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It’s 2024, and the highest-ROI marketing channel is still good ol’ social media. Marketing trends shows that 43% of marketers use it as a marketing channel.
These days, sharing content on social media is a no-brainer for brands. Whether you’re looking for a strategy refresh or trying out the channel for the first time, this post is your guide to the...
Shopify is a user-friendly e-commerce platform that helps small businesses build an online store and sell online through one streamlined dashboard. Shopify merchants can build a modern online store and sell on social media sites, seller marketplaces, other blogs and websites and via email, text and chat. In-person selling is a snap on Shopify too, with its...
A Limited Company is a type of business which exists as a separate legal entity to its owners. Everything that the company owns, owes and earns is totally separate from the personal assets of the business owners. It’s called a Limited Company because liability is limited.
Limited liability literally means that any liabilities, such as debts, are limited. This...
Do you still need a Privacy Policy if you don't collect personal information?
Yes - you still need a privacy policy even if you do not collect data because it's in the policy that you state your app or website doesn’t collect personal data. A privacy policy informs your users what data you collect (or do not collect), how the data will be stored, used, and the rights your.
Customer experience – responding to good and bad reviews, acting on complaints, listening to customers – is increasingly important for any small business. Great customer experience is vital not only for retaining and increasing your customer base but also for providing valuable insight into how consumers respond to your product or service...
If you do some research into business insurance, you will quickly realise that there are a whole host of different options. There are insurance policies to protect your business from everything, ranging from personal injury and the loss of a key person, to faulty products and flooding. Understanding what each type of business insurance does is a key part of...
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The Most Effective Types Of Content On Social Media In 2024
It’s 2024, and the highest-ROI marketing channel is still good ol’ social media. Marketing trends shows that 43% of marketers use it as a marketing channel.
These days, sharing content on social media is a no-brainer for brands. Whether you’re looking for a strategy refresh or trying out the channel for the first time, this post is your guide to the different types of social media content, what works best, and how it can empower your business.
Different Types Of Social Media Content
1. Video (Short-form, Specifically)
Social media marketers are still placing their bet on short-form videos in 2024, some even upping the ante:
It’s not surprising, considering short videos yield the highest ROI for social media marketing.
Some common examples of short-form videos are TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts.
Don’t forget live video - they gained steam during the pandemic allowing remote participation in events. Twitch and other popular live-streaming platforms let people interact with their favourite creators in real time. This format has the second highest ROI of all social media content types, according to 57% of marketers.
Long-form videos are also popular, despite having lower ROI than short-form. They’re more costly to produce; consumers expect high production quality from them while lacking the attention span to finish them.
But if long videos are your jam, don’t worry - for each long-form video you produce, you can repurpose it into multiple shorts, maximizing the value of your resources.
2. Audio Chat And Live Rooms
Remember when Clubhouse was all everyone could talk about? That frenzy has passed, but audio chats and live rooms are here to stay. Many platforms have native audio features, like Twitter Spaces, LinkedIn Live, and Facebook Live Audio.
Audio chat rooms let brands directly communicate with audiences and develop closer relationships than seeing a billboard or watching a YouTube video. And, during a time when customers value connections with brands more than ever, audio chat rooms are a valuable tool.
After seeing satisfactory ROI, 91% of social media marketers plan to continue or increase their investment in audio chat and live rooms.
Audio chat rooms are also trendy among Gen Z, the biggest social media demographic. A Spotify study found that 80% of Gen Z enjoy audio content because it allows them to express their individuality and explore different sides of their personalities.
3. Content That Represents Brand Values
Almost half of marketers say that content reflecting brand values is part of their existing social media strategy.
This type of content is anything that highlights what your company stands for, such as commitments to sustainable production practices, fair treatment of employees, social justice, and more.
Consumers care more than ever about what the brands they buy from stand for and the values they have. They want to know the causes that businesses support and the commitments made to bettering the world.
It’s not just about loyalty: Marketers also say that it has the 5th biggest ROI of any trend. 48% of marketers are already posting this type of social media content.
