://www.sesome-websites.co.uk/ for details.

If you would like more information on Sesome Websites, please call us - 0845 009 5396. Alternatively, email Ian Rutter ian@argentrammedia.com

Argent Ram Media is a company that specialises in providing a range of marketing solutions for all businesses, from the small one-man-band up to the largest of multi-national companies.

Website Design and Development
Design for Print
Email Design and Campaign Management
Micro-Site Marketing
E-Commerce
Internet Start-Ups
Marketing Consultancy
Search Engine Marketing
PR
Digital Advertising
Digital Screen Marketing

New client website launched

Well, after a bit of an absence from this Blog, I have a lot of catching up to do!  Hopefully, this weekend I will find the time to put together a few articles on topics that have a bearing on what we do at Argent Ram Media...so watch this space!

In the meantime, we are delighted to announce the launch of a new website for one of our clients - FD Solutions Limited.  Please have a look at their new site and leave any comments here; we are always interested in feedback, both negative and positive.

http://www.fdsolutions.ltd.uk

Should Sound now be an Essential part of your Website?

I have been involved in providing sound for websites and emails for over 5 years.

Initially, sound on websites was seen as something of a gimmick. Some sites had looped music that could drive visitors quickly mad; some had the odd sound effect that startled visitors into early submission.

The advent of the Disability Discrimination Act, with particular reference to website accessibility, brought a certain credibility to the use of sound files on websites. Stand-alone sound files are recommended as an alternative to text-only content.

In addition, the way in which people started to use the internet began to change dramatically. The internet was no longer a novelty. Broadband arrived and made the chore of browsing much faster, and with it came an increasing degree of user impatience. Website visitors expected and required speed. They no longer wanted to trawl throught pages of search engine results; they wanted to find information quickly.

If they found a site that looked as though it met their requirements, they expected to click on that site and be helped - immediately. However, although they require information, the website user doesn't want to have to work hard to find it.

These rapid changes in consumer behaviour resulted in a whole new set of problems for anyone wanting to market their business effectively on the internet. There are so many constraints, not least a "shop window" that typically only measures 1024 x 768 pixels - hardly the spread of frontage that Harrods has on Knightsbridge!

Sound suddenly had a part to play, and not just a walk-on part.

• Sound, particularly a professionally recorded voice-over, can be employed to take the place of text that visitors no longer want to read;
  
• Sound can help to grab the visitor's attention when they first enter your site. Bearing in mind that, on average, you only have about 8 seconds in which to grab a visitor's attention, anything that helps is of value.
  
• Visual elements have become a vital part of the mix - catching the eye with stunning graphics and moving images all help to draw the visitor in. Couple this with a voice-over and you can start to TELL your story. As I am sure you have noticed, video is becoming an incrreasingly important consideration for businesses marketing themselves effectively via their website and across social media.
  
• Sound is also being used increasingly to enhance brand. In the same way that a business can be identified by its logo or strap-line, sound is being used more and more on the internet to create brand identity and project brand personality.

So, there are already some very valid reasons to think about using sound as part of your internet marketing.

Now, there are yet more changes afoot that begin to raise the question "Is sound on your website now becoming essential?"

The latest change that could have a major impact on the way in which sound is used comes with the launch of Google Audio Indexing (GAudi):

"After mastering the indexing of texts, images, news, blogs and videos, Google has made another important step forward; the search engine can now index audio files. This new service, at the moment still in its beta version, is called Gaudi, short for Google Audio Indexing.

For the time being, it only works on YouTube and gives you the possibility of finding keywords in YouTube videos.

The future of search is multimedia: audio, video and images. So, be careful what you say… Google is listening!"

Legitiname

"With the manifold increase that audio and video have recently gained on the Internet, it is becoming extremely difficult for users to find exactly whatever it is that they are looking for. In order to make the task simpler, Google has launched a speech recognition tool that enables searching within audio and video files.

Google Audio Indexing works in conjunction with YouTube. The tool will catalogue all the words that are spoken in a particular audio or video clip. This data will then be entered into a database, which users can then search for the audio or video content they require, in much the same manner as they use search engines for text based material. GAudi will provide a whole list of results, based on the keyword entered."

Accuracast

Blended Search already exists - the technology where search results come from a range of digital media - video and images included.

There seems to be little doubt now that the future of blended search will also include results taken from transcripts of the spoken word.

Think about it. Sound can already make a difference to marketing effectiveness of your website. Audio-visual elements are rapidly taking over the way in which you tell your story. In the very near future, sound could also play a vital part in your search engine ranking.

If you would like to discuss sound for your website or email marketing, please contact Ian Rutter at Argent Ram Media - sound@argentrammedia.com

Argent Ram Media can also help with:

Video production;
Digital Screen marketing and advertising;
Website Design and Development;
Email marketing and micro-site marketing

Get to the Pub this Weekend!

I know I am banging on about Twitter a great deal at the moment, but it is a fairly hot topic:

I went to an event in London last week to join a convivial group of articulate and entertaining people and share stories about the emergence of social media from a research and analysis point of view.

I had a lengthy conversation today with a passionate Kent marketing trainer (amongst her many other talents), and although she is a recent convert to social media, she has already seen the massive potential of this area of marketing.

Even yesterday evening, I saw debates on-line regarding whether or not social media is just the latest buzz that will get hyped up and then deflate like a souffle.

There is no doubt that Twitter and Facebook have certainly got the business world in a whirl, as well as divided over their validity as marketing tools.

In past posts, I have tried to calm the hubbub down and put these social media into perspective. Someone wrote in one of the debates that I have been following, "At the very least, companies should take a passive role of monitoring what is being said about their brand, their competition, and their service or product offerings."

How I have suggested that businesses begin using social media is just to start listening, and see what is being said - I have equated this to eavesdropping at a party, picking up snippets that interest you before you join in.

