Events across the globe have been consistently cancelled since the start of the year. Like skittles in a bowling alley, plans get decimated as a problem after problem comes hurtling at speed. In an unknown environment, savvy brands have taken to hosting virtual events to save disappointing their audiences. Whilst online events previously may have been pretty lacklustre, the crowded market has now forced businesses to step up their virtual game.

The joy of grabbing coffee with like-minded strangers and networking in person may have been parked for the foreseeable, but there’s a lot of value in virtual conferences. In fact, the word conference is no longer suited: fun, omnichannel approaches are transforming what it means to discover new things in digital marketing. It’s exciting and easy to get involved in if you’d like to take your business to the next level.

The benefits of virtual events

Let’s take a minute to talk about the benefits of virtual events. We need to stop mourning for physical events and interaction and take what we can for now. As the virus settles in for winter, our industry needs to keep moving forward.

It’s likely we’ve all attended some pretty lacklustre events in the past. The first triumph of online means that we can exit things whenever we like. As soon as our attention wanders elsewhere, we can leave. Beautiful.

Secondly, virtual events open up information and networking to a whole new host of people. Time zones, locations and travel expenses are no longer factors in people’s decisions of whether they can attend. The focus shifts to whether they are interested in the subject, the speakers, the important stuff. By cutting away the impracticalities of in-person events, organisers now have more time and money to spend on the content – which can only be a good thing.

Furthermore, the opportunities are now astronomical for what events can become. Technology is not bound by the constraints of time and space; companies can now really think outside of the box when coming up with iideas. There are unlimited ways of engaging with audiences through a screen, and it’s a format which people don’t tire of. Sat in the comfort of their own home, drop-out numbers will plummet as there’s little reason for people not to attend. Everything just got infinitely easier.

Plus, when physical events return, the combination of digital and in-person conferences will change the course of networking forever. After learning what magic digital events can bring to businesses, they will serve as huge supplements to physical showcases when they’re allowed to happen.

Tips for hosting a virtual event

The more planning you put into your event, the smoother things will run, the more polished your brand will appear and the more you’ll get from it. In a nutshell: don’t change the fundamentals just because things are now virtual.

1. Going live vs pre-recording

One of the big decisions you need to make is whether you’re going to host your event live or not. Is there a specific reason for it being live? If not, it’s a safer bet to pre-record your content as this gives you time to script, re-record and edit things to put out a polished video. Doing things live adds a lot more complications and stress which may be unnecessary unless you need your audience to be interacting with you in real-time.

Similarly, you can’t assume that people will all want to tune in at the same time. By pre-recording things, you can open up your event to suit more schedules and reach more people. You can also offer a series of videos in an on-demand format to allow users to catch up on what they’ve missed and keep coming back for more.

2. Choosing the ideal platform

Deciding what platform to host your event on depends entirely on the type of business you are. Where do you interact most with your customers? What do you want to achieve with your event? Knowing the answers to these types of questions are not only fundamental to your success, but will help sculpt how your event should look.

Once you’ve identified your goal, you can look at the platforms on offer. For more intimate, engaging events, video conference software such as Google Meet or Zoom do the trick. For brand awareness, bigger sites like YouTube may suit your business better.

You should also consider an omnichannel approach to appeal to a wider audience. With the restrictions of physical events gone, you’re free to really make your event your own. Who says things have to take place on one platform? If a multi-platform approach makes sense for what you’re trying to achieve, go for it.

3. Laying out a clear user journey

Once you’ve got visitors inside your event, you want them to bounce around. Establishing an obvious path for them to follow makes it easy for them to do just that. If your UX is confusing or you haven’t provided the right supporting content, you’ll be wasting a valuable opportunity. Whether you want attendees to sign up for your newsletter, webinar, blog, product tour or something else entirely, you need to make your goal clear.

4. Measuring success

When it comes to measuring the results of your virtual event, you shouldn’t get hung up on the basic figures. Spending too long looking at the number of viewers will skew your vision of how ‘successful’ things have been. Focus on metrics such as watch time, engagement and impact. Judge it as a piece of digital media rather than an event; things have changed drastically and so should the way you measure things.

Some interesting future events

As well as potentially hosting an event, there are lots out there that are worth attending – if only to see how others are doing it. Logging into a virtual conference is also a great way to break up your working week. Working from home can easily make you feel stuck in a rut so networking with others, albeit via computer, is a good reminder of the wider picture.

Here’s a list of virtual marketing events which may interest you:

• Digital First – 25-26 November 2020
• Brand ManageCamp 2020 – 27-29 October 2020
• B2B Online Virtual Event & Expo – 28-29 October 2020
• Connect to Convert – 27-28 October 2020
• Ad World Conference – 2-4 November 2020
• Global Virtual MarTech Summit – 11 November 2020
• Web Summit – 2-4 December 2020

We also regularly host webinars here at Adzooma so keep your eye on our socials for the latest announcements.

Marketing your virtual event

Once you’ve got all the essentials nailed down, marketing your event in the right way will ensure you’re getting people to sign up. If you’re after some extra attention, consider outsourcing to an agency who can help you get extra eyes on your event. Whether you’re after help with digital PR, marketing, social media, email marketing or something else, all the best experts can be found on the Adzooma Marketplace.

Similarly, you can list your own company on there to get your brand amongst other professionals who get a steady stream of targeted leads. There’s lots on offer so be sure to check it out.

A promising future

Whilst the world of events was pretty empty just a few months ago, there’s a lot of excitement coming as companies find their feet again. This adaptation to online means that when physical events do return, they’ll be more innovative than ever before. Your business could see a lot of value in either attending or hosting a virtual event, so don’t dismiss them from your calendars just yet.

In this guide, we look at the best PR agencies in Nottingham, the range of services they offer, and how they can help to boost your brand.

1. Boom (Adzooma Recommended)

Boom provides an array of services including SEO, PPC management, social media marketing and web development.

We’re unique. It sounds like a big claim, but it’s true. Unlike some other agencies, we understand the intricacies and problems faced by e-commerce businesses.

Boom is also a Google Premier Partner and the company prides itself on a broad range of skills from deep technical knowledge to headline-grabbing creativity.

If you want to generate more business, improve search visibility in Google, and create a better user experience for your customers, give BOOM a try.

Previous clients: Natural History Museum, The Online Pen Company, BL Lingerie, Healthspark

2. Champions PR

Champions PR have a team of over 120 people. Their knowledge and expertise has helped brands develop their look and their digital presence.