4. User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is content your audience creates that features your business/brand that is not paid for by your business. For example, someone shares a non-sponsored TikTok about how much they like your product or posts a picture wearing your clothing and tags your business.
This type of content is great to share on social media because it helps your audiences see that people use and like your products, vouching for you in a real-life way. Why toot your own horn if you can get someone else to do it, right?
UGC pays off, as customers trust reviews from friends and family more than they trust branded ads, and nearly 80% of people say UGC highly impacts their purchase decisions, considerably more so than branded content and influencer content.
When you do use UGC, the platforms it performs best on are YouTube (26%), Instagram (24%), and Facebook (21%).
5. Funny, Trendy And Relatable Content
Social media marketers know the value of a viral post too well. They’re hard to come by, but you can increase your chance by hopping on viral memes, relating them to your business, and using trending hashtags or sounds.
This type of buzzy content requires a high level of awareness of what’s happening online, cultural moments, and current events.
Over 40% of marketers already share funny, trendy, and relatable content on social media, and 59% say they will double down on funny content in 2024, it being the most effective of the three. Consumers love it, too – they’re starved for quality humour from brands.
6. Shoppable Content
Shoppable social media content allows consumers to browse through products on your accounts, discover things they like, and even make a purchase without leaving the app.
This is a valuable content type as social shopping is currently on the rise, and consumers are discovering new products and buying products on social media apps more than ever before.
In fact, social media is the most popular way for Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X to discover new products - over 1 in 5 have made an in-app purchase in the past three months. No wonder 87% of marketers plan to maintain or increase their investment in social selling enablement tools in 2024.
The most effective platforms for selling in-app are Instagram (26%) and Facebook (26%).
7. Educational Content
Educational content shares helpful information with audiences that helps them reach their goals and meet their needs. It can come in infographics, videos, text-based posts, images - any of the content types we discussed in this post.
8. Ephemeral/Disappearing Content
Ephemeral/disappearing content is content that only stays up for a certain amount of time, like Instagram Stories that disappear after 24 hours.
Leveraging people’s FOMO is one of the oldest tricks in the marketing playbook. The feeling gets even more amplified in social media, which is why 47% of brands plan to increase their investment in this kind of “limited-time” content.
Users only have a set period to engage with it, so they might be more eager to keep track of your profiles and keep returning to experience.
Creating quizzes and polls in your Stories is a great way to leverage this type of content. People only have a certain amount of time to respond, generating excitement and immediate action and inspiring respondents to come back and see results.
9. Other Types Of Content You’re Familiar With
A recent survey found that 47% of marketers leverage images as a media format, which works well on all social media platforms.
Actually, 54% of marketers think that social media content that’s polished and has high production value (e.g. high resolution images/videos) is even more important than the content being authentic and relatable. But try to aim for both!
We see text-based content on social media everyday, from Twitter(X) threads to thought leadership posts on LinkedIn. The primary goal is to share insight through words - you can pair it with an eye-catching image, but the point of the post is in the text.
Blogs are popular text-based content where people read longer posts and discover helpful information. But a common mistake is sharing blog links directly on social media. Social platform algorithms don’t favor linking out (they want you to stay!), so you better adapt an existing blog post into snackable takeaways that’s more suitable for social users’ habits.
Infographics are a content type with the share-ability and visual appeal of photos but are filled with helpful data and information. It’s an impactful form of social media content and educational content.
Infographics are effective, too, with 51% of marketers that regularly use them saying it yields high ROI.
Repurposing Content Is Still A Valuable Strategy
Social media marketers say they use an average of three platforms in 2024, each with its best practices and norms to follow.
It can be challenging to create individual pieces of content for every single platform, so many marketers share similar content across platforms but repurpose it to fit the tone and requirements of each one.
The key to success, however, is repurposing content, not re-sharing. People don’t look fondly at brands that share the exact same thing on each platform. 47% of marketers already share similar content across platforms with tweaks to make it more relevant to the platform's demands.
