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It’s no secret that social media is a key feature in the marketing and branding of today’s small businesses in Ireland...
Without it, it’s difficult to have your brand’s voice heard and near impossible to make it grow.
Utilising Twitter for growth of your business is strategic, and can certainly be daunting, but once understood, it can be a wonderland for networking and building new connections for your brand.
Engagement is one of the most important things you can do with Twitter. You will quickly realise that once you start acknowledging others, they will start acknowledging you. Follow those who may be interested in your brand and other local businesses. Favourite tweets, retweet good content and most importantly, respond to tweets. Thank people for following you or for recommending your business to others. People will always want to see a personality and they will always want someone to talk to. The more you engage with others, the more they will engage with you, thus building many connections along the way.
Tweetdeck is a desktop tool to help you stay on top of all of your engagements. You can make individual columns for your feed, your mentions, your lists and more, allowing you to see everything in one place.
Local Irish online shop Hippenings makes a habit of interacting with customers and retweeting any mentions of the brand.
Got my fab ban.do travel mug yday & it's the biz!! If you haven't been to @hippenings yet you need to! pic.twitter.com/6337ErXAPm
— Níamhi (@niamhi) September 11, 2015
Twitter decided to add inline images to tweets in 2013, meaning that you no longer have to click on the tweet to see the image. Buffer experimented with this and found that tweets with images received 18% more clicks than those without. They also received 89% more favourites and 150% more retweets. Using images that are relevant and speak for your brand can be extremely beneficial in terms of recognition and engagement.
Canva is a great tool to use if you want to put together an image for a tweet that looks good and speaks to your brand. It allows you to select the dimensions perfectly formatted for Twitter and the freedom to design your own graphic.
Timing plays a very important role in your Twitter strategies. There will always be better times of the day to tweet than others. Alas, the very last thing you want to be doing is spending all day looking at Twitter wondering when to tweet. Buffer is a great app to use to help you stay organised. The recommended optimum tweeting times are between 9am-4pm, showing the most activity and the highest number of clickbacks. Buffer allows you to schedule your tweets for specific times of the day, meaning you don’t have to worry about being on hand to tweet, and it ensures your highest potential reach throughout the day. It will also allow you to include images in your tweets, it automatically shortens any links you have included, as well as giving you some insight into analytics. Buffer analytics let you know which scheduled tweets are doing well and which aren’t doing so well - so you can always be on top of your scheduling with what works for your brand.
Made famous by Twitter, the hashtag is a highly effective strategy, particularly for small businesses. A short, sweet, simple and clear hashtag that is relevant to your brand can be a huge driver for brand recognition. A perfect example is Irish tan brand Cocoa Brown Tan, who have recently been using the #CocoaBrownAW15 hashtag to build excitement for their new product launch, which is being used by customers, new customers and bloggers alike.
Ultimately, hashtags allow users to search for particular topics that interest them - so using a relevant hashtag within your tweets every now and again means people are more likely to find your tweet if it’s what they’re looking for. Hashtags can occur anywhere within a tweet, however it is important to remember that it is not worthwhile to spam your tweets with them. One hashtag is great, two is plenty. Twitter recommends no more than 2 per tweet as using anymore actually devalues the strength of each hashtag.
Oh what is in the bag from #CocoaBrownAW15 ? All to be revealed on September 28th! pic.twitter.com/8tmsiIaIa2
— Lorna Weightman (@styleisleIRL) September 22, 2015
In a similar sense to Buffer Analytics, Twitter Analytics is a goldmine of information allowing you to see what you’re doing right and what leaves room for improvement overall. The user-friendly dashboard outlines which tweets are performing best, the number of impressions they are receiving, growths and drops in followers, mentions, profile visits and more. It gives you a monthly summary, allowing you to make a quick and easy comparison month to month.
Looking for patterns within your information gives you an idea on how well certain strategies are working - such as the time of day your tweets go out, which links are clicked and shared, who responds and so on. This leaves room for you to experiment on your strategies. For example, if you’re seeing a lot of impressions per tweet but not so many clicks, perhaps finding a more compelling way to word the tweet can work in your favour.
Once you’ve got the basics of Twitter down and you have established your presence, it’s important to stay consistent if you want your following to continue to grow. It is important to stay consistent with both your content and your Twitter activity. Posting something irrelevant to your brand or falling off the Twittersphere can negatively impact both your following and your reputation. Simply tweeting daily can keep your presence firmly established.
It certainly takes time and a craft, but once you have it grasped, Twitter can be a highly valuable social media platform for the growth of your business.
