Welcome to Live Lunch!

Join us as we talk about what we've been up to, 2020 trends, social media shopping, LinkedIn algorithms, charities, and what's new in social media this week.

Here are the snippets:

- Trends for 2021 - What do employees want? A 4 day week is top of most people's wish lists, but does it bring stability?

- Flexibility and balancing work from home with working in an office is much better for mental health

- Employer branding is big news. It is important for people to realise a company is good to work for and is an employer of choice. People will be remembered for how they treated their staff during the pandemic. It affects the ideal client and the brand perception.

- Linkedin have changed their algorithm again and now the best number of hashtags is between 3 and 10. If you tag in people or companies, more reach is given to the post of the tagged people interact with it. Adding links to posts after publishing helps reach.

- Algorithms change all the time and no one can try to keep up with every change. Some things are just tests and are reversed soon after launch. - Linkedin's main recent change was dwell time. PDFs with multiple pages are great for dwell time.

- Good content will always win out over algorithms, as will building a community and being personal in your posts.Make sure you mix up your content, but stay consistent and commit to posting regularly

- More platforms are adding shopping options. WhatsApp now has an "add to cart" button and Snapchat have launched AR to allow you to try clothes on your bitmoji before purchasing them

- We shared some of the interesting 2020 trends that were seen across facebook and Google

- This year, we are again supporting a local charity called Emma's Aim instead of sending Christmas cards to clients

- Charities are struggling this year, so businesses should try and help local fundraisers.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us there soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellabiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

It was just the GU crew today, talking about what's new in social media, Christmas Marketing and planning for 2021.

Here are the snippets:

- What Christmas adverts have we all seen? - The Sainsbury's ad got a lot of complaints this year as they tried to be more diverse, but all the supermarkets got together to support them.

- What are people doing on social that is Christmas related? We have seen competitions, give-aways, cracker jokes and online advent calendars.

- We are trying to be a lot more personal in our posts and are trying to include pictures of the team where we can.

- We've been following the trend to share how many new artists people have discovered on Spotify. The User-generated content here is huge. As is the sense of community it's building.

- Spotify has also launched a version of Stories for artists to share a bit about themselves.

- Are users getting bored with seeing the same thing on every platform? The same features, the same content, the same news? Is everyone just jumping on the same bandwagons?

- 2021 marketing. You should already be planning your marketing for January. What will change next year?

- This year has taught us that businesses need to be flexible. Will we continue to see more working from home and flexible hours?

- Brands that will do well next year are ones that have shown themselves to be flexible and tuned in to the needs and thoughts of their audiences. Brands seen to be tone-deaf won't fare so well.

- Who can write a book? These days the mechanisms are there for anyone to write, publish and sell a book, so how do you stand out from the crowd?

- Is it too late to start Christmas marketing now? If you are advertising, only target those who have visited your website and might be looking for last-minute items. It's too late to target a cold audience. Highly targeted email marketing would be best at this late stage.

- B2B marketing - Your January pipeline should be full by now. Now is a good time for prospecting and closing those late deals.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellabiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This time the team chatted to the fantastic Glenn Southam! Glenn is the Founder of TwoEnds, as well as Community Builder, Podcast Host and Polar Bear Keeper at The Lonely Marketers!

Here are the snippets:

- Glenn Introduces himself

- We live in a very subjective world and everyone has an opinion on everything right down to the very smallest thing and as marketers, we need to make sure they understand everything we're doing.

- Business cards. No one has been using them during the pandemic, but orders are starting to come in as people get ready for a time they can use them again

- Will covid increase the use of QR codes? Especially now the tech to use them is so much more advanced and there are more opportunities to use them.

- Podcasts - Do Glenn and Christina listen to their own?

- Glenn tends to do a series of podcasts and releases them all at once, rather than having the pressure of a weekly episode.

- Glenn loves doing his podcast as it gives him an opportunity to get to know people on a much more personal level. These days, people are much more willing to open up and show their vulnerable side.

- Glenn finds it interesting to find out the type of people who listen to his podcasts, but analytics and insights make it tricky to see who the real people behind them are. Usually, people reach out to him after listening

- What makes a good or bad guest? Glenn talks about how to choose a guest and plan the show to the best advantage of the guest he is talking to.

- Podcasts and videos can be repurposed and use again in social marketing

- Getting personal is big in 2020 and will carry on into 2021. It's powerful stuff if you get it right, but don't be too "x-factor sob story". Empathy and empathetic marketing are very important.

- Glenn's hopes for 2021 are that there is a knock on effect from everything we have learned this year. 