Advantages Of Shopify – 10 Reasons To Love It
Try Shopify FREE For 3 Days - Click Here to get your store up and running in minutes.
Shopify is a user-friendly e-commerce platform that helps small businesses build an online store and sell online through one streamlined dashboard. Shopify merchants can build a modern online store and sell on social media sites, seller marketplaces, other blogs and websites and via email, text and chat. In-person selling is a snap on Shopify too, with its built-in point-of-sale (POS) for retail stores, pop-up shops, market sales and more.
1. Quick & Easy To Set Up & Use
Shopify offers an easy way to quickly launch an online store without the fuss over servers and development costs that can be incurred with self-hosted platforms such as Magento. The admin interface is clean and user-friendly and pretty intuitive because all the features are logically structured. You can also find extensive documentation and video guides on the Shopify site. All you really need is a product to sell.
2. No Tech Worries
Good news! You don’t need any technical expertise to launch a basic Shopify store; all software and hosting is provided by Shopify. Not only does this make it easier to get up and running, but it’s likely that Shopify’s hosting will be faster and more secure than you could achieve alone, plus it will easily accommodate any spikes in traffic you might receive. Shopify also take care of all software updates. So you can focus all your efforts on selling and not worry about technical issues, hooray.
3. Secure & Reliable
If you have an eCommerce store, you will be dealing with sensitive customer information including credit card details, plus impatient customers. This means your site needs to be fast, secure and always online. One of the big advantages of a hosted solution is the reliability it provides. Shopify will take care of all server maintenance and upgrades to keep your store and shopping cart available at all times, and ensure that pages load quickly.
SSL certificates can be enabled for your store to encrypt all data and pass it through a secure connection, plus Shopify takes care of PCI compliance for you (required when you deal with credit cards).
4. 24/7 Customer Support
Shopify are big on customer support. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the response time is fairly instant, meaning your business is never on its own. You can get in touch via phone, email or web chat. In addition there are a number of community forums, extensive documentation in the Shopify Help Centre plus a range of advanced Shopify University guides.
5. Mobile Ready
With mobile visits to websites now higher than desktop, it’s essential, not optional, to have a mobile optimised site. Luckily Shopify know this. All of Shopify’s themes are mobile responsive and the platform includes a free built-in mobile commerce shopping cart, meaning your store looks great on all devices and your customers can shop freely wherever they are.
In addition, there are free iPhone and Android apps that let you manage your store on the go should you wish to.
6. Customisable
There are 160 themes to choose from (free and paid) in the Shopify Theme Store, all of which are mobile responsive, plus hundreds available on sites such as ThemeForest. Each theme is also fully customisable by editing the code. So creating a beautiful and unique online shop that fits with your brand identity is simple!
7. There’s An App For That
Shopify’s app store is a treasure trove of functionality that you can add to your shop. You can add reviews, loyalty programmes, customer wishlists, get in-depth analytics, print labels and packing slips, integrate with accounting software, shipping programs and social media sites, not to mention all the marketing apps available. With over 1,500 to choose from, whatever you want to do it’s likely there’ll be an app for it. Note that whilst many are free, over half are charged for.
8. SEO & Marketing Tools
It’s all well and good having a beautiful online shop but if no-one visits you’ll be pulling down the virtual shutters in no time. Another of Shopify’s big selling points is its powerful Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) features that will help your website rank higher in search results so customers can find you. You also have access to advanced analytics to tell you where your customers are coming from so you can tailor your marketing accordingly. You may wish to recruit the help of an SEO company to help you.
The app store gives you access to a huge range of marketing tools including social media integration, product reviews and email marketing. As standard, Shopify allows you to create discount codes. Gift vouchers are available at the next level up. Social media icons are included in all themes. And if you’re a bit overwhelmed by digital marketing and the time it could take, Shopify Kit has been designed to help. It acts like a virtual employee, recommending and executing marketing tasks based on your products, audience and store performance.