They specialise in all forms of digital and traditional brand communications, and have won numerous awards. As a family run business, they have created a team that works closely together to help brands achieve their goals.

Support and assistance are at the forefront of their work and they aim to boost growth and maximise customer touchpoints. They work on multi-channel strategies to create a strong image across social channels. 

Previous clients: Farmfoods, Capital One, Checkatrade

3. Tank PR

Tank PR have worked with numerous national and international clients across a range of industries.

They classify their team as a range of PR consultants, marketers, technical types and the odd misfit. Focusing on creating a unique and exciting business profile, Tank PR looks at creating a profile that is both respected and aesthetically pleasing to gain maximum results.

Curating strategies and digital accolades, they focus on targets and help brand’s achieve them as quickly and effectively as possible. 

Previous clients: Dixons Carphone, KPMG/Ipsos Retail, Belvoir Castle, Town & Country Pet Foods

4. Motive PR

Motive PR is an award-winning digital PR agency specialising in e-commerce clients across many sectors of business from fitness to finance and fashion to food.

The agency was founded in Nottingham back in 2008 by former Daily Mirror staff writer Steve McComish, who has since been included in the PR Week Power Book which lists the top 100 most influential people in the UK PR industry.

The agency’s e-commerce speciality means they promise campaigns which get people talking, clicking and sharing.

Awards for the agency include the CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Silver Dare Award for Outstanding Small PR Agency.

Previous clients: Money.co.uk, MuscleFood, Hancocks Cash & Carry, NetVoucherCodes, Public Desire, BillyOh and Gardening Express.

5. Cartwright Communications

Cartwright Communications are one of PR Week’s top agencies in the UK and have carved a name within the industry to aid businesses in their quest to be noticed.

With strong roots in journalism, their ethos is storytelling and getting to the nitty gritty of a brand. They offer mentoring and training to allow your brand to start from the ground up and help build your knowledge of the industry to ensure growth and goals are met.

They have a strong focus on charities and support numerous local charities in alignment with their work with brands.

Previous clients: Branston, Intu, Willmot Dixon, Alchemist

6. Impression

Based in Nottingham, Impression is a digital marketing powerhouse and home to an award-winning PR team. Since opening their doors in 2012, they’ve continued growing from strength to strength, delivering big wins for their clients—from small agencies to larger corporates—and scooping up a multitude of awards in the process.

Offered services include:

• SEO
• PPC
• Digital PR
• Content marketing
• Analytics
• CRO

Previous clients: BrewDog, Nottingham Trent University, Experian, Topps Tiles

7. Penguin PR

Run by an award-winning team of former journalists, they have a wealth of experience and have been running Penguin for many years.

Social media and SEO are at the core of what this company does and focus on social campaigns that promote and advertise your brand in an authentic way.

Their writing services span across many areas, including PR copywriting for magazines and newspapers. They have a few awards under their belt too, and focus solely on business objectives and achieving them promptly.

Previous clients: Cosmo, Birds Bakery, The Kingsmead School, Lubrizol

8. Redbrick Communications

This company offers multiple areas of communication services to brands.

With digital communication at the core, they focus on social channels as well as brand communication to help you develop an online presence and reputation.

From construction to tourism, they cover a wide range of industries. Created by two Trent Polytechnic graduates, this team was created through a passion for the PR industry. They strive to enhance and protect their clients’ brands as well as offer numerous opportunities for growth.

Previous clients: Radisson Blu, Meccano, Royal Armouries, LBFoster

9. Eden PR

Eden is a team of public relations professionals based in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. They describe themselves as a hands-on company, driven by results and action.

They create strategic plans for each company to ensure that they hit their targets. Their focus is mostly within the construction and industrial industries, with a focus on advertising brands working on larger industrial projects and developments.

Although this is their main niche, they do also media training to improve clients’ knowledge of digital PR.

Previous clients: Interflora, SERVE, Nottingham City of Football

10. Hallam

Focusing on the digital marketing behind the brand, Hallam looks at creating a stellar image for brands online. With their PR, they create brand awareness and delve into the world of CRO for website traffic.

They have won numerous awards and they are run by a large group of innovative staff focused on helping businesses thrive online.

Previous clients: Speedo, Cadent Gas, United Nations, Raleigh Bikes

Conclusion 

Each agency provides a slightly different version of services across the digital PR industry. Although some focus on niche industries, a digital PR agency is a staple for any business.

We hope at least some of these suggestions can lead you down a path of success for the future.

Try Adzooma Marketplace and find the right digital PR agency for your business.

The aim of the game? Links.

Links are like marketing currency: they help to improve your online rankings, credibility and brand name. Getting them is a task that is neither quick nor pretty, but it has proven to be a vital part of growing your business.

Many marketers are well-versed in the art of persuasion. But, from the looks of our inbox, it seems there are still people out there aren’t applying that art to outreach. There’s lots to learn from these poor examples, so you can start smashing your outreaching if you’re not already.

Why outreaching is hard

Outreaching is an uphill battle from the start: you can see the summit and the path that will take you there, you just need to put the graft in. The number one obstacle with outreaching is that 90% of the time you’re a cold-caller – they’re not interested, and it’s up to you to change their mind. Whoever you’re contacting is likely super busy and has little time for helping someone out for no gain. It’s all about showing them what’s in it for them straight away.

And, don’t try and pretend you’re not trying to get links. You know you want a link, they know you want a link. There’s no point sugarcoating it as anything else. There are experts who do this kind of thing for a living, so if you want to hand things over, you’ll find them on our marketplace.

1. Make a good impression

There’s being chatty and adding personality, and then there’s straying far from professional. Adopting the right tone is key for incentivising people to help you because you want to show the right qualities. This is particularly important if you’re pitching an article, even more so if you’ve not yet written it, as your email is all they have to go off as an example of your writing style. Yes, they’re not going to be the same tone of voice, but it’s not very professional if you’re talking to them like you’re down the pub, rather than displaying your business prowess.

2. Give examples

It’s important you show value to whoever you’re emailing. An easy (and expected) way of doing this is to link to some examples of your previous work. This is particularly weighty if you’ve been published on recognisable sites.

Far too many emails ping into our inbox asking “if we take Guest Posts?” – yes, that’s why there’s a way to get in touch about it. Don’t waste the first few seconds asking a basic question; fire some smart examples of what you can produce.

3. Don’t appear desperate

Show enthusiasm, but don’t beg it.