- Being agile is really important in business and adoption of tech and new products will be big news in efficiency. Employer branding will also be big news. How companies treat their customers and employees during the pandemic will be remembered afterwards.

- Shopping trends are still big with every platform jumping on the band waggon and a lot of competition out there for sales, but targeting needs to be right to move people down the sales funnel.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellabiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This week it was just the GU crew, and we talked about the rise in eCommerce and shop local, chilling out on TikTok, new parental controls on TikTok, our new online print shop and what the trends are in marketing for 2021.

Here are the snippets: -

Shopping buttons are appearing everywhere because of the rise in eCommerce. Even on platforms you wouldn't associate with shopping, such as WhatsApp

- Still need to be thinking about Christmas marketing and counting back from your last day to fit everything in

- Green Umbrella's online print shop is now live. Watch out for Black Friday deals!

- If you have a company milestone and you change your branding to match, don't forget to change it back

- TikTok has launched new parental controls as half of its users are under 14

- TikTok has launched Learn with TikTok, which is educational content

- Twitter Fleets - was very fleeting. It was only live for 1 day before they had to pull it again.

- TikTok is a guilty pleasure but you can easily lose hours on it

- Trends for 2021. 60% of businesses want to increase their Instagram investment. Big marketing objectives include brand recognition over customer experience at the moment.

- Everything is transactional currently, and brands need to show a bit more personality and increase engagement to stay ahead of the crowd and keep customers coming back.

- Green umbrella live lunch is a great example of being personal and people feel like they know us, even when we haven't actually met them.

- Marketers need to learn to listen and not jump straight on whatever bandwagon is around at the time. Use emotional intelligence to gauge when or if the time is right to join in.

- Although it's good for brands to have a presence on all platforms from a customer service perspective, it doesn't mean you should "sell" on all those platforms. Sell where your buyers are, but have a multi-channel presence if they want to contact you.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellabiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This week it was just the GU crew, and we talked about how and why you should audit your brand, Facebook ads issues, lead generation and business development, webinars we've done recently, shopping locally and local marketing, and more.

Here are the snippets:

- Christina talked about all the different webinars we've done recently

- A few changes to Instagram and Pinterest this week

- Shop Local is big news this year. How to tailor your posts to make the most of this and how best to advertise.

- How to make sure you help small businesses through tagging, sharing, engagement, etc.

- Facebook had a bit issue with adverts this week and lots of accounts and adverts were banned accidentally. The fall out from this is still going on.

- How best to advertise in the run up to Christmas - message, budget, placements, regular review, etc.

- Amanda talked about business development and lead generation and why building good foundations is important.

- Brand audits - Why it's so important to review your brand guidelines from time to time and make sure you are still following them. It's easy to tweak this and that and not realise you've strayed from where you started and lost consistency.

- Consistency in your brand is very important and affects people's perception of your brand. If someone sees a leaflet advertising a product, for example, then the website and social channels should match so they immediately know they are in the right place when searching online for you.

- The Green Umbrella Print Shop is now live! www.shop.green-umbrella.biz

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellabiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This time we were joined by Louis Devayya, who is the Economic Growth Officer for South Northants Council, to talk about how we're coming together to help local businesses, through a series of webinars we're providing to help local business owners overcome digital barriers.

Here are the snippets:

- Louis introduces himself and talks about what he does at South Northants Council (SNC)

- Lots of new initiatives to help small businesses, especially during the pandemic. SNC offer help and advice on a number of things, funding, a job club, lots of offers, and more to the local business community

- SNC were running a number of free webinars with Green Umbrella to help small businesses overcome digital barriers and use social media to help their businesses grow. 

- The webinars follow a programme so attending them all will give a good all-round roadmap to follow on digital marketing.

- People come to SNC for all sorts of business help, including how to take their businesses online during lockdown, so the webinars will help

- SNC are very big on wellbeing within their own organisation, and try to offer help to other businesses. - If they don't currently offer help in a certain area and someone asks for it, they will try to create it, or find someone else who can.

- SNC are funded by the local council and also through partnerships with other businesses in the area. The help they offer to small businesses is free.

- South Northants is a great place to visit or relocate to and has a lot to offer

- Small business Saturday is coming up on 5th December and they are a bit part of it. There is a virtual tour on 20th November with lots of help and advice available

- Networking is important for small businesses, especially during the pandemic, as there are often businesses who can partner up and help each other If you are local, get in touch with South Northants Council if you think they can help your business https://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/info/276/business-support/161/services-for-business

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon. Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellaBiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This week it was just the GU crew, and we talked about the new LinkedIn Stories, Facebook and Linkedin advertising, TikTok, the rise of Pinterest usage, new branding we've been doing for clients and lots more.