9. Abandoned Cart Recovery
What happens if a visitor to your store places a product in their shopping basket but leaves without buying it? According to statistics, over two thirds of potential customers will do this. Shopify offers an abandoned checkout cart recovery service which automatically tracks and emails these potential customers to remind them to complete their purchase; an easy way to potentially generate more revenue.
10. Own Payment Gateway
Shopify has integrated with dozens of payment gateways, but also offers its own which is powered by Stripe. If you choose to use this you will not incur any transaction fees plus you will benefit from lower credit card fees. It also doesn’t require a merchant account to use.
So with all that being said, now is a great time to open your Shopify store and start selling.
We wish you all the best in starting your new venture.
Discover why millions of entrepreneurs choose Shopify to build their business
What is Shopify and how does it work? - Shopify is a complete commerce platform that lets you start, grow, and manage a business. With Shopify, you can: Create and customize an online store. Sell in multiple places, including web, mobile...
10 Advantages Of Setting Up A UK Limited Company
What Is A Limited Company?
A Limited Company is a type of business which exists as a separate legal entity to its owners. Everything that the company owns, owes and earns is totally separate from the personal assets of the business owners. It’s called a Limited Company because liability is limited.
Limited liability literally means that any liabilities, such as debts, are limited. This means there’s less risk to the people who own and run the company, and that their personal assets are safe if the company fails.
It's Not Difficult To Set Up A Limited Company & It’s Free
If you ask most people how you’d go about forming or setting up a Limited Company, chances are they’d stare back at you blankly. A common misconception is that incorporating a Limited Company is some kind of bureaucratic obstacle course that can take months and cost thousands of pounds.
One of the biggest benefits of incorporating as a Limited Company is that it’s a relatively straightforward process that comes with lots of advantages. This is perhaps one of the most compelling reasons for opting to register as a Limited Company. It is also intended to be that way, in order to encourage entrepreneurship. A Limited Company can have one employee (yourself as the Director) or an unlimited amount of employees.
You can incorporate a Limited Company online in less than ten minutes, and all for Free – find out more at the end of this article.
Protecting Your Name And Your Brand
Once your company name is registered with Companies House, it is legally protected. This means that your business name can’t be used by another company, which helps to protect your brand from incidents like brand copying or imitation. A sole trader’s business name does not enjoy this protection. Waiting to register your company could mean you lose the name you had initially wished to trade under.
Sole traders and partnerships will not necessarily have a unique name, whereas there can only ever be one active UK Limited Company with any particular name. Once you’ve registered a company with Companies House, your new company name is protected and no-one can use the same name or even a name that’s too similar.
Dormant Companies Can Be Set Up
A Limited Company does not have to trade to exist. It can be dormant, which means you can register your company to protect your business/brand name. This can be useful if you have an idea and a name for a business but not yet the time or capital to develop it.
You’ll need to register the name and maintain the necessary formalities to keep the company on the register. However, these requirements are somewhat easier to meet than those for other companies.
Join ‘Club Limited’
One way to be taken seriously as a business is to form a Limited Company and get the word ‘Limited’ or ‘Ltd’ at the end of your business name.
If you don’t have ‘Ltd’ or ‘Limited’ at the end of your business name, you are recognised by everyone as a sole trader or unregistered company. Sometimes unfortunately, that is a tell-tale sign of being a small, micro-business that, while affordable – is a higher risk to deal with.
Ok, let’s ask ourselves a question: Are all big and established businesses trading as Limited Companies? The simple answer is yes. Unless of course, they are LLPs – in which case, they are still registered with Companies House.
Credibility & Prestige
The formation of a Limited Company can suggest that the business has permanence and is committed to effective and responsible management. It gives both suppliers and customers a sense of confidence.
Many companies, particularly larger organisations, will not deal with a business that’s not a Limited Company. Forming a Limited Company can therefore open up new business opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available. Often, the extra accounting and reporting requirements that apply for Limited Companies are worth it in terms of extra opportunities.
