Star Business of the Month

Kent Social Media – Star Business of the Month – April 2015

by digitalbeans

Kent Social Media – What’s it all about?Kent Social Media

Kent Social Media is the small and local business set up to help to grow other small and local businesses. Kent Social Media is a full service strategic marketing agency with one clear aim:

“To deliver targeted results across several key areas; web design, app creation, social media marketing, SEO, email marketing, content marketing, digital marketing and publishing niche content.”

This combination has helped many of our clients to interact and engage with their customers on a much higher level.

We offer a personal, passionate & tailored service to each and every one of our clients, large or small.

Our team aim to define a digital strategy focusing on driving your businesses key commercial goals. Raising your profile, increasing efficiency, boosting revenue, reducing cost, training your staff or communicating better with your customers are only few business priorities that are important for all companies.

We provide local businesses with the support and expertise they need to avoid over spending with little return.

Meet Lucy Hall: The Brains Behind The Business

Lucy Hall Kent Social MediaHelping Small businesses is my passion! I come from a family of small businesses from Market Traders, antique dealers, to shop owners. I feel very lucky that I have always been brought up to know the value of business and running your own show! I’ve always been intrigued with entrepreneurs and the way they work and the reasons they do what they do. It’s not easy to run your own business and it’s very, very brave. Which is one of the reasons why I like to offer as much advice and encouragement as possible. It is one of the reasons why I started my business and the reason my own business has evolved just as the Internet has over the past few years.Lucy Hall Kent Social Media Theo Paphitis

By also running online projects – Such as – Pixiebo (online fashion boutique, Onesie Warehouse, Vintage and Upcycled which won the Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday Award last November, Inside Maidstone etc – it has helped me to understand my own customers better and what they are looking to achieve. I have learnt so much over the last 12 years about sales and marketing – what to do, what not to do, who to listen to and not too. I want to teach start-ups and business owners everything I have learned so they can use these skills to rock their business online and be in control of their own customer’s online experience! Next I will be starting DIY Digital which is an online course website to help and teach small businesses to use the various digital mediums available to them.

Business Tip:

“Remember to be brave and don’t hold back. Strategy is important but so is impulse…If you see a Bandwagon it’s too late!”

Get in Touch with Lucy Hall – Kent Social Media

@LucysHall     @KentSocialMedia   Website    Facebook    LinkedIn

Business Advice

What’s all the #fuss about?

by digitalbeans

Everyone is doing it, our behaviour on social media is somewhat skewed to how we would behave off line.  So to start let’s have a bit of fun with this video:

Why do we feel compelled to self-market such things as our relationship status, new clothes, shoes, pets, kids etc. and why do we Like, Share, Feel Sad 🙁 Feel Happy 🙂 and #####! Social media is at the forefront of people’s minds and corporate marketing campaigns and it continues to grow. Some love it and some hate it, and there are even those that make a strong point of refusing to get involved. We are friends with people we haven’t been friends with for years and yet we share so much information, is this good? Or in some circumstances even relevant? Apparently YES! With over 1.23bn Facebook users and 175 million Twitter accounts, many businesses, singers and individuals can create a following at the drop of a hat.  It’s so easy to @connect, Like, Share, Comment and #discover.

Use of the #Hashtag 

Even funnier is the video after the one above with Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon, portraying the hilarious over use of the hashtag in social media. If you haven’t watched it, you must. They talk so quickly and it is reflective of the speed and intensity of some social online chats, it continues the point of how our behaviour online is different to that off line.

On a serious note, it is a fact that your social media messages will create more engagement and followers if you do utilise this marketing tool online. That is what the #tool was designed to do; compliment ideas, build trends and poke a little humour and creativity into our marketing campaigns.

Interesting #facts:

  • # was first introduced in 2007 on Twitter
  • # support was then utilised on Instagram and Google + in 2011
  • Fllickr adds # support in March 2013 on its iO5 app
  • As we know, the Super Bowl is a massive leader for marketing campaigns and some 50% of marketing commercials include #
  • June 2013 Facebook finally added # as an official search support

(Ref Social Media Today November 2013)

# Will help you build your brand, it can build campaign strength alongside relevant and unique content. Ultimately, it pulls in genuinely interested customers who are # followers. After all, 70% of people who are # followers are mobile users and 55% of your messages will be re-tweeted as opposed to those who don’t.

Recent Success

#SingItKitty is a brilliant example and the 3rd # success for mobile company www.three.co.uk where a girl is riding her bike with a cute singing cat to the song ‘We Built This City’. It’s an extremely clever and well thought out campaign that capturing:

  • Humour
  • Catchy
  • Viral
  • Pulls on emotions  (cat lovers, parents, 80’s generation, memories, children)
  • Interactive – Just logon to http://www.singitkitty.co.uk/ stick your own face in and see what happens…

Over To You

Now you have an idea of what’s involved and how many people use it, it’s your turn. Get practicing for your own company’s marketing. Play with it, see what works and what doesn’t work, monitor your analytics and enjoy. Watch your social messages generate engagement and follower stats grow – you will soon see a change.

Star Business of the Month

DigitalBeans: Star Business of the Month – September 2013

by digitalbeans

Digital Beans Search and Social Marketing

Piperis Filippaios – Managing Director at DigitalBeans specialises in Digital Marketing with a strong focus on Search Engine Optimisation. The business which was originally called uTargeting was founded when he was just 22 and he has been working hard at it ever since. A very creative and hardworking individual showing true entrepreneurial spirit with his resilience to face any business challenge.

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DigitalBeans was developed in response to supporting companies to grow their business online. Traditionally it started out with small companies and sole traders but the company is now increasingly serving larger clients ranging from manufacturers to shopping centres. The company’s success was recognised in the 2013 Kent Excellence in Business Awards receiving the status of Finalist in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category. The company is evolving and always takes into consideration any changing trends and adapting their services to meet these needs.

There is plenty of ambition with both DigitalBeans and Piperis. The aim for the company is to grow the business and size of the team, alongside growing other ventures Piperis is already involved with. Piperis hopes to be able to maintain this momentum and grow the number of companies he is involved with over the coming years.

Business Tip:

“Take the plunge and create your own future”

Website     Facebook    Twitter

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