So many people get their tone of voice wrong with outreaching. Whilst you’re trying to come across as friendly, lines such as “You’ve read this far? THANK YOU!” and “since you have that kind of tenacity, I’m pretty sure you’ll want to take this forward” sail past flattery and become borderline weird. In fact, the final line feels like we’re at a sermon with an over-enthusiastic preacher expecting us to reply “hell yeah!”

4. Limit the emojis

Emojis seem to have trickled into emails which can be a nice way of adding a human element to the conversation. It also helps to avoid coming across as blunt. The problem is when overused, it toes into the first point of acting like they’re your mate.

You want to present yourself as a professional, not like you’re sending a text. Too many emojis can be cheesy, and god forbid you press the wrong one. ????

5. Don’t get their back up straight away

Subject lines are really important: 47% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone.

This example represents in a nutshell how not to outreach. When you’re trying to get someone to do you a favour, don’t annoy them straight away. Outreach emails notoriously get ignored. In fact, only 8.5% receive any reply at all. People are busy, uninterested and physically don’t have the time to reply to all of them. That’s not bad manners. This example seems to have taken previous experiences to heart, and is carrying that hostility around with them – not the best way to start a working relationship.

Worse still, the writer then goes on to give the game away entirely. They’ve had no luck elsewhere, so this is their last approach. If anything, this makes them less desirable as you think “well if no one else has said yes, what do they know that I don’t?”

The honesty element is nice, but it doesn’t sit right because the subject line has already ruffled feathers. There’s thinking of out of the box to get noticed, and then there’s being noticed for all the wrong reasons. 

6. Follow-ups are okay with the right tone

If someone hasn’t replied first time around, it’s good practice to send a follow-up email as it’s proven to get you more replies. They may have honestly missed it and be interested. How you go about sending a second email again speaks volumes of the type of person you are to deal with. You want to prove you’re well-intentioned, polite and efficient.

This follow-up may work for some – it could even be seen as funny. But, it’s much more likely to be taken as a childish email. No, they haven’t been “giving you the silent treatment” like you’re at school, nor are they likely to be sunning themselves on a beach. Humour is so subjective that it’s best to avoid making big gags before you’ve got to know your audience. By being “out there” in your response, you’re narrowing your chances of getting a reply even further.

7. It’s not MySpace

I know email may seem like a dinosaur way of communicating for some, but that doesn’t mean we’re actually back in the early 2000s. Email doesn’t mean we go back to MySpace tactics. 

Outreaching isn’t about what you look like, it’s about your talent. Posting a picture of yourself invites judgement straight off the bat (a sad, but true, reality.) You’re also wasting valuable time and highlighting your subtle inexperience – this is what an Author Bio is for!

8. If you’ve used a template, disguise it

Outreach emails are a laborious task, so it’s okay to admit many of us use software such as BuzzStream to manage and send outreach pitches. What makes a huge difference to your response rate, however, is whether it reads like you have or not.

The autofill templates that drag the information of the recipient into the body copy to create a personalised email are well-known and scream laziness. It’s like trying to offer a personalised experience but in a way that actually makes you look more generic. That’s why it’s important to make sure these personalisations don’t look tacked on.

For example, the first line of this email includes a hyperlink to our site… Yes, we’re aware of our own website, thanks for that. Here, a better use of personalisations would have been to insert a name after the ‘Hi’.

You should write your email as though you’re addressing only one person, even if you’re not.

9. Don’t get the name wrong

Someone went to the time and effort of ‘reading’ (scanning) my work, and then worked out how to insert their work into the same theme. Nice. Very personal.

The one problem: I didn’t write that article. My colleague did.

If you’re going to go to all this effort, at least send it to the right person! But, if you make a mistake, it isn’t the worst thing in the world – it’s just an email. Just send a follow-up apologising and make a joke of it, better than losing a contact.

10. Don’t say ‘nice to e-meet you’

Just don’t.

Learn from others’ mistakes

Outreaching is hard and everyone learns on their feet. The people who have been doing it for years will tell you it isn’t a walk in the park – that’s why they charge for their services. If you’re after expert help, check out the Adzooma marketplace for helping finding industry specialists.

As you start getting some replies to your outreaching, you can tweak your approach and improve along the way. That’s true for everyone, so don’t worry about making mistakes. But, hopefully these examples will show you what you shouldn’t be doing, and help make room for what is going to get you those all-important links.

Let’s get stuck in shall we?

1. Create a PR stunt

PR stunts are planned events designed to catch public attention and promote the organisers of the stunt.

Their goal is to get people talking and once they do, brand awareness will go through the roof – as well as your traffic. Here are some of our top tips for building a successful PR campaign.

Create an original spin

PR stunts need to be original.

If someone’s already done it, it’s not a stunt. It’s just another brand jumping on the bandwagon. Dallas bookstore, The Wild Detectives, is a great example of this. Back in April, they took to Instagram to announce that their bookstore was no more and they would become a travel agency instead – during a global pandemic.

Their new website, gobookatrip, was set up exactly as a travel agency. Except when you type in the destination you want, you’ll instead see books that can help you ‘escape’ there from the comfort of your own home.

Jump on current trends

If something is already popular and talked about, you can tap into that audience by creating a PR stunt tied into it. Sentosa, a tourism-based island in Singapore, is a great example of this.

People can’t physically escape on a holiday. But there has been a virtual alternative that has taken the world by storm – Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The game is the highest-selling game of the series, selling 13.4 million copies since it’s launch on the 20th of March.

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, you start life on a remote island filled with animal residents. There, you take control, spend your island life fishing, catching bugs and crafting furniture to make your island beautiful. I’ve built a private mountain top spa, a full hedge maze, market stall and farm on mine. I’m so proud.

Because people can’t get to Sentosa, Sentosa brought their resort to them. Their team recreated their resort in Animal Crossing, complete with its flower-filled roundabout, boardwalk, Sofitel Singapore Sentosa’s So Spa and iconic restaurants like Mykonos.

Every logo was recreated and furniture styles replicated their real-life counterparts. It took a team of 22 designers 12 days to create this experience, and it’s well worth it.

Make sure PR students are relevant to your brand and tasteful. Being the centre of controversy might bring a lot of clicks to your site, but they’re not likely to increase your conversions.

2. React to real life events

We’re not advocating taking advantage of bad news stories, but reacting to news stories is important. Those stories are at the forefront of your audience’s mind right here right now, therefore creating content which makes you look current and helpful is a win-win for everyone.