Easier Access To Business Loans & Finance
The separate legal entity of a Limited Company makes it slightly easier to secure business loans and finance to help grow your business than sole traders. Also, companies can raise capital by issuing new shares to shareholders and new investors - to anyone, really, except Joe Public (only public limited companies can do that). On the other hand, sole traders have to raise new capital from their personal resources. If they happen to be cash-strapped at the time, that’s pretty much that.
Professional Status
Your professional status and image will improve considerably when you start trading as a Limited Company. Whilst the activities, ownership structure, and internal management of your business may be the same as when you were operating as a sole trader, companies are held in much higher regard and create a better impression.
The difference in perception stems largely from the fact that incorporated businesses are more rigorously monitored. Limited Companies have more complex accounting and reporting requirements, their statutory compliance obligations are much greater, and their corporate details and accounts are published on public record where they can be inspected by other businesses and members of the general public.
A more professional image, coupled with the benefits of corporate transparency, could also benefit your business in many other ways, such as:
Personal Assets Are Protected
Your liability is limited - While many turn to a Limited Company for the tax benefits, some would argue that the peace of mind that comes with it is just as important.
We all know that risk comes with the territory when you run your own business. However, there are ways to minimise your risk as a self-employed person. With a Limited Company, you’re protected from any debts the company may incur should your business become insolvent.
Limited Companies are their own legal entities; from a legal standpoint, the individuals that make up these companies are not deemed personally liable for the debts of the company. Your responsibility for your company’s debt is capped at the number of shares you own in that company.
Imagine you’re running a Limited Company, and you have a share capital of £100.
You decide to take out a loan of £5000. However, things take a turn for the worse and you’re unable to keep up with payments.
If your company continues to defer on the loan payments, your company will be charged with non-payment of the interest on the loan, and non-payment to your creditors. In line with the law, your company will be dissolved - but you’ll only be liable for the number of shares you hold. In this case, that amounts to £100.
Do note that there are exceptions to this rule.
If you’ve signed a personal guarantee, or if your creditors lose money due to fraudulent activities you've carried out as the company director, your liability won’t be capped, and you will be personally liable for the debt.
By contrast, sole traders do not enjoy the same protection. If you run into trouble as a sole trader, your liability is essentially uncapped. This could put all your personal assets at risk.
You Pay Less Tax And National Insurance Contributions
Who can turn their nose up at the prospect of increased take-home pay?
Well, that’s the principle benefit of setting up a Limited Company, and one of the main factors that drive people to switch from a sole trader.
As a director of a Limited Company, the way you pay tax is different from how you pay as a sole trader.
As a sole trader, you’ll pay 20% or more on everything you earn over the tax threshold. As a Limited Company, you typically pay yourself a small salary, so you incur as little personal tax as possible. The majority of your income will come in the form of dividends. These are taxed at a lower rate, which means you’re able to maximise your take-home pay.
In addition to the tax benefits, paying the majority of your income through dividends means that you’re able to pay less National Insurance contributions (NICs) as these do not apply to dividend payments.
Here’s a quick comparison of the difference in take-home pay for a sole trader and a Limited Company.
Sole Trader
Limited Company
In the above example, you'll save £965.64 if you're operating through a Limited Company.
So What Are You Waiting For?
With all that being said, now could be the perfect time to register your UK Limited Company and it can be done in minutes.
Become a Director of your own company - Register a Limited Company in the UK and open a business bank account, all in one go. Companies House (the government organisation where all UK companies are registered) now charges £50 to register your UK company – with Tide you can register your UK company for just £14.99. Apply within minutes, in one...
Do You Need A Privacy Policy On Your Website?
The short answer is yes, all businesses that process personal data must have a detailed privacy policy. In most cases, a privacy policy will sit on your website.
Do you still need a Privacy Policy if you don't collect personal information?
Yes - you still need a privacy policy even if you do not collect data because it's in the policy that you state your app or website doesn’t collect personal data.
A privacy policy informs your users what data you collect (or do not collect), how the data will be stored, used, and the rights your users have over their data.
