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Technology

Three Ways Social Media Can Help Your Business

/ Insights      / Three Ways Social Media Can Help Your Business

Three Ways Social Media Can Help Your Business

Social media is an increasingly important part of the marketing of small businesses across the UK. With more than 30m users of Facebook alone, it is getting harder and harder to ignore that your target audience is active on social media.

For business owners that are resisting moving their business onto social media it is likely that they are missing out on opportunities and risking getting passed over in favour of companies that are more proactive with their digital marketing.

If you are on the fence, here are three ways social media can help your business succeed:

Generate Referral Business From Existing Customers

Existing customers are often the most effective way of getting new business as they refer their friends and colleagues to your product or service. Social media is an incredibly powerful way of harnessing this and broadcasting the goodwill your existing customer base has for what you do.

Target & Advertise To Potential Customers

Social media is powerful for businesses, in part due to the data that the platforms create and store about their users. Harnessed effectively, this can be used to advertise your business to exactly the people you want to target.

This means that you spend less money on traditional less well directed advertising platforms such as print or radio advertising.

Customer Service

Whether you are on social media or not, your customers are talking about you both the good and the bad. If you are on social media then you have an opportunity to see what they are saying about you, reinforce the positive and fix the negative.

After all, there is no more powerful an advocate than someone who has a negative experience that is given excellent customer service.

If you are unsure how to get a strategy that works for your business contact the Aspiring Panda team.

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Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Technology

How The Internet Of Things Is Changing How We Do Business

/ Insights      / How The Internet Of Things Is Changing How We Do Business

How The Internet Of Things Is Changing How We Do Business

One of the technology trends of the next decade will be the adoption of the Internet of Things (IOT) across the business landscape.

What Is The Internet of Things?

The internet of things is the name for the ability for everyday objects, devices and vehicles to collect data and transmit it via the internet. This allows for devices to be controlled and managed externally.

A Universal Example

Utilities are one area that the general public will see the IOT impact upon their lives in the next few years. Currently smart meters for electricity usage are being rolled out, which will allow companies to monitor and bill customer energy usage without having to enter the customer premises to carry out regular meter readings.

This is also being adapted to allow homeowners to control their heating remotely, this allows them to save money on their energy by having more control and ensuring that their house is warm when they go home by turning it on when they need it, rather than to a pre scheduled timeframe.

How Will This Affect Businesses?

The ability to use the principles of the IOT means that businesses can automate and manage processes that may have been previously difficult to track and monitor.

This can assist in the decision making process and allow businesses to have a tighter control of business processes and employee productivity.

At Aspiring Panda we have recently been working with and advising companies how to use the IOT in conjunction with IOS and Android apps to assist in previously difficult or dangerous monitoring tasks.

Helping companies understand the potential benefits of the IOT has underlined to us how this will be one of the most important tech developments of the next few weeks.

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Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Technology

The Changing Face Of Customer Loyalty

/ Insights      / The Changing Face Of Customer Loyalty

The Changing Face Of Customer Loyalty

It is a well established business principle that retaining existing clients costs less than finding new ones. The internet has given consumers more choice than ever before, making it harder to retain customers through inertia alone.

In the current marketplace, data and convenience are king; consumers have all the information about your business and your competitors that they could need. Therefore it is crucial to get your business found, and once it is to maximise retention and revenues.

To achieve this, business owners need to find ways of keeping their business in the minds of their customers, in as user friendly and convenient a way as possible.

Technology & Customer Loyalty

One of the pioneers of customer loyalty technology was Tesco. The introduction of the clubcard allowed the company to tailor the offers it sent to the buying habits of individual customers.

This could be used to encourage them to come back, but also to spend more whilst in-store by incentivising certain purchases and creating urgency by putting expiration dates on reward vouchers.

The internet and mobile app technology has only increased the importance of communicating with customers. Firms now use email, text messages, and app push notifications to get their latest products, services and offers in front of their existing customers.

The effective use of these methods can allow businesses large and small to increase customer loyalty and revenues. The impact can be huge even for a one outlet shop. For example, if a cinema can use vouchers, emails, text or app messages to get the person to buy a £10 cinema ticket one more time a month than usual, this can have a substantial impact on income.

This will generate an additional £120 worth of revenue per person before any confectionary or drink sales. Getting your customers to come back and come back more often can be a huge and efficient way of increasing revenues without having to find new customers.

If every customer in this cinema came back just once more a month than before, then the revenue increase could be massive.

Maybe it is time for your business to see how technology can increase customer loyalty and revenues?

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Technology

How Dry Cleaners Can Compete Using Technology

/ Insights      / How Dry Cleaners Can Compete Using Technology

How Dry Cleaners Can Compete Using Technology

The UK dry cleaning, and the cleaning services industry more widely, is worth more than £1bn per year, employing over 30,000 people within nearly 4,000 businesses.

An industry report shows that the last five years have been challenging, due to the economic downturn, lower household budgets, and lower demand. Although the number of establishments has declined an online opportunity has emerged.

Demand is starting to recover, however the opportunity lies in adapting to changing consumer habits to craft a customer service that is both cost effective and convenient to the client.