It’s all about timing.

News doesn’t stay news forever. There’s a sweet spot to hit, you want to get in early enough to be relevant and before others have found the same angle.

If you go in too late, you’ll just be another voice lost in the crowd.

As well as getting the timing right, successfully reacting depends on:

• Your PR relationships. If you’ve already got strong links to journalists and news outlets, your opinions will be more likely to be featured. If you’re not sure where to start, you may want to hire a PR agency to take care of this for you.
• Picking the right story. Successfully reacting is about finding relevant stories to your business. It’s no use getting in on a breaking news story about a new type of metal being discovered if you sell shoes.
• Your unique angle. When reacting, try and offer an alternative opinion that only you can provide. If you’re going to repeat what everyone else has said, journalists won’t see the point of publishing your quote.

You can’t plan this kind of thing in advance. Instead you need to always keep an eye on current trends, know when to strike and react fast. If done right, it can bring tons of extra traffic to your website through a whole range of channels.

3. Source your own data

Creating your own data pieces is a great way of bringing traffic to your site and increasing the authority of your brand.

It’s a tactic that we use here at Adzooma.

As lockdown hit, I published data showing how the pandemic affected people’s search behaviour across Europe, Australia and the US. If you’re interested, it was a big increase in terms like toilet paper in the UK and thermometers in wider Europe.

This data was then featured and used on other websites, including The Drum. That’s a nice backlink to Adzooma and big traffic boost.

Data sourcing can be as simple as compiling readily available data, such as Google Search Volumes in the above example, or conducting your own research. I’ve done this in my new piece on whether people want to stay at home or not after COVID-19 by surveying hundreds of people.

Generally, the more unique the research, the more potential it has to be shared. If timed right, data pieces can also serve as news pieces to further the buzz around your brand.

4. Co-host a webinar

Webinars are another way to build up brand authority and leadership in a particular subject. Because all you really need is yourself, some time and a camera, they’re relatively inexpensive to make as well.

Pick a topic that’s relevant and interesting to your audience. Provide information that they’ll value and send them to your website for more in-depth resources or tools that they might need.

If you want some more tips on creating webinars, you can download a free guide here.

If you don’t feel ready to host your own, you can co-host a webinar with like-minded businesses or join as a panellist to boost brand awareness.

By getting people to sign up and register, you’ve got yourself a nice little email list ready to use as part of your email marketing. This gives you an extra chance to get those that didn’t attend over to your website.

Webinars are also increasing in popularity, with physical events being cancelled for the foreseeable future. DRINK:// Digital, a monthly digital marketing event based in Nottingham, is one of the latest to take turn their events into a webinar with DRINK:// Digital Shots.

5. Expand your advertising channels

Google and Facebook aren’t the only places that you can advertise on. There are countless alternative PPC advertising platforms that you might want to consider, including Microsoft, Twitter and Capterra.

We’re not recommending that you try and get on every single network out there. Some of them just might not be relevant or profitable for your website. But if you’re hitting a wall with your traffic, it might be time to test new waters.

If you’re going to use multiple channels, you’ll want to check your performance across all platforms with a cross channel report. Access yours for free by creating an Adzooma account.

6. Sharpen your PPC audience targeting

If you’re running PPC campaigns, one way you can increase targeted traffic is to ensure your audience targeting is spot on.

This tactic ensures you’re not only targeting the right audience but also makes sure that you’re getting people at the right stage of the conversion funnel. After all, there’s no use directing a customer to an awareness campaign if they’re already familiar with your brand.

Audience targeting varies on the type of PPC platform that you’re using. For this example, we’ll talk through Google Ads.

There are two types of audience targeting:

• In-market audiences. This includes people who are actively searching for or researching the type of content, product or service that you’re advertising.
• Affinity audiences. These are users that Google has identified as being interested in specific topics, industries or hobbies.

In-market audiences and affinity audiences sound similar, but the difference is mainly time.

In-market audiences look at temporary behaviour and the people who are searching for you right now. In contrast, affinity audiences target people with general interests in your area.

If you’re looking to increase general traffic to your website, using affinity audiences might be the best call to target potential customers who haven’t heard about you yet. However, if you’re looking for people higher up in the sales funnel, in-market audiences will lower your CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition) as you drive customers towards your website.

Another audience targeting strategy you need to look at is customer match.

Customer match is a way of uploading customer lists in order to target your PPC advertising to these exact people. For example, if you have a list of people who have purchased from you in the past but dropped off your radar, you could set up a PPC campaign to get them back in the funnel and visiting your website once more.

Customer lists need to have at least 1,000 people to be uploaded but can be gathered and combined with earlier strategies like co-hosting a webinar. So, those that have signed up to watch your webinar can then be targeted with ads to view your content.

You can also exclude audiences from your campaign, which is one of the biggest secret weapons for bringing costs down.

This is where you stop certain audiences from seeing your campaigns. It’s helpful so you don’t use your spend on existing customers or people that have already visited your website, so you can focus on new customers.

7. Use programmatic display advertising

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again: AI & automation are the future of PPC. If you aren’t using PPC management software, you’re already years behind.

Programmatic display advertising is an automated way of making real-time display advertising purchases.

It works like this:

1. A user visits a website
2. A pixel installed on the website notes information about the visit
3. The pixel builds a persona based on these visits
4. It looks for display advertising slots, based on this audience persona
5. When a match is found, it uses real-time bidding to win the advertising slot
6. Your advert is played in front of someone who matches your audience

Word of warning: programmatic display advertising can be a little difficult to get right, which means you might expect some hit or miss results if you’re starting out. Used right, it’s a powerful way of bringing targeted traffic your way.

7 tips to success

There you have it, our 7 advanced methods of increasing targeted traffic to your website. Whether you try one or all of these methods, remember to keep monitoring and tracking your results throughout the whole process.

For more tips and insights, sign up to our newsletter or follow us on Twitter.

Whatever your business needs, digital marketing gives you the tools to do it. You can create high-quality content that never loses its shine, earn customer loyalty on social media or drive traffic through organic search.

Digital marketing is a vast world. There are endless tools and guides that you can follow to grasp the basics, but frankly, most SMEs just don’t have the time and resources to master it alone.

If you’ve made the decision to use an agency instead of a consultant, we’re here to help guide your next step with a list of the eleven best digital marketing agencies in Nottingham.

Why choose a digital agency in Nottingham?