You will find that results, in some shape or form, will start to follow.

I will give you a very basic example:

For a couple of weeks, I have noticed a pub in the Kent village of Great Chart being very active on Twitter. The tweets are conversational, personable and welcoming. As a result, I chose to "follow" them.

On Twitter, there is a custom every Friday where you can post tweets suggesting people that other people might like to follow. Amongst those I mentioned this week was the Great Chart pub.

As polite people do, he thanked me for the mention and we talked weather and weekend....mundane stuff, BUT..

This registered with me; a simple dialogue, but in the shortest of moments, politeness, etiquette and the giving of time made me determined to give this pub my custom. I have been introduced to the pub's owner and already feel welcome; already feel like a customer.

Now I believe that anything that has that sort of power deserves to be treated as a hot topic. Every business I know is on the hunt for that one extra customer.

My new friend, the marketing trainer (see above!), pointed out today that so many businesses try so hard to find their USP. As she so rightly points out, the one unique thing about your business is you. Unlike any other marketing medium, Twitter and Facebook allow you to project your personality, and get across your uniqueness.

Listen, join in, react, be yourself and you will get social media working for you. The pub in Great Chart got a new customer today; your business could get one tomorrow.

By the way, if you'd like to follow the pub on Twitter, the handle is @HoodenersHorse!

Is ROI the be-all-and-end all of Social Media?

There is a lot of talk at the moment about the need to assess the ROI of Social Media for businesses. Generally, although there seems to be a concensus that businesses are warming to the idea of using Social Media as a marketiung tool, there is still a degree of scepticism as there is no tangible proof that Facebook, Twitter et al produce revenue.

In this race to keep up with latest technologies, I think it is easy to miss the point here.

What is Social Media all about?

In essence, it is about building relationships, and I have likened Social Media to attending a party: an opportunity to catch up with the latest gossip, find new friends, share news - generally chat and be sociable!

Now, let's look at Sales and Marketing in a nutshell:

The best sales consultants who generate results based on the building of long-lasting relationships with their clients, built on trust and understanding. Marketing is about creating "need"; demonstrating to your potential clients that they can't do without your products or services.

So, how do Social Media and Sales and Marketing mix to your advantage?

1. Firstly, people who join in on Twitter and Facebook chat. They chat about anything and everything. If you listen, you will pick up on snippets about your industry sector, what your competitors might be doing, what products people like and what they don't like, and what is happening in your geographical area. In fact, you will hear all sorts of things that you would never hear anywhere else. This is grass-roots information; an opportunity to eaves-drop on a massive range of conversations.

2. You have listened, and if you hear anything that is relevant to you, join in! This is what you do at a party - you listen in and contribute in order to start a chat and build a new friendship. Hardly rocket science.

3. Once you have dipped your toe in the conversation, you will find that other people come over to listen to you, as you have ignited their interest. At that point, you can start to really work the room - sharing information, comparing notes, keepi up to date with your new-found friends. Relationship-building.

4. Using these relationship, you can drive traffic to your website. This is not hard sell; it is responding to requests from people who want to know more about you. You can expand on your snippets by letting people read your blogs or article. You can show people that you have a finger on the pulse by sharing stories you have read elsewhere. Don't forget - you will achieve so much more by instilling trust and confidence.

So, where is the ROI?

Does it really matter? How many companies pay for advertising in the newspapers, magazines and on-line and don't really monitor the response and conversion levels? I know a large business directory who banks on their clients' ignorance. They ask the client "can you be certain that your enquiries did not come from our directory?" Of course, the fact that the client doesn't really know for sure makes it easier for the sales consultant to close the contract renewal deal.

Social Media is free, and used well it can drive traffic to your website, and isn't that what any business wants? Increased traffic on their website, then allow the website to do the business.

Social Media will drive people to read whatever you post in blogs and in articles, and they will read what you have to say about your business, or your products and services; indeed, anything that you want to use to promote your business.

Social Media, most importantly, allows you to LISTEN IN to what people are saying and that could be vital to the way you market your business.

Don't think just about the ROI. Thnk about the relationships that you can build, and think about business that you can pick up simply by starting to listen.

People are talking about you.

Every day, a third of all internet users are sharing opinions on-line.

Your county, your town, your village, maybe even your business could be the subject of discussion, praise, criticism, even photography and then shared and talked about between millions of other people around the world.

Businesses are beginning to realise that there is a huge advantage to be gained by tapping into this dialogue. As Oscar Wilde said "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

Generally, as a nation, we are not keen on complaining. Statistics already show that 98% of visitors to your website will leave without bothering to contact you. If a customer has a bad experience of dealing with your business, they may take the time to complain, but more often than not, they will simply leave without a word and then bad-mouth you to everyone they know. You won't have a chance to defend yourself, appease the customer, show them that this was a one-off mistake and demonstrate that they are valued.

Economic times are tough, and now is not the time to lose customers. Surely you want to do everything in your power to ensure every customer you have stays with you. You want to show potential customers that you will look after them, and listen to them and offer real customer service.

Social Media allows you to do just that.

It allows you to engage with customers, join in their conversations, share experiences and project the personality of your business. It is a customer service department, marketing department, PR department, complaints department, and research and development department all rolled into one.

If you are not already joining this world-wide conversation, I would urge you to start now.

Show you care; show you listen and show that you react. Dare I say that "the customer is always right!"