Using Technology To Compete

The internet may not have had a huge impact on the industry in the early stages of the dotcom boom. The last five years have seen a revolution in how consumers research and buy products.

By harnessing this as yet underused resource, dry cleaners can offer click and collect or delivery services to their customers at the press of a button. These kinds of services add convenience to the customer who can order, pay, and even get their clothes collected and returned without leaving their home.

By combining this with text/email marketing with app based push notifications, dry cleaners can maintain regular contact with their customer base, increase referrals, retention and the annual value of each customer.

Apps are popular with the younger generations, making dry cleaning more accessible than the traditional high street shop front, potentially creating an entirely new market for your services.

Creating A Laundry App

Creating a dry cleaning app can be done in many ways, from working with larger providers, to an independent presence. At Aspiring Panda we see the value in helping a business maintain its brand, particularly if it is a longstanding business that has reputation and merit. However, this does not mean that a dry cleaner needs to invest in a bespoke app.

At Aspiring Panda we have a product that we can customise to your business and integrate it seamlessly into an existing website. If a business does not have a site, then we can even create this for you.

If you would like to know more about how your dry cleaning business can compete using a mobile app, just give us a call.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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web Webdesign

Three Small Business Website Trends For 2016

/ Insights      / Three Small Business Website Trends For 2016

Three Small Business Website Trends For 2016

One of the reasons for hiring a professional web design company is that the industry is constantly changing and evolving. Hiring a company that works on websites on a daily basis can help your business keep in touch with the latest developments and generate more revenue.

Last year was one of change in the web design industry, the big change was that building websites that were easy to read and interact with on mobile devices became critical.

A change in the way Google ranks websites in search means that from April 2015 sites that are not “Mobile Friendly” found themselves harder to find for their potential customers.

Here are three trends we think will impact small businesses in 2016.

A Focus On User Experience

For small businesses the website is no longer a poster for the bricks and mortar presence, instead the site needs to be easy to access and active. This means that it needs to engage users, providing convenience and ease of use, whilst compelling them to take an action.

Sites that do this well will convert more customers and see a greater return on all their online marketing including social media and paid advertising.

Increased Links Between The High Street and Online

With 86% of people using the internet whilst in shops to research products they are considering buying, retailers and service providers will need to make sure that their online and offline offerings are integrated to maximise the potential of both. Businesses need to think of them as the same thing as we move into 2016.

Renewed Focus On Driving Traffic & Retaining Data

With social media becoming more and more saturated, there will be an increased need to advertise on these platforms to reach your audience.

To ensure this is of benefit businesses will need to ensure that they put the right mechanisms in place to maximise the effectiveness of any traffic driven to their website and capture as much data for retargeting and email marketing campaigns.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Technology

How Apps Can Transform Traditional Local Service Providers

/ Insights      / How Apps Can Transform Traditional Local Service Providers

How Apps Can Transform Traditional Local Service Providers

In the last couple of years we have seen apps become an important part of the business landscape beyond gimmicks and marketing extensions.

We have seen true market disruption take place in industries that have existed for decades fuelled by apps and the way they act as a portal to interact, communicate and serve customers.

Whilst not every business can develop an app and simply become “the next Uber” overnight there are opportunities for small businesses to integrate mobile app technologies into their product offering.

These apps can be used to enhance service industry businesses such as taxi firms, takeaways and laundrettes. Here are a few ways a mobile app could transform a local company providing a service.

Offer New Products and Services

The development of a mobile app can allow a service provider to expand into new territories or even launch entirely new products. A good example of this could be a laundrette that uses a mobile app to launch a collection and delivery service to customers.

All of this could be managed within the app creating opportunities for the small business and convenience for the customer.

Gain Competitive Advantage & Enhance The Customer Experience

This kind of convenience allows small businesses to differentiate themselves from their competition.

By providing a high quality and convenient service offering via a mobile app the business can keep its customers happy and ahead of the competition.

Build Customer Loyalty & Maximise Revenue Earned Per Customer

 By offering a more convenient service an app can increase customer loyalty, an app on their phone can help keep you on their mind. Combined with push notifications that flash up from your app on their mobile device small businesses can increase the amount of orders received per customer by providing timely reminders and special offers about the service being offered.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Development web

3 Website Factors That Affect What Your Customers Think Of You

/ Insights      / 3 Website Factors That Affect What Your Customers Think Of You

3 Website Factors That Affect What Your Customers Think Of You

A website is a valuable marketing resource, which says more about your business than you may think.

It is your opportunity to get your business discovered online whilst informing and selling to those that visit. A well designed and content rich website will pull people to your website, tell people what you do and generate a positive impression that will lead to business.

If your website is not up to standard then this can have a negative impact upon the sales and reputation of your business. Until these are addressed you may be selling your business short and losing opportunities.

There are a number of different factors that contribute to this and we have focussed on three that will affect what your customers think of your business because of your website

The Design

Despite being only around 20 years old as a commercial discipline, web design has changed a lot over 20 years.