Even though it is a legal requirement, a privacy notice also demonstrates to your users that you have a transparent process of handling their data and, therefore, worthy of their trust.
Third parties such as Google, Facebook, or MailChimp gather user’s data. So, if you use third-party services, you should have a privacy policy that communicates what data third parties collect and how it will be used.
If you do not collect personal data and don’t use third-party tools, you’ll still need a privacy policy that explains such a position to your users.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the primary privacy law regulating how entities manage user data. In this article, you will learn:
On This Page
What is GDPR?
The General Data Protection Regulation outlines the requirements for collecting data from residents in the European Union.
It safeguards the rights of EU citizens concerning use and control over their data, notwithstanding the entity collecting their data is outside the Union. It provides what these entities must do to safeguard the interests of EU users.
Besides the GDPR, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provides guidelines for protecting the privacy and trans border flows of personal data.
The 2013 OECD guidelines guide its 37 member countries on the development of data protection laws and touch on among other areas issues of private data storage, abuse, and unauthorized disclosure of such data. The guidelines also note the importance of supporting the free flow of data for sectors such as banking and insurance.
Both the GDPR and the OECD privacy guidelines work in a complementary function, and more or less have similar provisions. The only difference is that the OECD guides member country laws while the GDPR is more for website/ application owners. Although both are global efforts, the GDPR protects EU residents, while OECD guidelines are cross-cutting as the institution has members from all eight continents.
What Are the Privacy Requirements in Australia, Canada, and the United States?
Australia’s Privacy Act outlines the legal framework for data privacy and requires entities operating in Australia to have a privacy policy. The law limits the collection of data to only information relevant to the company business. According to the law, users have the right to know why you collect their data, who handles it, and who will be preview to it. The entities also have the responsibility of ensuring the private data isn’t lost or abused.
In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is the law that protects Canadians against institutions abusing data collected from them. The law requires web and application owners to get users to agree to their data being collected, used, and disclosed.
Institutions collecting data are also required to state how the data will be used and use it according to the stated purpose. The Canadian law establishes the office of a Privacy Commissioner to handle complaints against institutions that misuse personal data.
Do I Need a Privacy Policy to Access Google Analytics, AdWords, and AdSense?
Yes. Google requires you to have a privacy notice if you’re to access free tools such as Google Analytics, AdWords, and AdSense.
Since you built your web/application for people, you will undoubtedly find analytics useful in helping you organize your online presence. Furthermore, you may also want to promote your website on Google, to expand its reach.
Analytics provides insights on who your users are, what sections of your site they find most useful, where they come from (geography), and your sources of traffic.
It is for this reason that Google requires you to have a privacy policy if you’re to access Google Analytics and AdWords. If you have any ambition of making money from your content using Google AdSense, then you also need the policy.
You need the privacy notice because to use these tools, as Google needs to monitor and monetize the behaviours of the people who use your platform.
What Needs to Go Into Your Privacy Policy to Be Compliant With the GDPR?
Even though you do not intend to collect data, your privacy policy must include the following provisions:
Conclusion
You can opt for an elaborate privacy policy or a short one depending on the nature of your business. You may also choose to have a summary version alongside a detailed notice. Either way, it is essential to have a privacy notice to comply with the legal requirements the country your business operates in and the country your target audience is situated.
With all this being said it can seen like a pretty daunting task to compile a Privacy Policy, but the good news is that just by filling in a few questions about your business/website – you can generate a Privacy Policy for your website in under 10 minutes for FREE.
Create your free Website Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions, Disclaimer, Shipping Policy, Refund & Return Policy, Cookie Policy, Cookie Consent, Cookie Banner in 5-10 minutes or less.
Do you need a website privacy policy - The short answer is yes, all businesses that process personal data must have a detailed privacy policy. In most cases, a privacy policy will..
Top 5 Tips For Customer Experience Running A Small Business
Customer experience – responding to good and bad reviews, acting on complaints, listening to customers – is increasingly important for any small business.