To give you an example, below are some of the chats that mentioned my county on Twitter over the space of a few hours (yes, hours; time waits for no man!):

"last night's sunset from the lawn at Otford Manor in Otford, Kent ... the view this morning is just as lovely http://post.ly/4jED"


www.uk-parties.co.uk visitor viewed details reviews pictures of Bilsington Priory Ashford Kent

www.uk-parties.co.uk visitor viewed details reviews pictures of Boys Hall Ashford Kent

"Moat at The Clocktower, Ashford, Kent - open day on 10 Sept, 2 to 6pm. Call Mark for info about HomeBuy or click: http://tinyurl.com/ma57rw"

"Sep 13 -8:00 pm- Tommy Peoples - Fiddle Concert - Fiddlers Various 2009. at Littlebourne Thatched Barn in Canterbury.. http://bit.ly/3RZmbU"

"New travel post: Margate memories: Kent's Isle of Thanet is perfect for a golden weekend http://bit.ly/kMLRx #Margate"

"spittingcat Spitfire now. Ahh... Shepherd Neame."

"A Christmas market in the Heart of Kent - At the Hop Farm - http://bit.ly/17i8WP"

"Drinking Marston's Pomp and Circumstance bitter in the White Lion, Tenterden"

"Tours of the Whitstable Playhouse: Open Day: Sat 12 September. http://tinyurl.com/n6rw4b #whatson"

"Family bike ride Tonbridge to Penshurst Place - then back of course"

"Hever Castle was absolutely amazing. So beautiful. And the maze beats Hampton Court's hands down."

"Hawkhurst near Cranbrook. About 20 mins east of Tunbridge Wells. It's really nice round there. I've been looking at moving down.."

"Have blogged a photo montage for my next wedding ... at the Bell Hotel in Sandwich... http://bit.ly/3UvOp2"

"Having a beer in the Hotel Continental in Whitstable."

But.....these have all been one-sided conversations. These poor people have been talking to themselves.

Imagine what could happen if you started to chat to these people, as you would at a party? Agree that Hever Castle is beautiful and recommend Leeds Castle perhaps, but start a dialogue. Believe me, people will start to take an interest in what you say.

Once you have their attention, then you can start to work the room!

"Right I'm offline for a few hours have some serious work to do but Hoodeners Horse for mexican food call 01233 625583 to book a table"

"Have you voted? The Kent Restaurant Awards - my vote firmly for Hoodeners Horse in Great Chart. http://ow.ly/oSkk"

"Sunny day get out and have a glass of pinot + fajitas at Hoodeners Horse Great Chart call 01233 625583 + leave the cares of the world behind"

At the end of the day, what business wouldn't want to know if they were being talked about?

For an initial free consultation on any aspect of multi-media marketing, please contact Argent Ram Media on 01233 611200. www.argentrammedia.com

The Social Media Revolution

Just seen a really compelling presentation for Social Media.  Concise, dynamic, factual and full of mind-boggling statistics.

If this doesn't persuade businesses to start getting involved in Social Media right now, then nothing will!

http://bit.ly/qteSQ

Macmillan Cancer Support - World's Biggest Coffee Morning

Make your on-line social activity tangible and generate money for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The World's Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan takes place on Friday 25th September 2009.

Please join in:

http://bit.ly/e3kG6

Kent Businesses are missing the party

Just been doing a bit of research for an article on Twitter, and it is becoming clear that an increasing number of Kent businesses are being invited to join the party, but seem to be declining the invitation!

In the space of 5 minutes, I managed to find that the following businesses or enterprises had all been talked about on Twitter:

Leeds Castle
Hever Castle
Shepherd Neame
Dover Castle
Biddenden Cider
Chapel Down Wine
Romney, Hythe & Dimchurch Light Railway
Bell Hotel, Sandwich
Theatre Royal, Margate
Apicius Restaurant, Cranbrook
White Lion Hotel, Tenterden
Hotel Contintal, Whitstable
Whitstable Oyster Company

Unfortunately, these are all one-sided conversations.

People are talking about you! What an opportunity this presents for you, as businesses across Kent, to start to engage with these people who are freely discussing you, your county, town or village.

It will not be long before being seen to converse with your customers on Twitter becomes just as important as having a good ranking in Google.

Don't miss the party!

ASOS Listens - Twitter postscript

Further to my last post, just seen the latest Tweet from ASOS:

ASOS: You wanted free returns, we've listened & guess what? There's now FREE RETURNS for UK customers http://bit.ly/YDgT1 Who's happy?!! xx

All achieved in a day!

Don't be a wallflower - join the Twitter party

You can debate the whys and wherefores of Twitter, Facebook et al until the cows come home. I am sure there are lots of businesses out there who fail to see any of the benefits of what they consider to be yet another internet "here-today-gone-tomorrow" fad.

Who knows, the same thoughts may have prevailed when Alexander Graham Bell first patented the telephone. And I know I wasn't the only sceptic when the World Wide Web first hit the public consciousness.

As with all new things, there can be a huge amount of over-analysis, and what works for one person doesn't always work for another. Let's just step back a bit and have a look at what Social Media can do for any business - it provides EVERYONE with an opportunity to engage with other people. It is the great big party where you can chat round the room finding people you hit it off with immediately, or who bore you instantly. It allows you to huddle in the kitchen with those people with whom you feel most at ease and share every bit of gossip you need to impart since the last time you met.

But this is not the party with just the people from your immediate vicinity. This a party of potential customers, clients, friends, influencers, celebrities, wannabes etc from all around the world. Some will bore you (no offence!), some will entertain you, some will provide you with information that educates you, some will give feedback to suggestions or ideas you might make. A melting pot with no bottom...

OK, so what?

Yesterday, I just did a quick snapshot of the way in which two companies are engaging with people on Twitter. How many of you have ever bothered to write to the likes of the large multi-nationals just to say that you weren't that keen on a new product? Would you really bother? And if you did, what would you get in return?

Below, I have picked out a couple of sets of Tweets between company and customer:

ASOS

ASOS: How's everyone's afternoon going? Loving the sunshine? x

CUSTOMER: @ASOS the sunshine is lovely, but the fact you wont respond to any of my tweets or my email- not so.

ASOS: @Julzy_Ramone Sorry to hear that! Where do you live? x

CUSTOMER: @ASOS Israel.lately the delivery is over 10gbp for *all* parcels.really expensive+my friend @Shelly_peleg was promised it will be fixed.