Adzooma has three office locations across Nottingham, Manchester and London. But Nottingham will first and foremost be our home. It’s where our HQ is based and where many of our team were born and raised.

We belong to Robin Hood’s county. We walk the historic streets on our daily commutes or lunch runs. We’re known to go for a drink facing the wonderful Nottingham Castle. Nottingham is part of us and we’re here to celebrate the wonderful people and businesses that continue making this city so great.

There’s nothing like a global pandemic to reinforce our sense of community and the importance of keeping things local.

So, without any further ado, let’s jump into the best digital agencies in Nottingham.

Adtrak

A full-service digital marketing agency that celebrates 25 years in providing intelligent, performance-driven marketing solutions for businesses looking to succeed online. Our head office is in Nottingham, but we have account managers nationwide to help us deliver results to businesses all across the UK. 

Our personal approach ensures a long-term partnership built on success and we’re proud to deliver value that will make your business grow.

Services include:

• Web design
• Branding
• SEO
• PPC
• Social Media
• Content Marketing
• Telecoms
• Photography
• Videography

Some of their successes:

• 107% increase in online sales for the UK’s leading supplier to the retail and fashion industry.
• Created a branding & website campaign for Band Aid 30, which included our logo design being projected onto the Houses of Parliament.
• Global expansion, supporting the Master Pools Guild and its 100+ members with digital marketing solutions. 

Impression

Impression is a digital marketing powerhouse, based in Nottingham City centre. Since opening their doors in 2012, they’ve spent the last eight years delivering big wins for their clients – and scooping up some impressive awards along the way.

Services offered:

• SEO
• PPC
• Digital PR
• Content marketing
• Analytics
• CRO

Some of their successes:

• Creating global insights for Nottingham-founded brewery, BrewDog
• Growing ParkerBrand’s revenue by over 180% in 10 months

Hallam Internet

Founded in 1999, Hallam Internet has decades of experience creating dozens of success stories with leading brands. For 2 years running, they’ve been named as the most highly rated agency in the UK by The Drum and have been rewarded by Google & Deloitte for Growing Businesses Online. Those are some accolades.

Services offered:

• SEO
• Web
• Creative
• PPC
• PR
• CRO
• Social Media
• Strategy
• Automation
• Training
• Analytics
• Content Marketing

Some of their successes:

• Improved global brand Speedo’s design output with new design systems
• Reached 15 million people worldwide for a United Nations social campaign
• Increased profit by 74% with automated PPC for Garden4Less

Boom Online Marketing

Boom Online is a digital agency built by strong personalities and winning strategies that have really made a, well, boom (sorry). Over the past 10 years, Boom has made a massive local impact and proved they really know what they’re doing, building such as DRINK:// Digital, which we’ve loved attending and presented at.

Services offered:

• SEO
• PPC Management
• Web Design
• Content Marketing
• Analytics
• Social Media
• CRO
• Email Marketing
• Call Tracking

Abstrakt

Abstrakt is a brand based digital agency that focuses on customer experience. They offer the whole agency shabang, with a design-led perspective that offers truly creative results. If you’re looking for a company that still holds onto their small team roots and an inspirational spirit, this is your match.

Services offered:

• Digital Design
• Branding
• Web Development
• Graphic Design
• Digital Marketing

Some of their successes:

• Illustrating a new brand identity of employee advocacy for Brand Message
• Branding a cutting edge ecommerce design for Shavers
• Building a new website for facade and timber supplier Taylor Maxwell

Clicky Media

Clickly Media made our list of top Nottingham Digital Agencies despite still having their headquarters in Chester. With over a decade in digital marketing, Clicky Media spent their 10th birthday setting a base in Nottingham in the heart of our creative quarter. It’s a move that makes them part Nottinghamshire at heart.

Services offered:

• PPC
• SEO
• PR
• Advertising
• Email Marketing
• Branding
• Content
• CRO
• Consultancy

Some of their successes:

• On a roll with 102% increase in revenue for Raleigh Bikes
• 103% increase in organic sales revenue in just 6 months for Little Mistress
• 116% increase in online bookings for Freedome

Distinction

Nestled in Lace Market, Distinction is among many of Nottingham’s digital agencies. But, their name accurately describes what they want to do – being distinctive forms the rest. From the onset, you’ll understand that their values are doing the right thing, getting sh*t done, and delivering what they promised.

Services offered:

• Research & Strategy
• UX & Web Design
• Technology & Web Development
• Digital Marketing

Some of their successes:

• Creating an online home & immersive website for The Gruffalo
• Launching a smarter search function for Money Supermarket loans
• Increasing B2B leads by a massive 105% for Deltek

The Dairy Agency

Based in West Bridgford, The Dairy Agency has placed them as one of the most trusted creative agencies in the East Midlands. What’s more, they’ve done all that while still claiming to hold a great sense of humour and enjoyment in all they do.

Services offered:

• Branding and marketing
• Design & print
• PR & copywriting
• Social media and digital marketing
• Video, animation & photography
• Web design and development

Some of their successes:

• A campaign to get Gala Bingo customers to flock to the bingo halls
• Getting into the foundations of Peveril Homes for full brand facelift
• Doing Nottingham proud with brand refresh for the Robin Hood Network

Framework

Framework is a design and branding agency. With a core focus on creative content and digital excellence, every campaign that they deliver comes with a professional flourish of imagination and creativity.

Services offered:

• Strategy
• Design
• Content
• Digital
• Client Services
• Integration Platform As A Service (APAAS)

Some of their successes:

• Award-winning design for Cole Fabric’s Sustainable Ribbon
• An eye-catching brand and digital presence for Loxley opticians
• Making history with the Nottingham Castle Project website

Imaginaire

Imaginaire is a web design agency that specialises in helping B2B companies generate more leads online. They don’t build generic websites. They work with you to create 12 month strategies to grow and hit your goals.

Services offered:

• Branding
• Web Design
• Website Management
• Digital Marketing

Some of their successes:

• A premium, high-end development of the Dubai Property For Sale website
• Helping Advanced Commercial Interiors climb the search rankings with advanced SEO
• Creating a sleep online presence for the slick ngi design company

Kumo

Last, but certainly not least, we have Kumo. As Google Partners, they’re equipped with all the tools and knowledge to get you more traffic through your door through Search and other digital marketing channels.

Services offered:

• SEO
• PPC

Why are we recommending other agencies?

The answer to this is simple: we’re not an agency.