Well, we certainly have anyway. Since launching Irish Parcels, we’ve noticed that a huge portion of our customers are online retailers, spanning an infinite amount of industries. We have gluten-free snack companies, artisan dog treat retailers and a bespoke crystal gift website (to name just a few) sending their parcels with us.
And although the level of eCommerce retailers in Ireland, does not exactly match that of the UK and Worldwide just yet, we are definitely catching up.
Online retail presents huge opportunities for new budding Irish entrepreneurs with a bright business idea, as well as for already existing off-line stores in Ireland who want to reach new markets.
Among many other benefits, selling online is the best way for Irish businesses to profit outside the small domestic market. In a study, reported on by the Irish Times earlier this year, the author noted that among online retailers in Ireland “an average of 33 per cent of revenue came from international customers.”
So, with that in mind, we’ve put together some top tips for anyone out there who is currently running, or thinking about running an eCommerce business.
Even if you’re pretty sure you could build an eCommerce website yourself and do an OK, job of it - JUST DON’T EVEN BOTHER. Consumers are very selective about buying online and are more likely to purchase from a website that looks good and functions well. Prepare to spend at the start in order to save in the long run.
In addition, freeing yourself from the design and set-up also allows you to focus other important aspects of the getting the business off the ground.
Related to the above point - your purchasing process must be absolutely, completely and utterly straightforward and user friendly. If you have a complicated and unsecure shopping cart, you will cut your online customers in half, at least. The functionality of your eCommerce website is the most important part of your online business.
The most successful independent online businesses are the ones that have a specialist product or service that serves a very distinct cross section of the community. There are a few reasons for this; the more unconventional your business is, the fewer competitors you will have and you will therefore rank higher in Google for your search terms. Businesses that appeal to everyone - for instance an online clothes store that has products for men, women and children of all ages - will be competing with ASOS and other high street brands, making it harder to stand out and succeed.
Once you’ve carved your niche, assess the market size and value. This can be a real turning point for a lot of potential retailers. Some will find that the market they want to target doesn’t exist or is too small to generate profit and others will find that their market is double the size that they expected. There are a few ways to find your market size. You can use Google’s Adword Keyword tools and you can also use Facebook’s advertising tools to get a rough figure.
Once you are sure there’s a market for your business, get to know that customer as well your husband or wife. Know their age, their gender, where they are from, their hobbies, interests, what websites they like to visit, what their job is, their online purchasing habits and how many times a day they go to the toilet. This will make it so much easier to market to your customers. And with that in mind…
If your business, product or service solves a big question that is currently unanswered, your customers will find you. If not (which is the case for most small businesses) you will have to go in search of your customers through marketing. You will need to spend money on advertising, PR and email marketing etc, if you want your business to grow.
Make search engine optimisation a priority from the beginning because if you’re not visible online, you’re not found. Good SEO helps you reach the customers who are looking for you - these are your most valuable customers as they have an already existing need/desire for your product. If you’re not clued in on SEO, hire an expert, as mistakes can often damage your website and brand.
Having a blog section of your website is hugely beneficial. For one, it allows you to relay more information about your product or service to your customers. It also allows you to build an audience that you can convert into customers. If you write on topics you’re knowledgeable about, you will be trusted by readers and potential customers, and as readers share your blog posts across social media, you will reach a much wider audience.
Read our top 3 reasons why your business should blog.
If you intend to run an online business, you need to have a presence on all the main social media channels. Sign up and secure your business name as soon as possible. Social media is a way to engage with your audience and share information with them on a constant basis.
Advertising on Facebook can help you reach new audiences and acquire new customers. Social media allows businesses to be creative and show personality, which for a customer, could be the difference between you and your a competitor.
Read our tips for marketing your small business on social media.
To have longevity as a business, you need to be fulfilling your customers’ needs and evolving with them. If you’re not listening to their concerns and adapting to suit them, you will stay in the same place as your customers move forward and into the arms of a competitor. To best understand your customers, set up a review platform. There are so many ways to do this - you can ask them to leave Google reviews on your Google business profile, you can ask them to leave reviews on Facebook, or a comment on your website after purchase. The best way, however, is to use a platform like Trustpilot which is independent and therefore more open, honest and credible.
And of course...
Every business person knows that it’s the small expenses that add up and prevent you from making a profit. For the majority of eCommerce businesses in Ireland, shipping represents a huge portion of overall expenses - especially international shipping, as prices are simply not competitive and there’s no choice but to fork over hundreds of Euros. To help you cut back on shipping expenses, switch to Irish Parcels. We have helped businesses save as much as 60% on their shipping costs. We compare major couriers and bring you the best price and fastest delivery time for your parcels. For more information on how Irish Parcels can help you, click here.