ASOS: Would you like us to do FREE Returns? Vote now, by commenting ‘YES’ on this post! http://bit.ly/freereturns xxx

INNOCENT DRINKS

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Innocent smoothies have got worse. Why is this?

INNOCENT DRINKS: @Tim_Haig How have they got worse?

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Well they don't taste as nice anymore and they are more watery with more bits which is the worst of all worlds.

INNOCENT DRINKS: @Tim_Haig Nothing's change in terms of the way we make them. Which recipe isn't working? Let us know and we'll get to the bottom of it

-----------

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Oh. YES. Would you do anything with pears? Or have you already done that?

INNOCENT DRINKS: @cosmicgirlie We're a bit weak in the pear department. Don't really know why. The secret thing that I tasted it didn't have pears in.

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Thank you thank you THANK YOU for the banana free smoothie. Please tell me another is on the way...

INNOCENT DRINKS: @cosmicgirlie Another banana-free smoothie might be on the way - tested one the other day...

To me, this is extremely powerful stuff. A large company, talking about the weather, and sparking off a chat about one customer's dissatisfaction over the cost of delivery. Would this grumble ever have reached ASOS without Twitter?

Gauging the trends, ASOS then asks for its customers to vote on free returns - instant results and feedback that costs nothing and comes direct from their buying customers.

Would Twitterer Tim_Haig really have taken the time to write to Innocent Drinks to complain about the taste of his drink? Maybe, but probably not. He would have been more likely to have thrown the drink away and tried another brand, because that is easier.

How many customers really have the chance to chat to the decision makers in big companies to push for new flavours/styles/designs or air their individual grievances?

Despite Twitter being a technological creation, it is giving a human face to a business. A chatty, approachable human face with ears, as the above snippets demonstrate. These conversations show real engagement.

That is what Twitter is all about, as has been said time and time again. It is about ENGAGEMENT. As a business, you have this fantastic opportunity to engage with potential customers in a way that has never been available before. What you do with it is ultimately down to you. You can either stand in the corner on your own at the party, drink in hand, waiting for someone to take pity on you, or you can circulate the room, turn on the charm and win over a whole new group of friends.

5 Ways to Engage with your Customers and Clients

Whenever I go to see a client for the first time, and start to discuss their business, one of the key questions I ask is "Why would a potential client come to you as opposed to one of your competitors?"

If I received £1 every time I was given the following list as a reply, I would be a rich man indeed:

- Professional;
- Efficient;
- Provide good service;
- Good on Price

I also ask every client I meet to list their Unique Selling Points, and the list is pretty similar.  What is UNIQUE?  Your personality, and the personality of your business, is probably the one thing that is genuinely unique, and so many people ignore this when they consider the ways in which to market their business.

Let's face it, every business is fighting for their share of the spoils in a rapidly changing marketplace, and new marketing techniques are being thrown at you left, right and centre.  No wonder so many companies struggle to keep up with the pace, but keep up you must.

That said, take a step back and have a look at trends in marketing.  I have said it often enough, but one of the main threads that runs through all the new marketing methods that have burst onto the scene is that of "engagement".

Engagement is nothing new.  A market-stall holder is an expert at engagement - tempting passers-by to buy a bunch of bananas with a twinkle in his eye.  The old-style corner shop would be nothing without the personal touch that was always so valued - knowing the items that his regular customers had week after week.

These principles of good old fashioned customer service are as important today as they ever were, if not more so.  It's just that transactions take place in a much larger arena and at a much faster pace.

The key to success then is to embrace the latest technologies and use them to engage with your customers.

Here are our 5 suggestions for the best ways to engage:

1.  Get your website working properly for your business.  Allow your website to reflect the personality of your business: consider video, movement and audio to share your story.  Know your target market and ensure thay can identify with you.

2.  Encourage website visitors to leave their calling card (email address at the very least), and then use this to start to build a relationship with those people.  Don't grab hold of the first piece of data you can find and then ram hard sales messages down their throat - not the best way to market your business.

3.  Chat about your business.  Don't dictate or tell, but show your personality and give potential customers the time of day.  Start using Social Media such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to share that personality and really demonstrate the ways in which you are unique.

4.  Write about your business.  Write??  It's a shame that the art of writing seems to have disappeared with the advent of texting, but writing compelling information is such an important part of business marketing these days.  Concise and relevant text is paramount if your website is to promote your business successfully.  A well-written story can get you powerful publicity in the press.  An engaging and interesting blog can get your business talked about and remembered by prospective clients, and demonstrate that there is more to you than just "professional; efficient; provide good service; good on price."

5.  Think carefully about what makes you unique.  If necessary, ask your existing customers why they do business with you.  Be different, think differently, look at doing something innovative and stick your head above the parapet.  Ask existing customers to share their reasons for thinking you special and unique.  There is so much marketing "noise" out there at the moment, you have got to make a slightly different sound just to be heard.

Is Twitter worthwhile for Business?

Everywhere I turn these days, there are debates as to the validity of Twitter as a business marketing tool. These debates sit alongside critiques of Facebook and LinkedIn as effective networking environments in which to conduct commerce.

So, the question remains: can Twitter help your business?

Firstly, I would advise any company against believing that joining Twitter and posting a few Tweets to gain a couple of followers will make the difference between the success and failure of your business. It won't. For those of you who do not yet know what Twitter is, let's turn to Wikipedia:

"Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers."

So, how can 140 characters of text help a business?