Great customer experience is vital not only for retaining and increasing your customer base but also for providing valuable insight into how consumers respond to your product or service, which can subsequently be leveraged to improve your small business.
For smaller organisations, which are more sensitive to fluctuations in customer loyalty, these benefits cannot be underestimated.
Research has found that 92 per cent of consumers are likely to make another purchase after a positive customer service experience.
Clearly, this is an area of great potential for businesses looking to gain a competitive advantage, and I would advise all leaders to consider customer experience as a core pillar of their business blueprint. This may seem daunting, but with the right tools in place, you can efficiently manage feedback to ensure no customer issue is left unaddressed.
1 - Identify Some Clear Strategies For Feedback
Keep it simple but use feedback to help drive your business goals.
If executed correctly, a positive customer experience should benefit both consumers and businesses alike. By maintaining a happy customer base, you can in turn promote healthy growth in your organisation. However, to make this happen, it’s important to embed data-driven decisions which correlate to your business goals.
‘Whereas a bad review may be a drop in the ocean for a larger business, a damaging comment or rating could be catastrophic for SMEs’
2 - Listen, Understand And Act
Managing the procurement of data is really only the beginning of the customer experience process. To improve your business, you need to listen, understand and take action on the feedback. Your voice in the business will become more powerful if backed up with customer feedback, and this is something we’re hearing from clients all the time.
One such client runs a small restaurant business and recently saw some negative feedback in our platform that was highlighting an issue with their burgers. The platform also showed what impact this was having on the overall experience of their customers. Using these insights and the voice of specific customers verbatim, the CX lead was able to share with the food team, and they changed the supplier of the burger buns as result. Real action on the back of feedback, and the client truly believes that the business leaders would not have listened without this customer feedback.
3 - Reviews And Response
A glowing review is great to receive, and ideal for cross-promoting on your website and social, but it’s crucial to address those that are less favourable. Whereas a bad review may be a drop in the ocean for a larger business, a damaging comment or rating could be catastrophic for SMEs.
How you respond, resolve and action feedback is an opportunity to demonstrate desirable brand behaviour. If you can show yourself as an honest, reliable brand, which is eager to improve on customer issues, you will set yourself apart from those competitors choosing to neglect their customers’ opinions.
Customer reviews are a key indicator of their overall experience, but they also play a leading role in elevating your brand’s reputation. Yes, high-star ratings are important, but there are other elements which you may be overlooking.
Firstly, the volume of your customer reviews – both positive and negative. A higher quantity of reviews across a wider spread of sites will help to improve trust in your reputation.
Next, think about timing. Over 70 per cent of consumers deem reviews to be accurate if they were posted no later than three months ago, and this number drops significantly as the months increase. Recently published reviews indicate that your brand is frequently requesting feedback and keeping your customers actively engaged.
Moreover, reviews give you a unique opportunity to publicly acknowledge and interact with your consumers. Responding to online feedback shows loyal and prospective customers that you take their feedback seriously. Research has shown that businesses that close the feedback loop tend to maintain higher average ratings than those that don’t.
4 - Humanise And Personalise
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to addressing your customer feedback. It requires careful management to nip specific issues in the bud before they become ongoing problems. Indeed, research shows that 80 per cent of consumers are likely to switch to a competitor after more than one negative experience – an exodus which could be devastating for small businesses.
Chatbots can be enlisted to solve simple customer issues quickly and effectively. Ninety per cent of customers rate an “immediate” response as essential to their experience, and chatbots can help to facilitate this quick turnaround.
However, for more complex, unique issues, human interaction is far superior. Where chatbots are unable to detect tone and employ empathy to situations, human agents can help customers feel heard and respected. Therefore, an approach which combines chatbots and human operators will satisfy the demands of your customers by meeting fast response times while also upholding that important emotional connection.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that customer values are constantly evolving. Businesses can help humanise their brand by monitoring current trends and staying ahead of these values. For example, as corporate social responsibility continues to drive consumer choice, brands must ensure their policies and practices reflect this. A personalised approach allows businesses to align themselves with consumers and divert prospective customers away from bigger businesses which are unable to establish that human touch.