The technology has changed meaning that designs not only have to be modern but accessible on a range of different devices. The design is still important as we subconsciously are aware of sites that are out of date, this does not mean businesses need state of the art sites just those that are modern and match customer expectations.

The Content

The content within your website is important, you have only a few seconds to get the interest of your audience or they will move on. This means the content must grab the audience and give them the information they need immediately. Content should also be free from simple spelling mistakes to avoid giving your audience the wrong impression.

Active or Passive

Previously you used to be able to get a website built and the job was done. Now due to the saturation of the web more is required to stand out.

Your website needs to be active to show that you are still trading and to encourage your users to take action. An active website could have a blog, social media integration and a range of other elements to move beyond the boring. What’s more Google love content such as videos and blogs so an active website is going to be more visible in a search.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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web

Many London Business Websites Still Not Mobile Friendly

/ Insights      / Many London Business Websites Still Not Mobile Friendly

Many London Business Websites Still Not Mobile Friendly

Since Google changed its algorithm in April 2015, having a website that is mobile friendly has become vital. However many London businesses are still not compliant and may be missing out on opportunities to reach their target customers.

What Is Mobile Friendly

Mobile friendly is a term to describe a website that has been designed to display websites properly on smartphones and tablets. Sites that are not mobile friendly may be shrunk to fit all the information onto the screen, or be too big and going well outside the boundaries of the screen.

This makes them hard to view and navigate when using a mobile device, which is something Google wants to avoid when it points you to a website via Google Search.

How Do I Check My Site

Checking your site is mobile friendly is simple, all you need to do is run your site through the Google mobile friendly test

Why This Matters

More than six months after the change a large number of small businesses are not yet compliant and are therefore less visible in Google search. This is important as Google is the dominant platform people use in the UK to search for information.

In the UK Google is used for nearly 90% of all searches making it important to be as visible as possible.

The Challenge For London Small Business Owners

Despite the changes being live for some time, many London business websites are still not mobile friendly.

This can be for a number of different reasons, but we believe that many still do not know how important a change this was.

Keeping track of the latest digital marketing trends can be difficult for small business. Knowing which announcements and changes matter is not always easy to determine and neither is the correct fix.

If you are not sure where you stand with your website or digital marketing, give us a call and we can give you the information you need to keep your website up to speed

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

/ Insights      / 10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

The rise of the smartphone has been largely powered by the influence that mobile apps are now having on the ways in which we work and play. There are apps for every purpose, from games across the spectrum of fun to apps with a hard hitting business application.

Mobile apps are going from strength-to-strength in 2015, with their applications growing from both a business and personal perspective.

To highlight the power of mobile apps we have combed the web for the latest statistics around the growth of mobile apps and related industries:

These stats show that the appetite for mobile apps is rising as the world becomes more and more digitally and mobile focused. Although the solution for every business may not be to build an app, businesses should be giving serious thought to the role that apps could play in their business.

Apps and mobile technology are not just the domain of large companies: to compete, businesses of all sizes should be looking at how mobile apps can solve problems within their business. Be that how to generate more customers, retain old ones or improve the customer experience.

Wherever your business is heading, make sure you consider the role an app could play in your business.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Technology

5 Checks To Make Sure That Your Small Business Website Is Fit For Purpose

/ Insights      / 5 Checks To Make Sure That Your Small Business Website Is Fit For Purpose

5 Checks To Make Sure That Your Small Business Website Is Fit For Purpose

The internet provides businesses with an opportunity to make their business accessible to customers anytime and potentially anywhere. In recent years, the concept of a company website has evolved to be much more than just a flyer or poster promoting your business on the internet.

Instead, with the right design, message, and layout your website has the ability to create and convert leads. However, this means that companies must consider the right approach for their business and invest in the development of an appropriate website.

For the small business, budgets for web design can often be tight. However, there are a number of checks you can do to make sure you have the basics covered.

Check Your Website Is Mobile Friendly

With more than 50% of internet traffic now coming from smartphones or iPads, businesses should make sure that their websites display properly on different mobile devices. In April, Google made this a factor in how easy it was for people to find your site using Google search. You can check if your site complies here – https://www.google.co.uk/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

Add an Active Element to the Site

With so many businesses starting and then fizzling out, it can be difficult for people to work out whether or not a business is still operating. Adding an active element to your website – such as a social media feed, blog or booking system – lets people know that you are open for business

Make It Easy to Contact You Using the Site

The purpose of a business website is to either sell something through the site or to get a potential customer to express an interest. It never fails to surprise us when we see attractive and interesting company websites that make it difficult to get in contact and make purchases.

Don’t lose out on opportunities – make certain that your contact information or call to action works or is easy to find.

Check Your Site Is SEO Optimised

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the term for the actions you take to make your site more appealing to the search engine rankings. An important part of this is “on-page optimisation” which is the set up of your website so Google can read it correctly.

Make sure your website is set up properly so those looking for you or businesses like yours can find you

Make Sure Your Site Loads Quickly

The average internet user is impatient: if your site takes a few seconds to load your potential customer may leave without absorbing any information. Test your website and make sure it loads quickly.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

/ Related Content