1. You can easily drive people to your website or a page of your website. Driving people to your website and changing website content will, in turn, help improve your general search engine ranking. Adding fresh content, making the site content relevant and interesting to your prospective customers will help increase your overall internet presence;

2. You can air your views on subjects that are relevant to your business, and, more importantly, relevant to potential customers. Regular "expert" Tweets can establish you as an authority on a subject and garner an increase in the number of followers you attract;

3. There is an argument that "Followers" of your Tweets are very unlikely to become customers of yours overnight, if at all. That is not the point, and if you think Twitter will bring these types of results, then don't bother with it. We all know that there is no magic wand in the world of marketing. But the more followers you have, the greater the audience you have to address;

4. Twitter allows you to engage with other users. "Engagement" is one of the buzz words in marketing at the moment. Being limited to 140 characters is also a great lesson in the practice of being concise. Learn to get across a marketing message in a short, punchy and interesting way that will attract people to notice you, and leave them wanting to know more...;

5. From a business perspective, Twitter makes you think about the other forms of on-line and Social marketing available, and how you can use them to your advantage, bearing in mind that many of these forms of marketing are absolutely FREE.

For instance, use Tweets to point users to a blog you have written, and in which you can expound on the subject you introduced on Twitter. Blogs are widely accepted as being an invaluable part of any on-line marketing strategy, with cross-references to relevant content on your website, for example.

Links to your Twitter page can be inserted in Blogs, your website, articles and other Social Media sites, creating a tight network of information that you are creating. Having views on subjects relevant to your business demonstrates that you can be taken seriously, and will enhance the overall image of your business.

If you write articles or produce documents on products and services you provide, Tweet about them and link through to them. Get people reading about what you do.

I am not going to use examples of the successes or otherwise of large corporations; I am addressing this at the small and medium sized business looking to find their way into the rapidly growing world of Social Networking.

From personal experience, I don't expect to generate a massive influx of income-generating leads simply by tweeting a couple of times a day (although that would be nice!).

I tweet to drive people to my website. I use URL shortening tools, and can see the instant results as click-throughs are logged in real-time; a lot like Google Adwords but without the cost!

I tweet to point people to articles that I have written on subjects relevant to my business, and that I think might be of interest to prospective customers.

I tweet to offer affiliate deals, or highlight other articles that have been written by other people.

I read other tweets posted by experts and learn a great deal from their articles about emerging trends in marketing and consumer behaviour, and on a day to day basis.

I receive tweets from a wide variety of publication on specific topics that are of particular interest to me, cutting to the chase and saving valuable time.

My advice? Use Twitter and see for yourself. It is a great arena in which to experiment with marketing messages; see what attracts attention. Be patient; don't expect to make £millions, but start to use it as a part of your internet marketing strategy, and employ it with other complementary methods. If the only thing you achieve is increased organic search engine placement for your website, then that can't be a bad result.

It has worked for me, and can certainly work for you.

If you would like to discuss including Social Networking within your on-line marketing strategy, please contact us at design@argentrammedia.com. http://www.argentrammedia.com/

Digital Screen Marketing - a cost-effective route to efficient customer service

One of the buzziest words in marketing these days is engagement; the need to engage with your customers or clients. This imperative, to build a relationship with potential clients, has never been more important in days when marketing messages can be out there in front of millions of people within minutes, circulating around the globe.

Twitter and Facebook and other forms of Social Media, are all about engagement. Your website should ensure that potential clients are invited to engage with you as soon as they hit the homepage. Emails, personalised with clients' names, should entice each recipient to maintain their relationship with you, encourage them into your world. If you like, the days of good old customer service have returned with a vengeance; the days of the grocer who dealt with every customer personally, collecting products for them off the shelves and knowing every customer by name.

But we are not returning to the yester-year of retail; we can't, simply because our customers expect to be served with ever increasing speed and efficiency.

However, the technology is available now for every business, no matter how small, to bring back the best aspects of the golden age of customer service, and those businesses that ignore this technology do so at their peril.

In previous articles, I have talked a lot about web and social media, and today I want to throw digital signage and digital screen marketing into the pot. Mention the word "digital" and many businesses will recoil in horror at the thought of yet another expense. However, let's look at a few examples:
Some years ago, one of my clients was a major private health insurance company. Whenever I visited them, I had to sit in their reception area to wait to be greeted. There were magazines on a coffee table, beautiful photographs on the wall, and Sky News playing on a screen. I could have been in any corporate headquarters anywhere in the world, as there was absolutely nothing that told me where I was, or what type of company I was dealing with. Was this complacency or arrogance? An assumption that the mere company name was enough to tell me all I needed to know.

Another national company had their foyer lined with press clippings of their Chairman greeting the Great and the Good; great for the Chairman's ego, but is this good for the company as a whole?

I thought then that what these companies needed was a television-quality presentation product that did a number of things:

• Entertain waiting clients (in the same way that a magazine on a coffee table might);
• Inform clients, but without the heavy and relentless news content of Sky News or CNN;
• Tell clients about company products and services, without expecting them to read through books of press clippings or corporate brochures; 

In so many instances, businesses leave clients and potential clients hanging around without considering the effect that this might have on the ongoing relationship. Good customer service is all about making every customer feel valued.

If you have an area where customers wait for any length of time, think about a screen. I know that many of you have already got televisions in waiting areas or reception areas, and have a Freeview box so that customers can enjoy "Good Morning" or "Under the Hammer".

What a waste of an opportunity!

By all means, entertain waiting customers; it helps to pass the time. But use that time to tell people about your business; present your new products; show how successful you are as a company; tell that client how valuable they are to you. Above all, engage with that customer as they sit there waiting for you; it is a golden opportunity and one that is too valuable to miss.

If you would like more information on a range of cost-effective screen marketing solutions, please contact us at Argent Ram Media - www.argentrammedia.com. Email design@argentrammedia.com


"The average recall of a brand advertised on Wal-Mart television is 66%, compared with 24% for brands advertised on in-home television."

Social Media: Mind-Blowing Statistics

If YouTube were a country, it would be the third most-populated place in the world.

20 hours-worth of video is uploaded to YouTube every single minute.

According to their own statictics, Facebook has more than 250m active users globally.