Here are the snippets:

- Linkedin Stories

- launched last week and currently only available on the phone app. Who is using them, what are they good for, is there an algorithm behind them?

- Pinterest has shown huge growth recently with 26 million new users. Growth is mimicking lockdown and the rise in eCommerce.

- TikTok has just partnered with Shopify in the States and is bringing a whole host of new commerce and advertising opportunities.

- Facebook Ads - There have been lots of articles lately about frequency of ads and how that affects propensity to buy

- Linkedin Ads - These have become much better and are now a really viable option for people to use

- Boosted posts - why we don't like them

- Rebrand for one of our clients. We got the chance to use some really funky design tricks

- Video calls from Linkedin messenger now integrate with Zoom and other video platforms.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon. Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellaBiz

Welcome to Live lunch!

This week, we spoke to Jackie Torr from TEAM (The Employment Agents Movement) about all things recruitment!

Here are the snippets:

- Introduction from Jackie and information about TEAM

- Candidate marketing for a long time

- You have to stand out as a candidate, digital or video CV

- Recruiters starting up on their own/Recruiter joining TEAM to reap the rewards

- From a marketing perspective, recruiters need to start solidifying the fact they are here, make themselves stand out

- People are focussing on rebrands and new websites, cleaning up their CRMs - Some recruiter are diversifying

- Look at the copy on the website, make sure everything is fresh

- TEAM Conference and online Rec Expo

- The benefits of online meetings - can happen more regularly, important for the network

- Simon Bliss the new owner

- Combination of online and in-person meetings going forwards, the importance of both

- How has TEAM changed their marketing going forwards

- 42,000 recruitment agencies in the UK!

- "Same storm, different boats" - we're all in it together, it's important to help one another

- How do you keep the balance between looking after your own mindset and helping others

- The importance of face-to-face conversations

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon. Come and join us soon! https://www.https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellaBiz/

Welcome to Live lunch!

This week, we talked about how to plan your holiday marketing strategies, recent twitter privacy changes, planning for another potential lockdown, going on video, and how you can help other small businesses during the pandemic.

Here are the snippets:

- Green Umbrella new mediator and using online internal training for the first time

- Twitter privacy settings have changed and they have released a series of helpful videos

- Make sure you check your privacy settings regularly to avoid cybersecurity issues

- Christina's latest podcast is on cybersecurity

- Keeping yourself and your business secure online. Password management software, 2-factor verification and being careful what you share

- Holiday marketing - half term, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, etc. Marketing messages need to adapt and you need to start planning now

- Facebook ads - now is the busiest time for advertisers, how do you make sure your adverts are seen?

- Will there be another lockdown? We should use what we learned in the last one and always be planning ahead in case of another

- Small Business Saturday - partnering with other local businesses, helping each other out, accessing each other's audiences, etc.

- Fear of being on video. How can you be better at it? Being yourself and lots of practice.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon. Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellaBiz

Welcome to Live Lunch!

This week our guest is Helen Bell, who is talking to us about quality management and processes, and why it's so important for businesses to have these things in place. We also talked about Rec Expo, which is being held online for the first time, Facebook Ads and what we're doing in the office this week.

Here are the snippets:

- Virtual Rec Expo. This is normally held at the NEC, but this time it's been done entirely online

- What are the differences between in person and online in terms of audience engagement, etc? - Pros and Cons for an online event

- How have the processes changed, when moving online?

- Intro to Helen Bell, process improvement specialist and auditor

- Quality management systems are to the benefit of the customer, keeping things consistent ensures quality.

- Processes are created around frameworks, allowing for flexibility in the process where required.

- Processes often require many sub-processes. How do you decide which goes where?

- All businesses follow processes, but quite often these are just lists of who does what. It's important to formalise these lists into proper process documents that anyone can follow. Who, what, why, when and how long does each process take? Can it be streamlined?

- Mark talks about Christmas print orders and new things in the pipeline.

- Facebook ads - how we use different audiences to really drill down into who we're targeting.

- How will the removal of the 20% text restriction make a difference to our ads?

- Christina talks about what she's been doing lately, including training, public speaking and the supplier showcase she is doing for Members Only.

The Green Umbrella Marketing Live Lunch episode is live-streamed here on YouTube and on Facebook every Thursday at 12noon.

Come and join us soon! https://www.facebook.com/GreenUmbrellaBiz