Adzooma is an online advertising management platform. If you’re looking for ways to manage PPC campaigns more efficiently, we’ve got your back.

Digital marketing is not just PPC. So when it comes to other areas and disciplines outside of PPC, we’re happy to send you in the direction of those able to help.

Need a solution for your PPC management? We’ve got some good news.

Adzooma is free.

Connect your accounts and reap the rewards today.

TL;DR

• Advertising your business online is a great way to bring new customers through your door. We’ve got a list of the 5 quickest ways to get started.
• For trade businesses, you need to get listed on online directories, like CheckATrade.
• Build authority and trust, by stating social media profiles and begin blogging on your own website.
• Get your business to the top of Google with SEO and draw more eyes to your business with Newsworthy PR stories.

More and more businesses are using online advertising to get new customers through their doors.

And why wouldn’t they? Online advertising is projected to make over $20bn (approx. £15bn) in revenue in 2020.

But there are many advertising platforms and it can be tough to know which or how many to use.

And, let’s face it, you simply don’t have time to test them all.

Which brings us on to today’s question:

Dear Adzooma,

Our family has owned our trade company for the past 40 years. We’re a proper part of the local community and have mostly got new customers through word of mouth.

But that doesn’t seem to have the power it used to back in my dad’s day. I want to bring in some fresh customers into the business and put us on the same map as the new trades people who are getting customers online.

We know we’re better than most of the other tradespeople in the area. But we’re losing out because people can’t find us online. That’s why we need to get set up as quickly as possible.

So, what is the easiest way to promote my business online? 

Mitch

You’ve come to the right place, Mitch.

With all my years in the industry, I know what works and what doesn’t. I’ve done the testing for you, so you can jump straight into the benefits of online advertising.

Here are 5 free, quick, and easy ways you can promote your business online.

1. Use online listing directories

Remember the Yellow Pages? Those massive yellow books that listed businesses run by every Tom, Dick & Harry in your area.

Well, before they rebranded as Yell, people relied on them to find services in their area – plumbers, electricians, builders, carpenters, you name it.

The Yellow Pages are no longer distributed, but online listing directories run under the same principle. Only now they’re quicker and more convenient to use.

Local business listings are some of the easiest ways to solve potential customers’ problems.

This is particularly useful for trade industries.

Take CheckATrade for example.

With over 12 million businesses listed on the website, CheckATrade is one of the most trusted online directories for finding tradespeople within the UK.

That’s because it doesn’t just list your business. It provides a place for people to rate the company and leave reviews, which a lot of people will check before they call.

This ensures that the companies are reliable, fully qualified, and do a good job.

Essentially, they help build trust which leads to repeat custom.

CheckATrade is perfect for exposure and as an invaluable tool for gaining customers for free.

Other local listing services to consider

• Google My Business – promoting your business here means you appear on Google searches on the right-hand side of a results page (see Adzooma as an example).
• Yahoo! Small Business – Yahoo! recently had a rebrand but much of their features remain the same, including Yahoo! Small Business. The bad news this is for US businesses only and there’s no UK alternative. But if you’re from the US, you have the opportunity to join a major database of local businesses
• Bing Places for Business – Microsoft’s local listing service acts in the same way as Yahoo! and Google by allowing local business owners to promote their services on Bing’s network. They can also add and verify up to 10,000 business listings.

2. Use social media

With billions of active worldwide users, social media is one of the best ways to expand your reach and create free awareness for your brand.

But social media isn’t just for brand awareness. It’s a fantastic network to build relationships with consumers and strengthen customer loyalty.

That’s because the majority of users on social media are active users.

They’re posting their own content online, interacting with people, and constantly checking the apps on their phones. In fact, 74% of Facebook users visit the website every single day.

If that’s not enough to want to join in, then know this:

Businesses on social media have improved their ROI (Return On Investment) by 119%.

Before you dive in headfirst, here are some top tips to follow:

• Don’t use every platform available. Stick to the ones you know and the ones that your customers are actually using. That means you don’t necessarily have to be on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
• Be careful with hashtags. Not every platform uses hashtags in the same way, so do your research. Buffer wrote a scientific guide to hashtags. #Success. #NailingIt.
• Post relevant content. Make sure your content is on-brand and provides value to your followers.
• Use high-quality images. Images improve engagement – but only if they’re good ones. Don’t use cheesy stock photos or low-quality images or you’ll ruin the reputation of your brand. And use GIFs sparingly.
• Schedule your posts for the best times. Don’t just post whenever you feel like – post when your customers are online for maximum engagement. 
• Stay active online! Don’t post one update and leave for 3 months or your customers might think you’ve gone out of business. Keep your profiles active and always respond when people interact with you. Services like Buffer and Sprout Social can help with scheduled social media updates.

Not sure how much to spend on social media? Don’t worry – I’ll be writing about where to spend your social media budget soon!

3. Start blogging

If you’ve read any marketing articles over the last two decades, you might have seen this phrase a lot:

‘Content is king’

Bill Gates said it in 1996 and it’s true.

But not just any old content. Just like your social media updates, it needs to be relevant and serve search intent. Blogging is a great way to to do that by writing about relevant topics that your customers will find useful. This includes topics that answer common questions in your niche and solve problems related to your industry.

Make them engaging with titles that create curiosity and convince people to read.

Struggling with inspiration? Here are a few to get you started:

• 10 Easy Ways To Make Money Online 
• How To Install A Roof Window In Just 9 Minutes
• The 3 Summer Must-Haves You Need In Your Wardrobe 
• Are You Making This Costly DIY Mistake? 
• The 100% Guaranteed Way To Tell If Your Cat Is Trying To Kill You

You don’t have to just write blog posts for your own website either.

Want extra advertising? Create a high-quality guest post on someone else’s blog that your customers are likely to read. There, you’ll have an extra source of traffic to lead back to your own website. For more on this practice, read our article on backlinks.

Don’t forget – your blogs also make great social media posts.

4. Understand SEO 

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of getting your website into search engines. When people search for things, you want to be on the first page.

I can’t stress how important SEO is for your business.

Customers use search engines like Google to find nearly every business. Think about it. Need a plumber? Google search. Need a florist delivery service? Google. Locked out at 3am by your partner and need a marriage counsellor – oops, locksmith? Google.

But there are other search engines around (it’s just that Google is by far the most popular in the world).

In fact, 67% of web users won’t go past the five listings on a search engine results page (not including the ads).