Over the past twelve months, Twitter’s year-on-year growth rate has broken the 1000% barrier.

Since April this year, Twitter has been receiving around 20 million unique visitors to the site each month, according to some analytical sources.

As a business, you would be mad not to try to tap into this massive free marketplace.

If you would like to discuss the ways in which Social Media can benefit your business, please contact us at design@argentrammedia.com. www.argentrammedia.com

These statistics, and more, were provided by EConsultancy http://bit.ly/PMcTz

Lauren Luke

If you haven't heard of Lauren Luke yet, you soon will.

A bullied teenager from South Shields who left school at 15, and who admits she has very few friends, Lauren has become a YouTube phenomenon, and looks set to become a millionaire.

Google-owner YouTube has extended their Partnership Programme to provide an opportunity for the creators of the most-viewed video clips to earn a share of revenue from advertising attached to their clips.

Lauren, who used to sell make-up products on E-Bay, moved to YouTube and started to give video make-up tutorials filmed in her bedroom. With over 200 clips now on-line, with some of the most popular giving tips on how to achieve the look of celebrities, Lauren quickly became the 2nd most popular YouTube user in the UK. Her "Leona Lewis-look" video has attracted in excess of 2million views.

Despite having never undergone any formal training, it is Lauren's natural style and on-camera personality that has made her so approachable and popular.
I came across Lauren's story in the Daily Telegraph today, and think she is an absolute inspiration. She clearly has an innate talent, and comes across as incredibly likeable.

So, what can a business learn from this? Great rewards can be achieved from the simplest of ideas. Just think outside the box and look at ways of communicating and engaging with your target market. Lauren has done just that, probably completely unintentionally, but what a success story. Good luck to her!

Telegraph Report on YouTube's Partnership Programme - http://bit.ly/hAt3J

BBC InsideOut Video Report on Lauren Luke - http://bit.ly/112xrV

Argent Ram Media - put videos of your products or services on YouTube and get seen by a whole new audience. Contact us for information - design@argentrammedia.com. www.argentrammedia.com

What's in a Name?

It's interesting how the simplest thing can make a huge difference to a business.

In my previous articles, I have talked about consumer behaviour and the importance of understanding what your consumer wants.

There was a report from Tim Muffett on BBC News this morning (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8219540.stm) about the incredible rise in the fortunes of pear cider. Traditionally known as "Perry" and typically made using one type of pear, it has been acknowledged that the name "Perry" means little to today's consumer. Many manufacturers took the decision to rebrand their Perry product to become "Pear Cider". Hardly a major step, one would have thought, but Pear Cider is a description that the consumer understands, whereas Perry was not immediately identifiable.

As a result, Pear Cider sales have risen from £13.4 million a year in 2007 to £46 million this year.

Not only is this great news for the cider manufacturers, but it heralds good news for the fruit farmer. A success story all round.

If you would like to take a fresh look at the best ways of encouraging your customers to understand what you do, then please contact us - design@argentrammedia.com or telephone 01233 611200

SMS Marketing as part of your Marketing Mix

Yesterday, I posted a blog here discussing PR and the need to fill in the gaps in your Marketing Circle.

I have subsequently seen an article by Rosie Baker in Marketing Week (19th August 2009) entitled "Faith to use SMS marketing to drive footfall". This is a perfect example of using cost-effective technologies to fill in the gaps to ensure that customers do not drop off your marketing loop.

If you are a business that takes the time to build customer loyalty, and keeps data accordingly, then use that data; it has such immense value. In the current, "Twitter-140-character" messaging climate, sending out texts to customers to notify them of promotions is a great way of maintaining their loyalty. Faith (the shoe retailer) is using SMS messaging to inform customers about new collections, sales and promotions, and offering voucher codes that are then redeemable in store. This is a powerful tool, aimed at increasing in-store footfall; all part of that marketing loop.

The SMS messages are also designed to drive customers to the new Faith website, launched this week. As I said in my last blog, all these marketing methods should refer to each other, and complement each other, creating a tighly-woven mesh of customer care.

Have a look at the Marketing Week article - http://bit.ly/2Fr13y

If you think that SMS Marketing could be of interest to you and your business, please contact us at Argent Ram Media (www.argentrammedia.com). This could certainly be another cost-effective form of marketing to add to your mix: design@argentrammedia.com.

Never Underestimate the Power of PR

I read a guide to Social Media the other day, and it was interesting to note that a lot of journalists and article writers scour Twitter for anything newsworthy. They utilise the medium to discover changes in consumer behaviour, shifting business trends and topics of human interest. This information then provides the inspiration or theme for a story for their publication.

I have been in marketing for many years, covering industry sectors as diverse as retail, software development, the internet and travel, and one of my seminar subjects has long been the marketing circle. I urge my clients to think of their marketing strategy as a circle made up of the marketing methods they adopt, and the importance of filling in the gaps within that circle. Once they manage to get a potential customer or client on that circle, it is important that every effort is made to ensure they don't drop off.

Some of the elements that might make up this marketing circle include the following marketing methods:

Telemarketing;
Direct Mail;
Email Marketing;
Internet Marketing;
Advertising;
Direct Sales;
Strategic Alliances;
Referrals;
Cross-selling and Up-selling;
Social Media;
PR

Ideally, your circle should consist of at least 10 different forms of marketing, and each should refer, feed off and relate to each other. For example, your telephone out-of-hours messaging service should direct customers to your website when your offices are not open. Your website should then take up the role of sales person or advisor, and make it easy for a potential client to engage with you, leave you their details or buy something. If they leave you their contact details, it is only courtesy to follow this up with an email, and then keep the potential client up to date with relevant emails.

These emails may link in to relevant landing pages on your website, or even micro-sites that have been set up specifically to achieve an end result. The responses will result in further emails coming through to you, or telephone calls from interested clients.