Learn more about us and how we can help YOU save time and money on your parcel deliveries...
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It doesn’t matter how big your business is, how impressive your turnover is or how profitable your industry is - no company can really thrive without keeping an eye on those overheads.
Every business on the planet benefits from reducing overheads, but there’s no denying that it’s a much more pressing for small businesses, where every single penny counts.
If you’re one of many small business owners that’s on a shoestring budget (is there any entrepreneur who ISN’T?!), you’ll know that fortunately, cutting costs even just slightly, can make dramatic improvement to your bottom line.
But finding costs worth cutting is the hard part.
So to help a little, we’re taking a look at nine small immediate steps that Ireland’s SMEs can take to save money right now.
Ok so, as a parcel delivery company we have to talk about what we know best - shipping costs.
A YouGov report earlier this year, in conjunction with eBay, found that 31% of small businesses believe that postage and delivery costs are limiting their overall expansion and 75% of firms believe that high international rates are preventing them from reaching overseas markets. Sound familiar?
The average small business spends €11,000 per anum on parcel deliveries (according to another local report from ComReg). But here's the good new - this is a significant spend which can easily be trimmed.
If your business sends parcels directly with couriers - either frequently or even just on occasion - you are seriously overpaying. Instead, use a comparison website like us - IrishParcels.ie. Customers can benefit from our contracts and reduced rates with major couriers which will decidedly lower your shipping costs. Businesses can stand to save up to 80% on parcel deliveries this way.
If you’ve gone through the recruitment process, you’ll know that hiring someone is expensive and exhausting. Staff turnover can be extremely costly, so focus on retaining your current staff member by keeping them satisfied with their jobs. Be flexible to their needs, evaluate their duties and discover if you can reduce contracts from full-time to part-time.
It’s a hotly debated issue for SMEs, but when done correctly, outsourcing can also help cut those operational and labor costs. Many startups avoid delegating to third parties in fear taking a risk, handing over control and added expense. But outsourcing to the right party will help you reduce spend, free up internal resources and allow you to focus on core duties. It’s always best to leave tasks where you have less experience, in the hands of experts.
A good marketing department can help build a small business into an empire, but if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can just as easily see everything you’ve built crumble into dust. (That’s perhaps a dramatic metaphor, but it’s true nonethless!)
So many businesses throw money at TV, radio and print advertising because that’s where their competitors are, it’s what all the big brands do and it’s familiar territory - it’s traditional.
But if you’re not as big as Sky or Coca Cola, it’s NOT the most effective way of reaching your audience, growing your brand and increasing sales. Start focusing your attention to online advertising, if you don’t already. Spend money on PPC advertising, Facebook ads, email marketing or affiliate marketing.
It’s cheaper than advertising offline but more importantly, it’s easier to target your specific customer base and it’s easier to measure effectiveness and therefore streamline your spend.
If you have office space, make sure none of it is going to waste. Slim everything down as much as you can and see how much extra space is left. If there’s enough consider renting the extra space or setting up an office-share system with another company.
And on that note - is there another company that you could team up with? One that provides a different product/service but still serves the same market as you? If so, put links on each other’s websites, refer customers, put your brochures in each other’s mail, share mailing lists or share stands at trade shows. Not only is it mutually beneficial for both businesses, it can also aid the customer and improve their experience.
It’s an obvious one, but wasting heat and light is just like opening your wallet, emptying the contents down the toilet and flushing it away. Turn off lights and exclude drafts or switch to motion censored lighting and heating so energy and electricity is only used when needed.
If you have a website, it MUST be mobile friendly. Especially if you’re an online retailer, but not exclusively - all sites benefit from mobile compatibility. Smart phones and tablets are now the preferred method of internet access.
Online shopping and searching via mobile exceeds PC or laptop, so if people can not access your goods or service on their mobile, you are losing customers by the second. In the physical sales world, it’s like setting up a shop miles away from town, in the middle of a field, surrounded by trees and hedges with a locked door that can only be accessed with passcode given to you by a wizard. If you’re not visible, you’re not found.
There are a lot of benefits to hiring an experienced candidate; they have a reliable track record that you can trust, they know what they’re doing and there’s less training required. It’s not that big of a risk and SME owners usually HATE taking risks.
But, what SMEs hate even more is overspending and unfortunately when it comes to hiring - experience is expensive...
Instead consider hiring a recent graduate. What they lack in background, they often make up for in enthusiasm and newly acquired knowledge. New graduates are tomorrow’s leaders. They have less bad habits to correct and see the industry with fresh eyes and may have creative new ideas to help you grow.
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