Want to get your website to the top of the rankings?

SEO is how you do it.

Unfortunately, search engines keep everything rather close to their chest. This is so no one can fool the system and cheat their way to the top.

Don’t worry though, there are tactics and guidelines to follow that will help naturally build your SEO. Such as:

• Pick relevant keywords. Don’t try and target everything to do with your business. Think about what it is your customers are actually going to be searching for and build your keywords around that. There are profitable benefits in targeting keywords that not many people search for. As strange as that sounds, our article on low search volume keywords will explain more.
• Don’t stuff your keywords. Trying to fit your keyword into your content, plumber, as many times, plumber, as humanly possible, plumber, doesn’t actually help your SEO. All it does is drag the quality of your content down and Google may penalise you.
  • Instead, write unique, insightful and helpful content. When users are searching for something, there’s a particular answer or product they need. Your job is to give them what they want (what they really really want). It’s not only helpful for your customers – but search engines rank pages higher for doing this. That includes providing helpful links to your other pages and external sites that show authority.
• Build links in your blogs. When you create blogs, make sure to include links to strengthen your SEO. This doesn’t just include pages on your own website but also includes other relevant, high-quality sources.
• Use clear and relevant URLs. Don’t use URLs that make no sense, like www.kittens.com/dsh/aos/182947. Tell your users exactly what’s on the page and help search engine bots (or web crawlers) understand your website, with URLs like www.kittens.com/adopt/whitecats. There are also SEO benefits to having relevant keywords in your URLs. But remember not to stuff them in.

There are so many SEO tools you can use that will help get you up the rankings, here are our favourites:

• SEMRush
• Mangools
• SEO PowerSuite
• Answer the Public
• Advanced Web Ranking
• Dashword

Before you start, be prepared. SEO is no quick and easy solution. It takes time to see results – weeks or sometimes months. If you need further help with SEO, check out Adzooma’s SEO Performance Report for free or consider hiring an SEO agency or consultant.

5. Press releases

PR is an excellent way to share news, successes, and updates with your local communities.

This means more exposure, attention and brand awareness for you. Yay!

It can include things like:

• An exciting new product or feature launch for your company. 
• New executives joining your business partnerships with other individuals or companies. 
• Any events that you’re hosting or exhibiting at. 
• Or even winning a prestigious award – after all, you should never be ashamed to boast about your success! 

But don’t overdo it.

Not everything is worthy of PR. Before you get writing, ask yourself this one important question: is it newsworthy?

Would people who know nothing about your business be interested?

Yes? Go ahead! No? Maybe you want to just keep that one as a blog post instead.

You also want to stay up to date with the latest trends to avoid putting out bland press releases nobody wants to read. This presentation on changing trends in digital PR is a good read.

Prepared to spare some budget? Try paid advertising. 

The techniques we’ve outlined are fantastic methods to promote your business.

The problem? While they’re free and easy to implement, they can take time to produce results.

If you want to see results straight away, consider to paid online advertising.

And, when it comes to PPC (Pay-Per-Click Advertising), Google Ads is one of the best places you can get started.

Why?

Because it’s a way of getting your business seen and noticed by your customers. Ads appear right at the top of search results pages and they get right to the heart of what you offer.

That means more exposure, more traffic, more conversions, and fundamentally, more sales.

PPC is nothing to be scared of. Start slow and test what works. Over time, you’ll build and optimise a campaign that’s generating high-quality leads.

Check out our PPC tag for more on paid advertising and how it can help promote your business online.

But this should be enough to get any small local business started online and bringing those customers in.

Hope that helps. All the best,

Katherine

TL;DR

• People expect a consistent brand message or become distrustful.
• A strong tone of voice, aesthetic and behaviour should not be undervalued.
• Monzo claim to be the ‘Bank of the Future’ and everything they do enforces this.
• They have built an audience who genuinely care and therefore are loyal.

Picture your best friend.

Now, think about their personality. Try and sum them up in a few words.

Everyone has different moods and behaviours, but you know who a person is and what to expect from them. They might change their outfit or put on a hat, but day-to-day, you have an expectation of what they’ll be like.

We anticipate the same from businesses.

Every company has a personality: a tone of voice, design, brand.

You’d be pretty confused if one day your friend started talking or acting differently. Again, the same is true for any business.

Consistency isn’t overrated. 

People feel more comfortable when they know what to expect – they’ll naturally trust you. Your best path to success is to make something people truly need and care about (like Amazon for example).

But a strong brand message will add rocket fuel to the whole thing.

Monzo: The Bank Of The Future

The best way to understand is to see it being done right.

Monzo is a company which is currently exploding into the financial world. It is part of a new wave of app-based banks who are challenging what it means to even be called a ‘bank’.

They started as a pre-paid debit card which gained attention for its slick interface and lengthy waiting list. But, people could queue-jump if granted a golden ticket by an existing member.

Because people always want what they can’t have, its popularity rocketed.

Now, valued at over £2 billion and with a user-base over 2 million, each week Monzo sees over 55,000 people sign up.

You’re likely to have seen their distinctive coral pink cards out and about.

Particularly popular with 20-35 year olds, Monzo answers a lot of problems young people have with money. Offering clever budgeting, instant notifications, bill splitting and more, all on your mobile, it’s easier than ever to track and manage your spending.

What is valuable to learn from Monzo is: they know who they are, aren’t ashamed of it and shout about it every chance they get.

Set Your Stall Out

Monzo’s whole deal is that they are the bank of the future. That’s it. They’ve set their stall out: Bank. Future.

Everything they do reinforces this message.

They don’t have any physical banks for you to visit. You couldn’t go and do your banking in person with them even if you wanted to.

But that’s because they’re “the bank of the future”. They’re catering for a fast-paced world.

They’re building for people who don’t want to loiter around in a branch foyer trying to work out if the person in front could be any slower.

They’ve taken the time to look at what users want from a bank. Newer generations don’t care about doing things face-to-face to feel more secure. They’ve grown up with technology and trust it to improve their lives.

Co-Founder Tom Blomfield speaking about trust highlights how they’ve listened to what people have said and cherry-picked the important parts:

“Trust isn’t about the weird reassurance we feel when filling out a form or speaking to someone in a suit. It’s knowing that when things go wrong or you need help, that you can come to us and we’ll fix it for you as quickly as we can.”

At the moment, it feels like traditional banks dictate to you what you can and cannot do.