As you build up the relationship with each client, emails can become more personalised. These can be backed up by direct mail communications with special offers or promotions, perhaps as part of a major marketing campaign that includes advertisements both locally or nationally.

And so you can start to see how the circle comes together, and by looking at the strategy as a whole, you will identify the gaps where potential customers may drop off.

However, it is also important that whatever steps you take to complete your circle, you remain focused on the success and ROI of your marketing.

All this, coupled with the snippet about journalists scouring Twitter for useful information, brings me to the subject of PR.

No matter how small your business, never underestimate the power of PR. In essence, much of the success of Twitter and Facebook, as a medium for conducting business, is all about PR. The success of Social Media hangs on the building of relationships and engaging with other users. It is about providing information that might be interesting and useful, getting other users to notice it and then start to engage with you.

When I give seminars to businesses, I always tell them to use the press. Look at the local and national newspapers and magazines, and identify the types of story that they feature in their business sections. Remember, these business writers have got to find interesting stories every day, every week, and every month in order to fill their pages. They need a constant supply of information on which they can build their articles. Have a look at trends within the business press: what is happening financially, what business sectors are currently successful or struggling. Then look at your own business. Do you buck any particular trend, are you more successful than your competitors, and if so, why? At a time of rising unemployment, particularly in the 18 - 25 years age-group, are you employing more than usual to meet growing demand for your product or service?

Whatever is happening within your business, talk about it! Be proud of your achievements and broadcast them. Identify a strong feature of your business regularly, a recent success, a story about a member of staff, a charity event that your are sponsoring....anything that you think would be of interest to anyone reading the publication.

Start to send through these stories to the journalists who write for the various publications, and in doing so, cultivate a relationship with them. I do find it interesting that this is exactly the same principle behind using Twitter for business. You post interesting Tweets and people will follow you, and then you build on those relationships. It is strange, though, that so many businesses never consider the press. They will happily spend £100's on advertising in the newspaper, but wouldn't consider sending through a story that might provide completely free publicity.

If you are not using PR as a form of marketing, you want to start now!

To discuss adding PR to your marketing circle, please contact Ian Rutter at Argent Ram Media - ian@argentrammedia.com. A tailored campaign can be put together to meet any budget and any requirement. www.argentrammedia.com

Don't Ignore Your Website

There is so much talk about Search Engine Ranking, and being found in Google, that it is far too easy to forget about your website and what happens when it is found by potential clients in the Search Engines.

Imagine that your eye is caught by a particularly enticing product in a store window; so enticing, in fact, that you are tempted off the street and into the store.

Firstly, you enter into the perfume department, but your product is in Electrical Goods; where is that? Oh, where are the signs in this place? And a member of staff wouldn't go amiss...

You spend the first couple of minutes wandering the ground floor, finally find a member of staff and are told that Electrical Goods can be found on the Lower Ground Floor. Now, where are the escalators?

Once in the right department, you scan the displays of white goods for the product of your choice. It is not immediately evident. Ah-ha! Another member of staff. Excuse me! Now, where's he gone? Can you tell me where I can find the machine that is on display in the window, please. Oh sorry, you are with another customer...

You stand aimlessly, waiting for help.

Finally, you get to talk to someone and you ask them where you can find the said machine and how much it is.

Sorry, it is out of stock.

Good experience?

This is what happens when the vast majority of internet customers visit websites.

They search for something specific, find a website and are invariably taken to the website homepage.

They then have to look for signs to follow to get to the right "department" in order to find the specific product or service that they originally searched for. Is there any easier way to find information? No, so it looks like they will have to follow links. Is there a form or phone number they can use to make life easier? No, but there is a "Contact Us" link tucked away in the small print somewhere at the bottom of the page.

Each link takes the visitor to another page, and then another, with each page featuring lists of products that do not include the one they are after.

What happens to that potential customer if they finally find your product and either it is marked as being out of stock, or is found to be too expensive? Off they click and move on to the next website. To be honest, the majority of those potential customers probably didn't bother to move beyond the homepage if the particular product was not immediately visible.

You don't even know they have been on your site, yet they probably had money to spend or business to pass your way!

On average, a staggering 99% of your website visitors will leave without bothering to contact you.

So, what can you do to make sure that your website works for you once a customer finds it.

• If you do appear well in the Search Engines, then think about what the visitor will want to see when they click on the Search Engine link. If your Search Engine link features a specific product, make sure the landing page (ie, the page that the customer will be taken to) features that product.
  
  
• If your links all go through to the homepage, make sure you feature any promotions or special offers or new products on that homepage, in order to grab the visitor's attention.
  
  
• Don't worry if you haven't got a full e-commerce site, or if you don't actually sell products. The same principle applies to businesses offering services. What is your key service? For example, if you are an employment law firm, and all your seacrh engine marketing is geared towards attracting clients who need employment law advice, make sure your landing page immediately tells the visitor that you specialise in EMPLOYMENT LAW.
  
  
• Whatever your business, make sure there is a CALL TO ACTION on every page. Don't expect the website visitor to hunt for the elusive "member of staff"; make it easy for them to get in touch by any means.
  
  
• If you have a database of customers, past and prospective, think about running targeted email campaigns with links to specific pages of your website, so that the email takes the recipient to the right page. Even more effective is the use of a micro-site - a separate mini website that backs up the content of your email ensuring that every item of content is relevant.
  
  
• Above all, make sure your website keeps pace. It MUST change frequently to keep it fresh and relevant to your clients. Don't feature content that is "out of stock", past its sell-buy date or no longer of interest. Think about your customers would want to see when they visit your website; more importantly, what they would EXPECT to see.

If you would like a free website consultation, please contact Ian Rutter at ian@argentrammedia.com. www.argentrammedia.com

Postscript

As a postscript to my last blog entry, remember the immortal words of Oscar Wilde:

"The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."