5 - Benefit Of Platforms
In line with the rise of digital transformation, there are more ways than ever to garner and respond to customer feedback, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start. For small business owners without the time or staff to oversee multiple management solutions, all-in-one platforms can be pivotal in the smooth running of customer experience.
This is where technology comes in. Digital platforms offering reputation management and customer experience solutions can process vast amounts of feedback data into helpful, prescriptive insights which companies can use to learn from and grow.
In fact, the best platforms will not only garner feedback, but help increase the volume of it. By optimising surveys to increase engagement, they can help boost the quantity and quality of your reviews – the benefits of which I elaborated on in tip three.
Competitor analysis and consumer trends can also be analysed through these platforms. By keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry, you can stay ahead of the curve and anticipate shifts in consumer values.
What Insurance Does A Business Need?
If you do some research into business insurance, you will quickly realise that there are a whole host of different options. There are insurance policies to protect your business from everything, ranging from personal injury and the loss of a key person, to faulty products and flooding. Understanding what each type of business insurance does is a key part of ensuring that your business is adequately covered.
What Is Business Insurance?
Business insurance protects your business from unexpected losses, such as losses from a compensation claim or damage created from a professional mistake. There are a range of different types of business insurance available and they cover losses experienced in the course of your day to day activities. For example, from a customer claiming compensation or equipment being stolen.
Why Do I Need Business Insurance?
There are a lot of risks that come with running a business, but insurance is there to help cover the costs should you face mistakes, damage, accidents, theft or legal fees. Without business insurance, you could be faced with unavoidable expenses that you are unable to cover.
What are the Types of Business Insurance That I Need?
There is no knowing what could happen to your business, which is why it’s important to consider a range of different types of business insurance. Some types of business insurance, such as employers’ liability insurance, are a legal requirement or required by a regulatory body. Others are optional but recommended. Below, we have listed some of the most common types of business insurance.
Public Liability
Public liability insurance covers you if a client or customer, or a visiting member of the public, claims to have been injured by your business. It also covers you if anyone claims they have had their property damaged by your business.
Professional Indemnity
Professional indemnity insurance protects businesses from someone claiming that a service they provided was inadequate. For example, if someone sues you because they are unhappy with the standard of your work. This type of insurance also covers you if someone is accusing you of being negligent, delivering the wrong training or making a mistake that has cost them money.
Property Liability
Property liability insurance protects landlords and property owners against claims made against them in relation to their property. If someone claims compensation for a personal injury or property damage related to your ownership of a property, property liability is there to cover you.
Product Liability
If your product is faulty and causes personal injury, damage to property or loss of property, product liability insurance protects you against the cost of compensation. Though a faulty product is unlikely, it’s a risk that you should protect your business against.
Business Interruption
If an unexpected event means that you can’t conduct business as usual, business interruption insurance covers you for the loss of income. For example, if a fire or flooding damages your business premises and work has to stop.
Invoice Insurance
Invoice insurance is ideal for small businesses, and it allows you to protect yourself against losses that occur due to late paying customers. You can insure invoices on an individual basis.
Legal Protection
If your business needs to defend itself – for example, if someone is trying to claim compensation against you – legal protection helps to cover the cost. The aim of legal protection insurance is to ensure that you are able to afford the legal fees associated with representing yourself.
Tax Investigation
Occasionally, HMRC decides to investigate businesses, to ensure that their accounts are being taken care of correctly and everything is above board. If this incurs any professional fees, tax investigation insurance will help to cover the cost.
Cyber Insurance
Cyber insurance protects your business from cyber threats, such as data breaches or hacking. If your work computer systems are compromised, cyber insurance helps to rectify the damage.
Key Person
As the name suggests, key person insurance covers a business from the financial impact of losing a key person due to death, terminal illness or critical illness.
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