You have to go in to deposit a cheque, then wait 4000 years for it to clear (slight exaggeration).

Often your face isn’t enough to prove who you are, but knowing your mother’s maiden name is. The logic of processes often feels old and backwards, and that’s because it is.

We now live in a world where you can get what you want instantly. And current banks are lagging way behind.

Which is why what Monzo’s doing is so interesting: they’re changing the fundamentals of something as big as a bank.

A good place to start is to be upfront about what you’re trying to do and why.

Shouting Loud And Clear

Can you sum up your business in one line?

If you can’t, go and work that out, then come back.

Now, how often do you check what your business puts out against this line?

It’s really easy to think it’s “just” a tweet or “only” an email.

But really, it’s these micro-level things which make all the difference. These are the tiny blocks that build up an entire brand. More importantly, these are the things your customers interact with every day.

You should constantly operate under the same story arc.

It can be difficult to see how the nitty-gritty relates back to your brand message. But a good way to work things out is to ask “does this reflect what we stand for?”

You can guarantee when designing anything new, Monzo is asking themselves “is this something a bank of the future would be doing?”

Adopting this approach would be great for any business. If you’re a wedding planner whose brand message is all about creating the dream wedding, does every aspect of the day you’re creating fit your bride’s vision?

Spending the time and effort in pushing the same key message on every level of your business pays off. It increases brand awareness, brand loyalty, and trust because it allows a customer-base to get familiar.

Tone Of Voice

It should be impossible to do anything without your brand message. It’s the backbone of your company – you wouldn’t get very far without it. 

So, it’s underestimated how much damage swinging from one tone of voice to another can be. It shouldn’t matter who’s writing it or what it’s for, it should always feel the same.

In a nutshell, your tone of voice is how the character of your business comes across in your words. It represents your company values and what you stand for.

Whatever level you interact with Monzo, whether it’s their website, app or any other point of contact, you’re met with the same familiar voice.

It’s like a warm blanket. Not what you expect from a bank at all. First, you find yourself asking “wait, these are human beings too?” and then you realise that yes, even banking can be personal.

They’ve published their Tone Of Voice guidelines so you can have a nosey at how much thought they’ve put into their customer interaction. But the whole thing just screams future at you. They’re not dry and corporate. They’ll have a laugh with you and still get the job done.

Here at Adzooma, we’ve built our own Tone Of Voice guidelines. They make sure we sound consistent across all our channels and have proved a handy tool for all our teams to use particularly when talking to clients.

So don’t be scared of sounding human. It actually works in your favour, particularly when you make mistakes. There are plenty of ways Monzo can improve, but somehow you don’t expect them to be as perfect when they talk just like you.

Micro Matters

Every single piece of the company is tailored to this futuristic image of what banks could be like.

Say you’re in IKEA. You’ve just voyaged through the maze of flatpack and reached the grand prize: the hotdogs.

But first, you have to pay for the flatpack that you and your partner are inevitably going to row over.

You get out your Monzo card, pay, pray (this may just be me) and then you get a notification instantly.

It tells you everything you need to know: how much you’ve spent, which budget it’s come from and its immediacy makes it easy to keep track of things.

But it’s not just this.

The notification has humour. Included at the end are a little hot dog and Swedish flag emoji.

Monzo understand their customers. They’ve thought about the person in front of the screen and understood that they probably have got hot dogs on the brain.

Also, emojis are “the future”. Most people now struggle to text without them for fear of insulting someone with stern words. “LOL” is no longer enough, you have to have at least three laughing faces in a row to prove you truly found something hilarious.

Location-specific emojis are just another way of how Monzo has not only decided on a tone of voice, but gone full-throttle with it. They’re not afraid of being fun, and their customers are grateful for its refreshing outlook.

So, don’t ever think the little snippets of your brand don’t matter. You might only be a well-timed emoji away from making your customers smile.

Crowdfunding…

‘Actions speak louder than words’ may be a cliche, but it still pays off in business. If you stay true to your word, you’ll find people will care about your brand. Monzo labels itself as a bank built with everyone, for everyone. The way it involves its community reflects that.

You can also clearly see how this fits under being a “bank of the future”. Back in February 2016, they set a new world record for the quickest crowdfunding campaign ever; the company raised a million pounds in just 96 seconds, according to Crowdfund Insider. Since then, crowdfunding has made up a large portion of Monzo’s capital and it continues to involve its customers wherever possible.

And they’re not just saying it. They prove it time and time again.

Take their name.

Monzo was originally known as ‘Mondo’ but this was challenged due to copyright. When faced with the issue, the founders took to their loyal community for suggestions. They received more than 10,000 suggestions, amongst them: Monzo. So it’s fair to say people cared.

…and Community

Similarly, the Monzo Community Forum exists to open the floor up to feedback, suggestions for new features, testing and to give the app’s users a voice. With over 40,000 active forum users and nearly 13,000 topics, the discussions are full of golden ideas from passionate people – a marketer’s dream. Whilst a name change can normally damage a brand, this worked in Monzo’s favour. They took it as an opportunity to show how much they listen to their users.

Their community felt involved and cared about, and Monzo demonstrated once again how they are a forward-thinking bank of the future.

Now, when they make promises, their customers believe them. Look for the opportunities where you can involve your customers. If you ever find yourself torn between two versions of a design, or a product, then get your customers involved. Ask them which they prefer by putting it to a vote.

Give them a platform to offer feedback. Then respond to their comments and open up a discussion. Offer helpful advice for free just to show them they’re not just a number to you.

Adzooma did just this with the first launch of our PRO platform, asking users to give feedback on the software via Slack and suggestions as to additional features that would make their lives easier. This was really successful for us and helped us build the successful platform we have today.

Just like you’ll benefit from a human tone of voice, talking to your customers will help bridge the gap between it being ‘you’ and ‘them’.

Shoot For The Sky

Here are some key things you should learn from Monzo:

• Aim high – if they can disrupt what it means to be a bank, and get people to love trusting them with their money, you can push your business out of its box too.
• Don’t overlook the small stuff – every notification, every line of copy, should reflect who you are.
• It doesn’t have to be a guessing game – ask your customers what they want.

In addition to this, the Monzo CEO told Stripe:

“The best companies don’t magically have the best intuition, they’re the best at figuring it out from data.”

If you’re not sure, look at the data.

Big brands don’t just make it out of luck. They listen to their customers, the data, and the heart of what they stand for and try new things. You’ll never get anywhere stuck in the past.