Social Media allows you to talk to other people about your business. It helps you to engage with potential customers, share information, start a dialog. Use it; your competitors will.

Social Networking for Business Growth

33% of all internet users share opinions on-line every week.

It wasn't that long ago that the internet was a display cabinet for static websites that did very little apart from look pretty (and many failed at that!).

Now, there are millions of consumers talking about topics that affect them, products they like and dislike and service (good or bad) that they have experienced. The internet is an open forum, a no-holds-barred soap box where views can be aired with approbation.

"Social Media is everywhere. Quite literally...Covering a vast swathe of online activity from blogs to social networks, such as Facebook and MySpace, to the micro-blogging activity on Twitter, social media is growing at an astonishing rate." Morag Cuddeford-Jones, Marketing Week.

So, how can businesses dip their toes into this maelstrom of consumer chat?

Large brands have discovered the power of social media as a way of identifying consumer trends and changes in behaviour. Many of you will have heard the story of Cadbury Wispa. It disappeared from store shelves in 2003, but Cadbury subsequently learnt that there was a growing campaign on Facebook calling for the bar's return. By 2007, there were 93 "Bring Back Wispa" groups with around 14,000 members, all fans of the confection, and the bar was reinstated.

Cadbury responded: "We had noticed the web interest for some time. It reveals a consumer passion which swayed our opinion about relaunching Wispa." Tony Bilsborough, Cadbury Spokesman.

There are some key words in the above statement - "web interest", "consumer passion" and "swayed our opinion".

Cadbury built a relationship with those people discussing Wispa on Facebook; they listened to the consumer and reacted.

This is exactly how every business can benefit from Social Media. Use it to build relationships. Start by simply tapping into these vast networks, and sharing your opinions and ideas, providing useful information or helpful tips and build a fan base; above all, listen to what consumers are discussing.

I will conclude with some advice from Dan Cobley, Google Marketing Director:

"History tells us that economic slowdowns are when winners get ahead. The performance gap between the most successful companies and their competitors becomes greater than during a growth period. The winners continue investing in growth and focus on profitable products and customers, while carefully managing costs.

The slowdown is likely to fuel further adoption of digital technologies and greater use of the web. By understanding today's consumer, companies can take advantage of digital technology and media to be more flexible, effective and targeted in growing their business during the slowdown."

Marketing Week

We have written a paper entitled "Social Media - An Introduction to Facebook and Twitter for Business" and this can be found at http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html, along with several other articles on Internet Marketing and Website Design. If you find these articles useful, please feel free to post a comment on this blog page; we'd be delighted to hear from you.

Free Marketing Guides

As part of my attempts to help small and medium sized businesses through tough economic times, I am writing a series of articles on some of the most cost-effective ways of getting business. The first four of these are available on our website at http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html.

These "guides" offer tips on the basic steps you can take to get seen in the Search Engines, the Importance of your website homepage, identifying changes in consumer behaviour and marketing in a difficult economy.

If you'd like to comment on these articles, or share opinions, then please send me a tweet on Twitter.

Also, if you know of any business that needs help with their marketing (new website, improved website effectiveness, design for print, email marketing, micro-websites etc) then please complete one of our Referral Forms (find this at http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html) and we will pay you £100 cash for every lead we convert.

A Marketing Success Story

Did you read the Sunday Times Magazine this week (2nd August 2009)?

In it, there was an article, "Shifting Sands", about the need for British seaside towns to reinvent themselves for the increase in UK stay-at-home holidays. Attention was focused on Torquay, and there was one story that particularly caught my eye.

There are two rival ferry companies that run up and down the Torbay coastline linking Torquay, Brixham and Paignton. The Western Lady Ferry Service took the decision, 3 years ago, to sell two elegant second-world-war naval ships, and then invest in two new 170-passenger vessels at £500,000 a-piece. As a result, they need to have healthy passenger numbers just to break even and when fuel costs rise, and the weather turns inclement this has a significant knock-on effect. Despite having been in business for 64 years, they are finding it a struggle.

The rival company, Greenway Quay and Ferry Service, is not having anything like the same problems. Profits are up 50% on last year. In the 4 years the company has been in business, some shrewd investments have been made, including the purchase of one of the naval ships that Western Lady offloaded. Naturally, the question was posed "How has Greenway done so well, and Western Lady so badly?" The answer..?

"We offer more trips than anyone else, and we spend more than anyone else on marketing...because we know we've got to speculate to accumulate. That is not the attitude of everyone in the area." Will Ford, Greenway Quay and Ferry Service.

You will hear every marketing expert expounding on the need to "market your way out of a recession." The above story is a prime example of the success that can be achieved by thinking outside the box. Greenway have done different things; they have not been complacent. They offer a greater range of services, and by keeping control over his costs, Will Ford only needs to fill 35% of his boats to be profitable. It says much that he is close to capacity on almost all services he runs.

Don't make the mistake of ignoring the need to market your business. I have written four articles on how you can make the most of some of the most cost-effective forms of marketing you have at your disposal:

Marketing in a Difficult Economy - Employing a Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy

Search Engine Promotion - Getting your Website seen by Potential Customers

Effective Websites - the Importance of your Homepage

Consumer Behaviour Changes - An Introduction to Google Insights for Search

These articles are all available for you to download, free, from our website at:
http://www.argentrammedia.com/downloads.html

If you would like to discuss any aspect of your marketing, please call us to arrange a free initial consultation.

Argent Ram Media is a company that specialises in providing a range of marketing solutionsfor all businesses, from the small one-man-band up to the largest of multi-nationalcompanies.

Website Design & Development
Design for Print
Email Design & Campaign Management
Micro-Site Marketing
E-Commerce
Internet Start-Ups
Marketing Consultancy
Search Engine Marketing
PR
Digital Advertising
Digital Screen Marketing

0845 009 5396

Acknowledgement - The Sunday Times Magazine, 2nd August 2009.